Recipe Challenge

Happy Sunday! Time for another Stamp With Us challenge, and this week it's a recipe one:

-3 stamps
-2 papers
-1 stamp

I normally find the recipe challenges tough but this one came together quite quickly:



Recipe:
Stamps - Scandinavian Season
Ink - Real Red
Card - Very Vanilla/Old Olive/Chocolate Chip
Paper - Merry Moments
Other - Real Red ribbon/Real Red brads/square nestabilities/crafter's tool kit/scallop edge punch

Don't forget to check out the Stamp With Us blog for the other DT cards, details on how to enter the challenge, and also how to be considered for a place on the DT!

Thanks for visiting today!
Kate x

Fabulous Friends

When I started my blog and joined In Love With Stamping I could never begin to imagine that I would make such close friends - I doubted if anyone would ever even read my blog! But more than a year later I can't imagine life without two of my most cherished friends - Steph and Aimes; I met them through stamping but our friendship runs so much deeper.

I was having a hard time of things last week (hence no appetite for blogging) and these fabulous girls were there for me - listening to me, giving me a much-needed shoulder and cheering me up. Thank you girls, love you!

Speaking of fabulous friends, I also wanted to say a big hello to Emma - it was so great to chat on Sunday and can't wait to meet up hun!

I'm glad to say that I've my mojo has come back and I'm back on my Christmas card kick - another one using my favourite Medallion stamp from Stampin Up. I embossed the medallion with white e.p and dotted burgundy Stickles around the medallion - nice and sparkly IRL ;)


Recipe: Stamps - Medallion/Seasonal Wishes
Ink - Versamark/Bravo Burgundy
Card - Very Vanilla/Kraft/Bravo Burgundy
Other - Bravo Burgundy ribbon/burgundy Stickles/pearl/white embossing powder

Here's a bunch of cards I made for the challenge we set on A Passion for Papertrey on Monday, it's all about the bling!


A close up:


All card details, as well as details of the challenge are on A Passion for Papertrey.

Thanks for stopping by today!
Kate x

Addicted to vampires!

Morning! Well I'm very surprised that last night I didn't dream of vampires! Is anyone watching True Blood? Scary but as with all HBO series, great TV!! (Plus Stephen Moyer is veeery sexy!)

I watched last week's episode that I'd missed on the iPlayer then saw last night's eposide, and then spent an hour reading Twilight.... I know, I know, I'm way behind! Everybody else seems to have read the whole series and I'm only on the first one!

I'm totally addicted to it though and thought I could finish it last night but my eyelids had a different idea (isn't that annoying... needing to sleep lol!) So today I'm hoping to finish it then straight on to New Moon, yay!! I'd love to hear if you're into either series too!!

Onto cards.....another batch of Christmas numbers today using one of my favourite festive colour combos - gold and cream.




A nice, simple easy that's easy for mass producing! The tree (from Scandinavian Season) was embossed with gold E.P:


Recipe:

Stamps - Scandinavian Season (SU)
Card - Very Vanilla (SU)/Gold (PTI)
Ink - Versamark
Other - Gold Embossing Powder/Cuttlebug Swiss Dots Embossing Folder/ribbon/gold pearl/oval Nestabilities

Speaking of Christmas, this week the challenge we set on A Passion for Papertrey was also Christmas themed. Here's my sample:


All details of the card and the challenge are on the A Passion for Papertrey blog.

Thanks for visiting, I need to do some work but I want to get back to my fabulous vampires!!!

Kate x

Catching up..

Happy Monday everyone! I've just got back from a wonderful weekend in London staying with my best buddy - I had hoped to get online while I was away but it didn't work out and actually it was quite refreshing to be computer free for a few days! But I'm back with lots of things to share over the next few days :)

Did anyone do anything fun for Hallowe'en? We went out for dinner on Saturday and were possibly the only 'humans' out on the town! But I did carve a cute pumpkin which attracted lots of trick-or-treaters, isn't he cute!


