Pretty Balloons

Pretty, pretty, pretty! I just adore pretty rainbow colours, don't you? There is something so happy and summery about them. As the temperatures are soaring over here in Portugal and all the summer flowers are starting to bloom, it was right that these gorgeous colours just had to come out to play. 

I was feeling in a bit more of an inky mood when I made this card so that meant making some background paper with smooshing inks and adding a few stamps, as well as doing some simple ink blending. Those are 2 techniques that are incredibly easy to do, but it can sometimes be difficult to incorporate them into my usual 'white space' filled CAS cards. However, it is great to go back to my 'roots' every once in a while to have fun and just play with colours like this.

Today I'm showcasing all of the accessory stamps in the Stay Weird stamp set by  Visible Image. The card has been left without a sentiment because it will fit so many different occasions and it is good to have 'blank' cards like this in your arsenal.

Here's how I made it:

Add a small amount of distress ink onto a craft mat, spritz with water and press some white card onto the droplets. Dry with a heat gun and repeat until you have several layers of ink. Drying between each layer and using small amounts of ink helps to keep that pretty, airy look.

Randomly stamp the tiny circles and the rings onto the panel with the same colours of distress inks.

Stamp and heat emboss the balloons using a clear glossy embossing powder. When inking up the balloon, try to concentrate a bit more ink to one side (or the bottom as I have here) to help with the 3D look, and remember to 'huff' on the stamp just before stamping it.

Stamp the flower pot and water colour it with distress inks. Fussy cut the balloons and the flower pot.

Blend a rainbow ombré background onto another piece of white card.

Attach the pretty panel to the centre of a card blank and then take two strips of the ombré blended panel and stick those to each side of the central panel. If you cut them slightly wider than they need to be you can attach them to the card blank and trim the excess away with large scissors (cutting from the back of the card). Attach some bakers twine to the balloons and add different heights of foam pads to the back of them.

Add the flower pot and the balloons to the central panel and the card is complete.

And the bonus is, I still have the central part of the ombré panel that can be used in another card!

Stamps Used:

(please click on the picture to be taken direct to the stamp set in the online store):
       

Other Supplies:

White card, Distress Inks (picked raspberry, carved pumpkin, mustard seed, twisted citron, cracked pistachio, peacock feathers), craft sheet, spritzer, WOW! clear embossing powder, water brush, Versafine onyx black ink, scissors, bakers twine, 3dfoam pad.

Visible Image social media and other links (just click on the words in capital letters):

SHOP where the fantastic stamps are sold
BLOG with all the latest news and posts
FACEBOOK PAGE with info, inspiration and giveaways
FACEBOOK GROUP with challenges and to come share your work with us
INSTAGRAM
PINterest

That's it from me for now. Thanks for stopping by and I really hope to see you again soon.

Hugs,
Sharon xx

Pretty Up-cycling

Surprise! Here's an extra post from me this week because I've been doing a bit of up-cycling as inspiration for a challenge that is running on FaceBook.

Do you have drinking glasses that the dishwasher ruins? I do. And I always have a set of odd numbered glasses, usually 5, because one gets broken.  Spotting one of those sets of 5 dishwasher ruined glasses was the basis for sparking off this idea.

Doesn't that look so pretty!

Perfect for some sultry summer evenings after a barbeque. You could even use them on your dining room table for a bit of a romantic atmosphere.

Here's how they started.

Yuck! Don't you just hate that look!!

I must admit that this re-vamp of the glasses is a bit like 'smoke and mirrors' - really easy to do, and well, you all know me by now and know that I really love simplicity.  So I set out to prove that up-cycling doesn't have to be complicated or use a ton of your craft stash.

However, it has got me itching to either buy an engraver or some etching cream to make something like this a bit more permanent. Maybe in the future.....

For now, all I did was just cut a strip of vellum and taped its corners down to my craft mat, which luckily has plenty of grid lines to make repeat stamping a breeze, and repeat stamped in versamark ink.

