Simply Stampin' Challenge #66 - Theme

Hi Everyone!

Last week's Colour Challenge saw some creative entries...thanks to everyone for taking part!

This week we are back with a theme and we had to make something that was...

Clean and Simple

As  I usually use layering, ribbons and buttons on my cards, keeping it 'clean and simple' 

was definitely more of a challenge for me! I went back for another play with one of my

newest stamp sets and this is what I came up with...

No layers! I stamped straight onto the card blank and only added a few jewels to the centre of the flowers...

Products used (all by Stampin' Up! unless specified):

Cardstock: Whisper White
Ink: Tangerine Tango, Old Olive, Regal Rose, Rich Razzleberry, Real Red, Daffodil Delight
Accessories: Jewels
Stamp Sets: Mixed Bunch, Curly Cute

So why don't you have a go at being 'Clean and Simple' this week, we love looking at what everyone can do! Don't worry if you don't have a blog as we do accept email entries!

Thanks for looking!
Kirei x

June Week 4 layout for Pages of Memories

Hi Everyone!

It was a green theme for this week's Kit from Pages of Memories with some fab papers from the Kaisercraft 'Chapter One' collection. I had the perfect photos to scrap with this Kit that were taken a little earlier this year.

I used the bright green Bazzill as my base, now I did gut it first but didn't actually end up using any of it for the layout. It does give me some scraps though to use with the other leftovers from the Kit!

I cut a piece of the 'Flourish' paper 10" x 7" and rounded the bottom corners and stuck this to the bottom half of my base. Then I cut a 10" x 4" piece of the 'Encourage' paper (make sure the stripes are going in the right direction!). This was attached directly above the 'Flourish' paper to the top section of the layout.

The photos were stuck down next... first was the larger photo, this was a 7" x 5" but it was cut down slightly to 6 1/2" x 5" and the bottom corners were rounded before attaching to the bottom right of the layout. I then used two 6" x 4" photos but they were cut down to 3 1/4" x 4" and 3 1/4" x 6" (you could use more photos as long as they can fit into the space). I cut a 10" x 1/2" strip of the light green Bazzill and stuck this down onto the striped 'Entourage' paper so that it would provide a small border to the top edge of the photos.

I then cut a 1 1/2" x 12" strip of the striped 'Entourage' paper (make sure the stripes are running the right way) and then drew a curved edge on the strip before cutting out and attaching to the layout in between the top and bottom photos. Over this I attached a narrow strip of the light green Bazzill and then finished off with a strip of the bobble ribbon that came with the Kit.

I used a couple of the flowers and brads that came with the Kit, and layered them with some white punched out flowers. Attach these with some glue dots to the left of both the bottom and top photos. To finish off I added a title and journalling with some large and small alphas from my stash.

Want some more inspiration? Then take a look at Niki's layout using this same Kit over at
her Being Scrappy blog.

Thanks for looking!
Kirei x

Simply Stampin' Challenge #65 - Colour

Hi Everyone!

How did you all like last week's Sketch Challenge? We had some fab entries, so pop on over and have a look here...

This week we are back with a Colour Challenge for you...

So I had another new stamp set to play with this week, 'Up, Up & Away' from the current Mini Catalogue and this is what I came up with... I think it works well for a unisex card.

Products used (all by Stampin' Up! unless specified):
Cardstock: Crumb Cake, Bashful Blue, Lucky Limeade, Whisper White
Ink: Crumb Cake, Bashful Blue, Lucky Limeade
Markers: Bashful Blue, Lucky Limeade
Accessories: Crumb Cake Seam Binding Ribbon, Designer Neutrals Button Collection, Linen Thread
Stamp Sets: Up, Up & Away

So why don't you have a go and don't worry if you don't have a blog we do accept email entries!

Thanks for looking!
Kirei x

Carrie Underwood...

Hi Everyone!

Just thought I'd pop some pics on here of the concert we were at last night! It was Carrie Underwood and she was playing for 1 night only in the UK at the Royal Albert Hall. We had great seats in one of the boxes, which I didn't realise we had until we got there! She won American Idol 7 years ago (I'm giving away that I am a fan of the show!) and has since released 4 albums and won a ton of awards including five Grammys.

Waiting for her to come on...

Pretty good zoom for a small pocket camera...

Funky lighting...

Thanks for looking!
Kirei x

June Week 3 layout for Pages of Memories

Hi Everyone!

The Pages of Memories Kit for this week included some very pretty papers from the My Mind's Eye 'Miss Caroline' range which went perfectly with some wedding photos of my sister Tina and her husband Craig.

I used the pale yellow Bazzill as my base, I did gut it but only ended up using a few strips of it later for my journalling. I then cut an 11" x 11" piece from the orange spot 'Lovely' Mums paper and attached it to my base. From the 'Beautiful' paper I cut a 2" x 12" strip that I atached down on the left side of the layout. A piece of the yellow diamond 'Lovely' Wallpaper paper was cut into 7" x 9" and layered over the other papers. Finally I cut a 3" x 7" piece of the floral diamonds 'Lovely' Wallpaper paper and stuck that down to the right side of the layout, this forms the base for my journalling.

