Kool Kitty Musings

The new toys...

There's nothing like using all your new stash in one project and revitalising the sadly lacking creative mojo! LOL

I had the perfect excuse to crack it open with this week's dare for the DCM blog - Keilly has set us the challenge to make a card featuring fabric.

Well, this is what I came up with - see if you can spot what new stuff I've used! :P

Paper: Pink Paislee
Die-cut accents: Pink Paislee
Stamps: Just Rite
Heart crystal: Prima
Pearls: Kaisercraft
Dies: Spellbinders, Cheery Lynn, MFT
Ribbon and twine: The Ribbon Girl
Rose: Wild Orchid Crafts
Other: Felt, sewing machine, distress inks, Glossy Accents

So the "new items" tally was quite high: the Pink Paislee papers and accents, the doily and pinking dies, the Keep Calm stamps, the pink felt, the heart crystal, oh and that fab wide ribbon from The Ribbon Girl - perfect for vintage projects and BIG bows. :D

Hope you have a creative weekend, I am hoping the sun continues shining so I can actually enjoy it!

52 Cards challenge - Week 13

Morning everyone!

I hope you are getting used to the start of British Summer Time, afraid it's going to take a bit of adjusting for me. ;)

Anyway, this week's challenge is to feature either lace or doilies on your card, or both. :D

Any type of lace will do: lace trim, lace tape, lace paper, doilies in paper form, die-cut form, or printed form... the possibilities are endless. :D

For mine I went with some paper that features lace doilies.

Paper: MME, Crate Paper
Stamp: Waltzing Mouse Stamps
Dies: MFT, Magnolia
Twill: The Ribbon Girl
Other: Distress Stickles

I seriously love this twill ribbon, I have quite a few of the colours to hand as it is a lovely finishing touch to projects. In fact I have a dedicated jar for this Twill ribbon on my shelf. hehe

Happy creating!

A few new goodies

From the NEC today, I managed to snag some Pink Paislee papers (split with Gill <g>) and ephemera that I'd been hoping to see, plus a couple of dies (rolled flower and another doily die), some lovely Prima heart crystals, some heart doilies, and hurrah some soft pastel grey, pink, and peach felt. :D I was getting very worried that I'd not seen any proper felt until near the end of our tour rounding the sewing and stitching show.

Alas didn't see any real variety of Hero Arts stamps, had been hoping to pick up some Cling backgrounds but there were hardly any HA stamps to see. Lots and lots of Spellbinders, but not the set I of pinking circles I was after (have managed to order some online ce soir) and dies galore - even some nice MFT dies.

Didn't break the bank which is good news, and we had a lovely day out. Just need to recover from the 5 a.m. (BST) start. ;o)

In need of an early night...

Since it's off to the NEC we go tomorrow for a day of (hopefully) fruitful shopping.

And I need to be up at something like 5 a.m. and the clocks go forward tonight so... yes. I shall be a pretty sight in the morning.

But today I have managed to catch up on a few projects and before the sun came out I watched the first season of Burn Notice almost back to back. I seem to be in a box-set mood at the moment. The next disc of Game of Thrones has arrived but I cannot face it tonight as I need something to send me off to sleep. ;o)

But anyway, here's a pic if the latest Easter card in the production line.

Paper: Crate Paper
Stamps: My Cute Stamps, PTI
Ribbon: The Ribbon Girl
Pearls: Kaisercraft
Other: Stickles, sewing machine, 3D foam

The stamped background on the label was made using this little stamp set:

I also finished off the latest Katie Fforde book the other day.

Well, I liked it - but didn't love it. It was all a bit predictable but a decent read nonetheless.

So that's another book down on my spring chick lit pile.

Right, best get myself sorted for tomorrow and get that very early night! ;)

Thinking out of the box

Or maybe inside the box... because this week's dare on the DCM blog that Fran has set is to create a card featuring a box... oooh it was quite tricky and I wanted to come up with something more imaginative than my first thought - a gift box - but well, I'm just not that clever...

So a gift box it is!

Papers and stickers: Happy Day collection by Simple Stories
Other: Sewing machine, 3D foam

When faced with collection packs I always struggle to mix and match the items with products from other lines... but the items in this Simple Stories collection coordinate so well with each other it was a pointless task! LOL

I did love the balloon stickers and love how they pop out with a bit of 3D foam behind them.

Keep calm and...

Crack open the new stamps!

My lovely set of stamps by JustRite (designed to fit inside co-ordinating Spellbinders dies - which I don't yet own) arrived today beautifully wrapped up from Creative Craft World.

Something tells me I shall have to get using them for any crafty projects this weekend. ;o)

LoveFilm has kindly sent me disc 1 of...

Now, will I manage to get some crafting done while watching it this evening... or not?

