Rainy Days

Still waiting for summer here in London. That is the problem with the UK, we don't tend to get those glorious Summers that many of our European brothers and sisters get - you lucky folk. Hey ho, August will be fantastic I'm sure!

But Rain is good for the garden right? So a card to match the weather! This lovely is Rainy Day Emma from Whimsy Kids over at Quixotic Paperie, I've coloured her with Promarkers and Copics (have you noticed that the price of Copics has gone up?). I love this fabulous gingham button and lovely crocheted lace. The papers are the My Mind's Eye Bloom and Grow paper stack.

Whilst I'm here have you seen that Elaine from Quixotic Paperie is sponsoring this week's Cute Card Thursday Challenge? There is £10 gift voucher up for grabs - Wahoo!

Have a lovely Sunny day
Kim

Materials:
Stamp - Whimsy Rainy Days Emma
Ink - VersaFine Onyz Black
Colouring - Promarkers; Copics
Papers - My Mind's Eye
Usual Suspects - Paper trimmer; Double sided tape
Other - X-Cut borders; White gel pen; Lace; Button

I Shiny Robot

Beep Beep to you this morning, got a Stampendous Robot for your today. When I first saw these stamps I knew I had to have them and I knew that I had to colour them with Shimmerz Paints. Perfect metal effect! Tee Hee. Beep Beep.



Have you seen that Stampendous has joined the Twittering world?

Have a great day.
Kim

Materials:
Stamp - Stampendous
Inks - VersaFine Onyx Black; Distress inks
Colouring - Watercolour pencils; Shimmerz Paints Angel Wings, Coal, Fire Engine Red, Sunflower
Papers - Cosmo Cricket
Usual Suspect - Paper Trimmer; Glue dots; Double sided tape
Other - Crop-a-dile; 3D-glue

Whiff Of Joy Blog Hop Update

Hey-Up everyone thought I would just give you a heads-up for the Whiff Of Joy Blog Hop on Saturday 25th July - I'm so excited! There will be prizes and the opportunity to chat to the Whiff Of Joy Illustrators Elizabeth Bell and Alison Acton who provide us with such wonderful designs.

Hope you have the time to join in the fun!

You can find full details in this downloadable flier.

The Blog Hop and Party starts on Katharina's blog on July 25th (7 pm GMT; 2 pm EST; 11 am MST)



Whilst we are at WOJ have you seen that Katharina is offering up some candy for the Elizabeth Bell Fall Stamp Kit?

Hello Doll

At last a card :) and today we have a cute Matryoshka doll from My Cute Stamps. I've made a little aperture card with Blossom Nestibilities and stuck the image on a panel on the inside of the card with 3D-Foam. The lettering uses the Sizzix Lindsey's Dairy set highlighted with white ink, white gel pen and orange ink.

Have a lovely Day

Kim

Materials:
Stamp - My Cute Stamps
Ink - VersaFine Onyx Black; VersaCraft White and orange
Colouring - Promarkers; Copics
Papers - BasicGrey
Usual Suspects - 3D-foam; double sided tape
Other - Nestibilities; Cuttlebug; Lindsey's Dairy Sizzix Alpha; White gel pen

It Is Release Day At Shimmerz Paints

Shimmerz CHA Summer release is here, just look at these wonderful colours and I love their names :) Perfect Summer sparkle seeing as the weather here in London is so not Summery at all!

And guess what?....Shimmerz Paints is running a competition all you have to do is put in an order for the new paints at the shop and then comment on the blog post linked here to be in with a chance to win $25 of your choice Shimmerz Products. Wahoo!

Caribbean Sunset

Island Salsa

Jilted Jade

Tickle Me Turquoise

Machine Embroidery

Not a card but some machine embroidery today. Creative Machine embroidery courses are like gold dust in the UK at the moment and last week I was very lucky to be at Hampton Court, no less, with some lovely people sharing a little introduction to the subject. The course was run by the Embroiderers' Guild and taught by the amazing Pam Watts.

We all had a wonderful time and I learnt so much it was fabulous. Here is my first make on the course. We had a very busy week I can tell you!

New Shimmerz Release

Oh my goodness look at these yummy colours! Shimmerz are releasing these lovely colours next week on the 21st July, aren't they just perfect summer colours?

