Yellow

The theme this week at Less Is More is Yellow. It isn't a colour I'd normally think of using, so to make a card with yellow as the predominant colour was a bit outside my comfort zone. But it's supposed to be a challenge, isn't it?! So here's my card.

Very simple, just sponged Versamagic ink in two shades of yellow down one side of a Nestie shape, overstamped it with an Inkylicious stamp in a darker shade of yellow (which shows up better IRL than it does in the photo) and a sentiment (Katzelcraft), with a ribbon at the side to finish it off. Not entirely sure that I like it, but at least the colour has brightened up a miserable, wet day! 

Less is More Week 62

Well, it's been quite some time since I last made something for the Less is More Challenge. Nine months, believe it or not! Just before the move up to Scotland. Since then, other things have had to come first, but at last I have time to enter again. The topic this week is "Three shades of green".

I immediately thought of paint samples, and found the perfect one. I stamped over it with one of my favourite Chocolate Baroque images, and added a greeting (Personal Impressions). Quick and easy, clean and simple, right? Wrong! Three cards went in the bin before I got one right! The problem was that the paint sample card was non absorbent, and very difficult to stamp on to without the stamp slipping. I tried various different stamps and inks until I got a combination that worked. In the end I used Archival ink. Anyway, here it is.

It's very green up here just now! After a few weeks with very little rain, we've had quite a lot over the past few days. The sheep in the field next door are certainly enjoying the fresh new grass.

And yesterday there was a beautiful rainbow.

Finally, specially for Sally, a photo of The Tree, at sunset. This tree is quite a landmark hereabouts, and Sally and Megan were really taken with it when they came up to stay last week. We all agreed it should be made into a stamp!



Circles

Another great theme at Less is More this week! Chrissie and Mandi want to see circles - lots of them! Or at least, more than one! I had quite a few ideas for this, but unfortunately I doubt I'll have time to make them all. Anyway, here's my first entry. I've counted 57 circles (58 if you count the scalloped circle), think that should be enough!

Stamps used: Owl - Inkadinkado; Branch - Stampscapes; Alphabet letters used to make sentiment - New Stamp On The Block (sadly no longer trading).

Legs is More!

Rushing around again at the last minute for Less is More this week. I'm exceptionally busy with work, coming up to the end of term and my final week (after 28 years and one term!) at school here, before I start my new job in Scotland after the summer hols.

The LIM week 23 theme is a one layer card to include something with legs. Had to make it quick, so I stamped this little sandpiper (Impression Obsession) and just added a bit of colour with watercolour pencils. Sentiment by Paula Pascual for Personal Impressions. All that white space - scary!!

Shades of Blue

I'm loving the challenge from Less is More this week. It's Shades of Blue, and blue just happens to be my favourite colour! I was in a painting mood, so I painted a little landscape background and then stamped a few images on top. Shades of blue from navy right up to very pale - all done using just one Distress inkpad! The beauty of Distress ink is that it can be diluted with water but retains the colour integrity, in other words it just becomes a paler shade of the original according to how much water you add. I used Chipped Sapphire, my favourite of all the Distress colours.

The tree on its little mound with the grasses either side of it (all one stamp) is by Beeswax, all other stamps and the sentiment are by Hobby Art. There are some fantastic entries this week. I'm really enjoying looking at them all.

It seemed so simple.....

Week 21 of Less is More Challenge is a sketch.

Very simple, just 3 circles in line on a square card.  They made me think of music notes. Three music notes sitting on a stave, I thought. What could be easier? I'll make the notes into flowers for a bit of added interest, and the sentiment naturally has to be "Just a note..."

Cutting the thin strips of card to make the stave was trickier than I expected. I've got some of those shredding scissors, and thought it would be easy to cut strips with them. It wasn't! Couldn't get them to cut in straight lines. I resorted to ruler and knife. Several strips went in the bin because they weren't even in width. Eventually I had five strips that were similar enough. I managed to stick them in straight lines across the card first time! I punched three small circles from black card, and three flowers, rather proud of myself because I could use up some scraps! Stuck the circles on the flowers, and then cut more thin strips to make the note stems. Stuck the notes on the stave. All going well and looking good! Then I inked up the sentiment (Papermania), and... disaster! I don't quite know how it happened, must have been the heat, lost my concentration, but somehow a large black splodge of ink had appeared on the card! Right in the middle of the white space! Oh, the annoyance, the frustration! Could it be salvaged? Or would I have to start all over again?

