Taking a break

This is my last post for Less is More for a while!

I am taking a break, as the pressures of travelling between here and Bath and Worthing to look after our grandchildren on a regular basis and an ever increasing vacation schedule, something had to go.

Since I created "Less is More" nearly six years ago, I have made cards for all of the 300 weeks that it has been existence and am really proud of its format and the support it has received over the years. As challenge blogs go, it  is quite long lived and I know that with Sarah in the driving seat it will continue to flourish.

I want to thank everyone for their support over the years and hope to pop back in now and again with a card whenever I can!

This one is for the present colour challenge of Purple and Gold.

I had to have a play with my new MFT High Rise number  dies and paired them with a sentiment from Cutplorations.

I enjoyed the jigsaw element of fitting the numbers together!

Ever since I saw the technique of smooshing, I really loved the effect and here is a card showcasing the technique, used behind a Sizzix die cut borrowed from my friend Anne, but hopefully a set of my own should be winging its way to me at this moment.

The butterflies are also from Sizzix,.. I borrowed some of these from my friend Val at the HLS retreat, but these are from my own dies purchased since then.

The Celebrate is from Penny Black.

Over recent weeks we have had problems with our internet service from Virgin. Apparently the number of users in our area is greater than the capacity of the system. Ergo our phones, iPads, laptops and computers simply drop the internet from time to time, often at inopportune moments. I have been very frustrated by spending time commenting on LIM entries only to have what looks like a page with the corner turned down and a sad face on it, saying that the site is down or something similar!!! The comments weren't even saved and so had to be totally rewritten.. Grrrrrrrr!

It is not due to be totally resolved until the New Year... which is not a prospect that I relish. 

Week 300 at Less is More

Today marks the 300 week of challenges from "Less is More". This is quite a milestone for Blogland and I personally feel a great deal of pride and pleasure in what I helped create almost six years ago.

In honour of the occasion the theme this week is Celebrations and Festivals.

This simple Christmas card was made with a die sentiment from Cutplorations and  thread and bells from Memory Box.The black piece was embossed with a texture plate from  ilk but this doesn't show too well in the photograph, but just gives a little subtle relief.

Here is another Christmas celebration card; this was prompted by my purchases at the recent Sincerely Yours show in Portsmouth where I bought  the Christmas tree die from Memory Box and the sentiment from Yvonne Creations, a company new to me. For the latter I added a silver die cut and layered it with a slightly offset white one adding a few gems in salient places. The backdrop was embossed with a Sheena Douglass snowy Embossing Folder.

The last of this Christmas trio uses Sizzix dies.I sprayed the die-cuts with Crafter's Companion Spray and Sparkle in Pearl Diamond. I love the shimmery sheen it gives.The word Noel didn't actually have an umlaut over the e but I thought I'd add just a touch of red by using the berries from a holly die! The pearl 'berries' on this holly were supposed to look randomly spread, but were actually carefully placed to cover a smudge on one of the leaves!

There are some prizes up for grabs this week, so do join in and you may get a chance to win one!

The last one is just a general celebratory card... sentiment form Stamplorations and glasses from Memory Box.

Simples!

I feel really proud of the challenge at Less is More and for it to be still flourishing on its 300th week is quite an achievement!

Thanks to all who have helped make it such a success!

Cheers!

Vellum or acetate

The challenge at Less is More this week is to use Vellum or Acetate.

Vellum is a really versatile medium and here I used it in a slightly different way from anything I have done before. 

I began by embossing a small sheet with a stencil and then dropped a variety of autumnal shades of alcohol ink and a little blending solution before allowing it to dry. I then cut some leaves from this and arranged them into a wreath shape and adding a layered die-cut sentiment from Stamplorations.

I attached them by spraying the reverse of the shapes with Spray and Stick, but I'm not too sure if they will remain secure... time will tell!

Die cut leaves are from Impression Obsession.

This one uses a little acetate to create the transparent part of this shaker card.

The die cuts are from Papertrey Ink and Cuttlebug.

Since photographing this I have moved the @ sign down a little... it irritated me that it wasn't quite in the right place... in fact I've also moved the Kim to the right and the 4 closer to the zero... maybe I should take another pic!

Here is another which I just made today at the request of a friend. 

It's for the daughter of a friend of hers who has just been awarded the OBE.
I began by printing an image of the medal on my laser printer and then foiling it in gold. So as to make the effect a little more subtle, I used a layer of vellum over this, to which I attached the sentiment. I used three different fonts for the die cuts and accentuated the OBE by using a larger set of dies and cutting them from gold card.
The dies used were from Memory Box (congrats and Mel) Avery Elle (celebrate) and Craft essentials Creative dies (OBE) The stars were a freebie from a magazine.

