Monday 30 April 2012

Pretty Florals

Good morning! There's a strange yellow object in the sky, the light is very bright & the sky has gone a funny blue colour.... Good grief, it's actually a sunny morning! It makes Mondays a bit more bearable if it's a bright day!
Just wanted to share this card I made, which is something of a change of style for me with floral images.


The stamp is from a pretty stamp set called Fresh Florals from Chocolate Baroque which I have coloured with promarkers. 

The backing paper was a freebie with a magazine - but I can always make use of any papers! The lace & pearls are from my stash. The seam binding and rose are from WOC - I love seam binding for making bows as it seems to hold it's shape quite well.  The die cuts are from a Sizzlits set.
This is quite a simple uncluttered card for me, but I think it works ok and I was quite pleased with the flower image. 

I'm entering this into a couple of challenges :
creativeinspirations - anything goes

Well, I'll enjoy the sunshine today - and hope it lasts! Thanks for visiting and please leave a comment if you like the cards - it's lovely to hear from you! 
Back soon, Kim x 


Sunday 29 April 2012

Great Outdoors!

Well, it's a cold, wet and windy Sunday here - when will it get warmer? I thought it was supposed to be spring?
Anyway, dreaming of playing in the great outdoors (lol!) just thought I'd share this card today with this lovely little stamp from LOTV.

I've had the stamp for a while but not used him yet, but he just looks like a typical little boy! Up to mischief! 

I've coloured him with promarkers. I've done a bit of 'shadow' stamping on the Basic Grey paper with some grasses stamps from Chocolate Baroque, and the 'Nature' sentiment stamp is from the same set. The ribbons, mesh, buttons & threads are from my stash and the leaves from WOC.


Hope you'll agree that it makes a cute 'boy' card! 

 I'm entering this in :
Lilis Little Fairies challenge - sketch
365 cards - 'All Boy - no blue'
craftycatzweeklychallenge - anything goes
mymumscraftshopchallenge - great outdoors

Thanks for visiting my (very!) little corner of cyberspace - I'll be back again soon!
Kim x

Saturday 28 April 2012

New Home

Good morning - and at least it's dry (and possibly a bit brighter here)! Just wanted to share a card I made recently before I have to head off to do usual Saturday morning jobs (i.e. horrible housework, washing school uniforms, etc!).  My lovely sister-in-law and her husband recently moved house, and after many years finally have a garden as well! They both love wildlife & she loves feeding the birds, and they are really enjoying being able to sit and watch the birds in the garden on the (very numerous & well-stocked) birdfeeders! So I wanted to make a special little card for them for their new home

and this is what I came up with!  The lovely stamp is a Little Claire design, and they do a lovely range of cute stamps.  I coloured it with promarkers and prisma pencils

The backing paper is from the First Edition 'Birdsong' pad and the embossed panel is a Cuttlebug embossing folder (birds & swirls).  The flowers are from Wild Orchid crafts and I've used a Marianne Creatables die for the ivy and bird house.

I decorated the inside with some pale green paper and used the DooHickey die 'lovely fence' (just loving that die - keep trying to think of cards to use it, so apologies if you keep seeing it!) with some more of the ivy twirled around it and the little bird die cut which is in the Marianne set. I think it works pretty well.

And of course, it had to have a nice box to go with it! This was just simply decorated with Marianne dies for the corners & butterflies, a WOC rose & a meadow leaf die cut (another die that I find so useful). 
And thankfully, my sister-in-law really liked the card.  I hope they have many years enjoying their garden now! 
After all the boring household stuff I've got to do today, I'm hoping to get some more crafting done this afternoon (or if it stays fine I might even get into the garden - things are starting to grow fast now!). But roll on warmer weather! 
Hope you have a good weekend whatever you're doing! 
Back soon, Kim x 




Thursday 26 April 2012

Big Pressie!

Good morning! Hope all well out there? Just thought I'd add another little card on today - and I've got a real soft spot for this little chap

It's a LOTV stamp called (funnily enough!) 'Big Present' - and he's yet another cute image!


I've coloured him with promarkers and prisma pencils, and I've tried to use slightly bolder colours this time - with a splash of deep red for his shirt.
The backing papers are K&Co and NitWit, and the 'bunting' was made from some scraps of papers & ribbon.  The buttons are from my stash and the vintage seam binding from Wild Orchid. 
The sentiment stamp is one from a very useful set of three by Hero Arts. And then a bit of distress inks round all the edges! 
Hope you like him! 
Back soon, Kim x  





Wednesday 25 April 2012

Pretty in Pastels

Another quick post today with a card made with a couple of challenges in mind!  This is a Magnolia stamp with pastel colours


But rather than the usual pastel pinks I'd probably choose, I've gone for pastel blues.

