Muse butterfly

This card was inspired by Marion Vagg's lovely card on Muse. Using the die cut in this way was a new technique for me which I decided to copy. I tried to keep my card CAS and resisted the temptation to add any embellishments! I inked the panel with 3 shades of distress ink which I then spritzed with perfect pearls to get the colours to blend.

I am going to enter this into this week's Muse challenge and also CASology where the cue word is Ombré.

Materials used:-
Butterfly die - Stampin Up butterflies thinlits die
Sentiment - Tim Holtz alterations thinlits celebrate set
Distress ink - tumbled glass, broken china, mermaid lagoon
Perfect pearls mist
Linen card

Thanks for popping by - I really appreciate your comments. Margaret

Up, up and away!

This week's challenge on Less is More is "Up, up and away!" Like many of the participants I have used a Stampin Up balloon stamp and die set. I thought a graduation card would be fun using the little owl. As the card seemed a bit empty, I added a few sequins.

Materials used:-
Stampin Up set - Celebrate Today
Distress ink - ripe persimmon
Hobby Art owl stamp set
Black onyx versafine ink
Stampin Up embellishments

Thanks for visiting!

Muse flowers

This is my take on Michele's card on Muse #113 - I really liked the contrast of the clean stamping with the fluidity of the watercolour. I also drew a line under the flowers to ground them and mounted my sentiment to match the background of my card.

Materials used:-
Stamp - Little Claire Designs - Cherish, Hope, Dreams
Sentiment - Tim Holtz simple sayings
Distress inks - salty ocean and mermaid lagoon
Versa fine black onyx ink
Coredinations card

Thanks for popping by - now have a look at the Muse blog to see what the other participants have created.

Splatters!

The Less is More challenge this week is to make a one layer card incorporating splatters. I found this quite difficult to do while keeping a clean and simple design.

I decided to make a watercolour card using the Tim Holtz distress marker spritzer to make the splatters.  I spritzed the blue splatters with water to create a more muted effect.

Materials used:-
Stamps - PaperArtsy JOFY 14
Versa fine onyx black ink
Distress inks - mustard seed, spiced marmalade and vintage photo for the flower
Distress markers - shabby shutters, tea dye and broken china
Watercolour card
Tim Holtz distress marker spritzer

Thanks for visiting my blog - now pop over to Less is More and see what the other participants have created. Margaret

Even more black!

I have been inspired by a design Chrissie had on her blog to make another "predominately black" card for this week's Less is More challenge.  Chrissie had embossed black card for the background which I had never tried before.  I thought the black needed something to lighten it so I added a panel continuing with the music theme.

I think there is something very classy about black and white and this challenge has certainly inspired lots of great cards on Less is More.

Materials used:-
Embossing folder - Darice music
Chocolate Baroque stamps - Mackintosh sentiments and Music Fanfare set
Ink - distress ink pumice stone and versafine onyx black
Memory box die - treble clef

Thanks for popping by - I really appreciate your comments.  Margaret

Mainly black!

The challenge on Less is More this week is to create a card which is predominately black.  Chrissie says "Your whole card doesn't have to be all black and you may use a little of another colour, but whatever you add to your design, even if it's minimal, should be mainly black."

I do like the CAS effect of just black and white so here is the card I created. I mounted the stamped panel on another panel which I had embossed with the Papertry linen impression plate to create some more interest.  I'm not sure if this shows up in my photo.

Materials used:-
Clarity stamps - allium
Sentiment - Woodware
Papertrey impression plate
Versafine black onyx ink

Thanks for visiting - now pop over to LIM to see how the other participants have been inspired by this challenge. Margaret

MUSE card

The guest designer on Muse #111 is Kristie Goulet who has produced this very striking silhouette card. I was inspired by Kristie's circle design and the silhouette which I tried to recreate in my card.

Materials used:-
Stamps - Woodware Teasel and Stampin Up "four you" set
Distress inks and versfine onyx black
Nestabilities circle die

Thanks for visiting my blog - now pop over to MUSE to see how the other participants were inspired! Margaret

Tim's April Tag

When I saw the April tag on the Tim Holtz blog I was delighted as he had used two of my favourite techniques - watercolouring and sewing. Here are Tim's tags and you can find out how he made them here.  I kept to Tim's basic design using some alternative materials.

Materials used:-
Stamps - JOFY collection 14
Various distress inks and markers
Archival black ink
Watercolour card and Stampin Up crumb cake card
Dies - Sizzix handwritten celebrate and Memorybox alphabet set

Thanks for visiting - I really appreciate your comments! Margaret