Less is More #398 - one layer and spots

It's absolutely ages since I joined in with many of the challenges I used to play in (when I had more time), and one of those is Less is More.

I have a big Really Useful Box, stuffed full of unused items such as stamps, dies and stencils (or NBUS as Darnell would say). Some are to be used for my Snippets Playground challenge samples, and some are items I either bought just for me, or have been sent by lovely friends.

This card is a mixture, the stamp set is a one off that I fell in love with and bought last year - there was only one in stock, and it doesn't seem to be available here in the UK right now. However, the stencil has a duplicate in the Toy Box and that will be on offer, sometime fairly soon.

So - the theme is one layer over at Less is More #398 - and you also have to include spots. This is my offering:

I used:

- 6" x 6" white card blank (in fairness, Hobbycraft's card blanks are a teensy bit smaller even though they quite cheekily sell them as 6" x 6" (the envelopes are 6" x 6" though) and I usually trim them down slightly to 5.75" x 5.75" - as I did in this case

- the stamp set I used is such a fun one - it's by Your Next Stamps and is called 'One in a Chameleon'. Really great images and also some very cheesy sentiments as well. Also I especially like that the images lines are lovely and thick, which makes them perfect for masking

- stamped the chameleon and one of the flowers onto a piece of Woodware Magi-film, using Ranger Archival ink (wasn't sure whether Memento would possibly smear when I was fussy cutting the images so played safe) - and then spent ages carefully fussy cutting out the two masks

- then stamped the chameleon and the flower onto the card front, using the Misti of course

- popped the masks onto the images on the card front and then adhered the stencil in place using some low tack tape before stencilling the green spots using an Altenew 'Feeling Dotty' stencil, SU's 'Wild Wasabi' ink pad and a Clarity stencil brush

- removed the stencil and the two little masks then coloured in the flower and the chameleon using Whispers brush pens

- then added the two sentiments (using Memento 'Tuxedo Black' ink) with the help of the Misti and some clear acetate with grid lines on for the initial alignment - and naturally also did a check before 'going for it'!

- final touch, a coating of Glossy Accents on the eyes - and I also checked that the Glossy Accents wouldn't react with the pupil of the chameleon by trying it on a snippet of card first - me not always as daft as me looks!

Finished! As I said, this is such a fun set of stamps and it's ages since I did any masking so am quietly pleased with the result. I did Google to look for ideas to colour in the chameleon and came across some images where folk had used the colours of the rainbow - which I admit I unashamedly followed and then I thought I'd do the same when colouring the flower). And I do love his little 'two-fingered salute ☺

It also struck me that, as it's a celebration of World/Gay Pride at the moment, it's quite appropriate.

Less is More - Challenge #384 - Metallics

Not much time to join in with challenges these days, but the latest LIM challenge where the theme is 'Metallics' really called to me - particularly as I had a two part set of dies I wanted to use to boost my Christmas card target - which is now up to 106.

I made four cards, switching the gold and copper around so there are two of each exactly the same in the set of four:

I used:

- 5'5" x 4.25" white card blank, tent style

- layers of gold and copper Xcut adhesive metal effect sheets for the borders. To add these it's easier to just peel off a little bit of the backing down one short side and line it up on the card blank before going the whole hog and peeling off the rest. tI helps with alignment of course and if you gently smooth as you peel off the rest it lies nice and flat

- then I die cut a white panel using a die from the Lil' Inkers 'Stitched Rectangles' set of dies

- then dug out snippets of the same adhesive gold and copper sheets (I never throw even the teeniest piece of these away - just store them in the packet with the rest of the sheets) and die cut the sentiment

- for the sentiment I used the 'shadow' set of two dies which I've been itching to use, made by Pink and Main called 'Merry Christmas' - and cut one from a snippet of gold and the other from a snippet of copper

- layered the die cuts together and then popped them onto the stitched white panel

- **and before going any further, to make sure the sentiment was well 'bonded' I ran the whole white panel through the Cuttlebug using embossing plates and an unopened embossing folder

- glued the white panel onto the card front and added three sequins - one large copper one and two smaller gold ones

** I really do recommend this step with your die cutting/embossing machine if you feel there's any chance of the self adhesive sheet coming adrift at all - plus, it really does make the wording look as if it's been foiled almost into the matching shadow background!

Happy dance here at having made four more Christmas cards. And, I also have this same set of Pink and Main dies in the Playground Toybox - lined up ready for the Christmas/New Year bumper draw. More about that nearer the time, grin.

This past few days have been doing inserts for the fairly large number of Christmas cards which hadn't been totally finished off as I went - naughty me! Having said that, so long as they aren't left right until the last minute it's much easier to set up a little production line and do them in batches of all the same size. Print, trim, fold, stick insert in place, add envelope, pop in cello bag (a bit wasteful I know but much easier when sorting out which card to send to who - plus I check the thickness using a letter gauge and write on the cello bag if it's a S (small) or L(large) letter stamp that's needed. OCD strikes again!!

