Thinking of you through the trees

Evening Everyone

Didn't get any more photos taken today I'm afraid so instead I will share a card that I made for Barbara.

The trees from the Tuscany set have been stamped repeatedly using distress inks and then some light sponging has been added.

I have stamped the  Thinking of You corner and then mounted the resulting panel onto a piece of cuttlebugged card stock.
Off to bed now.
Love and hugs
Kimx

There are always flowers................and shaving foam!!

Evening Everyone
I had another lovely evening class over at Lavender Lane last night. We had a good time and got quite messy making backgrounds with inks and shaving foam. 

Some of the backgrounds were really quite busy and I felt that images might get a little lost on them so I tried out a bit of embossed resist with a twist.

The main panel is created using the inks and shaving foam and then I have stamped several solid floral images (Hero Arts and Hobby Art) over it using versamark ink and clear embossing powder.
Once these stamped flowers have been heated I have then covered the entire thing with a coating of black versafine ink. This is then coated with clear embossing powder, heated and voila!!

I felt that this sentiment from the Hobby Art Scene It Sentiments set couldn't have fitted more perfectly.
Hope you like it.
I've managed to find a very similar tutorial on Splitcoast Stampers, although we used inks in spray bottles rather than drops from a reinker, but at least it will give you the idea.
Maybe one day I will get around to sorting out a tutorial of my own, although I don't claim to have invented the technique itself.
I will try post some more cards tomorrow if I can get some pictures taken before it rains again :)
Love and hugs
Kimx

A Christmas reminder

Evening Everyone.
I hope you have had a good Monday.
Here we are a couple of weeks into June and I have just spent the last few days making Christmas cards for the TV aaaargggg!!!
My girls always complain that I can be a bit 'Bah Humbug and Scrooge' about Christmas but maybe it's because by the time it actually comes around I've just about had my fill of it.
Anyway at the moment it's fun so let's focus on that shall we lol. So just to get you in the mood here is a reminder of what the weather was like in December last year :)

I actually read on the Internet that somewhere in Wales had snow last week so who knows, this could be us in a few days lol. My daughter will be most upset if it is as she is just off on holiday with the Grandchildren and is really hoping for good weather. 

This post is actually to remind you that Barbara will be on Create and Craft (channel 671) tomorrow at 11am with a mini Christmas show.
I'm not sure what stamp sets she will be using so there may be a couple of my samples or not

This was a card that I made for one of her shows last year and I felt that it had a suitably Christmas feel to it.
I had better get to bed now just in case Santa visits.
Nite nite.
Love and hugs
Kimx

Happy 30th Birthday Nicky Jo

Evening All
I seem definitely to have a thing for circular cards at the moment, it must have something to do with the lovely Grand Nestie that I bought from Janice and Andy the other week.
It is nice to be able to make slightly larger cards, although I can't use the biggest dies in the set as I only have a standard Cuttlebug and I don't plan to replace it any time soon.

So anyway this is the card that I made for a friend of ours who was 30 on Saturday. Like all boys of my acquaintance, he is very into his cars. Nicky probably more than most as he owns several classic motors that he spends his time 'doing up'.

This die cut from Lili of the Valley is on the sheet called Having Fun and suits Nicky I thought. I've used several different background papers as well as a piece of silver card stock that has been embossed using a cuttlebug folder. I added glossy accents to the TV screen.

The greetings are also from Lili of the Valley and are called Stamp Calenders. I've added the month by hand and highlighted the date.

All the flowers are hand made using background papers and Marianne Creatable flower dies. I'm not sure that Nicky will approve of the flowers but the card needed them I feel.
Hope you had a good weekend despite all the rain, maybe next week will be better.
Love and hugs
Kimx

What miserable weather we're having........

Hi All
What miserable weather we are having today. That to me seems the perfect excuse to sit and craft, as if I needed one :)

Let hope that these cards will bring a little bit of sunshine to the day. Once again they have been made using the Clarity Allium stamps from the last TV show. I have inked them using a Big and Juicy ink pad and then spritzed the stamp with water before stamping the image onto white card stock.

I have stamped and embossed the greeting Sending A Little Note onto the panel which has been trimmed and given a stitched border. I have stamped one of the Allium down the right hand side of the purple panel using a white brilliance ink pad.

The panel on this second card has been created in the same way using the same stamps.

This time I have used Versamark to stamp down the right hand side of the purple panel.
I hope they have cheered up your day.
I've had a little break form the cards while I watch Gulliver's Travels with the Grandchildren so I guess its back to the craft room now that it has finished.
Happy Crafting
Love and hugs
Kimx

Dotty Black and White.

Evening Everyone
This card has been made using the lovely Allium stamps from Clarity.

I have made it in Black and White which is a favourite colour combination of mine.

