Blossom Designs

Merry Christmas

I forgot to post this the other day............

Australia Flood Appeal

As flood waters continue to inundate Australia in what has been described as the worst flooding in 37 years, we express our deepest sympathies to those who have lost loved ones and homes and to those whose lives have been changed forever. We, like so many of you, feel a compelling need to lend support to all those who have been affected.

Stampin' Up! demonstrators have a long history of making a difference in the lives of others--especially when disaster strikes and the need is greatest. Nearly two years ago, we watched another tragedy unfold in Australia. Our hearts were touched as demonstrators, customers and friends joined together in support of the Bushfire Appeal. We've done it before and we can certainly do it again!

Please join with us by supporting the Australia Flood Appeal - a cause in which Stampin' Up! will donate $2 AUD of the retail value of sales from any stamp set (with a retail value of $30 or more) sold in Australia and New Zealand from 15 January through 15 February to the State Emergency Services in Queensland.

Now onto the Christmas cards I made.

You may remember THIS card and I loved it so much I decided to CASE it and use it as my Christmas card.

I decided to use 3 different colours as I had a number of cards to make, I knew I would get bored using just 1 colour.  LOL 

I also used Delightful Decorations & Contempo Christmas stamp sets. 

That's all for tonight.  The kiddies are in bed and I'm going to make myself a coffee and maybe make a card (or two).  I've had left over kits from my classes last year and found them the other day.  I thought why not make them up for myself.  That way, I have a stash of cards for birthdays and other occasions this year.

On a sad note......my aunty passed away on Saturday.  :-(  The funeral will be on Thursday but I also attended a funeral last Thursday for my SIL.  Her mother sadly passed away.  2 funerals in 2 weeks - not a good start to 2011.  I do have other news but more on that later.

Happy Stamping,

     


 

Christmas Gifts

I wanted to give my ladies who attend my classes something nice for Christmas to say "Thank You" for making my first year of classes such a success.  This is what I came up with.

(this is how the tin started out)

  
(this is the end result!)

I am really please with how they all turned out.  I used the Greenhouse Gala DSP with coordinating cardstock (pear pizzaz, daffodil delight, chocolate chip, real red, pumpkin pie & baja breeze).

 
 

Here are some of the goodies found inside the tins.  Watercolour Crayons and acessories.....plus lots of cholocate too!  LOL 

The other tins......

 
 

 
 

 
 

  

 
So, that is all the tins.  What do you think?  The girls liked them so that's good!  LOL

Happy Stamping,

   

Not To Plan

Merry Christmas and a Happy new Year to you all......that is if anyone is still reading my blog after my absence.

I certainly didn't mean to take a break and then for it to be for soooooo long.  I wanted to share some projects with you and fill you in on what has been happening around here.

First thing to tell you about is Mr O's 6th birthday.  We had a brilliant time in QLD and Oliver absolutely loved having his birthday at Movie World.  The ONEride he wanted to go on was the Scooby Doo Rollercoaster!  So, while I stayed with Miss M, daddy took Oliver on the ride.  M and I waited at the exit and inside the shop there were monitors showing the photos that were taken during the ride.  I kept watching and watching and watching and thought maybe Oliver changed his mind about going on the ride!  I was about to leave when I saw Oliver's face!  Oh my.....he was not impressed at all. LOL. I couldn't help laugh because I knew what was coming.  He did not want to go on THAT ride again - it freaked him out!!!!

 
The rest of December was taken up with school activities and his Christmas concert.

My in laws arrived from the UK on the 18th December and were here for 3 weeks.  I knew in that time I probably wouldn't be posting.  They were lucky to leave the UK as the airports opened for a few days which was when their flight was.

We spent Christmas at my parent's house and had a beautiful lunch.  It was a very warm day too and luckily "Santa" bought a small pool for the kids.  A couple of inches of water was all that was needed and Miss M in her bikini (LOL).  They splashed about and had a ball.

 
We spent 3 days in Lake Macquarie for New Year's.  A nice few days away to somewhere we haven't been before.

Well, that is it for now.  I will set up some posts to show you my projects. Thank you for reading my blog and please, do leave comments - I love to read them.

Happy Stamping,

  

 

 

Merry Christmas

A few months ago, I attended a training day organised by my upline Jayne Mercer.  It has taken me this long to photograph our projects!  Oh my!

A new product in the Idea Book & Catalogue is the 'shimmer paint' (pg. 143).  It is gorgeous!  You can see it being used on the project above.  See the bauble shimmer?!

