Less is More #364

Hello my crafty friends, it's birthday time over at Less is More as we celebrate our 7th Birthday! 
We've a whole bunch of Guest Designers, 2 sponsors this month and a couple of extra prizes thrown in too - all the details are on the main challenge blog HERE
So onto the challenge it's self and here's our cue card followed my cards. 

First up sharing a teeny sneaky peek of some new sentiments from the 'yet-to-be released Uniko birthday sets' let's have some music. Life is so much better with it and a rainbow of course! 

Fellow Less is More teamie, Sharon has recently joined the Visible Image Design Team and I couldn't resist buying a couple of their music inspired sets with some Christmas pennies so first up using 'Music Speaks' on a panel of brusho coloured card. 

Next up, Sharon had this stunning 'Sing' set, when we met at the Happy Little Stampers retreat in Manchester back in November - so I had to have this one too. I've a couple of special birthdays coming up where this collection of cards will be so appropriate! I've stamped and masked the images then used the MFT Concentric Circle grid stencil with Distress inks in different colours.

I'd like to drop this little trio in at Simon Says Stamp: Wednesday Challenge where it's Anything Goes

As always there's loads of fabulous designs from my fellow teamies plus our returning ex Design Team Members over on the main blog HERE and our sponsor for this challenge is Uniko so do play along for a chance of a prize, which we'll announce at the start of next month. Bev (Uniko) is also guest designing for this challenge and hopefully she'll be sneaking a little peek of the new sets too.

I hope you'll play along in our birthday challenges this month and have some fun with us.
Thanks for calling by today!

Less is More #363

Hello my crafty friends, 
Another fortnight has zipped by and I'm here to announce our latest challenge over at Less is More - and it's that dreaded one! Although we've moved to fortnightly challenges we are still using the same rotation of 'themes' so it's our ONE layer week!
Here's the cue card, which is self-explanatory, I hope, followed by my cards and I've 2 to share today.

First up, using a James Bear image from LOTV is the card I made for Kylie of Happy Little Stampers when she became a Nana for the first time at the end of last year. Having seen the photos of her adorable grandson I couldn't resist stamping this little cutie on the card. The 'Hey' sentiment is from Uniko with the 'Nanny' from Clearly Besotted Stamps.

Loads of masking and stamping on this second one using a mixture of pandas, as they're super cute ... yes? The sets are by Mama Elephant and it's Incoming Mail and Pandamonium. I've added a couple of score lines at the bottom for some extra interest and a little bit of shading and colour with Promarkers

As always there's loads of fabulous designs from my fellow teamies over on the main blog HERE and if you missed the first challenge this month, we introduced a brand new sponsor for January; Skull and Cross Buns! Why not head on over and check out their gorgeous range of stamps and do make sure you play along for a chance of a prize, which we'll announce at the start of next month.



I hope you'll join us and have some fun and thanks for calling by today!

Uniko Challenge #45

Hey there, it's time to announce our latest challenge over at Uniko; here's the cue card showing what we're looking for.

I was drawn to the rose and heart in the photo but skipped the heart in the end for this card! You'll have to pop back when we showcase our reminder posts, on 2nd February for that addition! I've used an 'old' sentiment (or 2) from the All Occasions Sentiments #3 with the newly released Pure Florals Rose set. I've tried to colour this using a 'no-line colouring' technique by stamping the images with Memento inks then colouring with Promarkers. 

I think the sentiment on my card is pretty appropriate too as our Guest Designer for this challenge is  one of my best craft buddies EVER and fellow teamie at Less is More! It's Anita of Neet & Crafty who won the last challenge with none other than the Christmas card she sent me; to say I was thrilled is an understatement! Do pop along and visit her blog and leave a friendly word and some love. She won't admit to owning loads of yummy stash but believe me she does and creates such beauties with it all! 

There's a couple of challenges I'd like to pop my card into, first up Simon Says Stamp: Wednesday Challenge is to 'Add a Sentiment' and I've done just that! Timeout Challenges is inspired by words "Each day is a gift, open it, celebrate it, enjoy it!" so my take is that fabulous friends are true gifts and it's great open up, celebrate and enjoy special times with them!

