Less Is More #398 - OLC Spots

Hi,  I hope you are all doing well.

I'm here today to introduce a new Less is More challenge and it is the dreaded one layer week with a theme of spots.

Cue Card https://simplylessismoore.blogspot.com/

Sponsor http://www.uniko.co.uk/shop/

LIM has a fab guest designer, Maria from Swim Bike and Run and she created a gorgeous card so I hope you can all pop over to see what she made. There is also a lot of inspiration from the DT on the the challenge blog too.

I have 2 cards for you today.

1) Uniko Green Birthday card

It would be rude not to use some stamps by the sponsor of the challenge, wouldn't it? So I used some Uniko sets on this card which has simple stamping and masking in a green monochrome colour.

First stamp and then mask the leaf image. Next stamp the background into place. Then stamp the tendrils onto the leaf and the sentiment under the spotty halftone panel.  Remove the masks on the leaves and add a little pencil colouring to the leaf parts that join the stalk. Easy peasy and super fast to make.

STAMPS: Uniko Natures Treasures 2, Background Blocks Halftone, Flower Power 2
INKS: Prism Inks (rainforest green, apple green)
OTHER: Polychromos pencil 112 Leaf Green, post it note for masking, white card blank

2) It's still you.

My second card is a another monochrome, this time in gorgeous black and white. It uses some brand new stamps by Visible Image that have just gone on sale.

Cut a strip from the edge of the front of the card blank, then tape some spotted ribbon on the inside of the card so that it shows when the card is shut. Stamp the sentiment on the front, heat emboss it and then cover it up with a mask. Stamp the circles 3 times then remove the mask. Add a little shading with a soft pencil to some of the circles. Stamp the doves and add some stickles to them.

STAMPS: Visible Image (Have I Told You and Guardian Angel)
INKS: Versafine Onyx Black, Versamark clear
OTHER: Wow! pimary ebony embossing powder, stardust Stickles, white card, spotty ribbon.

I'd like to enter these cards into the following challenges:

Green Birthday Card

Addicted to Stamps and More #346 - Anything Goes
Crafting By Designs - Happy Birthday
The Paper Shelter #388 - Stripes and / or dots

Black and White card

AAA Cards Challenge #142 - One layer with optional only black and white
Crafty Catz #467 - Anything Goes with optional twist of Circles
Crafty Gals Corner #194 - Polka Dots and/or stripes
Inspire Create Challenge #045 - Embossing


That's it from me for now. I hope you found something you like and I really hope to see you again soon.

Hugs,
Sharon xx

Beautiful Dolphin

Hi! I love dolphins, don't you? I have been lucky enough to swim with them a few years ago, out in Cuba and I remember that day so well....it was wonderful! I walked around with a huge grin on my face for the rest of the day. That memory will stay with me for the rest of my life and there is something about these beautiful creatures that just makes me smile whenever I see them.

So when I spotted the dolphins in the new Visible Image stamp set called Mythical Mermaid (being released on 22nd June) I was so happy.  I wanted to make a card that depicted reckless abandon in the utter joy of life, so the wonderful wave and one of the dolphins really fit the bill. For me nothing depicts that sheer joy in life better than seeing images of dolphins leaping out of the water.

Plus, there are only 6 tiny steps to make this card:

1. Stamp the waves in blue ink and the dolphin in black ink onto some water colour card.

2. Water colour the dolphin with greys and the sea with blues 

3. Add a little microglaze to the dolphin and water (to stop the colours moving in the next step).

4. Add gloss to the dolphin and some glitter glue to the top of the waves

5. When the gloss and glitter glue is dry mount the watercolour panel onto a blue card blank.

6. Stamp the sentiment (from the Life Is Beautiful set) in blue ink, cut it out and mount the words onto the panel with foam.

Here's a close-up of that dolphin.

Stamps Used:

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

Other Supplies:

Versafine onyx black ink, Ranger Archival cobalt ink. Zig clean color real brush markers (031 cobalt blue, 02 persian blue, 036 light blue, 092 blue grey, 097 pale grey), stardust Stickles, Ranger Glossy Accents, Microglaze, watercolour card, blue card blank, waaterbrush, foam tape.


I'd like to enter this card into the following challenges:

Crafty Sentiment Designs 18 June - Anything Goes
Lemon Shortbread #96 - Anything Goes
My Time To Craft #399 - Watercolour
Path of Positivity #70 - Something positive (optional encouraging)
The Corrosive Challenge #6 June - Anything Goes
Through The Craft Room Door 18 June - Anything Goes

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 weekly giveaways
FACEBOOK GROUP come share your work with us and enter the monthly 'show and tell' challenges
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

Rainbow Faerie

Well, here I am back again today with another card using the wonderful Faerie Magic stamps from Visible Image (a set which is on pre-order at the moment and will be released on 22nd June). This time it is a CAS design which was very simple to make.  My other card is more inky and I've made moving wings for the faerie too - you can catch that card HERE.

