Stencilled Let It Snow

Hi there

Sharing more festive multiples today and this design was super simple.

I chose to use more of my pearlescent square cards from my stash for these and chose stencilling again as it's so quick to get a production line going.  I made ten of these in total.

I chose a snowflake stencil with lots of detail and picked out three shades of dye ink.  I've never ink blended on pearlescent cardstock before so wasn't sure how well it would work but they turned out fine.  I laid the stencil in roughly the same position on each card front and added ink in three shades in the same areas of the stencil each time, so there was no need to clean it off throughout the process.

I then found some pearlescent silver cardstock in my stash and used that to cut the die cut sentiments.  These were adhered flat so the cards had no bulk for posting.

Here is the full set...

Materials used:

• Stencil: Crafters Companion - Glittering Snowflakes Collection: Snow is Falling
• Ink: Distress ink - Salty Ocean, Dusty Concord; Altenew - Volcano Lake
• Die: Stamplorations - Let It Snow Phrase Die

So there you have it, simple and quick to create.  Thanks so much for visiting, I'll be back again, hopefully tomorrow, to share the remainder of my Christmas makes.

Less is More Challenge #447

Good morning

I'm here this morning to introduce the next challenge at Less is More.  A super easy theme challenge...

Lots of scope for you here, just create a Christmas card, remembering to keep your design clean and simple.  

For my Design Team sample card I chose to use a new to me stamp set, and one which I recently purchased after winning a gift code with STAMPlorations.  Here it is...

This was so quick to make and, although this is a layering set, the solid images aren't designed to fit exactly within the outlines so this was so easy.  I stamped the outline images first, starting with the berries and then the leaves, then stamped their co-ordinating solid colours.  All that was left to do was stamp the sentiment, which is also from the set, then die cut the panel and adhere it to the card base.  I could have stamped the images directly on the card base but I had originally planned to use a red or green card base but decided it looked better on white after all.

Materials used:

• Stamps: STAMPlorations (The Bee's Knees) - Layered Holly
• Ink: Versafine - Onyx Black; Altenew - Hunter Green, Crimson
• Die: Create a Smile - Cool Cuts Double Stitched Rectangles

Challenge entries:

NBUS - Challenge #28 - new stamp set

Just Add Ink - Challenge #562 - Inspiration Photo

The Male Room - Challenge #152 - Christmas in July

Happy Little Stampers - July Christmas Challenge - Anything Goes

Addicted to CAS - Challenge #201 - Christmas

Thanks so much for taking a look.  I am terrible for leaving my Christmas card production so late in the year so, if you're like me, why not start now and get your first one made.  As you can see above, there are quite a few other challenges with a Christmas theme this month too.

Enjoy your weekend.

Less is More Challenge #417

Good morning

It's new challenge day at Less is More and we're back with a theme challenge.  Here's our cue card...

We have a super talented Guest Designer joining us for this challenge, Helen of Helen's Craft Haven, who was our lucky February winner.  I do hope you'll can take a minute to pop on over to her blog to see her take on this challenge theme and say hi.


I have two sample cards for you this time, both with a wild flowers/foliage kinda theme for some reason, and also a bonus card as my second card turned into a twofer!

Here's card one, using a technique that I love, the ghosting technique, as this creates a delicate version of the image and generally out of focus...

On a piece of white cardstock I made a sunset blend of inks using Distress Oxides.  I then used the ghosting technique which involves laying a stencil over the top, spritzing with water and then blotting away the colour.  Once dry I die cut a section of it and popped it up onto another panel using a larger die from the same set.  After adhering to the card base I finished with a small black sentiment.

Materials used:

• Ink: Distress Oxide - Squeezed Lemonade, Spiced Marmalade, Abandoned Coral; Versafine - Onyx Black
• Stencil: STAMPlorations - ARTlorations Bloom Silhouettes
• Dies: MFT Die-namics - Wonky Stitched Rectangle Stax
• Stamp: Altenew - Thinking of You

Challenge entries:

STAMPlorations - April Stencil Challenge - Anything Goes

Next up I used a stencil again, but this time grabbed my Brushos...

