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

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

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

The Cameo Spotlight ” Numbers ”

As those of you know who follow my blog I really, really love my Cameo and practically everything I make uses some feature of it, so when I heard there was a new challenge blog on the block for us Silhouette devotees you can imagine my joy ! This is their second challenge and as luck would have it I was in the middle of making some cards for Mr P’s birthday when this popped up

Two super simple cards,  so simple I almost feel guilty both cut of course with my Cameo , all I did was added stickles to highlight his age which could be 25 ( I’m not that lucky ) well that’s what he said   he was real lucky he didn’t get a black eye !

Why not pop over to The Cameo Spotlight Challenge and have a peep at the fabulous DT’s creations just stunning and so many fabulous entries already.

Right must dash lots of exciting things happening in my crafty life at the moment and a few up coming scheduled posts to take care of , all will be revealed in the fullness of time.

Take care

Marie

Addicted to Stamps CAS Card Challenge

Thank you lovely ladies for you get well wishes after my accident with the Sushi knife ,the finger looks rather unattractive and before Suze Bain makes some disparaging remark I will say that it matches the rest of me !

Its time once again for another challenge over atAddicted to Stampswere our  theme for this week is to make a card  any subject as long as its clean and simple ,well tons of scope there so no excuses for not joining in ! so come and have a peep at what I made

I have a beautiful book with Japanese prints that I have been dying to use for some time but didn’t want to destroy the book so I photocopied the image onto acetate, I just love how bright the colours are when you use acetate. I placed a piece of bevelled glass over the image and glued it with Glossy Accents and added a few red pearls. I used Spellbinders circles to cut the aperture and popped up the frame with some foam, a lovely resin flower in the corner and all done.

I’d like to enter this card into a couple of challenges ( havent done that for ages ) the first is Annabelle Stamps blog who are asking us to use spots and dots and anything round ,  am in just under the wire on this one !

Moxie Fab World Focal Point Challenge

I’ve been dying to take part in one of their challenges for ages now but was always overwhelmed by the quality of the beautiful creations by DT and entrants, nothing ventured nothing gained so here goes

For all of the deets do pop over to Annabelle Stamps and Moxi Fab World there are some amazing entries and fabulous inspirational pieces by both DT’s

Variations on a theme wont bore you with the details

Last but not least !

Please pop over to Addicted to Stamps to see what the rest of the gorgeous girls on the DT have made for your delectation and why not have a go…come on you know you want to !

Well will have to love you and leave you as its Mr P’s birthday today and I’m still struggling to make him a card, last year the poor man didn’t get one ! Actually this time I have three on the go but can’t make my mind up so he just might end up getting all of them ! I’m taking him out for a romantic dinner this evening so I need a good five hours to get ready  ! I might be a bit late getting round to you all tomorrow due hopefully to partaking of  copious amounts of wines and spirits and of course am still on medication ( gin ) for the sore finger !

Toodle pip and ta ra to you all

Marie

Addicted to Stamps ” Bingo Challenge “

This is going to be a lengthy post so if anyone wants to leave now please raise your hand and you will be excused, for those of you who are staying ,you have been warned so eyes down for a full house  ! Over at Addicted to Stamps its time for our second bingo challenge and we would love for you to play along with us this is our little bingo card .

Here is my take on the sketch

I chose die cuts, free and pearls but I see it also fits the gems, die cuts and flowers category is this legal !! I mean I’m on the DT so I should know shouldn’t I !

I used my Cameo to create the sentiment and to die cut the sheep and the oval acetate with the flowers, the frame was a gift from my boss Irini at Get Creative and the pearls from my stash but the main item the knitting on the cocktail  sticks , which incidentally is a broach so can be detached from the card and worn was made by my lovely sister Karen who also sells them along with lots of other fabulous creations in her Etsy shop. These little broaches are so fab and funky , she also makes them without pins which are perfect as embellishments for cards and scrapbooking.

