Relax With Blendabilities

Since I can remember, nothing is as relaxing and meditative to me than colouring in a picture. I still own crayons and colouring books and now thanks to Stampin' Up!, I have Blendabilities. I bought the Stampin' Write markers right away so I could colour, but being an artist and a specialty with colours and shading, they made it hard to get things just right. The paper would start getting mushy and tearing and nothing really blended smoothly.

Enter Blendabilities! They are an alcohol based marker and you can go over and over and over colour to get it just right and your paper stays beautifully smooth. They do require some special care like putting the caps on as soon as you're done using them, and using Memento Ink so you don't have to worry about your black outline getting fuzzy and seeping into your yellow marker...that drives me crazy since I was little...yup...I'm a bit OCD about my crayons and markers ;) Always use lightest to darkest to keep your colours cleaner...in my opinion. 

The other thing about these special markers is they do show through the other side of your paper...so make sure you have a proper blotter etc. Also, our caps have a little click to them and double sided...fine point and a brush point. They lay and should be stored horizontal to keep colour even for either tip. 

Currently we have some beautiful colours and in January there will be even more to choose from and earn FREE! Each colour comes in a set of 3 - light, medium, and dark - so you can shade and create light and depth where you need it. I find I like working with different colours to create the best finished colour. And I believe the real magic lies in the Colour Lifter...it's like an eraser but it allows you to blend and highlight where natural light would occur in your picture without a hard line. I love it! 

So here is a project I made tonight just trying to relax and chill out. I used The Curvy Keepsake Die as my canvas. 

 

 

Here are the products I used: 

Whisper White Cardstock

Soft Suede Cardstock

Curvy Keepsake Die

Blended Bloom Stamp

Project Life Remember This Stamp Set

Flower Patch Stamp Set

Early Espresso Cotton Ribbon

Versamark 

Clear Embossing Powder

White Uni-Ball Gel Pen

Cherry Cobbler Blendabilities

Calypso Coral Blendabilities

Colour Lifter

Mossy Meadow Ink Pad

Old Olive Ink. Pad

Black Memento Inkpad

Tangerine Tango Inkpad

Hello Honey Inkpad

3/4 Circle Punch

1/2 Circle Punch

Decorative Label Punch

Swaps From Our Year End Get Together

The 1st Kiwi Stampers got together for a nosh at Joe's Garage in Riccarton and some of us participated in the SWAPS.  I thought I would share them with you because they are pretty awesome! Enjoy!

Gorgeous and Yummy!

 My dear friend Gail made this for me and her other team members and this picture does not do it justice.  Everyone was oohing and ahhing over it!  It's beautiful!  And it came loaded with fudge and chocolate!

A swap made by Sonia with discontinued dies and material we don't carry lolol 

Angela didn't make it to the restaurant, but her really awesome Swap did!

not sure who made this but it is simple and effective :)

Christmas cracker from Sharyn for attending :)

From Marilyn

From Maria

From Alice

From Sharyn

From Angela

From Carolyn

From Carolyn

One of my favs of the night from Karyn

From Manda

The NEW Occasions Catalogue cover....SOOOOOOO many fun and gorgeous things inside...including the kit to make this incredible floral arrangement!

Catch Up Before The Holidays!

Yes....It's December...sadly I have been very slack at updating this blog.  One of my New Year's resolutions is to get onto this...I update Facebook Page almost daily...but not here...but I promise to work on this for 2015!
Now...onto some fun things...

We had our Monthly workshop In September (always the last Sunday of the month) and we had a great time as always! Here's a quick pics :) 

Every Attendee gets treats! 

Chocolate makes you stamp better! Didn't you know that? 

How fun is this kit?!

A Make and Take that spurred some Xmas Creativity! 

Bows made with The Envelope Punch Board! So quick and cute!

October we spent the month packing and moving to Leithfield Beach!  I finally have my own craft room / office...it's small, but it's all mine.  But November brought some Stampin' Up! fun again!!!

I am sure not everything will remain here as it still looks messy to me...and I do have a double closet too...but for now, I can see the floor, find everything, and create! 

Right after we moved, Stampin' Up! held a regional event called Party Time and I was asked to present Project Life by Stampin' Up!....I was so nervous, but I had such a great time.  I will share my Project Life album in a couple weeks as I really want to finish it!  But you can use those beautiful Boxes of cards not only to complete your albums in record time, but also to make cards and other projects...here's what I made with them...VERY QUICK! VERY EASY!

The day was filled with lots of tips, tricks, ideas, sharing, laughing, and our favourite...MAKE AND TAKES!!!!  We made some beautiful things...not usually my style, but it's nice to try new things and play with things you normally wouldn't....hmmmm....or is that just fun for me?!  :)  Trouble!!!

I also had a play with the new products and one was the Fry Box Die and made this for one of my Hostess' at her party :)

 This past weekend we had our final Monthly Workshop of the year...a little Michael Buble, a lot of creating and laughing, a bit of treats and cups of coffee and tea, and lots of fun!

  I made some Peppermint Bark and it is still being talked about! YUM! Easy!  Thanks Pinterest!

 A great sized box thanks once again to Pootles Papercraft UK! She is incredible!

 Some cute 3D gift tags inspired from Meg Loven! We had fun doing all sorts of colours and styles!

We did a classy Black and vanilla card...we all know someone that doesn't do Red and Green...or at least appreciates unique, clean things...It would be easy to add some bling or colour dots if you needed to jazz it up a bit :)

As always attendees get gifts/treats for coming...this was a jar of apricot sugar scrub plus they received a Christmas coffee mug with Peppermint Bark in and a candy cane.

 The highlight of the day, besides the Peppermint Bark, was embossing...well...it was the best thing they have ever learned they said!  Who knew!?  I guess we will be doing more in the new year!!

I wish you all a very safe and happy holiday season.  Making things is a great thing to do with friends and family...especially the kids...they see things differently!  If you'd like me to come hang out and make some things with you, just holler!  If not, I will see you in the new year!  Please LIKE my facebook page and stay up to date on all the happenings!!!  And I promise to be better at blogging :)

xoxoxo
Thank you for all your love, support, and laughter!
I appreciate you!

Patty