Less is More Challenge #399

Good morning

It's new challenge day over at Less is More.  For the next fortnight we have a Theme challenge for you with lots of scope, here is the cue card...

As it's a new month we also have a new sponsor for you which is the awesome Skull and Cross Buns, so by playing along in our challenges will put you in the running for our monthly prize for July!

We also have a fabulous Guestie joining us this week and I'm sure you'll know her as one of our regular participants at Less is More, the super talented Viv, who was our May winner.  She has a stunning card to share for this challenge so please do pop over to her blog to take a look and say hi.

I've had this last week off work and the weather has been glorious which is pretty rare when I book a week as holiday, so I've been out and about making the most of it, so much so that I've only had chance to make one card for you this time I'm afraid.  I'm on the Design Team for Skull and Cross Buns so when a little package of new goodies arrived from the lovely Emily I wanted to use one of the new stencils on my card project.  

So here it is...

I've not seen any other animal print stencils before so just couldn't wait to have a play with this one!  I began by using the large balloon edge die to cut a corner from some kraft cardstock. I then blended some Distress Ink in from the edge to give it some depth and then blended through the stencil with black ink.  I tied some twine around the balloon and then adhered the die cut using fun foam onto the upper corner of my card base, cut from linen cardstock.  I then used three shades of pigment ink and, using my MISTI, repeatedly stamped 'celebrate' to create an ombre effect.  The remaining part of the sentiment was stamped below in black ink.

Materials used:

• Die: MFT - Blueprints 26
• Stencil: Skull and Cross Buns - Leopard Animal Print Stencil
• Cardstock: Neenah - Dessert Storm; linen cardstock from stash
• Ink: Distress Ink - Tea Dye, Black Soot; Versa Color - Sand Beige, Pinecone, Charcoal; Versafine - Onyx Black
• Stamps: Paper Smooches - Sentiment Sampler; Avery Elle - Party Animal
• Twine: Hemptique - Earthy set

Challenge entries:

STAMPlorations - Summer Theme & Sketch Challenge - Stamp and Anything Goes

STAMPlorations - Summer CAS Card Challenge - AG CAS

Thanks, as always, for stopping by.  I hope you can join in our Celebrations challenge, the linky is open until 19 July, so plenty of time for you to pop your entries into our gallery :)

Cute Wedding

Hi there

Apologies for the radio silence.  I've completely lost my creative mojo lately, I'm hoping to sit down and have a proper look for it later!

In the meantime, I thought I'd pop on and share a card I made last month.  I was commissioned to create a card for a friend for her son's wedding, I was waiting until after the day to share it here then it completely slipped my mind.

Here it is, the brief was an A5 wedding card with a cute theme featuring owls...

As a CAS cardmaker I really struggle with larger sizes such as A5, as I find it difficult to fill such a large area whilst maintaining my usual style.  As I opted for the textured frame I was really happy with how this turned out.

I began by cutting the upper panel, from a sheet of embossed stripe cardstock, and die cutting the stitched aperture.  This way I could be sure that the focal point was positioned correctly on the card base behind.  I roughly marked the focal area with a pencil and then stamped the branch, owls, leaves, hearts, top hat and flower, before then roughly masking and creating the clouds with a stencil and Distress Ink.  Before adhering the panel, I wrapped some decorative ribbon around the panel and topped with a bow.  The panel was then adhered on 3D foam strips.

I printed the wording onto some white cardstock (using a font called dearJoe 5 CASUAL) and cut the two hearts out with a stitched heart die to tie in with the stitched aperture.  I adhered these, popping some 3D foam squares behind the parts that overlapped the aperture, and to finish added some Glossy Accents to the owls' eyes...

Materials used:

• Stamps: Clearly Besotted - Paired Up (branch/hearts/leaves), Woodland Pals (owls); Mama Elephant - Three Amigos (hat); Penny Black - Salutations (flower)
• Ink: Altenew - Lava Rock, Mocha, Morning Frost; Versa Color - Olive, Pink, Rose Red; Distress Ink - Tumbled Glass; Versafine - Onyx Black
• Stencil: MFT - Cloud
• Dies: Create a Smile - Cool Cuts Double Stitched Rectangles; MFT Die-namics - Stitched Heart Stax
• Accents: Glossy Accents

Challenge entries:

Fab 'n' Funky - Challenge #440 - Wedding

Thanks so much for visiting, hopefully I'll find some crafty inspiration soon and be able to share more with you.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend! :)

Spring Cards from Skull and Cross Buns

Hi there

I'm here today to share a couple of Spring themed cards I've made using the most recent release from Skull and Cross Buns. 

Although the collection was released before Easter, the products include lots of Spring related elements too, so there's lots of scope to use them for Spring cards and more.  You can find the latest products here.

