Less is More #457 Photo Inspiration

 Hello there,

Another Saturday has dawned and that means another challenge for you at Less Is More.

This is our last challenge of  2021 and it's a lovely one,

 Lots on here to get your creative juices flowing from the Scandi design, the colours and the Christmas sparkle.

Quite a simple design from me for this one.

I used the parcels for my inspiration along with some of the colours.

The Bakers Twine I've had for ages and rarely use it these days.

The Branch die is one of a pair by Joanna Sheen.

The tag die is from a set that I bought online but have no idea who produced it.

The gift tag is the smallest in a set from Memory Box.

Sentiment is by Avery Elle.

We really look forward to seeing you all again next year. Have a very Merry Christmas and a really Happy New Year from all of us here on the DT.

Thank you for popping in..

Less is More # 456 Silhouette

 Hello there,

We have a lovely challenge for you this time at Less is More this time,

My card just came together, more by accident than design if I'm honest. I knew what I wanted to do, I just wasn't sure if it would come off as I'm not an artist by any stretch. However I'm rather pleased with it now.

I started with a scrap piece of card slightly larger than the aperture. I then made a mask with a circle nestie die and a post it note for the moon before I began sponging with Sqeezed Lemon DI then a little Mustard Seed, finishing off along the top edge with Spiced Marmalade. I then used the edge of the sponge to add some 'sun kissed clouds'.

I used stamps ( Branches by Inkadinkado) inked with Black Versa mark.

No sentiment because I think it will make a good male birthday card. I'm just not sure who for yet.

Please pop over to the blog for some fabulous inspiration from the rest of the team.

Less is More # 455 Winter Whites

 Hello there,

Because there are 5 Saturdays in October this year, we have a lucky dip for you. This time it's Winter Whites and a great opportunity to catch up on those last minute Christmas cards maybe.

Just remember to only use white and keep it CaS.

Aperture cards were always my go to design at one time and then I began other techniques and design elements but for this card an aperture seemed the only way to go.

I used a Spellbinders Circle Nestie to cut out the aperture from a panel of white card.

I use an A4 sheet of card to make a 15cm x 15cm card and keep the piece I cut off the bottom. I use these for alsorts of things. They make great gift tags or smaller panels for inking or embossing. Or, in this case for cutting out the Holly die cut from Alexandra Renke.

I've simply used some white glitter on the outer edges of the Holly leaves and used some white pearlmaker for the berries.

The sentiment is from Avery Elle and is perfect I think for a WoW card

 

 

Thank you for popping in

Less is More #454 Autumnal

 Hello there,

It's Less is More day and this time we have the dreaded one layer card challenge. I'm sure most of you are experts at OLC by now but for those of you who are new  to this, there is some fabulous inspiration over on the blog.

So, our cue word is Autumnal which  means beautiful rich colours, autumn flowers and falling leaves.

 

For my card I chose to use this Sunflower stamp from Flourishes. Sunflowers remind me that, although Winter is on it's way, Mother Nature still finds ways to bring us sunshine.

The sentiment stamp is Papertrey Autumn Abundance set. 

I coloured the flower in a mix of Promarkers and Spectrum Noir pens.

Thank you for popping in.

Embossed birthday card

 Hello there,

Another quick post to share the card I made for my son to give his partner. He decided to ask me right at the last minute so not a lot of time to think about making something fancy. I'm rather pleased with how this one turned out though.

 

I used my Crafters Companion box maker score board for the embossed lines.

The circle was made using circle dies from Die-namics and Spellbinders.

Flowers are from Ebay.

Leaves are by Alexandra Renke

Sentiment is PC generated.

Thanks for popping in

Daisy, Daisy...

 Hi There,

A quick post to share a card I made for my DiL whose birthday it is tomorrow (tuesday)

I started by embossing my card base with a folder from We are memory keepers, leaving a clean band along the top.

The flowers are from Simply Graphic cut from white offcuts with the middles cut from snippets of brightly coloured card.

Sentiment is computer generated.

Thanks for popping in...

