Cold and Frosty

Hello Everyone,

Over on the Basic Grey Challenges Blog website the challenge this fortnight is on the theme of 'Cold & Frosty'.  I have created this little Christmas Card using an image from a Penny Black set and the Basic Grey paper I have used is a small piece of 'Figgy Pudding' I had left over from a previous project.

I found some co-ordinating cardstock and used a MFT die to cut out the snowflakes.  The sentiment is from the same Penny Black set as the image.  The image is coloured using my Promarkers and I have used Liquid Pearls around the image.  The image and its border are cut out using Spellbinders dies.

Well that is another Christmas Card created ..... only another 70 to go!!!

Have a lovely day.

Kate xx

A little 'make & take'

Hello Everyone,
A few weeks ago I was fortunate enough to attend the Scrappydayz Retreat in Cardiff.  Penny Kafai runs the retreat which was a huge amount of fun with lots of lovely classes.  Penny also did a little 'make and take' card which although I didn't actually take part in I did make this one (which is very similar) at a later stage.

The honeycomb die and the bee stamp are both from Stampin up.  It is a very simple card but I think it looks really effective and is something 'a little bit different'.  I coloured in the bee with Promarkers and added a little sparkle to the wings with 'Star Dust' Stickles.

Hope you are all enjoying your day.

Kate xx

You Rock!

Hi Everyone,

My Godson turned 10 the other week and I created this little card for him.

I kept it quite simple and used my favourite 'Monster Stamp' from Stampotique which you can add any sentiment to (albeit a short one!) and coloured it in with Promarkers. The papers are some scraps from the 'Little Boy' range by Echo Park and the stars and sentiment are the Jillibean Soup 'Birthday Party Clear Stamp Set'. And just in case you missed it the first time....

...here it is again!!!

Thank you for looking and have a lovely rest of your day.

Kate xx

Elmer Blanket

Hi Everyone

Sorry I haven't blogged in such a long time; life gets busy and I just get out of the habbit!

Anyway, I haven't been idle on the crafting front albeit not just papercrafting..... I have been having fun getting 'hookie'!  I discovered crochet a few months back and created a small blanket for my mum for her 70th birthday.  I had intended it to be a 'larger' blanket but unfortunately ran out of time so small it remains!  Having completed that project I wanted to get started straight away on a second one and decided to create a blanket for my daughter who was going off to University this September to study Teacher Training and specialising in Early Years.  Well, having always been a fan of Elmer the Elephant since I was read it as a child and having seen this one over on the Attic 24 Blog I decided to have a go.  Needless to say I didn't get it finished before she went off in September but did finish it for when she came home for a Reading Week and so this is my 'Ta Dah' moment!

I photographed it on our kingsize bed so you can see that it is quite large.  My daughter was absolutely delighted with it and when I took her back to university on Sunday and she put it on her bed it looked brilliant and really brightened her room - well it isn't subtle!  It was a very simple pattern and I used up all my oddments of wool so it didn't cost a thing which was even better.  I am on to my next project now!

Have a great day.

Kate xxx

Grow Old Gracefully

Hi Everyone

Obviously going back to work is not condusive to finding time to blog!  Anyway, I still have cards I haven't shown to continuing with my 'catch up' here is the next one.

I created this card for my Great Aunt who turned 90 recently and I thought she would appreciate the humour behind it.  The image and sentiment are both from 'Acid Drops and Whatnots' and I purchased a couple of sets of their stamps at a show I went to a month or two ago.  They are great fun to use and I teamed the image with some old Laura Ashley papers I had at the back of the cupboard!  The papers are flocked and it seemed to fit the theme well espcially when I teamed it with some velvet ribbon and lace, I hope you agree.

More coming soon!!

Kate xx

4U

Morning Everyone

Just a quick post this morning as I have my mum coming over to spend the day with me today and I think we are going blackberrying :).

Continuing with the blog 'catch up', this card is the one I made for my lovely friend Tracy's son who turned 17 last week.

It uses my ever-faithful Stampotique monster that must be one of my most-used stamps (I manage to use it for almost every man's card!) and this time with some doodling that I was inspired to have a go at following an article I saw in an old Craft Stamper magazine.  I quite enjoyed doing it although I think my technique needs some perfecting!

Have a great bank holiday whatever you are doing.

Kate xx

New Baby

Hello Everyone,

Well to continue with my blog catch up I have a baby card to show you.  My daughter's boss had a baby girl last week and I created this card for her to give.