And for info, to celebrate National Scrapbooking Day, quote NSD19 to get 25% off your SACB order on the website and a free embellishment gift until 6 May!

For my first card I used the Spring Friends and Spring Motifs sets...

The used the cute curly sheep image and repeatedly stamped it on a strip of vellum and heat embossed in white.  In between I stamped the stem, leaves and flower head from in pigment inks and heat embossed in clear.  The vellum strip was wrapped around some lilac textured cardstock and secured on the reverse.  I stamped the sentiment below in black and adhered the panel flat to the card base.

Materials used:

• Stamps: Skull and Cross Buns - Spring Friends, Spring Motifs
• Vellum and cardstock from stash
• Ink: VersaMark; Versa Color - Olive, Pink; Versafine - Onyx Black
• Embossing Powder: Altenew - Pure White

Challenge entries:

My Time to Craft - Challenge #396 - CAS

STAMPlorations - May CAS Card Challenge - Anything CAS Goes (option of lilac)

Addicted to Stamps and More - Challenge #339 - CAS

Alphabet Challenge - C is for CAS

I used the Spring Friends and Spring Sentiments sets, together with the Gingham Stripe Large Stencil for this next card...

I die cut a stitched rectangular panel and stamped the chicks one on top of the other and then coloured with Promarkers.  Then on a panel of white cardstock I created the plaid pattern by masking various sections and shifting the stencil.  In the wider gaps purposely left I drew some lines with a dark grey fineliner pen.  This was also then die cut with a stitched rectangle die.

This was my third attempt at creating the background!  The first time I forgot to leave gaps so it was just a weird two colour check which wasn't what I had in mind, then the second time I got it right but had picked up the wrong masking tape so it ripped my cardstock when I removed the stencil.  It really was a case of third time lucky...I was ready to throw in the towel!

To finish I adhered the plaid pattern flat, popped the chicks panel up on 3D foam and added a sentiment strip from a scrap of yellow cardstock.

Materials used:

• Stamps: Skull and Cross Buns - Spring Friends, Spring Sentiments
• Stencil: Skull and Cross Buns - Gingham Stripe 
• Ink: Memento - Tuxedo Black; Distress Ink - Squeezed Lemonade, Mermaid Lagoon; Versafine - Onyx Black
• Dies: Create a Smile - Cool Cuts Double Stitched Rectangles
• Coloured with ProMarkers
• Accent: Staedtler Triplus Fineliner

Challenge entries:

Always Fun Challenges - Challenge #108 - Bees or Chicks

Thanks so much for visiting, I hope you have a lovely weekend, and enjoy the May Day Bank Holiday (in the UK).

Less is More Challenge #393

Good morning folks!

It's Saturday morning and it's been two weeks since our last challenge over at Less is More which can only mean one thing...we've got a new one for you :)

It's the turn of our Colour challenge and this time we want to see...

The awesome Seven Hills Crafts returns as our sponsor for this month so make sure you play along during this and the next challenge to be in with a chance of winning the LIM monthly prize!

We have a wonderful designer joining us for this challenge, the super talented Milla who was one of our birthday month winners.  Please do pop over to her blog to say hi.


Ok, onto my samples and I have two for you today.  I was obviously in a friendly mood as both feature friend sentiments.  Here's the first...

This was super easy to make.  On a panel of white cardstock I blended two shades of Distress Ink in from the corner.  I very rarely use either of these colours but I adore how great they look together here.  I then used a doily die which is new to my stash to cut a white die cut and adhered it over the edge of the panel and trimmed off the excess.  To finish I stamped the sentiment before adhering the panel on fun foam.

Materials used:

• Ink: Distress Ink - Iced Spruce, Milled Lavender; Versa Color - Laurel Leaf
• Stamp: Wplus9 - All Year Cheer (available from our sponsor's store)
• Die: Sweet Dixie - Doily Five

For my next card I chose coloured cardstock for my top panel...

I chose this soft green shade and began by inking through a leaf stencil using white chalk ink.  I then found a teeny flower stamp and stamped these around the leaves with a peachy shade.  I chose a slightly darker soft green shade to stamp my sentiment and adhered the panel flat to my card base.

Materials used:

• Coloured cardstock from stash
• Stencil: Uniko - Natures Treasures II
• Ink: Versa Magic - Cloud White; Versa Color - Cinnamon, Olive
• Stamps: Uniko - Background Builders Vines; Altenew - Thinking of You (available from our sponsor's store)

Challenge entries:

Addicted to Stamps and More - Challenge #336 - Anything Goes

AAA Cards - CAS Game #137 - Made in Minutes

Uniko - Challenge #52 - Spring

Thanks so much for popping by.  Looking forward to seeing all your subtle colour creations.  And don't forget to pop over to the main LIM challenge post for more inspiration from my fellow teamies.

