Bird Crazy and Crazy Things - Tim Holtz Collection

I am loving creating with the new Tim Holtz Stampers Anonymous and Sizzix Bird Crazy and Crazy Things (the accessories) stamps and dies.

The tag is a Go Kreate one stamped with a Kaszazz spiders and cobweb stamp.  The bird was painted using Distress inkpads Twisted Citron, Abandoned Coral and Hickory Smoke.

Kaszazz - Man of The House

In my usual 'leave everything to the last minute' style I remembered a male relative's 90th birthday which is in a couple of days.  I find male cards challenging and was going through my stamps when I found this Kaszazz one which I have not used.  I thought it would be perfect as my relative reminds me of the person in the image.

I had a couple of goes at stamping onto thicker card stock as I naively thought I could stamp straight onto the front of a card.  The first two images were crooked and not clear so I switched to a thinner paper, probably around 100g weight, and this worked out well.  The ink used was Archival Coffee.  After stamping on a larger size paper I trimmed the image around the borders and matted the top three quarters onto brown card stock.

The sentiment is from Art Impressions.

Kaszazz - Snowy Reindeer Large

The second of my cards today.  This Kaszazz Snowy Reindeer Large 1199J stamp (Kaszazz is an Australian company) was coloured in using an aqua brush and Black Soot Distress Ink.  The horns are a combination of LuminArte Cinnamon Brown and Burnt Umber.  The headband is Pumpkin Spica Glitter pen with the balls also being painted in LuminArte Poppy Red, Ginger Peach, Deep Coral and Orange Peel.

The background paper is Bo Bunny Father Christmas Stripe.  The sentiment is a Hero Art one called Holiday Sayings die cut using Whimsy Notables 2.  On the left hand side I have used MFT die Fishtail Flag Stax to cut 3 pieces which were decorated with a few snowflakes from my stash.

Kaszazz Scarf Teddy with Penny Black Let it Snow

Another card using the Kaszazz image called Scarf Teddy.

The background is The Crafter's Workshop Mini Tile Texture done in Distress ink Bundled Sage
Sentiment Penny Black set called Let it Snow in Brilliance ink Pearlescent Thyme
Kaszazz Scarf Teddy large coloured in using

Scarf     Distress Stains - Bundled Sage and Fired Brick
Hat        Distress ink pad Festive Berries and Tombow marker Carmine (845)
Bear      Distress Stains - Tea Dye, Vintage Photo and Walnut Stain
All the Distress Stains, ink pad and marker used with a paint brush and water to dilute

Kaszazz Scarf Teddy large with Dreamweaver stencil Lace Border

In an effort to get a number of cards done in as shorter time as possible I stamped out a lot of this Kaszazz Scarf Teddy stamp.  I reckoned it would not take too much time to colour in and I could do them all on a sort of production line.  Once I had the cards laid out I choose different backgrounds and colour inks which make it quite easy to match them to the stamp when I coloured that in.

I used the following on this card :
Dreamweaver stencil Lace Border - Distress ink Weathered Wood
Sentiment is from Stampin Up Many Merry Messages using Distress marker Weathered Wood.
Stamp is Kaszazz Scarf Teddy Large 1861J

Coloured in as follows :
Scarf     Distress Stains - Weathered Wood and Fired Brick
Hat       Distress ink pad Festive Berries and Tombow marker Carmine (845)
Bear     Distress Stains - Tea Dye, Vintage Photo and Walnut Stain
All the Distress Stains, ink pad and marker used with a paint brush and water to dilute.

Kaszazz - Beach Chairs Large

Going through my leftover paper stash I found this interesting background which was begging to be used.  No idea what the manufacturer's name is but I think I have had it for quite some time.

I teamed the paper up with the simple Kaszazz Beach Chairs Large image stamped in Archival Sepia and matted it on brown and yellow cardstock.  The image is from the Gina K Designs set called Lovely Labels 2 and it was punched out using one of the Stampin Up Ovals.

Kaszazz - Panda Hug

This is a small card where I used a Mini Bamboo stencil from The Crafter's Workshop sponged with Distress ink.  The image is Kaszazz Panda Hug, the grass is from a Cottage Cutz die (unable to remember which one, apologies) and the sentiment is Kaszazz Lucy's Stamp Happy Birthday.

Cottage Cutz - Hanging Monkey

Yes, I know I use Cottage Cutz dies a lot on my cards, but I really do like them.  As a fan of punch art I find these dies perfect - I don't have to buy all the different punches to make them !  The problem is also the storage of the punches - dies are just so easy to store !