Less is More Spiders

It's that time of year again!

I don't really 'do' the Halloween thing, but when I saw this Hero Arts set of stamps with the matching 'legs' die I just couldn't resist it, I thought this sentiment was such fun!

Here I used a Sizzix rustic brick wall embossing folder and just partially embossed the front of the card. I stamped the sentiment and die cut it with a SU die. Since I couldn't find a little spider stamp of the right proportions I merely doodled this one on the end of his thread!

At "Less is More" this week the theme is Spiders or Insects  so this is my contribution for that!

Turquoise and Lilac

It's time for another colour challenge at Less is More and this week it's the turn of turquoise and lilac!

I used these shades for Darnell's patented method of adding Brushos through a stencil, developed at the HLS retreat in Swindon earlier this year.

This stencil, from The Crafter's Workshop was purchased after I borrowed one from Kathy during that weekend, I think it's terrific. I love the tiny random circles.

The stencil was taped down over the absorbent card... (watercolour paper works best) then sprinkled with Brusho powder and spritzed with water, mopping up any excess with a paper towel. I used violet, white and turquoise. The flower die is from SSS the Love word from Wplus9 and the foliage from Memory Box... or it might be Poppy Stamps.

Apologies... the flower die is  Flower stack from Poppy Stamps!

Although this is not autumn colours it is for the Leaves challenge at Just us Girls !

To get the lilac in this one I blended some pink with blue distress inks using sponge daubers. It's a simple card made with the emboss resist method, stamping with Versamark and embossing with clear EP before adding the inks!

The sentiment was computer generated and the edge punch is from Martha Stewart.

 Additional tiny die cut butterflies are from All Occasion Dies.

Thread

Less is More's challenge this time is to use thread.

Well this I sort of used thread... it's a kind of string I guess, tied into a flat knot suitable for putting on cards... over an embossed backdrop.

You can see a tutorial I made for making this knot here.

The beach hut is from Joanna Sheen and the hi from MFT.

Diamonds

The challenge this week at Less is More is entitled Diamonds. My first thought was of the sparkly things, but then I thought of the shape and that is what I went with here.

I cut the Sizzix aperture die from a corner of the front of the card and placed another piece of card inside to cover the holes. This was overlaid with another Sizzix flower die cut from grey pearlescent paper and a simple hello sentiment die cut from MFT.

This second one again employed a die from Memory Box, used to make a stencil  and covered with embossing paste then adding a sprinkling of Glamour Dust once the stencil was removed.

The butterfly was cut from a Soft Drinks can using a die from SSS and coloured with alcohol inks.

The sentiment is from WPlus9, again twinkled with Glamour Dust.

Peacock Feather Colours

The colour challenge at "Less is More" this week is to use the colours of peacock's feathers... I decided to use an image of  a peacock's feather too as had I picked one up in a Grab Bag from Rubber Necker stamps at Ally Pally some time ago.

Essentially the colours are blue and green, but there is also quite a bit iridescence in these glorious shades. 

To achieve this I used  a variety of glittery powders from WOW; St Lucia Surf, Antigua Breeze and Jamaica Green.

The sentiment is from a die cut from Hero Arts, also inked with Versamark and embossed.

Here's the same stamp, this time stamped on white card, embossed in silver and then painted with a water brush. Various shades of blue and green Brushos were then sprinkled over and allowed to react with the water.

When dry, the feather was cut out and a twinkling of Glamour Dust was added for good measure!

The sentiment is from Clearly Besotted and embossed in silver.

Spot the Peel-Off!

The Challenge at "Less is More" this week is to use a Sticker, Sticky Label or Peel Off!

When I first started crafting, I didn't have a die cutting machine and thought that Peel Offs were the Bee's Knees. I have to admit that over the years my opinion has changed but being a squirrel, I still have the odd supplies of them. Here I decided to use a few...but in disguise!

For this one I used a Peel Off of a snowflake within a frame, to act as a mask.

Having gently stuck it down, I inked the card with Versamark and heat embossed it with some WOW twinkly EP. I then removed the Peel off to re-use for a similar process.

The sentiment was die cut and then inked and embossed similarly.

Again I used a Peel Off as a mask and inked a rainbow of colours using sponge daubers. I then stamped a few random dots over the top and embossed in silver, finally removing the Peel Off.

The balloon was die cut using holographic wrapping paper attached to a piece of card for stiffening. The string is from a Memory Box thread die. This postage style rectangle is also from a Memory Box die.

