Anything Goes!

Friday again already! And Halloween as well - where did October go then? The weeks seem to be flying by so fast at the moment, and it really doesn't seem that far away before 'that' day arrives again. Is it really a year since the chubby fella in the red suit came around?

I hope that you've had a good week? I've had a lovely half term break, especially since my daughter was home for a few days. So a house full and normal service resumed! But it was a very strange and surreal experience this morning when I waved her and her brother off at the train station. She's headed off back to Sussex and taken her 'little' brother with her for a couple of days - so it'll just be me and hubby on our own for the weekend. I suppose we should enjoy the peace and quiet!

Anyway, it's time for a new challenge over at CraftyCatz - and this week is everyone's favourite challenge "Anything Goes"!  So do join in with all your crafty creations - whatever they may be!
A friend of mine had moved house recently, so I thought I'd share the card made for their new home

I've used Polkadoodles clear stamps, coloured with promarkers and copics. 

The backing papers are from K&Co with some added stitching, and ribbon from stash. The lettering was made using All Occasions dies.

Hope you will have a look at the fab inspiration from the DT over at CraftyCatz and then join in the Anything Goes challenge with your crafty makes.

Back soon,

Kim x 

Festive Lantern

Hello all, and I hope that you had a good weekend? I'm looking forward to seeing my girly today as she comes home for a few days - how old do they have to be before you stop thinking of them as your babies?! And goodness knows what I'll be like when youngest leaves home - but I'm not going to think about that for a while! At least I'll know that the food bill will go down, towels will stay in the bathroom (rather than being draped artistically over floors, beds, etc.) and there won't be a general scattering of shoes, coats and belongings over the house. I regularly tell him that he's like 'Hansel and Gretel' leaving a trail to follow of where he's been.... (not that he takes any notice lol!).  And I had a nice evening last night when I took a friend to go and see another friend who's recently moved house - both to see the new home (which was fabulous!) and then to do some crocheting and chatting! What a nice way to spend a few hours. I've got some crochet goodies to share with you soon that I'm making for a craft fair.

Anyway, no crochet today, but another Christmas card to add to the (slowly) growing collection.

I've used the gorgeous 'Festive Lantern' stamp from LOTV, and coloured the image with copics and Graphits, with some added distress inks and chalks for the surround (and there's some glossy accents and glamour dust on the lantern but doesn't seem to show on the pics!)

The backing papers are from LOTV with some kraft card and added stitching. The poinsettia was made using a Spellbinder die, and some snowflakes from a Memory Box die. The sentiment stamp is from LOTV, and a little added hessian bow. 

Hope you like it.

And apologies for not getting around to everyone's blogs this week - time just seems to have run away from me a bit. But I'm hoping that I can gradually catch up with everyone over the next few days.

Back soon,

Kim x 

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

LOTV challenge - anything goes

PennyBlack at all sorts - Christmas

Robyns Fetish - stitching real or faux

Allsorts - Christmas

Little Claires - Christmas

A big thank you!

Hello all and I hope you've had a good week - and are looking forward to the weekend! I always enjoy Fridays - it's such a nice feeling to think that we haven't got to rush around anywhere for a couple of days. And it's even nicer today, as son and I broke up from school for half term break and I'm really looking forward to a week off! It's been a very long and busy 8 weeks since we started the new school year. And even better is the fact that my gorgeous daughter Lauren comes back on Monday for a few days - although we speak and text regularly, I haven't seen her for 10 weeks and it has seemed like forever at times!  And a big thank you for all your comments and good wishes after my last card - and yes, we had a great time in Glasgow. It's a fabulous city for shopping and it's wonderful along the river. The concert was fabulous, with music from all the musicals - my late mum would have been in her element, and I swear I could hear her singing along in my ear!

Anyway, on the theme of 'Thank You' - that's the new challenge for this week over at CraftyCatz! (Did you like that tie in?!). Our lovely Anna is hosting the challenge this week - and there are some fabulous inspirational makes from the DT so do pop over and have a look.

I've used a digi stamp from Bugaboo for my card

I've coloured the image with copics (and coloured some pearls to match!)

The backing papers are from LOTV with some added stitching and some ribbon from stash. It's quite a simple layout.

So do join us with your 'Thank you' creations.

Back soon,

Kim x 

Christmas Ted!

