Less is More #280

Morning LIMettes are you ready for the Less is More challenge? It's that dreaded one ... ONE LAYER CARD!
Hopefully you won't find this one too bad though ... the theme is Splatters

Once again using goodies from STAMPlorations and this time it's a

specially designed stencil featuring 'splatters' specifically for our challenge.

I decided to go spooky and grungy and although it's nowhere near

Halloween I decided the splatters work perfectly in gory black with spiders!

I started out by creating a watercolour wash with my Gansai Tambi watercolours 

in a slimey green colour! Followed by the stencils inked in Distress ink Black Soot.

The spiders and webs are from Clearly Besotted: Halloween Spirit with the 

sentiments also from Clearly Besotted: Boo To You. To finish I added glossy

accents to the spiders just to make them more scary for my nephews when they 

receive this one later in the year.

It's a Father's Day / For a Guy challenge at Simon Says Stamp: Wednesday Challenge

this week so as this card is for my 2 nephews and it's a pretty grungy masculine

card with not a pretty feature in sight I'm going to try my chances at SSS.

I'd also like to link up at the STAMPlorations: Anything Goes challenge.

This one is a little more cheery and bright and uses the same stencil

but in rainbow colours as a border. It's still one layer but I've followed 

the sketch from this week's CAS(E) This Sketch Challenge so I'd like to 

enter it there plus it's a 'sunshine' week at CASology so I'll pop over there too.

The sentiments and sun are from the WPlus9 set called Sending Sunshine.

I've added wink of stella plus glossy accents to the centre of my sun which

IRL glistens and sparkles but it's not obvious in the photo.

  

Hopefully you'll have visited the main Less is More blog and checked out

the fantastic splatter creations from my fellow teamies!

Thanks for calling in and go have fun with your splatters and make some mess!

I'll be back very soon with posts featuring the latest release from Uniko

and this fortnights challenge at Addicted To CAS so hope you'll pop back then!

Less is More #266

Hi there friends! It's Saturday again ... Whoopie!
Hope you are ready for a new challenge from Less is More but first of all ... what do you think of our awesome new teamies? Sharon premiered last weekend and today Sarah G & Susan will be  making their debut so if you've not already visited the main blog HERE you need to check it out and make them feel welcome! 
Ok I better tell you what the challenge is hey! It's Colour week and this one is called CITRUS  ... although you don't necessarily need to show fruits on your card. Here's mine and I can't wait to see what you make of it!

I started with a little inky blending through a My Favourite Things

Concentric Circles stencil using distress inks in Carved Pumpkin, 

Mustard Seed and Twisted Citron. Using the same distress inks

I've sponged colour onto my cocktail images from Paper Smooches 

Free Spirits with a sentiment from the same set. To finish I couldn't resist

adding a couple of enamel dots by Doodlebug just because they match!

Being the start of a new month we have a new sponsor and once again

Kylie of Happy Little Stampers is our generous sponsor so in her honour

I've used the Butterfly Birthday set from Happy Little stampers here, embossed

in White Hero Arts EP then coloured with twisted citron distress ink before

fuzzy cutting. The 'Hello' Greeting is from Uniko: Simply Said and a few more

of those Doodlebug Sprinkles - I simply can't resist 'em! The panel is die-cut using

a basic stitched border die from MFT Die-Namics

I do like to try and link to other challenges so this one is heading over to 

Happy Little Stampers CAS Challenge where it's a new technique for me

'Faux Mother of Pearl' If I'm honest when I'd watched the video tutorials I 

thought 'Hmmm! I'll be sitting this month out' but I decided to have a go and

WOW! I cannot believe how straight-forward it was with Liquid Pearls and 

distress inks (yellowy section of my card). I'm thrilled with the result and love

the effect - I urge you to have a go if you haven't already!!!

I also used the sketch from this week's CAS(E) This Sketch so I'll skip over there too!

Last but not least ...

The intention was to make this card portrait rather than landscape 

but 'hands up' I made a smudgy bodge with some ink and balloon strings 

went crazy so I switched it to this layout - fortunately the sentiment hadn't been

added! Phew! The balloons are die-cuts from Paper Smooches, inked with 

distress inks and spritzed with perfect pearls. The sentiment is My Favourite Things:

Brushstroke Birthday with the 'today' and balloon strings from Uniko.

I've also added some texture to the card base with a WeR Memory Keepers 

Next Level embossing folder of parallel lines. 

Ok that's all from me for now but I do hope you'll skip over to the 

main blog to check out my fabulous teamies' work HERE and I'll catch

up with you all again soon.

Have a fun week and thanks for calling by!

Less is More #265

Hello there Limettes are you ready for our latest challenge at Less is More?
... but first ... if you haven't already swung by the main Less is More blog you certainly need to as we are announcing our brand new Design Team members. I'm sure you'd like to know who they are and welcome them in true LIM fashion!
All the links and details can be found HERE along with some stunning inspiration!

