Circles Everywhere with the Bokeh Technique.

Hi All,
Well that's it on the Bank Holiday front for a couple of months. Did you have a good one?
I spent it finishing off Christmas card samples for the next Woodware release from Creative Expressions. I would say that that is me finished with Christmas for a while, but as we are playing with Watercolour Pearlex in class on Saturday I doubt that is the case. Pearlex always screams Christmas cards to me with all of that lovely sparkle.

One of the only advantages to a 2 hour train journey to visit the littlest grandchildren, apart from my weekly Costa Coffee of course, is the time that I get to trawl through YouTube looking for new things for the Girls to do in class on a Saturday.

I am a great admirer of Jennifer McGuire. She is currently my go to place for crafty inspiration. Not only does she give brilliant step by step instructions, but most importantly she also makes everything up into finished cards so there is always bucket loads of inspiration.

Last Saturday we played with the Bokeh Technique.

I did find it on Youtube, even if it wasn't on Jennifer's feed.

Everyone had a fabulous time, and all came up with some amazing colour combos.

I love teaching, and I can honestly say that I am always learning from everyone that comes along to a class.

It always amazes me how many different backgrounds people can come up with even when we are all working with the same colour palette.

I showed the Girls how to create an inked background for the 'Bokeh Bubbles' to be added to.

One way to create the background is by sponging colour onto cardstock,

while another way of creating a colourful background to work on is by using inks and plenty of water.

I'm not sure which I like the best, but I do know that I will definitely be using this technique again and again.

I have been trying very hard to keep up with the instructional tag book that I started with the Girls a couple of years ago.

It started after a techniques class that I did at SirStampalot a few years ago. I try to write an instruction tag for each class to which they can attach a piece of art work. That way when they want to be reminded of how they did a particular technique they have an instant reminder and written instructions.

In fact, on that note, I had better get my instructions ready for Saturdays class on Painting with Pearlex. Or maybe I had better get to bed and write instructions tomorrow.

Night, night.

Hugs Kimx

Just a note.....to cheer you up.

Hi All
I have recently had the need to send a card to cheer someone up, so of course I picked some flower stamps.

 This first card was actually made a number of years ago for a Q and A in a magazine.

I stamped and embossed the bunch of flowers (I think that it is a Stampendous stamp) onto white card stock and then sponged the image with dye based inks.
After painting the leaves and flowers with thin undiluted bleach I covered the whole thing with crystal embossing powder which gives a wonderful sparkly finish. I'm not sure that it shows up very well here though.

I tore around the image to leave a nice white edge and then mounted it over some strips of torn paper. The final embellishment is some peel-off squares.

The second card has been sent to cheer up my Uncle and was made using the Embossed Resist technique and some Penny Black flowers.

I inked the floral image using assorted Cat's Eye pigment inks. After stamping and embossing this first image I stamped it again to the side of the original but without re-inking the stamp.

The final step is 'Just a Note' randomly stamped and embossed in black over the entire panel.
I trimmed and mounted the panel onto come co-ordinating card stock and then finished it off with some peel-off lines.
I hope that my cards will bring a smile to the faces of a couple of worthy people. They should last a little bit longer than a bunch of flowers.
Maybe they will brighten your day as well.
Happy Crafting.
Hugs Kimx

Happy Birthday Suze

Evening Everyone
I have been very lucky on my Creative Journey to have made the acquaintance of some of the 'Greats' in Crafting. People who inspire you with their amazing creativity.
One such lady is Suze Weinberg who I met on several occasions when working at the Craft Barn many years ago.
It is this lovely lady's birthday today and so I would like to wish her many happy returns with this card.

The central panel has been stamped and embossed onto a piece of card that has first been painted with coffee.

I added extra colour to the flower using Distress Inks. The swirls at the side have been painted using thin undiluted bleach.

The background panel has been created using stamping, embossing and sponging.
Unfortunately I don't have an address for Suze to send this by snail mail, so I hope that she will accept it via the  wonders of the Internet.
Happy Birthday lovely lady, here's to many more.
Hugs Kimx

It's Never a Mistake

It's always an opportunity. At least that's what Julie Hickey always taught me, so when one of my ideas for Saturday's brayering class didn't go quite to plan, I just changed it to sponging instead. Waste not want not as the saying goes lol.