Hello all and I hope that your week has started well?  And I hope that you managed to avoid the worst of the wind and rain we had in the UK today? Grumpy Poppy the cat was SO not impressed - and growled when she heard thunder this morning. It would really have been an ideal day to lock myself in with crafty goodies and a hot drink - but had to head off to work instead! But I can't complain as I'm now off for 2 days - and it's like playing truant from school lol. For my 'big' birthday last New Year's Eve, my dear friend booked us tickets to go and see Il Divo in concert in Glasgow tomorrow night. So we're heading away on the train tomorrow for a girlie break, a bit of shopping, meal out, nice hotel for a night and a lovely concert to look forward to (not to mention plenty of time to catch up on chat!). I'm sure hubby and son will manage perfectly well without me as well. So I'll let you know how it goes!

Anyway, I've just got another Christmas card to share with you

I've used a James the Bear rubber stamp from LOTV that I think has now been retired (although I could be wrong!). I've coloured James with copics and pencils, with some added glamour dust

The backing papers and sentiment tag are also from LOTV. I've added some snowflakes using a Tonic punch.

and a seam binding ribbon bow, with a pearl centre from WOC, and a cute little charm from stash

Hope you like it. 

I'll try and get round everyone's blogs over the next few days - I don't know where time goes sometimes! 

Back soon,

Kim x 

Striking in Black!

Hello all and I hope that you've had a good week? And oh am I glad it's the weekend! I feel as if I've been busy doing all sorts this week - so looking forward to the weekend. A friend and I have decided to do a stall at a Christmas gift and craft fair in a few weeks so I'm busy thinking and trying out things I can make. My friend makes wonderful bags and all sorts of goodies and I'm going to make some crochet gifts and papercraft gifts - so that should keep me busy! I'll be putting plenty on here over the next few weeks to see what you think.

But before all that, I am VERY late in posting for today's new challenge over at CraftyCatz! We had some stunning entries last week for the autumn challenge so we're looking forward to seeing what you talented crafters can come up with this week for the challenge  that our lovely Aunty Sue has set this week of "Black and another colour" and a prize of 3 digis from the Stamping Boutique for the winner.

For my card I decided to get the heat tool out and brush the dust off the embossing powders! I haven't done any heat embossing for ages - and really enjoyed doing it (although I'm not too convinced by the success of my efforts lol)

The papers are from Kanban that were in my stash. I've added gold mirri card, some rolled roses, and some die cut leaves (using a Poppystamps meadow leaf die). The sentiment stamp is from Inkylicious, stamped in versamark and using gold embossing powder.  The black and gold ribbons are from stash.

So do pop over to Crafty Catz and see the fabulous DT inspiration - and then join us with your creations!

Back soon,

Kim x 

A crisscross card!

Hello all and I hope that your week has started well? We enjoyed some lovely autumnal sunshine on Sunday and it was so nice to be able to sit outside and enjoy a cup of tea and do some 'pottering' - I keep thinking we've got to make the most of any nice weather as we won't be able to sit outside for much longer (well, not without wet-weather, thermally insulated gear on!).  And of course, we've got Halloween and Bonfire Night fast approaching - the shops already seem full of witches broomsticks and pumpkins! And we keep hearing the odd firework going off. It seems strange whenever I hear one to not be looking around for where Tilly the Dog is and checking she's ok. She didn't like fireworks at all lol! She didn't have a major panic thankfully, but I seemed to spend a lot of October and November in past years practicing a sort of distraction therapy with toys, treats, turning the volume up on the tv or radio, etc. But as she's sadly not with us any more, and Grumpy Poppy just glares if she hears one (usually because the noise has disturbed her snoozing)!  However, Poppy is far more of a guard 'cat' than the dog was - yesterday she growled such a lot at the window-cleaner!

Anyway, the card I'm sharing today is one I made for a friend to give to her daughter, she loved the Sarah Kay images and the design of card

Sorry the photo looks a bit dark. I've used the gorgeous Sarah Kay stamp and coloured it with copics and pencils

The papers are from LOTV with some added lace from stash. The flowers were made with a Britannia flower die and some added gems and a sentiment tag from LOTV.

And I decided to make a criss cross card design with a pull-out insert

Sorry for the overload of pics! But I was quite pleased with the finished result - and thankfully my friend was too.

Hope you like it. 

Thank you for all your lovely comments - they mean such a lot and really encourage me to keep crafting (even on the days when the mojo is lacking a bit!).  And as we know, crafting is such a good therapy!

Back soon,

Kim x

Season of mists....

Hello all and it's Friday - yippee! I'm looking forward to a mix of crafting and relaxing this weekend - but whether both will actually happen is another matter lol.  Thank you for all your lovely comments - and glad you liked the photos of the Lake District (they didn't turn out too badly considering they were actually taken on my phone!).

