We have a winner...

The papers below have been bagged by the lovely Leann
Anyone who has not visited Leann's bloggy loveliness is missing out.... go on have a nosey, you know it makes sense!

RAK Give away

Just a quickie. Have'nt been able to craft much recently.

I have come across these papers tucked away in one of my crafty drawers. There are approx 45 sheets of 6 x 6 papers from DCWV - 18 different designs & at least 1 of each design, in most cases at least 2 of each design. If that makes sense...? Anyways all you need to know is that they are up for grabs for FREE!

Please leave a comment on this post if you would like the chance to grab them and I'll pick out a random winner sometime on Sunday.

I hope to be up and about crafting again soon.

Take Care,

Kat.x

***This giveaway is now closed, thanks***

Spring flowers

Several cheery dafs, some daisies, the odd little bugs doing their things and more little pretties that I don't know the names of in close up

Sticky Bud

A big spring bud! Sorry folks, having to post my spring shots seperately as I can't get to grips with editing properly today at all suffering from mega brain f**t!

Spring Wishes

This image is a bit cluttered but, we all thought this tree was fab and of course the girls just had to climb and explore :)

Just a few pics taken on Mother's Day spent at a lovely place called Dalton Holme eating sarnies and enjoying the first signs of spring in the parky, breezy weather.

Excuse the quality, I aint no professional and they're only taken with my compact, but hope you get the gist. Hopefully if there is anyone out there finds the coming winter months a challenge then fast forward here to spring for some cheer.

Snow bunny

Just a quickie, here's my take on the sketch from the most recent Skattykat's challenge which can be found here

Going for a hop around to try and inspire me to do a little more crafting. My mojo seems to have got lost in the hoards of mess that was once my craft area.... do ya think if I tidy up a bit it will be easier to find when I need it?

TFL and ((Hugs)) to everyone.

Trick or Treat?

I just had to share this sweet lil pumpkin.... she is such a cutie! I've made this for Skattykats challenge which is called 'Punch Out!'

I used swiss pixie 'Pippi' she is in stock (just!) here coloured with promarkers

Two different sizes of star punches and a flourish stamp from the 'Season of Joy' set from Stampin up.

I'm off to have a nosey and catch up with my favourite blogs and hopefully pick out another challenge or two to work on next :)

TFL.xx

Papertake Weekly

This is my card for this weeks Papertake weekly challenge, it's a sketch and you can find it here :)

Supplies: stampin up 6 x 6 designer paper pack; versafine ink pad; Sarah Kay 'Joy' stamp which you can find here; 14.5cm x 14.5cm blank white card; dovecraft ribbon, derwent ink pencils; mini christmas brads, dovecraft.

TFL

Happy crafting :)

Something for the Weekend Challenge 2

Another challenge 'Feathered Friends' to make a project to include a bird or birds, really easy this one. Find it over here :)

Supplies: Stampin up 6" x 6" designer patterns pack and scallop border punch; blank white card 10.5cm x 15cm; hero arts clear design stamp set 'whoo loves you?'; plain white cardsock; stampin up spots ink pads in earthtones; derwent inktense pencils

Double challenge

This card was made for two challenges, combining Sketch 31 from Card Patterns and the theme 'Winter Festivities' from Skattykats

Supplies: white texured card blank 14.5cm x 14.5cm square; stampin up designer series pattern pack (6" x 6"); 'lily & milo' clear stamp; black graphite brilliance ink pad (heat set); cherry arte; chipboard pieces; platinum stickles glitter glue; derwent inktense pencils;

Hope everyone's having a good weekend :)

Black white & TURQUOISE

I made this card for 'something for the weekend challenge,' pop over here for a nosey :)

The challenge was a colour one - to make a crafty project using black & white and ONE other colour of your choice. I used hero arts stamp set scalloped borders for the edges and added spots of white with a white gel pen. The butterfly was cut from a fiskars template, three different layers for dimension, each layer was stamped using stampin up stamps. The three brads used in the centre were from Queen & co

How's it Hangin'?

Another Tina Wenke design, 'Opossum Pals' from her 'cute critters' collection.

Had a lot of fun doing this one, I could'nt stop grinning.... they're just so cute and I also could'nt resist adding the sentiment, it seemed so apt :) The leaves are stamped using hero art's clear design scattered leaves set

Don't forget to check out the new challenge/news blog that can be found here.

Enjoy your weekend!

Cheery and Bright

Are'nt the nights drawing in quickly now? The weather has been miserable today too so I decided to cheer myself up and make a card in a bright colour.

This little mouse fella is also over here why not hop over there and take a peek, there is a giveaway and a challenge to have a go at if you fancy :)

Oooh lookie here my card fits this fab stampavie challenge found here!

Hope tomorrow brings us a bit of sunshine.X

The Mighty Vulcan!

Another set of holiday snaps. Excuse the quality again I had a hard job capturing this mighty plane in it's proper glory, these are probably the only few I got that are worth showing. If you zoom in on the one with the masts in it, you can see the poor fellow caught right in front of the vulcans flight path! Captions at the ready....lol!

