Sunflowers

Here's a card made for the Less is More challenge week 78 where we have to follow a sketch which involves a horizontal band in the upper section plus a sentiment.
 

To create the panel I've clear embossed a Sunflower stamp (Oak House Studio), blended over this with Salty Ocean Distress Ink and then misted lightly with some Faded Jeans Distress Re-Inker.  The border is a Bazzill On the Edge strip which I only had in a strange corally colour so I painted over this with some Paperartsy Fresco Finish Paint in Sky and then used Sailboat Blue and Silver Alcohol inks to compliment the panel.  The sentiment is stamped in Manganese Blue Archival.

Hope you like!  Now back to the Olympics and watching lots of weird and wonderful sports.

Time Travel

It's too hot for any more ironing so thought I'd make a quick tag for Hels Sunday Stamper challenge week 215 where the theme is to use WORDS ie. a phrase or quote involving more than one word.

I've used stamps from Paperartsy Hot Pick 1208 - the bus in Vermillion Archival, the taxi in Jet Black and the street names in Coffee.  The tag is just edged with Vintage Photo Distress Ink as are the vehicles.  The quote is part of a stamp from Tim Holtz and is fastened with some distress inked seam binding.  

It's a colour scheme Hels and others have used (red, brown and fawn) that I always think looks good so this time I thought I'd give it a try.  It looks a bit like chaos on London's roads so maybe I should have used that title but  hope you like!!  

Sewing!

Here's a quick card made for the Less is More challenge week 77 where the theme is SEWING.

Thought I'd try some actual stitching for this one so I've used a Bazzill In Stitch'z template to poke the holes and then backstitched the flower in brown cotton.  It's matted on brown card, a ribbon added and then the sentiment stamped in Viridian Archival.

Despite having a reasonable day here, the light this evening is not good so I apologise for the photo - it's a lot brighter in real life and straighter!!  Anyway, thanks for looking!

Wet Feet

I came across a new Twinchies Challenge blog so thought I'd have a play.   This is week 2 and the theme is SUMMER.
  

These are my first ever Twinchies  - I had a few ideas until I cut some card to 2" square  and then realised quite how small they are!!   Anyway the lefthand one represents the summer we are having (walking in the rain) - I used Stormy Sky Distress Ink and Tim Holtz's Brolly Man stamp.   The righthand one is the summer I'd like (paddling in the sea) - this is Salty Ocean Distress Ink and Crafty Individuals Bathing Beauty.

It's quite a challenge creating something so small and I can see it being addictive!!  Thanks for looking. 

Bits and Pieces

Here's a tag for Hels Sunday Stamper week 214 where the challenge is to use BITS and PIECES or EMBELLIES to be more precise!!

Well again I wasn't sure what to do and with Dave Clark Five in my head,  I went with a Bits and Pieces background then added Bits and Bobs.   I rummaged through my card bit box and took out anything that was purpley, stuck them to some watercolour paper and then painted over this with Paperartsy Fresco Finish in Orchid mixed with some Snowcap Dabber. 

I cut it into a tag shape and used some Square Palette stamps (from Oak House Studio) with Dusty Concord Distress Ink and Snowcap Dabber to add to the geometry!   I've also used a little Milled Lavendar Distress Stickles.

Next a rummage in another bit box for embellies - some fibres, flowers, a button, some bead string, mirror mosaic tiles and some bobbles off christmas crackers!  It's just finished with a Hero Arts sentiment stamped with Dusty Concord onto a painted scrap of card. 

It was a difficult one to photo as it's gone dark and raining again and I was having trouble with the flash on the shiny bits.  For some reason the white looks a bit green too.  Never mind, it does look better in real life - thank you for taking the time to look!!

Three Kisses

Here's a quick card for the Less is More one layer challenge week 76 where the theme is to use THREE of something, be it shapes, colours, stamps etc.

  

I thought I'd try some Kiss Stamping this week so I've used a Square Palette stamp inked with blue pigment ink and kissed this with a Mack Rose stamp inked in green.  The beauty is you never know what you are going to get in terms of depth of colour etc.  It's just finished with a Hero Arts sentiment.

