Rugby Mad

Hi There,
A friend at work asked me to make a card for her grandson`s birthday. He plays in an under 10`s rugby league team and they`ve started the season off with a brand new green kit. This is what I came up with,

I used this fab stamp from LOTV which I`m sure will get used again and again, we are a huge Rugby city here in Hull. The papers are a mix of Pink Petticoat ( stripes) Papermania ( brown dots) and a scrap from my stash.
I die cut the letters in green card and placed them so the tops stood proud and printed the sentiment and the number 9 on the pc. I used an embossing pen on the number 9 and embossed in clear EP to give it some shine and texture.
Dylan received his card last week and told his nanna that he loved it and was keeping it to treasure for ever and ever. Just the sort of feedback that I love.

Thanks for popping in...Lynne xxx

Simply Less is More # 160

Good afternoon All!
I hope I find you well. The day started out lovely here, sunny and very mild with just enough of a breeze to hang the washing out, yippee! It`s clouded over now but there`s still a touch of spring in the air. I hope it lasts.
It`s recipe week at Simply Less is More and this time we are to use metal on our cards. I`m not much of a metal crafter so I`ve taken the easy way out and used a charm. I`m also still trying to get over my aversion to men cards so I`ve made another one.

I placed an order for some background stamps from Tara`s new stoe Make the Day Special on monday evening and they arrived very quickly on wednesday morning so I`ve been itching to get them inked.
I used the diagonal stripes from Paper Smooches Kissables 2 set stamped in Versafine Onyx black.
I made the sentimentson the PC and cut it out with a Die- namics Tag die, made a hole in the top for some thin black ribbon and hung a guitar charm with a jump ring before adding it to the card.
The stars are cut from black glitter card using a Sizzix die.

Thank you all for your lovely comments last week especially about Ruby. She had another round of X rays and scans yesterday and all is well.

Thanks for popping in Lynne xxx

Simply Less is More # 159 & a Ruby update

Happy Saturday All!
Yes it is me and it is still satuday. I missed last weeks Simply Less is More challenge as I ran out of time so was determined to get in early this week. Funnily enough I was only thinking last week that I needed some more CaS male cards for the fundraising box and this weeks challenge is to make a Masculine card.
Here is what I`ve come up with;

I`ve used Papermill Direct`s Cream Hammered card and made a panel for the front of the base card.
I lighty stamped the Chevrons from Avery Elle because I didn`t want a solid block of colour, in Mememto OliveGrove.
I cut 3 hexagons from the same cad and embossed them with a Craft Concepts Woodgrain EF.
The leaf is a die from Joanna Sheen cut from Olive card.
The sentiment is computer generated.

Speaking of the fundraising box, it is 2 years today since our grandaughter Ruby was diagnosed with kidney cancer ( Wilms Tumour).
As regular followers will kow, her treatment finshed last july but she has had to have regular scans and checkups since then. All scans show that everything is fine and she is cancer clear. You can imagine what a huge relief this is to all the family but especially her mum and dad. Lots of people think that once tretment is finished then thats the end of it and she is better ( especially the LEA) but this is far from reality. Because her immune system is practically non existant Ruby has picked up every bug going from the usual tummy bugs to a very nasty chest infection but apart from that she is going from strength to strength. She is doing really well at school and a couple of weeks ago she recieved a merit for her handwriting and she has joined a lunchtime dance club so she often shows off her latest moves.
I`d like to thank you once again for all the support and good wishes you sent while Ruby was poorly. It meant the world, thank you. X

This was Ruby in Hull Royal Infirmary during one of her stays for an infection. I think there`s more paint on her than on the paper.

What a difference! This was Ruby just before Christmas celebrating losing her first tooth. Her hair is a bit longer now and is the most amazing shade of platinum blonde. It`s a lot thicker too.
We have so much to be grateful for.

Thanks for popping in...Lynne xxx

Parisian Romance.

Good Afternoon All!
It`s a cold and frosty day here today but we do have sunshine, yaay. My thoughts go out to those of you in the south of the country where there are terrible floods and no let up from the weather.

