A babe on the beach!

Well, I'm back again - and it's time for a new challenge over at CraftyCatz!  And this week our lovely Jac has challenged us to come up with some 'fancy folds' - so we want to see some varied card designs!
And we're sponsored this week by Alota stamps!

For my card I've used a fabulous digi stamp from Mo's Digital Pencil called 'Little Umbrella'

Oh, I just love that attitude - she makes me smile every time I look at her!  I've coloured the image with a mix of copics and promarkers

It'd be nice if the weather was like that this weekend - although I still wouldn't be baring all in an Itsy Bitsy Polka Dot Bikini!  

The papers were freebies with a magazine and thought the spots and stripes fitted a 'beach' theme quite well!  The sentiment stamp and ticket die are from Whimsy - with a fabulous Mae West quote!  The ribbon and gems are from stash. 

So do have a look at the fantastic inspiration from the DT over at CraftyCatz and then join us in the challenge! 

Hope you have a great weekend - bikini or not! Back soon,

Kim x 

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

BearlyMine - anything goes

Card Mania - spots and/or stripes

KaboodleDoodles - stripes and/or circles

The Squirrel and the Fox - here come the girls

Button it up!

Good morning and I hope that your Friday is starting well - and a Bank Holiday to look forward to (well, for those of us in the UK!). Let's just hope that we don't get typical British Bank Holiday weather and that the sun actually shines lol! It'd be nice to wheel the bbq out at some point!

As it's Friday it's time for a new challenge over at Totally Papercrafts - and this week the theme of 'Buttons' has been chosen by me!  And it's something of a sad challenge for me today as it's my last one as part of the DT at Totally Papercrafts.  I've been on the DT nearly a year and it's been a brilliant time!  And if you fancy joining a great Design Team they're having a DT call at the moment so do check it out!

Anyway, onto this week's challenge

I've used a gorgeous LOTV stamp called 'Pompom' (another 'oldie but goodie'!) and coloured her with promarkers, with some added glitter - well, fairy wings have to have some glitter don't they?

The flowery paper is from MME 'Miss Caroline'. I've added some DooHickey die cut 'doily flowers' with button centres. The teal ribbon is from stash. 

Hope you like it! And I hope you'll join in with the challenge at Totally Papercrafts! 

Back soon,

Kim x 

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

Creative Moments - circles

Pennyspapercrafty - circles

CraftySentiments - buttons

PaperPlaytime - buttons or brads

I'd like you to meet Lulu!

Hello all and I hope that your week has been going well? Thankfully we've had sunshine today but quite a brisk wind (just sent Him Indoors down the garden to fasten panels back on the greenhouse roof!). I've had stinking headaches again - have been on permanent painkillers from doc for 'chronic headaches' as he called them (you're telling me!) but not so good today and to add to general feeling of well-being I had a visit to the dentist today too! Anyway, less moaning! And I'm glad to report the dentist didn't need to do anything and the headache has eased a bit this evening.

I'd just like to share another of the gorgeous new releases from Whimsy Digital with you and this one is from Kathryne at StampArtDesign and this little cutie is called Lulu! 

I've coloured the image with promarkers and flexmarkers

The backing papers are from First Edition. I've added a Memory Box 'arboscello tree' die cut and the DooHickey 'lovely fence'. Then some punched flowers with pearl centres.  The sentiment is also from Whimsy. 

Do go over to Whimsy and have a look at the fabulous releases for May - there's something for everyone! 

Back soon, 

Kim x 

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

LEJ Designs - die cuts/punches

Get Inky - die cuts

Songbird Challenge - flowers

ILovePromarkers - anything goes

A Fairy Birthday!

Hello and just a quick post from me this evening (phew!).  Hope you've had a good start to the week. Just the usual here - apart from today was my daughter's first exam for her 2nd year at Uni so a few nerves. But she was ok when she got back (she's living at home this year!) so fingers crossed for the next 5 exams!

I made this card for a friend's daughter who is 11 today - happy birthday Imogen!

I've used LOTV stamp 'On tiptoes' - which I make no apology for using numerous times! I love this stamp! I've coloured it with copics and promarkers and added some glitter and pearl drops. The sheer ribbon is from Joanna Sheen and the pearl pin is from stash. 

The backing papers are from K&Co, and I've added Marianne die cut flowers and swirl. The sentiment is also from LOTV.  I've made this as a criss cross style card with a Tonic punched edge.

And thank you for all your lovely comments on yesterday's card - and I obviously struck a chord when I mentioned weight/exercise!  It seems many of us are in the same boat!  But Tilly the Dog, Lauren and I enjoyed our walk last night - and we went with my friend Sarah and her gorgeous Newfoundland dog, Monty - and I thought you might like to see a pic of them together! 

This is Tilly and Monty together (with my friend). As you can see, there is a bit of size difference (!) but they get along brilliantly - until Monty decides that Tilly would make a good girlfriend! Then he licks her ears for her - and she's such a flirt she seems to enjoy it! Oh joy! 

Anyway, back soon! 

Kim x 

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