Happy New Year/exciting news...

Dear bloggers,

I haven't got a new piccy for you today, just Happy new year wishes and hope you had a fabulous Christmas. Feel free to leave me a comment and let me know how your time over the holidays was spent and what you got up to.

I had my wonderful son home for the last week and I am having to let him go back to Uni tomorrow so I definitely feel a slow sadness creeping on as I have enjoyed every second of my time with him this last week. What a special young man he has grown in to. My daughter lives with me still after finishing Uni and has been here all of Christmas but is going off into London for new year so I will miss her too... Time grows and they grow up too fast for sure.

I do have a little very exciting news for you all though... Last week I sent off all my Christmas creations that I had been asked to do for the Fabulous Craftwork Cards. Most of you will know I have made a few bits for them over the last few months after meeting the lovely Julie at a show in the summer. Well, I pulled out all the stops with my birdhouse card and they loved it so much that they asked me if I would like to be on the design team officially! Well, I cannot tell you how very happy I am, and that night I was inundated with emails from all the girls on the team already welcoming me and I am still so incredibly humbled by how wonderfully welcoming they have all been! I am amazed and so very touched at the warmth I have been shown. Thank you, ladies! I can't wait to work with you all. Since then I have been officially been added to their facebook design team site as a designer and also to the official Craftwork cards blog:

http://craftworkcards.blogspot.co.uk/2012/12/welcome-to-team.html

Please go and take a look at how wonderful this team have been in welcoming me and have a look around their site, and if you fancy purchasing any bargains www.craftworkcards.co.uk
you're in for a real treat if you pop on and have a look too.

Well, I want to thank you all for being so nice in leaving your comments since I started this blog and some very exciting times are coming so please keep coming on and supporting me! You're all so lovely. I will be adding some creations over the next couple of days so check back with me soon.
Happy new year to everyone 2013 is almost here , big hugs to you all.

Kimmy
xxx

Oh Christmas Branch haha...

Good evening lovelies.
I made a nice little card with some Kraft cards sent to me with my Craftwork card goodies, so I made up another Christmas card for them! Of course I have to share it with you all to see if you like it and that I'm still on the right tracks.

I do love receiving your comments, as it's good to have another crafter's opinion too, I think! And also it keeps you grounded.

I just heard the sad news that Patrick Moore passed away earlier and it is very sad; he was a funny, eccentric guy but my late husband was a huge fan of his work so it's very sad. His family must be devastated at the loss so I want to pass on our condolences to his family. If you don't know who Patrick Moore was (have you been hiding forever?), he was a very clever scientist who had a very dry sense of humour and some, as I said, very eccentric ways, playing a xylophone on stage in said crazy manner was one of them, haha! But he was also a very nice man who found time to always help others too. R.I.P Patrick. My husband passed on the 14 Dec last year so maybe they are finally meeting up and having a chat now. Sad week ahead.

Now back to my little card...

• So i started with my Kraft card and cut out some red card for the base and the back pieces, sticking them on and setting them aside.
• Then cut an embossed swiss dot type card and rounded corners, and also inked edges to show up the dots and contrast with the red.
• I matted that on foam pads and onto a piece of checked paper from Craftwork cards Christmas pad, adding a small strip of American seem binding across the bottom before adding pads.
• Inside the embossed pad was some dye cuts of trees and birds etc so I took a tree x 2 and a circle to use as the moon and a long branch. I inked all pieces and added sparkle where needed and also punched out some circles from the sparkly gorgeous paper pad too for the baubles hanging from the tree.
• As this is going to be an Easel card I stuck my art panel to the base at this stage and attached my stopper which was a strip of card and a Happy New Year sign in gold and also and & sign as I new I wanted to have With Love at Christmas on the top piece.
• So I attached a piece of gold trellis to my dotty panel and then inked my moon with distress ink in chipped sapphire, a rich deep blue and covered it in a shimmery Sakura pan and water brushed it out to give a moonlight sparkle.
• Working on the tree next, I coloured 2 trees in gathered twigs and a coppery sakura pen, again water brushed out a little. The bottom layer I didn't fuss too much with but the top one I tried to have one side darker away from the moon etc. I stuck down the first piece then for dimension matted the next on foam and rounded it a little. The twig I mounted onto foam after colouring and added to the top of tree and in front of moon.
• I used a small piece of green ribbon in strips from the branch. and added a tiny tied piece to the top of 2 baubles I made from punch 1" circles out and mounting them onto a slightly larger piece of red card. I also pierced a small whole in each and added a jump ring and a tiny Chrystal that I added to a headpin and snipped off the excess. Some of the pics don't have the crystals and some do.
• I added them to the card and nice bow to the base of the tree with an iridescent sparkle in middle then I needed to dress the tree so I inked up some leaves and curled them added them randomly to cover the gaps in twigs and also I used some card candi in the Christmas designs to add to my tree.
• A Couple more stones and sentiment features and the last thing needed was a few flowers to the base and a leaf. 
• Et voila.... done. 

