Less is More Challenge #415

Good morning

Another Less is More challenge is just starting and this time we have a Colour challenge for you.  This is the colour combo we'd like you to use...

Our generous sponsor for March is Cas-ual Fridays Stamps.  Just play along in our March challenges for a chance to win our monthly prize.

We are also sadly saying goodbye to our teamie, Nonni, who is stepping down from the Design Team, this will be her last challenge with us.  Thanks for being a wonderful team member, Nonni, and I'm sure everyone will join me in thanking you for your fabulous CAS design inspiration.  Nonni will still be present in blogland and on Instagram so we will still get to see her fabulous creations.

Nonni's departure also means that we have a Design Team spot to fill!  Please do pop over to the main Less is More blog, here, for the details of how to apply.


Ok, back to the current challenge, here is my sample card using the above colour combo...

I began by stamping using the layered floral stamps, before masking the flower and stamping the foliage in grey.  I die cut the panel with a stitched rectangle die and stamped the sentiment in black.  Once the panel was popped up on fun foam I then adhered some scattered co-ordinating jewels.

Materials used:

• Stamps: Altenew - Beautiful Day; Clearly Besotted - Pretty Petals
• Ink: Altenew - Industrial Diamond, Silver Stone, Frosty Pink, Coral Berry, Velvet; Versafine - Onyx Black
• Die: Create a Smile - Cool Cuts Double Stitched Rectangles
• Accents: Little Things from Lucy's Cards - Jewels: Raspberry Mix

Challenge entries:

The Flower Challenge - Challenge #42 - Anything Goes

AAA Birthday - Game #11 - Flowers

STAMPlorations - March Theme & Photo Challenge - Stamps and Nature

Thanks so much for visiting.  The challenge will be open for a fortnight so plenty of time to play along.

Happy Little Stampers March 2020 CAS Challenge

Good evening

The March CAS Challenge has just gone live over at Happy Little Stampers.  I think this one will create a wonderfully diverse gallery this month, here's the cue card...

There are so many great crafting techniques, I really didn't know which one to choose!  In the end I decided on the Ghosting Technique as it can create a totally different look when using stencils.

Here's my sample card...

On a piece of white cardstock I blended a background of three colours of Distress Ink.  To create the ghosting effect I placed my stencil over the top and then spritzed with water.  After removing the stencil I then blotted with kitchen paper which lifts and removes the colour.  Once dry I die cut the panel with a stitched circular die.  Next I stamped the sentiment onto a die cut strip before also cutting one edge with the same circle die.  The stitched edging was then lined up when adhering the strip to the inked circle.  To finish I created some score lines on my card base before popping the circle up on fun foam.

Materials used:

• Ink: Distress Ink - Dusty Concord, Broken China, Evergreen Bough; Versafine - Onyx Black
• Stencil: Funky Fossil - Round in Flowers
• Dies: MFT Die-namics - Double Stitched Circle Stax; Stitched Sentiment Strips
• Stamp: Altenew - Beautiful Lady

Challenge entries:

STAMPlorations - March Stencil Challenge - Anything Goes




Thanks so much for visiting.  This challenge, along with all the different Happy Little Stampers challenges (some of which are yet to commence), will run until the end of the month so there's plenty of time to play along.

Less is More Challenge #414

Good morning

Apologies for being quiet here for a couple of weeks, I've just been super busy with no time to craft.  I do have some fairly recent card makes to share but I've not found the time to sit down and write posts either.  I'll share them very soon I promise :)

It's still our birthday month (just) over at Less is More, and how great that three Saturdays fall in the month of February so we have a Lucky Dip challenge for you this time.  Here are the details...

Uniko is our wonderfully generous sponsor for this month so please do play along for a chance to win our monthly prize.

For my card today I have used a stamp that's been in my stash for quite some time but was awaiting inking up, so it's now had its first outing...

Isn't this the cutest little pair?!  On a die cut panel this was simply stamped, I then masked the images to blend the background, then coloured the cuties with ProMarkers.  A simple sentiment was then stamped before popping the panel up on fun foam.

Materials used:

• Stamps: Wags 'n Whiskers - Ellie and Squeak; Clearly Besotted - Take Flight
• Ink: Memento - Tuxedo Black; Versafine - Onyx Black; Distress Ink - Mowed Lawn, Tumbled Glass
• Die: Create a Smile - Cool Cuts Double Stitched Rectangles
• Coloured with ProMarkers

Challenge entries:

AAA Birthday - Game #10 - Cute

That's all from me today but I hope to be back very soon to share those other cards with you.  Enjoy your weekend.

Less is More Challenge #413

Hi guys

I've never known two weeks to fly by so fast and can't believe we're back with another new challenge at Less is More.  And of course we're still celebrating our 9th Birthday this month!

