Hello there,
The last batch of Christmas cards for this year have been safely delivered.
I'll hold my hands up and admit I stole the idea for this one from the online card store Zazzle. It's very sparkly and easy to make so I went with it. I made quite a few in pale blue, pale pink, red and purple.
The glitter card is from a local £1 store.
The snow flakes are by Joanna Sheen cut from silver mirror card.
The sentiment is by Gina K, stamped and embossed in silver EP.
Thanks for popping in x
Hello there,
I'm back with another of a batch of Christmas cards for family and friends.
The star stamp is by The Ton and although it's not a Christmas stamp I think it works well as one.
The star die is by Hero Arts cut from silver glitter card
The sentiment is by Docrafts stamped in clear ink and embossed in silver EP.
Thanks for popping in x
Hello there,
It seems ages since I posted a card that wasn't for a challenge. I thought I'd better start showing some of the cards I've batch made for this Christmas.
I used Burgundy pearlescent card from PMD. I also made some deep green ones but forgot to photograph them Doh!
I ran a panel through an embossing folder from Spellbinders, then mounted it onto some gold card before adhering it onto my card base.
The holly is a die from Alexander Renke cut from some brushed Rose Gold card from Sizzix.
I added some red flat back pearls forom my stash.
The sentiment is by Mama Elephant stamped and embossed in gold EP.
Thanks for popping in I'll be back soon with another design
Hello there,
My sister in law has her 70th birthday coming up very soon. I'm not sure she's too happy with the size of the number so I made her a card that I hope she finds amusing.
I'm sure she'll get her own back when it's my turn hee hee.
I used Papermill Direct baby pink pearescent card for the base and the toppers. PMD dark grey card embossed with an old embossing folder (not sure who by)
Memory Box butterfly and numbers
The wording I did on the printer. Because the card is pearlescent the ink stays wet long enough to sprinkle EP onto. Just remember to use an anti static cloth first and a paler colour than your EP for your font.
Thanks for popping in
Hello there,
It's time for our latest challenge at Less is More and this is our last challenge for this year. We will be back but not until March 2023. Can you wait that long?
Sadly we are also saying goodbye to our wonderful teamie Michelle so we have a DT call along with this challenge. Just put DT after your name with your entry if you'd love a chance to join us.
So, onto our challenge. The title is outdoors which gives you plenty of scope to let your imaginations run riot. We can't wait to see what you come up with.
For my card I've gone with this gorgeous digi stamp from Lili of the Valley called James and the snowman. Well you can only have a snowman outdoors can't you? They tend to disappear and leave a puddle behind if you build one in your kitchen.
I printed the image onto some watercolour card and coloured it with watercolour pencils. I added a sentiment using a font called 'I love glitter'.
To finish off I cut a wavy edge along a post it note and used it as a mask to brush some pale blue chalk 'hills' behind the image. A little bit of white glitter along James hat and that's it.
Enjoy your Christmas and have a super New Year everyone. Best wishes x
Hello there,
We have a fabulous new challenge today at Less is More.
Select two or more colours from the colour wheel.
I've been playing with the Brushos again. I wanted something blue and orange as that is a colour combination that I love and you're never quite sure what you're going to get with Brushos, or is that just me? Hee hee.
My first atempt was a bit pale and wishy washy but this one I was really pleased with. It reminded me of sunset reflecting on clouds so that's why I cut the birds from black card.
The sentiment is Avery Elle stamped in Versamark black on a banner cut from a Catherine Pooler die.
We're really looking forward to your creations, please check out the main blog for some gorgeous inspiration from the other teamies
Hello there,
It's time for our latest challenge at Less is More and it's a good one.
We want you to use a stencil. There are many ways you can use a stencil as I'm sure most of you know. You can ink it, use embossing paste or mousse, sprays or even Brushos. I can't wait to be inspired by your creations. Just remember to keep them clean and simple.
For my first card I used this gorgeous Christmas Tree stencil from Funky Fossil. I used versa colour ink through the stencil in Fresh Green except the star which I used Magnolia. I added a bit of yellow glitter to the star.
The sentiment isAvery Elle's Simple Sentiments
My second card is using this stencil from Alexander Renke and Nuvo Embellishing Mousse.
Sentiment is Mama Elephant Holiday Messages
Looking at it now I think the design might be upside down but it's done now and I still like it.
