Less is More Challenge #392

Good morning

I'm back this morning to introduce the next challenge over at Less is More.  As there are three Saturdays in March we have a Lucky Dip challenge this time.  Here is the cue card...

eg. sunlight, moonlight, starlight, electric light, or anything else that springs to mind.

Once again, our wonderful sponsor for this challenge is Visible Image. 

We also have a member of the Visible Image Design Team, Veerle Morels, joining us as a Guest Designer for this challenge, so please do pop over to her blog and say hi.


For my card I used a stunning stamp set from Visible Image called Into The Woods, together with a couple more stamps from my stash...

I first die cut a circle die from a post-in note to use as a mask for the sun before blending the gradient background with four different shades of Distress Ink to create the sunset.  I then stamped the background layer of trees with grey ink and the trees in the foreground in black.  The birds were also stamped in black before trimming down the panel and matting onto some black cardstock.  This was then adhered to the card base the sentiment stamped below in black.

Materials used:

• Stamps: Visible Image - Into The Woods; Inkylicious - Simply Trees (birds); MFT - Grand Peaceful Wild Flowers (sentiment)
• Ink: Distress Ink - Faded Jeans, Seedless Preserves, Spun Sugar, Squeezed Lemonade; Memento - London Fog; Versfine - Onyx Black

Challenge entries:

Addicted to Stamps and More - Challenge #334 - Clean and Simple

Thanks so much for visiting.  For more inspiration please do pop over to the main Less is More challenge page where my fellow teamies are sharing some great makes, and there could be more on their personal blogs too.

I have a lot to share over the next few days so would love for you to pop back and take a look.  Have a great weekend.

Less is More Challenge #391

Hi there

It's a brand new Saturday and a brand new challenge at Less is More.  We've whizzed around to the next type of challenge which this time is a Recipe challenge.  Here's what we want to see...

e.g. 3 images / 3 words / 3 colours, etc.

Visible Image continues as our fabulous sponsor for this month so why not play along to be in with a chance of winning the monthly prize!

We have a wonderful Guest Designer joining us for this challenge, the super talented Joanne James of The Crafty Owl who was our January winner!  I'm sure she would love for you to pop over to her blog and say hi.

Apologies for only having one card for you this week.  I've been fighting a horrible cough and cold over the last couple of weeks so haven't been feeling too great.  But I wanted to use a stencil by our sponsor for a card so here's what I came up with...

I die cut three sizes of a rectangle from a scrap of cardstock and used these as masks to blend ink through the apertures, one by one.  I began by adding a light blend of blue ink thought the largest aperture, then laid the stencil over the top of the opening and blended with a heavier hand to create the darker shade of blue.  I repeated the same process with the two smaller rectangles and two further colours of ink.  I stamped the candle on the top of the cake, and the sentiment below, both in black ink, before popping the panel up on fun foam on an embossed card base.

So here we have three colours, three tiers and a sentiment with three words :)

Materials used:

• Ink: Distress Ink - Mermaid Lagoon, Festive Berries, Twisted Citron; Versafine - Onyx Black
• Stencil: Visible Image - Collision
• Stamps: Clearly Besotted - Tiny Type; Penny Black - Salutations (candle)

Thanks so much for visiting.  Please do pop over to the main challenge blog to see what my fellow teamies are sharing, there's a lovely mix of designs for you this week.  And don't forget, the linky will be open for the next fortnight so there's plenty of time for you to play along.

Sunset Colours

Good morning, crafters

Firstly, I apologise that my last post was a whole week ago.  Life just seems to get in the way of crafting some times and time has just flown by without finding a window to create anything, other than what I'm sharing today.

There is a new challenge over at Less is More this morning and for Week 227 we are back with a Colour Challenge and we would like you to use the colours of a...

Sunset

So, without further ado, here are my cards to hopefully give you some inspiration.

For my first card I chose the colours you automatically visualise when you first think of a sunset, reds, oranges and yellows.

I started by die cutting a panel using a diagonal stitched rectangle die.  I then stamped the sentiment and the gorgeous bloom.  I then chose some FlexMarkers and coloured each petal blending a red, orange and yellow.  I don't have tonnes of colours to chose from but with some perseverance I think I managed to blend them ok.  This took quite some time to colour but I think the effect was worth it! I was going to mount this white panel alone on my card base but it looked a little lost so I cut a smaller rectangle of orange cardstock using the same die set and layered this underneath one corner.

Materials used:

• Dies: MFT Die-namics - In & Out Diagonal Stitched Rectangles Stax
• Stamps: Visible Image - sentiment (unknown set); Clearly Besotted - Sketched Blooms
• Ink: Versafine - Onyx Black; Memento - Tuxedo Black
• Cardstock: Anna Marie Designs - White; Bazzill Basics- Orange
• Coloured with FlexMarkers

Challenge entries:

Crazy 4 Challenges - Challenge #289 - Sunshine
Brown Sugar - Challenge #149 - Anything Goes
Crafty Catz - Challenge #282 - Stitching
Crafty Cardmakers - Challenge #140 - Stitching

Now, sunsets can be all sorts of colours when you think about it, so for my next card I chose softer pinks and lilacs.

On a small piece of white cardstock I blended four different Distress Inks to create my sunset and then stamped over with a single birch tree image.  I then used a stitched rectangle die to create my panel and mounted this on 3D foam with the sentiment stamped vertically alongside it.  Simple but I love how this turned out.

