Is anyone still out there in Blogland?

Well.  It's been a VERY long time since I last ventured into my little corner of Blogland and I'm not sure who still lives around here! I use my Instagram very regularly, but I've sadly neglected this little blog and now I'm not sure if any people still live in Blogland.  I did ask on Instagram a few weeks ago if anyone still blogs regularly, and had a mixed response, but I thought I'd give it a try for a while and see what happens. 

Thankfully, I now have a little more time available for crafting (& blogging!), since taking early retirement in December.  However, as many people had warned me, my days seem to mysteriously fill with so many things to do! How odd! But I'm loving the sense of freedom - no timetables, deadlines or restrictions - and the opportunity to potter about with all the things I enjoy - or not, as the mood takes me haha! 

But I'm still crafting a lot, and there are always crochet, cross stitch or cardmaking projects on the go. I'm happy to still be on the design team for Hunkydory Crafts and their 'For the Love of Stamps' design team, to help make samples with all their new releases of stamps, etc. 

With this in mind, they have released a new set of stamps and co-ordinating masks and dies today and I had great fun making some samples. In fact, I got a bit carried away and made quite a lot! The Cute & Cuddly Spring collection really is adorably cute and I will share some over the next couple of posts. 

This card was coloured with alcohol pens, and uses the fence stamp that is part of the set

I've masked the lamb and added the two bigger sheep to make a 'new baby' card - coloured with pencils

These little sheep are just so cute! The stencil frame is also part of the new release and works perfectly for all springtime cards.

Right, I'll go for a little browse around Blogland and see who is still around!

If you call by, please leave a comment so that I know who is about.

Back soon, 

Kim x 

 

Girlfriends!

 I hope that you've had chance to enjoy a little crafty time over this Bank Holiday weekend. We've had beautiful blue skies today, but it was SO chilly out there! I had a couple of brief forays into the garden to top up the bird feeders, water things in the greenhouse and deadhead some daffodils - and then stayed in the warm to do a little bit of crafting (before the cooking started!).

I love this stamp from Art Impressions, one of the 'Girlfriends' range of images. This is one I've had for ages - beach babes. Don't they look like they're having a great time? One of my friends and I have said that when we can, we're going to have a very long overdue holiday together (without husbands!). 

One of the most handy things I treated myself too a couple of months ago was a stamping press (a Vaessen one) - and I'm just wondering why I waited so long! It's great to use with larger stamps (like this one), as it's sometimes difficult to get a good 'first image' but impossible to stamp over again - unless you use a stamping press! They're also great for positioning multiple stamps. As I say, I wish I'd bought one earlier! 

Anyway, I've coloured this stamp with copics and promarkers

I love that sentiment stamp from Whimsy too - says it all really! 

And I just thought I'd share a pic of our table for the Easter weekend - complete with an Easter bunny! haha! Even though we didn't have any of the offspring at home over Easter sadly (they all live away and current restrictions make things a bit difficult!), I still like to celebrate different seasons - even if it's just for husband, dog and me! 

Enjoy some crafting time and let's hope that some warmer spring-like weather comes along soon! 

Back soon, 

Kim x 

Just to say

 It's so nice to have some spring sunshine. Yesterday and today have felt so good, and it's just the simple but joyful pleasure of being able to sit outside with a mug of tea! And our daughter Lauren's baby is due in just over 3 weeks, so I'm keeping everything crossed that we can visit them as soon as the little one arrives. It's been so difficult missing the pregnancy with her (they live over 200 miles away), and photos and video chats can only help so much! Let's hope for a more positive spring for all of us - it's been a very long, difficult winter!

I've been busy finishing off all those little jobs that get left 'till later' when I'm busy at work, so it feels nice to tick some boxes that I've done them! I've been finishing off some design team samples for Hunkydory (that have just been collected!),  and some happy post arrived yesterday with some stunning stamps and embossing folders made by Altenew.  Of course, I had to have a little play with one of the small flower stamps (that comes with it's own die) - it's so cute, and perfect for adding to a quick card

The sentiment die is from Hunkydory and the banner die is a Sue Wilson one. 

The flower stamp has been coloured with copics and pencils. The backing paper is from Hunkydory.

So just a quick card, but I think it's quite cute! 

I'm off to get some cards ready for an order - and it's lovely to have the time to play in the craft space (although if the spring sunshine continues, the gardening and dog walking may take priority place!)

Back soon,

Kim x

Design Team makes

 Thank goodness it's Friday tomorrow - and it is the end of term for our Easter break. All staff and pupils are tired and ready for a break and let's hope for some brighter weather. The good news is that the clocks change at the weekend onto BST so at least we can look forward to lighter nights and mornings! 

I've carried on over the last few months making design team samples for new release stamps from Hunkydory. It's always a pleasure to receive a parcel of soon-to-be-launched stamps and decide how best I can make projects with them to help inspire others and encourage more crafting!

A recent launch was for these fantastic 'Pocket Sized Puns' - a whole range of cute little stamps and sentiments for all sorts of occasions. Here's a few of my makes -

I love that little owl! So cute! 

Our very spoilt pooch, Ruby, is still keeping us company, making us laugh and generally being a mix of loveable, mischievious, silly and daft!  She sits in the most bizarre and unusual places and positions - we've decided that this recent one is the 'Lockdown Blues' position...

Back soon,

Kim x 

A very long absence

 Well, I'm not sure whether anyone is still out there, but I realised with something of a shock, that it has been SO long since I updated my little corner of Blogland.  Mind you, so many months, but in some ways, we're still in the same position! Nearly a year after the start of the first complete lockdown, we're still in a another lockdown now. It's been a long and difficult time for so many, but still plodding on in our little corner.  But I've also realised that I quite miss adding posts to my little Blog, and it's been like a little diary for me for quite a number of years now - and, looking back, I have found that 'Tilly's Crafts' turned 9 years old last week! 9 years! How did that happen?!*!

However, I'm still crafting and I know many people are either continuing with their crafting or many are new to the joys of making. It's been a saviour for me in stressful times, with chance to focus on something and 'escape' for a while.

One of the new things that I've been trying recently is 'no line' watercolouring and I'm getting very addicted!  I love colouring with the watercolour paints - it's very soothing and relaxing. I treated myself to a Winsor & Newton cotman watercolour half pan set, and it's been great fun playing with the colours and mixing shades. 

The stamps are from Altenew and this set is 'Beautiful Peonies', masked and stamped with Distress Ink 'antique linen' 

My main problem, as always, is finding enough time to do all the crafting things I want to do! When you're still working (especially when it's as busy as it seems to be at the moment!), there never seems to be enough time (or energy) to work on all the projects I'd like to. 

I'm not sure how many are still out there in Blogland but I'm going to try and spend a bit of time exploring. But my Instagram is updated pretty regularly so if you're interested, you can always find me on there (the link is on the side bar!)

Back soon,

Kim x

 

Gathering apples

In an effort to get out some of my older rubber stamps, I decided to stamp and colour up this gorgeous Sarah Kay stamp. Like all the images in the range, she is so cute!

I've coloured the stamped image with my favourite combination of copics and pencils

  

The papers are a few from my stash of LOTV papers. I do wish they would start selling these again! I miss them so much! 

I've added a DooHickey die cut tag, the sentiment stamp is from Hunkydory, and some punched flowers. 

Hope you like it! 

And I hope you're having a relaxing weekend. We've just been doing the usual pottering at home - I know that pubs and restaurants have opened but I'm afraid that we'll still be staying at home for a little bit longer! 

Take care,

Kim x