Kool Kitty Musings

Belts and Braces dare

Well Friday has rolled around at last and that means we have a new dare over on the Daring Cardmakers blog. :)

It's over to Lythan for a very interesting challenge:

"In the UK it is 31 years today since seat belts were made compulsory and to celebrate I thought it would be nice to belt up on a card as well!"

So I decided it was time to crack out some mega ribbon and finally use one of those posh ribbon buckles I've had for a while waiting for the right project.

Damask flocked paper also got thrown into the mix and then I went all regency with some Jane Austen-inspired silhouette dies from PTI!

Paper: MME, Crate Paper
Stamps: Waltzing Mouse Stamps, PTI
Dies: PTI, MFT
Ribbon: The Ribbon Girl
Buckle: Making Memories
Other: 3D foam

I just love how that My Mind's Eye flocked paper looks against black and white - very classy. :) And I finally managed to stamp that frame onto the die-cut straight. :D Yay!

Do check out the gorgeous cards from the Design Team - there are lots of takes on this dare. :)

WPlus9 Monday mood board #26

I managed to get my card for the current WPlus9 mood board challenge photographed in the last bit of daylight today. :)

Here's the inspiration photo:

I wanted to use my new Valentine Wishes stamps again on something a bit more elaborate - I also used some of the very lovely goodies I received last year in my Easter box from Ang:

Lovely, lovely things in there, including the lace and rose trim I used on my card:

Paper: Basic Grey, Crate Paper
Stamps: WPlus9
Dies: WPlus9, PTI, Cheery Lynn
Other: lace, trim, 3D foam

I'm rather happy with how it turned out, and have to say I love the green of Adirondack Lettuce ink - it goes very nice with Mountain Rose! ;o)

52 Christmas Crackers 2014 - Week 5

Evening!

I'm just popping in while my tea is cooking to share the Christmas card I made for this week's prompt jar prompts of:

• Glitter
• Pale
• Love

And yep, I couldn't help but bring out the WPlus9 Christmas stamps again as I just love using the bough and pine cone 2-step stamps:

Paper: Crate Paper
Stamps: WPlus9, PTI
Dies: PTI, MFT
Other: German glass glitter, 3D foam

I had this snowflake in my arsenal from when I was experimenting with adhesive to apply glitter - in the end it's spray adhesive that seems to work best for me, and it held this white German glass glitter rather well although with it being quite coarse it does shed a bit in places where it was applied thickly. However a very nice snowflake it makes!

Right, I had best go check on how my tea is doing! But I'm hoping to have a crack at the new Monday Mood Board over on the WPlus9 blog later while catching up with BBC iPlayer shows I missed last week.

52 Cards challenge 2014 - Week 5

Morning everyone!

This week it's time to dive into the prompt jar for three random elements to use on our cards. :)

You need to feature the 3 elements on your card in whatever way you can, when it comes to the Christmas cards using prompt jar prompts there may be weeks where some of the elements won't work so well for a festive card - in that case use whichever elements do work as best as you can. :)

So, onto the 3 elements for this week:

• Glitter - hello Stickles and any other glitter items in your stash!
• Pale - nice pale colours, you could go with neutrals, pastel shades...
• Love - anything from a Valentine's theme, love in the greeting, or using hearts, it's all good!

Here's the card I made:

Paper: Pink Paislee
Stamps: WPlus9
Dies: WPlus9, PTI, Spellbinders
Ribbon: The Ribbon Girl
Other: heart punch, Stickles, 3D foam

I love the London Market collection from Pink Paislee, especially the light blue paper with pretty pink roses on it, I wanted to replicate those colours with my lovely new Valentine's Wishes stamps from WPlus9 - I paired the wreath and scripty greeting with a birthday greeting from another WPlus9 set. The little stamped flowers are all finished off with some candy pink Stickles. :)

Looking forward to seeing what you create this week!

Foxy birthday wishes

Just popping in to share one of the cards I made this weekend. It appears that foxes are back on trend, so I thought it would see what I had in my stash - luckily I had some chipboard from Cosmo Cricket that I bought a while ago and hoped would be ok for a more manly birthday card - I know, it's a stretch right!?

Paper: Crate Paper - Party Day 6x6 pad
Chipboard: Cosmo Cricket
Dies: QuicKutz, PTI
Stamp: WPlus9
Other: 3D foam

I really like how the colours turned out - a bit of pop was needed, so that yellow fox was perfect. :)

I must admit to being slightly distracted in the making of this card as I was watching Byzantium on Lovefilm - really enjoyed it.

