Birthday blues ....

.... good afternoon all!  I do hope you're having a good day - it's been pretty good here.  I got a lot of house type stuff done this morning, and I also got some time in my craft room!  I've made a birthday card for a couple of challenges:

• Dynamic Duos - DD#52
• Less is More - LIM121 - the recipe is to make a humourous card

 

Stamps: Inkadinkado - Humourous Birthday
Inks: Stazon - Jet Black; Stampin' Up! - Midnight Muse
Accessories: SU Card & Design Paper - Midnight Muse, Bashful Blue; Copics; White Lustre card

I don't normally do "funny/humour" cards as I think my sense of humour is a tad warped for some!  However, I remembered this sweet set of stamps and decided to have a go!  I used the colours from this week's Dynamic Duos (sad that Bashful Blue is being retired).  I made the mat from Midnight Muse and stamped the image directly onto white card and again onto Bashful Blue DP.  I coloured the face and hair with Copics and paper pieced the outfit.  I finished off with a bold birthday sentiment.  As I get older, I certainly think I get more and more like my Mum, and even sound like her!!

It's crazy hot and humid here in Northville today - currently at 29°C and sadly my air con seems to have stopped working!!!  Darn!  Oh well, it looks like we're going to have a big storm soon - skies are very grey - if only it would reduce the humidity!

That's all for now - see you soon.

A bit on the wild side ....

.... Well, it looks like the Indian summer is over - grey, much cooler and rather windy today.  But I suppose we ought to expect that at almost the end of October.  I'm fully recovered from yesterday's migraine and even managed to get some ironing and tidying done this morning - so feeling pleased with myself.  I also managed half an hour in my craft room after lunch.  I've made a card for three challenges:

• CASology - CAS16 - where the cue word  is "WILD"
• Colour Throwdown - CTD215
• Retro Sketches - RS34

Stamps: Inkadinkadoo - Patterned Pets; Waltzingmouse - Compact Sentiments II

Inks: Versafine - Black Onyx; Memento - Tuxedo Black; Distress - Shaded Lilac

Accessories:  Martha Stewart border punch; Clear embossing powder; Stampin' Up! design paper - Pumpkin Pie, Basic Black, Certainly Celery; SU Pens - Pumpkin Pie, Certainly Celery; Card from stash

I have to admit that I've been a bit stuck with this week's cue word from CASology!  I immediately thought of wild animals and I have some stamps with wild animals, but they're so cute and not really ideal.  Then I thought of wild colours - neons, clashing colours, super vibrant - again didn't work for me.  Then I remembered my zany lizard stamp - wild animal and wild pattern - YES!!  I turned the sketch on its side so that the scalloped border was at the bottom of the card.  I like this week's Colour Throwdown challenge and think they're perfect for a wild, zany lizard!  I stamped the image in Versafine, heat embossed with clear powder and coloured with SU pens and distress ink.  I finished off with a simple sentiment.

One of the things that Kathryn is having to get used to here, is no half-term holiday.  At this time in the UK the schools have a week's break to allow the children and staff to recharge.  That doesn't happen here!!!  Although when I mentioned it to some of Kathryn's teachers, they rather liked the idea!!  Kathryn has a couple of short breaks coming up soon; Election Day - November 6th and then Thanksgiving - 22nd and 23rd November.  

That's all for now - see you soon.

Happy Birthday Jenny ......

..... while my card is going to be late reaching you - my birthday wishes are winging their way across the ocean to wish you, Jenny, a very

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

I hope you have a super day!  As many of you know, Jenny likes to make beautiful clean, simple and fun cards, so I had to make something special for her.  Hope this reaches you soon.

I've used three challenges to make this card:

• CAS-ual Fridays - CFC57 - where we had to use either acetate or vellum
• Just Us Girls - JUGS141 - super colours
• St Luke's Charity Card Challenge - Our Little Furry Friends

I've kept it really simple - I used the red, white and blue to make a vellum layered doily which reminds me of the Royal Air Force roundel.  I stamped each image using Versamark on vellum, embossed them with coloured powders and then simply cut them out.  I like the way you can see the patterns through each layer.  I stamped this very elegant cat onto white card, cut her out and attached her to the card on top of the doily.  I finished off with s simple sentiment.