I'm a big fan of the RAF, when I was a little sproglet we used to sit on a gate and watch the red arrows practising over low ground and often saw (and heard!) jet fighters flying over, the farm we used to live on was very near to a RAF base so we were in a priveleged position really.

These pics were again taken at Whitehaven.... apparently the Vulcan is based back at Brize Norton now after putting on many displays up and down the country.

Be back later with a crafty make or two and news of a giveaway!

Holiday Blues

Well, we're back from our jollies and I want to go back! I fell in love with the Lake District....... we had good weather, bad and some somewhere in between, but somehow, whatever the weather, the scenery and landscape of the Lakes has left it's imprint inside my heart..... seven days was not long enough.

These first piccies......oh yes, be warned, there's more to come...lol! These were taken on our first proper day which we spent at Whitehaven watching the 'tall ships' come in and we were treated to the vulcan bomber flying over the harbour! We watched an arial display from the blades, had a ride on the lifeboat and watched famous jet skiers performing tricks! I also managed to get sunburnt and ended up with the much dreaded 'red hooter!'

Please excuse the piccies, they are heavily cropped and I'm no professional, just an over zealous 'snapper' I did try to be arty and put a red enhancement filter on one piccie, but it did'nt quite have the effect I was after.... ah well... these are the first installments.....lol!

Tealy Good! CCT Challenge

Thought I'd sneek this one in quickly before I go away on my jolly hollies :)

This is for Cute Card Thurday's challenge - 'Tealy good!'

The background card and flowers were quite bright so I tried to tone things down by distressing edges on the layers of paper & card. I used a Sarah Kay 'Country Girl' stamp from Stampavie.... I love these images, they remind me of my childhood days at the farm we used to live on. There is some DCWV paper from the retro stack and DCWV red cardstock which is stamped using Stazon Cotton White and a cube stamp from Judikins (oriental I think!) , prima flowers, medium brads from Dovecraft and the image is coloured with Inktense pencils from Derwent. This card is on my way to my sister as a thankyou as she spoils my kids rotten!

Have a fab weekend and hope the sun shines!

The stamps pictured below will be winging their way to Terrie. Congratulations Terrie, sweetie! Sorry I'm a tad late posting.
I have had every intention of blogging more frequently, but there is always something sent to try us....... we sadly lost our darling, sweetheart Tiger Ella (Tiggi) last Saturday. It has hit us all extremely hard as she was in her prime and such a loving, fun filled cat, very vocal and with so many funny and quirky mannerisms, it was impossible not to fall in love with her.
She was lost to us in a tragic accident, one of the only comforts we can take is that she died very quickly and hopefully did not feel hardly any pain as she passed away.
We are all writing our thoughts and memories in a memory book, I don't ever want to forget her and still imagine that she is still with us spiritually in our home and she will be forever in our hearts.
On a lighter note we have a weeks holiday in the Lake District starting this Saturday so we will be able to get away from it all and relax for a while.
If I don't post before the weekend, hopefully I will be showing my holiday snaps when we get back..... I'll try not to bore everyone....lol!
Wishing you all a great weekend. Mmwagh! X

Scrap-ling and the chance of a freebie

This monochromatic card was made with the spare card from the previous make.

It's what Hero Arts calls a 'Scrap-ling'

I decided to play about with some distress inks from Ranger by taking the example on the front of the ink pad literally, by scrumpling paper and then applying ink with a foam applicator. The butterfly and sentiment stamp are from hero arts. The butterfly is heat embossed and stickles glitter applied, there was a mistake with the flowers, the centre only was supposed to have glitter applied, but clumsy oaf that I am, I smudged it, so it was hastily covered up by applying more glitter to the petals too! Not one of my best efforts, but I like to have a play just to get a 'feel' for different products and ideas.

I have some alphabet stamps above up for grabs if anyone would like them, they are by Adornit and have a slightly etched look , they are unopened - new, but are just starting to yellow a teeny-weeny bit, this won't have any effect on how they stamp whatsoever .

Just leave a comment to let me know if you would like them, if there are enough of you names will go into a hat for drawing at random. I'll leave it open until 31st July 12.00pm

Daring Card Makers & Papertake Weekly

Well I've squeezed another card in between taking our poor cats to the vets for their vaccination jabs, trying to tidy & organise my hoards of crafty items & of course, the kids are off school, so everything has been a bit... how shall I put it? Errrm... mixed up & hectic, maybe!

Supplies: lilac pearlescent cardstock from Craftwork Cards, stamped image from sketchingstamperdigi-stamp, crystal stickles glitter glue, (although you can't pick this up very well on camera, it just looks like the ink has blurred close up, but in real life you can see the glitter & no smudges!) Crafty Individuals background papers 'Book 1' and doodlebug stamps 'teen girl' and Hero Arts Clear stamp set 'Anytime Messages.'

