Where did Day One Go??

Evening Everyone,

Well I am here at Sirstampalot, and now safely settled in to my own little corner of the shop for the week.
I can't believe that Day One of my holiday is nearly at an end, and I haven't had time to play as there has been an all day class and they needed my play table.
It hasn't stopped me shop however.
Well what is the point of a holiday in a craft shop if you don't shop lol.

As you can see I am all set up and ready to go tomorrow morning as soon as we get to the unit.
At the moment we are waiting for the Asda Man to arrive so that we can have dinner, but a Chinese Takeway is looking like a really good alternative to cooking.
Well it's a holiday remember :O)
Bye for now.
Hugs Kimx

Happy Birthday Barbara

Evening Everyone,

My card tonight is the one that I sent the lovely Barbara Gray for her birthday, which is today. Of course I just had to use some of my Clarity stash to make it.

The die cut panel has been stamped several times with Distress Ink and a script background stamp.
I'm afraid that this post is being written on my tablet, and I have yet to master the art of adding links to posts. To be honest I quite impressed myself that I can even manage to write a post on it at all. So this is definite progress lol.

I stamped and embossed a fabulous bamboo image onto this panel. It is a definite favourite of mine.

The background was created using my Gelli Plate, Distress Inks and a Clarity Stencil. I had such fun playing around until I had something that I was happy with.

I hope that Barbara has had a fabulous day and has been spoilt rotton.
My case is packed and my alarm clock set, so I am off to bed.
Saskia has already asked to sleep in my room when I am away. In fact she was most put out that I wasn't going tonight. There's no pleasing some people is there lol.
Bye for now, see you in Peterboro.
Hugs Kimx

Bubble Blooms

Evening All
Another beautiful Spring day, I even managed to take my coat off for the entire walk to Mum's.

I recently gave this card to a friend who has not been feeling her best.

It was made using one of Jane Gill's fabulous 'Bubble Bloom Stamps'.

They were designed to work with Card Candi, but work just as well with Pearlex paints.
Off to bed now. Only two more sleeps, and I still have to sort out some stamps that Janice has asked me to bring with me. A job for tomorrow I think.
Bye for now.
Hugs Kimx

Zippity Do Da

Evening Everyone,
Another day nearer my holiday (Crafty Play Week), now only three sleeps to go lol.
I have been making a list of the things that I need to take with me, and I can see that it is going to be a very heavy suitcase.

As usual there is a large box of cards for Janice and Andy to photograph, so here is one that I won't be taking with me as it went in the post this week

It has been made using some lovely Woodware stamps designed by Jane Gill and some pigment inks.
Oh dear I've just thought of a couple more bits that I need to squeeze in, lets hope I can find a bit of room for a few clothes.
Bye for now.
Hugs Kimx

Happy Birthday Sue

Hi All
Have you been having a good day? I hope that my friend Sue is cause it is her birthday today.

I do hope that she will forgive me if she gets to see her card here before it arrives because once again I'm late with the post. No surprise there then lol.

I actually made the card with left over pieces from my last trip to SirStampalot, which is very appropriate as I am now officially on countdown to my holiday there. Only four more sleeps as the Grandchildren would say. I can't wait.

I hope that Sue is enjoying her meal out tonight, and then she still has a trip to the cinema to look forward to.
Happy Birthday my friend, enjoy.
Bye for now.
Hugs Kimx

For a Special Lady at CCM&More

Hi All
We started a new challenge at CCM&More today.

Mother's Day is right around the corner so our hostess, Pamellia, would like to see your creations for a Special Woman, they don't have to be Mother's Day cards though as long as they are for that special lady.

I chose to make a card for my lovely Mum using a Clarity Stencil, dye based inks and some stamps. 

I stamped randomly over a piece of white card using Clarity Garden Heart and Verse and Chipped Sapphire Distress Ink. 

Then I ran the stencil through my E-Bosser and heat embossed the raised image using Versamark ink and clear embossing powder. 

I sponged the whole thing with Distress Ink and then added a few more Garden Hearts and With Love, also from Clarity.

The finishing touches are provided by dots of Stardust Glitter Glue and a sentiment from Woodware.
Please stop by and see what the rest of the Team have come up with to inspire you, there are some stunning creations there.
Bye for now.
Hugs Kimx

Spring is in the Air

Evening Everyone,
Another beautiful spring day here in Whyteleafe, I even had the window open for part of the day, and that is definitely a first for this year lol.

This is the card that I sent my Aunt last week for her birthday.
Nice spring colours don't you think and perfect for the weather we are having.
The background was made using my trusty Gelli Plate and some dye based ink.

I added the sentiment on a piece of acetate attached with brads.
I can't believe how late it has got. I have been having way too much fun finishing off bits and pieces after Saturdays class. Better call it a day or I won't get up for work in the morning.
Bye for now.
Hugs Kimx

Window Feathers

Evening Everyone,
Hasn't it been beautiful today? We even had to have the doors open in class today as the room got so hot.
I remembered to take the cake with me, in fact there were several others provided so I'm sure that we all came away a few pounds heavier lol.

Today's class was 'Window Cards' as inspired by a tutorial posted quite some time ago by my lovely friend  Mynnette on her Technique Time Tuesday blog.
Unfortunately the blog has now closed, but all the techniques and tutorials are still there for everyone to see.
I also looked through Pinterest for some extra ideas, and that is where I found the inspiration for this card.

