Definitely NOT CAS!

Good morning Blogland!  Thank you so much for all your kind comments on Friday's posts - and about the tutorial!  And it was lovely to read that someone has already tried it!  I hope your weekend has been going well and you've spent it doing something enjoyable! I managed to catch up with a friend over coffee for an hour or so yesterday which was lovely and am hoping after the dreaded h****work is done today that I can manage to fit in a bit of crafting. Then it'll be time for the 'brisk walk'....  
I'll confess.  Last year I'd lost quite a bit of weight (nearly 3 stone in actual fact!) and felt so much better for it.  But, confession time, over the winter months and through a freezing cold start to this year, I'm sad to say that just over half of that has crept back on. I'd like to know who made tasty puddings, chocolate, cheese and butter on fresh bread such fattening things to eat?  It's so unfair! (I sound like my teenage son!).  Anyway, I've decided that I really need to get back to healthier eating and do more exercise (such a dirty word). So my personal trainer (aka daughter) now comes with me and Tilly the Dog on a brisk walk for a couple of miles and we've decided that if we do this 3 or 4 times a week then it must be good for us. Surely.....   Not sure my puffing and red face is the most attractive feature, and Tilly the Dog is not impressed by not being allowed to stop and sniff every lamp-post, wall, blade of grass, etc., en route and being told to "Come on Tilly, stop dawdling!" by the Sergeant Major (aka daughter again! she's a very strict taskmaster).  And we'll probably be taking my friend Sarah along with us tonight as well! Sigh.  As I say, I just keep telling myself that it's doing me good.....

Right, Sunday morning waffle over with!  I apologise to my new followers too - I'm afraid that particularly the Sunday morning posts tend to be a long-winded affair with a lot of mindless chat so I don't blame you if you scroll down over that!  But thank you so much for taking the time to follow my little blog!

This card is one I made for a friend's birthday and I just love the Wee Stamps images - this one is Peggy

and it's definitely NOT a clean and simple design lol!  I've coloured the image with promarkers and copics with a little pencil

The backing papers are from LOTV with flowers from WOC. The lace is from stash. I've added Poppystamps 'meadow leaf' die cuts and the bunting is using Whimsy stamps and dies. 

And the inside to match.

Hope you like it! 

Back soon,

Kim x 

I'm entering this card into the following challenges:-

CraftyCalendar - blooms and blossoms

One Stop Craft - anything goes

Delicious Doodles - lace

ABC Challenge - not just one - 3 or more embellishments (flowers, lace, die cuts)

Freshly Brewed Monthly challenge - flowers

The Stamp Spot - feminine creations

JoannaSheen Challenge - girls, girls, girls

3 2 1 at CraftyCatz!

Hello, I'm back again - but I promise it's a shorter post than earlier!  If you haven't seen it - my Polkadoodles DT card is below together with my very first attempt at a tutorial that is also on the Polkadoodles site. If you get chance, I'd love it if you could have a read through the tutorial and let me know what you think - does it make sense? is it too long? too many pics? too easy? Thanks!

But it's time for a new challenge over at CraftyCatz - and we had some fantastic entries last week (and such a lot!) with our anything goes challenge! This week our challenge is '3,2,1' - so we want to see 3 of something, 2 of something and, yes you've guessed it, 1 of something! Easy!

I've used - 3 buttons, 2 papers, and 1 image and I've used LOTV stamp 'Yee Haa!'

I've coloured the image with promarkers and copics

Aren't they just the cutest pair! When Tilly the Dog was a puppy and Jack was 6 years old. I used to come home to find the dog dressed in football shirts, Jack would be getting her to ride on his skateboard, playing football, etc.!  All little boys need a dog really! (Especially one as daft as ours!). And now my cute little 6 year old boy has been abducted by aliens and they've left a towering, continually hungry and grunting male that vaguely resembles him, I have to say that Tilly the Dog still gets the most attention from him! 

The backing papers I've used are NitWit ones, with some added stitching (although don't look too closely, it went a bit wonky!).  I've added a Sizzix die cut star and buttons from stash!

