Less is More Challenge #383

Good morning

I'm back today to introduce the new challenge just starting over at Less is More.  This fortnight we have a Recipe challenge and here's what we'd like to see...

Our October sponsor is the fabulous Uniko so please do continue to play along for a chance to win our monthly prize.

In between a couple of super busy and tiring weeks at work I've managed to make just one card for you this week.  I'm so behind with my Christmas cards so I chose to create a winter scene and hopefully I've manage to capture some dimension.

I started by creating my top panel with an aperture, using some stitched rectangle dies.  I marked through the aperture onto the card base with pencil so I could identify the area where I needed to create the scene.  I cut some scrap paper into a curve to use as a mask and blended the skyline with two shades of pigment ink.  I then stamped the trees, some with second and third generation stamping to create the illusion of distance.  I added a little shading of ink before stamping the fence image, although I think my photo is a little too bright to see this.  For the foreground snowdrift I die cut some cardstock with a curved die and then ran it through my Big Shot in a wave effect embossing folder.  Before adhering this on some slim 3D foam I blended a little ink to create some depth.

Before adhering the top panel I stamped the sentiment in black ink and popped the frame up on 3D foam.

Materials used:

• Stamps: Uniko - Pure Florals Poinsettia; Card-io - Christmas Scenery 1, Mini Tall Trees
• Ink: Versafine - Onyx Black; Versa Color - Neptune, Heliotrope
• Dies: MFT Die-namics - Snow Drifts; Create a Smile - Cool Cuts Double Stitched Rectangles
• Embossing Folder: We R Memory Keepers - Next Level Wave

Challenge entries:

Fab 'n' Funky - Challenge #413 - Christmas (first time playing along here)

Happy Little Stampers - Anything Goes with Dies October Challenge

Happy Little Stampers - October Christmas Challenge - Anything Goes (not using optional twist this time)

Don't forget, the challenge runs for two weeks so there's plenty of time to play along and link up, and more inspiration from my teamies over at the main Less is More challenge post.

Thanks so much for stopping by, enjoy your weekend :)

Wonderful Mum

Hi there

Today I'm sharing the card I recently made to send to my wonderful mum for her birthday.

After making this card recently, I still had the pot of texture paste on my desk so thought I'd make another using texture paste, ink and a stencil.

Here it is...

I placed the mandala stencil onto a white cardstock panel and then squished three shades of Distress Ink onto my blending matt and mixed each, one by one, with matte texture paste and spread it through the stencil.  I absolutely love how the white paste completely changes the colours of Distress Inks.  The pink in the centre is in fact Wilted Violet, the lavender shade is Blueprint Sketch and the minty green in Lucky Clover!

Once dry I die cut the panel with a stitched rectangle die.  I was worried the paste would flatten going through the Big Shot but the die must have taken the majority of the pressure so there is plenty of texture left on the surface.

I embossed the sentiment in white onto a vellum panel which I wrapped around the panel and secured on the reverse.  The 'wonderful' was die cut three times and stacked up, the top layer being white fine glitter cardstock.  I then finished by popping up the panel on fun foam.

Materials used:

• Stencil: Studio Katia - Mandala
• Embossing Paste: Dreamweaver
• Ink: Distress Ink - Wilted Violet, Blueprint Sketch, Lucky Clover; VersaMark
• Stamp: Papermania - Relations (serif)
• Embossing Powder: Wow! - Opaque Bright White
• Dies: Reverse Confetti - You're So; Create a Smile - Cool Cuts Double Stitched Rectangles
• Vellum and cardstock from stash

Challenge entries:

Time Out - Challenge #120 - Colourful (pastels can still be colourful, right?)

Seize the Birthday - Anything Goes

Thank you for visiting, I may be back later today with another make.  And hopefully I'll be sharing more soon as I really need to get a wriggle on and make some Christmas cards!

Less is More Challenge #382

Hi there

There's a brand new challenge just starting at Less is More so I'll get straight to it with the cue card for our Theme challenge for the next fortnight...

(This can be standalone tags or tags attached to your project, and clean and simple of course)

Uniko is our fabulous sponsor for the month of October so remember that by playing along you're in with a chance of winning the monthly prize!

I've been fighting to find time to craft lately so I only have one sample for you this time.  I wanted to create a double layer tag using vellum and I'm really pleased with the result.  Here it is, using stamps from our sponsor...

