Creative Expressions 30 Day Challenge - Day 21 - Dark

Morning Everyone,
Well I made it through my first day back at work.
I was greeted with huge smiles and 'How are you', although I'm not sure that I needed the 'Lovely to see you.....haven't you got chunky' reminder from one of them!!!!!! I could have lamped him one.
It has seemed really weird with a screen between me and the customers, and a colleague who kept moving to the other side of the store like I have the plague, but I'll get used to it.
Still I did enjoy being able to get a nice fresh salad for my lunch, along with eggs and toilet rolls. Come on now, there has to be some perks to being on the front line lol.

Todays challenge at Creative Expressions 30 Day Challenge  is Dark.

Now I wasn't quite sure what they were looking for here, so this is as dark as I could find.

A Gelli Plate background, stamps by Jane Gill, of course lol, and some lace and ribbon.

Just to show how versatile her lovely stamps are, here are a couple more cards made using the same stamp set. Another Gelli Plate background for this one.

Kaleidacolour ink randomly brayered on to yellow card stock for this background.

And a nice bright Bleedin Art tissue background for this one.

Have a great day, stay safe, and thanks for stopping by.
Hugs Kimx

Oh Christmas Trees

Evening Everyone,
Another successful trip to the gym, although the reassessment weights and measures were not a pretty sight after all this inactivity of the last few months. If only it were as easy to shift as it seems it was to put on!!

Just a quick couple of cards tonight, before the Internet drops out on me again. It's been acting up all day.

The central panels on the first two were created using a Kaleidacolor inkpad, and a couple of lovely old Christmas stamps.

The panel was heat embossed with clear powder after the image was stamped out.

Just a plain brown inkpad for this one, but that is the beauty of this stamp, you only need one colour and all the details still show up.

This time in green.
Thanks for stopping by.
Hugs Kimx

Christmas Ornaments

Afternoon Everyone, me again!
Another Bank Holiday Monday, unfortunately it's been just like any other Monday for me as I've been working, but I hope that those of you that aren't are enjoying it.
It's incredibly hot given what Bank Holiday weather is usually like, so I thought that as the next one will actually be at Christmas then I would bring the temperature down a bit by sharing a few more Christmas cards with you :O)

They are all made using a very old, but much loved Magenta stamp set.

The backgrounds have been created with a brayer and a Fruitcake Kaleidacolor ink pad. Once again, a very old technique.

In fact, to be perfectly honest I cant for the life of me remember when I actually created the panels. Probably during a demo many years ago, but as you know I'm on a mission to use up some of the millions of bits in my stash.

That's not easy when I teach a class each week, which inevitably creates more bits to use up. Still I'm not complaining. I love my hobby. It keeps me sane, and I hope that The Girls enjoy it. Given that they keep coming back I guess that must be a yes lol.

Some of the brayered panels were just stamped and embossed, while some were spritzed with water or even bleach.

This one had cling film placed over it after the water to create a fabulous frosted effect.

I have always loved the 'Wet Watercolour' look for painting. So easy to achieve, and every piece is different.

This final card uses a different colour inkpad for the background which has then been spritzed with bleach.

I really think that I should revisit this technique with The Girls. Sometimes we are so eager to try new things that we forget some of the old favourites.

I added glossy accents to some of the stamped images for a little added interest. It also intensifies the colour underneath.

I thought that it was about time that I entered a challenge so I would like to join everyone at Winter Wonderland - Christmas Ornaments.

Have a great evening.

Happy Crafting and hugs 

Kimx

A snowflake Masterboard

 Afternoon  Everyone,
Three posts in four days, not bad going for me. That's loads of butterflies, so it must be about time for some Christmas cards.

I have literally hundreds of them made and photographed, so I really do need to start sharing them with you since just lately I seem to be adding a few more to the pile each month.

One way of making several cards at one sitting is by preparing a Masterboard, a favourite technique of my lovely friend Angela aka Felix the Crafty Cat.

This basically involves sponging and stamping over an entire sheet of card, which you then cut up to create several individual cards. 

Any technique is a go, preprepared backgrounds, gelli plate, sponging, stamping, stencils, combined together to create wonderful one off masterpieces.

