Happy Christmas 2016

Hello crafty friends! I couldn't let the Christmas festivities start 'proper' without a Merry Christmas wish to you all. I really appreciate the time  and energy you take in visiting my blog and leaving such fantastic comments along the way. I love reading every single one and I'm  thrilled if my cards inspire you in any way.
So here's one of the very last cards I made this year and I hope you all  have a wonderful time with your friends and family, hopefully sipping a few coffees (and fizz of course) along the way!

This uses Uniko Stamps: I LOVE Coffee, decorated with the Stunning Snowflakes set

with a greeting from the new Christmas sentiment set called 'Most Wonderful' 

The striped BG is hand-painted using Zig Clear Brush pens. 

There's sparkly strips and gems on this one so thought I might as well hop across to Simon Says Stamp - Wednesday Challenge 'Make it Sparkle' with this one!

Cheers and Seasons Greetings and I'll be back on New Years Eve with our last challenge of the year for Less is More so  hope you'll pop back then.

Less is More #307 & #308

Well good morning LIMettes and can you believe we are almost THERE! Are you ready for the festivities to begin?
It's a 2 WEEK challenge for you at Less is More, starting today, so plenty of time to play along and maybe with some new Christmas goodies!
It's Theme week and we've chosen Children so anything featuring or with Children in mind would work here - just keep it clean and simple. Like we all say ... Christmas is for the kids eh! 
Here's my cards and there's plenty more stunning creations by my fellow teamies  over on the LIM blog HERE so I do hope you'll pop along and visit them!

This one was pretty quick to make and I found the inspiration on Pinterest

but apologies I don't know who posted this. I love making silly cards for kids, 

especially boys and as I've a couple of young nephews they always like monster 

stuff! I've used the Clearly Besotted Sets: Out of this world and Eye on You plus

a picket fence die for the 'teeth' and MFT basic border edge dies for the 'mouth'

To finish a couple of 'lashed' googlie eyes from my stash.

This one uses the MFT Christmas stamp set 'Jingle All the Way'

My daughter is older than the image in this card but just last, 

week whilst helping her rather drunken friend into a taxi, she fell flat on

her face and managed to break her 2 front teeth. I'd like to think this 

little girl is wondering if her 2 front teeth might be in these parcels!

Ok that's all I've had chance to make to inspire you for this one

but can't wait to see what you come up with.

As always thanks for all your visits to my blog and I hope you all

have a wonderful Christmas and New Year with your families.

12 Days of Christmas Cards with Kylie

Hello Friends, are we starting to feel that festive cheer?
Today I was invited to join the lovely Kylie Purtell by sharing a  Christmas card for her 12 Days of Christmas Card Challenge. I'm Day 9 and I couldn't wait to play along with some stamps from Happy Little Stampers and ended up making 2 cards!

For this one I've used the Mix Mash and Everyday Sentiments sets.

Having stamped the sentiment I masked the area off then stamped various

circles and star burst from Mix Mash. To finish I added some hand drawn

lines above and below the sentiment, a couple of sparkling sprinkles by

Doodlebug, die-cut the panel with and MFT pierced rectangle and mounted

it on my card base with bright red fun foam (sorry you can't see that bit)!

This one uses one of the newly released sets ... Wish You Were Here

and although it's not specifically Christmas I thought those birds in

cages could work as 'tree ornaments' or my 3 French Hens! Yes?

The sentiment is from the Mixed Christmas Sentiments set and I've

finished my stamped panel with a few gems and a stitched border die.

I hope you'll feel inspired to play along as there's prizes up for grabs

so why not head over to Kylie's blog HERE for all the details, linky

 and more of her stunning Christmas designs.

There are 3 sponsors for the challenge who are each offering a prize

of a $20 gift certificate to their online stores

Happy Little Stampers

STAMPlorations

Create a Smile

As always thanks for calling by and I hope you have a wonderful Christmas

Uniko Revisit: Stunning Snowflakes

Hello friends, have we got an icy, crisp, and wonderfully Christmas revisit in store for you over at Uniko this month. Bev has asked us to  'dig out', dust down and bring the Stunning Snowflakes sets back into the limelight! I can't think of a better time to showcase these beauties in the run up to the holiday period ... so here goes!

I recently bought some of the new sets of Altenew inks and I wanted to play  around with some different colour combos that I wouldn't normally put together  at Christmas or ever! Looking at them now though it's as if I've just dipped in  for the Uniko trademark colour scheme when that never crossed my mind! LOL! 
I started out by creating a BG of Stunning Snowflakes with a few extras to  accessorise from other Christmas sets. The sentiment is from  'Labelled Christmas'  set (released last year) mounted on fun foam against a die-cut snowflake also by Uniko. 
I'd like to link this one up at a couple of Holiday challenges ... Kylie's 12 days of Christmas Card challenge
I'll be joining Kylie tomorrow so hope you'll pop back then and pay us a visit

and Simon Says Stamp - Wednesday Challenge  ICE INSPIRATION

Having recently joined in with Tracey McNeely's 

and with all the bits and bobs on my desk I decided to make some extra gift tags to match this card!

... and one more - slightly 'less busy' example using the same flakes!

