ATC365 #29 SEAHORSE

I'm late today I know but I have been VERY busy with DT work this morning! Can't wait to show you what I have been up to! It won't be long before I can tell you all about the new Visible Image stamps being launched soon. If you go to their Facebook Group you can get some sneaky peeks! 

Today I have used a bit of card left over from a Christmas card I made for my DT. I think you have seen something made with this already. Anyway, I have used a lovely image of a seahorse from a design by Sheena Douglass. I did a lot of DT samples for her during my time in the group. These sealife and seascape stamps were one of my favourite releases.

Once again I have stamped and embossed with black and coloured parts of the seahorse further with Brushos. Added highlights with a white pen really make the image come to life.

Right, I must get back to my 'day job' and I hope to see you tomorrow for another ATC365.

Happy Days! Kim x

My Christmas Card Production Line

I know, I know! I said I would tell you all about my Christmas cards a few days ago but that bloomin' REALITY got in the way again and I didn't get the chance.

In my best Noddy Holder voice (for those that haven't got a clue who I am talking about you had better Google him!) 

IT'S CHRISTMAS!!!

I doubt that you haven't heard him shouting this out a few times already as it is a classic Christmas song and my local supermarket have had this song, along with some other classics like Wizzard - 'I wish it could be Christmas Every Day' on a loop since mid October!!! The poor staff must be pretty sick of hearing it over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over............

Sorry, drifted off there! Where was I? Oh yes, my 2013 Christmas Card Collection.

This year I needed to make several sets of cards, mostly because I had a hundred and one ideas and I couldn't decide which one to plump for.  Also with my DT work (which I love, don't get me wrong) I was missing the production line style of card making. I actually really like getting a commission for wedding invitations etc because it satisfies me greatly seeing the piles of similar cards being adorned stage by stage.

And so my journey begins.  I needed to make some special cards for my work colleagues as this is quite likely to be our last Christmas together. Each year I say I am going to make my own cards for them and then time gets the better of me and I end up giving them (sit down or at least hold on to something firmly, you will be shocked by this!) S H O P   B O U G H T cards. I know, pretty poor really given that I could supply a small village with handmade cards for the entire year with the amount of 'stuff' I have!

So here is the Work Colleague set. 

These are little 4"x4" cards made using the Sheena Douglass stamps Heart Felt Wishes. I have always fancied making something in the American Home Spun style and these stamps were ideal for this. I used some little buttons and H₂O paints on the little gingerbread shapes which were stamped with white embossing powder - it brings out the blanket stitch design a treat.

Then there is the Family set. 

I have made special BIG cards for my nearest and dearest, but these little 4x4 cards are for those relatives and close friends that I post to. A little tip for you, if you are worried about posting these little cards in their original 4x4 envelopes for fear of them getting lost in the machinery, then do what I do and keep them open and pop them into a standard DL envelope. Bonus is you get to keep the wee envelopes for another project!!! These are also made using the Heart Felt Wishes stamps by Sheena. This time they have been combined with some heavy white embossing on the body of the card and some Tim Holtz distressing around the edges. Can't put my finger on the maker of these 2 background stamps, but I only bought them recently so I will still have the details somewhere in my email inbox. 

And then there is the Neighbour set.  Now, I was being a little bit experimental with these as they are not a classic card as you will see. They are in fact Postcards. I had a load of brown card strips, right width but about 3 foot long! from a long time ago which I picked up in my local scrap store. May have mentioned this to you before, but basically it is a resource centre for factory/office 'waste'. Not as grim as it sounds as the products are all checked and verified safe for use. Anyway, I had a lot of it and needed to make use of it.

The front of the postcard has a 'nod' to Sheena on it. The foliage of the hanging holly decoration is from the newly launched Underwater Angels stamp plate. I stamped it in Tim Holtz Weathered Wood ink and then using a small holly and berries stamp (sorry, no idea where from!) I stamped in red ink to give this hanging bunch image. Some faux stitching around the edges with a fab stamp from Inky Doodles, a sentiment and then on the back I used some Clarity Stamps from the Mail Art theme to give that authentic postcard look. Oh yes and a little bit of clear glaze on the berries to make them 'pop'.

