More Pearlex with friends

Evening Everyone
Well it definitely looks like if you blinked you missed Summer!!
I can't believe the longest day of the year is just around the corner, and the weather seems to think that we are back in the Autumn.
It has been raining here for most of the day.
Still at least that is a very good excuse to stay indoors and craft, as if I needed one that is lol.
I have just spent a very enjoyable evening with some crafty friends playing with Pearlex, so I thought that it would be the ideal opportunity to share another of the cards that I made for the class on Saturday.

 Once again I used the lovely FRCL200 All Occasions Bloom, black card stock,

 and the Vintage Pearlex Palette.

I added an Embossed panel to the back of the card which I edged with a Versamark ink pad and some Pearlex powders.

The alphabet background stamp has also been covered with Powdered Pearlex.
I have got a couple of days off now so I will be chained to my Craft desk regardless of the weather.
Happy Crafting to you all
Hugs Kimx

A Christmas Bear

Evening Everyone
What is it with technology and me? Seriously, it hates me, so I think I will just post my card and head out quick before it closes down on me again lol.
It's still quite chilly here, so another Christmas card is the order of the day I think.

I found the red and green embossed panel at the back of the card in the bottom of my Christmas bits box. It really is amazing what you find when you start rummaging, and how many years old??

The cute little bear is an old Lili of the Valley die cut.

They have more fabulous new stamps launching at midnight on the 12th of this month so I will just have to pop along and check them all out, wont I!!!!
I added a bit of glitter and glossy accents, well it is a Christmas card after all.
I had better quit while I'm ahead I think and try a more detailed post tomorrow.
Hugs to All
Kimx

A Floral Easel

Hi All
Well I really hope that the Summer weather hasn't disappeared in your neck of the woods as it has in mine.
'What a difference a day makes' as they say, it's really quite cold here.
Even though it feels like I should post a Christmas card, I will share one of the cards that I made for the class yesterday as I had hoped to do before my computer started acting up last night.
As you have guessed that is also why I am posting very early for me, just in case lol.

I created an easel card for a change using Kraft colour card and the flower stamp from a Woodware set designed by Jane Gill FRCL200 All Occasion Bloom and painted using the Vintage Pearlex Palette..

The shaped panel at the back of the card has been stamped using a Versamark ink pad and a Woodware Alphabet background and then dusted with Pearlex Powder.

The central stamped and embossed panel is also from the floral stamp set designed by Jane. I also coloured this using the Vintage Palette.

I added some extra leaves and flowers and a greeting, also from the same set.
I would like to enter this into the following challenges
Allsorts Challenge - In the Garden
Alphabet Challenge - I for Image
Better go and iron my uniform and get some dinner. Maybe I will get a little crafting in before bedtime.
Hugs Kimx

My computer hates me!!!

Evening Everyone
Hasn't today been glorious, real summer weather at last.
We had a lovely class today at Davina's and fortunately not too much heat embossing to raise the temperature.
It was a very quiet and therapeutic class as they always are whenever colouring is involved.
I'm afraid that my computer is really misbehaving tonight, it has taken me nearly an hour to write these couple of lines and it won't even begin to let me add pictures so I'm afraid that the samples that I promised will have to wait until tomorrow.
Let's hope that technology likes me better then.
hugs Kimx

Just a little Taster

Evening everyone
Just a really quick post tonight with a peek at what we will be doing in class tomorrow - playing with Pearlex.

I have promised to introduce them to powdered Pearlex as well as the watercolour palettes, so the tag uses both.

The floral panel on the right uses the Vintage Watercolour palette.
Stop by tomorrow to see the card I made with it.
The 'GrandGirls' and I have been visiting this afternoon, to see my Mum, their Great Grandma or GranPat as she is affectionately known. She had been a busy lady baking flapjacks especially for our visit.
She makes THE best flapjacks and everyone has been desperate for her to get her new house complete with AGA (a type of oven) so that we can once again indulge. Very bad for the waistline, but boy are they good.
I should really be on the treadmill I suppose but sleep beckons instead. Oh well, I'll be good tomorrow, let's hope no one brings cakes to class :O)
hugs Kimx

Life could never be said to be boring.