Less Is More - Challenge #375 - Olive and Tangerine

The current challenge over at Less Is More is 'Olive and Tangerine' - two colours which I love to see together.

Here's my card, hoping it's CAS enough as I strayed from white as the base of the card for a change, so the aperture would stand out more:

And this is the LIM cue card:

Of course, the current bright sunshine washed the colour out of my card quite a bit, in real life that tangerine coloured background card and the bird are both really vivid!

I used:

- 5.5" x 4.25" white card blank, side opening

- stamped the image onto white card using Memento 'tuxedo Black' ink plus a bird and a branch from the Stampin' Up 'Bird Banter' set. Little tip - it was so worthwhile masking off the bird's tail before stamping the branch - a small detail but it does make a difference IMHO

- then coloured the image using Pro markers (using olive and also picking up the same shade of tangerine card I'd found in the snippets folder) and set the coloured image to one side

- trimmed the piece of tangerine coloured card to just slightly smaller than the card front

- used a die from the MFT 'Wonky Peek-a-boo Windows' set to cut an aperture in the tangerine card

- then used the Misti and a sheet of 'home printed acetate grid' to line up and stamp the sentiment stamp on the tangerine card - using Memento 'Tuxedo Black' ink again

- to make sure the white image panel was properly aligned in the aperture I lightly drew a pencil line around it, using the inside of the aperture die and trimmed right round to just over quarter of an inch outside the pencil lines, before rubbing them off

- stuck quarter inch wide red line tape around the back of the aperture, right up to the edge

- took the trimmed down image panel and checked it for alignment before attaching one edge to the back of the aperture using low tack tape

- that allowed me to gently peel off the other three sides, one at a time, whilst knowing that the image hadn't moved at all, then removed the low tack tape and adhered the last side. The main reason for this is because I wanted a firmly stuck down edge without the risk of glue seepage - and it works a treat if you use the tip of taping one edge in place (leaving the red line tape unpeeled of course) so you can work on the other three sides, one at a time

- final step was to glue the whole panel to the card blank

As happens so often here, there was almost a disaster when I was making this card. At the stage where I rubbed out the pencil lines around the image I managed to slightly crumple the coloured image panel in one corner! It was only slight but still would mean a lot of time lost (I'm a slow crafter). I did kick myself for grabbing some much thinner white card stock than I usually use for stamping - it was extra smooth and I just fancied trying it again. However, all was not lost 'cos I backed the panel with more white card using some double sided adhesive sheet (medium weight) and made sure I rubbed it firmly down using my Teflon folder tool, which totally flattened it out again. Phew, saved!

I did giggle later on in the day when Len spotted the finished card on my desk and said he liked it - then he quietly asked if I realised that the aperture was wonky! ☺☺☺

It's ages since I played along with Less is More and I loved making this card. I just hope it's Less is More enough, if that makes sense! As I said earlier, the aperture really needed a contrast but of course I'm dithering about it now. 

Hedgehog update: In this heat we've been leaving the kitchen door open a lot of the time when at home, to get any through breeze that might come along. Late the other evening, Len called to me to get into the kitchen as fast as possible - but I was too late to see what he'd just seen. The hedgie's feeding stations are close to the back door and when Len went to close the door - there was little 'Miss Sweet Face', the prettiest hedgie in the group, standing halfway between the feeding station and the open door looking up very quizzically as if to say 'Dare I venture in for a look around?'. It all happened so fast that I had no chance of scampering there in time - and in fact little Miss Sweet Face ran off behind the garden shed when she heard Len call me.

Happy days! And anyone with a Summer cold has my sincere sympathy!!

Less is More Challenge #363 - OLC Cute

First of all, it appears that Blogger has been fixed and embedded comments (the default setting) is working fine again without those long delays. I've reverted back to that rather than the pop up box which I didn't find as good in some ways - mainly embedded comments gives me, as well as others, the option to reply to comments within the comment facility. I've done this because I often find follow-on comments and don't want to stop that happening but will keep an eye on things just in case I need to flip back to a pop-up.

How happy I am that Less is More has switched to being a fortnightly challenge - I really do need thinking time for challenges, plus I generally only post on here a couple of times a week (possibly three if necessary) and of course one of those is always taken up with the Snippets Playground.

So, this fortnight's theme over at Less is More is the dreaded one layer plus 'Cute'. And this is my entry:

I used:

- 4" x 5.5" card blank, made using Strathmore Mixed Media Vellum Surface 300gsm paper (which of course gives you a nice sturdy card to work on)

- the Misti and a little penguin from the Jane's Doodles 'Winter Wishes' stamp set plus a sentiment from the Inkylicious 'Seasons Greetings' stamp set

- I measured out the card area using the Misti graph paper to get exactly the placement I wanted and then put the stamps in place and picked them up on the Misti lid

- did a practice run on the graph paper then put the card blank in place and stamped the image and sentiment at the same time. I was lucky that both stamps are exactly the same thickness despite being different brands - mostly it does work out OK but now and then the stamps will differ in thickness (ask me how I know this!)