Then heat embossed with white embossing powder.

And finally wrapped the vellum around the glasses, making sure I could still slip the vellum off the glasses for cleaning purposes, securing the wraps with a bit of double-sided tape.

I think I'll make some wraps for these glasses to cover all the seasons - snowflakes in winter and Erika's maple would be brilliant for autumn, wouldn't  it?

They look pretty in daylight ....

.....But the magic really happens at night!

I hope these fast makes with fab Visible Image stamps have inspired you.

Stamps Used:

(please click on the picture to be taken direct to the stamp set in the online store):
           

Other Supplies:

Versamark clear ink, Vellum, WOW! opaque bright white embossing powder, ruined glasses and some tea lights.

Visible Image social media and other links (just click on the words in capital letters):

SHOP where the fantastic stamps are sold
BLOG with all the latest news and posts
FACEBOOK PAGE with info, inspiration and giveaways
FACEBOOK GROUP come share your work with us
INSTAGRAM
PINterest

Thanks for stopping by today; I'll be back again on Thursday.

Hugs,
Sharon xx

Less is More #420 - OLC Going Dotty

Hi there. Things are gradually getting back to the new 'normal' here in Portugal. We're still in a state of calamity but.....Yay! Coffee shops are open once again. Anyone who has been to Portugal will know how crazy we all are for our coffee. It was fantastic to be able to go into the local coffee shop/restaurant in town the other day for a lovely brew. We are still being really careful though - it's mandatory to wear a mask in enclosed public spaces (so we sat outside - could be messy trying to drink through a mask, lol!), and there's lots of disinfecting of tables and chairs plus they can only operate at 50% capacity. But it's a start.

As well as the odd coffee, I've been gardening my boots off this week.....literally! The soles actually fell off the steel toe capped shoes I need to use in the garden as I was attacking an overgrown bush with the secateurs the other day. That's not what you need. Mind you, I was doing all this work in over 30 degrees of heat, so I probably melted those soles ;-). Never mind, at least I get a few days rest now to heal the scratches and blisters and wait for the store to be allowed to open so that I can go buy more gardening boots. (long story short - I got a huge thorn in my foot (about 2 inches long) a couple of years ago so heavy duty footware is a must for me now.

But anyway, on to the Less is More challenge. It's One Layer time and we've all gone dotty.


Just the one card for you this week because of all the garden activity. But it is a simple and fast one to make.

Simply stamp the 2 smallest dotty circles from the Halftone Circles stamp set in a variety of rainbow colours, using first and second generation ink.  Then stamp the greeting over the top and add 2 lots of score lines, one set going vertically and the other set going horizontally (those ones haven't been picked up by my camera but they run just above where my Less Is More watermark is). Job done!

STAMPS:  AlteNew (Halftone Hello and Halftone Circles)   
INKS:   Prism (canary yellow, orange zest, red chilli, olive green, rainforest green, peacock green, blue lagoon, french navy, dusky rose, blackcurrant jam, purple velvet, cherry walnut)
OTHER:   White card blank

Head on over to the challenge blog for some fantastic inspiration from the design team and our fab guest designer, Jen Mitchell from the I create blog.

That's it for now. Hope to see you again soon.

Virtual hugs,
Sharon xx

Get Up and Dress Up!

What a sentiment! This one seems so appropriate for this particular crazy time, doesn't it? I'm sure that we've all felt angry, sad, broken, or just wanted to hide away and not bother on some days during this crisis.

BUT,  if you do as the sentiment says and also put on your happy face, you invariably feel better.

I thought it would be good to depict those emotions on a card, so the 'broken' glass element and the angry/sad mask hiding behind that cheerful face which is dressed up with a crown was just the ticket. The happy mask actually reminds me of a Shakespearean play...maybe Hamlet, Richard III or Henry V?  Hmmmm, what is the stamp that made the crown? Why, it's a little satellite!

