Let's Get Festive!

Good morning and hope that your day has started well? It's a cold & frosty one here - but definitely seasonal!  I've seen so many christmas trees & decorations up around us this last few days - the dog walking expeditions are usually a good time to catch up on the neighbourhood!  We'll be putting ours up at the weekend - and I'll try and remain calm and not use bad language when the lights are tangled, the dog & cat keep charging past everything and I can't find half the things I want!  And I've been making all these Christmas cards but have to confess that I haven't actually written one yet - oops!  So I must sit down this weekend, with some nice music on and a glass of something and start on the card writing and lists!

But on the theme of festive, it's time for a new challenge over at Whimsy Inspires - and it's a lovely easy seasonal one for December - 'Anything Goes so long as it's Festive!'.

I decided to use one of the new releases from Whimsy, a gorgeous image from Dana's Digis

And the digi is called 'Poinsettia' - if you hadn't already guessed lol! 

I've coloured it with promarkers and pencils and then used gold beads for the centre

I've kept the layout very simple as the image is such a dramatic and striking one.  The backing paper is from K&Co, the image layered onto gold mirri card, with red satin ribbon and a green button from my stash. 

Do pop over to the Whimsy Challenge Blog and see the fantastic inspiration that the DT has produced! And then join in with us with your festive creations! 

I'll be back later with more details of the new releases from Whimsy! 

Back soon, Kim x 

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

EverybodyArtChallenge - Christmas

RibbonCarouselChallenge - HolidaySpirit

TheStampingBoutique - holiday cards

EurekaStamps - winter wonderland

Whimsy Digital Stamps - New Releases!

Good afternoon and it's time for some fabulous new releases from Whimsy Digital Designs.  This is my second month working as a Digital Design Team member for Whimsy - and it's a delight to work with the fantastic artwork that their artists produce!

On Monday 3rd December Whimsy Stamps released this month's new digital designs. From then until 6th December the Whimsy Digital DT are showcasing these fabulous new  goodies with a daily mini blog hop and I am part of today’s hop!

Each mini blog hop has a new release prize hidden somewhere along the way and you have 24hrs to enter each prize draw.

To be entered  into today's mini blog hop prize draw, be sure to leave a comment on ALL of the DT's posts listed below by 12.00PM EST tomorrow.

 All winners will be announced on the Whimsy blog on 7th December

 

                                      Moon Cookie Gallery          Stamp Art Designs by Kathryn

   

                                    Dana's Digi's                         Lia Stampz

     

                                         Crissy's Digis                       Marika Collins Collection

Remember that the entire new release is available to buy right now from the Whimsy Stamps store along with all your Whimsy favourites. Thanks for stopping by and don't forget to pop back to the Whimsy blog tomorrow for more new release creations! 

Day 2

Tammy Ortiz 

Jackie Randolph 

Charlene Brown 

Kelly Mannix 

Michelle Oatman

Kim Taylor (Me!)

Christine Garner 

Jan Ltc 

Suzi Mckenzie

Nicole Gent 

Brenda Turner

Laura Palmer

Debbie Dunn

Juelmarie Morgan

My creation for today uses one of the new Marika Collins images, a fab and funky girl called Phoebe!

I've coloured her with promarkers and spectrum noir pens

the backing papers are coredinations card with LOTV papers. I've added a Marianne die cut swirl and some Tonic punched flowers with added gems and a sheer ribbon bow. The sentiment is from the new sentiment releases on Whimsy.  This was the first time I'd tried the funky purple hair - but I was quite pleased with how it turned out! 

So do pop over to Whimsy and have a look at the fabulous new December releases - there really is something for everyone! 

Back soon with more samples! 

Kim x 

Please note the website is currently having some problems, but this is being worked on and will be up and running soon, please bear with us whilst the work is carried out. 