- I used Ranger 'Black Archival' ink to stamp BTW - it's perfect for water based colouring mediums (I hear there's now a 'hybrid' ink pad made by MFT so that's something I aim to add into an on line order sometimes soon)

- so now I had one card with the outline penguin and sentiment - all ready to roll - so removed the card from the Misti

- the next step was to pop a Post-It note over the penguin which was stamped on the grid paper and then stamp the penguin again (there's a bit about the Post-It notes below this 'I used' bit of my blog post

- then fussy cut around the penguin and placed it on top of the penguin on the card as a mask

- out came the Ziggies and I did a very rough background using a couple of shades of blue and a water brush - somehow, the shape evolved into a bit of a domed shaker, not that I set out to do that!

- added a touch of grey/blue shadow underneath the penguin and quickly dried it using the heat gun

- then coloured the little penguin, again using my Ziggies

- final touch is 'White Opal' Liquid Pearls, dotted hither and thither to depict snow

One thing I learned whilst making this card is to do the 'flick to flatten' technique to get rid of any 'Hershey pointed tips' on the white dots of Liquid Pearls.

Another thing is those Post-It notes I mentioned. They're sticky all over the back (apart from a strip which is left clear at one edge with rounded corners to make removal and separating them easier). Jennifer McGuire uses them a LOT for masking and I'd been hunting on line for them in the UK for ages. I finally found some on Amazon UK a few weeks ago - hooray! They're known as 'Super Sticky Full Adhesive' and I bought the 50.8mm size. I instantly lost a few pads to my 'in-house critic'as for normal use they're much better than the single stripe of sticky style. Then, when working on this card, I found that 2" x 2" or so size could be cutting it a bit fine for bigger images - so I've just ordered more in 76mm x76mm size which is approx. 3" x 3" of course - link to Amazon UK is HERE. I've used various ways of masking images and this seems to be the cheapest and (for me) most accurate. My attempts at using masking fluid weren't as successful for small chaps like this penguin :)

But, a little word of slight warning. I almost came a cropper when doing the blue Ziggie background using a waterbrush! The colour from the bright pink Post-It made a bid for freedom - I had to make sure I worked towards the mask rather than away from it and Little Master Penguin does have a faint pink 'halo' in parts! Having said that, I was sloshing a fair amount of water around and, for the most part, will be using the Post-Its to create layers of stamped images. I do have some masking film which I'm sooo mean with as it cost a lot of money at the time!

And finally, just to finish off this marathon post, I was working away in the craft room ready to add the little white Liquid Pearls dots and Len glanced in on his way to the bathroom. There was a shout of 'Good grief, that's like a whole chemist's shop you've got there on your desk. And I dread to think what else is hidden in those cupboards!' Oooopsie:

I really can't imagine what he means, a girl needs choices, snigger 😀

Less is More #339 - Pierce Your Project

Happy August folks!

Another great challenge over at Less is More this week - 'Pierce Your Project'. You can do this in a variety of ways such as paper piercing, brads, eyelets, sewing and a whole host of other things. I opted to use pierced 'faux stitched' dies to frame a fun frog:

I used:

- 4.25" x 5.5" white card blank, tent style

- then used the largest die in the Lil' Inkers 'Stitched Rectangles' set to add a frame of 'pierced stitches' to the front of the card. I actually did this before trimming the card down to size but using low tack tape it could just as easily be done to a card already cut to size

- then die cut a smaller panel using a die from the same set and the same shade of white card

- stamped the frog and the sentiment onto the panel using the Misti and a Misti magnetic Creative Corner to make stamping in the corner easier. In truth, I could have stamped with the card panel over to the top right of the Misti and skipped the use of the additional Misti Creative Corner - but am a creature of habit and I always stamp in the bottom left corner of the Misti :)

- for the stamping I used a piece of clear acetate with grid lines on to position the frog and the sentiment - just to make sure the sentiment was straight. I find this an invaluable help and the NBUS stamp set I used is by Joy Clair, called 'Hoppy Birthday', such a fun set as well!

- used a Memento 'Tuxedo Black' ink pad and then coloured the image using Faber-Castell Polychromos pencils - blending using Sansodor blending fluid

- backed the image panel with white fun foam and glued it onto the card front

- final touch, added Glossy Accents to the eyes

A couple of little tips about using Sansodor blending fluid:

I popped a small piece of foam (from a make-up sponge - or a small piece of white felt would work either) into a little plastic jar and sprinkled a few drops of Sansodor on to moisten the sponge - absolutely ages ago. It rarely needs more drops adding and also ensures that you don't flood your work with blending fluid as you only need the tiniest amount on your blending stump.

