Simples Sunday

I have again linked my Simples Sunday card to this week's LIM challenge - a One Layer Thank You card.
This is really the simplest card to make using just two stamps - the image from Hopeful Thoughts and the sentiment from Sassy Salutations. I chose to ink my stamp using Pear Pizzazz and Rich Razzleberry markers but I promise you this stamp looks just as effective (and also very elegant) using a single colour. The sentiment is stamped in Rich Razzleberry and, as a finishing touch, I added some of the teeny Basic Pearls to the flower centres.

Have a great Sunday

Margaret x

Me & My Shadow!

Today's LIM challenge is Shadow Stamping and it also needs to be a one layer card. Here are two cards that I have made very quickly this morning using the same stamp set, Hopeful Thoughts.
I have used the re-stamping technique for both cards and by that I mean I stamped the image twice without re-inking which gives a lighter image on the second stamping.

The card on the left was stamped in Basic Black and the sentiment is also from Hopeful Thoughts.






This card on the right was stamped using Old Olive and a sentiment from Bring on the Cake. I also added a bit of Gorgeous Grunge to this one!

We've had some gorgeous weather here this week and, being on holiday, I have managed to turn my garden from a wilderness into something a bit more respectable over the last couple of days. Still a lot more to do but I'm getting there :0)

Have a great weekend whatever you're doing and I'll be back soon

Margaret x

Frame It! Take 2

I thought I would have another go at the Frame It! challenge over at Less is More (you can see my first entry here) and this time I have gone for the more traditional square frames. I started by punching three square apertures in River Rock cardstock with the Large Square punch and then cut a piece of Very Vanilla to fit behind. I stamped onto the Very Vanilla, using a stamp from Hopeful Thoughts, and then glued this in place. The flowers are made with the Itty Bitty Shapes Punch Pack in Elegant Eggplant and Wisteria Wonder, with Basic Rhinestones for their centres. The sentiment was stamped in Elegant Eggplant and cut with one of the dies in the Apothecary Accents Framelits set. The panel was then fixed to a DL River Rock card blank.
For those of you who saw my first post earlier I said the frames were cut with the Apothecary Accents when, in fact, they were cut with the Labels Collection! Sorry about that but I have corrected it now :0)

It's challenge day again!

 

Well it's Saturday morning and it's challenge day again - don't the weeks just fly by? I have 2 cards to show you this morning, both of which fit the Less is More challenge - Take 3 Challenges, and the second which was made for the sketch challenge over at Simply Stampin'. I'll start with this one though because I know that Chrissie & Mandi won't be too happy with the lack of white space on the second card :0)

As I wanted to make a get well card I used the owl punch to make a nurse and decided to use the Bashful Blue striped DSP and Pacific Point cardstock for her dress and 'cape' as this is the colour I always think of when picturing nurses! The wings were actually punched from the 2-step Bird Punch and the red cross from one of the punches in the Itty Bitty Punch Shapes pack. Her hat, which doesn't show up too well in the picture is the same shape that was used for the dress but turned upside down. I cut 2 circles with the Circles Die to mount the owl on and embossed the white one with the Square Lattice Embsossing folder, glued this to the card blank and added a sentiment from Curvy Verses in Pacific Point.

The challenges I used were Wk 9 - A Touch of Red, Wk 12 - Off Centre, Wk 22 - Shades of Blue and Wk 29 - Things that Move.

Now onto my second card (made predominantly for the Simply Stampin' Sketch)

For this card I used a piece of Whisper White card on which I had used the Mother of  Pearl technique with Perfect Plum ink (left over from a card I made last week!) The bottom edge of the cardstock was punched with the Scallop Edge Border punch, matted onto a piece of Perfect Plum cardstock and a bow of Perfect Plum Taffeta ribbon tied around before layering onto a white card blank. The branch from Hopeful Thoughts was stamped in Elegant Eggplant and some flowers were punched from a scrap piece of the Mother of Pearl cardstock, with an Itty Bitty Shapes punch, and positioned onto the branch with one of the tiniest Basic Pearls for the centres. The stamp is also from Hopeful Thoughts but, as I didn't want all of the sentiment, I used a Perfect Plum marker to ink the bit I wanted, stamped onto Whisper White and then punched out with the Modern Label punch. The label was inked around the edges with a sponge dauber before positioning onto the card.
The challenges I used for this card were Wk 49 - Predominantly Purple, Wk 55 Punches or Diecuts and Wk 56 - Don't Scrap It (the Mother of Pearl cardstock!).
A rather long post today so I'll just say have a great weekend and enjoy the sunshine x

Reject!