Less is More # 453 Colour.

 Hello there,

It's colour challenge time at Less is More and this time it's...

For my first card I've gone very CAS

I needed a thank you card for someone who did me a huge favour recently so this design was perfect, both for the challenge and the recipient.

The stars are cut from various dies with stars within a larger pattern because my nestie ones are too big for this. 

Cut from pound shop glitter card ( I'm so classy) the longest part of making this card was deciding on the layout of the stars.

The sentiment is computer generated.

My second card is another very simple make,

There's something about gingham and daisies. I think they remind me of picnics in the park when the kids were little and the girls in their sun dresses.

The gingham is from a scrap of DP I found lurking in my snippets box.

The daisies are from a punch, cut twice and the middles are cut from another snippet of pale purple card.

I can't wait to see what you all wow us with for this challenge. Please pop along to the blog for some more inspiration and give the rest of the team some love.

Birthday card

 Hello there,

I'm popping in quick to share a birthday card I made recently.

I used a Funky Fossil stencil for the leaves, with handmade texture paste covered in WOW glittered embossing powder.

Happy birthday die is by The Stamp Market cut out of gold mirror card and white.

Thanks for popping in

Less is More # 452, Hexagons

 Hello there,

We have a fun challenge for you at Less is More today,

Lots of scope for your creativity with this one, we can't wait to see what you come up with.

For my first card I went obvious with a Bee theme.

A really simple design using Spellbinders Hexagon dies.

I started by making a panel for the front of my card and cutting a hexagon just right if centre.

I found a piece of thin card that I'd printed the honeycomb pattern  from The Lovely Studio onto, in my snippets box and placed it on the card base under my cutout.

I then cut two hexagons from the same piece of card and placed them alongside the cutout using foam pads.

I stamped, coloured and fussy cut the little bee, from a set from The Works, added some Glamour Dust to his wings and adhered him with a small foam pad.

The sentiment is PC generated and yes it is wonky. I think the die slipped when cutting it out and I didn't have time to do it again. Please don't judge me :)

My second card was made for my son's birthday which he celebrated recently.

I've used the football theme and the colours of his favourite team, Hull City FC, who play in black and amber.

I started with a stencil from Studio 75 and black ink. The hexagons are Spellbinders again cut from amber card. 

I stamped and heat embossed a football from a very old Stampman set and cut that out with the smallest hexagon die.

The sentiment is PC generated (straight this time)

Thank you for popping in

Star book

 Hello there,

The new challenge at  A place to start is to use patterned paper. I have used lots of patterned paper on my project.

My DiL asked me to make a special keepsake for her friend who was leaving the UK to go back home to Lithuania. After some thought I decided to make a star book. 

The beauty of these are that you can make them like a small scrapbook with as much or little decoration as you wish.

 

I used strong colours both in card and DP

Lots of memories.

I had so much fun making this I'm planning my next one.

DP Shabby Princess except the stars which I've had for donkeys years and have forgotten the brand name.

Ice cream stamps from Avery Elle

Star dies from Sizzix

Card from Papermill Direct.

 

Thanks for popping in

Less is More #451 Sparkle

 Hello there,

Well September already, where is this year going? But it is Saturday and time for our latest challenge at Less is More

and this time we want to see your creations sparkle.

We have the lovely and very talented Viv of Daizy-Mae designs as our guest designer for this challenge.

Please check out her blog and give her some love.

 Just the one card from me this time,

My first thought for this challenge was a Christmas card but I thought that would be the obvious choice and wanted to do something a little bit different. After a lot of thought I decided on this Dragonfly die.

I managed to find a piece of card that I'd previously smooshed in pink and blue DI and luckily the colours lined up beautifully with the die.

I added some Glamour Dust to the wings and some tiny gem stones to the body for extra sparkle.

I used a brick stencil and some decorative chalk for the background.

The sentiment is from a Christmas stamp set but it fit perfectly for this challenge.

Die- Amazon

Stencil- Studio 75

Stamp- Winnie & Walter, Sentimental Winter.