I have a variety of different sized blending stumps but, again ages ago, I was given a great tip by Irene who was a UK bloggy friend. She sent me some really dinky pointed 'blending tips' that I believe are supposed to be used in a holder and changed when necessary. I know I have a spare packet of them with the brand name on, somewhere in here, but can't find it right now. Such a shame as I much prefer them for small areas and they seem to be almost made of a plastic like material which doesn't go at all 'blunt' like traditional cotton or paper stumps or tortillions. Yet they are slightly absorbent - if anyone knows what I'm talking about I'd love to know who makes them please! Sadly, Irene has given up blogging and I don't have her email address to ask her, sigh.

Edit: HOORAY, first Chris S and then Cara got in touch and the 'nibs' are from the Ranger 'Cut 'n Dry' range - try Amazon HERE if you're in the UK. IMHO you get more control using the wee little things without a holder! Thank you so much ladies! :)

Less is More #336 and #337 - OLC coloured Cardbase

The current challenge over at Less is More had me chewing my thumb nail for a while, not the one layer stipulation - but because I very rarely use coloured card as a base these days.

This is what I came up with - not very adventurous but rather pretty in real life (despite being an absolute 'piggy-wiggy' to photograph!):

This photo has slightly picked up the shimmer from the Brilliance ink layers

I used:

- 4" x 5.75" card blank, made using Neenah 'Desert Storm' card stock

- Penny Black stamp called 'dreamy' and the Misti to position the stamp first of all

- tapped all over the stem using VersaMark 'Hint of Pesto' chalk in pad and stamped it a couple of times

- tapped Memento 'Summer Sky' dye ink all over the wispy fronds and stamped

- next added some Brilliance 'Pearlescent Lavender' to the middle part of the wispy fronds and over stamped 

- then added some Brilliance 'Pearlescent Orchid' to the lower section of the wispy fronds and overstamped

- added a sentiment from the Paper Smooches ''Sentiment Sampler' set, using VersaMagic 'Hint of Pesto'

I'm always in a quandry here over Sympathy cards. When you need one you generally need it fast. But if you make one or two in advance to have ready, then it maybe doesn't seem as personal (to me at least). I guess the balance is to keep one or two on standby for those times when you just wouldn't be able to produce one quite quickly.

Less is More #335 - Colours of your country's flag

Whipped up a card for Less is More #335, using a pre-loved SU stamp set I bought recently. I kept to red, white and blue for UK's flag colours:

I used:

- 4.25" x 5.5" white card blank

- snippet of white card onto which I stamped the crazy looking chicken and sentiment (from SU's 'Hey, Chick' stamp set) using Memento 'Tuxedo Black' ink

- then coloured the image using red and blue Faber Castell Polychromos pencils, adding a touch of grey so the chick didn't appear to be levitating :)

- die cut the image panel using a Lil-inkers 'Stitched Rectangle' die

- mounted the image panel onto trimmed snippets of red and blue card before gluing it onto the card front

Done! I do love this stamp set - it makes me smile everytime I see a card made using it. 😍

We've been away for a break in Germany, visiting the little ones and their Mama.  I did my best to keep commenting on the Playground - but some of my comments may have seemed quite brief. Am much happier using a laptop when typing out more than a sentence or two! Normal service will now resume.

Less is More Challenge #332 - one layer- Sweet Things

Hooray, I found time to make a card for the latest Less is More challenge - it's one layer, 'sweet things'. And this is what I made:

And to prove the shimmer and gloss:

I used:

- 4.25" x 5.5" white card blank, tent style

- Memento 'Tuxedo Black' ink and a stamp from the Penny Black 'loads of love' set

- the sentiment was stamped at the same time, using the Misti and the same black ink plus a stamp by Whimsical Designs from the 'Whimsical Fun - Vol. 1' set 

- coloured the image using Pro markers and added a tickle of grey to 'ground' the mouse

- added shimmer to the icing using clear Wink of Stella and then some Glossy Accents to shine up the red heart

That was it - done very quickly.

I'd also like to enter this into the current challenge over at Penny Black and More for June where they're celebrating their 7th Birthday with 'Anything Goes'. Many congratulations ladies - and especially to Brenda who works so hard running several challenges.

Less is More #321 - Recipe - Use A Frame

It's a great theme over at Less is more this week - 'Use A Frame'.