By the way have you joined the Shimmerz facebook page yet? Great for having a quick Shimmery chat :)



Some of you might have noticed that I have not been about this week as much as usual! I've been on a free-motion machine embroidery course and I can tell you I loved it to bits. Will no doubt bore you with some of my makes later :)

Sugar Nellie Meets Grunge

The Sugar Bowl has a lovely sketch from Judy this week and here is my last minute take of the fabby sketch with the added bit of Shimmerz Spritz sparkle on the flower and the twill.

Hope you are all having great weeks, catch-ya laters! :)



Materials:
Stamp - Sugar Nellie; Studio G Alpha
Ink - VersaFine Onyx Black; Sepia
Colouring - Letraset Promarkers
Papers - BasicGrey
Usual Suspects - Paper trimmer; Silicone glue; 3D-foam
Other - Lace; Shimmerz Spritz Terracotta; Twill tape; Bead; Metal flower centre; staples; label hardware; brads; Tim Holtz Distress inks; White gel pen; EK Success border punch

By The Sea

Look, Look! A challenge card to start the week. I had planed to get a lot of challenge cards done over the weekend but of course time just vanished before me eyes. But I did manage to get this one done for the Whiff of Joy Challenge blog which has a fab sketch to follow.

I was dreaming of the seaside when I did this card you know, ice creams, that beach worn look and lots of Shimmerz sparkly water :) and she just looks so happy and relaxed she must be on holiday!



Materials:
Stamp - Whiff Of Joy
Ink - Versafine onyx black
Colouring - Promarkers; Copics
Paper - BasicGrey
Usual suspects - silicone glue; trimmer; double-sided tape
Other - Shimmerz paints - Under the sea and Celery; Acetate; Cuttlebug; Embossing folder; Buttons; Nail file; shaped scissors

And Here Is The News

Good Sunday Morning to you all, hope you are all having lovely weekends. As the title of the post suggests I thought I would do a quick news round up.

As a lot of you know the Summer CHA in the USA is fast approaching, and for those of you that don't know it is the world's largest retail craftshow where all the crafty manufacturers and retailers hangout.

Oh Boy do I wish I was going :)

It starts on the 28th July for the industry show and then opens it's doors to us ordinary bods on the 31st July and 1st August. So take your credit card and your truck 'coz this is where you will get all the new releases before the rest of the world.

If you have been doing some blog hopping around the manufacturers' blogs you will have seen that some of them are doing some pre-CHA sneak peaks and also a little bit of our favourite type of marketing - Freebies!

Here are just a couple to go check out:

Spellbinders are having a daily blog hop with prizes.

Fun bit of viral marketing with the Provocraft Rogue release (don't think there are any prizes just fun to see the effort they have put in to make their product stand out)

Cuttlebug Challenge Blog are having a Followers Drive with a huge $1000 prize for a lucky follower (Not officially part of Provocraft and I think the timing with CHA is just a coincidence but I've added it here anyway!)


Anyway keep your eyes pealed guys 'coz there will probably be more pre-CHA fun and peaks on the way.


Finally I just wanted to shamelessly toot my latest makes in Papercraft Essentials (PE44) Tee Hee. It is only a little article where I've taken an embroidery stitch and added it to cards for a 10 Minute masterclass, it was great fun to do! Hope you like :)

Circle The Tilda

So the weekend begins. Ahh lovely weekend. Tilda is here to celebrate the weekend with a Simon Says Paper piecing challenge. I've made a circle card for one main reason, I had run out of this lovely dark brown cardstock and the only piece I had left was this tiny bit! Bless! So with a little frugal jiggery pockery I managed to make it run to a couple of matts.

But why didn't I use another colour? Well I had already pieced the Tilda in these yummy Basic Grey papers before I realised I had no cardstock to match - D'oh!


