The Heart Tag Swap

I’ve been having some fun of Swap-bot lately and I wanted to share an art tag I made for a heart theme tag swap for one of the Aussie groups I’m in.

I love making tags, they are just the right size that you can let your artist flair loose without being overwhelmed by a big blank canvas or page – which happens a lot to me.  Genius idea using tags, thanks Tim Holtz.  I used distress inks, rub-ons, stamping, pen, paint dabbers, chipboard, crackle paint and glossy accents and I’m so happy with how it turned out.

Here’s a close up of the heart chipboard I made.  I inked it with Fired Brick distress ink first then covered it in Rock Candy distress crackle paint.  Once it was thoroughly dry and super crackled I rubbed some Black Soot distress ink over the top and really squished it into the cracks to bring out the contrast with the red.  It’s such an awesome technique that needs very little skill to achieve great results.

I made some fat polka dots with Copper paint dabber – I love the metallic paint dabbers, the never seem to dry out and add so much interest to whatever you’re working on.  The pearl one is a favorite of mine!

I like to put a little extra in my swaps so I well and truly got stuck into the heart theme.  I think my swap partner appreciated it as she gave me a 5 (top rating) plus a heart, yay.

Do you part take in any art or craft swaps?

 

February Workshops 2010

edit: unfortunately due to unforseen circumstances I have had to cancel the last two workshops.  If you were interested in coming to these please let me know so I can re-shedule them some time in the future. 

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!

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

Handmade Christmas Cards and Tree Ornaments

Hiya folks

I finally started making my Christmas cards!  Yes I know I really need to hustle my butt and make more so I can get them posted in time but I wanted to show you what I’ve created so far.

I decided to use up this tan cardstock as it was part of Kaszazz’s Heritage pack that has now been discontinued.  At first I really didn’t know what to do to make this colour work for Christmas but a little gold embossing powder and ta-da!  Embossing really does work wonders and can be used with any colours or stamps designs.  And there is just so many combinations you can create like using coloured embossing powder with a clear ink like perfect medium or using a clear ep on a coloured pigment ink for a totally different look.

I’ve used some frayed burlap distress ink on the edges to soften the starkness of the ivory card and I applied some in the middle too using my ink blending tool.

These two tag ornaments were created for my handmade ornament swap I hosted on swap-bot.  I took the lead from the scallop ornaments I’d made earlier on.  I am loving the distress crackle paint at the moment.  I had quite a few tubs left from my prize at conference back in March so it was great to finally be able to put them to use.

Oh and here’s a great tip for anyone out there with gluggy, dried up tubs of crackle paint: grab a wooden stick (paddle pop style) and add a couple drops of water to your tub and get whippy.  Mix, mix, mix ’til your paint comes back to life.  Make sure to only start with a few drops of water at a time – you don’t want it too thin.  I did this to all my tubs even the ones I thought were destined for the rubbish bin and now they are smooth and lovely once again.

If you need some more ideas for Christmas cards have a look here, here and here!  Oh and I’ve finally started adding photos to my Flickr account so feel free to take a peek.

Kris

Handmade Christmas Decorations

I wanted to share some decorations I made recently.  I had a lot of fun doing these and am rather chuffed with how they came out.  I took some inspiration from Naomi Elliot who featured a Christmas decoration made from the Kaszazz chipboard scallop.  I actually loathed these scallops when they came out as I thought they were pretty useless but now I will eat my words…I love them!  And now I have lots of ideas on how to use them.  Isn’t it funny, sometimes you just need to see something through another persons eyes.

This one I made for my Mum as her favorite colour is blue (sorry for the bluryness).  I love this and am thinking I need to make another one for me to keep!

This shabby chic style pink ornament is the first one I made and I will keep for myself.  I’m thinking of hanging it on the front door perhaps instead of the tradtional wreath, it’s looks nice there!  I love how the black takes the pink from girly girl to classic.

This last one I made in traditional Christmas colours and I am sending it to a swap-bot friend.  The colour is a bit off as I took the photo inside at night 😦

I used all Kaszazz products for these including the new Christmas stamps, design adhesives, glitter, embossing powders, distress crackle paint and distress ink.  I love them all and only wish I had time to make more before the big day!  I’d love to know what you think of my ornaments, so…

So how is your Christmas decorating going?  Do you put up a tree and lights?  Have you made any of your own decorations this year?  I plan on putting our tree up in the next few days as I want to be able to enjoy it for longer this year!  I am also thinking of whipping up some scrapbook paper garlands as they appear to be rather easy…I’ll let you know how that goes ha ha!

cheerio

Kris

Blog Wars – Acetate/Plastic {day 1}

This week we are playing with clear acrylic or acetate sheets as some people call it!  Thank you to Jo for being our host this month. Kaszazz sell the plastic sheets in packs they are on page 50 of the current catalogue.  Anyway stay tuned each day to see all the different ways you can use it.  Also check out what the other girls are up, the links are under blog wars over to the right.

The photo makes your eyes play tricks:: the happy birthday and flowers are on the front clear plastic and the stamped white card is on the inside!  I have painted around the edge of the plastic with picket fence (white) distress crackle paint to give it a bit of a shabby chic look; some of the paint has chipped off but it just adds to the effect!  I’m not sure if I like the rounded edges on this though, what do you think?

All products used available through Kaszazz.  By the way if you are a Kaszazz consultant and would like to join the blog wars group please get in touch as we would love more participants – krismarr@iprimus.com.au

I have another card for tomorrow so come on back y’all!

