Less is More - Week 108 - Paper Piercing

As my friend Darnell would say............. WHOOSH and here we are at Wednesday already!!!  lol  Although I entered the current Less is More challenge of Paper Piercing it was a little bit of a cheat as it was also my DT card for Addicted to CAS and I think Chrissie would "like to see a bit more white card"............. (hehe) and I'd also mistakenly put Paper Piecing instead of Piercing - humble apologies.

So as I've just found a super talented lady by the name of Teri who owns Delicious Doodles I thought I'd christen one of her digi stamps called Working the Land.  I printed the image out onto super smooth printer card and die cut it with a nesties circle and matted it up on black and silver mirri die cut circles.  The background layer has been paper pierced using an Ornare pricking stencil and then layered onto a square white linen card blank.  The sentiment is Hobby Arts matted onto black card and popped up to give some dimension.




Thought you might like to see a visitor we see quite often either in the garden or the field at the back of us............amazing sight and it's not often I manage to lay my hands on the camera but he/she decided to hang around for a while...... perhaps thought as it was so wet there were bound to be a few fish swimming around!!!  lol

Thanks for dropping by.

ATCAS - Challenge #7 - Hosted by Sue

Hello Everyone - welcome to our brand new challenge at Addicted to CAS.  We have been so thoroughly overwhelmed in these past weeks at the amount of entries and the outstanding quality.  You're certainly making it very difficult for us to choose our Top 3 and CAS Perfectionist and the Facebook Showcase entry.  But, we're loving it - so please keep up the brilliant work!

Our new challenge which is hosted by the lovely Sue is:

This week we are so lucky to be sponsored by Andrea over at Annabelle Stamps!! 

Andrea has offered a $10 discount voucher at her store!!

For my DT card I have chosen to use my Stampin Up Feeling Sentimental stamp set and decided on the Penny Farthing stamp and the Celebrate sentiment.  I started off by die cutting a piece of cream card with a nestie.  I left the die in place and used a paper piercer to prick all around the die.  I then inked around with DI Antique Linen.  I stamped the penny farthing using Versafine Sepia and then, without re-inking, stamped the image twice more to give two faded images.  The sentiment was stamped over the images.  The card base is a 5"x7" and has been matted and layered onto bazzill cardstock, two pieces of which have been embossed using a tree bark e/f.  I've added some Bakers' Twine and popped the main image up on foam.

I've also made a second card for this challenge - must be on a roll!!!  lol

For this one I've used a Papermania Chronology embossing folder and inked with Distress Inks.  The hands on the clock also come from the Chronology series.  I've then inked my KaiserCraft Tic Toc stamp, stamped it and matted onto kraft card.  I've then sponged around the edges and added some bakers twine.  I rounded the two opposite corners on all layers.  The first part of the sentiment is computer generated and the second is from SU Feeling Sentimental.  Both were cut out using my SU punch.

Thanks to the heads up from our lovely Marie, there is a challenge over at The Craft-Room which is "Something for a Man" so am entering these cards.  Also, by sheer luck (hehe) the latest challenge over at Less is More is Paper Piecing which fits perfectly with my first card.  Pop on over and see the wonderful inspiration provided by Chrissie & Jen.

Thanks for dropping by.  Please pop on over to the Addicted to CAS blog to have a look at the inspiration the Design Team have come up with for you.  Looking forward to seeing all your wonderful creations.

 

Less is More - Week 107 - Up in the Air

Just managed to make another quick card for the Less is More Up in the Air challenge.

I've used my Penny Black Hedgehog Kisses stamp with Memento Ink Tuxedo Black and stamped on white card.  I wanted them to appear to be "floating" so thought I'd use my Memory Box Marshmallow Cloud die but because it's a solid die you can't do the normal thing of cutting the area that's going to be outside the die cut shape.  Instead I used the larger of the two dies and placed it over the image and pencilled around it.  I then fussy cut all the way round.  Image coloured in Letraset Flexmarkers and I've added some atyou Spica clear glitter to the balloons and cheeks (although not sure it came out on the photo).  I took a scallop edged card blank and popped up a small cloud in the right hand corner (I edged the bottoms of the clouds in light grey) and then doubled the depth of the foam on the main image to add more dimension.  The sentiment is from another Penny Black set called ".... in the air".

