No longer MIA

Hello everyone,

Long time no chat (or sharing of any creations). My life is totally different to what it was 3, even 4 years ago. In some ways it is better, and in other ways it’s not.

The good– My daughters are now competing Equestrians. They do predominantly dressage and show jumping. It is so exciting, but very tiring with the long hours training, caring for the horses and competing. We first started with Pony Club events, but last year we also delved into the world of Interschool. So now most of our weekends are spent out and about travelling SE QLD competing. My eldest son is now 19 years old and he is an apprentice plumber, but still lives at home. My youngest son is busy also with his soccer and athletics (he particularly loves his sprints and high jump. So yes, the kids are keeping me super busy…..but wait there’s more. I have also taken on roles within the pony club and school. I am on my third year as treasurer for the PC and my fourth year as vice president at the school as well as the uniform shop convener. I have also achieved my first level in instructing at pony club. See, I’m busy.

The bad– Such a busy life means less time for the crafting, so it has suffered a great deal. I have resigned as a Stampin’ Up! demonstrator and I haven’t made a card in nearly two years. I didn’t do last years Christmas in the Country Craft Show for the first time in seven or eight years. I have been doing some Smashbooking and Project Life, but nowhere near enough to keep up. I have realised of late however, that I need to do more of it as it really does keep me sane. I cannot guarantee regular blog posts, but this is a start, right?!

Now to kick us off I have created this Christmas LO, which in itself is also a miracle because I have only ever made one other Christmas LO, and that was back in 2008 (I think).

Pretty basic, just paper layers and a few embellishments. I have a very small amount of mixed media on this page and it is under the title. It’s a little bit of Shimmerz dimensional paste in the colour of Foiled Again. I did not like the plush toys above Santa, they were so distracting. The paste has muted them a bit and now not so obvious.

This page was created solely using the November Hip Kits. I have been buying their kits since September last year. I have to say these are the best kits I have ever purchased. Very happy with them and postage is cheap.

Some close ups

I am now digging into my January kits (yes I am quite behind), and I have some really nice LO’s on their way. So keep tuned.

Thanks for dropping by,

Kirsty

Live the Life You’ve Imagined!

Hello everyone,

Since I did the big move to Southbrook I restarted some workshops and quickly found that a scrapbook workshop is the popular choice here in this quaint little town. I haven’t shared any of these projects on my blog and thought I should start. This particular page I am sharing today was this weeks workshop.

I used quite a few stamp sets, six in fact. It is one of the reasons I love Stampin’ Up! The stamp sets coordinate well with each other. Another item I love about Stampin’ Up!, and it is totally free, is the brown packing paper in the Big Brown Box that is filled with your goodies. I use it on my projects as a DSP (designer series paper). You can tear it, scrunch it, stamp on it, spritz ink on it, anything you can think of really. It’s a great neutral ‘filler’ for your layout. It especially looks good on boy themed layouts. Can you tell I love it?!

I sprinkled Whisper White ink in one of my Stampin’ Spritzer bottles over the layout and added a few Candy Dots for a pop of colour. I also outlined some pieces including the DSP with a Basic Black Stampin’ Write marker. I use this technique to make that particular element stand out, but it’s not too much that it takes away from the photo. I used Dimensionals to lift the photo off the page and slide my three tags beneath it. I will use the white for journalling and the other two will be fillers or you can put some smaller photos on them.

It’s a great simple layout anyone can do and the ladies attending loved the workshop. It  also gave me a good excuse to crack open the NEW KRAFT CARDSTOCK!! This stuff is awesome. It is heavier than our regular CS and this is a more natural Kraft colouring. Be sure to check that stuff out, plus any of the other gorgeous products I used.

