Mojo Monday 158

This weeks mojo sketch could be either round or square because it's the end of the month.   I'm still working on my circle skills so I decided to opt for the square option.  

The supplies are:
Stamp Set: Make a Monster (so cute!)
Cardstock:  Rich Razzleberry, Pear Pizzazz, Basic Black & Whisper White
Paper:  The new Designer Series Paper stack in Rich Razzleberry.
Ink:  Rich Razzleberry, Pear Pizzazz and Basic Black
Ribbon - Certainly Celery Wide Striped, and Rich Razzleberry Polka Dot (retired).

Both my daughters decided to have a go as well.   Hayley's card is first:

Then Lana really found her "mojo" and did two!

I'm loving the way they both used buttons instead of ribbon.   And didn't they make a great job of handwritten greetings?  I always forget that I can "write" a greeting that I don't have a stamp for!!

Happy stampin'

Karen

Printed Petals Versatility

This set makes a gorgeous "go-to" flower set because you can do so much with it.  I really like it for one layer cards, and it's perfect for a "kissing" technique.    We will be using this set in our first two October classes so if you like what you see, come along to the class and see what else you can do.

The colours I chose for these projects are the new Pear Pizzazz, and the good old faithfuls Pumpkin Pie & Bashful Blue.  All favourites.   The cards only took a few minutes to make  because I stuck to the same group of supplies and just messed with the layouts.

This next card is one I made for the catalogue launch and I used the masking technique.  It's in Pacific Point, Melon Mambo & So Saffron.

Stamp happy.

Karen

Mojo Monday 157

Here's this weeks Mojo Monday.

Supplies used:   Stamp Sets - Baroque Motifs & Teeny Tiny Sentiments
                        Cardstock - Very Vanilla, Basic Grey
                         Paper - Lap of Luxury Designer Series Paper
                         Ink - Concord Crush & Pear Pizzazz, Basic Black marker for faux stitching
                         Embellishments - Jewels - Basic Rhinestones, Old Olive Satin Ribbon
                         Tools - Scallop Border Punch, Paper Piercer & Mat pack

Stamp all day if you can!

Raising the bar

I received some more gorgeous Christmas cards for the troops last week from a lady who runs a couple of centres where I do classes.   I asked her if she'd mind if I shared them here, and she said ok!   So here they are.  Thank you Vale for supporting the cause. 

Check back later for this weeks Mojo Monday effort.

Happy stamping

Karen

Circle Scissor

Here's a card I made for a friend's 50th this past weekend.    He's an avid bike rider and I wanted to use the celebration card we were shown at Convention as the basic idea.  This is what I came up with:

Penny Farthing Card

The wheel on the front is mounted on a couple of punched gold circles over a brad so it spins!

This view shows how it stands up - it's not really leaning on the small back wheel, but it does help it stay up a bit.

The inside was quite plain with just gold and silver stars. 

The envelope had to be extra long so I used the Scor-Pal to plan it out starting with a piece of Whisper White A4 cardstock and the card layed over the top so I could see where to make the score marks, top, bottom, left & right.   Then I folded all my score marks and trimmed off a few bits to get a neat finish.  To fill the gap I used Basic Black & a piece of metallic silver for the top flap.

Supplies:    Cardstock - Basic Black, Metallics Silver & Gold & Whisper White
                  Punches - Large & small star, 1 3/8" circle & 1 1/4" circle & 1/2" circle, Round Tab punch
                  Tools - Circle Scissor Plus, glass mat, paper piercer & mat pack, gold gel pen, dimensionals
                  Accessories - gold brads
Oh, and for the envelope, my trusty Scor-Pal and a corner rounder.  A bit of linen thread was used on the closure with a couple of brads.

Thanks for looking!

Regina Brett

I haven't posted any of Regina Bretts Life Lessons for a while, so here's some food for thought on a Friday:

• Your children get only one childhood.

........But that doesn't mean they get off doing the chores!!! (that/s me, not Regina Brett!)

• All that truly matters in the end is that you loved.

........your friends, your family, your pet, chocolate!!

• Get outside everyday.  Miracles are waiting everywhere.

....ah, this is one I truly believe.   Look on the bright side, and miracles & good things will find you.

Holly wearing Lana's school hat.  And not overly impressed by it!

I  like all of these.    Hope you do too.

Happy Friday.
Karen

Sketch Thursday

This week has been all about Mojo's, so I thought I'd continue the trend and post a sketch that you might like to try.   It's not sophisticated like Split Coast, nor is there a Mr Linky to attach it to anything, but it might be fun to have a go anyway.    Of course if you want to share your creation, you can always send me a comment with a link to your own blog, just to show off!!

I will give this sketch to my class participants this month.  And they can vote on their favourite and the winner will get a small prize.  Don't know what it will be yet, maybe a new marker or a length of new ribbon or something along those lines.  

Remember, it's just for fun, and the goal is de-stress!  So don't overthink it.

Stamp happy, all day long if you can!
Cheers
Karen

For Crafts Sake 2!

