Less is More Week #265.....and New DT Members!

Happy Saturday, lovelies!

Although I've popped up here and there in blogland over the last couple of weeks, I'm now back from my little break (sometimes life just gets in the way and I needed some time out!), and I'm here to tell you about the new challenge just starting at Less is More.  But before that, we have some fabulous news...

OUR NEW DT MEMBERS!

So I'd like to introduce you to these lovely ladies...

Sarah

Susan

Sharon

There is more info over on the main challenge blog this morning.

Congratulations and welcome to the team, ladies!

xxx

So, onto the challenge, and this week we're back with a Recipe challenge which is to...

Feature/Use Wire

When I saw this theme pop up on our DT blog it sent me into panic mode as I remembered selling all my craft wire and pliers, etc. about two years ago....help!!!  But a challenge is a challenge so I managed to find a little inexpensive pack of craft wire and created a few sample cards for you.


For my first card I used some green wire to create some tendrils...

I stamped the leaves and sentiment directly onto the card base.  The flowers were stamped and die cut with their co-ordinating dies and I then cut some lengths of thin green craft wire and wound them around one of my thin paint brush handles.  I then pulled them out into spirals and flattened them slightly.  The flowers were popped up on 3D foam which adhered the wire into place.

Materials used:

• Stamps: Clearly Besotted - Celebrating You; MFT - Large Desert Bouquet (with matching dies)
• Ink: Versa Color and Versfine Onyx Black
• Thin green craft wire

Challenge entries:

Cute Card Thursday - Challenge #414 - Florals

Penny Black and More - February Challenge - Anything goes with a Stamp and Die(s)

For my second card I used the wire to create a bow on a present...

I gently stencilled a checkerboard pattern out from the centre of the card base with some Distress Ink.  The polka dot glitter card was die cut using a pierced square die to create a present.  I made some loops with some silver craft wire to create the bow and this was held in place when I popped the present up on 3D foam.  The sentiment was stamped directly onto the card base.

Materials used:

• Stencil: MFT - Checkerboard
• Ink: Distress Ink - Peacock Feathers; Versafine - Onyx Black
• Die: MFT Die-namics - Pierced Squares
• Glitter cardstock: Kanban - Sherbert Pips
• Stamp: Paper Smooches - Sentiment Sampler
• Thin silver craft wire

Challenge entries:

Seize the Birthday - Anything Goes

The Friday Mashup! - Challenge #243 - Birthday Theme / Use Stencils

The Male Room - Challenge #29 - Monochromatic Colour Theme

Happy Little Stampers - February CASE the Designer Challenge - Shona Chambers (I used the central image with sentiment underneath and used blended stencilling to surround)

For my final card I simply used a piece of wire to create a bunting string...

I stamped the banners in orange, blue and green and cut them out with their co-ordinating punch.  I then cut a piece of craft wire and curled each end.  I thought the card base may look a little plain so before adhering the bunting I splattered some co-ordinating ink towards the top half of the card.  The banners were then adhered on 3D foam, holding the wire into place.  A simple sentiment was then stamped in black.

Materials used:

• Stamps: Stampin' Up - Banner Blast (and matching punch); Paper Smooches - Sentiment Sampler
• Ink: Versa Color - Orange, Cyan, Fresh Green; Versafine - Onyx Black; Distress Ink (for splattering) - Mowed Lawn and Spiced Marmalade
• Thin dark blue craft wire

Challenge entries:

{PIN}spirational - Challenge #159 - Bunting and balloons photo

So there you have it, panic over, I got there in the end!  Why not have a play this week and see how it goes, and we'd love for you to pop over and show the new LIMette ladies some support and congratulations.

Thanks so much for visiting today, I hope to see you again soon.

Addicted to Stamps and More #182

Hi guys

Over at Addicted to Stamps and More we have a brand new challenge just starting.  And this week we're back with one of our regular themes which is...

Make Your Mark

Please check out the guidelines here for more information.

