Finishing Off Christmas

Evening,

I did wonder what the weather would get up to this weekend after our amazing assortment on Thursday. It was a very mixed bag........torrential rain, so heavy that it sounded like huge hail stones, brilliant sunshine and then to round off the afternoon hail itself and heavy snow, albeit only for a few minutes.

In view of the snow and the fact that we were finishing off Christmas cards in class on Saturday I have decided to share a Christmas card with you tonight.

I have used a 3D embossing folder and dark green cardstock for the background along with a little gold gilding wax.

The stamped panel was created using an image taken from a piece of Alcohol inked Yupo paper using an Alcohol Lift ink pad. I also used a Tim Holtz stencil in the background along with a stamped and embossed sentiment from Woodware.

I die cut my panel and then left the die in place while I added ink around the edges. This creates a fabulous faux matt and layer.

I managed to finish off envelopes and inserts for quite a few Christmas cards on Saturday. It's amazing what you can get done when you are surrounded by lovely crafty friends.

Hope that you had a great weekend.

Crafty Hugs 

Kimx

Congratulations Granny

Evening,

My good friend and gym buddy is finally off to Bali tomorrow to meet her newest Granddaughter.

I needed to make sure that she had her birthday card to take with her, so we met up for a coffee out in the fresh air.  Her birthday is at the beginning of March when she will be isolating in a hotel in Bali so I wanted her to have something to open and mark the occasion. I also made her a card to mark Havana's birth. At least now that the baby has arrived Pia can spend her all her time with cuddles. She will need to make the most of her limited time out there. I know just how incredibly lucky I am to be able to see some of my Grandchildren on a daily basis, and visit the rest of them, very easily, at least twice a month, not have to travel halfway around the world. 

Once again I reached for my LOTV Simply Print images to make her card.

I die cut the image and added a little distress ink with the die still in place to give that lovely narrow white border.

I checked first to see what Pia was going to be called, and Granny it was.

As I had printed a couple of images I created another card to add to my stash, they always seem to come in handy.

The sentiment is from an old LOTV stamp set.

I recently purchased this fabulous piercing die which I thought made the paper look a little like a quilted blanket.

I wanted to make a card for Pia to take out to her daughter and her partner with all of Havana's birth details on it. Unfortunately time just ran away with me, so I will have to send it. I'm told that it will take ages and probably cost an arm and a leg, but that doesn't matter.

I know that Pia is all packed and ready for the off, although I don't think that she will be able to sleep much tonight with all the excitement of finally being able to travel. I know I wouldn't.

Thanks for stopping by.

Hugs Kimx

A Happy Hello from Altenew

Evening,

Please tell me that it is going to be fairly warm tomorrow. This refit at work feels like it has been going on forever, and now they are coming to replace all the chillers...................well most of them, one isn't ready yet!! As a consequence, we have to spend tomorrow serving through the night pay hatch. Last time they were replacing something and we had to do that it was freezing, so I am hoping for an unseasonally warm day tomorrow.

I finally managed to get a card finished using one of the lovely Altenew stamp, die and stencil sets that we were playing with on Saturday.

This is from the Elegant Motifs set which is part of their Craft Your Life Project Kit which I have signed up to. I found a gold die cut frame and black faux stitched panel in my stash and added the coloured panel to the corner to hide the pine branch. You can just see a little of it poking out from beneath the flower.

I added a tiny stamped and white embossed sentiment along with some pearls.

Thanks for stopping by.

Hugs Kimx

Happy Birthday Branches

Evening,

I said the best laid plans, didn't I? I've had a successful day of crafting, just not with Altenew stamp sets. Still there is always tomorrow after work lol. 

Here is a card that I made last year using a pre cut and coloured floral branches die cut.

The background was created using an embossing folder and some acrylic paints.

A fabulous sentiment from a Woodware stamp set to finish it off.

Back to work tomorrow so I had better get my head down. At least it will be a short week thank goodness.

Thanks for stopping by.