Please check out the LiM blog for some more fabulous inspiration from the DT. I'm looking forward to seeing your creations.
Hello there LIMettes,
It's time for another challenge at Less is More and it's the dreaded one layer challenge.
So, something a little bit different this time. I have to admit that I cannot draw to save my life so this really was a challenge for me. But then, after some thought I decided to go nice and simple ( I can easily relate to simple :)
A ruler and a good fine liner pen makes all the difference. I know it's not pretty or artistic but it serves it's purpose and I'm quite pleased with it and myself.
I drew the frame first then used a couple of post it notes to mask off one side and the bottom before stamping the flowers.
The flower stamp is one of my oldest and still favourite sets, Gerbera Daisy by Flourishes.
I coloured the flowers with various markers in autumn colours.
The sentiment is also very old and is from Papertrey Inc.
I'm really looking forward to seeing your creations for this challenge and don't forget to chack out the blogs of the other DT's
Thanks for popping in
Hello there,
We have a fabulous new challenge for you this fortnight at Less is More
After much thought and deliberation (my mojo went on strike) I had a sudden light bulb moment and came up with this card,
Hey LIMettes
We have a fabulous new challenge for you at Less is More ,
I love using vellum although I don't use it as often as I should. Luckily enough I bought a pack only a few weeks ago.
This is my card,
My lovely and very clever blog friend Viv posted a card using this reverse stamping on Vellum technique a couple of weeks ago with a link to a video tutorial by our wonderful founder Chrissie.
I simply cut a square of vellum slightly larger than my window and stamped a few small snowflakes in clear ink and embossed them with white embossing powder. On the reverse side I stamped the same snowflakes in versacolor blue ink.
While the ink was drying I cut my window using Pink Fresh Studio Blanket stitched squares die from a square of card slightly smaller than my base card.
I placed the vellum under the window and stuck it all down with foam tape.
The sentiment is Mamma Elephant Holiday Messages
Snowflakes are by Inkadinkado ( I think ).
A close up of the stamped vellum.
While I had the vellum on my desk I thought I'd make a quick gift tag.
I used a gift tag die to cut a tag from vellum and another from teal card and attatched them with an eyelet.
I stamped onto the vellum this sentiment from Gina K in clear ink and gold embossing powder and again with a small flourish stamp from Papertrey along the bottom of the teal tag.
I marked the vellum tag with a pencil before cutting at an angle along the bottom edge.
I look forward to seeing your creations. Thank you for popping in...
Hello there,
I'm popping in to share a wedding card I made for friends of my son and DiL. I was asked to make their wedding invitations at quite short notice but they paid me double the asking price so the least I could do was send them a card.
The colour scheme was emerald and I found a couple of pieces of card I'd smooshed ages ago in different shades of green. I like to give my smooshed cards a quick spray of glimmer mist in either gold or silver. I love the subtle sheen when the light is right.
I started by using a heart die to emboss the front of my card as a guide. I then cut lots of the leaf branches from the curved leaf branch die set by Alexandra Renke, from scraps of white card just to play about with until I got a layout I was happy with.
Then I cut the leaves from the smooshed card getting a good mix of shades of green and swapped the white leaves for the green ones.
I cut the congratulations with a die and 3 layers of white card and one of old gold pearl card.
The whole card was extremely fiddly and took forever but I'm really pleased with the end result. I don't think I'll be doing another one just yet though.
Thanks for popping in...
Hello there,
It's that time again, a brand new challenge at Less is More and it's the dreaded One Layer card.
It is a nice easy one though. We want you to share your favourite flowers with us.
Just remember to keep it one layer only. No die cuts or extra layers please and keep it clean & simple.
I don't think I have a 'favourite' flower. I love all flowers really, although I do have a fondness for the daisy family. They have such a large range from the humble lawn daisy which we used for daisy chains, to the large brightly coloured Gerbera's.
So I've used a part of this stamp from Pink Fresh Studio. I stamped it on watercolour card in Versamark black ink and gave it a sprinkling of clear embossing powder.
I used watercolour pencils for a change to colour my image. I think I need a bit more practice but I'm reasonably pleased with the result.
The background wash is very pale yellow IRL but the photo makes it look brighter.
I finished off with a simple sentiment from Visible Image.
Please check out the main blog for some fab inspiration from the rest of the team.
Thank you for popping in...
Hello there,
I'm popping in today to share the card I made for grand daughter Ruby's 14th birthday.