Here's how I did made this rainbow fairy card.

Stamp the image onto water colour paper using Versamark ink

Colour the fairy with Zig Clean Color Real Brushes and a water Brush

Cut out some arcs from a rainbow of coloured card using a curved die. Secure the die cuts at one end by gluing on top of one another and spreading them out to be adjacent at the other end.

Create watercoloured rainbow mats (for both the main image and the sentiment). Stamp the sentiment in Versafine Onyx Black.

Mount all onto a card blank using fun foam and foam pads.

Simple, Fast and Beautiful!

Stamps Used:

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

Other Supplies:

Water Colour Card, Zig Clean Color Real Brushes (024, 028, 031, 048, 051, 061, 080, 220), Derwent fine tip water brush, Sweet Pea Designs Card Front Builder die, fun foam, foam squares, card blank.


I'd like to enter this card into the following challenges:
Artistic Inspirations #216 - Anything Goes
Creativ Fusion Arts & Crafts #12 - Anything Goes
Colouring In Scrapland June - Anything Goes option of Watercolours
Cuttlebug Mania 11th June - tic tac toe (I used Sentiment, Image, Die Cut)


Stamping Sensations June - Show Your True Colours
Stinkin' Inkers June - It's a colourful world (favourite colour) I love all colours so my favourite colour is 'rainbow!'.

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 weekly giveaways
FACEBOOK GROUP come share your work with us and enter the monthly 'show and tell' challenges
INSTAGRAM
PINterest

That's it from me for now. Thanks for stopping by, don't forget to take a look at my night fairy with moving wings, and I really hope to see you again soon.

Hugs,
Sharon xx

Celestial Faerie

Today is all about Faeries!  First up, a fairy with moving wings (this was such fun to make!).

I actually have two posts for you today ...this one is my 'night' fairy with moving wings, and "THIS" is the link to the rainbow 'day' fairy.

I managed to get my hands on some of the new Visible Image stamps that are on pre-order at the moment to be released on June 22nd and this set was one of those.  She is a beautiful fairy, both with the wings and uncoloured as on this card, and without the wings and coloured as in the other card.

I thought it'd be a good idea to show the wing movement in a short video, so here it is:

Do you want to know how to make this? Well here are the instructions:

Use a stamping platform to stamp the fairy image onto a watercolour panel and leave the stamp in the platform whilst you add colour to the background. Wet the watercolour paper and use distress stains to make the background, concentrating the darker colour towards the outer edges. As you dry the stains mop up any spare drops from the craft mat and also spritz with water to get some water droplet interest.

When the panel is dry, use the stencil with chipped sapphire ink to add more interest on the outer edges of the water colour panel. Dry the panel completely. Now re-stamp the fairy image on the panel in versamark ink and heat emboss with some gold embossing glitter.

Stamp the stars in versamark ink and heat emboss them in both white and silver embossing powders and stamp some circles in faded jeans distress ink onto the background.

Now add the circles behind the faeries' hand. Emboss that with midas touch embossing glitter and then colour with a zig fluorescent pen and add a few highlights with a white pen. Go over the zig colouring with an embossing pen and add clear sparkle embossing glitter.

To finish the background panel, swipe versamark ink along the edges, add gold embossing glitter and rough up the edges with your finger before heat embossing. Heat emboss the sentiment in gold embossing glitter and when cooled highlight with a white pen. Colour the small circles around the faerie with a white pen.

Heat emboss the fairy in gold embossing glitter and the wings in silver on white card and fussy cut them out.

Make the mechanism for the moving wings with a small piece of doflex, some white card and 3 small brads.

Attach the wings to the doflex with one brad in the centre, then attach the 2 wings to the background (using the faerie image as a guide) with the other 2 brads. Don't over tighten the brads or the wings will be too stiff to move. Attach the white card to the bottom of the doflex and write the word pull at the very bottom.

Attach the background with the wing mechanism to some gold card on a card blank. Attach the faerie over the top of the wing mechanism with 2 layers of shaker foam tape, making sure none of the tape will get in the way of the wing movement.

On the inside stamp the sentiment and a few of the stars with gold ink (you can see the inside in the video above).

