Perfectly CAS - October 2019 Challenge

Hi there

It's time for the second challenge of this new challenge blog, Perfectly CAS, specifically aimed at creating CAS cards, keeping the design to one third of the card or less.

I'll get straight to it, here's the cue card, a super easy one for you...

For my sample card I used a super cute stamp set from Lawn Fawn which I've just inked up for the first time...

I began by softly ink blending a section towards the top of the card with pale blue ink, just so my focal point had a backdrop.  I then stamped and coloured lots of images from the stamp set and die cut them with the co-ordinating dies.  It was then a case of adhering all the images, some popped up on 3D foam.  I finished by stamping the sentiment directly onto the card base and added sparkle to the party hat and gloss to the specs.

Materials used:

• Stamps: Lawn Fawn - Be Hap-pea (with co-ordinating dies)
• Ink: Distress Ink - Tumbled Glass; Memento - Tuxedo Black; Versafine - Onyx Black
• Coloured with ProMarkers
• Accents: Spectrum Noir Sparkle Pen - Clear; Glossy Accents

Challenge entries:

Happy Little Stampers - October Anything Goes with Dies Challenge

Dream Valley - Challenge #211 - Clean and Simple

The challenge linky will remain open for a month, so plenty of time to join in.

Thanks so much for popping by.

Skull and Cross Buns - Hochanda Showcase Selection 2

Hi guys

Apologies for the timing of this post, I'm off work this week so rather than schedule it I thought I'd just publish it right away when I finished typing it up.

Another batch of makes for you where I've used products from the Skull and Cross Buns ranges which will be showcased on Hochanda here in the UK this Thursday, 5 September, at 4pm (Sky 673, Freesat 817, Freeview 85).


This first card uses a mix of products; one of the stencils, two of the clear stamp sets and an acrylic embellishment...

One of the stamp sets in the range is called Days and Months.  Although great for lots of crafting products and of course, scrapbooking, journalling, calendars, etc. I wanted to come up with an idea of how to use the stamps on a card.  So this idea came into my head...love you every day!  I started by using the Decreasing Circles Stencil to create the rainbow of dots in the background, just by blending one colour, then cleaning off the stencil, shifting over and re-blending in the next colour, and so on.  And it worked out perfectly that there are seven colours of the rainbow and seven days of the week!  I stamped the days in black and also the 'love you' from the Brush Hearts clear stamp set, but I chose to emboss this with clear embossing powder to add a little gloss.  The panel was die cut with a stitched rectangle and adhered to the card base on fun foam.  I finished with a pink acrylic heart from the Brush Hearts Embellish! set.

Materials used:

• Stencil: Skull and Cross Buns - Decreasing Circles Large Stencil
• Ink: Distress Ink - Spun Sugar, Shaded Lilac, Tumbled Glass, Cracked Pistachio, Squeezed Lemonade, Dried Marigold, Candied Apple; Versafine - Onyx Black
• Stamps: Skull and Cross Buns - Days and Months, Brush Hearts
• Embossing Powder: Wow! - Clear Gloss
• Die: Create a Smile - Double Stitched Rectangles
• Accent: Skull and Cross Buns - Brush Hearts Embellish! set

Challenge entries:

Addicted to Stamps and More - Challenge #356 - Anything Goes

Time Out - Challenge #143 - Inspired by Words

Next up is a card using another stamp set which you wouldn't initially think of using for cards...

The stamp set I used for this bubbly background is called Planner Banners, and is perfect for crafting, scrapbooking and of course bullet journalling, and works so well with the Days and Months set I used on the first card.  I chose to use the three circles of varying sizes and stamped and heat embossed them in white on some watercolour cardstock, before watercolouring the 'bubbles' with Distress Inks.  I mounted the panel onto black cardstock and then flat to the base.  To finish I cut another piece of black cardstock in a diagonal strip and adhered this, topped with a clear acrylic embellishment from the I Believe In Unicorns Embellish! set.  I think the cloud works well with the bubbles theme.

Materials used:

• Stamps: Skull and Cross Buns - Planner Banners
• Ink: VersaMark; Distress Ink - Worn Lipstick, Shaded Lilac, Salty Ocean, Cracked Pistachio
• Embossing Powder: Altenew - Pure White
• Accent: Skull and Cross Buns - I Believe In Unicorns Embellish! set

Next up, I've used the Planner Banners set, combined with two other sets in the range...

