Simply Less is More # 400

Hello there,

I hope the weather where ever you are is being kind to you. It's a bit too hot for me here this week,30 degrees and rising so nothing very energetic getting done by me. I did however find a slightly cooler spot in the craft room for the latest challenge from Simply Less is More.
This time we have been asked to use our smaller images, less than 2 inches.

After a bit of oohing and aahing I decided on this cute little image from Penny Black

I coloured the flower in a hot pink with a Spectrum Noir pen to give it a pop of colour.
The rest is coloured with Promarkers and the image is cut out with a Spellbinders circle nestie.
The leaf stems are by Simply Graphic.
The sentiment is by Papertrey stamped in Versafine Onyx.

Thanks for popping in X

Mum in laws 94th birthday

Hello there,

It was Alan's mum's 94th birthday last Monday. She has kidney failure which causes audio hallucinations that are causing some problems, mainly for the rest of the family. But apart from that she's doing really well for an old bird. We normally all take her for a meal to celebrate her birthday but she doesn't seem to want to leave the house much so we all popped in to see her over the weekend. Great to have a catch up with the in laws.

I got a bit carried away with the flowers on this one but she's worth it. I think it would also make a good wedding card.

Backing paper from Pink Petticoat ( now the Lovely Studio) but sadly now retired.
Frame is Spellbinders.
Flowers from Wild Orchid Crafts.

Thanks for popping in X

Less is more #399

Hello there,

It's time for the latest challenge at Simply Less is More and this time it's,

We've had quite a busy weekend so I've made a really quick and simple card.

I used a piece of smooshed card from my stash, cut into diamond shapes with a Spellbinders nested set.
 The Celebrate die is cut from silver glitter card using a Britannia die.
Finished off with a few tiny gems.

Since I made this card I've had another idea that, time allowing , I'll do during the week.

Thanks for popping in X

Mother's day card

Hello there,

Sadly this was the first Mother's day without my mum. It felt strange only making the one card.
Fortunately we still have hubby's mum with us although at 94 and very frail we don't know for how much longer. The family, which is hubby, his 3 sisters, their partners and me took mum in law for a meal yesterday. It also meant that we all got a mothers day without the hassle of cooking a Sunday dinner and no pots to wash either. Bonus!
Ofcourse I made a fussy card with spring colours and lots of flowers.

I used tiny hearts from The Lovely Studio in Dainty Daffodil for the background
The frame is a Spellbinder Die, Gold Labels 4.
Flowers are all from Wild Orchid Crafts.
The sentiment is by Flourishes
I made a larger card than I usually do, an A5 instead of a 15x 15 square and the frame fits very nicely on it.


Thanks for popping in x

Less is More #392

Hello there,

It's Saturday  so that means a new challenge at Less is More and this time it's...

There's some great inspiration from the team on the blog,  I've used a sentiment to inspire me.

The diamond part of the sentiment 'spoke' to me so I just went with it and did my own thing.
The diamond shapes are cut from silver glitter card using a Spellbinders die.
 The sentiment is by Wplus9
 I've added a single tiny gem above the I to finish.

It's Mother's Day tomorrow and we are taking my Mum in law out for a meal,along with her 3 daughters and their partners. I love our family get togethers and not having to cook is a bonus too. I hope all you Mums out there have a lovely day aswell X

Thanks for popping in

Color throwdown 529

Hello There,

Another challenge that I haven't joined in with for a very long time is The Color Throwdown so I thought it was time to put myself out there, so to speak. The colours for this challenge are fabulous, just we need for the cold, wet, miserable weather we're getting here at the moment.

Here is my card,

The rectangle is made using the Tissue Paper method, inked with Freshly Squeezed Lemon & Mustard Seed, lightly embossed in gold EP.
The leaves are from a piece of smooshed card from my stash. Unfortunately I can't remember which colours I used or even which inks.
The word die is another smooshed piece of card in Spiced Marmalade with a little bit of Fired Brick
Dies are from Simply Graphic, leaves and Penny Black, word.
The rectangle is from Spellbinders

I'm having serious computer problems at the moment so might be a bit quiet. I apologise in advance.

Thanks for popping in x

Happy 8th birthday Simply Less is More

Hello there,

It's Simply Less is More 8th birthday this month. My goodness the time has flown by. I remember seeing the link for this challenge on Sarita's blog and thinking I might as well give it a go. before then most of my cards were quite fussy with huge blousey bows on them. It was quite a shock to the system to make a card with barely anything on it. But I did it and have tried to join in as often as I can ever since.

The challenge this time is a colour one,

Here is my take on the colours.

My navy blue looks purple on my computer, I hope it looks better on yours.

I started by making a frame using 2 different brands of square dies, mounted on some very thin foam pads (cut down to size)
The leaf is cut from yellow card with foam pads here and there.
I cut the Hello from both colours card and mounted the navy onto the yellow. Not sure if you can see both colours in the pic but I couldn't get a better angle.