Our Sponsor this week is Robyn's Fetish Digital Stamps and More and the prize being offered this week is 3 digital images!

I decided to have a play with one of my new stamp set purchases for this week's DT card...  

I started by creating a blue watercolour wash with a Distress Ink on a watercolour panel.  When dry I removed the static with my EK Success powder tool and stamped the flower and butterfly in VersaMark before heat embossing in white.  I then coloured in the images with my Zig pens, blending the colours with water.  I stamped the sentiment in black and mounted the panel onto some deep purple cardstock before adhering flat to the card base.

Materials used:

• Ink: Distress Ink - Tumbled Glass; Versafine - Onyx Black; VersaMark
• Stamps: Altenew - Botanical Garden; Clearly Besotted - Flight of Fancy
• Embossing Powder: Wow! - Opaque Bright White
• Coloured with Zig Clean Color Brush Pens
• Cardstock from stash

Challenge entries:

Stamping Sensations - February Challenge - Anything Goes

Crafty Catz - Challenge #312 - CAS...no designer paper, no fuss

Ooh La La Creations - Challenge #198 - Clean and Simple

Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge - Inspired by a Song (Christina Aguilera - Beautiful)

My teamies at ATSM have created some lovely cards this week so why not pop over and take a look.

Thanks so much for visiting today.

From Scrap to CAS - Another Quick Make

Hi guys

I'm back to share the second super quick card I made on Sunday using another leftover which was lying around on my craft desk.

You may recall this card (second in post) that I made for the current Happy Little Stampers CAS challenge where the technique this month is Embossing Folder Stamping.  When inking up and spritzing my embossing folder I made two impressions, each using a different side of the folder.  The results are quite different, this card shows the impression I created using the other side of the folder.

I inked up the embossing folder with two Distress Inks, spritzed lightly with water and stamped it onto my cardstock.  For this card I cut the panel down at an angle and adhered it to my card base.  I then added a thin strip of co-ordinating purple card from my stash to finish off the edge and stamped a simple sentiment.

Materials used:

• Embossing Folder: Darice - Bold Daisy
• Ink: Distress Ink - Picked Raspberry and Dusty Concord; Versafine - Onyx Black
• Stamp: Clearly Besotted - Flight of Fancy

Challenge entries:

Crafty Catz - Challenge #312 - CAS...no designer papers and no fuss

Allsorts Challenge - Week 351 - Birthday Wishes

Ooh La La Creations - Challenge #198 - Clean and Simple

CASology - Week 186 - Distress

And just for fun (as I'm on the DT) I'll link up at Happy Little Stampers.

And if you want to try this great technique there's still plenty of time to enter the HLS CAS challenge, the linky doesn't close until the end of the month :)

That's all for now, I'll be back later with this week's challenge at Addicted to Stamps and More.  Hope to see you then.

From Leftover to Quick CAS Card

Hi guys

Just popping by to share a really quick card I made yesterday.  Whilst having a tidy up of my crafty mess I found a leftover piece of cardstock which had been sprinkled with Brushos and spritzed when I made a previous card, the dragonfly card in this post.

So I cut out another piece with a leaf die and made this simple CAS card...

The Brusho colours used here were Purple and Emerald Green, but just look at all the colour variations they create, just beautiful.

I die cut two pierced squares from white and purple cardstock, popped one up on 3D foam and simply adhered the brusho leaf die cut on the top.  The sentiment was stamped below and that was the card finished.

Materials used:

• Ink: Brushos - Purple and Emerald Green; Versafine - Onyx Black
• Dies: Clearly Besotted - Leafy Accents; MFT Die-namics - Pierced Squares
• Stamp: Clearly Besotted - Flight of Fancy
• Cardstock from stash

Challenge entries:

Crafty Catz - Challenge #312 - CAS...no designer papers and no fuss

Ooh La La Creations - Challenge #198 - Clean and Simple

Penny Black and More - February Challenge - Anything Goes with a Stamp and a Dies(s)

I did make a second card using another leftover which I'll be back to share with you hopefully tomorrow evening.  Right now I'm off to bed...ZZZzzzzzz

One Layer Christmas Card Challenge - Guest Designer!

