And a finished product!

Hello all - Monday already! How does the weekend pass so fast?  It was an inset day at school today so no boys about. You always think on these days that you'll be able to get so many things done - but it never quite seems to work out that way!  We finish for summer on Friday 10th July - very near now - but there seems to be lots to do before then. I'll definitely be ready for a break lol!

Thank you for all your lovely comments on my last blog post - and it's great to hear about how other people feel their crafting and cardmaking has developed. And I think we often go around in trends, re-discovering techniques that we first played with. I keep promising myself to get my embossing powders and heat gun out again!

And I thought I'd share one of the finished cards with you that I showed you the coloured image for - this is one using the LOTV stamp 'PomPom', such a cute little fairy!

The papers are from LOTV, with some die cut flowers using a Britannia die. The butterfly is a Joanna Sheen Signature die, and a LOTV sentiment tag

The image has been coloured with copics with some added glamour dust sparkle. Well, no fairy wings would be complete without sparkle! 

Thanks for all your lovely comments - and I hope you like one of the finished products? 

Back soon,

Kim x 

How do you do your cardmaking?

I'd been doing some colouring for some special birthday cards and I got to thinking about how much my cardmaking process has changed over time.  When I first started making cards (a looonnng time ago!) I tended to just use papers and embellishments. Then I discovered craft cds and used an image as a focal point and started adding ribbons and buttons, etc.  The best bit for me was when I tried alcohol pens and discovered my love of stamping and colouring!  Nowadays when I make a card it somehow doesn't feel complete unless I've added a stamped image!

Then I discovered Lili of the Valley and Sarah Kay stamps (which probably remain my favourite rubber stamps - with Mo Manning and Bugaboo for digi stamps).  I used to colour the image in whatever colours took my fancy and then scrabble about amongst my (ever-growing) paper stash to find suitable papers!  Now I tend to pick the image, then the papers, then colour the image to match - then play about with embellishments! 

So I'm hoping tomorrow to concentrate on actually constructing these cards!  

And as you can see, I tend to use a variety of pens. I do love using copics as I find they blend the best, but I only have a small selection (funds being what they are!), but I do have a reasonable stash of promarkers gathered over time that I often use. A set of 30 or so Graphit pens were bought for me at Christmas and I mix and match using these with the other ones lol! 

I'd love to know how you feel your crafting has developed and changed over time!  And I'll share the finished cards with you asap!

Hope you manage to fit some crafting time into your weekend! 

Back soon,

Kim x 

What are you busy doing?

If you love your crafting or hobbies there never seems to be enough hours in the day sometimes. In my case it's either a card that needs making for someone, garden that needs weeding or watering (or if I'm lucky, just lazing about in lol!) or some crochet project that is shouting to me from the yarn basket.  So I thought I'd just share a few pics of a couple of them with you today -

With a little sunshine on the garden I took a few pics of some of the lovely flowers that are now blooming (and ignoring the areas that need some serious weeding!)

There is beautiful white rose, very delicately scented, that is just opening near the back doors - part of the reason I planted this one is that last year my hubby and I had been together 25 years and this rose is called 'Silver Wedding'! Awww! 

And some lovely splashes of pink

And I've been playing with some yarn (yet again) and made a cute set of 4 coasters in a lovely heart shape

I've added these to my Etsy shop - I just hope someone likes them as much as I do! 

I've also been busy colouring as I have some special birthdays coming up that demand special cards!  Not to mention a crochet dolly that I've been asked to make (along with the crochet baby projects that are also on the list) - phew! 

I'll try and visit a few more blogs this week and catch up with what everyone else has been busy with! 

Thanks for looking and thank you as always for your lovely comments - they really mean so much! 

Back soon,

Kim x 

A special day for dads - and special news too!

Hello all and I hope that you have been enjoying a relaxing weekend?  And of course here in the UK it's Fathers Day so my husband received his cards and pressies from all 4 of his offspring!  We haven't really done anything special - I hope we let him know all year round how special a dad he is. But I just thought I'd share the quick card that I prepared for my son to give him this morning

He's not one for fancy cards and lots of frills! So this was a simple creation with wooden letters, distress inks, K&Co papers, twill ribbon and brads. The sentiment stamps are from LOTV. 

But I do have some special news to share with you that I've been so excited about! (And quite appropriate too, to share it on a day for parents) - my lovely stepdaughter Lucy is expecting a baby!  Our first grandchild is on the way - yay!  And she recently had her 20 week scan and has been told it's a little girl!  To say we are all thrilled is something of an understatement!  Lucy and her fiance Jon were in the middle of planning their wedding for next spring when they got the news - so now we'll have an extra one with us.  

 

(Lucy & 'princess' 2 weeks ago!)

And I bet you can guess who's got lots of cute crochet projects whizzing round her brain to get made for the little princess! 