The butterfly panel was supposed to have shown off using ink brayered onto an Embossing Folder.

Unfortunately the ink pad that I chose was a little too dry and so there was hardly any ink transferred. The panel was too nice to throw away though so I decided to sponge the colour onto it instead.
I painted over the butterflies with a Versamark pen and embossed them with clear embossing powder after I had removed some of the colour with thin undiluted bleach.

I used the same folder to emboss the background card, and added a little sponged ink to it to highlight the embossed butterflies.

I also finished the card using the Glycerin panel, as promised.

The background card onto which the flower panel has been stamped and embossed, was created by rolling an inked brayer over a piece of screwed up copy paper before rolling it across glossy card stock.

I coloured the flowers using Spectrum Noir pens, and then added a sparkly dome to each center.
Isn't it typical that the weather has changed as soon as the kids are due back to school.
Megan has a week full of exams to look forward to so I suspect some stroppy teenage behaviour will be on the horizon. She has been a good girl and has done plenty of revision so I'm hoping that all will go well for her. She has chosen her options for next year so these exams will determine whether she gets the subjects she wants or not.
Oh dear look at the time I really must get some sleep.
Hugs Kimx

Just a little thought from Woodware

Evening Everyone
What a shame I can't take my own advice and blog early in the afternoon, before playtime. That way I wouldn't be struggling to stay awake whilst writing the post lol.

This is another sneak peek of one of the cards that I made for the new Woodware catalogue.
I am hoping that my hard copy should drop onto the door mat any time soon.

This card was made using a combination of masking and sponging as well as a little dry embossing along the edges of the panel.
It is not often that I work directly onto the card but this is the result of one such occasion.
Hope you like it.
hugs Kimx

Just a Quick post

Evening Everyone
Just a quick post tonight as I am absolutely shattered.

This card was made for Jenny at Hobby Art using one of the lovely new Butterfly Kisses stamp sets called Frosty that she launched on the TV. I have used only the elements from the set, white heat embossing and some sponged inks.

The greeting, also from the set, has been cut out using a nestie and then some ribbon, flowers, pins and a snowflake have been added.
I'm sorry for the very brief post but I have found today a struggle. I heard first thing this morning of the death of an old friend and it has quite knocked me for six.
Here's to happy memories.
Love and hugs to All
Kimx

Make and Take at Royal Russell School

Evening Everyone,
Normal service, and noise levels, have now been resumed at our house, the family are back from their holiday. The grandchildren look as if they grew several inches while they were away and some how seem so much more grown up. What a difference a fortnight makes lol!
I hope that the cat won't feel so lonely now and that the stream of presents she left for me will cease. The final tally was 5 mice, 1 blue tit, 2 newts and a slow worm!!!!
After my road trip yesterday to drop off Barbara's cards for tomorrows TV show (don't forget Create and Craft channel 671 10am - 12pm and 3pm - 4pm) I have spent today getting ready for the Craft Show at the Royal Russell school tomorrow between 1pm and 5pm.
It's amazing how long it takes to get four Make and Takes prepped, but I have managed to get finished before midnight so that's a result.

I am running four different mini classes over the course of the afternoon. The first one is Black and White with a hint of Colour at 1.15 - 2pm.

The second is Pearlex and Bleach at 2.15pm - 3pm.

The third class is Sepia using tea and coffee from 3.15 - 4pm.

I've made two samples for this class each using a different Poppy stamp.

The final class from 4.15 - 5pm is Sponging and Bleach and once again I have made two different samples for them to copy.

