Kaszazz NTTD and New Products & Workshops Jan 2010

You might want a cuppa or glass of wine…this may be a long post!

I’ve got plenty of photos of our National Team Training Day in Bendigo to share.  Kaszazz released a new flyer in January jam packed with exciting new products.  There are also tonnes more workshop projects to choose from too.  To view the Kaszazz catalogue or new January flyer online just hop on over here and start making out your wish list hee hee.  If you want to check out all the new workshops available just click here to flick through them all.  Wow there are some gorgeous products and even more gorgeous (if that’s possible) projects!

Let’s just jump straight in with the pic’s…

If this looks familar it’s because this workshop is on the cover of our new catalogue.  I love the fresh fun look and the polka dots of course.  This sample was made by the lovely Julie from Bendigo.  Most of these photos will be projects made by Julie or Deanne.  They did such an awesome job coordinating and running the day.

Kaszazz released some fantastic wedding and romance theme stamps including many that are perfect for wedding invitations.  This is a wedding stationery workshop and it almost makes me want to tie the knot again even though I said I never would.  So that’s just a hint of my papercrafting obsession right there isn’t it?  I love the modern composition of black, silver and purple, it’s just so swanky baby.

Here’s Jessie and I hard at work (yeah right!) making the first workshop as seen below.  It’s always fantastic to catch up with other consultants at training especially when we’ve all become good friends.  Many consultants like Jess live far away from their teams so it’s a great opportunity to get together and play.

Now please tell me in the comments what you think of these cards?  Some of the consultants thought they were a bit dark and goth, hee hee, but I really like them.  They are so different to the usual wedding card style you see in the shops.  The red parts are distress embossing powder which is, let me say, a challenge to use the first couple of times!

This is the lovely Nadia and Kaylene who are part of our team but unfortunately we don’t get to see as often as they are from Melbourne.  Training days for me are as much about socializing as getting to play with new products!

Here’s another wedding stationary workshop created by the uber talented Naomi Elliot.  This one uses silver, grey and black for an elegant look.  Love the place card.

This is the Romance Bling Card Making Kit and is such great value at $24.95.  You can make around 14 cards from this kit (not all cards pictured) and I love the designs so much I bought a kit for myself.  One of those rainy day projects I think.

More consultants I enjoyed catching up with, Di and Lyn.  Deanne is in the background making sure everyone is okay.  Good job De!

This Romance Frame-it was the second workshop we made and so easy too.  Kaszazz brought out a range of sticky bling words which are perfect for off the page projetcs as well as titles on scrapbooking layouts.  I was so proud of myself as I actually finished both workshops at NTTD (except for adding the photo at home).  This is a first for me as I usually get stressed and cranky and end up taking my projects home to shove in the cupboard!  I think it was because the day was just so easy going and hassle free, there was plenty of time to get everything done and no last minute rush.

These cute cards were made up by Julie using the one of the new silhuette stampes – Monica.  Aren’t they cool and funky?  Gotta love glitter on dresses!

This Love and Romance workshop sample was made up by Deanne and features some fancy folding on the cards.  These would be great for Valentines day, engagements, weddings and anniversaries too.

All three of these projects were created by consultants for a little competition we had.  There are some mighty talented people out there.  I especially love the cards, I think the colour combo is divine.  I did make a project too but I don’t think I’ve photographed it yet.  I will upload it in a future post.

So there you have it, Kaszazz National Team Training Day in a very large nutshell!  Our next NTTD will be in May so if you are interested in joining Kaszazz you can come along and be part of the fun – no strings attached.  If you’d like to take a look at what we do at training before May you are also welcome to attend a monthly team training, just drop me a line for more information krismarr(at)iprimus(dot)com(dot)au

So do you have any favorites in this post?  Let me know via the comment section.

ciao

Kris

Open House ~ Fun times had by all!

I apologize for this post being so late – it’s like I just can’t keep real life and blog life matching time-wise.

Therese C. from Numurkah won the Mega Prize of over $200 worth of scrapbooking goodies.   She was rather chuffed and excited when I let her know.

