29 October 2011

Week 39 Lucky Dip - Stars

This month once more we have 5 Saturdays and so we have another Guest Designer joining us for our Lucky Dip week. Her work is known and admired by us all and we are delighted that 
has agreed to be our Star Guest this month!
She gives so much inspiration to her fellow LIMettes and anyone else who reads her blog for that matter and we are delighted that she could join us.

As Vicky is such a star, it gave us the inspiration for our challenge for this week!
It is...
*STARS*
Details of how Vicky made these cards can be found on her blog here

For my first card I decided to do a Split Negative card. 
For this I stamped one image in Versamark onto a black background which I then embossed with Snowflake Tinsel embossing powder. I stamped another image onto a white background and embossed that with Black Twinkle embossing powder. After trimming both images I then cut them in half vertically and put half of each image with its negative. As you can see, the other halves don't get wasted, you put those together to make another card. The stamp I believe is Hero Arts.

My next card uses my favourite emboss resist technique and I had fun getting inky with this Artemio star.
I stamped it with Versamark and clear embossed it, then sponged ink with a dauber in Bashful Blue and Night of Navy. I over stamped a few SU Splodges and embossed them with Snowflake Tinsel embossing powder.

The border is from a Martha Stewart punch and a small star charm is suspended from a double ribbon. The sentiment is from Hero Arts.


It's great having the wonderful Vicky with us today, you all know how fabulous she is!


 For my card I Printed the sentiment from the computer using Century Gothis font. Then stamped the tree from a small Kanban set. It's a FAB little collection of trees.
The star is a Stampin' Up punch, triple embossed to give that glorious glossy look!

We talk about our inspiration....
here's mine........
MY TOES all ready for my hols LOL
Now I couldn't leave you without a bit of 'Mandi Bling' 




I am in total holiday mode now. My ever increasing list is almost ticked off. I've neglected you all this week...I'm SO sorry.


I shall not be on a cruise this week... but I will be at the NEC on THURSDAY!
I shall carry my "Less is More" tote bag (with Chrissie written on it) and if anyone is going on Thursday, DO please stop to say HI!
If any LIMette knows she will be there that day and would like to say hello... if you email me prior to the day, I can send you my mobile number.
I wonder what goodies are to be had this time!!
Have a great week everyone!

27 October 2011

ShowCASe - Cocktails

 Here's our ShowCASe chosen  from those inventive LIMettes who ventured a card for this tricky challenge. 
We loved the ingenuity of some entries and enjoyed looking at them all.
As ever it was difficult to choose but here are this week's cards.

Tara #17
Brilliant, this really made us smile!

Jenny #67
Wonderful effect on the glasses!

Lisa #92
A great interpretation of her inspiration cocktail picture.

These three highlight the fact that our challenge could be interpreted in a variety of ways. Even if the subject of the challenge may seem difficult at first, there's always a way to get around it if you can think outside the box!
Great work ladies, please display our Showcase banner on your blogs. You can find it on the badge page at the top of our blog.

22 October 2011

Week 38

We seem to have stumped a few people with our challenge last week as the submissions were the fewest we've seen to any of our challenges, although there were some stunning entries. 
This week we have a really easy recipe which is simply
POLKA DOTS
As long as your design is Clean and Simple, has some white space (or its equivalent) and polka dots in evidence somewhere, it will be perfect for this challenge.

Mandi

This week I did an A5 card [A4 folded] Firstly I printed the sentiment,I  knew roughly where I wanted it placed as I print sentiments often and save lots of different positions.
The vases are PTI Gracious Vases. I LOVE this set, it's a popular one and used to perfection by many.
The polka dot circle is printed from Pink Petticoat
The vases are stamped in Versamark 'Turquiose' and 'Boysenberry' The central black vase is cut out and mounted onto 3d foam. The flower stems I thought matched the polka dots!
The 'shelf' is cut from Stampin Up Top Note die.

For Stampin' Up products please contact me here.

For this card I stamped a large Waltzing Mouse polka dot stamp onto some hammered card. I didn't want a completely covered texture, so the uneven surface of the card worked perfectly for this.
I then cut the edges of the stamped strip with the scalloped cutting blade on my Woodware trimmer and chopped it up into triangles.
The trunks of the trees were stamped with a sentiment stamp from SU and the greeting is from SU Contempo Christmas. I'm working on some more similar Christmas trees but using masking techniques instead and different background stamps for the various layers of the trees, It will be interesting to see how they turn out.

Fewer cards from us this week, so let's see lots of inspiration from all our wonderful LIMettes!

19 October 2011

ShowCASe Week36

More difficult choices for us again this time... especially as so many people are now extremely happy leaving areas of their cards unadorned, making them true Clean and Simple cards.
So without further ado here are our choices for the Heart, One Layer card challenge.




