With Fondest Love

Evening Everyone,
Well it is official.....I hate Mondays.
Not only does it herald the end of the weekend and the start of yet another week, but it also means that I am playing catch up with all of the tasks that the weekend and night staff seem incapable of doing Aaaaaarrgggh.
Oh dear, moan over, for today at least lol.

 My card tonight is another using my favourite Alcohol and Acetate technique.

I chose some nice bright colours this time and added some stamped weeds to the acetate panel in black Stazon.

I also added a sentiment and some peel-off squares.
I really shouldn't moan as there are always people who are having a far worse time of things and this card is being sent to one such friend.
Have a great week.
Bye for now.
Hugs Kimx

Under the Sea with Crafty Cardmakers and More

Hi All
I know, this should have gone live yesterday, but you know how rubbish I am with blogging at the moment so I hope that I will be forgiven :O)
Julie is hosting the challenge this time over at Crafty Cardmakers and More, and she has chosen 'Under the Sea' for her theme. She would like you to create something with Mermaids, Turtles, Fish or other dwellers beneath the waves.

 I chose a lovely Woodware stamp set called Sea Life for the main focus of my card.

I stamped and embossed the three images onto Watercolour card and coloured them using Distress inks and what I call the 'Wet Watercolour technique'.

The background paper has been made using my Creative Palette, bubble wrap and inks.

I added some glossy accents to the stamped images and used some medical gauze under the main panel.
The 'coral' has been made from a piece of acetate (packaging from a newly acquired embossing folder) which I die cut using the fabulous Dreamweaver Leafless Tree. I added a little colour to it using Stazon ink.

The seaweed along the bottom of the panel is a Magnolia stamp that I bought a while ago during one of my 'holiday' visits to Sirstampalot who are one of our fabulous sponsors for this challenge.
Of course I always throw away the packaging so I can't find the code number for it, but Janice and Andy are very good and I 'm sure that they will probably know the number without even looking. Or you could always refer them to my blog for a picture if all else fails.

I had a narrow panel of background paper left over so I decorated the envelope.
Better post this now before another day passes me by. Please don't forget to check out the challenge HERE and show the rest of the team some love.
Night night.
Hugs Kimx

Wax Paper Resist and Embossing Folders

Hi All
Well I've made it through my eight straight days at work, and here I am facing the start of another week. Where on earth did those 2 days off go. (In fact I have just finished a day of work since once again this post got side lined !!!!)
Sorry I have been absent for a while, this post has been started about 5 times, and then much like any cardmaking  last week, a 'granny nap' took over.
Not that I don't have plenty of things that I can share with you, given how quiet I have been in Blogland just lately, in fact I could really do with blogging twice a day in a bid to catch up with things.
We had another fabulous class at Davina's on Saturday, and this time I didn't break the iron so no thinking  on my feet, we were able to play with Waxed Paper and Embossing folders.
Once again I got a little bit carried away with the samples so I think that I will split them up into a couple of posts or this will end up like War and Peace.

As usual we made a technique tag to add to their book, and in fact this time they made two so that they could remember what to do with the left over waxed paper (tag far left)

The background to this card was made using a fab Sheena embossing folder, waxed paper and kaleidacolour inks.

I added some matching punched leaves and some stamped flowers along with a Hobby Art sentiment.

This card was made with another panel of the background,

 punched leaves, stamped flowers and a different Hobby Art sentiment.

I also found a few matching gems.

The beauty of this technique is that if you sandwich your embossed waxed paper between two pieces of card before you iron it you get the positive and negative image transered to the card stock.

I placed a strip of both the positive and negative background onto one of the tags,

and the other tag had a left over piece of the waxed paper coloured with stazon inks after the wax had been removed.

The sentiment has been added by stamping it onto acetate using Stazon ink and then attaching it with a fine line of glitter glue around the edges.
I think I had better press  publish on this before yet another day goes past.
Hugs, and Happy Monday.
Kimx

Stash Busters for Woodware

Evening Everyone,
The challenge this week over at Woodware  is 'Stash Busters' which fits in rather nicely with the challenge that I have set myself to use up bits and pieces from my numerous boxes of Crafty Stash.

Amongst the long forgotten treasures, I found a couple of peel-off panels and some co-ordinating background papers. This first card uses up a Peel-Off Waste design.
Basically it is as its name suggests, the waste once the peel-off design has been removed.

I cut the papers into strips and mounted them onto some DSS Sheets having first distressed the edges with my Pinecone ink pad.

This is a fabulous background and is also a great way of using up some of those little left over bits.

