Favourite Gay

Hi there

Just popping by to share a card I made which was a request from a friend.

I can't take credit for this design as I was given a picture of the kind of card she wanted, which was an image of one she found online by You Said It Cards (pic at bottom of post).

So this is just my version of it using what I had in my stash...

I'm not able to use my printer to print on thicker card used for card bases so luckily I had all the wording required within three different stamp sets, and I think the mixed fonts work well here.  The 'happy' and 'birthday' were from one set, the 'to my' from another set and the 'favourite' from a third set.  For the coloured lettering I adhered thin strips of cardstock to create a rainbow, trimmed to specific widths to fit within the letter dies, onto some paper and die cut the letters.  I then die cut the letters once more from white cardstock and adhered them together to give a little more structure and dimension.  So, all in all, an easy card, the part that took the longest was making sure the stamps were all central.

Materials used:

• Stamps: Uniko - All Occasion Sentiments #2, You Are...Sentiments Outlined; Clearly Besotted - Modern Calligraphy Additions
• Dies: Lil' Inker Designs - Mixed and Stitched Alphabet
• Ink: Versafine - Onyx Black
• Cardstock from stash

And here is the picture of the design I was asked to recreate....

...a pretty good result!

Thanks for taking a look.  I've more to share in the next few days so please do check back :)

Less is More Challenge #445

Hi guys

I'm back after taking a break from the last challenge at Less is More.  I've not had a break since challenge #416 so felt like I needed a little time out!

But I'm back to it today with the new challenge which this time is a Colour challenge...

Now that the weather has finally turned around in the UK after May being an absolute washout, I decided to duplicate the lovely blue sky and sunshine onto my card for this one...

This was was pretty easy to put together.  On some white cardstock I stencilled the clouds using Distress Oxide ink and then used a circle die to cut out a section of my background.  I die cut the sun from some yellow cardstock and then used some hammered white cardstock for the cloud die cuts, to give them a fluffy appearance.  You can just about make out the hammered detail in the photo below.  I then arranged and adhered all the die cuts onto my card base, some popped up on 3D foam.  To finish I stamped the sentiment in black ink and added some shimmer to the sun.

Materials used:

• Stencil: MFT - Mini Cloud Edges
• Stamp: Clearly Besotted - Shine Bright
• Ink: Distress Oxide - Tumbled Glass; Versafine - Onyx Black
• Dies: MFT Die-namics - Double Stitched Circle Stax; Xcut - Dinky Dies: Sun; Clearly Besotted - Cloudy Day Dies
• Accents: Spectrum Noir - Shimmer Pen: Clear

Challenge entries:

My Time to Craft - Challenge #459 - Things in the Sky

Happy Little Stampers - June Anything Goes with Dies Challenge

STAMPlorations - June Theme & Photo Prompt Challenge - Stamps and 2 Colours

STAMPlorations - June CAS Challenge - Anything CAS goes

Uniko - Challenge #65 - Anything Goes (optional twist: use die cuts)

As usual, the challenge link will remain open for two weeks.  And if you need some inspiration please do pop over to the main challenge post to check out the great projects the Design Team are sharing using these colours.

I've been a bit quiet on here lately but have been making a few cards for orders so I'll be sharing those in the comings days.  Thanks so much for popping by, I really appreciate you taking the time to take a look.

Happy Little Stampers June 2021 CAS Challenge

Hi there

The CAS Challenge for June is now live over at Happy Little Stampers and we have a fun theme for you this time...

For my Design Team card I chose a stamp I've had in my stash for a long time.  I've only used it once before, many years ago, so it was about time I inked it up again...

Pretty simple execution for this one.  The upper panel was die cut with a scalloped rectangle.  I then stamped the main image and coloured it with Copics.  I found a co-ordinating sentiment stamp from another set and stamped this in black, adhered the panel to the card base and then there was just one thing left to do....add sparkle to the shoes of course!

Materials used:

• Stamps: Stamping Bella - Uptown Girl Reilly Loves to Relax; Reverse Confetti - Clink
• Ink: Memento - Tuxedo Black; Versafine - Onyx Black
• Die: Create a Smile - Cool Cuts Scalloped Rectangles
• Coloured with Copics
• Accents: Spectrum Noir Shimmer Pen - Clear 

Thanks so much for taking a look.  The challenge link will remain open until the end of the month so there's plenty of time to join in.

Less is More - Challenge #443

Hi guys

At Less is More we thought it was about time we did another Sketch challenge so here are the details for the next fortnight's challenge...