Also it's a photo inspiration week at Inkspirational and I couldn't resist adding this card there as I was drawn to those stunning flowers and leaves in the picture and my stitched border works well with the string of pearls and strings on the violin - hope it counts! 

You have until Friday, 23rd February to link up to the challenge and all the details you need about prizes and how to play can be found over at Uniko HERE

As always thanks for calling by my blog today and I hope you feel inspired and will play along

Uniko Revisit - January 2018

Hi there friends, here's my first Uniko post of 2018 and it's one of Bev's 'REVISIT' months where she asks us to 'dig out', dust down and bring a previously released set back into the spotlight! 
There's a bit of a twist for this month, however, as Bev asked the DT to pick their own favourite set, released during 2017. Now that's a BIG ask and quite unfair due to the sheer number of beauties Uniko has released. In fact it took me a while to decide which to go for. In the end I chose the Organics range of stamps ... not realising that the first one was released in 2016! Ooops!
I'm still going to feature that card anyway as I've a little trio going on! My Mum asked me to make a bunch of Anniversary cards and she prefers the square design, which I find quite tricky to make. Have you noticed most stamps and dies are geared towards rectangles? Before Christmas I discovered some cheap, large stitched square dies from The Works, which made the design a breeze! (Thanks to Di, friend of JulesB - who found these initially and shared them at the HLS craft retreat in November)

Onto my cards

using: Originally Organics Additions, sentiments from Simply Said and Happy Succulents

(images coloured using Promarkers plus Altenew Inks)

Having used a sentiment from the Happy Succulents set on the previous card I realised the images combine quite well with the organics range so here's my take with this one

using: Happy Succulents image and sentiments from Simply Said and Festive Sentiments

(images coloured with Promarkers plus Altenew Inks)

... and here's the DUD! The Originally Organics set was released in October 2016 but I've still used the Happy Succulent 'Happy' sentiment and the 'Anniversary' from Simply Said with the same Promarker colours.

 

As is the tradition there's a blog hop giveaway; the prize will be a £15 eGift Certificate to spend in store and you will have till midnight 21st Jan 2018 to comment along the hop

You'll find all the details including the links to to my teamies blogs and a sneaky peek at what they've created with their favourite set(s) over at Uniko HERE

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

Less is More #359

Morning friends!
We're fast approaching the Christmas finish line but we've 2 more challenges to share over at Less is More and here's the first one. It's THEME week and the cue card should be quite self-explanatory.


As well as my usual design teamies we're delighted to have Michelle of Seashell Creations, guest designing with us for this week. Michelle recently won our October sponsor prize and has some stunning cards on her blog. Why not stop by and leave her some love!

I made this card with my crafty friends Anita and Kylie when they spent a little time at my house following the HLS Retreat in Manchester last month. We visited my local craft store where everything was at knock down prices so this set from Stampendous, was a perfect treat and had some great festive and feathery images. I've also used a Christmas sentiment from Happy Little Stampers.
As always there's loads of fabulous designs from my fellow teamies over on the main blog HERE and our sponsor for this month is Happy Little Stampers so do play along for a chance of a prize, which we announce at the start of next month.

Hope you'll play along and have some fun and thanks for calling by 

Uniko - Introducing Snowdrops with Dotty Background

Hello there friends, we've got those Sneaky Peeks out of the way in the last 2 days and it's time for some Introductions over at Uniko as we get ready for this month's release of new stamps!
Today we are introducing you to the Spring Botanicals: Snowdrop and Scattered Polka Dots Large Background sets and here's how I've been playing!
Two fairly similar examples. First up I decided to twist these snowdrops into crocuses by colouring them in shades of purple with a touch of yellow in the centre. The image is stamped directly onto the card panel, coloured with Promarkers with a sentiment from the set sneaked in at the bottom. I used part of the background stamp to create the base of the card, adding a little extra interest by popping the top up on fun foam and the little strip of black card separates the 2 sections. 