On a die cut panel I drew a pencil line in a curve and then stamped the flags from the Planner Banners set.  I then joined them up with a fineliner pen and erased the pencil lines.  I used one of the circles from the set to create the balloon and curved one of the straight lines in the set to create a balloon string.  Next I stamped the letters from the Lightbox Love set and the word 'time' from the Tropical Party set.  I coloured the flags and balloon with ProMarkers and then stamped some of the smaller elements from the Planner Banners set to finish.

Materials used:

• Stamps: Skull and Cross Buns - Planner Banners, Lightbox Love, Tropical Party
• Ink: Memento - Tuxedo Black; Versa Color - Silver; Altenew - Olive
• Coloured with ProMarkers

And the last for this post is another using the Planner Banners set...

I simply stamped lots of the images from this set in different directions and colours.  I stamped the 'happy birthday' from the Quirky Sentiments stamp set and finished the card off with a few different enamel dots.

Materials used:

• Stamps: Skull and Cross Buns - Planner Banners, Quirky Sentiments
• Ink: Altenew - Lagoon, Olive, Starlight, Ultraviolet; Versafine - Onyx Black
• Accents: Enamel dots and stars from stash

Thanks for taking a look.  I'll be back soon with more of my samples ahead of the show on Thursday.

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

Less is More Challenge #401

Good morning!

It's two weeks since the last challenge at Less is More, so of course, we're back with a new one for you.  It's the turn of our regular Colour challenge, here are the details...

For a fresh new month we have a fresh new sponsor!  If you've followed Less is More for some time you'll no doubt be familiar with our previous Design Team member, Sarah Gray, of Funky Fossil Designs.  She is generously sponsoring our August challenges so just by playing along you'll be in with a chance of winning our monthly prize!

Not only is Sarah guest designing with us for this challenge, we also have Alli C joining us who was our June Winner.  Please do pop over to see what she's created and say hi.


Ok, I have two sample cards for you, here's the first...

For this design I die cut a circle and stamped the sentiment across the centre.  I then filled in the gaps using the leaves, flowers and a few smaller stamped elements.  I coloured the images with ProMarkers then popped the die cut up onto a slightly larger circle using fun foam.  The two die cuts were then adhered to the card base.  I felt it needed a little 'something' more, so I used a white pigment pen and added some dotty accents to the flowers.

Materials used:

• Dies: Hero Arts - Infinity Circle Dies
• Stamps: Altenew - Painted Greetings, Doodle Blooms
• Ink: Versafine - Onyx Black; Memento - Tuxedo Black
• Coloured with ProMarkers
• Accents: Signo Uniball Pen - White

Challenge entries:

Addicted to Stamps and More - Challenge #352 - Make Your Mark

STAMPlorations - Summer CAS Card Challenge - Anything CAS Goes

For my second card I used one of Sarah's fab stencils as a background...

I die cut a panel with a stitched rectangle die then blended two shades of Distress Ink just through the central area of the stencil.  I die cut a leaf from orange cardstock and added some detail with a ProMarker.  I stamped the sentiment in black onto a stitched die cut strip then slotted it between the leaves and trimmed it off before adhering to the panel on 3D foam squares.  The who panel was then adhered to the card base on fun foam.

Materials used:

• Stencil: Funky Fossil - Geo Diamonds
• Ink: Distress Ink - Cracked Pistachio, Broken China; Versafine - Onyx Black
• Stamp: Altenew - Leaf Canopy
• Dies: Create a Smile - Cool Cuts Double Stitched Rectangles; Creative Expressions - Laurel Leaves; Clearly Besotted - Frame It Die Collection (sentiment strip)

Thanks so much for stopping by.  My teamies are sharing some great projects over on the main challenge blog so please do pop over and take a look.

I hope you have a wonderful weekend :)

Less is More Challenge #400

Good morning

It's new challenge day at Less is More and this will be our 400th Challenge!  I can hardly believe that when I became a member of the Design Team I joined for challenge number 225, back in May 2015!  Where on earth has that time gone?

So, let's get straight to it, and this time we have a Recipe challenge for you and it's all about using the little images in your stash...

Skull and Cross Buns continues as our sponsor for July so by playing along you are automatically in with a chance of winning our monthly prize.

Being a member of the Skull and Cross Buns Design Team was perfect for me as the majority of their stamps fit within the challenge criteria this week.  I have four samples for you, all showcasing SACB products.


Here's the first...

You'd be forgiven for thinking I've broken our rules with the dotted banner on this one, but I created this by using a little row of dots from the Planner Banner set, here.  I used my MISTI to ensure consistent placement across the card.  I stamped the little images within a square die cut and coloured with ProMarkers before popping it up onto another slightly larger die cut.  I finished by stamping the sentiment in lilac and added some shimmery sparkle to the bee's wings.