Hi guys

Today I'm excited as I'm Guest Designing over at One Layer Christmas Card Challenge!  Thanks so much to Shery and the team for inviting me to join them :)

This year they have made some changes to the challenge and each week it's 'anything one layer Christmas goes' so the perfect chance to get ahead with your stock of festive cards without being tied to a theme.

I decided to do some emboss resist with some Distress Ink blending for my card...

I started by stamping the snowflakes randomly in VersaMark ink before heating embossing in white.  I then blended three Distress Inks to create an ombre effect down the card before stamping the sentiment in black.  I was going to add a few sequins but felt it looked better left like this.

Materials used:

• Stamps: Uniko - Stunning Snowflakes
• Ink: VersaMark; Distress Ink - Dusty Concord, Shaded Lilac and Spun Sugar; Versafine - Onyx Black
• Embossing Powder: Wow! - Opaque Bright White

Challenge entries:

Ooh La La Challenge Blog - Challenge #198 - Clean and Simple

Sweet Stampin' Challenge - Clean and Simple

Fantasy Stampers Challenge - Challenge #56 - Just One Layer

Thanks so much for popping by today and thanks again to the Designers at One Layer Christmas Card Challenge for having me.

Bye for now

Beautiful Friend

Hi there

Today I'm popping by to share a card I recently made for my very best friend for her special birthday.  I love her dearly so I thought Valentine's Day was a great day to post this - Awwwwww haha :)

I started by creating a blend of Distress Inks from the centre of the card base and then spritzed some water into my hand before flicking some drops onto it to remove the colour.  I then stamped and die cut a selection of flowers and leaves by WPlus9.  I stamped and embossed 'friend' in silver before die-cutting with its co-ordinating die.  The rest of the sentiment was simply stamped onto a strip of white cardstock in black.  All the elements were then arranged and adhered, some on 3D foam to add dimension.  A few glazed gemstones were added to finish.

Materials used:

• Stamps and Dies: WPlus9 - Fresh Cut Florals; Clearly Besotted - Sugar & Spice
• Ink: Distress Ink: Picked Raspberry, Dusty Concord, Spun Sugar; Versa Color, Versafine and VersaMark
• Embossing Powder: Wow! - Metallic Silver
• Gemstones from stash

Challenge entries:

Sweet Stampin' - Clean and Simple

Stamping Sensations - February Challenge - Anything Goes

Penny Black and More - February Challenge - Anything Goes with a stamp and die(s)

Time Out - Challenge #49 - 'Love is the flower you've got to let grow' (I chose the word flower as my inspiration)

Addicted to CAS - Challenge #81 - Bloom

That's all from me today, Happy Valentine's Day everyone xx

Love You - That Is All

Hi there

As there are so many Valentine theme challenges around at the moment I thought I'd share the card I've made for my chap.  He never looks at my blog so it's safe to share a couple of days early!

I recently treated myself to a couple of new sentiment sets so used them together here.

On a spare piece of cardstock I blended Fired Brick Distress Ink and then flicked some water onto it and blotted with a paper towel.  I die cut with a stitched heart die, stamped the sentiment in VersaMark and heat embossed in black.  On a panel of cardstock I stamped the sentiment in the bottom corner with black ink and added the red heart.  The die cut heart was adhered to the panel on 3D foam and the panel was then matted onto some black cardstock and also popped up onto the card base.