I've only tried this technique once or twice but it has lovely results.  I laid a stencil onto some watercolour paper and very gently sprinkled a mix of Brusho powders, very sparingly, into the gaps in the stencil.  Without moving the stencil I then spritzed a mist of water over it, which activates the pigment powders.  I then carefully removed the stencil and left the image to dry completely.  I trimmed a section of it down and mounted it onto some teal cardstock. Before adhering to the card base I stamped a sentiment flag vertically to look like a tag when the panel was adhered along its edge.

Materials used:

• Stencil: Imagination Crafts - Bay Leaf
• Ink: Brushos - Emerald Green, Turquoise, Leaf Green; Versafine - Onyx Black
• Stamp: Clearly Besotted - Flag It
• Cardstock from stash

Challenge entries:

Addicted to Stamps and More - Challenge #384 - CAS

And my 'twofer' is made from the remaining part of the Brusho panel.  This one doesn't follow the Less is More guidelines as there isn't really enough white space but I thought I'd share it with you anyway in this post.  Materials used here are as the card above, with the addition of a stitched die by Create a Smile.

Challenge entries:

Fab 'n' Funky - Challenge #476 - Birthday



Thanks so much for visiting, I hope you'll join us for this 'out of focus' challenge.

And in the meantime, please do stay safe :) xx

Less is More Challenge #378 - Sketch 24

Hi there

Another fortnight has passed and it's time for a new challenge over at Less is More.  And we're back with a challenge we've not done for a while...it's a Sketch challenge for you.  Here it is...

STAMPlorations continues as our fab sponsor for the month of August so please do play along to be in with a chance of winning the monthly prize!

I've having a busy time at the moment so I've just the one card to share with you this time, using a stencil from our sponsor...

On a panel of white cardstock I added masking tape to create four squares as per the sketch.  I then blended with three shades of Distress Oxide ink to create a sunset effect.  I then laid the floral silhouette stencil over this and blended through with black ink before removing the masks.  Next I die cut the 'hugs' twice from white card and once from black glitter cardstock, then stacked these up to add dimension.  The panel was then popped up on fun foam.

Materials used:

• Ink: Distress Oxide - Squeezed Lemonade, Spiced Marmalade, Abandoned Coral; Distress Ink - Black Soot
• Stencil: STAMPlorations - Bloom Silhouettes
• Die: Lawn Fawn - Scripty Hugs

Challenge entries:

STAMPlorations - Summer CAS Card Challenge

Thanks so much for visiting today, and please do check out my teamies' creations over at the main LIM post.

Happy Little Stampers August 2018 CAS Challenge

Hi guys

It's time for a batch of new monthly challenges over at Happy Little Stampers and today it's the new CAS Challenge for August.  I'll get straight to it, we want to see...

The winner for this challenge will receive a $20 coupon to spend at the shop! Check out all the details HERE.

IF YOU USE STAMPS BY HAPPY LITTLE STAMPERS AND YOU ARE THE RANDOM WINNER, YOUR PRIZE WILL BE DOUBLED!

For my DT card this time I didn't have a clue where I was going with it, I just wanted to use some new dies from my stash.  It just evolved as I went along.  I used the Happy Little Stampers Wish You Were Here stamp set on this one...

I started by masking off a border around the edge of my card base and then spread some Nuvo Glimmer paste through a stencil to add some subtle interest to my background and left it to dry.  I recently treated myself to the fab Tag Along die collection from Clearly Besotted so I wanted to play along with that set here.  I cut the hearts die, also new to my stash, from black glitter cardstock and again from some card I'd blended with Distress Inks.  So I then adhered the black outline part of the hearts die to the tag and inlaid the coloured inner heart pieces.  I stamped the sentiment in black below this and then finished off by die cutting the bow from the same black glitter cardstock and the circle surround from the same piece of card I had ink blended.  The tag was then popped up on 3D foam.  I think the 'wish you were here' sentiment fits perfectly with a hearts theme.

