Strut your punky Stuff

Hi There everyone

One of my loves is Steam Punk and what better to use than Chocolate Baroque’s Steam Punk stamps.

Punky Flowers   & Funky Fish

                

                                                                             

I first brushed Vintage Photo through a Stencil then stamped my images on to separate pieces of card. With the Seahorse I also masked him and extended his wing with adding a leaf from one of the punky flowers.  The main punky flower image was stamped onto the flat image - I then stamped the image again onto the card - coloured them in - carefully cut them out - edged with more vintage photo. I did the same for the flower heads.

                             

I then put the card together - foam mounting the seahorse, the flower heads and the focal image of the main punky flower.

Lastly, I die cut some cogs.

Then the last finishing touches mounted on to gold mirror card and on to my base card.

Voila!

Hope you are all keeping well

Kim x

Thinking of you

Another make whilst the lock down continues - can it really be another week that has gone by?

As I sit in my craft room looking out on the sunny day the overall air is quiet - not the usual hustle and bustle of life - I suppose if I think back this is how Sundays used to be before Sunday Trading came in - the only difference was that we could go out a bit more than we can now.

So I find myself thinking of loved ones and in particular my Mum who is on her own down in London- so I thought I would make her a card - just letting her know that I am thinking of her.

I used a 7 x 7 card base for this make and made a white layer approx 6.6 x 6.5 with a slightly bigger black mat layer.

Then I turned to using Distress Inks - I think they get a little forgotten these days - I used Peacock Feathers, Weathered Wood, Mustard Seed and Mowed Lawn - then finding a small acrylic block to act as a stamp - inked it up with ink- took one impression off on to scrap paper and then second generation onto my white card - I built up my back ground layers until I was happy, overlapping them as I went.

Next I took the wonderful seed head from the Glorious seed heads set - I particularly loved this particular stamp from the set- I feel it is elegant and needs very little to show itself off. I stamped it used Versafine Clair.

Next I needed a sentiment - now that took me ages to find the one I felt was right - the normal Thinking Of You did not quite cut it for me - so I needed something a little more quirky but meaningful - so after a lot of searching back and forth I came to this one ‘A Penny Farthing for your thoughts’ - as I think we all spend quite a lot of times these days thinking a lot about what is happening around us. This stamp comes from the Punky Expressions set.....  a little odd for some maybe but it suited my thoughts.

Hope you like this little make - cards do not always need to be complicated - let the stamp do the talking and I think this one does that - it is detailed and elegant.

Thanks for reading

Kimmy xx

A Strange world we now live in

Hi Everyone

How is everyone coping in this strange new way of living we find ourselves?

As I write this life is very unknown - will my place of work survive? I work for a Charity Heritage Railway in Peterborough - we have had to close our doors given all that is going on - so it is all very worrying - so I find turning to craft will be one of the ways forward to seek some solace and calm my wandering thoughts!

I made this card today - using Chocolate Baroques wonderful Freesia Blueprint set - such a beautiful flower in real life with a lovely fragrance and speaks of pleasant sunny days and happy times.

This card is on an 8x8 card base - I used a white layer measured at 7.5 x 7.5, for stamping on and then mounted on to a piece of red card measured to 7,75 x 7.75 (all measurements are inches)

On the white layer I first used a circular mask - you could use a stencil or paper with a circle cut out - I found a size that enabled me to make it as though it was a snap shot of the focal point of the main flower.

I then used Spun Sugar Distress Ink and with a soft brush built the colour up in several layers - lifting the stencil/mask to check my progress until there was enough colour to my satisfaction. Once I was happy with the level of colour I then stamped my focal image through the stencil/mask and then carefully removed the stencil, using Black Versafine - I find that Versafine brings the delicate lines of the image right out.

My next step was to colour in the flowers - I am a lover of Faber Castell as they just suit me - however you could use any medium of your choice or indeed watercolour paints. I gently built the layers of colour slowly and steadily until I was happy with my focal image.

My next step was to stamp the corners - with the stamp set is the ideal selection of a section of a protractor - perfect for the job in hand - I used the same Spun Sugar - but this time in Oxide ink - this complemented perfectly as the chalkiness of the ink makes it perfect to stamp with - if you used the ordinary distress ink the image would not be as crisp - it would be distressed as the ink has an almost split effect when used for stamping.

I then took a black fine liner pen and went around the circle - I did not want a perfect circle - I wanted the wobbly look - probably reflects my current state of mind!

Lastly I used one of the sentiments from the set - perfect!

Finally in layered everything up - the red card complimented the pink perfectly.

I hope you like my card and cannot praise the set of blueprint images enough - they stamp beautifully - every fine little detail - exactly how you would see a blueprint !

Keep safe and well everyone

Kim xx

Hearts all around Me

Hi Everone

Some people who know me will know that I’m currently knee-deep in a house renovation which has brought the house to a complete halt on all things normal. The kitchen is currently in every room of the house as well as dining room furniture making crafting very difficult!  So the arrival of a new batch of stamps proved a challenge in more ways than one!  As a consequence, I only took two photos before posting off and have realised the sun has featured on the photos too! But in my defence being surrounded by dust, dirt and noise on some of the hottest days of the year did prove challenging!   

