Use some stitching!

Hello all - and apologies for my absence this week. It just seems to have been 'one of those weeks', with a range of problems, appointments, etc! We also had a 6th Form evening at school for my son.  Oh the agonies of being a teenage boy whose mum works at his school! But it went quite smoothly and I don't think we embarrassed him too much! He recently had his mock GCSE exams and did very well - 6 A* and 5 A grades. Despite appearances to the contrary, he must actually be doing some work lol! We're just hoping he can achieve similar grades in the final exams in the summer! He also came top of his year in art - he loves his photography and film-making, and made a short film for his project. He finally allowed me to see it(!) and it is very good - I don't know how they learn all the technical wizardry involved, I can just about manage to take pics of my cards!  And the offspring all laugh at me when I struggle to take photos with my phone! Hey ho.

Anyway, thankfully it's Friday and time for a new challenge over at CraftyCatz! And this week the challenge host is ME!  As any of you who follow my blog (and thank you so much for doing so!) will know, I love to add some stitching to my cards, so this week the challenge is to add some stitching to your crafty creations - either real or faux.

Our sponsor this week is the fabulous Sami Stamps and I've used one of their lovely digis for my card

The image has been coloured with Graph It pens, with a little pencil. I'm enjoying using the pens - but still tend to mix and match with all sorts of colouring mediums. I think it's the actual colouring I enjoy, and don't really stick to one brand of pen!

The backing papers and sentiment stamp are from LOTV - with added stitching of course! The flowers were made with Britannia flower dies.

Hope you like it.

And I hope you'll have a look at the fantastic inspiration from the DT at Crafty Catz and then join in our challenge this week, with some stitching detail on! 

Back soon,

Kim x 

Me and my teddy bear!

Hello all - yippee it's Friday! Seems to have been a busy week this week (and another one to come next week!) so I'm hoping for a quieter weekend with a bit of R&R time. Thank you for all the lovely comments you've been leaving - they really mean so much.  Grumpy Poppy the Cat was apparently a "model patient" with the vet nurses when she went for her manicure! If I'd tried to clip her claws I think I'd probably have received a fair few scratches - not to mention all the wriggling and stress! I suppose it's like when your children are little (or even teenagers lol) and they either play up or give you grief, but are apparently 'little angels' when they're at someone else's house.  Mind you, better that way round I guess!

Anyway, less waffle! As it's Friday, it's time for a new challenge over at CraftyCatz and this week our lovely Nick has chosen the theme of " Oh my! Teddies!" so we'd like to see you use a teddy bear on your creation.  Our sponsor this week is Crafty Sentiments and I've used one of their digi stamps on my card

I've coloured the cute image with Graphit's and added glossy accents to the bubbles (which sadly isn't showing up on the photos!)

The backing paper is from HunkyDory and I've used a Marianne die for the flower and LOTV sentiment tag stamps.

Hope you like it! 

And I hope you'll have a look at all the lovely teddies over at CraftyCatz and then join us with your teddy creation.

Have a lovely weekend - whatever you have planned!

Back soon,

Kim x 

Just to say...

Bbbrrrr! A bit on the chilly side here today! Hope you all had a good (and warm!) weekend - it's definitely feeling like winter at the moment but I must admit that I prefer these bright, frosty mornings to grey, miserable days when it never seems to get light!  Just a quick post from me before I brace myself for battle - I'm taking Grumpy Poppy the Cat to the vet this morning to see the nurse! It's high time she had a manicure, so she's off for a quick 'claw clip' so she'll definitely be in a mega-sulk with me for the rest of the day after she's suffered the indignity of being manhandled at the vets lol! Poppy does not like being picked up, going in the cat basket, going in the car or going to the vets (the complete opposite of poor old Tilly, bless her!).  They did ask at the vets whether it was a 'one nurse' or 'two nurse' job - I reassured them that it was certainly a 'two nurse' job as one would have to hold her in a half-nelson wrestling grip whilst the other could clip the claws (whilst being hissed and spat at!). I have explained to Grumpy Poppy that if she ventured outside more often, rather than just browsing about the garden from the door, then this wouldn't have been necessary - but being as she's a big idle lump, we've ended up having to have a little trip out! Sigh.

