A male card...cricket!

Good morning all!
Well I have made so many cards for the Less Is More challenge this week that I decided it was time to do something a bit different and use up some of the images I already have coloured in! So this is a card made with LOTV Cricket stamp from their new 'The Boys Are Back In Town' Collection, of which Jen and I have most!

I have coloured him in with Promarkers (Peach, light Peach, Oatmeal, Cobalt Blue, Cocoa, Primrose, Vanilla, Cool Grey1, Warm Grey5, Shale), and I used chalks for the grass and the sky. I cut him out with the largest of the Nesties Labels 12, and cut out a picket fence from white card......no template or punch.......just by eye! I pulled it all together with a couple of scrap bits of paper and used the Sketch from this week's Pixie Cottage Challenge. I finished by making a red Card Candi into a cricket ball using my gold Promarker!

I am also entering into the following challenges......
Passion For Promarkers - Theme - Sports
Ladybug Crafts - Make your own embellishments (the cricket ball and fence!)
Cards For Men - No Designer Papers
Stamping Scrapping Challenge Central - Masculine card
Charisma Cardz Challenge - Boy Oh Boy!

Thanks for looking and please leave me a comment as I love reading them! :)
Lizy x

Some more Less is More!

Hey everyone!
I had a lovely day yesterday at my friend Gemma's little girl Amelia's Baptism. It was a lovely service and the 'do after' was fab......wonderful venue at Prestwich bowling, cricket and tennis club!

Anyway, I havea couple of cards to make for orders, but while stuff is drying on them I managed to have a little play with some of my stamps and my new chalks.

This first one is from the Kanban Autumn Silhouettes again but this time I used both the 'positive' and 'negative' stamps of the tree. I started with the positive and stamped the tree with Versamark. I then coloured it with my new chalks, using a cotton bud for the small areas. Then I stamped using the negative stamp and before colouring I placed a small circle to mask off for the sun. I then cloured with chalks and then removed the circle and coloured the sun. Not sure if it really shows on here.....but itdoes look really effective in the 'flesh'!

This second one is from cArt-us and I again stamped inVersamark, and coloured with the chalks. The sentiments are both from the Kanban set, stamped in Rich Cocoa Memento.

Hope you like today's offerings for the Less is More - Pick a Square challenge. It's the first time I've tried masking...bit gutted it doesn't show on the photo!
Lizy x

Christening-Less is More

This is the other card I made today, this time for the christening I'm attending tomorrow and made with the LIM - pick a square challenge in mind.

Quite simply, the sentiment is pc generated, the pearls are from Dunelm Mill and I used an old embossing board for the square!

Lizy x

Fancy Fold Art Deco Birthday

Good evening!
I have a had a lovely crafting day today while Keiran spent the day with his Daddy! I have made a couple of cards for friends of mine, including this one for my friend's birthday in a couple of weeks.

The image is from one of Debbi Moore's fabulous cd's and so is the paper. The sentiment and the boxes were printed from my pc and the gems are from my stash.

I'm entering it into Ohh La La - Fancy Folds challenge

I hope Gemma doesn't come looking before her birthday!
Lizy x

Less Is More - pick a square

Happy LIM-day everyone!
Yes it's Saturday morning and as I'm not working I've managed to get my first entry in early......unlike last week!
Anyway, the theme or sketch this week is 'pick a square'......my first thought was a bit 'oooh erm...' but having seen Chrissie and Mandi's lovely creations it's much easier than I first thought!

The stamp is Kanban, stamped with Versamark and colouring with my bargain new Dovecraft chalks from Dunelm Mill and the sentiment is computer generated. Simples!

Ok breakfast time now! ;)
Lizy x

Bargain time!!

I just thought all my wonderful followers would like to know that Dunelm Mill have some real bargains at the moment......I got Dovecraft chalk sets for £2.99 each and paper packs from £2.99 too! Lots of things for up to 50% off! So if you've got one nearby, get stocking up! :)

Lizy x

Butterfly Invitations

Hey all!
Oh my goodness! I have had such an incredibly busy week this week and so have not had any time for crafting! Oh except for some wedding invitations. My friend Nikki called me in a stress on Tuesday night because her evening invitations had arrived but they were extremely badly made! So Lizy to the rescue LOL! I have had to carefully pull them apart, save what I can, which was nothing to be honest except the ribbon and gems and remake them! So here they are! And as they have butterflies on them, I thought I would use them as my last entry into LIM Butterflies challenge......

