Oriental thanks

The inspiration for this card came from the beautiful photo on the Inkspirational blog.  I decided to use the tree stamp from the Chocolate Baroque Serenity set as I felt it had an oriental feel.  I added the twine as the card seemed too clean and simple!

I am going to enter this card into the following challenges:-
Inkspirational #76 - photo inspiration
CASology week 134 - Monochrome
Just Add Ink #251 - thanks

Materials used:-
Tree stamp - Chocolate Baroque Serenity Stamp Set
Sentiment - Chocolate Baroque Mackintosh sentiments
Versa fine onyx black ink
Baker's twine from stash

Thanks for visiting my blog - I really appreciate your comments. Margaret

LIM wings

This week's challenge on Less is More is Wings - no problem there I thought as I have lots of butterfly stamps.  But you can sometimes have too much choice!  This is the card I finally came up with - I stamped the image with Versafine which gave a nice crisp impression.  Then I watercoloured it with distress markers using a very fine brush!

 

 

Materials used:-

Butterfly stamp from Claire Designs - Cherish, Hugs and Dream set

Sentiment - Uniko Studio English Country Garden Butterflies

Distress markers - various including the brand new Abandoned Coral which is gorgeous

Black ink - Versafine



 

Thanks for visiting my blog - now pop over to LIM to see what the design team and the other participants have created.

 

You're too kind

The current challenge at AAA cards is to use the colour orange - this is a welcome relief from pink! To make my card I masked off part of the card with post it notes and then inked through the Gothic mask. I saw this effect on Birgit's blog and thought it was a good way of using masks while keeping the design CAS. After stamping the flowers I felt they were a little bland so I watercoloured them with distress inks.

I am also entering this card into Addicted to CAS where the code word is MASK

Materials used:-
Tim Holtz Gothic mask
Stamp - Stampendous Agapanthus cluster
Sentiment - Stampin' Up Too Kind set
Distress inks - dried marigold, spiced marmalade and rusty hinge
Black archival ink and Colorbox chalk ink Pumpkin spice
Stampin' up card - very vanilla

Thanks for visiting my blog - I really appreciate your comments. Margaret

On your special day

It's One Layer Week at Less is More this week and the theme is Love.  To create a small area for inking I used a die with a deckled edge to make a mask. I embossed the heart and then inked over this with distress ink. This card is certainly clean and simple with lots of white space!

Materials used:-
Distress ink - Victorian Velvet
Heart stamp - free stamp from Craft Stamper
Sentiment - Woodware tiny phrases
White embossing powder
Nestabilities die

Thanks for visiting my blog - now pop over to LIM to see how everyone interpreted the theme of love.

HAPPY

This week's designer on Muse #104 is Michelle Ferguson who has produced a stunning card to inspire us. I tried to recreate some of her elements in my card by using shades of brown, wooden embellishments and a patterned background.

Materials used:-
Distress inks - vintage photo, tea dye and frayed burlap
Mask - Creative Expressions
Die - Die-namics pierced rectangles
Wooden letters and leaf from stash
Sentiment - Uniko Studio birthday fontiments set

Thanks for visiting my blog!

Anniversary hearts

With Valentine's Day just around the corner, there are a lot of challenges featuring hearts! I am entering this card into the following challenges:-

Inkspirational #75 Rose colours
FUSION - I was inspired by the hearts and metal in the photo (my embossing looks like silver)

I embossed the heart on vellum and then mounted this on white card as it didn't show up very well on the pink background. I then mounted the heart and sentiment on dimensional foam.

Materials used:-
Tim Holtz layering stencil - hearts
Victorian velvet distress ink
Pearl silver embossing powder
Background stamp - Hero Arts dots and flowers
Sentiment - archival Watering Can and woodware tiny phrases stamp
Dienamics banner die

Thanks for visiting my blog - I really appreciate your comments. Margaret

Congratulations

This is the 4th anniversary of Less is More so congratulations to Chrissie and her wonderful team of designers. I've only been taking part in the LIM challenges since last March but have learnt such a lot about the CAS style.  This week it's a colour challenge to use

PINK AND GREY

I'm not a "pink" person but liked the effect of the pink background with the embossing on vellum.

Materials used:-
Picked raspberry distress ink
Tim Holtz layering stencil - stars
Pearl silver embossing powder
Sentiment - Stampin Up Sassy Salutations


Thanks for visiting my blog - now pop over to LIM to see what the design team and the participants have created.

Meadow

It is Lucky Dip week on Less is More this week and the theme is Little Ones. I thought this stamp would be appropriate as the butterflies and flowers are small!  I used one of my favourite techniques of blending distress inks with a brush to create a background. I put some glossy accents over the poppies to provide some definition.

Materials used:-

Stamp - Inkylicious Poppy Lea stamp set and brush

Black archival ink

Distress inks - mustard seed, spiced marmalade and dried marigold

Distress marker - festive berries

Glossy accents

Thanks for visiting my blog - I really appreciate your comments. Margaret

Up Helly Aa

I've had a break from blogging as last Tuesday was Up Helly Aa day in Lerwick. This is a fantastic fire festival which involves over 900 men marching through the town with burning torches before setting fire to a replica of a Viking longship. Here are a couple of photos - the first one shows the galley before it was burnt. The second one shows the burning of the junior galley - boys from the local schools take part in their own procession. You can find more information about the festival on the Up Helly Aa website.