A Little Weekend Fun!

Hi friends, I'm just nipping in with 2 cards that I've created this morning with no real purpose or direction .... just to have some fun!

First up I received this stunning butterfly stamp and cutting die combo set, by Crafters Companion from my good friend Sarah of Funky Fossil Designs - unfortunately for Sarah, she received it as a freebie but already owned the set but I was more than happy to take it off her hands and I have been desperately waiting for a moment to ink it up and create ... so this morning that moment came. I've used Promarkers to colour it and a sentiment from Uniko Organics Additions.

This one is to add to the Muse Card Challenge this week - be it a little late in the day to enter but another of my super duper Craft Buddies, Anita, is the Muse this week so I simply had to join in. I also caught a You Tube video by Ardyth HERE which inspired me without actually realising she'd created her card for Muse too. 

The card uses an inlaid die by Paper Smooches, coloured with Promarkers, an inky background using Distress Oxides in Blueprint Sketch and Mermaid Lagoon then smothered in a mix of perfect pearls and water, then an 'One the Line' happy birthday word sentiment from Impression Obsessions. 

Here's Anita's CASE card - I think I'm a little more 'heavy handed' with my blending! 

Thanks for calling by today and I hope you're having a little crafty fun too. 

Less Is More #340

Morning friends, oh I have missed blogging and crafting! This is the first post I've 'written' since my 2 week holiday in France - anything that has appeared here was thanks for Mr Blogger and his scheduling expertise! So it's a pleasure to be back and introducing our latest challenge at Less is More
Being the first one of the month it's the turn of Colour week and here's our Cue Card

Hopefully that won't cause too many issues; there's no need to use actual fruit images - just whatever takes your fancy. I started imagining all those exotic fruits ... mango, pineapple, kiwi, watermelon, to name a few and took it from there.
I recently treated myself to the stunning 'Spring Blooms' set from WPlus9 so this is a first for inking up this beauty with some vivid ink colours from Altenew. I also added some extra detail to the images with coloured pencils before die-cutting the 'Friend' word die from Paper Smooches, mounting it on several layers of card before popping it back into it's negative space. The 'Good Luck' sentiment is from Uniko: Simply Said range.

The Muse Challenge blog is having an 'Anything Goes' week so I'd like to pop this card in over there. I used to play along there almost every week but the time just seems to fly these days so I couldn't pass up this opportunity!

Next up one of my friends is celebrating a BIG and special birthday plus she's addicted to sweeties, particularly wine gums although I didn't have a stamp with those so gummy bears will have to suffice! These are from the Avery Elle Pick n Mix set.

The bears are coloured with Promarkers, die-cut and arranged along a stitched curved border die from MFT with a 'celebrate' sentiment from Uniko: All Occasion Sentiments #6 and the smaller sentiment is Clearly Besotted: Laugh Out Loud! There's a teeny little pale blue inky blending behind the bears too and I've coated them with Wink of Stella and Glossy Accents.

I'd like to pop this one in over at CASology where the theme is 'Juicy'

Being the beginning of a new month we are also welcoming back Seven Hills Crafts as our Sponsor for August and I hope you'll play along this month to be in with a chance of winning a prize.

 

Don't forget to check out the fabulous designs from my fellow teamies over on the main blog HERE and have some fun! 
Thanks for calling by today!

Muse Challenge #198

Hello friends, I've been nursing a flu/cold this week and feeling a bit sorry for myself! 
First day back at work on Monday and I managed until lunchtime! BUT The best medicine EVER and to add a little cheer is a mooch around blogland! 
My fellow teamie and bestie at Less is More (Anita) is this week's MUSE and I love the blend of colours she'd used with added texture to the circle on her card then WOAH! that sentiment strip pops one heck of a punch so I had to have a little play. It was a really quick card to make and I feel much better today! Thanks Neets!
Here's my card with Anita's inspirations below

I started out with a handful of Distress Inks and blended them over a piece of card stock -

 I think this part has Blueprint Sketch, Spun Sugar, Peacock Feathers and Seedless 

Preserves on it. I couldn't resist the little flick and spritz of water and perfect pearls.

