Less is More Week #317

Hi guys

Starting at Less is More this week it's the fourth challenge of our birthday celebrations.  And this week we have a Sketch challenge for you.

We have another fab sponsor this week...

and the wonderful Bev is joining us as a Guest Designer, so please do drop by her blog if you can, I'm sure she'll appreciate a visit from you.

I have just one card to share with you this week and I went for some lovely zingy, citrus, sunny colours.  I find sketch challenges the most difficult for some reason so went for a fairly literal interpretation with my design...

I started by die cutting the peek-a-boo dots from a panel of cardstock and then marked roughly where these would sit on my card base before ombre blending from yellow to orange and then to coral on my card base where it would show through.  I then stamped and heat embossed the flower in white before blending over it with the same colours, and then die cutting with the stitched circle.  I manipulated the sentiment stamp to follow the curve, stamped this in black and popped the flower up on 3D foam.

Materials used:

• Dies: MFT Die-namics - Peek-a-boo Dots, Double Stitched Circles
• Ink: Distress Ink - Squeezed Lemonade, Dried Marigold, Abandoned Coral; VersaMark; Versafine - Onyx Black
• Stamps: Altenew - Hennah Elements; Wplus9 - Happy Wishes
• Embossing Powder: Wow! - Opaque Bright White  

Challenge entry:

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Anything Goes
Just Add Ink - Challenge #348 - Just Add Ombre



And don't forget, by playing along this week you could be in with a change of winning a prize from Uniko so why not join us.

Thanks so much for visiting today, I can't wait to see what you do with our sketch this week.

I'm Officially a Honey!

Good morning!

I've got some super exciting news today!

A while ago the lovely Hazel of Hazel's Paper Designs officially invited me to join her and her super talented team of designers/cardmakers/bloggers, aka the Honeys.  Yippee...so I am now delighted to be a member of...

As well as Hazel, the other wonderful ladies that make up this fabulous line up are the four S's:

Sandie Munro - London Days

Sarah Platt - Sazzle Dazzle Crafts

Sarah Gray - Funky Fossil Designs

Shona Chambers - Twine Around

The idea behind this challenge is that every couple of months we take turns to send an envelope of themed crafty goodies to the rest of the team consisting of die cuts, stamped images, papers, embellishments, etc. and we all then make cards from the same kit. After following the previous posts it's great fun to see how each designer uses the elements of each kit.

So, enough of my waffling!  This time it was Sarah Gray's turn to post out the 'kits/goody bags/little packages of happy mail' and this is the gorgeous kit we all received...

HEARTFELT

The kit included:

Stamped images from:

Mama Elephant, Winnie & Walter, Paper Smooches and Neat & Tangled

Die cuts from:

Simon Says Stamp, Avery Elle and Tonic

Various embellies:

Doilies, patterned paper, chipboard hearts

Right, here goes...

Card 1:

For this card I used the pink cardstock, the 'Sending' die cut and a little red heart from the kit.  I added a layer of red cardstock, both panels were die cut with an MFT Die-namics Inside and Out Diagonal stitched rectangle die.  I also added the embossed 'love' sentiment from Clearly Besotted's 'Sketched Blooms' set and the swoosh from 'Super Star Additions' set, also CBS.

Card 2:

I just had to use these cute little bunnies from the kit (I do have this stamp set but yet to ink it up!).  I had a card base sat on my table which I had embossed with a stitched heart a while ago and then didn't use it so that was my starting point.  I then used the heart die cut from the kit (with the aperture in the centre) as a mask and blended the ombre heart using Distress Ink in Spun Sugar, Picked Raspberry and Dusty Concord.  Sarah had provided the sentiment so I cut it down and blended with the same ink colours.  The bunnies were shaded just slightly using a grey Derwent Coloursoft pencil, fussy cut out and popped up on 3D foam.  The two little hearts were also from the kit.


Challenge entry:

House of Cards - February Challenge - Love theme/colours
Just Add Ink - Challenge #348 - Just Add Ombre

Card 3:

With the help of some stitched dies by MFT and a little metallic thread, everything else here was from the kit.  I adhered the text paper to the card base.  The wooden hearts were tied with metallic thread and I've left these hanging loose within the apertures, just adhered on the reverse of the top panel.  The sentiment was simply die cut and popped up on a foam square.

Card 4:

I must admit, the doilies were scaring me a little...I never know what to do with them! lol  Then I spotted the flowery edging so I cut out three of these.  My base was lightly blended with Distress Ink in Spun Sugar and gently splattered with water.  The red heart and the 'You' were from the kit.  I stamped the additional sentiment from Wplus9 'That is All' set, die cut some leaves (from Woodland Stag Wreath set by Xcut) to add to my doily flowers, and finished off with some Papermania glazed gems.

