Less is More #292

Hello friends, time to announce another new challenge for this week from Less is More and we are back round to 'colour week'
We've chosen Peacock Feathers as the colour combo and in case you're stuck there's plenty of stunning images on google images or pinterest to inspire.
First up and I have to admit I almost fell over when hubby bought a craft magazine  for me a few weeks ago! The shock ... not only as he'd taken it upon himself to buy the  magazine but there was also a freebie stamp set featuring a peacock! Whoa!  He's no idea what challenges I play along with so couldn't understand my delight!
Here's the card and I'd like to zip it across to the Delightful Darnell's latest  NBUS challenge as it's never been used before!!! It was a dream pleasure to meet Darnell IRL in July at the Happy Little Stampers Retreat in the UK and I'm amazed that she took it upon herself to travel so many miles alone to  meet up with a whole load of crafty buddies! You're Simply Awesome Darnell!

So first up I die-cut my watercolour cardstock with a WPlus9 border die, 

inked up the image using Versamark then heat-embossed with gold EP.

Coloured with Zig Clear Brush pens and a mini sentiment from Uniko.

I'd also like to pop this one in at Simon Says Stamp - Wednesday challenge

 as it's an Anything Goes Challenge over there this week!

This one uses the WPlus9 Fanciful Feathers stamps and dies. I've used a teal card base as that seemed ideal in terms of my view of peacock feathers. The die-cut feathers were inked with ... you guess Distress Inks in Peacock Feathers and I've created a tone on tone  background for added interest using Hero Arts Clear EP.
I'd like to head over to Addicted to Stamps and More with this one where it's Clean and Simple for their current challenge.


As always there's more fantastic inspiration by my fellow teamies  over on the main blog HERE as well as their individual blogs.
Plus as it's the first of the month we have a new sponsor ... well I should say a 'returning' one - it's Happy Little Stampers

Thanks for stopping by today and I hope you enjoy the challenge.

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.

Happy Sunday - it's almost Spring

Hi there friends, I'm zipping in with a quick post to share a spring time card I've made with a couple of new bits and bobs!

This one uses a brand new stamp from WPlus9 Ranunculus, one of my favourite blooms as I love all those layers and layers of petals. Plus another newbie is my MFT Die-Namics Homespun edges which I've used along the left edge of  the panel. I started out by spritzing some watercolour card with DI re-inkers in  Picked Raspberry and Spiced Marmalade (mixed with water and perfect pearls) Once dry I've heat-embossed the floral image with white EP, bleached the ink  away then coloured using my Gamsai Kuretake paints, wink of stella & glossy accents. The die-cut 'sending' sentiment is from Simon Says stamp and it's teamed with a  sentiment from Uniko: Some Bunny. To finish some sequins from Lucy Abrams.
Can you guess where this one's going????
Yep, the lovely, awesome and super-talented Darnell is hosting her 6th NBUS Challenge and there's not long to play so had to get those  new but unused stuff cracked open, inked, coloured and cut!!!

The theme at Timeout Challenges this week is Spring / Easter so I'd like to pop my card in there too although I've got to admit I haven't twisted with the masking option on this occasion! It's also their 2nd  Birthday so huge congrats to the team and here's to the next 2!!!

One more challenge I've spotted where this card might be appropriate too is  Simon Says Stamp - Wednesday Challenge and this week's theme is  Touchy Feely so there's quite a few items of that nature!!! Sequins, glitter card, embossing, glossy accents and the perfect-pearls spritzed BG also adds a 'speckled' texture to the touch.

Ok that's all for now and thanks for calling by! Catch up with you all again soon!

Uniko - Introducing Background Builders Triangulate

Hello there, I'm thrilled that you've stopped by again as it's  Day 2 of the Introductions to the new release of stamps from 
Uniko 
and we're introducing a new geometric, background builder set. This time it's triangles so loads of possibilities to create funky fun patterns!

Party banners for me with these funky geometric triangles plus one of the border strips 

which I've curved along my acrylic block. I've used another sentiment from 

All Occasion Sentiments #6 which was introduced yesterday along with the

 'On Your Birthday' from Simply Said: Birthday. I can't resist a few Doodlebug

accents especially as they matched my colorbox chalk inks so perfectly!

I'd like to link this up at Darnell's NBUS challenge #5 - these are new stamps!

Hope that's ok as well as Virginia's View where it's a geometric theme.

There's more fabulous inspiration with this set from  my teamies over on the  Uniko blog here and here's the schedule for the rest of the week!

18th September - Last day of Introductions!

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

The design team will be joining in on the introductions and you won't want to miss a second!

Saturday, 19th September - Release Day!

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 a chance for a lucky person

 to win the ENTIRE release & a little extra!

Now, you won't want to miss out on any of the fun from the 14th - 19th September

as Bev (Uniko) 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 Blog, Design Team Blogs, liking the Uniko Facebook Page,

following on Twitter and Pinterest!

I hope you'll pop back tomorrow for the next Sneaky Peek!

I'm Back with a Challenge Duo

Back again having rifled through my photos - knew I had this one somewhere!

So I'm joining the wonderful, generous and super fun Darnell's

NBUS challenge with this one using my Clearly Besotted Bon Voyage

stamp set as it's 'new but (so far) unused schtuff'! The image and sentiment

are heat embossed for added shine and to allow for easier ink blending.

In true Autumnal style I've blended distress inks in reds, oranges and yellows

to create either a sunset over London or a re-enactment of the great fire!

So Darnell has a magnificent bunch of sponsors with prizes at NBUS #5 and 

I'm heading over to Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge with a second entry!