For this final one I once more used a Peel Off as a mask. As the sails were open, I masked that area within the Peel Off with Elmers Rubber Cement, then inked the sky with a Blending brush over a die cut cloud which I moved around as I was inking. The sea was also applied with a blending brush. When dry I rubbed off the cement.

The sentiment is from Paper Smooches.

I don't think I could have used the Peel Off in its original state...what was I thinking when I bought this sheet!

I can't see me using a lilac and gold Peel Off an any project anytime soon (not as is anyway)!

LIM is feeling exotic

I tried to make this look like a tequila sunrise... I somehow associate fancy, colourful cocktails with exotic places as I like to try new ones when I go on cruises to warmer climes! I shall have to wait until January before the next one...cruise not cocktail that is!

Here is  one layer card with dry embossed frame and sentiment, a simply stamped and clear embossed image coloured with watercolour pencils, blended with a water brush and given a coat of Glossy Accents.

This rather exotic looking, showy flower was made from a pair of dies from Memory Box... it's quite a whopper!

It was cut from card coloured with the shaving foam technique and then inlaid. The centre was cut from black card and encrusted with Micro beads set into Glossy Accents. The sentiment was cut from an alphabet from PTI and all the coloured card was gentle twinkled with Glamour Dust although it doesn't show up much on this picture. 

Aloha!

A little French one layer!

Here I used a couple of Penny Back stamps and stamped using Versamark and then added embossing powders in a variety of shades and textures without shaking off the excess between each addition. I used WOW powders in Verdigris, Copper, Gold, Pepper and Green.

Some time ago we had a bit of a debate at "Less is More" about whether inlaid dies count as one layer or not!

The general consensus was that it's OK so here is an inlaid card using a sentiment from SSS and a stitched snowflake die from Memory Box!

The challenge at "Less is More" this week is for a one layer card with the theme French, so I've gone along with French Christmas for both cards!

Blue and Brown

A simple die cut with additional flower heads added...the sentiment is from Paper Smooches.

This one is not quite so clean and simple having a layered base but the elephant (Memory Box) is standing in a little white space!

I love this Penny Black border die... the paper is just a snippet  from the scrap drawer, which I think is from Cuddly Buddly. The sentiment is from Penny Black too.

The challenge this week from Less is More is a colour one and those chosen are blue and brown, a lovely combo I think!

Repetition

The theme over at "Less is More" this week is  Repetition.

I guess you could repeat whatever you fancied but I chose to repeat the Happy Birthday.

This was the card for my husband... I relish the fact that for a few weeks he appears a year older than me, but I soon catch up!

Here is another 

Computer generated sentiment, double die cut wellies, and die cut cloud and raindrops!

Today should have been the final day of my cruise to the Mediterranean. It still seems a little odd that we didn't go, but I hope that the cruise we are taking next year in compensation for forfeiting this one will be amazing!
Tomorrow I shall be meeting Darnell at Heathrow! Good times are ahead!

Clockwork

Last month when the One Layer Challenge came around at "Less is More" I merrily went ahead and made a Splatter card... forgetting that it was one layer week... this month ... guess what.. I did exactly the same thing. I was so anxious to use this Kaisercraft stamp that all thought of the one layer element left my mind. Anyway here is take 2!

The sentiment is from Paper Smooches which I think fits the theme beautifully!

Using my MISTI helps enormously to get the stamp square on to the card... always a tricky process!

Here is the version where I forgot about the one layer!

I really must be getting old!

I'm going to link this one to the the challenge at Twofers challenge as their theme is clocks/time

Why not join in the fun!

Kitchen colours

It feels strange today, as we should have been flying to Rome to join Cunard's Queen Victoria for a two week cruise in the Mediterranean. However, following a phone call from Cunard a couple of days ago we have been persuaded to cancel this cruise with a full refund and rebook another cruise free of charge next year. It seems as with lots of companies they overbook and rely on a certain number of cancellations to keep numbers viable. However this year, their calculations didn't work out and they were forced to try to find clients willing to postpone their holidays.  As we have already had a cruise to the Caribbean this year together with a week in Florida; will be going to Spain in August and to San Francisco in September, we thought that we could forego this one and rebook for next year.... and it will be free! Still feels odd though!

The challenge at "Less is More" this week is to use the colours from your kitchen.

Some years ago we had a caravan in which we used to go on holiday to France most years. One year we decided to buy a kitchen table and chairs in Caen and transport them back in said caravan. This set actually helped determine the colours in our kitchen.

The table is getting a little old now but is so practical and has two extending leaves, which are so useful when we have family staying with us.

Our work surface is black granite with twinkly bits in it... hence my card.

