Goodbye 2020

Hi my friends, it's the last of day of 2020, a year that has been challenging in so many ways and a year that we certainly will not remember with much fondness. It's Hogmanay in Scotland, normally a night of celebration when we visit friends and neighbours to welcome in the new year. I'm just praying that people will be sensible, stay at home, not hold parties or congregate outdoors in large numbers but we've been here before and there is no cure for stupid. The end of the year means the cubbyhole gets a good clean and it's the ideal time for me to indulge in a bit of re-organising ready for new 2021 products. Anyone who knows me, will tell you I love organising and finding better storage solutions which is why I was over the moon to find these plastic bins back in stock at my local Home Bargains. After much moving around and re-labelling, I'm ready to step into a new year with a happy "love a bit of organising" heart.With some "taking time off from crafty deadline" days ahead, I decided to have another go at completing some of the "failed miserably" Christmas projects starting off with these cuties which are basically round wooden shapes with rub-on faces and curly hair which I've had in my stash since the year dot and just happened to stumble across when I was looking for something else.I created Angel Ornaments to hang on your Christmas tree or just hang on a wall as a reminder of the hope we all have that 2021 will be a better, happy and healthy year. I used Sizzix Circle dies and Tim Holtz/Sizzix Winged 3D Impresslits and Stampers Anonymous Tiny Text.

I began by die-cutting 3.1/2" circles using Sizzix Circle dies and embossed using Tim Holtz/Sizzix Simple Snowflakes Embossing FolderI trimmed the circles to create a triangle shaped body, smooshed Speckled Egg Distress Oxide ink on to the craft mat on my Glass Media Mat, picked up the colour, dried and tapped back in to the droplets to pick up the remaining ink. I dried and flicked on splatters of Tarnished Brass Distress Mica Spray.I die-cut the Tim Holtz/Sizzix Winged 3D Impresslits from Idea-ology Gold Metallic KraftStockrubbed over with Walnut Stain Distress Crayon to accent the detail and buffed off the excess with a cloth.I trimmed Idea-ology Metallic KraftStock to be slightly larger than the embossed shape, fixed the wings in place with Distress Collage Medium and added the embossed shape on topI inked the sentiments from Tim Holtz/Stampers Anonymous Tiny Text with Black Soot Distress Archival, stamped on to scraps of Distress White HeavyStock and die-cut with Simon Says Stamp Nested Banners.I matted the sentiments on to Idea-ology Gold Metallic KraftStock, trimmed to leave a small border and fixed to the angel dresses. I added the head and a thread loop to hang.

Wishing you all a Happy New Year, may you be blessed with health and happiness in 2021

Hugs Kath xxx

It's still Christmas In The Cubbyhole

Hi my friends, I hope you had a lovely Christmas and that Santa popped down your chimney and left you some lovely crafty goodies to play with.

Christmas may be over for another year but I'm not quite ready to put my Christmas stamps away so I'm sharing two Christmas cards using Distress ink backgrounds from the pile that has accumulated on my workdesk along with stamp sets from Tim Holtz/Stampers Anonymous and Simon Says Stamp and with the addition of a small sentiment, perhaps they might also be suitable for New Year or Winter cards.

I trimmed Distress White HeavyStock to create a 3.1/4" x 6.1/2" panel and coloured using Peeled Paint Distress Spray Stain and Rustic Wilderness Distress Oxide Spray. I spritzed the sprays on to the craft mat of my Glass Media Mat, spritzed with water and laid the panel into the sprays, dried and tapped back in to pick up the remaining droplets. I applied Rustic Wilderness Distress Oxide ink through the Trees Mini Layering Stencil from Set 50. I inked the sentiment from Simon Says Stamp CZ Designs Be Of Good Cheer and the foliage image from Tim Holtz/Stampers Anonymous Sketched Greenery with Versamark ink and heat embossed with Ranger Superfine White Embossing Powder. I inked the snowflake image from Tim Holtz/Stampers Anonymous Snarky Cats Christmas with Versamark and heat embossed with Simon Says Stamp Antique Gold Detail Powder. I stamped the small sentiment from Be Of Good Cheer inked with Versamark on to a scrap of Tim Holtz Black Alcohol Ink cardstock, heat embossed with Ranger Superfine White Embossing Powder, trimmed and fixed in place with Distress Collage Medium.

I trimmed white cardstock to be slightly larger than the panel using Tim Holtz/Tonic Studios Deckle Edge Trimmer and heat embossed the edges using a Versamark ink pad and Simon Says Stamp Antique Gold Detail Embossing Powder. To finish I fixed the panels to a 4" x 7" white card blank.

I trimmed the second panel of Distress White HeavyStock to the same size as before and stamped the poinsettia image from Tim Holtz/Stampers Anonymous The Poinsettia using Black Soot Distress Archival Ink. I created a mask for the images and coloured the background using Shabby Shutters and Iced Spruce Distress Oxide inks using the same technique as the first card. I coloured the poinsettias using Wild Honey, Crackling Campfire and Barn Door Distress Re-inkers using a Distress Detailer Brush. 

I inked the sentiment from Simon Says Stamp Be Of Good Cheer with Versamark ink, stamped on to a scrap of Distress White HeavyStock and heat embossed with Simon Says Stamp Antique Gold Detail Embossing Powder. I trimmed the edges with Tim Holtz/Tonic Studios Deckle Edge Trimmer and heat embossed the edges with the Antique Gold Detail Embossing Powder. I sprinkled Stampendous Frantage Aged Black Enamel Embossing Powder on to the centre of the large poinsettia and randomly over the background and sentiment panel and heat set from underneath. I fixed the sentiment panel in place with Sizzix Foam Adhesive and added a sparkly gold thread bow. I stamped the small sentiment from Be Of Good Cheer with Black Soot Distress Archival, matted the panel on to a gold embossed panel as before, fixed to a white card blank and added Idea-ology Metallic Droplets.

