Less is More Week 13

Lucky dip this week at Less is More, with the theme of either Thank You or Congratulations. I'm just scraping in with my entry! I'm very busy at the moment, and haven't had time for much card making, let alone blogging. (I'll get there eventually, I hope!)  My hubby asked me to make him some simple thank you cards to send out after his father's funeral last December, and I haven't blogged them before, so I hope they'll be acceptable.

The first one has a vase of flowers by Penny Black, stamped on a Nestie label, using Versamagic dew drop inks, and attached with foam pads. The sentiment is by Anna Griffin.

The second is even more simple - the same Anna Griffin sentiment inside a frame also by Anna Griffin.








Phew! Just got them in in time! Sorry I haven't had chance to comment this week, but glancing at the thumbnails I can see lots of great entries. I haven't missed a week of LIM so far, and didn't want this to be the first one. Now what will tomorrow's be .........?

Not my forte!

Well, it had to happen, I suppose! The lovely ladies at Less is More have chosen the theme of "Masculine" for Week 7. Definitely not my favourite topic! Still, it's all part of the challenge, so here goes.

I really struggle with cards for men, probably because most of the men I know don't seem to go for typical male pursuits. So it's no good making them cards with footballs on, or beer glasses, or darts. Or even cars (unless camper vans count!) Anyway, I kept this one very simple - just a torn portion of an ancient text (Make Your Mark) and a column piece (Non Sequitur), with a sentiment by Anna Griffin. I'm not sure that any gentleman of my acquaintance will be likely to receive it! But there it is.

I really am enjoying these Less is More challenges. They certainly make me think. But after several weeks now of minimalism, I'm starting to get a bit of snow-blindness with all the white space! I'm getting the urge to go a bit wild with papers and embellishments, dies and decorations, ribbons and roses, borders and bling, and to fling as much on to a card as I possibly can! So watch this space! (Just until next week's LIM challenge, of course!)

Starting them young, and Allsorts Challenge week 40

Well, I had a great week up north, albeit exhausting! Needless to say, I didn't get any cards made, though we did have time for a bit of crafting. My four year old grandson had two birthday parties to attend while I was there (his social life is far more hectic than mine!) and he wanted to make cards for his friends. He decided to do some stamping, and here's what he made.

It was all his own design. He chose the inks and stamps (Clarity Stamp, Stampscapes, and Non Sequitur) and just got on with it. All I did was cut it out and mat it for him. I thought it wasn't bad for a 4 year old. He then decided he liked it too much to give it away! So he made a couple of other cards for his friends. 

I'm still trying to catch up after my week away, so apologies if I haven't managed to get round to everyone's blogs. I feel as though I've been out of circulation for ages. However, I did get a card made for this week's Allsorts challenge, whch is to incorporate a tag, ticket or label in the design.

I went for a vintage look. The background paper is old stash (Anna Griffin I think), overstamped with a Crafty Individuals text. I also used a Martha Stewart punch and Prima flowers. The flower centres are made with micro beads (very old stash!). The photo is of my maternal grandma. I was looking for something in my sewing box the other day and came across my thread cutter, the sort you are allowed to take on aeroplanes. I'd forgotten I had it. It's a circular blade set in a case which exposes parts of the blade, similar to this by Tim Holtz. I don't do so much sewing these days, and even less flying, so I thought my thread cutter would come in handy for distressing paper, and as you can see, it worked really well. And it's much prettier than Tim's!

Got it!

Anyone who read my earlier post will know that I have long desired a Martha Stewart punch. Specifically the "Doily Lace" punch. Well, browsing on eBay the other day, I came across that very one, from a UK seller, and at a price that was not unreasonable. Before I could stop myself my finger hit the "buy it now" button and it was mine!

It arrived on Friday. I did, of course, try it out straightaway (my desk is now covered with lacy strips of paper!) but having had visitors to stay for the weekend, I haven't had a chance to make anything with them until now.

Anyway, here it is in action! The rose is from Elusive Images, the sentiment by Anna Griffin, and the patterned paper is from a new 6" x 6" pack by My Mind's Eye.

Time to Play

At last I've had chance to spend some more time playing with my Nestabilities, and here are some of the results. The geometric shapes are great for framing, and I particularly like the effect of the plain circle with the scalloped circle border. I've used these on the first card to frame some Elusive Images flowers from Graphicus. I stamped three different sizes and layered them with sticky pads, curling the edges of the petals slightly on the top two layers. The background is made with a Cuttlebug embossing folder, and the sentiment and butterfly stamps are also from Graphicus.



The next card is a quick and easy one. The Hydrangea stamp, by Anna Griffin, is mounted simply over sheer ribbon. The background is a printed paper and a stamped sentiment adds the finishing touch.



The final card of this set is quite unlike anything I've done before. Big and bold is not my usual style at all! However, it's growing on me. The background is sponged and then stamped with my favourite Crafty Individuals flourish, and the printed paper and butterfly and dragonfly stamps are also from Crafty Individuals. I was lucky to get the Spellbinders Celtic-style "Kelly" alphabet set at a much reduced price from Once Upon a Stamp. I think it complements the flowers beautifully.



I'll be demonstrating these examples at my next class.