Happy Little Stampers May 2021 CAS Challenge

Good evening

Tonight I'm here to announce the new CAS challenge for May over at Happy Little Stampers.  Here's the theme we want to see on your clean and simple cards this month...

I'll admit, I had very little in my stash that I could use for this challenge....note to self, stop buying floral stamp sets!  Anyhow, this cute little bears stamp was one I purchased some time ago, when Lili of the Valley were selling off all their rubber stamps.  I believe they only sell digi images now.

This was pretty easy to create.  I stamped the image and then coloured it with Copics.  I'm still learning with my markers but getting there slowly and I'm quite pleased with how this one turned out.  I added a strip of patterned paper to the bottom of my card base then trimmed the image panel down and adhered it flat.  Then to finish I stamped the sentiment, this one from a very old Clearly Besotted set.

Materials used:

• Stamps: Lili of the Valley - Football Bears; Clearly Besotted - Going Places
• Ink: Memento - Tuxedo Black; Versafine - Onyx Black
• Coloured with Copics
• Patterned paper from stash

Challenge entries:

Seize the Birthday - Challenge #213 - Furry Friends

Addicted to Stamps and More - Challenge #404 - Any Occasion

STAMPlorations - May CAS Challenge

NBUS - Challenge #26 - first inking of these bears

Thanks for taking a look.  As with all the HLS challenges, the links will remain open until the end of the month so there's plenty of time to join us.

Happy Little Stampers April 2021 CAS Challenge

Hi there

At Happy Little Stampers it's time for the April CAS Challenge.  Here's the cue card...

I thought I was going to struggle with this brief as I don't have much in my stash which would fit, but I Googled 'things with flames' and there's actually more to choose from than you first think.  I chose a rocket for my card...

On a die cut panel I masked off below the top third and stamped the foreground and the rocket.  I then made masks for these.  I ink blended very lightly with a neutral tone where I wanted the planet and then die cut a small circle mask and placed this over the inking.  I then ink blended the background sky using pink, purple and blue.  The masks were removed and I coloured the images with Copics.  I stamped and heat embossed the sentiment in white and die cut this with a fishtail flag die.  To finish, I added some stars using a white pigment pen and then adhered the panel to my card base.

Materials used:

• Stamps: Clearly Besotted - Out of this World
• Ink: Memento - Tuxedo Black; Distress Ink - Pumice Stone; Distress Oxide - Picked Raspberry, Wilted Violet, Blueprint Sketch; VersaMark
• Coloured with Copics
• Embossing Powder: Brutus Monroe - Alabaster White
• Dies: Create a Smile - Cool Cuts Double Stitched Rectanges; MFT Die-namics - Fishtail Flag Stax
• Accents: White pen - Sakura Gelly Roll 10

This challenge will run until the end of the month.

Thanks so much for taking a look, I'll be back tomorrow morning with details of the next challenge at Less is More.

Unicorn Sparkles

Hi there

I'm popping back today to share this card I recently made for an order, for a little girl's birthday, the niece of a work colleague.

As well as being from her auntie it needed to include pink, glitter, her name and her age too.

Here's what I came up with...

I started by stamping the unicorn and colouring it with a mix of ProMarkers and FlexMarkers.  I used a cloud die to cut some pink and white glitter cardstock which I positioned and adhered along the top of the panel.  I die cut the letters for Izzy's name from the same pink glitter card and the number 9 from the white.  I die cut the balloon from some purple glitter polka dot card and drew the balloon string with a silver pen before adhering down the die cuts.  I stamped the sentiment in black before popping the panel up on 3D foam.  To finish I added some sparkle to the unicorn's horn and and hooves.  The sparkle can be seen much clearer below...

Materials used:

• Stamps: Azeeda - Proud Unicorn; Clearly Besotted - Sweet Little Family
• Ink: Memento - Tuxedo Black; Versafine - Onyx Black
• Coloured with ProMarkers and FlexMarkers
• Dies: MFT - Bottlecap Letters; PTI - Modern Numbers; Lawn Fawn - Puffy Cloud Borders; Clearly Besotted - Let's Party Die
• Accents: Spectrum Noir - Clear Sparkle pen; Signo Uniball pen - Silver

Thanks so much for popping by, I appreciate all my followers and visitors so much :)

Less is More Week #351

Good morning

I'm here to introduce the new challenge at Less is More and we're back with a Theme challenge this week.  And we have a fun one for you...

And throughout this month our fab sponsor is Uniko so why not

play along for a chance to win our monthly prize.

Just the one card from me this week but I had great fun making it...

I started by stamping, colouring with ProMarkers and then die cutting the characters with their co-ordinating dies.  I die cut a circle from a panel of white cardstock and stamped the sentiment below.  I then masked the area on the card base which would appear through the aperture before blending with Distress Inks.  I started with three colours and then gently blended over the top with black, enabling the colours to still show through to create a galaxy effect.  I then added some water splatters which I blotted, and then added some stars with a white pigment pen.  The panel was then popped up on 3D foam and the little guys adhered within the aperture.

