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 June 2020 CAS Challenge

Hi there

The CAS Challenge at Happy Little Stampers is just starting. 

I'll get straight to it with the cue card...

I chose a really simple one layer design for this one...

This was so easy to create.  I masked off around one of the balloon shapes in the stencil and repeatedly ink blended it, adding light and shade while trying to retain the transparency of real balloons.  Then just finished with a simple black sentiment.  Perfect for lots of occasions.

Materials used:

• Stencil: MFT - Big Balloons
• Ink: Distress Ink - Twisted Citron, Worn Lipstick, Wilted Violet, Salty Ocean; Versafine - Onyx Black
• Sentiment: Lili of the Valley - It's Time to Party

Challenge entries:

STAMPlorations - June Stencil Challenge - Anything Goes

My Time To Craft - Challenge #433 - Use a Stencil

Time Out - Challenge #162 - Free

If you pop over to the main challenge blog you'll see a note from Kylie, our 'boss' at Happy Little Stampers.  She works so hard behind the scenes running lots of different challenge blogs and has decided to take a well-earned break for six months.  So the break will start after the June challenges finish, at the end of the month.

Winter Bunnies

Good morning

I was a awake at silly o'clock this morning with no hope of getting back to sleep so I thought I'd come on here and share another card with you.


This is the Christmas card I made for my next door neighbour.  She has house bunnies so I knew exactly which stamp I wanted to use...

On a die cut stitched rectangle panel this image was simply stamped and I coloured it with ProMarkers.  I did try to colour the bunnies to look like her actual bunnies, fairly unsuccessfully due to my lack of markers!  Oh well, the thought was there and she loved it!  To finish I used a glitter pen to add some shimmer to the snow.

Materials used:

• Stamp: Lili of the Valley - Bunnies Ho Ho Ho
• Ink: Memento - Tuxedo Black
• Die: Create a Smile - Cool Cuts Double Stitched Rectangles
• Coloured with ProMarkers
• Accents: Spectrum Noir Glitter Pen - Clear

Challenge entries:

Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Challenge - Challenge #470 - Anything Goes

Christmas with the Cuties - Challenge #34 - Christmas Cuties

CASology - Week 358 - Branch

Passion for ProMarkers - Challenge #523 - Mega Christmas Challenge

I still have a handful of Christmas cards to share and these will all be up between now and the New Year :)

Happy Little Stampers November 2019 CAS Challenge

Good evening, crafters!

It's time for the new CAS challenge over at Happy Little Stampers.  The watercolour challenge for November is already up and running and the rest of our regular challenges, as always, will follow over the course of the next few days.

Ok, here's our CAS cue card, and it gives you all the perfect opportunity to get ahead with your Christmas cards, if like me you're way behind (no change there!)...

I wanted to use some stamps that I bought a while ago from Lili of the Valley when they were having a sale, I believe they only offer digi stamps now.  I think this probably reflects me when I was a child! haha

On a panel die cut with a stitched rectangle, the images were simply stamped and coloured with ProMarkers.

Materials used:

• Stamps: Lili of the Valley - Stroppy Sentiments: Tis the Season, Stroppy Girl: Christmas Jumper
• Ink: Memento - Tuxedo Black
• Die: Create a Smile - Cool Cuts Double Stitched Rectangles
• Coloured with ProMarkers

Challenge entries:

Fab 'n' Funky - Challenge #455 - Christmas
Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Challenge #462 - Anything Goes Christmas
Christmas Crafts All Year Round - November Challenge - Stockings or other Winter Clothing

My teamies are sharing some fabulous makes over on the main challenge blog, so do pop over there for more inspiration.

As with all the HLS challenges, the linkies will remain open until the end of the month, so plenty of time to play along.

Happy Little Stampers October 2019 CAS Challenge

Good evening, guys

As it's the beginning of another month we have fresh challenges starting over at Happy Little Stampers.  Right now the new CAS challenge is starting so here's the cue card for this month's challenge...

I decided to go with a cute Christmas card, it's always great to get another Christmas card made (of course I'm way behind with my festive makes AGAIN this year!)...

I chose this adorable stamp called 'Sledging Buddies' for my adventure theme.  I stamped the image in grey ink and added minimal colour with coloured pencils.  The scene was then die cut using a pierced square die and popped up on the card base using fun foam.  The sentiment was stamped alongside in black and I finished by adding some shimmer to the snow with a shimmer pen and some fine glitter to the penguin's hat.  It's not Christmas without a bit of sparkle!