I decided that the card needed something extra so I stamped and embossed one of Jane's lovely new flower designs on the left hand side and then painted it with Black Soot Distress Ink, and a Stardust 700 pen.

 My second card uses a lovely Oriental peel-off design from the Francoise collection.

As with the previous panel, the cream colour is created by stamping with thin undiluted bleach.

The dry embossed image at the sides of the card has been created using an embossing folder and some Stazon ink.
I hope that this is the sort of thing that Dorothy had in mind when she set her challenge.
hugs Kimx

Better Late than Never.... and a very Happy Birthday to Two Special People

Hi All,
Well not quite the morning post that I had hoped but I made it at last.

Here is the card that I made for the latest challenge over at Crafty Cardmakers where our host Lin has chosen the theme of 'Birthday' to help celebrate the launch of the challenge 4 years ago.
Our sponsors this time are HOBBY ART and DI'S DIGISTAMPS.

With this in mind I have chosen to use a lovely new HOBBY ART design Sharon's Birthday Vase for my card. 

I stamped the vase onto Woodware watercolour card, which I am loving, and then coloured the image using Distress Inks.

I paper pieced the vase using some of the background papers and then cut the image out using one of my numerous Circular Nesties. Of course I had to add some faux stitching.

The background to the main card has been made using background papers from my stash and a Hexagon Die.
Yes it is a little time consuming distressing the edges, putting it all back together and then adding the stitching, but it is so worth the effort I think.

I wanted to add Birthday Greetings to the card but without hiding the background, so the obvious answer was Timber Brown Staz-on and some acetate.
I hid the silicon under the vase but added some brads to the corners of the acetate panel to make sure that it remained flat and in place.
Why not check out the challenge and see what the rest of the team have come up with to inspire you.
While we are on the subject of Birthdays today is a special day for two very special little people.
Saskia and Ciaran are 6.
I cannot believe where that time has gone to. It seems only yesterday that I was picking Megan and Reece up from school, in the pouring rain I might add!!!!, so that we could go and visit their brand new baby Brother and Sister.
I wonder if there will be a royal birth today? That would certainly make it easy to remember.
Have a great evening. I am sitting in the doorway at Sirstampalot catching a lovely evening breeze while the ladies are beavering away at Christmas Club.
Hugs to all, and especially Ciaran and Sas.
Kimx

No Cards, Tags or ATCs at Crafty Cardmakers challenge no 70.

Evening Everyone.
This week we see the start of a new challenge over at Crafty Cardmakers.
Our Hostess this week is Carole and she would like you to make anything EXCEPT a card, tag or ATC - for example it could be a gift bag, a box, a bookmark, something knitted, something sewn - just NO cards, tags or ATCs!!!
I'm so glad that I had to get my pictures taken yesterday as it has been pouring with rain here all day.

I must confess to a little bit of cheating with my project, in that it was actually made a number of years ago.
I have been so busy recently (with things that I am not in a position to share yet) that I just didn't have the time to make anything new. I hope that I am forgiven.

The cover to the Memory Album was made out of very thick card. I think it was actually some carrier sheets that come with some 12 x 12 papers.
I painted them with Moonshadow ink and then tapped screwed up copy paper into the ink while it was wet to give some texture.
The stamped panel was made using versamark ink, glossy cardstock and black dye based ink. It was then matted and layered and added to the cover.

As I said in the main challenge, I have made the book, now all I need to do is buy the time to fill it.
I'm afraid that this page is as far as I have got, and was made at the same time as the Album.
Please tell me that you all have loads of started projects like this, it will make me feel sooo much better lol.

The young man in the picture is my late son Adam.
I would never make a true scrapbooker (is that a real word?) as I never want to cut the pictures up, so as you might have guessed this is a photocopy!!

The text was stamped onto black card using a white Stazon ink pad. I'm afraid that I have very little info on any of the stamps used - another consequence of using a project made some time ago.

The fastenings for the album is the Rollabind system (not sure if it is still available) but you could use the Bind-it-All machine instead.
I do hope that you will join us for our latest challenge HERE
Off to bed now.
Hugs Kimx

Woodware Sketch Challenge for April

Afternoon Everyone.
I trust that you are all having a good weekend, and that you have left enough room for dinner after all the chocolate.
I may not be the guest designer over at the Woodware challenge anymore but I still like to enter.
One thing about being guest was that I had to get my card done ready to post on the Sunday, so this is technically a week late :)
This week the challenge has been to work your magic with their new sketch.

