Been playing...

After work and between cooking my mum's tea and Laura's later in the evening I had a play around with the fab ideas on the new challenge blog Less is More.  I was really tired so I didn't stretch myself too much and basically experimented with the ideas put forward by Mandi on the blog. 

I even used the same sentiment as her as my brain just wasn't fully functioning.

All the playing I did was done using Serif Craft Artist which I've only just started using so I'm no expert.  I used a basic text and played around with the sizes and colours.

On my first attempt I thought it might be good to have the large 'flower' word in the same colour as the yellow on the flower, but wasn't too impressed with that.  As you can see the word was getting quite lost on the flower stem.  Hmmmmm, bit of rethinking required!  On the next sample I used the blue of the flower and shrunk the flower a little to help make the word pop more.

Better but I still thought the flower needed to be less obtrusive so I used the transparency tool on the programme to fade the depth of colour on the flower and I'm much happier with this version.

I've still got masses to learn both on the theme of less is more and on using Craft Artist, but it's great fun trying.

Do pop over to Less is More as the examples by both Mandi and Chrissie are just stunning.

Additional challenges...

• Allsorts - It's all about the sentiment
• Totally Papercrafts - Clean and Simple

Ann xxx

House Mouse Valentine Present...

Phew just made it in time even though Poundland let me down this morning by not opening till after I started work and closing before I finished.  Sheesh did they not realise how important it was that I got my mitts on a PINK sticky note pad to replace the yellow?  Ah well yellow will have to do as I want to give this to my daughter tomorrow as a little Valentine gift plus this is the last day for the House Mouse and Friends Challenge of Hearts and I don't want to miss entering that!  It's one of my favourite challenges.

A little while ago I saw these great sticky note sets at Poundland or one of the many other similar shops.  I just knew they would be great to play around with and make that little bit more special.  I know you could do the same thing (with a lot of measuring and a ton of patience) with card, but these sets are a really nice finish and being plain black mock leather they are easy to transform.

To create the top I used one of the new House Mouse stamp sets from Joanna Sheen coloured it with Promarkers and then mat and layered it on to black card.  I decided to attach a layer of acetate over the top using brads.  I thought that as it would be in use all the time it would protect the image from getting dirty.

On the inside I used the calender that was already in the pack but cut it down and matted it on to pink card and after colouring and cutting out the little meece with the paperclip I tucked in behind the calender a little.  I also added some glittery black peel off numbers for the year.

As I said at the beginning of the post I would have loved to have been able to add pink sticky notes rather than the yellow.  Laura is a pink fanatic.  They will have to do for now though and in case you're wondering yes I am daft enough to try to stamp the pointing Maxwell on every sheet.  I lost the will to live about half way down the stack!  

After a massive search I found some paper clips that I knew I'd saved for scrapbooking somewhere and couldn't believe my luck that some of them were not only pink, but heart shaped too.  Don't you just love it when things go right for once.

My sticky note holder gift was also made with the following challenges in mind...

• Sir Stampalot - All Creatures Great and Small
• Promarker Challenge - Let there be love
• Simon Says Challenge Blog - Anything but a card

Thank you for looking everyone and for the wonderfully kind comments.  I love reading them.  It really makes my day.

Love and hugs

Ann xxx

Better late than never...

This is a card a did for the new challenge blog called Less is More.  Now I really struggle with this concept so I particularly want to join in and learn from the amazing samples by the DT over there.  I've been a stalker on Chrissie's blog Simply One of a Kind for some time and have always envied her ability to wow everyone with such simple (to look at - not to do) cards.
The thing I really like about this challenge are the accompanying mini tutorials.  I just wish I had paid more attention when creating this card, because it's a steep learning curve and I think I fell off somewhere along the way.  It did start as a one layer card created using Serif Craft Artist, but ended up being chopped and messed around quite a bit.  Sigh - I will do better next time.
I'm posting the card too late for the actual challenge of black and white with a touch of pink as this was a card for a forum friend and she has only just received it.  Maybe this week I will be more organised and meet the deadline for the challenge.  I hope so as I love the new theme and ideas given on how to achieve it.
My card also fits the challenges at ...

• One Stop Craft Challenge - Love
• Totally Paper Crafts - Clean and Simple

Have a great Sunday.  I'm off to work now, but will be calling at Poundland on the way.  I need some paperclips to finish a project I've done for the House Mouse challenge and seeing as that ends tomorrow it could be another challenge I miss the deadline for.
It's this WORK thing it doesn't half mess up your crafting time.
Love and hugs.
Ann xxx