Gelato

Here's a card I made for my daughter's friend who will be in Rome for her birthday this year - lucky girl!

The idea came from Jackie Topa.  She's an absolute whizz at cardmaking but particularly brilliant at creating almost anything using punches.   I wish I could see punch shapes in every day items still, with a bit of practice I'm sure I'll get better.

The cone is made with the Petal Cone die & then embossed using the square lattice folder.  I punched out the icecreams with the 2 1/2" circle first, then punched each one with the 2 3/8" scallop circle.  The first "scoop" of icecream is actually from the Petal Cone die.   I stuck it behind the cone and then layered the "flavours" on top.   A red button with some florist's wire for a stem makes a yummy cherry on top.

Hope you have a gelato flavoured day.
Karen

Snowflakes

With our tropical weather right now, snowflakes are not exactly on my mind.  In fact, I feel more like I'm living in Singapore than Sydney!  But it is Christmas and I love snow......ahhh the christmasses of my childhood.  And more recently, those spent in the US.
Anywho, making that lovely snowflake using the lace border punch for class recently, I had some over and this is what I did:

 

I've had these note pads for ages...years maybe..giggle.  They were already cute with their little built in pen holder and miniature pens.   But now they're gojus!! 

I covered the fronts with DSP.  The one on the left is Beau Chateau, on the right is Old Olive from the Brights Stack.  The Not Quite Navy scallop circle comes from the Perfect Pennants die for the Big Shot.  If you haven't got one of these, you're mad (and I mean that nicely!), because we've already had a great sale on the machine this year so now you'll have to pay full price.  Still 24 hours to call me before it's too late for a gift certificate though!!

Here's a close up of the snowflake.  You take a strip of cardstock, mine was about 18cms long and punch the whole length with the Lace Border punch.   Then you accordian fold it and adhere the two ends with sticky strip to make a circle.  It will want to sit up like a funnel so you have to tease it flat in the centre and use a dollop of mono liquid glue to stick it to the scallop circle.  Punch a bit more out with the Lace Border again and cut out a centre piece to glue onto the middle of the snowflake.  Top with a rhinestone and you're done.

For extra pizzazz, use a Zig glue pen to add a line of glue along one edge of the punched strip before you accordian fold it.   Sprinkle it with Dazzling Diamonds and wait a couple minutes for it to dry before folding - carefully to avoid all the glitter coming off on your hands.

Now who wouldn't want a pad to write their wish list on that looks like this?

Be merry!
Karen

Blink & you've missed it!

2011 that is!  Well, slight exaggeration, but it sure went by in a flash.

Last Saturday was our PaperLady Christmas party.   I chose to combine all classes & club this year and we had a ball.......well that's no surprise!   There was a little bit of crafting done (thanks ladies for helping me use the Big Shot to get a lot of scallop circles made for ornaments), a lot of laughs while we played games, and of course, the required sharing of treats.  It was a lovely way to round off our year.  

Here we are just getting started.  Who's that in disguise?

Gloria went all out with the Christmas jewellery, while Michelle chose Christmas colours from her wardrobe.

Avril wouldn't miss an opportunity to craft, even at a party!

Is that Susie underneath the bling?!

No one could deny that Wendy was the best-Christmas-dressed!  Yes, she won the Elf award for Christmas spirit.

Kristen however, forgot......well, actually she didn't read the email (by her own admission), so she was the recipient of the Grinch award!
Nice face!

It's no party without the Big Shot - that's it, centre stage.

And of course, every good shin-dig has a line up at the buffet table

what nice ladies they are, patiently waiting their turn

Gloria trying to convince us that she should get an elf award too!

So, that's it for 2011.   Lot's of lovely crafting done, new friendships made, a shared joke or two and lots of fun had by all.

Oh, and by the way, the Elf & Grinch are the genius ideas of Brisbane demonstrator Vicki Hodgman.  If I can find her blog, I'll pop back later with a link for you.

I look forward to sharing more craft adventures in our classes & club during 2012.

Cheers
Karen

Paperlicious

Last night we held our first PaperLicious Christmas Party at the Indian Palace in Balmain.   We had a lovely evening with good company, a few giggles & some crafting talk, great food & fantastic swaps.

It was a bit dark so we look a little grainy - sorry girls!

This month's swap challenge was to use the Ornament Punch (item #119847).  We also had a step it up option to try to create something that wasn't necessarily Christmas.   I love this type of challenge because it shows you just how versatile our punches really are.  And who wouldn't want to buy a high quality punch that they can use for Christmas and ALL year round?

Joey's card

Irene's card

Julie's treat bag

Wendy's card

My card

Tracy's card

Michelle's gift box

Joey decorated these cello bags and filled them with Italian cookies for each of us.

And here we are after dinner stamping on the paper table cloths and holding up our lovely crafty things!

Not happy unless we're stamping

Showing off our swaps.

Happy Tuesday!
Karen

Yummy

Who doesn't love cupcakes?

I made this cute little set as Christmas gifts for my team.   12 patty cases with a holly pattern, 12 toppers & some red and green Christmas tree sprinkles.  So cute.

I made the box to size.  That's super easy to do, just place the items you want to pack into a box on your SU grid paper........order it from me today......then you can see how big the base of the box needs to be.  Add a couple of centimetres (or more) for the sides of the box and cut your card stock to size, scoring it at the appropriate depth.   I use a Scor-Pal for this but a ruler & stylus work just as well (hurry up SU, we want our own company scoring tool please!).

Lastly, you make a wrap out of acetate and again use your grid paper and box base to determine the size and the score marks.   Add a stamped piece and some ribbon and your done.

Hope you're getting through your Christmas preparations.
Cheers
Karen

Mojo Monday 217

This is a week late for the Mojo Monday challenge, but better late than never, right?
I've used these gorgeous new products from the Nautical Expedition Suite in the Summer Mini Catalogue.   The stamp is from a set called The Open Sea & the Designer Series Paper is Nautical Expedition.

And how's that Bakers Twine? Gorgeous!   It's deceptively soft and not at all like something you'd use to truss a chicken.....oh, I suppose that's butcher's string...giggle.

For my Family is the stamp set that contains the word 'dad' - it's a set of 24 and includes every family member so it's super versatile as well as "happy birthday", "merry christmas" & "congratulations".  Love that.

Other products are:  Early Espresso ink, 2 1/2"  circle & modern label punch.  The buttons are also from the Summer Mini and are called Spice Cake Designer Buttons with 16 in the pack in 4 colours - Pool Party, More Mustard, Soft Suede & Pear Pizzazz.  The Ruffled Ribbon is in Pool Party.

Click on the pic on the side bar to go check out the new Summer Mini Catalogue for more inspiration and gorgeous new products.

Cheers
Karen

December Frenzy is Here!

December marks a number of occasions in our family.  The most important is my daughter's birthday today.......here's a picture of her card:

I even decorated the inside.  Love that butterfly die for the Big Shot

Happy Birthday Hayley.  It's also the beginning of the silly season for us.....the decorations will go up once the birthday celebrations are over and we'll start the round of social events & generally get all christmassy feeling!

It's also a big month for Stampin' Up! with their December Frenzy sale.........see the flyer here with AMAZING prices.   I'm so relieved that I didn't order a couple of these products last month so now I can save some dollars for extra Christmas shopping...giggle.

And of course, the Summer Mini Catalogue products are available today....woo hoo, it's a good day in crafting!