Challenge entry:

Happy Little Stampers - February Challenge - Anything Goes with Dies

Card 5:

I used the white die cut heart from the kit and stamped over it in black with a stamp called 'Lace' by Wow, and heat embossed it in clear.  I then used a fishtail flag die by MFT to cut out another of the kit sentiments, as well as a strip from the pink cardstock that was left from Card 1.  I layered these up behind the heart which was popped up, adhered the red heart, then added a teeny white peg from my stash with another of the red hearts adhered to it.

Phew, well done for sticking with me if you reached the end of this post.  And I still have lots of bits left to make more!  Thanks so much to Sarah G for this fabulous selection of goodies.  And I hope I've done enough so my fellow Honeys will let me stay in their gang...I've had such fun!  Right, I'm now off to see what fabulous cards they have created from the kit!

I'll be back very soon to announce this week's new challenge at Less is More so please do pop back if you can.

Home Sweet Home

Goo evening

Just thought I'd pop in quickly and share the most recent card I made.  This one was for my Brother and Sister-in-Law who moved into their first purchased property this weekend.

They love nature, particularly birds so I chose to stamp with a little birdhouse...

I blended up from the corner of a white cardstock panel with three shades of Distress Ink before splattering with water and blotting away some of the colour.  The birdhouse and sentiment were simply stamped in black before popping the panel up on 3D foam.

Materials used:

• Stamps: Hot Off The Press - Sweet Tweets (free with a publication); Woodware - Home Sweet Home
• Ink: Versafine - Onyx Black; Distress Ink - Wilted Violet, Picked Raspberry, Spiced Marmalade

Challenge entries:

Allsorts - Challenge #403 - Anything Goes

Addicted to Stamps and More - Challenge #229 - Clean and Simple

Thanks so much for stopping by.  I hope you've had a wonderful weekend.

Less is More Week #316

Hi there

It's hard to believe it's Saturday again, but as another week has whizzed by it's time for a new challenge over at Less is More.  And this week it's the turn of our Theme challenge which is...

As Less is More are having a month long celebration for our 6th birthdaty, we have another sponsor and Guest Designer this week which is the lovely Shery Russ of STAMPlorations!

So be sure to play along again this week for a chance to win a prize, as with all our challenges throughout February.


So, on to my cards this week.  My first is a New Baby card as I thought these building blocks were ideal for our challenge this week...

I started by stamping the giraffe, before masking it and then stamping the blocks.  I watercoloured the images with my Zig markers before die cutting with a pierced square.  I stamped Welcome onto the panel and then popped this up onto the card base with 3D foam.  I then stamped Baby in pigment ink before heat embossing in clear and die cutting with the co-ordinating word die.  I die cut it again with fun foam and adhered alongside the panel.

Materials used:

• Stamps: Clearly Besotted - Child's Play, Petite Plushies and New Baby
• Ink: Versafine - Onyx Black; Versa Color - Polar Blue and Charcoal#
• Coloured with Zig Clean Color markers
• Dies: MFT Die-namics - Pierced Square Stax; Clearly Besotted - New Baby
• Embossing Powder: Wow! - Clear Gloss

Challenge entries:

Happy Little Stampers - February Watercolour Challenge - Anything Goes (optional dies)
Addicted to Stamps and More - Challenge #229 - Clean and Simple







For my next card I used text speak for my alphabet...

I started by stamping the mobile phone in a pale blue/grey and added the text and emojis.  I then die cut the phone with its co-ordinating die before covering with VersaMark ink and heat embossing twice with clear embossing powder to give it a glossy finish.  I stamped and die cut the earphones with its co-ordinating die.  Before adhering these to the base I added some grey splatters just to add some subtle interest to the white space and then stamped the chevrons in co-ordinating colours.

Materials used:

• Stamps: Clearly Besotted - Text Me; Happy Little Stampers - Mix Mash
• Ink: Altenew - Arctic; Versa Color - Camelia, Polar Blue, Canary; Memento - Tuxedo Black; VersaMark
• Embossing Powder: Wow! - Clear Gloss

Challenge entries:

Moving Along with the Times - Challenge #39 - For a Man

CASology - Week 236 - Romance
Happy Little Stampers - February Challenge - Anything Goes with Dies





And my third card took me ages to make and I'm not very happy with it but I thought I'd share it with you anyway...

