Can you believe I am back already? Well, neither can I. Let’s hope I can keep this going. I want to thank everyone who left comments on yesterdays post. I do love comment love! You were all so kind too about my first attempt back at card making. I feel so out of the loop and I am definitely not up to date on all the current trends, but in time I am sure I will catch up.
So yesterday I decided to make a heap of clay buttons and flowers using some brand new SU product. I made them all in the new Incolors….

Aren’t they gorgeous. Some are a little distorted but I am sure the more I practice the better I will get. I think the Pistachio Pudding ones could use more ink too. They are looking a little grey in this pic, but trust me they are green!

So after having fun making those I decided to make a card using them….well not all of them, just one in fact.

I must say I am really liking the new Incolors. They are simply divine. Here I have used the combo of Pistachio Pudding, Strawberry Slush and Smoky Slate. I have also used the stamp set Mosaic Madness and Itty Bitty Banners. I have used the Modern Medley DSP as well. So do you see my little button? I tied a little Linen thread through the holes. I think it’s stinking cute.

So I might pop off and go and make another card. I might do get off the single layer card and add some layers, will see how I go.

Thanks for dropping by!

Kirsty

It has been quite a while since my last post. A lot of my friends and blog stalkers have asked me what has been going on, are you still a demonstrator?, do you still craft?…..are you breathing?! LOL. Well that is a yes to all of the above. But the explanation to why I have been MIA is long and I am sure you don’t need to know it all. I will say however I no longer live in Gatton. We now reside on a lovely farm at Southbrook (just outside Toowoomba), so if any of you out this way would like to attend workshops or host your own stamp party, contact me.

I better get moving with this post, I have someone (who I love lots), sitting at her computer waiting for this post to go live! So after another friend advised their could be lots of cobwebs hindering my access to posting I thought I better get in here and clean it out! So without further ado here is my long-awaited, but simple creation I whipped up this morning. I have a lovely friend in mind for this card and I hope she loves it and books a party straight away! LOL

So here are a couple sneak peeks into the upcoming catalogue. I have a new in color Crisp Cantaloupe, a new stamp, Label Love and new DSP Modern Medley. I do like the first card I have made after such a long break. It is simple, but lovely.

Thanks for dropping by!

Kirsty.

Hello everyone!

Everything Eleanor would have to be my favourite stamp set out of the 2012-13 SU catalogue. It is simply gorgeous. It has a variety of solid, silhouette and line art images. I love this sort of variety, very similar to Elements of Style and Creative Elements, which you all know I use a fair bit of both of those sets. So really is it any surprise?! LOL

I had a play with two cards using the same colour combo but mixing it up.

I think this is my favourite, but I always have loved red flowers.

After creating them and sitting back to have a look at them I realised that the birds look like they are ‘pooping’ the pearls. LOL!! It was not meant to look like that, I can assure you.

I also like the Natural Composition SDSP quite a lot and can see me using this a lot too.

So…..it has been a very long time since I have made a card and this one (two), could be my jumping block to get started again. We’ll see! So don’t be shy, what do you think of my ‘return from mega long card making holiday’ creations? Let me know which one is your favourite!

Thanks for dropping by!

This year I had the huge honour of being a presenter on stage. My theme was Packaging and Wrapping Ideas. As soon as I was asked I was brimming full of ideas with what I could create. Some of you may remember when I presented at Canberra convention a couple of years ago and I made did a WOW doing things with Butterflies and Bleaching. I quipped I had a thing for the “B” words, well I continued tradition with creating Bows!! Four different designs in fact and I also shared some awesome ideas with BDivided Page Protectors!

But enough talk I will share with you the pictures from the event, my presentation and some shots of my projects. I will also share with you the measurements for my bows, because I am sure some of the people who attended would love to hear them again!

First off, I know this isn’t a very good shot, but this is Sandy and I doing our own ‘selfie’! LOL

This is a pic with my display.