Finally, there is the Inkoid set. This special group of people will be receiving their cards in the next few days (postman willing!). They are a group of people, some of whom I only know 'electronically', in 2D so to speak, through our craft work, but all of whom I admire very much. I haven't uploaded a picture of these cards yet as I don't want to spoil the surprise!!

I hope that you like my Christmas 2013 cards? I hope that you have all yours ready to go? 

I plan to do a 'How 2' on the Inkoid card design in the next few days so come back soon to see if I have done it!!

Phew! I need a cuppa and a sit down in a comfy chair after that blog! 

Hope you have a great weekend. I am off to work for the next 4 days so I never get excited about it being Friday! But please, you enjoy it!!  XX

....and we have Lift Off! (Well nearly!)

So it is only minutes to go before the lovely Sheena takes to our screens once more with a NEW set of stamps in the Coastal range.

Here are some more of my show samples, it was a blast making them. Wor Sheena does give us some brilliant products to work with so I suppose it isn't that difficult to create great projects like these.

Here they are then, I will be sitting with my feet on the coffee table, hot drink in hand - hasn't it turned cold?

Create and Craft TV Sky channel 671 is your destination, 10am and 4pm (stock willing!)

Kim xxx

Sneaky Peek #4 - Sheena Douglass - New Stamps

First thing I had to do was decide which of my samples I was going to show you today, that took longer than I expected because I want to show you so many but as it is only 24 hours away from 'Show Time' you wont have to wait long to see all the wonderful samples me and my fellow Inkoids have made for this launch. Details of the show times are 10am and 4pm on Create and Craft TV, which is channel 671 on SKY. Check HERE for other providers.

The sample for today is quite a contrast to the previous two I have shown you. I think this colour scheme is perfect for that sun bleached, salt washed, weathered look. Might have said that before in my first Sneaky Peek, but it is true!!

I was initially worried that the images were going to be too different in size for this to work in the layout I had planned but I was pleasantly surprised to find that the angelfish, starfish and the seahorse were pretty identical in height and that the starfish and seahorse were good width wise also. It made the layout so easy and I think the final card has a pleasing look to it with just the right amount of 'white space' on the 3 images.

I mentioned in a previous blog that while waiting for the stamps to arrive I had created some backgrounds in the hope of getting ahead. This is another one of those backgrounds. I wanted to go for the ditsy-print background, and so I used the little shell stamps from the previous launch. I stamped then swept over the whole thing with water to try and get a soft, water colour, run ever so slightly look to the background. It worked just enough to fuzz the edges of the images up a little and I used this same technique on the main images. Once the outlines had dried on the main images I added more colour by taking ink direct from the ink pad with a brush. 

My Ingredients are

• Tim Holtz Distress ink - Weathered Wood
• Cream water colour card
• Navy card
• Strip of corrugated paper
• Sentiment from Ancient Arches - available HERE
• And my mystery ingredient, that stringy, woven material. If you can guess EXACTLY what it is then I will award you a gold star!!

Have a great day, and don't forget to settle down with your cuppa and, yes, go on, put your feet on that coffee table, relax and watch Sheena weave her magic.

Kim xx

SNEAKY PEEK #3 - NEW SHEENA DOUGLASS STAMPS

Day 3, you know the score, Sheena Douglass NEW STAMPS being launched this Friday on Create and Craft TV at 10am and 4pm. 

While I was waiting for the products to arrive that I was to be working with I wasted no time in getting some background work done, literally!

I knew that Sheena was asking for samples made using the recently launched Luminarte Silks and so I set about making some backgrounds ready to use with the new stamps. As we had already been told the theme was to be 'Under the Sea' I got out the shells from the 'Little bit Scenic - Sea Shells' plate available HERE. One of my other hobbies is patchwork quilting and I have always admired the scallop design and this inspired me to create this background. It involved a lot of masking and careful placement but the pleasure came from the painting! When the new stamps arrived my first 'getting to know you' stampings used the very clever shadow stamps. These are a solid stamp in the same shape as one of the detailed stamps. These angels are not the only ones that come as pair so look out for the others! These shadow stamps are brilliant for lots of different techniques but I simply used them to stamp a row of green angels which I then over stamped with the detailed angel stamp. I added the bubbles, which are also in the new sets, and then mounted the row onto the background. Of course I didn't waste the bit that went under the strip of fish! I cut it so that there was just enough to go under the fish! Who knows it is not all the way under right?