Thanks for dropping by - be sure to visit tomorrow for the brand new Addicted to CAS challenge.

Less is More - Week 107 - Up in the Air

Well, it's Wednesday.......how did that week go by so quickly???  Mind you we have been away for a long weekend - which nearly turned into a longer one............we went up to Essex on Friday to attend a family wedding on the Saturday.  Stayed in a lovely pub which had transformed their stables into ensuite rooms.  Great atmosphere, friendly pub and locals and brilliant food - what more could you want?  Anyway come Sunday morning we have breakfast by an open roaring fire in the pub, go to our room and pack everything up.  Time to load the car..........keys, we need car keys......HELP!!!!  Tony had lost/misplaced/thrown away the car keys - we had them Saturday morning which was the last time we saw them.  So, it's 9.30 in the morning - we unpack, empty the rubbish bin, go over to the pub, phone the taxi firm we'd used the day before, phone the reception venue..........NOTHING.  So unpack again - nada.........Tony rings HondaCare for help; they say it is going to cost us an arm and a leg (several hundred pounds......!) to get a replacement key cut and they didn't know if it could be done that day.  Pace up and down again - go and unpack and repack; search the car park, get a phone call from Honda saying they had located a locksmith who would be calling us............then I had the brilliant idea of ringing our neighbour, who has the keys to our house, to get my set of keys and courier or local taxi them to Essex - whatever, it would be cheaper than getting a key cut.  So organised that - probably have to stay an extra night............go back to the room and Tony starts checking everything again and, GUESS WHAT?????? Yep, he finds the car keys (also house keys, fob and penknife!) in the toe of one of his shoes............it's 12.30pm by this time.  Phone calls follow to cancel everything, we pay the bill (to much sniggering) and beat a hasty retreat!  Do you think I'm going to let him forget this??????

Anyway, onto this week's LIM challenge which is:

For our theme this week we have chosen Up in the air

 For this we would love to see aircraft, rockets, balloons etc, although if you have none of this sort of image then we would like to see how inventive you can be with the theme.

I decided to use a Stampin Up embossing folder which embosses pin pricked clouds.  Sponge on some DI Shabby Shutters.  Then I die cut the Memory Box hot air balloons and a mixture of Puffy Clouds and Marshmallow Clouds.  I paper pieced the hot air balloons using some bits in my box.  I stamped the sentiment (SU Oval All) onto one of the clouds and clear embossed it.  I then attached the sentiment cloud to the largest hot air balloon.  Tied some Bakers Twine around the main card - rounded the edges and the card was finished.

Thanks for dropping by - hope you haven't nodded off!!!  lol

Valentine's surprise

Happy Wednesday to everyone - did you remember it was Pancake Day yesterday???  I totally forgot until I was in the middle of cooking dinner and my DH said oh goody are we having pancakes.........ooops!!!  Normally we get adverts for about a week beforehand for things like pancake mix and lemons but I didn't see one - well that's my excuse anyway!

Now, on to today's post.  I just wanted to give a shout out for my wonderful blogging friend Darnell of djkardkreations fame (or Dippy as she's known to me).  In the post came this lovely envelope all the way from the USA and enclosed was this gorgeous creation:

What a fabulous lady eh?  We've only met over the ether but often email each other etc for a chat.  Have you been to visit her blog yet?  If not you are definitely missing a huge treat - she will keep you in stitches all day long.

So, from both me and Tony a HUGE thank you Dippy and hope you and Mister have a wonderful Valentine's Day.       

Less is More - Week 106 One Layer

Still raining..........and it's freezing cold to boot!!!!  Best excuse for stopping in crafting that I know!

For those of you who follow and join in with the challenges at Less Is More will know that it's a bitter sweet time for Chrissie in that Mandi has decided to step down from the blog to concentrate on her newly set up business.  The good news is that Jen has agreed to stay on as regular designer.  It would be a disaster if the blog were to close so am sure everyone is as pleased as I am that Jen has agreed to stay on and that the two of them will continue to provide their wonderful inspiration for us all.

