Friendship

My goodness I am finding this a very hard post to write. Some of you will know that I am a Londoner through and through and some of you will have been following the riots and looting that have been occurring across my city, that I love, and is even spreading through other major cities in England. I am just gutted, I don't understand how people can be so disconnected to the society that they live in that they feel they can do this to themselves and others just so that they can take their fill of pointless merchandise. What a piece of art the human is.

This is not a political blog, it is a blog about art and craft and making things so I shall show today's make in a hope of lightening hearts and to carry on.

It is Tuesday so it is my Make The Day Special DT make. I've used stamps from the Unity Bold Insight and the sentiment is from Unity Adventures In Happiness.

The background has been coloured with ZIG Kurecolor Refill Ink from Kuretake.

Hope you have a day full of Friendship.

Kim

Stamping With ZIG Fabricolor Twin Pens

Thought I would play with some fabric for this week's Make The Day Special make. I've been meaning to try out the ZIG Fabricolor Twin pens so I've used them to colour and stamp on some calico to make this little flower ATC.

I've used stamps from the Unity Adventures in Happiness Store kit. 

If you are interested here is a quick step by step for this project, so time to grab that coffee!

You Will Need:
Stamps: Unity Adventures in Happiness Store kit
Colouring: ZIG Fabricolor Twin pens
Substrate: Card (thin); Calico
Usual Suspects: Bondaweb; Scissors
Equipment: Heat Tool; Iron; Sewing Machine
Other: Craft mat (or stick free surface); Threads; Baking paper; Spray bottle of water; ZIG Water Colour System BrusH20


Prepare The ATC

Cut the thin card to ATC size (2.5 by 3.5 inches) and iron on some Bondaweb to fit the ATC. Don't forget to use your baking paper to protect your iron from the Bondweb!

Rip the Calico to fit the front of the ATC and iron into the Bondweb side of the card.


Colour The ATC

I used the 'Scribble' Technique to colour the ATC, so scribble the brush end of the ZIG Fabricolor Twin pen onto your stick free surface and spritz with water then use the fabric side of the ATC to pick up the droplets of colour. Dry with a heat tool if you are as impatient as me! Repeat this until you achieve a look you are happy with.


Stamp The Image

Again using the brush end of the ZIG Fabricolor Twin pen to colour the Unity Adventures in Happiness Store kit stamp and spray with a fine mist of water before stamping. I wanted the sentiment to be merged into the background so I stamped on a spare piece of paper first before my ATC.

The beauty of the pens is that you can put different colours precisely where you want them on the stamp and I stamped the flowers using different colours.


Add Defining Touches

I then used the bullet tip end of the ZIG Fabricolor Twin pen to define some of the areas of the image and added shading by 'pulling' the colour across with a ZIG Water Colour System BrusH20.

When I was happy with the look a gave it a final pass over with the iron (again using the baking sheet to protect the iron) to dry and fix the colour.


Add Some Stitching

I got my baby out (aka Sewing Machine) to add some machine stitching and 'Voila' one fabric ATC coloured and stamped.

There is just something about the texture of colour on calico that I just love!

Happy Creating!
Kim

ps. scroll down for some lovely Blog Candy give away news

Pin It

Mixing and Matching

Been mixing and matching my stamps from Make The Day Special or Ippity Inspiration to make this tag today. It is quite a simple little make but I do like the clean and simple look from time to time as you know!

The heart is from the Unity Wishes and Kisses kit, the key is from the My Cute Stamp Key Set and the sentiment comes from the Ippity Totally Happy set.

Happy stamping!

Kim

Pinwheels Are A Turning

A very quick and simple card today, I seem to be in a very clean and simple mood still!

This card uses the Lawn Fawn Cruising Through Life stamp set available from Make The Day Special.

I've paper pieced the pinwheel to add a bit of colour. 

Hope that today you are following your dream!

Have a good day.

Kim

Make The Day Special Blog Hop

Welcome to the Make The Day Special Blog Hop!

We have a little 'last you will see' blog hop going on with Make The Day Special today, it features all the lines that Emily will no longer be stocking once the stock has run out so if you want it you need to grab it now before it disappears.