We are looking forward to seeing your creations, who doesn't love a bit of bling

Thanks for popping in.

Less is More #450

 Hello there,

Time for another dreaded one layer challenge at Less is More and this time we have Spots as the theme.

After a five minute panic I went through my stamp collection and found a surprising number of stamps I could have used.

This design came to me in a very rare moment of inspiration and |I'm rather pleased with how it turned out.

The tiny dots are made using a stencil ( Alexandra Renke) which I masked off before sponging with Versafine Onyx ink.

I stamped the Visible Image circles/ spots at random angles around the dots and coloured them with Spectrum Noir markers.

I chose the colours carefully so that each of the overlapping circles looks like a mix of the two main colours.

For my second card I used this cute spotty dinosaur stamp  from My Favorite Things and coloured him in two shades of green SN markers. 

I added some grass to ground him. 

Please head over to the Less is More blog for more fabulous inspiration.

Thanks for popping in

Less is More #449

Hello there,

Time for a new challenge at  Less is More and this time we have a colour challenge

I must admit blue isn't my favourite colour but I manage to make a couple of cards to share.

For my first card I used these triangles from Visible Image and coloured them with Spectrum Noir pens in different shades of blue.

The sentiment is by Avery Elle

This one is using a butterly from Docrafts coloured with a mix of Promarkers and Spectrum Noir pens.

The sentiment is PC generated and I've added some tint gem stones

We can't wait to see your creations. Please head over to the Less is More blog for some gorgeous inspiration from the DT

Thanks for popping in

Less is More #448

 Hello there,

 

 

Time for a brand new challenge at Less is More and this time it's a lovely one.

It's Teamie  Elaine's birthday this month so she has chosen a gorgeous card for us to case.

You have lots of choices with this card. There's the rose's, the colour and/or the tiling. Or you can put you're own interpretation on it. We can't wait to see your creations.

I chose to use this stamp, Zinnia's from Flourishes for my CASE, mainly because of the variety of oranges and golds they come in.

I stamped the image twice and coloured each flower separately making sure I got the right colour on the right flower. Once coloured I cut the base one with a stitched square die and adhered it to my card.

I cut a rectangle from the second image and carefully placed it over the first so that all the petals met.

The sentiment is a stamp from Visible Image.

I kept it to the one 'tile' and concentrated on the colours for my card but check out the other DT on the Less is More blog for some fabulous inspiration.

Stamps...Flourishes, Visible Image

Dies...Die-namics, Spellbinders

Less is More #447 Christmas in July

 Hello there

We have a fabulous new challlenge at Less is More and this time it's

It's never too early to make a start on your Christmas cards and we hope this challenge will give you some inspiration to get your stash off to a good start.

 

 

I've been looking for a good sized Poinsettia stamp for a while and luckily managed to find this one from Colorado Craft Company while browsing Seven Hills Crafts store a few weeks ago. It's two flower stamps and greetings so the choice for card design and size is great. I think I'll be using this stamp set a lot this year.

I stamped and embossed the Poinsettias in gold EP and coloured with Promarkers. The photo looks as if one side is darker but irl they are the same, honest.

The greeting is from the same set.

We can't wait to see your designs for this challenge.

Thanks for popping in x

Less is More #446 Monogram

 Hello there,

Another Saturday has whooshed around and given us a new challenge at Less is More

 

 

 

Here's a couple of definitions. I think we'll be happy to take 2 or more letters, not necessarily intertwined. 

Monogram: a motif of two or more interwoven letters, typically a person's initials, used to identify a personal possession or as a logo

a design consisting of two or more alphabetic letters combined or interlaced, commonly one's initials

 

 I only have this one set of alphabet stamps ( Waltzing Mouse) so a bit limited on design but I do think with the scrolls ( also WM frames set) embossed in gold on the burgundy card it looks quite classy.

We're looking forward to seeing your creations but if you're struggling with this one, the lovely Neil

from the DT mentioned that there are some great online free monogram making sites out there, check them out.