I find it very hard to prepare for a Make and Take as my classes usually tend not to follow one specific card idea but rather a technique which they have the chance to play with over the course of the class.
Still, we have decided that we will run these as full classes over the next couple of months at Davina's (Stampcraft Cards in Purley)
When we run the extended classes I will make sure that at least some of the cards have a Christmas theme but the techniques will be the same. I'm sure by then that there will be some lovely new Christmas designs out for me to play with.
I expect you will have noticed that all of tomorrows classes use Hobby Art stamps.
What's that old saying - It's not what you know but who you know!
Well I know Jenny at Hobby Art, and she has been kind enough to lend me stamps to use tomorrow.
So thank you Jenny for your help, I will let you know how we get on.
If you get the chance do pop along and see me. There are lots of handmade crafts for sale and of course some lovely Make and Takes with me :)
Hope to see you tomorrow.
Love and hugs
Kimx

Stamping with Bleach

Hello, here I am with my late in the day posting. I might just get in before midnight, if I am lucky.
I have been really busy today, although I don't seem to have got much card making done.My good friend Anna came over this afternoon to help me prep for my workshops at Farnborough next weekend.
Who knew that scoring and folding card could take so long :-)
I have never even been to Farnborough, let alone take a workshop so I am trying to get prepared. This is one of the examples that I will be sharing with everyone in the class. The workshop will be on Stamping and Bleach, so if you fancy some fun I will see you there.
I have also just received my next parcel from Barbara so that was another reason to get prepped early for Farnborough - I have new stamps to play with!!
Better get some sleep, looks like I'm in for a busy day tomorrow.
Nite
Love Kimx

Clarity part 4

Evening Everyone.
Just a quick post with the last of the cards that I made for Barbara's latest TV show.Once again, I'm afraid that the photos are not brilliant, but I do hope that they will at least give you some ideas.I'm never sure about mixing the sets, or adding in extra stamps, and this one just needed a greeting, so I wrote it myself.
Wonderful things Gellyroll Glaze pens.This card combines white embossing and sponged colour on the central panel, with gold embossing on the main card. Add a few mini crystal, flowers, and peel-off dots and Voila!!!
This card again uses white embossing powder and sponging, but also has the image stamped onto the card strips using a versamark ink pad. This time I added co-ordinating flowers and white brads.
This final card also has white embossing and sponging as its central theme but has the addition of a piece of pre-foiled vellum attached with brads. I have also stamped and clear embossed the image over both the background card and central panel.
That's all for tonight guys, got to get a quick bite to eat before I go out.
Lets see if I can keep this up with a post again tomorrow.
Happy Stamping
Love Kimx

Another Christmas card

Two posts in one day, I hope you are all suitably impressed :)
I have spent most of today putting all my addresses back on to my computer, lets hope that this is third time lucky.
I seem to have managed to track down all but about 15 (not bad out of over 100) and I am still waiting for some e-mail and text message replies, so maybe there is hope yet.
This is another card that uses sponging and Magenta stamps - you may have guessed by now that I do like Magenta!! I have also used another of my favourite tecniques - painting with bleach. This will only work when the ink that you are trying to bleach out is a dye based one, so this is where Kaleidacolour inkpads work beautifully.
Better get back to the addresses now, maybe I will get in one last blog posting before I go to bed. You never know.
Love Kimx

Christmas Card

Hi everyone. Just a short post with another of my Christmas cards.
This one also uses a sponging technique, and some fab Magenta stamps.
I think I have just about finished writing all my cards so now I just have to round up all my addresses.
The saga of the laptop seems to be continuing in that although I thought I had backed up all of my addresses, it seems that my Dymo machine package only saves the last address that is open, so once again I have lost them all. See I told you I hated technology. I think that Father Christmas had better get me a good old fashioned address book, maybe I will have better luck with that.
Will post again later, I'm off to hunt through the recycling:)
Love Kimx

Finished at last

Well I think I have finally finished making enough Christmas cards to send.
One day I will get them all finished and sent out by the beginning of December, but then again pigs might learn to fly before then!! I always mean to get them started earlier, but December just seems to creep up on me.
My friend Anna and I have decided that we are going to get started in January so that we might be ready on time next year!!!
Still, having made all of them this year, I thought that I would share a few with you before they go in the post box.
It's only a short post as I had better go and start writing - looks like it's going to be a long night :)
Sweet Dreams
Kimx