Less is More Challenge #457 ... and some news

Good morning

It's Saturday and time for a new challenge over at Less is More.  The Design Team will be taking a short break throughout December so this will be the last challenge of 2021.

...and it is with a heavy heart that after six and a half years (how is it that long?!!!) I have decided to step down from this fabulous challenge Design Team.

After a few weeks as a Guest Designer, I joined the team in May 2015 (Challenge #225!), creating alongside the wonderful Chrissie, Sarah and Anne.  I had the pleasure of meeting these gorgeous ladies at a Craft Retreat a few years ago organised by our amazing Kylie, and later met the lovely Sharon, who has been running the challenge brilliantly in the most recent years.  They are all such great friends and will continue to be beyond Less is More.  And, of course, not forgetting my other LIM teamies past and present, I've learned so much from a fantastic bunch of CAS designers so I'm sending a huge thank you to all of you.

I won't be disappearing, I just feel like I need to have some time without the commitments and deadlines of a Design Team.  I would like to find more time to use my stash and just play!  

Ok, enough of the sadness, here's the info for the new challenge...

Image by monicore from Pixabay

Here's my card, I think you can see how I was inspired by the photo!

I began with a die cut panel of kraft cardstock.  I then grabbed some paper that has been in my stash for many many years, I think it was part of a bigger kit.  The red paper is shimmery and has a kind of jacquard pattern/print on it.  I used a stitched die to add the dash lines and then cut into a couple of strips.  I then used a bow die set and cut this from the same paper.  I die cut some pine needles from white glitter cardstock and a little tag from white card and stamped the sentiment.  It was then just a case of positioning and adhering.  I originally wasn't going to add the tag as the 'ribbon' already displays the sentiment but I think the tag finishes it off nicely.

You can see the design of the paper a lot clearer in this photo...

Materials used:

• Dies: Create a Smile - Cool Cuts Double Stitched Rectangles; Paper Smooches - Dots and Dashes; Frantic Stamper - Small Solid Bow; Marianne Design Creatables - Petra's Larix Larch; MFT Die-namics - Blueprints 26 (tag)
• Stamps: The Greetery - Budding Beauties Winter
• Cardstock from stash

Thank you so much, LIMettes, for all your support and encouraging comments on my designs for Less is More.  Clean and simple is the style I love and I also love how this challenge has taken so many of you out of your comfort zones to try CAS designs.  

So this isn't goodbye, I'm sure I'll be a participant of LIM as I always have been since I began this blog xx

Perfectly CAS November 2021 Challenge

Good evening

The November challenge at Perfectly CAS is just launching and, for those of us in many parts of the world heading into winter, we have a challenge that makes you think of the complete opposite, here's the cue card...

I usually rummage in my craft stash for things like palm trees, pineapples, hibiscus flowers and flamingos for this theme but this time I thought of something completely different and managed to use some products in my stash that haven't yet been inked up.

Here's my card...

I began with a die cut scalloped rectangular panel.  I then laid a brush stroke stencil over the panel, just for positioning purposes, and stamped the fish.  I stamped these again on masking paper and covered the images so I could ink through the stencil with Distress Oxides.  I removed the stencil and masks and coloured the fish using Copics.  I stamped the bubbles and lightened the centres with a white gel pen, then added a few more white 'sparkles' in the water.  To finish I stamped the sentiment and adhered the panel flat to the card base.

Materials used:

• Stamps: Clearly Besotted - Best Fishes
• Stencil: Clearly Besotted - Brush Strokes
• Die: Create a Smile - Cool Cuts Scalloped Rectangles
• Ink: Memento - Tuxedo Black; Distress Oxide - Peacock Feathers, Salvaged Patina, Mermaid Lagoon; VersaFine Clair - Nocturne
• Coloured with Copics
• Accents: Sakura Gelly Roll Pen - White 0.8

Challenge entries:

Addicted to Stamps and More - Challenge #418 - Birthday

STAMPlorations - November Stencil Challenge - Anything Goes

NBUS - Challenge #32 - first use of stamps and stencil

Happy Little Stampers - November Stencil Challenge - Anything Goes

I'm absolutely loving this brush stroke stencil so I can that one getting a lot more use in the future.  The challenge link will close a few days prior to the December challenge so there's almost a month to play along.  I hope you can join us for this one.

Less is More Challenge #456

Good morning

Welcome to Saturday and a new challenge over at Less is More.  Today it's a Theme challenge, here's the cue card...

 

We have our September winner joining us as a Guest Designer today, the super talented and wonderful CAS card creater, Asa.  Please do pop over to her blog to take a look at her card and to say hi.

