Stay Magical with Designer Boutique

Evening,

Have you had a good Wednesday? I spent my usual morning in the company of new friends at 'Stitch and Bitch' or 'Sewing Bee' as they prefer the get togethers to be known.

We had been talking last week about card making, so I took a few cards with me so that they could see what I do, along with a copy of my books.

So here are a couple of cards that I made recently for Creative Expressions for the Designer Boutique range.

I used ink sprays and then took some of the colour out of the flowers with bleach.

This card was also made with the same inks and stamps.

I do love an inky background as you know.

I also added a little faux stitching 

and raised the panel on some 3D foam tape.

I really must get some walking done tomorrow, I have been very remiss in my training over the last week.

Thanks for stopping by.

Love and Crafty Hugs

Kimx
 

Designer Boutique Launch

Evening,

There is another fabulous new launch over at Creative Expressions. This time it is a new set of stamps launched under the Designer Boutique range.

The set I got to play with is called Fairy Blooms, and as it contains several stamp designs in the one set I decided that it would work perfectly with the Retiform technique of masking.

This involved lots of masking and ink blending along with stamping.

It is a fabulous way of using lots of stamps on one cards. I also added a couple of fussy cut flowers and leaves.

The background to the card base was created using inks, and embossing folder and some Gilding Polish.

Thanks for stopping by.

Love and Crafty Hugs

Kimx
 

Framed with A Different View

Evening All,

Why is technology so bloody complicated? I have been forced in to getting a new phone since the standard updates on my old one have eaten up ALL of the memory. It has taken the entire afternoon and evening, and help from my Sin-in-law to transfer everything from the old to the new. And people wonder why I hate change lol.

On a brighter note, we had a fabulous class today on Chalks. There were only a few of us, but we had a wonderful time, and everyone came away with plenty of homework, which I will now have to work on tomorrow.

In the absence of chalked cards to share, here are a few created a while ago using a fabulous frame stamp called a 'Different View' from Designer Boutique through Creative Expressions.

I create the panel on this card using dye based inks over white embossing and then die cut LOVE from the center of it. I added a layer of fun foam behind the sentiment and then placed it back in to negative space. The foam makes the sentiment stand out above the rest of the panel.

Similar panel only this time stamped and embossed in black. I die cut LOVE from the center of the panel

and turned it in to a second card.

The background is created using another Designer Boutique stamp called Meadow Life. I trimmed the background panel down,

and created another little card with the leftover piece.

This final card uses the same frame stamp and dye based inks, just in a totally different colour combo.

Thanks for stopping by.

Crafty Hugs 

Kimx

Happy, Sparkly Monday

Evening,

I hope that you have had a happy, sparkly Monday.

Here is a sparkly card to brighten up your week. 

I have used a piece of mop up background and a fabulous floral stamp from Designer Boutique which I coloured using a pearlescent watercolour palette.

I die cut the image and layered it over a piece of embossed card stock.

It's not looking very sparkly here at the moment, it's raining again, just by way of a change lol. I think that is my cue to get an early night.

Thanks for stopping by.

Hugs Kimx

New Designer Boutique Stamps Just Launched

 Evening All,

At last I have a date for the fracture clinic! In some ways that is bad news since it means that they suspect that I have fractured my wrist, but in other ways at least I will finally get it sorted out.

We have some new stamps just launched over at Creative Expressions in their Designer Boutique range.

I managed to get one sample made with them before I had my accident.

I did a little masking in the center of the panel and sponged the square with ink before stamping and embossing images around the edge. I added some fine lines to the edge of the panel and a sentiment to the center.

I die cut the panel and mounted it onto some more sponged and stamped card stock.

Better get to bed, it's an exciting day tomorrow. Our first class in over a year. I can't wait.

Thanks for stopping by.

Hugs Kimx

Dragonfly Dreaming

Happy Friday........thank goodness.

I hope that you are going to manage a nice crafty weekend. I'm going to try since I have so much to get done.

Traci at Creative Expressions recently asked me to make a card using the Designer Boutique stamp Dragonfly Delight and write Step by Step instructions to go with it.

