Happy Birthday Marie

Back in May I had the opportunity to go to "colouring-in school" for a day. Very indulgent. Apart from learning some useful marker techniques, I also got to stamp some images for practicing my colouring-in later. The above card is made with the first colouring-in job I was satisfied with (a few went into the bin).

I used a card sketch for the lay-out and used some co-ordinating paper (the background paper was cut with my Circle Scissor) plus felt flowers and pretty rhinestone brads to come up with a birthday card for my friend Marie. The image probably suits a little girl best but lucky Marie shares my current passion for this style of stamp so she was happy to receive it. The greeting is from a new sentiment set I got recently - I love all the swirls in the tops and tails of the letters.

Thanks for visiting.

Love from Crafty Kim.

Clear Acetate Cards

The electricity supply for Sydney's north west has been out since the wee hours of this morning until now. How reliant we are on it for warmth and food supply. My son and I had a game of chess while keeping warm with blankets and eating Madeira cake for breakfast. We didn't have to rush out of the house as Ashley's swimming lesson was cancelled, again due to lack of power.

Back to the cards. Last month I challenged myself to use acetate in cards and teach a class. Above is one resulting card. There are so many techniques using acetate that I had trouble narrowing it down to three in the end.

Can you see I've used that old dinosaur, mulberry paper, in the card above? It's been so long since I got it out of my paper file. But it has lovely whispy edges. And do you like the glittery flower? I laser-printed a digital stamp from my PC onto one side of the acetate and then applied glitter to the reverse. I glued the image glitter-side-down to the backing card, containing the glitter meaning it won't fall off in its travels over time. As you can see from above, acetate embosses well in the Big Shot or Cuttlebug. It is hard to cut though, you need nice sharp dies and plenty of pressure. But here's the result:

Each petal has been cut from yellow card and then another layer of embossed acetate has been placed over the top.

Lastly, we stamped on acetate. Can be a little tricky as acetate is slippery but I find Staz-On good because it is a sticky ink and it also stays-on (most dye inks will not dry and therefore smear). Solid/silhouette style stamps work well. I've used a very old daisy stamp that I still love many years after first seeing it.


To add some texture and dimension, I layered the acetate over embossed card which had been sponged lightly. Acetate is like vellum, you can't apply adhesive without seeing through it so you need to fix it down with brads or eyelets. I've used my new "dog bone" punch for the sentiment piece.

Thanks for looking, have a good day.

Love from Crafty Kim

Happy Birthday Carolyne

Continuing on with the clean-and-simple theme, here's a card I fashioned from not much more than decorative paper for the occasion of my friend Carolyne's birthday.

Paper goes a long way. Just add card and ribbon in co-ordinating colours plus sentiment. I added some paper piercing for interest and layered my sentiment on some punchies. Done :)

If you want to make a co-ordinating envelope (which, sadly, I didn't in my rush to get the card in the mail), you can use the paper to line the envelope. It's a nice touch.

Anyway, Carolyne, if you're reading this, hope you have received my card and are enjoying some time with your famous comedian son during his visit from overseas.

And, speaking of overseas, Happy 4th of July long weekend to my online friends in the USA.

Thanks for visiting.

Love from Crafty Kim

Happy Birthday Tiana

Well here's a card I made for 10 year old Tiana. I choose this digital image because the child and dog look so like Tiana and her Golden Retriever, Sharnee. As with all colouring, the principles of light and shade to give the image dimension were applied. I also tried to keep the colours similar to those in the background paper and card. I was able to use the markers to colour the silk flowers and brad so they matched. The layout is from Mojo Monday 139; always helpful to follow a sketch.

I haven't been crafting much lately between work, kid-wrangling (school holidays are upon us) and having a nasty head cold. The cold and frosty weather in Sydney hasn't helped much either. Sydney-siders just aren't geared up for sub-zero temperatures, it really cramps our lifestyle.

Anyway, thanks for stopping by.

Luv from Crafty Kim

Happy Anniversary to Bob & Maureen

Here's a clean-and-simple card I made for some family friends as they celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary. Quite an achievement is 50 years of marriage. The happy couple received letters of congratulations from the Queen and the Prime Minister amongst others so my little card was in lofty company.

My little CuttleBug worked hard at this. Of course being a Golden Wedding Anniversary, gold was mandatory. I cut the numbers with an alphabet die set, and the scalloped circle with Nestabilities, picked up some co-ordinating ribbons and it was almost there.

Wishing Bob and Maureen more happy years of togetherness.

Thanks for stopping by,

Love from Crafty Kim

Get to the Moscow Circus

This afternoon I had a really good time at the Moscow Circus with family and friends. I've been to a few circuses in recent years including Cirque du Soleil and Circus Oz and I have to say I enjoyed the Moscow Circus most. It's great value, the action keeps on coming for two hours. It's currently playing in Hornsby (Rofe Park, until Sunday June 27) but moves on to other suburban locations next so it's very accessible.

We all laughed alot, especially at the clown acts and the ring master. And some of us cringed as we saw what we thought was impossible. Our kids (aged 5 onwards) were entranced. Kids of all ages are welcome, the family behind us tried in vain to get their baby to sleep - even he was paying close attention. But it's not just for kids; I reckon the acts appeal to all ages. There was some distinctly Russian acts as well as magic and puppetry not always seen at the circus. Its big claim to fame is a motorcycle act like no other (and it wasn't an assault on the ears either).

At the end of the wonderful show, the ring master asked us to spread the word if we enjoyed the show. So here I am; I can not speak highly enough of the show. More details here or at Ticketek. I hope I'll be able to see the Moscow Circus again when they tour Australia next (about two years away).

Love from Crafty Kim

Fancy Folds

Hope those of you who celebrate the Queen of England's birthday have enjoyed your long weekend.

The first card shown above is what is termed an Easel card (as in the stand an artist uses). I've used punch art and decorative paper to make this tree scene. The sky background isn't printed paper, I made it with sponging. Because the card features a large and small tree, I decided it would make a good Father's Day card for Ashley to give his father. Fancy me being organised so far in advance.

The next card is called a Tri-fold card. Here the ribbon unties and the card unfolds to reveal a graphic and/or message inside. Would have been nice if I remembered to take a photo of this feature but I didn't (sorry folks).


I've also used grey in this card. It's not an obvious colour choice but sometimes it works well. And as much as it hurt to cut up my carefully stamped image, it looked good when I pieced it back together again.

Last one is a Waterfall card. I have a set of four owl stamps which were perfect for this card. As you pull on the ribbon the card flips through the owl images.



Thanks for visiting.

Love from Crafty Kim