ALMOST FORGOT...

Almost forgot....this last week I was over at Simply Create teaching again....we plan on doing a canvas per season and this is winter...what do you think? The papers used are TPC Studio, Christmas Village and are available to purchase at the shop....

I used my Tim Holtz Tattered Florals die to do the flower and my new bowmaker to make the bow behind it...fab little invention cos I am rubbish at tying bows...lol...

Lots of lovely white and clear buttons used to make the simple but effective tree and some red flat backed pearls for that little extra bling!!

Not sure when the Spring one will be yet but please phone the shop on 01975 564010 to keep up to date or check out the blog or email on simply-create@btconnect.com..My next class is a white printers tray using very pretty Girls Paperie papers which can also be booked through the shop....

TTFN

Kirsti

xxx

ANOTHER CANVAS CLASS...

A while ago I did the online She Art workshop with Christy Thomlinson and I loved it....and when Jacqui from Simply Create saw my first canvas she asked if I would have a go at teaching it in the shop which I did yesterday...this is the one the class was based around...

All the ladies went home really proud of themselves and so they should have been...they did a fantastic job....

Can't wait for the next class which is on Wednesday 9 November at 10.30am over at Simply Create in Alford...the theme for this one will be a winter wonderland...we are hoping that over the next year to do one for each of the seasons starting with winter next month...dates to be confirmed for the rest but if you pop over to Jacqui's blog I think she has a wee special offer on if you book all 4...The number to call to book your place on this or any other classes is 01975 564010...so what are you waiting for - spaces are limited!!!

That all from me today but hopefully over the next couple of weeks I will showing lots of photos as I have just ordered my first Digital SLR and it should be here tomorrow...can't wait!!!

Kirsti xxx

A MIXTURE OF THINGS...

Last Sunday it was my nephew's birthday and Niamh insisted on a new 'pretty' outfit for the party and if you know Niamh you know she doesn't do pretty so I was a bit reluctant to get anything as I had visions of her changing her mind at the last minute, however we are having a photoshoot on Sunday and I want all the girls in pretty dresses so I bought this outfit from Tesco for her...I also bought it for Libby but Ellie refused to have it so still need to get something for her.... On the same day it was the Fintray Sheltie Stakes(Shetland pony horse races!) and some of the girls from Evolution School of Dance were asked to come along and do some Highland dancing...Ellie is the second from the left...it was very short and very sweet but hey...they enjoyed it and we got a nice day for it so all good...

On Saturday I had a table at the Charity Day for Mistletoe Cancer over at Alford which was organised by Jacqui from Simply Create....as is my norm I forgot something and this time it was my camera so I have pinched these loverly photos from my good friend Judy's blog...she took the one of me and I love it and her friend Catriona from Blue Door Photography took the one of her and it is equally fab....it was a really good day and was good to catch up with some friends who had tables

I have another fair this Saturday over at Finzean Primary School so if you are in the are so please pop in from ...they are trying to raise fund for a new playground....

That's it for me...away to pop some washing in although there is no chance of getting it out as it's bucketing with rain...I am just waiting for it to go of a bit so I can get out for our morning walk with my neighbour Clare....

Kirsti xxx

BEEN THERE...DONE THAT...

OK I can now officially say....been there...done that...got the t-shirt...

Today I taught my first class over at Simply Create in Alford.....and I had an absolute ball...thank you so much to everyone who came and I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did....

We did a version of this canvas which I did a while back while in an online chatroom with Darcy, Sonja and Rosie one Saturday night and drinking a bottle of rose...lol....was fun!!!

Anyways these are the ladies that took part in today's class and I think the next one (Wednesday 5th October at 10.30am) has a couple more...not sure if there are spaces but if you phone the shop on 01975 564010 they will be able to let you know...

Thank you so much for giving me this opportunity Jacqui and I hope I will be able to do more in the future...

Kirsti xxx

MY FIRST EASEL CARD...

The other day I was flicking through the July issue of Craft Stamper looking for inspiration for a 40th birthday card for my next door neighbour Clare for her sister...Kate had done a card using the free stamp and it was an easel card...I have never made one of these before so I thought I would have a go...

I didn't make the base card the same way Kate did but from a tutorial found here and simple though it was I still managed to cock it up by putting the front on the wrong way round...back to the beginning..was easy once I looked again...

I used papers from a 6"x6" stack called Madeline by Prima Marketing...they are gorgeous papers...I stitched round the flowery piece in the middle before sticking it down so the stitching wouldn't be seen on the back...

