Less is More #270

Morning friends can you believe it's Saturday AGAIN? Hey where did that week go? Phew think I must have blinked too hard!
Anyway I'm here with the latest challenge for Less is More and it's our  Colour week. We are looking for 'White' Space as always but NOT White.
Hope that makes sense but here's my cards and there's plenty more  fantastic inspiration from my fellow teamies over on the main blog  PLUS we've another guest designer sharing the stage with us this week.
Liz of Crafty Sunflower and I'm sure you'll have visited her blog before  but if not please head across to view her fantastic cards and leave some love!

First up using lilac as my 'white space' with the Doodled Flowers set from  Happy Little Stampers; heat embossed with white EP then coloured  with my Derwent Coloursoft pencils. The sentiment is from the same set and  I've used an MFT Die-Namics basic stitched die to create some interest to the  sentiment panel. To finish some glossy accents and wink of stella to the bloom centres.
I'd like to link this one up at Happy Little Stampers - Anything Goes when using their stamps - obviously! Plus it's Anything Goes at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge so I'm skipping over there too with this one.

Next up using Orange as my 'white' space and the Cute as a Bug from Clearly Besotted 

with a sentiment from the Say it in Style set. The images are coloured with my Zig 

Clear Brush pens and I've added some glossies and wink of stella for added interest 

plus some coordinating enamel sprinkles from Doodlebug.

I hope you feel inspired to play along with us and I can't wait to see

how you take this one. Thanks as always for stopping by and hope 

you have some fun and crafty playtime this weekend.

A Happy Mothers' Day Trio!

Hello there and I'm a bit late in the day for this but  Happy Mothers' Day to all those mums out there who are celebrating!
I've managed to dodge the kitchen (well almost) today so got a little crafty time in and I've a trio to share with you!
First up it's another one for Darnell's NBUS #6 challenge plus Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Touchy Feely!

Here I've used another NBUS set - this time from Altenew: Magnolias For Her.

I started out by blending distress inks onto the top corner of the card, fading it out 

before spritzing a little water for some added interest. The magnolias are heat-embossed

 onto vellum then coloured using my Derwent Coloursoft pencils. 

The sentiment is from Clearly Besotted: Say it In Style and to finish sparkly sequins

 from Pretty Pink Posh just because I love them!

I'm hoping the raised vellum blooms, sequins and 'feel' better sentiment will

work over at Simon Says Stamp! 

Next up I've gone all Geometric which means I'd like to add this

over at Inkspirational - in fact the last card is also on a geometric 

spectrum but I think I prefer this one - don't you?

I started out doing more inky blending in an ombre style using distress inks 

in Blueprint Sketch, Mermaid Lagoon, Salty Ocean and Broken China.

Once I was happy with the blending I used a bokeh stencil from Simon Says Stamp

and re-inked in the various colours through the circles. A little spritz of perfect pearls

with water just because I can't stop myself then I decided to slice the panel

into 3 triangles for added effect! Just another geometric shape eh!

To finish a heat-embossed sentiment from Uniko: Simply Said Birthday plus

some Doodlebug Sprinkles and silver pearls from my stash.

Last up and I can admit I've gone crazy over Faux Mother of Pearl and

I've so many bits and pieces of various colours that I'll never 

manage to use them all - BUT it's such fun playing isn't it!

So this one is heading across to Happy Little Stampers - CAS Challenge

and having created my Faux Mother of Pearl Panel with Liquid Pearls

and Distress inks I've sliced it into squares using the MFT Die-namics

stitched square dies. A bold 'thanks' sentiment which is die-cut 3 times

from WPlus9 and some sequins from Lucy Abrams to finish it off.

Ok that's all for me this weekend and it's work tomorrow so think I 

should be making a move to bed soon! 

Thanks for calling by and I'll catch up with you again soon.

Less is More #258

Morning friends - first week of 2016 done with the colour theme which means it's that dreaded challenge (for some - including me!)  One Layer Card week at Less is More 
We'd like to see you use a Flourish or Flourishes this week and please remember to keep your designs clean and simple too.
Here's mine and there's some stunning beauties from my fellow teamies over on the main blog so hope you'll pop across HERE

Using the Butterfly Birthday stamp set from Happy Little Stampers,
I started out by stamping the butterfly and sentiment in Ranger dye ink
 before heat setting with clear EP. Next I masked the butterfly plus the top panel
then inked up the With a Flourish stamps from Clearly Besotted (sadly discontinued)
 in Versamark ink before heat treating with the same EP from Hero Arts.
Next emboss resist sponging ... love my distress inks and here it's Tumbled Glass,
Salty Ocean and Blueprint Sketch before finishing with a few enamel dots and gems.