Dies from; Memory Box,Spellbinders, Amazon

I had a quick scroll through my blog earlier and found my first entry for Less is More

Not too bad for a first attempt.

Thanks for popping in X

Darnell's blog hop

Hello there,

The wonderful Darnell is hosting a Blog Hop in honour of Di at Pixies crafty snippets.
It's 7 years this week since Di took over the playground from Jules and she's doing a cracking job of it.
I must admit it's been quite a while since I joined in the fun in the playground but really wanted to send some love and thanks to Di with a little card from me.

My snippets started life like this,

I use A3 size card to make boxes for my fussy cards and always have a strip of leftover card, around 4" x30". I cut these up into roughly A5 size and use them for smooshing, sponging or backing for tissue paper technique backgrounds. The coloured card above is smooshed with distress inks, then run through a Spellbinders EF.
The other 2 pieces of white card have obviously been used for die cutting previously.

And this what I did with them,

I cut out the coloured card with Spellbinders Hexagon dies.
The Flowers are dies from Simply Graphic
The sentiment is by Personal Impressions.

As you can see I save and use every scrap I have but, for some reason, my snippets box(es) don't get any smaller.

Thanks for popping in x

Thank you card

Hello there,


I made a thank you card for the staff at the care home where mum lived for the last 11 years. They treated her with kindness and dignity throughout and I cannot fault the care she received.

I've kept it clean & simple with just a bit of colour.

I made the panel by smooshing Tumbled Glass, Squeezed Lemonade and Spun sugar DI onto a piece of A5 card.
Once dry I gave it a quick spray of white spritzing ink.
When that was dry I ran it through a Spellbinders floral EF.
I used a rectangle die to cut the correct size and mounted it with foam tape.
The flowers are dies from Simply Graphic cut from white card.
The sentiment is from a set called Summer Blossom by Flourishes.

I'm really pleased with the panel irl it has the look of Mother of Pearl and, although the embossing is a bit fussy, overall the card still has a CaS look.

Thank you for popping in x

More Christmas cards

I make slightly less fussy cards for other family members, brothers, sisters, aunts and uncles and batch make these too.
The problem is I usually make too many and then can't remember who I've sent what to from one Christmas to the next. I really must get more organised.

Panels made using Cuttlebug EF.
Poinsettia dies from Spellbinders.
Snowflake dies from The Works
Branches punch.
Sentiments by Dovecrafts

Thanks for popping in x

Some of this years Christmas cards

I always make batches of Christmas cards, I find it easier and I'm less likely to run out of inspiration and good ideas.
These are the cards I've made for close family members ( parents, in laws and kids).

In green

Dark blue.

Light blue

 Purple

Papers are from a CD by Elusive Images ( now Chocolate Baroque) called Artilicious Christmas Greetings.
Dies are
Poinsettia...Spellbinders
Holly Stems...Marianne Designs
Fir tree branches...Joanna Sheen
Snow Flakes...The Works.
Small branches are a punch.
 Sentiment stamp is by Creative Expressions

Thanks for popping in x

Less is More # 384, Metallics

Hello there,
It's time for another challenge at Less is More and this time it's to use Metallics.

My 93 year old mother in law was rushed into hospital a week last Saturday with multi organ failure. The staff at our local hospital have worked miracles to keep her with us and, although she's very weak and frail, she's doing very well considering.
So with this in mind I decided to make a thank you card for the staff and use the challenge for inspiration.

 I used some background card that I made a few months ago using the tissue paper method,embossed with gold EP

I die cut the sentiment from gold mirror card and used foam pads to raise it slightly.


Dies- Spellbinders, Britannia


Thanks for popping in

Card for Sabine.

Hello there,

It was my future daughter in law's birthday last week and today they've told us a little secret.I'm not allowed to mention anything just yet but a scan at 12 weeks is involved. I'm so excited but ofcourse I'm sworn to secrecy 😄

Anyway I have a card to share,

I've used a gorgeous background paper from Lemoncraft, Tiny Miracles pad.
Frame is simply made using nested circles from Spellbinders.
Leaf dies are from The Works
Flowers are from Wild Orchid Crafts.

I might just have to browse through the knitting patterns now the dark nights are drawing in...

Thanks for popping in x

Less is More # 375

Hello there,

I'm so chuffed and honoured to have been chosen as the May winner for Less is More and along with that, the Guest Designer for the colour challenge. The colours this time are

which just happen to be my two favourite colours.

I've been trawling the internet and mainly Pinterest for ideas for background techniques and then remembered that Loll of Stamping with Loll has some fabulous tutorials on her blog.

I made this card using the water colour tissue paper technique. Check out Lolls blog for info as it's so easy to do but so very effective and there are lots of to chose from.

I used TH Distress ink in Spiced Marmalade for the background.

I made a window in the card panel with a square die from Spellbinders and the frame was made using two Stitched Square dies from Die-namics.