I used a tag die set to cut the two tags, first from aqua cardstock and again from vellum.  I then used another die from the set to die cut the curved edge on the vellum layer.  I stamped the sentiment on the aqua tag and heat embossed in white, then stamped the holly leaves on the vellum, also embossed in white, and stamped the berries and heat embossed in silver.  I've captured the shine from the embossing in the next photo...

I die cut the tag hole strengthener ring from the same aqua cardstock to create a more finished look, then threaded through with some silver organza ribbon tied with silver twine.

Materials used:

• Dies: Clearly Besotted - Tag Along Die Collection
• Stamps: Uniko - Winter Foliage, Simply Said Christmas
• Ink: VersaMark
• Embossing Powder: Wow! - Opaque Bright White, Metallic Silver
• Cardstock, vellum, ribbon and twine from stash

Challenge entries:

Happy Little Stampers - October Anything Goes with Dies Challenge

Happy Little Stampers - October Christmas Challenge - Anything Goes (Ribbon)

Creative with Stamps - Challenge #31 - Halloween or Leaves

Thanks so much for stopping by, I really appreciate your visits.  There's two weeks to play along, and if you need some inspiration please do pop over to the main Less is More challenge page where my teamies are sharing their fantastic makes.

Have a great weekend :)

Skull and Cross Buns - Santa's Workshop

Hi guys

I've been itching to share these makes.

There is a brand new clear stamp set for Christmas over at Skull and Cross Buns called Santa's Workshop.

Emily has been extremely busy since the launch on Create & Craft last weekend but this new stamp set is now live on the website, along with four co-ordinating stencils: Geometric Tree, Christmas Stockings, Elf Stockings, Stars and Sparkles.

I had a play with the stamp set and the stockings stencil.  For my first card I couldn't resist the super cute little gingerbread man...

I started by stamping the gingerbread man a number of times and then masked them.  A little tip for you, stamp the image onto a few layers of post-it notes, then you can cut through a few at a time.  I then used a pine needle stamp from my stash to create the effect of a Christmas tree in two green shades.  I removed the masks and coloured the little images with Polychromos before drawing the ornament hangers with a gold pen.  I stamped the sentiment and heat embossed in gold, before die cutting the panel with a stitched rectangle and popping up on fun foam.

Materials used:

• Stamps: Skull and Cross Buns - Santa's Workshop, Merry Christmas; Uniko - Winter Foliage
• Ink: Versafine - Onyx Black; Altenew - Evergreen; Memento - Cottage Ivy; VersaMark
• Coloured with Faber Castell Polychromos pencils
• Embossing Powder: Wow! - Metallic Gold Rich
• Dies: Create a Smile - Double Stitched Rectangles
• Accents: Signo Uniball - Gold

Challenge entry:

Allsorts - Challenge #488 - Trees and/or leaves

Next up, a super simple card using the co-ordinating stockings stencil to add colour...

I stamped the Merry Christmas, you can find it here, in VersaMark and embossed in silver.  I then stamped the stockings from the new set, as if hanging from the sign and also embossed these in silver.  I think the stocking hanger and the double lines on the stocking design co-ordinate so well with the sentiment stamp.  The stockings in the new Christmas Stockings stencil are exactly the same size as the image in the stamp set so I laid the stencil over the embossed images and added colour by blending with Distress Inks.

Materials used:

• Stamps: Skull and Cross Buns - Merry Christmas Neon Sign, Santa's Workshop
• Ink: VersaMark; Distress Inks - Carved Pumpkin, Squeezed Lemonade, Cracked Pistachio, Peacock Feathers, Wilted Violet, Picked Raspberry
• Embossing Powder: Wow! - Metallic Silver

Challenge entry:

Sweet Stampin' - Use a Stencil (stockings were ink blended through a stencil)

For my final card I used the stocking as part of the sentiment...