As always at this time of year I'm behind with making my Christmas cards so if the theme fits, that's what I'm making! :)

I began with a die cut stitched rectangle and then ink blended the skyline.  I figured out where the tree and mouse would be stamped and added a little ink blending to ground them.  These were then both stamped in black.  Next I sprinkled over some embossing enamel to create some snow, heating from the underside so the heat gun didn't blow it out of position.  I then adhered the panel onto the card base using fun foam before stamping the sentiment below.

Materials used:

• Die: Create a Smile - Cool Cuts Double Stitched Rectangles
• Ink: Versa Color - Neptune, Heliotrope, Lilac; Versafine Clair - Nocturne
• Stamps: Card-io - Magical Christmas (mouse); Woodware - Three Trees; Simon Says Stamp - Happy
• Accents: Stampendous Deep Impression Embossing Enamel - Chunky White

Challenge entries:

Stamping Sensations - November Challenge - Christmas

We Love Stamping - November Challenge - Christmas

Happy Little Stampers - November Christmas Challenge - Anything Goes: Make a Scene

There's lots of inspiration from my teamies over at the Less is More challenge blog, and as always the challenge link is open for two weeks.  Hope to see your cards in the gallery.

CASE Me a Christmas Card with Michelle Lupton

Hi there

The lovely Michelle Lupton has invited me to join her once again in her CASE me a Christmas Card Series.  CASE can either stand for 'Copy and Share Everything' or 'Copy and Selectively Edit'.  The aim is to take inspiration from any card made by the other and make a Christmas card.

I had a scroll through Michelle's lovely makes and a set of sympathy cards she had made back in May caught my eye.  I was itching to use a gorgeous Christmas embossing folder I'd purchased a month or so ago so this design was perfect...

I embossed a panel using the Perfect Poinsettias embossing folder by Altenew and trimmed it down slightly before inking up the edges with Distress Ink in Aged Mahogany and Festive Berries.  I matted and layered the panel on some deep red cardstock and cut a matching sentiment strip.  The sentiment from the Color Layering Christmas Tree set by Hero Arts was stamped and heat set using Wow! embossing powder in Metallic Gold Rich.

And here is Michelle's gorgeous set of cards below, the photos are shared with her permission... 

Other than making the design a lot bolder for Christmas I didn't really change anything up other than using gold for the sentiment.

So, as that last card was more of a blatant copy than a CASE, I had another scroll through Michelle's and couldn't resist making another! :D

Here it is...

You can see Michelle's inspiration card for this one below.  I used the same layout but instead of a rainbow of inks, I cut strips of cardstock in the traditional Christmas colours of red, green and gold and adhered these to a scrap of paper just to get them lined up.  I trimmed it down to make a panel with nice sharp edges before stamping the stockings image, from a stamp set given free with a previous year's Creative Stamping magazine.  I stamped it in black but the gold cardstock was a little slick and I wasn't sure it would actually dry any time within this century so I heat embossed it in Wow! Clear Gloss to seal the image.  I adhered the panel to the card base, added a slim strip of back glitter cardstock along the top edge and finished with the sentiment, stamped in black, from the same free set.

And here is Michelle's gorgeous rainbow birthday card....

Thank you so much for taking a look and thank you once again to Michelle for inviting me to take part in her fun series.  

CASEing cards is a great way to craft if you need a creative nudge, just remember to give credit to the original designer.

Happy Little Stampers November 2021 CAS Challenge

Hi there

The November challenges at Happy Little Stampers are launching this week and today is the turn of the monthly CAS challenge.  Here's the cue card...

I just had to use this fabulous stamp set from Katzelkraft...

I chose this kitty and coloured him in the colours of my dear Elmo who I lost a few years ago.  He was so naughty but also very cute (didn't he know it!) and got away with absolutely everything, just by giving me 'the look'!

On a die cut panel I stamped the kitty and coloured him with Copics.  The thought bubble is a stencil which I gently inked through with Distress Ink and the sentiment is from another set which I stamped in black.  To finish, I added some gloss to his eyes.

Materials used:

• Stamps: Katzelkraft - Les Chats Russes; Gerda Steiner - Moody Unicorns (sentiment)
• Stencil: Clearly Besotted - Comic Cuts
• Die: Create a Smile - Cool Cuts Double Stitched Rectangles
• Ink: Memento - Tuxedo Black; Versafine Clair - Nocturne; Distress Ink - Hickory Smoke
• Coloured with Copics
• Accents: Glossy Accents

Challenge entries:

STAMPlorations - November CAS Challenge - Anything Goes with option of Neutrals Only

And just so you can see what I mean, here's the little man himself.  

Thanks so much for popping by.  As always, the HLS challenge links will remain open until the end of the month.