The scallop flower cards we made yesterday were larger than normal because of the size of the die.  So of course, we had to make envelopes!   This happens to me a lot because I love large square cards.  Anyway, they turned out really cute with a punched scallop flower stamped with Circle Circus on the front and the stalk and leaves in Old Olive from Petal Pizzazz.  Because of the sizes, we had to add an extra piece of cardstock onto the back to make the flap closure.  And this time we used envelope glue rather than velcro as the fastener.

Flower in Cherry Cobbler

Pumpkin Pie flap closure for Tracy's card




Lastly, this relates to the Mojo 156 in my post yesterday, but I had to show you a close up of the gorgeous bow that Tracy made using the Kiwi Kiss/Very Vanilla satin ribbon.   That's what happens when you come to a technique class with PaperLady.  What a good student!

Cheers!
Karen

For Crafts Sake!

As promised, here are the things we made yesterday.  Tracy came over around 11am and we just crafted (is that a word?) all day long.   We did stop for lunch and afternoon tea....well duh!   You've got to keep your energy up you know?!

Card is Early Espresson, flower is Pumpkin Pie

We used the scallop circle die in the Big Shot (you need one of these!) for the first card.   The centre of the flower is in the new colour Daffodil Delight, cut with the Circle Scissor.  We used Terrifically Tacky Tape to punch out a 1 1/4" circle to adhere the beads.  (Beads are SU but one's I bought in the U.S.)  The sentiment is from the set Something Sweet and we used the Stampa-majig (you need one of these too!) for perfect placement...LOL.  Stalk and leaves are Old Olive, with the leaves made using the Large Oval Punch.

Card is Early Espresso, Flower is Cherry Cobbler.

The next cards we made using a stamp that Tracy got for her birthday.  It's a design by KikkiK and very cute.   The little bird is actually a separate stamp but it's made to slot into the main tree image.  And it comes in a gorgeous little calico bag.  Chosen for her by her partner.  How adorable!

Here's Tracey's card

Card colours are Ruby Red & Bordering Blue, both retired....:-((
Isn't the little bird cute?  He's More Mustard!

My card is below.  It's Crumb Cake (formerly Kraft) with the ink colours for the tree in Cajun Craze (autumn), Early Espresso (winter), Certainly Celery (spring) and Old Olive (summer).  The bird is bordering blue.   I love the paper, but it's retired - it was Autumn Vine.  Chocolate chip ribbon is always a winner.

Thanks for looking!  

Have a craft day, for crafts sake!
Karen

Mojo 156

My friend Tracy (and customer) came by today and we crafted all day!  Very decadent but lots of fun.  Tracy hadn't seen the Mojo Monday site before so as it's Tuesday (Monday in the U.S.), this weeks Mojo Monday had just arrived so that's what we did first.

Here they are:

Tracy's card

My card

We had so much fun doing these.  I think mine will also be this weeks Festive Friday card - or as Tracy appropriately suggested, Tinsel Tuesday!!
I'll post the other cards we made tomorrow.

Thanks for looking!

Printed Petals

Here's a card I made today with the new Printed Petals set.   I don't normally use Garden Green - I've never really liked it, tending more towards Old Olive & Always Artichoke.  Anyway, here it is.

Supplies used:
Stamp Set - Printed Petals & Occasional Greetings
Wheel - Very Vintage
Cardstock - Garden Green & Whisper White
Ink - Garden Green, Night of Navy & Tangerine Tango
Ribbon - Orange
Non SU - the swirl paperclip
Tools - Stamp-a-majig & Scallop Circle Punch

Happy Wednesday!
Karen

Decorated Candles & Gift Boxes

Hard to believe that the next school hols are only 3 weeks away!   Where does the term go to.  I feel like we were just planning our winter holiday and what do you know, were closer to the spring break already.  I must be getting old.

This school holiday I'm planning to do classes for children from aged 9-18 on both of the Tuesdays (28/9 & 5/10).  I just finished the project samples today so thought I'd share them here.

The box is great because you don't need a template.  Just a piece of 12"x12" cardstock and the right measurements.   I like the fact that you can mix and match the base and lids, then use coordinating products to decorate the candle.   Another advantage of not using a template, apart from not have to trace, enlarge, decrease or cut out anything before you get going, is that you can tailor the box to suit the size of the candle that you have on hand.    I bought these candles at a discount variety store but Ikea, Kmart, Target & BigW have some lovely ones to choose from.

If you're interested, or know someone who might be, the School Holiday class is $30 and includes tuition and all tools & materials.  I'm taking a maximum of 10 per class, so book early!

Happy stamping
Karen 

Recipe

Slightly off the crafting track, the warm artichoke dip I made for afternoon tea at the catalogue launch was popular and a couple people asked for the recipe so here it is......
By the way, I can't take the credit, it comes via my good friend Alfie in the US and it's her friend Angela's recipe.

1 can or jar artichoke hearts (not marinated).  Rinse them if they're in brine & chop in half.
1 cup mayo
3/4 cup parmesan cheese
garlic powder to taste

Mix all ingredients together in an oven proof bowl & bake at 180*C until brown and bubbly, about 20 minutes.   Serve with crackers.