Saturday 27 February 2016

Simply Sketched Saturday - Challenge 7

 Thank you for joining us for another Simply Sketched Saturday Challenge! We’re so excited to be sharing this hop with you.  The products used are all available in the current Annual, or seasonal, Stampin’ Up!® Catalogues*. Simply use the buttons at the bottom of the post to keep hopping.

Here's this week's sketch as set by Han
No, there's nothing wrong with your screen.  That's all there is. 
My first reaction was, "You're having a giraffe!"  Second was to vow to hunt Han down and Get Her.   But eventually I calmed down enough to get to grips with the project, and to see the advantages.  I've had an idea bumbling around in my brain for a while and this was a good opportunity to bring it to life.  

I told you you'd be seeing more of the Cups & Kettles dies, didn't I?
Keep an eye on my YouTube channel, there'll be a tutorial soon.  But right now, I would be obliged if you would proceed in an orderly fashion to Angelina and the
or if you're the rebellious type, or a troll going through life backwards as per Terry Pratchett, you might prefer to visit Sam at  the

In any case, I'm back with my usual offering on Tuesday.  See you soon!

Crafty Hugs,

Keren


Thursday 25 February 2016

Boxing Clever!

Hello blog friends, thank you so much for visiting!

Don't you love projects that look as if they took ages to make, but in fact are quick and easy?


This gift box is like that.  So easy to make, but somehow very impressive.

It's easy to change the size, too - just cut a piece of card twice as long as the finished size by the width you want it to be at the widest part.  Mark halfway along the short sides, score and fold halfway along the long side - and then score between the fold line and the mark as the video shows.



So easy!  What do you think of the paper I used, by the way?  I've had the Farmers' Market DSP for a while because I loved the gingham papers and I haven't used it nearly enough, so I thought it was high time I gave it an outing.

Anyway, I'll see you on Saturday - it's a Simply Sketched blog hop week, so get ready to be inspired by my lovely teamies!

Crafty Hugs,

Keren


Tuesday 23 February 2016

Time for Tea

Hi there, welcome to my little bit of the blogiverse.  Thank you so much for visiting.

It's been a while since I made  kinetic card - too long, in fact, so I reckoned it was high time I did!  I saw a card on YouTube (by Karen Burniston) that I liked and wanted to see if I could re-create it using Stampin' Up! products.  Here's my card, which is based on the Circle card thinlits die.

I love a nice cup of tea, myself.  There are those who thrive on coffee (including my husband) but for me it's tea - Earl Grey, hot!  So naturally, I wanted to feature a teapot in proud of place.  

Open the card and the cup inside moves over to join its partner -

It's probably easiest to show it in action on the video tutorial - 
I've been hoping for something like the "Cups & Kettle" dies for some time now, so you can bet that I was thrilled to bits when I saw the set in the Stampin' Up! Spring/Summer Catalogue.  And you can count on seeing more projects using the dies - so you have been warned.

By the way, have you noticed the new blog/video schedule? I'm now blogging/YouTubing on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays and it seems to be going OK so far. Hope I haven't jinxed myself by saying that...

Anyway, with any luck - I'll see you back here on Thursday.

Crafty Hugs,

Keren

Saturday 20 February 2016

World Traveller


One of the very many excellent things about being a Stampin' Up! demonstrator is early access to the items in the new catalogues.  When I saw the Going Global products in the Spring/Summer Catalogue, it went straight to the top of my wish-list - and so did the Timeless Textures stamp set.

And I've been playing, making some "Man Cards" - which are always a challenge.

Here's what I did - 


Thanks for visiting - come back soon, I'd love to see you again!

Crafty Hugs,

Keren

Thursday 18 February 2016

Spring Daffodils

It's been very stormy here in the UK lately.   Last week gusts of 82 mph were recorded about a mile away from where I live - it was a bit wild out there.  However, even though it's been wet and windy, it's been quite mild - and the first daffodils are out, so Spring is on the way.  We hope.




The daffodil is the national flower of Wales;  on St David's Day, the 1st March, you'll fined that most Welsh people wear a daffodil (or a leek, but that's another story).  Small children wear national dress to school, and we sing Welsh songs and recite Welsh poetry and celebrate with Eisteddfodau, which are festivals of Welsh culture.

So that's the inspiration for this card.  I used the new Grateful Bunch stamps and the companion Blossom Bunch punch to make the daffodils.  Here's how it went together . 



Thanks for visiting.  See you soon!

Crafty Hugs,

Keren

Tuesday 16 February 2016

A gift for you

There are those who think sending a gift card is a bit lazy. I don’t agree with those people.  I absolutely LOVE getting a gift card to my favourite online retailers.  Whatever you enjoy doing, you can get a gift card for it - or so it seems .  

I can have HOURS of fun putting my shopping list together – what should I get?  It should be something I normally wouldn't get for myself – but what? I can take ages spending a tenner, and I love every minute of it.