Then I watched What's Your Number, which was a decent rom com. :)

and now I'm catching up on Hostages on 4od while I get some tasks done on my PC. :)

Best get my jacket potato in the ramoska for tea! Catch you tomorrow morning with the week 5 prompt for the 52 cards challenge! :D

Stripes galore!

This week over on the Daring Cardmakers blog, Zuz has challenged us to feature stripes on our cards.

Now, I was pretty confident I had a lot of striped paper in my stash, but the question was which design(s) to go with!

In the end I looked to my lovely remnants of MME lime twist papers - so wish I had got more of this collection when I had the chance, but never mind, it yielded some nice stripes and coordinating shades! I always think stripes do very well when accompanied by spots so here goes...

Paper: MME
Dies: PTI
Other: Resin flowers, 3D foam

I didn't manage to get a pic of it, but I stamped "Birthday Wishes" inside. :)

Very bright and cheery - much more so than the pic depicts!

Don't forget to check out the various stripy ideas from the design team!

Happy crafting!

Pinterest Thursday!

Evening folks, it's that time again to share some of the delights that got pinned to my Pinterest boards this week. :)

First up something that really made me smile when I saw it:

{Pinterest pin}

This has to be one of the sweetest vintage photos I've seen in a long time, that kid really loves his bear! hehe

{Pinterest pin}

I'm always a fan of postmarks in stamping projects, but I just love this stitched postmark - how neat and tidy is it??

{Pinterest pin}

I think I'll have to get myself one of these Antonious basket inserts from IKEA to store some of my journaling cards and other bits and bobs.

{Pinterest pin}

And finally, this lovely piece of papier-maché art caught my eye - lovely colours and subject and I really like the knitted elements too. :)

52 Christmas Crackers 2014 - Week 4

Just popping in quickly to share my Christmas card for this week's Pinterest inspiration pic:

{Pinterest pin}

So the Christmas inspiration I took from the pic were the doily patterns and the biscuit that looked a bit like a snowflake, the lacy details, the little white dots, the woodgrain pattern, and the leafy accents.

And this is what I created:

Paper: MME
Dies: Marianne, Sizzix
Stamp: PTI
Die-cut strip: Crate Paper
Pearl: Kaisercraft
Other: 3D foam

I quite like how it turned out. :)

In other news I was really glad to hear that Make the Day Special had re-opened after the Christmas break and had stocked up with the latest WPlus9 release, and a few other items. :)

I love the font in the Valentine Wishes set by WPlus9 so had to get those Avery Elle greetings, I hope more greetings in this style will be coming out as they are very nice!

And at last I bought an Easter egg set - hoping to put it to good use this year and in good time!

I also had a bit of an 80s flashback moment the other day when I managed to buy a box of these:

Used to love Nerds until they disappeared from our shores - wouldn't mind some of the sour cherry ones, so will have to look out for them. :)

52 Cards challenge 2014 - Week 4

Morning everyone!

This week's prompt comes in the form of an inspiration photo.

The idea of these photo prompts is to use any aspect of what is depicted in the pic and go with it!

Here's our first inspiration pic this year:

{Pinterest Pin}

Feeling a bit stumped?

When I look at this pic I see a few things I can interpret with my crafting stash:

• The doily
• Lace patterns and details
• Small floral details
• The shape of the biscuits - one is like a flower made up of hearts another a fancy snowflake, another like a paisley element
• The white icing on a krafty brown background
• The woodgrain of the table
• The very delicate piped dots - Liquid Pearls or a white pen?
• The way these biscuits look embroidered - perhaps a sewing or stitching theme
• The look of these biscuits reminds me of traditional hand embroidery designs from Poland and Scandinavia - perhaps a folky theme?

So, all those thought processes went through my mind, and I ended up making this card:

Paper: Crate Paper
Stamps: PTI, My Cute Stamps
Dies: Cheery Lynn, PTI, Sizzix, MFT
Enamel dots: Teresa Collins
Other: Liquid pearls, 3D foam

So my card covers the folky look, features a woodgrain background like the table in the pic, takes inspiration from the colours on the white icing for the floral details, features a heart, has some liquid pearl dots to reflect the piped dots, and has a detailed doily in the background....

I look forward to seeing what you take from this pic and what you end up with. :D

Happy crafting!

Feeling creatively overwhelmed - but why?

Hm, it looks like my annual creative slump has started.

Usually around a month or so into the year I end up feeling unable to come up with anything new and that anything I make just isn't cutting it. Pardon the pun!

It's really daft, but most of all frustrating - especially when I have just put away my lovely crafty items purchased during sales and special offers - and of course a few Christmas presents in there too:

So, I have spent the day trying to come up with something I like and trying to kick start the creative flow again.

