Some bunnies

This super Penny Black stamp was given to me by my lovely friend Mandi and this is the first time that I have inked it. I find colouring really relaxing... until I make a pig's breakfast of something that is, but this time all was well. I coloured it with Promarkers. There was a time when I preferred to use Copic pens, but now I really rather like using Promarkers.
The challenge at CAS-ual Fridays is to use a pun in the sentiment and since making this one on the computer, I've been humming the tune and probably will continue to do so for the rest of the day.
Cute critters aren't they!

Farnborough Goodies

I have been having a play with a few of the goodies I bought at the Make it Craft Show in Farnborough last week. For this card I used an Impression Obsession stamp set which included the butterflies and the damsel fly, (which is fact hiding behind the ribbon), I managed to purchase it for the princely sum of £3.50 in a reduced bin, the Memory Box poppy die (isn't it gorgeous) and the tag die which is from a Papermania set. In reality the ribbon is a really close match to the kraft card, but the lighting has done a little something to alter it.
The text stamp in the inked panel is from Inkylicious and there are a few random splats from my SU French Foliage set. The sentiment is from Stampin' Up.
I used the colours from Colour Create this week.... and what a fab combo they are... blue, lilac, white and kraft. A little emboss resist and a touch of ink dusting and there we are!
It doesn't always happen, but this one pleases me!
I'm going to be weighed again at Slimming World tonight... I'm dreading it!
Fingers Crossed everyone!
Result....
I finally managed to reach the milestone of 2.5 stones lost. It's taken me 25 weeks... onwards and upwards!

Don't Scrap it!

The challenge this week at "Less is More" is to use up the scraps of any material left over during the course of one's crafting. Personally, I never buy ready made card blanks and so I have an almost inexhaustible supply of 'scraplings' which are the strips of card remaining, when a card has been made from a sheet of A4. (These are sitting in boxes in the knee well of my desk.)
I also have a file of coloured scraps of card and paper, a drawer full of partly used designer papers, a heap of acetate packaging and a rabble of bits of ribbon cut from the inside of garments, intended to keep them on the hanger, but which irritate me enormously and get unceremoniously cut out before the first wearing of the garment.
This card began life with a sentiment stamped directly onto the lower portion of the card, but which wasn't clear enough for my liking. So I decided  to cut it off, but not to waste the remainder of the card, I used a stray piece of acetate, plus a piece of scrap brown card... the image was stamped on  part of card which was cut off.

This simple wedding card was made using one of the 'scraplings' from under my desk for the embossed panel plus bits and bobs from my scrap card file. I often use part sheets of card to print sentiments from my computer, as here... the printer doesn't know that they're not full size... I always use full width pieces, but being really mean I have had some very small bits get stuck in the past!!!!

I was inspired to buy this stamp, which comes from a large 8x10 sheet from Blockhead stamps, by Birgit one of our wonderful LIMettes. She is Guest Designer for the company at present and does fabulous work. Part of my order was the bee stamp I used in the post below this one. I entered it into a challenge from Blockhead Paper Arts and WON! Whoo Hooo! More Blockhead stamps for me... I can't wait for them to arrive.

I saw this Penny Black image on a card from another submission to LIM some weeks ago! Isn't it the cutest! I got it from the USA and it arrived quite quickly. All of this card, apart from the card base and the ribbon was made from the contents of my scrap supplies.

I had a lovely day at the Make It craft show in Farnborough. I went with Sharon (Colour Create) and met up with Julia (WOYWW) Anne (Phindy's Place ...among others) and Val (One Stop Crafts). What fun!

Those Design Teams are really lucky to have such talented ladies in their midst, and I'm lucky to be able to count them as friends... thanks to blogging!

Blockheads Paper Arts Stamps

We are so fortunate that one of the inspirational card makers in this world, submits the most fabulous cards to our challenge at "Less is More" each week.

Her name is Birgit and she is Swedish!

You can find her blog here.

A couple of weeks ago she submitted a fabulous card which used a stamp from Blockhead Paper Arts for whom she is a Guest Designer at present.

I loved the image so much that I have bought some stamps for myself and they are simply FABULOUS!

The card she designed which caught my imagination is here

This is my case of it

The card at the top of this post was made with another Blockhead stamp using what they call the  "Chalk Attraction" technique. This is merely an image stamped with Versamark and coloured using chalks or pastels, applied with a Q Tip. I used Stampin' Pastels from Stampin' Up in Really Rust, More Mustard,  So Saffron and Basic Black. In fact I think that this is the perfect technique for using on this wonderful sketchy image of the bee and its honeycomb.

Thanks Birgit for all your inspiration!

Theme challenge at LIM ~ Die Cuts or Punches

This week at "Less is More" the challenge is to use die cuts or punches... quite an easy proposition after last week's one layer challenge!

This card uses a Cuttlebug die which I cut twice... once in some green card and again using a piece of acetate packaging which I had coloured by dabbing with alcohol inks. I also decided to emboss it with a bumpy embossing folder. The two images were then stuck together and a couple of gem eyes added.

It's mounted on a Nestie square which in turn is sitting on a Cuttlebug embossed panel.

The foliage is a Flonz stamp and the sentiment from Personal Impressions.

The details of this one is on the LIM blog... but I was really pleased with my package which arrived yesterday... I love the Hero Arts stamp and the Memory Box dies!

This one is also described on the "Less is More " Blog, but I really love the effect of this sumptuous tribute to Klimt from Chocolate Baroque.

 This last one has a Letterpress background which I made some time ago and have only just got around to using. The border is from a Spellbinders Edgeability die embellished with a few adhesive pearls. The stamps are from SU and the die cut mounts from Spellbinders.

