Christmas card production line....

Hello all - I hope that you've been having a good week? We've had quite a nice relaxing time on the half term break with our daughter here to stay for a few days. Sadly, she has now gone back south to Sussex and I always feel a bit down when she's gone again :(  but I have a husband and son (+ his entourage) still at home so I'm not exactly lonely! And I went out for a lovely lunch with one of my bestest friends yesterday to cheer myself up! And I've also managed to squeeze in a bit of crafting time - I'm busy with another Knitted Knocker order and a couple of cards made to order. I'm also doing a craft stall in a few weeks with another crafty friend so I've been busy making the mini crochet Christmas stockings that proved quite popular last year! (Not to mention the wedding invitations for my step-daughter's wedding!). There's never enough hours in a day really!

I've also tried to get going a bit more with the Christmas cards. I usually try to find some designs that are a bit more straightforward to put together as there are quite a few to make. I'm definitely allergic to making two cards the same, but as time is a bit limited there is also a need to make them fairly simple and easy!

I quite liked this design, using stamps I've had in my stash for ages from Chocolate Baroque

and 

I've used plenty of distress inks and the tree and sentiment stamp are from Chocolate Baroque. The papers, ribbon, twine and snowflake charms are from stash and I've used Spellbinder and Die-namics dies.

They are quite simple, but quite effective - and I love the wording on that sentiment! 

Thank you so much for all your lovely comments - and glad you liked the pics of the family on my last post! I'll let you know when our new family addition arrives! 

I hope you enjoy your weekend - whatever you have planned! 

Back soon,

Kim x 

Snuggly blanket time!

Hello all - it's definitely "Welcome to Autumn" time here! Clocks changed here in the UK over the weekend, and I've just had to close the curtains before 5pm! No likey! I love seeing the fabulous autumnal colours we've had on the trees, I can even cope with chilly mornings (thanks to central heating lol!) and love having my little candles lit.  But I really don't like it going so dark so early in the evening - well, afternoon really! And there's weeks and weeks of it ahead now.... Sigh.

On the bright side, it's half term so we're all on a lovely break from school - and, extra yippee! - our lovely daughter Lauren is here for a few days! She arrived late on Saturday night as we had a special day out yesterday - but more about that later.

And I've just finished an extra warm and snuggly blanket - just in time for chilly evenings!  I started this one a while ago (although doing other projects in between as I usually do!), using fabulous Stylecraft Special DK and a gorgeous corner-to-corner pattern that is on a fantastic blog 'Felted Button'. If you love colour and anything yarn-related, please do have a look at Susan's blog HERE.

So here's a heap of pics showing the growth of this blanket...

From the start, with a bag full of scrummy colours!  Thank you Wool Warehouse! 

As it got going, it was lovely to see the colourful stripes

I'm pleased with the colours - I think they work well together

And the finished blanket! Ta Dah! It measures nearly 1.5m square and is VERY warm and cosy - and I love the textured look and feel of the pattern. 

Hope you like it! 

And we had a lovely day yesterday as we all gathered for a surprise 'Baby Shower' for my gorgeous step-daughter Lucy!  The little Princess is due in a couple of weeks - and to say we're all excited is an understatement! This will be the first grandchild and I'm sure will be thoroughly spoilt with hugs and kisses!  And a couple of lovely pics of our 3 girls (youngest son didn't join us! I don't think all the pink and baby-themed things were designed for a 17-year old boy!) 

and with 2 of Lucy's friends (and Nikki's little baby Dougie!)

So sweet! 

Hope you managed to last through all the photos - and thanks for looking! 

Back soon,

Kim x

Birthday flowers

Hello all and I hope that you've had a good week? The usual sort of week here, busy at work and then busy at home too!  It seems to have been a very long term so far at school and I'll be doing a happy dance next Friday when we break up for our half term break!  And to make it an extra nice break, our lovely daughter Lauren is coming to spend a few days at home - I haven't seen her since we went to stay in August which seems a very long time ago!

