Christmas Crackers

 As its our first Christmas back down in Brisbane - and because we're the ones with the pool - we will be having Christmas Lunch / Dinner at our place. 

Its been a long time since I've had a Christmas get together and for the past 10yrs have tagged along at Orphan Parties as we have lived so far from Family.

So I decided to get into the spirit of things and finally decorate the Christmas Cracker Kits I bought about 12yrs ago.

That's right!  12yrs ago I got some Cracker kits from Lincraft when they were having their Clearance sales.  These ones are just plain white card and come with hats, crackers, the ribbon and some very very bad jokes.

I went to PrintBlocks yesterday and picked up a paper pack that was on special and proceeded to cover the crackers.  Not very traditional colours but fun and merry.

I decided to test out the new Tim Holtz Rosette Dies (will be loaded on website soon) and the Cuttlebug Rosette Die that I received last week. So quick and simple to do and look amazing.





With the snowflake decorate strip, it cuts two different types of snowflake rosettes. The bes thing with these rosettes are that they are not to big and chunky but still add that bit of depth to your project.

I also had to try out the Cuttlebug Rosette.  This pack is good as you get a total of 3 Rosettes all in different sizes and decorative edges.  I chose to use the largest.  This is fine for a big project but not recommend for smaller projects that need to go in the post.

Wishing you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Till next time

Happy Crafting

Keeley

Stepping out the comfort zone.....

I've been seeing a lot of "steampunk" images and it had me intrigued. So when I was on my favourite digital craft site (see link at top of page) and saw a cutting file for "Steampunk" I decided now was as good a time as ever and so I brought it.  I did a bit of research on the net to see what steampunk was all about and then set about making a card that I wouldn't usual do.

The file (Click here for direct link) cuts a series of cogs and gears and I used Tim Holtz Grunge Paper to cut them out using my Silhouette Cameo.  I then used distress inks and a blending tool to colour the grunge paper.  Some I applied a lot of ink to get a dark colour and others were lightly covered.   I used Vintage photo and Aged Mahogany.  I also sprayed some of the gears with Copper Perfect Pearls mist.  Two of the cogs and one of the stamped clock images were also covered with Distress Crackle Paint

Behind the flowers and stamped image is a piece of backing paper I made myself.   I embossed a piece of white card using the Cuttlebug Time embossing folder.  I then used Vintage Photo, Dusty Concord and Aged Mahogany Distress inks and a colour blending tool to colour.  A light spray of Copper Perfect Pearls Mist was applied.   Lots of Paper flowers were added to this card to add depth.  The stamped image was found at http://karla-chan.deviantart.com/art/Steampunk-Free-Bird-Cleanlines-192634659 

I really enjoyed making this project and know just who this card is going to.  Never be afraid to step out side the square and try a new technique or a different style!  I might just get hooked on "Steampunk"

Till next time....

Happy Crafting

Keeley

Lots of lovely new goodies

Years ago, I brought myself a Tim Holtz Walnut Stain Distress Ink pad - mainly because I liked the colour but also, I liked the look of the picture on the package.  I got the ink pad home and started to read the instructions on the back. I commenced to scrunch my bit of paper and then wipe the ink pad across before ironing flat.  It looked nothing like the picture and decided I didn't like it so it sat in the drawer.

Last month, the inkpad popped out from where it had been hidding and I was intrigued. These days I am a little more internet savvy and started searching "youtube". If only I read those instructions properly all those years ago - I would have realised I needed to add water to make it work!!!!  I then fell in love with the technique and watched all sorts of videos to see what else I could do.   I then preceeded to stock the shop with all these love items and more will come! 

And here are a couple of cards!

I've had a lot of fun creating interesting backgrounds and love the fact that no two cards will ever be the same.  For this card, I used Dusty Concord, Wild Honey & Fired Brick and using the blending tool by Ranger, I have gently added colours randomly to the card.  For the water, I used Perfect Pearls Mist - Sunflower sparkle which has a beautiful gold shimmer.  I then used the Walnut Stain to stamp the butterfly and flowers.    The sentiment tag uses a resist technique and Wild Honey inkpad.  On the butterfly I have used Rock Candy Crackle paint.  Now it is just trying to get the video camera to work so I can show you how I made this card.

The Fired Brick and Peeled Paint Distress inks make great Christmas backgrounds and using the Perfect Pearls Mist, you add that extra sparkle. I just love the resist technique for stamping.

This gorgeous digital stamp was from the

craftuprint website.  Click here to see stamp!

Well that's all for now.  

Happy Crafting.

Keeley