The ribbon on the top is from Simply Create from my stash and the ribbon on the bottom is also from there and just bought on Tuesday....was searching through all my vast collection of ribbon looking for the perfect piece....you know the feeling right when you have the right colour but not the right type of ribbon or the right ribbon but not the colour you need...AAARGHHH...spent ages looking and then remembered the piece I bought that day and it's just perfect... I also added a diamante to the centre of each flower...

I added the little matt with the pearls to hold the card upright...and the 'Celebrate' was a stamp that I also bought on Tuesday in the Simply Create sale...

The chandelier(free stamp) is stamped onto the corner from one of the sheets in Timber Brown Stazon and it matches in perfect with the patterned paper...I matted it in dark brown and added a diamante...

Overall I was very pleased with the way it had turned out for a first attempt and fortunately so was Clare...I will definitely be doing some more of these in the future...

As I said on Tuesday I went over to Simply Create for a mooch around the sale with Kerry and Trish...bad influence...I had planned to wash the floors but they were going over and in the end we had coffee and scones at the Bistro, a rummage round the sale(if you fancy any of the canvas classes I am doing in the shop please phone the shop soon on 01975 564010 to book you place as I think they are filling up (excited.com and also verynervous.com!!!), we then went to the charity shop which was actually closed but the volunteers let us have a nose around...then it was back to Inverurie and of to Andersons for lunch...a totally indulgent day but then it was the first day of the new school term so I think it's allowed...lol...

I didn't buy much as I am still on my stash busting mission...but check out this glorious 100 buttons that I did buy...Lush or what??? The colours are so beautiful and vintage looking...There was a time when I used to go into raptures over new shoes and boots and now its buttons...heehee...

Will be back (hopefully) tomorrow (or maybe even later today) with some piccies of the kids first day back at school and Morgan's first day at the Academy!!!

TFL

Kirsti xxx

CLASSES....

Does anyone fancy coming along to Simply Create in Alford for some canvas classes with little old me....please?!? Jacqui and I thought we would maybe try out Wednesday mornings for these classes for those of you who maybe have children commitments at the weekends and evenings (like me!!)....

This is the first one....

Wednesday 7th September at 10.30am

The second one will be a version of this one...

Wednesday 5th October at 10.30am

and the last one will be a winter version of this one... Wednesday 9th November at 10.30

If you would be interested in any of these classes please phone Jacqui on 01975 564010 for further details and to book your place...go on...you know you want to!!

Hope you are all enjoying the summer holidays...

Kirsti xxx

UFO NUMBER 1

Right as part of mine and Sonja's stash busting/UFO finishing challenge this is a mini book that I started at a workshop at Simply Create quite a few months ago....

I was going to use a series of photos from a day out we had a Haughton Park in Alford with cousins, aunties, uncle and friends til I realised I only had about 5 pictures(forgot I was going to get some from Pete but never did) so I decided to make it a book about April 2011 instead and since it was Morgan and Ellie's 12th and 11th birthdays on the 14th...

It's a very picture heavy post so I wont bore you with the 'how it was put together' waffle, I will just let you enjoy the photos...

I love these flowers and my niece was round one night and her pearly necklace snapped all over the conservatory floor and I said I would string it back together for her but never did so i pinched them and used some for the insides of these gorgeous flowers on the front cover...

The very front cover is perspex so the flowers and the lovely swirly stamp are on the outside and when you open it you can see the full LO...

Morgan on his birthday...not looking very happy....

The terrible twosome - Niamh and Blair - they are either fighting like cat and dog or best of buds....a very love/hate relationship but they are very close cousins....

Ellie's friends on her birthday sleep-over...

Trying to light the candles outside was hilarious as it was quite a breezy day...we would no sooner have some lit than they would all start going out...gave up in the end!!!

Niamh lost her first tooth so was very excited....

One of my cherry blossoms in full bloom...

Mother's Day...not exactly what look Allan was aiming for here...lol...

And I love the label for the back...even tho it's Jacqui's design I have made it my own unique book with the photos used and the different page arrangements ....I am funny like that when I go to a class I am always trying to change things so they are not carbon copies of the whole class...

Anyhoos - Thanks for looking...

Kirsti

xxx

PS - Next on the list of UFOs is one of the Rusty Pickle books from his last workshhop - only got a couple of pages to finish in it...

Well here is my very late offering for this month's design team kit from Simply Create...sorry it took so long and all that....

I started with a blank canvasboard and added some dressmaking pattern using ModPodge(don't worry about the creases and crinkles too much, it just adds to the texture of the background) and then coloured it in green and blue paint....

