Wednesday, May 22, 2013

Latest publications, and a tutorial

Hello my friends :)
I haven't had a lot to share lately. I have been creating, pretty much all the time, but, haven't been able to share anything as yet. My GRAPHIC 45 Design team term starts in just a few weeks, and I am soooo excited about that, and have made 4 projects featuring the gorgeous products we were sent. OMG, the box I received from G45 was absolutely massive, chock full of so many wonderful things. I am blown away by the generosity .... THANK YOU  so much Graphic 45  :)  xx
 
Ok, I have a layout I can share today, it was one I did for Scrapbooking Memories magazine a little while back. I was asked to do a feature on creating flower vines, using some gorgeous Manor House Creations flowers, some florist wire, and tape, and a few leaves.
 
 
 
 
The photo is a special one to me, featuring a few of my very dear scrappy friends, my very good friend Nerrida Mitchell, Trudi Harrison, Kerryn Lawson, myself, and Leanne Allinson, taken at the Brisbane Scrapbook and papercraft Expo last June  ( so excited to be going up there again in 2 weeks time.. woo hoo) I am going to be there for 4 days, working with manor House Creations on their gorgeous stand, so anyone that's going to the show, please call in and say hello, and introduce yourselves  :)  would love to meet you in real life.
 
 

And here's a shot of a couple of the flower vines I made for the feature.. 
 
 
 
 
If you are interested in making some for yourself, there's a link on my sidebar, to a tutorial I did a while ago, when I was on the Kaisercraft design team.
 
Thanks everyone for calling in, please leave a comment, so know you were here, and I can return the favour  :)  Have a wonderful week
 

Tuesday, May 14, 2013

Cold and Shabby

 
Hi, and welcome to my blog on this cold wintery day, the temperature has dropped from a beautiful 25 degrees Celsius last week, to a freezing 8 degrees this week !!  I am happy for the rain though, as we have had an extremely dry 6 months in our part of the world. We were looking like not being able to sow a crop if we didn't get any rain soon. We haven't had a lot, but, its a start, and at least are able to start sowing the crops, which is a huge relief.
 
 
Today, I have a layout to share with you, featuring the gorgeous, brand new Winter Collection of flowers from Manor House Creations. This collection is a knock out, it not only includes some stunning new flowers, there's also lots of lace, and trims, some gorgeous frames, and feathers.

 
 
This is a photo of my friend Sue and I taken a few months ago, just before she moved to far North Queensland, from Ballarat, I bet she isn't missing these 8 degree days where she is :)
 

I've used the Wrought Iron trim set from Dusty attic as well, which is one of my all time favourite chippy pieces. I've simply inked it with a charcoal coloured ink.
 






 
Thank you so much for calling in today, and a great big thanks for any comments left  :)    Have a wonderful week, and 'see' you again soon
 


Tuesday, May 7, 2013

A winner and some new G45 sneaks

Hello friends :)
Im sorry this announcement has been a little while in coming, but, well, there were so many wonderful ideas for names for our beach house, that it has taken us this long to decide. I want to thank every one of you, for helping me with chosing a name, it was a hard decision, but we have decie to go with JACKIE CLARK'S suggestion of
 
Tigh Na Mara
 
( meaning by the sea) as it sounds lovely, AND, it sounds very similar to my maiden name McNamara :) 
 
There is an amazing resort near here called Tigh Na Mara, which I believe is "By The Sea" in Gaelic. Love the way it sounds (the Tigh is pronounced "Ty").
 
Thanks Jackie, please email me with your address, and I will get your prize off to you  :) 
 
* * *
 
Now, as some of you know, i am very fortunate to have made the Graphic 45 design team. And, I wanted to share with you a sneak peak of the 2 newest ( not yet released) , and most amazing collections... Firstly,
 
'STEAMPUNK SPELLS'
 
Steampunk Spells Sneak Peek Graphic 45 New
 
 
And secondly
 
'BOHEMIAN BAZAAR'
 
Bohemian Bazaar Sneak Peek Graphic 45 New Collection
 
 
I cannot wait to get my hands on both of these...  If you would like to see more of these gorgeous collections, head over to the G45 blog
 

Monday, May 6, 2013

Something different for me

 
Hi everyone,
Let me start by saying, just how much fun I had creating this layout. Creating it was something totally new to me. I attended a class run by the amazingly talented Finnabair recently, and have taken a few of her ideas and techniques, and added a few twists, and little of my own style, and, I have to admit, I am very happy with the final result.
 
 
I have used lots of gorgeous MANOR HOUSE FLOWERS,  DUSTY ATTIC pieces, along with some Gesso, Texture paste, and heaps of gorgeous spray inks to put this layout together.
  
 
 
 
Products used:
 
 Thanks for calling in today, and happy crafting
 
Karen x
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Wednesday, May 1, 2013

You wont want to miss this..

Hi there lovely blogging friends.

* * *

SHARE THIS ANNOUNCEMENT ON YOUR BLOG, FOR A CHANCE TO WIN A HUGE MANOR HOUSE CREATIONS PRIZE PACK
 ( just leave me a comment on this post, to let me know you have shared)

* * *
 
We are very excited to share this with you all. My best friend Stacey and I, along with Manor House Creations bring you
 
'The ladies of the Manor' retreat.. A three day long retreat, in Victoria, Australia. includes all meals and accomodation.
 
 
 

Thursday, April 25, 2013

The 2013 GRAPHIC 45 Design team !!

Well, I have to say that this is one of the biggest days in my scrapbooking life to date......I am shocked, ecstatic and scared stiff all rolled into one... and this is the reason

I HAVE BEEN SELECTED AS A PART OF THE

....2013 GRAPHIC 45 DESIGN TEAM....


 
The new design team is truly an amazing group of crafters, and I am totally honored to have been included amongst them.

Check out the Graphic 45 blog to see who made the team alongside me

Thank you so much to all my wonderful bloggy friends, for all the well wishes since I was selected in the top 30.  Your encouragement and support has been amazing. And I appreciate every single one of you more than you know.

A HUGE thank you to Graphic 45 for giving me this amazing opportunity

Heres a link to my FIRST EVER video I made for the final round. Its far from perfect, but, with lots of editing, it turned out not too bad.. Lots of room to improve though :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tn7wZJFTNLU

 

Friday, April 19, 2013

My latest obsession

 
Hello my friends, and Hpaay Saturday to you all. Phew, life has been a little frantic for us lately. I havnt had alot of time for just playing, amid DT and magazine deadlines, and the settlement of our new beach house (yay). But I have managed to have just a little play, and might I add, started myself on yet another scrappy obsession.
I have been making these gorgeous little resin pieces. They are so much fun, and I will ( when I get a little time ) write up a  tutorial on how I made them.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

I am working on a few more, and will post those when they are done too.
 
Just letting those of you who entered the competion for the naming of our house know, we are still trying to 'agree' on a name, and will let you all know as soon as we have decided. Thnaks so much to all who entered.