A Little More Spontaneous Joy

Afternoon Everyone,
As you must know by now I am rather partial to Penny Black Brushstroke stamps, and the beautiful Poppy (Spontaneous Joy) in particular.
I see that Penny Black have some new stamp designs being released on Friday so I can see a possible purchase in my very near future.

I do love these beautiful brushstroke designs, but I have yet to master the use of them with inks as they are probably intended.

I have however found the fabulous Alcohol Lift Ink Pad

which gives the most superb results.

These solid style of stamps often look like they are just a fairly solid image on the packaging,

but as you can see from the first, second and even third generation of stamped images that you get with the Lift ink pad, the images are far from solid.

The other beauty of the Alcohol Lift ink technique is that every stamped image is different.

So with a little creative mounting courtesy of ideas inspired by the amazing  Jennifer McGuire

I have a bunch more cards to add to my stash.

I have to get back to work now to help out the boss which is a bit of a bummer.
Still I guess at least if I'm at work I can't spend money on new stamps lol.
Have a great evening.
Happy Crafting and Hugs
Kimx

3D Embossing Folders and lots of cake

Evening,
How was your weekend?
Mine seemed very short since I had to work at the garage on Saturday morning, and then go straight on to teach class. Of course that is always fun and relaxing which made up for it all a little bit.

We perhaps had a little more fun, and cake, than usual as we were continuing with the previous days festivities. Davina had held a coffee day in support of the Alzheimer's Cupcake Day and the South East Cancer Help Centre in Purley so we had a raffle and Tombola to enter, and oh did I mention, plenty of cake.

To get back to class, as I said, we were playing with 3D Embossing Folders which make the most stunning backgrounds

I love using them with just a hint of Gilding Wax which makes all the amazing texture show up.

As you know I have been trying to use up bits and pieces from my stash so I found a couple of panels that I made with alcohol lift ink, 

and one of my all time favourite Penny Black stamps to complete a couple of cards.
I heard from Davina today that she raised £220, which will be split equally between the two charities. There were plenty of tombola prizes left over , despite every odd number being a winner, so those are being donated to a Cervical Cancer fund raising event in a couple of weeks time.
I spent a very enjoyable Sunday finishing off a load of cards using this technique, but I will leave them for another day.
I need to get a few cards ready for the post box tomorrow. I love making cards but I never seem to get them completely finished (envelopes and inserts) in time for the postman to send, and June seems to be a particularly busy month for birthdays and the like.
Have a great evening.
Happy Crafting and hugs
Kimx

A floral masterboard.

Evening Everyone,
OMG, what happened to the sunshine yesterday?
I don't know what happened to the traffic either, but everything seemed to be going at a snails pace. So much so that I ended up walking home after an abortive attempt by my daughter to drive me there.
She was trying to be nice and drop me home after we had taken shopping to my Mum, but we got caught up in the tailback caused by whatever was going on on the M25........1 hour to cover a quarter of a mile!!!!
With three small children in the car all needing their dinner I ended up sending Becki home via an alternative route, while I continued home on foot which seemed the most sensible course of action. Not a bad walk really, apart from the torrential rain which appeared while I was half way home. I arrived looking a bit like a drowned rat lol.

Painting is always very relaxing, especially when the weather outside is dreadful.

We had a very enjoyable class a couple of weeks ago painting with one of my favourite colouring mediums...….Pearlex.

Most of the Watercolour Pearlex colours look so much better on dark coloured card stock,

so I created a masterboard by repeatedly stamping and gold embossing a beautiful floral stamp from Stamps by Me.

I painted all of the images with colours from a couple of my Watercolour Pearlex palettes.

I love the beautiful vibrant colours, with just a hint of sparkle. So much better in the flesh.

Once I had finished I chopped the masterboard up to create six different, but similar cards.

I also stamped and embossed the image onto a couple of strips of mop up background,

to create another couple of cards. Just what I need to send to several friends whose birthdays I have missed.

Off to bed now.

Hugs to All

Kimx

A String of Christmas Baubles

Afternoon Everyone,
Time for a couple more Christmas cards.

I know, it's June, and its supposed to be hot and sunny, but it has been rather the opposite just lately so I thought I would share a few more Christmas cards with you.

These cards were made using one of Jane Gills lovely Woodware Christmas stamps, and are perfect for a bit of paper piecing.

In fact we are going to be doing this in class in a couple of weeks time, although I will be nice and find a few similar non Christmas stamps for them to use as well.

They are nice open images to colour in as well,

although being the sad person that I am, I used up some of the tiny stamped pieces as well.
I'm hoping that the weather isn't too horrid this afternoon as I have to go and do my Mum's shopping and that involves quite a bit of walking to the station afterwards.
Oh well I guess I will dry out if necessary.
Have a great afternoon.
Happy Crafting and Hugs.
Kimx

For a Special Someone

Evening Everyone,
Another commission for a friend. Hopefully it will brighten up a miserable and wet day.

 He does like an Easel card, because they stand out so well.

I do so love the LOTV digi images, all coloured in for me, so they are quick and easy to use, and oh soooo cute.

As you know I am on a mission to use up bits and pieces,

so as I had printed the images out two to a page,

and two different designs so that I could choose which one to use, I ended up with four cards in total.

I also need a card for an old friend who is moving away to start a new chapter in his life.

I always find making cards for men a challenge, so when my Granddaughters boyfriend announced recently that he was going back to collage in September I knew exactly which image to use for his birthday card.

In fact I made several more cards yesterday during my play session.

Including this little cutie for a first birthday.

At least it seems to have stopped raining here, although I'm not sure for how long. It looked like we were in for such a nice sunny day this morning as well.
Have a great evening.
Happy Crafting and Hugs
Kimx

Anything but a card for CCM

Evening Everyone,
We have a new challenge over at CCM, and as usual I am late with my post.
In my defence I was enjoying a day off work, and I got a bit carried away with card making, so no surprise there then :O)

Our challenge is Anything but a Card, and the lovely Angela is our host.

I don't often make anything other than a card, so this is a project that I made with 'The Girls' in class sometime last year.

We played with the Faux Leather Technique to create several sheets and then used them

to cover a notebook

and also to make a couple of booklets from scratch.

I used some of my large embossing folders to give the covers some texture,

and sheering elastic and large buttons to hold the booklets closed.

I think that we will definitely have to do this again as they make really nice prezzies.
In fact I have one of them earmarked for my little sister who has a birthday coming up.
They are unfortunately very hard to photograph, so my apologies for the photos which do not show them off at their best.
Better get my uniform ready as I'm back at work tomorrow.
I hope that you can join us with our new challenge. I look forward to popping over and seeing your creations.
Have a great week.
Happy Crafting and Hugs
Kimx

A flock of Flamingoes

Evening Everyone,
What a miserable day it was yesterday. Definitely good weather for water fowl, although I'm not sure even they will have been happy with all the rain. Thankfully it has been much brighter today

I may live with half my Grandchildren, and therefore see them every day, but it certainly doesn't stop them from having a last minute request for a card.

One such request came from Saskia who wanted a card for her friend Amber, who just LOVES flamingos.

She wanted her name on it 

and she loves pink and rose gold.

I also added her age.

I made a couple of other cards to add to my stash.

I'm sure that someone else will like flamingos,

they seem to be the in thing at the moment.
Off to the gym again in a bit, I wonder if my coat has dried out yet after yesterday.
Hope you have a great afternoon.
Happy Crafting and hugs
Kimx