The theme over at Time Out Challenges this week is
Birthdays with the optional Technique Twist of adding sponging. so I'm going to hop, skip and jump across there with this one!
I'd also like to pop this one in at Anything goes with HLS Stamps


Next up more butterflies - this time the Clearly Besotted variety!

This set is the Everything Changes set with a sentiment from Simple Silhouettes and 

another flourish from the With a Flourish set (discontinued) - both Clearly Besotted!

Having masked off a square panel on my card base I've inked and blended

some of my favourite distress inks: Abandoned Coral, Ripe Persimmon and

Mustard Seed before stamping the images in Versafine Ink.

This week's challenge at CASology is SIMPLE

this one was a very quick and easy make once the masking was done

so I'm hoping a speedy CAS card counts as Simple!

... and last but not least

I've used another flourish from the same CBS set (With a Flourish) attached to

my kite from Paper Smooches: Sunny Side Up. The kite is coloured with Derwent

Coloursoft pencils and I've masked it before adding the clouds from the same set

The sentiment is from Uniko: Birthday Fontiments which is a brand new set to me, 

having received it just before Christmas and this is the first time out!

The theme over at Simon Says Stamp - Wednesday Challenge

this week is NEW so in view of my 'new' out of the case Uniko set

I'm dropping this card in there today.

Ok that's all from me for now and thanks as always for visiting.

Hope you have a fun and crafty week and I'll be back soon.

Uniko Studio Challenge #19

Morning all it's time for another challenge at Uniko Studio.

BUT ... first of all I'd like to introduce you to a new member of the Design Team

 Sarah Gray of  Funky Fossil Designs

she's hugely talented and if you've not already visited her blog you NEED to!

So onto the challenge details ... and the theme is

 Anything Goes - with the option of the sketch below

... and if you do use the sketch there's the chance of an additional prize 

as your card will be entered into a random draw for a £10 Uniko Studio voucher.

Here's my card using the sketch very loosely!

I was blown away by the stunning flowers in the photo inspiration

over at Fusion - it's a challenge I love to enter but sometimes there

just isn't enough hours in the week but this time it had to be done!

The Beautiful Blooms II set from Uniko seemed the perfect choice.

Before you race off to ink up those stamps please drop by 

the Uniko blog HERE for more details and links to the Design Team.

They'd all love a comment and I'm sure you'll be impressed with their cards.

We are also very lucky to have TWO Guest Designers for this challenge

Amy and Emily

If you zip across to their blogs I'm sure you'll find more fabulous inspiration.

Are you still with me?

Because here's the details you need to be in with a winning chance ...

The DT will choose a winner who will get a £20 Gift Voucher for Uniko Studios 

plus be invited to be a Guest Designer for our next challenge.

The DT will also choose a top 3 and all will get  £5 gift voucher.

Time to get stamping. You have until Friday April 3rd at 8am GMT to link up.

Thanks as always for stopping by and I'll be back tomorrow

with the latest challenge from Less is More

Simon Says - Things That Fly

Hi there I'm zipping in with a super quick card that I've made for this week's challenge at Simon Says Stamp - Wednesday Challenge where it's all about 
Things that Fly
I think butterflies are going to be pretty popular and why not! They are simply too elegant and delicate not to include
I'd also like to drop a little reminder in that there's still time to join  the AAA Cards Challenge where the theme is rain and watercolour.

You have perhaps realised I'm a little bit MAD over rainbows!

To create the background I've scribbled blocks of colour using

 Derwent Inktense pencils followed by a a hefty spritzing of water 

to allow the colours to run / merge slightly

Using gloss accents I've created raindrops but they aren't too obvious in the photo. 

Then my 'flying thing' is a die-cut butterfly from Clearly Besotted: Butterfly Duo. 

Sentiment from Uniko Studio - Simply Said Birthday

  

Thanks as always for calling by my blog and see you soon.