I didn't make many Hallowe'en cards (although I think they're one of the most fun types of card to make!) but here are a few I made for my lovely buddy Steph's kids to accompany some scary chocolates - I love those glittered black alpha stickers but was cursing Steph for giving Jasmine such a long name lol! I squeezed them all on in the end though!:




Recipe:
Stamps - Witches Hat (Amuse)
Ink - Brilliance
Card - Basic Black/Pumpkin Pie/Amuse notecard
Other - Scallop Edge punch/White gel pen/Circle Nestabilities/Alphabet Thickers (American Crafts)

So yesterday saw a new challenge over at Stamp With Us and this time round it was a Christmas theme. I'm in mass-production gear now so every time I make a Christmas card I make four - after all it's the design that takes the time and once that's sussed, knocking out a few more doesn't take much time or effort :)

Here's my DT entry:


Recipe:
Stamps - Scandinavian Season
Ink - Night of Navy
Card - Night of Navy/Bashful Blue/Very Vanilla
Other - Silver cord/Fiskars border punch/Cuttlebug embossing folder

And multiplied by four:


Thanks for stopping by - once I've unpacked and got a bit more sorted out I'll be having a long blog hop later... can't wait to see what everyone's been up to!

Love Kate xx

Butterflies and Diamonds

I hope everyone's had a good Saturday! I had a very easy relaxing day after a very busy one yesterday - had a hair cut and a bit of retail therapy this afternoon, then tonight cooked a lovely meal and kicked back with a large glass of white in front of Strictly - I'm so glad Phil's still in!!

This is a card I made a few weeks back for a challenge on the Hero Arts blog but forgot to post on here - the challenge was to make a card using a technique that was featured on the Hero blog. I chose an emboss resist technique using acrylic paint daubers as featured by the wonderful Jennifer McGuire.


Recipe -
Stamps - Dots and Flowers (Hero)/Butterfly (Hero)
Ink - Red (Colorbox chalk)/Versamark/Distress Ink
Card -Kraft/Vintage Cream/October Afternoon DP Other - Clear e.p/sewing machine/linen thread/corner rounder punch/pearls/Snow White Acrylic Paint Dauber (Ranger)


I stamped the background with Versamark, embossed with clear embossing powder then sponged white acrylic paint over the top, wiping it off to create this background - I love this effect, and think it looks great on the kraft. Must use this technique more often!

Over on A Passion for Papertrey I just posted this card (along with all the details):


It was near impossible to take a good photo of this card because it was stamped with silver metallic ink - it was a commission for a Diamond Anniversary card for a friend. That's 60 years of marriage - wowzers!!! I chose Papertrey's Damask Design set because I thought the elegance of the set fitted the occasion.

Thanks for stopping by and enjoy the rest of your weekend! Oh and don't forget to put your clocks back - time for me to go into hibernation lol!

Kate x

Christmas Medallion

Evening folks! I hope everyone is having a good week so far. Tonight I made one of my favourite warming suppers - 'Thai Inspired Noodle Soup' - it's from my favourite cookery writer, Nigel Slater. I love his style of writing, and his passion for simplicity in cooking. Thai cookery is also one of my very favourite styles - I've added a link to the recipe. It's very simple and absolutely delicious - if you try it let me know if you like it!!

My parents have just got back from a holiday in Barcelona, bringing me the yummiest chocolates which I'm currently munching on. You know when you just can't resist another... and another?!!

When I first looked at the new Stampin Up catalogue the two products I immediately fell in love with were the big Medallion background stamp and the new thick stripey ribbon so I put them together with one of my other favourite supplies, Kraft card, to make this:


I think the medallion looks great embossed with white on the kraft, and how heavenly is that ribbon?!!! But do you think it works as a Christmas card? I'd love to know what you think!

Now where are those chocolates? ;)

Thanks for visiting!

Kate x

Recipe:
Stamps - Medallion
Ink - Versamark/Chocolate Chip
Card - Kraft/Chocolate Chip/Very Vanilla
Other - White Embossing Powder/Wide Striped Ribbon/Crafter's Tool Kit/Adhesive Pearl

Birthday topiary

Happy Tuesday from a wet and cold corner of England! Autumn is truly here isn't it? I adore summer but I couldn't live in a country that didn't have seasons like this - the leaves on the trees are such beautiful hues of red and yellow, there's an intense aroma of ripening autumn fruit, the days are getting noticeably shorter (I walked the dogs in the dark this morning!) and there's a real nip in the air.

We have literally hundreds of apples to use so this week I'm going to try to get around to making some apple jam, it's a shame that I can't stand cider or I'd make that! (I know - a Somerset girl not liking cider?!!)

Today's card was a commission from my mum for a friend - she specified topiary and amazingly I actually had a topiary stamp (that I'd never used! See all these unloved stamps come in useful eventually!)

The topiary was coloured with Copics and Prismacolor Pencils - the background stamp is En Francais from Stampin Up.


