Black and White

Evening All,

It's a good job that I have been taking Creative Expressions parcels to the local Post Office for years. I got there with my samples this afternoon, and when I went to pay I discovered that I had left my money at home. How nice to be trusted enough to go home and return with payment. He even told me to take my receipts with me!!

Having put the samples in the post, I am now on a mission to use up all the left over bits and pieces before I move on to anything else. The cards made with these pieces will be helpful when Jane takes these designs on to the TV. It means that I will actually be ahead of the game for once. That hasn't happened in a really long time :O)

One of my all time favourite classes is 'Black and White, so here are some cards that I made a while ago during one such class.

I love this old Magenta stamp, definitely one that I kept during my recent sort out.

These stamps were released by Magenta at the same time and create a very dramatic look. They stayed too lol.

This card uses a Tim Holtz die to create this lovely lacy corner.

I used the same die here, and added a fussy cut butterfly and sentiment.

White on white can look stunning. Another butterfly, this time with a hint of colour added to it.

I found various strips of embossed card stock for this card, and added a strip of black and some faux pearls.

I finally managed to download my photos from the weekend, so I have updated Sundays post (We've been Busy Bunnies)

I might even manage to finish something off tonight if I'm lucky. Thanks for stopping by.

Hugs Kimx

A Birthday Shaker

Evening All,

Way back in April I made a bunch of Easter cards using a set of layering dies from Memory Box. See Original Post 

As I said at the time, there were loads of 'bits' that seemed too good to throw away, so I turned them into a few shaker cards, one of which I sent to my little sister for her Birthday today.

I used a couple of large floral dies from Dawn Bibby for the central image on my cards.

Unfortunately as with any shaker card, the acetate makes getting a decent photograph rather difficult.

I filled the black and white version with all of the white die cut pieces along with plenty of glittery bits and pieces from Creative Expressions Cosmic Shimmer range.

I also created a kraft version for the pink and green 'bits'.

I added a bit of gilding wax to the die cut panel for a little added colour.

I hope that my Sister had a nice day, although she seemed to think that it would be spent inside due to the weather. I do hope that we don't get too much rain this weekend as the kids have plenty of plans for me which seem to involve being outside lol.

Thanks for stopping by.

Hugs Kimx

Paper Cuts Floral Edger Die

Evening All,

There is another new launch over at Creative Expressions today, and this time it some fabulous Paper Cuts Floral Edger dies, a couple of which I was lucky enough to get to play with.

This one is CEDPC1163 Iris, and it is perfect for some paper piecing.

I used scraps of green and white card having first trimmed the panel and layered it onto a white card which had background text stamped onto it.

As you can see I was having fun with some blue mop up backgrounds from my stash. They look fabulous whether they are used to die cut the image as here.

Or used as a background for for a plain white die cut.

Plain black and white with a pop of colour is another suggestion.

And for this final card I lay my white die cut onto a sticker sheet. A bit more paper piecing and then some gilding flakes to finish things off.

I hope that you have as much fun with these dies as I have.

Thanks for stopping by.

Stay safe and hugs

Kimx

A Spot of Black and White

Evening,

A couple of Black and White cards for you tonight using one of Jane's fabulous new stamp sets.

The Umbrella Grass was stamped embossed onto black cardstock and then a little Silver Chrome Glitter Kiss was used around the edges along with some Distress Oxide ink.

I do love a spotlight card and this one once again uses the Umbrella Grass and several colours of Distress Oxide inks.

BTW don't forget to watch Jane's shows on Create and Craft on Tuesday.

Thanks for stopping by.

Hugs Kimx

A Small Act of Kindness

 Evening,

I think all this grotty weather and lockdown restrictions are starting to get to me. I am really struggling to get motivated to do anything at the moment, just going to work is struggle enough.

It's a good job that I have literally hundreds of cards that I can share with you.

I did have one nice thing happen today. 

A lady made a point of coming in and thanking me for making her day last week when we were having to serve through the night pay hatch while the main doors were being repaired.

She was having a bad day, and was faced with a long journey and no hot breakfast, so I made an exception and made her a coffee and a bacon bap served through the hatch.

Such a small thing, but it made her day so much better so she wanted to thank me for my kindness.

How nice of her, she definitely made my day. Just lately all we seem to get is abuse, as if the restrictions are all our fault, so it was so nice to be appreciated for a change.

So I found this card amongst my stash and thought that it fitted the thought for the day really well.

I do love black and white cards, and this stunning Jane Gill stamp works so well in it. 

Thanks for stopping by.

Hugs Kimx

Home Again

 Evening,

Home again after a hectic few days with the littlest Grandchildren.

It's always hard to leave, and I never seem to pick the right time to go to avoid a meltdown of some description, but I suppose that's the nature of the game when you are 5, 3 and 1 lol.

Just a quick post tonight, I need to catch up on some sleep, with out anyone having a sleepover!!

This card was made for Jane's last stamp release using JGS746 Word Fragments 2 set to create the background,

and then circular portions of JGS741 Autumn Flowers in the foreground.

And this card was made with more leftover pieces.