Starting from the background, I found the paper in my stash, the green leaves are from a Martha Stewart border punch called Branches and I used Distress inks Shabby Shutters and Peeled Paint on them.  The Cottage Cutz die - Hanging Monkey - was Distressed inked with Tea Dye and Vintage Photo.

The sentiment was stamped with Archival Coffee ink and it is from the Kaszazz set called Express Yourself Occasions.

Punch Art - Lion

I took a lot of artistic licence with the making of this punch art lion.  With animals I have not seen I find it easier to make them up out of proportion but with being up close and personal with a number of lions on a regular basis I found this one quite difficult.  I think I will call him Tsau! after a very special white lion I know.

The punch recipe is :
Face - Spellbinders Circle Small - third smallest which is 1 5/8"
Mane - 2 x Martha Stewart deep edge border punch Daisy Fan joined together and lined with a Spellbinders Circle Large - fourth smallest
Muzzle / cheeks - 2 x 3/4" circles
Tail - Stampin Up Build a Blossom
Legs - Stampin Up small oval
Paws - Stampin Up Modern Label trimmed down
Fringe - hand cut
Nose - heart from Owl Punch
Eyes - I have a bag of already punched out eyes, so not sure where I got them from

Background stamp is a Hero Arts one called Aged Print Frame Archival Coffee ink.  The sentiment is from Kaszazz - Happy Birthday and it is also stamped with Archival Coffee ink.  The green paper from my stash.

Halloween treat box

The Stampin Up Fancy Favor Box is a good size for a Halloween treat box.  This one started off white and I Distress inked it with a variety of colours.

The stamps used are both from Kaszazz and are Spiderweb and Spider Large.  The bat is from a Cuttlebug die and the sentiment is a Stampin Up one from the Wicked Cool set.

Flippin Men - Golf (again)

When DH wants a golf card I instinctively reach for this image from Flippin Men.  In the past I have struggled to get a crisp image no matter what ink I used but since putting the stamp on a rock-a-block and using Versafine Onyx black ink it has made it easier.

This time I stamped onto watercolour paper and used a blender pen plus a selection of Marvy le Plume, SU, Distress and Momento markers to colour the image in.  The golf bag is a Kaszazz stamp called Golf clubs large, the white fence is Picket Fence Border from Cottage Cutz, and the stamp behind the fence is from a Penny Black set.  I found the sentiment in Sheena Douglass's set called Cheers and it was die cut onto the largest of MFT Die-namics Cloud Trio die.

Kaszazz - Mannequin

I had to purpose make this card as the Kaszazz Mannequin stamp set is quite large.  The background is an unknown embossing folder - don't know why so many companies do not identify their products but it does have a slot in the top.  Anyway, I used Distress ink with the embossing folder to create a more authentic 'brick' like background.

The Mannequin stamp set (3 stamps) is easy enough to cut out and I think it could be quite a versatile set of images.  The Oxford Street sign is from a Paper Artsy set that just has a number on it - HP1208EZ.  I looked up on the Paper Artsy site and HP stands for Hot Pick with EZ being for EZ mount.

Kaszazz - Stork Arrival

I always like to keep a couple of baby cards handy and my stock is all used up so expect a couple more of these cards in the future.

This is a simple image with minimal colouring in - just the beak, legs and baby.  I paper pieced the cloth around the baby - not sure what to call that - and then masked the image to make the cloud background.  The clouds are not hard to do, you just need a sponge, some Distress ink and a couple of different sized scalloped ovals made from acetate or a sturdy clear see through material.  I generally start at the top of the card and work my way down alternating with the different sizes.

The image was die cut with Spellbinders Long Rectangles Classic and Scalloped.  The greeting is a Clear Dollar one which was punched out using the Stampin up Word Window punch.

Kaszazz - Schooner

I know yachts are not normally done in these colours but this is how I would like to see them.  I think white sails are quite boring and love it when the brightly coloured spinnakers are used.  Anyway, here I used the Kaszazz stamp called Schooner and coloured it in using various pencil crayons (aqua and normal) and a blender pen.  Using Spellbinders Wonky Squares I framed the image.

The sentiment is from the Hampton Art Alphabet stamp set and was punched out with the Stampin Up 5/16" circle punch which fits perfectly into upside down Candi's.  I thought that was quite innovative of me and will definitely be using that again !

Flippin Men - Golf

With finishing this card late at night and it being taken by DH (who commissioned it for a function) I had to take the photo using artificial light.  The true colours have unfortunately not come through.

