Less is More - One Layer Card (Spring Flowers)

The challenge this week on the Less is More blog is this...

The week the subject of your 

One Layer Card

should be 

Spring Flowers

Now 'One Layer Cards' are not my favorite card to create, but I do have a number of 'Spring Flowers' that I can use.  So after a bit of though here is what I came up with.

I used one of the flower stamps from the Backyard Basics Stamp Set (not the Tulip the other one - I don't know what type of flower it is though).  It was stamped in Stazon and coloured using Daffodil Delight, So Saffron, Old Olive & Pear Pizzas markers.

The sentiment is from the Express Yourself Hostess Stamp Set, stamped in Old Olive - the stamp in the set says 'always thinking of you', but using my Stamp-a-ma-jig I only inked and used the 'thinking of you'.

LIM - Shades of Grey

It has been a while since I took part in a Less Is More challenge, but here goes...

On to this months colour challenge. This week we want to see...

Now you don't need to use fifty shades but we would like to see a minimum of two shades on your creations this week. Don't forget that all important white (or grey space).

For this card I used a Woodware image of an owl, coloured with 3 shades of grey ProMarkers (Warm Grey 1, 2 & 3).  The mat was cut from white card stock and shaded with 'Pumice Stone' Distress Ink.

As this little guy looks a bit sad & under the weather I want to find a 'Get Well Soon' sentiment to add.

LiM - Dogs

This week for Less is More the topic is...

This week is theme week at Less Is More and we hope you enjoy the choice.  We know you will come up with some fabulous creations.  We want to see cards with

 

Cats and/or Dogs 

 

We want to see cards with your favourite pet or both. We know you will all use your imagination.  Here are our cards for this week.

 

I ended up creating 2 cards, 1 with a Cat and the other with a Dog.  So here is the 2nd post featuring the Dog...

 

Using a Little Claire Design topper and red/white bakers twine.  The Hello sentiment is from Lily of the Valley stamp set.

 

LiM - Cats

This week for Less is More the topic is...

This week is theme week at Less Is More and we hope you enjoy the choice.  We know you will come up with some fabulous creations.  We want to see cards with

 

Cats and/or Dogs 

 

We want to see cards with your favourite pet or both. We know you will all use your imagination.  Here are our cards for this week.

 

I ended up creating 2 cards, 1 with a Cat and the other with a Dog.  So here is the Cat first...

 

The image was from a paper stack free with a magazine, coloured with my ProMarkers.

 

Less is More - Sketch

I has been a long while since I entered a card into the Less is More challenge, and today I have 2!!

As soon as I looked at the sketch for this weeks challenge I knew that I wanted to do something, but did not really know what.

This week we have a sketch for you drawn by Jen.
It's simplicity itself, so to add a little constraint, we ask that the card stays in this orientation.  Remember we still want to see plenty of white space.

So with a couple of hours to spare I sat down at my craft table and set to work...

Created with a scrap of patterned paper left on the desk, the Stampin Up Butterfly Punch (with stamp from the Papillon Potpourri set) & sentiment from the Itty Bitty Banners set (cut with the Bitty Banners framelits)

Also created with a scrap of patterned paper left on the desk, the Stampin Up Butterfly Punch (with stamp from the Papillon Potpourri set) the ribbon was a small piece from my Ribbon bag.

I have decided that I LOVE this butterfly stamp set & punch!!!! In total I end up making 8 cards in one go, I will add these to my blog tomorrow.

LiM - Drinks

For the first time in ages I have made time to take part in the Less Is More card Challenge.  The topic for the next 2 weeks is:

"This challenge will last for two weeks over the festivities and we have decided to start our Christmas celebrations with a whizz and have chosen

DRINKS 

as our recipe.

You can choose tea, coffee, water, sodas, alcohol of course if you wish, in fact any drink at all..."

 

I was not really sure what to do, but happened to find an image that I had printed from the Joanna Sheen CD 'If Flowers Could Talk'  This image features a cup of tea.