Materials used:

• Stamps: Skull and Cross Buns - Planner Banner, Quirky Sentiments, Spring Motifs
• Ink: Versafine - Onyx Black; Versa Color - Heliotrope; Memento - Tuxedo Black
• Dies: MFT Die-namics - Pierced Square Stax
• Coloured with ProMarkers
• Accent: Spectrum Noir Sparkle Pen - Clear

Challenge entries:

Alphabet Challenge - I is for Insect
CASology - Week 348 - Shimmer

I kept my next card super simple...

This is purely just a stamped sentiment surrounded by lots of other tiny images, all from the same stamp set.  To add some interest I used hammered cardstock for the base, which you can just about make out in the photo below, it was really difficult to capture it...

Materials used:

• Stamps: Skull and Cross Buns - Modern Wedding
• Ink: Versafine - Onyx Black; Altenew - Coral Berry, Forest Glades, Andromeda, Moon Rock

Challenge entries

STAMPlorations - Summer CAS Card Challenge - Anything CAS Goes
AAA Cards - CAS Game #144 - Maxi White Space

This next card is a CASE of a card I found recently on Pinterest by the super inspiring Donna Mikasa, you can find it on her blog, here.

I used emboss resist on the card base, stamping and heat embossing the images in clear embossing powder then blending over with Distress Oxide inks.  Then just simply adhered an offset panel flat to the base, with the sentiment stamped in black.

Materials used:

• Stamps: Skull and Cross Buns - Crafting is my Super Power
• Ink: VersaMark; Versafine - Onyx Black; Distress Oxide - Squeezed Lemonade, Picked Raspberry, Shaded Lilac
• Embossing Powder: Wow! - Clear Gloss

Challenge entries:

Try It On Tuesday - Colours of the Rainbow
STAMPlorations - Summer Theme and Sketch Challenge - Stamps and Anything Goes

And finally...

I began by inking through a sun ray stencil and then stamped the palm tree image in black.  I die cut the scene with a circle die then heat embossed the sentiment in gold.  I sliced a strip away from the front of the card and stamped the tropical leaves along the edge of the inner part.  The die cut was then adhered overhanging the edge.

Materials used:

• Stencil: Clearly Besotted - Sunny Day
• Stamps: Skull and Cross Buns - Tropical Party, Quirky Sentiments
• Ink: Distress Oxide - Squeezed Lemonade, Spiced Marmalade, Abandoned Coral; Versafine - Onyx Black; VersaMark; Altenew - Frayed Leaf, Moss
• Embossing Powder: Wow! - Metallic Gold Rich
• Die: Hero Arts - Infinity Circles

I think this would be a great opportunity to use the little images in your craft stash so why not join in by linking up to our gallery.  There's a fortnight to enter and you can find lots of inspiration from my teamies over on the main challenge post, here.

Designing for Honey Doo Crafts - Roses & Lilies and Garden Peony

Hi there

Ok, back this evening to share two final makes using more products by Honey Doo Crafts.  

And don't forget, Honey Doo will have feature hours on Hochanda TV tomorrow, 12 July 2019, at 10am and 3pm (Sky 673 / Freeview 85).  I know many of you will be working, as will I, so I'll be putting the shows on record to have a peak at later.  There will be lots of products available, demos by Amanda, and lots of samples from the whole of the Design Team.

Now, the two samples in this post may look a little familiar if you already follow my blog, and that's because I've made previous cards which are very similar (I've added some pics at the base of this post).  The two Honey Doo sets I'm using on these cards are Roses & Lilies, and Garden Peony.

Ok, first up is Roses and Lilies...

This card is similar to a one layer card I made back in May, here, where I also used teal cardstock and embossed the same image in white.  This time I stamped, embossed and fussy cut the image before adhering it onto the card over an offset panel of glittered polka dot cardstock in a similar tone.  I then simply finished with a sentiment stamped in black.

Materials used:

• Stamps: Honey Doo Crafts - Roses & Lilies, Just in Case
• Ink: VersaMark; Versafine - Onyx Black
• Embossing Powder: Altenew - Pure White
• Glitter Cardstock: Kanban - Sherbert Pips (many years old)

Challenge entries:

STAMPlorations - Summer Theme and Sketch Challenge - Stamps and Anything Goes

Time Out - Challenge #139 - Inspired by Words

Next up is Garden Peony...

For this card the stamped and coloured strip was actually the waste from this card, here, which I made back in April.  So it's a kind of reversed version, with a coral coloured panel behind picking out the colour in the images.  The sentiment was heat embossed in white and the floral strip popped up on 3D foam.