I went and made myself a stiff coffee, and came back to think about it. Aha! Maybe I could just cut a piece of white card to cover the stain. I did just that, and it worked! Then just the sentiment to stamp without smudging it....phew! Here it is:

Whenever I order from Crafty Individuals, those lovely people Malcolm and Jean send a few freebie stamps with the order, and I've got quite a few duplicates now. I'll send a couple of them to the first person who can tell me (in a comment), where the join (of the bit I had to stick over the stain) is on my card!

Monograms - Less is More Week 20

Last week was the first time I didn't manage to get an entry in for the Less is More Challenge, so I was determined not to miss this week's. The theme is "Monogram". Bit of a tricky one, this! I only have one truly monogram stamp, the "D" by Stampers Anonymous. I set to work with it, stamping it on to a Nestie-cut circle with a scallop border, and carefully colouring it in. Then I went off to do something else before I mounted it on to a card. When I came back I decided to have a quick look at the other entries before I finished off my card. Imagine my surprise when I saw that entry No. 40, by Nellie, had  used not only the same stamp, but the same colours too! Spooky or what?! I hadn't seen Nellie's before I made mine. Here's mine, just so you can compare! (I'm not entering it!)

So, what else to do instead? A bit of lateral thinking was called for. This was the result:

Self explanatory, I think! (Eiffel Tower - Clarity Stamp; Arc de T - unknown; Paris minus the P! - from a Clear Choice set, Nestie rectangle.) Strictly speaking, a monogram shouldn't be part of a word, but it seemed to need the "aris" to balance the P, which looked as though it might topple over otherwise! So I'm hoping Chrissie & Mandi will let me get away with it!

Shades of purple

The monochrome look is one which I rather like, so I was pleased to see that it is the theme for Week 18 of the Less is More Challenge.  I used an old favourite stamp and an old favourite technique to make my card.

I stamped the poppy (Stampin' Up) with Dusty Concord Distress Ink, and then pulled out the colour from the outline with a paintbrush and plain water to colour the image. I cut it out with a Nestie Labels 4 and mounted it with foam pads. The sentiment is one I've had for many years. I think the company which made it was V.I.P., sadly no longer trading, I believe.

I spent half term up in Dumfriesshire. Apart from visiting my daughter and family, I was also there to do some preparatory work for the new job I will be starting in September. I still can't quite believe that, from then on, my drives to work will be through beautiful countryside, instead of being stuck in traffic going into the city. I daresay there will still be hold-ups, but I think I can cope with the odd tractor or herd of cows....!

Less is More Week 17 - Pick a Square!

Been away all week, but just time to squeeze in an entry for Week 17 of the Less is More Challenge. The theme this week is a recipe - the sketch is divided into four outer squares and a centre square and the design has to occupy just one of those squares. I chose to go for bottom left, and this is the result!

Both flower and sentiment are by Hobby Art, and I added a little colour to the flowers with watercolour pencils. I was very short of time, so had to keep it simple, but that's the beauty of the Less is More concept!

I'm really sorry I don't have time to leave many comments at the moment. We have so much to do before our move north. But I do try and get a quick look at as many entries as I can. They are all superb, and wonderfully inspiring.

Butterflies!

Less is More has my favourite subject for Week 16's challenge - Butterflies! Great, I thought! But since butterflies tend to make an appearance on many of my cards, even if only tiny, coming up with something I haven't already done before wasn't so easy! Fortunately I hadn't yet got round to using my new Aspects of Design Framie 5 stamps bought a while ago from The Stamp Man, so this was the ideal opportunity.

Very simple, just cut out the stamped image with the matching Nestie (Labels 5) and coloured it with Cosmic Shimmer paints. Added the sentiment (Inkylicious).  Then stamped a flight of Crafty Individuals butterflies across the bottom.

Card number 2 is already in the making!

Less is More Week 15

This week's challenge at Less is More is for a one-layer card with embossing. I decided to use the embossing as a resist, which is one of my favourite techniques.

This is the first version of my card.

I stamped the grasses (Chocolate Baroque) with Versamark ink, embossed them with clear powder, and then sponged over them with Versacolor inks. The sentiment is by Prickly Pear, and it's one of my newest stamps. It really appeals to me. However, when I'd finished the card, I thought the sponging looked a bit messy. So I made another version, this time using a Nesties Label 10 as a stencil.