You can see the shimmer better in this photo.  It is the first time I have used the shimmer paint and while it can be a bit messy, the end result is beautiful.

We made 4 projects this particular day so I will be back with more to show you.

On a personal note.....I thought I would share a photo of the kiddies.

This was taken this morning.  Oliver was not very well so was resting on his couch and Emily has taken to squishing in next to him.  LOL.  For her birthday, she got her own 'Tinkerbell' couch so she is enjoying her own freedom (or at least Oliver is!).  Nothing else will keep Em quiet but watching Tinkerbell.  Her face lights up if she see's Tinkerbell out at the shops.....it is funny to see.  Oliver will watch just about any movie anyway and he likes Tinkerbell too.

Happy Stamping,

 

P.S. - have a great Halloween tomorrow.  Oliver is excited. LOL
 

 

 

 

 

Christmas SAS

Wouldn't you know it......I typed this post 2 days ago and as I clicked on 'publish', it froze.  Only this tab froze.  I could still work on my other tabs so I left it for a while and came back to it, but it was still frozen......and no, I didn't save it.....so guess what?  Yep, I lost it.  Here's hoping I don't lose this one.

Anyway, I don't think I showed you the card my ladies made at last month's Christmas Stamp-a-stack class.

The medallion stamp is a big stamp.  I didn't like it at first but it is really growing on me more and more.  This card has no layers, just stamping and of course, some bling using dazzling diamonds.  LOL.
 

You can see the 'bling' better in this photo.  The quote is from the hostess set, "Occasional Quotes", level 3.

My trip to my parent's house yesterday was successful as I found my trimmer and ALL of my stamping stuff (phew!) as I had a class last night that I needed to prepare for.  So, I was in a mad rush cutting out my card stock yesterday afternoon.  Miss M had a great day with her nanny and poppy too.

Happy Stamping,

 

Christmas SAS

Last month saw the start of my Christmas Stamp-a-Stack classes.

Here is the first card.  I've used Kraft and Pacific Point cardstock.  A bit non-traditional Christmas colours but I really like it.

A close up of the sparkle and rhinestone brad.

The same card but using traditional Christmas colours.  I don't know if you can see in this picture, but I scored 1cm on either side (not the top or bottom).

Here is a better photo to show you the scored lines.

These cards are great if you have a lot to do.  The longest part was the 2-step stamping with the flower stamp from Cottage Garden.  I used the 5 petal flower punch to then punch them out instead of cutting them out (that was a time saver!!). You could get a bunch of these completed in a few hours.  I think I might keep these as MY christmas cards to send out this year.

Boy, the weather has turned cold again here in Sydney. Brrrrrrr.  Over the weekend we had 20 & 22 degrees and we opened all our windows and doors hoping to get rid of any illness that might be lying around ready to get us again (lol).  Since Monday we have had 15 degrees. Brrrrr.  Bring on the warmer weather I say.  :-)

Happy Stamping,

    Kylie
 
 

It is Blog Hop Time!!

 

Welcome to The INKlings’ Team’s Christmas in July blog hop. You may have arrived here from Jayne Mercer's blog or just be visiting my blog, whichever way once you’ve checked out my creations you can continue the hop through the link at the end of this post to the next team member.  
 
How quick is this year going!  Have you started to think about your Christmas cards and projects yet?  The INKlings team has and we thought that this month was the perfect time to host a Christmas in July blog hop.  You'll find lots of great ideas provided by 19 team members’ fantastic blogs.  
 
Want to win some Blog Candy? Simply leave a comment on each blog and then email Christie Wallace HERE and let her know you’ve done so and you’ll be in the running for a fantastic prize of 17 handmade cards plus other goodies.  
 
Sorry Blog Candy prize not available to SU! demonstrators but you're more than welcome to leave us a comment! 
 

Now, onto my projects!!  :-)

 

My first project is a desk calendar. Luckily, I still had some calendars left over.  I knew what type of card I was going to make for the blog hop but I didn't know what else I was going to make.  I have seen a few blogs show the desk calendar and went to find a tutorial for it.  Click HERE for the tutorial.

 

 

A sneak peak at what is inside!!  LOL.  I used the trio punch for the red flower behind the rhinestone brad.

 

 

Oh look, some gift tags ready to use.  You could easily make thousands of these.  Just stamp and punch using the small tag punch.