Congratulations to you all. Please grab your Showcase banner from the Badge page at the top of our blog, which we hope you'll add to your personal blogs and display with pride!

We're looking forward to seeing lots more Cocktail cards... so do keep them coming!

15 October 2011

Week 37

Another week and another challenge, the theme for which is
COCKTAIL
You may interpret this however you wish... your favourite tipple, the colours of a cocktail or a simply cocktail of colours. Let your imagination run with this one, it will be interesting to see how imaginative you can be.
Here is a little fun... you can follow the link to see what cocktail you are... it's interesting to see that both of us are 'poised' ladies in the same proportions what's more!

Chrissie
You Are Made Of Ambition, Poise, and Giddiness



3 parts Ambition
2 parts Poise
1 part Giddiness


And a Splash of Genius

Limit yourself to one serving. This cocktail is strong!
You Are Made Of Elegance, Poise, and Understanding



3 parts Elegance
2 parts Poise
1 part Understanding

And a Splash of Glamour

Finish off with a squeeze of lime juice
Blogthings: Learn Something Surprising About Yourself

Chrissie
I have done a couple of different things with this challenge. Firstly I have the wonderful Penny Black stamp which Mandi gave me... I love these girls.

The sentiment, which reads, 'Honey, it's 5 o'clock somewhere.' is computer generated in what else but Cocktail and Cocktail Bubbly fonts.
The image was coloured with Copics.


This one takes a little lateral thought... and you can obviously see a cock('s)-tail!
We did ask you to be inventive!

Mandi

Firstly, I am so sorry I didn't visit many of the later entries.
 This was due to my work load, I'm in the process of completeing a large wedding order.

Isn't Chrissie imaginative, I love her style, I know you all do too! Mine are more predictable, but I hope you like them.



This stamp is Creative Expressions, I've had it yonks, used it loads! The 'cocktail' drink I did using Promarkers. I wasn't having any success at first, they kept bleeding into each other, even when masking. So I cut them as strips, stuck them onto a piece of paper and then over stamped again with the glass, then cut out and stuck on! Cheating I guess but the 'Mandi way' lol. Finished off by coating with glossy accents, colouring the stem in black and also adding the 3 gems to finish,

For my second card I took inspiration from this picture.
I do love a cocktail. They conjure up a picture of tropical places,  bursting with a plethora of vibrantly colourful flowers. Nothing to do with the alcohol content of course ...cough cough!

Stampes used, Stampin Up flower from the Growing Green set, Stampendous Daisy flower, and the other is a triple poppy design, no idea whose it is! Leaves are a mix od Crealies dies. The sentiment is my newly acquired Papertrey Ink 

Yes, it's in your face, but, I like it!! Says a lot for me ha ha

Enjoy concocting your 'cocktails' maybe even have a real one!

14 October 2011

Showcase Week 35

Our job to choose our favourites seems to get harder week by week.
You are certainly getting the "Less is More" bug and also seem to be enjoying it, which is great!

These are our showCASe choices for Week 35
Colour of your Eyes

Ann

Margaret

Laurie

Tania

Benzi

Thank you ladies, please grab your banner from the page at the top.


See you here Saturday for the new challenge

08 October 2011

Week 36

We enjoyed your cards last week, as always, but also great to see lots of our
LIMettes lovely eyes that eagerly await our post Saturday morning!
It must be said that this was our least popular week, let's hope this one is more to your liking!

Being the second week of the month it is One Layer

An easy one for you it's



The can be singular, multiple, any colour, but, MUST be a one layer card, with no additional layers stuck on, apart from the odd embellishment or ribbon!

Mandi


For my card I folded a piece of A4 paper and hand drew half  a heart, which I cut out. Opening the paper to reveal a full heart I placed it over the folded 6x6 card and secured with some sticky bits from a Post it note. Using a few retired SU stamps and an Anita's daisy stamp  I randomly stamped within the heart aperture.
Using these SU colours
Basic Black, [new]Pool Party, [new] Calypso Coral and Melon Mambo.
The little black gems were added to finish.

For Stampin Up products please contact me via here
 I am placing an order this weekend. There's still one place left on one of my Stampers 6 Clubs.
By joining you get a FREE catalogue and get to be hostess for one of the 6 months, which means a spend of  at least £25......how fabulous!
If you don't want the commitment of a club and just want to order when you like please feel free to let me know. Catalogues are only £4.00 including postage to your door!
UK residents only please

Chrissie

At first glance you would say that this was decidedly not a ONE LAYER CARD, but in fact there is a hole in the front of the card and the image is attached to a piece of acetate inside....
so it kind of IS a One Layer Card after all.

 You may be able to see it more clearly here.

The Heart is SU, the flower Inkylicious and the sentiment is Studio G.