I was going to cut the bunting flags(Glitz-Afternoon Muse Banner) from the 12x12 out individually until I realised that if I cut out just that bit of it fitted perfectly onto the canvas and I love the way the paper blends in with the painted background..I did cut round the bottom row and crumpled them a bit tho for a bit more of a layered look....

I used various stamps from the DT set of Lost and Found(Union Square 'Perfect') and a couple of Stampin Up rollers which I like as you don't get the whole image just bits of it to add interest to the background....I also splattered some Stampin Up All Purpose Ink in Frost White using a paintbrush...

I made various flowers which were duly crumpled and inked using cardstock and added buttons and ribbon and pearls for the centres and hand drew the stalks and leaves...I almost forgot I did the very bottom of the canvas with Ranger Distress Crackle Paint in Antique Linen and then added some more lovely shimmery ink from Stampin Up for some added shine..

I cut out the word SUMMER using Tim Holtz Vintage Market Die and added a few little drops of shimmer ink to that to...

Thanks for looking and have a great summer everyone...I have enjoyed my roll on the Design Team very much - it has definitely given me a little more confidence in myself....

Kirsti xxxx

NEW CHALLENGE...

So there is a new Mood Board Challenge over at Simply Create.... Here's what Jacqui has to say... So for a long time I haven't had time to play but tonight's the night, I am in the mood for a challenge so I thought maybe you would be too, so you've guessed it another £100 of goodies up for grabs and maybe some little prizes thrown in too....make something using the colours from the inspiration board below and include a flower and a button in your project somewhere. So here's another one of those gorgeous inspiration boards: All I ask is that you leave a comment, become a member of the blog and link to the challenge on your side bar. I will announce the winner on the 30th March so have fun and can't wait to see all of your gorgeous creations. So why not pop over and have a go...you have to be 'in it to win it' as they say....

SIMPLY CREATE CHALLENGE...

If you hop on over to Simply Create you will notice that they have a fab challenge going on at the moment with 100 pounds of stash up for grabs...and if you hurry you still have time to enter...closing date is 14th February...

This is my entry...
I used an SVG template from Dan99 for the Cricut and cut out this gorgeous wee house...it is actually a Christmas house in his description but I have made it a lovely Spring house for my project....

I used some cardstock from a pad by We R Memory Keepers that I picked up in TK MAXX last weekend for about 7 pounds...there are some gorgeous colours in it and it has a white core so is ideal for distressing...

I overstamped the house shape with the Tim Holtz brick stamp and then punched out some mini flowers and drew on the stems...

The roof is actually a piece of the blue cardstock but I coloured it with brown ink and then ran through the Big Shot with the woodgrain texture plate(borrowed from Sonja) and the eaves are made using the Scallop punch from Stampin' Up...

The butterfly is one I had left over from a couple of cards I made last week...It is a digi one from Hero Arts that I have had my eye on in the 'real life' set but wasn't so keen on the rest of the pack so bought this one instead...

Thanks for looking....

Kirsti xx

SIMPLY CREATE CHALLENGE...

Just a quick reminder to get yourself over to Simply Create to check out the challenge...100 pound voucher up for grabs...so why not have a go...


Sorry not been around for a while - had a really busy weekend and ALL my kids have had the sickness bug since Sunday so I have been cleaning up and tending sick kids all week...hopefully the last one will be back to school tomorrow so normal service can resume!!!

HERO ARTS AND SIMPLY CREATE SHOP RELAUNCH...

So Saturday saw me, Sonja and Judy meeting up for lunch at the Bistro in Alford - if you haven't tried it...WHY NOT???? Gorgeous food and very reasonably priced... we all opted for the steak pie, chips, peas and gravy....mmmhh and pudding to finish - the sticky toffee pudding was fab!!! Afterwards it was a mooch across the road to Simply Create who were having a Hero Arts demo day and a relaunch of the new shop...and how fab it is...lots of lovely space with shelves full of lush products...what more could a crafty girl ask for...lol.... And here she is the Hero Arts Tart (as she has taken to calling herself!), Kath in full flow - although I have to say we didn't get near enough to see what she was actually up to due to the crowd that was surrounding here for most of the afternoon so we settled with browsing the shelves and sitting relaxing on the sofa with a cuppa....

Some of Kath's gorgeous creations....

A nice close up (well as close as I could get without having an elbow poked in my ribs!!!)

and another couple of lovlies...

I do love a nice relaxing Saturday afternoon with great friends...makes a change from running around after the kids for football and dancing...here's to the next lunch girls...:0)