Now I can't decide which I prefer! The stencilled version is much tidier and more defined, but somehow it doesn't seem to fit quite so well with the sentiment, which suggests a free spirit! If I had to choose now, I'd probably stick with the first one. What do you think?

More Wow!

The white-on-white challenge this week at Less is More has really appealed to me, so I've made two more cards! For the first one I've made an arrangement of punched flowers and leaves on a Nestie lace circle, with a punched butterfly and white pearls for the flower centres. Recently I was given a complete set of alphabet punches, so I used those to make the word "Spring".

I was quite pleased with it, but then I wondered whether it might be a bit too fancy for Less is More, so I made another which is much more clean and simple.

This has a Marianne die-cut flourish with a Martha Stewart punched butterfly, and the same punched letters as the previous card. I think I actually prefer this one.

I've really enjoyed making all these white-on-white cards, but I'm feeling the need for a bit of colour now, so that will probably be the last one for the time being!

White on White

White on white is something I've never tried before. I don't know why not, because I really like the look of it. Anyway, it's the theme for Week 14 of Less is More. Two days in to the challenge and there are already lots of stunning entries, so on with the thinking cap!

White on white is all about texture, so it could have been tempting to go a bit overboard with it, but bearing in mind the clean and simple nature of LIM, this is what I came up with.

I dry-embossed the iris (American Traditional Stencils) and created a frame for it from two Nesties. Part embossed the base card with the Cuttlebug Swiss Dots folder, scored two lines below that with my Scor-Pal, attached a Nestie label with sheer white ribbon, and added a peel-off greeting.

I was reasonably pleased with the result, and it's whetted my appetite for more WoW, so if I get time there may be another entry forthcoming!

I've gained a couple of new followers this weekend, so hello and welcome to them, and thanks to everyone who looks at my blog, and for all your lovely comments. I do appreciate them all.

Less is More Week 13

Lucky dip this week at Less is More, with the theme of either Thank You or Congratulations. I'm just scraping in with my entry! I'm very busy at the moment, and haven't had time for much card making, let alone blogging. (I'll get there eventually, I hope!)  My hubby asked me to make him some simple thank you cards to send out after his father's funeral last December, and I haven't blogged them before, so I hope they'll be acceptable.

The first one has a vase of flowers by Penny Black, stamped on a Nestie label, using Versamagic dew drop inks, and attached with foam pads. The sentiment is by Anna Griffin.

The second is even more simple - the same Anna Griffin sentiment inside a frame also by Anna Griffin.








Phew! Just got them in in time! Sorry I haven't had chance to comment this week, but glancing at the thumbnails I can see lots of great entries. I haven't missed a week of LIM so far, and didn't want this to be the first one. Now what will tomorrow's be .........?

Off centre squares!

I didn't manage to get a card made for the inaugural Crafty Individuals Challenge before I came up to Dumfriesshire, but I was determined to enter it, so I had to come up with something with the limited amount of stash I brought with me. The theme is "Simply Squares". Being very close to the deadline, and not having much time to spare, simple was good! Fortunately, it also meant that my card could fit this week's Less is More Challenge theme, which is "Off centre". It isn't often that I combine challenges, but I didn't want to miss either of them, so this time it was a case of needs must.

All stamps, and the printed picture, are by Crafty Individuals.

Clearly a challenge!

The theme for Week 11 at Less is More is "Acetate". Now this is one I like! A favourite technique of mine is to colour acetate with alcohol inks, to use either as a background or as an overlay. Here I've made an overlay for the Hero Arts Poppies.

I stamped the poppies on to white pearlescent card, which gives a lovely sheen to the picture through the acetate, although unfortunately it doesn't show up on the photo. The pearlescent card, being shiny, doesn't take ink very well, it tends to puddle a bit, so after it had dried I went over the solid black areas with a Promarker to make it nice and dense. I ran the card through my Xyron machine to put the adhesive on the right (picture) side, so that I could then stick the coloured acetate over the top, letting it overhang the picture a little so that when mounted on to the base card with foam pads you get a 3D effect.

To get the requisite white space, I mounted the picture on to an 8" x 8" card, and finished it off with a Darkroom Door sentiment.

Great challenge this week! I'm looking forward to seeing all the other entries.

Focusing on the sentiment

Week 10 already of the Less is More Challenge, and this time they would like to see one layer cards with the focus on the sentiment. Having just taken delivery of the brand new Teeny Weeny Meadow stamp set from Chocolate Baroque, I couldn't wait to start inking it up and soon found a suitable sentiment to go with a tree from the set.