This one, I hope, shows true Snowdrop style colouring with just a little hint of grey tones using Promarkers to the flower heads. I stamped the background on a separate panel then die-cut an oval window to showcase the blooms. The background dotty panel is popped up on fun foam with another classy sentiment from the set heat embossed on a coordinating piece of grey cardstock. 

I hope this has whet your appetite for more!
The release schedule can be found over on the Uniko blog HERE as well as links and peeks at how my fellow teamies have worked their magic!
Thanks for stopping by and I hope you'll be back tomorrow for the next introduction.

Less is More #358

Morning friends!
Oh my goodness we really are getting extremely close to Christmas and I feel so disorganised and lacking in handmade Christmas cards that I feel a shop bought pack may be required this year to bolster my stock! 
It's time to announce the latest challenge from Less is More and in true festive style we've a challenge that could be 'twisted' towards that Christmas theme if, like me, you're struggling with cards.
Sadly I've only the one today as there's one more stamp release from Uniko to sneak in before Christmas so that has also kept me out of mischief and away from my Christmas card production line! I feel my hand delivered ones will be still wet with glue when I deliver them on Christmas Eve!!!
Anyway here's this week's CUE CARD and it's that dreaded ONE layer week too!

... and here's my card using a cheap and cheerful stamp I picked up from The Works (UK book / stationary / craft shop). It's a little living room scene in itself featuring a roaring toasty fire and lights on a Christmas Tree so as soon as I saw it I knew which challenge it would be heading towards!

I stamped the image in black then heat embossed with clear embossing powder over the top before colouring the images with Promarkers. There's a little wink of stella and glossy accents on those stockings and a sentiment from Uniko to finish. Oh and I hand drew the border to frame the image. 

It's an Anything Goes week over at Addicted to Stamps and More so I'd like to pop this one in there, plus over at Timeout Challenges there's a photo inspiration and I couldn't resist not joining in when I saw the cute little stockings against the wood background. 

As always there'll be loads of fabulous designs from my fellow teamies over on the main blog HERE and no doubt a few extras on their own blogs so do pay them a visit this week.
Our fantastic sponsor for this month is Happy Little Stampers and if you want to be in with a chance of a prize, then do play along each week, We'll announce our monthly winner at the start of next month.


Hope you'll play along and have some fun and thanks for calling by. 

Less is More #356

Morning friends! It's time to announce our latest challenge at Less is More and it's our Recipe week with the requirement to 'Let it Shine'

Now you may have heard that Kylie of Happy Little Stampers & Kylie's Addicted to Stamps held a little Craft Retreat in Manchester earlier this month and I was delighted to attend and meet up with fellow LIM teamies, Anita and Sharon along with a bunch of other crafty buddies.
Kylie decided it was time to introduce 'light up' cards and basically I'm hooked! To begin with all that circuit building with batteries and positives/negatives was a little mind-blowing but now back at home I just can't get enough of them. 

This Eiffel Tower card is one of my Retreat cards, although I rehashed it a little when I got home as I could see a channel of light behind the tower. The image is from Happy Little Stampers and initially it was stamped with Versafine Onyx Black then heat embossed using Clear Sparkle embossing powder on a 'Distressed' Background. The mini picture shows the 'light-up' effect when the sentiment is pressed. 

 

This one was very simple to make and positively oozes CAS! Firstly I debossed a stitched circle die by Simon Says Stamp, then added the reindeer thumb print image from the Clearly Besotted 'In Print' set. The sentiment is from the MFT set 'Jingle All the Way' - I have to say the light-up effect on this one is the best (so far!) and my reindeer (Rudolph) has a shiny red nose from Wink of Stella and Glossy Accents too. 

While I had the MFT 'Jingle All The Way' set on my desk I couldn't resist inking up these mini Reindeer and adding another 'Rudolph' into the mix. The images are coloured using Promarkers andn you can see the 'light-up' effect in the mini picture at the top.

