Less is More Week 87 Love and Marriage

A big warm hello to each and every one of you crafty ladies and especially to the fabulous ” Limettes ” that name does sound like a soul band from the sixties now doesn’t it !

Now joining us live on stage, Mandi and Chrissie and the sensational Limettes lol ! well sounded funny to me anyway.

Am not really getting much time to play at the moment but I do love to join in the LIM challenges when I can and when I saw the challenge title this week I did a little jig, well at least in my head as the broken foot has put an end to my jigging for the time being !

This weeks challenge over at Less is More is lucky dip Love and Marriage and it just so happened that I was working on some wedding cards at the moment yippee !!!!!

A very simple card made  with the help of my best friend Cameo and a computer generated sentiment.

I felt a bit of a cheat on this one as it was so simple and came together really quickly ( for a change ) so I made another

Once again I used my cameo to cut out this gorgeous heart , I used a sizzix embossing folder to emboss this pretty pattern  underneath the negative space and then popped it up with foam .I  cut the same heart with red card and used the positive to place inside the negative thus giving dimension , a little resin flower and all done. I’m not really a big fan of sentiments and leave most of my cards blank so that they can be interpreted in any way the giver or receiver thinks fit.

I really loved the simplicity of this card and so made a couple of variations. The one I wanted to share was a beautiful ( well I thought so anyway ) gold embossed card with an amazing antique button in the centre but it proved camera-shy and after taking about thirty photographs I gave up. Think it must be the Greta Garbo of the card world and wants to stay a recluse !

Do pop over to LIM to see the fabulous as always inspirational cards from Mandi and Chrissie and of course the amazing entries so far.

I’m off to cook lunch,  a traditional British  Sunday roast and wouldn’t you know it we have 31 degrees today  here in Greece , not really the ideal menu now is it !

Ta ra

Marie

Addicted to stamps and More – Theme Challenge 3 Spring

For the eagle-eyed among you,  you may have noticed on my blog post title that we have changed our name a little  from Addicted to Stamps to Addicted to stamps and More . Before any of you go jumping to conclusions let me put the record straight and say that  this has nothing to do with my so-called gin addiction ! Our lovely leader Kylie assures me that it has to do with another matter entirely and I do hope we can leave it at that ! So from now on our challenge blog will be known as Addicted to Stamps and More, it seems that there is another blog in Germany with a very similar name and in order to avoid confusion we have decided to change ours.

On to the matter at hand,  Our theme this week at Addicted to Stamps and More is spring , so we are looking for your interpretation of the season and here is my Euros worth !

I used my Cameo to cut the card added some lovely pink paper behind and then attached all the buttons with glossy accents and some pretty co-ordinating thread to each of them . This looks really easy but it took ages,  each time I cut the shape it kept sticking to the cutting mat and tearing the card when I tried to remove it. Well that’s my excuse any way !

As I still had this little leaf stamp  out on my desk from SU I thought i would use it to make this little card . the flower in the centre is a brooch made by my very cheeky little sister Karen over at Tricky Little stitches. I was in two minds as whether or not I should mention her name again as she has been running riot in blog land,  be-friending my followers and then sullying my name ! The cheek of it ! I shall rise above it all and show what a dignified lady I really am.

I do hope you will pop over top Addicted To Stamps and More to see the fabulous cards by my fellow team mates such inspirational pieces and why not join in its always a pleasure to see you there.

Take care

Marie

Get Creative September 20th Card Sketch Challenge

No it’s not a mistake its me again……….dinging your in boxes …..sorry. Now I don’t normally post on three consecutive days let alone three times in a week  but once in a blue moon the three DT’s I’m on their challenges coincide so here I am. Before I go any further it seems that my claim that I am not an alcoholic have fallen on deaf ears and you rotten lot don’t believe a word of it except for a few lovely ladies so thank you  to them , the rest of you and you know who you are , so-called blogging  “friends” it seems you can be relied upon to disparage and disbelieve me ! I would also like to point out that these are the exact same women who were trying to kidnap Bailey and Rosy a little while back and were guilty of sending secret emails and trying to tempt them with fresh starts in foreign climes ! It looks like I will have to draw another veil over this fiasco too! For anyone reading my blog for the first time no this is not another AA meeting !

