Stampin' Up! Out with the old (now), in with the new (soon)!

Hello,

Exciting time for us Stampin' Up! addicts.

Just popping in quickly to show you the list of Retiring Products HERE. Products only available until sold out. That is: First in, first served.

Please also note that the Colour Renovation Kits will not be available after they are sold out or after 1 September 2011 (whichever comes sooner). So if you haven't updated your marker or crayon or pastel sets, now is the time to do it. Please check out the offerings HERE.

Please contact me on 0402 347 010 or email me with any questions or orders and while you're at it, you can order your copy of the new catalogue from me for delivery now (first orders from new catalogue are available from 1 September 2011).

Thanks for looking.

Love from Crafty Kim

Sending Sunshine

The very wet weather Sydney experienced last week prompted me to post this card which is intended as a Get Well Card. I like the sentiment "Under the Weather? Sending you Sunshine" and set about finding images / elements for a card to match.

I love umbrella stamps, check these out at Keesh's blog HERE, HERE and HERE. The whole rain/shower/weather has lots of scope.

Here's what I came up with (above). I used a technique called Paper Piecing which is very easy and spares you a bit of colouring-in if you're short of markers or not inclined to colour. You stamp the image onto some decorative paper and then cut out a section of the image, gluing it onto the same stamped image which has been stamped on plain card stock. On my card, both the rain coat and gum boots have been coloured this way. It reminds me of paper doll dress-ups that I played with as a young girl.

I was lucky to find some weather-themed paper as a background and I have a sun-shaped die which allowed me to decorate the card inside as follows:


I sent this card off to Pat, a fellow crafter who has been diagnosed with breast cancer and has undergone two surgeries recently. It is especially hard for Pat as she and her husband are the main carers of their young grandson. We're all hoping she bounces back fast and fully as her work here is not yet done!

Thanks for visiting and I'm looking forward to sharing craft again with you soon.

Love from Crafty Kim

Pet Sympathy

First a quick note to thank my loyal crafty friends for checking my blog in hope of new posts which have not been forthcoming. Without wanting to burden you with too many details, I am not getting much time to craft at the moment. My husband has been unemployed for 4 months, after his previous job was made redundant. He did receive some funds to keep us going while he finds another job but to supplement these I have been working full-time since April and this has been a huge change for me. I had worked part-time in amongst kid-wrangling since 2006 but my "reason for being" was my son's care and everything else was scheduled around parenting. It's been good for my husband and son to spend more time together but I'm missing the time with my boy as well as time for me. I "take my hat off" to full-time working mothers - I don't know how you stay sane.

Anyway, it's not forever, just "for a season"! And one plus is that I've been doing some really interesting work in a new role. Great to use my brain after so many years away from my profession of food science.

So about this quick card which I made for a friend and like me, a true animal lover, when she lost her cat after a long time of togetherness. Being more a dog owner in later years, I haven't got many cat stamps in my collection. My hugely talented friend, Cookie, used some cat-themed paper so cleverly to make a set of cards which inspired the card above. I added some embossed card (zig-zag stitch) and brads but mostly, the decorative paper did all the design work.

I thought I would take this opportunity to share the story of the Rainbow Bridge:

Just this side of heaven is a place called Rainbow Bridge.

When an animal dies that has been especially close to someone here, that pet goes to Rainbow Bridge.

There are meadows and hills for all of our special friends so they can run and play together. There is plenty of food, water and sunshine, and our friends are warm and comfortable.

All the animals who had been ill and old are restored to health and vigor; those who were hurt or maimed are made whole and strong again, just as we remember them in our dreams of days and times gone by.

The animals are happy and content, except for one small thing; they each miss someone very special to them, who had to be left behind.

They all run and play together, but the day comes when one suddenly stops and looks into the distance. His bright eyes are intent; His eager body quivers. Suddenly he begins to run from the group, flying over the green grass, his legs carrying him faster and faster.

You have been spotted, and when you and your special friend finally meet, you cling together in joyous reunion, never to be parted again. The happy kisses rain upon your face; your hands again caress the beloved head, and you look once more into the trusting eyes of your pet, so long gone from your life but never absent from your heart.

Then you cross Rainbow Bridge together....
(Author unknown)

Thanks again for your patience and I'll be back as soon as I can be.

Love from Crafty Kim

For the love of Pandas

I've always loved Pandas:

I very much enjoyed the the movie, Kung Fu Panda, and look forward to seeing its recently released sequel:

I also love punch art so I set about trying to create a punch art panda. I noticed that Pandas are quite round and not often clean. I pulled out my collection of punches; ovals, eggs, circles, balloons and after much fussing, not to mention some hand-cutting, I had a Panda! Many thanks to my friend Fran Turner who loaned her Bamboo embossing folder to me, making my Panda happily placed in a bamboo bush. Thanks also to my friend Kathryn Keith for her little dragonfly stamp which finished the card off perfectly.

Lastly, I couldn't resist sharing this photo with those of us who are old enough to remember Kiss (with thanks to Michelle Tondi for reminding me about this picture):

Thanks for indulging my love of Pandas (I hope to visit China one day to see them in their homeland), and hope you got a smile from it.

Love from Crafty Kim

Vellum Well Wishes

I designed this card at the request of my friend Dianne for some more ideas for using vellum. I do love Vellum but its transparency makes it tricky to stick down without adhesive showing so it is also a design challenge. In this card, the adhesive is hiding behind the ribbon.

The flowers are stamped and embossed in white on the vellum layer and the Always Artichoke leaves have been die-cut and stuck to the white matt.

A simple greeting and some rhinestones finishe it off. There's lots of nasty viruses going around so any number of friends qualify for this card but another friend, Carolyne, has ongoing health issues to persist with and I sent this to let her know I'm thinking of her.

Hope you're all keeping warm, it' been very frosty in Sydney-town. We have a cold house which is cool in summer but it never really warms up in winter before the day cools again.

Love from Crafty Kim

BigShot Tip with Square Lattice Embossing

For my blog readers who love their BigShot (or other embossing/die-cutting machine), I thought I'd quickly share another idea via this little gift tag I made to go with a birthday gift for my friend, Gerry. Often we emboss the background or mat/layer of a card but why not the main image? It adds extra texture and interest. Of course it works best with small uniform embossing patterns such as the Stampin' Up! Square Lattice folder I've used here, a close up for you:


I like this idea so much that I decided to give Gerry the embossing folder for her birthday :)

Better get me some sleep. Thanks for visiting.

Love from Crafty Kim