Less Is More #437 - One Layer Card - Flowers

Hey there,

Well, we're continuing the 10th birthday celebration over at Less is More today. No birthday would be complete without some flowers to go with the chocolate from the last challenge, would it? And best of all it's one layer week too!

I had to use some tropical flowers on my creation, didn't I? Oh I'm so looking forward to my garden being full of those gorgeous Hibiscus blooms again this year. 

This beautiful digital image is by Alex Syberia Design and all I did was print it onto card, and colour it with my Zigs using them direct to paper. This is such a pretty design that I didn't want to spoil it by adding anything else to it.

STAMPS:  Alex Syberia Design Tropical Bouquet  

PENS:  Zig real color brushes (oops! I put them away before noting which colours I used 🙅)
OTHER: White card and a printer

 Please head on over to the challenge blog to see some fantastic floral inspiration from the design team

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I'll sign off for now 👋 but I really hope to see you again soon.

Hugs,
Sharon xx

Sharing Your Creative Soul

Every one of us crafters shares a little piece of our soul in each item we make, don't we? 

I typed the word 'soul' into my browser to see what definition came up and the first result had this as the secondary interpretation of the word:

"emotional or intellectual energy or intensity, especially as revealed in a work of art or an artistic performance." 

I think all of the cards/tags/canvases etc. that we make are mini works of art and show some of that energy. The card I'm sharing with you today is my interpretation of that bright and positive energy radiating outwards from the creator (artist) towards all the people that will see it or be touched by it. Of course, not everyone in the world will see it, so I represented those people by the border that I added to the card.

I'm using some fabulous Visible Image stamps and a stencil today because it is my turn to provide some DT inspiration. 

I love searching through my stamps for small elements that will add a bit of interest to an inked panel and there are several sentiment sets that Visible Image makes that have small elements in them. So that's why I chose the Stay Weird stamp set, plus I thought the creativity definition in the Brighten The World  stamp set worked perfectly, and I had to use one of my favourite stencils as well: Two Tone   

Here's how to make this card.

First cut a square piece of card and mask off the area that you want to ink with low tack tape and copy paper. Then blend ink into the gap, adding the colours in a diagonal direction. I used red to represent warmth and energy, pink for warmth and love, and orange for passion and fun.

Now take the stencil and blend some distress oxide through it. The oxide ink is formed so that it sits on top of the distress ink, therefore you can use a lighter colour than your background. Here I used yellow, for optimism and confidence (because we're all optimistic and confident that at least some people will like our work).

Using more oxide ink add some stamping into the masked off area too. Make sure to stamp over the edges for that natural look. The violet colours used represent vision and truth.

The amazing fonts that Visible Image use on their sentiments give a unique look to their brand, and you should always look at them closely because there may be parts of them that can be used as patterns. To illustrate this, I took the sentiment that I used on the card, masked off all but the very top, and inked that in black. Stamping it along the two long edges of the inked band gives definition to those edges, and it matches so well with the circular patterns within the inked band. Remove the masking tape.

 

For a little more interest I repeated that part-inked process with the small circles around the outside edge of the panel and doodled in between.

The sentiment was inked and heat embossed, a couple of sequins were added with tiny gems in the middle ( Shhhh! Don't tell anyone, but one of the sequins covers up a tiny ink smudge) .....

....then the panel was mounted onto a coordinating piece of red card and attached to the card blank.

Stamps And Stencil Used:

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

     

     

  

Other Supplies:

White card, masking tape, copy paper, Distress Inks (festive berries, picked raspberry, ripe persimmon), Distress Oxides (squeezed lemonade, shaded lilac, wilted violet), blending tools, post-it notes, memento black ink, black micron pen, Versamark clear ink, WOW! primary ebony embossing powder, sequins and tiny gems.

 

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

TWITTER

Well I hope you enjoyed the walk through my creative process in making this card. 

Thanks for stopping by and I really hope to see you again soon.

Hugs,

Sharon xx 

Less is More #436 - Chocolate and 10th Birthday celebrations!

Wow! Can you believe that the Less is More challenge has been going for 10 years? I know it seems ages ago when I first joined in the challenge and started learning all about CAS from those experts who started the challenge, Chrissie and Mandi, but it is amazing to think that it was 10 years ago. We all learnt so much from them and it was brilliant to be able to seek advice on how to create good CAS cards. 

The other great thing was the sense of community at LIM where everyone commented on each other's cards. Wasn't that wonderful? Sadly, that seems to be missing now as everyone has busy lives. Maybe we could use some of our lockdown time to resurrect that sense of community and encourage each other again?

And for the 10th birthday celebrations on the LIM blog Chrissie and Mandi have joined the team again as guest designers. It's lovely to see their inspiration once more. 

There's also a bumper amount of sponsors too so there are lots of prizes up for grabs!

The first challenge of the birthday month is a COLOUR one, and it is the colour Chocolate. 

This is my Toblerone card! Don't the shapes remind you of toblerone too? It's another 5 minute make.  Before Christmas I bought this amazing metal stencil from Sweet Poppy Stencils and this is the first chance I've had to use it. I love the geometric designs on the stencil and decided to simply blend brown ink through the part of it that reminded me of the toblerone bar. 

