All About The Girls

Hi there everyone,

Another month and another challenge.... this month is All about the girls - well I am not a girly girl, never have been - much to my Mums despair!! I love looking at girly things - admire much of it, but am not one for bright and flouncy things - so when I thought about what I would make I steered away from anything really girly as its just not me!

Like most people I surf the net for inspiration and discovering new techniques .... well new to me.

Recently when sharing a crafty session with friends I was introduced to the wonderful world of masterboards and have since spent many hours watching YouTube clips to get the ideas and the process - so I decided this was my starting point.

I took a plain piece of card and a small perspex block which I wrapped some thick twine around, took  a Meadow Adirondack ink pad and started stamping an alternate criss cross design across the card base - it was subtle - but I liked it.

Next I brayered in a mix of Wild Honey and Spiced Marmalade Distress ink pads to build up the colour, then - using the small leafy swirl stamp - I stamped second generation Vintage Photo Distress Ink.

I then took the large and small Gerbera Stamp - and using Black Onyx Versafine - stamped part of the card.

I then stamped my sentiment - January NDC 2016 - Life is Just Not Long Enough - so very true for us crafters!!!

I then used my distress ink marker pens to colour in the flowers and highlighted them with a wink of stella pen - just to add a bit of glimmer (sadly the photo does not really show this).

I then chomped my corners and mounted this on to black card and decided to go for a Kraft Card Base - but it looked in need of something - after much back and forth with various embellishments I settle on some burlap.

Hope you like it!

Much Love

Kimmy xx

Clarity Calendar Challenge 2

Hello everyone

Have had a lovely day off work today spent with some great friends. 

We all had a go at the Calendar Challenge for this month and this is my attempt!

Am really pleased with the outcome as I love this stamp - hope you all like it!

Love - Clarity February Challenge

Well Hello there on this rather chilly Valentines Day!

I have been playing around with my clarity stamps, pencils, acrylic paints, glossy accents some ribbon and a few heart shaped buttons!

The first thing I did was drawn a heart lightly in pencil on to a piece of card - then I created a post-it note mask for the posy stamp - from the bike and posy set  - next - using archival black ink - I started to stamp around my pencil line carefully masking one set before stamping the next until I had created a heart shaped wreath of flowers.

Next - using the wordpress letter set  I stamped out Happy Valentines Day. I coloured in the flowers with my colouring pencils and then carefully cut the shape out and mounted it on to some coloured card stock.

Next I dry rolled acrylic paint on to some white card stock - I used avocado and pink - using a red small brayer - the red roller gives a different effect than the softball brayer - you lightly walk the paint over the card. I then stamped the dragonfly stamp from the Lucky set (lucky in love) - and then brayered over the top with the metallic glaze from the paper artsy chalk paints set.

Matting and layering came next - on to black card with the corner chomped with a heart shaped top - some lemon ribbon tied with a bow, the heart is mounted on foam pads and finally some heart shaped buttons!

Hope you like it!

Kimmy xx

Clarity Challenge

Clarity Calendar Challenge

Hi everyone

Today on Barbara Grays blog she has set the task of people challenging themselves... You know, that reach for the stars approach!
So today I have made a start by firstly add two blog links to my page and - all things being equal - added a link to the new monthly challenge at the top of this blog!

You know that saying... You learn something every day... Well today I have just by being challenged !

So the next step is to actual submit a piece of work on that link above !  .... See you all on the other side - are you up for a challenge too?

In the mean time a little bit of Clarity Stamp meets Groovi.

I watched Maria in Crowborough last summer where she demoed stamps and groovi together. First stamp your chosen image in archival, heat tool to dry the image, flip over and groovi to your hearts content and colour in your stamp - on this one I used pro markers- mounted on card with the punched corners.

Much love
Kim

Christmas Story

A Christmas Story..... this could be the traditional Nativity Scene, or a Christmas Story such as 'Twas The Night'... all so deserving of art work - but for me I wanted to show something that was personal to me.

A year ago I was happily travelling from SE London to Peterborough every couple of weeks to take part in different Clarity Workshops...bit by bit I was falling in love with the area ... a pipe dream was developing ... wouldn't it be lovely to live there.

Well - a year later I find myself actually living in Peterborough! - an eventful year of complete life change of both work and home... all of which has made me a much happier person.

So why Holly and why Groovi... Groovi...one of the best inventions of the year for me..Parchment one of the crafts I have always failed at since I was a teenager... so embracing Groovi has been a turning point in my crafting skills....taking it a step further by now attending a monthly workshop locally in Peterborough, where I am learning the traditional side of parchment - but able to mix with the modern Groovi. Holly spoke to me as soon as I saw her.... and so my scene developed...Holly is walking the road to Peterborough through the drifting snow... where she will celebrate her first Christmas in a new home.

I have made this card for my Mum for Christmas.