Thanks for dropping by,

Kirsty

Six-Sided Sampler Wood Stamp Set

$46.95

Gorgeous Grunge Wood Stamp Set

$42.95

Kinda Eclectic Wood-Mount Stamp Set

$48.95

Really Good Greetings Wood Stamp Set

$32.95

Geometrical Wood Stamp Set

$51.95

Hardwood Clear Stamp Set

$24.95

Kraft 12″ X 12″ Card Stock

$9.95

Whisper White A4 Card Stock

$14.95

Basic Gray A4 Card Stock

$11.95

Lost Lagoon A4 Cardstock

$11.95

Hello Honey A4 Cardstock

$11.95

Moonlight Designer Series Paper Stack

$11.95

Crumb Cake Classic Stampin’ Pad

$9.95

Basic Gray Classic Stampin’ Pad

$9.95

Lost Lagoon Classic Stampin’ Pad

$9.95

Hello Honey Classic Stampin’ Pad

$9.95

Stampin’ Spritzer

$4.95

Whisper White Craft Stampin’ Ink Refill

$7.50

Tag Topper Scalloped Punch

$39.95

Hexagon Punch

$27.95

Chalk Talk Framelits Die

$42.95

Basic Black Stampin’ Write Marker

$5.95

Linen Thread

$7.95

Regals Candy Dots

$9.95

Silver Basic Metal Buttons

$13.95

Stampin’ Dimensionals

$6.95

Table by StampinBuddy. Try it FREE.

Scrappy Goodness!

Hello everyone!

Long time, no blog post. So much has happened these past few months, some are good, some bad. Let’s do the good stuff first.

The Christmas in the Country Craft Show is coming up on October 31st through to 2nd November, and I have been creating madly for it. For those who have been before to this event, you know how fun it is and the quality of product offered. It is a fabulous fundraiser for the local school Peace Lutheran Primary, one which my children used to attend when I lived in the area. This year I will have a lot more on offer and have tried a few new things. My favourite so far is the spinning pinwheels I have created. I love them!

Some other good news is that my sister just gave birth on the 13th September to a beautiful baby girl weighing in at 8lb 7oz. There is no name as yet, my sister is undecided, so I’m not sure what she is calling her when she talks to her, lol. When I get a decent photo I will share it with you. The ones I have turned out blurry. Tamara, if you are reading this I think her name should be Elizabella!!! haha!

Now for the sad news, my beloved paint horse Cash passed away late in the evening on the 9th September. The poor boy was diagnosed with Bronchitis two months earlier, but never got better. He was given two different Antibiotics (at different times of course), but neither of them helped. The vet started to think he may have had an abscess in his lungs after he was tested for EIA (Equine Infectious Anaemia), and it returned a negative result. His last week of life was spent on Bute to help with pain and his fevers, but his big heart gave out in the end. It was not what I or the vet expected and I can assure you I was devastated when I found him at my before bed check. I decided not to go through with a Autopsy. I felt I couldn’t go through the process and clean up after. I had him buried with our other two horses Lukey and Guardian in the paddock the very next day. I was inconsolable for three days and it took another three to not cry if I spoke of him. All that has placated me is that he is pain-free and running around in horsey heaven, racing Lukey and playing tiggy with Guardian. We have one horse left, Dusty, and he is feeling a little lost without his pal, so I will have to look into getting him a paddock mate. I don’t think I will be ready to buy another horse for quite a while, none of them would compare to my buddy Cash. I will need to start afresh when it doesn’t hurt so much.

Here are a couple of pics of my boy.

The last one is of Cash and Dusty hanging out in the yards. I miss you buddy!

Okay, no more sadness. I have some scrapbooking to share with you. The first one is one I taught in workshop recently and the other is what I created with the scraps from the first one with some “other” embellishments.

They are just super quick and easy layouts and I am very much enjoying using different sized photos in conjunction with the regular 4″x6″. You will se a lot more of that from me I think.

Here is a list of what I have used

• I Am Me Designer Series Paper
• Washi tape from the This and That collection
• Label die from Apothecary Accents
• Large Scallop Edgelit
• Basic Grey and Pool Party spritzers I made with the re-inkers
• Calypso Coral twine
• Chalk Talk SS and framelits
• White embossing powder

All of these items can be found at my online store available through Stampin’ Up! If you have any questions about my layout and how I did it please ask via email or in the comment section below.

Thanks for dropping by!

Kirsty

Cartin’ the Wheel!

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!

Boys can be Fairies too!

Hello everyone!

I am having lots of fun scrapping lately, and I have heaps more to share. I completed a double LO yesterday and I absolutely love it. I cannot wait to share, but I want to find the perfect place to take a photo of them. As you will see in the next photo I am getting quite a glare in the spot I am currently using. Which is unfortunate as it is the best place for light. So please forgive me for the crappy photos…LOL!

I attempted a new technique with this LO. I have seen some beautiful things made with melted crayon on Pinterest I thought I would have a go! I have however discovered you have to use a certain type of crayon. Different brands obviously have different amounts of oil in them. As you can see in this photo the first blue from left and the yellow didn’t leave an oily residue around the melted crayon where the rest did. Funnily I am not sure what brands they are as I used my kids crayons and a lot of them have their wrappers missing! LOL! I will play some more and let you know!