Then I dry embossed around each edge of the mat before adding it to the card blank with fun foam underneath it. The sentiment was stamped in the same ink and matted and raised on 3d pads.

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Then I though why not try add a bit of an opposite to the sharp geometric shapes, so I found a swirl of gems that has been in my stash for ages. Another thing I want to do this year is use up some of the old embellishments that I 'had to have' but 'didn't want to use in case I couldn't get more'.  Honestly!!!! Why do we do that? For goodness sake, let's just use these things whilst they are 'on trend', eh? 

Anyway, what do you think? Is the swirl too much? I think I prefer the card without but thought I'd show you both versions on here.

STAMPS:   Altenew Heartfelt Sentiments

STENCILS: Sweet Poppy Absolutely Abstract Backplate

INKS:    Brushed Corduroy Distress Ink
OTHER: White card, Fun Foam and a long-forgotten swirl of gems.

Please head on over to the challenge blog to see the fantastic inspiration from the guest designers and the design team, there really are some brilliant cards on there.

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I'll sign off for now 👋 but I really hope to see you again soon.

Hugs,
Sharon xx

Spring Blossom Tree

Spring is just around the corner for those of us in the northern hemisphere. You don't believe me? No really! It is! The daffodils and crocuses will soon be out and all the tree will start blossoming and budding.

Thinking about beautiful trees full of blossom was the idea behind this card. In the spring here in the Algarve all the almond trees blossom in white, but I sometimes miss the fabulous pink of the cherry blossoms that we had in the UK. So I decided the tree on my card would have pink cherry blossom. And of course the background had to be zesty greens and yellows because those colours always remind me of fresh, new growth.

So, which do you prefer? The tag on a card as in the photo above? Or just the tag on it's own as pictured here?

I love making tags but I always find it difficult know what to do with them once they are finished, so they invariably end up on the front of a card.

On this tag I was playing with distress re-inkers again because they sort of give me the effect I used to enjoy with the distress stains before they stopped making them. I also played with heat embossable acetate (if you look closely you will see the tree is actually on acetate) and this is how I made it:

Wet a piece of watercolour card and drop some re-inker onto it. Spray the drops with more water and dry with a heat tool.

Keep adding layers of colour and whilst drying spritz with more water and dab with some paper towel for a textured effect. You can always deepen the colours by blending on some distress ink.

Take the Two Tone stencil and blend yellow through the circles on several different areas of the card.

Then partial stamp the script over a few areas too.

Finally smoosh some luna paste through the stencil for even more texture and a bit of sparkle. Set this aside to completely dry (but remember to wash that stencil quickly!)

Now, on some heat embossable acetate, stamp and heat emboss the tree in a copper embossing powder. Add some green perfect pearls into the leaves. For the blossom I used pink acrylic paint and dipped the head of a dressmaking pin into the paint and then dotted that onto the acetate. You can see the effect on the bottom left of the tree here. Set the acetate aside to dry completely as well.

Once dry, trim the water color paper into a tag shape. I had enough of the watercolor card left over to make the spring letter shapes, so I stamped and heat embossed them in the copper embossing powder too. This is such a handy stamp set to have in your stash because it is brilliant for personalising cards!

I wasn't quite happy with the stamping that I had done on the background because it didn't seem to 'pop' enough for me. So I took the leaf stamp from the stamp set and stamped it a few times onto the tag in a darker colour of ink. Then I blended the same colour ink onto the edges of the tag and added a bit of doodling with a white opaque pen.

The acetate tree was added to the bottom of the tag, securing it with tiny bits of tape on the back of the tag and also adding dots of tape behind parts of the tree and leaves where they wouldn't show through (I used the thinnest 'red tape' but tiny dots of glue would also do the trick). The 'spring' letters were added with 3d foam pads.

To do the final bits to make this into a proper tag I made a hole in the top and added some coordinating ribbon. I also found a copper leaf charm in my stash so I added that too. You can see some of the sparkle and shine in this photo.

Now to add it onto the card, I heat embossed the sentiment directly onto the card blank and attached the tag with fun foam underneath it.

Phew! That was such fun to make and the Visible Image stamps and stencils were perfect for making this spring tag.

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 and heat embossable acetate. Distress Re-inkers (mustard seed, twisted citron, cracked pistachio), Distress Inks (mustard seed, twisted citron, cracked pistachio, mowed lawn). Water sprayer, heat tool and paper towel. Cosmic Shimmer Luna Paste (colour) and palette knife, versamark clear ink, WOW! copper embossing powder, white opaque pen, perfect pearls (mint) and light pink acrylic paint, dressmaker's pin, blending brush, ribbon, crop-o-dile, copper leaf charm, 3d foam pads.

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

TWITTER

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 #435 - In A Row

The latest recipe challenge over at Less is More is a look forward to the time when we won't need to social distance any more. Or maybe we are being responsible and keeping that social distancing in place, because we want to see things all in a row.