Guest Designer for Honey Doo Crafts - Selection Two

Good morning

As I mentioned in my post yesterday, I'm excited to be joining Honey Doo Crafts for the second time as a Guest Designer, showcasing their fabulous new stamps and dies for the upcoming shows on Hochanda.

Today I'm sharing more of my samples, using some of the new products.


First up is a die set called Feathered Flourishes.  I'm really pleased with how this first card turned out.  I chose to use a faux laser cut technique I first saw in a Jennifer McGuire video a few years ago, and have used a couple of times...

I began by masking my card base and creating an ink blended and water splattered background using Distress Oxide Inks.  Next I die cut a frame using some stitched rectangle dies.  To create the faux laser cut effect all you need to do is adhere various die cuts and adhere them to the edge of your aperture or frame and trim off the excess.  This is a fairly easy technique, the only fiddly part is ensuring you add enough 3D foam pieces to the reverse of your die cuts so that they have enough support and don't sag when added to your card front.  The photo below shows this more clearly.

I finished by stamping a small sentiment panel and backing this with a vellum panel, which was then also popped up on 3D foam to support it.

Materials used:

• Dies: Honey Doo Crafts - Feathered Flourishes; Create a Smile - Double Stitched Rectangles
• Ink: Distress Oxide - Wilted Violet, Mermaid Lagoon; Versafine - Onyx Black
• Stamp: Honey Doo Crafts - Just in Case
• Vellum from stash

Challenge entry:

Happy Little Stampers - February Anything Goes with Dies Challenge

Next up I've used the Feathered Flourishes dies once again, with the new Daisy stamp set...

I started by creating the daisies.  I stamped them in VersaMark on pale yellow vellum and heat embossed in white.  These were then fussy cut and the petals curled slightly using the rod of a paint brush.  I then die cut some of the flourishes from green textured cardstock.  On a panel of white cardstock I added some graduated score lines for some background interest and then arranged and adhered the flourishes and daisies, adding some enamel dots for the flower centres.

To finish I stamped the sentiment between two score lines and the popped the panel onto the card base using fun foam.

Materials used:

• Stamps: Honey Doo Crafts - Daisy, Just in Case
• Dies: Honey Doo Crafts - Feathered Flourishes
• Ink: VersaMark; Versafine - Onyx Black
• Embossing Powder: Altenew - Pure White
• Vellum from stash
• Accents: Doodlebug Sprinkles - Bumblebee Assortment

Challenge entry:

The Flower Challenge - Challenge #29 - Use Your Latest Stamps or Dies

Next up I've used the Daisy set again, but this time just the leaves...

I die cut a stitched panel and then, using my MISTI for alignment, stamped a row of the same leaves in rainbow order.  I simply stamped the sentiment above in black and adhered the panel to the card base on fun foam.  To finish, I added some co-ordinating enamel dots.

Materials used:

• Stamps: Honey Doo Crafts - Daisy, Cheers
• Ink: Versafine - Onyx Black; Versa Color - Canary, Fresh Green, Cyan, Violet, Magenta
• Die: Create a Smile - Double Stitched Rectangles
• Accents: Doodlebug Sprinkles

The next stamp set is called Budding Flourishes and I kept this one really simple...

After die cutting the rectangular panel I then used a piece of cardstock die cut with an oval die as a template to blend the sunset background.  I shifted the oval down very slightly, only 1-2mm, to ensure the stamped image met the edge of the oval mask, this was simply stamped in black ink, as was the sentiment alongside.  The panel was then popped up for dimension.

Materials used:

• Stamps: Honey Doo Crafts - Budding Flourishes, Hopeful & Happy Quotes
• Dies: Create a Smile - Double Stitched Rectangle; Lil Inker Designs - Stitched Ovals (used to create mask)
• Ink: Distress Oxide - Squeezed Lemonade, Spiced Marmalade, Abandoned Coral; Versafine - Onyx Black

And finally, this card uses the gorgeous new Floral Sketch stamp and the watercolour lifting technique...

I stamped the image in black pigment ink and heat embossed it using clear embossing powder.  I then masked the two sides of the panel vertically and blended Distress Inks down the centre.  I then 'painted' the image with water, section by section, waited a few seconds and blotted away the colour with a paper towel.  So the sections within the image appear lighter than the background.  I stamped the sentiment at the bottom right before adhering the panel on fun foam.

I then added some Nuvo drops in co-ordinating shades around the design, although with hindsight I think I preferred it without the drops.

Materials used:

• Stamps: Honey Doo Crafts - Floral Sketch, Just in Case
• Ink: Versafine - Onyx Black; Distress Oxide - Shaded Lilac, Cracked Pistachio
• Embossing Powder: Wow! - Clear Gloss
• Accents: Nuvo Drops

Don't forget to tune in to Hochanda tomorrow if you can (Freeview 85 / Sky 673) at 12pm and 4pm to see these great new products in more detail.

