White Christmas

Happy Friday.  I hope you've had a good week.

The Less is More challenge this week is white on white but also it needs to be a Christmas card.  This ought be fairly easy so why was I struggling to come up with a design?  That's why I've left it until now to enter, hoping inspiration would strike.  This is the best I could do, both in terms of the card design and the photography at 4pm on a drab day like today.

I die cut the tree then attached it to the same place inside the card, just for variety.  Added glitter, which as we all know, never comes out well in a photo.  This is the tree on the inside of the card, also glittered, subtly and with taste, of course.

Hope you all enjoy your weekend.  Bye.

Sketchy Saturday

Good morning.  Less is More have such a lovely sketch this Saturday that I found it easy to make a card before the Friday night deadline for once.  Thank you Jen.

  

I'm really liking my new Peace die.  I can see me using it a lot this Christmas.

Now I look at my card again, I should have masked the circle before I stamped the trees.  Ah well, you live and learn.

Have a good week.

Felt or Fabric

Good evening.

The Less is More team have asked us to make a card using felt or fabric somewhere.  This coincided with my friend Anna's birthday.  I'm slowly getting her into crafting and so far she's really enjoying it so I think she'll like this card.

 

I was inspired by Lisa Adessa's card here.  Her flowers are some lovely new Simon Says Stamp die cuts but I just diecut some circles and snipped into them, which is why mine look a bit dodgy random.  I think I like the dark purple one best.  The sentiment is computer generated and the border is hand doodled.

 

Enjoy your weekend, see you soon.

Feel Better Soon

Hi, sorry I've been absent.  Life seems so busy at the moment.

Very quick post today, my submission for Less is More.  It's one layer week and we've been asked for a get well soon card.

This is my current favourite GWS card, I think it's cute.

The greeting does seem to have faded since I stamped it, think I should have done it in black.  Oh well.

Bye, must dash.

One Layer Wednesday - Silhouettes

Happy Friday everyone.  It's nearly the weeeeeekend!

Karen has asked us for a one layer card featuring a silhouette stamp.  I have so many of these, nearly all floral but this time I have used a stamp I've had for ages but never used (Darnell - another NBUS!).

 

I've used my favourite distress pads again, mustard seed, spiced marmalade (I wonder how that would taste?) and barn door.  The stamp is an old Art Impressions one.

 

No greeting, not sure what to say really.

 

Enjoy your weekend.

One Layer Wednesday

Hello all

If you are in the UK, I hope you enjoyed the extra day's holiday yesterday.  Back to work with a bump now.

I decided to make a last minute card for the OLW challenge, which this week is to use one stamp, one colour and one greeting stamp.  I added some scoring which I hope is acceptable, as the card just needed a little something.

I'm sorry the white card looks rather blue, I really, really need to practise taking pictures of my cards.

I thought I would also show you the card I made for my lovely sister in law, whose birthday was yesterday.

 

 

I spent a long time cutting round the chipboard letters and flowers, having stuck patterened paper onto them.  I then glued them onto an aperture and decided to use up the remianing flowers on the insert.  As you can see I forgot about the aperture!  So with about ten minutes to spare before we had to leave for the restaurant, I ripped out the insert, tore off the flowers and added a new insert and glued the flowers in the top LEFT corner this time.

 

My DH then wrote the card to his sister and forgot about the aperture and put his name in plain sight on the front of the card!  Bless us both.  Dopey as ever.

 

Ah well, must dash, see ya!

Round and round we go

Hello.  I'm not going mad, in case you were wondering.  It's those ladies over at Less is More, wanting a card with a round and round theme.

So I thought laterally for once and tried to be a bit different. 

I cut a circle with my Cuttlebug with a smaller C plate than usual then finished the bowl with a craft knife.  You may be able to spot the clear thread he is suspended by.  So he does actually spin on the spot, as well as theoretically swim round and round.