Recipe:
Stamps - Rose Topiary (Stampington)/Vintage Picnic (PTI)/En Francais (Stampin Up)
Ink - Elegant Eggplant/Memento Black
Card - Kraft (PTI)/Elegant Eggplant (SU)
Other - Elegant Eggplant ribbon/sewing machine/buttons (PTI)/Copic Markers/Prismacolour Pencils/Oval nestabilities

Today we've set a new challenge on A Passion for Papertrey so if you have any PTI products we'd love you to play along - this fortnight it's all about polka dots!

For my sample I used the polka dot tree from PTI's Tree Trimming Trio in three colourways, nice and simple design that will be easy to mass produce :)



Enchanted Evening:


Sweet Blush:


..and my beloved Aqua Mist and Kraft:


Recipe:
Stamps - Tree Trimming Trio
Ink - Versamark/Enchanted Evening/Aqua Mist/Sweet Blush
Card - White/Kraft/Enchanted Evening/Aqua Mist/Sweet Blush
Ribbon - Swiss dot - Enchanted Evening/Aqua Mist/Sweet Blush
Other - Epoxy clear stickers/corner rounder punch/white embossing powder

Thanks for visiting today!

Kate x

Christmas cuppie

Morning! A very quick post as I'm just rushing out the door to my dance lesson - I've recently started classes and now having private lessons (I need them believe me lol!!) .... here's another card I made for Taylor's sketch challenge:


Pretty straight forward - coloured with Copics, some shimmer with a Spica Glitter pen on the tree and cuppie and Antique Linen Distress Ink sponged around the edges.

Ok, must dash or I'll be late for my Foxtrot!!!

Kate x

Recipe:
Stamps - Season's Sweetings (TE stamps)
Ink - Memento/Antique Linen Distress Ink
Card - Blue Bayou(SU)/Vintage Cream (PTI)/Jolly by Golly (Cosmo Cricket)
Other - sewing machine/ Copic Markers/buttons (PTI)/scallop edge punch/adhesive pearls/Spica Glitter Pen

Hark the Herald

Wow, where has this week gone?!! In spite of a busy week I had a chance to snuggle down in my craft room this afternoon - a large mug of hot chocolate and my Gossip Girl box set were the perfect companions to some inky fun:) (BTW any more GG fans out there?!!)

I've been making some cards for Taylor's sketch challenge - it's a fun one:


And here's one of my cards - I am making an effort to use some unloved stamps at the moment and as soon as I saw this yummy Cosmo Cricket Paper I wanted to pair it with this angel. I decided to flip the sketch around as I thought the angel should be facing inward.


Recipe:
Stamps - Trumpeting Angel (Cornish Heritage Farms)
Ink - ColorBox chalk/Antique Linen Distress Ink (Ranger)
Card/Paper - Vintage Cream (PTI)/Pure Poppy (PTI)/Jolly by Golly (Cosmo Cricket)
Other - sewing machine/scallop edge punch/buttons/linen thread

Thanks for visiting today!

Kate x

A winner!

Thank you to everyone who joined my blog candy last week... we have a winner!!

Here are your random numbers:

105

Timestamp: 2009-10-12 08:00:18 UTC

(Random.org)

And the winner is Natalie! Congratulations Natalie! Please email your postal address to kate_lewis23@yahoo.co.uk and I'll post your goodies to you asap!!

Starry dreams

Wow, where has this weekend gone?! I had a full to-do list to complete by the end of the weekend and looks like it may spill over into the week.. don't you hate that?!!

Today's Stamp With Us is a colour one using this piece as inspiration:


And here's what I came up with:

Recipe:
Stamps - In the Stars
Ink - Night of Navy/Old Olive
Card - Whisper White/Taken With Teal/Chocolate Chip/Old Olvie
Other - white gel pen/scallop edge punch/corner rounder punch/Cuttlebug embossing folder/star punch/brads/sewing machine

Don't forget to check out the Stamp With Us blog to see what the rest of the DT made and for details on how you can join in... I hope YOUR dreams come true this week :)

Kate x

BLOG BIRTHDAY!

Blog Candy now closed!


Today is my first blog birthday! Thank you so much to everyone who has visited me and supported my blog over the past year - I feel so lucky to have met such lovely people and to have made such fabulous friends through my blog!

So to celebrate I have some candy for you :)


-Flourishes Poinsettia Stamp Set
-Flourishes Damask Backgrounder
-K&Co 6x6 Designer Paper pad
-American Crafts Layered Embellishments
-American Crafts Foam Baby Blue
-American Crafts Felt Everyday
-Bag of multicoloured buttons

To be in with a chance of being entered in the random draw please leave a comment below before 9am, Monday 12th October 2009.

