Less is More Week #326

Hi there

At Less is More this week, because there are five Saturdays in April we have a Lucky Dip challenge for you.  Here's our cue card for you...

This wasn't the easiest but I'm looking forward to seeing the gallery this week to see how this is interpreted.  I have two cards for you this week, both featuring stamped shadows.

Here's the first, and also my first Christmas card of 2017!

I love using Card-io stamps to create winter scenes.  I just needed to plan a little before I started then began masking and blending with Distress Inks from the top downwards.  Then I stamped the two trees and their shadows using second generation stamping, following the direction of the moon.  I die cut my scene using a stitched rectangle die, stamped the sentiment then popped this up on 3D foam.

Materials used:

• Stamps: Card-io - Mini Tall Trees; Happy Little Stampers - Mixed Christmas Sentiments
• Ink: Distress Ink - Faded Jeans, Wilted Violet, Black Soot, Tumbled Glass; Versafine - Onyx Black
• Die: MFT Die-namics - Stitched Rectangle Stax

Challenge entries:

CASology - Challenge #246 - Season

Addicted to Stamps and More - Challenge #239 - Clean and Simple

For my second card I had the idea of creating some foliage and its shadow against a wall...

I started by gently blending the brick wall through a stencil, fading it out across the panel.  Next, using the MISTI I stamped the foliage in different pigment inks using mini cubes, as this is one stamp.  I then left the stamp in place and shifted the panel up and over very slightly before stamping the image again in grey ink to create the shadow.  Finished off by stamping the sentiment and mounting the panel on 3D foam.

Materials used:

• Stamps: Woodware - Going to Seed; Clearly Besotted - Message Me
• Stencil: Tim Holtz - Bricked
• Ink: Distress Ink - Pumice Stone; Versa Color - Evergreen, Pinecone, Bamboo, Green Tea; Hero Arts - Soft Granite; Versafine - Onyx Black

Challenge entries:

AAA Cards - Challenge #88 - Stencil
Stamping Sensations - April Challenge - Anything Goes

My teamies have created some great projects this week to inspire you, with different takes on the shadow theme so if you have time I'm sure they will appreciate a visit from you.

Thanks so much for dropping by.  Enjoy you weekend (and the extra day if you're here in the UK!)

Seize the Birthday - Surprise Party Guest! (Final Week)

Good afternoon, crafters

Well today is my last post as your Surprise Party Guest at Seize the Birthday and I've had a wonderful time joining the Design Team for these five challenges.  Thanks to the team for making me feel so welcome and to Nancy for inviting me :)

The challenge starting today is Anything Goes and there's no optional 'Topping' this time so as long as your creation has a birthday theme you can play along!

So, I'll get straight to my card, here it is...

I remembered watching a video by Jennifer McGuire a couple of years ago where she created faux laser cut cards and wanted to do that for this card.  You can find her video here.

Instead of using a coloured card base I marked through my aperture where the circle would be and blended a background with three Distress Inks and then splattered with water to create some interest.  I stamped the happy birthday around the curve of the aperture and then adhered some die cut flowers to the reverse of the aperture to create the faux laser cut look.  The panel was then popped up on fun foam.

Materials used:

• Ink: Distress Ink - Ripe Persimmon, Picked Raspberry, Wilted Violet; Versafine - Onyx Black
• Dies: MFT Die-namics - Stitched Circle Stax; Memory Box - Gorgeous Gardenia Outline
• Stamp: Altenew - Beautiful Lady

Challenge entry:

Happy Little Stampers - April Anything Goes with Dies
Addicted to Stamps and More - Challenge #239 - Clean and Simple

I'm so grateful for each and every one of you visiting my blog.  Thanks so much for the ongoing support.

Watch this Craft Space!

Hi there

As many of you know, I currently craft on the table in my lounge.  I live in a one bedroom flat so don't have a spare room I can use.

Firstly, this isn't ideal as my lounge always looks a mess, and two, most of my stash is in a cupboard in my hallway (erm, and also in random drawers and hiding places!) so I'm constantly backwards and forwards grabbing what I need.  I leave the things I use a lot on my table but it's really beginning to frustrate me that my living space is cluttered and that I have to eat meals from a tray on my lap!

So, I've been having a think about what I can do.  I'm lucky that I live in a converted flat which is the upstairs of the original house so my hall is the original landing which is a good size.  And before I had my new kitchen installed I had the doorway into my kitchen relocated so that I could better utilise the hall space.  So, I've made the decision to move all my crafting to the hall.

Here are some photos of what it looks like at the moment and the space I plan to use...

The kitchen door used to be behind the little drawer unit so by relocating the door opening I've created a usable corner.

This drawer unit will go and be replaced with a desk/workstation and narrow chest of drawers.
The dents in the carpet are from my clothes airer.  That will have to be done elsewhere in the future!

Better view of my craft cupboard.  My lounge where I craft is through the door next to the kitchen.