I used the colour chart from The Lovely Studio to get the right shade for Olive and made it by sponging TH Shabby shutters distress ink and Memento New Sprout onto a scrap piece of card, gave it a quick squirt of gold shimmer mist before cutting the leaf with Memory Box Flutter Vine die.

The 'Smile' is cut from the same piece of card using a die from Penny Black.

Thank you so much for visiting my blog today X

Simply Less is More #374

Hello there,

I'm here today to share my entry in the latest challenge over at Less is More

I'm sure we all have a 'bit box', I have 2. An old biscuit tin full of die cuts because I always intend to make more of a certain design and then go off the idea, and a drawer full of background card that I make and then don't know quite what to do with.

 I made lots of panels by painting Lumin/Arti cosmic shimmer paints in Kiwi, Dark Green and little bit of Ruby onto a ceramic tile and 'Smooshing' my piece of card into it. Once it was dry I gave it a quick spray of Gold Shimmer spray to give it a bit more sheen.
For this card I simply cut a rectangle with a die and placed it using foam tape.
The sprig of holly is cut from a the larger Snowflake Sprig die from gold mirri card. I've added a few red gems as berries to give it some grounding.
The sentiment is by Dovecraft.

A close up of the shimmer.

For this card I've 3 circles from another piece of card made the same way as the first.

On this one I've used the full Snowflake Sprig die, again in gold.
Sentiment is from Winnie & Walter.

My final card is using one larger circle die.
 The die cut is Freemont Pine Outline in gold.
Sentiment again is Winnie & Walter.

Rectangle and circle dies are Spellbinders.
Freemont Pine is by Poppy stamps
Snowflake Sprig is Memory Box

I have a few of these sheets left and also some in shades of blue so I think I have this years Christmas card designs all wrapped up.

Thank you for popping in x

1st wedding anniversary card

Hello,

I have an anniversary card to share today.
This is for the brother and sister in law of a friend of mine. I made their wedding card last year so I've stuck with the same colours.

The base card is cream with burgundy inlay.

The scallop dies are from Spellbinders
The heart is by Sizzix
Leaves are from a die set from the Works
Flowers are from a local haberdashery.

Thanks for popping in x

Hi there,
Just popping in to share the card I made for my grandaughter's 22nd birthday ( gosh that makes me feel old).

The base card looks blue but it's actually purple.

Scallop die and Floral oval die are by Spellbinders
Flowers from Wild Orchid Crafts
Sentiment PC generated.



Thank you for looking X

Bouquet birthday card

Hi there,
I was asked to make a card by a friend with no instructions other than lots of flowers.
Hmmm, I tried lots of different colour combinations but couldn't find anything I was happy with. Then I remembered I had some flowers in a vase in the kitchen. My daughter works in a shop which sells cut flowers and when the sell by date is up they get thrown away. So daughter puts some money in the charity box and brings them home for me. The ones I have now are well over a week old and still looking good. Such a waste to throw them.

 The DP is Prima Fairy Belle collection which was freebie in a magazine a couple of years ago.

I used two sheets of similar colour, using one to cut a corner using Spellbinders Curved Corners die
Some texture paste on a Studio 75 stencil with some very pale pink glitter sprinkled over to give some sparkle.
Flowers by Wild Orchid crafts.
The sentiment is PC generated cut out with a SB scallop circle to finish.

Thanks for popping in...Lynne xxx

Christening keepsake book card.

Hello there,
I went to my newest great niece, Livia's  Christening last Sunday. We all had a lovely day, the vicar was wonderful and made a great effort to involve Livy's older sister Lylah with the ceremony by letting pour the Holy Water from a jug into Font.

This is the keepsake book card I made for Livia.

 I used Pink Petticoat Swiss Dots Papers for the cover.
Spellbinders Radiant Rectangle and Floral Oval dies.

 The image is by Lili of the Valley, lightly coloured with watercolour pencils and some Glamour Dust
on the dress and pillow frill.
The window glass is also coloured with watercolour pencil in yellow and a coat of Glossy Accents.

The flowers are all from Wild Orchid crafts.

Thank you for popping in...Lynne xxx

Mothers Day cards

Hi,
Well twice in one week, things are on the up.

I have two Mothers day cards to share today. Both the same design but different coloured background papers.

 I received a new camera for my birthday in November and a Laptop for Christmas and I'm still trying to get used to both of them. Between them and a new photo editing app I'm not doing very well at the moment.

 This is the best pic I've managed.
The front card is actually Pale sage green but looks a bit gray to me.

And this one is yellow. It shows better in the previous pic.

The papers are Pink Petticoat, Pin stripes and Brocade.
The doily is by Marianne Designs with the centre cut out with a Spellbinders circle nestie.
The sentiment is Layers of Colour stamped and embossed in gold and silver EP
Flowers are from Wild Orchid Crafts

It's going to rain all day tomorrow so I'm hoping to get some more crafty time in.

Thanks for popping in...Lynne xxx