So apologies for yet another gushing family post - but it's such nice news that it's always good to share. 

I hope all the dads out there are enjoying their day too.

Back soon,

Kim x

The weekend at last!

Hello all - thank goodness it's the weekend! And just a quick post from me before I head off to spend a relaxing hour (I hope!) in my little room with all my craft stash! And I'm sorry for being a bit of a rubbish blogger at the moment. I just don't know where time goes at the moment but I will make a big effort to visit some blogs this weekend and see what gorgeous craftiness you've been up to!

Last night was my youngest's prom from school.  Although he's going back into the 6th form in September (and the "proper" leavers' ball is when they finish at 18), they had a 5th year prom. Although he's at an all boys school, they hold this together with the local girls school (naturally!) and he looked super smart in his new suit. We had 4 of them getting ready here and then they all went off to their venue - where a lot of us parents were waiting for them with cameras as well!  So, apologies for the 'gushing mummy' photos on the blog today - but I still find it quite hard to believe that my little baby boy, who used to stuff all his toys into the washing machine or dress the dog in football shirts, has turned into a 6' 1" young man in the blink of an eye.  It's scary how fast time passes!

(My son Jack is on the left! - this was with some of his friend's at our house)

These three started at primary school together aged 4! 

So apologies again for the 'proud mum' bit! 

I'll share some more crafty thing with you tomorrow hopefully - if I can get some done this afternoon! 

Hope you enjoy your Saturday, whatever you have planned.

Back soon,

Kim x 

Trying some different crochet

Hello all - how has your week started?  The usual busy one for us here, but at least it's Thursday tomorrow (i.e. the weekend is getting nearer lol!).  It's my son's last GCSE exam tomorrow (yippee!) and then on Friday they are having their 5th year prom - and as he's at a boys school they have this as a joint 'do' with the local girls school!  So we've done the suit shopping (£) and the new shoe shopping (£) and new shirt as well (£) - and he looks very dapper when he's all dressed up! I'm going to do my best to get some nice pics of him and his friends when they're all in their finery - if I get a good one (without silly faces being pulled!) I'll share one with you!  At least he'll be able to use his suit for 6th Form in September!

Not long ago I bought some Drops cotton yarn from Wool Warehouse and it's been sat looking at me - so I decided I'd better do something with it!  I've seen quite a few mandalas on the web on various blogs and websites, so thought I would have a go at making one, and I'm quite pleased with the outcome!

It's a mix of different basic crochet stitches and there are patterns for many more elaborate ones, but I thought I'd start with something a bit more manageable! It measures about 18cm across, so quite a nice size for a table mat

And I quite like the mix of summery colours

I'd love to know what you think - and if you've made any of these please let me know!  I'm going to make a few more - and possibly add a couple to my Etsy shop. I think they would make a cute addition to a tea table! 

Back soon,

Kim x

Relaxing on a Sunday...

Hello all and I hope that you've had a good weekend?  How come weekends seems to speed past so fast?  It's just been the usual sort of weekend for us, with some odd jobs done, etc., but a bit of much needed relaxation time too. My husband has been doing some tidying in our garage (a.k.a. "The Dumping Ground") - we have the sort of garage that never sees a car inside it, just lots of boxes, tools, and general rubbish that seems to move from the house to there!  So to keep out of the way of all the grumbling that was going on, I decided to do some baking.  Well, I do have an ever-hungry teenage boy at home most of the time now.  If you've never had the 'pleasure' of a teenage boy in the house, let me assure you that they seem to have bottomless pits for stomachs.  What annoys me most though is that my son can eat so much and stay as slim as he is!  It's just not fair! 

So I made a batch of scones, flapjacks and little cakes!  Not sure how long they'll all last though. 

I've also been doing some crocheting and made a laptop case 

I've used a leaping stitch and added hook and loop fastenings. I've added this to my Etsy store as I thought these would be nice made to order for any size laptop in any colour combination!  I'd love to know what you think.

Anyway, I hope that you have had a relaxing weekend - and some crafty time too.

Back soon,

Kim x 

Some days at work....

Hello all - I hope that your week is going well? A beautiful sunny morning here and forecast the same tomorrow (hurray!) but heavy rain and cooler over the weekend (boo!). Exam season is still grinding on in our household - youngest is now 2 exams away from finishing so at least the end is in sight! It was a Latin exam yesterday and Physics tomorrow and then another Latin one next week - and if he needs any help with any of those he'll have to ask Dad lol!  And I'll be pleased when they're finished as one of my jobs at school is organising the invigilation timetables and it can be something of a nightmare of a job, with last minute changes, etc.!  It's a good job that it's a great team of people I work with and we have so many laughs in our office (even if the laughter has a slightly stressed and hysterical edge to it at times....!).