Had a thought right away about a card design and this was the result:

I used:

- 4.25" x 5.5" white card blank, tent style

- then I die cut two matching sets of frames using Impression Obsession's 'Rectangle 6 in 1 Frames' and white card stock

- rootled through my collection of Penny Black Stickeroos until I found one that fitted nicely inside the frame I had in mind

- glued the two matching frames together, back to back, for dimension

- stuck the chosen Stickeroo (from the 'Language of Flowers' sheet) onto a snippet of white card and trimmed it to just a teensy bit smaller than the outer edge of the frame

- glued the frame on top of the Stickeroo flower image

- then, before adding the image to the card, I used the Misti to line up the image and a sentiment as I wanted them

- stamped the sentiment using Memento 'Tuxedo Black' ink and a stamp from the Hero Arts 'Love Life' sentiments set. This is the replacement set for the one I was whining over the other week when a favourite sentiment went kaput - took a lot of tracking down but worth all the searching!

- finally, glued the framed image onto the card front and called it done

I do love the set of frames you get from this die, and it's really worth the effort of cutting a second for added dimension too.

Less is More #320 - Washi tape

The current challenge over at Less is More (#320) is 'Washi Tape'.

The DT and many of the entries have really used some inventive and ingenious ways to use Washi tape. But, I went for a very simple and easy design, relying on the lovely vibrant colours and a NBUS flowing script sentiment to add that 'certain something':

I used:

- 4.25" x 5.5" white card blank, tent style

- piece of white card for a front panel, trimmed slightly smaller than the card front

- the sentiment was stamped using the Misti, Memento 'Tuxedo Black' ink and a single sentiment stamp from a NBUS Penny Black sentiments stamps set called ''special thoughts'

- then I just tore the ends on three rolls of washi tape so that they were roughly angled upwards from left to right - leaving the intact tape on the roll

- used a couple of the torn off scraps of washi tape to temporarily fix the sentiment panel onto my glass cutting mat - making sure the grid lines on the glass mat were even on either side
 
- then added three strips of washi tape as shown on the card - using the grid lines was a great help in keeping the gaps as straight and even as possible (to me they look a bit on the wonk in the photo though)

- folded the top ends of the washi tape over the card panel and then added it to the card front using a sandwich of white fun foam

I preferred folding the washi tape over the top of the card, rather than trimming it level - it just looks more 'finished' IMHO, that's why I used a separate panel for the design.

Love the NBUS Penny Black sentiments stamps set - some lovely swirly script fonts in there.

Less is More - Challenge #319 - One Layer Card - 'Leaves'

This week's challenge over at Less is More is 'Leaves' - and that reminded me of a set of stamps and matching dies, as yet unused here. As it's a one layer challenge, I couldn't try out the dies this time round, but I do so love the stamps on their own anyhow:

I had to take the photo at an angle to pick up the shine of the embossing!

I used:

- 4" x 5.75" card blank, tent style - made using Strathmore 'Mixed media paper - vellum surface' . What's extra great about this is that it's 300 gsm, so it's perfectly sturdy for a card blank when doing just one layer

- the stamps are from the MFT 'Geometric Greenery' set, which (as I already said) does have a matching set of dies

- using the Misti for placement of all the stamps in one go I lined up the leaves and popped the sentiment above

- stamped the images and sentiment using VersaMark and then heat embossed using Ranger 'Liquid Platinum' embossing powder

- coloured in the leaves using my new Zig water colour brush markers and called it done

Using an embossed outline certainly helped me when colouring the leaves - and I'm sure I got the 'Liquid Platinum' idea from Loll as it always looks so great on her beautiful work.

Edit: As encouraged by Loll, I'm also joining in the current CAS Watercolour Challenge, where the theme this month is 'Spring'. I reckon the pretty greens are a harbinger of Spring :) 

Less is More - Challenge #313 - 'Balloons'

Mojo still on walkabout and as yet no inspiration even for my Snippets card make for Sunday! But, I had spotted that the current Less is More Challenge is 'Balloons', still no mojo though, sigh.

Sitting here doing some Playground commenting I happened to look up at a small set of shelves above my desk (it's really a very large spice rack with metal rods across the front to hold the spice jars in place, which works brilliantly for small crafting items). It currently houses Martha Stewart punches along the top (they're square and chunky so don't fall off or overbalance!) a lot of my SU punches, a few bottles of glue and spray and a handful of wooden stamps that I swop about as the mood takes me. This is a photo from 2011, things look very different now but it gives you an idea what I'm chuntering on about. The Martha Stewart punches are still there though :)

Anyhow, I spotted a little wooden Teddy Bear stamp I'd popped on there a while ago (possibly thinking about making 'Parsnip' monochrome cards) and low and behold, Teddy was holding a balloon! Happy dance here - and this is what I made, apologies in advance for the quality of the photo, I'm not sure we saw a break in the clouds all day when I made this:

I used:

- 4.25" x 5.5" white card blank, tent style

- a further piece of the same white card stock, onto which I stamped the Teddy, using Memento 'Tuxedo Black' ink

- the stamp is a wooden one (made by DoCrafts in the 'Forever Friends' series - dated 2008) so I placed/stamped it as close as possible to where I wanted it onto the piece of white card

- only then did I use a Lil- Inkers 'Stitched Rectangle' die to die cut the panel - just a little tip but it did save me getting out the Stamp-a-ma-jig :)

- then I stamped the sentiment using Memento 'Tuxedo Black' ink, the Misti and a sentiment from the Paper Smooches 'Sentiment Sampler' set. I deliberately chose that particular sentiment as I wanted to send a hug to someone special - plus I loved how the letter 'S' almost follows the curve of Teddy's outline. Little things please little minds as my Granny used to say!

