Guest Designer for LIM!

I was really flattered when Chrissie, from Less is More, invited me to be a Guest Designer for this week's challenge, which is to create a card Using More than One Stamp Set. I have been entering cards for the challenges right from the start and have only missed a few weeks since Chrissie & Mandi started the challenge blog in February 2011. I have to say it has become a bit of an obsession with me at 8 o'clock on a Saturday morning, when I can often be found making cards when I really should be doing something else :0)
Anyway here are the three cards I have made - Using More than One Stamp Set

My first card uses the Field Flowers stamp set for the stems and the sentiment and the flowers are from Petite Petals, punched with the co-ordinating punch. I used Old Olive for the stems and Melon Mambo for the sentiment and flowers.
To add a bit of interest I added some paper piercing using a template from the Festive Paper Piercing Pack.

My second card uses the Gorgeous Grunge set and the cute little lion and sentiment from Zoo Babies.
The Gorgeous Grunge 'splatter' was stamped in Pumpkin Pie and Crumb Cake and the lion was inked using markers in the same colours. This was punched with a Circle Punch and matted onto a Scallop Circle then fixed to the card with dimensionals. The panel was matted onto Crumb Cake cardstock and then onto a plain white card blank.

My final card uses Gorgeous Grunge (again!) and the image and sentiment from the Hostess set, Simply Sketched. I started by stamping the Gorgeous Grunge 'splat' in Old Olive on a piece of Whisper White cardstock then the bird stamp was coloured using Old Olive and Chocolate Chip markers and stamped on top of the 'splat' before colouring the bird using a Blender Pen. This was matted onto a piece of Old Olive cardstock which had been stamped with Gorgeous Grunge and the sentiment, punched with the Oval Punch, was matted onto a Modern Label.

Thanks once again to Chrissie for the invite and I'll be back soon

Margaret x

Pleasant Poppies

The LIM challenge today is a card with flowers and I have two cards to show you, made from one background stamp, Pleasant Poppies.
I started by inking the large background stamp with Real Red and Pear Pizzazz markers, stamped onto white cardstock, then coloured the image in using a blender pen. (The whole stamped image is shown top right). I then cut of the panel of three poppies on the right of the image to make my second cut. For the card above I used the Circle Framelits to cut out the image and this was matted onto a larger circle of white cardstock. After fixing to the card blank I did a spot of paper piercing just on the left side of the circles. A sentiment from Simply Sketched and a butterfly from Papillon Potpourri were added.

For the second card I took the panel which had been cut from the large stamped image, matted it onto Real Red and added a sentiment from Four You. Two Basic Rhinestones were added to the banner and job done!!


Have a great weekend, enjoy the sunshine and I'll be back soon

Margaret x

Less is More Sketch

Today's LIM challenge is a sketch (see top right) and here is my offering. I started by cutting an aperture in a piece of cardstock using one of the Window Frames Collection framelits then, on another piece of card, I stamped the Hardwood stamp in Soft Suede. This was positioned behind the aperture before fixing to a card blank. The sentiment is from the Hostess set Simply Sketched, the Coastal Cabana butterflies from Papillon Potpourri and the tiny Pool Party flowers from the SAB set Banner Blast. A few Basic Pearls were added to finish the card.

I hope you all have a lovely weekend and dodge the showers as much as you can :0)

Back soon

Margaret x

Simples Sunday

 
For today's 'Simples Sunday' card I have again taken inspiration from the Less is More challenge which, this week, is a sketch - making this my third entry!! It may not look as simple as usual but it is very easy to make.
I started by cutting an aperture in a panel of Crumb Cake cardstock using one of the Circle Collection Framelits. The image behind the aperture is from Simply Sketched (a Hostess set), stamped on Very Vanilla and coloured with Crisp Cantaloupe and Pear Pizzazz. The sentiment is also from Simply Sketched, stamped in Early Espresso, cut in the shape of a tag with a Chalk Talk Framelit and a bow of Linen Thread added. The whole thing is matted onto a Crumb Cake card blank with a finishing touch of three Basic Pearls.

I hope you're having a good weekend and I'll see you soon.