Hugs Kimx

Pretty in Pink

Evening,

We had some little unexpected, but very welcome visitors today, so my crafty endeavors didn't go quite to plan. I managed to get some bits finished, but nothing from yesterdays class, so once again here are a couple of cards that I made during a previous play session with my Altenew stamps and dies.

I used a layering stamp set and matching die for the main image.

I used a patterned die and embossing mat to create the background panel and then added a little pink ink with a blending brush which highlights the embossing created with the die.

The sentiments are stamped, die cut and stacked for added dimension.

I used the same layering stamp set for the main image on this second card.

This time I used a floral heart die and embossing mat to create the embossed background 

before adding the stamped and coloured die cut and sentiment panel.

Hopefully I will be able to catch up a little more tomorrow as I have a day off. Still the best laid plans and all that, perhaps I an tempting fate by planning too much lol.

Thanks for stopping by.

Hugs Kimx

A Special Guest Star

Evening,

We had a wonderful class today, with a very special guest, Gill, a crafty friend who used to join us each week, but who we haven't seen since she moved away 5 years ago. 

We have kept in touch over the years, and all the stars were aligned when she contacted me a couple of weeks ago and asked if I could put on a class for today.

I would usually have been occupied with babysitting duties, but as luck would have it they had a previous engagement so everything just fell into place.

It was all a bit touch and go yesterday with storm Eunice, but I think it takes a lot to keep a determined crafter from her chosen destination.

As requested, we played with Altenew stamps and dies with co-ordinating stencils for easy colouring. Everyone had a great time creating die cut and coloured images. I haven't managed to finish or photograph anything to share I'm afraid, but I will get on with my homework tomorrow so maybe I will have something then.

Gill is off partying tonight, but we all hope that she will be able to join us again before another 5 years have passed.

Crafty hugs to All

Kimx

In Love with Altenew

Evening,

I hope that you are all safe and well after the terrible weather that we have been experiencing today.

We have an extra class tomorrow, where we will be playing with stamps, stencils and dies from Alternew, one of my favourite stamp companies.

They have the most fabulous layering stamps, as well as beautiful designs for straightforward colouring.

Most sets now have co-ordinating dies, and they have also added stencils and embossing folders to their impressive range of equipment.

I have a rather large stash of stamp sets, in fact I have a little bit of an addiction if I am honest, so I decided to limit our choices this time to ones that have the matching stencils and dies. This is still a rather large selection lol.

These two cards tonight were made during a previous class, where we played with Altenew stamps and dies, and created our own stencils and embossing folders.

I created a stencil using this fabulous background die, and then used it with inks and brushes on the background panel.

It was too nice to waste so I added it to the main body of the card before 

adding my die cut flower and leaves.

I also added a few extra die cut leaves from my stash.

Let's hope that the storm has passed by tomorrow and we can get back to normal. I am really looking forward to playing with my Crafty friends.

Thanks for stopping by.

Hugs Kimx
 

Christmas Flowers

Evening,

Well I am certainly suffering for all my activity yesterday. I've been hobbling around like a very old lady because my feet hurt so much - that will teach me to put a couple of plasters on BEFORE I start walking. To be fair, one way was fine, but the second 3 miles was a step too far, so to speak.

Here is another card made using the fabulous Imagination stencil and large Christmas die.

The background was created during a wonderful Hobby Art Design Team weekend many years ago. We had a fabulous time playing and sharing ideas and techniques, hence the non Hobby Art equipment. The only problem is I cannot for the life of me remember how the background was made. I'm sure that it used Imagination products, and I seem to remember that a heat gun was involved, but other than that I am at a loss. I will have to see if anyone else that was there can remember how I made it.

Have a great evening.

Hugs Kimx
 

Hi All,

Sorry no post tonight. I went to visit my Mum this afternoon and now I am absolutely shattered having walked to and from the station to her house. It's a six mile round trip and my legs and feet are killing me. I need to lie down and it's hard to use the computer when you are doing that lol.