- then I coloured Teddy and his balloon using Faber Castell Polychromos pencils and very deliberately didn't do any blending (ie. using solution) other than just with the pencils as I wanted to pencil stroke to be slightly seen)

- next cut a piece of white fun foam slightly smaller than the image panel and glued it and the panel to the card front

- final touch, three iridescent sequins - to just break up what I thought looked like too big an expanse of white!

Don't know about you, I use sequins here and there quite lot on CAS cards and will be a bit lost when that particular 'fad' moves on. Oh, it already did? Really, so soon? Just shows - tail end Charlie as usual here!

You know what, I think it really is time to make a little batch of cards in monochrome as I mentioned further up - just add some colour to the balloon only perhaps and there could be a few gift cards to enclose with Playground prizes! So that's ONE idea in the pot to cook away :)

A couple of challenges today

It seems like ages since I joined in with Less is More where the current challenge of 'New Beginnings' really appealed to me. So many 'new' themes to play with - in the end I went with 'new baby' and this is the card I made:

I used:

- 4.0" x 5.25" white card blank, tent style

- panel of smaller white card stock, die cut using a die from the Lil' Inkers 'Stitched Rectangles' set

- then die cut the apertures for the waves using a Memory Box 'Breezy Waves' die and backed the apertures with medium strength double sided adhesive sheet

- die cut the waves again from a snippet of pale blue card and then inlaid them into the wave apertures

- using the Misti, I then stamped the sentiment using Memento 'Tuxedo Black' ink and a stamp from the Simon Says Stamps set called 'Handwritten Borders'. I had to mask off the right hand end of the sentiment area on the card so that it balanced out - it worked too!

- glued the panel onto the card front using Collall All Purpose glue

- die cut the adorable little set of Mama duck plus her three offspring from a snippet of yellow card, backed with Stick-It double sided adhesive sheet and stuck them in place. The die set is NBUS and is a Joanne Sheen Signature set called 'Toy ducks'

- the 'adult' eyes which come in the little die set are massive so I used a smaller eye die cut from a teeny snippet of black card (meant for a baby duck) for Mama duck and just gently added dots to the babies eye areas using a black fine line marker

My in-house critic pointed out that the little duckies might be good for Easter cards - there's a thought.

It's also Darnell's NBUS #9 Challenge right now - and it's a first outing for the little duck dies.

I could have wept as I originally made another card specifically for Darnell's challenge and then at the very last knockings realised that whereas it very carefully covered the optional parts (CASE and camouflage) I hadn't used anything new/unused (NBUS)! The air was just a little bit blue here :) You'll see the card at some point and then will know why I was so upset - one of my better efforts, ain't it always the way though.

Less is More - Challenge #306 - One Layer - 'Outline'

Wednesday was the first day I really felt like making a card for about a week. Ha, I eased myself in gradually you might say :

I used:

- 3.5" x 3.5" white card blank

- both the sheep and the sentiment were stamped using Memento 'Tuxedo Black' ink and stamps from the Elzybells 'Jump for Joy' set - sadly now out of production

- then just coloured the little tie and added some very pale pink to the ears and cheeks - using a Whispers marker

This is one of a set of four, to be enclosed with forthcoming Playground prizes - and also for the current Less is More challenge :)

And I think the sentiment says it all to you sweet friends who have left such lovely supportive comments during my 'down time'.

Be sure to come back on Sunday as the Christmas Festivities begin in the Playground!

Less is More - Challenge #301 - Purple and Gold

The current challenge over at Less is More is to use 'purple and gold'. And appropriately enough, our own Purple Princess Kathy K was the really deserving winner for October over at LIM, well done Kathy!