It's actually inspired by another crafty project I did this week.  We were recreating a country fair for a holiday club for the elderly that we run at church, with all the typical side shows that they would remember.  We had Hook a Duck, Splat the Rat, Tin Can Alley, Hoop-La and Win a Fish.  This last one is where you have to get a ping pong ball to land (and stay) inside one of the jamjars.  I made goldfish like this one above, added the thread and then suspended them inside a small clear bag, which I blew air into to puff it up.  So it looked like a fish in a bag but without the water.  The ladies loved it and all took one home, promising to look after it carefully :-)

One Layer Wednesday

Hello

I don't get to play along with this great challenge very often, but this week I wanted to make a special effort to support Susan in her gratitude campaign which I think is a fine idea.

So without further ado, here's my little offering.

 

I actually made two while I was at it.

I wanted to create the effect of a diecut but in one layer.  It almost worked.

I embossed the die into the card then die cut the same flower from a post-it and used both halves as masks to sponge the colour.  I did actually use a couple of Memento inks that are new, so Darnell, this is my first official NBUS post as well!

I like the technique but need to work on my sandwich as sadly it tore the card in a couple of places.  Never mind, you get the idea.

Enjoy the rest of your week.

Colour challenge

Happy Tuesday to you all.

I'm feeling very brave today.  I caught a large frog in a box and took it to the lake, to prevent my two cats pursuing it round the garden.  It was squeaking like a guinea pig, which is quite distressing to hear.  The cats don't actually work as a team, for which I'm glad, otherwise we'd have even more half dead wildlife in the kitchen than we currently do.  Butterflies are their latest craze, straight from the buddhlia into the house.

Anyway, you didn't come here to hear about that, you want to see a card.  I hope you won't be disappointed having made you wait for a whole paragraph.

This week's Less is More challenge is a colour inspiration, some lovely autumny colours.

 

So here's my little offering, inspired by Lisa Addesa's many creations, but this one in particular.  Lisa is such an inspired talented lady with so many new ideas, I have to check her blog every day, just in case I miss another gem.

 

 

 

I still love this Memory Box tree die.  Cut in white, coloured with markers, then layered with about four more white trees for depth, then coloured the sides of the layers with the markers.  If it sounds like going at it the long way round, you're right.  Next time I'll cut the underlayers in the brown and just do the top layer in white and colour the sections.  But hey why do something the easy way when you can make life hard for yourself.

 

I spent ages matching my pens to the colours in the picture, then my camera decided it knew best and made them all look slightly different.

 

My crafty friend Jennie is coming round tonight to plan a card project for my craft group in a coupleof weeks.  Should be fun.

 

Have a great week.  Bye.

 

 

Pinterest Inpiration

Happy Sunday.

This week Less is More has a cracking picture for inspiration this week:

If only I could still wear heels like this.

Anyway, I've gone with the colours of black and cream, and the slender heels.

 

 

I quite like the silhouette effect actually.  Have a good week.

Chistmas is coming

Well, maybe not quite yet but it's halfway through July already.  How did that happen?

Anyway, it's one layer week at Less is More and they have asked us for a card that is not square or rectangular.

So here's my little effort.  I know it looks like a rectangle but actually all four sides are not parallel and it sits on the slant.  I'd better show you both the front and inside, otherwise it makes no sense (I rarely do).

It's a digistamp from Bugaboo, with a little peeloff holly on the antlers.

I need some advice please, I know it's supposed to be clean and simple but the front looks a bit too plain.  I can't work out what to add, if anything, that would improve it without making it look busy.  All suggestions will be gratefully received.

Thanks

Pat

Where have you been?

Oh wait, where have I been?  You've probably been here all the time, wondering where I was.  Sorry for my absence, we had a week away and just 'stuff' going on, nothing exciting, the usual humdrum work/housework/catching up on sleep.

Anyway, here I am, with a delicate grey card for Less is More.

I managed to get three shades with one ink, first by embossing it with clear powder, then two stampings without reinking in between.

