A few shapes cut out with my Cameo and covered with Diamond Dust (much more sparkly IRL) to put on the tree as decorations.

I'm going to enter these into the charismacardz challenge which has a theme of NO CARDS this week.

Sue.x

Oh, how I love my Cameo

You know how much I loved my Silhouette, but my new love -  my incredible new Cameo is even more fabulous. And to think I was dithering about whether or not to change my Silhouette and wait until it went kaput to get the new Cameo because I didn't think it would be that much better - how wrong was I.

Here's a couple of cards I made yesterday - very CAS:

This one I used the Print and Cut feature for the sleigh so now colouring required.  I just added a couple of liquid pearls for the holly berries and mounted onto linen card.  The fabulous sentiment is from Pink Petticoat which was printed directly onto the card and finally a punched snowflake.

The next card is a regular cut and I used DCWV textured card to cut the bauble out and added some crystals and some Do-craft ribbon.  Again, I used PP sentiment.

Sorry about the photo, it's a bit blurry - I just couldn't get a decent shot.

I'm off to play some more

Sue.x

Tis the Season

Hi all.  Hope you're enjoying your weekend. Can you believe it's only 3 weeks till Christmas Day?  I'm still trying to plough through my cards so I'm just posting this and then I'm going to turn off the computer and get on with it.

I haven't done many cutie cards recently, but I have this lovely little digistampboutique image which I won in the Charisma Card challenge that I just had to use.

Here's the recipe:

Digistamp Boutique image

Promarkers

Stable and Star - Print and Cut image done with my Cameo

Pale blue card for the circle

Stormy Sky Distress Ink for shading 

Kraft card

HOTP faux stitch stamp and sentiment

Enjoy the rest of your weekend, whatever you're doing.

Sue.x

More Tatty

Another Tatty card - the images are all so cute I'm struggling to choose between them.  I've got another 5 ready to be mounted onto card, so be prepared to be Tatty'ed out!

I used a Cuttlebug folder for the background and stitched around it - not very well I might add, so don't look too close.lol

I was intending to go white on white but because the image is quite pale I thought it might get a bit lost so I just added a bit of silver mirri card.  I also used the dotting of Promarkers around the image which makes them stand out a bit more.

Finally, I added lots of Glamour Dust for a lovely frosty look to these lovely little characters.

Sue.x

A whole bunch of Christmas cards

I managed to be quite productive for a change on Sunday - I didn't have the computer on to distract me and I managed to get half a dozen of these identical Christmas cards done for the girls in my office.

I love this Poinsettia stamp.  It's one of those Medallion stamps that were all the rage quite a few years ago.  I never quite managed to do the layering thing - my cutting out wasn't good enough and it just looked rubbish. So, here it is just coloured with Promarkers.  Oh, and I found some lovely glittery gold embossing powder amongst my stash so they're all beautifully shiny.  I tried to capture it in the next photo:

Hope you can see it!

I cut an aperture frame out using square nesties and then used some 3D foam to mount onto the card base which makes the image look like it's in a photo frame.  The sentiment is from HOTP and has also been embossed with the same glittery gold powder.

Well, that's another few cards done and dusted.

Sue.x

O Christmas Tree

Firstly, I'd just like to say a big hello to my new followers. 

You have probably guessed how much I love my Silhouette machine by now (hint, hint, look at my sidebar), but I've only gone and sold it - 
.....................................................


but look what Santa brought me instead - yay, a brand new Cameo.



Isn't it gorgeous!!! I love it.  Not only does it cut much heavier card (up to 350gsm I think), it also has a 12" square cutting mat.


Here's what I've made today with one of my new downloaded shapes (all shapes on sale this weekend in the online store - just 50 cents which works out about 32p):

The outline shape of the tree is green mirri card - you may be able to see it better in this piccie:

I did some matting and layering with matching green mirri card and some white cardstock put through a Cuttlebug folder.