I immediately thought of an old wooden stamp that I had in my stash for this challenge. It's one that hasn't seen the light of day for ages! I think that this year I will have to bring out one of those loved but forgotten stamps every now and again. 

We all have them don't we? Those stamps where we just 'had to have' that image, only to consign it to the darkest corner of our room, or the back of our stash. They need to be brought out into the light and shown some love too.

So, this is a simple stamp it and go card; well almost 😉 Without a suitable sentiment I had to write my own on the computer and print it directly onto the card blank (rolls eyes) because I had it in my head that this was one layer week (slaps forehead with palm of hand). Then I simply stamped the image and added a bit of colour with some coloured pencils.

STAMPS:  Inca wooden stamp 808h Leaping Sheep Border  

INKS:   Prism Midnight Black
PENS/PENCILS:   Polychromos (170 may green, 266 permanent green, 112 leaf green, 110 phthalo blue, 248 mauve, 129 pink madder lake, 126 permanent carmine, 115 dark cadmium orange, 107 cadmium yellow)
OTHER: White card blank, computer and printer.

The guest designer at Less is More is the lovely Caroline Pattern who was the November winner. Pop over to over to the challenge blog to see her fabulous card as well as lots of fantastic inspiration from the design team.

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I'll sign off for now 👋 but I really hope to see you again soon.

Hugs,
Sharon xx

Believe In Yourself Ballerina

 

Hello everyone. It's my day to blog a card made with some Visible Image stamps today.  You'll have to excuse me for being brief but a I can't type too much as I have come down with carple tunnel. 

This card was made with the 'Hope and Colour' challenge that Visible Image are running in their Facebook Group at the moment. It's a card that would give hope to any would-be dancer and this is how I made it:

Wet a panel of water colour card and add drops of distress ink re-inker. To help the ink move use a dabbing motion with some paper towel or spritz with more water.  Dry with a low setting on a heat tool.

To deepen the colours you can use distress ink pads and blending brushes. Spritz the panel more whilst drying it with a heat tool. 

I didn't think things through properly (blame it on my fibro brain!) so I created two panels. The more thrifty of you will create one large panel and use a rectangular die to cut out the central portion. The cut out part won't show on the final card because you will be mounting the smaller part over the gap.

Stamp the 'crackle' on the larger panel with both distress ink and gold ink. If you don't have gold ink you could use gold embossing powder (but make sure the base colours are totally dry first).

Wait for the gold ink to dry, then stamp the stars in clear ink and heat emboss with a white powder.

Water colour card has a bumpy texture, so place the small panel into a stamping platform and stamp & re-stamp the image (and sentiment) a couple of times, with clear ink, to get the best result. Heat emboss with a black embossing powder.

To finalise the card doodle around the inked part of the small panel with a white pen and back it onto black card. Attach the larger panel to a card blank, then add the smaller panel, raising it up on fun foam or 3d foam pads.

 

Stamps Used:

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

  

       

  

  

Other Supplies:

Distress Re-inkers and Distress Ink Pads in twisted citron, picked raspberry and mustard seed, Encore ultimate gold metallic ink pad, WOW! opaque bright white and primary ebony embossing powders, Versamark clear ink, White opaque pen, Watercolour card Water spritzer, black card, fun foam, card blank.

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

TWITTER

Thanks for taking a peek at this card and I really hope to see you again soon.

Hugs,
Sharon xx

Less is More #343 - Theme - Fashion and/or Accessories

 

Happy New Year everyone 🎉🎈🎇🍸. 

I hope most of you managed to spend some time with loved ones over the festive period, whether in person or by video chats. It made my 89 year old mother's day on Christmas day when we did a video chat from 4 different houses in 2 countries. She was amazed that she could see and chat to everyone at the same time using her phone. Where would we be without the internet and the ability to chat with video, eh?

Anyway, it's 2021 and it's time for the first challenge of the year at Less is More. 

With so many places on lockdown again, we thought it would be good to look forward to happier times when we can all get out and about, meet friends, cast off the old leisure wear (which I'm sure we're getting sick of by now) and strut our stuff with smart or new clothes and accessories.

My card today was made with an old Clarity Stamps stamp, which sadly might be discontinued now 😢, but it was the one I immediately thought of for this theme. I love the elegance of the image and the design makes me think of those fashion sketches.

I literally had 5 minutes in the craft room to make this so it is a fast card with minimal supplies.

Luckily I have a stack of card blanks and mats ready to go so I picked a burgundy mat, heat embossed the image in white on it and added a bit of interest by scribbling with 3 coloured pencils to really give it the sketchbook look. Add the mat to the card blank and you're good to go! 

STAMPS:   Clarity stamp    
INKS:   Versamark Clear
PENS:   Polychromos (101 white, 130 dark flesh,140 light ultramarine)
OTHER: WOW! opaque bright white embossing powder, white card blank, burgundy card mat.

The guest designer over at LIM this week is Heather who was our October winner. She's designed a super card for this challenge so please head on over to the challenge blog to see it and for some fantastic inspiration from the design team

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I'll sign off for now 👋 but I really hope to see you again soon.

Hugs,
Sharon xx