Regent's Park

Oddly enough it is really hard to find out what is going on in London as a Londoner. I subscribe to various London related newsletters but unless you are looking for something specific you often miss those random events.

So when I heard about The Tree House Gallery project in Regent's Park on the radio I just had to go check it out.

It was a fun community project with an area for art, reading, music and a sculptor making a seat from a tree stump.



As it was such a glorious day yesterday David and I spent it exploring Regent's park. We have been there a couple of times but never really explored it in great detail, I've been to London Zoo and Primrose hill but that does not give you a feel for the rest of the park.

The park is huge, with several different areas. Sports pitches, rose gardens, boating pond, Bandstand, Open Air theatre, fountains, London zoo, Primrose Hill. They were showing the Cricket for free on a huge screen in one part of the park so you could hear the cheer of a wicket whenever you got within earshot!






We had a lovely day wondering around listening to Jazz, lying in the sun - wonderful.

Have a Sun filled day
Kim

Such A Gentleman

What a Gent? Well he is from a new e-kit coming out soon from Making Handmade Cards. Isn't he cool? I just had to make a vintage style card for him with the 'writing' paper which comes in the kit.

I love paper with writing on it. You know the type of designs I mean where it might be a page from a dictionary or just paper with old writing in the design? I seem to just collect it - is that just me? LOL!

Have a Vintage Style Sunday
Kim

Materials:
Papers - Making Handmade Cards
Usual Suspects - Paper trimmer; Double-sided tape; Silicone glue
Other - Key; Ribbon; K&Co metal corners; Distress inks; Cuttlebug; Embossing folder; Mini-postcards; flourish stamps

More Moving House

Another moving house card for you, I'm obviously going through a moving house phase at the moment!

The house is made of fabric, backed with card and sprayed with Shimmerz Spritz Baby's Breath for that sparkle and I've used Shimmerz Paints Teal on the embossed card and yummy Choc-o-lot on the button.

Have a sparkly house Saturday
Kim

Materials:
Stamp - Studio G Alpha
Ink - Versafine Onyx black, Sepia brown
Usual Suspects - Silicone glue; Double-sided tape; Paper trimmer
Other - Fabric; Button; Embroidery thread; Shimmerz Paints Teal, Choc-o-lot and Spritz Baby's Breath; Cuttlebug; embossing folders

Moving House

So have your eyes recovered after yesterday's explosion of colour? LOL!

Well I have a much more subtle offering for you today. This uses the fab cover stamp from the September issue of Craft Stamper which was designed by the competition winner Susan Wherry - Well done Susan I love your stamp.



I've stamped it out on BasicGrey paper and an old book page and used Shimmerz Paints Fire Engine Red on the door and chimney and Sunflower on the string.

Have a subtle but by no way subdued Friday
Kim

Materials:
Stamps - Craft Stamper
Ink - VersaFine Onyx Black
Papers - Basic Grey
Usual Suspects - Scissors; 3D-foam
Other - String; Shimmerz Paints Fire Engine Red and Sunflower

Bright Pastels And A Blue Rinse

Two posts in one day?

Well I'm keeping with the Quixotic Paperie theme and just wanted to show you my latest make using things you can get in the shop. The papers are from K&Co Sparkly Sweet collection and I've cut out the butterflies from one of the papers to use as an embellishment.

I'm sure you will recognise the yummy The Greeting Farm Wild Sprout Annika stamp? Some fabby charms, a little touch of Shimmerz paints on the image matt and I might have done some stitching.

There you go - a finished card - Hurrah!

Have a super blue rinse Thursday
Kim

Materials:
Stamp - The Greeting Farm Wild Sprout Annika
Ink - VersaFine Onyx Black
Colouring - PrismaColor; Koh-i-noor; Sansodor
Papers - K&Co Sparkly Sweet
Usual Suspects - Paper trimmer; scissors; Silicone glue; double-sided tape
Other - Charms; Embroidery thread; Shimmerz Paints Eucalyptus Spritz

News Over At Quixotic Paperie

I just wanted to let you all know that Elaine has the new Elizabeth Bell beauties from Belles and Whistles now in stock over at Quixotic Paperie they are so pretty.

But did you know that she is now taking pre-orders for the gorgeous Elizabeth Bell stamps from Susana's Custom Art And Card Design? Thought I would show you a couple of these cuties:



But these aren't the only things going on at Quixotic Paperie there are some lovely new papers and embellishments and some more wonderful colours from Shimmerz paints including the beautiful Summer colours Tickle Me Turquoise, Jilted Jade, Island Salsa Blingz and Caribbean Sunset Spritz.

