Layered Heart For Fiskarettes

Ok, so you have another reprieve from my sample deluge!

I have a quick sneak at my new post over at the Fiskarettes forum.

Thought I might try layering up my Fiskars punches, what do you think?

Hey it is Friday! But not just any Friday - it's the start to a Bank Holiday weekend Friday! Wahoo! So what are you all up to? Will you get any creating time?

Whatever you are doing have fun!

Kim

The Latest Issue Of Simply Cards And Papercraft

A bit of a break from my schedule of Create and Craft samples this week and a heads-up for the latest issue of Simply Cards and Papercraft instead!

It is issue 111 and it is a corker! Some really lovely articles full of inspiration from some of my favourite designers!

I've got an arty watercolour article with Penny Black stamps from Crafts U Love in this issue. Don't worry I'm not counting myself in my favourite designers list - I'm not THAT big headed! LOL!

Don't forget to checkout the Facebook page if you are on Facebook. 

Have a fun read.

Kim

Playing With Kraft Glassine From Tim Holtz

How about another sample from the show? I think this might be one of my favourites.

Last week was the first time I got my hands on some of the Tim Holtz Kraft Glassine paper, I've been curious about the stuff but just hadn't had a go at it. I'm very glad it was included in the show because it might be my new favourite thing, well at least for this month! It is great stuff, as I found out last week, and you can do so much with it. I had to restrain myself from using it in every sample.

For this sample I've printed out one of my own stock vintage photos onto one of the ATC Kraft Glassine envelopes with my inkjet printer.

The tag uses some of the Tim Holtz Kraft Resist stash and I've added some colour to it with the Distress paint. You can pull the tag out of the envelope to add a more personal message on it. 

You can also stamp on the kraft glassine, cut it, crunch it, colour it, all sorts of things, love it! If you print on it then don't forget to heat set the image with your heat tool.

Would love to hear what you have done with Kraft Glassine.

Have fun

Kim

Perfectly Pink Classic Dragonfly Blueprint

I survived another Create and Craft show! I was in the Tool Shed for two hours on Sunday playing with some of the products from the Ranger Tim Holtz range, it was a lot of fun as you can imagine, got a little messy.

You can also guess that I have got a whole range of samples to show from the show, so at least I won't run out of blog fodder this week!

First up is a canvas...

I've used the Tim Holtz Idea-ology Tissue Tape, with a layer of Golden gel medium over the top to make sure it stuck in place for good. I then built up the colour in layers with the Distress Paints. Remember the paint is opaque so if you want the underneath to show through you need to blend the paint out before it dries. The Dragonfly stamp and sentiments are from the Tim Holtz Classic 1 Stampers Anonymous set. I do love all those blueprint stamps, there is something about blueprints I just love!

I've used the Crackly tissue paper technique that Leandra from PaperArtsy uses in her YouTube video - Crackly Tissue with Fresco Finish Chalk Acrylics on Canvas. Except I don't have any crackly tissue paper so I used the technique on some packing tissue and was very, very careful with it!

I then stamped the wing out on acetate and the body onto card and stuck them together and onto the canvas.

Ta-da! Done!

Next sample tomorrow, if I get the time to post it up.

But the time flies so fast in the shows, even two hours together, and I did not cover as much as I thought I would when I was putting the show together last week - well that is what blogs are for I suppose!

Catch you later.

Kim

Back On Create And Craft

I've been busy making samples and putting demos together this week for my next Creative Expressions show on  Create and Craft.

I'm on this Sunday (19th May) 12pm - 2pm in the Tool Shed! (But remember times can change).

You can catch the show online or via  Freeview 36 | Freesat 813 | Virgin 748 | Sky 671 or even via their app.

And you can have a pretty good guess at what type of show it will be if you pop over to their website as they have the products up already, but don't go buying them all, leave me something to demo won't you?

Kim

Get Stamping 2 Is Out!

Just dropping by to give you a heads-up...

The second issue of the new magazine Get Stamping is out.

Again it is full of lovely contemporary inspiration for a whole range of projects from cards to art journalling for the great sheet of stamps that come with it. I've got some journal pages and some paper cutting cards in this issue.

Check it out at WHSmiths, Tescos or pop on other to the MoreMags website to order it online.

Don't forget to checkout their new Facebook page too!

Catch you later.

Kim

Making Mini Tabs In Silhouette Studio

Do you remember back in April I did a review for the Silhouette Cameo? Wow, was that April already? Where does the time go? In that review I showed a card, all designed and cut in the Silhouette Studio software.