I've coloured her with promarkers, and the backing papers are Nitwit papers.  But just for something a bit different and to add some other textures, I've made the little fabric rosette flowers with some scrap material and added the lace and the metal embellishments. And I've had them in my stash for so long that I've no idea where they came from lol! But I do know the cherry blossoms came from Wild Orchid! 

But I think it all works quite well - and keeps the theme of spring pastels!  
I've only recently started entering card challenges and I must say that it's quite addictive. It's often nice to be given a 'design brief' so to speak (especially for when the mojo goes walkabout!), and of course it's great to see what everybody else comes up with too! 
Hope you like her! 
Back soon 
Kim x 

I'm entering this in the :
Just Magnolia challenge - Spring Pastel Colours
Cute Card Thursday challenge - Metallica




Tuesday 24 April 2012

Togetherness!

Just a quick post before I have to potter off to work! This is a LOTV stamp which is just so sweet! Called 'Together Forever', I somehow think it's even cuter because you can't see their faces - only imagine the expressions (or what they're chatting about!).


The gorgeous backing papers are from the First Edition pad called 'Birdsong' - and the soft colours are just wonderful.

I've coloured the stamp with promarkers and prisma pencils - still practicing that hair effect! 
The seam binding ribbon and roses are from Wild Orchid crafts and the 'bling' and pins are from my stash. Think it might be missing a sentiment, not sure whether it needs one or not - but I'll maybe have to think of one later.
Hope you like it! 

Well......
It's 'hey ho, hey ho, it's off to work we go.......' - but would always rather be crafting lol!
Back soon x  

I've entered this in: Lili's Little Fairies Challenge - Diamonds & Pearls
and in:   Stampinfortheweekend - Sparkle & Shine

Sunday 22 April 2012

Lollipop for Suzan

Sunday evening already - how come the weekend always passes so fast? Another Sarah Kay card for today with a stamp I've had for a while but not used much called 'A Lollipop for Suzan'


I've coloured this with promarkers and prisma pencils, and tried to keep to fairly pastel colours for this one. 

The backing papers are Nitwit and K&Co, and I've used a Marianne creatables die for the butterflies and my much-used and much loved Meadow Leaf die. The roses are from Wild Orchid and CardCraft UK and the pastel spotty ribbon is from Crafters Companion (the Beatrix Potter collection).  Other card & pearls from stash. 
Hope you like it! x 

I'm entering this in the Simon Says Stamp challenge 


Saturday 21 April 2012

Baby Knits!

Just thought I'd add another quick post on today (how keen am I? lol!) with a pic of the baby knits I completed for the appeal for knits for the 'fish & chip babies' - an appeal run on Dawnyp's Pinkpiggywiggy blog HERE -
these are all knitted to a simple all-in-one pattern, using whatever bits of wool you have, and are for the poor little babies born in extreme poverty in Africa, so poor there is often no clothing to wrap them in and they are wrapped in newspaper (hence the 'fish & chip' name!).

I'm hoping they find a good home and keep some poor baby warm somewhere! (Even though my knitting's not up to much).
If you think you could help, please have a look on Dawny's blog.  



Jemima Puddleduck

Weekend again - how fast does it come around - but seems to pass very quickly?! Just a little card for today. I recently bought a couple of the new Crafters Companion Beatrix Potter stamps and they are so cute. And I've been quite impressed with the stamping quality as well.

I've coloured her with promarkers and prisma pencils. I recently bought a few prisma pencils as I'd heard & seen lots of reports about them, and yes, they are lovely! I find them very useful for just adding the finishing details or shading on my colouring - but perhaps that's because I'm still learning the colouring techniques with the promarkers!

The lovely pale blue, leafy backing paper is from Nitwits and the spotty paper is K&Co. I wanted to make a fairly simple and uncluttered card with this one, it's a smallish stamp and quite simple so I've tried to rein in my tendency to add embellishments on everything that doesn't move lol! 

The die cuts I've used are spellbinders labels and edgeabilities, and threaded through a thin strip of the backing paper in the lacey edge. The ribbon, pearls & buttons are from my stash. 
I suppose the card could be for a 'new baby', or child birthday - or even an adult birthday as I know there are so many of us that still love the Beatrix Potter characters. I'll see what comes along first! 
Back soon x 

Thursday 19 April 2012

Always Friends

Always Friends.  That was the title that came to mind with this stamp - and having children & a dog, I do know they seem to build up a special sort of friendship!