Over at Get Creative its time for our super sketch challenge which has been set for us by our lovely leader Irini and here it is

I think you will agree there are so many possibilities with this sketch so let me show you what I created

This card came together really quickly, what , you can tell !

Inkadinkadoo stamps, stamped onto the card base then stamped again and mounted with foam a dash of  red stickles on the heart and the sentiment was created by my lovely Cameo and there you have it, such as it is !
Please pop over to Get Creative to see what my lovely team mates have come up with to inspire you. This month the challenge winner will be our guest designer for November .

Right will have to love you and leave you am off for coffee with some lovely scrapping friends and of course the heavens have opened and have to hobble out into the elements in my flip-flops !!!

Take care

Marie

Addicted to Stamps Bingo Challenge 3

Hello my names Marie and I’m addicted to ……..no not gin stamps !!!!!! There’s a nasty rumour going around that I’m a little too fond of the “sauce ”  I think I may have started the rumour myself , albeit in a desperate attempt for attention, hoping to distract you all from the fact that I’m a naff card maker ! It seems to have worked , even my own sister Karen at Tricky Little stitches is fueling the fire !!!! Another attention seeker in the making  ! I would just like to point out that although I do occasionally partake of the ” waters ” I am far from vacationing at the Betty Ford clinic and this is all purely for your entertainment. I know that Florence from Florence and Freddie and the lovely Lynne from Adorn are having great fun maligning my name,  don’t let all that lovely lace and prettiness fool you ! Now before Suze Bain jumps on the bandwagon and says that denial is part of the illness I just want to assure you all that my recent injuries are not alcohol induced just me being clumsy !!

Its time once again for a new challenge over at Addicted to Stamps and our theme this week is Bingo so have a peep at the little card below and choose your line you know the drill

I chose score, grey and circle but I see that as chance would have it I also have score , free and purple !! so I don’t know whether  I win a prize or am disqualified !!!!

Basic Grey Dp for the background , Spellbinders circles for ……the circles duh!!!!!  Tim Holtz mini and maxi paper rosettes dies and  what looks like a Rowntrees blackcurrent fruit pastel in the centre was made by I with one of my handmade moulds filled with clear acrylic and a few drops of alcoholic , sorry I mean alcohol ink for the lush colour. Leaves courtesy of SU and Melon Mambo ink. Oh and the curved sentiment is from my cameo did a little bit of magic to curve the sentiment and all done !

Right if your still with me please pop over to Addicted to Stamps  and have a peep at what the DT have made , there are some gobsmacking tricky cards for your viewing pleasure and then there is of course mine.

Before I leave just wanted to show you a piccie of  Ziggy my friends cat who shares my new craft studio, I had just bought this little basket to keep some of my tat in and the furry feline was in it in a flash !!!!!

For the eagle-eyed amongst you that whisky and coke in the background is not mine !!!!!

Right am off  into the night , hobbling home in my flip-flops in the rain( still can’t get my shoes on )

Take care

Oh and a word of warning am going for the  ” Triple ” three posts in three days you lucky, lucky , people !

Marie

Crafty Cardmakers Challenge 75 Stitching and Lace

It seems like someone has put a curse on me lately, you may remember a few weeks ago I sliced the top of my finger off with a sushi knife and although it is healing nicely its still very painful and quite sensitive. Well Friday night I had a little altercation with the corner of my bed which just happens to have a metal frame. I whacked my foot rather hard on the corner and have broken my little toe !!! this is the third time I’ve broken the damn thing ( and no Florence gin was not involved ) although I have to say am having a few scoops for purely medicinal purposes you understand ! I ‘m now hobbling ungraciously around in my flip-flops and of course the weather has turned rotten and as my craft room is no longer at home  I had to brave the elements dressed like a bag lady in the teeming rain in order to get this post done !! Now theres dedication for you !!!!!!