Of course, all of these awesome stamps are by Visible Image and this is my bit of inspiration for the 'Red, White and Blue' challenge that is running on the customer Facebook group at the moment. Come on over and join us for the chance to win a prize.

This card is super fast to make and here's how I did it.

On a white panel, blend some blue and red ink through the breaking glass stencil.

Stamp and heat emboss the masks with black embossing powder on blue and red card. Do the same with the sentiment but use white embossing powder. Fussy cut the masks and cut the sentiments into strips.

To make the crown...Repeat stamp the tiny satellite from Captain Awesome 3 times onto some white card and heat emboss that with silver embossing powder. Colour the 'jewels' with a matching blue and red marker then fussy cut the 'crown'.

Doodle a border with red pen onto the white panel and attach it to a coordinating blue card blank. Add the masks and crown with a 3d glue gel and attach the sentiment strips with 3d foam.

The final touch is to bling the red 'jewels' with some nuvo drops and then set the card aside to dry.

A simple make!

Stamps and Stencil Used:

(please click on the picture to be taken direct to the stamp set in the online store):
          

          

Other Supplies:

Blue, Red and White card, Prism Inks (red chilli and french navy), Versamark clear ink, WOW! embossing powders (primary ebony, opaque bright white, metallic silver), Promarker pens (berry red, french navy), Nuvo glitter drops (white blizzard), glue gel, 3d foam

Visible Image social media and other links (just click on the words in capital letters):

SHOP where the fantastic stamps are sold
BLOG with all the latest news and posts
FACEBOOK PAGE with info, inspiration and giveaways
FACEBOOK GROUP come share your work with us
INSTAGRAM
PINterest

That's it from me for now. Thanks for stopping by and I really hope to see you again soon.

Hugs,
Sharon xx

Less is More #419 - White and Cream

Wow! We've been reduced from a 'state of emergency' to a 'state of calamity' over here in Portugal. No....really....'calamity' is not as severe as 'emergency' and they are slowly relaxing things here.

The wearing of a face mask is mandatory in shops (small shops can re-open now), enclosed public spaces and on public transport. Many people are choosing to keep their masks on when generally walking about and whilst driving in their cars too. Ha! can you imagine what the 2020 sun tan will look like?

Beaches are open for water sports only (no sunbathing yet). Beauty shops, hairdressers and barbers can open but you must have made a prior appointment and they must stick to very strict hygiene measures. Individual leisure sports are allowed, but no use of showers etc. Basically no congregating of more than 10 people is allowed and even that needs to be at a safe social distance. Cafes will re-open on 18th May although it'll be a bit longer before the bars re-open (beginning of June?).

So very slowly life will return to the 'new normal'. Personally, I want to keep taking it easy for now...just to see how it all pans out, so you won't see me rushing out to meet up with friends just yet.

Anyhow, enough of that, let's take a look at the latest Less is More challenge.


I managed 2 cards this week.

1) Sending Hugs

First of all I wanted to show that you can make a cream and white card without using a die cut. So, I thought I would colour some cream flowers. Minimal supplies were used, just white and cream card, a black ink pad, 3 coloured pencils, a bit of fun foam and some Nuvo drops.

STAMPS: Altenew (Extra Special) 
INKS: Versafine onyx black 
PENCILS:  Polychromos (101 white, 102 cream, 183 light yellow ochre)
OTHER:   Nuvo Drops (white blizzard), 3d foam, white and cream card.

2) Noel

Here's another card that is incredibly fast to make and would be great for batch making cards for the holidays.

Just die cut the poinsettia corner into a piece of white card. Attach that as a mat to a cream card blank. Add glittery nuvo drops into all the little dots in the die cut panel. Die cut and stack 3 sentiments on top of each other and add that to the card too. What could be simpler?

DIES: Sizzix TH Alterations Mixed Media Christmas, Not sure of make of the sentiment die     
OTHER:   Nuvo Drops (white blizzard), white and cream card.