Evening everyone
Have you had a good day? Well I never said that life was boring did I, and today was definitely far from normal.
As some of you will know I work in a petrol station, and we started the day with our usual fuel deliveries.
The first one was made by 'Mr Jobsworth' who blocked off most of the forecourt, causing utter chaos, which in my opinion was far more dangerous than allowing some traffic to get to the pumps.
Delivery no 2 was far more eventful, and involved a fire engine full of hunky firemen!!!!!
It is more than a little scary when you look out at the forecourt and see smoke coming from under the petrol tanker that has just pulled onto it.
Fortunately it was all quickly under control with the aid of an extinguisher, but the fire brigade attended as a precaution.
You would think that they would check the brake pads on a tanker wouldn't you. They had gone metal to metal and overheated which is what had caused the smoke.
Still we soon settled back to normal, and the rest of the day passed without further incident.

So my card tonight is how the poor tanker driver would rather have spent his day, it should have been his day off he was just doing some one a favour, that will teach him lol.
The card was made for my friend Vicky to give to her Dad on Father's Day.

The main image is one of the stamps in the Lili of the Valley Vintage Boys range. I actually stamped, embossed and coloured this one myself using Distress inks and then cut it out using a Nestie.

The background papers are from my stash put together following the Tutorial from Crafty Lou which can also be found on the Lili of the Valley website.

The background on the main part of the card is is a Woodware stamp designed by Jane Gill called Men We Love . I have also added all of the names by punching the individual letters from another Woodware stamp called Alphabet Background. That was definitely a labour of love, but everything else just seemed far too big.
I must say I'm feeling rather shattered, that's what a burst of adrenalin can do for you, so I think I will go and lie down lol.
hugs Kimx

An unexpected Visitor

Hi All
Are you well on this beautiful summer evening?
I was reminded a couple of days ago of just how quickly time flies.
We had an unexpected visit from a young lady who we have not seen in a long while.
I used to look after her and her elder brother when I was Childminding. In fact her brother was one of my very first full time children all those years ago!!
He will be 30 next year and has just got engaged so we had some fun finding pictures of him when he was young.
I think I will have to Facebook him so that I can send him these pictures of when he was little and cute.
Well it is a Childminder / Mother's responsibility to embarrass their charges. 'It's written into the contract'. We used to joke about that as they were all growing up so now it is time to put it into practise.
The Grandchildren thought it was fun looking through the photos because of course there were also pictures of Mum and Auntie B amongst them.
They were soooo cute back then, and how much Megan and Saskia look like them, it's uncanny.

I thought that a 'Girly' card might be appropriate tonight in honour of Amy's visit, it also goes to prove that I did  make at least one Christmas card last month.

The image is a Lili of the Valley die cut and the papers are from my stash.
Every thing else is from my Christmas bits box. It's amazing what you find when you start to look.
Hugs Kimx

Lavender and Lace

Hi All
Hasn't the weather been glorious today, maybe we are going to get some summer after all!!
One of the cards that I have had to make recently is this one ordered by a lady who comes into the BP garage where I work.
Her only request was Yellow, Lavender and Butterflies so I immediately thought of this lovely Clarity Montage stamp.
For once I was actually sensible and found my papers first instead of trying to match my coloured image to my papers. Who knew lavender was so hard to match up!!

The background papers are all from my stash and the inks were Dusty Concord and Squeezed Lemonade Distress Inks.

 I decoupaged the central butterfly and painted the tiny ones on the panel with thin undiluted bleach.

The Montage stamp has matching single butterflies which I am lucky enough to own, so I added a couple of them as well as a flower, lace and some die cut leaves.

I found some tiny butterfly charms in my stash and an appropriate greeting.

I never realized  I had so many butterfly related items lol.
I hand delivered the card on Monday, so no need for a box Gilly, it was actually surprisingly flat.
I would like to enter it into the following challenges
Totally Gorjuss - Anything Goes with Flowers
Make My Monday - Use Lace and/or Ribbon
Incy Wincy Designs - Bring on Spring
Hugs Kimx

Father's Day at Crafty Cardmakers

Evening Everyone

 Today we have a new challenge starting over at Crafty Cardmakers. Our host is Feebsy, who has chosen the theme of  'Father's Day'
As it's Father's Day here in the UK on 16th of June Feebsy would  like to see anything you've created for or have been inspired to make by an important male figure in your life. 
It could be anything from a card, a scrapbook page, a knitted scarf or a piece of altered art. It does not have to be specifically for Father's Day ( I don't want you spoiling a surprise for anyone) but let us know the inspiration behind your work. 

