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

Feels like Spring is on the way

 Woohoo! It was our end of term yesterday for our Easter break, and I am SO ready for some time off. It's been a very busy and intense term so everyone was ready for a much needed break. 

I'm busy making some design team samples for Hunkydory Crafts, and I can't share those just yet (but they are fab stamps!), but I decided to make a few Easter cards in between! I don't make many Easter cards, but I got this cute 'Easter Wishes' die last year from Hunkydory and it was begging to get used again! 

All the cards are using Hunkydory card and toppers that I had in my stash. The dies for the flowers are 'beautiful blossoms' from Moonstone dies at Hunkydory, and I've used them SO much since I got them! 

 

A little bit of spring in the craft space today! 

Hope you like them! 

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

 

Flowers for you

It has been a relaxed but quite productive week since we finished school for summer. Although I say 'finished', I do actually work some days over the holidays and I'll be back in for a couple of days in a week or so. But after all the disruption and 'weirdness' of school/work over the last few months, it really was nice to switch the work phone and laptop off and determine that I wouldn't keep checking my emails - a break was definitely needed!

I wanted to share a card today made with a cute LOTV digi stamp - these mice are just so sweet!

The image is coloured with copics and pencils

and the papers are from old LOTV stash.

The sentiment stamp is also from LOTV.

I've added a bit of stitching and some die cut flowers - and it makes a cheerful greeting card! 

As I mentioned, I have been quite productive this week! I decided to get busy in tidying up our conservatory - it's probably my favourite room in the house, in use every day, and even if it's grey and rainy (like it has been for most of the day today!), it still seems bright and welcoming in there. And it's nice to look out onto the garden - especially if we can't sit outside! And it's definitely my favourite place for a morning mug of tea, sat with the dog or to relax with my crocheting. But I felt it was looking a bit tired, so I got some chalk paint and revamped a cupboard and storage box in there and then moved some furniture around. It's amazing how a bit of re-jigging and upcycling can perk things up! I love the matt effect of the chalk paint - so I'm looking round for the next project....haha!

Thanks for joining me in my little corner of Blogland! 

Back soon,

Kim x 

Just for Ewe! Meet Rosie the Romney

We think she looks like a Romney breed of sheep, with that soft, curly ivory wool!

I've been busy with the needle felting again - and Rosie appeared! Made with a mix of Swaledale, White Jacob, Merino and Teeswater curly locks!  I must admit that it's lovely working with these soft, natural fibres.

She stands about 6cm tall from toe to curly top knot - and about 6.5cm from that little nose to her tail! 

She's posing here with Hetty the Herdwick.

She's now made her way into my Etsy shop - and I'm hoping someone likes her as much as I do! 

Back soon! 

Kim x 

Birthday - in stitches!

Thank goodness we've reached this afternoon - the end of the weirdest of school years for me! It's our end of term today and it's been a frantically busy few weeks preparing everything ready for a start of term in September when we have all students back in school - although with all sorts of restrictions and guidelines in place.  With quite a large sigh of relief this afternoon, I turned off my work phone and laptop and closed the door on my 'home office' (i.e. the desk in my son's room as he is still in Glasgow where he is at Uni!). 

A slightly different sort of card to share with you today - made for my daughter's fiance's birthday. Male cards can sometimes be a bit tricky, but I'm hoping this worked ok!

I've used a variety of scrapbook papers, cut at random angles. I don't really 'do' random - it's harder than it looks haha!  I then added some zigzag stitching with the sewing machine, using a thicker top stitch thread.

I used the Hunkydory Moonstone 'Birthday' die - cut twice to give a shadow effect - and added a cute wooden star button for the "dot" on the i 

Quite simple, but I was pleased with the finished effect. 

Well, I'm hoping for a couple of weeks of chill time before I head back into the office.

Back soon,

Kim x