Exotic Elephant!

Hi, just a quick post from me today with a card that was something quite different for me! 

I had a play with some stamps that I've had lurking for ages but never really used much (and how many of us have got some of those?!). 

The stamps were from a set from Chocolate Baroque called 'Paisley Elephant'. I stamped two of the larger stamps in memento ink in cocoa and then had a play with a Big'n'Juicy ink pad (Mountain Meadow) and some Cut'n'Dry foam - just love those colours. The elephant image I stamped with memento black and then coloured with promarkers and distressed the edges with purple. 

I then layered these up with Coredinations card, gold mirri card, some fine peel-offs and some purple ribbon from my stash. Although it's quite a simple card I was quite pleased with the effect, and decided not to add any extra bling as the backing & images are quite detailed. A venture into something different for me - I'll need a lie down in a dark room now before I head back to pretty pastel colours & flowers lol! 

Back soon, Kim x

I'm entering this into the following challenges:-

Stampin' Royalty - masculine cards

Totally Papercrafts - animals

ATCs and Cards with Attitude - anything goes

Cherish the moment

Good morning! Just thought I'd post a quick card on before I head off today to one of my favourite places - the craft shop! I'm lucky enough to have a great craft shop in our town - CardCraftUK - and although I get many of my supplies online (such an easy way of shopping these days!), I do try and support the smaller craft shops as well. And it's so nice for a paper addict like me to be able to pick papers up and have a good look - it's not quite the same on a computer screen lol! But with Father's Day coming up here in the UK, I really need a suitable sentiment stamp, so I'll let you know what I find!
Today's card features a LOTV stamp with one of their cute little boys on

Just love that expression! The stamp is called 'By the river' and I've coloured him with promarkers and prisma pencils

Not sure how well the colours show up - I'm afraid the substitute photographer took the picture (i.e. me!) as the better photographers (i.e. husband and 13 year old son!) were unavailable! For some reason my photos never seem to look quite as good as theirs :(

The stripy backing paper is from Nitwit and the different shades of brown heavyweight papers are from American Crafts. 

When trying to think of suitable embellishments, but in an effort to keep it simple, I decided to die cut the Meadow Leaf (from Poppystamps) in different shades of brown, layer them up and then add the Whimsy stamp sentiment. 

I was quite pleased with the effect - I've used that die so many times, but it seems to fit well with either boys cards or more girly cards with flowers & bows.

Hope you like the card! Right, I'll finish my jobs & head off for a browse through the crafting goodies! 

Back soon, Kim x 

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

CraftySentiments - anything goes

CelebratetheOccasion - anything goes

Make It Monday

PartyTimeTuesday - anything goes

OneStopCraft - one for the boys

All patriotic!

Good morning to all in Blogland! We've been blessed with another gloriously sunny morning here - hope you have too! Monday morning again - but it doesn't seem quite as bad when it's lovely weather. All the usual housework jobs are waiting for me (yuck) - reconstructing the house after the weekend! But no more laundry - because of the nice weather I think everything that wasn't nailed down has been washed, but I'm now faced with piles of ironing & things to put away!
Today's card (before I have to get on with the vacuuming!) is a cute LOTV image made with a number of challenges in mind. Sometimes I make cards from a 'flash of inspiration' and then other times I see a challenge on a blog and that inspires the card design instead. This time, the challenge was for patriotic colours/red, white and blue

The stamp is called 'Big Present' (wonder why..? lol!) and he's so cute. I've coloured him with promarkers and prisma pencils, but again, wasn't too impressed with my colouring skills on his hair - I must practice more! 

The backing papers were a freebie with a magazine, and the lovely spotty ribbons are from Joanna Sheen. The button and star gems are from my stash.

Have you anything 'patriotic' planned for the Diamond Jubilee next weekend? Last year we had a street party for the Royal Wedding, with the road closed and all the neighbours joining in of all ages, and it was great fun! But nothing planned this year - so I think we'll just have our own Jubilee tea party with family & friends. Good excuse for me to do some extra baking - the only problem is that I enjoy eating it too :(

Back soon, Kim  x

I'm entering this in the following challenges :-

papertakeweekly - true colours

craftyourdaysaway - red, white & blue

craftycatzweeklychallenge - card for a man

thecraftypad - colours of your flag

In Trouble Again!