 

 

I matted the image on a piece of patterned paper and used a purple ProMarker to create the boarder.  I then decided that I want to use the 'Just a note to say...' sentiment, but I did not want to use Black ink, I wanted it to match the colour scheme (purple). 

 

So... I decided to try and use my ProMarker to colour the stamp.  Well I can say that it worked (but I don't think I would want to try it with a larger stamp), using the thick end of the pen I was able to colour the stamp in one swipe and it stamped OK.  The only down side is that my stamp now has a pink tinge to it. 

 

Does anyone know if ProMarkers can be used with stamps????

 

 

Less is More - Take 3 Challenges

I have not really made any cards since getting back from our African Adventure 3 weeks ago, but I decided that I just had to have a go at this weeks Less is More Challenge...

Week 86 Recipe

For our recipe this week,we'd like to revisit a challenge which has been very popular each time we have used it and it's simply to

Take 3 Challenges

If you look back at the list of our past challenges on the page at the top of our blog, you can choose any three to combine in your project... if you fancy the theme of a One Layer Week... you don't necessarily have to make a one layer card for this particular challenge.

 

 

So once I had printed our the list of previous challenges I set to work... 

I wanted to make a Get Well card for DH as he was admitted back into Hospital on Friday evening.  This time with infection in both kidneys and the stent in the right kidney had blocked.  After a general anaesthetic he was back on the ward with a new stent fitted.  We don't know at the moment how long he will have to stay in this time, but hopefully it will be a short stay.

Not surprisingly DH needed a bit of cheering up - hence the Get Well card :)

The picture used for this card was one taken by DH while in South Africa, this was the first Cheetah we had ever seen and she looked amazing!!!!

The 3 challenges I have used for this weeks 'Take 3 Challenges' are:

• Week 80 - Fur or feathers
• Week 81 - Tearing
• Week 85 - Oval

 I have also made another 3 cards using the same image, they will be added to my Blog in the next couple of days (hospital visits permitting).

Happy Crafting.

Less is More - Sewing

This week the Less is More Challenge is...

Theme week once more and this time it's

SEWING

For this it could be machine or hand sewing.. faux or stamped... you could even use sewing related images... just let your imagination roam!

 

Although I have a sewing machine I have never used it when making cards or scrapbook pages.  I use it so infrequently & it is just too much effort to get it out of the cupboard, so I decided to use faux stitching.

 

 

This card uses an image from a decoupage paper pad from DoCrafts along with a peel off sentiment coloured black.

Less is More - One Layer (With 3 Things)

I have not taken part in the Less is More challenge blog for a couple of weeks, life was just getting in the way.  However this week I am back.

This is the Challenge for this week:

Everyone's favourite... the 
One Layer Challenge 

and this week it's really simple

Three of anything that is, three colours, three images, three stamps, three words, the number three.... it's up to you, but don't forget the white space, a simple design and just one layer!

Now One Layer Cards are not my favourite type of card, but I have created a card to enter this week.

I stamped & masked the 3 cakes before using a Circle Mask created the other day.  I added Scattered Straw Distress Ink (applied with a brush) to the circle.  The Cakes were coloured with my ProMarkers & I added a bit of glitter using a glitter pen to the toppings.

The card was then finished with a sentiment.

I think you will agree that it is a very clean & simple card :)

Less is More - Paper Piecing

On the Less is More challeng blog the task in hand this week is to use Designer Paper...

Our recipe this week will give you the opportunity to dig out some of those scraps of Designer paper that have been lurking around in your craft space, as our challenge is

'Paper Piecing'

So I found my 'Daydream' Stamps from Lili of the Valley and set to work...

What was left of the images after I had cut out the little girls trousers & top.

I coloured the rest of the image in using my ProMarkers & cut her out using a circle die.  After a bit of debate I decided to use the sentiment that comes with the stamp.