This next card is one of my first using kraft cardstock, in this case Crumb cake from SU. I masked a section, then inked it with SU Whisper White, using a sponge dauber.
The image which I stamped in Versafine is a retired one from SU which I bought from the US via eBay. The copics reacted oddly on top of the ink and so I added some Glossy Accents to perk the colour up slightly. The sentiment is a recently rediscovered one from MSE.

Do show us your one layer cards, you're getting so good at them these days and as long as there is at least one heart in evidence, plus some white space, we'll be delighted.

06 October 2011

September Winner

It's so difficult to choose winners from the many, many faithful LIMettes who submit wonderful work to our challenges each week, but we've had a discussion and the name which emerged from both of us this time was Viv a.k.a. Daizy-Mae
The £20 voucher from the Craft Barn 
will be on its way to you if you can let us know your contact details.
I'm sure you'll all join in congratulating Viv and thanking her for her wonderful contribution, both in her cards and her commenting on other entries to our challenges.
We fancied this prize ourselves!
Well done Viv!

01 October 2011

Week 35

Here we are again and it's time for another COLOUR challenge.
This week we have chosen
THE COLOUR OF YOUR EYES
You don't necessarily have to have an exact match, but if your eyes are blue, then any shade of blue will be fine, likewise with brown, grey, green etc.. (We aren't as mean as all that!)
However, the colour you choose should be the predominant colour on your card... we don't want to see just a hint of it.

Here are some canvas bags we made.Watch out for these walking around craft shows in the future! We could fit quite a few goodies in these babies!
Today is apparently World Card Making Day,
 so let's show the world what you can do!
Now for our cards

Chrissie

This week I've been messing around with this leaf stamp from Paper Artsy. Many of you have seen the robin, chicken and penguin on my blog that I have made this week and so as my eyes are a bluish colour, here is a little bluebird! The branch is from a SU punch and the sentiment is computer generated in Jenna Sue font.
This one again uses Distress inks. The base layer is swiped with Stormy Sky, Weathered Wood and Chipped Sapphire, the middle layer is embossed with a Crafts Concepts folder and the Paper Artsy Image is stamped using Chipped Sapphire. The sentiment is from SU's So Happy For You set. This is stamped with Midnight Blue Stazon as I really don't think that Distress Inks stamp precisely enough for sentiments.
I actually think that my eyes are more like the Weathered Wood colour rather than any of the others, but I can dream!

Mandi

Well I have green eyes! I made my card, showed my Mum and she said, lovely but your eyes aren't that colour! ha ha I made her look in the bright sun and she said OH, they are...sort of!
So there you go!

This fabulous motif stamp is Viva Decor, Baroque Set. I'd never heard of this set until our lovely LIMette Viv used it here.
I LOVE it! [I got mine on good ol' eBay]
I used this shape as I felt it replicated the shape of the eye.As the stamp is clear one and doesn't take dye ink overly well. I stamped with a couple of Versamark ink pads first Sage and Bamboo, then inked with Stampin up Pear Pizazz to finish. It gives for a slightly mottled effect.
 The sentiment, I printed first from the computer in Young Love font. I played around for ages on placement. So have scraps of this design everywhere! Of course, my obligatory bling in the centre! Oh to have eyes the colour of the gem!


*** Only ONE place left ***
UK residents only please
£25 per month spend [plus £2.50 postage] for 6 months
I need 4 members to start the club October 1st [Today, but, order to be placed by 10th of this month]  Just a reminder... you get a FREE BRAND NEW catalogue, you become a virtual hostess for one of the 6 months and get to choose goods to the value of
AT LEAST £25.00.
Stampin Up products are fabulous, high quality, with matching card stock and inks, also some ribbons, buttons, etc.
You really will not be disappointed. 
I can also promise you service to match!
Contact me Mandi overmoores@aol.com or 07921 524090
or via here 
*** Only ONE place left ***

Week 33 ShowCASe

We have spent SO long looking through all the fabulous submissions which you supplied for us last week and choosing just a few was such a difficult task.
So many LIMettes submitted multiple times and many submitted posts with multiple cards on and we are SO grateful for all the wonderful support from so many of you for our attempt at 1000 cards in one week.
We have been encouraged to try for it again sometime... well we'll see... that was a lot of commenting to do... it makes commenting on a couple of hundred per week seem more like a walk in the park... yet that in itself takes us a long time!
One thing we have noticed is how much more comfortable lots of you seem with the genre and are sometimes producing one layer cards from choice!
Thanks go to you all, especially those who tried SO hard to help us try to achieve our goal, we'd love to name names, but would hate to miss anyone out, so HUGE thanks to YOU ALL.
Here are some which caught our eyes last week.
Fiona 61



Larissa 224

Carol 545

Robyn 695


HUGE Thanks go to Loli for this last submission. She waited until moments before the challenge ended to post it so that it would be the last one for us.
It brought a lump to our collective throats.

Thanks to all of you!
Please collect your showcase badges from the new badge page at the top of the blog, and we hope you will display them with pride!