Gotta dash, more housework calls, I can hardly see the letters on my keyboard, as the sun is shining on the dust and highlighting my laziness.

Last minute dash

And once again I'm skidding round the corner, chair wheels screeching, just squeezing this post in for Less is More with nano seconds to spare.

The colour theme this week is The Colour of Your Front Door.  Much as I wish it was purple, my DH wouldn't been keen, so brown and white it is then.

Sorry the picture is so dark.  I'd like to blame the kraft card, or the rain, but sadly, it's just the result of me photoing it at 9.45 at night.

Must dash, otherwise I won't link up in time.  Bet I'm last again, for two weeks in a row.

Less is More - Humour

The recipe this week at Less is More is asking for a humourous card.  I struggled a bit but hope this fits the bill.

The sentiment is computer generated, and the embossing folder has left a smooth oval in the middle as I used a Tim Holtz Embossing Diffuser.

Have a great weekend.

Happy Birthday Ardyth :-)

Hi Ardyth

Darnell tipped us all off about your birthday and you are such a talented and generous lady, sharing all your amazing creations and ideas with us that I just wanted to take time to say Happy Birthday.

Darnell suggested that we could honour your beautiful cards by CASEing one and so I have done just that.  What a glorious selection to choose from, it was a lovely but difficult decision to make.  In the end I went for this one:

 

and made this birthday card for you:

 

 

I know how you love rainbows and shaded colours (me too) and this is a new cone flower die that I have used in the window.

 

I hope you have a fabulous birthday and that it lasts for at least two weeks!

 

Love Pat x



OLW 140 Borders

Hello and happy Tuesday to you

Just occasionally I'm organised enough to take part in the lovely One Layer Wednesday challenge, and today I have managed to make a really quick card (in my coffee break no less!).

I hope this counts as a border, she's a lovely sleek cat with a contented look on her face.  You can almost hear her purring.

As she's a cat (duh!) I'm going to link her to Less Is More for a second entry this week.

Enjoy the rest of your week.

A purrfect day

Hi

This weeks' challenge at Less is More asks us to feature a cat or a dog on our card.

I do have a few cat and dog stamps, but this Cuttle kids die is so cute I couldn't resist using it.

I also used a new Tim Holtz die I got yesterday, the brick wall.  You can colour the pointing separately from the bricks, which makes it look much more authentic.

I cut the cat from velvet paper to make him strokable, can you see?

I hope you have a great week.

Bye.

Less is More - A sketch

Jen has given us a lovely sketch to work with this week at Less is More.

Here is my interpretation of it.

Another lovely Penny Black stamp, a hand drawn border and one of my new tag dies.

Have a great week.



OLW137 - Makeover

For this week's one layer Wednesday challenge, we've been asked to revisit one of our cards and redo it as a one layer card.

I chose this one of mine to makeover.

This is how it turned out.

I used one of my very favourite Penny Black stamps, and sponged a mask made from some nesties.

I did add some glitter glue, which is a little camera shy today.

A-ok

I don't think I have ever joined in with the One Layer Wedneday challenge before but I have learned so much from the lovely generous hostesses that I really wanted to start playing along.

My A's are a lighthouse stamp from Art Impressions and three Adironack inks, swished across the page.  The greeting is (Hero) Arts too, but that doesn't really count.

This was fun, I must do it again soon.

An outstanding birthday card

Jen and Chrissie from Less is More have challenged us this week to CASE one of their sample cards.

I chose to be inspired by this one of Chrissie's.

As you may have realised, it's for my very good friend Vivienne, who has known me since I was eleven, and sometimes knows me better than I know myself.  I've just realised that no one apart from my family has known me longer.

I've found a simpler method for this technique that doesn't require a stamp positioner.  I stamp my image, die cut the letters out of that piece then adhere the piece to the base card.  I cut two or three extra plain sets of letters and layer them back into the apertures, and add the original cuts on top so the picture matches.

