WOYWW 112

I haven't managed to pop around the work desks of the world for quite some weeks... but today I thought I just had to show you what arrived this morning... I think the postman was up before breakfast today!
Yesterday was my birthday and on a whim, after struggling to emboss just part of a band of card and not managing to fit it through my Cuttlebug... I ordered this Spellbinders Grand Calibur... and this morning here it is. What fabulous service and FREE p&p too! I bought it from Card Craft UK... brilliant.
Now to have a play!
I was really impressed that there is an embossing mat included in the kit..
What fun!
Join Julia and friends snooping around the world's wordesks. There's a permanent link on my sidebar!
Have a good day everyone!

Week 25 at "Less is More"

We have a recipe at "Less is More" this week... not an excuse to add all sorts of folderols, just an opportunity to use ribbon or buttons.
Here I have used some ribbon  rescued from a gift last Christmas from my son and daughter-in-law and three buttons made from a Die-namics die and coated with Glossy Accents.
The gingham panel is stamped with a new addition to my collection from Waltzing Mouse.The heart is a Stampin' Up stamp, punched with the SU heart punch and decorated with a Woodware punched house and some tiny hearts from a corner punch that has been sculling in the drawer for many a while.
I made the sentiment on the computer in Fabulous 50's font and mounted it on an extended Spellbinder die-cut.
Phindy's Place -Doubling Up (2 Hearts)

This one has that cute teddy from Indigo Blu once more, simply stamped beside a sentiment from Studio G in SU Crumb Cake ink.
It's mounted on paper punched with a Martha Stewart border punch and embellished with grosgrain ribbon. There's a tutorial on the LIM blog showing how I added the bow onto the flat ribbon on the backing paper, using my bowmaker.
I hope to go to see a little cricket at the Rose Bowl today, hopefully the weather will be kind.
Have a wonderful weekend everyone and do join in with our Clean and Simple challenge at "Less is More", we'd love to see your work.
Creative Card Crew - Animal Antics

Christmas in July

Since discovering sponging techniques some time ago, I have gained enormous satisfaction from creating cards using this medium.
Here is a Christmas Card using a sponged background with Adirondack Cranberry, SU Apricot Appeal and  Ranger Weathered Wood Distress inks, each applied with a sponge dauber over a masked section of the card.
The trees, a stamp from Artemio, were over stamped with SU Mellow Moss and Stazon Olive Green inks, both before and after the upper mask had been removed.
I finally added a  few prints of the tree using Encore Ultimate metallic gold ink, inking only the edges of the stamp so that some of the colour beneath would show through.
The sentiment from Penny Black is heat embossed in gold.
I had fun making this one!
Stamp Something - Christmas in July
Stampin with the dragon - Christmas in July
Winter Wonderland - Wet or Dry Embossing
Craft Us Crazy - Christmas in July
ABC Christmas Challenge - No Nonsense
Christmas Card Challenges - Christmas in July

Circles

When Mandi and I get together to come up with the ideas for our challenges, we are full of enthusiasm for them but sometimes when push comes to shove we find actually coming up with our demo cards quite tricky!
When thinking about this week's cards, I was stumped for a while until I took my inspiration for our circles challenge from this DP which Mandi gave me recently. I love the colour combination.
I cut the circle and surrounded it with the Martha Stewart border punched strip, adapted to fit the curve of the circle. There's a tutorial on the "Less is more" blog...plus details of how I made the card.

Here is another variation on the same theme! Same DP, same border punch, same colours, but a little stamping instead of rolled flowers and the sentiment is computer generated instead of stamped.
I think the colours are really calming.
Both contain circles and both are for the "Less is More" Clean and Simple challenge this week.
DO come and join us!