I simply love using dies in my crafting and my trusty Cuttlebug machine lives on my desk at my right hand... I just love it and regard it as one of my most essential tools. I love the finish that dies give to card!

I have been making quite a few cards for Mother's Day to sell at my choir... lots of members prefer to have it referred to as Mothering Sunday so I have had to make a variety of sentiments for them.

Do join us this week... it's an easy challenge, we'd love to see your creations!

OLW circles

I thought I'd better get this posted as the Linky for Susan's One Layer Wednesday  challenge for a card with more than 5 circles closes in a couple of hours.

I feel rather as if I'm going round in circles at the moment, we have teams of men here installing solar panels on the roof... the scaffolding has obliterated our satellite reception so no tv until the scaffolding is removed.

This card uses SU Circle Circus.. a very popular choice for this challenge!

Adirondack inks and WOW Copper Embossing powder, with a sentiment from Studio G.

This little one is for the Casual Friday's Paper Piecing challenge. I believe that the papers are from Fred She Said! The sentiment is SU and the image from Hero Arts.

More tea and coffee is required for the workers I believe!

One Layer Stripes at Less is More

The challenge at "Less is More" this week is for a One Layer card with stripes!

Who thinks up these challenges I ask myself? It took a bit of thought I can tell you!

An embossing folder provides the stripes on this card... and a stamp from Stampendous provides the image... stamped in Night of Navy ink.

I also tried to ink the folder before embossing, but the hammer finish on this next card didn't take the ink too well, so I went over the stripes with a little Perfect Pearls in Antique Gold, mixed with water.

These two were made with a stamp constructed from a few strips of foam stuck onto an acrylic block.

Finally some stripes made from the edge of a Distress ink Pad, stamped over the edge of a Post it note. The sentiment is from Personal Impressions.

I'm sure that there are lots of different ways of having a one layer stripe... what can you come up with? Do join us!

We have our one year old grandson Sebastian staying with us this weekend... I'll post a pic later... he's simply adorable! 

Thank you everyone who left a comment on my LIM  cards last week, it was wonderful to receive so many lovely messages. It was the most I've ever had on one post apart from when I gave a way some candy!

THANK YOU!

LIM is 1

It seems forever ago that Mandi emailed  me to ask if I'd be willing to begin a new challenge blog with her for the kind of cards we both love... Clean and Simple! 

Having admired her work for quite some time I was eager to join in with the venture. I went to the Island to visit her and discuss how we'd go about creating our challenge and that day "Less is More" was conceived and merely weeks later it was born.

In the year which has passed since that time it has grown from strength to strength and we can only thank you all for your wonderful support and participation.

We began with a colour challenge and so here we are, a year on, with another one.

This time it's

AQUA

Here is a card using SU Simply Soft stamps, the colour stamp being positioned with my bits of lego and a sheet of acetate. (I never throw away packaging from things like dies, I chop them up into pieces suitable for using with alcohol inks, embossing folders, stamping or for making positioning sheets for my DIY stampamajig.

The border was cut with a Spellbinder Edgeability Border die... I love these dies and even though they are longer than my Cuttlebug plates I still use them in the machine, as long as the card I'm cutting is shorter than the plates.

I often add a piece of card, decorated in some way... often with dies, to attach a ribbon to. I prefer this to tying a ribbon around the whole card. This was done with my usual method of  attaching the flat piece of ribbon (at the back only) of the decorated strip and tying a short length of ribbon in a single knot onto it.

This one shows how different methods of applying the same inks can achieve different effects.  For this card I just used one ink pad. I think it was Tumbled Glass DI although it may have been Broken China... I'm not sure now... what it is to be getting old!

The background was applied with an Ink Duster brush and the images, from Personal Impressions and SU, were stamped with neat ink. I mounted the stamped panel on another piece of white card, the edges of which I embossed using a score board and an embossing stylus.

The computer generated sentiment was die cut with a Spellbinders die

Ours is such a covetous addiction!
Last week I saw a fab card from Zoe where she had used a crimper to suggest the panel in our LIM sketch... I thought it such a good idea that I had to get myself a crimper... never really seeing the need for one previously. Mine arrived yesterday; I bought it for a mere £6.99 on eBay  from a company in Bath, where everywhere else they are more than £20... I think I did well.
Here I tried to make the corrugated mount for this heart. I managed to allow enough extra card to make a square when crimped, but haven't quite got the knack of inserting a small piece of card exactly at right angles to the rollers. I can only get better. The heart die is from Marianne's.

This is for a friend who's having a difficult time at the moment.. just so that she knows that I'm thinking of her.
An Art Impressions background stamp which I just bought on sale and a Crafty Individuals floral stamp. DI inks in Tumbled Glass and Broken China with a secondary flower image stamped in Whisper White and embossed with WOW White Puff Twinkle Embossing Glitter.
The sentiment is from Hero Arts.
Having been away from home for longer than a week... looking after my grandchildren in Bath and then in Essex looking after my brother-in-law, I feel the need for a little crafting.
I'm off now to see what else I can crimp!

Penny Black Floral Frenzy

Very clean, very simple and a very lovely Penny Black stamp - Brush Tulips!

It's for  the Penny Black Challenge - Floral Frenzy.

This is just a quickie as I'm off to see my niece this afternoon, but I went  for a weigh in at Slimming World this morning and was delighted to see that I'd lost another 3.5 lbs this week, taking my total loss so far to 2 stones and 6 and a half pounds. (34.5lbs). I'm still overweight, but my BMI is now 28 so I'm on the right track!