Materials used:

• Ink: Distress Ink - Fired Brick; VersaMark; Versafine - Onyx Black
• Die: MFT Die-namics - Stitched Hearts
• Stamps: Altenew - Painted Greetings; WPlus9 - That is All
• Embossing Powder: Stampin' Up - Black

Challenge entries:

Crafty Catz - Challenge #311 - Use Red as your main colour

Creative Card Crew - Challenge #106 - Love

Crafty Cardmakers - Challenge #157 - Love, Love, Love
A Gem of a Challenge - Challenge #162 - Love is in the Air
Simply Create Too - Challenge #102 - Love or Valentine's
Dream Valley - Challenge #124 - Valentine's Day
CASology - Week 184 - Valentine
STAMPlorations - February CAS Card Challenge - Anything CAS Goes (Red)
AAA Cards - Game #57 - Love Me Like You Do




Thanks so much for visiting today.  Have a wonderful weekend.

Addicted to Stamps and More #180

Hi there

It's new challenge time over at Addicted to Stamps and More and we have a fab photo inspiration challenge for you.  And with Valentine's Day just around the corner we have this yummy photo to tempt you...

And this week we have two fantastic sponsors for you:

Stamplorations are offering a prize of a $10 gift certificate

and

All Dressed Up are offering a prize of 2 digital images

Here's my DT card, I think it's easy to see how I was inspired!

First up I took the doily as my inspiration and white heat embossed the doilies in white onto some rose pink cardstock which I adhered to the bottom edge of my card base. I then took a white panel, and die cut the bottom edge with a bracket edge die.  I then simply stamped the sentiment, the cupcake case, frosting and sprinkles before adhering the white panel flat overlapping the embossed lower panel.

Materials used:

• Stamps: Stampin' Up - Delicate Doilies; Clearly Besotted - Tasty Treats and With Sprinkles
• Ink: VersaMark; Versa Color - Orchid and Pinecone; Versafine - Onyx Black
• Embossing Powder: Wow! - Opaque Bright White
• Cardstock: Bazzill Basics - Pink
• Die: Clearly Besotted - Bracket Edges Die Collection

I'd like to link this card up at:

Cute Card Thursday - Challenge #411 - In the Pink

There are some great elements in the photo and also more inspiration from my teamies' wonderful creations over at ATSM.  We'd love to see you in the gallery this week so please do enter if you can :)

Muse #152 - A Leafy Hello

Hi there

Wow, I can't believe how fast the last month has flown by and that it's my turn to be your designer again over at Muse this week.

Just to recap, the challenge at Muse is to take inspiration from any element(s) of the designer's creation, e.g. layout, colours, techniques, etc.

I hope my card will inspire you this week...

I was recently super lucky to receive some happy mail from my lovely blog buddy, Sarah (thank you, sweetie!), which was a set of two fabulous embossing folders so I wanted to use one on this card.

On a panel of cardstock slightly smaller than the card base I stamped the leaves, stem and berries from a set by Papertrey Ink.  I then ran the panel through my Big Shot in one of the wave embossing folders to create this fabulous texture.  I then die cut the 'hello' from some pink cardstock to co-ordinate with the berries.  The panel was then popped up on 3D foam.

Materials used:

• Stamps: Papertrey Ink - Lovely Leaves
• Ink: Versa Color - Winter Green, Celadon and Magenta
• Embossing Folder: We R Memory Keepers - Next Level 'Wave'
• Die: Lawn Fawn - Scripty Hello

Fingers crossed you like my card and I hope to see you in the Muse gallery this week.

Have a great week, bye for now

Less is More - 5th Birthday Celebrations!

Hi guys

We're having a party at Less is More this week as we have reached our 5th Birthday!  Thanks so much for your continued participation, it's because of the fabulous entries we receive each week that we are still going strong with our CAS challenges.

We are continuing with our usual sequence of challenge themes and as we are at the start of a new month we have our regular Colour challenge for you which is...

White on White

We have some fabulous sponsors joining us this week and we have some great prizes up for grabs too.

For my card this week I decided to say thank you to YOU, our lovely participants...I hope you like it :)

Apart from the embossed background, everything here is by Clearly Besotted.  I stamped the flower, the 'you' and 'thank' in Versamark and heat embossed in silver and cut these out with their co-ordinating dies, and the 'thank' onto a strip of white cardstock.  The leaves were stamped and heat embossed in white and also cut with the co-ordinating dies, and the smaller leaves were die cut from white vellum.  For the main panel I used some white embossing paste through a stencil.  I then layered these up, adhered to the panel and then popped it up on 3D foam.