Using a heart stax from WPlus9 to die-cut my shape I then ran it back through the 

big-shot using one of the WeR Memory Keepers Next Level embossing folders 

(from Santa!) To finish a bold sentiment from Lil'Inkers and a few sequins.

I hope you like how I've interpreted Anita's card and thanks so  much for calling by my blog today. 

A Trio of Cards - just for fun!

Hi Friends, I don't often get time to create just for creating sake but today I made a little time to finish off some cards that had been sat in pieces on my desk for a while and what's more I'm hoping they'll fit into  a couple of challenges too!
First up it's my fellow Less is More Teamie, Anita, who is playing MUSE this week at the Muse Card Challenge so couldn't resist 'casing' her gorgeous card. The colours are so neutral, calming and subtle ... quite the opposite to my usual style but I've had a go!

In addition to the colours I was inspired by the shiny leaf die-cuts and design paper

peeping through the negative space. Here I've used a flourish die by Sizzix and instead

of using the design paper behind I've water-coloured a panel in Autumnal browns and 

greens using Distress Inks. I've splattered some gold and bronze paints too using the 

Gansai Tambi water colour set. The leafy die-cut is from my stash (sorry not sure of

the manufacturer) and it's coated in Versamark ink before heat embossing with Ranger

Liquid Platinum embossing powder. The sentiment is by Happy Little Stampers, which

is embossed using the same powder before popping up on 3d foam.

Here's Anita's card

I'd also like to enter this one at 

Addicted to CAS - Watercolour

The next two cards use two floral sets from Altenew that are my

favourites at the minute! Beautiful Day which I bought a couple of 

weeks ago having admired it for months (it seems) and Remember This

which I purchased last weekend at the Happy Stampers Festival.

I've also kept to a similar design as I'm loving the effect of a coloured

bloom or two with the remainder of the images in black outline.

So here's Beautiful Day inked with Altenew Inks also with the panel

cut from a WPlus9 die in the Sunshine Layers die set then popped up

on green fun foam for added dimension. I've added a black gem to the

centre of the flower and some glossy accents for added detail.

I'd like to pop this one in at Addicted to Stamps and More where it's

their CAS week of challenges plus

CASology where the cue card is Support

EDIT: Thanks to Anita for suggesting I enter my floral card in the 

latest challenge over at Virgina's View - Focus Point

 Last but not least - here's 'Remember This' by Altenew

  again inked up using Altenew inks with the smaller blooms coloured with Promarkers, in what I hope are almost identical shades! I couldn't resist adding a few sequins to the design but looking at the photo I'm kind of wishing I hadn't!  So there's a brand new challenge in blogland simply called The Flower Challenge
What a perfect idea and a perfect name as who can resist all those wonderful bloom sets out there and now there's a challenge just to showcase those very things! Bliss! So I'm heading over there with this one and it's their first challenge titled "Anything Goes With Florals" and there's a whole month to enter so why not have a look and enter too!
Ok that's all for me today and thanks for calling by my blog. Catch up soon!

Guest Designer Spot for MUSE

Hi there crafty friends I've got some mega exciting news for you in this post as I'm Guest Designing for The Muse Card Challenge today!
Whoa! I was speechless (for just a second) when I received the message from Ardyth asking if I'd like to create a card for this fabulous challenge!
Without thinking too deeply about what I'd create, I zipped a message  straight back with a HUGE 'Yes Please!' so here's my card  and I hope you'll feel inspired to play along this week!

If you follow my blog regularly you may remember I attended the

Happy Little Stampers craft retreat in Swindon, UK last month.

As well as meeting a bunch of equally excitable crafty ladies we were 

introduced (some for the first time) to the magical properties and uses 

of Brushos by our super host and organiser Kylie of Happy Little Stampers.

So I'm 'hooked' and here's another example using Brushos to create a heart-shaped 

 jigsaw ... it really was tough piecing this one back together and had me wishing 

for a little piece of that Press n Seal stuff that so many American crafters use.

I love vibrant colours and die-cuts on my cards and here I've used the Neat & Tangled 

Heart of Gold die along with a 'Sending' word die by Simon Says stamp. 