I started by embossing a panel of white cardstock with an alphabet embossing folder.  I then picked out some letters to make a word and went with 'BIG'.  This was my second panel as I used my first one to try colouring the letters.  After trying with markers and ink, neither were working so I started again and went with glue and glitter!  I used some turquoise glitter and mounted the embossed panel onto some glitter cardstock in almost the same colour (I forgot how difficult it is to capture glitter in a photograph!).  These were adhered to the card base and I finished by heat embossing the 'wish' in white onto some black cardstock.

Materials used:

• Stamp: MFT - Brushstroke Birthday
• Ink: VersaMark
• Embossing Powder: Wow! - Opaque Bright White
• Embossing Folder: Darice - ABCs
• Accents: Nuvo Pure Sheen Glitter - Turquoise
• Glitter cardstock from stash

Thanks so much for visiting today.  My teamies have worked wonders with their projects for this challenge so, if you have time, please do pop over to their personal blogs as there is often more inspiration to be found. 

Have a lovely weekend folks, today I'm off out with my mum for the day to the Crafts 4 Crafters show in Exeter.  It's not all papercrafts but I'm sure we'll manage to spend some pennies, I know I always do!

Coffee Valentine

Hi guys

Just popping by this evening to share the Valentine's Day card I made for my boyfriend.  We both love coffee so that was my chosen theme this year.

I started with a piece of kraft cardstock die cut with a stitched rectangle die.  I started by stamping the heart shaped coffee splash in pigment ink and heat embossed with clear powder.  The coffee beans were stamped in dark brown and the sentiment in black.  I then die cut some little hearts from a piece of cardstock I'd previously blended with red Distress Ink and splattered with water.  The panel was popped up on 3D foam.

The coffee themed sentiment continued on the inside of the card...

and I adhered a couple more hearts to the inside.

Materials used:

• Dies: MFT Die-namics - Stitched Rectangles and tiny hearts from Stitched Strip set; Lawn Fawn - Hearts
• Cardstock: Neenah - Dessert Storm
• Stamps: Altenew - Coffee Talk; Sugar Pea Designs - Espresso Yourself
• Ink: Versa Color - Pinecone, Cocoa; Memento - Tuxedo Black
• Embossing Powder: Wow! - Clear Gloss

Challenge entries:

Just Us Girls - Challenge #380 - Trend Week - Hearts
CASology - Challenge #236 - Romance
Addicted to Stamps and More - Challenge #229 - Clean and Simple

Thanks so much for popping by :)

Less is More Week #315

Good morning, crafters!

Over at Less is More we're continuing with our month long 6th birthday celebrations.  And this week we're back with our regular challenge, the one that you all love (*wink).....yes, you've guessed it, it's One Layer week!  So here's our theme for you...

And as I mentioned last weekend, we have lots of sponsors this month, and this week's it's the turn of Seven Hills Crafts, and the lovely Tara is also joining in this week's fun as our Guest Designer.

Wow, did I find this challenge tricky this week!  I had lots of ideas but trying to transfer those ideas onto a one layer card was proving tough.  In the end I did manage to create two cards for you this week.

For my first card I chose 'Night and Day' as my opposites...

And although our themes are different, I think Sarah G and myself were in the same creative zone this week, our cards are so similar!

I started by drawing a central pencil line down my card so I could work on each side separately.  I covered one side and gently blended some yellow ink before then inking though a stencil to create my sun rays.  I then swapped sides, added a small circle mask cut from a post-it note and blended a night sky (I've had my usual problem with my purple tone turning blue here in the photo!), to which I then added some small white dots with a white pigment pen to create some stars.  I then erased the pencil line and finished by stamping the sentiment centrally.

Materials used:

• Ink: Distress Ink - Mustard Seed, Wild Honey, Spiced Marmalade, Chipped Sapphire, Dusty Concord; Versafine - Onyx Black
• Stencil: MFT - Sun Ray
• Stamp: Clearly Besotted - Time to Celebrate Additions
• Accents: White Signo Uniball pen

At the last minute I had a further idea and managed to combine a few opposites on my second card - wide and narrow stripes, opposite colours, uppercase and lowercase, and large and small fonts...

I wasn't sure if this was going to work well but I'm really pleased with the end result.  I masked off the diagonal top section of the card and stamped the wide and narrow stripes to create the plaid design.  The sentiments were then simply stamped before adding some enamel dots to finish the card.

Materials used:

• Stamps: Clearly Besotted - Basic Stripes, A Little Sentimental; Uniko - All Occasion Sentiments #2
• Ink: Versa Color - Orange, Cyan; Versafine - Onyx Black
• Accents: Doodlebug Sprinkles - Tangerine, Blue Jean

Challenge entry:

Color Throwdown - Challenge #429

And don't forget, by playing along with us this month you'll have a chance of winning some great prizes from our sponsors so why not join us.