Stamps and Stencil Used:

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

Other Supplies:

 Watercolour card, stamping platform, Versafine Onyx black ink, Water spritzer, Distress stains (tumbled glass, broken china, salty ocean, faded jeans, chipped sapphire), heat gun, Distress Ink (chipped sapphire), blending tool and foam, Versamark clear ink, WOW! Embossing glitters (metallic gold sparkle, midas touch, clear sparkle) , WOW! embossing powders (metallic silver, opaque bright white), Versamarker watermark pen, Posca white pen, Zig clean color real brush (001 Fl.Yellow), Black pen, scrap of doflex, 3 brads, gold card, white card, Encore metallic gold ink (for the inside stamping)  .


I'd like to enter this card into the following challenges:
A bit more time to craft #93 - Anything Goes
Allsorts Challenge #523 - Anything Goes
Craft Stamper TIMI June - Anything Goes
Crafting From The Heart #245 - Anything Goes
Through The Craft Room Door 11th June - Anything Goes
Lemon Shortbread #95 - Anything Goes
Everybody Art #449 - Anything Goes (JFF)

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 weekly giveaways
FACEBOOK GROUP come share your work with us and enter the monthly 'show and tell' challenges
INSTAGRAM
PINterest

Thanks for stopping by and don't forget to take a peek at my rainbow faerie.... I really hope to see you again soon.

Hugs,
Sharon xx

Less is More #397 - Duck Egg. Plum and White

Hi,

A quick post from me today as I seem to be chasing my tail. It's like that in summer - there is always so much to do and luckily most of it is outside in the sunshine. Anyway, we have a colour challenge just starting today over at Less is More ....

Cue Card

Sponsor

Head on over to the challenge blog for some fantastic inspiration from the design team and I have 2 cards to share with you here today.

1) Oh those voices!

I love this sentiment because it reminds us to just trust our instincts, something we don't always do. And I love this card because it is a 5 minute make using minimal supplies ....and I love this stamp company because they always have images and sentiments that are a little quirky and different to any other stamp company out there!

To make a card like this simply stamp the ink splats onto the card blank, rotating the stamp as you work around the edge of the card. Then cut a panel of white card, stamp the sentiment in the middle and attach it to the card blank. What could be faster or simpler?

STAMPS: Visible Image (Ink Splats & Voices In Your Head)
INKS: Distress Ink (broken china & seedless preserves)
OTHER: White Card

2) Thanks

Here's a Thank You card where I've tried to add interest with dry embossing and some die cuts. The letters in 'Thanks' are actually a stamp that I've fussy cut to make them look like die cuts.

On watercolour paper stamp and heat emboss the word thanks then colour with zigs. Cut each letter out. Emboss a panel then die cut and colour 3 leaves. Mount the panel on the card blank with fun foam, attach the leaves and then attach the letters with 3d foam pads.

STAMPS: Uniko (All Occasions Sentiments 6
DIES: Tonic Studios and Crafts & You
INKS: Versamark clear
OTHER: Zig clean color real brushes (036 light blue, 082 purple), WOW! primary ebony embossing powder, Cuttlebug borders embossing folder, white card, water colour paperm 3d foam pads, fun foam

I'd like to enter my cards into the following chllenges:

Voices
As You Like It 6th June- Favourite Stamp Brand & Why.
Lavinia World #2 - Anything Goes
Crafting With An Attitude #52 - Anything Goes

Thanks
Addicted to stamps and more! #344- CAS
Creative Knockouts #301 - Anything Goes
Krafty Chicks Challenge #458 - Die Cuts

LIM BLOG
LIM FACEBOOK PAGE
LIM INSTAGRAM

That's it from me for now. I hope you found something you like and I really hope to see you again soon.

Hugs,
Sharon xx

Pink or Blue?

This Bloom And Grow stamp set by Visible Image has to be my all-time, absolute favorite, go-to stamp set for anything baby related; it is just so versatile

For my design team inspiration today I'm showing how easy it is to make some matching wrapping paper, a gift tag and a card using this set, and then all you need to do is add a sentiment into the inside of the card. So no matter whether you have a present for a boy or a girl, or you want to make this in lemon shades for a baby shower where no-one knows the sex of the baby, the results always look fab.

Here's how to do it

************************************************************************

Card

Stamp the baby image and 'Congratulations' inside the card blank

Swipe the ink onto spare white card then die cut a bow. Assemble the bow.

Stamp the baby image onto a panel of white card in a random pattern. Then stamp the sentiment several times onto the panel too. This makes the card front.