Its time for a new challenge over at Crafty Cardmakers but before I go any further I would like to thank everyone who joined in my ”  Winged Things ” challenge so many fabulous entries and you really made it difficult for me to choose a winner. Our hostess for the next fortnight is our lovely boss Lin who is asking us to use lace and stitching on our creations and here is what she has to say :-

I would like to see some stitching, either hand, machine or faux on your project as WELL as some lace, real not faux.
I really wanted to create something simple for this challenge ( again ) ! lately I’m in a very CAS frame of mind and I knew my teamies would all come up with lots of  fabulous lacy gorgeousness and I was right, so  I thought I would leave it up to the experts.
I wanted to give the impression of a pattern and so stamped
my image onto velum and then again onto some lovely DP and paper pieced the image. Added a little pocket and some lace and a button. I used my Cameo to cut the scissors and then triple coated them with UTEE  which I inked up first with SU Melon Mambo ink and added a little leather to the handles.
I would also like to enter this card into Pile it On Challenge no 38 ” Its a Stitch Up ” who are asking us to use some real or faux stiching on our project
We have a wonderful sponsor once again Hobby ArtStamps
This is the Fab prize on offer
I’m sure you will agree definitely worth entering for.
Please pop over to Crafty Cardmakers to see the wonderful creations by my team mates and do hope you will find the time to join us.
I would also like to enter this card into Pile it On Challenge no 38 ” Its a Stitch Up ” who are asking us to use some real or faux stitching on our project.
Right time for me to hobble off home now sniff,sniff.

take care

Marie

Addicted to Stamps ” Make your Mark ” and ” The Fullness of Time “

Hello lovely ladies,  hope I find you all wonderfully well and fighting fit. Darnell if you are reading this I hope your back is better and you are avoiding hammocks !
Time once again for another  challenge over at Addicted to Stamps were our theme is ” Make your Mark ”  In other words girls get out those markers and go to town,  you are free to make anything you wish as long as those markers are involved. I may be on the DT for ATS but my colouring leaves a lot to be desired as you will shortly see but if you pop over to ATS you will be truly inspired , no really I mean it, my team mates are so talented , I think they just let me join in cos they feel sorry for me. Anyways here are my offerings.

Gorgeous LaBlanche stamp, the wings , eyes and lips coloured with Promarkers and then glossy accents added to lips and eyes. When dry I rubbed all over, ( the image not me ) with pink Pan Pastels and added a Silver marker to the edge. Matted with blah blah blah and a little photo corner cut with my Cameo. Spellbinders Edgeabiliies for the border and some lovely grey pearls. Not satisfied with this I decided to treat you all to another mediocre card……

This lovely spellbinders die with holes in ( sorry don’t know the name, don’t have the packaging and too tired to look it up ) I cut two of them and joined them with a piece of card for the base. The stamp is Penny Black coloured with promarkers and once again Pan Pastels brushed lightly over the top , Ta da !!!

I would just like to thank everyone who has supported us over the past few weeks at ATS , we are a new challenge blog with a fabulous DT  ( except for me ) and we love to see your wonderful crafty creations . I do hope you will pop over and pay us a visit and maybe even take part we would dearly love to see your gorgeous work.

Lately I have been begging your forgiveness for my lack of commenting and said in previous posts that all will be revealed in ” The Fulness of Time ” about my secret mission. well I have had several emails ( ok five ) from nosey crafters who obviously are too impatient to wait for ” The Fulness of `time ” to take its course. There were also some super cheeky bloggers one being Maria from Made by Maz ,  who even had the audacity to try to bribe my sister Karen of  Tricky Little Stiches  with lace and ribbons and I think even a little fabric was offered in order to find out what I was up too !! Can you believe it,  what a nerve, luckily my little sister refused or so she says although she did mention she may be meeting up with Maria in the not too distant future so looks like you can’t even trust family !!! Once again everything has been blown out of proportion and my little crafty secret now seems so insignificant I feel as if I should make something up but I just can’t think of anything interesting.