The Open House and Free Make and Take was a blast, I think it’s safe to say everyone had a great time learning about the new products, sipping champas, muching on cupcakes and winning lots of prizes.  Thanks ladies for sharing the fun!  Unfortunately I was too busy enjoying myself to remember to take photos – next time I will delegate that job to someone.  I do have some to share of the projects though…the first two are my designs..what do you think?

This is one of my favorites.  I’ve used Smooch Sugarberry on the flower which happens to co-ordinate perfectly with our purple fabric flowers and funky card base.  The black and white polka dot paper is the B-side of one of our new Romance papers.

Can you guess who loves polka dots?  I just can’t help myself when it comes to this pattern!  I’ve used gold embossing on this card and highlighted with red Siren Smooch.  The dots are also a B-side, from our Merry Christmas range.  I love how most of the B-sides in Kaszazz’s paper ranges are non themed because you get so much more use out of them.

This was the project that everyone got to make – in various colours as it uses card from the funky pack.  We actually made these at NTTD and everyone was so impressed by how fantastic they look for so little effort.  Well ditto at my open house and this particular Design Adhesive – Daisy Daze was an absolute hit!  (and BTW I have the matching rollergraph wheel too hee hee).  I am also loving the new Top Boss glitters that we have, I think they are the most sparkly glitters I have ever seen or used.

Now these tags were just some playing around I did to show some of the ladies how to use rub ons, distress ink, the ink blending tool and distress embossing powder.  The tag on the right I had made before the day and it was the inspiration for the gift tags featured below.  I think I still need to do a lot more experimenting with the distress ep as I’m just not sure if I’ve got it right yet.

Now these little beauties I made to attach to the free gift that everyone received on the day.  Can I tell you how much I love them?  A WHOLE LOT!  When I started making them it was one of those “don’t know if this will work but here goes” moments.  I made them all together doing each step like an assembly line, I just kept thinking, if it doesn’t look right I’ll just keep blending and stamping until it does.  Now we all know that sometimes that can end in disaster but luckily I didn’t need to go down that track as these just came together like a charm.  I decided to use curling ribbon instead of fabric ribbon as I wanted to tie it right around the gifts like little parcels.  I think the purple gives it a bit of oomph.  And did you notice that gorgeous chandelier stamp – I have been hanging out for one for a very long time, I almost bought a non Kaszazz one but I’m still sticking to my guns about not buying more stuff until I use what I’ve got.

That about wraps it up peeps.  So what do you think of my creations?  Are you into ripping and distressing and inking all over your projects or do you prefer the clean, streamlined look?  Leave me a comment as I’d love to know if you’re embracing this current “distressing” trend or not.

Don’t forget that I will be hosting an Open House & Free Make and Take after each new product release from Kaszazz so be sure to check back here for the next dates in May and September.

I’ve got photos to share of our Kaszazz national team training day (NTTD) and I am determined to post them in the next few days so be sure to come on back!

Til next time

Kris

February Workshops 2010

 

These are the workshops I will be running from home in February.  For workshop costs and more info please email me krismarr(at)iprimus(dot)com(dot)au. Info on Basic Toolkits can be found here.

Sat 6th ~ Perfect Pearls Party Cards by krismakes. If you haven’t tried Design Adhesives yet then this is the workshop for you.  We will make four bright and funky birthday cards with Perfect Pearls, stamping and Design Adhesives.  BYO basic tool kit.  10am start.

Wed 17th ~ Sparkle Cards 2H434 by Kaszazz. Forgotten how to emboss?  Come along and make this cute set of cards and wallet using the gorgeous Opalescent embossing powder.  This would make a sweet gift for a friend or keep it all to yourself (I won’t tell).  This is a fantastic class for embossing beginners – you will be a “pro” by the end of the workshop.  BYO basic tool kit.  10am start.

Sat 27th ~ Home Tweet Home Hanger by krismakes. We will be using a vast array of products and techniques in this one!  Includes Distress Crackle Paint, Rollergraph stamping, Paint Dabbers, Glitter and Glossy Accent embellishments.  You will go home with a “tweet” little hanger for your front door.  BYO basic tool kit and chipboard letters (or order a set from me). 10am start.

