The Sea

Happy New Year! Happy New Decade! Happy new challenge at Less Is More!! 

 

(We're ringing out the old and ringing in the new - 

2019 Pantone colour was Living Coral, 2020 Pantone colour is True Blue)

Our January sponsor is Skull And Cross Buns

Our Guest Designer for this challenge is our Cotober 2019 winner: 

Conil of Which Craft.

For my card, I used the Ocean Scene Builder stencil from Honey Bee Stamps to create a row of coral in the challenge colors. I added a sentiment banner with a sentiment from a Crafty Secrets stamp set that I have had forever. I popped it up and placed it across the row of coral. Very simple!

Please head over to the Less Is More Blog and see what the Design Team has created for your inspiration. I hope you'll play along with us to share your creations and for a chance to win. Remember to keep your design Clean And Simple.

To be eligible for showCASe and PRIZE WINNER choices you will need to carefully follow the guidance on our GLOSSARY OF TERMS and our HOW TO PLAY pages. Your design should feature lots of clean / white / blank / non patterned / non textured space. All challenge details are on the Less Is More blog. Good Luck!

I'm also playing at:

AAA Cards - Along The Edge

Watercooler Wednesday #252 - Anything Goes

Turn Your Face To The Sun

Time Out #88 "Inspired By Words" Challenge has begun:

'If you have good thoughts they will shine out of your face like sunbeams and you will always look lovely' From The Twits by Road Dahl.

These words immediately brought a few things in my craft stash to mind. I combined them using Distress Inks and VersaFine Onyx Black ink to create my card.

Woman INKognito fromVisible Image.

Sentiment from STAMPlorations TYPOGRAFIA

RAYS Layering Stencil from Tim Holtz

Toni Maddox of Frankie Helps Stamp is our Guest Designer for this challenge. Toni's blog is full of wonderful creativity and inspiration. You are sure to be inspired when you visit her blog, and you are sure to smile and chuckle a bit as well. Toni has as a good a sense of humor as she is a talented crafter!

This challenge runs until Wednesday, July 19th at 5:00 PM (BST)/Noon (EST). Please head over to the Time Out Challenge Blog and see what the Design Team has created for your inspiration. Think about the quote and see how it inspires you to create something of your own to link up nad play with us at Time out!

Magical Christmas

A new month of challenges has started at Happy Little Stampers, and today is day one of the July Christmas Challenge with the theme of Anything Goes with an Optional Twist of Die Cuts.

I broke out the October 2016 Hero Arts Monthly Card Kit that has been waiting patiently for some love since I got it. It's full of stamps and dies to create wonderful Christmas scenes. I went for the snow globe and made a shaker card. I used a sentiment from Happy Little Stampers Christmas Joy set to complete my magical Christmas scene.

Please head over to the Happy Little Stampers July Christmas Challenge to see what wonderful inspiration the Design Team has for you. Get your Fa La La La La on, create a Christmas project of your own, and share it in the HLS July Christmas Gallery for a chance to win a $20.00 gift voucher to the Happy Little Stampers Store! You can check out the challenge details for the Christmas Challenge, and all of the other Happy Little Stampers Challenges HERE.

I am also playing at:

Die Cut Divas - Christmas in July

Stamp Ink Paper - Christmas In July

Merry Monday - Christmas In July

Christmas Card Challenges #16

So Kind

Time for a new challenge at Time Out Challenge #82 is a Theme Challenge - Flowers with an optional twist of "Kissing" - using two stamps for stamping one image. Tutorial HERE.

The challenge is sponsored by Happy Little Stampers with a $15.00 random winner for those who twist.

This is my take:

I used the kissing technique on the flowers and stems on my card. The background is blended with distress inks with water sprayed and water droplets dropped on the background.

Please go over to the Time Out Blog and check out the inspiration created for you by the Design Team. Create a flower-themed card with or without the twist of the kissing technique, and play along with us by linking up to the gallery. 

I am playing at:

CASology - Season

Simon Says Stamps Work it Wednesday-April Showers bring May Flowers

Happy Little Stamper Anything Goes With Dies

Supplies used:Stamps - SSS Artful Flowers, Impression Obsession Textural Dots, Concord & 9th Kindhearted.
Inks - PTI Hibiscus Burst, Summer Sunrise,Simply Chartreuse, Blueberry Sky, Winter Wysteria. various Ranger Distress Inks.