I think I need to get back in doing some challenges that aren't for the 52 Cards and perhaps do some evening crafting as well, and not leave it to the weekend.

My first visit for a challenge took me to the current Monday Mood Board (#25) over on the WPlus9 blog.

The inspiration is this photo:

I knew I could go the Fresh Cut Florals route, but I fancied trying to use my lovely Heartfelt Holiday stamps and dies for something non-Christmas related, like a new home card! ;)

Paper: Elle's Studio, MME
Stamps and Dies: WPlus9 - Heartfelt Holiday
Sugardot hearts: Prima
Other: 3D foam

Daylight was fading fast when I took these pics, so the little hearts are a bit more mustardy than in real life, but I liked the block of grey and white stripes in the inspiration pic.

Right, I'd best get the desk tidied - there are scraps everywhere!

DCM dare: What's your tipple?

This week over on the Daring Cardmakers blog Kathy has challenged us to create a card featuring drinks or drinking vessels. Ideally I would have loved to feature those cute milk bottles from WPlus9:

But since I don't have it I wondered what else I could use for my card.

Hot chocolate - or when I'm ill, hot Robinson's apple and blackcurrant from my Starbucks snowflake mug is always a favourite and I had some cute little mugs in another WPlus9 stamp set from Christmas.

So this is what I created:

Paper: Crate Paper - Close Knit
Stamps: WPlus9, PTI
Dies: Spellbinders, WPlus9
Enamel dot: Teresa Collins

I used a selection of papers from my Crate Close Knit 6x6 pad that had that cosy healing vibe and the words on the banner are also from the same Christmas set by WPlus9, just a shame the AND was a bit bigger than the other greetings. I used the square punch technique to make a slightly wonky arrow banner for the PTI stamp at the top and of course 3D foam lifted everything nicely. :)

There are some cracking cards from the design team so do check them out!

Happy weekend crafting!

Pinspiration Thursday!

I thought it would be nice to return to a regular round up of recent pins that have caught my eye. In these dull January days it's always nice to have something cheery to look at right?

So, this week I pinned:

{Pinterest Pin}

I just loved all the subtle yet vibrant colours against the natural linen - the texture from the embroidered ribbon especially is a beautiful contrast against the long stitches and the spindly, feathery branches.

This one has something of a drool factor...

{Pinterest Pin}

In fact, I wouldn't mind a hot chocolate right now after looking at this. Four of my favourite things in one photo: a pretty mug, white chocolate, owls, and hot chocolate! What's not to love?

Next a colour palette that really caught my eye - perhaps worthy of a future colour challenge? ;)

{Pinterest Pin}

I love that grey floor, the beautiful light aqua walls, the gold bed, that sandy old brown bear, and how that popping pink just lifts it all.

And finally, one that made me smile...

{Pinterest Pin}

It looks like this pair are having a right old natter. This photo just reminded me of Ferdinand the duck from Babe, I can even hear his voice quacking away when I look at this photo. hehe

52 Christmas Crackers 2014 - Week 3

So, as you may remember this week on the 52 Cards challenge it's a sketch prompt using this neat little sketch from PTI:

{Pinterest pin}

For my festive card I wanted to try out one of the new shades of Distress Ink I purchased before Christmas - a very nice green, perfect for holly!

Paper: Crate Paper
Stamps: PTI, WPlus9
Dies: PTI
Other: jingle bells, twine, 3D foam

I really have difficulty with combining the PTI greetings in this stamp set so that you can line up Holly with the other text (in grey) - it looks really empty unless you add something to the mix, and I remembered that I had some sprigs of holly and berry stamps in a recent WPlus9 Christmas release. So I added those in after I'd assembled my card (not recommended!) and managed to get an almost clean impression of the holly leaves. I think they are the perfect space filler in case you have this PTI set. ;)

And can I just say Mowed Lawn + Festive Berries = Christmas!

I do wish they were releasing some new Distress Ink colours as I do like using them for normal stamping. Glad to see some mini pads are being released, but unless you can get them individually I'll have to keep expanding my full-size pad collection. ;) But will definitely have to get that mini blending tool for a start...

Going to give it another go...

Sunday night was a bit of a TV fail for me.

I fell asleep whilst trying to watch the last episode of the recent run of Sherlock. And well, I must have been boogie-ing too much Sunday to keep my eyes open...

I don't think I've been paying enough attention when watching this series and the wedding episode was all a bit mish-mashy and jumped about a lot, we'll see if the final episode lives up to all the raving I've heard in TV land. I had to cover my ears and switch channels a few times yesterday as I didn't want any spoilers.

