'What you do speaks so loudly, I can't hear what you say.'
Ralph Waldo Emerson

Tuesday 9 December 2008

I actually LIKE this one - a real rarity!!! Hope my friend likes it, too.

Stamps from ISC - http://www.innovativestampcreations.com/

Oops! Just realised the words are from Artistic Outpost - http://www.artisticoutpost.com/ - I've always loved that phrase, but I particularly love the font in this one.

The background's brayered glossy card, brayered over with Versafine Onyx Black, using a Fiskar's Mesh brayer, then clear embossed. I have absolutely no idea why Fiskars discontinued these. IMHO they're the best brayers ever to be made - perfectly weighted, making them easy to use, six inches wide, solid and I love the interchangeable rollers!!

Thursday 4 December 2008

This one's in the January issue of Craft Stamper, which should be out now, I believe.

I've been stamping a lot, recently but unfortunately, I can't show you most of it because it's for magazines. Thought I'd upload a simple (Birthday) card I made a couple of days ago, though AND a sneak preview of a couple of my projects. I love this image from ISC.

Tuesday 14 October 2008

Katy' s Corner is finally closed. If you've been one of my loyal customers (and there are many) I thank you for your support - it's been wonderful to meet so many lovely people and there are some I will really miss.
I'm now trying to piece back the bits of my life I lost while eating, sleeping and breathing Katy's Corner over the last eight years - including finding a job or I won't be eating, let alone buying more Craft Supplies, lol!
Had a great day on Saturday, visiting Port Sunlight Stamp show and yes, I bought new stamps. What a joy to be able to buy stamps I personally like for the first time in years and not to have to work solely with the ones I sell - it was a delight, if somewhat expensive.
I had a Stamping Contrasts feature coming up and was chuffed to see one of my projects in print. Since I was still in business when I submitted, I can publish it here, which isn't the case with the ones I'm working on now - I'll have to wait three months before I can publish those online. So here it is...........


It's only simple - one of our tag book kits decorated with Adirondack dye and pigment inks, but it was one of those projects which is fun to do - I really enjoyed it! Image and words from Time to Stamp.

I hope to be more active on here as soon as I get a LOT of things sorted out, but will try to pop in from time to time until I have more time. I hope to be playing a little more in the next few weeks - just for fun and not cos I HAVE to :)

Sunday 7 September 2008

For a KCUK swap, using the Glimmer Mists backgrounds from the Jellytots set. The butterfly was stamped again on Shimmer Sheets I've had for about six years, then cut out and attached to the original stamped image. Looks much better and much more 'glimmery' in real life :)












Inspiration from http://www.cardinspired.com/ATCHolder.html - thank you! We did change quite a few things, though.
We used the Jellytots Glimmer Mists to spray the background card, then matched colours with Ranger Adirondack and Distress inks. Stamps are from Simple Expressions and Time to Stamp.
Image transfers were done with Acetate prints (yes, we do sell them) using Golden Fluid Medium (matte). This was a fun project.

Wednesday 6 August 2008





This is what we're doing on Saturday - they were SO much fun to make and I love the way the little flaps open out for messages or photos.

Tuesday 5 August 2008

I'm sure he looked tattier when he was feeding young, but he's a real mess at the moment, with only two or three tail feathers and what appears to be a VERY painful leg! I noticed today that he slips in the wet and he's really struggling to stay on this branch - really sad.
Today's the 13 March and sadly, I think we've lost our little friend. It's over 3 weeks since I've seen him, now and the last time I saw him, his claw was withered. He hadn't been using his 'bad leg' for a couple of weeks, but was as feisty as ever, so I didn't suspect anything. The last time I saw him, he was at my feet, eating sultanas and fighting off anything that came within a foot or so. Unfortunately, we had a couple of nights of bad frost and I can only guess at what happened to him. I really miss him.



Just got to play with my new stamps for the first time - they came back double the size they're supposed to be, but some of them are really gorgeous that way, despite my misgivings. This is just one of them - boring, but I enjoyed the way the different backgrounds made each card look different. The third card background is interesting - I made it years ago but I really like it. It was elastic bands around a brayer, which resulted in a really soft, veneer-like effect. Must try that again...... we forget, don't we?


I was really (pleasantly) surprised this morning to find a gorgeous - stunning - little work of art in my mail - and here it is. I've photographed the detail so you can see it because it really is exquisite and so delicate. Love the idea and adore the card! Thanks, Suse.

Tuesday 29 July 2008

Covers
26 pages and covers - top view
View of binding
Front of completed book

My Yahoo group (Katy's Corner UK) recently did a 'Chunky Fat book' swap, which was supposed to be completed in April, initially, then the deadline was extended to May....... guess who didn't do her pages until last week and then had to do the covers, the binding and the punching, too? I think I have an excuse this time, though, rather than just work.