The introduction of Heart Trading Cards is just fab!  I already love doing the coins so this brings another unique dimension to play with!

Hope you enjoy the stamps and can’t wait to see what the others have done!

Lots and Lots of Houses!

Hi Everyone!

So here I am, month two of being part of the CB TV Design Team, what exciting stamps were going to drop through the letterbox I wondered!

When my envelope arrived I opened it eagerly, its a bit like getting a birthday or Christmas present as you don't know what you are going to get!

Inside were four styles of houses which can be found in various places around the globe - along with some beautiful sentiments.

So first things first, trimming and mounting to cling a ling. I find when I do this it helps me to start getting the ideas flowing - then stamp them out onto copier paper before starting to plan the ideas.

With work being quite hectic at the moment - a fast approaching kitchen install - there was no time to dilly dally - so I hope you like my makes!!

My take on an Adams Family Halloween style - distress inks and hand-drawn bats

I felt this could be Amsterdam - so grey stamped in the background and decoupaged up in the front

So so Russian - Dr Zhivago came to mind - paper pieced this one

Postcard sepia style - with some authentic postage stamps added

This one was my idea of the blueprint behind the architect in tag form

All about the caption this one in monochrome with a highlight of colour  

This house held a monastic feel for me - this is on watercolour card

A bit of quirky fun with this one as it could be a grandfather clock or even a bit of Back to The Future about it

Mica powders for this one 

Last but not least - this one is all about the caption and colours

Exciting Times!

Hello Everyone!

Its been a very long time since I have blogged - so long I have almost forgotten how to do it!

Much has changed since I last blogged not least of all a change of job! But more of that another time.

I was lucky enough to be chosen to take part on the Chocolate Baroque Craftalong on Hochanda a couple of months ago - much excitement on going to Oundle to Hochanda HQ - meeting Lesley and David and then a fellow crafter called Christine Patch - who was also one of the lucky ones - Christine runs a blog and did a wonderful blog of our day out at Hochanda;

Christine Patch

It was a fabulous day - a mix of sheer enjoyment, nerves, laughter and fun!  My friend Sue came with me for moral support - she too had a marvellous time mixing with others in the Green Room - namely the lovely ladies from Pink Ink Designs!

Since then day to day life has plodded on as it does - monthly craft workshops, more work etc - but all of a sudden there was a post on FB - a call out for applications to become a DT member for Chocolate Baroque!  My friends gently nudged me and so I applied and waited.

Then - on a day when I was about to go to a hospital appointment, an email from Lesley to call David ASAP - so I duly did and was oh so happy to hear I was being offered a position and if I was happy to do some samples for an upcoming show, would receive stamps the very next day!  This truly brightened my day - made the hospital appointment a little more bearable!

So without much further ado - here are my samples - I hope you enjoy them and help provide a little inspiration!!!

 

 

  

  

 

 

#44

Circles and Squares

Hi There Everyone!

Its been a while since I blogged and entered a challenge - one thing or another life has its knack of getting in the way - like my Mum turning 80, work being never ending and oops here we are mid October already!

This months title pulled me in - Circles And Squares - took me back to the 70's and 80's..... Spirograph and colouring books that were geometric patterns.

So out came the groovi folder and off I went with the nested Circles and Squares;

Next I started pricking some pf the arcs using my diagonal pricking grid;

Then I started on my colouring and white work;

And finally the piquet edging before mounting on to a complimentary colour using tiny brads.

Hope you like it!

Crafty Hugs and Winks

Kim xx

Fussy Cutting - Clarity August Challenge

Well it's been a while since I blogged but this months challenge tempted me to get creative and find some time to make a card and blog it, so here goes!

My first step was to blend four distress inks together that spoke Autumn to me.... I just love the colours of Autumn and every day for the last couple of weeks as I drive to work I see the early signs of Autumn beginning.

Once I had blended the inks I lightly spritzed and then blotted with some kitchen roll and then let it thoroughly dry.  Once dry I then stamped in Sepia Archival as many leaf stamps as I could along with the Autumn sentiment.

Then came the fussy cutting with scissors and craft knife

Flipped each leaf over and blended some of the vintage photo ink to take away the white edges 

And lastly started to shape the leaves with a ball tool, keeping some flat and then gradually getting deeper.

Lastly I arranged them all on black card ( as I felt this really made the colours pop) to resemble a pile of fallen leaves and then placed the sentiment to the side.

Hope you like it! 

Clarity Calendar Challenge 4

BIRDS IN A ROW

Well hello everyone - 10th April already! - where is this year 'flying' off too LOL - seriously though - April already - Christmas only seems a couple of weeks ago.....

Well today it took me two attempts before I settled on this one - not having a canvas with some colour on already proved a challenge and then trying to match colours when I didn't have them - so this is take two which I am really happy with - so I hope you like it too!!

Much Love

Kim xx

Calendar Challenge 3

So here is my entry for this months Calendar Challenge... On the face of it you think oh that's going to be hard... But follow the step by step and you're well on your way!

Hope you like it and I love this sentiment.

Much love Kimmy