Less is More – 12 – Off Centre

 

The challenge at Less is More this week is on the theme of  ‘Off Centre’. I’ve had this Stampin’ Up stamp set for a few weeks, and I thought that I would ink it up for my entry.  I used Marvy markers directly on the stamp, and spritzed it with a little water before stamping. The sentiment is also from the same ‘Just Believe’ set. I used a freebie designer paper to frame the stamped images, and highlighted the flowers with a little crystal glitter. Here is my finished card…

Thank you very much for the lovely comments that you’ve left for me in the past few weeks; they are very much appreciated. I look forward to visiting your blogs in the near future, if I haven’t done so already.

Maria xx

Less is More – Acetate

This week’s Less is More challenge is to use acetate on your cards. I’ve never been very enthusiastic about acetate, but I had a particular stamp, uninked for ages, that was crying out to be used with a particular technique on the stuff. My neglected stamp is ‘Vogue Silhouette’ by Stamps Happen Inc. I stamped the image on the sheet of acetate with Ranger’s Archival black ink, then turned it over, and applied Art Quest’s Duo Embellishing Adhesive to the back of the dress. The glue starts off white, and becomes colourless and tacky when dry. When the glue became tacky, I sprinkled a good helping of variegated green gilding flakes (available from Crafty Notions) onto the back of the dress, and brushed off the excess back into its container, to use again. An anti-static cloth is useful at this stage, but a used dryer sheet is an excellent substitute, should you not have a cloth. Carefully wipe off the loose gilding flakes from the acetate – yes, it gets everywhere!

I used a creamy card with a golden sheen for my background, and randomly coloured a panel in the same card with Tim Holtz Distress Inks in Tumbled Glass, Scattered Straw and Crushed Olive in a size to match the the frame of the stamped image.  I stuck the panel to the front of the card, using the stamped acetate as a guide.  After folding the acetate to form a jacket over the card, I stuck the two together at the back of the card, near to the folded edge. I felt that the card needed something extra to finish it off, so I added the thin bronze grosgrain ribbon and bow  to the front, and that seemed to do the trick. I also added a piece of the ribbon on the back of the card, which also served to disguise the double-sided tape that I’d used to stick the card and the acetate together.

So here is the finished card.  It’s a shame that the sparkle of the gilding flakes, and the sheen of the card, don’t show up very well in the photo.

I’m finding the LIM challenges tremendous fun to follow, and now that I have three under my belt, I guess that I can call myself a ‘Limette’, which is what Mandi and Chrissie call the challenge participants and blog folllowers.  Well girls, this was a fab challenge, and I can’t wait to see what’s in store for next week!

Thanks for taking a peep at my card, and I hope to ‘see’ you again soon!

Maria xx

Less is More, Week 9 – A Touch of Red

I’m a little late with my card for this week’s Less is More challenge, which is to use ‘A Touch of Red’ on your card.  I’m  finding these cards a bit of a challenge in themselves, but I do love the CAS look, so I shall persevere! As always, the girls at LIM have given us fab examples, and the cards entered so far are all gorgeous. I used Stampin’ Up stamps on my card, the berries and leaves are coloured with Promarkers, and the sentiment is by Hero Arts.

Thanks for visiting!

Maria xx