The 'Hugs & Kisses' sentiment is by Clearly Besotted and to enhance the 'yellow' 

 in my 'brusho' heart I've added a strip of designer paper from Echo Park.

I can't wait to see how you are inspired by my card, perhaps using die-cuts, brushos, the layout or maybe the colours. Whatever takes your fancy and I'm certainly  looking forward to visiting your blogs this week to see how you've 'cased' it.
Here's the link to the Muse Challenge blog to play along.

I'd also like to enter my card at the Happy Little Stampers Challenge  ... Anything Goes with Dies It would be rude not to as Kylie (owner of HLS) taught me all I know about Brushos! LOL!

Thanks as always for stopping by my blog and huge thanks to the  Design Team at Muse for asking me to help out this week.

Muse Challenge #180

Hi friends, I'm zipping in with a card I made today to enter in the current challenge over at Muse. I was on a roll at the end of last year, and tried to enter every week but I seem to have lost the plot or not had time to create as much since then!
 Today, as luck would have it I already had a panel of blended Distress Inks  in just the colours of Marilyn's card, sitting on my desk, so I decided to  have a little play and here's my CASE of her card.

Having inked my panel using: Wild Honey, Abandoned Coral, Carved Pumpkin

and Picked Raspberry I did my favourite little trick of spritzing with a water

and perfect pearl mix which adds a stunning shimmer to the inky panel. I'm not 

sure it's obvious on the photo however. Using the MFT Blueprints 15 I 

die-cut a 'wonky-angled' rectangle then inlaid a poppy die-cut by Memory Box 

using some white glitter card. The poppy silhouettes are by Inkylicious 

and the sentiment is by Clearly Besotted from the Sweet Little Sentiments set.

Here's Marilyn's card

Edit: I knew there was a Silhouette challenge about but could I find it when I posted this an hour ago!!! Thanks to Sandie- spotted it as soon as I visited on a comment trail!!!
So I'd also like to link this one up at Addicted To CAS - Silhouette!

I hope you like how I was inspired by the card and thanks so much for stopping by my blog today!
Catch up again soon!

Just an Ink and a Muse Combo!

Hello friends I've a quick post today to share my card that I'd like to link up at Inkspirational; where it's pink and grey. Plus my buddy, Anita is the Muse this week and I simply couldn't resist 'casing / musing' her card!

I've gone with a subtle silvery/grey ink for my sentiment and blooms

rather than black as Anita did and I've flicked Hickory Smoke Distress Ink

and Picked Raspberry to my panel after a bit of inky blending with 

Spun Sugar, Worn Lipstick and Picked Raspberry. The blooms are the new 

WPlus9 Ranuculus set and the sentiment is Clearly Besotted. To finish I 

just can't help myself with those pearls and gems!

Here's Anita's Muse card

Thanks for stopping by today and hope you feel inspired to play along at these challenges. I'm off to see what you have been creating this week and catch up on some comments! Looking forward to the final episode of  Happy Valley later although I may have to watch it from behind a pillow!!!

AAA Cards Challenge #60

Hello friends, are you ready for a new challenge from AAA Cards? This one is all about Easter and in case you need a little clue as to the types of things we'd like to see, our photo inspiration is  just beneath my card!

I couldn't resist being inspired by Michele Ferguson's card over at MUSE this 

week HERE and decided to create this card 'case-ing' her design and to play along there 

of course! I started out by masking the upper section of the card base with masking tape 

followed by a little inky blending using distress inks in Mustard Seed and Squeezed Lemonade. 

I've 'cracked' open a new from Clearly Besotted: Cool Chicks which I'm in love with - 

especially the mini shades stamp and faces! I've also added a few white spots to

their bellies! The 'happy' die-cut is from Hero Arts and 'Easter' from Uniko: Some Bunny!

Just to help you out more with inspiration here's our photo inspiration 

... and here's Michele's MUSE card

Our sponsor for this challenge is  with a prize of a $20 gift certificate As always my fellow teamies have created some fantastic designs  so please head over to the main AAA Cards blog for all the details. I hope you feel inspired to play along and can't wait to see your creations! Thanks as always for calling by and I'll catch up again soon.

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.