Anyway, I'm on a bit of mission at the moment to make some 'flatter' cards for posting. Although I love making cards with all the embellishments on, particularly flowers, it is always more of a performance for cards that need to be posted.  So recently I wanted to make several cards for posting to friends after receiving some gorgeous hand-made cards for Christmas and my birthday, and this is one of them

The stamp is from Chocolate Baroque, coloured with Graphit pens. The papers are from LOTV, as is the little sentiment stamp

The ribbon is from stash and the corners were made with a Spellbinders die.

Hope you like it.

Back soon (when I've recovered from the vet visit lol!)

keep warm,

Kim x

New Beginnings

Hello all and I hope that your week has been a good one? The weather has provided an interesting talking point this week! We've had a mix of gale force winds and then snow, hail and ice! I'm desperately wishing for spring to get a move on! The wind has really got me irritated and seems determined to wreak havoc on my garden - I've had a few glamorous moments trying to keep the garden furniture cover actually on the furniture, rather than resembling a zeppelin attempting take off from the back garden. Needless to say, this left me looking rather windswept and interesting.

But I suppose it's winter so we should expect challenging weather! I suppose it's a good excuse to spend time indoors, keep warm and do some crafting!  And as it's Friday it's time for a new challenge over at CraftyCatz - and our lovely Blog Leader Carol has chosen the theme of "New Beginnings". The prize this week is from the fabulous CraftyRibbons.

I've made a new baby girl card

The papers are from LOTV with some added stitching. The die cut baby things are from Cottage Cutz dies and lettering is All Occasions dies.

Quite a simple card, but I liked the effect.

So do pop over and have a look at the fabulous inspiration from the Design Team at CraftyCatz and then join us with your 'new beginnings' creation.

Keep warm!

Back soon,

Kim x 

A special occasion

Hello all and I hope that your weekend has been a good one - so far! Cold and windy here, but a good excuse to stay in, keep warm - and craft lol! Usual comings and goings here this weekend, and now husband is busy sorting his stuff and paperwork before he heads off to France for a few days tomorrow with work. After all the terrible and tragic events in Paris this week, it was with some trepidation that I watched all the news reports - especially as he flies in to Paris and then heads to Reims (watching news footage of armed commando units in the area is probably not the wisest thing!). I've told him I'll pack his tin hat and body armour... However, as he has repeatedly told me, I'm sure he'll be fine - otherwise I really would have had a tantrum about him going lol!  (And a middle-aged woman having a tantrum is not a good sight to behold!). So I can see that I'll have a quiet few days, as youngest is still doing his exams. Plenty of time to play with the craft stuff and crocheting!

I've been busy this week completing a few orders. One of these was for a couple of cards celebrating a Diamond wedding anniversary

I love this image 'Tom & Tilly' from Mo Manning. I've coloured this with Graphits and copics. 

The papers are from LOTV. The lacy edging is a Joanna Sheen signature die, as is the corner ivy.  This die cut was very kindly sent to me by a DT teammate - and I liked it so much that I've now had to order the die....! I made the flower with a Brittania flower die, and added stamens (coloured with a little pale blue to match the papers). 

Hope you like it.

Thank you for all your lovely comments and support - and for taking the time to have a browse at my crafting efforts. It means a lot to know that people have had a look and shared their thoughts. 

Back soon,

Kim x 

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

Mo's Digital Challenge - anything goes

Chocolate Coffee Cards - no circles

Creative Corner - love is in the air

That's Crafty - blue

Spots before the eyes...

Good morning all and I hope that you've had a good week. A busy one here, being back at work and school - not to mention that youngest has his mock GCSE exams at the moment too. I think they're going ok - but as most people who have had the pleasure of a teenage occupant in the house, you don't get told very much. I think he feels most things are on a "need to know" basis, and as far as he's concerned, his mother really doesn't need to know lol!  He tells me eventually, but I've gradually learnt that the more questions I ask, the more they clam up! So I just let him tell me about school stuff in his own time - a less stressful route!