The old Hostess stamp set from Stampin' up seems redolent of the image on the table... so there you go!

Here I used the other piece of embossed card from last week, if I'd thought about it in time I would have sprinkled a little gold twinkle over this bit, but not to worry!

Use a stencil

Here is a card with a similar layout to the sketch from a couple of weeks ago at "Less is More". This time the challenge is to use a stencil. This super leaf stencil from Stamplorations was embossed with glossy black embossing paste and allowed to dry. After slicing it into two, the die-cuts from Memory Box were added plus a simple sentiment from Tattered Lace.

The joy of embossing a whole piece of card and then cutting it means that I have another piece to use on another creation! The leaves on this stencil are facing in both directions, so it doesn't matter which way up it is used.

Here I used a stencil from our sponsor Stamplorations and dusted some colour over it with a brush. When removed, I then stamped a few Stamploration butterflies in some of the gaps, then over stamped with the Stamploration sentiment stamp and added a Memory Box butterfly die-cut.

We have a new Designer at Less is More this week so do check it out... Esther has joined us so do pop over and give her a warm welcome!

Faux Bleach

The theme at Less is More this week is to use the Faux Bleach or Ghosting technique... also referred to as stamping with water.

If a layer of water reactive ink is used as a base, when water is added, some of the colour is removed, giving the appearance of bleaching.

To begin, I inked the vertical panel with blue and green Distress Inks using sponge daubers and allowed them to dry. I then stamped the flower stamp from Unity after spritzing it with water, drying the card with a heat gun, which seems to intensify the effect. I wanted to use this as a ghosting effect around the flowers, so  I stamped image again, using the deep green colour.

The sentiment is from Penny Black.

Here I used a stencil from Tim Holtz, over some sponged Distress Inks, applied fairly liberally with sponge daubers. The ink was spritzed with water and blotted then the stencil removed and heat dried. The bunch of roses is a file from Silhouette Studio cut with my Portrait. I think they match my stencil really well. I believe that the hello is a die cut from Winnie And Walter.

A little purple

At Less is More this month we have a couple of fabulous sponsors... Dies to Die for and Stamplorations!

Shery at Stamplorations has been really generous in providing the DT with some yummy Stamplorations products. I have belonged to the Bi-monthly club for quite some time and so have accumulated quite a few stamps and stencils. Here I used a fab heart stencil, which I combined with embossing paste and and some Glamour Dust.

The purple card was made by smooshing some Distess Inks with Inka Gold Paste, which when dry I die cut with the butterfly from Memory Box and the sentiment from Craft Essentials Creative Dies.  The ivy die is a Signature Die from Joanna Sheen.

For this I used the faux bleach technique. I covered some card with distress inks using sponger daubers. Then I stamped with some Stamplorations stamps using just water, which reacts with the inks and removes some of the colour! The joy of this technique is that if you're not happy with the result, you can re-ink the card and then re-stamp with water.The butterfly is from Memory Box and the sentiment from Die'sire. I altered a Simon Says Stamp stitched rectangle to fit the tab shape.

This week I have been on a tour with my choir in Derbyshire and Nottingham singing in churches in both venues.

Another sketch

It's time for another sketch at Less is More and as you might expect it's a simple one!

Here I flipped the diagonal so that I could use one of my Memory Box Distressed Windham Collage dies.The flower stack is from Poppy Stamps and the sentiment from Happy Little Stampers. I die cut part of the tag to fit around the edge of the flowers.The card was coloured with distress inks using the shaving foam technique and the die-cut flowers raised on 3d pads

Designer Paper

I guess many of us who have gravitated to the CAS style of card making have stacks of Designer Paper sitting languishing in drawers and boxes. It is possible to use it in a clean and simple style and that's what we're looking for at "Less is More" this week.

Here I used some paper from Pink Petticoat together with dies from Poppy stamps to make this inlaid die cut card. I must confess that some of the pieces were really fiddly to insert, but luckily none pinged into oblivion before being inserted. The Hobby Art sentiment was stamped in SU Smoky Slate ink to match the paper and die cut with a stitched rectangle from Simon Says Stamp, elongated slightly to fit the sentiment.

Sorry for the dreadful picture, I'm having technology problems at the moment!

Of course when you do an inlaid die-cut, you get a positive and a negative, so here is another card using the negative from the previous one!

The sentiment is from Wplus9.

I have a few other cards part-made but time ran away from me... I may add some more later in the week.

I'm off to my nephew's wedding today. The evening part has a Cluedo theme, so my husband is going as Rev. Green with a borrowed shirt from a priest friend of ours and I shall be a geriatric Miss Scarlett!

There may be pictures later!!!