Wildflowers for Hobby Art

Evening Everyone,
Weren’t there some of the most amazing samples on Hobby Art  Jenny’s show on Monday. I always feel that mine are very simplistic and inadequate by comparison.
Still I suppose that just goes to show the versatility of the stamps, and it’s also why you have such a diverse range of crafting styles on a Design Team.

I do like floral stamps as you know, so these lovely Wildflowers definitely appealed to me.

The first card uses just one of the stamps from the set.
I stamped and embossed the image a couple of times using Versafine ink and clear embossing powder having first masked off the bottom of the panel.

Next I drew a border around the stamped images and added a touch of simple Zentangle to create a frame for my flowers.

I also added a sentiment from one of the other sets and then mounted my trimmed panel onto a piece of embossed kraft card.

Of course there had to be a bit of gilding wax to highlight the embossing, and a touch of glitter glue on the tips of the flowers.
I hadn’t really thought about it when I made it, but Charlie pointed out that it would make quite a good card for a man.

My second card also uses a bit of masking (a recurrent theme amongst the DT) and some decorating chalks.
I masked off a panel across the bottom of a piece of white card and then used a cotton wool ball to add the chalks. Because there is no ink involved at this stage it gives a nice soft feel to the background of the card.

After I was satisfied with my background, I stamped across the masked area with another of the wildflowers and a Versamark ink pad.. This time the image is much darker as the clear ink ‘grabs’ the chalk.

Once I had removed the masking tape, I stamped and embossed the same image on to the panel this time using Black ink.
I added the sentiment using versamark ink and the chalks and then layered the finished panel on to a co-ordinating piece of card stock.
I will try and share another couple of cards tomorrow if I get a chance.
Have a great evening.
Happy Crafting and Hugs
Kimx 

I hope you All had a very Holly Jolly Christmas

Hello my Crafty Friends.
I hope that you all had a fantastic Christmas, it seems so far away now.
I was at work on the big day, but as I have pointed out to customers I am not totally stupid. We saved more than a few Christmas's for people who found their turkey was still in need of defrosting, or was off and at the end of my shift I got to come home to a dinner that was nearly ready to eat. It's a win win in my book.
I may not have sent any Christmas cards this year, but I still have loads of them that I need to share with you.

We did a class on Zentangle recently. 

Now I have to say that I am not very adventurous with it although I am getting a little better with the aid of the numerous books that I have.

I do think though that even the simplest of patterns can turn a very basic card,

into something really quite special.
We are going to make some non-Christmas cards using this technique in class at the beginning of January.

I seem to have rather a lot of holly stamps, from different manufacturers.

This one uses a Woodware stamp set.

The holly on this one is from a Tim Holtz stencil.

White stamping and embossing and a Hobby Art stamp can look so different,

 depending on what medium you use to colour them in.

 Here I used watercolour Pearlex in silver and white.

This one is a little more traditional in colour.

And this one is a very old Hero Arts stamp which has been used on red card stock.

It is a very solid image which I have used with Sticky Embossing powder, foil and mica powder.
At least I wont have the excuse of not enough cards made next year will I.
Happy Crafting and hugs
Kimx

A Labour of Love

Evening Everyone,
One of the techniques that we have played with over the last few months at Davina's is Zentangle.
Now I'm a bit of a wimp when it comes to doodling, I tend to stick with safe and simple straight lines. I have loads of books on the subject for inspiration, but I am not very imaginative without their help.

This card was finished after one such class. 

The flowers and leaves are individual stamps from an old Penny Black set Petal Party.

Of course it is a nice easy one to use for Zentangle as there are lines there all ready for you to fill in with your doodles.

Once I had finished doodling in all of my leaves and flowers I fussy cut, shaped and layered them onto my card.

The centres of the flowers have been covered with Glossy Accents.

The diamond background panel to the card has been die cut and layered onto a DSS Sheet. I added fine glitter but it didn't stick very well so I added a sheet of acetate over the top to stop it from shedding which is of course impossible to photograph properly.

I added some Card Candi to the corner which I also coated with Glossy Accents.
I think that it is about time that I entered a challenge or two so I would like to enter
Crafty Friends Challenge - Blossoms. Use flowers on your creation.

