Less Is More

It now seems that I can't make a card without checking out all the fabulous card challenge websites for ideas and inspiration.  This time it was the Less is More team that got my creative juices flowing with their Use a Flourish challenge.

I used lots of Stampin' Up supplies for this one, including the French Filigree and Seeing Spots stamps and the Curly Cute set for the beginning and end of the sentiment.  I added a few hand-drawn swirls and dots to the card to give my flourish a bit more pizazz.

Can you guess who I might be sending this one to?

Less Is More

I love it when a card just works and I don't feel that it just needs a little bit of something extra.  I made this one for my cousin who's just had a little girl.  The name was stamped with the Forever Friends Hand Script Alphabet stamps (which I've just bought and couldn't wait to use) and the footprints are stamped with some ancient unbranded stamps (which were amongst the first stamps I ever bought).  I stamped in Versamark and used a pink sparkly embossing powder.  And that was that!

I'm entering this into the Less is More week 68 challenge: For a Baby or Child

Another Mother's Day card

Inspiration found!
Thanks to:
The Shabby Tea Room (#104 - Colourful Confections) for the gorgeous colour scheme - pink, aqua and green
Lawnscaping Challenge (#29 - Sketch) for the lovely layout design

and The Ribbon Reel Challenge (#23 - Newsprint)

There are lots of layers on this card and it took me ages to put it all together!
I started off with strips of newspaper which were wiped on a white inkpad and stuck to some backing paper.  A piece of pink tissue paper was glued over the top and stamped with a slightly darker pink.
I cut a tag out of some aqua coloured patterned paper then stuck some cream tissue paper over the top to tone it down a bit.  I stamped some white flowers over this bit.
The newspaper flower on the tag is a sizzix die cut.  These newspaper bits were also inked in white then gently sponged over with blue and green.
The tag has a blue tissue paper border and the sentiment is stamped onto blue tissue paper then overlaid with acetate to make it stand out a bit better.

After all my efforts in making these two mothers day cards I'm not sure I want to give them away - still, I couldn't ask for two lovelier people to give them to!

A card for Mum

Thank goodness for all those wonderful weekly challenge blogs - I'm not sure I'd be able to design a card without their help anymore!  This one is for my Mum for Mothering Sunday and it's being entered into 3 challenges:
Sketch Saturday
Polka Doodles - polkadots or stripes
Stampin' for the Weekend - bingo!

As soon as I saw this weeks sketch on Sketch Saturday I knew I wanted to use it.  I love polka dots so getting them on the card was another plus (thanks PolkaDoodles), and then I saw that Stampin' for the weekend had a bingo game and polka dots were on there too, so I chose a line with polka dots, die cuts and flowers.
The big pink flower and swirls in the foreground are all sizzix die cuts, I mounted them on acetate to lift them up away from the card a bit.  The next layer I had fun stamping lots of flowers on around a circle then cut it out so that it has a (sort of) scalloped edge.  The next layer is a new technique I've discovered that's great for toning down bright colours - I had a pretty scrap of flowery paper that I loved the design of but it would have overpowered the card, so I glued a piece of pale pink tissue paper over the top (then ran it through my die cutting machine to get it nice and flat).
The last layer is a polka dot background that has lightly distressed edges.
Now, I'm off to find some more challenges to get inspiration to make a card for my mum-in-law too!

Butterfly Birthday

I made this card for my niece's birthday and am entering it into two challenges
DYSU #61 Things with Wings
Allsorts 144 Spread Your Wings

The background papers were out of my stash and I cut the big number 9 out of some gold card.
The lettering was die cut with the Vintage Market alphabet, the butterflies were from a Sizzix Framelits stamp and diecut set.
The colouring was done with a set of shimmer paints that were free from a magazine - I don't really do much in the way of colouring in or painting on my cards and I have to say I actually quite enjoyed it!

Seaside Birthday Card

I've made this card for entry into 3 challenges this week.
The Ribbon Reel Challenge Blog #22 Weathered

Hand Stamped Sentiments Technique Challenge #106 Colour Blocking (HSSTC106)

Papertake weekly challenge - Get Krafty

I started off with a square piece of Kraft card onto which I stuck smaller squares of newspaper which had been covered with a layer of white ink.  I sponged two rectangles of blue ink near the top and bottom edges and stamped the waves and the seagull in a darker blue.  The small houses were stamped in white on Kraft card and stuck down, the larger houses were stamped on white card, cut out and stuck on top.
This was then placed onto a cream card base and finished off with some paper twine and a birthday sentiment

The stamp set I used is the Harbour set from Hobby Art.  This was a set that my small son chose when he came to the craft shop with me and that he's used to create some lovely seaside pictures whilst making a right old mess with his inky fingers  :-)
I'm quite glad I've finally had a turn with them now too!

A little bird told me

I've made this card for my friend Sally whose birthday is coming up soon.  I've taken inspiration from two challenges:
Daring Cardmakers - A little bird told us (sponsored by the Ribbon Reel)
DYSU - Challenge #41 Use your scraps

The birds and birdcage are stamps from Woodware.  They were stamped onto scraps of card from my stash.  The birdcage background had a Stampin' Up jumbo wheel (very vintage) rolled over it
The sentiment is a Marion Emberson set, Sunshine and Flowers.
The background patterned paper is one of the many scraps from my stash