Materials:
Stamp - Magnolia
Ink - VersaFine Onyx black
Colouring - PrismaColor Pencils; Sansodor
Papers - Basic Grey
Usual suspects - scissors, Double-sided tape; silicone glue
Other - Button; fluffy ribbon; Vellum; Nestibilities; Cuttlebug

Plain And Simple

- Just like me :)

Today I have a My Cute Stamps card for you and this little notelet uses the lovely doodle flowers from the Little Forest Friends stamp set. Holly has released some new lovely stamp sets in her shop just expanding my wish list!
And you will never guess what? I've just heard that my card for Katharina's Blog Hop Guest DT call has been picked - Wahoo, Wahoo, Wahoo. Thank you Katharina. You can check out the other lucky girls here and the Whiff of Joy Blog Hop for their new stamp release will be on the 25th July. I will float down from the ceiling soon :)

Materials:
Stamp - My Cute Stamps
Ink - VersaFine Onyx black
Colouring - Koh-I-Noor pencils and sansodor
Usual Suspects - paper trimmer; silicone glue; double sided tape; Scissors
Other - Kraft card; Dotted bazzill;

Birds Of A Feather

The Shimmerz Paints and Impression Obsession is still going on and here is another make from the swap, hope you like it :) I saw this stamp a couple of months ago and fell in love and was so lucky to be sent it in the IO/Shimmerz Swap.

What is it about birdcages that is so appealing? It is not like I want to keep a bird in a cage or anything. One of my local charity shops has a lovely ornate vintage-style birdcage that if it wasn't for the fact that we have absolutely no room at all and that my OH would think I had finally lost it (LOL), I would have bought it immediately!



Materials:
Stamp - Impression Obsession
Ink - VersaFine Onyx
Colouring - Shimmerz Paints Sunflower; Fire engine red; Shimmerz Blingz Spiced Cider
Papers - MME Bloom and Grow
Usual Suspects - Paper trimmer; Double-sided tape
Other - Sewing Machine; Button; thread

Catch A Swiss Pixie

And all the day you will have good luck :)

Good Morning All, today I have a Pixie for you and this is the Lovely Gretel, what a cutey. She is matched with the My Mind's Eye Bloom and Grow papers and the stamp and papers may have fallen into my basket at Quixotic Paperie -Tee Hee!

I thought that I would enter this into the Copic Creations Challenge this week which is all about Brunette hair colouring. But I do have a confession to make, I'm still building my Copic pens collection so I use both Copics and Promarkers to colour - please don't shoot me for my sin. LOL!

I've also coloured the wings with some yummy Shimmerz paints Angel Wings, Sunflower and Fire Engine Red. Quixotic Paperie is going to be supplying Shimmerz soon, how exciting is that? Oh and don't forget that the Impression Obsession and Shimmerz Swap is still running.



Materials:
Stamp - CC Designs Gretel; Woodware Sentiment
Ink - VersaFine Onyx Black
Colouring - Copic; Promarkers; Shimmerz paints
Papers - MME Bloom and Grow
Usual Suspects - Paper Trimmer; Double-sided tape; Silicone glue
Other - White gel pen

Shimmerz and Impression Obsession

As promised here is one of my makes for the Shimmerz and Impression Obsession product swap where the DTs get to play with each company's products. I was very, very lucky indeed to get hold of some absolutely gorgeous Impression Obsession stamps (thank you guys), two of which I have used in today's card and the other I will be showing you later in the week.

Details: I just felt that this wonderful vintage dress stamp Feminine Form matched beautifully with a vintage feel card. I've coloured the stamp with distress inks and Shimmerz Paints Aqua Marine and Angel Wings, the background under the doily is the fabulous Porcelain Crackle stamped onto patterned paper that had been sprayed with Shimmerz Spritz Baby's Breath. Both the doily and the patterned paper yo-yos where also sprayed with Shimmerz Spritz Baby's Breath. I finished the card with some paper distressing, partial sewing, buttons and a bead charm recycled from a broken necklace.




(Click the photos for a bigger picture)



Thanks for looking and if you have some time do not forget to check out the Shimmerz blog and the Impression Obsession for more wonderful makes.

Materials:
Stamps - Impression Obsession Feminine form and Porcelain Crackle
Ink - VersaFine Sepia
Colouring - Tim Holtz Ranger Distress Inks; Shimmerz Paints
Papers - K&Co Ancestry
Usual Suspects - Paper trimmer; Silicone glue; Double-sided tape
Other - Buttons; Bead Charms; Sewing machine; thread; Doily; paper distressers

Shimmerz Bee Fancy Dress Party

Good Morning all, start to a new week and I have some exciting Shimmerz news for you today.

