One Super Cool Panda...

Hi folks...can you believe it's the last day of May already...5 months of the year gone and the weather in my neck of the woods has returned to it's rather unpredictable self...I don't want to sound pessimistic but can't help feeling Summer is going to be a repeat of last year...3 or 4 days of sunshine in May and the odd blink here and there. But every cloud has a silver lining and on cloudy drizzly days...the cubbyhole production line beckons.
I'm sharing another card made with the Cool Panda stamp set from Simon Says Stamp Cherished Release...I'm smitten with this little guy and the addition of a hat and tie have turned him into a cheeky gangster "Al Capone look-a-like" panda...don't you think...

In the meantime...things are moving on with the cubbyhole renovation and we're halfway through the door installation marathon...

and the ink pad storage has had a co-ordinating coat of paint...ready to sit on it's shelf once the painting crew tick that particular task off their list...

I know I'm going to love it when it's all done and dusted but the TA-DA BIG REVEAL blog post seems a million miles away and yesterday was a despairing "who's bright idea was this-not enough hours-can't see the finish line" meltdown kind of a day so I'm taking time-out and playing truant today...off to meet up with my lovely buddy Lynne who's on holiday in my neck of the woods...lunch and a good old catching up chin wag is guaranteed to get me back on track and ready for some fun playtime with the gorgeous June Card Kit from Simon Says Stamp...

Toodle-oo for now

Hugs Kath xxx

Ikea Unit Putter-Together Award Of The Year...

Hi Everyone...the Bank Holiday weekend has been and gone and taken the glorious sunny weather with it. The cubbyhole renovation is slowing progressing...not as fast as I would like but I'm not Wonder Woman despite what some of you might think. I've been trying to fit in a little bit of DIY each day around the crafty work stuff and if I'm honest I think I may have missed my vocation in life and been hiding my light under a bushel. After single handedly assembling 6 drawer inserts and the 12 accompanying drawers while hubby wrestled to tame the "beginning to look like a jungle" garden...I think I may just qualify for the Ikea Unit Putter-Together Award of the Year...

and who knows...the Cubbyhole CEO may have been a joiner/handyman in another life but I can't take all the credit...a big 10 out of 10 shout out to Ikea for their fabulous step-by-step...just follow the pictures...Instructions For Idiots...not even this "fools rush in where angels fear to tread" instructionally challenged idiot could possibly get it wrong.

and it's going to be another "Her Hammer/Trusty Screwdrivers" kind of a day for the Cubbyhole Dream Team...12 door inserts and doors are on the agenda...let's hope those instructions are equally as easy to follow and weren't written late on a Friday afternoon by some geeky boffin desperate to clock off for the weekend.

In the meantime...a sneaky peek of tomorrow's "Cute Dude" Cool Panda card...

Hugs Kath xxx

Simon Says...We're Going Around In Circles

Hi Everyone...welcome to another week on the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog...thank you for joining us for last week's challenge...we hope you can join us this week too because...

and the theme for this week is...

WE'RE GOING AROUND IN CIRCLES

you could say that is the story of my life at the moment...I seem to be on a never ending wheel going round and round in circles with the cubbyhole make-over so it was good to take some time out from all that DIY and make a card...

I love circles and dots so I started off creating a bit of Picket Fence Distress Crayon Resist on Distress Watercolor card using the Splotches Stencil...rubbing the crayon through the stencil and then smoothing it out with my finger...very therapeutic. I like to leave the crayon to air dry but if you're impatient you can use a heat tool but be careful...keep it moving because you don't want to melt the crayon and you'll know that it's dry when it no longer feels tacky...

then a little Distress Oxide ink blending using Iced Spruce and Worn Lipstick...

I spritzed a paper towel with water and rubbed gently in a circular motion over the Distress Crayon areas to remove the colour and then spritzed again to create that water droplet effect.

I replaced the Splotches Stencil over the Distress Crayon sections and stamped one of the images from Tim Holtz/Stampers Anonymous Documented Stamp Set with Black Archival

inked the stone stamp from Tim Holtz/Stampers Anonymous Slate & Stone with Iced Spruce Distress Oxide and stamped randomly over the background...

and inked one of the circles from one of my favourite stamp sets...Simon Says Stamp Lots of Dots with Walnut Stain Distress Oxide...

then it was time to play with my new best friend...the fabulous Stamp Platform. I know lots of folks are still patiently waiting for theirs to arrive but hang in there...it is well worth the wait. I stamped one of the images from Tim Holtz/Stampers Anonymous Illustrated Garden twice with Black Archival...

and coloured with Distress Oxide Reinkers using Ranger's Detailer Brush...

at this point I was thinking the background was looking a little bit too pretty so I added Walnut Stain Distress Oxide to the edges using a blending tool...inked the butterfly image from Tim Holtz/Stampers Anonymous Flutter stamp set with Walnut Stain Distress Oxide and stamped second generation and added Dina Wakley Printed Media Tape with those gorgeous retro circles. I fussy cut the flower image and added extra flowers to create dimension...

but once I added the Idea-ology Linen Ribbon...the flowers looked a little lost so I re-stamped the image several times...fussy cut the flowers and leaves and added them to make my bouquet slightly larger...

and finished with Idea-ology Quote Chips

You can find all the products I used over at the fabulous Simon Says Stamp online store...just click on the links below...

Why don't you pop over to the Monday Challenge Blog and check out the amazing creations from my very talented Design Team mates and our lovely Guest Designer Sonia...as always you all have the chance to win a $50 gift voucher to spend at Simon Says Stamp. You have until Monday 8am Ohio time...1pm UK time...2 pm CET to join in...

You can also follow Simon Says Stamp on Instagram

and if you use Instagram...

please add #sssmchallenge to your entry uploads so we can see them on there too

I look forward to seeing what you create this week...

Have Fun and Happy Crafting

Hugs Kath xxx

InLinkz.com

Blame The Weather...

Hi folks...woohoo...Summer seems to have arrived in the UK...I hope I'm not putting a jinx on what is supposed to be a gloriously sunny "hitting 30 degrees" weekend by sharing a "Rainy Days" card made with the super cute "Cool Panda" Stamp Set...

from Simon Says Stamp latest release "Cherished"...you can check out all the beautiful stamps...dies and gorgeous stencils HERE.

I'm not really a cutesy stamp crafter but I have always loved pandas...they are just the cutest round furry bundles and who wouldn't fall in love with this little guy and his adorable face...

 and I seemed to be on a crafty roll...right on track with Card No 2

until I stepped outside for a mid morning snack while the watercolour background dried. No way could we persuade ourselves to head back indoors so the Cubbyhole CEO took an executive decision to halt the card production line for the rest of the day in favour of topping up the Vitamin D...

 and a little outdoor painting session with the next pile of storage boxes...

 another job ticked off the crafty list...not the one I'd planned but who's counting...

and of course it's Friday...no crafting...no DIY...instead I'm looking forward to a magical mystery tour around the countryside with the Friday Girls...coffee...lunch and lots of chit chat. Have a great weekend whatever you have planned and I'll see you all on Monday with my DT project for a brand new challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge...you still have time to join in this week's "Little Critters" Challenge with the chance to win a $50 spending spree and the lucky winner could be popping some of the new release products into their shopping cart.

Hugs Kath xxx