Framed Poinsettia by Francoise

Evening Everyone,

I think it's time for a few more Christmas cards.

Once again I've used a favourite Poinsettia stamp designed by Francoise.

I used a piece of mop up background to stamp and emboss the image.

I then added extra colour with a sparkle pen for the flower, and removed colour with bleach for the leaves.

I used the same stamp to create a masterboard which I cut up and turned into 4 cards once I had coloured it in.

I mounted the trimmed panels on to white card and trimmed to leave a narrow border,

and then mounted them on to green square cards.

I added a die cut sentiment to each card along with some black nailheads.

Thanks for stopping by.

Hugs Kimx

Purple Poppies

Morning All,
I hope that you are having a great weekend.

I found this fabulous poppy stamp at Ally Pally a few years ago.

 It is a Carabelle Art stamp called Pretty Like a Flower.

I used it here with the 'Bump and Smudge' technique that has become quite a favourite of mine.

I didn't think that the cards needed anything much more than a sentiment

and a few gems or nail heads.
I think I might have to dig this stamp out again, I had forgotten how nice it is.
Have a great day.
Happy Crafting and hugs
Kimx

You can never have too many Gems

Morning Everyone,
Where on earth are the days disappearing to? No sooner is it Monday than it's Friday again, and the only posts that seem to get done are the scheduled ones for Woodware.
I will get organised again sometime, I'm just not too sure that it will be any time soon lol.
This week we have been featuring cards with plenty of bling over at WoodwareWitterings in  the shape of Mark Richard products.

Now I find that Jane Gill's Bubble Bloom stamps are the perfect starting point for using plenty of gems, crystals, nailheads etc.

I have gone for a fairly dramatic colour scheme with red, white and black with a hint of silver.

I stamped and embossed the image onto a piece of white cardstock and then lightly sponged around the edge with black dye based ink.
I also used the black ink to paint the image before adding my assorted gems, nailheads, glitter domes and a little bit of glitter glue.

I stamped and embossed down the edge of the red panel and then painted the dots with undiluted thin bleach which has taken out some of the colour.

As usual I created a second, slightly different version of my card.

There are slightly less gems on this one and I also stamped and embossed the image using a Versamark inkpad and silver embossing powder.
I hope that you have enjoyed playing along with us this week and now have a stash of cards with an extra touch of bling.
Happy Crafting and hugs
Kimx

Bling It Up at Crafty Cardmakers

Morning All
I'm a little bit late with my post I'm afraid for the CraftyCardmakers latest challenge Bling It Up.

I had the perfect card for it as well, this one that I made for the latest Woodware Christmas stamp catalogue.

The central panel has been made using the fabulous JGS468 Berry Wreath which I stamped and embossed in black.

I have to say that it just screams out to be blinged up which I have done with glitter glues, nailheads and pearls.

The background papers are from a Craftwork Cards 8x8 paper pad Festive Chalkboard which I also used here to make a second card.
I hope that you will join us over the next fortnight, and don't forget to stop by and see what the rest of the DT have made to inspire you.
Bye for now.
Kimx

Tone on Tone at Woodware

Hi All
Over at the Woodware blog this week they are looking for Tone on Tone, and it is my turn to share as I am standing in for the lovely Pam who is recovering from a rather nasty car accident.

I stamped and embossed one of Jane Gill's fabulous stamps onto a piece of kraft coloured card and then painted the image with cheap thin bleach.

I then added a little more colour by painting with brown dye based ink and my trusty 700 sparkle pen.

I also added some glossy accents and tiny dots.

The background to the card has been created using one of the new Dutch DooBaDoo Stencils Pop Art, run through my Ebosser and then sponged, brushed and spritzed with more dye based ink, gilding wax and glimmer spray.

I added some wide organza ribbon and some nailheads.

It needed a sentiment so I created a piece of background by stamping with bleach and then added the sentiment on top of it.
Why not check out what the rest of the Girls have posted this week.
Bye for now.
Hugs Kimx

Bubble Bloom Festive Tree

Hi All
Well, so much for yesterday being a lot cooler. If anything it felt hotter than ever, or maybe it is just that I didn't start the day with 8 hours in air conditioning like I do at work during the week!!
Never mind we had a fabulous time in class despite the heat, and the girls really enjoyed getting to play with a couple of the brand new stamp sets from Woodware.

As promised I have a few more samples to share with you, even though as expected I spent the evening watching Frozen with the Grandchildren.
It is a fabulous film and my youngest Granddaughter sang all of the songs word perfect as she had performed them at school during one of their 'Mini Singers' concerts

 As usual we made a tag for our book, and so I used one of the small panels to make this card.

As you can see it is a great way to use up all those little embellishments that we all have lurking in the bottom of a box somewhere.

This is my tag and I have used Card Candi, Watercolour Pearlex and Metallic Nailheads to embellish it.

Whilst I was making the samples for the catalogue I made a conscious effort to finish off all of the left over bits and pieces instead of just putting them in a box to work on later.

This is actually an exact copy of one that made it into the catalogue. I used Watercolour Pearlex and Glossy Accents to embellish it and cut it out using an ornate oval nestie.

Although it was designed as a Christmas stamp set, I think that it works every bit as well for a  birthday card.

After colouring the image with Watercolour Pearlex I ran it through my Cuttlebug inside a dotty embossing folder.
I would like to enter these into the following challenges
Crafty Hazelnuts Christmas Challenge - Layer it Up
My Sheri Crafts - Christmas in July
We Do Doobadoo - Spotty and Dotty
I have a couple of cards to get ready for posting (snail mail not blogger) so I had better get on with it before it gets too hot again. Fortunately there is quite a nice breeze at the moment so I think I will make the most of it.
Have a great day. Happy Crafting.
Hugs Kimx

Back at last, Thank you for caring.