Do you sometimes despair at the rate trends change in papercrafting? I often don`t bother with some things, thinking I`ll have no need for them and then, when I get asked for a certain thing I have a heck of a job finding the right stamp or whatever. I was asked by a friend to make a Paris themed Valentine card for her partner last week. Ofcouse I had nothing relating to Paris so had to trawl through dozens of sites to find one and then panic set in incase it didn`t arrive on time. Luckily it arrived on saturday, thank you so much Craft Emporium for your prompt service.

I used the Tim Holtz Paris Memoir set from Stampers Anonymous.
The backing papers are Pink Petticoat 
Swiss dots and Brocade.
I made a tag using a Die-namics die and covered it with 2 papers, 1 from Pink Petticoat Lola Black and pink collection and the other I stamped with the background stamp from the Paris set in London Fog, then tore it at an angle.
I stamped and embossed the Eiffel tower in Versafine black and clear EP then fussy cut it and added it to my tag with foam pads.
I cut a Spellbinders Fleur de Lis circle in white and added a red circle to the centre then stamped and embossed the large Fleur de Lis and fussy cut that too.
I`ve added a red heart shaped gem and some fine black ribbon to the tag to finish.
My friend can`t pick it up until tomorrow so I hope she likes it.

Thanks for popping in..Lynne xxx

Love is in the air.

Good evening all.I have another Valentine card to share today, this time a bit more funky and fun.

I had a sudden `need` for the  dots mask/ stencil but didn`t want to wait for delivery so I made my own version. It`s a bit basic but I`m pleased with the result. All I did was punch some holes in some waste acetate ( backing from a stamp set) using a spring loaded hole punch and dabbed my ink through it.
Then I cut a tag from a Die-namics die and embossed it with CB Candy Cane EF.
I cut some circles from scraps and punched a tiny heart from the larger circle, cut a heart with a Sizzix die and embossed that with Swiss dots EF. I used the tiny heart to decorate the tag.
The sentiment is a fabulous one from Avery Elle and was the main reason for making the card.
Finished off with a few small clear gems.

Thanks for popping in...Lynne xxx

Valentine Roses

Good Morning All.
We have some very nasty weather in the UK today although not too bad in the north east just yet. I hope you`re all keeping warm and safe.
I have a Valantine card to share today, just to show I can do romantically sloppy when I put my mind to it although the sentimentis a bit ` to the point`lol.

I`ve used Pink Petticoat 
Swiss Dots and Brocade papers in silver that I`ve faded slightly on the PC.
The heart is cut out with 2 Sizzix dies and embossed with a Swiss Dots EF.
The sentiment is by Avery Elle stamped and embossed in Detail Silver EP and cut out with a fishtail edge, then curved slightly to lift off the card.
The roses are from Wild Orchid crafts and the Range and I`ve cut some leaves from Memory box and added some red stamen.
I added some beads to a red topped stick pin using Glossy accents and finished with some randomly placed red gems.

Thanks for popping in...Lynne xxx

Happy 3rd Birthday Less is More

Yippee! Simply Less is More is 3 years old this week. Although the time has gone past so quickly I can`t believe how much I`ve learned about CaS cards in the 3 years I`ve been playing along and how much better my designs are compared with the beginning. I must thank Chrissie, Mandi and ofcourse Jen for all their inspiration and guidance over the years.
Heres to the next 3 years :)

So...onto this weeks challenge. As it`s the first saturday of the month, it`s a colour challenge and boy what a challenge. The colour for this week is....
                                                           

RAINBOW

I must admit I did struggle for a while before coming up with this design. Although I`m not in the least a sloppy romantic, I do seem to be in Valentine mode at the moment so I thought I`d go with a non traditional Valentine heart.
I started with a 6x6 base card using White Linen Card from The Papermill, and made a panel slightly smaller.
I simply cut out the heart shape using Sizzix Die and after masking with post its I coloured using decorative chalks using more post its to get my lines sharp.
I then placed the panel using foam pads.
I finished off with a smaller heart cut from red Pearlised card run through with a CB EF.
The sentiment is computer generated.

                                                                                                                                                                                                 
Thanks for popping in...Lynne xxx