October Release Day 3

Hello!

Today is the third and final day of sharing the new stamp sets from Uniko Studio that are going to be available for purchase from tomorrow.  The sets we have to share with you today are seasonal stamps which will get your Christmas cardmaking kick started.....

I have a few cards to share:

 

I used the lovely ornaments from the fun Christmas sparkle mini set combined with the pine branches from winter foliage.

I used the outline bauble stamp and then masked the central bauble and filled it in with Uniko's Stunning Snowflakes.

Here are the sets:

Stop by again tomorrow when we have the release day blog hop, complete with prizes!  In the meantime, the rest of the DT have more great cards to share with you over at Uniko.

Thanks for stopping by,

Sarah x

Uniko October Release Day 2!

Hello,

Today we are taking a look at another two of the new stamp sets in Uniko's October release which goes live on 1 October.  Marvellous Mehndi is a beautifully ornate set of images which can be used for any occasion and Simply Said II is a fabulous follow up to Bev's first set of useful mix and match sentiments. 

Here I have stamped the main image off the edges of the card and coloured with pencils.  The sentiment is from Simply Said II.

 

This card is using some of the other supporting images from the set which I thought would make a lovely patterned paper stamped in teals and greens.

 

Here are the full stamp sets:

 

 

We have another showcase day tomorrow with some lovely festive images followed by the release day blog hop on 1 October.  Check out the beautiful inspiration from the rest of the DT over at the Uniko blog.  I hope to see you again tomorrow!

Thanks for stopping by,

Sarah x

Uniko October Release!

Hello!

Bev has been sharing some tantalising sneak peaks of the fab new Uniko release that goes live on 1 October and today I get the chance to show you one of the new sets - Originally Organic in a bit more detail.

I love the sketchy style of these floral stamps and the way they flow.  For my first card I stamped one of the big images back to back, coloured with pencils and cut round it to reveal the green card base.  I white embossed the sentiment in the corner.

For my second card I went with a really simple central panel and combined the floral flourish with another of the sentiments from the set.

 

Here is the lovely stamp set:

 

 

 

We have more preview posts to share with you tomorrow and Friday followed by release day on Saturday, 1 October when we have a DT blog hop with prizes to be won.  In the meantime, the DT have lots more inspiration to share with you over at the Uniko blog.  I am sure that you will love this new release :)

 

Thanks for stopping by,

 

Sarah x

Less is More #295

Hello!

Our challenge at Less is More this week is asking you to use thread on your design - this should be fun!  I have made two cards to share with you:

 

First up I have a card made using some a sweet embroidery hoop die from Neat and Tangled which I cut from some wood effect paper and stuck over a circle aperture.  I stamped the hearts and sentiment from Neat and Tangled on some aida and sewed over them before adding a scattering of cross stitches.  I really like the fact that the paper crafted hoop frames some real fabric and sewing.  As this is a type of frame I shall also link up for a second time at CASology where the cue word is Frame.

 

I also took the opportunity to make a festive card and used silver thread to hang my die cut bauble from Memory Box.  I used silver glitter paper under the bauble and added some die cut pine branches from Memory Box and a silver embossed sentiment from Papertrey Ink.

 

I hope you like my two ideas for using thread.  There are lots of other ideas that I didn't get around to using so I look forward to seeing what you come up with :)  The DT have also got some great inspiration for you over at Less is More.

 

Thanks for stopping by!

 

Sarah x

Uniko Challenge Reminder

Hello!

There is still time to play along with the Uniko Challenge which has a theme of autumn with the optional twist of thanks. 

This is a quick post from me so here is what I made as a second card:

I gold embossed the sentiment from All Occasion Sentiment #3 and combined it with the leaves from Natures Treasures II stamped in autumnal shades.  Some copper glitter tape and a thin strip of dark brown card complete the seasonal colour scheme.

Sorry for the poor photo...I think that our camera is getting a bit cranky!

