Happy Birthday Emma

Evening Everyone,
Well I have been a much happier bunny today...............we have had rain.

Of course we could have done with it staying nice and sunny on Sunday for Emma's birthday party, but it was not to be, so we managed indoors.

 

These were taken on the Saturday when Emma was able to get out in the garden.

It did get a bit manic at one stage on Sunday, and it was probably quite fortuitous that several people were unable to make it on the day as I'm not sure that there was an inch of floor space left. But none the less I think everyone enjoyed themselves, young and old alike, and those somewhere in between.
I think that the hit gift of the day was the mechanical unicorn. It may have been for Emma, who is very in to them at the moment, but her little sister Chloe, was bouncing up and down and getting really excited as it travelled across the floor. She is so very near to crawling that I think she may very well start, just so that she can get to it.
I think it all got a bit too much in the end, so two little people were sound asleep by 8.30, unheard of just recently, so I think they were closely followed by Mum and Dad, although I'm told that it didn't last for very long :O(

I recently gave in and acquired some Chameleon pens and Color Tops. Oh boy do they make for easy colouring and blending.

I have resisted the temptation for ages as I have Spectrum Noir Alcohol markers which I rarely use as I just can't seem to master the art of colour blending with them.

I wish that I had changed to the Chameleon system a long time ago because I actually found myself enjoying the colouring process instead of reaching for the precoloured digi images. 

The letters and 'celebrate' are die cut, and the sentiments are from Altenew.
Like most little girls Emma is in to pink and purple which matched perfectly a sheet of wonderful Clarity background paper.

Emma wanted an E for her birthday cake this year, so I coloured another Unicorn digi image to pop in  the corner. It is the same one as I used on her card, but unfortunately I forgot to take a picture of the finished cake before we cut it all up.
I know that I will probably be shouted down, but I do hope that we have a little more of this less than sunny weather. I know that the gardens need it, and I might even find some energy to get things done, instead of lying down in a darkened room trying to escape the heat.
Night, night.
Hugs Kimx

Playtime with Brushos/Color Burst/Pixie Powders

Evening Everyone,
We had another fabulous afternoon, this time playing with Brushos / Color Burst / Pixie Powders.
I also took along an assortment of stamps, dies, embossing folders and stencils for us to play with using ideas that I had found on Pinterest and YouTube.
Unfortunately I didn't manage to get a card finished, but it has meant adding to my ever growing pile of backgrounds as it was just too much fun playing.

As usual I liked other peoples pieces better than my own, but I think that is often the case.

Since I didn't manage to finishing anything off I am sharing a card that I made a couple of years ago during another such play session.

I added some stamped and embossed images,

along with some Imagination sparkle medium added through a diamond stencil.

Here are a few of the other pieces that I made during that previous session.
Now if I could just find a few extra days in the week, I might get some of them made up into cards lol.
In the mean time I have a special birthday card to finish and some cards for both Hobby Art Jenny and Jane Gill who will be appearing on Hochanda next Sunday and Monday the 29th and 30th July.
No rest for the wicked!! I sure hope that I enjoyed myself :O)
Happy Crafting and hugs
Kimx

It's the End of an Era

Afternoon Everyone.
Well it's the end of an Era here.
After a 35 year association with the local school, today marked the last day that one of our number will walk through the doors.
Both my Girls, four of my Grandchildren, and childminded children too numerous to count have all attended this fabulous school.
I was part of the PTA for more than 20 of those years, so you can see we have a rather long history.
To be honest it's all rather sad to think that we will no longer need to collect anyone from the playground.
I suppose there will still be a very slight connection, since Emma and Chloe have their swimming lessons in the pool there.
In fact one of the things that I did for more years than I care to think about was to open the swimming pool every afternoon during the Summer holidays.
How things change. We wouldn't be able to do it now with all the Health and Safety rules and regulations.
In those days, when my girls were young, it was just a couple of mums (usually just me) who sat there and supervised hour long sessions over the course of the afternoon. We had a small tuck shop with sweets and icecreams and we did have a limit on numbers, but I don't think anyone was a qualified lifeguard. We certainly couldn't do that now.
It was also an open air pool then so you didn't boil to death in the heat and it was kind of fun to swim in the rain which we seemed to have plenty of then.
I'm sure that it's all seen through rosy coloured glasses now, but they were good times.

 As usual I made Thank you cards for the Twins to give their teachers and TAs (teaching assistants).

I used some fabulous pre-coloured digi images that I bought from LOTV.

Although they are probably designed to be given to someone who has done well in their exams,

 I thought that the teaching element would work quite nicely when making my Thank you cards.

I rooted through my background paper bits box

to find anything that matched colourwize.

It means that they are all slightly different because of the shape and size of the papers that I found, but I did manage to use up quite a few bits of scrap paper.