Evening Everyone.
I'm so glad to finally be back in Blogland.
Sorry that I have been MIA for so long, but I have had major Internet and laptop issues.
I had been blogging every day, as some of you had noticed. In fact I have been amazed by just how many texts and e-mails I have had from people asking if I am OK since there has been no activity on the blog for a while.
Thank you soooo much for your care and concern. It has been wonderful to think that so many of you have missed me.
I'm very much of a technophobe when it comes to the computer. I'm absolutely terrified of pushing the wrong button and downloading some virus or other.
Give me crafty stash and I will play, but if I'm honest I'm rather scared of the computer.
My good friend Joe has rescued me, yet again.
It is so easy for computer literate people to go 'Oh you just do this, this and this!!!
By the time I have walked away, I have completely forgotten what to do (seriously blond) so I think that I will have to get him to sit down with me and go through things so that I can take notes. Maybe I need to get hold of a copy of Computers for Dummies, if there is such a thing.
Another reason for the blogging delay is the fact that I have had to find the disc to reload my camera package. Why do we always put these things away somewhere so safe we can never find them again. It is now in my laptop bag so of course it will never be needed ever again lol.

This card has been made to say Thank You to 'Inspector Morse', a crafty friend of a friend who has managed to track down a couple of punches that I have been desperate to get hold of.

The main stamped panel was created a while ago using an Artemeo floral stamp set and dye based inks.
The sentiment is from Woodware.

I managed to find some background papers in my stash that complimented the panel perfectly and I added the flower and leaves die cut from scraps. I also added some faux stitching and nail heads.
Lets hope that normal blogging service has now been resumed, and thank you once again for your concern.
Happy Crafting and hugs
Kimx

A little Christmas 4x4

Evening,
Just a quick post tonight as I hadn't realised how late it had got.

I made this card a while ago using a Magenta cling stamp set available from Woodware.

I stamped and embossed the images in red and then sponged them with Distress ink before cutting them out and mounting them onto the card.

I did a little decoupage with the central image and added some nailheads and brads.
Hope you like it.
Hugs Kimx

Use your imagination and some Card Candi.

Evening Everyone
Have you had a fabulously crafty Saturday?
We had another great class at Davina's making Christmas cards.
Now I know that you will be expecting to see the results of our efforts, but no handbag, means no camera, which means no pictures!!
I have been scrolling through my photo files trying to find something that I could share that would reflect what we did in class today and the nearest I could find is this card that I made for Woodware using one of Jane Gill's bubble stamps.

These were designed specifically to be used with, among other things, Card Candi, which is one of the things that we were playing with today.

I have stamped and embossed the images onto green card stock and then added black and white Candi, black Nailheads and white dots made using a Souffle pen.

I also added tiny black dots around the edge of the panel.
Now I know that this isn't very Christmassy, but if you use your imagination and a bit of red and gold you can get the idea of what we were doing today.
I will get some pictures taken as soon as I retrieve my bag on Tuesday.
Enjoy the rest of the weekend.
hugs Kimx

Monochromatic Red at Woodware

Evening Everyone,
I'm late to the party again!!
This week the challenge over at Woodware has been Monochromatic - Red.

Although I have been off work for a couple of days now with my Sciatica, I am struggling to stay focused. I'm not used to taking pills and they are making me feel quite woozy, it is also difficult to sit still for any length of time so I am fitting in a bit of crafting when I can.

My card has been made using a wonderful Magenta stamp set CSET21 Snow Much Fun.
I stamped and embossed the main image using Frantage Aged Scarlet Embossing Enamel and then sponged it with Fired Brick Distress ink.
I added an embossed strip to the centre of the card which was also highlighted with Metallic Rub-ons.

The Poinsettia was also coloured using the Fired Brick ink and then embossed with clear embossing powder having first been coloured with a versamark pen.
The greeting is from the same set, and I added a small red nail head to the centre of the flower.
Maybe I will get a chance to make something for the next challenge a little earlier next week given that I am still off work but I make no promises.
I also apologise for not getting around to your blogs lately, as you will understand sitting time is limited and so I have to make the most of my opportunities.
I hope that normal service will be resumed shortly.
Happy Crafting.
hugs Kimx

Precious Metals for The Stampman challenge

Evening Everyone, and welcome to a much earlier post from me than usual :O)
Didn't our Girls do well with their Gold medals yesterday?
With that in mind, how appropriate then that our new challenge from Angela over at The Stampman should be
Precious Medals/Metals - Olympics - Gold/Silver/Bronze.

In honour of all our absolutely amazing Olympians we are asking that your project feature some type of metal.
As usual there is a £10 voucher to spend at The Stampman online store up for grabs.

The circular panel at the centre of my card has been stamped and embossed using Hero Arts CG288 Leaf Clusters, versamark ink and Gold, Silver and Copper embossing powder.
I sponged the panel with a combination of Distress inks - Bundled Sage, Stormy Sky and Scattered Straw, before stamping the leaves again using the distress inks.

The background papers are from my stash and I have used the same stamps and more gold embossing powder on them.

I also cut some circles from the same background paper using my Circular Nestabilities and added a sentiment from the Woodware JGCL 560 Just to Say set.
The finishing touches have been added with Woodware Dotty Ribbon and Gold Nailheads as well as a few timy black dots using my Micron pen.
Don't forget to check out what the rest of the team have come up with and share the love with our newest members  
Zoe Sanderson and Tony Robson.
I have to go and remake a card now. You see even DT members don't read the challenges properly sometime, or is it just that I got carried away and forgot that there was a colour element. Either way my craft room is calling lol.
Have a great weekend and Happy Crafting.
hugs Kimx