So do have a look at the fantastic inspiration from the DT - and join in with your own 3,2,1! 

Back soon,

Kim x 

I'm entering this card into the following challenges:-

LOTV Challenge - Boy oh Boy

Charisma Cardz - no digis allowed

Paper Shelter Challenge - anything goes

Creative Craft Challenge - just checking

Inky Chicks - blue & brown

Spring Colours!

Good morning all and whatever your weather - the good news is 'It's Friday'!  It seems to have been a busy week this week and I'm hoping that we don't have too busy a weekend!  There'll no doubt be the usual taxi/catering/PR services required (along with housekeeping!) but I'm hoping I can get a bit of crafting time too!
And as it's Friday it's time for a new challenge over at Polkadoodles and this week the challenge is a great one for everyone - 'Spring Colours'! Nice and easy - so do have a look at the great inspiration from the DT and then join in!
For my 'Spring Colours' creation I've made what I call a 'Criss Cross Gift Card' using the Polkadoodles 'Cherryblossom Lane' cd available HERE - and there are some gorgeous images and papers on the cd suitable for all projects and occasions!

And over at Polkadoodles we've started doing some tutorials as to how to make different projects that will help give us all a little inspiration, especially when Mr Mojo goes walkabout!  This week I've done a tutorial on how to make this gift card.  Now, this is my first attempt at a tutorial so please be gentle with me - and I would love to get your feedback on whether it's ok and particularly if it makes sense lol! 

The tutorial is below! 

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This is a little tutorial on what I’ve made for this week’s challenge and what  I describe as a ‘CrissCross Gift Card’ !  And there are quite a lot of pics so please bear with me!  The papers and topper I’ve used are from the Cherryblossom Lane cd – with some added wording on the topper.

I’ve started with :-

2 x 6” square card blanks 

or  2 x A4 sheets of card, cut to 148mm x 295mm and scored & folded in half

2 (or more) sheets of design paper

A topper of choice

Ribbon or twine, embellishments, etc.

Cut the fronts of the two card blanks at a diagonal and keep the offcut pieces.

Trim a 2cm wide strip from the long edge of the offcut triangle pieces.

Cut and stick the design papers to fit the two front triangles on the card, the inside square of one of the cards and the two smaller triangle pieces

  

Edge the triangle edges with border punches, edge dies or lace, etc.  Then glue the two base cards together so the front flaps overlap.  The smaller triangles are then glued on the inner card along two sides (probably easier to use double sided tape to do this – not sure it shows up too well on the photo!)

I’ve mounted the topper onto some coloured card, then used a length of sheer ribbon that wraps around the card with plenty of length to tie a bow.

And this is the finished card with some buttons added for embellishments!   The inner triangles form a pocket that could take a voucher or gift card – as this is a ‘garden’ themed card I’ve added a packet of flower seeds!  But it would be great with different papers and topper and a gift card added for a teenager, or Christmas papers with vouchers inside!  A nicer way of giving a little gift!

   

Hope you liked the tutorial! 

Back soon,

Kim x 

You've got a friend!

Good morning and I hope that your week is going well.  Just thought that it's been a while since I added any cross stitch to my little corner of Blogland so am sharing a pic of a little coaster that I made with a cute design on!

I quite like making these small items (quick to finish lol!) and good for using up odds and ends of fabric and threads!  I've added an extra page to my blog with pics of other finished cross stitch pieces and other crafty bits.  I have a number of 'UFO's' (unfinished objects!) that I really must try and get completed - but am knitting a cardigan for my daughter Lauren at the moment (when I'm not playing with paper and pens).  I'll add more pics to the needlework page as I come across them! 

I'll be back tomorrow with a couple of DT makes - and my first tutorial (scared person here!) so please be gentle with me!  

Kim x 

Butterfly Kisses!

Good morning all and I hope that your day is looking brighter than it is here - drizzly rain at the moment - ugh!  Just wanted to share a card with one of the new digital stamp releases from Whimsy Stamps before I start doing all the jobs that seem to magically appear on the days I'm not at work!

