Colorful Options

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Welcome back to another color challenge at Colorful Options but firstly a huge thank you to all who took part in our last challenge so many amazing entries.

For the next month, we are asking you to use orange .

I really struggled again as this is the third time that orange or shades of it has been a requirement for my last three Design Team cards and orange is definitely not a colour I like to use.

I did the best I could using this wonderful Spellbinders Kimono die . I used the Altenew embossing folder Arches for texture, coloured with Spiced Pumpkin Oxide ink, incidentally, it’s the only orange colour I have. I then paper-pieced the embossed and coloured card back into the kimono outline.I added my go-to Tim Holtz sentiment and and a little heart covered in lashing of Glossy Accents and there you have it.

We do hope you will join us at Colorful Options the Design Team once again have some amazing cards to delight and inspire.

I’m afraid I’m so far behind in commenting as getting the new shop ready is taking it’s toll. My lovely sister and niece are visiting from the UK and we intend to spend a few days away at my summer house I was hoping that the shop would have been ready by now but as usual here in Greece things tend to slow down this time of year. Hopefully I will be able to catch up next week so please forgive me.

Wishing you all a happy and healthy September.

Marie

Less is More #Challenge 490 Orange

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Welcome back to another fun challenge at Less is More and for the next two weeks we are asking you to use the colour orange in your creation but don’t forget to keep it CAS.

I used an Inkylicious sunray stamp and stencil which I embossed in black ink then cut out the centre panel and coloured with Carved Pumpkin Distress Oxide and used clear embossing powder to give some shine. I then popped it up with foam tape for dimension. Matted with orange card and used my go-to sentiments from Mr Holtz, there you have it.

A super simple card that came together very quickly which is just as well as getting our new shop ready is certainly taking its toll on me crafting wise and am so behind on commenting so please forgive me.

We do hope you will join us at LIM my team mates once again have some amazing cards to inspire and delight.

Take care

Marie

Sparkles Monthly Challenges #167 Beach and or Tropical.

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Welcome to another challenge at Sparkles, we had lots of amazing entries for our Christmas in July challenge you certainly make it difficult for Design Team to choose our favourites.

This time round we have a fabulous theme, Beach, and or Tropical chosen by the lovely and talented Dawn S.

I decided to frame it and take it to my summer house, unfortunately, I wasn’t able to crop the photo for some reason so please excuse the photo.

I used a fabulous embossing folder by Altenew but kept it plain as I wanted the colours to really pop on the leaves and the Whittle Lizard. I’m not sure who makes the outer frame as once again I was remiss and chucked out the packaging. When I bought it I thought that all of the frames were attached but it turns out it cuts tiny weeny skinny frames which for me and my sausage fingers are difficult to handle. I tried to keep them all attached on this card with the help of lots of tape and glue although I did lose a few of the little tykes along the way.

The leaves are by Memory Box which has a coordinating embossing folder it’s a bit of a pfaff trying to emboss the leaves without them falling out of the folder once you have die cut them in fact the whole card was a bit of a pfaff, to be honest.

The leaves were colored with Distress oxides and then lashings of Glossy Accents.

The Whittle Lizzard is also by Memory Box I wanted it to look like it was jumping from leaf to leaf. The sentiment once again is curtest of Mr Holtz.

We do hope you will join us at Sparkles Monthly Challenges my teammates have some amazing cards to delight and inspire.

I’m also linking up to Colorful Options who are asking us to use the colours yellow and Green

Take care

Marie

Less is More #489 One Layer

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Welcome back to another Less is More one-layer challenge but this time we have a photo to hopefully inspire and get those creative juices going.

My card came together so quickly for this challenge as I had recently received my Spellbinders Letterpress and `I knew exactly what I wanted to do and that was a first for me.

For those of you who haven’t heard of the Betterpress, I urge you to check it out it’s such a simple way to add fantastic texture to your cards it’s such a pity you can’t see it in the photo, plus the Betterpress plates can also be used for hot foiling which is a win-win as far as I’m concerned.

We hope you can play along with us at LIM my teamies have some fantastic cards to inspire and delight.

I’m away for a few days at my summer home enjoying the calm before the storm as we are currently opening a new jewellery store in Thessaloniki and from next week it will be all hands on deck.

Wishing you a fabulous weekend

Marie

Colorful Options August Challenge

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Welcome back to a new challenge at Colorful Options, we were blown away by the number of amazing entries for our July Red, White, Blue theme you certainly know how to make the Design Teams job difficult!

For this month’s challenge, we have another great color theme, and we do hope you will play along.

I made a couple of cards as I just loved the colours.

For my first card, I used once again my favourite oval frame and I still don’t know who makes it as the packaging was discarded. The cover plate die is by Tim Holtz called bubbles I cut it twice coloured with Distress Oxides in Squeezed Lemonade and Twisted Citron and lavishly added glossy accents. foam tape was added to give dimension and then I changed the orientation in order to give a different pattern. A little gem and an idea-ology sentiment was added and there you have it.

For my second card, I used three memory box dies to create this woodland scene using the same distress Oxides as for the above card. The little moo cow is also from Memory box. I added a few splashes of water for good measure and lots of foam tape for dimension.

We do hope you will join us at Colorful Options and check out the fantastic cards from my teammates who will hopefully inspire you to play along.

I’m also playing along with Tuesday Morning Sketches #718

NBUS (Never Before Used Schtuff)#53 as my Memory Box die is on its first outing.