Anyway, I'm going to try and catch up now before the Great British Sports Relief Bake-Off instalment of the evening. :)

52 Cards challenge 2014 - Week 3

Morning!

I hope you enjoyed the colour prompt last week.

This week we're going to be creating a card based on this sketch:

{Pinterest pin}

I'm looking forward to seeing how you interpret this one - you can keep it clean and simple like the image above, or make it more intricate.

Here's my first card of the week:

Paper: Simple Stories
Dimensional sticker: Crate Paper
Stamp: PTI
Enamel dots: Teresa Collins
Other: sewing machine, 3D foam

It was nice to break out these papers from Simple Stories again - they were a great colour compliment to the balloon stickers from Crate Paper. :)

I look forward to seeing how you interpret the sketch! I'll post my Christmas card based on this sketch later in the week.

Happy crafting!

Now that's how to spend the weekend

Doing nice things. :)

I finally cracked open my lovely Origins Christmas present to myself - you know that one I bought while buying presents for someone else...

I just love Night-A-Mins night cream, but tried out the Drink Up intensive overnight mask last night. Fab!

I met Zoe for lunch yesterday followed by a wander round the shops.

Well lunch was fabulous, we had Nachos to start, a couple of Mock-jitos (ginger beer option):

I was weak and had my beloved BBQ pulled pork chimichanga as a main:

Needless to say the stroll round the shops was quite leisurely!

This morning I finished off my current read - The Sum of All Kisses by Julia Quinn whilst still snuggled under the duvet:

Then I added a few finishing touches to my cards for this week and got photographing everything while daylight was around.

Now I'm waiting for my mum and dad as we're off looking at kitchens for ma... I don't think I'll be able to wear my fleece poncho for that, more's the pity - so cold out there! Brrrrr!

First DCM dare of 2014!

Well the Daring Cardmakers are back in 2014!

And it fell to me to choose the colour palette for our first dare of the year.

I went with this lovely pic:

{Original source}

So here's the card I made - I promise you this did not turn out at all how I had in mind:

Paper: Dear Lizzy
Stamps: PTI, WPlus9
Dies: PTI
Impression plate: PTI
Punches: Martha Stewart
Other: 3D foam, pattern wheel

It's difficult to see in the pic, but there is a needle and thread just above the word "May" - think I am going to have to use this set from PTI more but possibly make the impression of the aida pattern less deep. :)

Anyway, hope the birthday girl likes it!

Don't forget to check out the lovely projects from the rest of the design team here.

Happy Friday!

What's been occurring this week?

Well nothing overly thrilling - it is January after all!

Sunday marked the first roast of 2014 - delicious as usual:

It was also time to clear away Christmas....

Monday marked the return to the office and also a stroll around a certain store I am addicted to.

I didn't leave empty-handed, in fact I cleared the shelf of my all time favourite Molton Brown product.

I first received one of these little bottles of "pillow spray" in a Molton Brown Travel set from my brother for Christmas in 2012. It was my favourite travel item of 2013 because just a few sprays on a pillow and I was instantly transported off on a fluffy cloud. It came away on a weekend outing with my friends and was an instant hit. So I have one to give to Clare, one for myself, and one as a birthday present for a certain someone. I really hope she likes it as much as me. I also rediscovered my little bottle of Heavenly Air which is fantastic sprayed in the air just before you get in the bath. Seriously ups that Spa feeling!

That feeling was definitely needed after Monday night's reintroduction of Just Dance! A long relaxing soak was the perfect stress relief.

And of course you can't beat lovely fresh linens and PJs after a long soak.

Finally, I didn't get chance to share this last week, what with the gloomy daylight situation:

My lovely present from Zoe for looking after Lola. Love it! :D

52 Christmas Crackers 2014 - Week 2

I'm just waiting for my jacket potato to finish baking in the oven so thought it was a good time to share my Christmas card for this week.

Here's a reminder of the colours for this week:

And here's my very simple card:

Paper: Pebbles
Dies: WPlus9, PTI, MFT
Stamp: WPlus9
Pearls: Kaisercraft
Other: dimensional paint, 3D foam

I think I managed to cover all the colours, except orange again!

This was my first outing for this lovely stitched holiday dies from WPlus9 that I snagged before Christmas but ran out of time to use. I really like how easily you can build a scene with them. :)

Before you tune in Monday for the next prompt, just a heads up to say the Daring Cardmakers are back in action this Friday with a new colour challenge to kick of 2014! If you're looking for more cardmaking inspiration for the weekend definitely check it out. :)

52 Cards challenge 2014 - Week 2

Morning folks!