Stamps: Waltzingmouse - Dainty Doilies Large, Dainty Doilies 2 Small; Inkadinkadoo - Patterned Pets; Uniko Studios - Extra Time
Inks: Stazon - Jet Black; Memento - Tuxedo Black
Accessories:  Vellum and card from stash

Here are the challenge graphics:

There's still plenty of time to join in with St Luke's Charity Card Challenge - this month we want you to make a card featuring our furry friends.  It's a bit quiet on the blog; we would really like to see your creations - do pop over and join us.  This month the prize for our June winner is a set of stamps from Waltzingmouse Stamps - Text-It, so very useful!

The first week of Kathryn's summer holidays has been super.  We've had some extremes in the weather with a big thunder storm on Monday and hot, hot days since then.  We've been out shopping, to the cinema and just chilling (literally with the air con) in the house.  It's been fun!

Today the European Football quarter finals start - we do get to watch the matches over here, but we really do miss the atmosphere!  There are lots of sports bars in the States and they show all sorts of games, but there's no excitement or enthusiasm for football (or soccer as they call it here).  Jonathan can only watch the weekend matches - which is good as England play on Sunday!!  I'm keeping my fingers crossed for an England v Spain final!!!

That's all for now - off to do a bit of mundane stuff - a stack load of ironing!!  See you soon.

Less is More - 1st Anniversary .....

.... A year ago Chrissie and Mandi launched Less is More - a blog dedicated to the art of clean and simple card designs.  While I've been making cards for quite a while - I still don't have a specific style, but I've always really liked the CAS look and over the last year, I've learnt so much from Chrissie, Mandi and the LIMettes!  I love the community spirit of the blog - always supportive, always encouraging and always challenging!

The challenge at Less is More - LIM53 - this week is a colour challenge - the ladies would like us to make a card using the colour AQUA !!!  What a fabulous choice!  I found a set of Inkadinkadoo stamps that I've been wanting for a while in the January sale at  Hobbycraft - a real find!   I used the biggest stamp in the set for my card - a rabble of butterflies!  Finishing the card with an inspirational sentiment.  While the challenge didn't specifically ask us to make a one layer card - I've even managed to do that!

Stamps: Inkadinkadoo - Morphic Bugs
Inks: Stampin' Up! - Tempting Turquoise
Accessories:  Card from stash

I'm also submitting this card to a couple of other challenges:

• Flutter by Wednesdays - FBW#188 - Open theme, but must include a fairy, angel or butterfly (done)
• Do You Stack Up? - DYSU#57 - Where they have an "anything goes" theme

Less is More's first challenge was also a colour theme - Black, white and pink and this was my card:

My crafting time has been reduced somewhat, but I'm still managing to get a couple of hours in my craft room in the evenings and I'm trying to make cards that fit multiple challenges!  I don't know how I'm going to cope once my craft room is packed up!!!  I think I'm going to have to get together a "survival craft kit" - with some basic inks and a few stamps!!  Still I have at least a month before I have to pack!  That's me finished for today - I'm off to get some tiding done - must have the place in showroom condition for Friday.  See you soon!

It's raining, it's pouring .....

... the old man is snoring - well that's how the nursery rhyme goes, and it's a perfect description of the weather here in Novi.  It started raining yesterday evening and hasn't stopped since!!! 

Last night we walked over to Bar Louie at Twelve Mile Crossing @ Fountain Walk.  It was wet and cold, and I wished I had an umbrella.  However, it was worth the walk - dinner was delicious. 