Materials used:

• Stamps: Clearly Besotted - Out of this World
• Ink: Memento - Tuxedo Black; Versafine - Onyx Black; Distress Inks: Picked Raspberry, Blueprint Sketch, Twisted Citron, Black Soot
• Dies: Clearly Besotted - Out of this World die collection; Hero Arts - Circle Infinity Dies
• Coloured with ProMarkers

Challenge entries:

Addicted to Stamps and More - Challenge #264 - Clean and Simple

AAA Cards - CAS Game #101 - Inspired by a Film (Monsters, Inc.)
Seize the Birthday - Anything Goes

Thanks so much for popping by today, and you can find more inspiration from my fab teamies over on the main challenge blog.

I'll be back later today with some exciting news!

Less is More Week #345

Good morning

Welcome to a fresh new Saturday and another new challenge over at Less is More.  We're back with One Layer Week again and have a fun one for you this time, with hopefully lots of options...

Happy Little Stampers are our sponsor for September so do play along for a chance to win the monthly prize!

I've had a busy week this week with one thing and another so just the one card for you today.  This challenge was another opportunity for me to practice with my Faber Castell Polychromos.  They are still very new to me and I have a lot to learn but I'm pretty happy with this little project...

I originally bought this unicorn stamp to use on another card, here, but the card needed to be A5 and the image was a little small, so I used it for this card instead.  I stamped the unicorn directly onto my card base and then left it in position in my MISTI so I could restamp later.  I then coloured the image with my Polychromos, and just added a small amount of grey to the unicorn's body.  I placed the card back into the MISTI and restamped to sharpen up the image.  I then stamped the sentiment in black, and the shooting star image in silver.  A little clear Wink of Stella was added to the horn.

Materials used:

• Stamps: Azeeda - Proud Unicorn (purchased from eBay); Woodware - Unicorn
• Ink: Versafine - Onyx Black; Versa Color - Silver
• Coloured with Faber Castell Polychromos
• Accents: Wink of Stella - Clear

Challenge entries:

CAS on Friday - Challenge #116 - Colour Me Pretty - Use Pencils/Markers
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Stamp It

AAA Cards - CAS Game #98 - Creatures Great or Small

Thank you so much for popping by today.  My teamies over at LIM are sharing some lovely coloured projects today so please do pop over and follow their links for more inspiration.

First Birthday Unicorn

Hi there

Today I'm sharing a card I recently made for an order.  The brief was to make a personalised first birthday card featuring a unicorn and it had to be pink and sparkly.  The request was for the card to be fairly large which was a challenge in itself as, being a CAS card maker, I'm used to making standard A6 cards and often struggle to fill larger designs.  This one was A5.

Here it is, a lot busier than my regular designs but I was pleased with the result and I think I fulfilled the brief...

I started on the card base and used a stencil to create the pink and lilac clouds for the background.  Two panels were cut with stitched cloud border dies and set aside until I was ready to adhere them.  Next I stamped the unicorn, coloured with ProMarkers and fussy cut it out.  I die cut the stitched rainbow from a selection of cardstock scraps (and now have lots of bits remaining to make another five rainbows!)  Lots of die cutting was involved for this card!  Next I die cut the balloon from some textured lilac cardstock, then cut the lettering and number 1 from glitter cardstock, some in white for the balloon, and some in pink for the name.  It was then just a case of putting it all together and adhering in place.  I stamped the sentiment onto the front cloud panel before popping that one up on fun foam for some dimension, as well as popping up the unicorn.  And of course, no unicorn is complete without some sparkle so I added some clear Wink of Stella to finish the card.  The photo below picks up the sparkle a little better.

Materials used:

• Stencil: MFT - Mini Cloud Edges
• Ink: Distress Ink - Spun Sugar, Milled Lavender, Shaded Lilac; Versa Color - Heliotrope
• Stamps: Woodware - Unicorn
• Dies: Lawn Fawn - Puffy Cloud Borders; MFT Die-namics - Bottlecap Letters, Blueprints 26 (balloon), Stitched Rainbow; Papertrey Ink - Modern Numbers
• Coloured with ProMarkers
• Accents: Wink of Stella - clear

Challenge entries:

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Anything Goes

Alphabet Challenge - M for Make Your Mark

Moving Along with the Times - Challenge #53 - Add a Number

Addicted to Stamps and More - Challenge #257 - Make Your Mark

Thanks so much for popping by.  I'll be back in the morning with details of the next challenge over at Less is More.

Less is More Week #341

Good morning

It's time for a new challenge over at Less is More and this week it's the turn of our One Layer challenge.  Ok, so it's not everyone's favourite but why not give it a go.  I think this week's theme will give you quite a few options...

We have our winner of the AAA Collaboration challenge, Marge, joining us today so please do pop over to her blog if you have time.


Just one card from me this week and I used a couple of recent purchases for this one, as well as having a go with my Polychromos which I haven't had much chance to use yet...

I recently purchased this mini stamp set from Clearly Besotted as I thought it would be great for little boys' cards.  I stamped the images first, the sentiment being from a different retired CBS set, then stamped again on post-its to use as masks.  I then blended some clouds using the MFT cloud edges stencil with some Distress Ink.  This is the mini cloud edges stencil as I still haven't managed to get my hands on the regular one, it keeps selling out at breakneck speed in the UK!  All that was left to do was colour the images. My shading with the Polychromos needs some work but I did love using them, they are lovely pencils.  Definitely more practice needed!