I thought I would show how I made the little mini-tabs in Silhouette Studio, which is the basic software that comes with the cutting machine.

Before we start the software defaults to inches, I don't mind working in inches but sometimes I just find it easier to work in centimetres, but it is easy to change the software to measure in centimetres.

(If you are having problems seeing the pictures then try opening them up in a new tab in your browser.)

Got to the 'File' drop-down menu and choose 'Preferences' which is three up from the bottom of the list.

Pick 'Measurements' from the list on the left in the new pop-up window and pick 'Centimeters'

I then like to change my design mat to the size of the card I am working on, in this case an A6 (10.5 cm by 14.8 cm), to make it easier to judge the size of the elements.

So tap the page option if the 'Page' tab isn't already open and change the width and height. You can always resize it again later if you want.

Ok, on with making the mini-tab! On the left hand-side there are all your line and shapes tools, pick the rounded-corner rectangle (third in that mini-list) and draw a rectangle to the size you want it. then pick the circle and draw a circle.

Select both shapes and use the 'Align' option to align centre the two shapes relative to each other.

Then pick the 'Weld' tool to merge the two shapes into one. Almost there!

Now it is time to trim the Tab into shape, so pick the 'Knife' tool, this is such a cool tool! With the 'Knife' tool selected, click on the left-hand side of the tab, near the bottom of the shape, hold the button down and stretch the tool over to the right-hand side of the shape. Keep the line horizontal as you drag the cursor across the shape and you have a straight line cut when you release the button.

Ta Da! You now have two shapes!

Select the bottom shape and delete it, hitting backspace, or the scissor icon or even using delete in the 'Edit' drop-down menu will get rid of it for you.

Yay! A mini-tab that you can now add a shape to, or some writing, or even leave as it is if you like. Oh and of course you can now cut it out too!

Happy cutting.

Kim

Hearts And Circles Gone Digital!

Recent I got to try out the CraftArtist 2 Professional from Serif. Have you used it? 

If you don't know it, it is a papercrafting software for doing your digital and hybrid makes. I was quite surprised at the amount of things I could do with the software. For example you can 'punch' shapes digitally, then use them to co-ordinate your digital design or even print them out to make embellishments.

So I was let loose on this software and here is one of my makes using only the software and the Circle Brush and Stamps kit.

It is only simple as I was on a tight turn around, but I do like a bit of clean and simple designing. So I've coloured the digital stamps in the software, then added in the black borders around the stamps, arranged the design and printed them out with the sentiment too. Easy! Well it was easy once I had worked out how to change the border of the stamp.

If you are interested in trying the CraftArtist for yourself there is actually a free compact version of the software too.

Have a fun Monday.

Kim

Some Reading For The weekend

If you are on the look out for some new magazine inspiration then take a peak to Papercraft Essentials Issue 94.

My article this month is a Gesso masterclass and I've used Mona Lisa and Melle Papillon designed by Alex Smith for Penny Black because I just had too! - Kind of fell in love with them!

The new Craft Stamper is also out and I have a card in the Ready Steady Stamp section.

But if you are also looking for something to do this weekend then you might fancy checking out the new group Pinterest board I've started called Art & Craft Tutorial Favourites. 

As I said to folks on Facebook the idea is that it is a place to collect and share our favourite tutorials and workshops for papercrafts and mixed media. They can be tutorials or workshops you have tried or want to try, they can also be your own that you want to share, that is fine too! 

I'm hoping it will develop into a handy board to flick through if we are looking for some inspiration, a recommendation for something new or just to help inspire us out of a creative rut! What do you think? 

If you aren't on Pinterest yet and want to join then this link should lead you there and straight to the new board to follow once you've signed up, well at least I think it should! If you are already on Pinterest then you will find the board here.

Are you interested in being a contributor to the board? If so drop me a line and I'll link you up! It is open to all papercraft and mixed media enthusiasts.

Hope to see you there!

Have a fun weekend.

Kim

Creative Expressions Metallic Gilding Wax

It's review time! This week I'm taking a look at the new Metallic Gilding Waxes from Creative Expressions.

Now if you haven't spotted this product yet but like that metallic sparkle on your projects, then this is definitely for you. They are pots of  a coloured wax that you wipe onto the project surface to give a metallic sheen. They are particularly perfect for picking out texture, so look great on dry embossed items but also look wonderful on all sorts of other surfaces too. Gilding waxes are often used by interior designers to shabby chic pieces of furniture to give it that luxurious patina look but us crafters love them too!