Paper -  Strathmore Bristol, Neeneh Solar White.

Accessories - SSS Artful Flowers Dies, Nuvo Crystal Drops - Black, 3M Foam Tape.

Dream Then Do

CFC170 - No Dies Allowed

It's funny that as I was going through the process of creating this card, I kept thinking of elements to include that required dies, but there are no dies allowed with this challenge! LOL. I used images from 2 CASual Fridays sets to create this card. It's a bit different than my usual style of late. I wanted to give it a dreamy feel so I muted the stamped leafy images with distress inks and water, added some Glimmer mist, and finished it off with a crisp sentiment and some sequins.

Supplies:

Stamps - CASual Fridays Casual Eegance and Woot Woor

Paper - Water color paper, SU Cameo Coral

Ink - Ranger Distress Inks, VersaFine Onyx Black

Accessories - MISTI, Sequins, Glimmer Mist

Courage

The current challenge at City Crafter Challenge Blog is to use a window or aperture on your project. When I looked at the gorgeous inspiration photo for the challenge (below), an idea immediately came to mind.

My interpretation is quite literal. Once I had the window and the scene through it finished, I searched through my stash for a fitting sentiment. I found that to be the hardest part with this project. I felt like the woman in the photo is doing some big pondering. When I ran across this one (PTI A Little Inspiration) in my stash, it seemed to be very fitting.

I am also playing at:          

 SSS Wednesday Challenge - Use More Than One Die Or Punch 

Happy Little Stampers - Anything Goes With Dies

Supplies

Stamps - PTI A Little Inspiration

Paper - Tim Holtz Woodgrain Cardstock, SU Soft Sky, SU Early Espresso, PTI Kraft, Neenah Solar White

Ink - VersaFine Onyx Black, Ranger Distress Inks: Wild Honey, Brushed Corduroy, Black Soot, Fossilized Amber

Accessoriies - MISTI, Memory Box Grove Branch Die, Memory Box Small Madison Window Die, Spellbinders Nestabilities Rectangle Dies.

Thanks for stopping by!

Snowflake Christmas

It's time for the Happy Little Stampers August Christmas Challenge where the theme is snowflakes.

This challenge is sponsored by:

Here is my take:

I watercolored the top panel with various distress inks, and splattered it with water. I die cut the watercolored panel with Simon Says Stamp's Snowflake Block die. I die cut a piece of white glitter paper with the same die, and inlaid the watercolor pieces.  Using the Paper Smooches Merry Christmas die, I cut it from black card stock, inlaid it at the bottom and finished it off with some Hero Arts snowflake sequins. This photograph does not do the sparkles justice, but is really is quite sparkly.

Please go the HLS Christmas Challenge Blog and check out the awesome designs of the HLS DT, then make a Christmas project of your own featuring SNOWFLAKES! Have fun!

I am also linking my card to the following challenges:

Lori's Christmas In Summer Link Up at Merry Monday Christmas Card Challenge Blog.

Merry Monday Christmas Card Challenge Blog, has opened a link for the summer months so you can "catch up" on previous Merry Monday challenges you may have missed or want to do again and have fun! The link up is open NOW and will go until August 31 at noon! 

Time Out #63 - Theme with an optional twist.

'Holidays with the Optional Twist of No Stamping' 
(stamped sentiments allowed)

You can opt to use any holiday you want. Perhaps you are behind on your Christmas cards or you want to think of sunny times, skiing holidays. The list is endless. Up to you, just have some holiday fun!

Miss You

I really love the simplicity of CTS #178  When I saw it, this little lobster die popped into my head and out of my stash. I cut him from a scrap from a Distress Ink project and set him on a little bit of stenciling that put me in mind of a fishing net. Lobsters remind me of my dear, lifelong friend who lives far from me in northern Vermont.  Last time we visited, we celebrated with a wonderful dinner on Long Beach Island of lobster and scallops. This is a perfect card for her.

CTS #178

This card was also inspired by the following challenges:

It's been far too long since I played the wonderful Less Is More challenge. This week's recipe is USE A STENCIL.