... Our challenge for you this week is to use or feature some wire on your card
First up is one for the CAS(E) This Sketch Challenge although try as I might that wire had a mind of it's own and wouldn't let my butterfly sit to the right of the card as per the sketch so hope I can get away with this!!!

 I've coiled some wire around a paint brush then stretched it to sit behind 

my die-cut sentiment from Hero Arts: Stamp & Cut birthday. The butterfly is from 

Clearly Besotted: Elegant Butterfly Duo and die cut from a scrap of distressed / 

watercolour spritzing! To finish a few gems from my stash.

When I made this card I realised I'd been inspired by a couple of our recent

Less is More challenges ... 'Use a Stem' and 'Add Texture'

So I came across Honey Doo Crafts and their stamps for the first time 

last weekend and here's one of the gorgeous sets I purchased: Flowers for Design.

It's teamed with a sentiment from Clearly Besotted: Say it In Style. My 'wire' is coiled 

round a pen initially then flattened against the card to create the stem and I've used

one of the We R Memory Keepers Next Level embossing folders to add some

interest to the background plus some sequins and dew drops from Pretty Pink Posh.

I'd like to link this one up at Simon Says Stamp - Wednesday Challenge where it's an Anything Goes week!


and last but not least ....

... just to show that you don't have to use 'actual' wire here's a card using the 'birds on a wire' stamp from Inkylicious with a  little bit of smooshing for the background, an off-set panel from  MFT Die-Namics: Blueprint 15, sentiment from Clearly Besotted: Say it in Style and sequins from Little Things by Lucy Abrams.

Ok that's all for me for today and I hope you feel inspired to reach for your wire and get creating. Have fun and thanks as always for calling by!

Less is More #264

Another week has zipped by so I'm here with the latest challenge  from Less is More and it's Theme week! 
We're looking for some TEXTURE on your cards!

This one uses texture paste through a leaf stencil from STAMPlorations then sprinkled with Glamour Dust. The sentiment is from Clearly Besotted with the 'Happy' heat embossed onto vellum and the matching die used for 'Anniversary' The sequins are by Lucy Abrams.

I'd like to link this card up at CAS(E) This Sketch and hope my texture paste embossing will work in with the sketch below.

The bottom half of this card has been dry embossed using a

We R memory keepers Next Level embossing folder BUT it's not

showing up too well on the photo which is frustrating. I've loosely watercoloured

some blooms from the Altenew Vintage Flowers set which adds an element of

texture along with the gold heat embossed detail. The large sentiment is by

My Favourite Things with the 'Today' from Uniko. 

I'd like to link this one up at the Muse Card Challenge and although

Tracey has used a one layer card I was inspired by the gorgeous colours

on her card and tried to recreate that look here. 

This one uses the same stencil as my first card but this time I've

fuzzy cut a couple of leaves having used coloured texture paste.

A little detail is added to the top of the card with distress ink and splatters.

The Dragonfly is from Clearly Besotted along with the sentiment and I've

added a couple of accents using Pretty Pink Post sequins and gem from my stash

I must be mad but went texture-crazy this week so here's another!

Here I've added texture to a piece of watercolour card using a Cuttlebug Stars

 embossing folder. Blended with various blue shades of distress inks over the 

embossed area then spritzed with water to remove some colour and brushed 

perfect pearls over the top. The sentiments are from the Clearly Besotted Stamp & 

Die set (Happy Birthday) and there's a few doodlebug sprinkles and gems to finish.

I hope you feel inspired to create some texture and there's more 

superb examples on the main Less is More blog HERE 

Thanks as always for calling by and have a wonderful crafty weekend.

A Little Sunday Duo

Hi there buddies I'm sneaking back in - 2 posts in one day! Woah! Anyway I've made a card which I'm hoping I'll have chance to link up at The Muse Card Challenge and CAS(E) This Sketch.
Muse because my super fun and crazy blog buddie Anita is the MUSE this week and I think the style of her card and the sketch at CAS(E) This Sketch are so close Anita could have almost set their sketch this week!
I've gone with Anita's colour scheme but not in the same arrangement ...

This uses a Multi Faceted Stamp by Winnie & Walter which is 

Heat Embossed with Ranger Silver Pearl before inky blending in

Cracked Pistachio Distress Ink. I've used the Beautiful Blooms III set

(recently released from Uniko) along with a mini birthday sentiment 

from their new Simply Said set. The die-cut 'mum' is from Clearly 

Besotted and it's inlaid into the white panel. I've used Altenew Inks for the 

flower and added a couple of white spots with my gel pen for added interest.

Here's Anita's gorgeous creation along with the sketch ...

   

Ok that's all for now and thanks as always for popping by!

It's half term for me this week so no work but lots of dashing about!

Hopefully I'll squeeze some crafty time in too!

Have a good week and catch you soon.