The wreath was die cut from some white glitter card and adhered to a die cut green cardstock panel.  I stamped the stocking, coloured with ProMarkers and fussy cut it out to create the 'J'.  The remainder of the letters were die cut, coated in VersaMark and embossed in gold glitter powder.  I added some twine to hang the stocking from the wreath.  It was finished by heat embossing part of a sentiment stamp heat embossed in gold onto a strip of red cardstock.  The sentiment strip and stocking were both popped up on 3D foam

Materials used:

• Dies: Tonic - Wreath; MFT Die-namics - Happy Birthday To You; Create a Smile - Double Stitched Rectangles
• Stamps: Skull and Cross Buns - Santa's Workshop, Merry Christmas
• Ink: Memento - Tuxedo Black; VersaMark
• Embossing Powder: Wow! - Metallic Gold Sparkle, Metallic Gold Rich
• Coloured with ProMarkers
• Accents: Hemptique Twine - Emerald Assortment
• Cardstock from stash

Challenge entry:

Always Fun Challenges - Challenge #78 - Dies and Punches

You can find more examples from my teamies using the rest of the stencils along with the new stamp set over at the Skull and Cross Buns Rubber Stamps Scrumptious Group over on Facebook.  I hope to have more makes using this set soon.

Happy Little Stampers October 2018 CAS Challenge

Hi there

As we're at the beginning of another month (!!!) it's new challenge time over at Happy Little Stampers, and the CAS challenge has just launched.  I'll get straight to the details...

The winner for this challenge will receive a $20 coupon to spend at the shop! Check out all the details HERE.

IF YOU USE STAMPS BY HAPPY LITTLE STAMPERS AND YOU ARE THE RANDOM WINNER, YOUR PRIZE WILL BE DOUBLED!

There are lots of different ways to use vellum and I chose to use it for a shaker card instead of using acetate, you get a lovely muted effect through the shaker window...

I started with a die cut panel and then die cut a circle aperture for my shaker window.  Before creating the shaker I stamped the sentiment on the panel in gold pigment ink.  On a piece of vellum I stamped the snowflake in VersaMark ink before heat embossing in silver.  I then adhered the vellum behind the aperture.  I attached foam tape all over the reverse of the panel, sprinkled a sequin mix onto the card base where the aperture would sit, and then adhered the panel, trapping the sequins inside.

I only realised when writing this post that the layout of this card is exactly the same as my HLS card last month, I clearly love this layout! 

Materials used:

• Dies: Create a Smile - Cool Cuts Double Stitched Rectangles; Hero Arts - Circle Infinity dies
• Stamps: Happy Little Stampers - Let It Snow
• Ink: VersaMark; Versa Color - Gold
• Vellum from stash
• Accents: Little Things from Lucy's Cards - Eternity Ring shaker selection

Challenge entries

Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Challenge - Challenge #405 - Anything Goes (something beginning with 'S')

Please do check out my teamies' creations over at the main HLS challenge post, here, for some great inspiration of different ways vellum can be used.

The links for all the HLS monthly challenges are open until the end of the month so plenty of time for you to play along :)

Muse Challenge #285 - Forest Foliage Thanks

Good afternoon, crafters

It's the first Monday of the month and therefore it's my turn to be your designer over at Muse. 

It's certainly very autumnal here in the UK, it's chilly in the mornings and evenings now and the leaves are starting to turn so I chose an autumn theme for my inspiration card for this week's challenge.

I'm really loving stencils right now, and it's been a while since I've used texture paste on a card so I paired that with a gorgeous new to me stencil and came up with this design...

I temporarily adhered the stencil to a panel of white cardstock by using masking tape on the reverse, so as not to cover up any areas of the card.  I then squished three shades of Distress Ink onto a blending mat and mixed these, one at a time, with some embossing paste using a palette knife and then spread it randomly over the stencil until all of the cardstock was covered.  I then cleaned off my stencil and left the panel to dry.

I just love how much more muted these shades are when blended with white paste, completely different to their usual shades.  The following photo shows the embossing paste much more clearly...

Once dry I cut the panel down and adhered it to the card base popped up on fun foam.  I then die cut the 'thanks' four times, three times from white cardstock and once from green, stacked these up and adhered to the panel.

Materials used:

• Stencil: Funky Fossil Designs - Forest Foliage
• Embossing Paste: Dreamweaver
• Ink: Distress Ink - Forest Moss, Brushed Corduroy, Spiced Marmalade
• Die: MFT Die-namics - Twice the Thanks

Challenge entries:

Uniko - Challenge #49 - Wonderful World with optional twist Thanks (the natural colours of autumn)

Allsorts - Challenge #487 - Autumn Glory

Alphabet Challenge - N for Nature

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Anything Goes

I hope my card will inspire you to play along this week, I'd love to see where it will take you creatively.