Hope you like it

Thanks for Reading

Much Love

Kim

BINGO! Full House

Well it's been a long while since I entered the challenge so I decided to go for the full house.  I started with three blank beer mats that I die cut to hearts. Next I painted them with white gesso and then when dry painted them with a pearl green acrylic paint. On one heart I used the double vine stencil and after mixing some paint with Grunge Paste pulled it through the stencil, removed the stencil and set asside to dry, just before fully dry I brushed kiwi perfect pearls over the top. On the next heart I used the florabunda stamp, using glitter glue I randomly stamped on the heart before applying gilding flakes which I brushed off, I also used the same glue to go around the edges on both hearts applying the flakes as I went.  On the last heart I used the smaller leafy swirl stamp and randomly stamped second generation, I then stamped the clarity tiny birds and then the sentiment. I then used my glue pen and highlighted areas and sprinkled with glamour dust. Then I moved to shrink plastic... Stamping a Clarity butterfly in permanent ink, lightly coloured it in, cut out before applying heat to shrink it!  I then used my heat gun to stick it the the heart. Lastly I used my crop-a-dial and punched holes and applied the rivets before threading together with some ribbon.  Oh and finally brushed the whole thing with some gold gilding wax!

Hope you all like it!

Hugs and kisses

Kim xx

Clarity Stamp May Challenge - Clocks

Well here I am - earlier than last month - but as I am currently enjoying so R&R between jobs its enabled me to get ahead.

So. . . . this months challenge is clocks. . . . clocks = TIME.....and for me it is very much a TIME for change.

So this card is representing a journey - my journey of feeling very low about a job I used to absolutely love - resigning and starting a new job - starting on the 1st June at 9am to be precise, and moving from London to Peterborough - quite a thing for someone who has lived all their life in one borough!!

So what better way of representing this, than in a card!.

I combined the Clarity Bicycle Stamp with the small watch stamp - which by chance shows a minute to 9!!( The time I have to report at my new office)!  The jaunty angle upwards represents my upward journey to my new job - I drew on a flag leaning backwards to give the impression of motion and coloured it in red - my favourite colour - the wheels (clocks) I shaded and put glossy accents on. Next I made a swirly background using the shaving foam method and delusions (the swirls representing my state of mind over recent months) - and lastly I stamped out the sentiment of 'Time for a change' in red on more shaving foam backgrounds and just for a change for me instead of using the square boxes I used the hexagon ones! Mounted them all on foam sticky pads.
Lastly instead of a straight edge on the background I used some deckle edged scissors - even more of a change!!

So ..... lots of So's here!!! - I hope you like it and my story behind the card.

Thanks for stopping by

Much Love
Kim x

A weekend away at Thetford Forest in Norfolk - here for the weekend to get away from packing boxes and the general stresses of our on-going house move that has ground to a bit of a halt!

So time to chill in the hot tub - Harry joined us too in his little boat! Think I might just want to stay here until the house move finally happens!!

April Challenge....... WEE FOLK

So here is my entry for this months Clarity Stamp Challenge... Wee Folk

 

My inspiration for this card came from the latest Robinsons fruit juice advert in which we see a young family in their garden with their young son who rapidly grows in to a young boy, a long haired teenager, and young man and his girlfriend who becomes his wife, they then have a baby and ends with the first couple still drinking their Robinson juice in their latter years. I love the advert and think it's cleverly put together and when looking at the wee folk stamps I felt I could put my spin on it!

 

So I started with cutting four three inch squares on to which I started to stamp my little story.... So top left we see the couple in love in the park under the moonlight, top right we see the couple a few years down the line in the same park with two children and a dog, I inked up the child twice to give me the second child, walking in the moonlight.

Then on to bottom left where the children are growing up and having fun in the park on the swing and tyre. I used the large naked tree to make the branches in the foreground. Finally bottom right we return to our same couple sat on a park bench in the park in the moonlight

 

I mounted the four scenes on to black card which I had scored in to four blocks and put some glamour dust here and there. Finally, using the newest alphabet set I stamped out the sentiment TOGETHER FOREVER.... ....

 

I hope you like my card and thank you for stopping by!

 

Love Kimxx

 

Posted with Blogsy

Clarity Challenge...Anything But A Card

Well its been a little while since I entered and have made this one on the last day!
Anything But A Card - well that took some thinking and searching and eventually came up with this little project - up cycling a jam jar in to a tea light holder and decorating it with the Wee Fairy Folk - finished off with jute twine which I plaited for a handle and then attached with more twine around the neck of the jar.
The tricky bit was stamping the images on to glass and embossing them - first go was no go - so went back to a Barbara Gray tried and trusted method of dusting with talc first - versamark and then fine detail black embossing powder. As the jar was hexagon shaped I had a steady surface but did find the jar got very hot so it was slow progress around each side!

Hope you like it!