Hope to see you there!

ATC Swap

Hello hello

Well I am hosting another swap on swap-bot after the success of my Christmas ornament swap.  It was so much fun I thought I’d do it again.  This swap is for ATC’s (Artist Trading Cards) and is aimed at both beginners and pro’s (people who make them all the time).  It’s an aussie only swap so it should be fairly cheap to post.  If you are interested in participating you will need to join swap-bot (which is easy peasy) and then head on over here to my swap.

I have only made a couple of ATC’s myself so I am definetely in the beginners catergory.  I haven’t seen many ATC’s in person so I’m looking forward to starting a nice little collection.  You can see some of the ones I made here and here.  The picture below is from this post, I think these were the very first ones I ever made.

I hope you join in, it’s going to be fun to see all the different creations!

In other news I need to do a little tweaking then I will have some photos to post of the February workshops, so be sure to pop back soon.  I am enjoying the first day of my 5 day weekend but am feeling that the hours are flying by already so I’m off to get some jobs crossed off my list.

Kris

Early Bird RSVP Winner!!!

Drumroll please……..

…………..and the winner is……..

….Therese C. from Rutherglen!

Congratulations Therese I will be in touch soon.

Folks there are plenty more chances to win free products at the open day and you can still RSVP right up until the 24th.  Click here for more information.

I am a busy little bee getting things organised but I hope to be able to post some photos this weekend.  I just put in for Monday off so weeheeeee Kris has a five day weekend.  Yep you read that right, I get Monday off annual leave, Tuesday off for Australia Day and Wednesday is my regular non working weekday.  Bonus!  Hmm I guess now I have no excuses to to get those pictures up here and write some posts right?

Do any aussie readers have any Australia Day plans or traditions?  We haven’t really thought that far ahead (yes I know it’s only four days away!) and I don’t even know if James will have to work or not.  I think at least a bbq is order though.  I’d love to know what you will be doing this Australia Day – let me know via the comments.

cheers

Kris

February Workshops: card making and beyond the page!

Hello Creative Peeps!

I have been refining my workshop dates for the year, juggling things about and I think I’ve got it all set.  You can check out my workshop dates for the whole year by clicking here or click on the Workshops tab at the top of this page.

Here is a brief run down of the February workshops::

Sat 6th ~ Perfect Pearls Party Cards by krismakes. If you haven’t tried Design Adhesives yet then this is the workshop for you.  We will make four bright and funky birthday cards with Perfect Pearls and Design Adhesives.  BYO basic tool kit.  10am start.

Wed 17th ~ Sparkle Cards 2H434 by Kaszazz. Forgotten how to emboss?  Come along and make this cute set of cards and wallet using the gorgeous Opalescent embossing powder.  This would make a sweet gift for a friend or keep it all to yourself (I won’t tell).  BYO basic tool kit.  10am start.

Sat 27th ~ Home Tweet Home Hanger by krismakes. We will be using a vast array of products and techniques in this one!  Includes Distress Crackle Paint, Rollergraph stamping, Paint Dabbers and Glossy Accent embellishments.  You will go home with a “tweet” little hanger for your front door.  BYO basic tool kit and chipboard letters (or order a set from me). 10am start.

These workshops are run from my home in Shepparton if you’d like me to come to you that can also be arranged.  For info on what a basic tool kit includes click here.   I will post the workshops again with some sneek peak photos and more information, but if you can’t wait till then just drop me a line at krismarr(at)iprimus(dot)com(dot)au.  For workshop costs please email me.

I will be back soon with news from the Kaszazz January new release and the winner of the early bird RSVP draw!

Kris

Open House Early Bird Prize – last chance!

Hi folks

Today is the last chance to enter the early bird RSVP draw for my open house.  Let me know by midnight tonight if you CAN come or if you CAN’T come and you will go in the draw for $35 worth of Kaszazz goodies.

More info on the open house can be found here.