 

 

Onto my card.  This card is the 'joy fold card' I found on SCS.  I thought it looked interesting so I wanted to give it a go myself.

 

 

I stamped my image (Lovely As A Tree) using SU! whisper white craft stampin' pad.  As you can see, it is not as white as the desk calendar image.  I didn't use white embossing powder on the card and now wish I had.  Oh well.  My original plan was to use dazzling diamonds but I was too lazy to find it (I think it is still in the dinning room after my last class).  I then got carried away with making the desk calendar that the crystal effects (can you see it shinning away on the image?) had practically dried.

 

Here is the card opened.

Well that’s all from me.  Next stop on the INKlings’ Team Blog Hop is Kari Hughes.  Have fun and don't forget to leave a comment on each blog to win some great Blog Candy.

 

Happy Stamping,

    Kylie

In case you missed any blogs, here is the full list.  Enjoy!

Christie Wallace http://www.christiescreativecorner.blogspot.com 
Dani Holland http://daniholland.wordpress.com/  
Carol Dunstan http://inkantations-and-inkarnations.blogspot.com/ 
Michelle Dyson http://www.stampinkpaper.blogspot.com  
Jayne Mercer http://www.jaynemercer.com/blogs    
Kylie Swain  http://kraftykylie.typepad.com/blossom_designs/ 
Kari Hughes http://www.karigail.wordpress.com 
Dani Fender http://danifender.blogspot.com 
Beth Stewart http://www.elisabethstewart.com/bethinking/ 
Nicky Adamson  http://www.nickyadamson.blogspot.com 
Clare McIllhatton  http://www.crafty-cow.com 
Amy Anderson http://amyandersonsblog.blogspot.com 
Fiona Brown http://www.fionajanestamping.blogspot.com 
Michelle Frost-Stevenson http://www.stampinground.wordpress.com 
Fiona Poirier http://fionapoirier.blogspot.com/ 
Divya Rao - http://www.creadivya.blogspot.com/ 
Rachel Jackson http://havefunstamping.blogspot.com/

Supplies
Stamps: Lovely As A Tree, Teeny Tiny Sentiments, Cottage Garden.
Ink: Whisper White Craft Pad, Chocolate Chip
Paper: Riding Hood Red, Old Olive, Holiday Treasure DSP .
Accessories: White Gel Pen, Scallop Oval Punch, Extra-large Two-Step Bird Punch, Circle Ice Rhinestone Brad, Scallop Edge Punch, Trio Flower Punch, Word Window Punch, Small Tag Punch, Linen Thread, Sticky Strip, Dimensionals, White Embossing Powder, Stamp-a-ma-jig, Crystal Effects, Crafter's Tool Kit.

Merry Christmas

I wanted to pop on here quickly to wish you all a very Merry Christmas!

Last night Oliver left some goodies for Santa and his reindeer!

(Beer, Mince Pie & Arrowroot Biscuit, Whiskey & Reindeer food!)

Oh, he also left Santa a note:

We have had a lovely day with Oliver opening up everyone's presents for them.  Here he is with his new Thomas The Tank Engine play set.

It got a bit too much for Poppy and Emily by late afternoon!  LOL

I hope that you all had a wonderful day with your family and friends.

.

Christmas Tree Decorating!

We finally put up our Christmas tree this week.  Oliver was in charge of decorating the tree.  LOL

Although we couldn't find the star, Rob had an idea for an angel!

Yes, it is Emily!!  ROFLOL.  Oliver then wanted to be the angel - no way could lift him and hold him like Emily!

Here he is turning on the lights.  You might be able to see that the baubles aren't quite evenly spaced so me just being me, have had to add more baubles and moved a few around!  I went out and bought a new star after these photos were taken and then I found the 'old' star so I may use that next year.

Do you do colour themes?  Last year it was red and gold, this year as you can see from the tree it is only gold and next year I am thinking of black and white.  I still love the traditional christmas colours but I also like something different every now and then.  LOL.

Happy Stamping,

,

Seasons Greetings lalalalala lala la la

Seasons Greetings?  I know, you are thinking 'she's lost the plot!'.  Not quite but I do sometimes wonder!  LOL.  Christmas is only 2 weeks away!  Scary.

Here are my Christmas cards I sent out this year.  They are already postal and the recipients should hopefully have them by now.  I send cards to the United Kingdom, Germany, USA, Canada, New Zealand and of course Australia.  Where do you send cards to?