The new challenge over at Less is More is:

 It's that certain week once more where our challenge is to make a

 One Layer Card

This time we would like you include some reference to

MUSIC

Some people are still a little confused as to just what is allowed in this category, but if you look at our Guidelines at the top of the page it may clarify things a little for you.

Please don't forget that all important 'White Space' !

Had to have a root through my stamps to see what I had that matched the challenge and came up with a Papermania "Urban" stamp set.  Firstly I used a nestie to emboss a rectangle in my cream card and then stamped the music score using DI Frayed Burlap.  The sentiment is a stamp by Anita's and I blanked off the pen nib at the end of the sentiment.  The little bird is part of the Papermania set and I hand drew the branch to ground him to the music score.

Thanks for dropping by.  Happy crafting.

Magical Creatures

Happy Sunday everyone.  Hope you're all well - we're beginning to develop webbed feet down here in Somerset - it just hasn't stopped raining and rather than a field at the back of us we now have a lake!!!

Anyway just thought I'd show you what I made at a workshop I attended yesterday at my Blackmore Vale Embroiderers Guild.  The title of the workshop was "Magical Creatures" and it was all hand sewing and then getting messy playing with various paints and inks to colour our creations.  They were then embellished with beads, ribbons and whatever you had to hand.  So please met my Magical Mermaid!  Thought she fitted the weather perfectly at the moment..........

Take care and thanks for dropping by.

ATCAS - Challenge #6 - Hosted by Shana

Welcome to another challenge here at Addicted to CAS!  Since Valentine's Day is right around the corner, what better way to celebrate than with some sugary sweetness!  Check out this week's code word, selected by Shana:

We have an awesome sponsor again for this challenge. Please let me introduce you to

Beverley from Uniko Studio

Uniko Studio is a small company based in the North East of the UK. Uniko Studio specialises in surface pattern design & clear stamps for the hobby market. Uniko Studio will feature high quality photopolymer stamps designed & manufactured here in the UK, and if things go well we will branch out into other crafting supplies.

Beverley has been kind enough to offer a fabulous prize - digis from her store!

You can find her awesome selection HERE

 

Must admit I was a little bit stuck for ideas with this challenge as I didn't have any stamps candy/sweet related - most of them seemed to be related to cake (!!!) and was going to try and rely on a digistamp but then I remembered this sweet little image - get it??? Sweet - right.............   Anyway this is a House Mouse image called "Heart Breaker" and he's definitely eating his way through the chocolate love heart!  I've used my Spellbinders Marvellous Squares to die cut the image and the mat which was Bazzill cardstock.  The border and corners are a Martha Stewart punch.  The sentiment was computer generated and die cut using the Marvellous Squares and sponged with DI Tumbled Glass.  Please do pop on over to the Addicted to CAS blog and see some of the amazing DT inspiration cards.  We all look forward to visiting your blogs to see your great creations.

Thanks for dropping by - have a great weekend.

Happy 2nd Birthday LESS IS MORE

Hello Everyone - don't know about you but it's absolutely freezing down here in Somerset.........lovely bright sunny day but such a bitter wind.  It freezes anything it comes in contact with!!!  lol

It's Less is More's 2nd birthday - can you believe it's been going that long?  Well, they say time flies when you're having fun...

This week's challenge is:

Good morning everyone...
Today is a special day at
Less Is More.

It's our second birthday and not only do we have a  fabulous new sponsor for February but we also have some amazing guests joining us.

Our February sponsor is..... Pink Petticoat.

 

*Prize is a £15 gift voucher*

We were delighted when Liz said yes because there are so many huge Pink Petticoat fans here at LIM...

Onto this weeks challenge...  It's a colour challenge this week and it's got to be one of our favourites ever...

Kraft & Kreme

We want to see you use only kraft and cream on your creations this week...