First of all this week Shimmerz and Impression Obsession are hosting product swaps so you will see lovely Impression Obsession images used with yummy Shimmerz on the DT blogs of both teams - well worth a look-see. I'm due to post my makes tomorrow and I have some beautiful images to show you :)

Second bit of Shimmerz News is that the wonderful Stacey, owner of Shimmerz Paints with her hubby David (there is such a cute piccy of them both here!), has a fab-ishous publication incentive running for anyone to join in! How cool is that? The details can be found on this post.

I have a Stampendous bee stamp for you today and before you ask - they are going to a fancy dress party LOL. What colour are your bees? Of course I've highlighted the bees with some Shimmerz.



Materials:
Stamps - Stampendous; Woodware sentiment
Inks - VersaFine onyx black
Colouring - Copics; Promarkers; Shimmerz paints Celery, Angels Wings; Sugar Plum
Papers - BasicGrey
Usual Suspects - Paper trimmer; Silicone glue
Other - Fiskers border punch; Sewing machine; thread; corner rounder

A Quiet Sunday

Another Summer card for you today but one perhaps not quite as bright as this week's makes have been :)

Details: I've used the beautiful Shy Willow from Whiff of Joy, coloured with copics and promarkers, the flowery background paper is from DCWV and the circles were made with my copics and nesties. The ribbon was also coloured with copics. Little bit of distressing, little bit of piercing and the sentiment was made from Sizzx Alpha set Lindsey's Diary.



Hope you are all having relaxing Sundays.

Materials:
Stamp - Whiff of Joy
Ink - VersaFine Onyx Black
Colouring - copics; promarkers;
Paper - DCWV
Usual Suspects - Silicone glue; Paper trimmer
Other - Cuttlebug; Nesties; Ribbons; Button; Sizzix Alpha set; Nail File

Need Some Cheering Up?

Well here is the quick card for you! I very BRIGHT card using the absolutely lovely Bloomin' kit from Designs by Krista.

I seem to have done lots of very bright cards recently, anyone would think it was Summer or something :)

Happy Independence Day to the USA.
Materials:
Papers - Designs by Krista
Usual Suspects - Paper trimmer; Double-sided tape; scissors
Other - Black marker pen; Fiskers border punch

Strawberry Cherries

Can you believe that it is Friday already? It is a quite dreary Friday too the sun seems to have gone and it is very overcast here in London.

Hey Ho I'm keeping Summer going with this card for the Whiff of Joy Blog Hop Call. Katharina is launching some new stamps on the 25th July and she is looking for volunteers to take part in a blog hop - Wahoo what fun. You have til the 8th July to throw your name into the mix with this lovely and unusual sketch.

Details: I've used Willow with Strawberry Basket from the Summer 2009 kit, coloured with copics and promarkers and matched her up with HOTP papers. I've backed her with vellum and made a vellum lace border. The handmade embellishments are made from felt, jute ribbon from Quixotic Paperie and buttons. The card is finished with some hand-stitching :)



Hope you have a lovely day and that the sun is shining where you are (unless it is night of course!).

Materials:
Stamp - Whiff Of Joy; My Cute Stamps Sentiment
Ink - VersaFine Onyx
Papers - HOTP
Colouring - Letraset Promarkers; Copic Pens
Usual Suspects - Silicone glue; Paper trimmer. double-sided tape
Other - felt; embroidery thread; ribbon; buttons; Jute ribbon; Vellum; Fiskers lace emboss punch; Cuttlebug; Nesties

Have A Roar-ring Good Wednesday

A little lion greeting card for you today and this little guy is from the My Cute Stamps Circus Animals set. He is really cute, I do love this set with all of it's cute animals very fab.

Holly has some fab temporary tattoos to give away on here blog, very cute. She is announcing the winner tomorrow.,



Materials:
Stamp - My Cute Stamps
Ink - VersaFine Onyx Black
Colouring - PrismaColor pencils; Koh-I-Noor pencils; Sansodor
Paper - Distressed Gingham (my design)
Usual suspects - Paper trimmer; Silicone glue; Double-sided tape; 3D-foam
Other - sparkle brads