I will also link this card up with the challenge at Time Out where we have this fantastic image to inspire us:

I hope you find the time to play along with us at Uniko - the challenge is open until 14 October.  The rest of the DT have more inspiration to share with you over at the blog.

Thanks for stopping by,

Sarah x

Framed Heart

Hello!

I don't often get the chance to post mid week with work commitments and the school routine to contend with but I saw the cue word at CASology and had the perfect embellishment sitting on my desk so I whipped up this super quick, CAS card.

I masked off a script stamp on the card base and added a frame that I had made in my melt pot - I love this dinky frame mold as it has great detail and is so easy to use.  I added a mini red heart which is made up of 4 or 5 layers of cardstock.  The sentiment is from Waltzingmouse Stamps.

Here is a close up:

I will also link up at Simon's Wednesday Challenge to create something clean and simple.

It is great to get the chance to play along with CASology....it has been a while :)

See you again soon,

Sarah x

Less Is More #294

Hello!

This week at Less is More our theme is Diamonds...my first thought was to go with diamonds of the jewel variety:

 

I used my MFT gem dies to cut the aperture and the facet outlines in silver glitter paper.  I created a shaker aperture with clear and white sequins.  The stamp is by Avery Elle.  A strip of glitter tape completes the design.

I will link this card up to Simon Says Wednesday challenge where the theme is clean and simple!

The other approach that I took was to use diamond shapes and stencils:

 

I created a square aperture and stamped a distressed diamond background through it before stamping a poppy head from Lavinia Stamps and sentiment from Stamplorations. 

 

 

I created a soft background by inking through a diamond stencil and then stamped Altenew's Beautiful Day flower over the top.

 

I look forward to seeing what you make with our theme this week.  The rest of the DT have lots more inspiration to share with you over at Less is More :)

 

Thanks for stopping by,

 

Sarah x

Uniko Challenge

Hello!

Here we are again with the monthly Uniko Challenge :)  The theme this month is autumn with the optional twist of thanks. 

Whilst it has been unseasonably warm here over the past week or so, the boys are back at school after the summer break and my thoughts inevitably turn to the coming autumn.  I love crisp autumnal days and the rich colours of the foliage but not the longer nights....I miss daylight :(

Anyway, enough rambling on.  Here is the card that I made!

I used Uniko's Vines Winter Additions set to stamp the wreath.  The leaves and pine cones lend themselves to autumn as well as Christmas and are really versatile.  I added a sentiment from Flower Power #5.

Do check out the inspiration from the rest of the DT over at Uniko. 

I will also link this card up at Simon Say's Wednesday Challenge where the theme is clean and simple and at Addicted to Stamps and More where anything goes :)

Thanks for stopping by,

Sarah x

Altenew Mega Challenge Blog Hop

Hello!

I am so excited to be joining in with the Altenew Mega Challenge blog hop as part of the Less is More DT:) 

http://altenewblog.com/2016/09/13/ultimate-challenge-blog-hop/

I absolutely love Altenew's fabulous products and use them all the time...so it is a real treat to celebrate all of the fantastic inspiration that challenge blogs have to offer in conjunction with Altenew.

Here's what I made:

 

I used Lacy Scrolls and stamped them with Altenew Inks on a white card panel which I die cut and popped up over the card base.   The sentiment is from Fresh Freesia.

This isn't as CAS as my usual style but I love the soft look created by watercolouring Altenew's Doodle Blooms in distress inks.  A sentiment from Beautiful Day white embossed on a strip of grey card was all I needed to finish the design.

 

I gold embossed the beautiful large Lace Up stamp on a panel of white card and topped it with a sentiment from Label Love.  A strip of gold glitter tape and black card ground the design.

I am so looking forward to seeing all of the inspiration from the talented challenge design teams taking part in this hop.  Thank you to everyone who plays along with our challenges at Less is More - it is great to be part of such a fun card making community :)

To celebrate this fantastic blog hop, Altenew is giving away $35 gift certificates to FIVE lucky winners. Winners will be chosen at random from the comments left on any of the blogs listed below and will be announced on the Altenew blog on October 17th, 2016.