Materials used:

• Stamps: Lili of the Valley - Sledging Buddies; Happy Little Stampers - Christmas Joy
• Ink: Memento - London Fog; Versafine - Onyx Black
• Die: MFT Die-namics - Pierced Square Stax
• Coloured with Faber Castell Polychromos
• Accents: Spectrum Noir Sparkle Pen - Clear; Cosmic Shimmer Diamond Frost - Frosty Dawn

Challenge entries:

Crafty Cardmakers - Challenge #242 - Add a Critter
Try it on Tuesday - Animal Magic
Addicted to CAS - Challenge #169 - Creature





Thanks so much for visiting today.  Please do check out the main blog post, my teamies have some great examples to inspire you using the adventure theme.  And as with all the HLS challenges, the linky will be open until the end of the month.

Less is More Challenge #377

Good morning, crafters!

Where are these weeks going?  It only seems like five minutes ago I was writing my last Less is More challenge post!  So, as it's time again, our new challenge just starting over at Less is More is a Theme challenge and this time it's all about Pets.

Our fab new Sponsor for August is STAMPlorations so please do play along for a chance to be our August winner!

And our June winner is joining us as a Guest Designer for this challenge, that's the lovely Hannelie, Desert Diva.  I'm sure she needs no introduction so please do pop over to see her, say hi and take a look at her fab card.


Ok, onto my cards for this one.

You may think this first one is a bit of an odd choice but yes, I did in fact have a pet mouse when I was a child!  My brother used to keep reptiles and therefore, sadly, used to breed mice to feed to the snakes.  My pet mouse was a rescue pet, it was just too cute!

I bought this gorgeous little stamp a short while ago in a sale at Lili of the Valley and don't know why I didn't ink it up earlier!  It was simply stamped and watercoloured with my Zigs.  I stamped a simple sentiment and then mounted the panel on some dark brown textured cardstock.

Materials used:

• Stamps: Lili of the Valley - Lucky Mouse; Wild Rose Studio - Everyday Greetings
• Ink: Versafine - Onyx Black
• Watercoloured with Zig Clean Color Real Brush Markers
• Coloured Cardstock: Bazzill Basics - Assorted pack

Challenge entries:

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

I kept my second card super simple, I think this cute image didn't really need much more...

I began by embossing with a die directly onto the card front.  The cutest little bunny was then stamped within the square and the sentiment below.  I coloured him with my Polychromos pencils.  The embossed square can be seen more clearly in the next pic.

That was it, super simple and quick :)

Materials used:

• Die: MFT Die-namics - Pierced Square Stax
• Stamps: Clearly Besotted - Under the Weather
• Ink: Versafine - Onyx Black
• Coloured with Faber Castell Polychromos

Challenge entries:

STAMPlorations - Summer CAS Card Challenge
Inkspirational - Challenge #166 - Make a card in 10 mins or less (this took me 7 mins, 21 seconds!)

As always, my fellow teamies have created some lovely cards which you can see over on the main LIM blog here.  Please do follow their individual links for more info, and perhaps more cards too!

I hope you find time to play along with this one.

Less is More Challenge #363

Hi there

It's time for another fresh new challenge over at Less is More and the challenge for this coming fortnight is our regular One Layer challenge, and we are looking for...

Don't forget, we have a brand new sponsor for the month of January, Skull and Cross Buns, so please do play along for a chance to win the monthly prize!

I have two cards to share with you this time, the first using stamps from our sponsor...

This was super simple to make, and it took me about fifteen minutes whilst waiting for last night's dinner to cook!  I blended some Distress Ink through a dotty stencil in a pale grey/blue.  I then used the foxes stamp in my MISTI and stamped with two different shades of orange/brown to create a kind of ombre effect.  The hearts are part of the same rubber stamp and these were stamped in red.  I finished by stamping the sentiment in black and adding a tiny gem to the flower.

Materials used:

• Stencil: Altenew - Halftone
• Stamps: Skull and Cross Buns - Foxes in Love, Brush Hearts (sentiment)
• Ink: Distress Ink - Weathered Wood; Versa Color - Paprika, Brown, Cardinal; Versafine - Onyx Black

My next card, although it looks pretty simple, took a lot longer to make as I'm still getting to grips with my Faber Castell Polychromos...

I stamped the image in black ink and coloured with my pencils.  I'm still getting a 'feel' for these pencils and don't currently have any blending solution so I spent a good amount of time trying to build layers of colour on the heart.  It's far from perfect but I'm pretty happy with the result.  I finished by curving a clear sentiment stamp around the heart and stamping in black ink.

Materials used:

• Stamps: Lili of the Valley - Odd Dog: Squidgy Heart; Clearly Besotted - Petite Plushies (sentiment)
• Ink: Versafine - Onyx Black
• Coloured with Faber Castell Polychromos

Challenge entries:

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Add a Sentiment (Clearly Besotted)

Moving Along with the Times - Challenge #63 - CAS

STAMPlorations - January Theme and Sketch - Stamps and Curves

Thanks so much for taking the time to visit my blog.  My teamies have created some super cuties this week over at Less is More and please do pop over to their personal blogs where they may have even more inspiration for you.  