I sort my cards into countries but after visiting the post office, I only needed to have two piles - one for Australia and the other for the rest of the world!  It costs the same amount to post to New Zealand as it does to post to the United Kingdom!!!  Go figure!

Just a close up of one.  I used the Holiday Treasures DSP along with the Party Hearty stamp set.  I added the Double Stitched Baja Breeze Grosgrain Ribbon as it was looking a bit boring and just needed something else.  LOL

I've been for a long walk tonight to get rid of the baby weight I gained.  I know I am going to feel it tomorrow and be even worse on Sunday but I'm hoping to get back out walking on Sunday so my body will get used to it again.  I had back issues while pregnant so long walks were out of the question and I really miss my exercise (never thought I would say that!!).

Have a great weekend.

Happy Stamping,

.

Merry Christmas

Still more cards from the "INKlings" team weekend away.  This great card is designed by Sharon Boyd.  How cute is the penguin poking out from the DSP!

Happy Stamping,

.

Supplies
Stamps: Punch Pals.
Ink: Riding Hodd Red, Whisper White.
Paper: Riding Hood Red, Old Olive, Chocolate Chip, Ski Slope DSP, Whisper White, .
Accessories: Scallop Edge Punch, Silver Brad, 1/4" Old Olive Grosgrain Ribbon.

Choo Choo Christmas

Oops......I thought I had this post scheduled to go, but obviously NOT!!  LOL.  Sorry people.

This fun and lovely card is designed by Beth Stewart.  Another swap/card-in-a-box from the team weekend.  I have the adorable Choo Choo stamp set and made THIS card.  Beth has used the Ski Slope DSP in the Spring Mini and they are gorgeous!  Not my favourite papers when I first saw them but after seeing them in person, they really are nice.  I have yet to cut mine up!

Happy Stamping,

.

Supplies
Stamps: Choo Choo.
Ink: Baja Breeze, Real Red, Old Olive.
Paper: Baja Breeze, Chocolate Chip, Ski Slope DSP, Whisper White, .
Accessories: Circle Punch, Silver Brad.

Christmas SAS For August

Would you like to join me this month for my Christmas Stamp-a-Stack class?

When: 18th August
Where: My house
Time: 7pm for 7:30pm start
Cost: $20 (includes envelopes)

RSVP: 11th August.

Contact me to reserve your spot.  Looking forward to seeing you there.

Happy Stamping,

.

Supplies - Season Of Joy Card
Stamps: Season of Joy.
Ink: Not Quite Navy, Baja Breeze, White.
Paper: Not Quite Navy, Baja Breeze, Whisper White.
Accessories: Scallop Edge Punch.

Supplies - Merry Christmas Card
Stamps: Season of Joy.
Ink: Not Quite Navy, Baja Breeze.
Paper: Very Vanilla, Not Quite Navy, Baja Breeze, Kraft.
Accessories: White Gel Pen, Scallop Edge Punch.

Too Blue?

Yes, the title is my question to you!

I am normally a very traditional coloured person for Christmas but for some reason, I wanted to be different this year.

I made this last night as a start on my Christmas cards.  I CASEd this layout from my friend and name sake Kylie - no, no THATKylie!  LOL.  Although who wouldn't want her body or her money?!  ROFLOL

Anyway, back to my card!  After putting this together, I'm now thinking that instead of the lighter blue (Brocade Blue) layered on top of the base card stock (Brilliant Blue), I could use white and then the blue ribbon would stand out more.  My husband suggested using a 'red' ribbon instead?  Hmm, not sure.

Here is my tree all glittered!  There has to be some kind of glitter on Christmas cards - right?  LOL

Tell me what you think or if you would do something else.

Happy Stamping,

.

Christmas Stash

Well, I must have been good this year as look what Santa gave me !! Lots of SU! goodies.

I have had a little play today with my Bold Butterfly set as I really love that one. My friend Karen (using this stamp set) made cards with matching card box - have a look HERE. The colours she used are fab !

My order was not complete as I ordered the Jumbo Spot On Wheel but got this set instead !! I also received the wrong colour ribbon but that is no big deal.

I hope Santa was good to you all and that you had a wonderful day with family or catching up with friends. My little Oliver had a ball and was impressed that Santa drank his whiskey and ate his mince pie !! LOL

Happy Crafting.

K.

Do you know, after all the Christmas cards I made, I forgot to make one for my husband.