 

Thanks for popping in x

Birthday card

 Hello there,

It's my sister in law's birthday this week so I've made another cards using the new Pink Fresh Studio

stamp, this time in bright spring colours.

 

 Stamped and embossed in silver EP and coloured with Spectrum Noir pens, then mounted onto a piece of silver card with a waifer thin border.

I'm entering this card into the current challenge at Inkspirational Challenges

 

 Thank you for popping in

Less is More #445

 Hello there,

It's Saturday and time for a brand new challenge at Less is More

 

 It's colour challenge week and we have beautiful colours for you, Pale Blue and yellow.

I've used a digital image for my card, something I haven't done for a long time. The beauty of digi images is that you can choose the size of your image to suit your design or card base size. There are some beautiful images out there and I've chosen one by Alex Syberia. Alex was one of our sponsors for our birthday celebration month and her designs are stunning.

Really simple card to make.

After deciding where to put my image I adjusted the angle slightly and simply printed directly onto my card.

I used quite a light weight card stock but it's good for colouring onto. I used a mix of Promarkers and Spectrum Noir pens.

The leaves were my biggest problem so I coloured those in a pale turquoise

The sentiment is stamped on black card in clear ink and embossed in white EP 

Stamp- Alex Syberia-Avery Elle

 

Please check out the inspiration from the other DT's on the blog.

 

Thanks for popping in 

 

Emilia's 2nd birthday

 Hello there,

It was Emilia, our youngest grand daughters, birthday last monday. That girl is so blessed. Not only was it a bank holiday so everything could happen on the actual day but the weather was glorious and lots of our restrictions have been lifted so she had lots of friends and family to see her and enjoy her little party.

Alan and I went early morning so we could spend some quality time with her and the family before the madness began so missed most of the fun but we do have photo's.

 

Meely had been at a party a few weeks ago and didn't like the bouncy castle but this time they couldn't keep her off it.

Here is the card I made for her,

She loves having a kick about with her dad. I think he's getting ready to sign her up for Hull City's ladies team so as soon as I saw this digi stamp from Lilli of the Valley I had to have it. Even the hair is like Meely's.

Image is coloured with Spectrum Noir pens

The DP is The Lovely Studio

Scalloped and circle die are Spelbinders

The daisy's are from Amazon and the middles, number and heart are die cut from a scrap piece of card previously sponged with pink Nuvo Embellishment Mousse. It leaves a lovely sheen.

Thanks for popping in, have a lovely weekend.

Less is More #444, Favourite Technique

 Hello there,

It's a bank holiday weekend in the UK so a perfect time to get crafting and join in with our new challenge at Less Is More. Hopefully the weather is going to improve too. I think Spring forgot to turn up this year.

We want you to share your passion. The one technique that you use most simply because you love it.

My favourite technique changes depending on my mood but at the moment I'm using stencils more and more. I'm building quite a collection and have been trying different methods of using them. I do love texture and the effects different products give. My first card is made using Embellishing Mousse.

Get me being all trendy with a slimline card.

I've used this gorgeous Teal coloured card with Gold Nuvo Embellishing Mousse. I think it looks quite opulant and also shows that Cas doesn't have to be white.

The Stencil is a cheap one I found on Amazon.

The sentiment, also from Amazon is die cut in gold mirror card

My next one is using a Snowflake Stencil from Funky Fossil.

I've used homemade texture paste and embossed it with two tone Moonglow EP in blue/gold.

 

My last card is also using homemade texture paste with a heart stencil from Studio 75. I sprinkled this one with very pale pink glitter.

 The word die is from Dieversions triple layered in pink card.

Homemade texture paste is really easy and cheap to make.

1/4 cup of talcum powder ( I use baby powder because it smells lovely)

1 TBS cheap uPVA glue

1 TBS white acrylic paint

Some water.

Mix together adding small amounts of water until the paste has the consistancy of toothpaste.

Keep in an air tight jar and it lasts for a good few weeks.

I hope I've given you some ideas. Please check out the other DT members blogs for some fabulous inspiration.

Thanks for popping in.