Margaret x

Less is More Sketch - Take 2

Do you ever have an idea in your head for a card and, when you've actually made it, you think it would have been better to have stayed in your head? Well this is one of those cards :0) Nothing at all like the picture in my head and not a card I like a great deal but thought I would show you anyway!
It is of course for the Less is More Sketch challenge (top right) and my second post of the day.
I started by making a mask from a sheet of copy paper using a Circles Framelit, then sponged Soft Sky and Pear Pizzazz to give a circle of colour. The image is from the Hostess set, Simply Sketched, coloured with Chocolate Chip and Pear Pizzazz markers, and the little tufts are grass are from Dinoroar (now retired). I cut out the sentiment from the Timeless Type Junior Alphabet dies (also retired) in Pear Pizzazz.

Thanks for stopping by, back soon

Margaret x

Birthday Card & Gift Box

This is the card and gift box I made for my sister's birthday which was on Saturday. I used the Fabulous Florets stamp set with the leafy image for the card and one of the flowers for the gift box. The colour combo was Smoky Slate and black (Staz-on), embellished with Basic Black Chevron ribbon. The sentiment is from the Hostess set, Simply Sketched, and the vellum butterflies were punched with the Bitty Butterfly punch with Basic Rhinestones for their bodies. The gift box is one I made with the Pop'n'Cuts die, finished off with Chevron ribbon and a tag from Chalk Talk cut with the co-ordinating Framelit.

If you would like to order any products or, maybe, even become a Stampin'Up! demonstrator yourself, then please don't hesitate to contact me and I will be very happy to help.

Margaret x

Simples Sunday & Card Swap Birthday

Today, for my Simples Sunday post, I am showing you the birthday card I made for Alison, a member of the Card Swap Group. I know that Alison is a fan of purple so I used Elegant Eggplant for her card, along with Whisper White.
I coloured the image, from Love & Sympathy, with Elegant Eggplant and Old Olive markers and stamped onto a panel of Whisper White, added a small loop of (retired) ribbon before layering onto Elegant Eggplant which had been embossed with the Perfect Polka Dots folder. The sentiment is from the Hostess set, Simply Sketched, and punched out with the Extra Large Oval punch and layered onto another oval punched from Elegant Eggplant cardstock. A couple of Basic Pearls were added to finish the card.
Thanks for stopping by and pop back tomorrow to see the card and gift box I made for my sister's birthday yesterday.

Margaret x

Simply Sketched

A different style of card from me today but I was playing with a new Hostess set, Simply Sketched. I used one of the Squares Collection Framelits dies to cut an aperture in a piece of copy paper and used this as a mask to sponge Soft Sky and Pear Pizzazz onto a piece of Whisper White cardstock. Using my Old Olive and Early Espresso marker pens I inked up the bird image, stamped this onto the card and then, using a blender pen, I lightly coloured in the bird. The little tufts of grass are a stamp from Dinoroar. A frame was made from Naturals White cardstock using the same square framelit and the slightly larger one, and then glued onto the stamped panel. I stamped off the leafy branch and stamped a couple of times onto a Naturals White card blank before fixing the frame to the card. A sentiment, from the same set, was stamped in Pear Pizzazz and punched with the Large Oval punch.
I'll be back tomorrow with a little candle box which we made at my Craft Day last week.

Margaret x

Simples Sunday

For Simples Sunday this week I thought I would show you two very easy cards, made with the same stamp set but look completely different.
Come and take a look

Both cards are made with the Simply Sketched stamp set which you can buy with Hostess Pounds (more on that later). For the first card I stamped a single image in black stazon onto Naturals White cardstock and cut it out with an oval framelit from the Ovals Collection. After sponging around the edge I fixed this onto the next size oval and mounted it onto a Naturals White card blank using dimensionals. The sentiment (from the same set) was stamped onto card and cut out using a Chalk Talk Framelit and, as the framelit was a larger tag which I didn't want, I simply placed the plain end of the framelit back over the cardstock and cut again (hope that makes some sort of sense!). This was also fixed with dimensionals.
The second card uses the same image but, this time, stamped in Pear Pizzazz with the little buds coloured with Crisp Cantaloupe. The same procedure was used for the ovals but for this one I used coloured cardstock for the larger oval, added a Papillon Potpourri butterfly and the sentiment was stamped directly onto the card.
When I see others people's cards that I like I very often don't have the products that they've used but, most of the time, you can substitute to make something just as good. For example on these cards you could use any stamp set and, if you don't have ovals framelits, you could simply cut two rectangles and layer them. However, if you would like to earn some 'free' products then all you have to do is host a party with sales of £150 (excl p&p) and you could get this stamp set plus a minimum of £12 to spend elsewhere in the catalogue absolutely free. Interested? Then please give me a call for more details.

Margaret x