This is just the first card I've made with it - but I'm sure there's loads of different ways to use it - must get the Distress Inks out.


I'm going to enter this into the following challenge:


http://ourcreativecorner6.blogspot.com/2011/11/o-christmas-tree-challenge.html

Right, I'm off back to the Silhouette online store to stock up on more shapes.  


Have a great evening.

Sue.x

A couple of Christmas cards

I haven't really much been in the mood for Christmas cards, but here's a couple I've put together.

This is just such a simple one.  I love this Anna Griffin stamp and when I found I had some sparkly gold glitter powder I thought this would look lovely just mounted onto some gold mirror card. Unfortunately, the sparkle doesn't show up too well on the photo.

This next one I used an image from the Tatty Teddy cd.  I've glittered it up and used my Nesties to turn it into a Scalloped Easel card.  The sentiment was   punched with Stamping Up oval and scalloped oval punches.  The stars are also from a punch and the little bow was done with my Bow Easy.

That's all from me today folks. We're out to celebrate my sister's 50th birthday this evening.  We're going to an Abba tribute night at the West Midlands Golf Club (otherwise known as The Lakes at Barston), should be a good fun night. 

Have a good evening, whatever you're up to.

Sue.x

Less is more week 42 - Silhouettes

Well there's another week flown by - and here we are again for another lessismore challenge.  This week the theme is Silhouettes.

Another great choice from Chrissie and Mandi which has given me a chance to do bit more practise with my brayer - and I do believe I'm getting the hang of it.  This little piece of equipment has had me stumped for years.  I could never manage a lovely background like Barbara - mine were always full of lumps, bumps and stripes - but they do say practise makes perfect.  One tip I would give to any else who's not managing to master this little blighter is to place a thick layer of copy paper under your card - it seems to stop all those nasty lumps and bumps appearing.

Anyway, enough waffle, here's my card:

All the stamps are Clarity.  The lovers in the boat stamp is a miniature, but all the others are full size stamps. 

I used Stained Glass Adirondack inkpad for the background - you can't get these anymore, Rangers discontinued them a while ago. And I used Adirondack Pitch Black for the images.

The moon was done with a small circle punch which was used as a mask.

Well I have to say I'm quite pleased with how this turned out.  Maybe my brayer may stay out of the box for a bit longer.

Sue.x

Less is more week 41 - Leaves

Brilliant! Chrissie and Mandi have done it again!  They've come up with a challenge this week which enables me to use another stamp (or should I say cube) which has been sadly neglected.

The challenge for this week is LEAVES and it just so happened that I had my Judikins Fall Leaves cube out on my desk which I intended to use on last week's card but didn't use in the end.

Looking at the card now, I wish I'd changed the direction of one of the centre leaves and stamped it a bit more 'off the page', but hey ho, never mind.

I coloured the leaves with Promarkers and sponged Distress Inks between masked lines.  I added some embossed lines and a HOTP sentiment.

Unfortunately, the quality of the cardstock is really poor.  It's from a stash of cream cards and envelopes I bought from Create and Craft a while ago for £4.95 for about 100 (I think).  You get what you pay for - it'll do for layering or even maybe a distressed card. It already has the distressed look without any effort.

Sue.x

I think I'm liking this....

...stenciling.  I bought another template from Imagination Crafts when I went to the NEC as well as another 8 pots of stencil paint so be prepared to be well and truly sick to the back teeth of this technique.

I saw a sample that one of the ladies had done and loved it. I thought it was soooo pretty I made one similar.

I used the Leaf Swirl template and lime green stencil paint and to add the lovely sparkle I used Magiglaze (finally gotten around to using this, I bought it at the NEC in the spring, again it's from Imagination Crafts) and some extra fine glitter.

I punched the tiny flowers with my EK Success punch and added a gold crystal to the centres.

That's when it went all wrong - I tried to stamp the sentiment directly onto the card and disaster - it smudged!  I was well miffed, as you can imagine so put Silhouette into action and created a mat and re-stamped the sentiment onto it and then mounted it onto foam pads.  Rescued, phew!