It’s going to be a great day!

Kris

Early Bird Prize

A quick reminder that you need to RSVP my open house by midnight on Sunday if you want to go in the early bird prize draw.  There’s only 4 entrants so far so chances of winning are high!

And don’t forget if you can’t make it to the open day you can still go into the prize draw if you let me know by Sunday!

Kris

New Kaszazz Catalogue and Jan 2010 Release

Hi all

I have been trying to put a photo on here of the new catalogue for you but just couldn’t get it to work…until now!

It’s pink and green and gorgeous!  I got my free copy a week ago and have been highlighting all the products I own so I don’t double up.  Whoa do I have a lot of Kaszazz items!

You can view the new catalogue on line now here or send me an email if you would like to order a copy, they are $5.95 plus postage.  If you are coming to my open house you can pick up a catalogue for just $4.00 or FREE if your order is $100 or over.

There is a great new section in the catalogue called The Colour Palette with lots of helpful information on all the different inks/paints/chalks and how to use them.  This is really handy as most of us buy inks then forget what they can be used with/on.

Oh and guess who has a project in the catalogue?  Yes meeeee!  I had a card in the last one and now I feel so chuffed that I have a (different) card in the new catalogue {pg 170}.  I love that Kaszazz consultants can design projects and have them published, it really makes you feel valued.

This Saturday is our National Team Training Day [NTTD] and more new products will be released, I’m so excited.  I will be heading over to Bendigo with Deanne and our team to join Julie’s team for a mega fun day!  Make sure to pop back next week for more info on the January New Release.

Happy scrappin’

Kris

Papercraft – Basic Tool Kit

Well folks the new year is already underway and what better time to start some new projects and try new crafts.  I hope to try lots of new things myself and have already begun with some art journal pages.  I will post the photos soon, a couple of them are swaps so I want to send them off first.  I really enjoyed it though at first it was hard not to “scrapbook” the pages if you know what I mean?  More on that later!  I thought I would do a little post today for any paper crafting newbies out there who have decided to give it a red hot go.  I’ve made a wee list to help guide you through setting up a basic tool kit.

I remember when I started out I pretty much had no idea what to buy and I spent a lot of money on things I didn’t really need.  I wish I’d had someone hand me a list of basic tools to help clear the confusion.  So I’m going to give you a quick run down on the tools that every paper crafter should own as well as a little explanation (in case you haven’t heard of them before).

Basic Tool Kit for Paper Crafters

Scissors – Paper and scissors go hand in hand really!  While you don’t need to spend a small fortune on scissors, steer clear of the real cheap ones as you’ll be using them a lot.  I find a smaller pair is great for papercraft and look for some with pointed tips for getting into corners.

Paper Trimmer – While you could start without one this tool makes light work of cutting clean, straight lines in sb paper and card stock and is definitely worth forking out for.  I have owned several paper trimmers in my time and my favorite by far is the EK Success Cutterpede rotary trimmer.  The rotary blade is the circular one and is usually a more expensive trimmer however the straight blades don’t seem to last very long and tend to tear the paper rather than cut it.  Oh and make sure your trimmer has measurements in both millimetres and inches, especially if you live where the metric system is in use!  Though traditionally only inches were used it’s becoming more and more common to find instructions in centimetres these days.  Don’t bother buying anything smaller than 12 x 12″, you will find it totally useless rather quickly.  Also the cheaper ones are often right on 12 inches long and you will find that occasionally scrapbooking papers are not perfect 12 x 12″ size so grab one that has a bit of extra space lengthwise.

Adhesives – Now this is where you can come unstuck (pardon the pun!) as there are so many tapes, glue and sticky things out there.  Make sure all your adhesives are acid free if you’re concerned about photo longevity (although a lot of modern crafters aren’t these days).

Double sided tape is essential, I’d recommend around 6mm wide and as clear as possible.  Try to get one that is re-positionable to some degree, trust me, it will happen!

I can’t go past Glossy Accents for it’s double duty; you can use it to adhere small things like flowers and rhinestones but it’s also fantastic used over the top of embellishments as a clear, hard laquer.