Thanks so much for popping by.  I'll be back tomorrow with my final batch of samples ahead of Thursday's shows.

Less is More Challenge #386

Good morning, crafters

I'm here today with details of the first Less is More challenge of 2019.

But before I give you the details I'd like to welcome three new fabulous ladies to our Design Team!  I hope you'll join me in saying a huge hello and welcome to Kylie, Michelle and Stephanie.  I'm sure most of you will be familiar with these ladies and their awesome talents :)

Right, here are the details of our Theme challenge...

Water in any of its forms....ice, snow, mist, liquid, etc.

Returning as our generous sponsor for the month of January is the fantastic Skull and Cross Buns, so by playing along in this month's challenges will give you a chance to win the monthly prize.

We also have a wonderful Guest Designer joining us for this challenge, a previous monthly winner, Viv of Daizy-Mae's Crafty Blog.  Please do pop over to her blog to say hi and check out her gorgeous card.

For my water themed cards I've used some products available from our sponsor. 

Here's the first, using water for watercolouring...

On a panel of watercolour cardstock I used a stencil and watercoloured through the word 'Love' with two shades of watered down Distress Inks.  The 'you' was stamped in black ink.  Before adhering the panel to the card base I blended the same two Distress Inks along the edge of the card base to add a little interest.  To finish I added a pink enamel heart.

Materials used:

• Stencil: Skull and Cross Buns - Brush Heart Pattern
• Stamp: Skull and Cross Buns - Brush Hearts
• Ink: Distress Ink - Picked Raspberry, Wilted Violet; Versafine - Onyx Black
• Accent: Enamel heart from stash

Challenge entries:

Time Out - Challenge #126 - Loving

For my second card I also used a stencil, but this time with the ghosting technique, misting with water...

On a panel of white cardstock I lightly blended two shades of Distress Ink in the centre before laying the stars stencil over the top and spritzing with water.  The water was then blotted away which lifts some of the ink.  Once dry I die cut the stitched oval from the panel and then stamped the sentiment through the aperture onto the card base.  The panel was then adhered on fun foam for dimension.

Materials used:

• Stencil: Skull and Cross Buns - Stars 
• Ink: Distress Ink - Salty Ocean, Shaded Lilac; Versa Color - Hyacinth, Sky Blue
• Stamps: Clearly Besotted Stamps - Twinkle Toes (retired)
• Die: Lil Inkers - Stitched Ovals

Thanks so much for stopping by.  Why not take a look at the main Less is More challenge blog, here, to see what my teamies have been creating for this challenge.  And don't forgot, the LIM challenges run for two weeks so there's plenty of time to create and link up :)

Googly Rudolph!

Hiya

Back again with a super clean and simple make.  I did make a few of these but due to the raised embellies I didn't post any, just hand delivered a few.

I stamped the antlers/ears in brown ink and the sentiment in black.  Then simply adhered the googly eyes and a red sequin for his nose.  Easy peasy!

Materials used:

• Stamps: Clearly Besotted - In Print, Tiny Type
• Ink: Versa Color - Pinecone; Versafine - Onyx Black
• Accents: Googly eyes from stash; Doodlebug - red sequins

Challenge entries:

Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Challenge - Challenge #418 - Anything Goes Christmas/New Year
Fab 'n' Funky - Challenge #420 - Cute Christmas
AAA Cards - CAS Game #130 - Three of Something (three embellishments)




I really appreciate your visits, I have one more Christmas card to share which I'll be back with very soon.

Muse Challenge #293 - Fabulous!

Hi there

It's new challenge time over at Muse.

This month we are doing things differently.  As we appreciate everyone is busy in the run up to Christmas, we are holding an Anything Goes challenge leading up to Christmas, so anything can be added to the linky for this one :)

For my inspiration card I'm sharing one that I made for a lovely friend of mine last month...

This was a quick and easy make.  All the stamps I used here were from a set which was free with a magazine earlier in the year.  On a panel of white cardstock slightly smaller than the card base I blended two opposite corners with Distress Ink, fading it out.  I then stamped the lady in black ink and cut a mask to enable me to stamp the dressing table and mirror in grey ink.  The sentiment was also stamped in black.  The panel was adhered flat to the base.  To finish I coloured her lipstick with a co-ordinating Zig marker and added some shimmer to the mirror and her belt with a shimmer pen.  You can just about make out the shimmer to her belt in the pic below...

Materials used:

• Stamps: Hello Gorgeous - free with Creative Stamping Magazine
• Ink: Distress Ink - Worn Lipstick; Versafine - Onyx Black; Versa Color - Sky Gray
• Accents: Spectrum Noir Shimmer Pen - Clear

Thanks so much for visiting today and I'm looking forward to seeing all your makes in the gallery :)