For Coffee Lovers Everywhere...

Hi folks...I'm sharing a home decor gift I made for a dear friend who, like me, is rather partial to a cup of coffee, so partial, in fact,she would definitely win Gold if Coffee Drinking was an Olympic sport. She is also obsessed with everything PINK and her GARDEN and will, I know, love the humourous Snarky Stickers.

I used the plain back side of an Idea-ology Baseboard Frame as a base. I inked the Plaid background from Tim Holtz/Stampers Anonymous Nordic and Plaid with Faded Jeans Distress Oxide and spritzed lightly with water to get a slightly faded watercolour look. The stamp wasn't large enough to cover the whole frame but it was easy to line up the pattern and restamp.

I trimmed a piece of Distress Watercolor card to be slightly smaller than the frame, embossed with the 3D Botanical Texture Fade and coloured the amazing textured pattern with Worn Lipstick, Faded Jeans and Gathered Twigs Distress Oxides.

I used several layers of foam tape to attach the embossed panel to the frame and inked around the edges with Gathered Twigs Distress Oxide using a mini round blending tool. I die-cut the coffee cup from Idea-ology Worn Wallpaper using Tim Holtz/Sizzix Tea Time BigZ die and coloured with Faded Jeans Distress Oxide.

I coloured an Idea-ology Paper Doll using Worn Lipstick and Faded Jeans Distess Markers and die cut flowers and leaves from scraps of card coloured with the three Distress Oxide inks using Tim Holtz/Sizzix Funky Florals 1 Thinlits.

I added an Idea-ology Alpha Card...

I dipped the Idea-ology Crinkle Ribbon by into Worn Lipstick and Gathered Twigs Distress Oxides and spritzed with water until I was happy with the colour.

I coloured the Idea-ology Adornment Butterfly with Worn Lipstick, Vintage Photo and Picket Fence Distress Crayons, added a few Idea-ology Life Quotes Remnant Rubs and Idea-ology Snarky Small Talk Stickers.

 and Glossy Accents to the centres of the flowers.

And I think I may come a close second to my friend when it comes to drinking coffee. In fact, I need a cup or two or even three to kick start the old energy levels in the morning and my favourite cup of the day, is definitely, that first one, at silly o'clock on a beautiful summer morning, sitting outside with my Furry Companion and the resident birds for company.

I can't believe we are in to our fifth week of great weather so today may well be a "pottering out in the garden" day. Have fun whatever you're doing today.

Toodle-oo for now
Hugs Kath xxx

Simon Says...All Things Bright and Beautiful

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...

It is the first Monday of the month and that means we are showcasing a particular brand/company. This week we are all using PaperArtsy Products and if you have any we would love to see them used but if you don't, then you can use whatever bright and beautiful supplies you have.then you can use whatever bright and beautiful supplies you have!

We are also welcoming back the lovely Christine Bedford aka Pear Shaped Crafting into the Designer Spotlight. If you haven't visited her blog before then you are in for a real treat!

and the theme for this week is...

ALL THINGS BRIGHT AND BEAUTIFUL

I created a canvas using PaperArtsy Paints, Stencils and Stamps

I trimmed down a Dina Wakley Media Board to measure 6" x 9", applied a coat of White Gesso and used a brayer to apply a light coat of Granny Smith Fresco Finish Paint, followed by just a touch of Coral. (Granny Smith is not in stock at Simon Says Stamp but Slime would be a good alternative)

I applied Snowflake Fresco Finish through the PS08 JOFY stencil using a Mini Blending Tool and foam.

I applied Coral Fresco Finish through the PS001 Lin Brown Stencil and repeated with Snowflake to soften the colour.

I stamped the small icons from JOFY 64 and JOFY Mini 58 with Black Soot Archival and Coral Fresco Finish Paint. I applied the paint with my finger to the stamp and removed the paint from the stamp before it dried using soapy water and old toothbrush.

I used a Sharpie Black Pen to draw a line around the edge and to add random circles on the background and around the edge. I painted some of the circles with Coral and Granny Smith paints.