Sorry the photo's a bit dark - very gloomy day here in Solihull today.

Sue.x

Less is more - red and orange

As I'm already messy with very inky fingers from my last card I thought I'd do another card for this week's lessismore challenge.

I've used a stamp I've had in my collection for years and this is the first time I've used it - sorry don't know who makes it, no name on the wooden block, but it's perfect for the red and orange theme.  I stamped it with a black Stazon inkpad onto glossy card.

I've used the photo above which shows a reflection so you can see that the card is glossy.  I used Adirondack inks (Lettuce, Cranberry and Butterscotch) to colour the image and then sponge around the background. I've used black card to mat the image onto which makes it pop.

Here it is without the reflection:

Let's see what else I can ink!

Sue.x

Red and Orange

Hope you've been having a great weekend. What glorious weather it's been considering the time of year. Lovely for taking a walk and seeing all the beautiful colours nature gives us in autumn - stunning.

I've used some of those stunning colours for my card today; red and orange which also work for the two challenges I'm entering it into: bonfire/firework colours.

Here's what I used:

Shaped card cut out on my Silhouette

Lavinia leaves, Fairy and Toadstool stamps

Stamping Up Pocket Silhouettes

Versafine Onyx black inkpad

Fired Brick and Wild Honey Distress Inks

Tim Holtz blender applicator and sponges

Fine glitter

Liquid pearls

This was a lovely messy one to do. Inky fingers all over the place, great fun.

Here's the challenges I'm entering:

http://cutecardthursday.blogspot.com/2011/11/challenge-189-baby-youre-firework.html

http://simplylessismoore.blogspot.com/2011/11/week-40.html

That's it from me. I'm off to play with some of my NEC goodies this afternoon. 

Bye for now.

Sue.x

Less is more week 39 - Stars - take two

I've had a bit of time to spare this afternoon (all O/H's shirts are ironed and hanging in the wardrobe) so had time to make another quick card for lessismore's Stars challenge.

I used my Silhouette to cut out the star shape and numbers.  Added some glitter here and there and matted and layered a few times.

Sue.x

Less is more week 39 - Stars

Two birds with one stone -  a Christmas card and a challenge card rolled into one.   I desperately need to get on with some Christmas cards so used this week's lessismore challenge to get on with it.

The theme this week is 'Stars' and here's my card:

I have to thank Sarita for the idea on this one as I cased this card from her blog (I hope she doesn't mind).  I too have had this Glitter Girls Star Wrapture for years tucked away in my stash and never used it. Luckily for me this fitted in with this challenge perfectly.  

Because I'm rubbish at cutting out, I scanned the Wrapture into my computer and got my trusty Silhouette to cut the shape out of pale green vellum.

The holly stamp and sentiment are from HOTP and stamped with Olympia Green Versafine.

That's it from me tonight folks - have a good evening.

Sue.x

Hubble bubble toil and trouble....

Happy Halloween for those that like to take part in the fun!  

I don't normally make Halloween cards, but Jodie at bugaboostamps was giving this cute little image away as a freebie so it would have been rude not to.

The spiders and spider's web are also freebies from very generous Bird of http://www.birdscards.com/ who gives away loads of fabulous cutting files and digi stamps.  I used my oh so wonderful Silhouette to cut them out.

I coloured the image with Promarkers

Used a Cuttlebug folder for the background

and

Googly eyes I had in my stash

I had a few spiders left and the Trick or Treat sentiment so I put them on the inside:

I'm going to enter this into the following challenges:

http://abc-challenge.blogspot.com/

http://charismacardz.blogspot.com/2011/10/challenge-43-anything-goes.html

http://thesecretcraftersaturdaychallenge.blogspot.com/2011/10/challenge-158.html
http://onestopcraftchallenge.blogspot.com/2011/10/week-155-no-sentiments.html

I hope you like it.  I really must get on with some Christmas cards this afternoon, I'm running way behind. It might help if I turn the computer off so I'm not tempted to spend so much time browsing around. 