There's some absolutely fab artwork in them and each one is a real treasure, so it was a pleasure to do, eventually, but LOONG! I hope all the swappers are pleased with the finished results. It took most of Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday to share out the pages, punch them all, make the covers and then bind them. I sponged all the covers on Sunday, while sitting in the sun, stamped them, then carried on with the punching and binding, which was finally finished at 2.30 yesterday afternoon (Monday). I love those Brilliance ink colours when they're sponged - they glide on so easily and smoothly and look stunning with their pearlescent finish. I prefer to use reinkers so that I get more colour saturation. I actually stamped, cut out and glittered the acetate Butterfly girl in April or May, so they've been waiting a long time for their new homes and I bet half of them have fallen off before they arrive.

Saturday 26 July 2008

This baby toad was barely an inch long!
Tatty robin - don't they look great in moulting season?

Young baby robin, with the feed tray all to itself.

Friday 25 July 2008

Been doing the Fat (Chunky) book swap I should have done at the end of May - shame on me - but doesn't life get in the way of things, at times? Anyway, I finally stamped and enjoyed it.
Now to think of something for the covers..... only 27 to do, then punching and binding!! Whose idea was this???

Wednesday 16 July 2008

Lynne and I took a rare day out on Monday. We took the train to Liverpool and went to see the Klimt exhibition - wow! It's fab and I'd recommend it to anyone :) Such attention to detail and so much variation. I'm sure that most of you will recognise Nuda Veritas - much, MUCH more striking in real life, when you see the gold work, etc.

It's taken me a long time to get round to it but last month I was really taken by surprise by a lovely group of stampers. I'd been chatting to one of them and had shared how I was feeling when Mum and Dad left for New Zealand. To my surprise, a few weeks later an envelope popped through my door containing a load of fat book pages, complete with O rings and covers (left blank for me to decorate) to cheer me up!! I've just had a good look at it for the first time, really, with Stamp Camp and lots of other things which have been going on and I've put it together. Duh! Should have scanned or photographed it first :( It's really lovely and has a variety of artwork in it, but the best thing of all is that it was sent with so much kindness and thoughfulness. I'll do my best to get some piccies in the next week or so and upload it. Thank you, ladies. It really did (and does) mean a lot to me! You can see the girls' work here, at Lots to do Challenge Blog.

Tuesday 15 July 2008

Just stamped some ATCs - phew! Thought I was never going to be able to do that again, even if they are very simple :)

Used Adirondack pigment inks (Lemonade and Watermelon) and Versafine, with stamped Krylon Gold pen over the top (on right). The darker one is embossed.

Friday 11 July 2008



Well, it doesn't just seem like ages since I stamped, it IS ages, but tomorrow we have our first workshop for two months - excluding Stamp Camp, that is, when we did quite a few :) It's an all day workshop, too, with one group going with Lynne and one with me - repeating what we did the last time, which is why I still haven't stamped - aagghh!! It's already on the website from a while ago, I think, but I'll post a couple of pics here now.

Thursday 10 July 2008


Just one more for tonight - the resident robin, who's become very friendly of late, followed by my favourite song thrush, who I was thrilled to be able to photograph.





We may well call him Scruff, but isn't he gorgeous? And look at that leg......... Trouble is, I think he's trained us, rather than the other way round. If we go out and call his name, he arrives in a few seconds and looks down at us from the extension roof, bad leg hanging over.

This is my favourite baby blackbird and she (I think it's a 'she' cos her tail's not darker than her body as some of them are) has NO fear! I worry for her for that reason, but I do enjoy it when she comes to visit. We were feeding the birds meal worms, saving them for our old friend, Scruff, but one day she found them and ever since then has come back to the back door, coming into the house or into the garage when the door's open. She's so entertaining. I'll post my favourite piccies of Scruff in a moment.

I've been playing, but not with stamps - shame on me! I bought a new camera just for Stamp Camp and am a little more than obsessed with playing with it to find out what it can do. I'm seriously impressed so far for a point and click cheapo camera, I have to admit. So here are a few of my recent efforts.

I'm still alive - honestly! Here are some of the clocks made by some of the Stamp Camp attendees - excellent work. These were all created with Adirondack Pigment inks and Gesso, using Grunge Board elements as stencils. We coated them with fixative, then put them through the Xyron, with repositionable adhesive, so they'd just wipe off, ready for the next person to use. This was my first (and only) play with Adirondack pigment inks and I have to say I love them. I've used mainly dye inks for the last few years, apart from the odd play with chalk inks and Brilliance, so it was a real pleasure to have something which blended so well and so easily. The inks flow on canvas and on paper and only need to be quickly blasted with the heat tool to make them permanent. Isn't it great to see how much variety there is? I love it when people all do the same project but the results are totally unique.
If you'd like to see more of the photos from Stamp Camp 2008, you can see them here. Artwork can be seen here, though I have more to upload.