New Creative Expressions Stamps - Take 2

Afternoon,

Let's try again shall we?

Here is just one of the cards that I made for the new stamp release from Designer Boutique under the Creative Expressions umberella.

They are all fairly solid images which I happen to like very much.

This card was created using Distress Oxide Inks. I inked up the stamp and then spritzed it with water before stamping onto mixed media cardstock.

Once the image was dry I reinked the stamp and stamped again in the same place. This is where some sort of stamp platform comes in to it's own. I embossed this top darker stamped image which makes it stand out.

This second card is created in the same way.

I added some ink splatters to both cards and a die cut sentiment.

 The initial 'wet' stamping on this card was much more subtle,

so I decided to stamp and emboss over the top in gold. I also die cut the image into a circle and added a red circular border.

The sentiment is from one of Jane Gills stamp sets, stamped and embossed onto a piece of 'mop up' background.
Thanks for stopping by.
Stay Safe and big crafty hugs
Kimx

New Stamps for Creative Expressions

Evening Everyone,
Creative Expressions have launched a new set of stamps, and I was lucky enough to get the call to make some samples using them.
Now I was planning on sharing some pictures with you, but I'm just about ready to throw the laptop out of the window at the moment because the bloody internet keeps dropping out, which means that I can't load any pictures, so you might just have to wait until tomorrow I'm afraid.
Nothing like teasing you lol.
Stay safe.
Big Hugs
Kimx

Have a Blissful Day Amongst the Showers

Afternoon Everyone,

I hope that you have had a blissful day, despite the rain that is. Well assuming that you have had plenty, on and off, like us. I'm afraid that I ditched my walk this morning, I'm obviously a fair weather walker.

So I thought that a nice flower would brighten up the day.

Another of Jane's lovely designs for Woodware, stamped and embossed onto Kraft card and then painted with mica paints. I do own stamps designed by other people honest lol.

The background is created using a 3D embossing folder and some gilding wax.
It looks like the rain has stopped, for the moment at least, but as it's my night to cook dinner I think I will have to postpone my walk till tomorrow.
Thanks for stopping by.
Hugs Kimx

Blue Wood Vetch

Evening Everyone,

It seems really strange not to have a Creative Expressions challenge to find a card for, it means I actually have to think lol.

So here are a couple of cards that I made using one of Jane's fabulous new stamp sets designed for Woodware and available through Creative Expressions.

I created a background using a blue Shimmer Shaker which I mixed with water and then brushed onto watercolour cardstock.

I used a rectangular die to deboss into the background panel after I had stamped and embossed JGS716 Wood Vetch on to the watercolour background.

Another card created in a similar manner,

this time using an oval die for the debossing,

 and adding some script stamping using JGS712 Text Background.

This one uses the same stamps, this time with white embossing and a rectangular die.

The small sentiment tiles are taken from another of Jane's stamp sets JGS714 Tulip Set. It is one stamp that I chopped up into tiles and edged with a black sharpie pen. You can see it as a whole on card number 2.
Have a great evening. Stay Safe
Hugs Kimx

Birthday Gnome

Afternoon Everyone,
Another lovely sunny Sunday. I do hope that you are enjoying the weather from the confines of your own home and are not out and about like some of the idiots that I saw this morning when I went for my walk.

I seem to have finally found some crafty mojo, which is just as well since I have had several commissions to complete in the last week or so.

One of them is this card for a friends husband.

She calls him her garden gnome so asked for one on the card. This beauty was found at Laurie Furnell Designs,

 and comes with 19 different Spring Images.

Although it has been designed with Spring and particularly Easter in mind it worked perfectly for this card.

There are lots of images that I was able to utilize with a bit of fussy cutting. 

I used a piece of embossed card for the background and a sentiment designed by Phill Martin at Sentimentally Yours.
I delivered the card to my friends place of work, where I was promptly asked to make another one for one of her colleagues to give her Dad.

They have bought him a garden gnome for his birthday so she felt that this card would be perfect for him.
I do love to make special cards for people. There is something so satisfying when you see the results of your labours light up another persons face, especially at the moment.
Enjoy the sunshine today, my Mum informs me that we can expect rain for the rest of the week. Part of me does hope that she is wrong, although if we don't get any soon I expect we will soon be faced with a hosepipe ban after all the extra water that we are having to use during lockdown, what with handwashing and clothing etc.
Stay safe, and have a great evening
Hugs Kimx

Something from the Archives.

Afternoon Everyone,
I don't know about you, but I have a list of jobs that I have been trying to get through during the lockdown. Not cleaning tasks you understand, that would be going too far lol.
One of them is to sort through all the photographs that I have taken over the years. To this end I purchased one of those Photostick things that is supposed to make it easy to do. It certainly means that they are all in one place, but this one seems to have saved multiple copies of the same thing, and nothing is sorted into folders so guess what I am going to be doing for the next several years!!
I suppose I have to start somewhere, so I thought that the best place would be with all the cards that I have made, and those that I have blogged.
Going through them has been quite fun, it's amazing to see just how many cards I have made over the years given that I have been doing this for rather a long time. Some of them will stay in a 'never to be shared' folder, but there are lots that I am still rather pleased with, so I thought that you might like to see them.
Of course there are far too many for one post, so I will throw a few into the mix every now and then.