I've been absent from the cubbyhole for 5 days and I need to head back there pretty quickly because between the left overs in the fridge and the pile of sweet treats on the kitchen sideboard, there is way too much temptation for this serial snacker to handle.

Happy Crafting my friends and I'll see you all soon

Hugs Kath xxx

Merry Christmas from the "failed again" crafter

Good Morning my friends, just popped on to wish you all a very Merry Christmas, it's going to be different than the ones we're used to for sure but in my neck of the woods, we've had an overnight snowfall and it looks like my Christmas may well be white. Can't remember the last time we had a magical white christmas.

For those of you who seem to think I am superwoman when it comes to getting things done, let me set the record straight. With the best intentions in the world and lots of hints, tips and encouragement from my adorable Professor, I failed miserably to complete any of the planned home decor projects. The trees, paper village houses and candles are still sitting neglected where I left them

and the christmas village scene hasn't got past the planning stage.

the angel ornaments for the tree have no bodies or wings

and the Winter Critter Shaker Ornaments are still on the assembly line

I don't think I specified which Christmas they were for so who knows, if I start after this year's festivities, they may well be done and dusted for Christmas 2021.

We are home alone for Christmas this year so there is no catering on a massive scale and running around the kitchen like a headless chicken and although it's disappointing not to celebrate with family, I'm looking forward to a couple of chilled out days, lounging around in my jammies, watching all the crap TV and no doubt, snacking as if there was no tomorrow. Enjoy your Christmas whatever you have planned and stay safe.

Hugs Kath xxx

Have a "Be Of Good Cheer and Holly Jolly" Christmas

Hi my friends, the blog title is a bit of a mouthful but couldn't think of a better one to describe today's Christmas cards which are far too late for this year but will make a good start to the Christmas 2021 box using Simon Says Stamp CZ Designs Good Cheer from the Make Merry release, Tim Holtz/Stampers Anonymous Bold Tidings 1, Retro Flakes and Sketched Greenery to create a black, white, glittery gold with a little pop of red retro vibe.

I trimmed Tim Holtz Black Alcohol Ink cardstock to create 2 - 4.3/4" x 6.3/4" panels and stamped the sentiments from Good Cheer and Bold Tidings 1 inked with Versamark ink and heat embossed with Ranger Superfine White Embossing Powder. I stamped the Retro Flakes inked with Versamark and heat embossed with Superfine White and Wow Gold Glitter Embossing Powders. I added a dashed line around the sentiment using a Sakura White Gelly Roll Pen, stamped the sentiment from Good Cheer inked with Black Soot Distress Archival on to a scrap of white card and die-cut using Simon Says Stamp Nested Banners.

On the second card, I created a mask for the sentiment and stamped the foliage from Sketched Greeenery with Versamark, heat embossed as before and added the dashed lines and dots of Ranger Red Carnation Enamel Accents. 

To finish I matted both panels on to 5" x 7" Simon Says Stamp #120 Ultra White card blanks.

I'm almost ready for Christmas, just a few last minute bits and pieces to get for the Christmas table and then I'll be putting my feet up and waiting for the big fat man in the red suit to arrive.

Hugs Kath xxx

Simon Says - Celebrate

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

and the theme for this week is...

CELEBRATE

I created a card using Festive Greenery to celebrate Mother Nature, even in a year when there has been little to celebrate, it's a reminder that the wonders of nature and the simple things in life can still bring so much joy into our lives.

I trimmed Distress Watercolor card to 4.1/2" x 6.1/2" and used Peeled Paint, Rustic Wilderness and Pine Needles Distress Oxide inks with mini round blending tools to create a blended background.

I stamped the pine branch from Tim Holtz/Stampers Anonymous Forest Floor inked with Ground Espresso Distress Archival ink.

I stamped the pine cones image on top inked with Black Soot Distress Archival ink and left thge stamp on the door of my stamp platform. I coloured the cones and the branch with Vintage Photo and Ground Espresso Distress Paints using a fine detail brush.

Once the paint was dry, I re-inked the stamp and stamped the image again, to bring back all the detail.

I stamped the sentiment from Bold Tidings 2 inked with Versamark ink and heat embossed with Simon Says Stamp Antique Gold Detail powder.

I created a mask for the letter "Y" of the sentiment and once in place, stamped the Retro Flakes, inked with Versamark and heat embossed with Ranger Superfine White powder.

I added splatters of Ground Espresso Distress Paint and a sprinkling of Stampendous Chunky White Embossing Enamel and heat set from underneath.

To finish I fixed the panel to mats of brown Idea-ology Classic KraftStock and Idea-ology Metallic Gold KraftStock and fixed to a 5" x 7" white card blank covered with brown Classic KraftStock.

You can find all the products I used over at Simon Says Stamp, 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. This challenge will run for 2 weeks, so you have until Monday 3rd January 8am Ohio time...1pm UK time...2 pm CET, plenty of time to create a project and join in the fun with the chance to win a $25 voucher to spend at Simon Says Stamp Online Store.

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 

and would like to wish you all

a very Happy Christmas

Have Fun and Happy Crafting

Hugs Kath xxx