I had to quickly make this tonight, while I was clearing away all my craft stuff as I use our dining table to craft on.

I hope he likes it !



K.

Christmas Treat Box

I did a treat box a while ago and thought it would be nice to do a Christmas one. I again used my Basic Grey papers - how I love BG.

This is the view from above - now all I have to do is fill it up with goodies.

Here is the side view and I added some Bazzil flowers and white eyelets. I don't think I will do anymore to it other wise the wonderful paper will be lost. I had to get the tree in the back ground.

K.

8 more sleeps to go !! Jingle bells, jingle bells.......

Card in the post

I opened up my post today and this beautiful handmade card from my friend Karen in Queensland arrived - Thank you Karen. What a lovely bright & cheery christmas card to receive. It certainly makes the day brighter considering it gets dark by 4pm here in the UK.

I hope Karen receives my card very soon.

K.

Here It Is!

How do you like my new card holder ?!?!?! I bought it from Lakeland a few weeks ago when I went shopping. (Nicole O, does it look familiar - didn't you buy one when you were in London 2 years ago ???)

Here is my Christmas card and envelope. I hope you can see the red glitter on the retro snowflake on the card. I stamped it in black in first then I decided to add the glitter. It does look better in the flesh than on here.
Here is a closer view.


I hope family and friends like it when it arrives in the post.

K.


Supplies:
Stamps: Stampendous (Retro Border), Crafter's Companion (Merry Christmas Words)
Ink: Versafine (Onyx Black)
Paper: Bazzill cardstock, Basic Grey (Fruitcake - Nutcracker/Pine).
Accessories: Red Organza Ribbon, White Gel Pen, Red Glitter, Nestabilities.

Christmas Cards Are On Their Way

YAY !!!! After all the rain the UK has had this week, today the sun is out and after dropping Oliver off at nursery, I finally got to send ALL my christmas cards. I have 6 countries to send to - Australia (naturally), UK, New Zealand, Canada, Mexico & Germany. Now all I have to do it hand deliver a few to neighbours and friends. Next thing on my list is present shopping - no I haven't done that yet !! OMG! I am meeting a friend next Tuesday to do some shopping. I am hoping to get it done in ONE day - wish me luck.

K.

The Finishing Touches

I am busy today finishing off my christmas cards. I decided I would stamp the envelopes so after completing the inserts, that is exactly what I did. I only have about 1/3 to go and then I can send out my cards. Yipppeeee !!

I will take a photo of the completed card and envelope and post it after the cards have been sent - I know, you want to see now !! Sorry.

K.

Sneaky Peak

Here is a sneak peak at my Christmas cards. Last year I made about 6 different styles and about 5 of each style. This year I made them all the same.

If you look closely enough, you can see the top of the card inside the envelope.

K.

One More

Here is another sample. I got the sketch from Amy Westerman (check out her blog). I changed the sketch slightly and only added the sentiment and not the image, mainly because I am on my out the door to my keep fit class and my christmas stamps haven't come out of their box yet. I will grab some when I get home tonight and hopefully post another sample.

Supplies: Stamps: Crafter's Companion. Ink: Versafine (Black). Paper: Bazzill cardstock, Basic Grey (Fruitcake). Accessories: Red Organza Ribbon, Rectangle Nestabilities, White Gel Pen.

Another Christmas Card

Ignore the eyelet at the top left corner, I was trying something and didn't like it but I cannot take out the eyelet now it has been set. The white border around the 'merry chrismas' sentiment is a white gel pen. I wanted to use my Papertrey Ink Borders & Corners stamp but they weren't big enough - I could have played a bit more but as it was after 11pm, I was too tired.

Supplies: Stamps: Crafter's Companion, Stampendous - Perfectly Clear Stamps (Retro Border). Ink: Versafine (Black). Paper: Bazzill cardstock, Basic Grey (Fruitcake). Accessories: Red Organza Ribbon, Red Gem Stones, White Gel Pen, Square Nestabilities.

Christmas Cards

I started on some Christmas cards last night using my nestabilities (first time I have used them). I wanted to create a couple of designs to see which one I like the best and then start on making them up to send out this year.

Supplies: Stamps: Crafter's Companion, Stampendous - Perfectly Clear Stamps (Retro Border). Ink: Versafine (Black). Paper: Bazzill cardstock, Basic Grey (Fruitcake). Accessories: Red Organza Ribbon, Red Gem Stones, White Gel Pen, Square Nestabilities.