Reverse view of the hall from the kitchen so you can see how close the desk will be to my existing cupboard...Yay!!!
The closed door is my bedroom and the little visitor who came to say hello is my little furbaby, Mr Murph!

So there you have it.  I've placed an order from Ikea for the desk and drawers and also placed an order elsewhere for a floor protector for my chair.  Ikea is a 200 mile round trip from here so instead I'm having it delivered when I have a week off work next month. Cream carpet is far from ideal but, unfortunately, I don't have the funds to replace the carpet so will just have to be careful with the Brushos!

The only downside to this space is not having a window close to the desk, so although it can be quite bright on a sunny day I'll need to be using a lamp the majority of the time.  A little sacrifice though I think for getting my lounge back!

So all that's left to do is decorate this section of the hall in preparation and buy a half-decent screwdriver!

I'll keep you posted.  Happy Sunday everyone! :)

Less is More Week #325

Good morning

It's new challenge day at Less is More....yes it really is Saturday again!  And this week it's the turn of our Recipe challenge.  Here are the details...

The stripe(s) can be in any direction.

I've got three cards for you this week so I'll get straight to it.

My first one uses patterned paper for the striped element...

I adhered some striped paper to the lower part of my card base.  I then die cut a fancy border to a panel of white cardstock and stamped the floral design in co-ordinating colours.  The white panel was then adhered flat to the base.

Materials used:

• Patterned Paper: Stampin' Up (unsure of colour)
• Die: Clearly Besotted - Bracket Edge Die
• Stamps: Uniko - Background Builders: Vines; Clearly Besotted - Many Messages
• Ink: Versa Color - Rose Red, Petal Pink, Olive; Versafine - Onyx Black

Challenge entries:

Time Out - Challenge #81 - Photo Inspiration (inspired by the red/pink palette and multiple small images)

A bit of masked, emboss resist for my next card...

After heat embossing my stripey stamped images in white, I cut negative masks from Post-it notes using the co-ordinating dies and then blended the presents and balloons with Distress Inks.  I then stamped the sentiment, die cut the design with a diagonal stitched rectangle die and mounted it on my card base using fun foam.

Materials used:

• Stamps: Clearly Besotted - Laugh Out Loud
• Ink: VersaMark; Distress Inks; Versafine - Onyx Black
• Embossing Powder: Wow! - Opaque Bright White
• Die: MFT Die-namics - Inside and Out Diagonal Stitched Rectangles

Challenge entries:

Addicted to CAS - Challenge #109 - Rainbow

And just basic stamping for my last card...

I stamped the stripey onesie before masking it and stamping the other two.  The stripes image was then stamped across the base of the card before adding the sentiment strip embossed in white on black cardstock.

Materials used:

• Stamps: Clearly Besotted - Littlest Onesie, Basic Stripes
• Ink: Versa Color - Baby Blue, Mint, Bisque, Sky Gray; VersaMark
• Embossing Powder: Wow! - Opaque Bright White

As always, I really do appreciate your visits.  Thanks so much and I hope you find time to play along this week.

Curtain Call - Guest Designer!

Hi guys

Last month I was lucky enough to be the Lead for the Green challenge at Curtain Call Inspiration Challenge.  And by winning the challenge I'm delighted to have been invited to be their Guest Designer for the next challenge, which starts today.

So, without further ado here's the inspiration photo...

And here's my interpretation...

I think it's fairly obvious which elements I used from the photo!  I started by stamping the tulips with a little masking for dimension.  I then cut a rough mask to cover the flowers before gently blending through a stencil to create the background.  I then took inspiration from the cracked paint on the chair in the photo and used a die to cut some patterned paper which was a great match for the flaking paint, and I then added a little shading to the edges of the jar die cut to add some depth.  I then stamped the sentiment, matted the panel onto some orange cardstock and then adhered it flat to the card base.

Materials used:

• Stamps: Clearly Besotted - Spring Blooms, With Love
• Ink: Altenew - Sunkissed, Orange Cream, Rose Quartz, Puffy Heart, Frosty Pink, Cotton Candy, Forest Glades, Frayed Leaf; Distress Ink - Weathered Wood (stencil shading); Versafine - Onyx Black
• Stencil: MFT - Checkerboard
• Die: Clearly Besotted - Spring Blooms (jar)
• Patterned Paper: Fancy Pants Designs - Country Boutique
• Coloured Card: Papermania

Challenge entries:

Inkspirational - Challenge #132 - Spring

Creative Inspirations - Challenge #272 - Spring Spectacular

Penny Black and More - April Challenge - Spring

Stamping Sensations - April Challenge - Anything Goes

Uniko - Challenge #40 - Spring with an Optional Twist of Easter

Thanks so much for stopping by today.  And a big thank you to the team at Curtain Call for inviting me to join them for this challenge.

Less is More Week #324

Good morning!

These Saturday mornings really do whizz around quickly!  It's time for another challenge at Less is More and this week we're back with our Theme challenge.  In the UK Spring has really sprung over the last couple of weeks so our new theme couldn't be more appropriate.