Ok, this time we're back with a Recipe challenge.  You may remember that our last challenge was all about 'Less'.  So naturally, our new challenge has to be...

This time we want you to use lots of small images/sentiments but still keep your design clean and simple.

And don't forget that the awesome Uniko is our March sponsor.  As well as generously donating our monthly prize there's lots going on at Uniko too as they are celebrating their 8th Birthday.

Ok, here's my sample card for this challenge...

On a panel of white cardstock I drew a circle with pencil as a guideline off the edge and then stamped lots of small images from the same stamp set within the circle.  I then stamped the sentiment to follow the curve of the circle before erasing the pencil line.  I coloured the images with ProMarkers before die cutting the panel and adhering onto the card base popped up on fun foam.

Materials used:

• Stamps: Altenew - Doodle Blooms, Beautiful Lady
• Ink: Memento - Tuxedo Black
• Coloured with ProMarkers
• Die: Create a Smile - Cool Cuts Double Stitched Rectangles

As usual, the linky will be open for the next two weeks.  And for more inspiration from my teamies please do pop over to the main challenge post at Less is More and follow their links.

Perfectly CAS - February 2020 Challenge

Good evening

The February challenge over at Perfectly CAS is just launching and here's this month's cue card...

For some reason I chose to make a one layer card (I don't know why either!) and I opted to use a stencil featuring a triangular design for my sample card this time, one that is fairly new to my stash and not yet used.

I masked off a section and just ink blended through part of it.  I used three shades of Distress Ink and faded these out to follow the decreasing triangles.  I then stamped the sentiment and added the dots either side using just part of a stamp.  I thought I'd broken the rules here but after measuring the width of the stencilled area, it's exactly one third of the card width!  And I allowed a little leeway for my sentiment :D 

Materials used:

• Stencil: Clearly Besotted - Triangle Fade
• Ink: Distress Ink - Blueprint Sketch, Peacock Feathers, Twisted Citron; Versafine - Onyx Black
• Stamps: Altenew - Beautiful Lady; Skull and Cross Buns - Planner Banner

Challenge entries:

Seize the Birthday - Challenge #183 - Anything Goes / White Space
Addicted to CAS - Challenge #177 - Ombre

There's lots of scope with this challenge so why not join us, just remember to keep your designs to roughly one third of your card base. 

Happy Little Stampers February 2020 CAS Challenge

Good evening, guys

The February CAS Challenge at Happy Little Stampers has just gone live and here's this month's cue card for you...

You can interpret this however you like, just remember to keep your designs clean and simple.  Here are the CAS guidelines for the challenge...

I took the word 'positive' in a humourous direction for my sample card...

On a rectangular die cut panel I used a stencil to ink blend some interest onto my background.  I stamped the sentiments and balloon strings next then stamped the balloons and used their co-ordinating dies to cut them out.  These were then adhered on 3D foam squares before mounting the panel onto the card base using fun foam.

Materials used:

• Stencil: The Crafters Workshop - Webbing
• Ink: Distress Ink - Tumbled Glass; Versafine - Onyx Black; Versa Color - Lavender, Turquoise, Lime
• Stamps: Clearly Besotted - Laugh Out Loud, Got Your Number
• Dies: Create a Smile - Cool Cuts Double Stitched Rectangles; Clearly Besotted - Got Your Number

Challenge entries:

Addicted to Stamps and More - Challenge #374 - CAS

Uniko - 8th Birthday Linky Party

Thanks so much for popping by.  As with all the HLS challenges, the linky will remain open for the entire month so lots of time to create and play along.

Same But Different

Good morning

Just popping by to share a couple of cards I made recently.

I needed to make two cards at short notice so I chose the same design idea, just changing up the products on each.

For both of these I masked the borders on the bottom right with tape and then stencilled a background, gently fading it out.  Both floral images were simply stamped in black and left as outline images.  And to finished I added black sentiment strips with the sentiments heat embossed in white.

For super quick last minute makes I love how these turned out.

Materials used:

• Stencil: Funky Fossil - Basketweave
• Stamps: Dina Wakley Media - Scribbly Flowers; S P & Co - Just a Note
• Ink: Distress Ink - Picked Raspberry; VersaMark
• Embossing Powder: Altenew - Pure White

Challenge entries:

Addicted to CAS - Challenge #177 - Ombre

Materials used:

• Stencil: MFT - Fishnet
• Stamps: Altenew - Extra Special, Leaf Canopy (sentiment)
• Ink: Distress Ink - Shaded Lilac; VersaMark
• Embossing Powder: Altenew - Pure White

Challenge entries:

Stamping Sensations - February Challenge - Feminine
Addicted to Stamps and More - Challenge #374 - CAS




Thanks so much for visiting.  I'll be back this evening with details of the next CAS Challenge over at Happy Little Stampers.  Happy Sunday, everyone x