Images coloured with prisma color pencils & blending medium.

I thought I might try and fit a double challenge in Daring Cardmakers 'Away with the Fairies' and Papertake Weekly 'Colour Combi.' Think there is enough lilac & green/pistaschio to qualify...pretty please?

TFL.

Kat.X

Back from the wilderness!

It's been a long time, but after many trials & tribulations, I'm back to posting again

I have been lurking around a few blogs however and I will get back to commenting & visiting all my fave blogs.... and boy, there's a lot of loveliness out there to comment on :)

Just a quickie for now. This card was made using the 'Fresh Cuts' stamp set & cards from Stampin' Up! I used just two colurs of chalk ink & added some glass-like gems that I bought many moons ago from the Stampman. I've just treated myself to some foam pads & applicator tool as I've forgotten how much I used to love stamping & as you can see my direct to paper technique was a little heavy handed here...lol!

Hope you're all well & happy me lovelies and SYL! X

Messing around..... again!

I have been messing around again with a new creative toy :) Just thought I'd share this image I'd altered in PSP ..... I luuurves this piece of software, I've only just begun exploring it's capabilities and I am very impressed with what it can do so far and no doubt there will be so

much more that can be done.

I took lots of close up shots of wild spring flowers on Mother's day last week, I just had to capture their loveliness, I'm so glad I did, as they will give

me hours of creative fun :)

The shot here is one of a pink tinged daisy, tweaked in just a few clicks.

New additions to the family

Meet 'Daisy' & 'Tiggi' our new adoptees :)

They have been with us for over a week now and they are slowly settling in. This is a rare moment of them both together, relaxing..... it's not always the case, they are both more often than not, either asleep or up to playful mischief!

Singing-Ringing Tree

I made a couple of cards the other day from this stamp that my other half thinks looks like the singing, ringing tree! I do like using this stamp as it's quite versatile. A quick share for these two as I am trying to get my house in order... spring cleaning is a year round thing for me, if you understand?!

Both were made using craftwork card blanks. I used prisma color pencils to colour the stamped images, some old mod rubons were dug out from my crafty stash, punched shapes, ribbons and a small amount of printed paper punched with a (EK)scallop border punch from stampin up. The green card is highlighted with a touch of stickles glitter, it's also inked around the edges of the card, but it's so hard to pick this up on camera. Does anyone have any tips for taking good photies? I am terrible, I never seem to be able to get my colours right these days.

Papertake Weekly - Hot Chocolate

I'm picking myself up off the floor after falling over in amazement...... I've posted twice in one day!
...."Steady".... I've also managed to do a challenge - lol! This one is for the papertake weekly challenge which is to use the colours: chocolate, pink and orange. My inspiration was loosely based on a project that Sam Currie did in this month's Quick & Crafty mag. The papers & elements used are from sweetshoppedesigns, the kit, 'Bloom & Grow' is designed by Zoe Pearn and is available as a digital download.
Hope you like (:

More jingle jangles!

I've been side-tracked from my usual pursuits and have been busy creating a few pieces of jewellery through a need to create something pretty, not shop bought, but something that still looks professional. There are mother's days coming up and a few birthdays this month and I think that making something yourself is a much nicer gesture, it also means I can splurge and gain something from it too... so you sort of get a double hit! (: I've only just recently started with jewellery making and since treating myself to a professional set of pliers/tools there was no stopping me, they really do make things so much easier.

The 'Spirit' charm necklace is made with sterling silver findings & chain, a charm and tiny bicone crystals and is a tweaked version of a project I'd seen.

The earrings are composed of sterling silver ear wires, plated butterfly connectors/charms, crystal flower pendants and jump rings.

Hopefully there will be more cards to make too...... I am so glad my mojo and energy has returned (:

Hope you all have a great weekend.X

Thankyou card

Just one card for now. I have some more crafty makes to upload later :)I made this card a while ago and need to send it off pronto.....long overdue, much like everything I do is lately, but that's another story, best left alone!

Anyways I had the idea from one I saw in a crafty mag eons ago, but it had been stored in the old noggin waiting to be retrieved in one of those crafty 'ping!' lightbulb moments, I'm sure you all know where I'm coming from. lol! Stamp used was a clear set from hero arts. It might not look like it, but this card took quite a while as I decided to paper piece all the little bits of the tree (rather ambitiously!) together. I stamped the image first onto textured, green cardstock and then onto plain white card which was then coloured using prisma color pencils and then set to work cutting & cutting & more cutting! Phew! Finally finished and stuck into place. Ladies & gents, please take note - this is not a card to attempt if you are in a hurry, but it doesn't half give you a feeling of achievement once it's finished :) Some snipped strips of card finished with ribbon & I distressed the cardstock and finally, coz something did'nt quite look right I inked the edges of the blank card with an old ink pad & added some light brown chalk smudged around the edge too, to try bring it all together. I'm not usually one for 'faffing' so much, but there are those odd times when I do get carried...lol!