Less is More #213

Hi There ... have you got that Saturday morning feeling? Ready for a new challenge from Less is More?
Ok so this week is 'recipe week' and we'd like CAS cards showing 'This Makes Me Happy!'
Personally I could make cards with this theme until the cows come home! There's so many wonderful happy things out there ... but  I've limited my examples to three: coffee, cake and my pet dog 'Cookie'.

Cookie looks nothing like this but it is his birthday next week 

and he'll be 8 years old so I decided to do this card for him.

He's completely spoilt and loves finding that

little spot of sunlight to warm him whilst he dozes!

This is where I found him when I got in from work this week ... on the back of the sofa!

Card Recipe:

Paper Smooches: Chubby Chums

Derwent: Inktense Pencils

Clearly Besotted: Happy Birthday Sentiment set

Mama Elephant: Index Card dies & Sizzix Circles

I'd also like to enter this card over at Freshly Made Sketches

Love my coffee and can't resist nipping in Costa Coffee

whenever I'm passing so here's my coffee inspired card.

Card Recipe:

MFT Die-Namics - Coffee Cup dies

Paper Smooches - Dots & Dashes Dies

Clearly Besotted: Good Times sentiments

Design Paper: Doodlebug and co-coordinating sprinkles

It's an 'Anything Goes' week at Simon Says Stamp so I'm heading

over there to enter this card in their Wednesday Challenge blog.

Last one and what could be better to accompany the coffee but CAKE!

Card Recipe:

MFT Die-Namics - Blueprints 15

Mama Elephant - Index Card dies

Clearly Besotted: Sweet Little Sentiments (heat embossed in WOW bronze metallic)

Dotty Stencil - sorry don't know who makes it

Mini cup cake - sent over the pond by my super Crafty American Auntie

The challenge this week at CASology is 'Mini' so I'm heading 

across there to 'share' my mini cupcake!

We had another bumper week last week with the 'wings' challenge

so thank you all for your wonderful inspiration and I can't wait to 

see what makes you all happy this week.

Thanks as always for stopping by and happy crafting.

2 for 1 Christmas cards

Yes it's a bit of a fluke!  Two Christmas cards to share in one day - every one helps though!
First up is to enter the current challenge at Merry Monday Have Santa on the card
Now have tipped my stash 'upside down' I couldn't find a single Santa image ... a couple of digi stamps but nothing else. Then I found this cheeky image (no idea where it's from - had it forever!)  and I'm hoping I won't be thrown off the challenge for using Santa 'upside down'


Card Recipe: To begin with I stamped the image and heat embossed then masked to allow me to ink up  my card panel using distress inks. I spritzed with water and perfect pearls to create a 'snowy' sky - with some pretty hefty dollops of the white stuff! Coloured my chimney with Derwent Coloursoft Pencils  they created a 'roof-effect' shape with white cardstock with glitter added to the edges. The sentiment is from Clearly Besotted: Naughty or Nice?

I've used a Mask to create this card so I'd also enter a second card  at Addicted to CAS



My next Christmas card is to enter over at Muse Card Challenge and here's my take on Marion's wonderful card
 

Here's Marion's card

Card Recipe:

Paper Smooches: Blessed Christmas stamp set

plus Winnie & Walter: Big Bang Confetti

I stamped the images in Versamark then heat-embossed

with Hero Arts White Embossing Powder

before inking the panel in Salty Ocean Distress Ink

Using a photo frame die from MFT Die-Namics I inset the inked panel

and added a sentiment from the Paper Smooches set.

The whole panel is then mounted on 3d foam for added dimension.

Just realised I've used 'embossing' on this card (well both) 

which means I can hop across to 

Happy Little Stampers - February Challenge.

Ok that's all from my craft desk for today and hope

you are enjoying the weekend.

Thanks for stopping by.

Uniko Studio: Mini Blog Hop & Farewell Nath

Hi there, today I've a bonus card to share using the latest release sets from  Uniko Studio as I'm taking part in an additional mini blog hop.
Sadly some of the Design Team didn't receive their stamps in time to  join the recent introductions and release day posts so this is a  special mini blog hop to allow them to showcase their designs,  and talents using the new sets.
It's also a sad farewell as N@Ali is leaving the design team this month. Since I discovered Uniko Studio Nath has always been a constant source of inspiration with her fabulous creations using the sets. She'll be so missed but we wish her well in her new ventures.
Here's my card using the Beautiful Blooms II & Simply Said Birthday sets

I've been wanting to have a go at inking in white on kraft  followed by 

colour inks for ages and guess what ... yes!