Our prompt for week 2 has arrived and this week it's time for a colour challenge.

And here's the palette for this week:

{Pinterest Pin}

With the colour challenges you do not have to emulate the palette 100%, just try to use as many of the colours depicted in whatever shade or tone works for your project.

Here's my card:

Paper: Pebbles
Dies: MFT, PTI
Other: 3D foam

There was no orange in the mix of papers I used, but I didn't think it was needed in this card. The background was busy enough with all those hexagons of paper cut with my trusty MFT dies. There's also a large star aperture in the front with a smaller red star held in place by the greeting so that it pops more. :)

Happy crafting!

Almost back to the everyday :(

Well Monday and the return to real life is just around the corner.

I was lucky enough to be able to work from home Thursday and yesterday, which meant that Lola and I could manage a last walk at lunchtime in the sun and very windy weather.

We had our final wander around the much visited bandstand:

Then wandered down to the lake where the ducks and geese plus a few cormorants were observing our progress around the path.

Alas we had no food for them.

Lola then was reunited Zoe and drove off home. :)

Today I've had a lazy day in fleecy PJs - it included unwrapping this lovely package:

Containing this!

Yep, my album for 2014 - it's official I am trying to hop on the PL-style bandwagon and get more recorded during the year rather than just keep photos on my computer and online.

Looking forward to seeing what photos from January make it in there as I'm hoping to do a monthly style catch-up and January is usually a quiet month of activities but if nothing else I'll be snapping away at random things with my phone.

And this evening I've got one more card to make before I go down and enjoy the Christmas tree for the last time, it all needs to come down tomorrow. :(

52 Christmas Crackers 2014 - Week 1

So I feel a bit strange posting this card so soon after Christmas, but needs must!

Here is my take on the Week 1 prompt to use new stash I've been itching to play with.

And what's so new you may ask!

Paper: Crate Paper
Stamps: WPlus9
Dies: WPlus9, Sizzix
Twine: The Ribbon Girl
Other: 3D foam, Stickles, pattern wheel

My new items were the Distress inks (4 shades) used to stamp the wreath and berries and the lovely 6x6 Bundled Up papers I received from my lovely crafty partner in crime, Angela, for Christmas.

I'm sure I'll be using these WPlus9 stamps and dies much more over 2014. :)

Happy New Year!

I know I'm a bit late in my wishes here in blogland, but I've not had the PC on for a couple of days and I find blogging much easier from there.

But before I go into that here are the last few snaps from my Deck the Halls photos:

On the 30th - a pic of my lovely wooden tree from John Lewis - definitely the centrepiece to the mantelpiece.

While I was over at mum and dad's on New Year's Eve to check on Kizia the cat I took a snap of yet another Matryoshka family. These were bought in Newcastle at the continental market and sit alongside many other authentic Russian sets. :)

So the reason I have been busier than usual is that I've had a house guest this week - Miss Lola is staying with me until tomorrow and we have been packing in quite a few walks despite the awful weather yesterday and before...

This has been a familiar sight so far this week:

We've been out in windy and wet weather that even the ducks avoided:

We've watched Mary Poppins - my seat was mysteriously taken after I returned from the kitchen:

We've given dirty looks to other dogs who have dared to use the park:

We have been around this bandstand God knows how many times now:

And we have seen in the new year together:

There was a party hat involved.... but it did not get worn - I rectified the matter:

That party hat didn't get worn in 2014 either!

Finally at 2 a.m. I relented and we took ourselves off to bed. I'd been enjoying a good Baileys buzz and some fine music.

New Year's Day was the day to go walking in wet and windy weather.

First off a walk near my mum and dad's after seeing to the cat:

We went right down by the river and managed to make it out the mud.

The High Street was pretty much deserted so I could take some nice window snaps while the festive displays were still in place.

Then we headed over to my brother's so we could enjoy an epic walk around the park in mud, rain, and wind - with the numerous other dog walking members of the public who had the same idea. Never seen so many muddy dogs in one place before!

We went right down and along the river....

Then back up the hill and around the museum grounds.

We watched... OK I watched the Sound of Music - Lola couldn't get close enough to that fire to warm up again!

Personally I felt as cold as this winter scene on the bauble. I couldn't get warm again all day.

And today...

Well it was back to work for me - got to have a fun work diary!

But Lola and I made it back to the same park as yesterday for our afternoon walk.

Despite the finer weather, she was still a bit of a mud magnet.

We wandered down to the river via an alternate route. Much calmer.

Up the hill again... yep...

This is what a winter's afternoon should look like.

And now we are off around to my mum and dad's so we can have a last walk for the day.