See you tomorrow. 

Hugs Kimx

Happy Birthday Jenni

Evening,

What a difference some years can make to the weather. This day 43 years ago we had thick snow on the ground. It was the day my eldest daughter was born. My Dad had driven us to the hospital during a blizzard the day before (Valentines Day).

Jenni arrived early in the morning of the 15th and due to the thickness of the snow her Dad couldn't get home from the hospital so the nurses pushed a couple of chairs together in a side room for him to get a couple of hours sleep before braving the elements. I can't imagine that happening in this day and age, mores the pity.

I have already shared her birthday card, so here are a couple of birthday cards made using a fabulous floral stencil from Imagination. 

I created a panel for the base of the card using stencil medium and ink. I also created a second panel and fussy cut some of the flowers to add to the main body of the card around the sentiment.

The second card uses the same stencil, some inks and tiny glass beads.

I also added some die cut sentiments.

Let's hope that we stick with the weather that we have at the moment and don't try to copy it from all those years ago. I can certainly live with out the white stuff thank you very much lol.

Thanks for stopping by.

Hugs Kimx

Maisie the Mouse

Evening,

I got to work this morning to find that the small heater that we have behind the tills has been broken. It is freezing at the tills because of the constant opening and closing of the back doors, and the draught from the night pay hatch. The heater wasn't very big, but it did offer a little protection against the cold. So I was pleased that today wasn't too cold. I do hope that the weather remains reasonably warm, at least until we can get a new heater.

Here is another little cutie from Jane's latest Fuzzy Friends release.

This one is called Maisie the Mouse.

I created a background using a stencil, paste and oxide inks.

I created a matt for the stenciled panel using the little mouse footprints which are also part of the stamp set.

Thanks for stopping by.

Hugs Kimx

Kati the Kitten.

Evening,

It has definitely been crafting weather today, it has been pouring with rain for most of it!!

I hope that you caught Jane on Create and Craft today. Here is another card that I made for her, this time using Kati the Kitten.

I painted her with Distress Oxides, which have given her the look of a tabby cat.

I fussy cut her out and added her to a stamped and embossed banner.

There is a paw print as part of the stamp set so I added some of them across the bottom of the die cut panel.

Thanks for stopping by.

Hugs Kimx
 

Fabulous is What You Are!

Evening, 

We had a fabulous day today with classes on 3D Embossing folders and white inks. We also saw the long awaited return of a couple of the ladies after their various health issues. They both looked really well, and it was so nice to see them after what seems like ages.

I haven't had the chance to take any photos of class samples today, so here is a card from a while ago made using a 3D embossing folder and acrylic paints.

It was made for Janice and Andy at Sirstampalot.

The die cut sentiment is from Creative Expressions and comes with some co-ordinating stamped sentiments.

I have a box full of Goodies from Janice and Andy to play with tomorrow, so I had better get my thinking cap on.

Hope that you had a great day. Thanks for stopping by.

Hugs Kimx

Happy Birthday Rithika

Evening,

It's that time of year again where I have to make a card for Boss's youngest daughter. I do love the challenge of coming up with something different from last time, but still incorporating her name.

This year I actually had a request from Boss.........please make it bigger and add an 18th for her special birthday.

I have been playing with my 3D embossing folders and white ink in preparation for the class tomorrow, so I decided to use one of them in the background for a little bit of subtle sophistication.

I embossed the floral image on the left hand side of a blue square panel and gently wiped over it with a  white ink pad.

This highlights the detail of the folder in a very subtle manner.

I added some diecut and layered hearts along with her name, 18 and some pearls.

I ran the finished card past my eldest Granddaughter who said that as far as she was concerned it fitted the bill perfectly.....sophisticated but fun. Praise indeed from a 21 year old lol.

Boss seemed to like it so I hope that it was OK.

Better finish packing things up for class tomorrow before it gets too late.

Thanks for stopping by.

Hugs Kimx