Take care

Marie

Christmas in July #166 Sparkles Monthly Challenges

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Hello all and welcome to a new challenge at Sparkles Monthly Challenges and what a challenge it is too! As I’m writing this post the temperature here in Greece is 43 C !!! and our challenge for this month is Christmas in July and boy oh boy do I wish it was cold outside.

I made this super simple card using my Cameo to cut out the reindeer which I inked up around the edges with a little Distress Ink and added a red pearl for it’s little nose. The circles were cut using Spellbinders dies and embossed using a lovely winter embossing folder also by Spellbinders. Sentiments courtesy of `Mr Holtz and there you have it.

We do hope you will play along with us at Sparkles Monthly Challenges my teammates have some incredible Christmas cards to inspire and maybe even kick-start your Christmas creativity.

This weekend I will be avoiding the coast as I’m sure all of Thessaloniki will be at the beaches due to this very hot spell. I will be staying behind to enjoy the empty city with like-minded friends drinking plenty of cold beverages wink wink. Whatever you are up to make it fabulous!

I’m linking up to Daring Cardmakers who are also celebrating Christmas in July and Craft Rocket Challenges.

Take care

Marie

Less is More Challenge #487 – Alphabet (B) is for Beach

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Hello and welcome to a new challenge at Less is More. For the next two weeks we will be asking you to make a card following our prompt B is for Beach and that’s exactly where I hope to be when this post is published!

A super simple card testing my abilities with ink blending and embossing. I saw a tutorial over at Inkylicious and ended up buying the stamps that were featured unfortunately they didn’t arrive in time so I had to use my imagination to make the waves. I used the edge of an old stamp with Versamark ink and Sea Foam embossing powder (how apt) by Papermania.

I used Distress Oxides for the sea and sand a Spellbinders oval frame and an Idea-ology sentiment and that’s it! Saying that this was one of many attempts to get the waves the way I wanted them and the colours just right. Once my stamps arrive I will treat you all to how it should have been done.

A couple of photo’s of the view from my summer house here in the Halkidiki region of Thessaloniki where I will hopefully be when this post goes live.

Do pop over to LIM to see the amazing creations by my teammates but remember to keep it Cas.

Wishing you all a fabulous weekend

Take care

Marie

Colorful Options. Red, White, Blue.

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I’m so excited to be sharing some fantastic news that I’ve been holding onto for a while now. As of today, I’m officially a member of the Colorful Options design team. A few months ago I was one of the lucky winners for their pastel challenge and was approached by the lovely and talented Makira and was asked to join the team and of course, I accepted immediately.

For the next month, our challenge theme is Red, white, Blue.

 You have the freedom to play with one, two, or all three of the colors, mix and match them in any combination.  Or you may choose to venture into a rainbow of colors.  The choice is entirely yours! 

I actually made two cards for this challenge.

The first is this amazing stamp by Tim Holtz The Inspector. I wanted to keep it simple so just stamped and coloured the image with Distress oxides and water and added a little glossy accents to the eyes. The sentiment is from Tim Holtz which I thought was quite fitting as he looked like a miserable so-and-so. I added a frame and matted it with red card and there you have it!

For my second card, I used the amazing die set Arista from Birch Press Designs, with lots of lovely layers and endless possibilities. For the background, I used the Pinpoint Radial Plate also by BP.

I do hope you will join us at Colorful Options my teammates have the most amazing projects to delight and inspire and there is also a 25$ gift voucher from Simon Says Stamp so even more incentive to join in!

I’m linking up with the lovely Darnell at NBUS as The Inspector is fresh out of his packet

Wishing you all a fabulous weekend

Take care

Marie

Challenge #486 – Anything Goes Less is More

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Welcome back to another fun challenge at LIM. For the next fortnight, we have a super easy theme Anything Goes, now you can’t get easier than that! Not forgetting of course to keep it clean and simple.

For my card, I used a couple of memory box dies called Under the Sea. I love this set as the fishes are cut and embossed giving lovely texture and just a little colour brings them to life. I used Distress oxides on the fish and coral and a touch of glossy accents to bring the coral to life. Clear Nuovo drops have been discreetly added to the background, so discreetly that you can hardly see them (which was what I was aiming for )

We do hope you will join us at LIM as my team mates once again have amazing cards to delight and inspire.

On another note, summer has finally arrived in Greece and I’m off to my summer house for a few days to dip my toes in the Med, last summer I had a badly broken wrist and only managed to swim on a couple of occasions so am determined to make the most of it this year.

I’m linking up to Happy little stampers

Make my Monday who are asking us to create something for their theme On the Water

Wishing you all a fabulous weekend.

Take care

Marie

Sparkles!

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I’m happy to announce that as of today I’m officially a member of the design team for Sparkles Monthly Challenges. It’s a monthly challenge with an amazing design team and I’m super excited to be part of it.

Our challenge this month is #165 No Stamping Allowed and you have a whole month to come up with something wonderful.

For the base, I used the Cross Stitch cover plate and Dainty Blooms cover die both by Altenew. I then cut out the Dainty Blooms cover die for a second time using yellow card and paper pieced two of the blooms. The lovely little birdie is from Concord&9Th Eclectic Garden Set and the sentiment is courtesy of Mr Holtz.

I do hope you will join us over at Sparkles Monthly Challenges as the design team has some amazing cards to inspire and delight but don’t forget no stamping allowed !

I’m also linking up to

Double D challenges as they are asking us to use lemons or yellow as our focus

Create a smile Using their mood board

Take care

Marie