And today we woke to yet more rain and the forecast is for the rain to continue all day and for snow to start falling this evening.  There are currently flood watches out in parts of the Michigan area and then this evening this becomes a storm forecast for the snow, with about 1" - 2" of snow to settle.  But it looks like it'll be reasonably clear tomorrow.  So we get to experience the start of a Michigan winter, but we'll be back in the UK before winter arrives in force :)

We decided to stay indoors today and Kathryn has spent the morning in the swimming pool. It's not huge, but it's big enough for Kath, especially as she's on her own.  Kathryn had lots of fun - swimming up and down and playing too - she tried to do handstands!!  And then she sat in the hot pool and really enjoyed that - mind you should have seen her face when she went back in the pool!!!!

So Kathryn had lots of fun this morning and this afternoon I think she's going to play with her new Monster High Doll and read her books.  Oh yes, she'll probably watch some TV too.

This week the Less is More - LIM43 challenge is to use:

A bit of

I didn't think I'd be able to join in with any challenges while in the US, but yesterday's shopping trip has meant that I can play.  Yippee!!!   I started with a plain white card blank and used my new peacock feather stamp which I coloured with two shades of Memento pen (yes!!!)  and stamped directly onto the card.  Next I used the darker of the two colours to ink up a simple sentiment.  As I didn't have my stamp-a-ma-jig I had to position the sentiment by eye - it's pretty good.  To comply with the challenge requirements I added a few gems.  That's it - a clean and simple sympathy card to add to my stash when I get home.

Stamps:  Stampendous - Peacock Feather; Inkadinkadoo - sentiment
Inks:  Memento Markers - Paris Dusk, Bahama Blue
Accessories:  Mambi Stones - Blues/greens, Card blank

That's all for now.  I'm off to get us some lunch and let Kathryn have a play on the laptop.  I hope to be able to check out the rest of the submissions to Less is More later this week.  See you soon.

Butterfly birthday ....

... this is a scheduled post, sharing a card for the current Ribbon Reel - RR15 challenge.  The theme is to use butterflies on your card - as well as the colours from the inspiration photo and, of course, a ribbon or lace.

This is a birthday card for a fellow member of the St Luke's Design Team - I've made this one for Lynne - it's her birthday today!  Lynne - have a very Happy Birthday - and all the best for the coming year.

In my stash of slightly neglected stamps, I found this gorgeous Butterfly collage and used that as the basis for the card.  I stamped it in Versamark and heat embossed with clear powder, then I added several shades (taken from the inspiration photo) blending them carefully.  I stamped the image again in black Versafine, embossed  and then cut out the two butterflies.  I coloured them both with Distress inks.  I removed the embossing powder from the main image by ironing it between sheets of paper and then used my nesties to cut a rectangle.  The backing mat was cut from some lovely old gold linen finish card.  I attached the lace and ribbon to the card and added the main image and birthday greeting, but it still needed something.  So I stamped another butterfly onto some vellum, heat embossed the image and then coloured it in on the reverse using Prismacolour pencils - I echoed the colours from the butterflies in the main image.

Stamps:  Inkadinkadoo - Butterfly Collage; Waltzingmouse - Say It Loud, Say It Loud -Winter; Butterfly stamp (don't know company)
Inks:  Distress - Mustard Seed, Wild Honey, Tumbled Glass, Broken China; Memento - Tuxedo Black; Stampin' Up! - Tempting Turquoise
Spellbinders: Fleur de Lis Rectangles (S4-317) #4, Rectangles Lg (S4-132) ~5
Accessories:  Prismacolour Pencils, lace, ribbon, embossing powder and card from stash

Above is a close of the main image and the pretty vellum butterfly!

Today is known as "Black Friday" in the US - don't know why they call it that - but it's a day of sales and shopping.  I'm not sure whether we'll be getting to the shops today - Jonathan's not keen on sales - but I'm hoping to get to a Michael's store and get some crafty stash to bring home. 

That's all for now.  I have a post scheduled for Sunday - my latest card for CR84FN43.  See you soon.

Let's hear it for the boys - take 2 ...