Have a good day and thanks for stopping by.

Sue.x

Less is more week 38 - Polka Dots

It's Wednesday, hubby's at footie, got my Less is More card done! Yeah!

And this week's challenge is:

"This week we have a really easy recipe which is simply

POLKA DOTS

As long as your design is Clean and Simple, has some white space (or its equivalent) and polka dots in evidence somewhere, it will be perfect for this challenge."

so here's my card:

Here's what I used:

Walzingmouse Gingham & Co background stamp for my Polka Dots

Anna Griffin sentiment stamp

Clarity stamps Art Deco lady

Spellbinders Nestie

Promarkers

Rose and leaves cut out on the Silhouette

Ribbon from stash

Hope you like it.

Sue.x

I'm on a roll.....

Three cards in one weekend!  That must be a first.

Here's another card I made using the fabby Tatty Teddy cd - Isn't he the cutest bear ever???

It's a card for my niece with the very unusual name of Teide (named after the volcano in Tenerife - don't ask! My sister is very strange).  So it wouldn't be often she gets something personalised for her, I'm guessing.

I've added a bit of sparkle to the flourishes which doesn't show up too well. Oh! and the background paper is blue really - looks a bit greeny in the photo.

Well, that really is it from me for the weekend. Hubby has the week off with me this half term so maybe not too much time at my desk for the next few days. I'll have to wait until he goes to the footie on Wednesday, never mind.

Have a lovely evening.

Sue.x

Is this just a phase..........

I'm really loving this vintage theme this weekend.  Here's another card I've done to enter into the movingalongwiththetimes challenge for this week.

I cropped the lovely lady image from the background paper and matted and layered it as the focal point, some American seam binding which I colour tinted to match the colours in the paper, a Sizzix die for the photo corners, a Sizzix label, a paper rose and some gold twine, very simple really.

I really like how it's turned out, but that's because the design paper is so beautiful it doesn't really need much else.

Sue.x

Tatty Teddy again

Ooops, forgot to post this one earlier.

Such a super fast card to do for my nephew.  Typically, I was stuck for a young male card, so I opted for my Tatty Teddy cd - I just think everyone loves this bear and my nephew is a bit of a softie (don't tell him I told you, but I think he still has his Larry Lamb blanket toy from when  he was a baby - he's 24)

I used the 5 inch square top fold template from the Digital Designer software and printed the character and text straight onto 300gsm white card. That's it, job done.  I think it's so cute - I'm still loving this cd. 

Sue.x

And now for something completely different.....

.............. Vintage.  This is not my usual style, as you know, CAS is my thing.  

I do love the vintage/distressed/layered and design papers look, but I'm just not very good at it.  I often go on a blog hop and admire the beautiful work done by loads of talented people and wish I could create something half as good.  I decided to have a bit of a play yesterday as I had the whole afternoon to myself and a stack of Distress Inks that never get used. I realised another reason I stick to CAS, they're quick and easy to do while this card took me hours.

Here's it is:

I'm actually quite pleased with how it turned out. Here's what I used:

Sugar Nellie Daisy stamp

Prisma pencils

Top note shape cut out on my Silhouette

Cuttlebug embossing folder

HOTP papers

Distress ink - Tea Dye and Vintage Photo

Bakers Twine

American Seam binding coloured with Distress ink

Claire Curd sentiment

Button from stash

I've found I can enter this into loads of challenges this week:

http://movingalongwiththetimes.blogspot.com/2011/10/challenge-119-vintage.html

http://cupcakecraftchallenges.blogspot.com/2011/10/cupcake-164-buttons-and-bows.html

http://totallypapercrafts.blogspot.com/2011/10/challenge-89-layer-upon-layer.html

http://charismacardz.blogspot.com/2011/10/challenge-42-embossing.html

Have a great weekend and hopefully I'll be back soon with my usual Less is more card - I'm off now to see what this week's challenge is.

