Less is More Challenge #411

Good morning, everyone

Hopefully Blogger has scheduled this post for me on time this morning as I'm currently away.  I travelled up to Kent yesterday for our annual Christmas party last night (our company party is always in January) so I'll be travelling back down to Devon today.

I'm here to share the new challenge just starting over at Less is More and yes, shudder if you will, it's One Layer challenge time!  Here is the cue card, which you can interpret however you like...

Continuing as our sponsor for January is the generous Skull and Cross Buns, so please do play along as you'll automatically be in the running for the monthly prize.

I've used Skull and Cross Buns products on both of my sample cards this time.  And most of my makes usually have off centre designs anyway so this was a pretty easy challenge for me.

Here's the first, and I used the off centre rule for one of my techniques on this one...

I used a stencil to create the hearts, blending first in the pink shade, then placing the stencil 'off centre' and re-blending with the red shade.  Although this area of the stencil is fairly small, the design is continuous, allowing you to shift the stencil and continue inking with no break in the pattern.  Once the stencilling was complete I stamped the sentiment in black ink.

Materials used:

• Stencil: Skull and Cross Buns - Brush Heart Pattern
• Ink: Distress Ink - Worn Lipstick, Candied Apple; Versafine - Onyx Black
• Stamp: Skull and Cross Buns - Brush Hearts

Challenge entries:

Always Fun Challenges - Challenge #145 - One Layer

STAMPlorations - January Stencil Challenge - Anything Goes

For this card I used one of the newer stamp sets to the Skull and Cross Buns range, Christmas Foxes...

This set isn't just for Christmas, it's great for sending winter wishes too.  I stamped the fox and the sentiments in black ink and then coloured the fox using coloured pencils.  To finish I used a dotted stencil to create the snow, using embossing paste, just masking off to avoid the stamped areas.

Materials used:

• Stamps: Skull and Cross Buns - Christmas Foxes
• Ink: Versafine - Onyx Black
• Coloured with Faber Castell Polychromos
• Stencil: Skull and Cross Buns - Dots and Spots Large
• Embossing Paste: Dreamweaver

Challenge entries:

CAS on Friday - Challenge #171 - Winter
Inkspirational - Challenge #204 - Fauna
Creative with Stamps - Challenge #46 - Scarf





As usual, this challenge will remain open for the next fortnight, so plenty of time to play along and link up.  I hope you can join us.

Honey Doo Crafts - January 2020 Release - Selection Two

Hi there

As promised, I'm back with the rest of my samples using the new dies from Honey Doo Crafts as well as some existing products in the range.

And don't forget, Amanda from Honey Doo will be showcasing the new dies, along with some of their existing products on Create & Craft TV tomorrow, Friday 17 January 2020 at 9am and 1pm.

Ok, let's get to it, and first up are two cards using the new Tartan die...

I die cut a rectangular aperture in the front of the card base and also in some cardstock to be used as the upper panel.  I then cut the tartan die cut in half and adhered these back to back so there were no raw edges.  These were then sandwiched between the card and panel and the panel was adhered to the base using 3D foam.  I stamped and heat embossed the flower twice on yellow vellum, fussy cut these and adhered them together.  I added some decorative crystals to the centre.  The sentiment was stamped on a die cut tag and adhered under the flower, and a bow added to finish.

Materials used:

• Dies: Honey Doo Crafts - Tartan; Create a Smile - Cool Cuts Double Stitched Rectangles; MFT - Stitched Rectangles, Stitched Traditional Tags
• Stamps: Honey Doo Crafts - Chrysanthemum, New Job
• Ink: VersaMark; Versafine - Onyx Black
• Embossing Powder: Wow! - Opaque Bright White
• Accents: Cosmic Shimmer Glitter Jewels - Iced Crystals
• Vellum and ribbon from stash

Challenge entries:

Dream Valley - Challenge #216 - Something New (new crafty stash and new start)
My Time to Craft - Challenge #413 - New Stash

Happy Little Stampers - January Anything Goes with Dies
Moving Along with the Times - Challenge  #114 - All Things New (new crafty stash and new start)

Here I used the Tartan die again to partially cover the background...