There is little story that I would like to share behind this card and do hope you take the time to read this as I’m dedicating this to my lovely and very talented younger sister Karen. Now Karen, and I hope she doesn’t mind me telling you has been ill for quite some years and has been virtually house bound ,an avid knitter and a very prolific on at that,  had to give up her passion many years ago when she became ill. In May when I  visited her and stayed with her lovely family she had recently undergone surgery and was on the slow road to recovery. I urged her to attend a craft exhibition that was taking place at  that time and on the last day we went together. She really enjoyed it and we both bought some long stitch  and cross stitch kits. That was three months ago and wow what a change  ! she has opened an Etsy shop  Tricky Little Stiches with her beautiful knitting , baby samplers,  knitted broaches , started a blog Tricky Little Stiches ,  joined a crochet group all in such a short space of time , I’m so proud of her . Not only have I seen this lovely lady overcome so many health issues but she is finally doing the things she loves and embarking on new crafty projects all of the time. She has left me breathless with creativity and her enthusiasm and am so happy for her and her family who have been so supportive , especially her husband Joe who has taken her to practically every wool and craft shop in the North West of England and is so happy to do it. I can honestly say that crafting has given her a new lease of life.

Thought I would share another card with you which also is following the die cut, pearl and free line. I used my Cameo to create the background paper and die cuts, added the red pearls and the sentiment is SU.

I do hope you find time to join us this week at Addicted to Stampsand why not pop over and see what the gorgeous gals on the DT have come up with to inspire you. I must say these are a fabulous group of  talented crafters and not only that they are hilarious you should read their blogs very entertaining indeed !

DT call at CraftyCardmakers

One more thing before I go,  just wanted to mention that CraftyCardmakers is back after a month-long absence and our current challenge is up and running and our theme is sport. I was unable to take part this time so don’t have a card to share with you but the rest of the DT have once again produced some fabulous projects, and if that wasn’t enough we are having a DT call so please pop over to CraftyCardmakers for all the deets.

Right I thing that’s just about it and I thank you all for your patience,  that’s if there’s anyone still here !
Time for me to put the doglets to bed and lather up with the mozzie cream.

Sweet dreams to all

Marie

Addicted to Stamps ” Make your Mark “

Let me start by saying a big thank you to you all for all your birthday and holiday wishes last week I was really touched. We visited the beautiful island of Lesvos in Greece and celebrated my 52nd birthday there, it was fabulous, swimming, walking, eating, drinking, shopping, hot springs to heal are aching bones, and practically no internet which meant I had to take a little break from visiting you all. The last night of our stay there was  a severe power cut for several hours and the whole island was in darkness,  now this is the third largest island in Greece so it felt quite eerie , it was night-time and we were out for dinner at the harbour when the power failed. It could have been a disaster but it was incredibly romantic , candles everywhere and people talking in hushed tones we could just see the twinkling lights of Turkey off in the distance and it turned out to be one of the highlights of our stay.

This is a photo I took through a whole in a wall and that little balcony that you can see is where we used to have coffee at night to watch the sunset, its tiny and just hangs out over the rocks a perfect end to a perfect day.

Right on to business …. over atAddicted to Stamps its time once again for a new challenge and we are asking you to create a card with the emphasis on using markers to colour your image. Since this will be a regular challenge and due to the fact that I’m rubbish at colouring in,  hence my lack of the aforementioned I have had to do some serious shopping and practicing. The shopping part was dead easy , I bought loads of Copics none of which matched each other so I keep returning to the scene of the crime every other day to get me some more. I think the guy who runs the shop thinks I’m either a stalker or a nutter as he has given me three colour charts so I can mark of what I have bought and of course I have lost all three of them ! I’m a bit embarrassed each time I go in and so make up for it by spending a fortune . I have to say I find this colouring in lark quite difficult and have wasted tons of paper on it but I do find it rather therapeutic . Not that my card is anything special by any means,  I have  so much to learn but am enjoying the process immensely, so come and have a peep at my little cards yes cards , got carried away and made two !

I created the background with my Cameo and then masked it with this great flower image from Hero Arts and used the Copics to colour the blooms, this was about my tenth attempt as either the shading looked wrong to me or I was so far outside the lines it looked like I had drunk about four large Gins ! ( the gin came afterwards )

Heres another one with a different background and I’ve used some stickles on the flower centres a bit of an error I think but it took ages to do so tough !

Please pop over to Addicted to Stamps and see what my fabulous and talented team mates and expert coloureres in have come up with and why not take part , you can’t be any worse than I am !

Right off to bed and lather myself up with the mozzie cream , the little buggers are vicious this year and due to lack of funds here in Greece our local council was unable to do it’s usual spraying ( most probably a good thing ) so all you can hear in my house at night is the constant slapping sound of  Teo and I trying to kill the little buggers or our  swearing, not very conducive to a good nights sleep !

Hope to catch up with you in the next few days as I  am suffering from a little post holiday depression apart from my DT duties I’m avoiding my Mac so please bear with me.

Ta ra

Marie