Stamping with Kathryn Lowe

Mocha Morning cards

Hi All,

Back again with more of last year's Mystery Box contents to show you! For February we had to make 4 cards, using our chosen paper pack (I chose Mocha Morning Specialty DSP) and the cards had to be for different occasions.

My first two cards were easel cards. For the next two cards I wanted to do at least one masculine card, and I also wanted to use the gorgeous clock stamp from the set Timeless Portrait.

Here's what I came up with :

This time the black embossing powder came out - don't you love that clock?!?

These projects were to be kind of special, so I didn't want to go for just a normal open & close card, which is why I chose the two easel cards to start with, and then this one is a quite simple tri-fold card.

It wasn't particularly masculine though - the scalloped borders saw to that, LOL! So my final card of the four had to steer away from frills and be more plain in design.

I really struggled to come up with something so in the end, I "cased" a card from Dianne Dunk which I really loved, using the tie stamp from the set Best Dad Ever. I added another layer to the background and switched the papers around, but I have used the same stamp set, colours and layout that Di used.

I forgot to take a photo of it, but the inside of the card has a Very Vanilla panel with an embossed greeting in the centre of it. Oh, and another thing I did for all these cards was make the envelopes match!

I guess you're beginning to wonder what the project was for the next month? Well, I'll be back to show you that soon too!

See you then!

 

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Happy New Year!

Day Twelve - Twelve Days of Christmas

Owl Punch Policemen

Here's a really fun card, to celebrate a lovely family member who decided on a career change late last year and has just graduated from the Victorian Police Academy!  How proud are we, and how much fun was this card to make?!?

I started out trying to make police caps for them, but the weaving for the cheque band around the cap was so small as to even be ridiculous for someone like me to try! I know I am mad, but I am not THAT mad! LOL

So the compromise was a woven Night of Navy and Whisper White background which I then cut with the Top Note Die and the Big Shot.  Love it!

And of course, who doesn't love Stampin' Up's! Two Step Owl Punch!!

These ones are punched in Sahara Sand card stock with the edges just ever so slightly sponged with a dauber. I think I'd have a hard time keeping a straight face if these guys pulled me up for a random breath test!

If you're interested in making some cards similar to this, or learning some more advanced stamping techniques, why don't you consider joining my stamp club.  All the details are HERE and we kick off next Thursday night in Croydon North.  Send me an email if you have any questions! or would be interested to join in!  kathryn@katlodesigns.com

A Blog Hop & A Lighthorseman

Welcome to our little blog hop - hope you've been enjoying the journey so far. You may have just arrived here from the blog of my friend Di Dunk - or if you're just starting here, enjoy the little tour! Our group today has focussed on products that are FREE during Sale-a-bration - bet you're lovin' that Designer Series Paper?

I am madly in love with that DSP and today I wanted to do something completely different with it - so I have gone for a masculine layout. YES! With all those pretty florals, I have done a complete backflip from my usual style .

The layout title is GRANDFATHER DOBSON and I have used ACROSTIC POETRY as a way of journalling some memory triggers - quite a few of which only family will understand.  For each of these words there is a long story and many years of memory creating, far too much to put on one 12"x 12" layout.

I am quite tempted to see if I can dig out a few other photos and do some accompanying layouts to complete the story, but of couse, the red truck and the appletrees are now long gone and in those days photos were few and far between . . .

The main colours used here are Soft Suede, Peach Parfait and Lucky Limade with Early Espresso ink. There are some quite symbolic images in the stamping too. The forest of trees, the oak tree and the oak leaf and acorn were all very much significant in my grandfather's life.

This little snippet of the main photo blows me away! When I went to load it up, there were my youngest cousin's eyes looking straight out at me!  Not bad for about 70 years between!

And since this blog hop is about Sale-a-bration, here's a close up of that gorgeous DSP!

There is actually a tiny finishing touch left to add to this layout - an antique brad in the middle of that largest flower!

Well, that's it from me for today, thanks for visiting! Before you "hop" off to the next person, please leave some blog love in the form of a comment, as I really appreciate your feedback, and then off you go to visit the delightful Sue Madex.

Simple Birthday Cards

In recent weeks the projects I have been showing on here have been more complicated - lots of steps and quite a bit of time spent and you could be thinking, "Yes lovely, but I just want to be able to whip up a few birthday cards to get me through the next month or two . . . "

Perfect! Today I have two really simple, quick and easy cards to show you, one for boys and one for girls!

This card is SO simple!  It consist of the Cajun Craze card base, one piece of striped paper from the Frightful Sight Designer Series Paper and one stamped greeting on a co-ordinating scrap of card.  The very cute spider on this card is actually part of the patterned paper.

I've chosen Cajun Craze for the background layer for the greeting, but you could use black, grey or Old Olive to co-ordinate with the DSP too.

My card for girls uses the same very simple supplies and sketch,with an added layer, a butterfly, and a pretty edge on the inside.

This double sided patterned paper comes from the hostess set Cheerful Treat - I love those stripes and the pretty floral pattern!

The great thing about these bright cheery, simple cards is that you can churn out quite a few in a short time.  I think they're terrific!  What do you think?

Summer Mini Blog Hop - A Touch of Spice!