I coloured a scrap of card with Coral Fresco Finish, stamped the large flower from JOFY 64 with Black Soot Archival, coloured the detail with Granny Smith and a Sakura White Gelly Roll Pen and fussy cut.

added to the canvas and decorated with a double twine bow.

I coloured scraps of card with Coral and Granny Smth and stamped the sentiment from PaperArtsy Lin Brown ELB31 stamp set with Black Soot Archival

I stamped the centres of the large flower on to card coloured with Granny Smith, coloured the detail with a Sakura White Gelly Roll Pen and fussy cut.

I timmed down the sentiments, edged them with the Sharpie Black Pen and fixed in place along with the stamped flower centres. I used the Sakura Gelly Roll Pen to add highlights to the small icon stamps and some of the stencil circles.

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 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

Beautiful "Vellum" Flowers...

Hi folks, I'm sharing another card using the gorgeous Beautiful Flowers stamp set from Simon Says Stamp "Fly Me Away" June Card Kit but with a little twist.

I stamped the large floral image with Simon's Intense Black ink on to a panel of Fog Cardstock

and the three individual flowers with Intense Black ink on to vellum and heat embossed with Ranger Super Fine Clear Detail embossing powder.

I painted each flower on the reverse with Picket Fence Distress Paint and dried with my heat tool which gave the flowers are bit of a crinkled look. We all know that vellum can be tricky to fix down without the glue showing, so I fussy cut the flowers and fixed them in place with my favourite go-to adhesive, Distress Collage Medium Matte.

I coloured the flowers and leaves with a Zig Clean Color Brush Marker to create a sepia look, added dots to the centres of flowers with a Sakura White Gelly Roll pen and splatters of Picket Fence Distress Paint and Ranger Black Enamel Accent dots to the background. I stamped the sentiment with Intense Black Ink on the background, filled in the letters with the Gelly Roll Pen and stamped the remaining sentiment with Versamark ink on to a strip of black cardstock and heat embossed with Ranger Super Fine White embossing powder.

I added a strip of MFT Dots and Stripes Neutral paper to the side of the panel, matted it on to black cardstock and fixed to an A2 white card blank.

Have a great weekend everyone whatever your plans are and I'll see you all on Monday with my DT project for Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge. You still have time to play along with this week's Masculine Challenge with a chance to win a $50 spending spree over at  Simon's Online Store.

Toodle-oo for now

Hugs Kath xxx

Hello Summer...

Hi folks, it's the first day of June, it's Friday and the sun is still shining in my neck of the woods. I'm a little bit obsessed with the Beautiful Flowers stamp set and gorgeous ModaScrap Fly and Scrap 6" x 6" papers from Simon Says Stamp Fly Me Away June Card Kit

and am sharing "two for the price of one-easy peasy" cards today.

I stamped the large floral image on to Distress Watercolor card using Simon's Intense Black Ink and used a Daniel Smith Watercolor sample palette that came in a previous kit and a Detailer Waterbrush to create a loose wash on the background. I added splatters using the same colour.

I coloured the centres of the flowers, added white dots with a Sakura White Gelly Roll Pen, matted the panel on to black cardstock and then on to a white A2 card blank.

I stamped the sentiment using Simon's Four Seasons Saying stamp set inked with Intense Black and Versamark heat embossed with Ranger Super Fine White Embossing Powder and added sparkly droplets from my stash.

For the second card, I scored and folded Simon's Cornflower cardstock from the kit to make an A2 card, trimmed one of the ModaScrap Fly and Scrap papers, also included in the kit, to be slightly smaller and added a strip of a contrasting paper. I stamped the sentiments from the Beautiful Flowers stamp set with Intense Black and Versamark ink, heat embossed as before.

I stamped the 3 individual flowers from the stamp set on to the ModaScrap papers, added extra colour and a bit of shading using the Daniel Smith Watercolor palette sample that came with the kit, fussy cut and added white dots with a Sakura Gelly Roll Pen.

and surprise, surprise I'll be back tomorrow to share one more Beautiful Flowers card, with a bit of a twist. In the meantime, the Friday Girls are hitting the road for a magical mystery road trip, I'm not today's driver, so who knows where we might end up.

Toodle-oo for now
Hugs Kath xxx