Now onto the presentation. Thank you Kirri for taking these photos for me. These pics are not top quality (no offence intended Kirri, LOL), they are taken of a huge video screen taking a live feed and the screens were a little grey from the lighting. I have photoshopped them to the best of my ability (obviously I need lessons, LOL).

This is the 1st bow, aptly named the ‘Gift Bow’ the measurements are

• 3/4″ wide (all pieces)
• 3 x 12″
• 3 x 11″
• 3 x 10″
• 1 x 5″

Here are the pics of my projects making this gorgeous bow

Now for the next bow,

The second bow I called a ‘Figure 8′ bow. The measurements  for the smaller one are

• 1/2″ wide
• 4 x 6″
• 3 x 4 1/2″
• 1 x 2 1/2″

I also made a big version,

• 1″ wide
• 6 x 11″
• 4 x 8″
• 1 x 3″

Here is a better photo of the finished project

Now bow #3

I called this one the ‘Double Bow’. Measurements are,

• 3/4″ wide
• 1 x 7″
• 1 x 5″
• 1 x 4″
• 1 x 2″

Remember you only bow fold the 5 and 7 inch pieces.

Here are the projects using this bow

Now for the last bow, the ’Big Tail Bow’, bow number four!

Measurements are,

• 2 @ 5  1/2″ x 1  1/2″
• 2 @ 3/4″ x 6″

On both of the bigger pieces measure 1 3/4″ at each end in on ONE of the long sides.

Here is the finished project

I shared a couple of other packaging ideas that I think are super cute, have a look

Plus a gorgeous tag I created using some new product that will release early next year. So here is a sneak peek

The next part of my presentation was all about the Divided Page Protectors. I Lurve these things they are great as scrapbooking pages, they make it so easy and quick to scrapbook a page. But I used them as gift tags, have a look

I did some splattering on the gift box and showed all the lovely ladies how I did that plus a simple masking.

Can you see the splatters in the top left and aver the scrapped page?

I also took the Top Note Reindeer out of the page protector and quickly attached him to a Fancy Favor box to show just another cute gift box, and that my friends was the end of my presentation.

Please be aware I put this post together mainly to remind attendees the measurements for the bows and remind them of some elements I used. I decided not to do a full instructional post as this would be too much and it is already such a long post, not to mention I have a lot to do in my home to get it back in shape after three months of continual crafting for the Craft Show and the Heartfelt Event.

I hope you enjoyed my presentation if you attended and have inspired everyone with some ideas for Packaging and Wrapping!

Thanks for dropping by!

Hello everyone!

Long time, no post! It has been a crazy few months here in the Brown household. I must confess at this point, about 2 months ago I was seriously considering stepping down as a Stampin’ Up! demonstrator (that’s how crazy it got). A lot of factors were in play as to the reason for ceasing my role. The worst I think was when I had a very bad party/workshop experience. I had never met such a rude bunch of ladies. So bad in fact I drove away from the event crying vowing never to do another party and to date I have kept that promise. I also lost inspiration for new fun and creative ideas to do at my regular workshops/classes. Basically I felt I had done all I could do with my Stampin’ career. I also didn’t know whether I would be taking part in the BIG annual Christmas in the Country craft show I always attend.

I think though the fact that we had a lot of changes at home in regards to David starting a new career, which resulted in him being away for a week at a time, and my youngest starting school, which resulted in me taking on a lot more volunteer work at the school with tuckshop, uniform shop and in class work., has also been a factor in my near demise of being “Kirsty Brown Independent Stampin’ Up! Dempnstrator”.It was so bad in fact that until last week I hadn’t ordered anything out of the brand new Stampin’ UP! catalogues, which released in September. Hopefully my new goodies will be here early this week and I can have a good play with some fun new stamps.