It is using my ever-faithful Lili of the Valley stamp and sentiment, coloured with my Promarkers, and the papers are from a magazine give-away - they are My Mind's Eye I think.  The bunting is a Magnolia doo hickey die and the border punch I borrowed from a friend and is Martha Stewart I think.  The circles were cut with my Spellbinders dies.

Back tomorrow with some more :).

Kate xx

Lots of 'Thank Yous'

Hello Everyone

I have been quite busy crafting over the last few weeks but none of them seem to have got as far as being blogged so I will try and have a bit of a 'catch up' over the next few days.

It has been a very busy month with both mine and my son's birthdays and I had some crafting goodies for my birthday from some of my lovely crafting friends and was keen to start 'playing' with them so I decided to create some 'thank you' notelets so I could thank people for all their lovely, generous gifts in style!

Here they all are in an array of colours.  I actually made 13 in total (only 12 are shown as I needed to get one off in the post!), 11 thank you notes and 2 birthday cards whilst I was about it for my stock box. 

Detail of one of the thank you notes.  If you are in the know about these things you will see that the stamps are all from Stampin' Up including the sentiment and the tiny tag punch.  The butterfly punch is a Martha Stewart one and the cord I found in my sewing box! The inks are all Tsukineko Dew Drop Versa Magic Inks in a variety of colours.

And one of the birthday card versions with a different sentiment but still Stampin' Up.  I was able to use up lots of scraps of cardstock which is always very satisfying and it gave me great pleasure being able to write my thank yous on such pretty notelets.

More crafting catch-ups tomorrow!

Have a lovely bank holiday weekend.

Kate xx

21!

Hi Everyone

We have had a week of birthdays with mine last weekend and my son turning 21 during the week.  This is the card I created for his birthday.

It is a concertina card using a Sizzix Die. It was a lot easier to create than I feared and the die cuts just one of the squares and you just cut as many as you want.  As you can see, I went for four photos of my son over the years with an extra one for the greeting at the end.

 This is the front cover and what you see when the card is folded up.

And just from another angle (there are 21 of the little candles I stamped and cut out - I was very bored by the end!).

I was really pleased with how easy the die was to use and can imagine using it quite a bit which is always nice to know when you have spent money on a craft item!

Have a good day.

Kate xx

Tutu Toad

I have a little card to share with you today.  The card was made for my Cousin's daughter whose birthday it was yesterday.

The image is 'Tutu Toad' by Stampendous and I just love it - it makes me smile!  I have coloured the image with Promarkers and raised it with silicone.  The papers are scraps of Jillybean Soup 'Blossom Soup' teamed with a doilie, some Prima flowers, a spotty button and some punched butterflies.

Happy Crafting!

Kate xx

And here's one I made earlier!

I started this layout at a classs at the Scrapstars Retreat in April and then have had a couple more sessions on it before finally finishing last week (it has taken me this long to get round to photographing and blogging it!).

The class and design was by Penny Kafai and I not only loved the papers (Carta Bella) but loved the design which incorporates a mini book within a 12x12 scrapbook page so perfect for a wedding where you have taken lots of photos and I have used my layout to feature photos from my cousin's wedding.

This is the front of the 12x12 layout and you can probably see the mini book which is cleverly worked into the layout and here are pictures with the book open so you can get an idea of what I mean.

The back of the book also incorporates a pocket with a journaling card and somewhere to hold any keepsakes from the day (I have included my placecard).

This side view shows you the thickness of the book.

Despite there being lots of room for photos in the book, I still had a few too many and also some were portrait in orientation and so didn't really fit so I created a second page making the whole thing a double-page layout.  Luckily our kit from the class included some spare papers and embellishments so although it doesn't match exactly it certainly co-ordinates well.

I really loved the design (which I may well use again) and am very pleased with the final layout.

Hope you are having a good day :).

Kate xx

A little piece of sunshine!

Hello Everyone,

I hope you are having a good day.  It has cooled down a little making it a touch more comfortable so I am much happier!

I was having a play at the weekend with some stamps and ink and came up with this very bright, sunshiny card.

I stamped the flowers in Versamark onto white card and heat embossed with clear embossing powder.  I then used Mustard Seed and Spiced Marmalade Distress Inks which I blended over the card.  In the gaps I inked a few of the small flowers with the Distress Inks.  It was backed onto some scraps of orange card and I stamped some extra flowers and inked to create my embellishment.  I added a sentiment (from Lili of the Valley), ribbon and a button.  I finished off with a little Stardust Glitter Glue.

And I just had to give the inside a little treatment too!

Hope your day is bright and sunshiney :).