My ingredients list is

• Silks set #1 - Bolivian Blue, Key Lime + Olive Vine
• Black Archival ink

Well, there it is, sample #3. Hope you like it?     Kim xx

Sneaky Peek #2 - Sheena Douglass - NEW STAMPS

As promised here is the second of my Sneaky Peaks showcasing the next Sheena Douglass stamp launch this coming Friday. The shows on Create & Craft TV are at 10:00am and 4:00pm so don't forget to tune in, you know how popular the 'Sheena Shows' are! 

This card features another one of the lovely new stamps, an angel fish. I have used a classic combination of black and orange. This has kept the fish pretty realistic in colour. I have also used one of the coral stamps in a repetitive way to provide a decorative strip across the card. The background for the fish is actually one of those happy accidents. I was painting another sample with the Luminarte Silks; Set 4 with the hot colours Spiced Tomato, Pomegranate and Ginger Peach, using an acrylic block as a pallet. Now that I use the brilliant Rock-a-Blocks to mount my rubber stamps on means I have a fair few acrylic blocks spare!! Anyway, there was a bit of paint left on the block so I sprayed it to prevent the paint from drying out as I knew I wouldn't be going near the sink for a while. I turned it over onto a piece of card to blot some of the paint off and left it there momentarily while I washed the brush. When I lifted the acrylic block off there was this lovely pattern. Waste not want not! Probably wont get another like it if I did it deliberately. I had another accident when trying to draw a straight line around the card, but recovered from it by using the 'meant it to be wobbly' technique! 

My ingredients for this card were 

• Black Archival for the coral
• Black embossing powder for the fish
• Orange, black and white card
• Orange corrugated strip
• Black gems
• My accidental background!!
• Black pen

Well, there we are, come back again for another peek tomorrow, and don't forget to check out the other Inkoid samples via the links HERE.

By the way I managed to make a fair few Christmas cards today. Will show you them tomorrow.

Take care! 

Kim x

Been Quiet but with Good Reason - Sheena Douglass - NEW STAMPS

It is that time of year when all us crafters wish we had stuck to our promise of making our Christmas cards and gifts early!  I am only just getting started with my Christmas shopping so I don't hold out much hope for every single person on my card list getting a hand made card this year. Much the same as last year then!

Anyway, the reason I have come here today is to tell you all about the latest stamp launch from the wonderful Sheena Douglass. There are 2 new plates which work alongside the recent coastal theme. This time Sheena has gone 'Underwater'.

I was given them to play with sorry WORK with a few days ago. Yeah, I know it is a terrible job but somebody has to do it! Sheena has once again come up trumps with these designs. You are going to LOVE them! They also have a very clever element to them but I will keep that to myself for the moment, don't want to give everything away on day one!

Right, here is my first sample, a fancy little number featuring the lovely seahorse stamp and the long awaited Kraft card. I love the combination of the navy + white with the brown of the Kraft card. What do you think?  

Sheena will be demonstrating these new stamps on Create & Craft TV this coming Friday, the 13th. Show times are still to be released but come back here to check as I will update you all as soon as I hear. I will also be letting you know more about the products on the show over the next few days.

The ingredients for my card are

• The NEW Sheena stamps
• Sentiment from Ancient Arches (available HERE) 
• Tim Holtz distress ink pads in Weathered Wood and Chipped Sapphire 
• White embossing powder
• Luminarte Silks ICE glaze
• Kraft card
• Navy card
• 3D gel glue

So there we have it, Sneaky Peek number one. Don't forget to see what the other Inkoids have been creating by going to their blogs, the links are all HERE.

I need to crack on with my Christmas cards now, so I will see you tomorrow with another Peek. Have a great day!

Kim xx

Sheena Douglass - Back in the Room

Hello Readers! Once again the amazing Sheena Douglass is on our TV screens demonstrating her little socks off. Tune in at 11:00 and 18:00 to see her on Create and Craft TV, Sky 671. There are some NEW products on these shows. Sadly not new stamps this time but some essential (hint hint) new H₂O paints and a popular type of crafting card (may have got my spelling a little wrong with that one!) 'The clues are there!' Of course you will be able to buy the featured stamps to add to your collection if you don't already have them!

