Less is More Week #338

Hi there

It's time for a fresh new challenge over at Less is More and we're back this week with a Recipe challenge.  I hope you all enjoyed our two week collaboration with AAA Cards, and we had a fantastic number of entries so thank you very much if you've played along over the last fortnight.

Right, back to this week, here are the details...

We want to see dies/stencils/CAS embellishments, etc, but NO stamps

Considering that when I first started cardmaking I didn't do much stamping at all, I actually found this one really tricky!  But I do have two cards for you today.

Ok, so here's my first sample for you...

I chose a linen cardstock for my base and blended three shades of Distress Ink down the right hand side.  I then splattered with some water drops and blotted away some colour.  Next I used a swirl design stencil and, after masking off a section of it which covered the blended area I spread some texture paste over it, removed the stencil and set aside to dry.  I then used a 'celebrate' word die to cut some turquoise glitter card and adhered this to the bottom right corner.  Hopefully I've captured the glitter and paste detail better in the next pic...

Materials used:

• Linen and glitter cardstock from stash
• Ink: Distress Ink - Cracked Pistachio, Peacock Feathers, Mermaid Lagoon
• Stencil: Stamposauras (no name)
• Die: Paper Smooches - Birthday Words
• Texture Paste: Ranger - Opaque Matte

Challenge entries:

Curtain Call Inspiration Challenge - Surf's Up
STAMPlorations - Summer CAS Card Challenge

I went with a shaker for my second card this week...

I used the shaker shapes die to cut the hello aperture from a panel of white cardstock.  I adhered some acetate behind, then used some Cosmic Shimmer Glitter Jewels inside the shaker, trapped between the acetate and some patterned paper.  This was then mounted onto the card base using 3D foam strips.

Materials used:

• Die: Clearly Besotted - Shaker Shapes Square Hello Die
• Acetate from stash
• Accents: Cosmic Shimmer Glitter Jewels - Iced Snow
• Patterned Paper: Free with a publication

Challenge entries:

Addicted to Stamps and More - Challenge #251 - Anything Goes

Why not join in the challenge this week?  If you're looking for some inspiration please do pop over to the main LIM challenge blog where you will find links to my teamies' personal blogs.  They've created some great projects this week....and all without stamping :)

Thanks so much for popping by today, I appreciate every one of your visits.  

Less is More Week #329

Hi guys

Firstly, apologies that it's been a whole week since my last post.  I have been really busy making....but not cards.  I've been busy building my Ikea furniture and filling it with my stash!  Woohoo!!  I'm still trying to get everything in its ideal place and have a good tidy up of my existing cupboard so once that's done I'll share some pics with you.  It's a small area so it's taking some organising but I'm getting there! :)

So, that said, I'll move on to the real reason for today's post.

It's week three of May so this week at Less is More it's the turn of our regular Theme challenge.  Here is what we want to see...

We have another Guest Designer joining us this week, our lovely April winner, Julie Beech.  Please do pop over to her blog to see her inspiration project :)


After going back to basics last week I really struggled this week and I think I was trying too hard again.  They are a little busier than I would have liked but I have managed two card samples for you.


I recently picked up a lovely card pack called Midnight Blush and I wanted to use it on this first card.  The pack contains cardstock in four shades of grey and some sheets in a lovely blush colour.  The photos don't really do it justice but I think it's a gorgeous combination.

The cardstock in the pack isn't thick enough to use for card bases so I started by covering a card base with the blush card.  I then cut a dark grey piece slightly smaller than the base and used some transparent gloss texture paste through a squares stencil.  Once dry I mounted the panel onto the card base using fun foam.  I then die cut the doily from the blush cardstock and a sentiment strip onto which I stamped the sentiment in charcoal ink.

Here's a better view of the glossy paste, I need to get a better spatula/scraper to avoid the line marks...

Materials used:

• Cardstock: Papermania (DoCrafts) - Midnight Blush Capsule Collection
• Stencil: STAMPlorations - Just Squares
• Texture Paste: Ranger - Transparent Gloss
• Die: Clearly Besotted - Geometric Doily
• Stamp: Personal Impressions - Mix and Match
• Ink: Versa Color - Charcoal

Challenge entries:

Daring Cardmakers - Two Colours
Crafty Catz - Challenge #371 - Anything Goes with twist of more than two layers

Freshly Made Sketches - Challenge #288 (flipped it to the right)

I went for a rainbow on my second card...

I used some dark grey cardstock to cover my card base and then cut a white piece slightly smaller.  I die cut some circles from a scrap of cardstock and placed this over my white panel.  I then placed a stencil over the top and blended ink through the circles in rainbow colours, placing the stencil in different directions for each circle.  I finished off with a bold sentiment in charcoal ink and mounted the white panel on fun foam.

Materials used:

• Stencil: The Crafter's Workshop - Mini Solace
• Ink: Distress Ink - Mustard Seed, Carved Pumpkin, Festive Berries, Wilted Violent, Blueprint Sketch, Mermaid Lagoon, Lucky Clover, Twisted Citron; Versa Color - Charcoal
• Stamp: Paper Smooches - Bold Buzzwords

My teamies, as always have created an array of wonderful inspiration for you this week so please do pop over to the challenge blog and follow the links to their personal blogs.

Happy Saturday everyone!

Less is More Week #309

Hi there

Today marks the last Less is More challenge of 2016 and we're here with a Recipe challenge.  Today we would like to see you...

Use Dimension

Today, we also have a Guest Designer joining us, our November winner, Sandie of London Days.  If you have time please pop by Sandie's blog, I'm sure she would really appreciate a visit from you.


So, on to my card, and I've saved my final Christmas card of 2016 for today as I thought it fitted this challenge really well.  This is the card I made for my bestie this year...

I started with a panel of white cardstock slightly smaller than the card base and stencilled the first parts of the two-step tree stencils in various green Distress Inks.  I then used the second part of the tree stencils to spread over some embossing paste to create the snowy layers.  While still wet I sprinkled over some fine glitter.  The photo below shows the glitter much better although in real life this is more silvery in colour, for some reason it looks a little more gold in these pics.

From a panel the same width I die cut a curve to create the snow bank for the trees to sit behind and stamped the Merry Christmas sentiment.  I then stamped the rest of the sentiment on the main panel and finished off with a glossy pink star.

Both panels were popped up on 3D foam to add dimension, and I think the embossing paste as well as one tree appearing to be behind the other also gives a dimensional effect.

Materials used:

• Stencil: Tim Holtz - Mini Stencils Set 21
• Ink: Distress Ink - Pine Needles, Forest Moss; Versafine - Onyx Black
• Embossing Paste: Ranger Texture Paste - Opaque Matte
• Stamps: Clearly Besotted - Christmas Sparkle, The Best
• Die: MFT Die-namics - Snow Drifts
• Accents: Cosmic Shimmer Diamond Frost - Frosty Dawn; Papermania - Sparkly Stars Assorted Brights

Challenge entries:

STAMPlorations - December Challenge - Theme and Sketch

A Gem of a Challenge - Challenge #184 - Anything Christmas Goes

Thanks so much for popping by today and now that the festivities are over I hope you may find some crafty time to play along this week.

And, however you are celebrating tonight to bring in 2017, I wish you a fantastic night.  So all that's left to say is...