The sentiment is from the Tall Trees set by Elusive Images (now Chocolate Baroque). One of the tall trees in the set has a mini counterpart in the Teeny Weeny Meadow set, and I thought I'd make another version of the card using that one. I can't decide which one I like best! Good challenge this week. I might be tempted to have another go at the theme.

It's been a great weekend. Yesterday Sally, her daughter Megan and I went to Sir Stampalot for another fantastic Blog Girl get-together. It was a brilliant day. I'll be back later to tell you all about it!

Seeing red!

My heart sank a little when I saw the theme for this week's Less is More Challenge. The word RED leapt out at me! Now, I use red in my cards even less than pink. I much prefer cool colours - blues, purples and greens. I might stretch to yellows if I'm feeling a bit chilly. Hey ho, I thought, guess it's all part of the challenge. Then the red mist cleared a bit, and I saw "Touch of". Phew! The theme is a Touch of Red, which I decided meant that I could get away with as little red as possible. So I did!

If you look closely (might have to click to see a bigger pic), you can just see a dot of red in the flower centres! I hope that's enough to qualify! The stamp is one of the first I ever bought. It was made by Stampendous, in 1992! That's nearly 20 years ago. Have I really been stamping that long? I used it a lot when I first bought it, but it's been languishing in a drawer for years, and so I decided to bring it out of retirement. The sentiment is by Paula Pascual.

When I'd finished the card, I decided I really liked it, in spite of the red. Or, just maybe, because of it. Hmmm...

Celtic Inspiration

I'm a big fan of Celtic Art, and I've had a Celtic design laser-cut border (by Rayher) languishing in my stash for a long time, waiting for a suitable opportunity to use it. When I saw this week's Less is More Challenge, which is a sketch, I knew I'd found one.

I stamped the bottom third of the card with some Celtic text (Judikins), layered the border on to a black background, stamped the Celtic knot circle (source unknown), cut it out and added a scalloped border (with my Nesties) and a sentiment (Inkadinkado).
 
 
 

I wasn't sure at first whether to stick with black and white, or whether to add a bit of colour, because a lot of Celtic artwork is very colourful, but I decided in the end that my card would work better in monochrome.




 

It was a great sketch to work with, and one I'll probably use again.
 

Sally and I had a trip up to Once upon A Stamp on Saturday.  I bought some new Nesties, Labels 5, in preparation for the eagerly awaited arrival of some new stamps I've just ordered from The Stampman. They're made specially to fit the Nesties, and they've got butterflies on! What more could I possibly want? (Well, butterfly stamps to fit ALL my Nesties would be good - I've dropped a hint to Jill!) When I first saw the new stamps on Jill's blog I thought I must be in stamp heaven! I'm clearing a space on my desk so that I can get to work with them as soon as they arrive.....

A bit more ...... but not much!

Well, I sat down to make a Less is NOT More card (see previous post!), but when it came to it, I didn't put very much more on it! I think I must have become too used to the minimal style! Need more practice!

I made this card for my niece's birthday. She's not an overly fussy person, so it's probably best I didn't go overboard with it. I was lucky enough to be given a box full of bits and pieces recently. The after-school club at the school where I work had had several boxes full of cardmaking stash donated to them, but some of it wasn't really suitable for them to use. The teacher who runs the club asked me if I would like some! I didn't hesitate for long!

It was mostly paper and card, and embellishments such as the dress on this card. Not something I would have bought for myself, but seeing as I'd got it, I thought I would try and use it. It had a bit of rather naff string tied in a bow around the waist, so I took that off and added the pearls instead. I've just bought a couple of Darkroom Door background stamps, Floral, and Flourish. They're huge (cover the whole of an A6 card), and I've used the Floral one here, stamped in a pale pink Versamagic ink on a cream card.  Unfortunately it doesn't show up very well in the photo. You can see it a little better in the close up.

My camera doesn't seem to pick up creams and pale yellows very well. They come out a mucky looking grey! The spotty paper is by Papermania, with a Martha Stewart border punch and Nestabilities ovals. The sentiment is a very old one by Stamps Unlimited, who I don't think are around now.

It will be back to Less is More tomorrow, but after that.... I've just got some of the gorgeous new printed tags from Crafty Individuals, and they're definitely not clean and simple....