A bit of bling for "Less is More"

A very 'me' card for "Less is More"... a little robin with a bit of twinkle in his beak!
We've had our grandchildren staying for a few days during our daughter's house move... they are wonderful... but very tiring, so this post s going to be very short... I have to grab moments for blogging when I can!

This is a trifle more blingy, using a fab SU set... Delicate Doilies and a bunch of embossing powder!
Sorry this is short and sweet but I need my beauty sleep...  I need to schedule this as I'll probably have my hands full with little ones in the morning!!
DO join in our challenge..we love to see your creations!

Clean and Simple Christmas

We have begun practising the music for our Christmas concert with my choir. The new book we are using (Carols for Choirs 5) has some cracking carols in it. I'm enjoying all that we're doing. The one alluded to in this card however,  is not amongst them, but we have sung some fun versions of it in the past.
For this card I used stamps from U mount. I masked the partridge to add the pear behind him and clear embossed the completed image after cutting it out.
The sentiment was die cut with an extended Spellbinder label die.
I didn't have any black brads so I heat embossed a couple using black embossing powder.
My daughter is moving house on Friday so we will be collecting my grandchildren and bringing them back here tomorrow and returning them to their new house on Sunday, by which time it should be reasonably organised and we will both be suitably exhausted!
Clean and Simple - FTL 167

Silhouettes

Here is a card using the Hero Arts image which I used for the split negative project I made a couple of weeks ago. This time it's the whole thing in just one embossing ink. I've teamed it with part of the Memory Box deer die cuts to add the silhouette and included a simple sentiment from Penny Black. It was the second card I made for our Challenge at "Less is More" which this week is to make a card  with a silhouette incorporated into it.

This is in similar vein and although there is little white space on this particular one, the overall design is still CAS. The Hero Arts trees were stamped with Memento Onyx Black and twinkled with Glamour Dust! Once more I have used the superb die from Memory Box for the deer. The sentiment has been cut with the Memory Box die I did the positioning  tutorial for a short while ago.

WOYWW 128

Last week a few people commented on how 'tidy' my craft room was, when in fact nothing could be further from the truth. There is a considerable amount of organisation within my walls, but practically every available surface is bestrewn with detritus. I do have places for most things, but space is tight and things don't always get put in their allotted places! The left hand area of my desk is always many layers deep in bits and bobs.

This crate contains sets of clear stamps and the ones on the top were part of some deliveries which arrived yesterday. This box ix decidedly short on space too!

Do join the snoopers of the world, courtesy of Julia at the Stamping Ground. The link is on my sidebar,

Have a great week everyone.

Blog Candy at the Craft Barn

The Craft Barn is kind enough to be one of our sponsors at "Less is More" and now they are celebrating reaching 600 followers with this incredible giveaway.

To be in with a chance to win all these goodies follow the link to their blog.

Fingers crossed!

Another one layer week for Less is More

The One Layer theme this week at "Less is More" is 

Leaves

One layer cards are now one of my favourite methods of card making, but I wish I didn't ruin so many at the last moment!
Of the bunch I made for this particular challenge, one was ruined by a splodgy sentiment (remedied by a new sentiment die cut and mounted over the original... arguably making it not a One Layer card any longer, but it's another for the 'for sale' box).

Another attempt saw me stamping a script stamp upside down, (remedied by cutting off the strip and remounting on another card base... another non-one layer) 

This is the re-make of that particular card. You can see that it's not necessary to have a leaf stamp to make a  leaf themed card. This was made by inking and stamping through a Cuttlebug die cut mask.

This Christmas card is a straightforward stamped image using a couple of green Distress inks and a red marker. The image is from Penny Black and the sentiment from Dovecrafts.


This last one was made by masking, leaving a strip which was inked and then over stamped with SU French Foliage stamps, using River Rock and Pear Pizzazz inks, with a little gold on the top.
I actually intended having the coloured strip in a vertical orientation, but the stamping looked much more at home arranged horizontally.
It's funny how things evolve as one goes along!

Mandi is back after a wonderful cruise... it seemed like she was away for ages! It's so good to have her back!

DO join in our challenge this time we'd love to see your creations.

PS
These are the two rescued cards, I thought you may like to see how they ended up!

WOYWW 127

Good morning!
This is the view to the left of my lovely comfy office chair... lots of things within handy reach. I had to do a bit of reorganising following my trip to the NEC, as there wasn't room on the shelves to accommodate all the goodies. You can see what I bought in the previous post. My Nesties are now located two shelves below my Grand Calibur, happily residing in CD cases.

For those people who commented last week saying that my little robin was worthy of finding his way onto a card... here he is. I may try to draw some more of these, I think he's kinda cute.
I have orders for a couple of dozen cards so I'd better get on with it... they don't make themselves!
DO visit Julia to see who else is displaying their wares this week. The link is on my sidebar.
Have a great day!
PS My weight loss has slowed up somewhat... 14.5lbs have now gone! My husband is winning by miles... he has lost 33lbs (2 stones 5lbs) in 9 weeks!!!

Less is More Colour Challenge

I really enjoyed my trip to the NEC with Anne on Thursday. This is what found its way home with me, plus a 'No More Shims', which for some reason didn't make it into the picture.

We had a great day and there were some real bargains to be had... I got three packs of the Spellbinders here for only £10 per pack!  There's plenty here to keep me busy now!
Here we are, obligingly taken by a very kind crafter who just happened to be standing next to us!

On to this week's challenge at Less is More which this time is Red and Orange!

I did a bunch of cards as Mandi is away on her cruise. I really hope she's having a fab time... she's missing nothing here with all the dreadful rain we've been having.

I made this and it sold straight away at my choir on Tuesday, bought by a chap for his wife,  who incidentally happens to be a card maker. I hope she likes it!

This is one of Arielle's images from the Wax Fruit company, I simply love these tulips.They're coloured with Copics.

Here is another of Arielle's images, isn't this simply stunning. It's actually just the quarter gerbera, but I duplicated it and swished it round to make the full flower, once more it's coloured with Copics.

Lastly a die cut one, using my SU Embosslits butterflies.

All the cards are red and orange, all clean and simple, all with white space.

DO join us and have a go at our Clean and Simple challenge... you might even find it fun!!

WOYWW

Does anyone else do this?
Make embellishments or elements to go on cards and then either lose the impetus to carry the project through or become dissatisfied en route.
This little heap is the evidence of my unfinished business. It's a case of 'I thought I would use it for something' kind of thing.
Actually I quite like the little robin... I drew him last night and I think he may find his way onto a Christmas card... as to the rest, well it's anyone's guess as to how long it will stay in this pile.
Join the worldwide snoop that is WOYWW. The link to Julia is on my sidebar!

I shall be going to the NEC tomorrow, Thursday... if anyone else is going do say Hi!

Cuttlebug Embossing Tip... NO Lines!

Have you ever tried to emboss a small folder in the Cuttlebug, only to find that the pressure of the plates on the edges of the folder leaves embossed lines on the card?
Well here's a little trick I discovered which avoids that.
Instead of using the sandwich of base A plate, embossing folder plus card and 2 B plates, I use

•  the base A  plate,
•  then the folder with the card inside,
•  a tan embossing mat 
•  C plate.

You get a really crisp emboss and NO LINES!

Another cunning plan!