Now I will be honest.......the design isn't mine but I have spent the last 2 days making them and I still have 20 to go! I'm also entering them into Flutterby Wednesday's CAS challenge.
Hope you like them! Hope to be somewhat back to normal next week :D
Lizy x

More flutterings!

Good evening all!
Well I got all upset again today because my laptop went funny on me again to the point that I decided to give in and just buy a new one! So there was me, thinking I'd got a bargain, but by the time I'd had to but this key code and that internet protection, it had bumoed the price up by £100! Anyway, imagine how excited I was to open it up and get started, only to discover that I'd been given the wrong one! So now I have to traipse into town again tomorrow to change it! So back to my 'baby' I go. And here I am, on 'baby', at work posting the couple of cards I made today......

I used my new cArt-us butterfly stamps and stamped them with some Versacolour ink pads, then cut them out. For the first I added it to the aperture card and added a stamped swirl ovelapping the aperture. I finished with a little pink glitter and the sentiment, which was in mind after emailing Jan a couple of times today. So this one's for you Jan......I hope things are ok :)

For the second card I attached the butterflies with a little silicone glue under each wing to stop them from being flattened onto the card. The sentiment is LOTV and I finished with a few gems to carry the sentiment to the boldest butterfly. In my head, that was to signify the highest and boldest butterfly is the fulfilled dream!

These have (obviously) been made to enter into LIM - butterflies challenge

Hope you like!

Lizy x

Second Butterfly

Good evening LIMettes!
I am feeling much more refreshed today, thanks for your wishes :)  I think it will be a couple of weeks before I am 100%, but I'm getting there! :)

Anyway, over the last week I was reminded that I had £5 worth of free downloads on Crafts U Print from when they had their upgrade. So I went for a wander over there and found some wonderful Craft Robo files, one of which has provided the focal point for this card......

These really are fantastic files and anyone who has a Craft Robo, or any other electrical die cutting machine should go take a look at them! Anyway, this is a 2 layer butterfly, the bottom is solid and cut from purple pearlescent card, and the top 'lace effect' layer is cut from lilac pearlescent paper. I then curled each layer to give definition and attached them together to the card. I only stuck them in the middle so when the card is moved, the top wings 'flutter'......it's very effective!
The border is a Spellbinders (I think) and the sentiment was computer generated and then I glittered the first letters with Butterfly Trails. Finished with a few gems to link everything together and I'm quite pleased with the result! :D

Hope to get some more made this week so see you then!
Lizy x

Golden Butterfly

Hello all!
Well I have missed everyone! I have had a very busy week with lots going on so I haven't had time to make any cards at all! With the exception of some Birthday invitations but Ishall post them another day.

So this week over at Less Is More, the wonderfully talented Chrissie and Mandi have given the LIMettes a real treat! The challenge is a theme...Butterflies!! Awsome! :D I have so many butterfly things to use so I suspect I will be showing my face a few times this week! Anyway, here is the card I have very quickly put together just now...

I have used one of the very popular Marianne Creatables butterflies and cut it out in Holographic gold foil card. I have then used one of my Inkalicious flourish stamps, black Stazon and heat embossed with purple WOW embossing powder. The same for the sentiment. Very simple really.
Sorry this is so short and sweet...I am extremely tired and quite run down so I'm off to bed now and hope I feel better tomorrow!

Goodnight all!
Lizy x

My first DT card!

Hello all!
Well here is my first DT card for the brand new challenge blog Crafting For All Seasons where the first challenge is Anything Goes! And that means ANYTHING! Scrapbook page, tag, card, altered art......just let your imagination run wild! Our sponsor for this challenge is

PINK CAT STUDIOS

They have some wonderful Digi Stampsso please go and have a look! The prize is 5 Digis of your choice!

I have chosen to use one of their images for my card......

This is Kitty and Sweet Bird though I removed the bird as it didn't fit with what I wanted to do. The DP is Love Letters, the lace is from my stash and I used an eylet circle Nestie for the sentiment. All mounted on a 6x6 black card blank and finished with a gem 'tiara' and collar and glossy accents to'brighten' the eyes!

Hope you like and please do go see the other DT cards and projects......they are stunning!

And good luck with the challenge!
Lizy x

Embossed clock

Hello!
Well I have had a couple of very busy days that have left me a bit too tired to do much in the way of crafting, so today Ihad a little spark of  an idea, just before my friend arrived. SO here it is......