I adhered some mid grey cardstock to the card base then used the tartan die on dark grey textured card.  I trimmed this on the diagonal and adhered it to the bottom corner.  I stamped and heat embossed the flowers and leaves on clear vellum and coloured on the reverse with Zig markers.  These were fussy cut and layered up and adhered in place.  The sentiment was also heat embossed on a die cut piece of vellum and adhered under the flower with a glue dot.

Materials used:

• Dies: Honey Doo Crafts - Tartan; Spellbinders Nestabilities - Reverse Wonky Rectangles
• Stamps: Honey Doo Crafts - Chrysanthemum, Retirement
• Ink: VersaMark
• Embossing Powder: Altenew - Pure White
• Vellum from stash coloured with Zig Clean Color Real Brush Markers

Challenge entries:

Allsorts - Challenge #554 - Say It With Flowers
Penny Black and More - January Challenge - Make It Feminine

Next up I've used the new Encircle die...

I die cut a white panel with a stitched rectangle die and cut a circular aperture.  I die cut the Encircle die once from teal coloured cardstock and again from patterned paper.  I added some adhesive to the card base, trimmed down and adhered the positive part using the teal die cut.  I then inlaid the negative sections using the patterned paper die cuts.  I stamped the sentiment before adhering the upper panel on 3D foam.

Materials used:

• Dies: Honey Doo Crafts - Encircle; Create a Smile - Cool Cuts Double Stitched Rectangles; Hero Arts - Infinity Circle dies
• Patterned Paper: First Edition - Wildflowers; teal cardstock from stash
• Stamp: Honey Doo Crafts - New Job
• Ink: Versafine - Onyx Black

And finally, I've used one of the existing stencils, Mosaic, along with two stamp sets, Budding Flourishes and Repot Rose...

I blended a die cut panel lightly with Distress Inks before adding the stencil and then deepening the colours.  I stamped the floral image in black ink directly over the blended background.  To finish I stamped and heat embossed the sentiment in gold onto a strip of vellum, wrapped this around the panel and adhered it to the base.

Materials used:

• Stencil: Honey Doo Crafts - Mosaic
• Ink: Distress Ink - Squeezed Lemonade, Twisted Citron, Broken China; Versafine - Onyx Black; VersaMark
• Stamps: Honey Doo Crafts - Budding Flourishes, Repot Rose (sentiment)
• Embossing Powder: Wow! - Metallic Gold Rich

Challenge entries:

Addicted to Stamps and More - Challenge #372 - Make your Mark (ink blending and stencilling)
Sweet Stampin - Attitude of Gratitude
STAMPlorations - January Stencil Challenge - Anything Goes





Thanks again for visiting, I hope you can take a look at the products and demos on Create & Craft tomorrow.  If not, you can watch the shows on catch up on the website.  And don't forget, all the Honey Doo products are also available to purchase direct from their store, here.


(AD - some products kindly gifted for design team purposes)

Honey Doo Crafts - January 2020 Release - Selection One

Hi guys

Tonight I'm sharing some samples using Honey Doo Crafts products.

Honey Doo Crafts have some brand new dies in their range which they will be showcasing on Create & Craft TV here in the UK this coming Friday, 17 January 2020 at 9am and 1pm, together with some of their existing stamps and stencils.

The new dies are already available to purchase direct from the Honey Doo Crafts store, here.  Please note that these new cover dies measure 5" x 7", so they are larger than an A6 card (the size I usually make) but not as large as A5.


First up I've made a couple of cards using the new Palm Leaves Die...

I wanted to use the entire die for this one so I made a larger card base than usual.  I ink blended the white card base with Distress Oxide Inks to create a sunset effect, then die cut some textured black cardstock using the palm leaves die and adhered this flat to the base.  I heat embossed the sentiment in white on a die cut and adhered this on 3D foam.

Materials used:

• Dies: Honey Doo Crafts - Palm Leaves Die; Spellbinders Nestabilities - Reverse Wonky Rectangles
• Stamp: Honey Doo Crafts - Retirement
• Ink: Distress Oxide - Squeezed Lemonade, Spiced Marmalade, Abandoned Coral; VersaMark
• Embossing Powder: Altenew - Pure White

Challenge entries:

Dream Valley - Challenge #216 - Something New (new craft stash)

My Time to Craft - Challenge #413 - New Stash
Moving Along with the Times - Challenge #114 - All Things New (new craft stash)

For this card I used the Palm Leaves Die but trimmed it down to fit an A6 card...