With the launch in mind I was tasked with making a few samples for the show, which was harder than you might think for me this time. I had originally said that I was too busy to help what with it being Birthday week for several family members, but then I got itchy fingers and made some anyway!! It was a quick turn around, but that is what made it exciting. It was lucky for me that Sheena was doing a workshop locally so I was able to hand them over in person saving the postman the trouble of lugging the haul up to Douglass Towers!

Better show you a few of the cards I made then I suppose, it is very easy for me to get carried away with the back story and completely forget why I am here!!

This first one features stamps from the 'Happiness' plate, the extremely versatile crackle from the Ageing Beautifully plate, Wine + Roses H₂O, a little Tim Holtz distressing ink Antique Linen if I remember correctly, and a touch of Gilding Wax. I painted the dove (Hobbycraft, fabric covered wood) with the H₂O and gilded the edges. I 'pulled' some of the colour off the card in the area of the window to make it lighter simply by wetting and blotting the paint. This has the effect of bleaching without the smelliness! For the glass in the window I simply sanded a bit of thick acetate (probably cut from packaging - never waste a thing!) to give the look of aged glass.

This next one uses some of the new Silks paint, in my favourite colour Bolivian Blue teamed with the luscious Olive Vine. I painted a border using the Olive Vine on the black base card making sure it was just slightly bigger than the next layer which was the same type of black card stamped with the Bolivian Blue using the linen stamp from the Ageing Beautifully plate. I love the way the Silks work as a stamping medium. I then took the Destinations stamp and stamped onto some Neenah card using black StazOn and water coloured the elements with H₂Os in the same colours as the Silks. A bit of fussy cutting held on with silicone glue and there we have it. The shimmer of the Silks and thes is lovely. 

Then just because I had the idea in my head I simply had to do a mono-chromatic card. I wanted to do a black and white water colour thing, sticking to just the black, but something made me add the Sunflower H₂O coloured bits to the street lamp and windows! I used the linen stamp again to make the background and added some lovely yellow ribbon. The sentiment from the same plate was added using Silicone Gel glue.

All in all a varied selection of cards. I hope you enjoy watching the shows tomorrow. I know I will be sitting comfortably with my cuppa, feet up and 'phone off the hook!

If you have any questions for me or Sheena feel free to get in touch. 

Cheery bye for now! Kim xx

LAVINIA CHALLENGE - #9 - BRIGHT HOT COLOURS

Ok, just scraping in by the skin of my teeth! What does that mean anyway? I feel the need to do some 'Google-ing' now!!

This month (and for the next few days only!) on the Lavinia Challenge blog the theme is Bright Hot Colours. Bit of luck really as I have a fan-tab-u-lous new set of paints from LuminArte called SILKS. They have been available in the States for some time now but thanks to me being an Inkoid I was lucky enough to get my inky mits on some purely for research purposes prior to their official launch recently. Hah! Who am I kidding? I played like a child with these paints, they are wonderful!! Sploshing the wonderfully named Spicy Tomato all over the place and getting Ginger Peach under my fingernails!!

I also recently won a Lavinia challenge and the prize for this was a free shopping voucher to spend within the Lavinia Shop. As I didn't own any Faerie stamps I used this opportunity to get some and I felt it appropriate to use one of my new stamps in the challenge for this month. 

So here we have it, all bright and hot. Why not pop over to the Challenge blog and check out all the lovely DT examples and the entries?  If you have any Lavinia stamps then have a go yourself.

Need to dash, 'you-know-what' is nearly upon us and I need to make some appropriate cards for the occasion.

Take care! Kim x

TWINCHIE CHALLENGE #9 - SILHOUETTES

Morning! Well, actually it is no longer Morning, but I did start this challenge in the morning so that is why I said 'Morining!'

We have a new theme for the Twinchies Challenge blog this time of SILHOUETTES. Now I am not one to miss a challenge on the Twinchies blog but I have been, and continue to be, VERY busy at the moment. Not just in the crafty world but also at home. 

This is therefore a flying visit and a very 'bland' Twinchie from me this time. No fancy 3D stuff, I simply have not had the time.