One other thing before I go - I've gained a few new followers recently, so I would just like to say welcome and thank you so much for choosing to follow me, I really appreciate it.

Sue.x

Less is more week 37 - Cocktail

It's been a week since I last posted - I know I'm useless. I really don't seem to be able to get this time management thing.

I have managed to get a card done today though, thanks to the lovely Chrissie and Mandi for setting these Less is More challenges each week or I don't think I would get anything posted.

For this week's challenge, the ladies have asked for :

COCKTAIL

You may interpret this however you wish... your favourite tipple, the colours of a cocktail or a simply cocktail of colours. Let your imagination run with this one, it will be interesting to see how imaginative you can be.

If you'd like to to part, visit the blog at: http://simplylessismoore.blogspot.com/2011/10/week-37.html

Here's my card

Not particularly imaginative, but I don't seem to have a lot of that either (imagination that is). 

The stamps are Stampin Up - Cheers to You set.  

I used my Whispers pens for a change to colour the images and some nesties for the sentiment.

Before I go I just have to show you this.  My daughter e-mailed me this photo earlier (for those that don't know she's in Melbourne at the moment) -  look who she bumped into today:

She was at the Westfield Store Geelong to see the Gok Wan Live show and she and her friend managed to chat to him at the end.  How amazing! (If you're a Gok fan that is).

That's it from me. I'm looking forward to a few glasses of red , some choccy and Downton Abbey later on.  Bye for now, I hope you have a great evening and thanks for dropping by.

Sue.x

Less is more week 36

Afternoon all! Hope you're having a lovely weekend.

Still loving taking part in the lessismore challenges, you may have noticed.  This week's challenge has been a great one for me again.  So quick and easy. Here's what Chrissie and Mandi asked for:

The ♥ can be singular, multiple, any colour, but, MUST be a one layer card, with no additional layers stuck on, apart from the odd embellishment or ribbon!

And here's my card:

I used my Silhouette to cut out a heart shape and sponged Fired Brick and Walnut Stain Distress inks through the aperture.  I then stamped the sentiment with my Whispers Word stamp using Walnut Stain Distress Ink.  

Sue.x

THE COLOUR OF YOUR EYES

is the theme for this week's lessismore challenge.  This took a bit of thinking about cause I have green eyes and it's not a colour I use often.

Here's what I came up with:

Green definitely is not my favourite colour, but I'm quite pleased with how it turned out.

Here's what I used:

Clarity large leaf swirl stamp

Hero Arts Antique Engravings butterflies

Stampin Up Scalloped punch

Stampin Up oval punch

Stampin Up sentiment stamp

Adirondack Mountain Sky inkpad

I scored a couple of lines at the top and bottom of the card and decoupaged the butterflies.

While I'm at it (I've been a very bad blogger lately), here are a few other things I've been doing this week:

I thought it was time to get cracking on some Christmas cards, I know a lot of you will have started months ago, but I always leave it to the last minute.


I've used Milly from digistampboutique and coloured her with Promarkers
Cuttlebug embossing folder
A bit of stitching
Ribbon and brad from stash


You may have read in previous posts that my daughter was off to Australia for 6 months for part of her gap year.  Well she's gone. Sob, sob!  She's au pairing for a family with an 8 year old girl so I made her as couple of items to give to the little girl when she arrived:

The base card was printed using my Tatty Teddy cd and then the box shape cut out on my Silhouette.  The image is also from the cd.  Lauren intended to fill it with sweets but had to do it when she arrived at the airport in Melbourne because of strict rules the Aussie's have about bringing foodstuff into the country.


And this little bookmark, again using my Tatty Teddy cd and a scalloped nestie.

This is the back:



and here's how it looks on the corner of a book page:

Quite fun little projects, I hope Nina liked them.


Ok, that's enough from me.  Sorry about the long post, but I had a bit of catching up to do.

Sue.x