Thank you again and have a great week!

Kate x

Changing days

There can't have been two more opposite days than yesterday and today weather-wise - yesterday it was dull, grey and poured all day long. To counteract that I baked bread, stayed in the warm and excitedly waited for my box of Stampin Up goodies from the new catalogue - what a box of treasures!!! You'll be seeing a lot of my new stash in days to come!

And then today - the most brilliant, warm autumn day you could wish for! The fabulously blue skies meant I could get some photography assignments under my belt down in Devon. I did have a chance to play with my new SU goodies first thing this morning and will post them tomorrow.

For now here are a few recent cards. A birthday card for Jenny, one of my SU downlines..Happy Birthday Jenny!


Recipe:

Stamps - Crazy for Cupcakes
Card - Kraft/Night of Navy/Certainly Celery/So Saffron DSP
Other - Certainly Celery ribbon/scallop edge punch/Nestabilities/Cuttlebug/Copic markers/Stickles

This is my sample for today's Inspiration and Themes Challenge on In Love With Stamping - the theme is congratulation so I made a card for a friend who's just had a baby boy:


Recipe:

Stamps - Queue Up
Card - Whisper White/Bashful Blue/Brocade Blue
Other - Copic markers/gingham ribbon

Thanks for stopping by!

Kate x

Raspberry Suite Challenge

Just in time to join in Dawn's current Raspberry Suite Color Challenge!

Here are the colours:


And here's my take on it:


Recipe: (Papertrey unlesss otherwise stated)

Stamps - Vintage Labels/Rustic Snowflakes/Signature Christmas
Ink - Pure Poppy/Vintage Cream/Dark Chocolate
Card - Kraft/Vintage Cream/Aqua Mist/Dark Chocolate
Other - Aqua Mist ribbon/brown brads/Fiskars border punch/Labels One die/Cuttlebug embossing folder/adhesive pearls

I'm firmly in Christmas card mode now... a few down, a LOT more to go!!!

Thanks for visiting!

Kate x

A new challenge

Today's challenge over at Stamp With Us is a themed one - 'Anything but a Card'. I took this opportunity to make some Christmas tags with my Tags for All set:


Recipe:

Stamps - Tags for All
Ink - Real Read/Sage Shadow/Old Olive/Night of Navy
Card - Real Red/Old Olive/Sage Shadow/Close to Cocoa/Chocolate Chip/Night of Navy

To check out the rest of the DT samples and for details on how to enter head over to the Stamp With Us blog.

Thanks for visiting today!

Kate x

Swaps....

As promised here are the fabulous swaps I received when Jen had a 'Mini Convention' for her team last Friday:


Maria's:



Val's:



Diana's:


Jen's:



Jane's:




Jo's:



And mine:


Recipe:
Stamps - Whimsical Wings
Ink - Basic Black
Card - Whisper White/Basic Black
Other - Circle Nestabilities/adhesive gemstones

Speaking of swaps here are the Papertrey ATCs I made for our recent swap over on A Passion for Papertrey - there are pictures of all the ATCs on the blog :)



It's a windy, cold autumnal Saturday down here in Somerset - just perfect for a cosy day of card-making... how else could I spend World Card Making Day! Have a great weekend, and happy stamping!

Kate x

College Days

A little card I made for a dear friend in California who started at college this Autumn - ah, university... those were the days! I've always thought some day I might go back to uni and do a little less partying and a bit more work lol (no regrets though ;)!

Kate x

Recipe:
Stamps - Hero Arts - Owl and sentiment/Lined Paper backgrounder (CHF)
Card - Kraft (PTI)
Other - White gel pen/spiral punch (SU)/Melon Berry ribbon (PTI)

Autumn days

Hi friends, I hope you're all having a good week so far - I'm just adoring this wonderful weather we're having here in England at the moment. Isn't it fabulous after a mediocre summer to enjoy this 'Indian Summer' of early autumn - I love seeing the leaves turning colour and starting to fall, the conkers on the ground and all the apples in the orchards.

On Tuesdays I volunteer at my local Riding for the Disabled Centre and today it was so lovely to take some of the rides out into the fields and enjoy the warm but crisp autumn air.