Kris

Christmas closes in…

Well it’s only 11 days till Christmas!  Amazing how those last few weeks just totally dissapear before your very eyes and you’re left in a total panic worrying if you’ve organised everything, and bought all the food and presents.  Well that’s me anyway – I’m sure a lot of you are super organised and are calmy floating through these few last days before Christmas feeling totally relaxed and enjoying every second.  Goal for next year – have everything organised for Christmas by November 30th.

I love Christmas though even if it might bring on my first grey hair this year.  The decorations, the food, spending quality time with friends and family.  It’s a very special time of year.  I’ve decided to record the twelve days of christmas starting yesterday and finishing on Christmas day.  I’ll take a photo and write notes each day and then compile it all in a mini book.  I got my inspiration from Ali Edwards December Daily but as the month is already halfway through I decided to keep it to 12 days.  I’m not sure if I should give it a theme like what I am thankful for each day?  We will see.  I will post my pictures up for you and try and take photo’s of the assembling of the book at the end.  i really like the idea of mixing and matching all the left over pockets, pieces and bits to make a book that’s full of variety like this one here.  The only thing is that Ali makes her album before she starts the photo taking and note taking so it’s all ready to go.  Sooo should I sit down and do the same or just compile it at the end?  Hmm some thinking to do on that one.

Tim Holtz has just finished his 12 Tags of Christmas for 2008 and I have a lot of interesting techniques and ideas that I want to have a play with.  Kaszazz stocks many of Tim’s products like Distress Inks and Distress Crackle Paint and more so it would be fantastic to show customers some new ideas for these products.  Tim’s blog is a mecca of information and his tutorials are clearly written and each step is photographed.  What a talented and generous guy!

Exciting news – I have finished one of my 2H Workshop Submissions and it will be tested this Wednesday.  Hopefully it won’t need much revision and I can send it in to Kaszazz.  I think it’s fabulous that Kaszazz Consultants can create workshops for Kaszazz and get paid for them.  And when they’re published your name goes on it too so it’s great recognition.  Once my workshop is published I will be able to post photo’s here for you.  I still have to write up my 5PQ and get it tested sometime soon.

Speaking of exciting news I am going to be teaching some Kaszazz workshops at the Kyabram Community and Learning Centre next February.  You can find more info here and I will list the dates on the blog also for easy reference.  I will be teaching 9 different workshops in total featuring various products and techniques so if you’re in the Kyabram area give them a call to book your seat, their phone number is 03 5852 0000.  Each workshop cost is exactly the same as the Kaszazz price listed on their website and includes tuition, materials and use of tools – super fantastic value!  To see photo’s of the projects simply note down the workshop name then log on to the Kaszazz website here and view the 2H Workshop Flyer – easy peasy!  I will be making up all the samples over the next few weeks so hopefully I can show you some pic’s of my progress.  I am so looking forward to it and I hope to see YOU there too.

I need to send out a Very Happy Birthday Wish for my dear friend Bettsy-Lou, aka Kylie who celebrated her birthday on the weekend.  Cheers to you lovely!

Today has dawned bright and sunny does this signify the end of our rain for summer?  It’s still fresh and breezy every morning and I’m jumping in and out of flannelette pyjama’s every night.  Very strange weather, they say Christmas Day will be our hottest in the last few years but I have my doubts.  So roast or bbq Christmas Lunch that is the question!

Stay safe

Kris

ps I am going to see Twilight tomorrow night – I finished the book a few weeks ago and can’t wait to see it.

cards, stamp camp and other stuff

 

Morning all

Had a minor meltdown last night but it vanished as quickly as it had appeared so I am back to my good ol self!  Just things getting on top of me that sort of rubbish.

The Christmas Card Spectacular is going ahead tomorrow, It’s going to be heaps of fun even with the low turn out.  I am buying all the yummies for the bbq tonight and going to make Shae’s rice salad (which is divine) and a potato salad too.  I’ve got to organise the prizes too and thinking I will wrap them in Christmas paper…maybe I should decorate the house too?  That’s not going too crazy is it?  I think it would make it a bit more special.  Okay add that to my to-do list.

Next weekend is our first stamp camp, a weekend full of scrapping, card making, eating, drinking, laughing and no men, no children and no mall small animals!  Hoorah I can’t wait, I’m starting to get excited.  I haven’t really been away without James for ages so I will be missing him of course but it will be great to escape the demands of eveyday life and just have fun for 3 days.  I won’t have to cook or do dishes either, fabulous.  All I need to do is get organised and work out what projects to take with me.  We’ve decided as a group to do the new Distress Crackle Paint Ebony and Ivory Journal – as pictured on the below post on the new product release.  Will be interesting to have a play with these new paints.

I haven’t really done much other scrapping/card making apart from the workshop I taught in Tallygaroopna on Wednesday, we did the Enchanted Christmas Cards, very nice and pretty simple.  It features open style bauble stamps over patterened SB paper, a good idea of getting more use from your stamps, and accents in gel pens.  I’ll pop the photo in here later. Done – see above!

Am working on my class shedule for November so that should be up soon, keep your eye’s peeled (not a very nice saying in visual terms eh?).

stay cool

Kris

crackle paint

oh my goodness, Crackle Paint has arrived at Kaszazz, so very exciting and I can’t wait to get my hands on it even though I have no idea how to use it.  Don’t worry that will soon change and I’ll find some links for you guys too.  We also have another 20 new colours added to out Adirondack Paint Dabber range – looking forward to seeing them too.

Ok I just picked up my goodies from the post office from my $300 Kaszazz voucher so I’m off to open it and have a play.  It’s like Christmas every time an order comes in, I love it.

See ya

Kris