Whenever I think of my Dad, now sadly no longer with us, I always think of the garden and wild birds.
I can close my eyes now and see him sitting at the table under the window watching the wondrous array of wild birds that graced the bird table and assorted shrubs and bushes.
And there were certainly lots of them from common sparrows and blue tits to much rarer goldcrests and tiny wrens.
He could name them all.
Unfortunately in later years he was no longer able to work on the garden, and when he could it was the vegetable patch that was always his baby and flowers my Mum's province.
I remember one year when we were very young, my sister saved a baby thrush from the cat.
Surprisingly it survived and we spent that Spring digging the vegetable patch from one side to the other (and it was a very large stretch) in search of worms to feed Gus (the thrush).
That stretch of garden was never dug so well, before or since, and miraculously we were able to raise Gus until he was old enough for us to take to the local Bird Sanctuary.
So you can see why I chose this lovely stamp from Stampendous for my card.

The sentiment stamp on the right hand side is also available through WOODWARE CRAFT COLLECTION who are one of our wonderful sponsors with a £12 voucher to be spent at one of their Retailers. 

Our other sponsor this time is THE PAPER SHELTER with a $20 Gift certificate. 
Now I am not good with digi images but they do have some fabulous Digital Paper Pads so I bought a couple of them and used some of the designs from one set on my card. 

The feathers and buttons are also from Woodware.

I would like to enter this in to the following challenges

Brown Sugar Challenge - Masculine Birthday

Sweet Stampin Challenge - Fathers Day

ABC Challenges - Masculine Cards

I hope that you pop along and join us this time. 

Don't forget that the Girls from Woodware will be playing along with us every day this week so stop by and show them some love as well as the rest of the CCM  team.

Happy Crafting.

hugs Kimx

All that Jazz

Evening Everyone
Another really quick post again tonight.Where does the time go to at the weekend?
One minute it was 5pm and I had plenty of time, and the next minute its 10.30 and I need to blog before I get to bed. Oh well!!

Another card made for Barbara's show this weekend. Unfortunately this one didn't get shown, and the pictures are not the best I'm afraid.

 The 'Jazz' panels are made using a Sticky Ink pad and Gilding Flakes,

and the stamping in the background on the black card has been done using thin undiluted bleach.
Back tomorrow with a card for the new challenge over at Crafty Cardmakers, so I hope to see you then.
Hugs Kimx

A Birdhouse

Evening Everyone
Have you had a wonderful craft filled day, I have.
I started off the day with a couple of hours of Barbara on the Box. She always manages to come up with something stunning, makes my little offering seem very insignificant by comparison.
Still she does say some nice things about me so they can't be that bad I suppose.

Here is one from the latest parcel that I sent her. You never know you might get to see it tomorrow when she is back on the box.

I confess that it is actually one of those cards that started off in the discard pile, but after some sponging and Distress Markers I actually rather like it!!
Better get some sleep, I have another commission to finish tomorrow.
Night night
Hugs Kimx

Barbara is on the Box

Evening Everyone
Are you well? I don't know about you but I'm very glad that it is the weekend, and of course as it is the first one in the month it is time for the next 'Classroom with Barbara' 11am - 1pm on Saturday.

This is a card that I made for Barbara's last show.

I'm so glad that she has finally added some basic greetings to her collection. As much as I like all of her poems and sayings I do prefer to add just a plain sentiment to most of my cards.

I have added tiny black dots to the embossed panel as well as Faux Stitching to the card.
Don't forget that Barbara will also be on the box on Sunday.
Have a great weekend.
hugs Kimx

The Great Escape

Evening Everyone
Well, no one could say that life living in the same house as your 4 Grandchildren could be considered uneventful!!
Usually when I get up in the morning the house is silent as everyone is still sound asleep (5am has that effect on most sane people lol)
This morning however was a totally different matter with footsteps up and down the stairs and lots of giggling from as early as 4am.
I discovered the reason for all the hilarity when I got home this afternoon and discovered that we had had an escapee during the night. My Grandsons hamster 'Fang' had somehow managed to get out of her cage and climb 3 flights of stairs to the room in the loft.

She managed to evade capture for quite some time, taunting everyone with appearances which looked like she was standing there saying 'Nuh nuh I'm here come and get me' before disappearing again. 

 I'm afraid that the pictures aren't up to much, she wouldn't stay still for long enough!!.

