Less is More # 431

 Hello there,

This year has seemed to fly by which is odd when you think what a very strange 8 months we've had. I really do hope you're all feeling well and coping with our new normal. Hopefully next year will be a wonderful time with fabulous weather and the chance to make the most of our friends and family again.

So, It's late October already, we're well into Autumn which is quite handy because our new challenge at Less is More 

is a goody

 

In my garden I have a St Johns Wort  shrub which starts off with yellow flowers which turn into orange then red and then black berries. We also have lots of trees and huge bushes on the land outside of the garden so I've taken my inspiration from what I can see from my kitchen window. I love this time of year when the leaves are changing colour.

All the leaves are from die sets from Amazon and they are cut from scraps from my stash that I've smooshed with various colours of DI's.

The red berries are made from Pearl Makers.

Sentiment is from Papertrey Ink

Please check out the other DT inspiration and I'm really looking forward to seeing your creations

Thanks for popping in x

 

 

CaS Christmas Birds

 Hello there,

I'm a bit late with my entry for this months challenge at CaS Christmas 

which is Christmas Birds

 

 My first thought was to use a Robin but I knew I didn't have a decent robin stamp and even if I did I am so rubbish at colouring that it would have been an embarrasment. I was going to leave it for this month and then remembered I have this Christmas Goose stamp from Penny Black

Not a great deal of colouring needed for this beauty.

I ended up being quite pleased with the result and intended it to be a one layer card until I stamped the sentiment skew wiff so I covered it up with a banner.

I thought I was having a dodgy day until I looked at this poor goose. All dressed up and strutting her stuff, I wonder if she knows what's in store for her.

Thanks for popping in x

1st anniversary card

 Hello there,

I decided to treat myself to some Alexandra Renke stencils last week. They're not cheap but they are lovely and they arrived just in time to make a card for my daughter and her wife's 1st wedding anniversary today.

This stencil is called Falling Petals and I love it. It's perfect for cards like this.

I used texture paste on the stencil and smothered it in yellow/orange two tone embossing powder from Moon Glow. I've had these powders for years and don't use them often enough.

The flower is X cut Gerbera Daisy cut from bright yellow card.

The sentiment is computer generated.

I think I might be using this stencil quite a lot in the future

Thanks for popping in x

Less is More # 430

 Hello and welcome to a brand new challenge at Less is More 

and this time it's,

 

 Here is Sharon's card to CASe

That's the card to CASE, so there are lots of things you can use e.g. stars, flowers, foliage, gold, yellow, orange, red, repeat stamping ( or making a designer paper), heat embossing, die cutting, banner, Happy Birthday, the layout, nuvo drops (might be just visible).

We're looking forward to seeing your creations.

Here is my take on the card,

I've gone with straight lines for my shaped panel with some dotty backing paper behind it.

The flower is made from a die and is made up of 4 layers of each of the 3 sizes and I've brought the petals forwaed a little to give it some depth.

The sentiment is from Avery Elle

 

Thank for popping in x

 

Less is More #429

 Hello there,

I hope you're all well and raring to get into your craft space for the latest challenge from Less is More

 

 
 One layer time again and this time it's 'cheers'

We want to see your creations for celebrations, get togethers with friends or simply enjoying a cocktail or two. Just don't forget to keep it clean and simple.

I struggled a bit with this but I think that was down to me and a lack of mojo and imagination.

I had 3 tries that all ended up in the bin before I finally came up with this one which I'm ok with.

I used a dark blue coated card with a slight shimmer to it.

I used a stamp set from Sugar Pea designs called Cheers to You, stamped in clear ink and embossed in silver EP.

Originally I tried colouring inside the glasses with a very watery Twinkling H2O paint that is made especially for dark card but it looked absolutely rubbish, possibly because it's coated card so I gave up on that idea and left it clean. I think it says every thing I needed it to say.

I'm also entering this card into the latest challenge at  Time Out 

I'm looking forward to seeing what you all come up with. Please check the DT entries too for some inspiration.

Thanks for popping in.

CAS Mix up challenge September

 Hello there,

First all I'd like to welcome my new follower Chana. Thank you for following my blog

The challenge at CAS Mix up 

this month is embossing with dies.

 

I've embossed with dies lots of times but there's some really good tutorials on the blog for doing somethings a bit different. One technique that caught my eye was inking up the die before embossing with it and then applying EP so I thought I'd give that a go. There is also some super inspiration from the DT and some of the entries are beautiful.

I had 3 practice runs with different dies and scraps of card and all 3 went straight into the bin. They either had not enough ink or too much ink that touched the whole die or bits of both. So, ofcourse that meant too much embossing powder or not enough. So I've gone with what I know works for me and leave the fancy, clever stuff for the artists.

The die I used is from Amazon

Sentiment from Avery Elle

The butterfly is cut with a Memory Box die and 8 layers of vellum.

I use vellum because it's stiff enough to keep it's height.

I finished it off with a small dab of Pearl Maker mainly to cover where the glue is.

I'm getting to that age when I seem to need more and more of these sort of cards and this design feels just enough to me.

Thanks for popping in.

Less is More #428

Hello there,

We have a super new challenge for you today over at Less is More

I know a few of our regulars will be over the moon at this colour choice.

When ever I think purple I always go for the bluish tones, think Cadbury's chocolate wrappers. I did think that purple also covered the red tones but wasn't sure, so I googled it and it does. That means I could make two cards to share this time.

For my first card I started with some mottled lilac card (I think it's from Papermill Direct but I've had it for years). It's quite subtle but perfect for this card.

I used my Memory box Zippy Dots stencil and some texture paste, before smothering it in lilac embossing powder.

While the paste was drying I made my flower. I used eight layers of purple tissue paper cut out with a super little die set I found in the Range, from Crafters Companion. I'm raving about this die set because

it has the best Stamen die I've ever used.

I added a heart shaped gem stone and a single sequin.

The sentiment is from Avery Elle.

I used the largest of the stamen dies and four layers of orange tissue paper.

Using a tiny amount of glue, just enough to stick the layers down and using my thumb nail to make the edges stand up I manage to create this. Can you tell how pleased I am?

My second card is more of a reddish purple

Same mottled card and another  Memory Box stencil, Texture Disperse. After lots and lots of masking I used texture paste again, this time covering it with  Mauve glitter.

The Gerbera flower die is from X cut and for this one I used Vellum. The stamen die is the same one I used in the first card.

I added some tiny purple gems between the stencilled lines.

Sentiment from Avery Elle.

I'm looking forward to seeing your creations, please check out the main blog for some more inspiration from the design team.

Thanks for poppig in x