LIM BLOG
LIM FACEBOOK PAGE
LIM INSTAGRAM

Head on over to the challenge blog for some fantastic inspiration from the design team

That's it from me for now. I hope this gave you a couple of ideas for the challenge theme and I really hope you'll pop back again soon.

(Virtual) Hugs,
Sharon xx

Less is More #418 - Scribbles, Drips and /or Splats

Hi there. It's time for another challenge over at Less is More and this time it is all about Scribbles, Drips and/or Splats.

Head on over to the challenge blog for some fantastic inspiration from the design team.  While you are there please say a big 'HELLO' to the talented new design team members that we are announcing today. They are sure to delight you with all their wonderful ideas and incredible inspiration.



I love a good old dribble or splat, but this time I've really kept things, and myself (for a change!), clean by using a splatty/drippy stamp by Marion Emberson. It's perfect for making a non-messy splat!

Here's how I made this card. The first thing I did was stamp and fussy cut the butterfly, just so that I could use it to position the splats in the right place on the panel. Next the splat stamp was inked up with prism inks - 3 colours per individual stamping and rotated each time it was stamped. Then the sentiment was added. The butterfly was coloured with Zigs that I matched as closely as possible to the inks. Finally, the inky panel was attached to a black panel and then onto the card blank and the butterfly was added to finish it all off.

STAMPS: Stampers Anonymous Tim Holtz Collection (watercolour CMS217), WOW! inspired by Marion Emberson (wall art stampset44), Altenew (halftone circles - the sentiment)      
INKS:   Versafine onyx black, Prism (canary yellow, orange zest, red chilli, apple green, blue lagoon, purple velvet)
PENS:   Zig Clean Colour Real Brushes (020 red, 031 cobalt blue, 045 pal green, 050 yellow, 052 bright yellow, 084 deep violet)
OTHER:   White card, black card

That's it from me for now.

Stay safe, stay sane, keep crafting and I hope to see you again soon.

Hugs,
Sharon xx

Fire Sign

Hi! Do you have any of the zodiac stamps from Visible Image? Well, if you don't there's an incredible offer on the complete set at the moment (as I write this post).  Take a look at the store to see what a brilliant saving you could make.

As we are currently in the timeframe of Aries, I though it'd be a good idea to give some inspiration for the fire signs this week (Aries, Leo and Sagittarius). To that end I thought I'd try to use the fibres stencil to represent fire, and I think it worked! How great to have another use for this awesome stencil as well as it being fab for representing water or as a general wavy background.

Here's how I made this card:

Take the fibres stencil and ink through parts of it at the bottom of a white card panel with yellow, orange and red distress inks. Move the stencil around so that each colour uses different parts of the stencil to make the 'flames'.

Add a few bits of glitz to the fire with some wavy lines of gold stickles and set aside to dry.

Create a matching border by blending the same colour inks around the edge of your card blank.

Stamp and emboss the large ram's head onto scrap card using a glittery gold embossing powder. Add a few contours to the head with a little distress ink applied with a water brush. Fussy cut the image.

Stamp and heat emboss the 'Aries' word onto the main panel with the fire using the same glittery embossing powder as you used on the ram's head. Mount the panel onto some black card to create a thin border, then add it to the card blank. Finally, attach the ram's head image with 3d foam

Stamps and Stencil Used:

(please click on the picture to be taken direct to the stamp set in the online store):
            

Other Supplies:

Distress Inks (squeezed lemonade, carved pumpkin, festive berries, fired brick, hickory smoke), gold Stickles, Versamark clear ink, WOW! metallic gold sparkle embossing glitter, black and white cardstock, blending tools,  3dfoam.

Visible Image social media and other links (just click on the words in capital letters):

SHOP where the fantastic stamps are sold
BLOG with all the latest news and posts
FACEBOOK PAGE with info, inspiration and giveaways
FACEBOOK GROUP come share your work with us
INSTAGRAM
PINterest

That's it from me for now. Thanks for stopping by and I really hope to see you again soon.

Hugs,
Sharon xx