So off I went rummaging to find some kraft  and I've made a very simple card to celebrate LIM's 2nd birthday.  I scored an A4 sheet of kraft card in half and used my SU diagonal scoring board to put in two score lines.  I then die cut three flowers using my Spellbinders Delicate Asters and put a brad through the centres.  The sentiment is computer generated and I used my SU punches to cut the layers out.  Last touch was a rounded corner.

Thanks for dropping by.

Special wedding card

Hello everyone - sorry to have been MIA for a few days; it seems ages ago that I last blogged but things have been pretty hectic.  I've been prepping loads of sample cards for our craft club next week, recovering chairs and what's really taken up most of my time is sorting out a pretty complicated Code of Conduct for my Parish Council where I am Clerk and Responsible Financial Officer..........hmmmm not the most fun I've ever had but it was all agreed at last night's meeting so that should be out of the way until Central Government decide to move the goalposts - yet again!!!  lol

 

Anyway, I thought I'd show you a wedding card that I've been making for my great nephew-in-law (!!!) who is getting married a week on Saturday.  The theme of the wedding is black and white but thought that looked a little stark so have added gold to the mix.  I've used an 8" square white pearl card base.  I then cut another piece of white pearl card to the same measurements and die cut the corners using my Spellbinders Decorative Blossom Corner (smaller one) and slipped some gold embossed card behind.  I embossed two strips of the same card using my Couture Tied Together e/f and placed them centrally on the card.  I then added Onyx Pearl Liquid Pearls in the centre of each cross section.  The central die cuts are Spellbinders Exquisite Circles and the heart is Memory Box Bingham Heart.  I printed the sentiment on my laser printer and then foiled it.  Flowers, pins, ribbon etc from stash.

Not sure what weather everyone is having but so far today we've had rain, sleet, heavy snow and gale force winds........now the sun's out!  Whatever it is stay safe.

Thanks for dropping by.  Don't forget to visit on Saturday for my Addicted to CAS DT card.

Triple Time Stamping

Afternoon everyone from a very wet and windy Somerset  - ideal for crafting!!!  lol

A challenge I've been meaning to join in with is 52 (Christmas) Card Throwdown and this week's challenge is:

This week it's a technique we want to see and the technique is Triple Time Stamping.  This is such a great technique, it's simple but has the wow factor!  Dawn Olchefske produced a great video tutorial for this technique which you can find here.  Can't wait to see what you come up with!

For my card I decided to use my Andy Skinner "Winters Tale" stamp set and thought of going with monochrome.  I first cut my three layers of white cardstock and lightly attached them centrally on top of each other.  I then inked up the individual stamps with Black Versafine and carefully stamped onto the triple layer.  When I was happy I then detached the layers and cut black mats for each layer. 



Before I added the top two layers to the bottom one I added some
Bakers Twine and a button.  I was going to pop the finished item onto a 5x7 card blank but it was a little small for the blank so decided to add another layer but off-set them which I think makes it look a little more interesting.  I added some Glistening Snow-tex to areas of the card which is very hard to photograph but think you might be able to see a little twinkle!!!  lol  The sentiment is a Papermania stamp PMA 10038.

Thanks for stopping by.

Less is More - Week 104 Sketch

Afternoon everyone - hope you are all well and have had a good weekend.  After the snow we've had the rain, and lightening and thunder............

Anyway, on to the matter in hand.  It's Week 104 over at Less is More and the theme is:

Sketch #8

This week we have a sketch for you drawn by Jen.

It's simplicity itself, so to add a little constraint, we ask that the card stays in this orientation ie that the band remains in the horizontal plane, in the lower part of the card and that it takes up no more than 1/3rd of the height of the cardbase.

 

.

One person who I admire greatly is Heather over at Bits and Pieces.  If you've never come across her blog it's definitely worth a visit.  She does some amazing work and is Queen of CAS - I've CASed a card she's recently posted.  However now I've properly read the instructions for the sketch challenge I think I'm a bit over in the 1/3rds department!!!  Anyway, I'll plough on and try to get another card done later on.