I found this challenge quite hard as I had too many ideas and couldn't decide which to do, and then I had several failed attempts.  I'm not sure I like the finished card - I was oh so tempted to add more in that white space!! Maybe I'll have another go later in the week, but in the meantime, thanks for looking!

Summer Holiday

Here's my tag for Hels Sunday Stamper challenge  week 213 where the theme is to use the word Dream.

I started off with The Monkees's Day Dream Believer in my head but couldn't think what to do for that, so I moved on to what I'd dream about..... like a nice summer's day with the sun full out and going on a summer holiday..... ... which led to a red bus and another song altogether!!

The sun's rays are a Tim Holtz stamp clear embossed over Sunflower Yellow Brilliance, and for the rest of the background I used Salty Ocean Distress Ink for the sky and a mix of Mown Grass and Pine Needles for the land.

The bus is a Paperartsy stamp (Hot Pick 1208) inked with Vermillion Archival and blended with a bit of Vintage Photo.  It's just finished with a sentiment.  Our hosepipe ban was lifted this morning, so maybe we Dare Dream of Summer!!

Anyway thanks for looking and thanks for all your lovely comments!!

Golden Owl

Here's a quick card made for Less is More week 75 where the challenge is to use the colour GOLD.

My first thought on seeing gold was to do a wedding style card but in the end I decided to do something a little different.  An owl in a tree!!   The Owl stamp is from Elusive Images/Chocolate Baroque and Spread your Wings is from Oak House Studio - both are embossed with Mirror Gold. 

I don't have a bark embossing folder, so I just drew on the back of some card with an embossing tool and then highlighted the ridges with Vintage Photo Distress Ink.

Hope you like and thank you for looking and any comments you leave.  They are all gratefully received!!



London Calling

Here's my version of Tim Holtz's 12 Tags of 2012 for July.   It's a great tag and I've copied the general design and colour scheme with blown alcohol inks etc,  but I'm from the UK so the subject had to change!!

I've gone typically British by using the Big Ben and Road Sign stamps from Paperartsy (Hot Pick 1208) stamped with Jet Black Archival.  The words are a PSX Celtic Alphabet - I've chosen London Calling (by The Clash) as those of you who watch UK TV will know, it's being used as the trailer soundtrack for the Olympic Games which start shortly.  London is calling all olympians to compete etc etc

 Just for a bit of variety I've stamped the Union Jack from Oak House Studios on the base tag to add to the colour scheme and finished with seam binding coloured with Barn Door and Faded Jeans Distress inks.

Hope you like my take on Tim's tag and thanks for looking. 

Statue Hues

This is my tag for Hels Sunday Stamper challenge week 212 where the theme is to use SILVER.

It's strange how the mind works isn't it.  One look at Hels tag with the silver metal and yellows reminded me of a Design Seeds set of colours called Statue Hues - stone greys, moss green and yellow lichens etc.  That led to the Angels out of Dr Who - that scary episode where you were not allowed to blink, to keep your eye on the Angels otherwise you were a gonner, hence don't look back!!   Definitely a weird week.......but here it is!!

The background is Iced Spruce and Weathered Wood Distress Inks mixed with Picket Fence Distress Stain to get a stoney feel.  I've overstamped this with Tim Holtz Bitty Grunge set in Dark Moss and Bisque Clay chalk inks, plus a bit of Silver Brilliance and then edged it with Silver Dabber.

The photo of the angel was taken in the grounds of Osborne House on the Isle of Wight, the words were printed on the computer and the ribbon was coloured with stains and inks.

It's not my usual colour scheme but I hope you like.   Thanks so much for looking!

Less is More

This week's Less is More challenge is to take Inspiration from the Less is More Header so here is my card.

I've copied the colour scheme and the general design with music, flourishes and a main word stamp.  I haven't a decent music stamp so I used a peel off as a mask and sponged over this with Vintage Photo Distress Ink. The flourish is from The Artistic Stamper and the Enjoy stamp is from Oak House Studio both stamped in Jet Black Archival. I've just matted the words onto card coloured with Vintage Photo to make it stand out.

Rain stopped gardening this afternoon so thought I'd do some crafting instead.  Hope you like the card!!