As it's Friday it's time for a new challenge over at CraftyCatz - and this week our lovely Janette is hosting the challenge and has chosen the theme of 'Autumn'.  I know that last weekend, and all during this week, I've really started to feel the change of season. The weather has been a bit changeable to say the least this week - from sunshine one minute to monsoon rain the next lol. But the leaves are all starting to change into the wonderful range of colours, from deep browns, golds, reds and yellows - I must try and take a pic of the Japanese acer that is in my little garden as it's always a delight to see, but particularly in Spring (when the leaves are a gorgeous purply pink) and in Autumn when they change to such deep reds and golds that it almost looks as though they are lit up from inside.

Sorry, too much waffle again there....   Back to the challenge!  Our sponsor this week is Fred She Said and I've used a great pumpkin image and decided to make a tag for a change

I've used kraft card for the tag, with some hessian ribbon wrapped around. The wording was printed on the computer, with lots of leaves added using the Spellbinders dies, and then plenty of distress inking on the edges.  I added a metal eyelet and some seam binding ribbon to finish.

Hope you like it.

Please pop over to have a look at the inspiration from the DT at CraftyCatz - they really have made some fantastic creations this week!  And then join in our challenge with your Autumn creation!

Back soon,

Kim x 

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

Fab and Funky - anything with ribbon

Crafting Musketeers - autumn colours

Die Cut Divas - change of seasons

My little tree!

Hello all, and I hope that your week is going well?  The usual busy one here, and starting to look forward to half term at the end of this month - not just because I'll be off work for a week! My gorgeous daughter Lauren (who we helped move down to Sussex in August) will be coming home for a few days - yippee! She's really enjoying her teaching course and is now based in a primary school in Seaford on the south coast near Brighton, and has already started doing some teaching. But the harsh realities of living away from home, working long hours and then having to do cooking, cleaning, etc., have hit a little bit - and much as she's enjoying it, I think she's quite looking forward to getting fussed over and pampered for a few days! (Well, wouldn't we all?!). Then when she returns to Sussex, she's taking her little brother with her for a couple of days - so he'll enjoy going to stay with his sister and her boyfriend (especially without his mum & dad lol!).

Anyway, just wanted to share another little Christmas card with you. I nearly always tend to make 6" square cards for birthdays, etc., but I've been making a few 5" square cards for Christmas ones and they look quite sweet. But it's surprising how much smaller they seem, even though it's only 1" all round!

I've used a gorgeous LOTV stamp and coloured it with copics and Graphit markers with some added pencil and a fair sprinkling of Glamour Dust! 

The papers are from LOTV, as are the sentiment tags, and I've added some stitching. The poinsettia die is from Marianne, and the gingham ribbon and gems are from stash.

Hope you like it.

And thank you for your good wishes, my hubby and I enjoyed a lovely couple of days away in the Lake District (we felt we deserved a weekend away together after putting up with one another for 25 years!).  And thankfully the weather was quite kind - after some heavy rain overnight! 

So a few pics to share - we are so lucky that we only live about 40 minutes away from all this! 

We'd had a good walk with lots of stops to admire the views (and get our breath back lol!). 

Pity we can't escape every weekend! 

Please forgive the overload of pics.

Back soon,

Kim x

All Sentimental!

Good morning Blogland and I hope that your week has been a good one. And it's Friday! WooHoo! And it's a special woohoo from me today as I'm heading off for the weekend with my other half to the Lake District - this will be only our second time away on our own for the past 20 odd years as we always have offspring with us! But my son is going to his friend's for the weekend and we are going to enjoy some r & r time together.

Thank you for all your lovely comments recently, they really mean so much. And I promise to share some of the woolly crafty projects soon - I'm still busy crocheting as well. So many projects and so little time lol.

Anyway, before I go to work and then head off to the Lakes, as it's Friday it's time for a new challenge over at CraftyCatz.  And this week the challenge has been set by ME! But don't worry as it is a nice, easy one - All Sentimental.  We would like to see a sentiment on your crafty creation somewhere - either taking 'centre stage' or even just a simple 'Happy Birthday', it's up to you.  Our sponsor this week is the brilliant Bugaboo and I've used one of their sentiment digi stamps for my card

The papers are from LOTV and I've used the Britannia flower die to make some little flowers with some added stamens. The leaf die is from Joanna Sheen, and some added pearls from stash.

So quite a simple card, but love that sentiment - it's so true.

So do have a look at the fantastic inspiration from the DT over at Crafty Catz and then join in the challenge with your 'sentimental' creation.

I hope you enjoy your weekend, whatever you have planned - and I hope you manage some 'crafty' time too.

Back soon,

Kim x