And as it was one of my colleague's birthday yesterday, this Bugaboo image seemed perfect!  (Especially as all of our desks seem to look like this at the moment!)

I've coloured the image with Graphit pens and copics. The papers are from K&Co, with 'stitching' stamp from LOTV and 'hanging star' die from MemoryBox.  Quite a simple card, but the image and sentiment definitely needed to take centre stage! 

And just to share a little garden pic - as I said, it's a beautiful sunny morning here in Lancashire, and when I opened the blinds and door to the back garden this was the view of the giant poppies near the house in the sunshine. They almost look like they're lit up from inside! 

Thanks for reading the rather rambling post (nothing new there!) - and for all your lovely supportive comments. They mean so much. 

I hope you enjoy the rest of your day whatever you have planned. 

Back soon,

Kim x

Daisy Blanket - TaDah!

Hello all - I hope that you had a good weekend and that your start to another week has gone smoothly?  A quite relaxed weekend really, we enjoyed some sunshine yesterday (along with some gardening, lol!) and it's been a lovely, bright day today.  Just a shame I missed a lot of it whilst being in an office!  But it's been so busy at work that I don't exactly get chance to gaze longingly out of the window lol!  My son has had another full day of exams and I can hear a bit of relaxation time going on upstairs as I'm typing this - i.e. he's playing his guitar! I'll be pleased for him when he's finished.

And I did manage to finish my baby blanket this weekend. I really enjoyed making the crocheted daisy granny squares. It's quite a simple pattern but has a lovely effect. And then I tried the joining method that Heather gives a great tutorial for on her fabulous blog, The Patchwork Heart.  And please forgive the overload of photos!

I loved using all the different colours, and then used white for the joining rows.

I've used Stylecraft Special DK yarn, which I love using - great value and a great finish. It seems to wash and wear well too. The finished blanket measures about 40" x 28", and I've added a sweet edging to it.

If you've never tried crocheting, please give it a go! It's such a relaxing but rewarding craft! 

I hope the new owner of the blanket likes it.  In fact, I may make another one for me - it's a great 'stash-buster' of a pattern, to use up all the leftover yarn that it's so easy to acquire! 

Thanks for looking - and thank you as always for your comments and support.

Back soon,

Kim x 

Summer lovin'....

Hello all - I hope that you've had a good week?  Just the usual sort of one here, aka busy! My son is still slogging on with the exam season - and definitely looking forward to finishing them! And after my moaning about the weather in my last blog post, it did improve a bit.  However, the wind seems to have arrived back again - so it was out again this morning to prop up windswept plants in the garden. And it was fascinating watching the birds performing aerial acrobatics against the wind so that they could land on the bird feeders! Sigh. I'm just hoping it eases again soon.

But I've kept busy with the crafts as always - despite there never seeming to be enough hours in the day!  And the card I've got to share today features one of my favourite cute couples from LOTV - and I always think it's a lovely, summery image (despite what may be going on outside!)

I've coloured the image with copics and a touch of pencil. 

The papers are from LOTV, with flowers from WOC and die cut leaves from a Poppystamps die. 

The sentiment is also from LOTV - that little set of sentiment stamps is sooooo useful!  Then I've added some stitching and a little brass key charm from stash.

And the inside finished to match.

Hope you like it. I've added it to my Etsy store.

And I hope you enjoy your weekend - whatever you may have planned.  I've nearly finished my blanket made with the little crochet daisy squares.  I just need to steam and block it a little bit - and then I'll share a 'Ta-Dah' moment!  I'm quite pleased with how it's turned out - and so now busy planning the next hooky project! 

Thank you for taking the time to read my rather rambling blog posts - and for your lovely comments.

Back soon,

Kim

Flaming June....?

What's happened to the weather then?  Who switched the sunshine off?  I hadn't expected on the first day of June that I would be out in the garden in the evening, with husband, wellies & waterproof on, desperately trying to fasten up plants and little trees that were getting battered by strong gusty wind and heavy rain!  I thought on evenings in June we should be sat outside, sharing a drink and chatting about the day!  Sigh.  Thankfully the winds seem to have eased a little this morning, so I'll go and inspect damage soon.

Anyway, I kept busy with my crafty stash as a friend had asked me to make an anniversary card for her to give to her husband - she had requested a humorous one and I know that they both have a good sense of humour (we are both current owners of teenage boys - a sense of humour is essential!).  So I had a browse through my stamps and decided that the fabulous Stella & Gus from Bugaboo would fit the bill (I just hope my friend agrees lol!)

I've coloured the image with copics

The backing papers are from LOTV, with some added stitching and hessian ribbon. I've mounted the sentiment, added an eyelet & some twine, and then a little wooden heart. 

So quite a simple layout but I think it works ok. 

I hope that your day (and weather!) is a good one - and that you have some crafting time too.

Back soon,

Kim x