Well as you can tell by the title of this post I did go ahead with the Craft Show and I have lots of pics to share of the event (something like 16 of them). I had a very similar display to last year but with loads of new projects. Take a look

So that’s it! If you are a liker of my FB page you would have already seen these over the past few days, as this event started Thursday night and finished Saturday afternoon. I am so glad I decided to do this event as I met a whole new bunch of ladies who would like to attend my workshops/classes and would love to learn how to create all the things they had seen at my stall. Not to mention the fabulous sales I had. This event is actually the main fundraiser for Peace Lutheran Primary School to which my children attend so it is quite special to me and I hope my stall has done them proud and made lots of money for them too. To all those people close to Gatton, you really should come check it out next year, it is absolutely fabulous with the best the valley has on offer. I always find fabulous Christmas gifts here every year, and everything is handmade. So I will see you next year!

Thanks for dropping by!

Hello everyone,

Time for another Festive Friday Challenge. This round is a Father’s Day Special, mixed with the challenge of using brads as the focal point. I think I did okay, I struggled with it a little. Usually when doing something manly I don’t think brads, but I like what I cane up with.

I used the Best Dad Ever stamp set, and matched it up with the Just Add Cake and Well Worn DSP’s. The colours I used are Wild Wasabi, Early Espresso, Soft Suede and Very Vanilla. The middle tie is full of polka dots and I used the silver Mini Brads in place of them. After making this card I think it would have been more effective if I popped that one tie on dimensionals to stand out and look more 3D. I love the aged look of this card too. I just sponged some Soft Suede around the edges of the main panel and the Wild Wasabi DSP.

I hope you get a chance to play along this week, I would love to see what you create.

Thanks for dropping by!

Hello everyone,

I’m back to share some scrapping with you all. I have been doing a fair bit of it lately I just need to take photos of them all.

All products are from my personal stash. I kept this design quite simple, but fun.

Here I used the Tasteful Trim die on the two pieces of patterned paper.

Thanks for dropping by!

Hello everyone,

It’s Festive Friday Challenge time, and this round is a sketch. I do apologise for getting this up late, but it has been a very hectic week……month, actually. I must also say that I was quite ill when I made this card and I don’t think I should do that again! LOL!

Here is my submission

I used the Letter’s to Santa DSP quite heavily and matched it with the Merry and Type stamp set. I dyed my hemp twine with Early Espresso ink. I wanted this to look a little more vintage and I used the distressing kit with the Tea Stain ink in it. I rubbed it over all pieces of cardstock using the rubber stamp block in the kit.

Don’t forget to head over to the Festive Friday Challenge blog and play along. I would love to see what you create with this sketch.

Thanks for dropping by!

Hello everyone!

It’s time for another Festive Friday Challenge. This week it is an inspiration challenge. Here is the pic

and here is my submission

As you can see I took inspiration from the big giant baubles, particularly the glittery one in the back. I wanted to keep it CAS, with minimal layering. I think I did well. The bauble looks great and I used some of the Lucky Limeade bakers twine to embellish. I used the tree stamp out of Loads of Love to create the Christmas tree branch. I also used the Welcome Christmas stamp set to finish the card off, the tree trimming image suiting perfectly.

Well I hope you find time to join along with us this week, as it’s great to see what other people take from inspiration pics with limited possibilities, and they create something so different to the person before them. You just have to look at the DT’s creations to see that. They are all so different but I can see where they have drawn inspiration. They are so awesome!! LOL!

Thanks for dropping by!

Hello everyone!

It’s time again for a Festive Friday Challenge and this week it is a Colour Challenge.

I love these tones together and if I could make every card in these I would be a happy girl! LOL!

I now have a love affair going with the Elizabeth stamp set. It’s not only great for the placement of the sentiment but also a good background element if stamped in the right places. I also love the two little banners underneath the vintage brad. They are a cute little element, but they are not too distracting that it draws your eye away from the main image.

I hope you all have a chance to play along this week and share with us what you have created.

Thanks for dropping by!