I water coloured various flower die cuts from Alexandra Renke and Simply Graphic.
I also used some purple watercolour paint to splatter the base card before adhering the flowers.
The sentiment is PC generated and I finished with a few sequins.
Ruby is doing really well. She's 5 years cancer free now and thriving. She's doing well in school and simply enjoying being a teenager. We have a lot to be thankful for.
Thanks for popping in
Hello there,
It's time for a brand new challenge at Less is More and this time it's a theme.
The possibilities are endless with a butterfly image from the different species we see all over the world to the colourful fantasy ones in our heads.
I can't wait to see your creations,
I've seen lots of these 'floating' panels on cards lately so I thought I'd give it go.
Really easy to do. I cut my strips of card the same width and adhered them onto a piece of acetate leaving a small space between each strip. I then simply used a circle die to make the topper. I place foam pads behind the strips to keep them hidden and placed it on my card.
The butterfly is cut from a Memory Box die using 8 layers of pink paper. I made the body from a scrap of pale green card and added some green gems before adhering it to the topper.
I used some glitter and pearlised card from Sizzix in old gold for the topper.
My next card is made using watercolour card and a very old butterfly stamp from Elusive Images.
I stamped the images in Versafine black ink and embossed it with clear EP.
I painted it with some blue and violet Twinkling H2O's. There is a bit of a sheen to the finished image but the camera hasn't picked it up unfortunately.
The card blank is 4" x4" so quite small but I thought it made a nice thank you card. The sentiment is from Visible Image.
Please pop over to the LIM blog for some fabulous inspiration and leave some love for the rest of the team.
Hello there,
Just popping in with a card I made for grandson Markuss's 18th birthday.
I'm not very imaginative when it comes to man cards, you may have noticed lol but you can't really go wrong with a bit of gold and some stars can you?
DP is Papermania ( very old)
Star dies Hero Arts I think.
Number dies are Memory Box
Thanks for popping in
We have a brand new challenge today at Less is More. It's a colour challenge and this time we want Traditional Christmas colours.
For my first card I've used different shades of green card to cut out my trees and some gold card for the word die.
This card is using Sizzix winter foliage dies.
I simply added a few white flat back pearls and little red bow.
The sentiment is by Winnie & Walter.
My last card is based on a design I found on Pinterest.
The snowflakes dies are from Janna Sheen cut from baby blue pearised card, white pearised card and baby blue glitter card.
I added a blue gem in the centre of the top snowflake and some silver twine at the top.
The sentiment is from Avery Elle.
Thanks for popping in and please check out the rest of the team on the main blog for some fab inspiration.
Hello there,
It was our grand daughter Ami's 10th birthday last week.
As she's growing up fast now I thought a more grown up card would please her.
I started with a 6x6 white card base.
I cut a piece of lilac card slightly smaller than my base and layered a piece of white embossed pearlised card on iy leaving a narrow border.
Luckily the number 10 was easy to make in a larger size simply by using two oval dies, one inside the other, and cutting a longish piece the same width as the oval.
The flowers are from Sweet Lilac flowers and I've used a selection of colours.
Finished with a sprinkling of sequins and a sentiment I printed from the PC.
Thanks for popping in
Hello there,
We have a brand new challenge over at Less is More and it's a super (aren't they all?)
We'd like to see embossing on your cards this time but remember to keep them clean & simple with plenty of clean space.
I'm sitting comfortably in my happy place with this challenge. I really do love a bit of embossing, in fact it was the first thing I attempted when I first started making cards all those years ago.
One of the first pieces of equipment I bought was a heat gun and some embossing powder and even now I get a thrill from watching the powder melt as if by magic. So I might just have got a bit carried away with my inspiration samples this time.
Dry embossing
Dry embossing can be done with an embossing stylus or an embossing folder. This card is simplicity itself.
I used my Crafters Companion box maker and a stylus and just scored the lines until I thought the panel was wide enough.
I cut my flowers from watercolour card and gave them a wash of water colour paints.
I added a sentiment stamped and embossed in gold.
The crocus and Illarius are from Alexandra Renke, the tulip is Simply Graphic
Texture Embossing
For this one I used a stencil called falling petals from Alexandra Renke and some Nuvo embellishing Mousse.
I used some more of the same flowers
Heat embossing
This one is slightly different and I'm not sure it's CAS enough so I've left it until last.