The spotty background paper went perfectly with the stamps I thought and I have continued the 'dotty' theme with the border punch and bling.

Faux card candy made from the left overs completes the card.
Hope you like it.
Love and hugs
Kimx

Coffee Anyone?

Evening Everyone
I have definitely had one of those 'Thank God it's Friday' days, how about you?
As I am expecting my next parcel from Barbara any day now I thought that I really ought to get around to sharing a few more of the cards that I made for her last show.

This is another card using La Petite Musique. This time she is stamped on to a piece of background paper made using Instant Coffee. I told you I like playing with background techniques lol.

I've stamped her in Sepia ink and painted her hair with bleach. A Martha Stewart punch, some peel-offs and pearls and she's complete.
Hope you have a good weekend.
Happy Crafting
Love Kimx

I'll try again shall I :)

Afternoon All
Well I really am rubbish at this challenge thing aren't I, maybe thats why I don't enter them very often.
There I am carefully adding a link into my post, and then I go and forget to add my card to the challenge blog, a definate 'Senior Moment' I think.

So I'm going to try again with the new challenge over at Lili of the Valley where Anything Goes.

This is another Baby Congrats card. I seem to have made quite a lot of them just lately, maybe it was all the miserable weather we had last year lol. Any way I've once again used one of the lovely die cut Babies.

I do posess rubber stamps honestly but these are just so great when you are in hurry and I always seem to be in a rush.
I've cut out the image using a nestie and mounted it over a piece of pink background paper to make a circular Easel card.
The Congratulations stamp is by Hobby Art.

The Lili of the Valley For You Circular Sentiments continues the circular theme.
Lets hope I have better luck with this card entry,
I will head across to the challenge and post it straight away. Wish me luck.
Love and 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

A Lili of the Valley challenge this time

Evening.
Wow I can't believe this, three challenges in a row.
I've managed to fit in a little bit of late night blog hopping (No time for comments I'm afraid) and it just seems to have worked out that several of the cards that I have made lately fit nicely into the challenges that I have found. So this one is for the Thursday Challenge over at Lili of the Valley. The theme is Punch it Up.

This is a card that I made a little while ago but I thought that it fitted the challenge quite nicely. The main image is taken from another of the wonderful Lili of the Valley die cut sheets Babies.

The card buttons have been created with my new Sweet Button Embosslit from Stampin Up. I have added some stitching and thread to the buttons to give them a more authentic look.

'Baby Boy' has been punched from the centre of a Circular Sentiments and then of course there are plenty of punched leaves to embellish the flowers.

Hope you like it.
Love and hugs
Kimx

The Stamp Man Challenge - Boys and Men

Evening All
I am teaching a class called 'Shaped cards for Men' on Wednesday evening, so it seems the perfect opportunity to share one of the cards that I have made as well as entering another challenge, this time over at The Stamp Man.

I have used one of the Grand Nesties to make the base for the card. The background paper has been made by stamping the leaf from Woodware Woodland Elements using neat bleach.

The leaf panel has been coloured using Adirondack ink pads. The greeting is from Hobby Art and I have added some greenery using a Marianne Creatable Branch Garden die.

Better get to bed now I don't want to over do this creative surge.
Love and hugs
Kimx

I've entered the Woodware Challenge

Hi
I needed to cheer up a special person, and as the main panel on the card that I have made uses a favourite Stampendous Agapanthus stamp it seemed only right to enter the latest Woodware Challenge.

The panel has been created using Decorating Chalks and Agapanthus Long. All the details are on the Woodware website and so I am sure that if you contacted them they would be able to put you in touch with your local stockist.

The small swirl stamp used around the edges of the card is taken from FRCL159 Flower Doodles set.

I have used a Hobby Art greeting on the card as the sentiment was just so perfect, but maybe that will mean that the card no longer fits in to the challenge. Oh well never mind I had fun making it and hopefully it will cheer up its recipient.
Have a good evening
Love and hugs
Kimx

No it's not charcoal, it's Stamping in Soot.

Hi
Hope you all got the chance to see Barbara on the box today.
The weather here has been miserable so it has definitely been a TV watching day rather than a gardening one lol. Not that I do gardening.

I thought that I would set the record straight about how this card was made. The presenter kept saying that it had been done with charcoal, but it hasn't.
La Petite Musique has actually been stamped on to a piece of glossy card stock that has been held over a candle flame until it is covered in soot. Once you have created the piece of 'sooted' card press a clean, uninked stamp onto it and when you carefully lift it away you are left with a perfect 'stamped' image.