Kate xx

Graduation

Morning Everyone,

Last week was my son's Graduation from University - definitely a 'Proud Mum' day :).  This is the card I created to congratulate him on his achievement.

The papers are from the Prima 'Engraver' range and the Owl and Learn Live Hope stamps are both Penny Black and I have used a faux silk ribbon.

I coloured the owl using my Promarkers and I have Glossy Accented his eyes but that doesn't show up in the picture unfortunately. The owl is raised up slightly on 3D foam pads and I have inked the edges of the papers with Walnut Stain Distress Ink.

Have a wonderful day.

Kate xx

Wild Thing!

Hello Everyone,

My Nephew was 18 at the end of June but he was celebrating away with friends in Portugal (not something you want to dwell on for long!), consequently we celebrated with him on Sunday and this is the card I created.

The stamp is a Penny Black and the image made me smile.  You can't really see in the photo but the white background has been embossed with a brick design.  The wording was printed on the computer and the papers are old Jillibean Soup pieces that I had lurking in my, newly organised (!), scraps bag, as was the red cardstock, there is something so satisfying about using up scraps!  I coloured the image in with my Promarkers and some of the motorbike has a coating of Glossy Accents which, again, doesn't really show up in the picture - sorry!

Have a wonderful day,

Kate xx

Opal the Optimist

Hello Everyone,

Sorry, it has been a while since I blogged; really, what happens to the time?!!

I have been busy creating though and here is a card I have made using one of the new Stamping Bella stamps  'Opal the Optimist'.  I love the sentiment that comes with the image in this set and of course any image with a bottle of bubbly included has to be a winner!

I have paper-pieced the dress on the image to co-ordinate with the background papers which are the gorgeous new range from Echo Park 'Beautiful Life'.  I finished off colouring the image with my Promarkers and then cut out the image and used silicone glue to raise it slightly giving a bit of depth.  The border punch is a Martha Stewart one and the ribbon is some I had in my stash.

Have a wonderful day,

Kate xxx

The Power of Three!

I decided to have a go at the challenge set by Caroline Lovett from Scrapstars over on the Scrapstars Facebook Page.  The Challenge was entitled 'Power of Three' and the layout had to include three photos, three different patterned papers, the title had to have three words and three embellishments were allowed.  Here is my attempt....

'1st Photo Shoot'

The photos for this layout were taken at the Scrapstars Retreat last year so seemed appropriate and although I am not a big fan of photos of myself as these were taken by Kirsty Wiseman and therefore probably as good as I get in a photo I thought they were worth including in a layout!

The main paper I have used is a very old 'Rouge de Garance' that I have had in my stash for 'oh so long' and the other two small black pieces were scraps; one an old SEI and the other a piece of Websters from their 'In Love' range.  The three word title is obvious and the three embellishments I have used are a chipboard swirl, an American Crafts pinflair badge with the words 'strike a pose' (it seemed appropriate although the colours don't quite go!) and the little journaling tag which I have also had in my stash for years.

I had such fun doing the challenge albeit I left it to the last minute; no change there!

Have a great weekend

Kate xx

Something a little bit different ...

Hello Everyone,

A little bit of a different post today!  This morning I met up with my lovely friend Louise.  Louise and I were at school together and she is my oldest friend - old, as in long standing friendship as opposed to old you understand, she and I are obviously still VERY young!!!  We don't live that near to each other but try and get together once every couple of months or so.

Anyway, back to the point (I will get to it eventually I promise!), during our lovely chat over coffee in Marks and Spencers we ended up chatting about food; cooking, recipes etc.  In the years I have known Louise she hasn't ever been big on cooking (I am sure she won't take offence at my saying that... well, hopefully not otherwise it could be the end of a beautiful friendship!), but the last time we got together she confessed that she was becoming known amongst friends and other school mums as a bit of a 'foodie' and someone to consult about dinners and recipes etc.  Well I was a little taken aback (and wondered what had happened to my friend!), but as I love talking about food, cooking and eating it as well, we had fun discussing recipes and so I nagged at her to send me some.  However, she said that she would only send me one if we exchanged and as I was telling her about some gorgeous 'Oat and Raisin Cookies' I had made recently I thought I would share the recipe with her and anyone else who is interested :).

The recipe for these yummy cookies is from Joanne Wheatley (winner of one of the 'Great British Bake Offs') and I had her book for Christmas which is full of absolutely gorgeous goodies.  Anyway, here goes with the recipe.