This LOTV stamp is so sweet, and I've tried to keep the colours a little more 'subdued' (hopefully, not dull!). This is a different style of card for me, a criss-cross pocket style one, with an insert that slides in and out. I've coloured the image with promarkers, with distress inks to soften the edges. I'm still trying to master colouring hair, especially blonde hair, though lol! Hopefully, practice makes perfect (or at least a bit better!).
The backing paper, with a sort of mottled effect, is K&Co 'Urban Rhapsody'. I've added a little lace on the edges and the flowers & leaves from Wild Orchid. 

This picture was to show the insert with a blank for the message.

The 'Friends' stamp is from a lovely little collection of 3 from Hero Arts, and I've used them quite a lot over the years I've been crafting (and especially on scrapbook pages!). I think I need to devise a 'stand' bit for the back of the card so that it can be free-standing. I'll work on that! 
Quite like this 'pocket' sort of card, so I'll have a go at another one soon. 
Back soon x  






Tuesday 17 April 2012

Spring Garden

Tuesday already? Where do the days disappear to? Well, Jack is back at school and Lauren back at Uni this weekend - then I'll perhaps get a bit more time to craft! 
This card is one I finished this weekend and I think it works quite well....

It's an unmistakeable Sarah Kay stamp called 'Elodie in her garden' and is just so lovely! In trying to keep up with the quest to keep using different colours and combinations (lol!) I've kept the colour scheme fairly simple in shades of light yellow, cream and lime green with a splash of red for the watering can.

I've coloured her with promarkers and the backing paper is from a gorgeous new 6x6 pad from First Edition called 'Bird Song' that has some really lovely papers in. It'll be appearing a lot more! 
As I wanted a vivid splash of the lime green in the embellishments, I coloured an ivory wild rose from Wild Orchid with Cosmic Shimmer spray (in 'golden mint') and the two cream cherry blossoms are also from WOC.
The sentiment is from LOTV and the ribbon from my stash - and I recently bought these cute little charms from CardCraft UK - so sweet! 

I've used spellbinder dies and the meadow leaf die. The embossed panel on the pearlised card is a Cuttlebug one - Birds & Swirls. It seemed to fit well with the theme! 

Hope you like her! And thanks for looking - and if you have the chance, a comment or opinion is always welcome! 
x

I'm entering this in the Wild Orchid Challenge Blog





Saturday 14 April 2012

Tilda In The Garden 14.4.12

Good morning! And it's the weekend again! I hope that you have a good one, whatever you've got planned. I'm hoping to get some more garden bits done, but there'll also be all the usual boring bits as well i.e. housework, laundry, etc. :(  lol!  And in between all that, to do some crafting, and have a play with some new prisma pencils I've bought. I'll let you know!
Just though I'd add a new card on though, another Magnolia one

This one's called Tilda in the garden. I've coloured her with promarkers and thought I'd try some more vivid colours than my usual pastels! The backing paper is a great one from My Minds Eye - just love that flowery background!

And I've used a new toy, the Doohickey die called 'lovely fence' - I can see that it will come in handy and be used with quite a few of the stamps I've got. The flowers were done with Marianne Creatables dies 'Trendy Flowers' and 'Ribbon Florals' and I think they look quite cute with the buttons.

The card is an easel card, and I've used my usual 6"x6" shape. The sentiment is from LOTV and the seam binding ribbon is from Wild Orchid. The deep pink spotty paper is from K&Co, as is the vintage colour lace.
Hope you like her!
And hope you have a good weekend, whatever you're doing.
x
I'm entering this in the: Just Magnolia Challenge

Friday 13 April 2012

Just thought I'd add some more of the finished cross stitch creations today!


This pattern is called Garden Alphabet from Helen Phillips' book 'Cross Stitch Garden Notebook'. I'd made a bit of a mistake with estimating the amount of fabric I'd got (it's done on 14 count rustic aida) and didn't really have enough surplus for framing it. As I've already got quite a few framed pieces, I decided the next best thing was a cushion! So I just made a simple envelope design of cushion with some scrap fabric, added some ribbon and then cut some fabric flowers with a Sizzix die and my ever-useful BigShot! I found some wooden buttons in my stash - and another cushion duly appeared in the house! I think it works quite well as a cushion and it's usually perched on an old wooden school chair (circa 1930's) that I rescued from a skip!
Hope you like it!
And thanks for all the lovely comments I've been receiving on my cards, etc. - they mean such a lot! And I'd be even more thrilled if when you were browsing through the blog you signed up as a follower!
Back soon with another card!
x

Wednesday 11 April 2012

Good morning! Hope everyone had a relaxing Easter weekend (or at least an enjoyable one if not relaxing!). Just wanted to post a quick card on, made with one of my favourite LOTV stamps - By The River.