I will just leave you with a couple of photos as  a taster if you will,  am sure the cleverer among you will work it out …….more photos to follow……….in ” The fullness of Time ”

take care

marie

Get Creative Card Challenge September 5th

Hello gorgeous bloggers and Suze Bain . Another scheduled post from me and an apology , yes another apology. Sorry for not visiting as much as I normally do but as I keep saying all will be revealed in the fullness of time. Also big apology to my lovely boss Kylie at Addicted to Stamps for not coming up with the goods this week but I do promise to make it up to you.

Over at Get Creative its time for our first card challenge of the month and things are back to normal here, with two card challenges two layout challenges and one tutorial, so I do hope you are all refreshed and revitalized and ready to play along with us.

We have something a little different for you this time a beautiful photo to be used purely as inspiration and here it is

Isn’t it gorgeous !

Here is my interpretation

Couldn’t decide which photo  liked best so I put both.

Sizzix Bigz die daisies for the flower using lots of mirror card ( what a bugger to photograph ) brass locket with bevelled glass to give appearance of a mirror, lovely sizzix embossing folder for frame. Spellbinders edgeabilities and matching stamps by Just rite Stamps.

Do pop over to Get Creative to see the other beautiful and inspirational cards by the DT I was totally blown away when I saw these beauties, there is also this lovely prize for our winner

Right am off to carry on with my secret crafty mission…….

Take care

Marie

Crafty Cardmakers Challenge 74 ” Winged things “

Good day fellow crafters. This is a scheduled post as lots of crafty things going on in my life at the moment and am unable to be at my desk all will be revealed…….

Over at Crafty cardmakers I have the honour of being your hostess for the next fortnight ( drinks trolley coming round at noon, six and eleven ) and have chosen ” Winged Things ” as our theme. So my lovelies anything with wings be it animal, vegetable or mineral ( would love to see a vegetable with wings ! ) in other words anything goes as long as I can clearly see those wings, could be a tag, ATC, altered art, box , wall hanging, use a digi, get your paints out go mad ! Please do check out our crafty rules in order to be eligible for one of our super prizes by our lovely sponsors

We are kindly sponsored for this challenge by The Stampman (and Lady of course!) who are offering the winner a £10 voucher for their store, you can spend this online, in the shop or if you’re lucky enough to see them at a show! They have a ton of items in store, enough to tickle any crafty taste bud.
We are also sponsored by
I have been drawing since a child and studied graphics at College many years ago, I now work as a Medical photographer part-time but my love was always drawing. I started card making about 4yrs ago when I bought my daughter a card making kit which we did together, but I’m afraid I got the bug! My daughter preferred scrapbooking. I then started looking online at other blogs and this then became my passion and I loved sharing my cards with like-minded people.
I love stamping and loved finding images, but sometimes I could not find what I wanted so I started to draw myself.
This then has become my second addiction and I have never looked back, I love thinking of new images, and it’s just fabulous to see others take them and make them into beautiful works of art. Long may it continue!
Even though I set the challenge it was a toughie as I had so many ideas swirling around in my little pea brain but decided to keep it nice and simple. Of course I used my Cameo to cut out this lovely little angel. I used the negative space for the base and the cut out part was  triple embossed with SU gold embossing powder and replaced  into its original place with black card underneath to give a little contrast.
Mr Holtz’s on the edge die was used for the side panels one in black and the other in mirror card which was embossed and then matted and a little resin flower added for balance. The sentiment was computer generated.
Made a matching butterfly envelope for my little angel , once again using my Cameo and some lovely vellum paper.
Do pop over to Crafty Cardmakers to see the rest of the DT’s amazing creations and hopefully you will play along !
Right am off to carry on with my secret crafty mission !!

Take care

Marie