Crazy Girls and Crazy Cats...

Hi folks...hey it's Friday and with rain forecast for today I'm hanging up my gardening gloves and joining the crazy girls for a fun Friday Adventure...a magical mystery tour around Aberdeenshire stopping off when the mood takes us for coffee and lunch accompanied by lots of chat and laughter but before I go...I'm sharing a sneaky peek of some of the cards I made for this month's issue of my favourite magazine "Simply Homemade"...available to buy now at a supermarket or craft store near you...featuring some Crazy Cats and Distress Crayons.

Enjoy your weekend and I'll see you all on Monday with my project for the brand new challenge over at the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog.

Hugs Kath xxx

Enjoy The Little Things...

Hi everyone...yesterday's plans for a crafty day in the cubbyhole flew out the window because the sun decided to pay us a surprise visit and believe it or not it was so warm it was almost like Summer had arrived...NO WAY was I staying indoors when there was the chance to be out in the fresh air enjoying the sun on my face...killing 2 birds with one stone and cracking on with the garden tidy up. Mind you...not everyone shared my enthusiasm...my furry garden helper was not at all happy to be roused from his morning nap....

but bribery in the form of a tasty treat works everytime. So we mowed the knee high to a grasshopper lawn and then treated it to a scarifying short back and sides to get rid of the dead grass and carpet of moss.

and while I stopped for a cuppa...my partner couldn't resist putting his head down for another snooze...

And what a treat it was after the chilly winter months to spend the whole day outdoors pottering around...just enjoying the little things in life...coffee in the sun...an alfresco lunch and the satisfaction that the garden is looking a lot tidier than it did yesterday and hey...if the sun decides to visit again today...you know where we'll be.

And whilst we're on the subject of enjoying the little things...I'm sharing one of my"stepping out of my comfort zone" watercolour cards from last week coloured with the...

And following on from the saga of all sagas selling my old sofas on Gumtree...the good news is they are gone...sooner than I anticipated...so the not so good news is...I'll be sharing the Furry Boy's doggie cushion...retrieving a couple of old bean bags from the loft or reduced to sitting on a kitchen chair until the new boys arrive.

Enjoy your day whatever you're doing and I hope the sun is shining where you are too

Hugs Kath xxx

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Feeling rusty and decidedly frazzled...

Hi Everyone...I was sofa shopping over the weekend for the Cubbyhole Crew's little den...I wasn't looking forward to it but I left hubby at home so it was plain sailing...you girls will know what I mean and with the delivery date 10 weeks away...it leaves me plenty time to don my painting and decorating duds for a bit of a spring clean freshen up...sounds good in theory but fitting it into the list of things I plan to do may be a "jump up and bite me on the bum" practical nightmare. But hey ho...life is a never ending journey full of challenges and I'm thinking positive thoughts...where there's a will...there's a way.
In the meantime I'm back in the cubbyhole determined to make a dent in the crafty list but feeling a little bit rusty in more ways than one...

but the good news is...I've finally been successful with Wendy Vecchi's fabulous recipe to create a Rust Embossing Powder and will be sharing my "rusting everything in sight" project with you soon. But moving on and back to the job in hand...starting with my yummy DT parcel from Simon Says Stamp...

but there's a problem...I may need to lie down in a darkened room for a few days to recover from the traumatic experience of selling the old sofas on Gumtree...a mind numbing "can't people read for goodness sake" saga that left me decidedly frazzled and one I have no intention of ever repeating.

See you all tomorrow if I haven't been carted off in a straight jacket

Hugs Kath xxx

Butterfly Beauty...

Hi Everyone...it's Monday and welcome to another week on the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog...thank you for joining us for last week's "April Showers Bring May Flowers" challenge...we hope you can join us this week too because...

and the theme for this week is...

BUTTERFLY BEAUTY

and who doesn't love butterflies...

and before we go any further...I have a confession to make...I had every intention of taking step by step photos but got so caught up in the creative process that it was done and dusted before I remembered...so apologies for me just talking you through it today.
I started off by applying a layer of gesso in the centre of a Linen Panel from Idea-ology Textile Surfaces. Then I used the Flourish die from Thinlits Mixed Media 2 to create a panel with paper from the Regions Beyond Mini Stash. I applied Texture Paste through the Brick Stencil from Mini Stencil Set 3 and once it was dry applied a coat of Distress Collage Medium over the entire panel. Then it was time for some Spiced Marmalade Distress Crayon magic...rubbing it in with my finger over the Texture Paste and around the edges of the panel.

I die cut the Detailed Butterflies from paper from Regions Beyond and white cardstock and coloured with the Spiced Marmalade and Mermaid Lagoon Distress Crayons and fixed a Trinket Pin to the body section

I applied Texture Paste through the Bubble Stencil from Mini Stencil Set 5 to create more texture. I then die cut the flowers from the Wildflowers Thinlits set using paper from Regions Beyond and Core'dinations Kraft Core and decorated with a Crinkle Ribbon bow coloured with Broken China Distress Spray Stain.

and added Big Chat Stickers and Alphabet Dice before matting on to black cardstock.

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

I look forward to seeing what you all create...in the meantime have fun and happy crafting

Hugs Kath xxx

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