Cross Stitch Hanger

Good evening all and I hope that you've had a good weekend? It's been a very cold and frosty one here - but thank goodness for heating and a good fire!  And we've had some lovely sunshine too - but I think the forecast is for some rain moving in tonight so doubt it'll be sunny tomorrow.  I've got builders back in the bathroom again tomorrow to do the flooring and put the sink in, but it's all starting to look lovely - and the new shower is just wonderful! Although I did have a bit of a funny turn this morning when my 14 year old son announced that he was off for another shower - I normally have to threaten violent behaviour to get him in the shower as teenage boys seem to be somewhat allergic to hot water & soap. And then to top it all I took some laundry up to his room and he'd tidied up..... I admit I was quite scared and felt a bit faint! My daughter assures me that it can only mean one of two options - he's either ill or he wants something and so is trying to get in the good books!  I personally suspect alien abduction and they've planted a lookalike in our house....

Anyway, I was hoping to share some of the fabulous new digital releases from Whimsy Stamps with you today but there have been a few problems on their website - so I'll be a couple of days late with my postings for these - watch out for them on Tuesday!  But as Customer Care is paramount, Whimsy would like to share this message with everyone though:-

To Our Valued Customers and Friends:

Over the past week some of you may have noticed intermittent problems with our website resulting in loss of carts, log in problems, and security errors. We apologize for any frustration this may have caused. 

During our attempts to diagnose and correct the issues, we have discovered some problems with our current hosting provider and their servers. In an effort to serve our customers better, we have made the decision to switch providers and move our shop to new servers.

This change/move will require our site to be shut down for a number of hours this weekend. We do apologize for any inconvenience this may cause. This change will also result in a delay of our regularly scheduled monthly digital release. But as soon as we are back up and running as normal we will release all the fabulous new images...including those from our brand new digital artist Marika Collins!

Our goal is to provide our customers with the best quality of service possible. We thank you for your patience at this time. We will make every effort to have this transition go as smoothly and as quickly as possible. Thank you for your continued support of Whimsy Stamps and our artists!

Have a great weekend!

So instead I'll share a little bit of Christmas cross stitch with you 

I made this hanger using some cute little patterns that I found in a magazine

I've stitched the robin and reindeer on gold-flecked aida fabric.  The 'frames' are red and green felt and I've added some blanket stitch round the edges. The spotty ribbon is from Joanna Sheen.  I thought they were quite cute!  Hope you like it too!

Back soon, Kim x 

I'm entering the hanger in the following challenges:-

Myshericrafts - tis the season

CraftyAnns - birds and/or animals

Inspire Me Fridays - anything goes

Christmas - but no cards!

I'm back again with a new challenge over at Totally Papercrafts!  This week our lovely Cathy has challenged us to make 'something Christmassy - but not a card! and we're sponsored this week by Wild Rose Studios, with 2 stamps for the winning entry! So I decided to make a little 'treat' box

I've used a piece of coredinations card to make the box.  The tree dp is from K&Co and the cute image is from Digital Delights 'Christmas Kids', coloured with promarkers and the little flower is from a Tonic punch.  The tag has a LOTV stamp on it, with a Marianne die cut poinsettia and a gingham bow. 

Not sure the chocolates are going to last until Christmas though....!

So do have a look at what Christmas creations - apart from cards! - that you can make and join us over at Totally Papercrafts!

I'm entering this treat box in the following challenges:-

CrimboCrackers - anything goes

SassyStudioDesigns - Christmas anything but a card

CrazyAmigoChallenge - gifts

Recycle and Reuse!

Good morning and it's Friday, so time for a new challenge over at CraftyCatz! And we've got a great one this week chosen by our lovely DT member Naomi, who wants to see us crafters recycle or re-use something that we would have perhaps thrown away!  There are some fantastic - and very inventive! - samples from the DT over at the CraftyCatz challenge blog so do have a look for some inspiration.

I must confess that I had to think for a while before I came up with this one!

I decided to make a Christmas hanging decoration from an old cd!  

The image is from our sponsors this week, The Stamp Fairy, and I coloured it with promarkers

I've added some stickles and Flowersoft 'snow' and a few snowflakes from a Tonic punch.  The hanging thread is some bakers twine. 

Hope you like my 'recycling' idea! 

So have a look through some of the things you might throw away - and then see how you could revamp them on your craft table! 

Back soon, Kim x 

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

4CraftyChicks - ornaments

DRS Designs - snow fun

PixieDustStudio - winter holiday

The PaperShelter - Christmas is coming

My friend!