It still takes a while but the picture always lines up.

I'm off to do some commenting on everyone else's lovely creations.

Audrey is fabulous

Happy Wednesday (just).

The Less is More ladies have asked us to make a one layer card inspired by our favourite film.

I wonder if you can guess mine from this card?

It's Breakfast at Tiffany's.  I think Audrey Hepburn is just so glamorous and elegant, I yearn to be like her but I fear the time has passed.

Enjoy the rest of your week.

Six years already

Well, would you believe it, I've been married six years today. 

I'm so lucky to be married to Andy, he's kind, funny and loving.  He's also very supportive of my crafting, and in turn I'm supportive of his guitar/drum kit/Play Station habit.

This is the card I made for him.

As he supports West Ham, a lot of the cards I make for him feature claret and blue as the colour scheme and this one is no exception.

I hope you have a great week.



Lime and Black

Hello.

The Less is More challenge this week is a colour combination, and sounds like a cocktail students would concoct :-)  Lime and Black.  Bleugh!

Well, here's my take on it. 

 

I copied this idea from Ardyth, one of my very favourite inspirations.  The card has a flap under which you can write a secret message.

 

Enjoy the rest of your week.

 

 

Wedding cake card

Hello, welcome to my world.

I've made a wedding card for the Less is More weekly challenge, and it has scallops, as requested.

 

It does actually open from the left, with three scalloped dry embossed panels and some hearts and roses.

 

I think I may have to make a box for it, luckily it's being hand-delivered.

 

Have a great weekend.

Less is More - Beads

Hello and happy Easter to you.

I have a quick beaded card for you for the Less is More week 112 - use beads.

I used Ranger Enamel accents, black and white for his eyes.  I have only attached the ends of the caterpillar so the recipient can bend him and move him around.

That's all for now.

Have a great Easter break.

More framed cards

I'm back again. 

I had another idea for a frame, which I'm rather pleased with.  I'd forgotten this stamp, Penny Black do know how to do flowers, don't they?



Having spent quite a while creating the rainbow card for the frame, I couldn't waste is so here's the rest.

I promise I'll stop now.  Thanks for taking the time to look.

Have a good week.

Scruffy

Hello and happy Sunday afternoon to you.  It is grey and rainy here so I decided I'd better stay in my craft room and not risk getting wet!

I'd like you to meet Scruffy.

That's actually the name of the frame around the dog, I should have cut a second layer to firm it up before wrapping the wire around it.  Maybe we'll call it distressed.  Anyway, this card is for the Less is More challenge, Frame It.

I made some more cards too, I hope you like at least one of them.

I'm sorry, I got carried away with ideas.  I'll stop now.

Bye.

Doughnuts

I thought that might get your attention :-)  Sorry, I don't really have doughnuts for you but I do have a yummy coloured card for you.  It's for the Less is More Colour Challenge this week.  They've given us a selection of cream, pale pink and caramel colours to work with, see below.

 

So here is the card I came up with. 

 

 

I embossed with a new stem and leaf die from Poppy Stamps that I bought at the weekend, along with some older flower dies and a Stampin' Up greeting.  Susan Goetter (such a talented lovely lady) mentioned recently that she rarely stamps her greetings in a colour (other than black that is) and I realised I am guilty too, so here's an orange greeting just for you Susan!

 

Enjoy the rest of your week.

 



Less is more - paper piercing

Happy Friday.  It's nearly the weekend and tomorrow I'm going to the craft exhibiton at Five in Farnborough with a couple of good crafty friends.

The Less is More challenge this week is for Paper Piercing.  It's a small feature that I like on other people's cards yet never think of doing myself, until today.

I was going for a pointillistic look.  Isn't it nice when an idea you have in your head actually comes out the way you imagined it?

I'm also linking up to the One Layer Wednesday (OLW) challenge, one I don't get to as often as I wish.

See you tomorrow for the colour challenge.