A Job Well Done

Evening Everyone,
Well I have certainly managed to achieve something from my enforced rest, apart from a rather numb bum that is!! I have managed to sort out all of my LOTV Simply Print images.

I'm not quite sure just how long it would have taken me to do otherwise, probably till my very own retirement, but at least that is one rather major thing that I can tick off my 2020 To Do List.
It will certainly make card making easier when I can flick through a pile of pictures to find the image I require, rather than trying to guess what image a particular title will reveal.

And of course it will also make it easier to see just what images I need next time they have a mega sale :O)

Unfortunately the weather today would not allow this type of relaxation, but never mind that would probably have been too hot for me lol.

Now another thing that I would like to sort out are all of my dies, but as that would require me to stand up for rather a long time that will have to wait for much later in the year because that is definitely not something that I could manage at the moment.

Thanks for stopping by.

Happy Crafting and hugs

Kimx

Walkies, more like a Little bit of Rest and Recuperation

Evening Everyone,
One of the jobs that I have been tackling in my bid to become more organised in 2020, is that of sorting through my LOTV Simply Print images.

They recently had a fabulous sale, which of course I just had to take advantage of. It was however rather difficult working out which images I already own, so I am working on this for next time lol.

I've told you before that they are my go to for cute cards, so I really couldn't resist adding to my stash.

I had several rather special Christmas cards to make for a friend back in December so it seemed the logical place to start.

Much as I would love to be striding around, looking every bit as elegant of course, as the young lady in the first card. I fear that I am looking much more like Father Christmas at the moment.
Having spent the afternoon at the local hospital drop in clinic it appears that I have probably got tendonitus which requires rest, elevation of the legs and ice packs.
That is definitely not going to happen standing for 8 hours on a till, so I have had to admit defeat and be signed off work for at least a week. I don't like to have resorted to visiting the hospital, but as I could hardly walk and the first Doctors appointment available to me was 14th January I'm afraid that needs must.
Still I suppose the one thing that I can do during my enforced rest is sort out images on a computer, so maybe this is one task that I will finally be able to tick off on my list.
First job is to try and get some sleep though as I only managed about an hour last night.
Night, night
Hugs Kimx

A little more Bump and Smudge (with a link)

Morning All
It's a rather dull and miserable one here, so perfect for shutting myself away in my craft room and playing.

I'm also trying really hard to keep on top of some blogging.

I just have sooooo many cards to share with you, so I'm trying to be a good girl.

These are some more of the cards that I finished off after my 'Bump and Smudge' class at SirStampalot last year,

I will pop in a link to where I saw the original idea HERE as I have had a couple of comments from friends asking how I have done the technique.

These lovely little stamps helped me use up some bits of embossed card stock.

Not that it has made much of a dent to my stash. I think that I need another sort out.

The Grandkids school and nursery usually benefit from that. The kids love all the little bits of card and paper for the craft corner, although I will of course check with Mum first before palming her off with a 'bag full of my old tat' as it has often been referred to.

Remember one mans tat is another mans treasure lol.

Have a fabulous day.

Happy Crafting and hugs 

Kimx

A little sneak peek

Evening Everyone,
Hope you have had a fabulous day. I certainly have.

We had a wonderful class today playing with the latest stamps designed by the lovely Jane Gill.

Now I had assumed that they would have been released by now since I had to make the samples for them way back at the end of November/beginning of December.

However I am now not so sure so you may well be getting a sneak peek of one of them.

I had lots of lovely Creative Expressions products to work with this time, so this card uses a background created using various colours of Colour Clouds, a stencil and baby wipe to remove some of the colour from the central panel.
The flowers are fussy cut and coloured images from one of the new sets JGS705 Five Daisies.
Having spent a fabulous afternoon playing, we then continued into the evening with Prosecco, cheese and plenty of conversation.
What a wonderful way to spend a Saturday.
Thanks for stopping by.
Kimx

A little handmade wallpaper

Evening All
I obviously had rather too much fun with the 'Bump and Smudge' technique at SirStampalot.

Another fabulous find while I was there was a rather lovely little Magnolia stamp. I think it makes wonderful vintage wallpaper.

Of course a piece of wallpaper just screamed out for one of the lovely Magnolia images that Janice and Andy sell to sit in front of it.

But it does look just as good with stamped floral images,

and even floral die cuts as used in the next card.

I don't know about you, but I'm looking forward to a nice crafty weekend with good company and some fabulous Woodware stamps to play with.
Thanks for stopping by.
Happy Crafting and hugs.
Kimx

Bump and Smudge with Penny Black

Evening Everyone,
I think we all have favourite stamps and stamp companies, ones that we come back to time after time. Or a particular style of stamps that we are instantly drawn too.

For me it is the Brush Stroke style of stamps from Penny Black. Each new release provides a massive dent to my bank balance lol.

They are amazingly detailed when stamped out, even though they sometimes look as if they will just be a huge solid blob. The advent of the Stamping Platform has also made it much easier to do blended multiple layered stamping.

