Woohoo....I'm home

Hi folks...I'm home from 5 fun Fiskars days at The NEC spent with my lovely Fiskars bestest bud Hina...

and lots of lovely crafters...it was guaranteed to be fun when the gorgeous Chris (Cookie) from Practical Publishing joined in...

he's been hiding his light under a bushel...well done Cookie for being my star pupil when it came to making the Easter Treat Bag...

as always there are yummy breakfasts to enjoy...important fuel to keep the energy levels topped up...

and chill out times enjoying the gorgeous macarons that our lovely boss Caro brought all the way from Paris...

guess who was caught in the act...

but I'm under no illusions that this is the day that the "day after the day after" syndrome is likely to kick in so I got ahead of the game yesterday and unpacked my "Fiskars Left Over Workshop Bits and Pieces" suitcase...a suitcase that only a crafter will understand...

cleaned up the acrylic blocks...reinkined the ink pads and topped up the glue bottles ready for next time...

and woohoo...a huge thank you to Fiskars for the fabulous bundle of workshop tool goodies they gave me to share with you all...

so make sure you pop by next week for some Blog Give-Aways...

Toodle-oo for now

Hugs Kath xxx

Coffee Time...

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

and the theme for this week is...

FOOD AND/OR DRINK

and anyone who knows me...will testify that I am a real coffee addict...anytime is coffee time in the cubbyhole...so I've made a Chalkboard Hanger for my kitchen using one of my favourite stamp sets...Coffee Time from Darkroom Door...

I started off by stamping the sentiments from Coffee Time with a Versamark Ink Pad on to black card...sprinkled over the Frosted Crystal Antiquities Embossing Powder and heat to set. This is a technique that can take a few attempts to get right...the secret is to melt the powder until it just turns matte black...if you heat until it's shiny...the chalk technique won't work...believe me when I say...you'll be chucking it in the bin and starting over. I then rubbed the chalk over the sentiments and smudged it in with my fingers and then scribbled chalk all over the card rubbing it in with my hand to create the chalkboard effect.

I stamped the coffee spill image with Versamark which created a nice shadow effect in the background.

I fixed a piece of cream mesh that I found in my stash across the bottom of the hanger then stamped the coffee cup image on to paper from the Prima Life Time A4 Paper Pad using Coffee (how appropriate) Archival Ink. I fussy cut the images with my "can't live without" Fiskars Spring Assist Micro Tip Scissors...cutting the saucers off 3 of the images and popped the bottom image on to 3D foam to create dimension.

I die-cut the Tattered Poinsettia from Sticky Back Canvas and a scrap of white cardstock, gently dragged the Black Soot Mini Distress Pad across the surface to highlight the texture...inked around the edges and fixed together with a gem brad from my stash

I fussy cut the flowers from the same sheet of Prima Life Time Paper and fixed in place with Distress Collage Medium...I'm loving this medium...for this impatient crafter...it has a drying time of NOW.  I used the Signo Uni-ball White Pen to create faux stitching around the edges and threaded garden twine to create a hanger.

and fixed Label Letters to scraps of paper to create "Coffee" labels...

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

I'm looking forward to seeing what you all create for this week's challenge...

So 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

Thanks for popping by and happy crafting

Hugs Kath xxx

InLinkz.com

Distress Crayon Playtime

Hi folks...no way was I going to throw away the die cut butterfly left over from yesterday's "12 Tags of 2016" Tag and as if I needed an excuse...it was another chance to have some more Distress Crayon Playtime...

lots of finger smudging and blending...inking...stamping...die-cutting...splattering...embossing and generally having fun...

Have a great weekend everyone...I'm looking forward to a busy one at The NEC with lots of lovely crafty folks and I'll see you all on Monday with another Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge project.

Hugs Kath xxx

It's Tag Time...

Hi folks...I was so busy in the run up to leaving for the Hobbycraft show at The NEC that I almost forgot about this month's tag for...

"12 Tags of 2016"

crikey...shock horror...what an admission from this Tim Holtz stalker No 1 fan...blame Miss Memory who is not always firing on all cylinders. I'm loving the format of the Technique Remix...revisiting past techniques but putting a brand new spin on them with new products and did I happen to mention how much I love my Distress Crayons...

and hey...no adapt and overcoming necessary on this month's tag...in fact I even put my own little spin on things by placing a layering stencil over the panel and removing some of the Distress Crayon with a baby wipe and then...just because I felt like it...overstamped with a sentiment stamp...

I rubbed the Black Soot Distress Crayon on to the word band...went wild with some Vintage Foil Gold highlights and added a "real in your face" Picked Raspberry double bow.

I'll be back tomorrow to share what I made with the die cut butterfly left over from my tag...you didn't think I was going to waste it...did you. In the meantime...Hi Ho Hi Ho it's off to work I go...Day 1 of the show and I'm looking forward to having lots of Fiskars fun with happy crafty folks.

See you later

Hugs Kath xxx

Hoop-de-doo...I'm on my way...

Hi folks...crikey it seems as though it was just yesterday that I was on my way to Birmingham for a fun Stitches adventure and here I go again...up with the lark and on my way to the airport to catch another silly o'clock flight...off on my Fiskars Hobbycraft Holibobs...

hopefully the journey won't be as traumatic as my November nightmare...lightning doesn't strike twice in the same place...right. A quick dash from the airport to The NEC and I'll be ready to tackle the madness of build up day on the retail stand...those punches don't make it on to the wall all by themselves...

and with the help of my adorable Fiskars Family Elves...

the workshop area will be good to go and I'll be ready to rock 'n roll and welcome lots of  lovely crafty folks for 4 days of Fiskars fun...

If you're coming to the show...you'll find me on Stand F05 in the Workshop Area...please pop by and say hello or better still book on a workshop...places are limited to 10 and get signed up very quickly so if you want to play with the brand new products from Fiskars...make sure you come and see me as soon as you arrive at the show.

Toodle-oo for now

Hugs Kath xxx