Have a lovely weekend!

Muse #202 - Camouflaged Hello

Hi there

I'm thrilled to be your designer over at Muse for this week's challenge.

I didn't really know where I was going with this card, I just knew I wanted to do some colourful background stamping so that was my starting point.

I'll get straight to it...

I picked out some bright cheery pigment inks from my stash and a great little leafy stamp set and started stamping on a panel of white cardstock to create a fun background.  I then die cut with a rectangular stitched die.  I die cut the hello from the stamped panel (keeping hold of the little bits from inside the letter loops) and die cut it again three times from black cardstock.  I used my glue runner to cover a small piece of scrap paper with adhesive and placed this behind the negative space.  I inlaid one of the black die cuts first, along with the 'bits', then all that was left to do was glue together and stack up the remaining die cuts, using the stamped one as the top layer.  You can see the dimension in the pic below.  The main whole panel was then popped up on 3D foam.

Materials used:

• Stamps: Paper Smooches - Leafy Greens
• Ink: Versa Color - Orchid, Marigold, Turquoise, Lime and Cyan
• Dies: MFT Die-namics - Stitched Rectangles; Lawn Fawn - Scripty Hello

I hope there are some elements you can take from my card as your inspiration this week, and look forward to seeing your creations in the Muse gallery :)

Hot Chick

Hi there

It was my beautiful bestie's birthday yesterday and tonight I'm sharing the card I made for her.

She's definitely a hot chick and loves her fitness and yoga classes so when I saw this stamp set a while ago I just had to get it!

This was pretty easy to put together.  I stamped the image and sentiment and then watercoloured it with my Zigs before die cutting the panel with a stitched rectangle die.  The card base was covered with some stripey patterned paper and the panel popped up on 3D foam.  For a finishing touch I added some Glossy Accents to the water droplets.

Materials used:

• Stamps: Avery Elle - Hot Chick
• Ink: Versafine - Onyx Black
• Coloured with Zig Clean Color Real Brush Markers
• Die: MFT Die-namics - Stitched Rectangles
• Patterned Paper: Lawn Fawn - Let's Polka
• Accents: Ranger - Glossy Accents

Challenge entries:

Stamping Sensations - February Challenge - Animal Magic (I wouldn't class a bird as an animal but cute critters and birds are allowed...yay!)

Addicted to Stamps and More - Challenge #227 - Make Your Mark

Time Out - Challenge #76 - Inspired by Words (made for my best friend - hope this qualifies)

Seize the Birthday - Anything Goes (not playing along with the optional topping this time)

Thanks so much for stopping by, I'll be back tomorrow as your designer for the next Muse challenge.

Less is More is 6!!!

Good morning, crafters!

Over at Less is More today we've got a big celebration going on....it's our 6th Birthday!  Wow, and it's thanks to you, our wonderful participants that have kept this fabulous challenge going from strength to strength for all these years!  So thank you!

Please pop over to the main challenge blog, here, for lots of information and you might notice something a little different about us today too!

Throughout February we will be having four different sponsors and prizes will be up for grabs for some lucky participants.

Our first Feburary sponsor is Happy Little Stampers and the lovely Kylie is joining us this week as our Guest Designer so please do pop over and show your appreciation.

So on to this week's challenge which, as usual for week one of the month, is a Colour challenge...

And we would like to see you using three adjacent hues on the colour wheel.

I thought a thank you card would be appropriate today and Spring is my favourite season.  So, as the daffodil shoots are starting to emerge I thought I'd include one on my card today.

I used some Strathmore Bristol cardstock for my card base and panel here.  I first stamped the daffodil and then masked it before blending over it with some light blue Distress Ink.  I then removed the mask and watercoloured the daffodil with my Zig markers.  The sentiment was stamped alongside in black before popping the panel up on 3D foam.

Materials used:

• Cardstock: Strathmore - Bristol Smooth
• Stamps: Clearly Besotted - Just Darling and Merci Beaucoup
• Ink: Versafine - Onyx Black; Distress Ink - Tumbled Glass
• Coloured with Zig Clean Colour Real Brush Markers

Challenge entry:

Addicted to Stamps and More - Challenge #227 - Make Your Mark

So why not play along.  We'll be celebrating our birthday throughout the whole of February so please do pop back and join us as and when you can.  For more inspiration please do pop over to our new look challenge blog to see my talented teamies' wonderful creations.