... our St Luke's Charity Card Challenge for October is themed "Let's hear it for the boys!".  Now I know that lots of people don't really like making cards for guys, but I sort of enjoy them.  I suspect it has a lot to do with having a teenage son and needing to make cards for him. 

The first card I made for this challenge was a more traditional card - in fact I attached a sentiment for Grandad!  So I decided that this card would be for Ben - I like to send him a card each week and I forgot to send one last week.  I've used the colours from this week's Colour Q - cQc106 challenge - they're so bright, so funky! 

I don't have crushed curry in my stash, so I've used Daffodil Delight.  I started with a plain white card and stamped some images in Versamark and clear embossed them all.  Then I added Daffodil Delight and Tangerine Tango - sponging them both onto the card - and I love the resist reveal when you do this.  Using Basic Grey I stamped some more of the small images randomly onto the card.  I stamped the guitar in black directly onto the card base and again onto some plain white card, this time I embossed the image with clear powder and cut it out.  I coloured the  guitar and attached it over the stamped image.  Finally, I stamped and embossed a sentiment, coloured the background and then cut it out and mounted with dimensional tape.  A really funky card for my boy!

Stamps:  Inkadinkadoo - Rock Star
Inks:  Stampin' Up! - Basic Grey, Tangerine Tango, Daffodil Delight; Versafine - Onyx Black
Accessories:  Card, clear embossing powder from stash

I've got another busy day lined up - my decorators will be back and hopefully they'll complete the family bathroom, utility room and guest bathroom.  And while they're doing that I'll be making a start on moving Kathryn's stuff out.  See you later!

Back to school ....

... I've made this card for the current Ribbon Reel challenge - RR10 which has a Back to School theme.  The challenge was posted at the beginning of September and I've left it late with my card, but there is still time to play along.  The Ribbon Reel ladies provided a super inspiration photo, for colour, as well as the instruction to use school elements and some ribbon/twine.

I've been quite literal with the inspiration picture.  I made the card landscape and it's a blackboard - with a personal message to Kathryn.  She started back to school last week and has been away at Nant for the outward bound course this week, so I gave her the card this morning.  To make the "chalk" writing on the blackboard I simply wrote a message using my Versamark pen and embossed with detail white powder.  Works a treat!!  I found the sweet school buttons in my stash and added some twine to them.  The books are a bit of clip art that I found and cut cut out.  I stamped the beautiful fountain pen and coloured it with Promarkers - Kathryn is quite keen to have a fountain pen!!  She's absolutely delighted with her card.

Stamps:  Inkadinkadoo - Pens (93401X) - it's actually an image of three pens and I picked this one!
Inks:  Versamark Pen; Memento - Tuxedo Black
Promarkers:  Poppy, Gold
Accessories:  Clip art from Internet, buttons, twine, embossing powder and card from stash

That's all for now.  It's a bit mad in the house at the moment - getting ready for Kathryn's birthday party as well as having various maintenance jobs done in the house.  Now I'm off to finish painting the photo frames - more on that later :)  Have a great day.

A two in one challenge .....

... two of my favourite challenges have joined up this week to share a challenge - CAS-ual Fridays - CFC15 and Clean & Simple Stamping - FTL153.  The idea is to make a clean and simple design based on the FTL153 sketch - what a super idea.

I spent yesterday evening in my craft room and made two cards for this challenge - they both owe some of their inspiration to this week's Less is More challenge where Chrissie and Mandi have asked us to us inky techniques on our one layer cards.  Sadly these cards are not one layer - so they can't be entered.  However, I have had lots more fun playing around with alcohol inks!!

My first card keeps pretty close to the sketch.  I used alcohol inks onto an acetate panel.  First I applied some green and blue to create the middle layer of colour, then above and below that I used a mixture of purple and blue.  On the front of the acetate I stamped this lovely flower image.  Stamping onto acetate is definitely a skill - it took me about five attempts to get it right.  Fortunately, Stazon comes off acetate easily with a bit of acetone!  I attached the acetate panel by running it through my Xyron and sticking it to my card.  Finally, I added a very bold, but simple sentiment.