Materials used:

• Stamps: Honey Doo Crafts - Garden Peony, Daisy May (sentiment)
• Coral cardstock from stash
• Ink: Memento - Tuxedo Black; VersaMark
• Embossing Powder: Altenew - Pure White
• Coloured with ProMarkers
• Die: Avery Elle - Dotted Border Dies

Challenge entries:

Addicted to Stamps and More - Challenge #349 - CAS

Penny Black and More - July Challenge - Summer Colours

STAMPlorations - Summer CAS Card Challenge - AG CAS

Here are the previous similar cards I made...

Thanks so much for visiting, and I hope you are able to tune in tomorrow to see what Honey Doo Crafts has to offer.  If you love florals, it's for you for sure!

Designing for Honey Doo Crafts - Introducing Big Bold Blooms and Chrysanthemum

Hi there

I'm thrilled to be designing again for Honey Doo Crafts.

Amanda will be showcasing many of the brand's existing products on Hochanda this coming Friday, 12 July 2019 (Sky 673 / Freeview 85) at 10am and 3pm. 

As well as lots of the fabulous existing stamps and dies, Amanda will also be introducing two new large stamp sets: Big Bold Blooms and Chrysanthemum.  If you can't wait until Friday, these can be purchased direct from Honey Doo Crafts right now.

Here are my sample cards using these two new sets.  First up is Big Bold Blooms...

I began by stamping the three different sized flower images onto some clear vellum and heat embossed in white.  I then coloured these on the reverse using Zig markers, blending with a darker shade towards the centre to create some depth, and fussy cut them out.  The leaves were stamped and heat embossed in white onto some pale green vellum, and also fussy cut...

I stamped the sentiment on a white cardstock panel and ran this through my Big Shot with a wave effect embossing folder before adhering to the card base on fun foam.  I used the handle of a paint brush to curl the petals of the flowers before gluing the layers together.  Then finished by adhering to the panel and slotting in the leaves using glue dots.

Materials used:

• Stamps: Honey Doo Crafts - Big Bold Blooms, Birthday Sentiments
• Ink: VersaMark; Versafine - Onyx Black; Zig Clean Color Real Brush Markers
• Embossing Powder: Altenew - Pure White
• Embossing Folder: We R Memory Keepers - Next Level: Wave
• Vellum from stash

Challenge entries:

Penny Black and More - July Challenge - Summer Colours

Stamping Sensations - July Challenge - Earth Laughs in Flowers

Creative Moments - Challenge #172 - Anything Goes

Time Out - Challenge #139 - Inspired by Words

STAMPlorations - Summer Theme and Sketch Challenge - Stamps and Anything Goes

Next up is another card using Big Bold Blooms...

I began by diagonally masking a section of the card base.  I then stamped the leaves in grey ink, masked these and then ink blended out from the masked edge with Distress Ink.  I then roughly coloured the leaves with ProMarkers.  Next I stamped the three flowers and coloured these with ProMarkers before fussy cutting, adding some shimmer and layering up.  The card was completed by adding the sentiment stamped in blue.

Materials used:

• Stamps: Honey Doo Crafts - Big Bold Blooms, Happy Times
• Ink: Memento - London Fog; Distress Ink - Dried Marigold; Versa Color - Neptune
• Coloured with ProMarkers
• Accent: Spectrum Noir Sparkle Pen - Clear

And now my sample card using the stunning new Chrysanthemum set...

On a white cardstock panel I stamped the largest of the flowers and then masked it before stamping the two smaller blooms.  All three flowers were then coloured with ProMarkers.  I then cut away part of the panel on the right hand side and fussy cut around the petals.  The panel was then adhered on 3D foam onto the card base over a strip of black textured cardstock.  I added a heat embossed sentiment on a black strip and finished by adding some dotted details to the flower centres with a white pen.

Materials used:

• Stamps: Honey Doo Crafts - Chrysanthemum, Just in Case
• Ink: Memento - Tuxedo Black; VersaMark
• Embossing Powder: Wow! - Opaque Bright White
• Accents: Signo Uniball Pen - White

Challenge entries:

Inkspirational - Challenge #190 - 3 or 5 of something

If you can't wait until Friday to see the two new sets, you can find them by clicking the logo below...

Thanks so much for stopping by.  I'll be sharing more samples over the next few days using existing stamp sets from Honey Doo ahead of the Hochanda shows on Friday.  I would love for you to pop back and take a look.

Enjoy your Sunday :)