Hopefully you're liking that the challenge is now fortnightly and gives those of you with busy lives a lot more time to play along.  I'm looking forward to your cute creations and don't forget it's one layer week!

Less is More Week #355

Good morning, crafters

I've just got back from a fantastic week away with some crafty friends.  First was the Happy Little Stampers craft retreat in Manchester last weekend organised by the fabulous Kylie, where I once more got to meet up with some ladies I met at last year's retreat, as well as meeting a few for the first time, including my lovely LIM Teamie, Sharon who came over from Portugal.  Then myself and Kylie were lucky enough to stay in Cumbria with another LIM teamie, the awesome Sarah P for a few days.  Thanks so much Sarah for keeping us fed and watered and showing us your lovely home town and the surrounding area.  So, I'm pretty shattered after getting home just yesterday.

But back to it, and we have a great Theme challenge for you this week over at Less is More.  Our lovely teamie, Susan, has a birthday tomorrow so our theme this week is all about CASEing her card design which is below.  Happy Birthday, Susan, I hope you have a terrific birthday tomorrow xxx

Susan's gorgeous card...

And Dies to Die For continues as our sponsor for the month of November so don't forget that by playing along you could be in with a chance of winning our monthly prize!

As I was away I only managed one CASE card before I left but at least it's another one to add to my (still very lacking) Christmas card collection!  I simply used the same layout as Susan, using another cute Christmas image with a sentiment below in a similar font, as well as the predominant red and green colours...

This is a simply stamped and coloured one layer card.  I stamped the sentiment and image in black ink and coloured with colouring pencils.

Materials used:

• Stamps: Lili of the Valley - James Christmas Tree; Clearly Besotted - Rockin' Robin
• Ink: Versafine - Onyx Black
• Coloured with Faber Castell Polychromos

Challenge entries:

Moving Along with the Times - Challenge #58 - Trees

Crimbo Crackers - Challenge #145 - Anything Goes

Addicted to Stamps and More - Challenge #268 - Holiday

Stamping Sensations - November Challenge - One Layer Christmas Cards

Simply Create Too - Challenge #133 - CAS

As usual, my teamies are sharing some great inspiration linked over on the LIM challenge blog, and while you're there, why not also pop along to wish Susan a happy birthday.

I made lots of cards while I was away so I'll endeavour to share these with you over the next few weeks, once I get chance to photograph them properly.

I hope to be back fairly soon.

Less is More Week #322

Hi there

After taking a break for a couple of weeks I'm back playing along with my teamies at Less is More today and as we're at the beginning of another month it's the turn of our Colour challenge.  And this time we want to see...

And for the month of April we have a fab new sponsor which is

Lili of the Valley

I have three cards to share with you this week and for my first card I chose pastel yellow, green and blue...

On a panel of white cardstock I stamped a background using VersaMark, applied some white embossing powder but then brushed off around the edge before heating so there were no hard edges.  I then watercoloured within the pattern using three colours of Distress Inks.  A simple Happy die cut and a white embossed sentiment strip finished the design which was popped up on fun foam.

Materials used:

• Stamps: Kaiserkraft - Morocco; Clearly Besotted - Sentimental Type
• Ink: VersaMark; Distress Ink - Squeezed Lemonade, Cracked Pistachio and Tumbled Glass
• Embossing Powder: Wow! - Opaque Bright White
• Die: Wplus9 - Happy Trio

Challenge entries:

Fab Friday - Challenge #109 - Sketch (turned from portrait to landscape)

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Anything Goes

For my second card I used a stamp by our April sponsor, Lili of the Valley...

I kept this one really simple by stamping the image onto a panel of Strathmore Bristol smooth cardstock and then watercoloured using Zig markers.  A sentiment was stamped alongside in black and the panel was popped up onto a card base made with the same cardstock so there was no variation in colour.

Materials used:

• Stamps: Lili of the Valley - Flower Arranging; Woodware - Salutations
• Ink: Versafine - Onyx Black
• Watercoloured with Zig Clean Color Real Brush Markers

Challenge entries:

Just Add Ink - Challenge #353 - Just Add Critters

Alphabet Challenge Blog - B is for Bunnies

And I went for a one layer card for my third design, using pastel pink, lilac and mint shades...

I stamped the abstract images, all from the same stamp set, to create a horizontal strip background.  I then overstamped with the bold sentiment in black, and re-inked using the MISTI to create a bold, sharp impression.  That was it, super simple.

Materials used:

• Stamps: Inkadinkado - Circles and Dots; MFT - Brushstroke Birthday
• Ink: Altenew - Mountain Mist, Soft Lilac, Rose Quartz; Versafine - Onyx Black

Challenge entry:

CAS-ual Fridays - Challenge #170 - No Dies Allowed

Thanks so much for visiting today.  If you have time please do take a moment to check out my teamies' personal blogs as there will be lots more inspiration there too.