You have to 'set' the image otherwise the soot will brush away and so I have sprayed the image with Krylon clear matte finish spray.
I tried this technique out years ago after I found it in an American craft magazine The Rubber Stamper, but I thought that it would work well with this stamp.
Hope you like it.
Love and hugs
Kimx

A late night reminder

Evening Everyone
Just a quick reminder that  Barbara will be on TV tomorrow at 9am till 11am and then again at 2pm till 3pm.

This was one of the cards that I made for her show last month, so it seemed an ideal time to share it with you. It was made using several of the travel inspired Stamps.

I added the Postcard stamp to the card as a finishing touch, and also in the background stamped with versamark and then brushed with gold Pearlex.
I am obviously fated not to be creative this weekend as I have had to do some emergency babysitting whilst my daughters took Saskia to the hospital after she fell off the trampoline or 'Jumpaline' as she calls it, and hit her head on the concrete.
Auntie Becki got to practise her patient care (she is studying Nursing) and then went with Jenni to the hospital to get Saskia checked out.
All very worrying, but fortunately all is well. Saskia seemed to think that going to the hospital was fun, I'm not sure that the rest of us would agree lol.
I had better get to bed now and try again tomorrow. Lets hope I have better luck, I have so much to do.
Nite nite
Love Kimx

The wrong trees.........

Evening Everyone
Here we are at the end of yet another week, it really is scary just how quickly this year is disappearing!!
This is the card that I made for Jenny using the wrong stamp set for the TV!!

 I used the trees from the Countryside Scene it set to create the four panels.

I've added stitched lines and tiny peel-off squares. I've also added some tiny stamped leaves to the bottom of the blue dotted panel to mirror the leaves on the background paper.

Having come up with the original idea I reused it using the correct  In the Countryside stamp set. Of course I made it slightly different by adding the punched panel and greeting.

I have several special cards to make this weekend so I hope the creative juices start flowing again or else I'm in BIGGGG trouble lol.

Have a good weekend.

Love and hugs

Kimx

Shutter background

Evening
Hope you all had a good day off. I'm jealous of course lol.
At Mags suggestion I sent my mojo to the naughty stairs but I don't think it worked so I think I'm calling it quits for tonight, and maybe the week!!

This is another card that I made for Jenny using the Scene it Window  and Scene it Sentiments sets.

The background has been made using the window shutter which has then had one of the leaves and the wisteria blossom stamped around it. The greeting had been cut out using a nestie, and then attached with my favourite padded look.

Hope you like it.

Love and hugs

Kimx

Wish you were here in Craft Stamper

Evening All
I'm afraid that my mojo seems to have gone the way of all the beautiful sunshine - missing!!!
I have sat and stared at stamp sets from Barbara for most of the day and have come up with only two cards, so I think I had better call it a night.

This card was made during my holiday at Sir Stampalot in March, and has just been published in the July edition of Craft Stamper, page 73 top right hand corner.
It shows you just how far in advance you have to work with the magazines.

It was made for the ideas gallery and follows the Postcard theme and colour guide that I was told to use by the magazine. The instructions for the projects can be found as a web extra on the Craft Stamper website www.craftstamper.com. The Destination Tag is by Hero Arts (H4978).

All of the items used are available from Sir Stampalot. The background papers are by Kaiser Craft and all the stamps of famous buildings are by Art Impressions (Big Ben (L2993), Globe (K2266), Leaning Tower of Pisa (G2647), Eiffel Tower (G2542), and Colosseum (G2672)) 

I couldn't find a suitable greeting to go on the card so I added a handwritten 'Wish you were here'.
I think I'll flick through some old magazines or Stampin Up catalogues and see if I can get inspired again.
Hope you have a good Bank Holiday Monday. Some of us have to work of course so the card making will have to take a back seat until tomorrow afternoon anyway :)
Love and hugs
Kimx

Shaped Card with Men in mind

Evening Everyone,
Hope you are all having a good weekend.
I should be hard at work on cards for Barbara, but we are conducting a bit of a juggling act with beds at the moment which means that I can't even see my table, let alone get to it, so it seemed the ideal time to blog.

This is another of the cards that I made for Jenny's last TV show. It uses the Scene it Window set.
I always try and do something a little bit different with the stamps and I think I have achieved that using just a few of the elements from the set.

The red background has been created using a combination of inks, bleach and pearlex. I have also stamped the greeting onto a piece of vellum using Stazon ink. The leaves have been added around the edge of the vellum panel and then they have been embossed from the back with a ball tool.

I also added the birthday greeting to the base of the easel card on top of another vellum panel.
This card has been made with my 'Shaped Cards for Men' class in mind, which I will now be teaching at Davina's on Wednesday 8th June.
All beds are now in their correct rooms, so with a little bit of effort I should be able to get to my table in a short while. I had started a card before all the maneuvers so maybe I will get it finished before bedtime.
Love and hugs
Kimx