I hope everyone is enjoying their weekend - and I hope your weather is like ours, which has been so warm and sunny! It actually feels like summer is here! We've been making the most of it with barbecues and having meals outside - so I hope you've been able to enjoy it too. Only thing is that it's a bit warm for Tilly the Dog - so we have to go walkies later in the evening! She's just come back now from our evening ramble round the field at the back of us - so she's quite happy now.
Today's card is something of a departure for me! I've used a little stamp from Paintbox Poppets called 'In Trouble Again' and I just think his expression is wonderful. I've seen that face many times before on my youngest! I thought I'd try something a bit different so went for a monochrome effect with minimal embellishment, but I think it works ok.

The card is a 5" square one and the backing papers in shades of grey & black are from American Crafts - great quality heavyweight papers. 

I've coloured him with promarkers and prisma pencils, and I must admit that it's more of a challenge doing a black & white image than a colour one! But I was quite pleased with how he turned out.

The gingham ribbon is from Joanna Sheen and the sentiment stamp is from LOTV. The black gems are from my stash. 

I found it quite hard to stop myself adding any other embellishments - my fingers always twitch towards flowers, buttons, fabrics, etc.! 

Anyway, hope you enjoy the rest of the weekend and I'll be back soon

Kim x 

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

The Poodles Parlour - monochrome

CharismaCardz - no flowers

Joyful Stamper - Anything Goes

Flowery Tilda!

Good morning from a slightly overcast Lancashire! I'm hoping it's going to brighten up later as we were planning to drag the BBQ out for the first of the summer! Mind you, planning a bbq is a bit like washing the car or cleaning the windows - the equivalent of doing a rain dance lol! I'll prepare quietly and just hope the sun does come through later.
Today's card is using one of only a couple of Tilda stamps that I have - I must get a couple more. They always seem to stamp well, giving a good, clean sharp image that's ideal for colouring. However, I wish my colouring was a bit more 'ideal' - I wasn't too happy with this one, but hey ho, practice makes perfect (allegedly!).

As you can probably tell, this is another one of those cards where I'm challenging myself to use different colours than I would normally, and in this case, much stronger and brighter colours. 

I've coloured her with promarkers and prisma pencils - but as I said, wasn't too impressed with my colouring skills on this one! 

The flowery backing paper is K&Co and I've embossed a piece of Coredinations card with a CraftsToo embossing folder and then lightly sanded the flowers back a bit. I love playing with this Coredinations card - some nice effects. I bought a great 6x6 'variety' pack from CardCraftUK and it's got some wonderful colours in - so expect to see it appearing a lot more! 

The flowers are from Wild Orchid Crafts - a small gardenia in a lovely blue shade and a couple of hip rosebuds. The sheer ribbon is from Joanna Sheen and the pearly pin from my stash. I've edged the backing paper with a Spellbinders edgeabilities and then punched small flowers down - and added small pink flowers on the opposite edge. The flourish and butterfly are from Marianne Creatables.

So, quite pleased with the overall effect (apart from my colouring lol!) especially as it's using fairly strong colours. Hope you like it! 

Thanks for calling by - and I love it when you leave comments, it really makes my day!

Kim x 

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

TildasTown

ColourMeCreative - Anything Goes

Ibrakeforchallenges - flowers

Magnolia-licious - colour palette

Doing the gardening!

Good morning and I hope it's as lovely & sunny where you are as it is here in north west Lancashire! A beautiful spring morning - and I hope it lasts for a while! So, with that in mind, it's a pretty short post today and then I'll make the most of the sunshine. This card features a cute stamp that I love from Stampavie, a Sarah Kay image called 'Elodie in the garden'

It's a fairly simple card - and a very girly one! 

I've coloured the image with promarkers, with pastel shades. The lovely backing paper is from a First Edition pad called Birdsong - and it has lovely embossed & shiny flowers although they don't really show up on the photo I'm afraid. The card is 7"x5" - a change from my usual 6" square!