Materials used:

• Ink: Distress Ink - Shaded Lilac, Spun Sugar, Picked Raspberry, Spiced Marmalade; Versafine - Onyx Black
• Stamps: Clearly Besotted - Birch Trees
• Die: MFT Die-namics - Stitched Rectangle Stax

The Friday Mashup! - Challenge #212 - Let's Ombre
Virginia's View - Challenge #15 - Ombre
Papertake Weekly Challenge - Anything Goes
Loves Rubberstamps - Challenge #154 - Anything Goes

I've used loads of NBUS (never before used schtuff) on these two cards, both stamp sets and the dies so, Darnell, I hope you'll be proud of me! lol

I hope you have some fun with this challenge and expect glancing at the gallery this week will be a beautiful sight, hope to see you there.

Addicted to Stamps and More #140

Hi there

Well, I'm back with my regular late night post which can mean just one thing....it's time for a brand new challenge at Addicted to Stamps and More!  And for this week's challenge we've whooshed back around to a...

Photo Inspiration Challenge

Please take your inspiration from any element of the fab photo below

(e.g. a specific item, colours, theme, etc.)

We have two fab sponsors this week:

Bugaboo Digi Stamps - offering a prize of 7 digis!

Rosey Hearts - offering a prize of 5 digis!

Here is my DT card

I was inspired by the diamond pattern of the table, the white and putty grey colours, and the pink flowers

I stamped the stitched diamond pattern on white cardstock and cut this down before matting onto some grey/putty coloured cardstock.  I then stamped and die cut the vase and lots of elements from the Fresh Cut Florals set (first outing for this one...I love it!) and arranged these before individually adhering to the stamped panel.  The panel was adhered flat to the card base before stamping the sentiment below.

Materials used:

• Stamps: Visible Image - unknown name; WPlus9 - Fresh Cut Florals; Clearly Besotted - Flower Arrangement (vase)
• Dies: WPlus9 - Fresh Cut Florals; Clearly Besotted - Flower Arrangement
• Ink: Versa Color - Chateau Gray, Peony, Petal Pink, Opera Pink, Orchid, Sage, Olive, Green Tea

I'd like to enter this card at the following challenge blogs:

Virginia's View - Challenge #14 - Layers and Dimensions

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - April Showers and/or Spring Flowers

A Gem of a Challenge - Challenge #142 - Spring is in the Air

AAA Cards - Game #37 - It's Springtime

My fellow teamies at ATSM have created some great cards this week, all inspired by the photo in different ways.  So, why not pop over for some inspiration, and leave some love too.

I'd love you to enter and see how you interpreted the photo this week.

A Sunny Smile

Hi there

Just popping by tonight to share a really simple CAS card, and today it's not one layer! Woohoo!

I've teamed up a few challenges for this cheery card, details of which are listed towards the end of this post.

All these stamps I've used here have been inked up for the very first time tonight.  I don't have any sun stamps or dies so I used this dotty image from an Inkadinkado stamp set of circles and dots.  Next I stamped the flower pot which is from a bundle of Visible Image stamps I bought a while ago from eBay.  I stamped this in black and coloured it in with ProMarkers and FlexMarkers.   The 'smile' sentiment is from a separate Stampendous stamp set.  I used a rectangular die to create the panel and then mounted this onto some blue cardstock.  This was then adhered to the card base using 3D foam strips.

Materials used:

• Stamps: Inkadinkado - Circles and Dots; Visible Image - flower pot (unknown name); Stampendous - Doodle Wings
• Ink: Versa Color - Marigold; Memento - Tuxedo Black
• Die: Spellbinders Nestabilities - Classic Rectangles Large
• Coloured with ProMarkers/FlexMarkers
• Cardstock: Papermania Premium Textured Cardstock (blue); white cardstock from stash

Challenge entries:

Addicted to CAS - Challenge #41 - Sun

Stampin' for the Weekend - Anything Goes

DJ Kard Kreations - NBUS Challenge #1 (never before used schtuff - all these stamps!)

Color Throwdown - #297

That's all for now folks, hope to see you again soon x

Just to Brighten Your Day

Hi there

So much for crafting in the daylight.  Once I'd completed my chores of cleaning the office at work and doing the weekly shop and then got home to do some more crafting, the light needed to be switched on again!  Oh well, the sunshine was lovely while it lasted.

I'm back with a very colourful card this evening, the sunshine must have put me in a very bright and cheerful mood :)

For this card I inked up two stamps I've never used before.  I started by stamping the flowers in VersaMark on a scrap of white cardstock and embossed with black embossing powder.  I then coloured them in with ProMarkers.  I used a circle die to cut them out.  I chose a textured card base to make the circle stand out more.  I placed the die cut roughly where I wanted it to go and then stamped the sentiment.  Next I adhered the die cut using 3D foam and at the very end I added some Glossy Accents to make the flowers bolder.  And there you have it.  Fairly quick apart from letting the Glossy Accents dry.

Materials used:

• Stamps: Dawn Bibby Designs - Butterfly, Dragonfly; Visible Image - sentiment (unknown stamp name)
• Ink: VersaMark; Versafine - Onyx Black
• Embossing Powder: Stampin' Up - Black
• Die: Xcut - Nested Circles
• Coloured with Promarkers
• Accents: Ranger- Glossy Accents

Challenge Entries:

CASology - Week 82 - Bold

Keep It Simple - #33 - Tropical

Daring Cardmakers - A Pop of Neon

Just Us Girls - Challenge #228 - Colour

CAS(E) this Sketch - #64

As always, thanks so much for your visit to my little space in Blogland.  That's all for this weekend, hopefully I can find some time in the evenings this week to share a little more with you.

Bye for now