Stamps: Kanban - All Occasions Set; Waltzingmouse - Say It Loud
Inks:  Stazon - Jet Black; Adirondack Alcohol Inks - Citrus, Purple Twilight, Pool
Accessories:  Card and acetate from stash

My second card takes a few liberties with the sketch, but trying to keep to the sketch just didn't work!  I made another acetate panel - this time I added a drop of ink at a time and used a straw to blow the ink about until it dried.  I repeated this using several inks until I'd got a pattern I was happy with.  As the pattern was quite grungy I decided to make a card for a teenager.  I stamped a guitar onto the acetate panel and attached the panel to the card.  Then I used a couple of other stamps from the same set to complete the card.  All images were stamped in Stazon.

Stamps: Inkadinkado - Rockstar
Inks:  Stazon - Jet Black; Adirondack Alcohol Inks - Citrus, Pool, Purple Twilight, Sail Boat Blue
Accessories:  Card and acetate from stash

I've had lots of fun colouring acetate with alcohol inks and have a couple of pieces ready to make a few more cards.

I had a really fun day yesterday.  In the morning a couple of friends came round for some tips on how to use Windows 7.  In the afternoon Kathryn and I spent some time in the kitchen making cakes.  My cake mixer has died - so I took the opportunity to show Kathryn how to make cakes by hand - creaming the butter and sugar, then adding the eggs and flour - and showing her that it was hard work - but worth it!.  I made a chocolate mix, Kathryn made a vanilla mix - and we put them together to make marble Butterfly cakes.  We had such fun - actually I think Kathryn enjoyed licking off the spoons best!!  Kathryn made the butter icing and got covered in icing sugar.  And the cakes were delicious. 

If the weather is nice today, Kathryn and I are going to the zoo, if it rains I'll take her to a local activity centre.  Either way - we'll have a super morning out together. 

Before I go, I'd like to say Hi and Welcome to Wynneth who has become one of my Blog Friends - great to have you here.  That's all for now.  See you soon.

"Oh, I do like to be .....

beside the seaside! 

Oh, I do like to be beside the sea!  

I do like to stroll along the Prom, Prom, Prom,

Where the Brass bands play:

"Tiddley-om-pom-pom!"

So just let me be beside the seaside,

I'll be beside myself with glee.

And there's lots of girls beside,

I should like to be beside,

Beside the seaside, beside the sea."

 

Popular music hall song written & composed by John A Glover-Kind (1907)

This song might be old, but it still reminds me of summer holidays and that's now!!!  It's the first of August - the summer holidays are well and truly here and that means it's time for the new St Luke's Charity Card Challenge!!  You might have guessed our theme for this month:

"Beside the Seaside"

We're all hoping for a long, hot summer and we'd like you to make card with that "get away from it all" summer by the sea feeling.  I remember going to the beach when I was little, taking my bucket and spade and building sandcastles.  The other thing that I always associate with British beaches are deck chairs!!  Here's my card.

I don't have many beach, seaside type stamps, but I remembered this sweet lighthouse stamp and it was just the right size for the card.  I decided to have a go at making a scene.  I stamped the lighthouse image and masked it off.  To get the scalloped edge I used a bit of nestie waste.  I stippled a variety of distress inks to make the beach, sea and sky.  If you look closely at the sea, you'll see white caps, sparkling in the sun!  Finally, I added a deck chair - well, you have to have somewhere to sit and enjoy the peace and quiet.

Stamps:  Inkadinkadoo - Lighthouse (96502)
Inks:  Memento - Tuxedo Black; Distress - Stormy Sky, Broken China, Tumbled Glass, Tea Dye, Scattered Straw
Accessories:  Card, peel offs, Sakura stardust pen, all from stash

For more inspiration - check the DT blogs, and we are delighted to welcome Jenny to the team:

Lynne Atkinson

Tara Cardwell

Anne Forrest

Ciara Jennings

Jenny Mullens

For August we have a special prize for you too - a £10 voucher donated by Elaine Hughes for her shop Quixtoic Paperie - such a lovely place to visit :)

We 40 wonderful entries for July - we'd love to make it 50 or more for August!!  If you'd like to join in and want to donate your card to the charity, full details of the dontation procedure can be found here.