You can pick up acid free Glue Sticks for only a couple of bucks these days and they are very helpful for sticking down large pieces of sb paper as they won’t bubble and wet the paper.  Great if you want to do some off the page projects that involve covering chipboard.

A great way to add dimension is with a little double sided foam tape like Magic Mount.  It’s thick so will give whatever you are sticking some lift.  It’s fairly inexpensive and will give your projects more interest.

Craft Mat – You can pick up craft mats just about anywhere these days, just make sure that’s it’s self healing so if you cut into it this won’t affect future use.  A craft mat not only helps your projects by proving a firm, flat work surface but it will save tears when you realise you’ve cut into your dining table!  See below for another option.

Ruler – If you can pick up a cheap metal ruler with both inches and mills grab it!  It will be a really handy addition to your tool kit.  If not just use the ruler on your paper trimmer for now.

Pencil & Eraser – You probably already have these kicking around in a draw somewhere.  If you want to buy some especially for your kit grab a softer leaded pencil so that when you rub it out it hasn’t left score lines in your paper.  You might be able to find an eraser that works for pencil as well as adhesives; this is useful when you have to reposition something but it’s left a little gunk behind.

Black Gel Pen – these are the best for hand written journaling, you can write on photos with these to, as well as use them for doodling.

Hole Punch – Try and find a single hole punch at an office store (not the two hole punch they usually sell).  This tool is handy for making tags and punching holes for ring bound mini ablums.  See below for another option.

Stapler – I like the mini ones for attaching and embellishing, these are pretty cheap and can be found in discounts stores and chains.

Foam Sponge – These are great for ink distressing and a cheap alternative to ink blending tools.  Kaszazz has a nice one that you can cut into smaller pieces, they rinse out well and last for ages.

Nail File – Just one of those cheap cardboard ones will do.  A fantastic tool for distressing photos and papers.

So that is about all you will need to begin your paper crafting journey, however if you have some extra cash to splash check out the optional extras I’ve listed below.

Bone Scorer – Here’s a funny story; when I got my bone scorer in my consultant kit from Kaszazz I thought it was going to be one of the least used tools I’d ever own…Boy was I wrong!  I love my bone scorer and I don’t know how I lived without it.  This tool is indispensable for making cards and off the page projects.  What it does is help you make crisp, clean indents in the paper so you can fold or bend it without it becoming creased and horrible.  Use it with your metal ruler or for lots of measured scoring place your paper in your trimmer (keeping the blade out of the way at the bottom) and use the edged that your blade usually glides against to score.  Magic!

Craft Knife - A word of caution; don’t buy a cheap one as they can be very unsafe.  I like the Cutterbee as it has a retractable blade and you never have to touch the blades when changing them over ~ genius.  Always make sure your blade is sharp, putting a new one in at the start of a project is a good idea.  Just like kitchen knives, a dull blade is more dangerous than a sharp one!

Glass Mat – This is a fantastic alternative to the craft mat.  It will still protect your table top whilst allowing your craft knife to glide smoothly through paper.  It’s also great to use with your ink blending tool and easily wipes clean.  if you can’t find a good priced one try a glass chopping board from one of the cheap shops, just remember to grab a smooth one.

Eyelet Punch and Setter – If you love using brads and eyelets then get yourself a kit that has different size punches for making holes and the co-ordinating eyelet setters.  I like the Silent Setter or similar as you can do both jobs by just pushing down and twisting the handle rather than waking up the neighborhood hammering in your eyelets!

I’m not going to delve any further into tools as once you’ve got your basic kit sorted and you start completing your projects you will know yourself if there’s anything else you really need.  If you’re on a budget always think about a purchase and don’t rush into it, I’ve wasted many a pretty penny because “I just have it right now”.  Another idea is to attend crop nights as you will be able to borrow other peoples tools and test them out to see if they really are worth getting.

I hope this has helped any newbies out there, now go have some fun making stuff!

Kris

PS Stay tuned for more paper crafting tips coming soon – “how to not waste money and overstock your craft room”.