The Flippin Men Golf image was stamped onto Neenah Solar white cardstock using Momento ink.  With this particular stamp I struggle to get all the image stamped out and have to use a Rock-a-Block which seems to work better.  The colouring in was done with Copics.  The golf bag is from Kaszazz and was stamped onto watercolour paper.  I used an aqua pen and Distress inks plus a few markers to colour it in.

The green background is a Dreamweaver Stencil called Rolling Hills (LJ 910) and I used 3 different colours of Distress Inks.  The multi coloured stripe background was made from scraps of paper and it was all popped onto a large card which had been edged with a stencil from The Crafter's Workshop called Fence Frame.  The sentiment is a Hero Arts one.

Hero Arts - Simple Things - Mountain Card

A while back I managed to get a couple of templates at a craft show in the UK.  This one is called Stencillos Mountain Card Template.  Yes, I know it is fairly easy to go online and fathom the card out but to have a template makes it just so much easier.

The house is from the Hero Arts set called Simple things coloured in using Distress ink, markers and paper piecing for the blinds.  The clouds are a die from CC Designs, the fence is a Cottage Cutz die called Picket Fence, the grass is a Magnolia Doohickey die (no name on the packet) and the dog is a Kaszazz stamp called Flat Out.  The sentiment is a Go Kreate die - Caption #2 Happy Birthday.  This time I got clever and cut the sentiment out of sticky back paper - no fiddly glueing !!

Apologies for the break in posting but we had floor tile problems which meant loads of cement dust everywhere.  More mess to come this week, makes me want to run away !

Kaszazz - Hibiscus Border

After putting my Copics one side for a while I thought they might be ideal for this Kaszazz image.  I am quite pleased with the way the colouring in turned out.

I used an ivory coloured card, topped it with a sticky mesh which I found in my stash and finished it off with a Cuttlebug sentiment and border.  The image was easy to cut out and I am happy with the finished product.

Kaszazz - Cherish & Dream

Last week we stayed in a cottage which had the most unusual paintings on the walls.  They had an aged newspaper background and beautiful artwork painted over it.  This gave me an idea for the background on a set of cards.

I searched on the internet for old papers and could not find any free South African ones but thought an Australian one would be the next best bet.  I printed a couple of pages out, cut one down to size and Distress inked it.  I then layered a type of vellum I had in my stash and stamped the Kaszazz Cherish & Dream sentiment in Coffee Archival ink onto it.

For the inside I used a smaller piece of the newspaper I had over and also Distress inked it with Antique Linen and Brushed Corduroy.  On the right hand side I die cut from a Spellbinders Grand Labels 11 using my trusty x-rays to create a template.  Using Brushed Corduroy again I sponged around the edges.  I think I am going to cut out a whole lot more templates using my old x-rays and Spellbinders dies.  The sponge applicators work well on them and it gives a quick and easy insert.

Kaszazz - Seahorse Love Large - Valentine's Day card

With Valentine's day coming up I thought I had better see what stamps I had in my collection.  I love Kaszazz stamps (an Australian company) as they stamp well and they have some really good designs.

I thought a square card would be easier for this design and I used an embossing folder (Sizzix I think) with hearts on for the red cardstock.  The cream heart is cut using a Creative Memories cutting system pattern called Gemstone and the pink frilly bit to the right is part of a Marianne D - Circle die.  The middle 3 circles were cut using Spellbinders Classic Circles small and large and the central heart is from a Creative Memories heart punch.  The sentiment is from a Hero Arts set called Valentine Sayings and I popped it onto a Spellbinders Ribbon Banners die.

The image was stamped onto watercolour paper and coloured in using an aqua painter and Antique Linen Distress ink with Broken China for the boy and Victorian Velvet for the girl.  I then attempted to cut it out and realised when I got down to the tails that I would have to chop a bit off as it was virtually impossible to cut out such fine detail.

For the inside of the card I used, on the left, various Spellbinders Classic and Scalloped hearts and on the right a Go Kreate die called Large Square - two different sizes.  The hearts at the bottom are from, on the left, a Creative Memories punch and the other two are from a Stampin punch.

Gift Holder - recycled

Whenever I see a container with potential I pop it away for possible future use.  I was going to make a gift box for these 12 hand crafted cards I wanted to give to a friend but, as per usual,  I ran out of time. 

I grabbed hold of some new paper I had just bought at Simply Creative here in Cape Town.  The paper is called DCWV The Bella Armoire 12 x 12 pack.  The most time consuming part was to trim the paper to the shape of the box - that took all of 5 mins !  The top is a Martha Stewart border punch done on both the black patterned paper and then a strip of white cardstock popped in behind it.  The ribbon used is from Kaszazz in Australia.