I've used my Stampin Up Heartfelt Thanks set (both flower and sentiment).  Stamped with Versamark twice onto separate pieces of card, clear embossed and then sponged with DI Shaded Lilac.  I then did exactly the same but directly onto the card base.  The sentiment was stamped in DI Chipped Sapphire.

Thanks for dropping by.

Addicted to CAS - #5

Morning everyone - welcome to the latest challenge over at A2CAS.    The incredibly talented Loll of Stamping with Loll is your host.  The code word for this challenge is:

This week we are so lucky to be sponsored by Andrea over at Annabelle Stamps!! 

Andrea has offered a $10 discount voucher at her store!!

My DT card consists of a square pearlised card blank.  I then took my IndigoBlu stamp "Love is" and covered it with FlitterGlu, stamped onto some white cardstock and covered in gilding flakes.  I then quickly went and washed the FlitterGlu off my stamp (it's really, really sticky!!!).  I then rubbed my scoochy foam over to get rid of the excess gilding flakes (back into the tub).  I inked around the edges with my copper leafing pen and added two pieces of ribbon.  I then added my heart "hand made with love" charm and popped it up with foam pads on the base card.

Please pop over to the A2CAS blog to see the wonderful inspiration provided by the Design Team and we look forward to seeing your creations and visiting your blogs.

Thanks so much for stopping by.  Happy crafting.

Less is More Week 103 Theme

Happy Sunday everyone - hope you're all keeping safe and warm.  We've been getting some more snow this morning but it's very light.

Well, I think I'm on a role - perhaps the effect of my new craft room? - and managed to finish my card for the new Less is More challenge which is:

This week we have a theme for you to follow which is

FRIENDS

This could take the form of a friend related sentiment... activities which friends share, images of friends - animal or human or both!

Here is my card:

I took a scalloped cream 6" square card blank and put it through my eBosser with my Lifestyle Whimsy e/f to give it some texture.  I stamped the image (Little Sisters by Rubber Stamp Tapestry) with Rich Cocoa Memento ink onto cream card, tore the edges and inked them.  This was mounted onto a scalloped square nestie.  The sentiment is SU Oval All and I used my SU oval and scalloped oval punches.  The little flower was stamped out again, cut out and popped on top of the oval sentiment with a little pearl made using Liquid Pearls.  The bottom border is my Memory Box Meridian Border die.  I then tied a bow with some cream ribbon...........and "Bob's your uncle"!!!  lol

I had a friend in mind when I made this card so after I took the photos of it I then placed a Liquid Pearl pearl at each intersection of the e/f and, as luck would have it, my Tim Holtz Frosted Film arrived, so I cut a piece the same size as the Little Sisters image and placed on top and burnished (although not sure it shows up in the photo).  It just gives a lovely subtle frosting - and as it comes in a roll of 12" by 6 feet is great value for money as it can be die cut, alcohol inked etc etc.  So here is a photo of the final version although the first card is the one being submitted to the LIM challenge (just in case Chrissie and Jen scroll down this far!!!  lol).  Sorry about slight difference in colour between the two photos but one was taken last night and the other this morning.

 

 Thanks for dropping by.

Birthday card

Afternoon everyone - hope you're all keeping safe and warm.  I was due to go to a workshop today but it was cancelled because of the snow.  The main roads are okay but seeing as we live in Somerset even getting out of the village is a problem as these roads don't get gritted.  Where I was due to go is quite high up with single track lanes (no passing spaces) which, I suppose, means you would only crash into the fields!!!  So, I'm pretty glad to be sitting at home playing.......

It's a friend's birthday at the end of the week and this is the card I've made for her.  I've been meaning to do some ribbon weaving for a while and had a design for this card in the back of my mind - so it was a perfect time to play.

 

Close up of ribbon weaving

Recipe:

Memory Box:   Madeira Corner
                          Prim Poppy
                          Honeyblossom Sprig
                          Delicate Fern

Poppystamps:   Gentle Leaf

Embossalicious embossing folders

Spellbinders:    Grand Decorative Circles 1
                           Exquisite Circles

Liquid Pearls:   Bisque

Stampin Up:     Afterthoughts stamp set

Thanks for dropping by - have a great weekend.