Isn't he cute?! I love LOTV stamps because they are so simple, but the faces are so expressive. I've coloured him with promarkers and shaded edges with distress inks.

I do find that the promarker blender pen is quite useful for shading out the edges, particularly on things like the water in this image. The backing papers are K&Co and BasicGrey, with hessian weave and cord from my stash. The sentiment is LOTV.  Hope you like it!
I'm hoping to get some more crafting done today, but time is always at a premium when it's school holidays, and my hubby's not too well either at the moment - and I'm a rubbish nurse! I've enjoyed browsing other blogs and will start to put some pics on here of some of my scrapbook pages and other cross stitching projects. As I say, so many crafts, so little time! 
Thanks for looking - and your comments are always welcome. 


Saturday 7 April 2012

Hope you are all having a relaxing Easter weekend? Just wanted to share a new card with you before we go and scoff all the choccy eggs tomorrow lol!
It's Ribbon Tilda from Magnolia - from the Christmas collection - but I think she's suitable for all year round really! I'm trying to use colours and colour combinations at the moment that are out of my comfort zone, so I've coloured her with a range of apricot, honeycomb and saffron promarkers, with a touch of lime green & lime zest on the socks/shoes! Think it makes quite a nice, spring-like combination - I hope!
The flowers and leaves are from Wild Orchid and CardCraftUK, and the green backing paper is from K&Co. I'm afraid I'm not sure where the pearlised card is from as it's been in my stash for a while! The sentiment is from LOTV and the die cuts are spellbinders and Marianne Creatables for those lovely ivy leaves.  I've also used a CraftsToo embossing folder ('Daisies'). 
Just before I go, I thought I'd show a couple of spring lambs! 

Aren't they just too cute! It's from a birthday card made for a friend of my daughter, and the image is from Joanna Sheen's 'Furry Friends' cd, as is the pretty pastel spotty backing paper. A proper Easter image! 
Have a good weekend - and don't eat too much chocolate! 

I've entered the Tilda card in the Just Magnolia challenge 'Anything Goes'.


Thursday 5 April 2012

The Easter weekend seems to have come around quickly and I'm hoping it stays dry - although we've had a lovely sunny day today. Feel so sorry for all those who have had snow - hoping it's a bit better today. This card  is quite a cheerful image - and having just watched my son and dog have a mad 5 minutes running around it seemed appropriate (although our dog is far too big to fit onto the back of Jack's bike - even if she wanted to!).

It's a LOTV stamp called 'Riding my bike' that I've coloured with promarkers.  I've used K&Co stripy backing paper and other paper, card and ribbons from my stash.  I've used Sizzix and Spellbinder dies, with a felt flower from one of my much used Sizzix dies. 
Hope you have fun over the Easter weekend!  We'll try to!  Not much planned, just some family time, garden tidying (weather permitting!), dog walking, etc. (All the usual really then!)


Tuesday 3 April 2012

Another week, another card! What happened to all that lovely sunny weather? Last week we were sat outside having tea, but today we've got heating on and it keeps hailing and trying to snow! Wonderful, bizarre British weather!
Well, after having a lovely weekend away, it was time to update the blog and this latest card is an easel card with an LOTV stamp on - PomPom the fairy.
I've coloured her with promarkers and the scrummy backing paper is from Prima, the Fairy Flora collection, called 'Sunlight Daisies'. It's such lovely paper it takes some determination to actually cut into it lol!
   
The sentiment is from Creative Expressions, and the die cuts are from Sizzix and Spellbinders. The roses and leaves are from Wild Orchid and the lace is from my stash.
I like to use the promarker blender pen, especially on the fairy images, as it gives a lovely 'fading out' quality to the colours, and blends them into the white. Hope you like her!  And if you enjoy looking at the cards I'd love it if you signed up as a follower! 
Although these cards are quite embellished, I present them in card boxes and they become almost a gift as well as a card. I've been thinking about trying to sell a few on Ebay or Etsy - not sure how they'd do, but I'll keep you updated! 

I'm entering this in Lili's Little Fairies Challenge.