The background is painted with those lovely NEW Luminarte Silk paints that Sheena Douglass launched the other week on Create and Craft TV. Me being a frugal crafter (do you know a crafter that isn't that way inclined?) I 'painted' my brush clean on a scrap of card before rinsing it in water. Now that is tight I know but why make your water a nasty muddy colour and pour it down the drain when you can make a plain piece of white card all beautiful? 

Here we are then, the Silhouette Twinchie. 

I say it every time, but why not have a go yourself? Pop over to the blog and check out all the lovely entries and the DT examples. Be inspired!

Busy, busy, busy, must dash! Take care my Lovelies! Kim xxx

Today is the Day - New Stamp Launch - Sheena Douglass

Hello followers and visitors! You should already know about the launch today of some new, really beautiful stamps from Sheena Douglass on Create and Craft TV at 2pm. 

They are all about the coast. They come in the group 'A Little bit Scenic' and feature a whole plate of stamps of shells. When I received my stamps from Sheena a week ago to create the show samples I was a bit nervous about the timing, I like to 'get to know' my products well before making anything; you know, playing around with their shapes, using different colours, different mediums, different papers, etc. but this time it was quite literally TIME that I didn't have! So I dove (or is it dived?) straight in. 

The time spent cutting the stamps out from the plate was used as thinking time, designing in my head, but the more I cut the more excited I became about getting on with the sample making! These stamps are awesome!!

 'Sheena you've done it again!'

So here is a card that I made using only the stamps from the Shells plate. If I had had the time I would have made a box, a shadow box, rather like a museum tray in black with a different shell in each section, but there was no time, so I made a card representation of this idea. Using black card as the base I stamped each shell, or a group of the smaller ones, onto some grey card in jet black ink. Just look at how crisp these stamps are! I then added a shadow line and some shading to each shell with ProMarker, I think I used Pastel Beige. I am really pleased with the simplicity and 'cleanness' (does that really have 2 'n's!?!) of the finished card.

You know the phrase 'A bad workman always blames his tools'? Well, the exact opposite is true as far as using Sheena Douglass products are concerned. It is because we have such brilliant tools that us Inkoids are able to produce samples of the standard and quality we do. I would like to bring in the phrase 'A good crafter always thanks the tool maker' for without the right tools the job is never going to be right!  'Thank you Sheena!'

So, tune in today at 2pm with your favourite beverage and nibble ready, to watch Sheena weave her magic, pick up a few tips along the way and be inspired!

Happy crafting!  Always pleased to get your feedback.

Kim xx

Time for another Sneaky Peek - New Sheena Stamps!

BREAKING NEWS FRIDAY 2PM 

(That is what happens when you pre-blog!!)

 Firstly, I don't have any news to share yet about ShowTimes but hopefully I will know soon. Keep an eye out for the updated schedule at C&C. I can tell you that it will be a brilliant show. No, I am not able to see into the future, I just know that with these stamps and the LuminArte Silks are going to fly out of the warehouse!! 

Here is my sample for today, it is in complete contrast to the bright shimmering orange card I showed you in my last post, but this just goes to show how versatile the Sheena Douglass products are.

For this card I used Tim Holtz distress inks, Peeled Paint, Dusty Concord and Broken China on some earthy, rustic paper and card. I love using bits of card and paper that I have rescued from packaging and the pale brown card on which I stamped the sentiment and the main shell come from a Volvo car brochure! The back piece is ribbed craft card, probably from Hobbycraft, and the main body of the card is some heavy weight burgundy paper I found in a clearance bin at Paperchase many years ago. I can't resist a bargain especially when it comes to paper!

Taking this range of new Sheena stamps as a whole I am getting a holiday feeling and with that in mind I remembered I had this natty little punch. It is reminiscent of old photo albums. It takes a wee while to get the measurements right but it provides a fantastic way of putting the layers together.

So there it is, sneaky peek number 2. I'm going to hit 'publish' now so you technically got two peeks today. Tomorrow I have a craft room to tidy and I want to get it sorted ready for some Christmas crafting.

Check out the other Inkoid samples on their blogs, link via HERE.

Great that you dropped by, if you have any questions please feel free to ask me. 

Happy crafting! Kim xxx

Oh I do Like to be Beside the Seaside! New Sheena Douglass Stamps.

Yep, Sheena is launching another set of stamps this weekend on Create & Craft TV.  Me and the other Inkoids have been having a fantastic time trialing the stamps and also a wonderful new range of paints from LuminArte. It is a hard life but somebody has to do it!