Materials used:

• Stamps: Clearly Besotted - Thank You and Love Quotes II
• Dies: Clearly Besotted - Thank You, Love Quotes II and Leafy Accents
• Ink: VersaMark
• Embossing Powder: Wow! - Metallic Silver and Opaque Bright White
• Stencil: Tim Holtz - Dot Fade
• Embossing Paste: Dreamweaver
• Vellum from stash

Challenge entries:

The Crafter's Cafe - Challenge #142 - Monochromatic

613 Avenue Create - Challenge #161 - Anything Goes (use something from your stash)

Creative Card Crew - Challenge #105 - Anything Goes

Crafty Cardmakers - Challenge #156 - Punches and/or Dies

We can't wait to see your white on white creations.  And there's lots of inspiration over at the Less is More page too as our sponsors have been creating with us this week too.  So, if you have the time please pop by and show your appreciation, we all love some feedback :)

Bye for now

Happy Little Stampers February 2016 CAS Challenge

Hi guys

We've got a new CAS challenge for you just starting over at Happy Little Stampers.  Our CAS challenges this year are technique based and this month we have a really fun one for you.

Happy Little Stampers are sponsoring this month's challenge and one lucky winner will receive a stamp set from HLS!

I had great fun with this technique which was something I'd never tried before, so I made two cards!  If you're unsure of how to do embossing folder stamping there are some tutorials included over on the challenge post to help you.

For this card I lightly inked up my embossing folder with two of my mini Distress Ink pads, spritzed with water and then stamped onto my card.  I actually found it easier to place my card over the open EF rather than lift the EF and stamp with it.  Once dry I cut the panel down with a stitched rectangle die and stamped the sentiment with the same blue shade of Distress Ink.  The rest of the sentiment was embossed in white onto a strip of navy blue cardstock and trimmed into a flag before adhering to the panel.  I added a few glazed stars and popped the panel up on 3D foam strips.

Materials used:

• Embossing Folder: Darice - Stars Assorted
• Ink: Distress Ink - Blueprint Sketch and Crushed Olive; VersaMark
• Die: MFT Die-namics - Stitched Rectangles
• Stamps: Happy Little Stampers - Bold Birthday Sentiments
• Embossing Powder: Wow! - Opaque Bright White
• Accents: Papermania Sparkling Stars - Assorted Brights and Assorted Pastels

Challenge entries:

Seize the Birthday - Anything Goes (no topping this time)

Simply Create Too - Challenge #101 - New (new to me technique)
Pinterest Inspired Challenge - February Challenge - image

And a more feminine style for my second card...

I chose the negative side of the embossing folder for this one.  Try it both ways, you get very different effects.  Again I inked up my embossing folder with Distress Inks, spritzed and stamped onto some cardstock.  I cut the panel down and matted it onto some pink cardstock to frame it above and below.  This was adhered to the card base and the butterfly was stamped and die cut using its co-ordinating die, adhered on 3D foam and accented with some clear Wink of Stella.  The sentiment was stamped in black to finish the card.

Materials used:

• Embossing Folder: Darice - Bold Daisy
• Ink: Distress Ink - Picked Raspberry and Dusty Concord; Versa Color - Grape; Versafine - Onyx Black
• Stamps: Happy Little Stampers - Butterfly Birthday
• Die: Happy Little Stampers - Butterfly Dies
• Accents: Wink of Stella - Clear

Challenge entries:

Just Us Girls - Challenge #328 - Wild Card Week  - Tic Tac Toe (I chose Die Cuts/Stamps/Flowers)

The Paper Players - Challenge #280 - Tic Tac Toe (I chose Die Cuts/Pink/Girly)

So, why not have a go at this great technique and link up at the challenge blog.  You have the whole of February to play along.