So glad I have the day off tomorrow. Now I must just remember to go and turn off all my alarms. I really don't want to see 3.30am, for one day at least.

Night night.

Hugs Kimx

Make a Wish in Black and White

Evening All,
Another card using the lovely Make a Wish stamp set from Designer Boutique.

There is always one particular stamp in a new release that becomes a favourite, even if you are not supposed to have favourites.

I create the background panel using Distress Oxides and watercolour card stock.

I stamped and embossed in black Versafine Claire ink for the focal image and then added some sheer ribbon and a sentiment panel.
Thanks for stopping by.
Stay safe and hugs
Kimx

Black and White and Pink and Grey

Evening Everyone,
It's the end of another lovely weekend full of glorious sunshine.
Fortunately there has been a bit of a breeze, at least this morning when I went for my usual walk.

In any stamp collection that I am lucky enough to receive from Jane, there is always one stamp that is the easiest of the bunch to play with, and one that ends up being a bit of a favourite.

This beautiful floral stamp is just one such image.

I found it hard to stop making the samples with it.

I used white embossing on black card stock for the background and fussy cut images coloured with
a Cosmic Shimmer Summer Garden Watercolour Palette for this card.

For this card I stamped and embossed in black on white card stock, and then painted around the flowers with grey ink for a monochrome look.

I added one of Jane's circular sentiments and some sheer ribbon, along with a silver glitter matte and layer.

This card is very similar, but with a pop of colour added with the circular sentiment and fine coloured border.
I'm sure that there will be a few more cards cropping up using this stamp set, but I will call it a day for now.
Thanks for stopping by, and enjoy the rest of your evening.
Stay safe and happy crafting.
Hugs Kimx

Creative Expressions 30 Day Challenge - Day 12 Sparkle

Evening Everyone,
What a glorious day it has been, I just hope that you have all been obeying the rules and staying indoors how ever boring that may seem. I can't believe how many pictures I have seen of people out and about like it was any other spring day.

Lecture over, here is my card for the Sparkle challenge over at Creative Expressions.

I'm afraid that the photos don't do the sparkle justice, it never does which is a shame.

I have used another of Jane's floral designs for Woodware along with a piece of background paper created using pale gold Gilding Polish.

I do love black and white cards, with just a hint of colour, or in this case some Platinum Stickles and pale green leaves.
Better get back to my card making while I have a little bit of mojo available. It's been sorely lacking of late I have to admit. I have been enjoying taking part in these challenges but I am very glad that I have such a large stash of cards to look through in order to take part.
Have a good evening.
Stay safe and hugs
Kimx

A Little More Black and White

Evening Everyone,
It's been very cold, but lovely and bright here today. I actually went out for a short walk, it's impossible to sit and rest all of the time, and at the end of the day I will have to go back to work at some point so I would rather ease myself in gently.

We started a fabulous Black and White challenge at CCM on Monday, and as you may know I do love that particular colour combo.

This first card was one that I made for Creative Expressions for the Woodware stamps section of their catalogue.

This stamp set would lend itself to a bit of zendoodling as well as basic black and white stripes of colour.

I never quite know what I am going to create when I start making the samples, and I also try very hard to use up all of the leftover bits and pieces,

so here is a second card made with them.
I'm back home tomorrow after a lovely couple of days staying with Becki and the youngest of the Grandchildren.
Chloe has been my best buddy. I just wish I could understand her when she babbles away 19 to the dozen. I often think that we should video her so that we can play it back to her when she is older so that she can translate it for us. The trouble is you never have your phone near you when you need it do you.
Jack is such a cheeky little monster with an infectious grin. Unfortunately he has also learnt the high pitched squeal from copying his sister. I'm thinking of investing in earplugs for next time.
Its amazing how much sorting you can get done when you are having to sit and rest. I have shredded a huge bag full of paperwork that would otherwise have remained in carrier bags for another few years. I also found a couple of gift cards which are still just in date, so that was a nice surprise.
Better get to bed now before the kids wake up again.
Hugs Kimx

Black and white at CCM

Evening Everyone,

Today saw the start of a new challenge over at CCM, and it is one of my favourites 'Black and White'

The problem that I had here was deciding on which card I would choose to share with you.

This fabulous old Stampendous stamp worked brilliantly for this watercolour technique that we played with in class a while ago.

I used Black Soot distress ink on the stamp which I then stamped onto a piece of very wet watercolour cardstock.

The water wicks out the ink to give a very diffused image.

Once the card has dried (either with heat or naturally) stamp back over the top with a black dye based ink pad and emboss with clear embossing powder.

Here I used the same technique but used a couple of different colours on the stamp for the first stamping.

I did a little bit of decoupage in the corner of this one for a bit of added dimension.
I have to say that the advent of the Stamping Platforms or Misti make this a very easy technique to achieve. I'm not sure that I would have been able to stamp my secondary image without one of them, especially as this is a foam mounted stamp.
I hope that you will find the time to join us for this latest challenge, and please stop by to see all the wonderful samples that my teamies have come up with to inspire you.
Have a great week.
Happy Crafting and hugs
Kimx