I will dive straight in and show you one of my samples, it features the new paint and a couple of the images from one of the stamp plates.

I really like the combination of orange and black, always have done. The colour that I have used is Ginger Peach, it is a goldfish orange and it shines so much because of the mica and other minerals in it. The paint can be used on a variety of surfaces and cleans up with soap and water.  I have used one of the embossing folders from the Oriental range to create a watery background to show off these lovely shells.

So what about that shine? Normally when taking a photo I try to avoid the glare from my light but this paint simply won't let that happen! It just shines and shines and shines!! 

As usual Sheena has done a fantastic job drawing these beautiful images and giving us such fabulous stamps to work with. Wait till you see the other coastal related images, they are wonderful, and so versatile!

Pop over to the other Inkoid blogs to see some of their samples, find their links HERE.

Come back soon to see another one of my samples and get more information about show times.

Happy crafting! Kim x

TWINCHIES GALORE! Bling, Animals, Animals with bling - all rolled into one blog post!

So, call me lazy if you like but I wanted to get these beauties in a blog as soon as possible because very soon I shall be working my little fingers to the bone on a new project which will need my full attention and time.

By the way, did you know it is only 51 days give or take a few hours, until Christmas? Check here for current status. You can see now why I shall be busy!!

The challenges in the Twinchie world this time are ANIMALS for the Twinchie Challenge and ANYTHING GOES plus BLING for the Show us your Twinchies.

I started the Bling challenge with a particular stamp in mind, the lovely bee from the Sheena Douglass stamp set Floral Fantasy Violets. It looks like a jewellers plan for a gem encrusted brooch. I wanted to use a combination of colours that I like but haven't used for a while, purple and lime green. 

In the end with this Twinchie I didn't think I had really embraced the bling enough, so I have simply made this for my own library of Twinchies. Mind you, the shine on the black embossing and the reflectivity of the mica in the H₂O paint is quite good.

This led me on to the next version of the bee, this time I went all out with the faux gems! It isn't really my thing to use this many gems on a piece but hey that is what the brief wants so here it is!

Show us your Twinchie - Anything Goes + Bling

I don't have many green or purple gems so I had to use a different colour combo. This time I used gold embossing powder to give the look I described earlier of a real piece of jewellery. (I still prefer the purple/green one!)

And then there is the final Twinchie I made which is for the Animal challenge. I used one of the free Craft Stamper magazine stamps of the boxing hares. Somebody needs to tell me if the Twinchies came first or did the size of their free stamps launch the whole Twinchie thing? I did my usual moon and dimensional thing on this one. It is nice to be able to use up those little scraps of card that have interesting designs and colours on them. I used a little circle punch for the moon. I was amazed to find one that was exactly the right size! I stamped the moon part of the image again onto another part of the paper so that is was a different colour from the background. 

Twinchie Challenge - #8 Go Animal

That is all for today my lovelies! I need to get my work space cleared down for some serious work next week. Don't expect to see me for a while as I will be VERY busy!

Pop along to the Twinchie blogs and see the other wonderful entries and be inspired by the DT samples. Have a go yourself, you will be amazed at how much pleasure you get from making little pieces of art.

Thanks for dropping in, please leave a comment, I love reading them.

Have a great November! Kim xx

SHEENA ON TV MONDAY 28TH OCTOBER

As the title of this blog suggests the lovely Sheena Douglass is back on our screens again this coming Monday! With her batteries recharged after a well deserved holiday Sheena is going to be demonstrating and chatting all the way through the 9am and 2pm shows! I wonder who the presenters are going to be?

What products are going to be on the shows I hear you ask? Well, it features the beautiful Oriental range launched a few weeks ago. You know the one with the fantastic paper pack and the lovely embossing folders? 

If you remember back that far I made a little 'silver' box as a sample for the shows which one of the presenters, Nigel May, enthused over so much I felt I had to make him his very own box. There was a risk of him 'borrowing' the sample! He tells me he keeps his studio ear piece in it! 

My TV sample

The Nigel May Box

Anyway, while Sheena was away (probably enjoying herself far too much!!)  I felt the need to create a card to surprise her with on her return. And here it is....................