The photos I used were 6" x 4" but were cut down slightly to 4" x 5", one of them was mounted onto some of the orange Bazzill. These were both attached to the layout.

The pretty flowers that came with the Kit were used as a focal point between the two photos. I cut some strips of the pale yellow Bazzill for my journalling and stuck them down onto the floral diamond patterened paper. 

I attached some of the brads in a type of photo corner in the bottom right and upper
left of the layout. To finish off I used some alphas from my stash for the title!

This Kit is available for a short time from the Pages of Memories Online Store. To see more fab layouts with this Kit pop on over to the Being Scrappy blog.

Thanks for looking!
Kirei x

Simply Stampin' Challenge #64 - Sketch

Hi Everyone!

So we had a slightly regal Theme for you all last week over at Simply Stampin' Challenge! And I love how you all came up with your own versions of the theme, some staying very typically red, white and blue with others using appropriately regal stamp sets!

On to this week's new challenge and we have a Sketch for you:

As I had just received my SU! order I obviously had to use some of my new goodies... so I tried out the 'Mixed Bunch' stamp set from the current SU! Mini Catalogue with the fab matching punch. Love that I don't need to cut anything out!

 Side shot showing where I raised elements up using foam pads...

Close up of the colour detail on the main flower, I coloured the stamp with the markers...

Products used (all by Stampin' Up! unless specified):
Cardstock: Calypso Coral, Island Indigo, Whisper White
Paper: In Colour 2011-2013 Designer Series Paper Stack
Ink: Calypso Coral, Island Indigo, Pool Party, Lucky Limeade
Markers: Calypso Coral, Island Indigo, Pool Party, Lucky Limeade
Accessories: Designer Printed Brads, Island Indigo Ruffled Ribbon, Word Window Punch, Modern Label Punch, 3/4" Circle Punch, Blossom Punch
Stamp Sets: Mixed Bunch, Teeny Tiny Wishes

Look forward to seeing your entries, have a go and don't worry if you don't have a blog we do accept email entries!
Thanks for looking!
Kirei x

Only Scraps Allowed...

Hi Everyone!

My friend Niki has started up a weekly challenge to make a layout with your scraps. Now I am sure some of you must have a pile of those leftover pieces of papers that end up gathering dust as I certainly do! 

So this is the layout that I came up with.... using a cute pic of Lee's godson Oscar when he was younger. I dug out a selection of paper scraps, added a sheet of Bazzill and some leftover embellishments (stickers/ribbon/alphas).

I have already got another lot of scraps together to make my next layout! Why don't you give it a go, pop on over to Niki's blog here...

Thanks for looking,
Kirei x

June Week 2 Layout for Pages of Memories

Hi Everyone!

This week's Kit from Pages of Memories included the very pretty 'Pixie Glen' papers from Prima and some Glitz Teeny Alphas. I had a sweet photo of Lee's godson Oscar that I have been waiting to scrap for quite some time (he is almost 3 now)... 

I cut a 7" x 12" piece of the cream Bazzill for the centre of my layout.

Then I cut 2 x pieces of the 'Cornwall' paper (floral vines side) 4 1/2" x 12" and 3 3/4" x 12" to use for the top and bottom of the layout. These were heavily distressed along the long inner edges with scissors, and then ripped a little and curled.

I cut a strip of the 'Cornwall' paper (green side) 1 1/2" x 12", and from the 'Devon' paper I cut the striped piece (from the side with lots of small elements) and distressed the long edges of both strips. These 2 x strips were attached to just under the distressed edges fof the large pieces of 'Cornwall' paper (look at the photo to see exactly what I mean). Then these were attached to the piece of cream Bazzil that you cut earlier. Make sure when you do this that the page still measures 12" x 12"!

My photo was mounted onto the brown Bazzill and attached to the right side of the layout, just tuck it under the curled edges.

I embellished the top right and bottom left of the photo with various elements cut from the 'Devon' paper, pieces of the flower ribbon that was in the kit, layered flowers (cut with a Tim Holtz Tattered Floral die) and leaves (cut with a Sizzix die). Some of them were raised up on foam pads.

I finished off with a title using the Glitz Teeny Alphas....

Pop on over and have a look at the blog for more layout ideas using this Kit.

Thanks for looking!
Kirei

Surprised...

Hi Everyone!

The day before I went on holidays to Australia I received an email from the lovely Nicola to say she had given my little blog an award and I just didn't have the time to post anything about it then.... but I totally forgot when I came back and have just found the email again, better late than never!

Liebster is a German word meaning beloved or dearest, so thank you again Nicola, I am very flattered that you chose me when there are so many other great blogs out there!

The honour of accepting the award is traditionally done in the following way:

1) Show thanks to the blogger who awarded you by linking back to their blog

2) Choose 5 blogs with less than 200 followers and let them know about your nomination by leaving a comment on their blog

3) Post the award on your blog!
So these are the blogs that I am awarding as I love to visit them, do pop on over and have a look as I am sure you will enjoy and be inspired just like me!

