Less is More Challenge #374

Good morning, crafters!

We're enjoying some lovely weather here in the UK at the moment so I'm up bright and early to enjoy the best part of the day.

It's time for a new challenge over at Less is More and I think you're going to love this one.  It's a Recipe challenge and we want you to use...

Continuing as our June sponsor is the fabulous Uniko who are offering a choice of an in stock stamp set to our monthly winner, so please do play along for a chance to win!

We have a fabulous Guest Designer joining us this week, Skye who was our April winner.  Please do pop over and say hi, she's created a lovely card for this recipe challenge :)


I have a bits folder rather than a box....or so I thought.  I actually have FOUR bits folders!  This was a great opportunity to use up some backgrounds/die-cuts/scraps, and even breathe new life into some bits I wasn't happy with when I originally created them.  Not only that, I actually found that these were really quick to make.

I have three for you, here's the first...

This panel was cut from a background I created whilst away at Sarah's last November, after the Happy Little Stampers craft retreat.  The floral images were created by sprinkling Brushos through a stencil onto watercolour paper and then spritzing with water and quickly removing the stencil.  This part was leftover from another card I made a while ago.  So all that was left to do was die cut with a stitched rectangle, pop it up on foam on the card base and stamp a sentiment below.  Easy!

Materials used:

• Stencil: STAMPlorations - Bloom Silhouettes
• Ink: Brusho - I think I used Leaf Green and Emerald Green; Versafine - Onyx Black
• Stamp: Clearly Besotted - Brushed Sentiments
• Die: MFT Die-namics - Stitched Rectangle Stax

Challenge entries:

Moving Along with the Times - Challenge #74 - June Blooms

Addicted to Stamps and More - Challenge #297 - Make Your Mark

The Flower Challenge - Challenge #21 - Use a Previous Challenge (I chose Challenge #12, TicTacToe and chose the line 'Sentiment/Watercolour/White')

For this next card, everything other than the stamped sentiment came from my bits folders...

Once again, whilst attending the Happy Little Stampers craft retreat, but this time in the summer of 2016, Sarah die cut some panels for me using a stitched die (I think by MFT) so I used one of these as my main panel for this card.  I found a die cut 'you' which had been cut from some textured black cardstock and stamped part of a sentiment in the opening underneath.  The butterflies I remember were cut from a piece of cardstock I blended with Distress Inks which I cut at the same time as cutting the flower to make this card.  These were simply adhered flat to the panel which was then adhered on fun foam.

Materials used:

• Dies: Avery Elle - Simply Said You; Marianne Design Creatables - Tiny's Butterflies 2
• Ink: Butterflies blended with Distress Inks; Versafine - Onyx Black
• Stamp: Clearly Besotted - Lovely Lilies

Challenge entries:

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Bright and Cheerful

Daring Cardmakers - What a Wonderful World (I chose the line 'the colours of the rainbow so pretty in the sky)

Happy Little Stampers - June Challenge - Anything Goes with Dies

This card started life as a panel stamped with balloons from my bits folder...

I remember when I first stamped this cluster of balloons, I really didn't like the mix of colours but when I saw it again in my scraps I thought it would make a great gender neutral card.  I stamped the sentiments below, trimmed the panel down and adhered flat to a blue card base. 

Materials used:

• Stamps: Clearly Besotted - Let's Party; Altenew - Party Time, Celebrate
• Ink: Versafine - Onyx Black; Altenew - Silver Stone, unsure what colours were used to stamp the balloons
• Coloured cardstock from stash

Challenge entries:

Seize the Birthday - Anything Goes

Stamping Sensations - June Challenge - Anything Goes

This challenge has certainly inspired me to try to use up lots of scraps instead of cutting into new cardstock each time I make a card.  And it's surprising how you can get inspiration from something which didn't give you any creative motivation previously.

I hope you can find time to play along with us over the next fortnight. 

Weight Loss Motivation Jars - Take Two!

Hi guys

Something a little different to share with you today.

After years of struggling with my weight and on/off yoyo dieting I'm back to where I started again, my yoyo keeps getting stuck in the up position!

So, I'm trying to get going again and decided to get my motivation jars back out and I've given them a facelift with some new tags.  Instead of the pretty designs that co-ordinated with my kitchen accessories that I created last time, I've decided to go with a more fun theme this time.