The embossing folder is the same Creative Expressions-Time one I used on one of my White on White challenges. I rubbed the inside de-bossed half with Ink It Up!-Teddy Bear and embossed onto an A6 card blank. I embossed another piece so I could cut out the hands which I attached with a brad. I didn't put a sentiment because I don't think there is room for one!

I am entering this into LIM-Embossing challenge, of course!

:Lizy x

Another embossed butterfly!

Except this time it's resist embossed!

I have used a cArt-us stamp and Wow embossing powder in purple. I then washed blue and green shimmery paint over the background, and pink over the butterfly. All done on off white shimmery card.

I think I am most satisfied with this card out of all the other I have done for this week's LIM - Embossing challenge......

Lizy x

Lizy x

My first double twisted easel...love it! :)

Hello from work!

I'm currently eating my tea (homemade lasagne and salad!) so I thought I would post one or two of the other cards I have made today......

This has been made for a very special little girl's Baptism in two weeks. The image is LOTV and I've coloured it using the free shimmer paints from on of the mags this month. The papers are Love Letters paperstack and the embellies are all Dunelm Mill...the cross has been coloured pink with Antique Pink Promarker as it was yellow. I used Nesties to cut the shapes.
I am particularly proud of this card.......every now and then I make a card I wouldn't change and this is one of them!

Hope you like it too! :) I am entering into the following challenges......
Ooh La La - Fancy Folds
Totally Gorjuss - Not Square

Lizy x

Thank You Embossed Butterfly

Hello all!
Well what another miserable day it is here in Bolton today :( Thank goodness for crafting and blogging eh?!

And the next few posts will show the fruits of my labours today......

This one is another attempt at the Less Is More Embossing challenge which is proving to be a bit of a nemesis to me! I haven't yet created a card I am thrilled with! The butterfly is hand embossed using a metal stencil that was free in Quick Cards (I think!). While the stencil was still in place after embossing, I painted it using the free shimmer paints from this month's Cardmaking & Papercraft (again I think!). I finished with a tiny little sentiment that was free from a stamp set from one of the magazines recently! So this card was a bit of a freebie! ;)

Hope you like......I wish the painting had been a little neater....
Lizy x

Little Cupcake!

Good afternoon all!
The card I am about to show has been inspired by a single ribbon bow that I took off a lovely box of Thornton's chocolatres I received last night from a good friend.......it is the first card I have made where I actually had the card all laid out except for the image, but even then I knew which image I was going to use! This was thanks to a coupleof challenges......
I Love Promarkers - Pink & Brown
Sketch Saturday - Sketch
LOTV - Ribbons and bows

 The image is from LOTV and I coloured her in with Promarkers (Hot Pink, Cocktail Pink, Antique Pink, Dusky Rose, Pastel Pink, Almond, Putty, Cinnamon, Cocoa, Warm Grey5)  and my Copic blender pen. I chalked the background with some brown  to give it an antique effect. I was going for an all round antique look with this card as I thought the colour combo lent itself well to that. The background circle is Nesties Eyelets circle, the strip of brown is a Martha Stewart punch and all the card is from my stash. Oh and of course the bow is from the delicious box of choccies!

Hope you like it!
Lizy x

Last WOW card!

Hi LIMettes!
What happened to Blogger this morning? I tried to upload a card I made before I went out but it wouldn't let me sign in saying that it was unavailable! Anyway, here is the card, now that I'm back......

I really liked seeing all the rolled roses in the Less Is More - White On White challenge this week so I decided to do some too! I don't have the wonderful dies for this so all I did was punch out a 1 and half inch circle and trimmed it with some scalloped scissors that were free with a magazine some time ago. I then cut a spiral into the circle using the same scissors, then pinch the thin end in my tweezers and rolled it around them. I secured the rolled rose to it's base with some silicone glue. After I had made 3, I sprayed them with spray mount and dusted with Butterfly Trails glitter. The leaves are a woodware punch, the swirl is Sizzix, the butterfly is Marianne Creatables and the frame is a Nestie Label, all made with and mounted onto shimmer white card and paper.

Hope you like it! :)

I now am off to finish all the ironing for the childrens clothes sale next Saturday.......And trust me, it really is a mountain of ironing! How did a 3yr old get so many clothes already!