Materials used:

• Stencil: Memory Box - Scraped Paint
• Embossing Paste: Nuvo Glimmer Paste - Moonstone
• Dies: Clearly Besotted - Tag Along Die Collection; STAMPlorations - Clustered Hearts Die
• Ink: Distress Ink - Candied Apple, Picked Raspberry, Wilted Violet; Versafine - Onyx Black
• Stamp: Happy Little Stampers - Wish You Were Here
• Glitter cardstock from stash

Challenge entries

CAS on Friday - Challenge #138 - Tag It

STAMPlorations - Summer CAS Card Challenge
Allsorts - Week 278/9 - Tags

Don't forget, the challenge linky is open until the end of the month, and do keep an eye out for the remainder of the August HLS challenges, all due to start shortly.

Less is More Challenge #374

Good morning, crafters!

We're enjoying some lovely weather here in the UK at the moment so I'm up bright and early to enjoy the best part of the day.

It's time for a new challenge over at Less is More and I think you're going to love this one.  It's a Recipe challenge and we want you to use...

Continuing as our June sponsor is the fabulous Uniko who are offering a choice of an in stock stamp set to our monthly winner, so please do play along for a chance to win!

We have a fabulous Guest Designer joining us this week, Skye who was our April winner.  Please do pop over and say hi, she's created a lovely card for this recipe challenge :)


I have a bits folder rather than a box....or so I thought.  I actually have FOUR bits folders!  This was a great opportunity to use up some backgrounds/die-cuts/scraps, and even breathe new life into some bits I wasn't happy with when I originally created them.  Not only that, I actually found that these were really quick to make.

I have three for you, here's the first...

This panel was cut from a background I created whilst away at Sarah's last November, after the Happy Little Stampers craft retreat.  The floral images were created by sprinkling Brushos through a stencil onto watercolour paper and then spritzing with water and quickly removing the stencil.  This part was leftover from another card I made a while ago.  So all that was left to do was die cut with a stitched rectangle, pop it up on foam on the card base and stamp a sentiment below.  Easy!

Materials used:

• Stencil: STAMPlorations - Bloom Silhouettes
• Ink: Brusho - I think I used Leaf Green and Emerald Green; Versafine - Onyx Black
• Stamp: Clearly Besotted - Brushed Sentiments
• Die: MFT Die-namics - Stitched Rectangle Stax

Challenge entries:

Moving Along with the Times - Challenge #74 - June Blooms

Addicted to Stamps and More - Challenge #297 - Make Your Mark

The Flower Challenge - Challenge #21 - Use a Previous Challenge (I chose Challenge #12, TicTacToe and chose the line 'Sentiment/Watercolour/White')

For this next card, everything other than the stamped sentiment came from my bits folders...

Once again, whilst attending the Happy Little Stampers craft retreat, but this time in the summer of 2016, Sarah die cut some panels for me using a stitched die (I think by MFT) so I used one of these as my main panel for this card.  I found a die cut 'you' which had been cut from some textured black cardstock and stamped part of a sentiment in the opening underneath.  The butterflies I remember were cut from a piece of cardstock I blended with Distress Inks which I cut at the same time as cutting the flower to make this card.  These were simply adhered flat to the panel which was then adhered on fun foam.

Materials used:

• Dies: Avery Elle - Simply Said You; Marianne Design Creatables - Tiny's Butterflies 2
• Ink: Butterflies blended with Distress Inks; Versafine - Onyx Black
• Stamp: Clearly Besotted - Lovely Lilies

Challenge entries:

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Bright and Cheerful

Daring Cardmakers - What a Wonderful World (I chose the line 'the colours of the rainbow so pretty in the sky)

Happy Little Stampers - June Challenge - Anything Goes with Dies

This card started life as a panel stamped with balloons from my bits folder...

I remember when I first stamped this cluster of balloons, I really didn't like the mix of colours but when I saw it again in my scraps I thought it would make a great gender neutral card.  I stamped the sentiments below, trimmed the panel down and adhered flat to a blue card base. 

Materials used:

• Stamps: Clearly Besotted - Let's Party; Altenew - Party Time, Celebrate
• Ink: Versafine - Onyx Black; Altenew - Silver Stone, unsure what colours were used to stamp the balloons
• Coloured cardstock from stash

Challenge entries:

Seize the Birthday - Anything Goes

Stamping Sensations - June Challenge - Anything Goes

This challenge has certainly inspired me to try to use up lots of scraps instead of cutting into new cardstock each time I make a card.  And it's surprising how you can get inspiration from something which didn't give you any creative motivation previously.