It uses my Zig-Zaggy Fold card base and some of the Oriental stamps from the Silhouettes and Sakura plates. The card I used has a sort of elephant skin texture to it, I have had it for ages and as I am trying not to buy any more stuff (like that is going to happen!)  I thought I would use it. You could get a similar effect by using the crackle stamp from the Ageing Beautifully stamp plate. If you stamp and clear emboss it onto the base card the distressing ink you apply around the edges will be resisted and leave fine lines in the colour of your card. I also masked a moon behind the birds on one of the panels. I find that more than one moon on any project, even if it is a patchwork piece like this, tends to 'mess with your mind' a little! 

What I like about the Zig-Zaggy Fold card is not only is it a great way of using up your precious scraps of card/paper, (you know the little bits that we crafters keep 'just in case') it is also a great way of using some of the smaller stamps to create a large card without the end result looking over fussy. Those little borders between the images make it look like a well displayed art gallery.

Well, there we are. What was meant to be a quick blog to tell you about the forthcoming Sheena Show on Create and Craft has turned into a rather long piece! Hope you are still with me on this one?

Tune in to Create and Craft TV  for some great demos, a lot of Sheena chat, and maybe even a few Halloween bargains! 

Have a lovely weekend! Kim xx

PS Comments always welcome! x

HOW 2 - The Foldy-Zig-Zaggy Card

A new venture for me! 

Told you I flit around from one thing to another.

So in an attempt to keep me 'fresh' (or maybe wake me up a bit!) I have decided to do a full-on tutorial for my folded zig-zag card which featured in the recent Sheena Douglass show on Create & Craft and which several of you have asked me about. So here goes!

You will need 2 pieces of card, 1 x A4 and 1 x A5.


1. Starting with the A4 piece of card, cut it down to 25cm. Keeping the card in a landscape orientation and working on the back measure from the left edge 12cm and 24cm. Score down the lines A + B. (fig.1)

fig.1

2. Measure from the left edge 6cm and 18cm, points A + B, and mark lightly with a pencil. Do not score yet. (fig.2)

fig.2

3. Measure from the top down these lines 7cm, points A + B,  and up from the bottom on these line 7cm, points C + D. Measuring from top and bottom like this takes into account any slight differences in width of the original A4 card and ensures the top and the bottom panel are equal in size. Join point A with B, and point C with D. ( fig.3)

fig.3

4. Cut carefully, best to use a craft knife and metal ruler, between A + B and again between C + D. (fig.4)

fig.4

5. Score down the lines marked at 6cm and 18cm but only to the point where the cut starts. Stop the score at points A,B,C + D as in fig.5.  Not scoring all the way down these lines gives a better look to the finished card and also adds strength.

fig.5

6. Start folding the card. Take the centre panel and bring the fold towards you. Push the top and bottom folds backwards. Bring the long panels at either side together. Run a bone folder along all the folds to 'educate' the card to always fold the way it needs to. (fig.6)

fig.6

7. All this has been happening with the back of the card towards you. Now take the card and flip it over so that the extra 1cm is now on the left and pointing backwards. The top and bottom panels are forward and the centre panel is pushed backwards. This gives you a great place to hang something! (fig.7)

fig.7

8. Now, stick the piece of A5 card onto the 1cm strip. (fig.8 + fig.9)

fig.8

9. It is vital to line everything up before sticking down. Obviously any small overhangs can be trimmed along the top and bottom edges.

fig.9

10. Trim away the excess card from the A5 front panel taking care not to cut into the fold of the centre panel. (fig.10)

fig.10

11. And there we have it! A lovely zig-zag card ready to decorate. You could try varying the depth of the top and bottom panels. All this involves is changing the measurements at step 3.

The Completed Card - Naked and needing Decorating!

I hope that you have enjoyed this step-by-step. I have read it through several times and naturally I have been very careful to make it easily understood. I cannot be held responsible for any failed attempts at making this card, but I will make any changes to the method if you find an error and you inform me about it.

I will go now and decorate my own card, the one I photographed in the making of this guide and upload a photo when it is done.

Have fun experimenting with different card types, patterned card, and go to won decorating your project!

Show me your projects by adding a link to your blog in the comments. I would love to see what you have created!

Thanks for being here, your comments are always read and I will get back to you asap if you have any questions.