Anyway, I was asked if I could make a card for someone for their mum, whose 70th birthday was approaching and I came up with this one

I just love this cute image from Mo Manning which I got a little while ago and hadn't used yet!  I spent quite a while colouring the gorgeous image with copics and graphits and a touch of pencil

The backing paper is from LOTV and I've used AllOccasions dies for the lettering and greeting. The flowers were made with a Britannia die. And I just think this little girl is so sweet!

I hope you like her too! 

And I had some lovely news from Knitted Knockers UK that my crocheting was at the standard they require and I'm honoured I've been able to join their orders board. So now I'm currently working on my first order for some 'knitted knockers' and hope that they can help bring some comfort as prosthesis for a woman who has had a mastectomy.  Please do follow the link HERE to the website and have a look - and do spread the word! 

I hope that you have a good weekend - whatever you have planned!

Back soon,

Kim x 

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

Alphabet challenge - r is for ribbon

Mos Digital Challenge - anything goes

In the pink challenge - pink ribbon

4craftychicks - pearls 

Teenage boys...

Can you believe that it's taken me about 4 days to get around to writing up a blog post? Every time I've sat with the laptop I seem to have got distracted onto something else, or not even had chance to put the laptop on! It's been 'one of those weeks', with a never-ending list of things to do either at work or home, and definitely not enough hours to get them all done! And then when I have finally collapsed into a heap on the sofa in the evening I've not really had the mental capacity to put a post together!  Some evenings, it's just enough to relax, with a hot mug of tea and some yarn & a crochet hook!  I thought this evening was going the same way when I'd just sat down and my son arrived home with about 5 of his friends - and much as I love to see them all, on a Friday evening it's just nice to have a bit of quiet down-time!

Anyway, I hope that your week has been a little less chaotic than mine - and you've had some crafty time too.  I've been very pleased to get a few orders in lately for cards to order, and it's always nice to think that people like my cards!  This one was made for an order, for someone's teenage son - and if I ever need an image for a teenager then I always look first at Mo Manning and her fabulous digi stamps!

I love this image - and it looks like so many teenage boys that I see (and trust me, I see a LOT of boys being the current owner of a teenage boy and working at a boys school lol!) - permanently plugged in to headphones and a mobile phone! 

I've coloured the image with my usual mix of copics, promarkers and graphit pens. The papers and sentiment stamp are from LOTV, and I've added some seam binding, bakers twine and steel grey brads.

I hope you like it! 

I'm looking forward to the weekend - a couple of cards to make for orders and then, hopefully, a day out on Sunday to visit my eldest stepdaughter and her partner in Shropshire!  And perhaps some time to relax! 

Back soon,

Kim x 

Cute Christmas Penguins!

Hello all, I hope that your week has been going well.  Thank you for all your lovely comments and your get well wishes about the migraines. I've not been too bad the last few days - so keeping my fingers crossed!  And I was pleased you liked the details about Knitted Knockers! I've been busy crocheting and hoping that I can soon meet the standards required.  But it's nice to spread the word to the many women who can benefit from the 'knockers' supplied by the charity - they are only made with 100% cotton yarn and are so soft. I'll let you know how I get on!

But I've also been busy adding to the Christmas card stash (although I use that word loosely - I'm not sure that 10 or so cards counts as a 'stash' haha!).  This card was made with the new trios from LOTV

These are such cute penguin images - and lovely to colour. I've added some liquid pearl drops and glamour dust

The paper and sentiment stamp are also from LOTV with some ribbon and charm from stash.

Hope you like this little cutie! 

I'm so pleased it's Friday tomorrow - it's been another busy week (at work and home!). Youngest is now taking his driving lessons (which I try not to think about - even though he's loving them!), and work is the usual busy-busy! I'm just hoping for a relaxing - and migraine-free! - weekend! I hope you enjoy your weekend whatever you have planned.

Back soon,

Kim x 

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

Aud Sentiments Challenge - christmas + sentiment

Crafty Girls Creations - anything goes

FabnFunky - anything Christmas