Have a New Product Thursday
Kim

Green Tea

How are you all doing this Wednesday? Busy?

I've got a card for you today and it uses a fabulous image from Mo's Digital Pencil, isn't she beautiful? I've coloured her with Prismacolor pencils and the wonderful Summer colours Tickle Me Turquoise and Island Salsa from Shimmerz Paints. The little tea pot charm is from Quixotic Paperie.



I've Spritz-ed the cardstock with Eucalyptus

Have a Tickle Me Turquoise Wednesday
Kim

Materials:
Stamp - Mo's Digital Pencil
Colouring - PrismaColor Pencils; Sansodor; Shimmerz Paints Tickle Me Turquoise, Island Salsa
Papers - BasicGrey; Prima Marketing
Usual Suspects - Silicone glue; Paper trimmer; Double-sided tape
Other - Fibres; Charm; Button; Shimmerz Spritz Eucalyptus; Paper distressing tools

Very Excited Me!

Hey all, I'm so excited I just wanted to let you guys know that Elaine has a DT call running at the moment for a new member to the DT and for some guest DTs too!

All the details are on her blog post. It is a worldwide call, 6 months initial term, no previous experience needed but if you are on other teams that is ok too. The call stays open 'til Saturday 29th August 5pm GMT so go check it out and spread the news far and wide!

Have an Applying-To-The-Quixotic-Paperie-DT-Call spectacular day :)
Kim

Ok So Where Did The Week Go?

Oh Boy! So I did not manage to get any challenges done and I've not managed to blog since Monday - Shock! I don't even have a full make to show you today. But I do have some peaks and hopefully when some deadlines have passed I shall have more to show and more time to visit you all. I miss my blog hopping and chatting with you all.

So a peak for some work I've done for Shimmerz Paints and don't forget that I have a tutorial with some hints and tips for using Shimmerz over at Quixotic Paperie.




Before I go I have been really lucky this week starting with winning some wonderful Martha Stewart Punches from the fabulous Rach at the beginning of the week. They are my first MS punches and I love them to bits. I suspect you will be seeing a lot of them. Rach has more candy give aways on her blog so hop along there ASAP.

But my other bit of fab news was that cards (and tutorial) made by myself and the lovely Elaine with the fabulous Paper Makeup stamps were spotlighted on the Paper Makeup blog by Katie - how exciting is that? Thanks Katie, Thanks Elaine :)

Right I have some more deadlines to meet - so catch you all later.

Have a Lucky Friday
Kim

Where Did The Weekend Go?

Good Morning Monday.

Some of you might remember a bit of a sneaky peak I posted last week? Well here is a bigger peak. The whole card is posted on Elaine's blog Quixotic Paperie along with a Tips Tutorial for using your Shimmerz Paints.

I often use my paints to highlight images and of course it is perfect for painting wings so if you want some tips on how to use your Shimmerz paints then pop along to Quixotic Paperie. Whilst you are there take a look at Elaine's beautiful cards! Stunning! And don't forget to check out all the yummy new products in the shop :)



So what are you guys all up to this week? I have some projects on the go, unfortunately nothing I can show yet on the blog. But I am hoping to get some challenges done this week - I wonder if I will manage? What challenges are you all hoping to do this week?

Have a Challenging Monday
(in the best possible way of course)
Kim

Shiny Shoes

A card, a card! Wahoo! I've managed to post a card! I just love this stamp! Ok so you know by now that I pretty much say that for every stamp I have. LOL!

Well they are all my favourites and this one is no exception, she is a The Greeting Farm cutey that you can get from Quixotic Paperie along with the Shimmerz paints I've used to highlight her, the button and the leafs.

Of course she has to have sparkly shoes - goes without saying.

Have a Shiny Shoes Saturday
Kim

Materials:
Stamp - The Greeting Farm
Ink - VersaFine Onyx Black
Colouring - PrismaColor Pencils; Sansodor
Papers - SEI
Usual Suspects - Silicone glue; Paper trimmer; Scissors
Other - Buttons; Thread; Shimmerz Paints Coal, Angel Wings, Under the Sea Blingz

Photoshop Elements Play Day

I tried making some cards today but it just was not flowing so I decided to finally sit down and teach myself how to use Photoshop Elements for designing and not just for playing with photos. I've been meaning to play for months but there is always something else higher on the list isn't there?

So a new blog heading and signature for at least the next hour or so :) I change my mind so frequently. Don't worry, I will wake up tomorrow and not like it -Tee Hee!