Thanks for dropping by!

Boy Wonder!

Hello everyone!

I have some more scrapping to show you. This one was a workshop LO I made last year. I love the simplicity of this one. But it has come together well.

I used Well Worn DSP. The base colour is Lucky Limeade with Confetti White. I used the Tasteful Trim die for the chipboard scallop edge and inked it in Early Espresso ink. I used Simple Letters Alphabet for the ‘boy’ part of the title and Just Add Cake letter paper for ‘wonder’. I used Extreme Elements stamp set and the colours Early Espresso and Lucky Limeade. I used the scallop circle out of Perfect Pennants and cut out a chipboard drinks coaster and then stamped the big blotchy splatter out of Extreme Elements over it and tucked it behind a photo.

Hope I have invigorated you to crack open your scrapbooking!

Thanks for dropping by!

Mongoose Redo!

Hello everyone!

I am sure you have all wondered at one point or other why my blog is called Kirsty’s Card ‘N Scrap if I never show the scrap!! LOL! Am I right? If you have been with me from the beginning you would have seen a fair bit of scrapbooking. But for the last couple of years this has been impossible. Yes, I have been scrapping but I have not had a smaller lens for my SLR to take the photos. My original lens was destroyed accidentally. So since then I have been taking photos of my cards with a zoom lens from across the room. LOL! But it was just to darn hard to take one of my scrapping and show some of the gorgeous little detail I am sure you would all like to see! So without further ado here is a page I completed on the weekend

The only Stampin’ Up! product used was the Scallop Circle Punch. Lots of different product was used so I won’t go into detail, but if there is something you would particularly want to know just ask.

I have been editing quite a few LO’s (some SU,some not), today so look forward to seeing them. in the coming week!

Thanks for dropping by!

A Princesses Castle!

Hey everyone!

I know, I know……SHOCK, HORROR! I am doing a blog post that isn’t  an Inkspirations Challenge! LOL! It had to happen sometime right?

This particular post is about my upcoming workshops here in Gatton and local city Toowoomba. After coming home from convention I was chock block full of ideas and inspiration. The inspiration for these creations originated from a swap I received from Pat Carr. Pat is one super creative punch art designer and I had a blast recreating it.

Have a look a the card class-

a closer look-

I love how cute this is and I have a recipient already in mind. She is my little princess Akayla. When she saw this she ooohhed and aahhhed for ages. Sometimes hinting at having one of her own, God Bless her! Her favourite colours too! LOL!

Okay, I also do a scrapbook workshop and I usually keep it the same theme as the card class. This makes life much easier for me, as I tend to take to looooooooong thinking about scrap pages.

I must say my daughter Jemma was horrified when she saw this photo. LOL! I think she forgot on the day of her 6th birthday party she had her face painted like a cat and then ran around for the rest of the day. She ended up looking like a witch NOT a princess!! LOL! I do love how this page turned out, but the photos doesn’t do these projects justice.

I have taken some closer ones though-

Gotta love that Champagne Mist shimmer paint and the clear embossing. I also sponged a lot of edges to add some definition to the page. I am sure the girls will love creating these projects. Thank you Pat for the inspiration!

Well that’s all I have to show you today!

Thanks for dropping by!

You won’t BELIEVE it…….

BUT I have been scrapping!! LOL! also I didn’t do just one double LO….but TWO! I am so proud of myself. Now trying to work out if I will have time to do any more scrapping in the near future! I seriously doubt it though. I have too much on my plate at the moment and I am struggling to keep up! Sound familiar?!

Anyway here is some more pics of the “once in a blue moon scrapping” LOL!

This was Jemma’s first day at Preschool! So long ago now. Jemma is now nine! LOL! I have lot’s of catching up to do!

Well I hope you like them as much as I do!

Thanks for dropping by!

Some scrappin!

Hey everyone!

I just wanted to show you all a Scrapbook LO I did using the flowers that Dawn McVey did a tutorial about on her blog a little while ago. Aren’t they just the sweetest?!

Here is a close up of the darling flowers

I have also decided to hold a workshop on this LO. If you live nearby Gatton and would love to do this workshop, contact me for further details.

Thanks for dropping by!