Altenew is also offering a free gift with all orders

Thanks for stopping by and happy hopping!

Sarah x

Less is More #293

Hello!

Today's Less is More challenge is sure to result in a packed gallery of gorgeous designs as we are asking for one layer cards featuring your favourite flower.  I love floral stamps and every time that I decide I have enough, I come across another 'must have' set :)  I really struggled to think of one favourite flower and have a few cards to share with you today:

 

I do absolutely love poppies and have used Clearly Besotted's Brushed Poppies set to create this loose watercolour look.  I stamped some splatters using WPlus9 and a WPlus9 sentiment too.  As Virginia is looking for cards featuring splatters and sprays at this month's Virginia's View Challenge I shall pop it in over there too.

 

One of the first things that caught my eye from Uniko were the beautiful floral designs and this gerbera is one of my all time favourites.  I watercoloured and masked the flower before inking a square aperture to add a bit more interest.

 

Finally I have made a card featuring free fuschia stamps that I got from Clearly Besotted on a craft magazine years ago.  I love fuscias as they are just about the only flower that stays alive in my garden.....I don't have a very green thumb!  I coloured the flowers with pencils.

 

The rest of the DT have more floral inspiration to share with you over at Less is More.  It will be lovely to see lots of flowers in the gallery just as summer draws to a close.

 

Thank you for stopping by,

 

Sarah x

Honey I Shrunk the Kit #9

Yay!  It is time to share the cards that we have made with the latest Honey I Shrunk the Kit :)

Honey I Shrunk the Kit is a little kit club set up by the sweet Hazel from Hazel's Paper Designs and a few of my lovely bloggie friends - Shona Chambers from Twine Around, Sandie Munro from London Days and Sarah Platt from Sazzle Dazzle Crafts.  This month it was Sarah's turn to put the kit together and she came up with a really fun and playful kit called Monster Madness.

Here is what I made:

I created a 'spacey' sky by covering the card with black soot, smoked hickory, blueprint sketch and chipped sapphire distress inks and splattering with white ink and perfect pearls.  I coloured the fun images from Sarah's kit with promarkers and added one of the fun googly eyes....you can't have a space alien without a googly eye!  I popped this up over a strip of glitter tape and added glitter to the planet.

 

I went a bit lighter and brighter on this card using some of the lovely patterned paper that was in the kit as well as the bakers twine.  I coloured the cute monsters with pencils.

I love the frame die that Sarah included from Pretty Pink Posh!  To add colour I triple heat embossed the frame with blue embossing powder.  Each of the monsters pop out of the frames and work perfectly with the sentiment and patterned paper from the kit.

 

These little monsters from Lawn Fawn are just so cute!  I popped them up over a heart aperture which I had filled with a star stencil from Stamplorations.  The punny sentiment makes me smile.

 

This was such a fun kit to play with - I love the elements that Sarah put together and can't wait to see what my super creative friends have come up with.  Whenever I look at their creations I always wish that I could start again :)

 

Thank you for this kit, Sarah!

 

 

 

See you again soon,

 

Sarah x

Less is More #292

Hello!

Time to start our weekend with another fun challenge from Less is More :)  This week is a colour challenge and the colour combo that we are looking for is Peacock Feathers.  I love rich peacock feather colours - the teals and purples make such vibrant combinations.  I made a few cards:

First I went with quite a literal interpretation with a Penny Black peacock feathers stamp which I inked up in Peacock Feathers (!), Dusty Concord and Peeled Paint distress inks.  I spritzed with water before stamping.  The sentiment is from Papertrey Ink.

 

I went with quite a graphic design on my second card with a pattern stamp from Papertrey Ink which I overlapped.

 

The next card is also using Papertrey Ink.  I thought the doodle flowers and leaves had a peacock type look (not sure what I mean) and I coloured them in pencil to try and get the vibrant colour combo.

 

I hope you like my peacock colours and visit Less is More to see what else the fabulous DT have come up with to inspire you.

 

Thanks for stopping by,

 

Sarah x