Introducing My New Craft Space!

Hi lovelies

As some of you will remember, about a month ago I shared some photos of the space I was planning to use as my new creative space.

Well, after some decorating, building of furniture and a really good sort out of my stash I can now share it with you.

I've decided to add all the details to a page rather than a post so I can update it as and when I need to.  So, for my happy page please click here or follow the tab above.

Here's a sneaky peek of my new workstation!

Thanks for popping by!

Less is More Week #330

Hi guys

Another week has zoomed by so I'm back to announce the challenge just starting over at Less is More.  This week we have a Recipe challenge and this is what we would like to see on your CAS creations this week...

After having a missing mojo for the last week I finally managed to create a couple of cards for you.  Then came the next challenge, getting a decent photo of the shimmer!  My lamp made everything really bright so apologies, these pics aren't the best!


Here's my first...

This was quite an easy make.  I wanted to use a colour of cardstock I don't normally reach for so I chose this apricot/pale peach colour.  I used some anti-static powder before stamping the flowers in VersaMark and then heat embossed with some pearl powder to create a shimmer effect.  The sentiment was also stamped in VersaMark but heat embossed in white.  The cardstock was quite thin so had warped a little from the heat so I used some fun foam to mount it to the cardbase which straightened it out nicely.

Materials used:

• Cardstock: Bazzill Basics
• Stamps: Honey Doo Crafts - Delicious Dahlia; Uniko - Originally Organic
• Ink: VersaMark
• Embossing Powder: Wow! - White Pearl and Opaque Bright White

Challenge entries:

Time Out - Challenge #84 - 'Flowers and friends make life a garden'

AAA Cards - Game #90 - Embossing

I used a Wink of Stella pen to create the shimmer on my second card...

I die cut the stitched aperture from the top panel and marked with pencil on the card base roughly where the window would be.  I stamped the butterflies in black onto the card base in the area which would show through the window.  I then coloured the butterflies with Derwent Inktense pencils and used a clear Wink of Stella pen to blend out the colour instead of water.  The sentiment was stamped onto the top panel before adhering over the card base with 3D foam.

Materials used:

• Stamps: Butterfly from set free with a publication; Clearly Besotted - Sunshine and Smiles
• Ink: Archival - Jet Black
• Die: MFT Die-namics - Rectangle Peek-a-boo window
• Coloured with Derwent Inktense pencils
• Accents: Wink of Stella - clear

Challenge entries:

Dream Valley - Challenge #156 - Things with Wings

Stamping Sensations - May Challenge - Butterflies, Fairies and Fantasy

There are lots of shimmery products out there so hopefully you can play along this week and I'm sure the shimmering gallery will look stunning!

My new craft area is pretty much all set up now :)  I've had a really good sort out and organised my stash a little better.  Still not perfect but will be great for the time being.  My hall doesn't have great light in the evenings so hopefully this weekend I can get some decent daylight photos, although it's not very bright down here in Devon this morning.  Come on sunshine!  I'm really excited to be sharing it with you soon, it's been a long time coming!

Less is More Week #329

Hi guys

Firstly, apologies that it's been a whole week since my last post.  I have been really busy making....but not cards.  I've been busy building my Ikea furniture and filling it with my stash!  Woohoo!!  I'm still trying to get everything in its ideal place and have a good tidy up of my existing cupboard so once that's done I'll share some pics with you.  It's a small area so it's taking some organising but I'm getting there! :)

So, that said, I'll move on to the real reason for today's post.

It's week three of May so this week at Less is More it's the turn of our regular Theme challenge.  Here is what we want to see...

We have another Guest Designer joining us this week, our lovely April winner, Julie Beech.  Please do pop over to her blog to see her inspiration project :)


After going back to basics last week I really struggled this week and I think I was trying too hard again.  They are a little busier than I would have liked but I have managed two card samples for you.


I recently picked up a lovely card pack called Midnight Blush and I wanted to use it on this first card.  The pack contains cardstock in four shades of grey and some sheets in a lovely blush colour.  The photos don't really do it justice but I think it's a gorgeous combination.

The cardstock in the pack isn't thick enough to use for card bases so I started by covering a card base with the blush card.  I then cut a dark grey piece slightly smaller than the base and used some transparent gloss texture paste through a squares stencil.  Once dry I mounted the panel onto the card base using fun foam.  I then die cut the doily from the blush cardstock and a sentiment strip onto which I stamped the sentiment in charcoal ink.

Here's a better view of the glossy paste, I need to get a better spatula/scraper to avoid the line marks...

Materials used:

• Cardstock: Papermania (DoCrafts) - Midnight Blush Capsule Collection
• Stencil: STAMPlorations - Just Squares
• Texture Paste: Ranger - Transparent Gloss
• Die: Clearly Besotted - Geometric Doily
• Stamp: Personal Impressions - Mix and Match
• Ink: Versa Color - Charcoal

Challenge entries:

Daring Cardmakers - Two Colours
Crafty Catz - Challenge #371 - Anything Goes with twist of more than two layers

Freshly Made Sketches - Challenge #288 (flipped it to the right)

I went for a rainbow on my second card...

I used some dark grey cardstock to cover my card base and then cut a white piece slightly smaller.  I die cut some circles from a scrap of cardstock and placed this over my white panel.  I then placed a stencil over the top and blended ink through the circles in rainbow colours, placing the stencil in different directions for each circle.  I finished off with a bold sentiment in charcoal ink and mounted the white panel on fun foam.

Materials used:

• Stencil: The Crafter's Workshop - Mini Solace
• Ink: Distress Ink - Mustard Seed, Carved Pumpkin, Festive Berries, Wilted Violent, Blueprint Sketch, Mermaid Lagoon, Lucky Clover, Twisted Citron; Versa Color - Charcoal
• Stamp: Paper Smooches - Bold Buzzwords

My teamies, as always have created an array of wonderful inspiration for you this week so please do pop over to the challenge blog and follow the links to their personal blogs.

Happy Saturday everyone!