To find out more have a look at the Make The Day Special blog.

I'm showcasing the cute QKR Stampede and I've used the 'Ups and Downs' sentiment on my first make.

My second make uses quilted 'Love' sentiment.

The colour for both cards was added with ZIG Art and Graphic Twin Pens from Kuretake.

Two totally different looks for these fabby rubber stamps. There are some cute dolls, animals and figures too and at really good prices so you might want to check them out before they disappear!

Hop list:

Make The Day Special Blog 

Claire Rigby at Obstinate Pursuit

Jo Willis at Here I Go Here

Kate Capper at Secret Scrapbooker

Kim Dellow at Crafty Makes (You are HERE!)

Lucia Gattuso at Poppit's Cupboard

Sheila King at Rubber Addict

Enjoy the hop!

Kim

What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday

Every now and then I like to scare you with piccies of my messy workspace and you lucky guys today is one of those days!

I've been trying to finish three commissions which all had to be sent today if I was to make the deadlines - Oh Boy!

And my workspace now looks like a whirlwind has been through!

I'm sure my work desk is getting smaller!

I thought that I would join in What Is On Your Work Desk Wednesday as I haven't for a while! So pop on over to Julia's blog Stamping Ground to join in the fun!

I was in vacation mood for my Make The Day Special make yesterday with these fab travelling stamps from the Unity All About The Journey kit! Where would be your perfect holiday destination? 

Right got to go and post some commissions.

Catch you later!

Kim

Anyone For Ice Cream?

Fancy an Ice cream? It is Raspberry Ripple...

Mmm yummy! The ice cream is one of the cute stamps from the Sweet Chocolate My Cute Stamp set available over at Make The Day Special. I might have gone a little glitter crazy on this one! The sentiment is from the same set. 

So with or without the chocolate flake?

Father's Day With Make The Day Special

You haven't forgotten that it is Father's Day here in the UK this weekend, 19th June 2011, have you? Good!

Well here is the first of my Father's Day makes for this year and I've used the Unity All About The Journey for this make and it is available from Make The Day Special. 

How are you getting on with your Father's Day card?

Thanks for dropping by today.

Kimx

Make The Day Special

I've cheated a bit this week! Regular visitors/ subscribers to my blog will have seen my DT make for the Make The Day Special blog this week already as my Cute Card Thursday make. I would usually hold off posting the make and then post it as a double DT make - if that makes any sense to you? 

Well I thought I would be different this week and give you a Make The Day Special new stock update instead! Emily has lots of new stamps in the shop and I know us stamping freaks need our regular fixes :) Otherwise we get a bit jittery don't we?

So to stop those withdrawal symptoms how about some Lawn Fawn Summer Releases?

OOooo...

Or can the very popular Flourishes sooth your furrowed brow?

Ahhhh...

Then of course there is the My Cute Stamp treatment to be taken twice daily after meals.

an easy pill to swallow!

But what is this? There is new Ippity as well, available over at {Ippity} Inspiration?

Well I think that is enough to cure even the most ardent stamper from lack of stamps blues.

Happy Stamping.

Sweet Wishes

To you all and a super quick post for today.

A little notelet card and I've used the My Cute Stamp Sweet Chocolate stamp set which is available from Emily over at Make The Day Special. 

It kinda reminds me of the sweeties with the hearts and writing on - do you know the ones I mean?

I added a touch of watercolours with my ZIG Water colour System BrusH2O.

Well hope you have a sweet day.

Have fun.

Kim

Ok - So No One Said I Had To Be Tidy

After tearing the edges of my card blank for my make on Friday, I'm now finding it very hard to go back to the straight line!

I had made the topper for today's make with all the texture, Unity stamps and mass of horizontal and diagonal lines but it just would not sit right on the straight edge card blank. So I just carried on tearing.

The wonderful quote and fabulous compass (I'm a bit into my maps so I love this type of thing) are a part of the All About The Journey Unity stamp kit, you can get the kit over at Make The Day Special.