I've just added the fence (a DooHickey die) cut on coredinations card and then lightly sanded back to give a little 'weathered' feel to the fence - although our garden fences are looking definitely a bit more 'weathered' than that at the moment lol! After all the recent wind & rain our fences are definitely on the 'heavily battered' side of 'weathered'! 

The sentiment stamp is from LOTV - with a couple of little sparkly gems coloured with promarkers to match. The flower embellishments I've die cut on the Big Shot from felt, using a Sizzix flower die and a Marianne Creatables one - a bit of mix and match going on there. The buttons are from my stash.

I do like to add fabric to cards & scrapbook pages, etc., as I think they give an extra dimension.  I admit that I'm addicted to fabrics of all sorts, have an over-flowing stash of many different materials - and even occasionally use some of them! And buttons are always a favourite embellishment.

So, that's it! Quite a straightforward & fairly simple card from me. Hope you like it!

I'm off out for lunch today with a friend I haven't seen for about 6 months so really looking forward to a chat & catch up (and the addition of a scrummy cake will be very nice too!). Then it's back to work tomorrow :(

Enjoy the sunshine, Kim x 

I'm entering this into the following challenges:-

MakeItMonday

CreativeCardCrew - dimension

TheSecretCrafterSaturdayChallenge - In the Garden

Little Donkey!

No, not the 'Little Donkey' from the Christmas Carol! It's only May!
Hope everyone has been enjoying their weekend? Just a short post today but with a little card I made this week with a Whimsy stamp

The stamp is a Meljen Design from Whimsy and is called 'Sweet Little Donkey' - and he is rather cute & cuddly isn't he?

In an attempt to challenge myself to use colours and colour combos that are out of my comfort zone, I've used brown tones with lime greens - but I think they work ok on this?

I've coloured the stamp with promarkers.  The backing papers are K&Co.  I do love K&Co papers, the quality, colours, etc., and they seem to be 'classic' designs that don't go in and out of fashion.

The flowers are from punches with a little pearl centre, and a simple Marianne Creatables swirl die cut and the sentiment from Whimsy.

Hope you like him!

And thanks for all the lovely comments and support I've been receiving on here - my little blog is just two months old now but has been great fun, and your support in dropping by to look at my creations and leave comments is really great - thank you! And to all those who have joined as followers - a special thanks for joining me on the crafting journey! 

Back soon, Kim x 

I'm entering this little chap in the following challenges :-

Whimsy Inspires Challenge Blogspot - Anything Goes

LittleMissMuffetChallenge - Anything Goes

CraftYourDaysAway - All creatures great and small

Feeding Birds

Good evening! Friday at last - it's seemed quite a long week at times this week and I'm glad it's the weekend. Hope you have something nice planned?
Just wanted to share this card that I made this week with a stamp from Wild Rose Studio called 'Feeding Birds'.

I must admit I enjoyed making this card - and very pink and girly it is too! But what's wrong with that lol!

I coloured the stamp with promarkers but kept the colours fairly pastel

The card is a 6" square with the inside decorated to match the front

The flowers are from Wild Orchid crafts and the lace, gingham ribbon and heart charm are from my stash.  The papers are Nitwit and the edges have been inked with distress inks just to add a little extra definition.

Hope you like the 'vision in pink'!   

Hope you enjoy your weekend and manage to find some crafting time - I'm hoping I will! 

Kim  x

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

Ilovepromarkers - anything goes

PapertakeWeekly - In the garden

DivasByDesign - Tickled Pink

CraftyCatzWeeklyChallenge-Girlie Time

My favourite things!

Good morning! No, I'm not going to burst into song with the Sound of Music (but I bet you're humming the tune now?!). And not a card today. But thought I'd share a mini-journal that I started a while ago, with pages made about some of my favourite things

These were a series of pages put together on a stiff board base, approx 6" square, using various bits and pieces. I did originally want to do this as a circle journal - one that gets passed around a group with each person adding their own page - but circumstances didn't make that happen! However, I did a few pages and my daughter did a couple. I think it's probably time to make a few more pages! 