I masked the edges of the card base, blended with Distress Ink then splattered with water.  I die cut a frame from some green cardstock then die cut the palm leaves from white cardstock and trimmed it down to fit behind the frame.  I adhered it in place, popped the frame up on 3D foam then heat embossed the sentiment on a co-ordinating die cut strip.

Materials used:

• Dies: Honey Doo Crafts - Palm Leaves Die; Create a Smile - Cool Cuts Double Stitched Rectangles; Clearly Besotted - Stripped Die Collection
• Ink: Distress Ink - Shabby Shutters, Forest Moss, Pine Needles; VersaMark
• Stamp: Honey Doo Crafts - New Job
• Embossing Powder: Altenew - Pure White

Challenge entries:

Happy Little Stampers - January Anything Goes with Dies Challenge
Simply Create Too - Challenge #156 - Monochromatic

Next up I've used the new Gingham Die...

I die cut some kraft cardstock using the gingham die and trimmed it down to create the look of a garden trellis.  I ink blended onto the card base using a cloud stencil and adhered the die cut.  I then stamped, coloured and die cut the flowers and leaves and adhered these in position.  To finish I stamped the sentiment in black.

Materials used:

• Die: Honey Doo Crafts - Gingham Die
• Stamps: Honey Doo Crafts - Spring Time Blooms (with matching dies); Retirement
• Ink: Distress Oxide - Tumbled Glass; Memento - Tuxedo Black; Versafine - Onyx Black
• Stencil: MFT - Cloud
• Coloured with ProMarkers

My last sample for today uses and existing stamp and stencil with the Honey Doo range, Floral Turn Around and Mesh...

On a white cardstock panel I stamped the image in black.  Once dry I then used the mesh stencil and applied glimmer paste over the entire surface.  I left this to dry properly for a few hours and in the meantime I stamped the whole image again on pale yellow vellum and heat embossed it in white.  I then fussy cut the flowers.  After adhering the panel to the card base I then adhered the vellum flowers in position over the design and added some silver gems to finish.  I decided to leave this one sentiment free.

Materials used:

• Stamp: Honey Doo Crafts - Floral Turn Around
• Ink: Versafine - Onyx Black; VersaMark
• Stencil: Honey Doo Crafts - Mesh
• Paste: Nuvo Glimmer Paste - Moonstone
• Embossing Powder: Wow! - Opaque Bright White
• Vellum and gems from stash

Thanks so much for visiting and taking a look.  I'll be back tomorrow evening with the rest of my sample cards ahead of the Honey Doo show on Create & Craft on Friday.

(AD - some products kindly gifted for Design Team purposes)

Perfectly CAS January 2020 Challenge

Hi guys

It's time for the first challenge of 2020 over at Perfectly CAS. 

Our challenge rule of using one third of the card or less is a great way to keep your designs clean and simple.  Another way is to just use the card base, with no additional layers, and that's what this month's challenge is all about.

Some crafters find one layer cards very daunting as there's nowhere to hide.  But depending on the techniques you use, they can be very quick to make, they just need a little forward planning.

I chose simple masking, stencilling and stamping for my sample card and I completed this in less than ten minutes...

I used low tack masking tape to section off a horizontal panel at the top of my card base.  I had some Christmas pennies to spend so I treated myself to some Taylored Expressions blender brushes and wanted to give them a go here...and I love them!  Firstly I blended the whole section with Spun Sugar Distress Ink, before laying a floral stencil over the top and then blending with Picked Raspberry.  This stencil is also new to my stash, isn't it lovely?  Sarah has some lovely stencils (and also stamps) over at Funky Fossil Designs, you can check them out here.  I then removed the stencil and masking tape and stamped the sentiment in black.  To finish I added a few flat glazed silver gems scattered about.