I thought that this card reflected the feelings of everyone in the house. This is how they would have liked to have spent the afternoon.

 It was made using a Lili of the Valley die cut and my Nesties.

The background papers are from a couple of Basic Grey 6x6 paper pads. I added Glossy Accents to the dots on this section.

The 'tree' is actually a Marianne die of a branch.
I would like to enter this into the challenge over at Lili of the Valley where they are looking for cards for Boys or Men.
Let's hope that everyone gets a little more sleep tonight.
All I can say is Thank Goodness it is nearly the weekend.
Hugs Kimx

A Crafty Collaboration.

Evening Everyone
One of my many crafting challenges last month was to make samples for Janice and Andy to take with them to the show at Port Sunlight.
Time was of the essence and I knew that I wouldn't be able to manage all of the stamps that they had asked me to use, so I enlisted the help of a couple of 'Crafty' friends of mine.
They come up trumps bless them and the parcel was duly dispatched, including this one which was a bit of a collaboration.

Sue coloured the image and cut it out using a nestie and then ran out of steam, and time.
I thought that it was just too good to waste so I finished it off as you see it here with a bit of background paper, ribbon and some stamped words.

He's rather cute, I really should use my Penny Black stamps a little more but there always seems to be something else to make for everyone else that I never get the chance to play just for me.
Never mind, there's always tomorrow......or the next day lol.
Happy Crafting
hugs Kimx

Magic Backgrounds

Evening Everyone,
I don't know about you guys but it has been pouring with rain here, all day. I'm pleased to see that at least the weather seemed to get it the right way round this time - nice Bank Holiday, rain when everyone is back at work lol.
I even braved getting drowned to pop to the Post Office with my parcel for Barbara.
Why is it that drivers seem to hug the side of the road and head for the large puddles as soon as they see a pedestrian?? There were definitely some expletives filled the air as I got soaked on more than one occasion.

The challenge this week over at Woodware is 'Backgrounds' which put me in mind of this couple of cards that I made last year after the Retailers weekends that I helped with.
We had great fun working with the 'Magic Stamp' (the blue block in the right hand corner) and assorted items, like the pile of buttons.

The background was created by pressing the heated foam block into a pile of buttons while it is still warm.

The block retains the shape of the item that it is pressed onto but can be reheated to remove the image if you don't like it, or get fed up with using it.

It is fabulous stuff. I have a box full of blocks which I would never reheat including 4 that contain the impressions of my Grandchildrens hand and foot prints at only 5 or 6 days old. (You can use both sides of the block so I have a hand on one side and a foot on the other for each child)
What a keepsake!! And it makes fabulous background paper for a baby card, I really must make a card to show you. I will add that to my 'To Do' List.
I used ColorBox pigment ink and glossy card stock for the main panels on both cards and stamped all over the background of the second card without reinking.
Why not give it a try, it is great fun.
Hugs Kimx

A card from Sylvie

Evening Everyone
Just a quick post tonight as I am frantically parcelling up my cards for Barbara ready to take to the Post office straight after work tomorrow.
I have also got a pile of birthday cards that all need addressing, so I had better get back to it.

Once again my lovely 'Crafty Friend' Sylvie has come up trumps with a fabulous card for the Woodware Sketch challenge.

Good Ole Sylvie she can always be relied upon to make something for the challenge.
You still have time to enter, so why not check it out HERE.
Back to the address book now, then off to bed.
Night night.
Hugs Kimx

Nothing to do with the weather

Evening Everyone,
I have had a very successful day, how about you?
I have managed to finish most of my cards for Barbara, so I should be on track to get them in the post on Tuesday,
We sorted out the June class dates at Davina's on Saturday, so I really must update my sidebar.
As we used Pearlex Powders along with the Gold Leaf we have decided that the first class in June will be a more comprehensive look at Pearlex both in powder and watercolour form.

By happy coincidence one of the cards I made for my Christmas stash last month uses just that.
Yes I know I need to update my Christmas card tally as well. The trouble is I have been having way too much fun making cards to spend any time on the computer, my commenting shows that lol.

 I have used wet glue and powdered Pearlex for the background paper,

and watercolour Pearlex for the stamped and embossed image in the centre of the card.
Wow quite an early post for me, but I have to go and iron my uniform for work tomorrow. Yes, some of us in the UK still have to go to work!!
Have a great Bank Holiday.
Hugs Kimx