'Home' is definitely one of my favourite things so of course that had to be included. And I confess now that I am (in addition to a craftaholic!) addicted to Lord of the Rings! Ever since finding the book in my teens many years ago I have been a fan, so naturally that had to have a page

The backing paper was from a download (a map of Middle Earth!) and distressed and inked. And I found a great quote from Tolkien on vellum. 

'Friends' are another 'favourite thing'. The large flowery page is a lift-up flap with a great piece of 'personal philosophy' that I found somewhere - but sadly can't remember where I found it! 

Not sure if you'll be able to read it, but the opening paragraph is:

If I had my life to live over, I'd dare to make more mistakes next time. I'd relax; I'd limber up. I would be sillier than I have been this trip. I would take fewer things seriously. I would take more chances. I would climb more mountains and swim more rivers. I would eat more ice-cream and less beans. I would perhaps have more actual troubles but I'd have fewer imaginary ones.

And these are two pages that my daughter made

Apologies for a rather long and rambling post today! Just thought it would be good to show something different to cards! And if you'd like to share a circle journal with me just let me know!

Back soon, Kim x  

Girls just wanna have fun!

Good morning! Hope the sun is shining wherever you are - and thankfully it is here today! It's amazing what a difference a bit of blue sky and sunshine can have on your feelings towards the day - I actually feel as though I have some energy and need to get lots of jobs done (especially before it rains again lol!). So before I head off to do some of the never-ending housework (yuck!) I thought I'd share this card with you - a perhaps appropriate one for a sunny day!

Don't those ladies just look fab! It's an Art Impressions stamp called 'Girlfriends' - and I think it's such a fun image. I'm not suggesting that they look like me & my friends, but..... lol!

 I've coloured the stamp with promarkers and added a few mini gems & pearls (well, they would be wearing a bit of bling wouldn't they??)

As it's quite a large stamp, I wanted to keep the embellishments fairly minimal. The backing paper is K&Co and I added a length of plaited sheer ribbons - although used a few choice words under my breath as it kept unravelling on me and was perhaps a better idea than actually worked!  The die cut flower is from a Marianne Creatables. 

But I think that great sentiment stamp (from the Whimsy ticket range) says it all! 

Hope the card has made you smile today!  It made me smile when I was colouring it in! 

And thanks for the comments about the dentist! - thanks, it did go ok!

Back soon, Kim x 

I'm entering this in the following challenges :-

BunnyZoesCraftChallenge - anything goes

Stamp and Create challenge - for the ladies

ccmonthlychallenge - here comes summer

Birthday Teddy

Good morning - doesn't Monday seem to come around quickly?! Hope everyone had a good weekend, whatever you were doing. We didn't do anything exciting, but a nice weekend all the same - a quiet evening for my hubby and I on Friday, family here on Saturday, gardening yesterday (before the rain arrived - again!). Just wanted to share a card I made this week for a friend's daughter who will soon be 10 years old - and it seemed a perfect image for her!

This is a LOTV stamp called 'Patchwork Present' and is such a sweet image that could be used for different occasions. I've coloured it with promarkers and added a bit of ultrafine glitter for extra bling!

The backing papers are Nitwit papers and the pearlised paper and card is from CraftersCompanion.

The flowers are from Wild Orchid. I didn't have a pale blue flower to match, so used one of their 30mm wild rose in ivory and spritzed it with mica powders mixed with a little water, so it has a slight sheen to it as well. I think it works ok.  The pearly pins are from my stash - I think they were freebie gifts with a cross-stitching magazine!

Just for a change, I made this as a 6" square gatefold card with a ribbon tie at the side - the ribbon is from Joanna Sheen. The sentiment is from my current favourite selection of sentiment stamps from Whimsy.

Hope you like the effect - and hope my friend's daughter likes the card! 

Oh well, I'm off to the dentist this morning :( 

Does anyone enjoy going to the dentist? And I feel guilty because he's such a nice dentist - but I still don't like going lol!

Back soon, Kim x 

I'm entering this into the following challenges:-

Joanna Sheen challenge blog - 'Happy Birthday'

Ilovepromarkers - hatpins/charms

dutchdarechallenge - birthday

craftycatzweeklychallenge - happy birthday

Mates Share Everything!