I was going to share them here, but if you sign up to the Creative Expressions newsletter by following the link Blooming Lovely! - Creative Expressions (creative-expressions.uk.com) you will be able to see all the beautiful products that are available as well as getting access to several inspirational projects with more to follow.

It's almost impossible to make a card with all these fabulous inky products, without ending up with several bits of mop up background. So of course I just had to use them up.

I stamped and embossed the dragonfly image onto a piece of mop up background and then made inks out of several colours of shimmer shaker by adding a little water to the powder to create a paint.

I created a double  faux stitched border around the image using a ruler and black micron pen.

Once again I stamped and embossed the image onto a piece of mop up background and coloured it with the same colours of Shimmer Shakers used in the first card. I also used a die to emboss the oval at the center of the panel which I then highlighted with a black micron pen.

This last card uses up a scrap of the stamped image that I found on my desk along with a fussy cut dragonfly and another piece of mop up background. I told you I could never throw anything away lol.

Thanks for stopping by, I hope that you have a wonderful weekend.

Stay safe and hugs 

Kimx

A Dragonfly among the Daffodils

Evening All,

Another lovely, if tiring day of looking after the littlest Grandbabies. Fortunately it stayed dry so they were able to play outside for quite a while this afternoon even though it was rather chilly. Kids don't seem to notice the cold do they, unlike us oldies.

Recently I've been playing again with the lovely Dragonfly Delight Designer Boutique stamp, so here is the card that I made for the original release a little while ago.

I didn't use the stamp in its entirety, I just stamped, embossed and fussy cut the daffodils

and the dragonfly.

The sentiment has been stamped and embossed on to a circular die cut panel and then layered onto the center of the black and white die cut background created using Sue Wilson Quiltessential Rings.

Thanks for stopping by.

Hugs Kimx

Orchids in Bloom

Evening All,

Back to the gym at last, although having done next to nothing for several months we are taking it very slowly. My gym buddy was involved in a car accident a couple of weeks ago, just as everything was starting to open up, so I have stayed away in solidarity with her ........................ well that's my excuse anyway. It was nice to go for a walk on the treadmill regardless of the weather, and be able to stop when my foot had had enough without having to push too hard so that I can get home.

It's been nice and sunny again today, albeit rather chilly in the shade, so here are a couple of bright cards made using a Designer Boutique stamp UMSDB046 Orchids in Bloom.

I stamped and embossed the image in black for this card,

and then coloured it using Cosmic Shimmer Watercolour inks and Pale Olive Pixie powder.

I tore round the panel and added some twine and a sentiment.

For this second card I stamped and embossed the image in white before colouring it, including the background.

I used the same embossing folder with co-ordinating cardstock for both cards.

Thanks for stopping by.

Hugs Kimx

Floral Bubbles

Evening All,

Well that is one job crossed off my to do list, and it's one of those really boring ones too. Putting inserts into cards and matching up with envelopes. It's a job that I keep putting off, but one that is very satisfying when it is finished and I have added nearly 80 cards to my drawer!!!

One of those added to the drawer is this one created using a fabulous Designer Boutique stamp UMSDB044 Floral Bubbles.

I felt it looked perfect for a bit of decoupage.

And I thought that this embossing folder gave the feel of being under the water.

This card didn't make it into the drawer because it was the sample that I sent to Creative Expressions for the launch of the Designer Boutique stamps in February.

I decided to mirror the bubbles in the embossing folder for this card.

Once again I used the Cosmic Shimmer Iridescent Watercolour palettes to colour the image and cut it out using stitched circle dies.

I finished the card off with a die cut sentiment covered in glossy accents.

Better get some sleep so that I can tackle another couple of the items on my list tomorrow.

Thanks for stopping by.

Hugs Kimx

Designer Boutique DL stamps

Evening All,

Hooray, I finally have a haircut booked for tomorrow, not before time.

Here are a few more cards using some lovely stamps from Designer Boutique. 

They are designed for making DL size cards that are all the rage at the moment,

but of course can always be trimmed down into smaller panels

for a more standard size card.

I managed to use up quite a few scraps of embossed card to make these cards

and also handmade backgrounds to stamp the images onto.

Thanks for stopping by.

Hugs Kimx