I made this little box as a way of making a simple gift card a special gift. It has space for a small treat as well as the card, and I made a tiny greeting card to go inside as well.


 Stampin' Up! co-ordinates its colours so beautifully and they helpfully tell you what they've used in their Designer Series Papers, so everything works together.  I wouldn't have thought of combining Blackberry Bliss with Lost Lagoon and Calypso Coral - but see how well they went together!

This DSP is one of the things you can earn for FREE (my favourite price!) in Sale-A-Bration,  when you place an order for £45 (before P & P).    Sale-A-Bration runs until 31 March so there's still time to get your hands on some lovely freebies - and some new items were added to the promotion catalogue today to replace the "limited edition" sets that have now retired.

Oh, and if you're thinking of joining Stampin' Up! as a demonstrator (and I'd love to have you on my team) now is a really good time, as you get extra value in your starter kit.

Anyway, that's me done for today.  I'll be back again soon with another one of my projects.

Thank you for visiting, 

Crafty Hugs,

Keren


Saturday 13 February 2016

Simply Sketched Saturday - Challenge 6



Thank you for joining us for another Simply Sketched Saturday Challenge! We’re so excited to be sharing this hop with you.  The products used are all available in the current Annual, or seasonal, Stampin’ Up!® Catalogues*. Simply use the buttons at the bottom of the post to keep hopping.This is this week's sketch , set by Debbie-
And this is what I made.


I've used Botanical Gardens DSP as well as the Botanical Builders dies...and because I got the bundle, I qualified for a free Sale-A-Bration item- so I chose the Botanicals for You stamps.  Bargain!

So that's my bit for the blog hop - and why don't you see what my teamies have been uo to?  Just use the buttons below to keep hopping.  See you soon!

Crafty Hugs,

Keren





Thursday 11 February 2016

Timeless Elegance

I don't know about you but I'm not the world's tidiest crafter.  It's not unknown for me to put something down and for it to disappear into hyperspace.  I started the base of this card about six months ago, when the 2015-16 Annual Catalogue was published - and then couldn't find it, so went away and made another version.

I found it again the other day and it seemed a shame to waste all that good work.  So I added a few glimmer paper hearts (punched out with the sweetheart punch) and a sentiment, and there it was.  

Hope you like it!

See you soon
Crafty Hugs,

Keren

Tuesday 9 February 2016

My Twisted Valentine

Hello there and welcome!
Something that most crafters seem to have in common is that we never waste anything.  I have boxes full of scraps of “precious” paper, and every now and then I give myself a firm talking-to and promise myself that I will get rid of all of those things I don’t need any more, usually without much success  (I am going to be selling off my retired SU stamp sets ANY DAY NOW...I MEAN it..)  Today’s card proves that I was right to keep all those little bits , because it was made with  bits and pieces that were left over from other projects.



The twist-fold card base was one of two I got from the same piece of Sahara Sand  card I used when I made the Going Global card.  I cut the Bloomin’ Heart in Glimmer paper and Blushing Bride card when I was making the Pot Pourri box, and I also cut the small flowers at the same time...the DSP was cut from scraps of Timeless Elegance paper that I’d used on another project, and the sentiment is stamped onto a scrap of Blushing Bride from my scraps box.
Don’t you just LOVE it when you can make good use of the leftover bits?
Here’s how it went together!

Hope you enjoyed,

See you soon

Crafty Hugs

Keren (feeling thrifty!)

Saturday 6 February 2016

Wildflower Fields

Hello everyone, welcome to my blog.

Every now and then, the stars align and I have a burst of creativity and productivity.  It doesn't happen often and I've learned to make the most of it when it does.  Today’s card is the result of an unexpected flurry of activity.


I don’t know if I’d been dreaming, but I woke up on Sunday with lots of ideas  (well, lots of ideas for me, anyway).  When this happens, I usually find that I’m thwarted by circumstances in some fashion – but this time, it just all worked – my husband was occupied elsewhere (I don’t have a craft room, we have and everything room and I have to wait until I have it to myself to record my projects) , the light was OK, the cat was settled down for the day and disinclined to get out of her nice cosy box, and I had everything I wanted for my card already waiting for me..

Here's how it came together.



 The stamps and the DSP I used are both from the Sale-A-Bration catalogue so I got them free with a qualifying order - how good is that?  I am really loving the items in this year's Sale-A-Bration - how about you?

See you again soon,

Crafty Hugs,

Keren


Tuesday 2 February 2016

Going global

Once upon a time, when my children were small, I would spend hours doing origami (you don’t need much in the way of tools and if small hands get hold of it – well, it’s just a piece of paper).  I don't  do so much of it these days, but  I do still love a fancy fold card.  
 
This style of card - originated by Kelly Gettelfinger -  is absolutely genius. It is so easy to make but looks as if it took ages and doesn't need much in the way of embellishments to make it look the bees knees.  .  I love these papers and stamps as well.  They’re wonderful for “man  cards”  Here's the video -
Thanks for visiting  - please do come back soon!

Crafty Hugs,

Keren