Great quote don't you think? - 

'Go Confidently in the direction of your dreams

live the life you have imagined'

- Henry David Thoreau

All this distressing and tearing? I wonder if it is a reflection of my mood?

Have a fun day you all.

Kim

Making It Clean And Simple - Notes On Designing

I don't know about you guys but I think that clean and simple (aka CAS) is quite tough to do. Actual there are two things I find hard to do and that is the highly embellished designs and the clean and simple designs.

Ok so they sound like they contradict each other. 

If I find one hard to do then surely I would find the other easier to do? 

On the great 'Design Continuum' where highly embellished is at one end of the scale and clean and simple is on the other end, I would place myself nearer to the clean and simple side I
will admit.

But that doesn't mean that the clean and simple designs come easy to me, I do still have to work at them and the more I practice the more I'm happy with the designs I come up with.

But for me that is all part of the journey, learning how to create, design and express myself through what I make. Looking at my early work you can see that it has been a rather long journey so far! But I'm still loving it and learning all the time.

My most recent practice in clean and simple design, above, uses the wonderful Unity All About The Journey which you can get over at Make The Day Special. I've coloured the stamp with ZIG Art and Graphic Twin pens. 

So which are you? Do you lean towards the clean and simple or highly embellished designs? I'm so nosey!

Happy designing!

Kimx

Tag, Tag, Tagarty Tag

It's Tuesday Tag day, well ok, so that isn't a thing but perhaps it should be? Today's post is my DT make for the Make The Day Special Blog.

I've used the Layers Of Colour Joyful Noise which is back in stock over at Make The Day Special.

I've added colour using a mask to a background that I textured using the PVA Crackle technique.

Have a wonderfully colourful day.

Catch you later.

Kim

Inky For You

Been getting a bit inky with my Make The Day Special and {Ippity} Inspiration stamps this week. This make is part of a series of ideas based around an ATC I did for the Idea Gallery in the Craft Stamper recently.

I kinda liked it so thought I would explore the design a bit more and on a bigger scale!

The grass is from the Unity Insightful Meadows stamp set and the 'For You' sentiment is from the {Ippity}Totally Happy stamp set. The colouring used ZIG Art and Graphic Twin pens and ZIG Calligraphy pens from Kuretake.

Have a fabby inky day!

Kim

Are You Crazy About Sardine Tin Art?

I am! Ok so you guys are going to start thinking that I have some sort of Sardine Tin obsession - it is just coincidence - honest! But you got to admit it Sardine tins are perfect size for a little bit of altering into art? Don't you think?

I've recycled this tin with a Spring theme and using a variety of stamps available over at Make The Day Special and Ippity Inspiration.

So all you need is an empty and cleaned sardine tin, the clouds are stamps from the Unity Adventures In Happiness (which is on sale over at the shop!) and for the flower I used the {Ippity} Gurnsey Gingham and {Ippity} A Bit Of Burlap. The colouring was all done with ZIG Art and Graphic Twin Pens from Kuretake.

So you wanna make one now don't you? See I knew it!

I've entered this little guy into the Spring themed challenge over at Alter It Monthly.

I would love to see your Sardine Tin Art so don't forget to come back and tell me about yours and I'll come and have a look!

Happy Sardine Tin Fun.

Kim

All Distressed Butterfly

I'm a bit distressed today - well my ATC is! I've used one of my favourite Unity kits - Key to Joy available over at Make The Day Special.

The background has been stamped and embossed with Tim Holtz Rangers Distress embossing powder on a Gesso treated collage background and finished with Rangers Distress inks.

The butterfly was stamped onto Studio 490 Clearly For Art Modeling film that I picked up in Ally Pally (the craft show I was in a huff about missing at the weekend) last September and have been meaning to play with ever since!

Great stuff to use. I coloured it with alcohol inks and then shaped it using my heat tool, adding a touch of Rangers Distress glitter to the underside of the butterfly's body.

I thought that as my make today happens to be all distressed and the challenge over at Simon Says Stamp and Show this week is Distressing I could enter it in to the challenge! I haven't had a chance to enter a challenge for ages!

Catch you later.

Kim