Materials used:

• Stencil: Funky Fossil - Pretty Petals
• Ink: Distress Ink - Spun Sugar, Picked Raspberry; Versafine - Onyx Black
• Stamp: Woodware - Big Birthday Words
• Gems from stash

Challenge entries

Always Fun - Challenge #145 - One Layer
Dream Valley - Challenge #216 - Something New (crafty bits)
My Time to Craft - Challenge #413 - New Stash
Allsorts Challenge - Week #554 - Say It With Flowers
CAS Stencil Challenge - January 2020 - New Stencil
STAMPlorations - January Stencil Challenge - Anything Goes




The challenge link will close a couple of days before the next one begins so you have almost a month to play along.  Looking forward to seeing your one layer creations.

Less is More Challenge #410

Hello

I'm back today to introduce the first of this year's challenges at Less is More.  We're continuing with our sequence of challenges and this time we're back with a Colour challenge.  Here are the details...

It's an 'out with the old, in with the new' challenge.

Living Coral was the Pantone colour for 2019, and True Blue is the Pantone colour for 2020.

(The colours are detailed over on the main Less is More challenge post)

And for the month of January we have the fabulous Skull and Cross Buns back as our sponsor.  So just by playing along in this month's challenges will mean you're in with a chance of winning our monthly prize!

Here goes, and I'll admit, I did struggle with this colour combo.  But I did get a couple of sample cards made for you.  Here's the first...

This was very simple to make.  I crossed over two strips of washi tape on the card base, topped with a trellis die cut and then overlaid with a flower die cut.  I didn't like how the trellis showed through the flower head so I die cut it again from some textured coral cardstock and inlaid the inner parts of the flower head, securing on the reverse, before adhering the flower in place.  I stamped a simple sentiment vertically as I think it nestled along the edge quite nicely.

Materials used:

• Dies: Clearly Besotted - Trellis Die; Wplus9 - Flower Doodles
• Stamp: Clearly Besotted - Tiny Type
• Ink: Versafine - Onyx Black
• Washi tape from stash

And for this next make I used stamps by our Sponsor, Skull and Cross Buns...

Not the best photos of this card I'm afraid, for some reason my camera was having an off day!

I used a stitched rectangle die to create my top panel then stamped the bunting and confetti in blue and coral inks.  I stamped the sentiment in blue to balance out the design the popped the panel onto the card base using fun foam.  As a finishing touch I added some smooth silver gems amongst the confetti.  Not my go to colours for this type of card but I think it's turned out quite gender neutral here.

Materials used:

• Stamps: Skull and Cross Buns - Modern Wedding; Celebrate Script
• Ink: Altenew - Starlight; Versa Magic - Pink Grapefruit
• Die: Create a Smile - Cool Cuts Double Stitched Rectangles
• Accents: Smooth silver gems from stash

Challenge entries:

AAA Cards - CAS Game #155 - Along the Edge

The challenge linky will stay open for the next fortnight so why not have a go with this colour combo, you never know what might materialise.  I struggled then ended up with two cards :)

Happy Little Stampers January 2020 CAS Challenge

Happy New Year!

I hope you're all well rested and ready to get back into your craft rooms/spaces.  The crafty challenges of 2020 are all starting to launch and today is the turn of the CAS Challenge over at Happy Little Stampers.

Here's the cue card for this month, just remember to keep your entries clean and simple...

All the guidelines are detailed over on the main challenge post.

There are lots of options with this theme and for my DT card I decided to use a stamp set I've had in my stash for ages but not yet inked up...

On a die cut rectangular panel I stamped cupid then masked him so I could stamp the other cloud images.  With the mask still in place I ink blended the clouds using a stencil and Distress Oxide ink.  I then stamped the sentiment, coloured the images with ProMarkers and popped up the panel on fun foam.

Materials used:

• Stamps: Clearly Besotted - Call Cupid
• Ink: Memento - Tuxedo Black; Distress Oxide - Spun Sugar
• Stencil: MFT - Cloud
• Die: Create a Smile - Cool Cuts Double Stitched Rectangle
• Coloured with ProMarkers

As with all the Happy Little Stampers challenges (many will be commencing over the next few days), the link ups will remain open for the entire month, so plenty of time to play along.  I hope you can join us.

Thanks so much for visiting.