I also have another movie to watch once I finish catching up with the last episode in my Spooks re-run marathon (Season 5 to be precise, watched Season 6 last week and Season 5 became available right after, typically). ;)

This and that

Just a couple of pics to share this evening.

I made a simple card at the weekend that was still in line with pastel colours of the card I posted yesterday:

Paper: Echo Park, American Crafts, MME
Stamps: MFT, PTI
Dies: MFT, Sizzix
Button: Basic Grey
Other: Twine

I know... that typewriter set does get used a lot, but just goes to show it was such a good investment! hehe

This weekend I got back into some baking for Mother's Day, and made a batch of key lime butterfly cakes:

I added a few handfuls of heart-shaped sprinkles into the batter before baking. Next time I will definitely make half the quantity of buttercream, sorry Mary Berry, but there was a heck of a lot of buttercream for 12 cakes!

Also, I definitely need an oven thermometer if anyone has any good recommendations. They reviews are inconclusive on amazon and I definitely want one that isn't going to stop working after a few uses.

This evening I polished off my current read:

Fantastic!

I need some more horsey chicklit recommendations along the lines of French Relations, Well Groomed and Kiss and Tell by Fiona Walker. So please feel free to supply me with a list of books to try! ;)

52 Cards challenge - Week 12

Morning everyone!

I hope you all had a lovely weekend.

Well, since Mother's Day has just been and gone in the UK, I thought it was a good time to start thinking towards Easter and Spring-themed cards so I bet you can guess what this week's prompt will be.

Oh yes indeed, I want to see you making a card to celebrate Easter or Spring.

If these aren't the type of cards you usually make or send, then no problem, take inspiration from this prompt by using pastel colours, yellows, spring blossoms and blooms, cute bunnies or well... chocolate at a push!

There are lots of things to inspire. Like some of these pins:

Source: decor8blog.com via Sheena on Pinterest

 

Source: etsy.com via Shannon on Pinterest

Source: hostessblog.com via Megan on Pinterest

Source: thedecoratedcookie.com via Noelle on Pinterest

 

As for my card, this is what I made:

Paper: MME
Sticker: MME
Stamp: WMS
Dies: MFT, Sizzix, PTI
Rose: Wild Orchid Crafts
Pearls: Kaisercraft
Other: Crackle Accents, 3D foam

I just love this combination of colours together, and it was an excuse to use one of my new Waltzing Mouse greetings stamps.

Plus I used up the companion sticker to the one I used on a card I made that features in the current issue of Papercraft Inspirations (#98) as part of the Beautiful Blogs article. It was lovely to see it in print alongside all those gorgeous card projects. :D

Happy creating!

Green for luck

With St. Patrick's day just around the corner, Samm has set us a well-timed dare this week on the DCM blog.

She wants to see you make a card featuring green and luck in some way.

Green isn't really one of my staple colours in cardmaking, but there is one particular design of patterned paper by KI Memories that I always reach for (and am glad I stocked up on with extra sheets for this reason!). So of course it is the design I went for yet again for this challenge. :)

Paper: KI Memories
Stamps: PTI, WMS
Dies: PTI, Cuttlebug
Ribbon: The Ribbon Girl
Resin flower: 3DJean
Other: Crackle glaze, paper flower, 3D foam

I love how the crackle glaze has dried on the butterfly die cut, will definitely have to use that crackle glaze on more projects in future. :)

Don't forget to check out the parade of green creations from the design team on the DCM blog today!

Happy creating. :)

So you may have seen it in the newspapers and on Daybreak this morning

But I have been lucky enough to see it in real life.

What am I talking about?

Well, the wonderful Olympic-themed yarn bombing that magically appeared last week along Saltburn pier.

I already posted pics to Facebook but a few folks asked to see them so here they are again. :D

We had glorious weather for our little Saturday outing, felt almost like summer except for the cold wind! LOL Ah, but this is the north east and we are tough ol' birds up here. hehe

Anyway, here are some of my favourite scenes:

The olympic rings.

"The Human Race" complete with knitting needle to hold up the banner. :D

A paralympic athlete.

The synchro team which I just loved!

Mr Pommel Horse

Love those swimming trunks!

Not sure if these are divers or water polo peeps, but great legs! hehe

Love the weightlifter and the detail on those trainers.

Miss Beach Volleyball is looking very energetic.

I had two partners in crime on our little outing:

Can't beat a trip to the seaside and of course fish and chips and a Beckleberry's bubblegum ice cream, the best bubblegum ice cream I've had in a long time. Apparently sold by the tub in the MetroCentre, will have to take a freezer bag with me next time! hehe

52 Cards challenge - Week 11

Morning everyone! Hope you had a lovely sunny weekend. :D

This week's inspiration comes courtesy of the prompt jar.