For last week's Inspiration and Themes Challenge on In Love With Stamping I chose a cake from Martha Stewart:




And here's my card based on it, I think there's something quite autumnal about it :)


Recipe: (Stampin Up unless otherwise stated)

Stamps - Touch of Nature
Card - Whisper White/Chocolate Chip/So Saffron/Tea and Crumpets DSP
Other - Copic Sketch markers/Scallop Edge punch/Crafter's Tool Kit/Cuttlebug Swiss Dots Embossing Folder

Thanks for visiting today - and I hope you're enjoying these autumn days too!

Kate x

Mini Convention

Hi everyone and happy Sunday! I hope everyone's having a good weekend - mine started fabulously with a fantastic day at my downline Jenny's house on Friday. We had our own mini convention!! Five of Jen's other downlines - Val, Jane, Di, Maria and Jo, our lovely friend Jo, and myself had a fun-filled time chatting, crafting and catching up. Hi ladies!

Here's the fab card that we made (with a lot of help from Jen!), it's a double-slider card, I've never made one before, it's a fun make!

Before:



..and after:


Isn't it fun?! And how cute is that birdie - watch out for him in the new catalogue!

Here are a few pics of us at play!

Jen demonstrating:



From left to right: Jenny, Jane, Val and Diana:


And here's a pic of me and Jo, she's such a great blogging buddy of mine so it was fab to finally meet her in person!:


We also swapped cards but I haven't got around to photographing the ladies' cards (will aim to do that tomorrow!) but here's a pic of my pile of swaps. We all made enough to send on to the other ladies' in Jen's team who unfortunately couldn't make it.


Another new stamp from the catalogue called Whimsical Wings - this one is a hostess set - I kept it simple with black, white and a bit of bling ;)

Thank you so much for a great day Jen and a big hello to all the lovely ladies who were there! Hope to see you again soon!!

So today is another Stamp With Us challenge and this week it's a sketch - and a tough one (well for me anyway!) at that! Here's the sketch:


...and my take on it:


Recipe:
Stamps - Old Fashioned Christmas
Card/Paper - Whisper White/Read Red/Old Olive/Holiday Treasures DSP
Other - Copic Sketch Markers/Adhesive Pearls/Cuttlebug Swiss Dots Embossing folder

Hmm..still not happy with it but hey ho, they're not called challenges for nothing I suppose! Don't forget to check out the other DT cards and full details on how to enter at the Stamp With Us Blog.

That's all follks! Hope to see you soon!

Kate x

More queueing

Another card made using the fabulous new Queue Up set from the new catalogue, for a dear friend:


Recipe:
Stamps - Queue Up/Circle of Friendship
Ink - Memento Tuxedo Black
Card - Whisper White/Taken With Teal/Pumpkin Pie
Other - Copic Sketch Markers/Circle Punches

Here's a couple of cards I recently uploaded to A Passion for Papertrey:

A Christmas card using a yummy colour combo - Aqua Mist and Enchanted Evening, using the Believe set:


And my sample for our current challenge - to make a birthday card using at least one Papertrey product. For details on how to enter... and ergo how to win a Papertrey goody bag head over to the blog :)


The above card was made for my lovely stamping and blogging buddy, Jo who's birthday it was on Sunday. I hope you had a really lovely day Jo!

And finally I want to thank the equally lovely Dawn for this award - thanks so much for thinking of me hun!


The rules of this award are that I have to share 5 things that I am addicted to, and then pass on the award to 5 other blogs I love:

1)Stamping....of course! How did I live without it!

2)Strictly Come Dancing - it's back, woo-hoo! I love everything about it - the dancing, the music, the glamour and the sequins. I'm a huge fan of big band music and those fantastic old singing and dancing movies, so I love that we're falling in love with ballroom dancing again. And the latin... oh I love the latin too! One of my lifetime ambitions is to learn to dance!

3)UGG boots - and only the real deal :) I bought my new autumn pair last week, they're so comfy I can barely take them off!

4)Chocolate! I love to finish a meal with a few pieces of really good chocolate, on the whole I manage to not scoff the lot! (Having said that I don't have much left from a shopping spree in Hotel Chocolate on Saturday lol!)

5)Keeping fit.... It's not so miuch about image as about feeling fit and healthy - I've always loved going to the gym and running and now pilates, yoga and bodybalance classes are an important part of my week. Plus it allows me to enjoy number 4 guilt free lol!

I'm going to pass this award onto the following fabulous bloggers:

1)Sara
2)Jo
3)Kim
4)Mandy
5)Emma

See you soon I hope!

Kate x