I hope your enjoyed looking at this one I sometimes wonder where these ideas pop in from! But I love the finished result, so I hope you do too.

Oh Monday again and back to work and dragging my heels. I really am not enjoying these cold, dark mornings and would love to ship off somewhere new to start a new career... Ahhh... the dreams, haha!
Have a great week guys!

Let me know your thoughts on jewellery items added to cards for movement... What do you think?

Out for now...
Kim xxx

Another Santa note..

Well good evening my lovelies!

Well hasn't it turned cold woooo every night from work I rush in and shiver 'til I get my steaming tea to wrap my hands around! Winter is definitely breathing down our necks now... with the icy fronds encountering our extremities turning them red first then blue... Making patterns in the air with our breath on the icy morn. Ooo I should write a story with literature in that vane.

I started this  card really by making up all the little flowers from Craftwork's Christmas pad. so I had them all sitting there jostling in the box for my attention, pick me! pick me! haha...

Next I took an 8x8 card base (still my favourite size) and with Versamark ink, I stamped holly leaves around the edge, I used Pan pastels to rub over and add the green to the inked sticky surface. I water coloured some red berries in in odd places to just draw your eye in.

• I matted the first mat with a sheet of red glitter paper from Craftwork Cards Christmas pad on to gold mirri.
• Next, I took a sheet of the embossed card in one of their pads and ran over 2 colours of Ink from His lordship sir Tim holtiness.. fired brick and pine needles. Just lightly to bring out the embossing a little, which was then matted onto mirri too.
• My bow was American seem binding which is so soft and lovely and flexible to work with. Adding a button to the centre of the bow and 2 stick pins made sure Mr Bow was not naked...
• I die cut the labels 20 large sheet of paper and ever so slightly inked and added it to the card, I coloured my sentiment from the pack, cut out a little die cut to add to the frame around the sentiment and then piled on all the gorgeous flowers and flourishes, some card candi too.
• Added my gorgeous Clarity personalised stamp with my name on to the back, et voila... tis done..

As always I hope You enjoy looking at the card and maybe trying a few things out too
Crafty Hugs.
Out for now
Kim xxx

Birdhouses and Santa.

Hi All.
So sorry haven't been blogging so much, I have had so many orders to get done that I have gotten a little slow with it, but I really miss coming on a seeing your comments so here I am, I am still making a few items to give to Craftwork card for Christmas and tonight I thought Id use one of their lovely bird house blanks to make up so here it is then I got a flash of inspiration an thought Id turn it into a box haha, so here it is... hope you like it, let me know.

So for this card/box I took my birdbox card and snipped it in half to start and covered both halves in corresponding papers from of course the brilliant Craftwork cards, the lovely Julie Hickey had sent me a big bag of bits to make some Christmas goodies and so I have been making them up but have also had some commissions for artwork to get done, I have been working on a line drawing in pencil of an MG motor vehicle for a guy I work with.And yet another lady is pregnant so another crochet blanket is in the offering.
Anyway back to the card...

• After covering each half , I took some very sturdy black card and used my Crafters companian ultimate pro to make a box up that is smaller than the card but still large enough for either a bag of goodies or to put in a false bottom and have some birdies pop up as you open it like a suprise box, something like that, may have even a little faux nest but then I would associate that with Easter more than Christmas .
• I seem to be waffling tonight maybe it is because its 12.38 and I should I suppose be attempting sleep as Its work tomorrow, really wish My job was in the craft industry, I'm working hard on that but it is very hard to get into. I would love to bring out my own stamp range so who knows maybe one day I will get that chance.
• I also covered the black box I made just on the outside with again the matching papers, amazing quality they are too.
• I then attached the front and back to the box and made sure all the adhesives were covered.I added some American seem binding as ribbon around the outside of box and also all over what would be the eves of the house near the roof. Making also a sort of bow on the top inside the roof area by making up 3 loops in varying sizes gluing them in place and adding a small piece of binding around it to look like a triple bow.Finishing it with some candi here and also along the eves again inside and out.
• Next i die cut the circle from Spellbinders splendid circles for around the window, I was going to cut it out and leave acetate in the aperture but last min I thought I'd use it for the sentiment but I may make another and do that so you can look into the box.
• I cut out lots of leaves with my Grand calibur too and and the pack of flowers that came with the birdhouses I rolled them and embossed them a little to make them rounder , then rolled them or curled them up, one I made up into like a rose by gradually sticking down each set of petals one at a time. It doesn't show on the picture as I took these photos just before I decided to make 3 tiny flowers with the Donna Salazar bitty blossoms dies from spellbinders (amazing).
• I made sure my box opened and closed and added some finger holes to make it easy. Glued all my flowers with Pinflair and there we have it, I am still in 2 minds regarding the sweetie or little birdy things popping out but anyway the main thing is done.

I hope that you get chance to come on and have alook If so leave me a comment I don't bite.
Have a great Monday and   hopefully I will get chance to pop on and added the other card I made today.
Love to all
K xx