If you get the chance to have a go with light-up cards you'll have a whole load of fun and why not try it this week and link up to our challenge!

As always there's loads of fabulous designs from my fellow teamies over on the main blog HERE and our sponsor for this month is Dies to Die For so do play along for a chance of a prize, which we announce at the start of next month.



I hope you'll play along and thanks for calling by!

Honey I Shrunk The Kit #14

Hey there friends, I'm so excited to be sharing another day out with my fellow Honey Babes for another HISTK post! BUT I'm absolutely dreading it at the same time as it's my turn to host! What I thought might be a fun kit to work with turned into a bit of a nightmare as my mojo went AWOL in the last few weeks so I'm relying on the Babes to showcase it to the MAX!

The name of my kit is 'Sugar Fix' and here's a little piccy of the contents: 

... and here's the list of contents:

Stamps: Reverse Confetti: Donut You Know (plus donut die), Neat & Tangled: Say Yes to Donuts, Avery Elle: Pick N Mix (plus dies) and Mama Elephant: Carnival Cupcakes (plus dies)

Other Dies: L’il Inker: Smile, Mama Elephant: Columbus Circle and Neat & Tangled: Hooray word dies

Other Items: Hobbycraft Basics: patterned paper, Action Wobbler, Doodlebug: bakers twine & Anita’s: half cut pearls

Somehow I managed 5 cards, some I like a lot more than others and this first one has to be my favourite. I made it for my niece and nephew for Halloween using the action wobbler behind the bag of sweeties. I used a couple of extra images from a CBS dis-continued set called In the Spirit.

No additional items were used for this one other than the kit and the images are coloured with Promarkers.

My colouring medium for the next one was the Kuretake Zig Clear Brush Pens but my doughnut looks a little burnt, don't you think? I used a wonky stitched die-cut panel (thanks to fellow Honey / LIM teamie, Anita ... quite convenient that she came to stay at my house recently and brought some of her treasured stash with her)!!!

Ooooh! What's this ... another wonky stitched panel (thanks again Anita)! Images and die-cut sentiment once again coloured with Promarkers, with the 'it's a boy' sentiment by CBS.

I'm really not sure about this one but had a few bits and pieces to use up so a framed display of sugary, jelly sweeties, all coloured with Promarkers and coated with wink of stella and glossy accents.

I hope you like my cards but I'm sure you'll love my teamies cards even more! Don't delay, check out these lovelies as I'm off to do now! Thanks for calling by and I hope to be back with more Honey I Shrunk the Kit kits next year! 

Hazel Hodgkins: Hazel's Paper Designs Sarah Gray: Funky Fossil Designs Shona Chambers: Twine Around Anita Bowden: Neet & Crafty Sarah Platt: Sazzle Dazzle Crafts ... that's ME!

STAMPlorations Giving Thanks Blog Hop 2017

Hi there friends, I'm delighted to be representing Less is More, as a Guest Designer, once again in the STAMPlorations Giving Thanks Blog Hop following a lovely invite from Shery, owner and talented designer over at STAMPlorations!

Why not visit her blog HERE for some fabulous inspiration! AND why not head to the Less is More blog HERE where there's links and details about how you too can join in the blog hop and win some prizes along the way

I've used some lovely Fall themed stamps which Shery sent me and I've stamped the images using some masking here and there, coloured with promarkers. The panel was die-cut using a WPlus9 Scalloped rectangle die before mounting on fun foam then a kraft cardbase where I've stamped some of the leafy images in a tone on tone effect.

Today marks the 3rd time Shery has teamed up with her own wonderful team of designers at STAMPlorations as well as a selection of Guest Designers, like me, from various Challenge blogs, where Shery generously sponsors with prizes throughout the year. 

Shery is also releasing a whole new bundle of stamps to coincide with the Blog Hop and there's a Thanksgiving sale too. I'd say there's plenty to get you tempted to play along and I hope you feel inspired to do so.

Thanks for stopping by my blog today and don't forget to head over to the STAMPlorations site HERE for all the info as well as the Less is More blog