I hope you can find time to play along with us over the next fortnight. 

Bold Florals in Aqua

Hi guys

Just a quick share tonight of a card I made for my sister-in-law whose birthday it was last week.

This was super simple to make and I love the result so I think I'll make lots more of these in different colourways. 

Here it is...

I masked all four edges of the card base with tape and then blended two shades of Distress Ink through a floral stencil.  The sentiment was then simply stamped in black....easy peasy!

Materials used:

• Stencil: STAMPlorations - Bold Florals
• Ink: Distress Ink - Cracked Pistachio, Peacock Feathers; Versafine - Onyx Black
• Stamps: Altenew - Extra Special

Challenge entries:

Time Out - Challenge #104 - Bold

The Flower Challenge - Challenge #18 - Anything Goes

Thanks so much visiting.

Less is More Challenge #366

Good morning, crafters!

Apologies that this post is a little late, after being stranded because of the snow and awake for 36 hours I couldn't keep my eyes open any longer yesterday to write this post!  I've now had a good night's sleep and back to normality, apart from my car still being ten miles away at work! lol

So back to Less is More.  Here are the details for this fortnight's challenge...

Definition: Monochrome - 

using only black, white, and grey or tones of one colour

Our wonderful sponsor for this challenge is STAMPlorations and I have three sample cards for you, all using STAMPlorations products.

So, onto my cards...

I stamped the buttercup on watercolour paper with yellow ink and then watercoloured with my Zigs.  It lost some definition so I used an embossing ink pen to highlight some of the outlines of the image and heat embossed in gold.  The sentiment was also heat embossed in gold and I then added some ink splatters using my Zigs mixed with water.  The panel was then adhered to a sunshine yellow card base.

Materials used:

• Stamps: STAMPlorations - Buttercups and Butterflies
• Ink: Altenew - Mango Smoothie; VersaMark
• Embossing Powder: Wow! - Metallic Gold Rich
• Coloured with Zig Clean Color Real Brush Markers
• Embossing Pen: Whispers Embossers
• Cardstock: Yellow from Bazzill Basics assortment

Challenge entries:

Allsorts Challenge - Week 457 - Ladies Only

Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge - In My Garden

Card two...

I blended some Distress Inks along the bottom half of my card base.  I then used a stencil, spritzed with water and lifted some colour away  I then used the stencil again and blended another shade of blue through it.  I took a panel of white cardstock and used a stitched die to cut the curve.  I then stamped the butterfly in three shades of blue ink, curved a sentiment and stamped that in dark blue and adhered the panel flat to the card base.

Materials used:

• Ink: Distress Ink - Salty Ocean, Blueprint Sketch, Mermaid Lagoon; Altenew - Caribbean Sky, Persian Blue, Sapphire
• Stencil: ARTplorations - Confetti Circles
• Stamps: STAMPlorations - Blossom like a Butterfly; Clearly Besotted - Message Me
• Die: MFT Die-namics - Stitched Basic Edges

Challenge entries:

Addicted to Stamps and More - Challenge #281 - Anything Goes

My Time to Craft - Challenge #365 - Monochromatic

Card three...

For this one I tried some no line colouring with my coloured pencils.  I stamped the flower onto the card base in a pale yellow ink but found it lost some definition after I coloured it (probably due to my rubbish colouring skills! lol).  I made sure I left the stamp in my MISTI so re-stamped in a coral colour once I'd finished the colouring.  I looked up Heleniums and the centre of the flower should be more of a brown shade but I didn't want to drift too far from the Monochrome theme of the challenge.  A top panel was die cut with a stitched window and the sentiment stamped beneath, and was then popped up on 3D foam.

Materials used:

• Stamps: STAMPlorations - Helenium Large; Lawn Fawn - Scripty Sayings
• Ink: Altenew - Buttercream, Peach Perfect
• Coloured with Faber Castell Polychromos
• Die: MFT Die-namics - Peek a Boo Window

Challenge entries:

Artistic Impressions - Challenge #194 - Anything Goes/Flowers
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Anything Goes


That's all from me today.  Please do pop over to the main challenge blog, here, to see the wonderful creations by my teamies and follow their links for more information and possibly more makes too!