I have used an old Inkadinkadoo snowflake stamp set along with a Blue Breeze Kaleidacolor ink pad to create my Masterboard, along with some silver heat embossed snowflakes and stamped sentiments. 

You can cut the panel up in any way you see fit.

It also means that you can use all of the panel, 

including all of the little leftover bits.

Off to do a little more commenting before I get back to craft, I have a class to prep for.

Have a great crafty afternoon.

Hugs Kimx

Leafy Thanks

Hello All
Maybe if I can just stay one step ahead of myself I might get a few more of my card mountain blogged. It's not working well so far, but I can only hope that things get better lol.

Today's cards were made using a fabulous old Stampendous leaf stamp set and a Kaleidacolour dye based ink pad.

These lovely multicoloured ink pads lend themselves very nicely to the painting technique that I have used here, as do the patterned leaves.

I created a Masterboard by stamping the leaves randomly on to Mixed Media card stock using the Cappuchino Kaleidacolour ink pad.

A damp paintbrush was used to colour in the leaves using the ink from the stamped image. Because it is a dye based ink the colour will move when water is added, just make sure you keep washing your paint brush so that the painting doesn't become muddy.

I used an Edger die to create this lovely border,

and the waste to create the white panel on the right hand side of this second card.

I sponged more  ink on to the master board and added sentiment panels.

The main panel on this card uses the same patterned leaf stamp along with a smaller similar shaped leaf.

This time I stamped and embossed the images before sponging and painting them with dye based ink.
I used a Tim Holtz die in the corner of the card,

and added a sentiment on a strip of vellum along with some die cut leaves.

Have a great evening. I'm off to visit a few blogs before I get too far behind on my commenting.

Happy Crafting and hugs

Kimx

More Poinsettias

Morning All
I hope that you having a great Sunday.
I thought that I would share a few more of my poinsettia cards with you today before I get down to the business of playing, and finishing off more of the bits that I created in class yesterday.

They have all been created with a fabulous Poinsettia stamp set and a Kaleidacolour multicoloured inkpad.

The first three cards were created from a masterboard.

Stamp the image onto a piece of white card stock and then paint over the flowers with a damp paintbrush. Because the ink is dye based it will move and colour in the petal. Just make sure you clean the brush in between petals.

This piece uses the same stamp and more ink blended over the images.

Same stamp just a bit of fussy cutting on the next two cards.

While these have been made as Christmas cards, I think that they would work every bit as well as a birthday or anniversary card.

The final three cards again involve the same stamp this time stamped and embossed in gold.

Ink has been blended over the top of the images

and then I have used a Versmark pen and clear embossing powder to colour in the flowers to make them 'pop' from the panels.
I would like to enter these into the following challenges;
Crafty Calender Challenge - Make it Flowery
The Holly and Ivy Christmas Challenge - Anything Goes
Off to play now. Thanks for stopping by.
Happy crafting and hugs
Kimx 

Poinsettias........and lots of them

Evening,
I don't know about where you are, but it has turned bloody cold in my neck of the woods.
I know that lots of you will probably think that I'm being pathetic cause you are already wading your way through thick snow, but I really hope that we don't get any of that here.

Now I may not have gotten any Christmas cards sent out this year, time just seemed to get away from me, but I certainly have lots to share, so I will try and blog a few each week.

Maybe if I try and enter a few of the Christmas challenges that run throughout the year it will help to keep me on track.

I love poinsettias, although I am never very successful at keeping them alive, so stamps are definitely a much better option.

I do love this old Magenta stamp, as you may have guessed. It is part of a fabulous set, and works really well with these handmade background papers.

 This is another fabulous poinsettia stamp,

which I stamped and white embossed onto kraft card and then sponged and coloured with Distress inks.

This Penny Black stamp has been used

with an old favourite Kaleidacolor inkpad.

And one final card for tonight, this time with a bit of fussy cutting and some lovely 3d flowers.
I would like to enter my cards into the following challenges..
Crafty Calendar challenge - Make it Flowery - lots of Poinsettias
Crafty Hazelnuts Christmas Challenge - Anything Goes Christmas optional Something Old - Magenta/Penny Black Stamps and Kaleidacolor ink pad.
Thanks for stopping by.
Happy Crafting and Hugs
Kimx