For this one I heat embossed the the Stunning Snowflakes with silver pearl

EP onto vellum. There's a torn edge on one side and a turquoise piece of vellum 

to trim the panel on the left. The sentiment from the Stunning Snowflakes set is also 

heat embossed onto turquoise vellum before mounting on card and 3d foam.

To finish a few gems from my stash.

I hope you like how I've showcased this beautiful set and there's plenty 

more fun designs by my fellow teamies with links on the Uniko blog HERE

As is the tradition there's a blog hop giveaway; the prize being the featured set

or a gift card to the same value. You have until Sunday, 18th December to leave 

your comments and be in with a chance of winning a prize.

Here's the order and if you get lost along the way just head back to Uniko

Bev

Deborah

Jane

Lindsey

Rahmat

Sarah G

Sarah P (that's me)

Before I leave you to hop here's the image of the set and as always thanks

for visiting my blog today and I wish you lots of luck on the hop!

Less is More Challenge #306

Morning friends, are you ready for another challenge from Less is More? Are you all Christmassed out with festive challenges? 
This week it's our 'dreaded' ONE LAYER CARD week and the theme for this one is Outlines so you can go festive or not - however you please so long as it's clean and simple and on the one layer! 
Here's mine and it's a two-fer using the same image on both from the recently released  Marvellous Mehndi set by Uniko but heat embossed on different cardstocks.  I can't decide which I prefer ... what about you?
The sentiments are from the very newly released Most Wonderful and Simply Said II

It's the 'holiday' challenge over at Addicted to Stamps & More

so I'd like to head over there with this one 

Also Kylie's 12 Days of Christmas Cards HERE

I'm delighted to be sharing a card with Kylie on Monday so 

hope you'll pop back and pay us a visit then!

Don't forget to head over to the main Less is More blog HERE where you'll find all the links to my fellow teamies blogs and catch  up on their wonderful outline cards too.
Hope you'll play along and have some fun.

AAA CAS Cards Challenge #79

Hello friends, are you ready for our latest challenge over at AAA CAS Cards? It's getting to THAT time of year and we like to help you out so our theme for the next 2 weeks is Christmas!
Here's mine and I've gone all traditional in colour and using  a new to me Christmas ornament die by Simon Says Stamp.

Using a combination of green Distress inks I've inky blended the base of my card 

having masked off the top portion. Added my obligatory spritz of water with perfect pearls, 

die-cut the Christmas ornament from the inked panel and some gold glitter card before 

resetting it back it's space. It's mounted on 3d foam for added interest and dimension.

A strip of glitter card to divide the 2 halves, a delicate string of embroidery cotton, sentiment

 by Mama elephant and a glittery gem by Happy Little Stampers finishes the job!

I'd like to pop my card in at Simon Says Stamp - Wednesday Challenge

where it's an Anything Goes week and 

Time Out Challenges where it's a Christmas theme with an optional twist 

of glitter / shimmer

As always my teamies have created some wonderful Christmas treats so 

please pop over to the main blog HERE to find the links to their blogs - 

I'm sure they'd love a visit from you.

We're also joined by one of our previous winners; Marianne of

Marianne Cards & Stuff for this challenge. Please pop along to visit her 

blog I'm sure she'd appreciate some love and a friendly word or two.

Our sponsor is Happy Little Stampers with a $20 gift certificate on 

offer for our winner.

I hope you feel inspired to play along and as always thanks for calling by today.

Less is More #305

Happy December friends - that's quite scary don't you think? Not much time left to cram some Christmas makes in the bag!
It's the start of a new month over at Less is More too and we have  the return of Uniko as our sponsor for this month plus 2 guest designers so read on for more details!
The first challenge of the month signals our COLOUR challenge and we'd like to see you use ONE or MORE Primary Colours on your cards and here's mine to start you off.

As Uniko are our sponsor for the month I simply had to showcase their stamps.
I love geometrics on cards and these colours work perfectly with them and great for guy cards too which are sometimes a struggle.

For both cards I've used the Background Builders: Round in Circles set

along with sentiments from Simply Said Birthday and All Occasion Sentiments #1

(all from Uniko). So the top one is rather bold and bright featuring all the 3 

primary shades. In contrast I stuck to just blues on the second one so it's 

much more subtle.

It's an Anything Goes Challenge over at Simon Says Stamp - Wednesday Challenge

this week so I'm heading over there with my first card.

and just for good measure I couldn't resist adding a Christmas card into the mix 

... using just red with a touch of white, black and silver as my neutral colours. 

This one uses Mixed Media Fun from the latest release from

Happy Little Stampers plus a sentiment from their Mixed Christmas Sentiments.

The baubles are created using circle dies and a Christmas ornament top piece,

stitched details to the red panel from MFT die-namics Homespun Stitched Line dies.

I hope you feel inspired to play along with us this week and don't forget to check  out the main Less is More blog HERE where you'll see the magic creations by my fellow teamies and links to their blogs.

Not only that we are joined by Bev (owner of Uniko) and our October Winner' KathyK of Purple Princess Diaries who are both guest designing for us this week. I hope you'll visit their blogs and leave some love along the way.
As always thanks for stopping by today and I hope you have a lot of fun!