Materials used:

• Stamps: Clearly Besotted - Take Flight, Going Places
• Ink: Versafine - Onyx Black; Distress Ink - Tumbled Glass
• Stencil: MFT - Mini Cloud Edges 
• Coloured with Faber Castell Polychromos pencils

Challenge entries:

Stamping Sensations - August Challenge - Anything Goes

Moving Along with the Times - Challenge #51 - Things that Fly

Addicted to Stamps and More - Challenge #254 - Clean and Simple

Addicted to CAS - Challenge #117 - One Layer Card
CAS on Friday - Challenge #114 - Birthday
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - For a Child
STAMPlorations - Summer CAS Card Challenge

A couple of my LIM teamies are taking a break this week but there is still lots of inspiration to be found, and possibly more on their personal blogs too.

Happy Saturday everyone, have a lovely weekend

Less is More Week #307 and #308

Hi there

A new challenge is starting at Less is More today and it will run for two weeks to cover the Christmas holidays.  And we have a Theme challenge for you which is...

Children

Due to the pre-Christmas craziness I've only had time to make one card for you for this challenge.  And while trawling through my stash I realised I have very little to fit this challenge.  But I did find this cute ballerina image from one of the very first Clearly Besotted stamp sets, Twinkle Toes.

I started by stamping the ballerina image using my MISTI by repeatedly stamping with pink and lilac ink, overlapping in the centre until I had an even ombre blend.  The image was then die cut with the stitched rectangle.  I stamped the sentiment onto the card base in VersaMark and heat embossed in silver.  The die cut panel was adhered using fun foam and the gems and stars were adhered to add a finishing touch of sparkle.

Materials used:

• Stamps: Clearly Besotted - Twinkle Toes
• Ink: Altenew - Rose Quartz, Soft Lilac; VersaMark
• Die: MFT Die-namics - Inside and Out Diagonal Stitched Rectangles
• Embossing Powder: Wow! - Metallic Silver
• Accents: Smooth silver gems and stars from shaker selection - From stash

Challenge entry:

Addicted to Stamps and More - Challenge #224 - CAS

Thanks so much for your visit today, and to all of you that have participated at Less is More throughout the year.  My teamies and I love seeing how you interpret our challenges each week.  As this is a two week challenge hopefully you will be able to find some crafty time over the Christmas break.  The next challenge at Less is More will be on New Years Eve.

Happy Little Stampers August 2016 CAS Challenge

Hi there

It's time for the start of another CAS Challenge over at Happy Little Stampers.  This challenge will run until the end of August so plenty of time to get your entries in.  We have a great technique for you this month which is...

This challenge is sponsored by Happy Little Stampers.

There are some tutorial videos included over on the main challenge blog if you need some help and advice on how to mask.

Here's my DT card, which is actually a card I made for my brother's birthday...

I started by stamping the central monster/alien which was then masked before stamping his two friends either side so that they appeared behind him.  These were coloured with ProMarkers.  I then used a stitched edge die and did some partial die-cutting either side and then fussy cut around the top of the characters.  I wanted the blue chap to be holding the balloon so I stamped part of the string coming up from his hand and stamped the rest of the string onto some polka dot paper behind.  These were adhered together onto the card base before adding the speech bubble, the balloon which was coloured and topped with Wink of Stella and to finish I added some Glossy Accents to their eyes.

Materials used:

• Stamps: Clearly Besotted - Out of this World
• Dies: Poppy Stamps - Stitched Landscapes; Clearly Besotted - Laugh Out Loud and You Said It
• Ink: Memento - Tuxedo Black
• Coloured with ProMarkers
• Patterned Paper: Lawn Fawn - Let's Polka
• Accents: Glossy Accents; Wink of Stella - Clear

Challenge entries:

The Paper Players - Challenge #306 - Tic Tac Toe (CAS / Patterned Paper / Scene)

Addicted to Stamps and More - Challenge #204 - CAS

Moving Along with the Times - Challenge #25 - Monsters/Aliens

Happy Little Stampers Craft Retreat 2016

Before I go, I thought I'd share some photos of the first Happy Little Stampers Craft Retreat which took place in Swindon, UK this past weekend.  Our wonderful host, Kylie, who is the creator of Happy Little Stampers did an awesome job in organising this wonderful weekend, and all from Australia!  She sorted everything from goody bags, crafting materials, T-shirts, aprons, hotel accommodation and meals.

Our goody bags on arrival!

Our super organised craft room before we destroyed it!

The Less is More girls....myself, Chrissie and Sarah x

With the amazing Kylie who made this happen x

With this wonderful lady, the fabulous Darnell, all the way from California x

Our cards made at the retreat!

A wonderful group of ladies...and so fantastic to have Kylie from Oz,
Darnell from California and Melissa from Germany!

Kylie already has ideas in her head for the next retreat so keep your eyes and ears open for information of the next one!