Kim xxx

Quick Shout Out - Sheena Douglass on TV Again

Hello followers! 

Just a quick heads up to let you know that the amazing Sheena Douglass is on your screens again on Saturday 12th October on Create and Craft  Sky 671, Freeview 36, Freesat 813, Virgin 748, as well as being available on the Internet, and Apps. There really is no excuse for missing these shows. 

Tune in to see some awesome demonstrations and listen to some great chat about crafting but be prepared for some ad hoc humor too!

Sheena will be featuring some great products as always. Look out for one of my favourite stamp plates, 'Sheltering Tree' which I used on one of the cards I made for the 'Little bit Oriental' launch.

Right, must dash, I am 'THIS' close to getting my craft room back in working order and I simply must have a play with a new product that has literally just come through the letter box! 

Don't forget, I am more than happy to answer any questions you may have about my work and I will always pass on any comments or questions you have to Sheena about all things Sheena related!

Laters friends!

Kim xx

FUN WITH ATC - #98 - 3 STAMPS

Hello! My has it been a busy few days. Craft room tidy up nearly at an end, thank goodness! I am starting to get withdrawal symptoms from not actually crafting!

Fun with ATCs has a new challenge today, the theme is 3 Stamps. I did think about being very literal with my choice of stamps by using 3 stamps of stamps but felt that this would be too simple. So I set about looking through my stamp library and got stuck in the section featuring Travel elements (do you think I need a holiday?) 

I wasn't sure what colour inks to use but I knew that I wanted to use some brown card stock. Now that is a laugh because the card I used was rescued from the recycling bin as I couldn't get to my 'card stock' due to the upheaval!! 

Now I may have broken the rule slightly but I actually used 4 different stamps. There are the 3 obvious feature stamps; the ticket, the time table and the stamps, but I also used the corner stamp from Ageing Beautifully by Sheena Douglass to mess up the corners of the base card a bit. Because I had come across a box of hitherto forgotten embellishments I felt duty bound to use them to add more interest. 

And there we have it! An ATC featuring 3 stamps.  Hope you like it? Why not head over to the Fun with ATCs blog and see all the DT samples and the other entries? Why not have a go yourself?

One more day should see the craft room back to full working order. I just hope that I can find everything!!

It would be nice now that you are here to leave me a comment, I love reading them.

Kim xxxx

Twinchies Challenge - Halloween

As we enter October the shops are starting to fill up with plastic skulls, rubber spiders, bright orange pumpkins and witches hats.

Yep, good old Halloween. As a child Halloween was barely mentioned but now it is another one of those 'celebrations' (and I use that word with caution!) where we simply must get into the spirit (hahaha!) of things and adorn our houses and children with ghoulish things. 

I enjoy an excuse for a get-together, especially one that involves a theme. So I will be putting on my wart-riddled rubber nose, popping in my false teeth, and dusting off my broom along with the rest of you. 

With that in mind I simply had to take part in the 'Show us your Twinchies' challenge this week as the theme is, of all things, Halloween. Love the planning there DT. 

I actually don't own any typically Halloween stamps, and so I have created a spooky little Twinchie featuring the bird silhouette from the Sheena Douglass stamp set 'A Little bit Oriental' which was launched last month. It can work in lots of ways. In this Twinchie I see it as a bit Edgar Allan Poe/Raven or even Hitchcock/The Birds so in keeping with the spooky theme. The colours represent pumpkin orange and bobbing apple red with a crisp white moon and black gates. All very much in the right direction I think you will agree.

As always, I welcome your comments. Why not head over to the blog and look at the DT samples and all the other entries as they are uploaded and maybe even have a go yourself!

Kim xx

Heads Up! Sheena is on Create and Craft TV again!

What are you doing at 9am and 4pm tomorrow (Monday 30th)? 

Well I suggest you tune in to Create and Craft TV so you can see the truly wonderful Sheena Douglass doing her thing with paint, rubber stamps, and stuff.

Hit record so you can watch those fab demos over and over again. She will be showing the Little bit Magical stamps. Bonus, it looks like the lovely Nigel May is the presenter! I know where I will be, feet up on the coffee table and I don't care!

Thanks for dropping by! Just a quick blog today, been a busy weekend in our house.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MUM! 

GLAD YOU LIKED YOUR PRESENT. X