1) Niki
2) Ruth
3) Sam
4) Sandi
5) Dawn

Thanks for looking!
Kirei x

Simply Stampin' Challenge #63 - Theme

Hi Everyone!

So this week's Colour Combo over at Simply Stampin' Challenge was definitely a challenge! But it did get everyone thinking a little creatively! We also had our monthly Guest Designer feature starring the lovely Emma from Devotion to the Dream, make sure you have a look at how she interpreted our challenge!

So onto this week's Theme challenge which was...

Royally Regal

After the fabulous Jubilee weekend, I am sure you have lots of inspiration but if not head on over to the Challenge to see what our DT did with this challenge...

For my card this week I started off thinking about what royal themed stamps that I had, and all that I could come up with was the tiny crown stamp from the Tiny Tags set! Anyway after playing around with it for a while I decided to create a Union Jack card and this is how it ended up...

And a close up view of the greeting banner...

Products used (all by Stampin' Up! unless specified):

Cardstock: Real Red, Pacific Point, Whisper White
Ink: Real Red, Pacific Point
Accessories: Rhinestone Brads
Stamp Sets: Tiny Tags, Curly Cute and Dot, Dot, Dot

Why don't you give it a go and send in an entry to this week's Challenge, don't worry if you don't have a blog as we do accept email entries!

Thanks for looking!
Kirei x

June Week 1 Layout for Pages of Memories...

Hi Everyone!

In this week's Pages of Memories Scrapbooking Kit we had the lovely 'Tigerlilly' papers and Alpha Stickers from Kaisercraft to work with. I am not really a pink person but it was combined with orange which I love, so decided to try and focus more on the orange elements. I had a nice pic of Lee and myself with his brother Sam and fiance Cheryl at their engagement party that worked well with the papers.

Word of advice to start with.... cut off the manufacturers strips on each of the papers, we will use some of them later! For my base I used the words side of  the 'Coral' paper cut to 11.5" x 11.5", this was mounted onto the black Bazzill (I gutted the centre first). Then I cut a piece of the striped 'Blush' paper 5 3/4" x 5 1/2" and rounded the top corners. I also cut a piece of the spot 'Blossom' paper 5 3/4" x 5" and mounted both pieces to the right side of my paper. My photo was 7" x 5" but I did cut it down to 6 1/4" x 4 1/2" and mounted onto a piece of the 'Blush' paper (orange side).

I cut out a selection of the flowers from the 'Blossom' papers (9 in total) and then attached some of these to the top left corner of my photo (4 x flowers) with some of them raised on foam pads.

Another 4 of the flowers were attached to the bottom right of the layout, again I raised some on foam pads. I then attached a couple of the manufacturers strips (9" and 10" strips) along with a border punched strip of the black Bazzill (8.5" strip) to the bottom of the photo. I added some journalling using some of the Glitz Teeny Alphas that I had leftover from a class that I did.

I added a title with the Kaisercraft Alpha Stickers that came with the Kit, however as they were bright pink (and you will remember that I said I am not a massive fan of pink!) I decided to alter them slightly... using some black Staz On ink and a sponge dauber. They turned out just right...a dark shade of plum that worked perfectly with the layout! And a few more of those Teeny Alphas...

To finish off I added just a little bit of detail to the top left of the layout as it felt a little bare... using the last flower that I had, a small leftover piece from the manufacturers strip and a short piece of the border punched black Bazzill...

This Kit is available for a limited time here, do have a look at the great value monthly subscription offer that is also available! And do pop on over to the Being Scrappy blog here to see more fab projects made with this Kit!

Thanks for looking!
Kirei

Mini Album class...

Hi Everyone!

Just wanted to post the latest class project that I did at my friend Niki's on Saturday... a Mini Album. Being as we have just come back from Australia I knew they were the photos that I was going to use in this album. We used a chipboard album and pretty bright papers from Kaisercraft so they suited the holiday pics perfectly!

Thanks for looking!
Kirei x

Simply Stampin' Challenge #62 - Colour Combo

Hi Everyone!

Didn't we have some fab entries this week over at the Simply Stampin' Challenge!

So this week we are back with a Colour Combo Challenge... I had to think about this one for a while as it wasn't the most obvious!

Anyway I decided they would work for a male card so pulled out my 'go to' male stamp set ' Need for Speed' and got stamping! This is what I came up with...

Products used (all by Stampin' Up! unless specified):
Cardstock: Tangerine Tango, Cherry Cobbler, Tempting Turquoise, Very Vanilla
Ink: Tangerine Tango, Cherry Cobbler, Tempting Turquoise
Accessories: Very Vanilla 1/8" Taffeta Ribbon, Perfect Polka Dots Embossing Folder, Jumbo Eyelets (retired)
Stamp Sets: Need for Speed, Petite Pairs

Why don't you give it a go this week, we love to see how you interpret the Challenge and don't worry if you don't have a blog, we do accept email entries!

Thanks for looking!
Kirei x