Much as I would love to see the rain that is threatening at the moment, all the leavers and their parents have gone to the park at the back of us to meet up for a drink and a reminisce, so I do hope it holds off for a few hours at least.
Hope you have a great weekend, and a fabulous start to the Summer Holidays.
I'm off to prep for tomorrows class. Pixie powders and Brushos, brilliant fun.
Happy Crafting and Hugs
Kimx

A Holiday / Vacation at CCM

Evening Everyone,
There is no denying that it is holiday weather here in the UK.
In fact lots have people that have popped into the garage on their way to the airport have remarked that they are paying to go away to places that are cooler than here. Not the usual great British holiday weather lol.
It may be too hot for me, but I know that lots of you are enjoying all of this sunshine, so it is fitting that our challenge this time over at CCM is Holiday/Vacation.

I got my holiday card made for the challenge, but unfortunately not in time to post it with the rest of the team.

My little cutie is off to the beach.

Perhaps she will find some shells like these ones.

Or even do a bit of paddling.
We are having a well earned vacation at Crafty Cardmakers, so although the challenge lasts for the usual 2 weeks, we will not return with our new challenge until 20th August so that everyone can enjoy the Summer.
Don't forget to stop by and show the rest of the team some love.
And make sure that you are drinking plenty of water and using that suncream :O)
Hugs Kims

Boys will be Boys

Evening Everyone,
Well I finally managed some exercise this evening with a walk back from Caterham.
I certainly needed it after the excesses of last night. We went to one of those Global Food Experience places where there are about a dozen different types of food (Chinese, Indian, Pizza, English etc, etc) and you can eat as much as you like.

It was the twins choice for dinner and it makes so much sense cause it caters for everyone.

So we certainly did celebrate.
This is the card that I made for Ciaran.

These are a couple more cards that I made for a friend with twin boys.

She gave me a few clues as to what they like and left the rest up to me. I love a challenge like that.
Need an early night after all that activity. I hope it isn't too hot tomorrow as I have a long walk to my Mum's and back.
Happy Crafting and Hugs
Kimx

Birthday Kitties

Afternoon All,
There are plenty of people celebrating today, if my birthday planner is anything to go by.
Today marks the twins 11th birthday, and also their last week at school before they move up to Secondary School in September.
Where on earth did those years go to. We could really do with a little of the weather that we saw 11 years ago, although maybe the torrential rain we had might be a little excessive.
I remember walking down to the school pushing a buggy through a river of rainwater that came up over the top of Reece's wellington boots as he walked beside me to collect his big sister. We all had to jump in the shower when we got home absolutely soaked!!

For once their cards were waiting for them on the dining table before they left for school, which is nothing short of a miracle for me.

This card was actually made for a friend of mine to give to her sister. It uses an image from an old calender that came with a craft magazine many years ago. I have several of them in my stash, and I do love the fabulous cute kitty images designed by Margaret Sherry.

This is Saskia's card complete with a bit of Bargello background and a large die cut Happy Birthday.

I had a rather successful weekend completing several extra cards to add to my stash. I just love this cute kitty

And this one reminds me of some of the jumpers that my Aunt used to knit us as kids. 'It will be fine, you will grow into it lol'
It seems to be a little cooler here this afternoon although I'm not sure it's cool enough for anything strenuous and there is still no sign of that rain.
Have a great afternoon.
Happy crafting and hugs
Kimxx

Plenty of Peel-offs Part 2

Evening Everyone,
Sorry it has taken me so long to post this second lot of peel-off cards but this hot weather really is doing me in.
I never thought that I would look forward to a day at work, but at least with it comes 8 hours of air conditioning.

As I said in my last post I spent a bit of time using up some handmade background papers and peel-offs to create some Thank You cards.

Most of these cards use up some backgrounds created using dye based re-inkers and glossy card stock.

They do give some really bright backgrounds which will of course bleach out due to the dye based ink used.

I used rather more water on this one to give a softer finish.

They work just as well with leaves,

as they do with scenes

or flowers.

These last two use damp screwed up 'Bleeding Art Tissue' and glossy card stock

to create a lovely mottled background.
The newspapers are saying that the heatwave is due to come to an end in the next couple of days. I must admit that I would definitely relish a downpour, you might even find me standing out in it.
Have a good evening.
Hugs Kimx

Plenty of Peel-offs

Evening everyone,
I can't believe how hot it still is here.
The lights in my room are a bit like the Blackpool illuminations. Perfect for crafting, but boy do they feel like they chuck out some heat. Not very good in this current climate so I have tried to manage without switching them on today. It is turning into a bit of a challenge now, so it is definitely time to call it a night.

It is getting very close to the end of the school year and with that comes the Teacher Thank you cards.

I made quite a few last year, which I never got around to posting on the blog, so that seems a good place to start.

We had a fabulous class one Saturday which made use of handmade background papers and peel-offs.

So I used up quite a few bits and pieces to create these cards.

Some of the backgrounds use Glimmer Mist sprays and cling film which give a beautiful subtle shimmer,

and others use much brighter background created using glossy card stock and reinkers.

I have used bleach on all of them to paint parts of the main images.

The background to most of the cards has been created by using a large stamped sentiment and pale blue/grey ink.

On this card I added the peel-off direct to the card and coloured the image in using Sparkle pens.
Most of the cards got used up during the year so I will have to make some more for this year, but not tonight cause I can't see what I'm doing lol.
Happy Sunday
Hugs Kimx