Good morning from a bright and sunny corner of Lancashire UK! So pleased to see some sunshine after quite a lot of grey & rain this week! I seem to have posted quite a few cards this week - obviously had a productive week whilst my hubby was working away!  This card today was done with a stamp I bought recently from LOTV - and those little boys are just so cute. Reminded me of when my youngest Jack was a bit younger than he is now and always had friends here to play. He still has friends round now, but I don't see as much of them now they're teenagers lol (even though they're all a lot bigger with deeper voices)!

Don't they look sweet with their cookies and sharing a drink? 

I've coloured the stamp with promarkers and prisma pencils (as usual lol!) and distressed the edges with Tim Holtz distress inks 

The sentiment is another from the Whimsy stamps that I recently bought - and I'm loving them! There seems to be something for all sorts of occasions.  The backing papers are K&Co and Basic Grey and I've used the DooHickey 'Lovely Fence' die - another fairly recent purchase that's rapidly becoming a favourite :)

The cord and little wooden peg are from my stash - and I've got so much stuff in there, and from so long ago that I've forgotten where a lot of it comes from. I've been crafting for many years now and it's scary how much stuff us crafters accumulate!

Hope you enjoy your weekend!

Kim x 

I'd like to enter this in the following challenges :-

CuteCardThursday - food & drink

DivasByDesign - one for the boys

MakeItMonday

Furry Friends!

Good evening - it's Friday! I always love Friday evenings, the working week is over and time to chill and hopefully relax a little! Just wanted to share a couple of little cards I made this week - not with any challenges in  mind! - with one of my favourite craft cds, the Furry Friends one from Joanna Sheen with the wonderful photography of Rachael Hale.

This card was made for one of my friends who has been feeling a bit low lately, work pressures, etc., so I saw this image and knew it would make her smile! The backing papers are from K&Co and AmericanCrafts with ribbon & buttons from stash. The corner is a Marianne Creatables and the sentiment is from a new set of Whimsy stamps (and Whimsy die) that I recently bought - and I love them! So I can imagine they'll be appearing on quite a lot of my creations to come! 

And this little cutie I made for my daughter Lauren (who had previously said she loved this image!). The cards and papers are from my stash - with a definite 'patriotic British' theme going on there! The gorgeous spotty ribbons are from Joanna Sheen and the felt heart from my stash. And, yet again, the sentiment is from this new set of Whimsy stamps! And yes, Lauren really does have a lovely smile! 

Hope you have a good weekend, whatever you're doing! I'll be back soon with a cute little boy card I've been making. 

Thanks for stopping by, Kim x 

Appley Dapply

Good morning - although it's a very wet and windy May morning here! So much for Spring! Can I just say here that this little blog is nearly two months old now and I've had so much fun with it - but a big thank you to everyone who has stopped by to have a look at my little creations and to those who have left comments or joined as followers. I'm still a novice at this blogging business, but I've been so thrilled by your support! Thank you!
A little card to share today that I made this week

This is with the very cute Appley Dapply stamp from the Beatrix Potter range from Crafters Companion. This is a fairly new range of clear stamps from them and I've only got a couple but have been very pleased with the stamping quality. 

I've coloured this with promarkers and prisma pencils and tried to keep the colours soft and pastel as they were in the original Beatrix Potter watercolours. Such a pretty image! 

The backing papers are Nitwit collections and the pearlised paper is from Crafters Companion. I added a strip punched with a Fiskars punch across the middle and added a lovely soft bow with some ribbon from Joanna Sheen and seam binding from Wild Orchid. Although simple, I think it works quite well, and I didn't want too many details on to detract from the main image. 

Hope you like it! 

Kim x 

I'm entering this in the following challenges:

thepapershelter - anything goes

twistedtuesdaychallenges - ribbon

papertakeweeklychallenge - cute

Introducing Tilly!

