Something from the Archives.

Afternoon Everyone,
I don't know about you, but I have a list of jobs that I have been trying to get through during the lockdown. Not cleaning tasks you understand, that would be going too far lol.
One of them is to sort through all the photographs that I have taken over the years. To this end I purchased one of those Photostick things that is supposed to make it easy to do. It certainly means that they are all in one place, but this one seems to have saved multiple copies of the same thing, and nothing is sorted into folders so guess what I am going to be doing for the next several years!!
I suppose I have to start somewhere, so I thought that the best place would be with all the cards that I have made, and those that I have blogged.
Going through them has been quite fun, it's amazing to see just how many cards I have made over the years given that I have been doing this for rather a long time. Some of them will stay in a 'never to be shared' folder, but there are lots that I am still rather pleased with, so I thought that you might like to see them.
Of course there are far too many for one post, so I will throw a few into the mix every now and then.

They were all made in 2010, would you believe, using stamps made by Clarity. At least I think they are.

I don't think that they are even available any more,

 but as you can see my taste in stamps hasn't changed very much over the years.

I'm not sure that my style has changed very much either.

I liked my white embossing and handmade backgrounds even then.

Not sure about the stamps on this one, but it seemed to fit in with the others quite nicely.
Now that I've had a quick trip down memory lane, I need to get right back up to date with a commission for a friend.
Stay safe, and have a great weekend.
Hugs Kimx

Boys will be Boys for WoodwareWitterings

Morning Everyone,
My turn again over at WoodwareWitterings and this week our theme is 'Boys will be Boys'.

My card was made for the last Woodware catalogue using one of Jane Gill's stamp sets JGS431 Cowboy Boots.

I stamped and embossed the boots and hat onto watercolour card, coloured them using dye based inks and then fussy cut them out.

The background papers are from my Woodware stash. Yes I do have one of those.

I also added some punched stars, a lasso and stamped sentiments from the same stamp set

This card was made with the leftover bits and pieces. I always manage to have quite a few of those, all very similar, but different, if that makes any sense to you lol.
I'm looking forward to seeing what the rest of the DT come up with for this one.
Have a fabulous week. Bye for now.
Hugs Kimx

Dies and/or Punches at CCM

Afternoon Everyone.
We have a new challenge starting today over at CraftyCardmakers.
Maike is our host this time, and her chosen theme is Punches and/or Dies.

I had a fabulous time recently creating my own embossing folders using die cut or punched shapes, so it seemed the perfect card to share with you for this particular challenge.

The sentiment is also a die cut so that counts as well.

The flowers use the same fabulous Sue Wilson die set that found its way into my shopping basket when I was at SirStampalot last year.

I have also used a stencil and some clear texture paste on the background.

The leafy swirls are by Sue Wilson as well.

 As usual I got a little bit carried away using up all of the leftovers.

 I used Frantage powder on the leafy swirls this time,

and here I used the leftover pieces from the die cut sentiment.
I hope that you enjoy our challenge. Why not pop over and see what the rest of the team have made to inspire you.
Happy Crafting and hugs
Kimx

Funky Shaped Cards for Woodware

Hello There,
Thanks for stopping by.
Its my turn to post on the Woodware Blog today, where this week Dorothy has asked for Funky Shaped Cards.
As usual I went straight to my go to place for inspiration, Pinterest, where I found a fabulous idea for a Onsie Card.

I decided to use a Dreamweaver embossing Folder to create the front of my Christmas Onsie.

I used some dye based ink and the Letterpress technique to create the background paper, and then followed the instructions in the tutorial.
BTW I am not the Kim who requested the instructions, but I'm very glad that my namesake did lol.

I decided that this would make the perfect card for a Baby's First Christmas so I added the sentiment along with some glitter domes as press studs.
Why not pop across to the BLOG and see what the rest of the team have been up to this week.
Have a great day. Happy Crafting.
Hugs Kimx

Scallops, Curves and Curls at Woodware and a new blog address

Hi All
I think that I may have given Dorothy a bit of a problem with my card for the latest Woodware challenge, which this week is Scallops, Curves and Curls.
I had terrible trouble sending her the photos, and it seems my picture of all the products used never arrived at all which means that she has had to do a bit of educated guessing.
She did a very good job of that by the way lol.

I have used the Crafty Edger cassette Japanese Fan on the white panel.

I sponged the edges of this panel with some Stardust Stickles using a piece of Cut and Dry Felt, it's very subtle and hard to photograph.

The flowers have been made using 3 different sizes of Flower Punch. Nearly right Dorothy :O)
I fastened 3 or 4 punched flowers together with a brad  and then spritzed them with some water and screwed up each layer.
After they have dried out a bit you can move the petals to create fabulous realistic looking flowers.

The 'curls' have been created using an old Artemio stamp set which I stamped and embossed onto acetate using Versamark and Shabby White Frantage Powder.
I picked this idea up off one of the crafting shows on the TV that I saw recently.

I fussy cut, which really doesn't take very long at all, but does make them look like leaves.

Of course, because of the flowers, the card will need a box, so I rustled up one of those. Also very easy to do, even if my friend Gill hates making them lol.