I die cut the feathers from a piece of white card stock and then layered the trimmed panel over a Penny Black stamp.......................

.....................4271L Winter Ledge.

I sponged dye based ink over the stamped and embossed image before attaching it to my card.
The die cut panel was placed over this using Silicon which also gave the panel extra dimension.
I spritzed the blue card stock with Glimmer Mist, and added some Card Candi.
I found several other ideas that would work well with this stamp so I will have to see if I can get anything else finished off tomorrow.
Bye for now.
Hugs Kimx

Happy Birthday to You

Evening Everyone,
Boy am I glad that it's the weekend.
I will be teaching tomorrow, which is fun and definitely not like work lol.

In fact we are sure to have a great time with plenty of tea and cake as we will be celebrating Davina's birthday, even if we are a couple of days late.

The background to this card, which I will be giving to her tomorrow, has been made using waxed paper, an embossing folder, iron and dye base inks.

I stamped and embossed on to the panel using Black Versafine ink and added it to a purple card with some sentiment scraps that I found in my bits box.
I have a nice cream sponge sitting in my fridge ready to take with me tomorrow. I only hope that I don't forget it. I have my Grandson primed to remind me, I just hope that he remembers, biscuits would be a bit boring to celebrate with don't you think.
Bye for now.
Hugs Kimx

Daisies for Kathleen

Hi All
What a lovely bright afternoon we had today. I got really rather warm on my walk, I even had to take my coat off, now that's a first for this year lol.

So here is a nice bright card to share with you, made for one of my regular customers at the garage who celebrates her birthday today.

The card has been made using Imagination stamps, dye based inks and an embossing folder.

I added a large stamped, embossed and coloured flower.

Some of the daisies in the background have been painted with thin undiluted bleach to remove some of the bright background colour.
I hope that Kathleen liked her card. It makes a change for her to take one home with her. She is my post lady and pops cards into the pillar box for me as she walks past it on her way home.
Bye for now.
Hugs Kimx

Just for You

Evening Everyone,
I hope that the weather has been good to you today. We have had some more beautiful sunshine, although it has still been rather cold.

Here is a card that I sent to an old friend and her Husband for their Wedding Anniversary today.

The 'Huge' greeting is by Woodware and has been stamped and embossed onto a piece of background created using an embossing folder, hot iron and some waxed paper.
I coloured the background using Distress Inks and painted the sentiment with the same colours.

The other background papers are from my stash, and I added die cut leaves (Memorybox) which I embossed with Frantage Embossing Powder.
Let's hope the nice weather is back again tomorrow, I don't fancy taking my weekly walk to my Mum's in the pouring rain.
Bye for now.
Hugs Kimx

Elves and Fairies

Evening Everyone,
How are you, I don't seem to be able to settle to get anything done tonight, so here is a card that I made for Barbara's last TV show.

 I used a lovely leafy stencil and some dye based inks to create the background......................

 and then added some fairies..........

 and a few more...............................

 and even an elf and some flowers.

The sentiment is also from Clarity and fitted onto the leaves quite nicely.
I think maybe an early night is in order and then my mojo may return. Let's hope so anyway.
Bye for now.
Hugs Kimx

New Babies and Big Boys

Evening Everyone,
Isn't it funny how sometimes the perfect card idea comes out of some bits and pieces just slung onto your work space.
I had to make a quick baby card for a friend this weekend.
I played around for ages with a few die cut images and a new sentiment stamp. Well new to ink I'm ashamed to say, so as is always the case I stamped it out on a piece of scrap paper first.
Nothing seemed to go right, so I abandoned everything on my desk in favour of coffee. Always a winner!
On my return, coffee (and biccie) in hand, the abandoned pieces seemed to be in just the right places and so the afternoon turned a successful corner and I now have several cards in my stash for the birth of either a Girl or Boy.

While I was at it I also made a card for a couple of young men of my acquaintance who have birthdays this week. 

How funny to think that when I worked at the Craft Barn many years ago, well at least 12 anyway, two of the lovely ladies that I worked with were both expecting with in a week of one another.

In fact if memory serves they actually ended up on the same ward, if only for a day or so.
My daughter gave birth to my Grandson Reece in December of the previous year so it has been great to watch all three boys go through the school system in the same year albeit in different schools.

I really don't know what I would do without my LOTV toppers.

One day I will find the time to sit and colour some images myself, but in the mean time I will just have to rely on these beauties.
Wow a post before 10pm, it's been a long time since that happened. I had better make good use of the rest of the evening.
Bye for now.
Hugs Kimx

Clarity Flowers

Hi All,
Wow where has the weekend gone?
I have managed to get cards finished for next weeks celebrations, but that is about as far as it got.
I did however manage to tape Barbara's TV appearance with all of the beautiful artwork from everyone on the team.

As promised here is the full view of the card that I teased you with yesterday.

I stamped and embossed the image in white onto kraft card, and then painted it with Distress Inks.
I used the mask that comes with the stamp to add a little shadow around the image.

I mounted it onto background papers from my stash and added a punched border and some tiny peel-off dots.
As usual I liked everyone elses samples better than my own, well most of them at least.
Bye for now.
Have a good evening, what's left of it that is.
Hugs Kimx