Usually I just get really frustrated that I can't do what I want (my fault - not the software's fault) but for some reason it was just my day for Photoshop :)

Before I go, I will do a shameless shout out for this month's Papercrafts Essentials (PE45) which not only has the latest instalment of my hand-stitching 10-minute masterclass (tee hee!) but it has an interview from the lovely Barbara of Paper Dreams Blog! Way to go Girl :)

Have a change your mind-frequently type of day!
Kim

Sneaky Peaky

Elaine has been a busy bunny and has been adding lots of lovely stuff to Quixotic Paperie, including Rangers Stickles, papers, charms and stamps, stamps, stamps :)

Have you seen the wonderful Paper Makeup stamps? I adore those wonderful fairies and the monsters are just perfect for those little monsters in your life :)

Then there are the gorgeous CC Design Stamps some are on sale as well! Also there are some really cute animal stamps on pre-order from Tina Wenke, so sweet. But I thought I would show you another of the yummy Belles and Whistle stamps that can be pre-ordered too.

Stamps, stamps, stamps - we love our stamps!

Before I go a little bit of a sneak peak for you of a project using one of my fav Paper Makeup fairies and Shimmerz Paints which you can also get from Quixotic Paperie Tee Hee :)

Have a Stamp filled day
Kim

Back To Work

Last day of our stay-cation was spent at Eltham Palace in South-East London looking at some fabulous Art-Deco design, unfortunately we were not allowed to take piccies in the house but if you follow the link you will see some pics.

What with Cul-cha, Na-cha and His-tree (aka. Culture, Nature and History) we had a lovely full weekend Stay-cationing in London. Back to work today and hopefully tomorrow normal Crafty Makes services will have resumed :)

Have a wonderful work filled day.
Kim

A Rambling We Will Go

Making good use of a borrowed car, we ventured out beyond the M25 (a motorway encapsulating London, for my non-UK readers) and found countryside for a very mini-ramble on Box Hill yesterday.

You can see the views were quite impressive, perhaps not on the scale of places like Yorkshire, Derbyshire, Scotland, Wales etc but hey these are mountains for us Londoners.


It seemed that most of London had also had the same idea to escape the City on a Sunday, luckily they did not feel much like walking so we had the places beyond the picnic areas pretty much to ourselves.

Happy Rambling
Kim

Monster Party

The monsoon season arrived in London yesterday, so it was lucky that on day two of our Stay-cation City Break we were taking it easy in the flat, detoxing with homemade pizza, cartoons and playing Lego Batman.

I even managed to make a card! Shock! Using this wonderful cheeky Paper Makeup monster stamp from Quixotic Paperie. Oh I just love him to bits - he looks to me like he has just been busted for doing something naughty like having a party at his Mum's house whilst they where on holiday, what do you think?

The yummy paper is from the fabulously cheerful DCWV Citrus stack and the fibres were hand dyed by my own fair hands :)

Have a Cheeky Monster Sunday
Kim

Materials:
Stamp - Paper Makeup
Ink - Memento Black Tuxedo
Colouring - Letroset Promarkers; Copics
Paper - DCWV Citrus
Usual Suspects - Paper trimmer; craft knife; double-sided tape; 3D-foam
Other - Cuttlebug; Embossing folder; Fibres; Crop-a-dile; Eyelets; Nestibilities

Gorgeous Stamps to fall in love with...

Have you seen these gorgeous Belles and Whistle stamps designed by Elizabeth Bell? There are six beautiful designs to fall in love with (and I have!). You can adopt yours by pre-ordering now over at Quixotic Paperie.


They are cling foam mounted and ready to use and will be finding a new home with you from the end of August!

Have a fab pre-order saturday evening!
Kimx

City Break

David and I are on a City Break, hence lack of Crafty Makes to show you! Where are we on our City Break? Well London of course! So okay bit of another Stay-cation, but this time without the DIY :)

We did Sushi and Cul-cha (aka Culture) yesterday. Mmm Sushi, I could just eat that stuff forever. The Japan Centre does the best Sushi take-out in London in my opinion and their packaging is recyclable - bonus! :)

And for the Cul-cha we could not have picked two more different shows at the moment, the J.W. Waterhouse exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts and the Walking in the Mind exhibition at the Hayward Gallery Southbank.

They were both brilliant exhibitions but I think the Walking in the Mind had the edge for me 'coz I just adore installation art! I would just love to stick fake grass on a balcony and fill the space with Red shapes coloured with white polka dots.

Strangely David has refused to let me re-decorate the flat :(

Have a wonderful polka dot filled Saturday
Kim