Less is More sketch

Week 169 challenge on Less is More is a sketch drawn by Chrissie.  This is the first time I have used a sketch and I liked the structure of having a plan to follow.  I inked the background with distress inks and spritzed this with perfect pearls. I then stamped the image with Dusty Concord distress ink.  I embossed the butterflies on vellum which I had inked on the wrong side with distress ink.  Finally I attached the panel with foam tape to give some depth to the card. 

Materials used:-
Distress inks - Dusty Concord, Milled Lavender and Broken China
Perfect pearls
Stamp - Inkylicious "Poppy Lea"
Die/stamp - Sizzix Butterflies Framelits
White embossing powder
Nestabilities (to cut out the circle)

Chrissie's sketch

Plant a Garden

I was inspired to create this card by the cue card  "garden" on week 92 on CASology. I had recently received the garden tools die and wanted an excuse to use it. I deliberately kept the card simple as the garden tools are so small. I wanted the tools to look metallic so used Brilliance ink to create this effect. I then painted the background with watercolour paints and mounted this on cream card before stamping the sentiment.

Materials used:-
Memory box die - garden tools
Pebeo watercolour paints
Brilliance ink - starlite silver
Clarity stamps -garden set

Thank you for visiting my blog! Pop over to CASology and see what the other participants have created.

Spring Flowers

Challenge 4 on A Vintage Journey is Spring Flowers. This was set by Jennie who makes the most wonderful paper flowers. You can see how she does this on her blog Live The Dream but I have been lucky enough to attend some of her workshops.

I decided to make a card using some of Tim Holtz Wallpaper papers. As these  are beautiful I didn't want to detract from the pictures. I made the flowers - the large one was cut using the Tattered Florals die and the smaller ones using a Donna Salazar die. I made a rolled rose for the centre following Jennie's instructions. I inked the flowers with distress inks to get the same shade as the flowers in the papers. Tim's influence is in the overall look of the card which I hope is "vintage" - I distressed the papers and inked the trellis to tone down the cream card as it seemed too bright.

Materials used:-
Tim Holtz Wallpaper papers and Simple Sayings sentiment stamp
Flower dies - Tim Holtz Tattered Florals; Donna Salazar Bitty Blossoms
Trellis Frameworks die
Distress inks - crushed olive, pumice stone, mustard seed
Archival ink - Wendy Vecci watering can
Leaf dies - Stampin Up bird die, Tim Holtz Spring greenery

Makes me smile!

The theme for week 168 at Less is More is "Makes me Smile". I am submitting this card because I was so happy when I achieved the clean and simple look I was aiming for. This took 3 attempts as I smudged the other ones. CAS cards may look simple but making them involves a lot of work!

My card is based on a design by Joanne Allison in the April issue of Craft Stamper magazine. This very effective technique is done with an eraser on the end of a pencil! The ink is Salty Ocean distress ink and the stamps are from the Clearly Besotted Dandelion Dreams set.

Thank you for visiting my blog  - hop over to LIM to see how the other participants interpreted this challenge.

Far Away

I was inspired to make this card by challenge #36 on Addicted to CAS which is entitled Far Away. I immediately thought of the Tim Holtz globe stamp. I used this as the focus and coloured it with distress ink. I sanded the turquoise card to create a more muted effect.

Materials used:-

Broken china distress ink

Coffee archival ink

Stampin Up banner punch

Sentiment stamp from Clear Choice Journey stamps

Thanks for visiting!

Shadow Stamping

Challenge 167 on Less is More is a One Layer Card using the shadow stamping technique. There are lots of examples of this on the internet. I love the clean and simple look of OLCs but find them difficult to make. I experimented with lots of colours and layouts before getting one I was happy with.

What I did:-
I made my own mask out of copier paper and used an Inkylicious ink duster to ink the background with distress inks (scattered straw, spiced marmalade and dried marigold.)  Then I stamped the flowers with black archival ink - stamping again without reinking to create the shadow effect. The stamps I used were Sheena Douglass Silhouette Wildflowers and a Woodware sentiment stamp.

Thank you for visiting my blog - please hop over to see lots of great examples of this on LIM.

Birthday Die

I am entering this card in Challenge 31on CAS on Sunday which is entitled "A Birthday to Die For". I used a Crafty Individuals die "Victoria Corner" for my card.  The background paper is from Pion Design - a Swedish company which produces beautiful vintage papers. I used 2 Nestabilities dies to cut out the mats for the little bird. The sentiment is from the Marion Eberson "Birds and Trees" collection which I stamped with Wendy Vecci Archival ink in Cornflower Blue.

Tim's April Tag

This is my entry for Tim's 12 Tags of 2014 Challenge. Although I have made tags before following Tim's instructions, I have never entered them into his challenge. You can see his original tag here.

Materials used:-

• Sizzix framework trellis die and spring greenery die (for the ivy)
• Distress paints and inks - peeled paint, spiced marmalade and vintage photo
• Tissue tape
• Paper from Tim Holtz Wallflower collection
• A paper flower which I made at a workshop with Jennie in Shetland - you can find instructions on her blog here

Turquoise

The colour challenge 166 at Less is More this week is turquoise - a colour which suits the clean and simple look. I used the Stampin Up Six Sided set of stamps, inking these with Broken China distress ink and Colorbox ink (ocean) as I wanted some variety of colour. I stamped the sentiment, also from Stampin Up, with Aquamarine archival ink. Finally I added a few Kaisercraft pearls as a simple embellishment.

Thanks for visiting my blog!

Stencil

I used a Paper Artsy stencil by Lin Brown to create this card. I inked through the stencil with Black Soot distress ink and then clear embossed it. The background is inked with Broken China and Tumbled Glass distress inks and spritzed with water. I finished the card with some machine stitching.

I would like to enter my card into the following challenges:-
KIS #challenge 37 - stencil
http://kis-challenge.blogspot.com.au
CAS on Sunday. challenge #30 -stitching real or faux http://cleanandsimpleonsunday.blogspot.co.uk