I used some mid grey card for my base and a piece of light grey for the panel.
The leaves are from a set by Crafters Companion that were free with a magazine ages ago.
I stamped them in clear ink and embossed the in gold EP before fussy cutting them.
I added a strip of black to the top of the panel and then added an eyelet in gold.
The sentiment is another really old Papertrey ink stamp, stamped and embossed in gold.
I finished off with some waxed thread in gold.
Sympathy cards are not the nicest ones to have to make but I do like to have a couple ready made because sooner or later I know I will need one.
I do hope I've given you a little bit of inspiration, please pop over to the Less is More blog for some super creations from my teamies.
Hello there,
I'm popping with a card I made for my friend and neighbour Vera's birthday.
I've sponged inks onto cards in the past but have it difficult to blend well using the round, flat sponges so decided to try blending brushes. I bought some cheap ones online to try and they're wonderful, so much easier. They're easy to clean afterwards too.
This is what I made,
I used Versacolor Marigold, Orange and Pink.
Once dry I used an embossing folder (I bought online and has no name )
I stamped the sentiment from Sugar Pea designs in clear ink onto some Vellum and embossed it in white EP.
Once the panel was attached to the card base I finished off with some yellow sequins and yellow & orange flat back pearls.
I'm really pleased with this one so expect some more sponged designs in the near future lol.
Thanks for popping in
It's time for the latest challenge at Less is More. It's one layer time again and we want to see just one image on your card, although you can also use a sentiment.
Don't forget one layer means no extra layers or die cuts and lots of clean space.
Please check out the blogs of the DT for some fabulous inspiration and we really look forward to seeing your creations.
I had a good rummage through my stamps for this challenge and found this gorgeous camper van I'd almost forgotten about. I spent a long journey and one night in one once way back when I was about 17. It was the most uncomfortable trip ever but the memory is fond.
Anyway, enough about me.
I stamped and embossed the image in versamark ink and clear EP before colouring with marker pens.
I hand wrote the license plate with a fine liner pen just for fun. I'm not sure of the makers name for this stamp, I think I might have bought it from Hobbycraft a very long time ago.
As an afterthought I made a mask and sponged some pale yellow ink around the outside of the image.
The sentiment is computer generated.
My second card was really quick and easy.
I stamped this cute little snowperson from Penny Black in Memento black ink.
Coloured with marker pens and finished with little sentiment.
Thanks for popping in and don't forget to check out the inspiration from the rest of the team.
Hello there,
We have a fab new challenge over at Less is More , one for the men in your lives.
This challenge is very handy for us in the UK particularly as it's Fathers Day on the 19th June.
With this in mind I chose this super digi stamp from Justinklined (sadly no longer trading) for my card.
Now I know that ladies garden too but those wellies scream bloke to me so this is the card I'm giving to my dad this year.
Although he is 90 now he still likes to potter a bit in the garden as long as it doesn't involve too much bending and no kneeling ha ha
The image is coloured with a mix of marker pens.
The sentiment is PC generated.
We can't wait to see your creations, please pop over to the Less is More blog for some fabulous inspiration from the team.
Thanks for popping in
Hello there,
It's time for our new challenge at Less is More and it's colour challenge fortnight.
This could be anything as long as you use the colours of the rainbow Don't forget to keep it CAS with lots of clean space. I'm really looking forward to your creations this time, they'll be super colourful.
For my card I used these candle dies from Sugar Pea Designs. Cut from snippets from my scrap box(es) in the relevant colours and run through different embossing folders for some texture.
I added a tiny bit of yellow glitter to the flames.
The sentiment is from Sugar Pea Birthday set.
Please check out the main LIM blog for some great inspiration from the team. There might even be one or two extra cards in there.
Thanks for popping in
Hello there,
I'm here today to share my card for our latest challenge at Less is More
This time we have a theme which is to Use a Tag
We look forward to seeing your creations.
Hello there,
It's time for a new challenge at Less is More ,
Don't forget this is a one layer card so no additions and plenty of clean space.
Please check out the blog for some fabulous inspiration from the team. We're looking forward to seeing your creations.
I used this gorgeous digi stamp from LOTV and coloured it with various marker pens.
The sentiment is computer generated
I like to have cards available for the not so regular occurances, sometimes I get caught out when I have little time to rustle something up. This will go into the ' just in case' box.
Thank you for visiting my blog.
