Lucky Dip at Less is More

This month we are fortunate enough to have 5 Saturdays, which means that at "Less is More" we have an extra challenge plus a Guest Designer.

For our Lucky Dip challenge this month we have chosen to use the blog header as the inspiration for the card creations.Here it is!

We are really lucky to have have Kim as our Guest Designer this month and her cards have been an inspiration to us all  from the get go.

I have done a couple of cards, one as a direct case of the header and the other using the music and the flourishes, plus the general colour as the basis for my card.

Details of what I used on this are on the LIM blog!

This is one of my usual emboss resist  and inking cards. It's a little more removed from the original than the first card, but I hope you can see the influence of our header in it!

Do join us over at "Less is More"... what can you come up with?

Paper piecing at "Less is More"

The sponsor this month at "Less is More" is Stampotique, who is giving a $30 voucher for use on their products to our winner.

I think that this pair of birds from their range is simply super and perfect for paper piecing, although cutting out the little flowers was very fiddly. The homespun look of gingham seemed just right for this pair!

The papers are all digital downloads from Cuddly Buddly. They do some super self colour sets of papers which I love.

More Cuddly Buddly papers here, this time from the Patchwork of papers series. These make perfect papers for the piecing technique. This stamp set by Francoise Read for Woodware is also tailor made for it. I used just a strip of blue to represent the sky so as to keep the design CAS.

The sentiment is computer generated in Pea Roxy Girl font. I always try to match the style of font with that of the images and spend ages trawling through my font file searching for something suitable. I frequently get an idea of what I'm looking for in my head and if I can't find it, then go to numerous Free Font sites to download a new one. I do have my favourites however and this is one of them.

I shall be out and about for the next couple of weeks so will comment when I can!

Something Shiny at "Less is More"

When presented with a request for something specific as the feature of a greetings card, there are times when I feel somewhat floored. This card was made for a friend who said she wanted a hot rod car as the image for her son's birthday.

I went to the Internet and found some downloadable colouring pages and chose this one. It's coloured with Copics and the a generous amount of Glossy Accents added over the top to give it shine. The wheels were coloured with a silver marker.

I'm pleased to report that he thought it was fab.

Here is a lovely filigree butterfly, die-cut from silver card and backed with tissue paper. Simply mounted on a Spellbinder oval and frame.

The sentiment is one I keep in a Word file and alter for the particular card it's needed for.

The shine on this one comes from clear embossing powder. I made the little circular tile from several layers of card stuck together and stamped with Versamark and clear embossed before adding the ink and darker stamping. It's similar to a one layer card I made some weeks ago.

The embossing is Tim Holtz and the border from  Martha Stewart punch.

Today I shall be going to see England play the West Indies in a One Day Cricket International match. I'd better get my skates on!

Do join us for our something shiny challenge at Less is More this week!

Done with a flourish at "Less is More"

Flourishes are one thing... one layer flourishes are a different ball game... here are a few for the One Layer challenge at "Less is More " this week.

This one has a variety of stamps used over an inked background, coloured through a template of Post it notes. The large SU flourish was clear embossed before any inking was started.

Details of this one are on the LIM blog, but the principle is exactly the same as the first card... stamped and inked through a template.

Here is a Clarity stamp corner flourish used as a frame for a simple sentiment. All heat embossed in silver.

This one is a case of Vicky's card which is in the showcase for shaped cards on LIM this week. I don't have the Sizzix dies but used my Spellbinder butterflies instead. I used Core'dinations card for this and dry embossed  and sanded one layer and stamped the other.

It's not one layer obviously but whilst we were talking about flourishes I thought I would add it to this post!

I just realised that Vicky's butterfly had antennae... I'd better give this one some too!

Have a great weekend.

Retro Sketches #14

Loving simplicity as I do, the sketches by Arielle at Retro Sketches really appeal to me... and this week's is no exception. In fact it is similar to a design I use very frequently and is not too dissimilar to one we had at "Less is More" some weeks ago.

 

My version uses a  strip of Harlequin DP from Pink Petticoat mounted on a strip of card with the edges embossed with an embossing stylus to give a rounded and more finished look to them. The flower is from Prickley Pear as is the die which was used to cut it out. It's adorned with a stamen punchout plus a gem and the simple sentiment is from Kaisercraft.

At weigh in yesterday, I hit the 50 lb loss mark and have just 7 lbs to go to reach my target. What I have lost is more than the equivalent of carrying my granddaughter around with me all the time... what a strain that must have been on my heart and all my other vital organs... to say nothing of the effect on my knees and back etc.. When I get to target, I'll post a pic of the new me!

Slimming World does do an online programme in the USA. If anyone is interested, let me know and I'll forward your email address to them. It's certainly working for me!

Royal Colour Challenge at LIM

God save the Queen!

Today is the anniversary of the Queen's coronation.. a day I remember fairly well, considering the number of years ago it was... in 1953. Half the street was crammed into our sitting room around a tiny black and white tv, (which was the envy of the neighbours) in order to watch the ceremony.

There will be celebrations countrywide over the coming weekend. I hope everyone has a brilliant time!

The challenge at "Less is More" is a colour challenge this week and so naturally the shades of choice are Red, White and Blue!

This one uses a Memory Box die mounted over a computer generated band using the Maya Tiles font.

Father's Day will be here soon and so this simple greeting might suit some unfussy father! The die cut letters are from a Dienamics alphabet. The base card was embossed with an SU embossing folder.

This card uses a a sentiment from Stampotique, the sponsor of LIM challenges for this month. It's great isn't it. The lips are part of a stamp from MSE which I decided to cut up as I thought the lips would be more useful on their own.

We have our grandson with us at the moment as his sister was a flower girl at her godfather's wedding yesterday. My daughter didn't want a 15month old wrecking the proceedings!

Here she is in her finery!

Have a wonderful weekend!