If you saw the post yesterday with my entry to the Simply Stampin' challenge you will know I ended up with a reject (well I began with it really!) and I promised to show you what I did with it. Well here it is, probably the simplest & quickest cards known to man which, as it's neutral, I am putting in as my second entry for the LIM challenge. It could equally have gone in last week's challenge for 'Scraps' had it been made then :0)
The card started out with the darker leaf spray going horizontally but it was too far down the card so that was the reason it was rejected in the first place. However once I had finished the card I had intended to make, and with the stamp and ink pad still on my desk, I thought I would experiment and attempt to turn a useless piece of card which was destined for the bin into something I could maybe use. As I have the Borderlines set in clear mount it was easy for me to see where I was going to place the branch and whether it looked right so I inked up the stamp with Early Espresso and stamped the image diagonally and, without re-inking, I stamped part of the branch twice more. The sentiment is from Hopeful Thoughts and the butterflies were cut from a piece of scrap Early Espresso DSP using the Beautiful Wings Embosslits die with Basic Pearls for the bodies. This card must have taken all of 5 minutes and I think I probably like this better than all the other cards I made yesterday - typical isn't it??

Two Challenges in One!

I'm rolling two challenges into one today as my internet connection is SO rubbish at the moment I thought I would very likely have problems posting!

The LIM challenge this week is 'Cut it Out' where the requirement is some kind of aperture and the Simply Stampin' challenge is a sketch using six squares and a sentiment.

I started by making a 'widow frame' in a piece of Chocolate Chip using my large square punch and then cut a piece of Whisper White cardstock the same size. I stamped the flower spray from Hopeful Thoughts in Old Olive and then added Wisteria Wonder flowers punched with one of the Itty Bitty Punch Shapes set. I added some tiny Basic Pearls to the centres and then stamped the sentiment from Petite Pairs in Old Olive. The Whisper White panel was then glued to a plain white card blank and the window frame positioned on top using dimensionals.
I will apologise now for the probable lack of commenting this week but I have lost the connection no less than 6 times while attempting to do this post - SO FRUSTRATING!!

Just One Word (for the 2nd time!)

This morning, instead of doing the sorting and tidying which I intended, I have been making a set of cards as a gift for a friend's birthday and I realised one of them fitted the Less is More challenge - Just One Word. It is using the same retired sentiment that I used for my first entry (see last post) but this time with a stamp from Hopeful Thoughts.
My friend has a similar taste as me, in that she loves black, white and neutral colours, so all the cards in the set are made in these shades. This particular one is stamped in Basic Black onto a plain white card blank with just the addition of a few Basic Rhinestones in the centre of the flowers and a tiny knot of Basic Black narrow taffeta ribbon. A very quick & easy card but, nevertheless, quite effective I think.

 

Welcome back and I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas. 

Today's card is one which I made very quickly yesterday whilst waiting for visitors. It is for my daughter-in-law's January birthday and, as the gift is money, I wanted to give it to my son rather than posting but as usual I left it until the last minute!

I used the flower spray from Hopeful Thoughts and coloured it with Old Olive and Cherry Cobbler markers, stamped onto Whisper White and added the sentiment from the Hostess set, Happiest Birthday Wishes. The Whisper White was matted onto a piece of Cherry Cobbler cardstock with a piece of Cherry Cobbler Seam Binding tied round and knotted and then placed onto a plain white card blank. Some of the tiny Basic Pearls were added to the centre of the flowers to finish the card. 

I made the matching money holder by simply cutting an envelope with the Scallop Envelope die, stamping the flap with the same flower spray and using Cherry Cobbler Seam Binding to keep it closed.

The card also shows how you can 'rescue' something if you make a mistake! After stamping the spray I added the sentiment but it was a bit wonky so, because I was making the card in a hurry, I decided to cut the Whisper White at an angle at the top and bottom rather than straight and I have to say I was really quite pleased with a bit of variation from the norm. The moral of the story is - don't panic if you make a mistake - think of a way to utilise it :0)

Until next time, enjoy the rest of the festivities and I'll be back soon x