Hi to all, hope your week is going well wherever you are and whatever you're doing! I don't have a card for today but thought I'd share a scrapbook page - Introducing Tilly

This is where the Tilly's Crafts name comes from - not me! This is my gorgeous nuisance of a dog called Tilly who is now 7 years old - and a big loveable pain! When I was picking a name for the blog there seemed to be so many 'Kim's' (my name!) so I decided to use her name instead! 

Aside from the doggy story, I do enjoy scrapbooking and have two full albums now. It's something that I seem to do 'in waves', I'll have a phase of making pages and then do nothing for months. But I can feel it's time for another spell of scrapbooking! It's a way of making sure in this age of digital cameras and computers that we also have physical keepsakes, and they are so much nicer to look through than gazing at endless pics on a computer screen! 

Anyway, glad you could meet Tilly - at last! I'll be back tomorrow with another card that I finished this week. 

Kim x 

Flower Basket

Good morning to all in blogland! Up early this morning as dearly beloved is flying out to warmer climes for work for a few days, so thought I'd post this little card on before I start the school mayhem and head out to work!

Made this one over the weekend with a large stamp from Joanna Sheen called 'In a Basket' and really enjoyed colouring it. I've used promarkers and prisma pencils and kept the colours fairly pastel and muted. 

I'm a bit disappointed with the photograph as I'm sure the card looks better in 'real life', I've added a glossy accents to the flowers themselves and it makes them really stand out, but unfortunately it doesn't show up on the photo. I'd blame the photographer but he's away for work for a few days now! 

The pearlised card has been embossed with a crafts too embossing folder and the backing paper is from First Edition. The ribbon is from Joanna Sheen too. I'm still getting used to using a 'Mini Bowdabra' - the bows do still look a bit mangled and skew-whiff at times, but hopefully this one's ok lol!

Right, time to wake my youngest up :( and get us ready for the day ahead! 

Back soon, Kim x  

I'm entering this in these challenges:

Joanna Sheen Challenge Blog - FlowerPower

mymumscraftsshopchallenge - embossing

craftycatzchallengeblog - flowers

Boys & Toys!

I hope everyone had a good weekend? Just usual family activities here, but nice to have the extra day to relax. Problem is that I keep thinking today is Sunday now - I'll be confused for the rest of the week!
Just wanted to share a card I made with a LOTV stamp that I bought recently. It was one of those stamps that I kept seeing on their website and started to really yearn for! Probably a worrying sign when you begin to put rubber stamps on a wish list! Anyway, I finally got him and thought I'd make this card up with a couple of challenges in mind.

The stamp is called 'Sailing Boat' and he just looks so excited about taking his boat for it's maiden voyage! 

I've coloured him with promarkers and prisma pencils and used distress inks around the edges of all the papers. 

The backing paper is from Basic Grey 'Hopscotch', which is double sided and I have to confess I originally bought for the other side, but now really like this pattern! The grey is AmericanCrafts and the turquoise blue from my stash which I've embossed with the Cuttlebug 'Swiss Dots'. The metal 'wheel' is from my stash from so long ago that I've forgotten its origins, and the ribbon from my stash and buttons from the bottomless button box! The sentiment is from LOTV. 

I'm entering this in:

Lilis Little Fairies - Anything Goes

CuteCardThursday - Boys

Stampinfortheweekend - layers

Back soon, Kim x 

Pearls & Swirls

Hope you're enjoying your bank holiday weekend? At least the sun is out at the moment (but not holding my breath!). With this little card I've edged back towards my lovely pink colours, but she's such a sweet design.

This is a Marianne stamp from the Don and Daisy range which I've had for a while but only used once before on a card. Not sure why, because she's such a cutie! Just loving that hair!

I've coloured her with promarkers and prisma pencils - love that expression on her face! 

The scrummy backing papers are from Nitwit and the pearly paper is from my stash, as is the ribbon & pearls. The flowers are from Wild Orchid and I've used a Marianne creatables die cut for the swirls, but combined a couple of them to make the heart-shaped corner. And I've used my ever-present spellbinder dies too! 

I'm entering this in the following challenges :

Mariannedesigndivas - pearls and swirls

Stampwithfun - decoration

thepoodlesparlour - anything goes

Hope you enjoy your weekend! Back soon, Kim x