We have three elements to work with:

Here's what I came up with:

Paper: MME
Dies: MFT, PTI
Stamps: My Cute Stamps, MFT
Seam binding: The Ribbon Reel
Flowers: Prima
Resin flower: 3Djean
Pearls: Kaiser craft
Other: Distress Stickles, 3D foam, sewing machine

It was nice to play with my new MME papers for this challenge. :D

Hope you have fun joining in!

A tessellating time

It's Friday again (one of the nicest days of the week) which means there's a brand new dare on the Daring Cardmakers blog!

This week Leo has set us a fab challenge, and that is to make a card with a tessellation pattern - I bet you're rushing to google what that means! ;o)

Well it's nothing more complex than a kind of tiled pattern.

I went for a quatrefoil pattern for mine:

Paper: MME
Stamps: Waltzing Mouse Stamps, PTI
Dies: PTI
Felt: PTI
Punch: Martha Stewart
Other: button, twine

It's difficult to make out, but I stamped the coordinating leaf stamp on the die-cut leaf in a subtle shade of ink. I am loving the Compact Sentiments stamps from Waltzing Mouse Stamps, you'll definitely see them on quite a few projects to come!

Hope you have fun choosing your patterns, happy crafting! :D

New toys!

Well... stash really.

The other week I ordered a few new things to play with.

The new MME Howdy Doody pad, which I've already used:

Some Amy Tangerine stash from American Crafts to feed my chevron needs:

This one is a fabric paper so will get used sparingly!

And a more neutral one.

Some papers from MME's Follow your heart line, but managed to forget to add the grey striped one to my cart, dur, only the one I really, really wanted! lol

Although I didn't get any of the patterned papers from the Echo Park This and That line, I did get the solids that go with it:

And at long last I have a sheet of this:

Just to use it now! :D

However I have some new stamps to get inking up, I just love them. One is from the newest WMS release:

The Compact Sentiments set which will work very nicely with any label dies I have - love that font!

And the Say It Loud set that should cover me for a good few occasions. I am liking striking greetings at the moment.

I'm still looking forward to Crate Paper and Basic Grey stash coming to UK shores... beyond that we shall see. ;)

52 Cards challenge - Week 10

This week's prompt hasn't really been set by me... in fact I had a very special request from my mum and since it was such a challenge I thought it would make a perfect prompt for this week. :oD

Basically I needed to make a flat card to post overseas as any cards I've made in the past for this very special recipient have always gone missing and we think it's because they aren't flat enough. :o(

So your challenge is to make a flat card - you can't use 3D foam tape or tabs, dimensional accents, lumpy and bumpy bits - nope.... just plain old paper and card and any flat embellishments of your choice! :oD

Here's hoping this one finally makes it through - it's a birthday card for my grandma in Poland. :o)

Paper: MME
Dies: PTI, Sizzix, MFT, Spellbinders
Stamps: PTI

I also thought I'd get using my new Howdy Doody 6x6 pad to make this card, the colours are just lovely for spring birthdays - plus I am still very much in love with anything with a pinking edge.

What a difference a day makes

Yesterday after some rain in the morning things turned decidedly brighter:

They also involved a good few steps - and a certain two little girls and one very excited Jack Russell who made it to the top in very short order!

But the climb was well worth it - I even wished I'd brought my shades it was so sunny.

We had a lovely afternoon stroll round the park and then home for tea and an evening in with:

In complete contrast I have been having a rather lazy day today since the weather has been really yucky - snow after rain and it has been pretty cold. So I managed to get one of the books due back at the library read from cover to cover and also finally got my defrosted Quorn mince into a lasagne for tea. :)

Anyway, I think a soak in the bath is imminent and then I look forward to enjoying Homeland tonight. I also see that Ingolrious Basterds is on right after so not a bad TV night. :)

Think I shall put my new Emeli Sandé album on while I enjoy my soak:

Then it's back to the grind tomorrow - ah Monday's don't you love 'em?

Spring is in the air...

Over on the DCM blog this week.

Can I first just take a moment to say how very nice it is to finally see daylight on my drive to and from work. Oh I am soooo glad that the dark winter days are almost behind us! And soon we will be enjoying those long summer evenings. My favourite!

Anyway, before all that can happen we need to glory in the arrival of Spring. And what better way to do this in a crafty way, than with a spring colour challenge.

This week it's Kathy's pic and she chose this lovely chic duck egg, soft lemon yellow and mocha combo:

Here's what I came up with using some rather vintage paper stash. ;)

Paper: Crate Paper
Stamps: The Stamp Man, PTI
Dies: MFT, PTI
Seam binding: The Ribbon Girl
Buttons: PTI
Felt: PTI
Other: Glassine envelope, Liquid Pearls, embroidery thread

I put my pinking die to great use on this card, can't seem to get enough of pinked edges at the moment, I even chopped off the top of the glassine envelope using that die.

I hope you have a sunny weekend! :D