There's loads of prizes there too if you fancy playing along in the blog hop.

   

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

with the latest challenge details at Less is More and Addicted to CAS

Bye for Now!

Friday bonus post

Hi there ... I made a couple of cards last night to show you and enter a few challenges so here goes ...

The first one is to enter this week's Merry Monday challenge where they'd like us to use a tree and I've used the sketch from  Freshly Made Sketches so I'll pop my card in there too.
AND ... it's Anything Goes week at  Simon Says Stamp - Wednesday Challenge so I'll head over there too!

Card Recipe:

Uniko Studio: Rustic Christmas & Simply Said - Christmas

MFT Die-Namics: Snow drifts (for masking and inking) 

and Fishtail Flags for the sentiment

Distress Ink: Faded Jeans & misted with Perfect Pearls

The 'silver embossed' DP has been in my stash since time began!

I stumbled across it while having a sort out but couldn't tell you where it's from

  

   

Next up I'm using 'newbies' (NBUS) following my little

retail therapy trip to the NEC with the LIM ladies last week!

Card Recipe:

Inkylicious: Poppy stamp (NBUS)

Card-io: Flutterby Garden (NBUS)

Uniko Studio: Simply Said - Birthday

MFT Die-namics: Pierced Rectangle stax & Fishtail Flags

Background created using Verscolor canary ink with a 'baby wipe'!

Fabulous technique by Wendy at Card-io - I love it! 

So I'll be entering this at the lovely Darnell's NBUS challenge 

and also Seize the Birthday which I haven't entered for ages ... very sorry ladies 

- it somehow slipped by me until another super talented blog buddy; 

Hannelie (Desert Diva) jogged my memory with her DT card.

I'd also like to enter a second card at Time Out Challenges

where there's an optional twist of black, white and a splash of another colour! 

Ok that's me for today but I'll be back tomorrow with the latest 

challenge at Less is More so hope to catch you then.

Thanks for calling in and peeping at my cards.

A Sunday Trio

Happy Sunday, I've a trio of cards to share today which I made on Friday but ran out of time to post and I need to enter them in  a few challenges so here goes. 
First up is for the Muse Card Club using inspiration from a super talented crafter, Marion Vagg - here's my take

Card Recipe:

Clearly Besotted: Love Birds & Paired Up dies

and sentiment from Happy Birthday set

MFT Die-Namics: Fishtail Flags & Pierced Rectangles

Tonic: Flower punch (not used in years - glad I didn't bin it!)

This card is to enter at 

Addicted to CAS #59 - Green

Freshly Made Sketches #178

NBUS #4 - Darnell's superb challenge to encourage us to use

our New But UNUSED Schtuff!

Timeout Challenges #27 - CAS, black & white with a SPLASH of a colour

Card Recipe:

Lawn Fawn: Monster Mash (NBUS)

Sizzix: Circle framelits

MFT Die-Namics: Sentiment strips

Derwent Inktense pencils for colouring images and creating

the green borders (thanks to a video tip from Jennifer McGuire)

 

   

... and last but least for today is my entry to this week's 

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge

using the springtime mood board.

Card Recipe

MFT: Sunburst stencil sponged with distress inks in wild honey & scattered straw

Cheery Lynn: Picket fence die

Impression Obsessions: Bunny dies - coloured with Promarkers

Clearly Besotted: Hoppy Easter egg dies - watercoloured with Inktense Pencils

and sentiment from CBS: Sweet Little Sentiments

Doodlebug Design Paper

Hope you are still with me after reading this bumper post.

Lots of comments to catch up on now then back to the craft pod

as I was in mid-clean up and abandoned it. 

Looks like a bomb has dropped on it!

Thanks as always for stopping by and catch you again soon.

Uniko Challenge #17

Morning friends.  Thanks for stopping by my blog today as I'm thrilled to be posting Uniko Studio's first themed challenge of 2015
LOVE and FRIENDSHIP
If you follow the Uniko Studio Challenges regularly  there are a few changes this year as follows:
1. Challenges will run for 2 weeks only and will begin on the 3rd Friday of each month 2. You can use any stamps in our challenges 3. You can enter as many times as you wish and combine with any number of other challenges Ok so here is my card and you'll see I've gone with the 'love' theme

I wanted to show you how versatile Uniko stamps are even if you don't  own specific love or friendship sets. I've used Background Builders: Circles to add a delicate background to my cardstock. For the hearts I heat-embossed 3 of the  circles from the same set in WOW Metallic Silver Sparkle before die-cutting. The sentiment 'with' is from Flower Power #5 
Other tools: MFT Die-Namics - Blueprints 15, Stitched Rectangles and alphabet dies (new from Santa and first outing) which means I can head across to Darnell's NBUS Challenge again!
   
I'm sure you'd like to see some more inspiration so please check out the cards from the super talented Design Team members plus we have 3 Guest Designers this month too. 
Design Team Amber Beverley Deborah Erika Gillian N@ Ali Nicki Sandie
Guest Designers Lynn Lucy Kitty
They'd all love a visit and some love 
You have until Friday 30th January @ 8am GMT to link up and here's how you can win some Uniko goodies ...
The DT will select a winner who will receive a £20 Gift Voucher for Uniko Studio plus an invite to Guest Design for our next challenge.
The DT will also choose a Top 3 and each will receive a £5 Gift Voucher.
It's not essential but if you do use a Uniko Studio stamp then your card will be entered into a randomly selected draw to win a £10 Gift Voucher.
So what are you waiting for? Time to get inky and crafty. Have fun and I'm looking forward to seeing your creations.