Good morning all and hope that your week is going well. I can't believe that it's Wednesday already - the days just seem to be speeding by and I feel like I'm running to catch up!  I realised that I didn't put a post on at the beginning of the week like I usually do, but have been busy with building works at home, doing some crafty projects that I can share with you soon (!) and doing the actual 'paid' variety of work as well!  And a really scary thought that hit me yesterday was that it's now only 4 weeks to Christmas! Every year I promise myself that I'm going to be all organised next year, with presents wrapped, cards sorted, etc. - and every year I seem to fail miserably.  But with the dawning realisation that on Saturday it's 1st December, I'd better get myself into gear and sort out Christmas card lists and pressie lists.  My darling (!) husband thinks I treat it all like a military operation and that I should relax and 'go with the flow'.... Except he's not the one who makes meals, feeds the (what feels like) constant stream of family & friends, buys presents for offspring, etc. Sigh.  Perhaps I should just take a back seat, although I have a feeling that if I did then 'Christmas' just wouldn't happen lol!

Sorry to have a moan!  But I'm afraid I'm going to have another grumble about today's card... Do you ever make a card or project and just get the feeling that something is 'missing' or out of place? I've done that with this card!  I'm not sure if the colours aren't right, or the layout or what - but it just feels as though it's not as it should be - if that makes sense!

I've coloured this cute pair - a stamp from LOTV if you hadn't guessed lol! - with promarkers, and some distress inks on the edges

The 'denim' backing paper is from Joanna Sheen, with some coredinations card embossed with the Cuttlebug 'Swiss dots' folder and then lightly sanded back.  I've added some hessian weave and the cute wooden dominoes from CraftyEmblies.  The sentiment tag is from LOTV. 

So still not sure what's missing, I've a feeling it's probably the colour choices and that I've done it all a bit dark and muted. Mind you, they might look a bit odd in bright pink tops....

Oh well, I'll have another look at it later and it might get submitted to some 'editing'! 

Hope that your Wednesday goes well! 

Back soon, Kim x 

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

Passion for Promarkers - distressing

CreativeCardCrew - anything goes

TuesdayAlchemy - anything goes

Running water....

Good morning all and hope that your weekend has been going well?  And I hope that those of you in the UK are coping with the pretty rotten weather?  We have the ongoing works on our bathroom - but thankfully have a loo and running water but considering the terrible rainfall and floods that some have had to deal with it seems an irony that I'm thrilled to have the running water lol!  I will be so pleased to get the work finished - and it is a bit of a challenge having what seems like a constant stream of builders/plumbers/joiners/plasterers, etc., traipsing through the hall and up and down stairs and I've made countless cups of tea and coffee this week! Tilly the Dog has quite enjoyed it all and the workmen all make a fuss of her and say what a 'sturdy' little dog she is (which I think translates as 'fat'!).  Poppy the cat however, is not so happy about it all, hates disruption to her 20+ hours a day snoozing, and particularly doesn't like strange men!  But I'm hoping that by this time next week that most of the work will have been done and then there'll just be the flooring to do. At least it'll be all nice for Christmas (fingers crossed!) - but then it'll put the rest of the house to shame lol!

Anyway, on to today's card. I've used the image 'Spit happens' from Mo's Digital Pencil - just love that facial expression!

I've tried to keep to a fairly neutral colour palette of promarkers with soft shades so that it could be suitable for boy or girl - but think that maybe it all looks a bit washed out!  And then realised after I'd shaded the ground/carpet underneath the baby that I'd coloured it with brownish shades (hope it doesn't look like there's been a nasty accident....?).  Oops!

The backing paper is from K&Co, layered onto coredinations card, with stitched edges. The ribbon & buttons are from stash and the cute little sentiments are from LOTV, with some added pastel brads. 

So I hope that your Sunday goes well - whatever you have planned! 

And a big thank you for all the lovely comments that you leave - I can't tell you how much they mean! 

Back soon, Kim x 

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

Emergency Crafters - anything goes

Pause Dream Enjoy - anything goes

Creative Moments - anything goes

MyMumsCraftShop - inspired by a song ('Baby Love' - The Supremes)