Back to the Classroom...

Hi folks...wow Summer is back in my neck of the woods...it's been scorching for the last 3 days and right on time for the start of a Summer of Creative Chemistry...

loads of Inspiration and lots of Inky Fun in the company of our much loved Professor. I'm really looking forward to revisiting all the techniques from Creative Chemistry 101 and 102 with Tim leading up to a new Creative Chemistry 103 adventure starting on August 1. If you haven't signed up already...what are you waiting for...there are one-to-one classes with the Professor of All Things Distress...give-aways...a gallery to share your projects and a forum where you can interact with other students and ask Tim questions...you can find all the details HERE.

And it's time to share my homework from Week 1...

Spritz and Flick

in honour of the 5 Distress Colours that started this wonderful Distress Adventure

Brushed Corduroy/Tea Dye/Vintage Photo/Walnut Stain and Black Soot
and The Chemist who helped Tim achieve his dream...

and 2 for the price of one...

Wrinkle Free Distress

Watercolour Stamping

I'll be back tomorrow to share the first of 4 days of projects with the fabulous Spring Flowers Stamp Set from Simon Says Stamp...see you then.

Hugs Kath xxx

InLinkz.com

Summer Garden...

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

and the theme for this week is...

SUMMER GARDEN

Summer is the season to enjoy your garden and if the weather is kind (which is not always the case in my neck of the woods) it's a time to sit outside and relax...invite friends over for barbecues or just enjoy picnics on the grass. 

This week we are showcasing products from PaperArtsy and we would love to see them used if you have them but you don't have to use them to join in the challenge. I decided to decorate an 8" x 8" Canvas using the fabulous PaperArtsy Fresco Finish Chalk Paints...Haystack...Hey Pesto...Sugar Plum and Snowflake and the beautiful quirky Electica3 stamp set designed by my lovely and very talented friend Kim Dellow.

I started off applying a coat of white gesso to the canvas and then drybrushed the Haystack and Sugar Plum mixed with Snowflake paints over the surface...slowly building up the colour but leaving it quite patchy...I love the textured effect you get when working on canvas. I then dragged the edge of a palette knife through the Snowflake paint to create a soft cross hatched effect.

I stamped the cloud image at the bottom of the canvas and coloured with Hey Pesto which is a transparent paint which allowed some of the Haystack to show through. I outlined the edges and created dots on the clouds with a Sharpie Extra Fine Point White marker...

 I stamped the large flower images with Black Archival and used a stiff bristled brush to dab on colour...

I used a Prima Jet Black Mixed Media Pen to re-define the details on the flowers and to create some doodles on the stems and a Sharpie White Extra Fine Point Marker to highlight the edges and stems of the large flowers. I stamped the spray flowers in between and the small squares stamp around the edges and used the White Sharpie to colour them.

I stamped the cute little birds on to scrap card which I had already coloured with the Haystack and Sugar Plum/Snowflake Mix Chalk Paints...cut them out and mixed and matched their tails and body details...popping them on to 3D foam to create dimension. I used Tim Holtz Idea-ology Big Chat and Small Talk Stickers for the sentiment

 and decorated with self adhesive pearls from my "yes I am a hoarder" stash.

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 I'm super excited that my lovely friend Alison Bomber is joining us as Guest Designer for the month of June. 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

I look forward to seeing all your "Summer Garden" makes...

Have Fun and Happy Crafting

Hugs Kath xxx

InLinkz.com

Wakey wakey...it's silly o'clock...

Hi folks...the weather's gone bonkers...it's freezing and been blowing a hooley in my neck of the woods...so chilly in fact...I've had to resort to the Nanook Of  The North walking gear for the morning strolls with the Furry Hooligan and said hooligan has been up to his old tricks again bouncing me out of bed at 5.30am every morning this week for the urgent call of nature...trouble is it's not a quick "do the needful" affair...he has to sniff every blade of grass and then patrol the perimeter several times to check for intruders by which time I'm wide awake and heading to the kitchen for the first cuppa of the day...while he sprints back upstairs...snuggles down and snores like a train for another couple of hours with his "Do Not Disturb and Don't Open the Blinds" face on.

But hey...it's amazing what you can do with an extra couple of hours in a day even if they are at silly o'clock especially when there's been a happy happy mail delivery. My absolute "have used a lot" favourite Picket Fence Distress Crayon replacements have arrived...we all have favourite "go to" colours which means some will run out quicker than others but there's no need to replace the whole pack...did you know you can buy individual colours HERE from Simon Says Stamp...

and the other items I've been lusting after...Simon Says Stamp gorgeous Spring Flowers and Wendy Vecchi's Repeating Quilt Stencil have also arrived.

and I've been a busy bunny...being bounced out of bed at silly o'clock has it's advantages...

 I'll be sharing lots of Spring Flowers projects next week.

In the meantime it's a Friday Girls Outing day and with the wind at our backs...who knows where we'll end up...enjoy the weekend whatever you're up to and I'll see you all on Monday for my DT project for the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge and a reminder that you still have time to enter this week's Monochrome challenge and the chance to win a $50 spending spree in the online store.

Hugs Kath and the Wonky Furry Alarm Clock
Toodle-oo for now

xxx

Can you believe...

Hi folks...can you believe it's June already...the month that signals the start of Summer but apparently nobody's told the weather...the gloriously warm sunshine has disappeared...replaced by a chilly wind which feels like it's blowing down from the arctic...more like November to be honest. But before I continue with the doom and gloom...it's time to announce the winner of my GIVE-AWAY...

Congratulations No 20

Linda Simpson

Please e-mail me with your address Linda and I'll get your parcel off in the mail

Now that the back garden is under control...I've been getting to grips with the jungle of overgrown shrubs in the front...

I'm beginning to realise that this gardening malarkey is just the same as crafting...a never ending list of things to do but at least the azaleas don't seem to mind the cold weather and are doing their bit in the kerb appeal department...

but before I can continue I need to make a trip to the skip with the trimmings from yesterday's short back and sides adventure...

But I'm a fair weather gardener and with the forecast not looking too good for today...it seems there is a silver lining to every cloud...the first day of the month means a brand new tag over at "12 Tags" and woohoo...Creative Chemistry 101 goes live again today which means it may well end up being a snuggle up on the sofa with the laptop and my Furry Companion kind of a day.

Toodle-oo for now

Hugs Kath xxx