I decided to use a lovely new clear stamp set JG5267 Grasses that I bought at Davina's.
I stamped and embossed it onto a narrow strip of white card using versamark ink and white embossing powder. Then I sponged Distress inks over the top using a combination of Scattered Straw, Mustard Seed and Wild Honey.

At work this week we have been selling some beautiful Spring bouquets which are filled with yellow and purple flowers and so I decided to use the same colours on my card.
I added some stitching to the sponged panels and a stamped greeting from another Woodware clear stamp set JGCL508 Jane's Script which was stamped with a black StazOn ink pad.

I am also trying to continue my vellum theme as per my challenge over at The Stamp Man, so I have added a strip of punched vellum across the centre of the card.
The flowers are punched from vellum using assorted Woodware flower punches.
Oh crumbs I've just noticed the date.
I need to get a card made for my Sin-in-Laws birthday tomorrow. Back to the Craft Room. Good job I did my post early as I can see a late night in my future lol.
Happy Crafting.
hugs Kimx

A Circular Easel card

Hi
Another lovely class at Davina's tonight. The theme was shaped cards for men, but as always I try and give them a basic technique and a couple of cards to follow if they so desire. At the end of the day I like them to just PLAY lol.

This easel card uses a piece of the background paper that I showed them. It also uses lots of my circular nesties.

The green card stock has first been stamped with bleach and then with versamark. Pearlex powder has been applied to the vermarked images. The greeting has been stamped onto vellum using Stazon.

All of the stamps used are by Hobby Art.
The ladies all seemed to have a great time, and enjoyed the technique.
I really must get to bed now, I have to be up again at 5am and I do need to get some sleep.
Nite nite
Love Kimx

Still Thinking of You

Afternoon Everyone.
Isn't it cold. Where has all that beautiful sunshine gone that we had last week.
I've another 'Thinking of You' card to share with you. I don't think I have sent so many of these cards in six months as I have had to send this week. It seems strangely appropriate with the mood of the weather.

This one was made for my Sin-in-law Jason to give to his Mum on what would have been her Anniversary. May must have been a good month for Weddings back in the 50's.

The small squares have been stamped over a piece of background created using Stazon inks. I have used one of the Inkadinkadoo Inches stamp sets for this.
The leaves are from another of these clear sets.
With a different greeting I think this card would work just as well for a man.
I hope you like it.
Lets hope that this is it for this type of card for a while.
Have a good afternoon.
Love Kimx

Stazon and Inches at Davinas

Just a quick post before I get some sleep, more crafting to do tomorrow, must make the most of the weekend :)
Thought I would just give you a quick look at some of the cards that we will be making in my class on Wednesday evening at Davinas (http://www.stampcraftcards.co.uk/) I tend to teach technique based classes so I end up with loads of examples. Its so difficult to narrow down which ones to share with you. I will try and give you some better pictures after the class but for now I hope this will do.
Two posts in one day, I wonder how long this will continue, more than one day I hope.
Nite, nite.
Love Kimx

More Stamping with Clarity

These next two cards from Sundays TV show make use of some more handmade backgrounds. This time I have used the fantastic Starburst Stains available from The Stamp Man. They are mica based inks which create the most fabulous backgrounds.
Unfortunately my photographs don't do them justice as you loose all the pearlescents but believe me, they are wonderful. I have used a sheet of cream cardstock and covered it with several colours of the inks. While it is still quite wet I have placed a screwed up piece of clingfilm over the whole sheet.
Now you must be patient. This is dificult for crafters I know, but if you remove the clingfilm before the ink is totally dry you will ruin the effect,and it is so well worth the wait.
This first card uses the Daydreamer under the Tree stamped and embossed in black ink onto some of the handmade background card. Trim around the image and cuttlebug the lefthand side of the panel. Use a border punch along the right hand edge.
Mount onto black glossy, and then olive green card stock.
The main card has a panel of acetate attached to it. This has first been stamped with the bullrushes and a white stazon inkpad. Attach the main panel to the card and add brads to the corners.
As a final touch I have added the greeting which has been stamped onto shrink plastic.

The second card again uses the handmade background paper with the Daydreamer stamped on to it. This time I have cut out a panel using one of the nestabilities and then mounted it onto black glossy card.
These are definately one of my favourite things to play with at the moment.
Attach a piece of ribbon to the left hand side of a cuttlebugged panel and add this to a white card. Attach the main panel to this and embellish with brads and peel-off dots.
Will post the last of the cards tomorrow, but for now I'm just off to Pilates. That sounds posh doesn't it, believe me it's not but its about the only exercise that I get, crafting is just so much more fun.
Happy Stamping
Love Kimx