This card was created using the 'Bump and Smudge' technique and both brown and blue Distress Oxide inks.

Sometimes the image blurs rather too much when smudged,

but the beauty of using the platform is that you can just stamp the image again using the same colour, or an alternative to add back the definition.

Slightly less 'smudging' here, very Wedgwood :O)

This card shows just how much detail you can get from these stamps.
Thanks for stopping by.
Happy Crafting and hugs
Kimx

Just to say Hello again

Evening All
So did you make it to the fireworks last night?
Me not so much, I was tucked up in bed and fast asleep long before Big Ben chimed lol.
It's been a fairly quiet day at work today, people have definitely stayed at home. I do hate it when it's like that, I much prefer having queues of people, it helps to make the time pass quicker.

I may not have been celebrating last night, but we will be on Saturday after class.
We tried last week where we played with the Bump and Smudge technique and then were planning a bit of Prosecco and Cheese for afterwards.
Unfortunately most of the Girls were tied up, so we have decided to try again this weekend, where we can also celebrate the birthday of one of our number.

 This card was actually one of several that I made when I stayed at SirStampalot last year.

I always try to use stamps that they have readily available in the shop, which often means revisiting old favourites, or adding new ones to my stash.
I loved this old Art Impressions stamp for the Bump and Smudge technique, but I also felt that it lent itself to a little gentle colouring.
I will try and find photos of some of the other cards that I made so that I can share them with you.
You never know I might even manage to do it tomorrow, but don't hold your breathe just in case lol.
Another early night I think. Thanks for stopping by.
Happy Crafting and Hugs
Kimx 

Twas the Night Before New Year

Evening Everyone

Oh dear, where did Christmas week disappear to??

To be honest I was working, so it rather felt much like any other day in the week, but I think that's what happens as you get older, it doesn't seem to have quite the same magic.
We always have less staff on Christmas morning so it was not a good start to the day when we were greeted by the bulk of our chillers going down and only two of us on duty. I had done 10,000 steps by about 11am, rushing backwards and forwards with stacks of food while serving customers in between.
I think that probably contributed to my Christmas afternoon being spent sound asleep on my bed. Oh the joys of getting older and being able to enjoy a granny nap lol.
Today was a little less eventful at work, although a did enjoy a brief lie down afterwards.

New Years Eve is always a rather hard day for me as it is the anniversary of my son's death. I had company to the cemetery today though as it would also have been the 80th birthday of a good friends brother so it's been a hard day for us both.

Christmas crept up on me again this year so I decided against sending out any Christmas cards, as they had more chance of getting there in time for next year than this.

Instead I made several Masterboards using white embossed images

and plenty of Distress Oxide sprays for quickness.

Once cut up they quickly transformed into a stack of cards to wish everyone a very Happy New Year.
I can't see me staying awake long enough to see in the New Year, but then I do have the excuse of another early start at work tomorrow.
So I will wish you all a very happy, healthy and prosperous 2020.
Thank you for following my rather sporadic blogposts. Let's hope that I can do better in the new year.
With much love and crafty hugs

Kimx

A Christmas Post for CCM

Evening Everyone,

Here I am late to the party again.

We have a new Christmas challenge over at CCM, which will be our last challenge of 2019. (We return in mid January 2020)

Now my problem was which of my numerous Christmas cards would I share with you for this challenge.

I decided on a fabulous old design from Hobby Art. 

I went with a fairly simple design for this trio of cards, just stamping and embossing and a bit of bleach. 

Once I had bleached the colour out of the green panel I then painted with Distress Inks and added a little sparkle with a clear sparkle pen.

The red card has been dry embossed and then the design highlighted with a little gold gilding wax.

I hope that you will be able to join us for our Christmas challenge, I'm sure most of us have at least one Christmas card that they could share.

Happy Crafting and hugs

Kimx

Made to put a smile on your face.

Evening Everyone,

How's it been where you are? Personally I think that perhaps we should have had a rainy day competition. I think we might have won that one. I don't think it has stopped here for the last few days. Or at least it hadn't when I started to write this, and now we are having heavy frosts and freezing cold weather, I'm chilled to the marrow.

So lets have a couple of LOTV cards, sure to put a smile on your face.

This little cutie was made for my youngest Granddaughter Chloe.

Nothing like a nice bunch of flowers to cheer you up either. Although I'm not sure that my youngest daughter would actually agree. She always says that they are very pretty, but it just feels like another thing that she has to try and keep alive along with her and the kids. She does say it with a smile on her face it has to be said lol.

 These cards were made for a friend of mine.

If in doubt of what to do, a LOTV Simply Print always saves the day. 

My friend does have a rather nasty habit of giving me very short notice of a special card that she needs. 

Fortunately I had this one ready in my stash. 

And this last card was made for my nephew who got married recently.

Let's hope it's not quite so cold tomorrow. I'd even welcome the rain back if it made it a little warmer to work in.

Happy Crafting and hugs.

Kimx