On 23 June I celebrated my 1st Blogaversary, if you would like chance to win some Candy please go to my Blogaversary post HERE.

3 Stamps...

Over on the Less is More Blog the challenge this week is...

Here we are again with your favourite of all our challenges... the wonderful 

ONE LAYER CARD

This time we have the stipulation to

USE THREE STAMPS

not four, not two... but 3!

 

Now I am getting better but I always find that One Layer cards are hard work.  Something always goes wrong & I have to start again.

 

This week was no exception.  I decided on my 3 stamps (that was the easy part) and started work...  I have used the Little Claire Designs stamps for both the owl & the branch, I stamped them first & coloured them using my ProMarkers.  The last thing to add was the sentiment - & I was not happy!!!!

 

It looked a bit to heavy (or blurred) and I did not like it - being a One Layer card I could not just stamp the sentiment again and stick it on top, so I started again!

 



Attempt 1

For attempt number 2 I used the same stamps but this time did not colour any of the image until I had stamped the sentiment.  This time I decided to use shades of Brown for the owl.

Attempt 2

Looking at both cards side by side I think that I may have been able to get away with the first attempt - It is just be being too picky.

 

What do you think???

Less is More - Yellow

On Saturday I visited the Less Is More blog to find out what the challenge for this week is...

This week we are back to a colour challenge and the chosen colour this time is 

Y E L L O W

Other colours may be in evidence as long as the main focus colour is yellow.

 

Ok, Yellow... this is one that I can do (without too much trouble - LOL)!!  But I did not have a set idea of what I want to create at that point, so I decided to wait until inspiration struck.  

 

On Saturday afternoon I was printing some flowers from the 'From the heart of the Garden' CD and one sheet included 3 small images (predominately yellow in colour), I decided that these would be the centre point of my card.

 

 

I matted the images on white card and added a strip of Ribbon between them, finally I coloured a Peel-Off black and placed it above the images.

 

Less is More Sketch - Card 2

On the 'Less is More' challenge blog the main thing is to keep things simple, and sometimes this can be the hardest thing going.  However this week was not one of those times, this is the 2nd of 2 cards that just flew together.

The challenge this week is...

For this week's sketch we'd like you to keep to the proportions of this drawing so that there is considerable white space remaining in the finished card.

You may choose either of these
SKETCHES.

  

For this card I have 2 sized circles and topped them off with a Prima flower with a Card Candi centre...

This card defiantly falls into the CAS (Clean & Simple) category & although it did take several attempts to get a combination of papers that I liked, I do like the finished card.

Less is More Sketch - Card 1

On the 'Less is More' challenge blog the main thing is to keep things simple, and sometimes this can be the hardest thing going.  However this week was not one of those times, this is the 1st of 2 cards that just flew together.

The challenge this week is...

For this week's sketch we'd like you to keep to the proportions of this drawing so that there is considerable white space remaining in the finished card.

You may choose either of these
SKETCHES.

  

For this card I have used both a square & a circle...

I cut out a square and then die cut a circle in the centre, after creating two owls using my Stamping Up punch I mounted them behind the square.

It did take a bit of planning to get the right size circle and to position the two owls, but every time I look at it I just have to smile :)

Charming

Over on the Less Is More challenge this week the challenge is...

How Charming!

Make and/or use a charm on your project

 

Now this got me thinking and searching through my stash, I know that I had a couple of Charms some where!!!  Well, I did eventually find them (in a box with brads & eyelets - just don't ask why as I don't know!).

 

Charms are not something I would usually use or buy, so I have a very limited selection - Bicycle, Feathers or a playing card (I did say my choice was limited LOL).

 

My first though was to use the playing card, along with a playing card to create a card!!

 

 

I suspended the charm on red ribbon and decided to create a 'You Are Ace' sentiment for this card (especially as the charm features an Ace).

I then got a bit carried away and decided to create a second card, only once I had created it I realised that I could not enter it for this challenge as it was not 'Less is More' but I decided to add it to this post...