I have two cards for you this week.

I absolutely love seeing blossom on the trees so I've tried to replicate it on my first card...

I started by stamping the tiny flowers in pink pigment ink and I then heat embossed these in clear.  When stamping these I kept the branch stamp to hand so I could create the approximate shape with the flowers.  I then stamped the branches over the top with second generation stamping to keep them subtle and wiped away any ink that was over the embossed flowers.  Once dry I blended a subtle ombre effect in blue to create the sky.  Next I stamped the sentiment before popping the panel up on 3D foam.  To finish I added a tiny dot of darker pink to the centre of each of the flowers with a FlexMarker.

Here's a closer view of the embossed blossom...

Materials used:

• Stamps: Wplus9 - Fresh Cut Containers (3 tiny flowers); Card-io Combinations - Greenery 1; Clearly Besotted - Design a Tree (sentiment)
• Ink: Versa Color - Petal Pink, Cocoa; Versafine - Onyx Black; Distress Ink: Tumbled Glass
• Embossing Powder: Wow! - Clear Gloss

Challenge entries:

Inkspirational - Challenge #132 - Spring

STAMPlorations - April CAS Card Challenge - Anything Goes (Option: any pastel colour)

Creative Inspirations - Challenge #272 - Spring Spectacular

Penny Black and More - April Challenge - Spring

AAA Cards - CAS Game#87 - Shiny Spring

For my second card I used my favourite Spring flowers, tulips...

The floral stamps here are wooden stamps so I used my Stamp-a-ma-jig to assist with placement.  I stamped the stems and blooms in various colours of pigment ink.  This was simply finished off with a sentiment stamped in black.  I was going to add sequins but they seemed to overpower the images so I settled on a scattering of tiny clear gemstones.

Materials used:

• Stamps: Stampin' Up - Both Way Blossoms; Wplus9 - Happy Wishes
• Ink: Versa Color - Green Tea, Olive, Burgundy, Lilac, Lavender; Versafine - Onyx Black
• Clear gemstones from stash

Challenge entries:

Daring Cardmakers - Spring Garden

Stamping Sensations - April Challenge - Anything Goes

Uniko - Challenge #40 - Spring 

Thanks so much for popping by, and if you have time I'm sure my LIM teamies would love a visit from you too.  Their creations this week are fabulous and there could be more inspiration over on their personal blogs too.

I love Spring so I'm looking forward to seeing the gallery of entries this week.

You Make Me Smile

Hi guys

As it's Good Friday I'm at home and found a little crafty time this afternoon.  I've been wanting to enter the Smile challenge at Addicted to CAS and it's closing in a few hours so I got a wriggle on and used a stamp I've had for years and only ever used once before.

Here it is...

I stamped the little mouse and coloured her in with FlexMarkers.  I then curved and stamped the sentiment from the same set to follow the curve of the mouse's tail.  I used a pierced square die to cut out the stamped images and mounted it using foam tape onto a panel I've embossed with a diagonal stripe embossing folder.

Materials used:

• Stamps: MFT - Millie the Mouse
• Ink: Memento - Tuxedo Black
• Coloured with FlexMarkers
• Die: MFT Die-namics - Pierced Square Stax
• Embossing Folder: Stampin' Up by Sizzix (name unknown)

Challenge entries:

Addicted to CAS - Challenge #108 - Smile

Addicted to Stamps and More - Challenge #237 - Make Your Mark

Crafty Catz - Challenge #366 - Anything Goes with optional twist of Animals

Thanks so much for visiting.  I'll be back tomorrow with details of the next challenge at Less is More.  Hope to see you then.

Seize the Birthday - Surprise Party Guest! (Week 4)

Good afternoon!

I'm happy to be back sharing a card for another week of my Surprise Party Guest role at Seize the Birthday.  I love the theme this week as it meant I had to use something I neglect to use far too often!

Every week at Seize the Birthday is Anything Goes as long as it's a birthday theme.

And some weeks there are also optional Toppings

And this week's Topping option is...

Two Patterned Papers

I had fun using two co-ordinating papers from the same paper pad here...

I adhered a strip of the floral paper directly to the card base.  I then adhered the polka dot paper over this which had been die cut with a stitched edge die.  This was then stamped with a bold happy birthday sentiment which was heat embossed in white.  I wasn't sure about the placement of the sentiment at first but I now quite like the quirky angles! :)

Materials used:

• Patterned Paper: Pebbles - Sunny Side
• Die: MFT Die-namics - Stitched Basic Edges
• Stamps: Uniko - All Occasion Sentiments #2
• Ink: VersaMark
• Embossing Powder: Wow! - Opaque Bright White

I hope you get a chance to play along with this one, it's a great way to use some of those lovely papers that seem to get left in a cupboard or drawer and forgotten about!

Oh, and I hope you all have a fantastic Easter weekend.  This is a scheduled post so right now I'll be leaping out of the office looking forward to four days off work...bliss!