Anyway, it's nearly the weekend - yippee!  And as it's Friday, it's also time for a new challenge over at CraftyCatz. Our lovely Cindy is hosting this week and the challenge is 'polka dots'.  Our sponsor this week is Inky Impressions and I've used one of their sentiments for my card

The backing paper is from First Edition, and the flowers made using a Tonic punch with buttons from stash.

So do have a look at the gorgeous polka dot inspiration from the DT over at CraftyCatz and then join us with your spotty creations!

Thanks for coming by to visit! 

Back soon,

Kim x 

Dreaming of sunny (warm) days....

Hello all, I hope that you had a good weekend? I can't believe that the last two weeks have passed so quickly and I was back at work today. It was definitely a shock to the system when the alarm went at such an unsociable hour and I sat having my first cup of tea in the dark! The boys start back at school tomorrow - although for the next 2 weeks my son has his mock GCSE exams.  And no sooner had I 'reinstated' my craft room after my daughter headed back South, than it has now gained a squatter - darling son has decided that he likes doing his revision in there (there's a nice long worktop, no distractions!).  I should have worked faster on cluttering things up and then he might not have been so keen to starting studying in there.  Problem is that he's got me "over a barrel" as they say! If I complain about him using 'my' room, he cleverly uses the excuse of having exams and needing somewhere to study. What can I say lol! I have pointed out that if he cleared the (very nice) desk in his own room of all the stuff on it that he could use that! Sigh.

Anyway, just thought I'd share a card with you - and perhaps an appropriate one for a cold, January day!

I've used a fabulous digi from Mo Manning 'Little Umbrella', coloured with copics and Graphit pens. 

The papers are from LOTV. I've just ordered a couple more of the lovely range of pads from Lili of the Valley whilst they've had their New Year sale on - I've used them for so many cards!

The sentiment stamp is also from LOTV and the ticket die and ticket sentiment are from Whimsy.

Hope you like it!

I'm already dreaming about summer days (although I don't think I'd be lounging about in an ItsyBitsy Bikini!)

Back soon,

Kim x 

Time for a new challenge!

Happy new year to everyone! I hope that 2015 is a happy & healthy one for you. We've had a busy couple of weeks and this morning said farewell to my daughter who is heading back down to Sussex - it's been so lovely having her home, so feeling a bit glum now. Mind you, I've still got husband and son to torment me lol! And it's been a busy week with things going wrong too! First the garage door went 'kapput' - one of the steel cables on it snapped so we've had to keep propping it open at a jaunty angle so that I could get things from the freezer, etc. The resident handyman (i.e. husband) is currently out there trying to repair that one. Then one of the wardrobe doors decided to part company with the wardrobe - in my hand! So said handyman also had to fix that. And then to top it all, my daughter had borrowed my car so they could visit her boyfriend's family and the clutch went! So we had to launch the rescue & recovery mission, and a certain handyman managed to get it moving in a limited way and get it home, but it's going to have to go to the poorly car hospital now to get repaired (and I'm just trying not to think about the £££££££££££!).  I'm just hoping nothing else goes "bang" just yet, I think we've had enough to keep us busy.

Anyway, less waffling. I realised, after faffing about this morning getting daughter off and doing all the other jobs, that I hadn't posted my challenge card - naughty me! After our little Christmas break, the CraftyCatz challenge is back today with a brand new challenge for 2015, and a nice easy one for everyone to join in with "Anything Goes"!  Do pop over to the challenge blog (which has had a bit of a makeover, not to mention now sporting photos of the DT!) and see all the lovely inspiration from the DT.

I used a Bugaboo image for my card, which was made for a friend to give to her husband on his recent, significant birthday

I've coloured the image with copics and the sentiment came with the image. The backing paper is from LOTV with some added stitching, and the letting is using All Occasions dies

Hope you like it!

Do have a look at the challenge blog HERE and then join in with your crafty creation - and remember, 'Anything Goes'!

Back soon,

Kim x