Kathy is often the very first into Less is More on a Saturday morning, whilst I'm usually bringing up the rear at the end of the week! This is what I made:

I used:

- 3" x 6" white card blank (gonna have to make an envelope to fit as well, sigh)

- a slightly smaller panel of the same white card, with the centre die cut using a die which came free with a recent issue of Die-cutting Essentials magazine (along with an embossing folder which has yet to be tried out here)

- backed the die cut panel with medium strength double sided sticky paper, leaving one side still covered and the sticky side showing through the die cut

- then used the same die cut to cut a gold star from mirri card and the rest of the scene in two shades of purple and stuck all the little pieces in place, inlaid into the sticky apertures

- backed the panel with a slightly larger piece of gold mirri card

- glued the whole panel onto the card front

- lastly, stamped the word 'Rejoice' using a stamp from the Paper Smooches 'Christmas Sampler' set and Memento 'Elderberry' ink

As I knew it was going to be a bit fiddly with several sets of die cuts to work with, I made two at the same time. Not identical, the sentiment is at the bottom of the other card - the one shown here was die cut with the image at the bottom hence the sentiment at the top. Not really what I planned 'cos it was a lapse of concentration on my part when placing the die, but I like it for a change from my usual 'straight sentiments go underneath the image'.

Today is Armistice Day over here, 11th November:

LEST WE FORGET

 

Less is More- Week 300 - Time to Celebrate

The current challenge over at Less is More is 'Time to Celebrate' - and Chrissie and her brilliant team certainly have every reason to celebrate is it's Week 300! Congratulations ladies!

I love to join in with Less is More whenever I can and was determined to play along on such a special week. I chose to celebrate Christmas at the same time with this card:

I used:

- 5" x 7" white card blank, tent style

- piece of backing card in pearlescent deep red, cut to the same size as the card front and glued in place

- piece of white Centura pearlescent card, embossed using a Sheen Douglass folder called 'Frosty Ice Border', trimmed to slightly smaller than the red layer of card and glued in place

- next I used the Sue Wilson Festive Collection 'Joy' die set to cut out the solid letters J O Y from more deep red card and set them aside

- using the scroll work die from the same set, die cut the word JOY(that layer is an 'all in one' cut) using gold Xcut adhesive metal effect sheet

- stuck the red letters behind the scroll work JOY, then added little spots of glue to the backs of the red letters using a Woodware fine line glue bottle and popped the whole assembled word onto the embossed card front. The glue behind the solid letters plus the adhesive on the back of any uncovered gold scroll work holds it nicely in place

I'd also like to enter this into three other challenges that I love to play along with:

Allsorts  Challenge Week 387 - 'Let's Make A Start On Christmas'

Craftyhazelnut's Christmas Challenge 305  - Anything Goes So Long As It's Christmas

Craftyhazelnut's Christmas Challenge Extra for November - Always Anything Goes

Made three the same and although I've slowed down a bit in production due to this wretched back, there's a nice healthy box of cards which probably will cover us anyhow. But, I won't stop production just yet, of all the cards I make, it's the Christmas ones I enjoy most. Weird or what?!

Less is More Challenge 299 - 'Acetate or Vellum'

It's a lovely theme this week over at Less is More - use acetate or vellum. I flipped a coin, vellum won - and this is the card I made:

I used:

- 4" x 6" white card blank, tent style

- snippet of white card, embossed using a Sizzix folder called 'Corner, flower vine' then trimmed to just an eighth of an inch smaller all round than the card blank 

- added the sentiment using Memento 'London Fog' ink and a sentiment from the Hero Arts 'Truly Appreciated' stamp set

- I wanted the embossed layer to stand out from the card blank so followed a tip I found last week which is to not use double sided foam pads or tape as the card will likely become distorted in the post. Instead I cut a piece of white fun foam just marginally smaller than the embossed panel and glued it in place

- then glued the panel onto the card front. Using the foam certainly makes for a lovely even, raised panel and it's a trick to be used more here in the future

- stamped three flowers onto plain white vellum. First swiped the vellum with a Woodware anti-static bag. Stamped three flowers using a clematis stamp from the SU 'Secret Garden' set using VersaMark ink and then embossed with white embossing powder 

- coloured the flowers on the reverse side of the vellum using Pro markers and quickly dried the flowers using the heat gun (the alcohol ink doesn't soak in so will come off on your fingers if it isn't totally dry - ask me how I know!) The beauty of colouring on the back of the vellum is that the embossed white lines disguise any minor 'blips'/slips of the markers :) 

- next I fussy cut around the flowers and gently shaped them using a bone folder underneath each petal

- glued them in place on the card front using a teeny drop of 'Glossy Accents' - and thankfully the white embossed stamens in the centre of the flowers were enough to cover any glue from showing through

Some tips about vellum. Do keep a little strip of vellum and try out your markers on the reverse before launching into colouring whatever you've stamped. It's really dramatic how muted the colours become once you flip the vellum over to the right side.

When colouring the vellum on the reverse it helps to work with a dark piece of paper or card underneath so that the white outlines stand out - and keep a piece of white card or paper at hand as a background to check how the colours are working out.

Also, my first attempt at attaching the flowers to the card from almost ended in disaster - Collall glue reacts quite violently with Pro markers on vellum and not only doesn't want to stick but will also lift the colour right off the vellum. Luckily I spotted it right away and switched to 'Glossy Accents' instead.