Uniko Reveal, Release and Blog Hop - November 2016

It's here! Time to announce the full reveal, release and traditional blog hop for the November 2016 release of Christmas stamp sets from
Uniko
I'm sure you'll agree these are all stunning and work perfectly  either stand-alone or combined with previously releases sets.
They're full of stylish Christmas images and the most gorgeous swirly sentiments to mix and match with standard text too.

I love creating backgrounds for cards using all those mini stamp images 

that get forgotten about so on these first 3 I've teamed the new sets 

with images from previously released sets too: 

BG Builders Vines - Winter Addition and Label Love: Christmas 

in traditional and non-traditional colours!

and another one for the Rustic Wreath gallery ... loving this 

colourway for Christmas this year!

I'd like to add this one to the TimeOut Challenge this week 

where it's a Christmas theme with the option of shimmer, glitter.

I've used some sparkling sequins so hope they count!

Here's the order for the hop

Bev

Deborah

Jane

Lindsey

Rahmat

Sarah G

Sarah P (that's me)

... and here's all the images of the sets.

Good luck with the hope and I've got everything crossed that

you'll be a winner of these sets - they are simply perfect for

quick Christmas makes!

Thanks for visiting and enjoy the HOP!

Uniko - Introducing Rustic Wreath

Hi friends, I'm back again ... having posted the Less is More Challenge post HERE, which, incidentally, also includes another sneaky peak at this wonderful wreath!
This post is to introduce you to the last of the new sets from this month's  mini release  from Uniko and today it's Rustic Wreath which teams perfectly with the previously released 'Rustic Christmas'

Having photographed this card I wasn't sure if I liked it so decided to 

crop it and mount on white card instead (below) - which do you prefer?

... and for good measure and because I was enjoying myself so much

 here's a shaker card using the same set. Do you like my Uniko toned

colour combo ... you'll see quite a few in this colourway or similar

popping up over the next few weeks as we head swiftly towards that

fun and festive season!

Ok, you've had the sneaky peeks and introductions so all that's left is for you

to pop back here tomorrow for the ...

Release Day! Sunday 27th November 9am: you'll get to see the products

 in their entirety and purchase them HERE on the website! 

As usual there will be a 

Design Team Blog Hop & GIVEAWAY!

I hope you'll join me then and thanks for visiting today!

Less is More #304

Morning friends, this is my first of two posts today so I hope you'll pop back in an hour when I'll be introducing the Rustic Wreath,  soon to be released Christmas set from Uniko!
If you can't wait that long I've got a sneaky little preview here using  this very set but there will be more a little later!
BUT first of all it's time to announce this week's challenge over at 
Less is More
and we are back round to our Recipe week! We'd like to see you use an Emboss Resist technique on your card and there's lots of brilliant examples from my fellow teamies at Less is More so I hope you'll zip across  to the main blog HERE and follow the links to their individual blogs!
First up here's mine ...

As promised a preview of the Rustic Wreath set being released tomorrow by Uniko and here I've embossed the wreath and one of the sentiments in the set with Hero Arts White EP before blending various blue toned distress inks over  the top. The melted embossing powder acts as the resist here. I've also  spritzed a flicked a little water and perfect pearls mix - because I can't help myself then added a few gems from my stash for added sparkle. The base panel is subtly dry embossed with one of the We R Memory Keepers Next Level embossing folders.
I'd like to link this one up over at Timeout Challenges where the  theme is Christmas with the optional twist of glitter and shimmer. In real life my card is shimmering from the perfect pearl spritz plus I've added some mini gems which certainly shimmer and sparkle in the light!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas on my blog ... so here's another festive card

Again using stamps by Uniko: Christmas Foliage and a sentiment from the 

Rustic Wreath set. I've heat embossed the foliage with Ranger Silver Pearl

embossing powder this time and blended Cracked Pistachio, Evergreen Bough 

and Lucky Clover over them to enhance the 'resist' stamping. To finish a 

die-cut frame using MFT Die-Namics pierced rectangle dies, pine cones from

the Uniko Christmas Foliage set and some red nail heads for some glossy detail.

Thanks as always for popping by my blog and I hope you feel inspired

to play along with our challenge this week.

Have fun!

Uniko - Introducing Christmas Pop & Most Wonderful

Hi there friends, it's my second post for Uniko this morning and if you missed  the first one (a little nudge about this month's challenge) then you can find that HERE, 
This post is 'Introductions Time' following the sneaky peeks over the last 2 days.  So let's start introducing those new sets from Uniko and read on to find out  the release schedule over the next few days, but first my cards; featuring both Christmas Pop and Most Wonderful for the sentiment.

Introducing 25th & 26th November: here you will see a closer look at the 

clear stamp sets being released with a daily blog hop with the Uniko DT.

Release Day! Sunday 27th November 9am: you'll get to see the products in their 

entirety and purchase them HERE on the website! As usual there will be a 

Design Team Blog Hop & GIVEAWAY!

I hope you'll pop back tomorrow to see the third set and final set 

of this mini release being introduced and thanks for visiting me today!