Welcome to another little hop around stampin' land, to see the inspiring work of my lovely creative friends. All our projects today feature products from the Summer Mini Catalogue which are available to purchase right now, and all orders over $100 can receive free Sale-a-bration goodies.

There are seven ladies involved in today's blog hop - a nice little journey. You may have just come from my lovely friend Alisha Watson's blog, or you may be starting here, welcome! It's easy to join in the blog hop, just follow the link at the bottom of each post, to take you to the next one.

Anyway, what have I been making?  I have fallen in love with the gorgeous designer series paper Spice Cake which is on page 10 of the Summer Mini, and have created a 12" x 12" layout and a mini tag book with these gorgeous prints and the amazingly large co-ordinating Spice Cake buttons which are also in the mini.

The tags are cut from Very Vanilla Textured card stock, punched with the corner rounder punch.  The round tab punch was used to cut Spice Cake DSP scraps for the tag tops, and Stampin' Up! Seam Binding Ribbon added as a final touch to each one.

My 12" x 12" layout is my second creation for my journey in the on-line scrapbooking class "Twelve" which consists of 12 colours, 12 categories, and 12 months of layouts for 2012.  This layout falls into the category "Personalities" where I had listed this very cute little boy.  He has so much personality right now, although the photos I have used are a couple of years old, but they certainly add to the story.

This layout is very much inspired by the sample in the Mini Catalogue. I love all the texture that is created by weaving the strips of DSP and it's a great way to show off both sides of the gorgeous patterned papers.

The buttons are fantabulous!  At first I was shocked at the size, but I love them for their simple, uncluttered look - and how you can rustic them up with a bit of linen thread.

The shiny chipboard letters came out of my stash from about 5 years ago - I knew they'd come in use one day! And I am glad I remembered them for this layout.  In TWELVE, the online class I am doing, I have matched "personalities" with the colour Rich Razzleberry, and there is a requirement to put a splash of this awesome bold colour onto every layout you complete for this category. 

When I was putting the finishing touches to this layout, I suddenly remembered this and rolled my eyes in horror at the thought of Rich Razzleberry trying to blend with River Rock, Pear Pizzazz, Pool Party, Soft Suede and More Mustard.  Then I spotted a scrap of Rich Razzleberry Seam Binding Ribbon and noticed how closely it matched with some of the shades in the old non-Stampin' Up! chip board letters!  Pheww! Not such a clash as I had expected after all!

Well, that's an awful lot of photos and hopefully a good bit of inspiration for you!  So now I must send you on your way to the next blogger in our blog hop.  But before I do, please, please, please leave a comment for each of the ladies - there's usually a comments tab right at the bottom of the post - we SO love to hear what you think of our creations, or of the products themselves!  Thanks so much.

Now off you pop to visit Di Dunk, who never ceases to amaze us with how much amazing work she always puts into these projects! Enjoy the journey and have a nice day!

Cards for Men

The Stampin' Up! 2011-2012 Ideas Book & Catalogue has a great stamp set called "Best Dad Ever".  Now, I am not so sure I would ever find a use for a stamp with Best Dad Ever on it, but certainly there are three other VERY useful greeting stamps and a fantastic tie image stamp in this set of five from Stampin' Up!

Lots of male birthday's coming up, so last night, accompanied by my lovely mother who was making a very funky card for my nephew, I pulled out this stamp set and some warm masculine colours and made a batch of cards.

There are five tie images on the stamp, so I started by stamping the whole stamp five times, once each in Not Quite Navy, Old Olive, Marina Mist, Cajun Craze and Early Espresso inks.  Then I hand cut each tie out individually to mix and match on each of the cards.

They are very simple images to cut out, no funny angles or awkward bits so it didn't take long at all.  I selected some current Designer Series Paper off-cuts from my left overs basket, and some scraps of Early Espresso and Old Olive ribbon, and stamped the Happy Birthday image also from the Best Ever Dad stamp set onto the DSP.

These were such simple cards to make, and so effective for their clean lines and uncluttered look.  You could easily whip up a batch of these in an afternoon to get you through all the male birthdays for the coming year!

Simple stamp set, lots of mileage! Woodmount set is just $34.95 or the clearmount set is $27.95.  A packet of Regals Collection card stock in A4 ($13.95) will get you 40 A6 cards in 10 very masculine colours.

If you're stuck for masculine card and scrapbook ideas, why don't you consider hosting a Masculine Themed FREE Stampin' Up! workshop where you and your friends can check out lots of inspiring ideas and even take home a finished project that you made there.

Email me today : kathryn@katlodesigns.com

Denim & Rust Birthday Cards

I promised a little while ago to come back here with some masculine birthday cards, inspired by a fantastic display of rust we saw in Wycheproof.

Well, I finally worked up the courage to snip into those beautiful new papers in our Designer Series Paper pack "Well Worn" and here's what I came up with!

I have layered Early Espresso, River Rock and Soft Suede card and striped DSP and dug out some images which I stamped in Not Quite Navy Ink.  The horse if from the retired set "Wanted", the sailing boats are from the retired set "Set Sail" and the awesome tools are from our brand new background stamp "Tool Shed".

The Decorative Label Punch and some gold embossing powder came in very handy and I finished the cards off with some Antique Brads and Jumbo Eyelets.

It's hard to find designs for masculine cards, but it's amazing what you can do with fabulous printed paper and some rustic embellishments.  Hope you've found some inspiration here!