Oat & Raisin Cookies - makes 18-20

170g unsalted butter, softened

200g soft light brown sugar

120g caster sugar

1 large egg, beaten

4 tsp sunflower oil

250g plain flour

1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda

1/2 tsp cinnomon

150g rolled oats

200g raisins

You will also need 2-3 baking trays lined with baking parchment

Preheat oven to 180oC/350oF/Gas Mark 4.  With a mixer cream together the butter and both the sugars until pale and light.  Add the egg and oil and mix again.

Sift the flour, bicarbonate of soda and cinnamon into the bowl, add the oats and raisins and mix again until smooth and thoroughly combined.

Using your hands, roll the cookie dough into walnut-sized balls (large walnuts in my opinion!) and place onto the prepared baking trays.  Allow plenty of space between each cookie as they will spread during baking.

Slightly flatten the cookies with the palm of your hand and bake on the middle shelf of the preheated oven for about 20 minutes until golden and firm.

Cool on wire racks

A close up!

(I thought I would add a picture of Jo's book with the cookies in case I get done for copyright infringement!!!)

Louise was 'concerned' that the oat and raisin part sounded a little bit too healthy for her but in my opinion this just means that you can eat cookies and pretend they are good for you, a win, win situation!!!  Anyway, let me know if you have a go - they are really easy - and I can't wait to hear what you think.

Happy baking!

Love Kate xx

New Home

Hello Everyone

My Godmother moved house last week and I created this little card for her.

It is a very simple card using some papers I have had for years (Bella Blvd I think?).  The big 'home' stamp is by Technique Tuesday and the little 'New Home' stamp is from a set by Banana Frog.  I love the joyful colours of the papers and hopefully the card will add a little joy to their new home :).

Hope you have had a good day and haven't got too wet!  I suppose the gardens need a little watering but I feel that will do now and I would like the sunshine back and a little bit of warmth.... not sure we are going to get it tho'!  Still, at least I don't have feel guilty about not being outside gardening and can get on with some crafting, guilt free :).

Happy Crafting!

Kate xx

Birthday Boy

Hi Everyone,

Today is my Godson's 9th Birthday and I have created this card for him.

He is very keen on football and a Manchester United supporter so that is where my colour inspiration came from!  I was really thrilled with this card as, apart from the base card, all the other pieces of paper and card were scraps.  I recently sorted my 'over-flowing' scraps collection in to colour collections which doesn't work for everything but in this particular case made finding 'red' scraps a doddle!

The cute image is a LOTV design 'Super Striker' and I bought it with my Godson in mind.  The circle and scallop circle dies are both Spellbinders and the bunting is a Magnolia Doohickey Die.  The papers are a selection of Sassafrass Lass, Echo Park and an 'unidentified' piece!  The white card is Bazzill and the red hessian ribbon is May Arts Woven Burlap 'Bittersweet'.  The twine is from the garden centre!

I would like to enter the Lili of the Valley Challenge 'Boy oh Boy!' with this card.

Have a lovely day.

Kate xx

Mirror Mirror!

Hello Everyone,

My lovely niece turned 16 yesterday and I created this card for her using the 'Mirror Mirror' stamp from LOTV.  The papers are Pink Paislee 'Butterfly Garden' and I followed a sketch from 'Papertake Weekly' which was last week's challenge.  I didn't get round to entering the challenge in time but I enjoyed using the sketch and that is what counts really.

The image was coloured using my Promarkers and Flexmarkers and the sentiment is also a LOTV one.

Enjoy the rest of your evening :).

Kate xx

Using up the leftovers!

Hello everyone,

I have been lucky enough to have spent the day crafting but not really doing what I had intended to!  I had carefully made a list of the crafting projects and bits I wanted/needed to get done and then proceeded to totally ignore it and go off at a tangent!  Firstly I finished sorting a few cards I had made; some needed the inside finishing, others needed an envelope decorating, that sort of thing.  So I got that done (amazing how long that sort of job seems to take me!) and then instead of moving on to a job on my list; making a birthday card for impending birthdays etc, I decided to finish off a project that I had started a while ago and had been left unloved and unattended since.  I have almost finished it but not enough yet to photograph but hopefully I will get it done tomorrow... watch this space!

Anyway, on to a card I made a few weeks back.  I decided I needed to make up a few quick and simple cards that would a) give me a stock of cards for those emergency moments when I had forgotten or not got round to making one specifically and b) some cards that would make a dent in the pile of leftover patterned paper scraps I seem to have.  This is what I came up with...