Less is More #262

Morning LIMettes and Blog Buddies Are we having a party today over at Less is More or WHAT!
YEAH! Less is More is 5 years old and we are celebrating!
We've got 5 guest designers, all generously donating prizes plus the design team are up against it competing against this talented  line up of sponsors and GDTs - head over to the LIM blog HERE for all  the details and how to be in with a chance of winning those goodies.
Oooh! Almost forgot to say what the challenge is in all the excitement! So it's Colour Week and we've chosen  White on White with a dash of silver, gold or black

So here's my cards and amongst our 4 super duper guest designers is Bev, AKA Uniko and guess what ... Uniko is also celebrating this month and turning 4!  So being on the Design Team there I've been given the nod to treat you to a card  using one of the brand new sets which hasn't even been revealed yet!

Here's ... 'I Love Tea' and being a birthday month my inspiration came from the very  English tradition of Afternoon Tea, with delicate china cups edged with gold ... I think my  Grandma used to have some very similar to this too! The image and sentiment plus 2 edges of my card base are heat embossed in Gold Sparkle EP and to  finish a few gems and pearls from my stash! 
I'm trying to include something from all our sponsors ... the first card also uses MFT Die-Namics Blueprints 15, which can be purchased from Tara (Seven Hills Crafts) Edit: Ooops what a dummy ... trying to remember everything to include in this  post and forgot to add my link to CASology - glitter challenge!

This card uses the butterfly and sentiment from Happy Little Stampers

plus the trellis die from Clearly Besotted. The background is created 

with a Memory Box wave stencil and all heat embossed in Sterling Silver EP.

I've tried to follow the sketch at this week's CAS(E) This Sketch 

but rotated to a landscape style instead so hope that counts and I'll

be dropping my card in over there later.

I hope you'll join in our special birthday party challenge and thanks as  always for visiting and I have several posts today so I've no idea which order  Mr Blogger is going to publish them but hopefully you'll pop back to see details  of the latest challenge at Addicted to CAS plus the second day of the Sneaky Peeks  of Uniko's birthday release!

Have a fun and crafty weekend - I'm off to Manchester to the Hobbycrafts 

event shortly so please come along and say 'Hi' if you are there too!

AAA Cards Challenge #53

Morning friends it's time for us to announce the latest challenge over at AAA Cards, which will run for the next 2 weeks! Our theme is: Anything Goes but please keep your cards Clean and Simple  in line with the challenge guidelines, which can be found on the blog HERE Here's my card and at this time of year I can't resist incorporating a few extra Christmas cards! This one is ultra CAS and I'm playing along at a few other challenges which you might also like to link to - details below!

A super quick and simple card which is great for mass production!

I've used the Signature Christmas stamp set from Clearly Besotted,

it's an oldie but certainly a goodie and one of my Go To sets for Christmas!

I'd like to link up to the following challenges:

CAS Colours & Sketches: I've gone as close to the colours as my stash allows!

CAS(E) This Sketch (I've flipped the sketch on it's head)

CASology: Pretty (I'm hoping the pretty delicate colours will wing it!)

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge: Theme is Christmas

I hope you feel inspired to play along this time and there's more

stunning creations from my fellow teamies over on the AAA Cards Blog

Thanks as always for stopping by my blog and hope you have  a fun and crafty-filled week!

Uniko - Introducing Labelled Christmas

Hey there! It's the final day of Uniko introductions and teasers before we reveal the latest sets in their entirety tomorrow! I'm in love with this set as there's so many possibilities  not just in the card-line but for decorations and gift wrappings too!
On that note, I decided to create a tag-type card with matching / coordinating gift tag using the set along with Background Builders Circles.

... and here's the card on it's own

The bauble is heat embossed with WOW metallic silver sparkle on

to cardstock which has been die-cut with a Sizzix Framelit banner,

a wrap-around of metallic twine and some gems for added detail.

The card base is also dry-embossed with a Sheila Douglass Snowfall EF.

I'd like to link this card up at the following challenges:

CAS(E) This Sketch, Happy Little Stampers - Christmas where it's 'TAG' 

this month and Inkspirational,where it's Anything Goes with Silver.

I hope you'll head across to the main Uniko Blog HERE to see what  magic my fellow teamies have worked with this set too plus  you'll find all the details you need including hops and prizes this week! 
Thanks for stopping by and I hope you have a little time tomorrow to call in again for the full reveal, release and GIVEAWAY! Yippee! 

Silly Side

Morning friends I've a little post to share today with a card for the latest CASology & CAS(E) This Sketch Challenges.

I couldn't resist the cue word: Silly over at CASology  this week especially with my go-to silly stamp set! AKA: The Alley Way Stamps - Face It! I thought it looked quite fun teamed with the sketch too and one of the new sentiments from Uniko: All Occasions #6





EDIT: thanks Sandie, for suggesting I should play along at  Timeout Challenges with this card using the 'smile' sentiment. They are playing on the following words at Timeout so although I haven't gone with the Autumn ... the card features a smile!
 'Autumn...the year's last, loveliest smile'
Thanks for calling by and sorry it's short and sweet but I'll be back tomorrow with a couple of challenge posts so hope to see you then.