This is just to give you a reminder of some of the products used even if it didn't make it to Dorothy.
I thought that I had broken the Woodware blog, it always seems to breakdown when ever I am due to post on it,  but they have just moved it after it was hacked again before Christmas.
So HERE is the new site where we will be sharing weekly challenges with you.
I am honoured to say that I have been asked to help out on the DT for a while longer, so please stop by and show your support.
Why not FOLLOW them and continue to be inspired by a very talented team.
Hugs and happy crafting.
Kimx

A wall hanging for Woodware and the Mirror Crack'd

Hi All
It's my turn to post for Woodware again today and I'm VERY, VERY late.
This week we are taking our inspiration from The Mirror Crack'd a Mixed Media challenge which Woodware occasionally sponsors, and this time round the challenge is 'Wall Hangings'.
Now this really took me out of my comfort zone as I don't think of myself as working with mixed medias, but after a trip through some fabulous clips on You tube, and the arrival of some canvas from Woodware, I took the plunge and started to play.

I'm actually rather pleased with how things turned out.

The central panel has been created using my Creative Palette, acrylic paints, stencils, translucent texture paste and gilding wax.

I also burnished through the Bubbles Doobadoo stencil with some Mixed Media Ink and Glitter Glue.
I hand stitched the canvas onto a frame made from a piece of purple card and white card stencilled with more texture paste and gilding wax.

The flowers have been punched from one of the pieces of 'practice' card before I risked pulling a print using canvas.

I attached them using silicon and added some gilding wax, glitter domes and die cut leaves.
I think that it needs to be put into a box frame when I can find one.
I do hope that you will join us this week. Try challenging yourself to something new, it can be great fun after the initial panic has subsided lol.
I would like to enter this into the challenge at The Mirror Crack'd  - Wall Hanging or Tic Tac Toe.
Have a good evening.
Hugs Kimx

Mechanical Cards at Woodware

Hi All
This week the Girls at Woodware are looking at Mechanical Cards, and I am thrilled to have been asked to help them out.

 I really wasn't sure what Dorothy expected so this is my take on the theme.

I have created the background to my card using a fabulous Gears stencil from Dreamweaver, some silver Gilding Wax and a stencil brush.

I love this shoe stamp from Stampendous.

I so wish that I were still able to wear a pair of shoes that looked this good.

What ever happened to the 4 inch heels that I used to wear all the time when the kids were small.
I have watercoloured the image with dye based ink and then added silver and gold Gelli Roll Glaze pen and some Glossy Accents on the clock face..

I created an extra couple of panels using the Gears stencil and my Cuttlebug and then brushed them with more silver Gilding Wax

I cut out some of the cogs using circular punches and added them to the card.

I hope that you like the card.
I wonder what the Team come up with for the rest of the week.
Thanks for stopping by.
Happy Crafting and hugs
Kimx

At last Something Old, and Something New at CCM&More

Evening Everyone,
So I can finally cross one thing off my ever expanding 'To Do List'.
Who knew that it would take so long to complete my blogged cards picture listing,  or that I had shared so many cards with you guys for that matter, over 1500 since October 2009.
So let me add to that number with my latest offerings.

We start the New Year over at Crafty Cardmakers and More with a lovely new challenge and some new Teamies.
Leslie is our hostess and she would like to see your creations incorporating something old and something 
new. This could be old stash and new stash combined, or perhaps an old technique and a new one.

I have used a combination of stamps old and new, and a very old technique which is bound to be new to some of you.
The background to the card has been made by spritzing white card stock with TEA and COFFEE.

Pour a little hot water on to a teabag and leave to soak.
The longer you leave the bag in the water the darker the colour. Don't add any milk, and transfer the resulting liquid into a spritzing bottle. Hey Presto instant ink.

I also made a similar solution using instant coffee. Melt instant coffee granules in a small amount of hot water. Once again the stronger the coffee solution, the darker the colour.

I stamped and embossed this fabulous, and brand new stamp from Woodware and then painted it using the coffee solution and a paint brush.

I used some old Artemio Hedgerow stamps and blue Distress ink on the background panel as well as some more tea and coffee.
The ribbon across the centre has also been coloured using tea.

As usual I got a little bit carried away and so I thought that I would share a couple more similar cards with you.

The central image has been coloured in the same manner but I added some dry embossing to the background panel using a Vintage embossing folder.

 I also added a punched panel across the centre of the card.

The main stamped image here has been coloured with a wash of coffee which has made it much paler.

The dark splodges in the background on this card are created by sprinkling coffee granules over the wet background and then leaving them to melt and dry.

These splodges can dry with quite a glossy finish.

As you can see I really did get carried away. In fact I have a folder full of pieces of Tea and Coffee background so I'm sure that this won't be the last time that you see this particular technique amongst my cards this year.
I'm sorry that it has taken me so long to share these, but I do hope that you feel that they were worth the wait.
I would like to enter them in to the following challenges.
Fashionable Stamping Challenges  - Something New (Main Stamp)
Crafty Calendar Challenge - What's New (Main Stamp)
A Gem of a Challenge - Something New (Main Stamp)
Cuttin and Stampin Challenges - Coffee
Thanks for stopping by, any comments would be greatly appreciated, and please don't forget to pop over and see what the rest of the team have come up with.
Happy Crafting and Hugs
Kimx