That's all for now.  We had a great day yesterday with Jonathan's Welcome Home party - catching up with friends, viewing Jonathan's wonderful photos (I'm biased), food and fun.  The children had a super time in the garden - no rain, not a lot a sun, but it was warm and dry.  And Jonathan is almost back on UK time too!  We are planning to have a family day out, and I hope to get a little time to play in my craft room this evening.   So I hope to see you later.

 

OLW62 - Make it personal .....

.... gosh, talk about cutting things fine - it's only a few hours to the deadline for this week's One Layer Wednesday challenge, being hosted by Susan at Simplicity.  The challenge for OLW62 - is make it personal - "make a card for a particular person that is custom designed for him or her. You might use the person's favorite colors or a favorite image (such as a frog card for a friend who collects frogs, or an iris because it's your mother's favorite flower)". 

I don't know why this card has taken me so long to make - because I knew as soon as I saw the challenge that it would be for Jonathan to welcome him home.  But coming up with a design has been more than a little difficult.  And this card owes thanks to Chrissie - for the idea of sponging, and to Vicky - again for the sponging, but also for the idea of music!

Jonathan has lots of interests but the top two, apart from his family, are photography and music - so it was natural to use them as the main features.  And his favourite colour is green.  Once I'd got that sorted it came together really quickly.  Here's the card.

It's a square card, 13½ × 13½ cm.  I started off by masking off the top and bottom of the card.  I stamped some of the images in London Fog directly onto the white base.  The I picked my favourite green inks and sponged them on being careful to blend them.  Then I added a few more images using the various shades of green.  Finally, I added a sentiment above and below the main image.  I think this is the first time I've done one of these grungy, vintage type panels - I really like the effect. 

Stamps:  Stampendous - House & Home; Inkadinkadoo - Rock Star; Creative Expressions - Vintage Photography; Waltzingmouse - Musical Backgrounds, Fancy Phrases, Sewing Box - Hugs
Inks:  Memento - Tuxedo Black, London Fog; Distress - Shabby Shutters, Crushed Olive, Bundled Sage, Peeled Paint
Accessories:  Card from stash

I showed this to Kathryn before I added the sentiment and asked her what she thought.  She looked at it carefully and said "It's for Daddy!  His favourite colour, cameras and music!" - so it works :)

I've had an extremely busy day - I've finished the wedding cards - I've made two so that Helen can pick which she likes - I'll share them with you tomorrow.  That's all for this evening, so glad I managed to get this card finished in time for the challenge - now to put it away safely until Jonathan comes home.  Only 10 days to go! 

Less is More meets St Luke's .....

... good morning fellow LIMettes - have you seen this week's challenge?  No, that was a daft question - of course you've seen it.  This week Chrissie and Mandi from Less is More would like us to make a one layer card that features "something with legs".  My first thought was a table!  Don't have anything with a table stamp - so off to think again.  And I've made a card for my darling son, Ben.  And my card has lots of legs!!!  Oh yes, it is also suitable for our challenge at St Luke's Charity Card challenge where we want you to make a card using "Black, White and one other colour" - do check it out - it's for a great cause.  What do you think?

This set of patterned animals is just fantastic.  I made a couple of cards with this set in May for the OLW challenge - see here and here.  All the animals are a bit unusual - they feature funky designs, and I've been dying to play with the lizard stamp.  I also wanted to play with my new Papermania typography stamps.  They're large size sentiments in great fonts and can be coloured, paper pieced or left plain.  The frame is from the Frame-It set by my favourite rodent!!  I was going to colour the sentiment but decided to keep it simple in black and white, and added colour to the lizard - sparkly green!!