As you can see, it is a simple card and I got as far as making two of them but one got called upon almost immediately to fulfill its need as an 'emergency' card (I had clearly not been keeping to my list then either!!!). I can't remember what make the patterned paper is (it is years old) but the sentiment stamps are by Technique Tuesday and are from the 'Swanky Sentiments' set.

As I have only got round to making two they haven't as yet made any noticeable difference to my scraps pile so I clearly need to get busy and stop going off at tangents :D.

Have a great bank holiday weekend.

Kate xx

Twinkle Twinkle Christmas Card Again

Good Morning Everyone

I have just realised that I didn't get round to posting the card that I created with the other topper I showed a few weeks ago.  Well here it is .....

and here it is with its 'partner' :).  Don't they look sweet together?

I must get back to the Winter Wonderland Challenges otherwise it will be Christmas again and I will only have two cards ready!!!!!

Have a great day,

Kate xx

Peg Challenge

Hi Everyone,

The Bellaboo Crop on Tuesday evening was holding a challenge to 'decorate a peg'.

I had  great fun doing the challenge and was rather pleased with my little offering but I'm afraid to say that my peg was somewhat upstaged by some other rather gorgeous entries including this beauty by the very talented Tracy.

I used a very 'bog standard' clothes peg which I painted white.  The toad is a stamp 'Tutu Toad' by Stampendous which I coloured with my Promarkers and cut out.  I then used  small piece of tulle which I gathered with a little running stitch and stuck over the skirt.  It certainly makes me smile when I look at it :).

Happy Crafting

Kate xx

Hanging my head in shame!

Oh dear, it is so long since I have blogged.  I was doing a bit better but, I don't know, life just seemed to hit and I just haven't been up to anything much crafting-wise the last few weeks.  I have so many unfinished projects that it seems to have been paralysing me as I don't know where to start ....... and so I don't!  Instead of just doing 'something', I do 'nothing'!  Still very tired but feeling a little more motivated so am trying  to get on with a few bits and hoping my inertia goes away.

Even when I haven't been busy with the papercrafting I have been busy having a little bit of culinary fun baking.

Including these chocolate chip cookies using a recipe by Joanne Wheatley.  I bought her cookery book just after Christmas and love it.

But I have also been doing oddments of papercrafting and created this card for a friend's birthday.

The stamps are 'Stampin' Up' which I heat embossed in white onto white cardstock and then inked the card with Peacock Feathers Distress Ink.  The background is spritzed with a Cosmic Shimmer mist and does have quite a sheen to it that unfortunately doesn't show up here well.  I finished the card off with a few Prima flowers, some ribbon and a little bling for the shoe.

There are a few other cards I have made also which I will share with you tomorrow hopefully.

Take care

Kate xxx

Twinkle Twinkle Christmas Star

The Winter Wonderland Blog this week have 'Twinkle Twinkle Christmas Star' as their theme and I thought this gorgeous image from Lili of the Valley was perfect for it.

I have coloured her with my Promarkers, a bit more practice with shading following my lesson with the lovely Kathy!  The papers are a K&Co. pad that I have had for a while, the snowflake is a Doohicky die by Magnolia.

Have a great rest of your day.

Kate xx

WOYWW

Hi Everyone

I realise it is a bit late in the day to be posting this but I have been out all day so am now working on the principle of  'better late than never'!

Having been encouraged by my lovely friend Tracy to play 'What's on your workdesk Wednesday' I have taken a couple of photos.  Unfortunately my 'workdesk'/'craftroom' is actually my son's bedroom whilst he is away at university but as he is home for Easter I am currently homeless on the crafting front!  So here is a picture of my workdesk as it currently is....

As you can see, not much happening (just want you to know that the Easter Egg and empty wrappers are nothing to do with me!!!).

The best I can offer on the current crafting front are these two toppers that I coloured at my friend Nicky's last night when we got together for a crafty evening.  They are due to be for the current Winter Wonderland Blog Challenge 'Starry Starry Night' but as the deadline is tomorrow and this is as far as I have got I am not sure I will get them finished in time but I will do my best!  I will make sure I photograph the finished articles for you (whenever that happens to be!).

I will endeavour to look more industrious for next week's check in on WOYWW!!!

Kate xxx

Another Lili of the Valley Card

I do love the Lili of the Valley Images and this is one I created some time ago and has come in for our friend's daughter.

The Image is 'Pom Pom Fairy' and I coloured her using Promarkers.  The papers are some free ones with a magazine and are by Nitwit I think.  The sentiment is from a Lili of the Valley set.

I also decorated the Inside of the card

 and the envelope to match.

Hope you are having a lovely Easter weekend?

Kate xx