They were all made in 2010, would you believe, using stamps made by Clarity. At least I think they are.

I don't think that they are even available any more,

 but as you can see my taste in stamps hasn't changed very much over the years.

I'm not sure that my style has changed very much either.

I liked my white embossing and handmade backgrounds even then.

Not sure about the stamps on this one, but it seemed to fit in with the others quite nicely.
Now that I've had a quick trip down memory lane, I need to get right back up to date with a commission for a friend.
Stay safe, and have a great weekend.
Hugs Kimx

What a Strange World

What a strange World we are living in at the moment.
What with social distancing and queuing to get into shops, being allowed out to get exercise once a day, and no haircuts and coffee shops.
I am one of the lucky ones, if you can look at it like that, because at least I still have a job, and one that is considered important no less.
I have gone from being one of the lowest of the low, to someone who is actually needed to help keep the country running. I am of course nowhere near as important as all the fantastic people that work for the NHS, that are helping to keep people alive.
Most of my family are furloughed (that's a new one for the vocabulary), and the children no longer attend school. It is going to be very hard for everyone to get 'back to normal', whatever, and whenever that is going to be.
The worse part, for me at least, is not being able to see the littlest Grandchildren. I'm lucky enough to live with the 4 oldest ones, but it seems ages since I had a sleepover, and had my 'bestie' follow me around. Every time I see them on facetime, or whatever it is called, they seem to have grown so big. I do get daily pictures, but it's not quite the same. It is difficult to phone too often as Mum tells me that they get very upset afterwards. It is hard for a 1, 2 and 4 year old to understand why 'Mamma can't come to stay', they must feel like they are being punished, I certainly do.
One of the many amazing things that has come out of all of this, is the friendliness of our wonderful crafty community.
Amongst lots of other things the fabulous people over at Creative Expressions decided to start a 30 day Crafty Challenge, just for fun.
I have several boxes of cards that I have made over the years, so I decided that I would try and use some of them, rather that make anything new. Amazingly I managed to find something that worked for every challenge but one, and shared a total of 107 cards with you all.
I wish I could say that it has made a dent in those boxes, but there are still plenty more to come.
Another thing that has remained a constant has been Mother Nature, who has continued her seasonal marvels regardless of what has been going on in the world.

So no card tonight, just a not very good photo of some bluebells that I saw on my walk yesterday. Stay safe everyone, and thanks for letting me ramble on.

Hugs Kimx

Creative Expressions 30 Day Challenge - Day 30 Apeture

Morning All,
I can't believe that we are on the last day of the 30 Day challenge over at Creative Expressions, where did that month go to?

For the last challenge, they are looking for an aperture, so this is my take on it.

The background is created with a fabulous floral stamp, designed by my friend Jane Gill, and white embossing powder.

I sponged the images with bright colour Distress Inks, and then cut the aperture using a Sue Wilson rectangular die. I mounted the outer part of the panel onto craft foam to elevate it above the central panel.

As usual when I was designing my card I had to have a play, so I created a Masterboard using the same stamp and the Mop Up Technique.

I chopped up the Masterboard and created a couple of extra cards for my stash.

I'm afraid I'm very sad, and even the little bits get used up.
Have a great day, and thanks for stopping by.
Stay Safe and Happy Crafting
Hugs Kimx

Creative Expressions 30 Day Challenge - Day 29 Friendship

Afternoon,
Todays penultimate challenge over at Creative Expressions 30 Day Challenge is Friendship.

Now I'm not much for what I call 'flowery' words, as my friends will tell you. I tend to stick to basics like Happy Birthday and Best Wishes lol.

And as I told you I am also trying to share cards that I already have made in my stash as I have had a few commissions that I have been working on that have taken up all of my crafting time.

So I hope that I will be forgiven for sharing a card with stamps not available through Creative Expressions.

I added my sentiment over the top of a piece of grosgrain ribbon that I found in my stash.

With a few gems for a bit of bling.

 Thanks for stopping by, stay safe, and have a lovely crafty afternoon.
Hugs Kimx

Creative Expressions 30 Day Challenge - Day 28 3D (Edited)

Evening everyone,
Another late one, and I really should be in bed as I start work at five tomorrow morning!!!
It's 3D today over at Creative Expressions 30 Day challenge and I'm afraid that I am going to have to post my cards for it tomorrow as the ruddy internet is not playing the game.
I have managed to write this on my phone, but I cant import any pictures so I will have to update this tomorrow.
The wonders of modern technology and all that.
(Edited to include photos)

Goodmorning, I've done my 4 hour shift at work, and my walk around the park, and I have finally managed to get the Internet to behave, even if only briefly, so here are the cards that I tried to post yesterday.

I'm afraid that my 3D is limited to a couple of fussy cut flowers,

 and some Pinflair Glue Gel.

Both cards were created from a Masterboard of stamped and white embossed images, coloured with the Summer Garden Watercolour Palette.

It is a fabulously sparkly paint palette.
Big hugs
Kimx