This is a rather less elaborate card using a beautiful Hobby Art Ivy stamp.
I drew the square border around the stamped image using a square stencil that I die cut from a sheet of acetate. I also added some glitz with a Starlight pen.
I would like to enter this into the challenge at
Sparkles Christmas Challenge - Holly and Ivy. I hope my card counts with just Ivy on it.

A little more stamping on this one and a black and white border.
I really must try and be a little more adventurous, although I am more than happy with the finished result, as was my Granddaughter who chose the floral card to give to her best friend for her birthday today.
Happy Birthday Flick, hope you had a great day.
Hugs Kimx

Big Birthdays

Hi All
Wow another week over and I've not found time to blog.
To be honest this really hot weather that we have been experiencing has not suited me at all.
I love that it has been bright, don't get me wrong, but it has been just too hot for me to function once I get home from the lovely air conditioning at work.
There have been times when even that hasn't felt like it was working!
This year is a bit of a milestone year for quite a few people that I know - 1st, 16th, 18th, 21st, 50th and even a few 60's including my own in a couple of months.

Here is a card made for a very special young lady who celebrated her 18th birthday a couple of months ago.

As her name is Hollie I added a few holly leaves and used a berry red colour as her nickname happens to be HollyBerry.

I do love the Large Words and Numbers stamps that Francoise has designed for Woodware.
They make brilliant statement pieces to build a card around, and of course if you paper piece them you get at least 2 for the price of 1. 

As luck would have it I didn't have long to wait to use the 2nd panel as my niece celebrated her 18th birthday earlier this month.

This time I used some zentangled flowers to embellish my paper pieced panel.. 

The leaves are die cut from a sheet of card brayered with Sparkle Medium.

The square background has been die cut using a couple of lovely Sue Wilson dies.

I had better get a move on and make the most of the cool snap that we seem to be experiencing today. The rain is too late to save the hanging baskets that I forgot to water while the family are on holiday, but at least it has cooled things down a little bit.

Have a great evening.

Hugs Kimx

Bubble Stamps designed by Jane Gill for Woodware

Morning Everyone,

It's my turn on the Woodware Witterings blog again today, and this week we are playing with Jane's fabulous Bubble stamps.

I have been playing around with some Zentangle recently, so I decided to try something a little bit different with Jane's JGS449 Bubble Bloom Lynell. 

I must admit that I am no doodler, but Woodware sell some wonderful little helpers in the shape of Books and Yoga for the Brain cards.

I definitely played it safe with this one and stuck to very basic patterns.

I followed through with the bubbles by using a dotty embossing folder and some Card Candi.
I even 'Tangled' the strip across the centre of the card, and the border around the edge.
I must admit that I am finding this technique quite addictive, and it is guaranteed to keep people quite on a class, just ask the 'Crazy Birds' at SirStampalot and the 'Girls at Davina's on Saturday.
Better get back to my Top Secret cardmaking. Only two sets left to finish now and then I won't know what to do with myself, although I'm sure that things will start to catch up with me very quickly lol.
Have a great day.
Hugs Kimx

Zentangle with Stencils at Woodware

Hello All
My turn at Woodware again today, and this is a first for me. Zentangle with Stencils.

I am not very good at drawing, in fact I am rubbish at it which is why I like stamping so much.
No drawing required lol.

This is my first ever attempt at Zentangle, and I wasn't sure whether or not I liked it at first, which is why I made a second card for the challenge.

I dry embossed this beautiful Poinsettia stencil as well as drawing round it with a fine black Micron pen.

The pattern is not very imaginative, and I shaded some areas completely as well as adding some platinum glitter glue.

This second card uses a Honeycomb stencil, and was inspired by a couple of things that I found on Pinterest.

I got a little more creative here with the help of a Zentangle Basics book,

and I finished it off with the addition of some peel-off letters.
I am actually rather pleased with them both in the end, and I liked the craft card as a change from the usual black and white.
Why not stop by the Woodware blog and see what the rest of the Girls have been up to.
Have a great weekend.
Hugs Kimx