This card was made using an image from Design House, 3 feather charms, bakers twine & a scrap of patterned paper.

Less is More - One Layer

This week the Less is More challenge is...

So the second week of the month and ONE LAYER, a genre lots of you seem to produce even when you don't have to! We are most impresssed!
We have chosen something a bit different for us and it's...

Doodling

This can be in any form you wish, faux stitching, hand written or drawn elements on your card, zentangle. As long as you create something with 'ink' by hand

Normally the One Layer cards are a nightmare for me, and I don't really 'do' doodling (if you know what I mean!).

But I was up for a challenge as I also needed to create a birthday card for one of my nephews... I always find male cards hard & this one had be stumped (the nephew in question would be 20 today).

In the end I put all thoughts of this card to one side and started to think about a One Layer with Doodling...

I kept the card simple and used use a stamp from my one & only 'Stampin' Up' set.  I added some 'doodles' to the cup cake case and faux stitching around the edge of the card.

Once the card was finished and I stood back to have a good look at it, I decided that I would use it to send to my nephew.  So I ended up with one card for the price of two :)

Three Shades of Green

This week the Less is More challenge is:

This week we have another Colour challenge for you and to give it a slightly different twist we would like to see 

Three Shades of Green.

For this you could use one ink but use it in different ways to create different shades, for example direct stamping, then secondary stamping, dusting, stencilling, maybe inking directly from the inkpad. This would create different shades of the same colour or you could simply use three different greens.

I had a couple of ideas for a card & finally settled on this one...

I used a stamp for the tree image (stamped in Brown) and coloured the leaves with 3 different greens, using my ProMarkers.  The stamped image was then cut & embossed using a 'Label' die (but I can't remember which one) and the edges coloured with Antique Linen distress ink.  I also used my Memory Box Leaf die to cut out leaves in 3 shades of green and added them to the bottom of the card.

With the leaves I did want to create the effect that they had fallen from the tree and were lying in a pile along the bottom of the card - however I could not get the 'random' effect to look natural.  I in the end I decided to just line them up to create a border decreasing in size.

Less is More - Picture Inspiration

The Less is More challenge this week is a Picture Inspiration...

I have never attempted a challenge based on a picture or colour scheme before so this one was totally new to me.  It took quite a bit of thinking to come up with an idea... there just seemed to be so many different options (using the flowers or using the colour scheme - then did I have to use all of the colours?).

Well I did have a go, as I was already out of my comfort zone on this challenge I decided to just go for it, I'm still not sure about the result, but I did have a go...

I used my new Card Candi stamp set to create the flower head and coloured white Card Candi using my ProMarkers, then I added some leaves & stems again with ProMarkers.  The sentiment is a black peel-off from Little Claire Designs.

Less is More - Neutrals

Over at the Less is More Challenge the challenge for this week is:

"we've got a colour challenge which this week is

NEUTRALS
This could be anything from off white to black with any shade of beige, brown or grey in between."

While I was having a tidy of my craft desk this afternoon I found 2 owls that I had created using my Stampin' Up Owl Punch a selection of brown/beige papers.  So I decided that these 2 little critters would feature on the card...

I did not think that they need much more to be added to the card, so I created a wide boarder for them to sit on and the owls were mounted on foam pads just to give a bit of dimension (sorry about the shadows in the photo - this was the best of many attempts!!!).


If you feel like winning a copy of My Memories Suite Software click HERE to enter my blog candy (closing on Sunday 18 March 2012).

Little Boy with his Balloon

I created this card to meet of 2 challenges.

Don't Scrap It - Less is More
It's a Man Thing - Sweet Stampin' Challenge

I have used a part sheet of blue Cardstock and found a odd cut of white to stamp this image on to (I think the image was free with a magazine at some point in time). The image was then coloured using my ProMarkers & cut out using an oval die.

The Brown card stock is also a left over piece.  As for the 'Baker's Twine, it was also an off cut.