One jar holds glass pebbles, each representing half a pound, then these get transferred into the second jar as the weight loss increases (hopefully!).  Yes, there are a lot in jar number one which I need to shift - please don't try to count them, lol!

So here they are...

The first jar is to remind me to stop being a little piggy oinker!  The truth is I eat too much, and usually the wrong choices.  I'm back at Slimming World now so the tag on my loss jar is to remind me to eat more of the good stuff.

These tags literally took me about fifteen minutes to make.  I cut one tag from pink striped paper and another from aqua, then stamped the basic images.  I cut two more tags from white cardstock and adhered them offset together to add a little strength to them.  These were then tied around the jars with some co-ordinating organza ribbon from my stash.

Materials used:

• Patterned Paper: Avery Elle - The Sorbet Collection
• Stamps: Clearly Besotted - Full Steam Ahead Additions (pig), In Print (oink!), Fruit Salad (fruit); Skull and Cross Buns - Quirky Sentiments (you got this!)
• Ink: Versafine - Onyx Black
• Die: Clearly Besotted - Rounded Tag Die

Challenge entries:

Inkspirational - Challenge #163 - Use Small Stamps

Addicted to Stamps and More - Challenge #296 - Anything Goes

Stamping Sensations - June Challenge - Anything Goes

Cut It Up - Challenge #150 - Anything but a Card

Thanks so much for stopping by today, hopefully I'll have more to share very soon.

Less is More Challenge #373

Hi there

It's new challenge day over at Less is More and we're back with a Theme challenge for you for the fortnight ahead.  I'll get straight to the cue word...

Our sponsor for the month of June is Uniko, and one lucky winner will receive an in stock stamp set of their choice, so be sure to play along this month to be in with a chance!  And Uniko's lovely lady, Bev, is joining us as a Guest Designer this week so please do pop over and say hi.

I've got two sample cards for you using the Friendship theme, here's the first using a sentiment from Uniko...

I recently bought a few Distress Oxide ink pads (yes, very late to the Oxides party!) so wanted to give them a go with the ghosting technique.  On a panel of white cardstock I blended three colours together from the bottom corner, fading them out.  I then laid a floral stencil over the panel, spritzed with water, removed the stencil and blotted with a paper towel to remove some of the colour.  I love the subtle effects you get with this technique and it works great with Oxides as well as regular Distress Inks.  Once dry I prepped the panel with anti-static powder before stamping the sentiment and heat embossing in white.  The panel was then adhered to the base on 3D foam before adding some little trios of Nuvo drops. 

Materials used:

• Ink: Distress Oxide - Shaded Lilac, Salty Ocean, Cracked Pistachio; VersaMark
• Stencil: Dutch Doobadoo - Flower Swirl
• Stamp: Uniko - Originally Organic Additions
• Embossing Powder: Altenew - Pure White
• Accents: Nuvo Jewel Drops - Key Lime; Nuvo Crystal Drops - Caribbean Ocean, Crushed Grape, Morning Dew

Challenge entries:

The Flower Challenge - Challenge #21 - Use a Previous Challenge (I chose Challenge #14 - CAS) 

CAS on Friday - Challenge #134 - Embossing

For my second card I chose a cute image from Clearly Besotted:

On a panel of Strathmore Bristol Smooth cardstock I stamped the image and then watercoloured with my Zig markers.  The image was then masked to blend the grass and sky with Distress Inks, and I used a stencil to create some subtle clouds.  I stamped the sentiment, trimmed the panel down and adhered it to a green card base.

Materials used:

• Stamps: Clearly Besotted - Best Friends
• Ink: Versafine - Onyx Black; Distress Ink - Mowed Lawn, Tumbled Glass
• Stencil: MFT - Cloud
• Water coloured with Zig Clean Color Real Brush Markers
• Green cardstock from stash

Challenge entries:

Stamping Sensations - June Challenge - Anything Goes

Creative with Stamps - Challenge #27 - Cute Animals

My teamies are sharing some lovely makes over on the main challenge blog if you need some more inspiration.

I hope you can play along over the next two weeks, it's always lovely to have cards for friends in your collection...just because :)