This is Butterfly Flourish from Chrissy's Digis
 

I've coloured the image with promarkers and added some crystal glitter on some of those wonderful swirls. I then used some craft wire and little beads on the antennae. The backing paper is from Whimsy digital papers collection - Michele R Designs 'Flight of the Butterflies' - and I've used a little distress ink on the edges. I love the soft vintage feel to these papers!  The sentiment stamp is also from Whimsy.

I've added some pearl 'drops' on the butterfly body, some pearls from stash and some sheer ribbon from Joanna Sheen. I seem to be going through a 'blue/teal/turquoise' phase at the moment lol! 

Hope you like the butterfly - and don't forget to have a look at the gorgeous new releases from Whimsy! 

Back soon, 

Kim x 

Lots of flowers

Hello all and just a quick post from me this evening (thank goodnes I hear!).  Thank you for all your good wishes about Tilly the Dog - who is now feeling much better! And thank you so much for all your lovely comments too!
My daughter's boyfriend wanted a card for his grandma and I didn't get much notice! But as he's in the middle of his finals at Uni I'll let him off for not remembering until the day before he needed to post it lol!  But we decided she wouldn't particularly want a 'cute' image and then, as if by magic, the postman delivered a cardmaking magazine and there was a great little kit as a freebie from Hunkydory!  Just the thing!  So a quick card was put together and we're just hoping that grandma likes it!

I've added some mirri board, ribbons, butterfly embellie and some gems

Something different for me - a confirmed stamper and colourer (is that a real word?!) - but I thought it made quite a nice quick card! 

I'll be back soon,

Kim x 

I'm entering this card into the following challenges:-

Love to create - flowers

Craft-DeeBowz - handmade bow

CardMania - flower power

April (No, I know it's May now...!)

Good morning all in Blogland and I hope that your weekend has been going well? It's a peaceful Sunday morning here - daughter has gone off to work on her weekend job and son stayed at a friend's last night, so hubby and I are having a (rare) quiet morning with tea and newspapers! How civilised lol!  Tilly the Dog has been a bit poorly this weekend - but as I've tried to explain numerous times to her, drinking dirty water from the pond and hoovering up any scraps (and bird food in the garden) is not a good combination and is bound to lead to tummy upsets.  So, as I do whenever she's had a poorly tum, she's been on a chicken and rice diet for a day or so.  I think she does it on purpose now as I'm quite sure that she'd like to stay on a chicken and rice diet for quite a while..... Hmmmm!  She's a lot bouncier now than she was 24 hours ago but whenever I mention going back on the doggy biscuits she assumes the "Woe is me" expression. She'd be an Oscar-winning performer, and definitely has a touch of the Gloria Swanson as Norma Desmond about her!  (Sorry, for younger readers you might need to Google that one!).

Right, apologies (yet again) for all the waffle! I really must stop wittering on!  The card I'd like to share with you today I made with one of the more recent releases from Mo Manning called 'April' and she is just the cutest!

I'm definitely not a CAS sort of gal! 

I've coloured the image with a mix of copics, promarkers and flexmarkers

The gorgeous backing paper is MyMindsEye Miss Caroline range and I just love the combination of colours, peachy pinks, yellows, greens, teal, etc.! 

I've mounted the stamp onto a Spellbinders floral oval. The peach ribbon is from stash and the rich teal coloured ribbon is from CardCraftUK. The gorgeous watering can charm and peachy Prima flowers were from some fabulous blog candy goodies I was lucky to win from Eileen. I've added a button from stash. 

And decorated the inside to match! 

Hope you like it. 

And I hope you enjoy the rest of your weekend. 

Back soon, 

Kim x 

I'm entering this card into the following challenges:-

Papertake Weekly - anything goes

Colour Me Creative - anything goes

MyTimeToCraft - show us the inside

Our Creative Corner - anything goes

SugarCreekHollow - spring flowers

Jellypark Challenges - Girly Girl

StampinfortheWeekend - button it up

Divas by Design - anything goes