"Less is More" card

I've got serious post holiday blues but thankfully the sun was out today! I made this card for the "Less is More" challenge, which I've been wanting to do for a while but hadn't plucked up the courage! I'm not sure whether my card was a success or not, but I enjoyed making it which is the most important thing.

The requirements for the challenge were: one layer, and had to include ink. I decided to use a technique I'd never done before, which was to use a paintbrush to pick up lots of Distress Ink onto my work surface, then spritzed it twice with water mixed with some gold Perfect Pearls, and then used brush strokes to apply it to the card. The Distress Inks I used were Brushed Corduroy and Tattered Rose. Then I stamped a Laura Ashley flower stamp in chalk brown ink, and without re-inking it I stamped it again to create a 'ghost' of the image beside it. Lastly I used the same ink to stamp the Happy Birthday sentiment, and voila! A clean and simple card which I hope you like. Thanks for looking! Leave me a comment and I'll pop over to your blog and leave you a comment too :)

Masculine Summer Card

Hello! Today I'd like to show you a card I made for my boyfriend, and as he gave me a pack of Tim Holtz Adage Tickets I decided I'd use two of them on the card!

Apologies for the terrible picture! My desk was a mess and I took this picture in a hurry.

The blue stripey Dovecraft paper and the sandy paper make me think of a sunny beach! I started by layering the sandy paper and the stripey paper, and then passing ribbon around the front of the card and glueing it beneath the green corrugated card. I stamped the tree and bird stamp (from this stamp set) onto white card stock and coloured it in with Promarkers. Then I inked around the image with Old Paper Distress Ink and stuck it onto the green card at an angle. I smudged the same ink onto the adage tickets, and then layered them with double sided sellotape, and finished the card by sticking down some vintage buttons! I'm entering this card into the following challenges:

Stamp Something - Summer fun
PaperPlay - In the garden
Divas By Design - Summer (second entry)
Polkadoodle - In an english country garden
Creative Inspirations - Summertime
Craft Your Days Away - Summer (second entry)
Come and Get It - Anything Goes

I hope you like this card, I really enjoyed making it!

First ATC attempt!

I thought I'd share an ATC I made, because it's in a completely different style to the card I posted on Sunday. No Distress Inks, just bright zesty colours, Promarkers and a cute stamp set! ATCs are traditionally 2 and a half by 3 and a half inches, and ATC stands for Artist Trading Cards.

The little man and the sentiment are both from this stamp set. I love the oriental theme of the set! And the oriental garden scene is so fun to bring to life with Promarkers. For this ATC I stuck a border strip onto 2 and a half by 3 and a half inch white card stock. I stamped the man onto a different piece of white card stock and then coloured him with Promarkers. I cut around him and using double sided sellotape I glued him onto the ATC. I also glued a die cut heart onto the top so it just peeks over the edge. I used Dovecraft adhesive gemstones which can be found here, which I love because they come in strips of the same colour but you can cut them to use the gems individually. Here I used the green strip and in the space between the green gems I glued other gems. Finally I stamped the sentiment and used sticky foam squares to stick it so it overlapped the gemstones. I hope you like this ATC! They're really fun to make when you feel like crafting but you want to make something quick :)