Sketch challenges are my least favourite, I just find them more difficult than any other, but I actually embraced this one and made it a one layer too!

I stamped the coffee cup image first then created a mask over it, as well as masking off the rectangle.  I lightly blended the background then, with a slightly different shade, inked through a splatters stencil.  I then stamped the coffee words and beans in brown shades, removed all the masks and finished by stamping the sentiment and the steam from the cup in black.

Materials used:

• Stamps: Clearly Besotted - Warm Wishes; Sugar Pea Designs - Espresso Yourself
• Stencil: Tim Holtz - Splatters
• Ink: Distress Ink - Ground Espresso, Frayed Burlap; Altenew - Espresso, Mocha; Versafine - Onyx Black

Challenge entries

Alphabet Challenge - C is for Coffee or Chocolate

STAMPlorations - May CAS Challenge - Anything CAS Goes

As always, there's two weeks to play along so why not join us for this sketch challenge.  My teamies are sharing lots more inspiration over at the main challenge blog.

Perfectly CAS May 2021 Challenge

Hi there

The May challenge at Perfectly CAS is just starting and we have a fun theme for you this time.  Just remember that the aim of the challenge is to use just one third of your card area or less for your design.  Here is the cue card this time...

I used a little masking with my repeat stamping to create a stacked up a Neopolitan ice cream using some very old, retired stamps by Clearly Besotted...

I began by die cutting a panel with a scalloped rectangle die.  I then started by stamping the vanilla ice cream, masked it before stamping the strawberry, masked it again to stamp the chocolate and then masked a final time to stamp the cone.   The sentiment was stamped below in black but I felt the card looked a little unfinished so, what does every ice cream need...sprinkles!  I added some little dabs of liquid glue to the ice cream and sprinkled over some sparkly stars confetti.

Materials used:

• Die: Create a Smile - Scalloped Rectangles
• Stamps: Clearly Besotted - So Sweet, So Sweet II
• Ink: Altenew - Buttercream, Cotton Candy, Dark Chocolate, Sunkissed; Versafine - Onyx Black
• Accents: Little Things From Lucy's Cards - Sprinkles: Starlight

Challenge entries:

Simple Create Too - Challenge #170 - Use Glitter

Dream Valley - Challenge #247 - Embellish It

Fab 'n' Funky - Challenge #523 - Embellish It

CAS on Friday - Challenge #205 - Food

Thanks as always for taking a look. I'll be back in the morning with details of the next Less is More challenge.

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.

Less is More Challenge #442

Good morning

I'm feeling very chilled this morning as it's the start of my first week off work this year.  Not much planned as we're still in partial lockdown here in the UK but some restrictions have been lifted so I should be able to get out and about, and no alarms are required so that's good enough for me.

Ok, this morning I'm introducing the new Theme challenge over at Less is More which will run for the next fortnight.  Here's the theme...

I decided to give one of my stamp sets it's first inking and chose this cute little crab...

I began by stamping the crab and then inking up another to use as a mask.  With him covered up I then masked a slim strip and inked this up to create the sand of the seabed, then shifted the masking to enable me to then ink up the water, before inking heavier over the top through a sun rays stencil.  I removed all the masks then coloured the crab with Copics.  Next I stamped the sentiment before die cutting the panel with a scalloped rectangle die.

I have been after this set of dies from Create a Smile for sooooo long.  It is so difficult to find rectangular dies which are designed in the correct ratio for UK/European A6 cards.  Most are American brands which are made to work with A2 notecards so you're left with an uneven border.  Create a Smile have really reasonable shipping charges and I received my parcel from Germany within two days!  Certainly worth checking out for those of you who use A6 card bases.

Next I made some dots on the seabed with a Quickie Glue pen before sprinkling with glitter and then used a white gel pen to add some subtle twinkles to the water.

Materials used:

• Stamps: Clearly Besotted - Water Plushies
• Ink: Memento - Tuxedo Black; Versafine - Onyx Black; Distress Ink - Pumice Stone, Tea Dye, Peacock Feathers, Mermaid Lagoon
• Stencil: Clearly Besotted - Sunny Day
• Coloured with Copics: R20, R22, R14
• Die: Create a Smile - Cool Cuts Scalloped Rectangles
• Accents: Nuvo Pure Sheen Glitter - Rose Gold; Sakura White Gelly Roll 08 pen

Thanks so much for visiting today.  I hope you all enjoy your weekend and to those in the UK, happy Bank Holiday!