Lizy x

Well here is my second effort at the LIM - OLC Embossing challenge

Now again, not entirely happy but this time it's because the embossing was tricky! For some reason, I just couldn't seem to get enough ink onto the stamp so that when I stamped it, the embossing powder didn't stick! Anyway, 3rd time lucky and it worked for the most part! I embossed it with Meltdust silver, and actually, as it has missed areas, it has given it the vintage look that suits it! I finished with some brilliant brads I found in Preston and I've been dying to use them! Oh and the stamp is Andy Skinner - Viva Las Vegas.
I am also entering this into Ladybug - Black, White & one other colour challenge
Right, off for a shower to wash the dye off my hair and the ink off my hands!
Lizy x

Embossed butterfly- LIM

Good morning LIMettes!
Well what a day yesterday with no Blogger! It was a bit of a pain and I didn't know what to do with myself LOL! Anyway, normal service seems to have been resumed, for now, so here is my entry into the Less Is More-Embossing One Layer challenge.

Now I have to say that I'm not all that happy with it so I will be back with another try...I think this is gonna be one of those weeks where I never get it quite right!

The stamp is Dimensions - Butterfly Scroll and I used my Stazon ink and WOW Violet pearl embossing powder for the butterfly. I then used Versamark and Cosmic Shimmer - Blue Raspberry Aurora, Pink Violet Blaze and Green Sparkle embossing powders. The sentiment it a LOTV one stamped in Versamark and embossed with the same WOW powder.

I just want to take this opportunity to invite you all to join a new challenge blog starting on Wednesday called Crafting For All Seasons. Please come over, start following us and have fun with us! I'm sure you'll recognise some of the design team too! ;)

Hope you like and see you again soon!

Lizy x

Erm......

Erm what the chuff is occuring with Blogger the last couple of days??? Not only have I been unable to blog, but now in my dashboard I can't see anything that was posted since Thursday!! It's madness I tell you! I'm very wary of posting anything just now in case it disappears like so many have done today...Hope it's sorted for tthe Less Is More challenge tomorrow morning... ;)

Cars!

Here is another card I've just made......

I have made this to enter 2 challenges...
Little Claire - Sketch
I Love Promarkers - Song Title (Gary Newman- Cars)

The image is from Little Claire, one of the digi ones, and I've coloured it with Promarkers (Poppy, Berry, Red, True Blue, Cool Grey1, 4, 5,Black). I then simply mounted it onto an 8x8 card with various scrap pieces of paper from my Scraps box. The sentiment is from a Dovecraft sentiments stamp set.

TFL,
Lizy x

Retirement WOW!

Hello again to the fab LIMettes!
I hope everyone is having a good week so far and enjoying this fab White on White challenge :) I have tried another card today using an embossing folder I got in Preston a couple of weeks ago and heat embossing in white......

The embossing folder is 'Time' by Creative Expressions and the stamp used for the background pocket watch is 'Pocket Watch & Hands' by cArt-us.com. I stamped these along with the LOTV sentiment with Versamark and embossed with Cosmic Shimmer True White embossing powder, though I have to say it looks more 'off white', and not just in the photos! However, it is noticeable on the card and therefore gives another dimension. The hands for the clock are also from the same folder.......I just cut the clock out with the largest circle nestie, cut out the hands and attached with a jewelled brad at 5 o'clock as that is kind of a

traditional finishing time.

I tried it another way, with no hands on the clock and replaced them with the full LOTV sentiment.......

The idea behind 'no hands' is that time no longer matters now you've retired :)

I hope you like these......I'm pleased to have really tried something different for this challenge! :D
Lizy x

Believe in Fairies

Here is another card for today, before lunch and the park!

The Fairy (coloured with a new technique I have learned using a tile, Promarkers and the Copic blender pen!) and sentiment are from LOTV, the papers are from a stack I got in Holland and the ribbon is from my stash. I finished with a few pearls and some blue shimmer paint on the fairy's wings. I am entering this into Paper Pretties - Sketch challenge.
Thanks for looking!
Lizy x

WOW take 2!

Hi LIMettes!
Well this Monday morning is very bright, if a little breezy so I think I will take Keiran to Queen's Park in Bolton this afternoon......after I've made a couple of cards ;)

I am able to blog again thanks to the wonderful Jen for lending me her Netbook! So with that in mind, I woke up this morning with an idea for another WOW card for the challenge at Less Is More......

I hope the pictures show all the detail.......I cut out the largest of Nesties Labels 16, embossed it with Sizzix Flowers, Stars & Swirls folder and added the 3 Joy butterflies, embellished with a few pearls and gems. I used the de-bossed side of the panel as I felt the embossed side took the glory away from the butterflies. I added tiny nail art pearls (from Poundland!) to the dotted swirls to add some colour and texture difference.

I hope all those pearls don't make it too 'more' and less 'less'!
Lizy x