Stamps:  Inkadinkadoo - Patterned Animals; Papermania - Son (PMA907413); Waltzingmouse - Frame-It, Free Spirit - Words
Inks:  Memento - Tuxedo Black
Accessories:  Card from stash; Stardust pen and Promarker

I've done a close up photo of the lizard so that you can see the design easier - it's such a cute lizard!!

I know I'm not going to be the first to post my card to the challenge blog - but it's way earlier than usual!  And now that I've made this card, I'm going to have a busy day helping Kathryn to tidy her bedroom.  It looks rather like a bomb site!!  I suspect I'll be doing more tidying than supervising :)  Still, it will also give us the chance to have a move around - which is always fun.  I'm going to try and get back later to post another card - this time for the CAS-ual Friday challenge - a non-traditional shaped card!!  See you later.  Have a great day.

Less is More and OLW .....

Edited - I did something stupid and this has gone to the top of the list - sorry folks!!!  For today's post - click here.  I'm daft!!!

.... it's been a busy day - I was working in my craft room this morning on my CR84FN card - you can see it tomorrow - and I was a bit late sending it to Mona.  I completely lost track of the days - Doh!!

My card is for two challenges - the first being One Layer Wednesday 60 - Quick Layers of Ink, being hosted by Susan at Simplicity.  Susan has made it a bit tougher than usual, as we are ONLY allowed to use layers and ink - no sponging, no masking, no embellishments!!  The second is Less is More22 - Shades of Blue - I've always like blues/greens/purples - so this is a dream!  I really like the cards that Chrissie and Mandi have put up - so very different in look and style - but fab!

However,I've been thinking about the OLW60 challenge on an off since it went up, but I hadn't quite got a handle on it.  Then when I saw the theme for LIM - shades of blue - it came together really quickly.  I've gone for a grunge/masculine feel to the card - and it'll probably end up being posted to Ben.

Stamps:  Waltzingmouse - Free Spirit; Inkadinkadoo - Rock Star; Making Memories - Just Chillin' Girl
Inks:  Stampin' Up! - Bashful Blue, Pacific Point, Tempting Turquoise, Night of Navy
Accessories:  Card from stash

I watched the Women's Wimbledon final - it was really good and I'm pleased that Miss Kvitova won - she played a brilliant match.  Looking forward to the Men's final tomorrow.

Now, I'm off back to my craft room - I want to have another go at the LIM challenge and I've still got a couple of other challenges to play, specifically CAS-ual Friday - a masculine card in kraft!!!  Must think ...  See you later.

Less is More 19 - frames ...

.... the first blog I check on Saturday morning is Less is More.  Since this challenge started in January I think I've only missed the few weeks while I was in India - it's totally addictive and extremely challenging.  It's also one of the most supportive challenge blogs about - lots of helpful hints and tips from Chrissie, Mandi and everyone who plays!  We are on week 2 of the monthly rota and that means a one layer card - I rather like one layer cards, but there is always a twist.  And this time, the twist is that Chrissie and Mandi us to be "in the frame".  The frame can be a doodle, embossed, hand drawn, stamped, painted, which ever technique you fancy - but the main part of the image must be in the frame!

I've got great plans for this challenge and I will be posting more cards during the week, but this is my first card.  I've gone to a set that I've only used a few times - don't know why, it's super.  I went for the resist technique and stamped my image with Versamark and clear embossed it.  Then I took several shades of pink/red and sponged over the image - and like magic the image appears!!  For balance I added a swirly flourish to the bottom and top of the card.  And that's it - done!!

Stamps:  Inkadinkadoo - Boxed Wishes;  Kanban - All Occasions
Inks:  Distress - Spun Sugar, Worn Lipstick, Barn Door; Versamark
Accessories:  Card and embossing powder from stash

That's all for now - I'm off to get dinner for us all.  It's been a thoroughly miserable day here in North Wales - wall to wall rain!!!  It feels more like Autumn today.  The plus side is that I've done some reading, some more tidying in my craft room (and discovered a few "lost" items) and made one challenge card!  I hope to get back with another later this evening.  See you soon.