Autumn at Less is More

Autumn is here!

Yesterday we went to visit our daughter in Bath and the trees en route were turning beautiful shades of yellow, hopefully the reds and browns will soon appear. I love this time of year... crisp days and bright sunshine... wonderful.

The theme at "Less is More" is just this...

Autumn.

Here are a few cards inspired by this theme!

Simple inking and overstamping.

Autumn Splendour from Stampin' Up.

What a great stamp set.

This one is for the Simon Says Stamp Autumn Leaves Challenge

This one was inspired by Birgit a superb crafter and loyal "Less is More" Participant. The tree die is by Memory Box!

Here's another pic from our recent cruise to Hawaii. We had an amazing time. I just love cruising!

I still need to lose the pounds gained by the fabulous food on board!

Hey Ho!

Back from Hawaii to Week 89 at LIM, Wings

Home again after a month away on a fabulous holiday to California and Hawaii!
We planned this cruise quite some time ago... two weeks to Hawaii and back from Los Angeles. Going all that way, my husband thought we should profit from the fact that we had taken a long flight and extend our stay to include some additional time in California. We actually also strayed into Nevada to visit Las Vegas and the Grand Canyon, followed by a week relaxing in Indio, close to Palm Springs, before returning to LA to embark on our cruise aboard the Golden Princess.

Here we are in the National Park on the Big Island beside some of the steam vents near to the volcano.

It was a wonderful holiday, but quite a time to be away from home. I tried to keep up with visiting LIMettes to comment on their contributions to Less is More, but the Internet connections were not always wonderful, particularly on board ship. SO... many apologies to all of those whose blogs I didn't manage to visit.
I DID manage to find a 'Michael's', the craft store I had read so much about in many American crafter's blogs, and managed to pick up a few bargains.

Now back to Less is More!
We have been astounded by the difference in the attitude of crafters to the One Layer Card challenges at Less is More. At the outset of our blog, they were met with fear and trepidation, but these days many people really seem to enjoy the challenge and the work produced is astounding!

Here is my first sample for this week.

I love this bird stamp from The Rubber Stamp Gallery. It was stamped then masked before the oval was inked in shades of blue, then overstamped with the various birthday sentiments.

The stamps here are all from Stampin' Up. More stamping and masking again here, with the sentiment added a second time as the original was a little wonky!

To make this card, I masked off the square and then inked it with three colours of ink. When dry, I stamped the images with Versamark and then clear embossed them. The darker shades of ink were then sponged over the stamping. I really like the effect.

There we go, three different kind of wings! Job done!

Week 88 at LIM Colour Challenge

This may seem a little like a continuation from last week, but this time the focus of my cards is the colour silver. For this I used the Stampin' Up set Love and Laughter, mounted on Nesties and with a little Cuttlebugged embossing on the background panel. As the folder is not quite long enough to stretch from one side to the other on this card (150mm x 150mm) I embossed from each edge and left a gap in the middle which is hidden behind the central motif.

It may seem slightly odd to see an anniversary card dedicated to just one person, but this card is a commission from her husband. It seems a little ironic that the font I use so often for wedding and anniversary cards is called 'Passions Conflict.' I hope there isn't too much of that in these marriages!

A new home card next... Memory Box's attic key mounted on a Cuttlebug mesh embossed panel, in turn on a silver mount. The sentiment is from Stampin' Up.

Do have a great week everyone.

Week 87

We are being joined by the fabulous Susan Goetter as our Guest Designer at "Less is More " this week, as once more we have we a fifth Saturday in the month. 

For our theme, we have chosen Love and Marriage.

Here is one of my all time favourite looks... white on white. The sentiment is computer generated and the rest is simply die cuts and embossing, with a few tiny pearls to finish the flowers.

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More of the same here in an easel format, with apologies for the dreadful picture.

...and yet more, this time with a stamped and heat embossed sentiment. Since making this I added entwined die-cut initials onto the smaller heart for the recipient couple. 

I must make myself add some colour to a wedding or anniversary card!

Have a super week