Can You CASE It #126 - Dies

Thanks so much for  coming by today.

Supplies
Paper~Neenah Solar White.
Stamps~MFT Penguins In Paradise.
Ink~VersaFine Onyx Black, and Salty Ocean, Blueprint Sketch DI's.
Accessories~Memory Box Lobster Die, TH Burlap Layering Stencil.

Sweet 16

I have twin 16 year old boys. Sweet 16 party invitations are frequent these days. I need a go-to Sweet 16 card (and a Sweet 16 party fund to go along with it - LOL). I looked through a lot of stamp sets to find the word "sweet" and was surprised how hard it was to find.  I would like to have found a bigger one, but this one from MFT's Label Maker Love works just fine. Three shades of pink distress inks, a stencil, some dies, and some bling. Voila!!

I am linking my card to the following challenges:

Seize The Birthday - Anything Goes.

Paper Players #300 is a celebration of their 300th challenge! The theme is CAS celebration.

Thanks for stopping by. Have a wonderful day!

Let The Earth Rejoice

In creating this Easter card for my mother, I blended a rainbow of distress inks on a white panel, and topped it another white panel die cut with PTI's Harlequin Cover Plate. The sentiment, which is from a Verve set that I have had for years: Everlasting Life, is heat embossed on vellum.

I am linking to the following challenges:

Curtain Call : Rainbow

A Blog Named Hero March Challenge : Use rainbow colors.

Mod Squad Challenge : Springtime.

Hello Friend

I love the gorgeous images from Designs By Ryn, and I have used three of them for this card. To create it, I pressed distress inks on crumpled foil and laid on wet watercolor paper. You can see this technique in THIS by CraftyPaws:
Distress Ink Watercoloring Tutorial: Collaboration w/Justine Hovey.

I stamped the fish image in Versafine Onyx Black and embossed with SU Clear EP. I masked the fish and stamped the coral image with VersaMark ink and embossed it with Adirondack Lettuce EP. I then stamped the Sea Bubbles image with VersaFine Onyx Black and embossed it with SU clear EP. I partially die cut the bottom of the watercolored panel with one of the dies from PTI's Wet Paint set and stamped Friend from the coordinating stamp set beneath it. I layered four hello die cuts and inlaid them on the die cut panel, added a few sequins and voila!

I am linking this card to the following challenges:

Happy Little Stampers: Masking

Mod Squad : Heat Emboss your focal image.

And

Paper Players #258 : Beach Theme

Thank so much for coming by today. Thanks as always, for your kind comments as well.

Rosie Repeat

Happy Friday! I am home today even though it is gorgeous and I would rather be at the beach, but I did get some time to create and that makes me HAPPY.  The CASology Cue this week is REPEAT. In trying to come with something imaginative, I decided that my take would be about repeated processes in creating it. I repeatedly die cut this gorgeous rose from Winnie & Walter's In Bloom: Maggie's Roses Cutaways 5 times in different shades of pink. I repeatedly sponged this wonderful Tim Holtz Doily Layering Stencil four times with four different shades of pink distress ink. I repeated the process of making french knots with gray and white twine in the center of the flower three times. I have to say I am tickled with it!  

One funny aside is that I saw another challenge which may have worked for this card. It is the current As You See It Challenge which is "shades of pink". This card is perfect for that, right? Wrong. I didn't mention the part about it being a speed stamping challenge: 10 minutes. I would be a great big liar if I entered this card in that one! I might try again with a simpler idea.

Anyway, thank you so very much for stopping by. Your comments make my day!

Tag You're It! Thank You

When I saw the inspiration for Tag You're It Challenge #25 today, this wonderful Newsprint Tulip stamp from Hero Arts came to mind, and I knew just what to do. I changed the color scheme, but kept the elements of the script on the flower, the sponging, the thread nest and the sentiment on die cut. I used Cameo Coral and Always Artichoke ink for the flowers and stems, and Ranger Antique Linen to sponge around the edges.  The sentiment is from a very old SU stamp set called Short & Sweet, and it is embossed with Zing Aqua Embossing Powder. I am pleased with the result. The photographing made me very cranky. If anyone has some tips on photographing flat things, please let me know!

Thanks so much for stopping in today.  Your comments bring me much joy. Have a great day!