The uber-talented Jennifer McGuire posted a video this week 

showing this very technique. If you missed it you can catch it HERE

I used Hero Arts White pigment ink with the outline image

then Derwent Coloursoft pencils to create some detail to the petals.

Although I've used this layout before (adhered panel to top left corner)

Jennifer's card revitalised this layout for me so couldn't resist using it here.

I'm sure you'd like to see what the other designers taking part have been up to 

so please check out the Uniko Studio blog for more details ...

Beverley

Deborah

N@Ali

Sarah (that's me)

Thanks as always for stopping by and hope you enjoy some crafty time.

I'll be back tomorrow with the latest Uniko Studio Challenge 

so I'd love you to pop back then.

Addicted To Stamps & More Challenge #131

It's time for a new challenge at Addicted to Stamps and More  and this week it's the very popular ... Anything Goes Challenge
... so no time to waste just craft and create whatever you please.
Here's my card

Card Recipe:

Clearly Besotted: Sweet Rose & Fabulous Fuchsias

Clearly Besotted: Scalloped Dies

Crafts Too: Lattice embossing folder

First of all I stamped my image onto watercolour card with Versamark

then heat-embossed in Hero Arts white EP.

I've used my Derwent Inktense pencils and water to colour the image

then winked it with Stella before fussy cutting and popping up on 3d foam

Just for the fun of it I'd like to head over and enter this

at Happy Little Stampers CAS Challenge

where the theme this month is 'Embossing'

I've used Dry and Heat-embossing on this card

Our sponsor this week is Sweet Pea Stamps and the lucky winner

will receive 4 digis from the store

http://www.sweetpeastamps.com/

Before you head off to your crafty area don't forget to check out the  stunning creations by the rest of the ATSM Design Team   

Carol

Dana

Hayley

Julie

Karen

Kylie

Sandie

Sue

Tenia

Hope you find some time to join in and looking forward to seeing your fabulous cards  Thanks for stopping by and I'll be back tomorrow with the  Release, Reveal and Blog Hop for Uniko Studio!

Uniko Studio: Introducing Balloon Bash

*** This is my 2nd post of the day so please see HERE for my Less is More post ***

Hi All
I'm back again but this time it's the first official Uniko Studio Intro post following the build up over the last few days.
Today it's Balloon Bash, comprising of the perfect  images and elements to create some fantastic birthday celebratory cards 

If you saw my Less is More post earlier it seems I've made 

boy and girl cards ... purely unintentional!

The images and sentiments in the new sets are

fabulous and could work for baby congrats cards too 

or whatever occasion where balloons are appropriate.

Card Recipe:

Uniko Studio: Balloon Bash & Classic Numbers

MFT Die-namics: Stitched Rectangles

Derwent Inktense Pencils & Tim Holtz watercolour cardstock

I'm sure you'll want to check out what the rest of the amazing DT 

have created so please head over to their blogs and leave some love.

Beverley

Deborah

Gillian

Nicki

Sarah (That's me)

Sandie

 Schedule for the next few days

Introducing ...  Today - 10th February

Here you'll get to see the soon to be released products in action.

The design team and guest designers will be joining in on the

introductions and you won't want to miss a second!

Release Day! Wednesday 11th February

You will get to see all the products in their entirety and purchase them HERE on the website!

As tradition holds there will be a Design Team Blog Hop with the chance

for one lucky person to win the ENTIRE release!

Now, you won't want to miss out on any of the fun from the 5th - 10th February as Beverley

will be drawing totally random winners for mystery prizes.

There's no hints as to the prizes or their value, you'll just have to join in on the fun!

Places to join in on the fun & possibly win a prize are by commenting along the way on

the Uniko Studio Blog, DT & Guest Design Team Blogs, liking the Uniko Studio Facebook Page,

following on Twitter and Pinterest!

That's all from me today but please pop back tomorrow when

there'll be an introduction to Set 2 of the release.