Drummer Boy Gift bag

Hello and welcome.

I almost didn't get this set.  I liked the look of it, but wasn't sure how much use I'd get from it.  However, in the end I couldn't resist, and now I'm sorry I didn't get it earlier.  It works so well with the Merry Music DSP, which is also one of my favourites; and when I run out of that, there's still the Sheet Music background stamp! ( Ooh - I think I've given myself an idea...) 

Apart from the sentiment, the stamps don't have to be for Christmas, but of course, today I've made a Christmas-themed project.  Can you believe how soon the holiday season's come round? 

For the purposes of the photo, I did go ahead and complete the bag but this is one of those projects that can be made ahead of time and stored flat.

Want to see how I made it?  Here's the tutorial.  (Did you know that you could use water to hold embossing powder in place?  Who'd'a thunk it?)

See you again soon - keep crafting!

Keren



Product List

Real Red A4 Card Stock

[106578]

Merry Music Specialty Designer Series Paper

[144623]

7/8" (2.2 Cm) Striped Ribbon

[144624]

Champagne Foil Sheets

[144748]

White Stampin' Emboss Powder

[109132]

Musical Season Clear-Mount Bundle

[146049]

Heat embossed mini pizza box

Hello and welcome.

Isn't modern technology wonderful?  'm dictating this to my phone while my car is parked at the side of the road and I'm waiting for my husband to come back from his parents' house.   I can be doing something useful when otherwise I'd be twiddling my thumbs, and save time for crafting...marvelous!

I really can't get enough of playing with these mini pizza boxes. As well as being super useful for giving small gifts,  they're very handy for keeping little bits and pieces of crafty stuff in. In case you haven't seen one of these, the inside is coated with a glossy surface, which is great  if you want to gift things like sweets or biscuits.  The outer surface is super-smooth and  takes colour  very well.
I wondered how well heat embossing would work on one of these pizza boxes , so I gave it a try . And guess what?  It worked very well indeed . Here's the video  - 

After I finished making this video, I thought I'd go back and embellish the box a bit more.  So this is the Blogger exclusive video for today -  and it's actually longer than the main YouTube video! I do hope you enjoy it!

Keep crafting,

Keren  

Product List

Versamark Ink Refill

[102193]

Mini Pizza Boxes

[144645]

Gold Stampin' Emboss Powder

[109129]

Silver Stampin' Emboss Powder

[109131]

Cheers To The Year Clear-Mount Stamp Set

[144928]

Silver 3/8" Metallic-Edge Ribbon

[144213]

Trim your stocking!

Hello, and welcome!

Sometimes I have lots of ideas for projects, and sometimes the ol' crafty mojo goes walkabout - does that ever happen to you?  Fortunately there are plenty of resources - magazines, blogs, YouTube and good old Pinterest - to help when Crafter's Block strikes.  

The Stampin'Up! catalogue is just chock-a-block with inspiration and that's what I've been CASE-ing (that's Copy And Share Everything) for today's project.

Here's the video - 

The stocking on the left is my version of one in the catty.  The one on the right was me using up scraps and leftovers from a previous project.  I really like this colour combination and I may have to rethink my Xmas deccies this year...hmm....

Things don't always go to plan...what to see what happened this time?  

Keep crafting,

Keren

Product List

Trim Your Stocking Thinlits Dies

[144682]

Tags & Trimmings Clear-Mount Stamp Set

[144832]

Real Red Classic Stampin' Pad

[126949]

Real Red A4 Card Stock

[106578]

Old Olive Classic Stampin' Pad

[126953]

Old Olive A4 Card Stock

[106576]

Gold Metallic Thread

[138401]

Mini Tinsel Trim Combo Pack

[144636]

Happy Stampaversay to me!

Hello, and welcome!

No, you aren’t seeing things – it’s a blog post on a Sunday.  Not my normal day for blogging, but it’s a special occasion.  This month I celebrate three years as a Stampin’ Up! Demonstrator.  The time’s flown by, and in recognition of the occasion,  I’ve made myself a card and joined in the Pootlers Birthday Blog hop.

If you’ve landed here by following the link from Sam Hammond’s blog, then you already know what it’s all about.  If you’ve arrived on this post by another route, please do hop over to Sam’s blog where all will be made clear and you can see what some of my team-mates have been making.

For my card, I wanted to use the Bundle of Love DSP, and wanted a Powder Pink background with gold foil.  However, this DSP doesn’t come in that combination – I could have Blushing Bride and Very Vanilla, or gold foil and Very Vanilla.  So I customised my paper, by sponging Powder Pink over the foiled side.  I really like the result!

What else?  I made some knotted Powder Pink ribbon roses, added a doily and a bit of lace trim, a stamped & embossed sentiment and some washi tape.  (You can see what I used at the bottom of this post).