Now attach 2 strips of coordinating (and sparkly) washi tape to the front edge of the card blank. Mount the stamped card panel to the card blank with fun foam and attach the bow. That's the card finished.

************************************************************************

Tag

Cut a tag shape from white card and pierce a hole in the top with a crop-o-dile. Stamp the baby image onto the tag. Using masking tape swipe ink around the edges and attach a ribbon. Simple!

************************************************************************

Wrapping Paper

Stamp both the baby image and the sentiment on the paper you will use for wrapping.

To make a gift bag from the paper....

(I had video'd this but I can't find the file so I hope these instructions make sense).

1. Select a box of suitable size and cut the paper to cover the box with a small overlap. 
2. Place the box on the wrapping paper and line up the edge of the wrapping paper with an edge of the box, then fold the paper around the box without sticking it down. 
3. Crease the edges of the wrapping paper to mark the position then remove the box and sharply crease the edges again. 
4. Stick dst to the edge of the paper that you lined up in step 2 and then wrap and stick the paper around the box (not too tightly or you won't be able to remove the box later). 
5. Fold the paper down at the bottom of the box, then fold the sides in at the bottom, creasing sharply at the corners. 
6. Stick the flap at the bottom in place with dst. 
7. Carefully slide the box out of the bag you have just made. 
8. Bring the two smaller side edges together at the top of the box and crease sharply from the top towards the bottom.  
9. Do this on each side edge.
10. Put your present in the bag
11. Now you can either just punch 2 holes in the top (as I did on the pink present above) and attach the tag and ribbon, or you could fold the top edge over twice for a lovely neat finish (as I did on the blue present), then punch the holes and attach the ribbon on the tag. 

Stamps Used:

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

Other Supplies:

Brilliance Archival Ink (twilight for the pink items and peacock for the blue card). Encore Silver metallic ink, glittery and textured washi tape, Creative Expressions Sue Wilson Classic 3D Bow die, fun foam, Sharpie permanenet silver marker, ribbon, white card, crop-o-dile, masking tape


I'd like to enter this card into the following challenges:
Fab N Funky #433 - Something New
Little Red Wagon #500 - Welcome To The World
Through The Craft Room Door 4th June - Anything Goes
Crafty Creations #391 - Anything Goes
Creative Fingers #165 - Anything Goes
Jo's Scrap Shack FFC #284 - Anything Goes
Lemon Shortbread #95 - Anything Goes

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 weekly giveaways
FACEBOOK GROUP come share your work with us and enter the monthly 'show and tell' challenges
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

Today Is A Good Day

Hi! I hope you are having a good day!  Positive sentiments are so good, aren't they? The minute you read them your mood usually brightens. So today I have a positive card made with some Visible Image stamps, acrylic paint, inks and UTEE

This is super-quick to make too.

Brayer some light blue acrylic paint onto a gelli plate and place the strobes stencil on top. Then lay some white card over the top and press all over. When you remove the card you have your background print so just cut it down to size. (Don't forget to take a second print from the gelli plate for another background of the negative print!)

Stamp the face in a rainbow of ink colours and fussy cut each one out, press each one onto a versamark clear ink pad and then cover with ulta thick embossing crystals.

To stop the faces blowing about when you heat emboss them, die cut some circles into some scrap card and place a face inside each circle and heat emboss it whilst it is in that cut out circle.

Repeat the process of heat embossing with UTEE again so that you have 2 layers of heat embossing on each face.

Stamp the sentiment onto a smaller panel with rounded corners and heat emboss it with gold embossing powder. Raise the background on fun foam and attach it to your card blank. Attach the sentiment in the centre using more fun foam.

Then arrange the faces around the sentiment and attach to the card using thinner foam tape.

Stamps Used:

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

Other Supplies:

Gelli Plate, Daler Rowney acrylic paint (#130 coeruleum hue), Speedball brayer, white super smooth card. Prism inks ( blackcurrant jam, red chilli, orange zest, canary yellow, rainforest green, peacock green, blue lagoon, purple velvet), Versamark clear ink, Cosmic Shimmer ultra thick embossing crystals clear, circle die, WOW! metallic gold rich embossing powder)

I'd like to enter this card into the following challenges:

A Gem of a challenge week 10 - Anything Goes
Crafting From The Heart #244 - Anything Goes
Simply Create too #149 - AG with no twist
The Corrosive Challenge May - Anything Goes
Through the craft room door 28 May - Anything Goes
Tuesday Throwdown #432 - Stencilling
Just Us Girls #439 Photo inspiration

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 weekly giveaways
FACEBOOK GROUP come share your work with us and enter the monthly 'show and tell' challenges
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