The Creative Expressions Metallic Gilding Waxes come in 10 yum colours and I've used the Golden Light, Cast Bronze and Patina for my examples here today.

They really do give a high metallic sheen to a project. The wax is really easy to apply, you just need to take a small amount from the surface of the pot and wipe it across the surface of your project. 

The pot suggests that you apply it with a cloth onto your surface, but I also used my fingers, making sure that I wiped the majority of it off my fingers onto a cloth and then washed my hands thoroughly too. 

Once the wax has dried you can add an extra shine by buffing it with a clean cloth. It is one of those products where a little bit will go a long way and I am sure that the 10 ml pot will last a very long time.

I've tried it on a number of different surfaces and the photo above shows the wax on fabric, acetate and wood (left to right) and you can also apply it to metal and painted surfaces too. 

The wax is very soft and malleable and my tip would be not to take too much of the wax in one go.You do get a little bit of flaking when you try to take a large amount of wax at once, but all you have to do is work the flakes into the project or drop them back into the pot and take a smaller amount of wax.

Of course I had to try it on black card too and what a fabulous look that gives, so don't forget to try them on your coloured card!

So the Creative Expressions Metallic Gilding Waxes look just as good covering large areas as they do adding small details and touches to a project. They add a really luxurious twist quickly and easily to your project.

I've used the Golden Light Creative Expressions Metallic Gilding Wax on the corrugated card, edges and metallic brads in this Father's Day tag.

The sentiment and car are the Vintage Car set from the Creative Expressions Single Stamps range.

The flowers are the Heartfelt Mini Vintage Floret Pre Cut Set. I've also used the Creative Expressions Umount Texture Plate and some Cosmic Shimmer Misters.

If you want to see some more fabulous ideas for using your Creative Expressions Metallic Gilding Wax then check out this lovely project from Tracy Evan's blog. But you also NEED to check out Suzanne Saltwell fabulous stamping with the Gilding Wax over on the Creative Expressions Blog!

I would love to hear what you think about these gliding waxes if you have them, or other waxes that you use.

Thanks for popping in.

Kim

[Disclaimer: I am on the Creative Expressions Design Team and I was given this product to use and review but as with all my reviews, I do try to give you my honest unbiased thoughts.]

Tree Crazy For Fiskars

I'm starting my bloggy week with one of my favourite punches and a tree! Do you remember a few weeks ago I showed a little three tree spinny card made from the Fiskars Cloud Squeeze Punch and a bit of ink? 

Well my tree today uses the same punch but this time with scraps of designer paper.

You can see the full card over at the Fiskarettes forum, this is just a teaser!

Hope you have a wonderful week.

Kim

Disappearing Week And A New Facebook Page

Hey lovely blogging folks, have you had a good week? 

I'm in a bit of a state of shock - it is Friday! How did that happen? At the beginning of the week I was actually thinking that I was going to have a quiet week, get a chance to get lots of things on my To-Do list done.

By Tuesday I was trying to motivate myself into some projects that have been trundling along not really getting anywhere. You know the type of project I'm sure, bet you have lots of them too! Like I really want to give my blog a bit of a refresh, maybe design a new header. 

I've also been meaning to do another video tutorial or two, I keep starting them then not finishing. I also need a massive clear-up of my workspace. It is such a mess I can't reach my desk any more and it has been like that for weeks. I'm working on the couch at the moment!

That is only a small portion of my scissor collection by the way!

But then a last minute job came in and my plans all changed, I blinked and it was Friday. Seriously, how does that happen?

Well, I'm not blinking this weekend! Three days! Now that is my type of weekend!

Before I go start my long, hopefully sunny weekend, have you spotted the new Facebook page for Papercraft Essentials, Simply Cards & Papercraft, Complete Cardmaking, Get Stamping and Scrapbook magazine?

 Go link yourself up with a 'Like' to keep up-to-date with all the news.

So I'm off, sorry I have no project to show. 

Whatever you do this weekend I hope you have a lovely one.

Not blinking Kim

Magazine Time - Simply Cards And Papercraft

The new issue of Simply Cards and Papercraft is out, issue 110.

Lots of lovely makes as all ways from the design team. My offering this month is making your own wire animals.

Look at me being all on time with my heads-up this month! This issue went on sale last week so you should be able to spot it in your usual stockist.

Catch you later.

Kim