Thank you for visiting me today- I appreciate it !

Keep crafting,

Keren

An InLinkz Link-up

Product List

Powder Pink 1/2" Finely Woven Ribbon

[144134]

Delicate White Doilies

[141701]

Year Of Cheer Specialty Washi Tape

[144644]

Bundle Of Love Specialty Designer Series Paper

[144143]

Very Vanilla A4 Thick Cardstock

[144238]

Very Vanilla 1/2" (1.3 Cm) Lace Trim

[141672]

Silver and gold

Hello, and welcome!

I am so in love with the Year of Cheer DSP.  It's so beautiful, whether you leave it white or add colour to it.  For today I've left it as it comes, and used up my scraps of foil (I don't throw them away - what do you take me for?)  to make the wreath.

So this card is not only pretty, it's thrifty as well!

See you again soon,

Keep Crafting,

Keren

Product List

Year Of Cheer Specialty Designer Series Paper

[144640]

Cheers To The Year Clear-Mount Stamp Set

[144928]

Swirly Scribbles Thinlits Dies

[141497]

Pretty Pines Thinlits Dies

[141851]

Gold Foil Sheets

[132622]

Silver Foil Sheets

[132178]

Copper Foil Sheets

[142020]

Champagne Foil Sheets

[144748]

Silver Stampin' Emboss Powder

[109131]

The best laid plans..

Hello, and welcome!

You may recall that, in my last post, I was super-excited about attending OnStage local in Solihull.  I had my bagful of swaps and was looking forward to showing you all what I'd got in exchange.

Well - it didn't quite go as planned.

I never got there.

What follows  is the whole sad story - you might want to skip ahead to the YouTube video.

To be absolutely honest, something had been telling me "not this time" for a while.  The event sold out really quickly and I only just booked about 15 minutes before it reached capacity.  If I'd arrived home from work half an hour later, I would have missed it.

Never mind, I had my spot and started making my swaps in good time.

Then I hurt my back.  I have no idea how - I just sat down and pain shot up my spine and down my right leg.  It was the first day of my two weeks holiday, as well, and I spent most of the time trying to find a position to sit/stand/lie down that didn't cause sheer agony when my back went into spasm.  

It got better - I was well enough to return to work at the end of my leave - but I couldn't drive without pain until about a week ago and was seriously considering cancelling until about a fortnight ago as I wasn't confident that I'd be able to drive the 2 1/2 hours it would take.

There were other things that were going to make it difficult to go away - the cat needing a operation on her eye, for example - but nevertheless I was determined to go and looking forward to it.  So on Friday afternoon, I set out.

I got as far as Cardiff - about 45 minutes from home - when my 3-month-old car, with fewer than 1,300 miles on the clock, began showing a Tyre Pressure warning light - which wouldn't go out even after I'd put more air in the tyres.  By now it was dark and my nerves were in shreds.   I thought that the problem was probably the monitor system, but couldn't be sure - and really didn't want to be stuck at the wrong end of the motorway (and yes, I do have roadside assistance/recovery cover but if there really was a problem if I wanted to be at home!)

So - I went home.  And the following day, in daylight, it turned out that the monitoring system needed to be reset and all was well.  Except that I was in Swansea, not Solihull.  I thought about going anyway but would have got there at lunchtime and wasn't sure they'd let me in.


I did some colouring instead.  I'm not the greatest colourer-innerer but decided to experiment with the three kinds of colouring media that SU carries - the Stampin' Write markers, the Watercolour Pencils and the new Stampin' Blends.

So anyway - no swaps to share ( I have about 40 mini fans to dispose of - anybody want one? Email me if you do!) 

 So today's video wasn't what I'd planned!  

As a thank you for putting up with my one-woman pity party, I've posted a bonus video, which shows you the out-of-the frame technique I used on the sample above.  

This is just for you, my blog/Facebook friends.  I'm planning on including a few (exclusive) extras from time to time (out-takes, bits of technique I've covered before or don't really go into on the main YouTube video) - let me know if you think you'd like it.  

Thanks for staying with me up to now!

Crafty Hugs,

Keren

PS - There was quite a nasty accident on the motorway at about the time I would have been passing on my way back home and I might well have been caught in it - so perhaps my guardian spirit was looking after me!  xxx
Product List

Country Livin' Clear-Mount Stamp Set

[141925]

Whisper White A4 Card Stock

[106549]

Shimmery White A4 Card Stock

[121717]

Basic Black Archival Stampin’ Pad

[140931]

Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad

[132708]

Stampin' Blends Markers Collection

[147475]

Many Marvelous Markers

[131264]

Watercolor Pencils

[141709]