Finally, on my card above, I'd trimmed parts of a couple of the flowers too close to the white embossed line. Only noticed this as I was finishing off writing this post and I haven't changed the photo - but, those white lines are now back in place along the edges where I'd trimmed too close. Courtesy of my Signo white pen - which did need a little scribble on a snippet of ordinary paper to get the ink flowing. My guess is that it's because vellum is such a silky surface.

Less is More - Week 292 - Colour Challenge

A lovely colour theme this time over at Less is More, to use the colours shown in a peacock's feather!

You certainly don't have to focus on a peacock per se, just the colours will do fine. But, I have a few peacock images and also some peacock feather ones too that I could have stamped and coloured using Twinkling H2Os and almost went down that route.

However, there was a new die lying here on the desk right in front of me just begging to be used. Then, in the snippets folder I found a glorious piece of iridescent turquoise, violet and blue piece of paper. So many times recently I almost crumpled that snippet up and threw it away - so glad I didn't 'cos this was the resulting card:

I used:

- 4.25" x 5.5" white card blank, tent style

- piece of white card stock, embossed using Cuttlebug's 'Pinking Stitch' embossing folder and trimmed to exactly fit the front of the card

- using the peacock die I worked out just where I wanted the peacock to perch on the sentiment then, using Memento 'Tuxedo Black' ink, a sentiment from the free peacock embossing folder and stamp kit (Simply Homemade 66) and the Misti I stamped the words

- then glued the embossed and stamped panel to the card front

- covered the back of the iridescent paper with Stick-It and then die cut the peacock using the die which came free with Simply Cards and Papercraft Issue 147

- stuck the peacock in place and added a tiny litle gun metal coloured pearl for the eye

Interesting fact, I thought the sentiment was wrong and that it should be feathers - plural. But I checked on line and the most prolific use is singular - who knew? I didn't!

Less is More Week #289 - Something French

This week's challenge over at Less is More is 'Something French' - and also one layer to boot.

For once, a NBUS stamp set came straight to mind - but could I find it?! I'd seen it recently but there was a good half hour of rummaging before I remembered one last place where it might be hiding. Sure enough, there it was! I bought the stamp set in New Mexico back in 2012 from Hobby Lobby and this is its first outing - shame on me!

So this is what I made:

I used:

- 4.25" x 5.5" white card blank, tent style

- Penny Black's 'Mimi in Paris' stamp set. First I stamped 'Mimi' using 'Tuxedo Black' ink then stamped her again onto a scrap of paper and cut around the right hand side to the outline of the image to make a mask

- stuck the mask onto the card front and then stamped the Eiffel Tower before next stamping the 'le cafe' sign

- coloured the images using Pro markers and also 'grounded the table, chair and tower with a light touch of Ice Grey Pro marker

- rounded off the bottom left hand corner

- as we know, Pro markers bleed through card stock so I just cut a slightly smaller sized panel and stuck it in place inside the card (phew - still counts as one layer, we did have this discussion a while ago I remember)

And that was it - one CAS card for Less is More.

This card is also for the Penny Black Saturday Challenge for August where the current theme is 'Favourite Technique'. In truth I have a few favourites but stamping is right up there - always!

And wow, it also qualifies for Penny Black and More for August where it's 'Anything goes with a stamp right now'. One of my favourite challenges and I don't play there often enough - I hope using more than one stamp is OK Brenda?

Di
x

Less is More - Weeks 286 & 287 - Use something Tactile

The current Less is More challenge (Use something Tactile) is running for two weeks this time as Chrissie and a lot of the team are going to be at the Happy Little Stampers Retreat in Swindon - along with Darnell of course. Oh to be a fly on the wall eh?

This is my entry:

I used:

- 4.25" x 5.5" white card blank, tent style

- a slightly smaller backing layer of beige coloured Core'dinations card

- piece of white card, trimmed to slightly smaller than the beige layer and then (using the Misti) stamped the sentiment using Memento 'Toffee Crunch' ink and a sentiment from the Winnie & Walter's 'The Big, the Bold and the Happy' stamp set

- wrapped beige twine twice around the card front and stuck it in place at the back

- glued the panel to the card front using Collall All Purpose glue

- then, using the glue gun, added a Papermania 'Burlap Bloom' and topped it with a beige twine daisy flower

The beige twine, burlap flower and also the twine daisy were gifts from Jules a little while ago. And she made that lovely daisy using an 'almost antique' brass 'Daisy Loom'. A lovely little piece of equipment, very cleverly designed with retractable 'pins' so you can slip the daisy off when it's been sewn together in the centre.

Who knows, I may even hop back with a second entry next week as LIM is one of my favourite challenges :)

Next I need to catch up on my Christmas card making - beginning to slip again!

Di
x