Less is More " Pick a Square "

Things have been so hectic around here lately what with traveling and work commitments that it seems my crafting and blogging has fallen a little by the wayside. I have missed the last couple of challenges at Less is More but was determined this week to participate even if it was with only one piece . The theme this week is Pick a Square and this is my contribution.

A simple card as you can see I used mirror card and beautiful bronze embossed paper together with some beautiful handmade paper , the die is daisies for Stampin Up by sizzix, sentiment is also SU embossed in gold .

For any one who follows my blog they will know that I have two dastardly dogs  Rosy and Bailey known as R&B who have been known to eat my paper projects on occasion. Just wanted to share a photo with you of Rosy . Last week when I was travelling to the UK to visit my family Rosy waited until I had finished packing and climbed into my suitcase even the promise of her favourite doggie toy couldn't get her out.

Do you think she is trying to tell me something. ?


One last thing before I go Would just like to wish happy birthday to the lovely Lynne of Adorn who has her birthday today I met Lynne a while ago through blog land , she is an amazing artist and an all around thoroughly nice chapette you should pop by and visit her blog so many lovely things to see. This next card is dedicated to Lynne hope you like it !

The above is a free image but for the life of me I can't remember where I got it from but as soon I find out who it belongs to will be back to credit it to them please forgive me. If you do recognise it in the meantime please let me know.

Hope you all have a great week and look forward to catching up with you all

Marie

Just for Fun Tea Cards and I'm a Winner !!!!

I"m Back !!!  Did you miss me ? Well I missed you !

Had a fab few days in the UK visiting family and attending my first ever craft show. As usual yours truly the drama queen had lot's of adventures., see previous post, in where my little sister Karen had to write my blog  ( between you and me I think she did a better job ) . In fact she was more like a secretary than a sister answering and sending e mails  on my behalf.  I even managed to get her whole family involved in making ribbon flowers even her husband what an evening that was. Thanks Kal

I was lucky to meet at the craft show in Aintree the lovely and very  humorous Neet who I have come to know through the Just for Fun challenge blog, what a lady great fun and full of tips and pointers  ( after she had had a root through my purchases ).

Thursday has come around once again and it's time to share with you  what Neet has in store for us this week at Just for Fun. Do you remember Tea Cards those tiny little cards 1 and a half inches by two and a half inches that could be found in our packets of tea many moons ago. Well that's our theme this week. Also Just for Fun has a guest designer this week the lovely Florence who is not only a lovely lady but has been taking part in the challenges from week one and is very very talented indeed . Pop over and check out her and the other design team members inspirational work.

The first one is a Hero Arts feather stamp stamped with black ink onto a piece of shiny card with a lace border and little seed pearls ( donated or in other words stolen from my sister Karen )

These next two are Inkadinkado tiny weeny stamps stamped onto linen with black Stazon ink and then matted onto brown distressed card. All three really quick and easy as just couldn't decided what to use I brought so much stuff back with me now I have too much choice and of course no where to put it !

Couldn't manage anything better I'm afraid as both my arms have increased in length by six inches due to the weight of my stash laden suitcase , I do hope they return to their normal length soon it's a bit hot here to go around with my hands in my pockets.

Another exciting thing happened while I was away I actually won something and not just any old something . The hugely talented Lynne from Adorn had a giveaway to celebrate her 300th post !! a beautiful altered box and I was the lucky winner . I'm so excited I love Lynne's  work it's so vintagy and feminine and scrumptious and I look forward to receiving it.


Well think that's enough for one day look forward to visiting you all and seeing what you have been up to while I have been away.

Marie

Get Creative Card Sketch Challenge

Hello,
Today being the 20th of the month,  as a design team member for Get Creative, Marie is due to post her offering for the card sketch challenge which has been set by Anastasia.
BUT, after no sleep, travelling thousands of miles from Greece to not so sunny Liverpool, to see us, her family, who haven't seen her for over 5 years, we had a quick chat and she said she would have to leave us for half an hour to upload the above and then disaster struck.
Many hours later there was no Marie. We were alerted by a strange soft moaning sound coming from her bedroom and found her crouched on the floor surrounded by her Ipad2, Iphone, a desktop pc, laptop, netbook and all manner of other I, J K and L thingys.
Apparently the technology failed and no matter what we tried we could not send the images to her blog page. We went and bought a new Wi-Fi printer, and even though we showed it to the Ipad2, it couldn't understand the Liverpool accent.
Marie is now in a darkened room, we tried cold flannels, plied her with scones and clotted cream, and finally resorted to inviting Mr Jack Daniels to join the party. Needless to say he didn't like the accent either and we are now  thinking of "posting" the image by snail mail, maybe the postman fancies a holiday to Greece? I know I need one right now, without my sister.
Before collapsing in a quivering mess, Marie did request that I perform one last sisterly duty, which is to ask that you all head over to Get Creative and admire all the other design team members work.
Normal service should be resumed next week, whatever that means. Many apologies to Irini!!!

Karen Fury

Amended post  I can now ad my my card for the Get Creative sketch challenge . Better late than never. !

Just for Fun " Postcards "

In the words of a song ( just can't remember who sang it ! ) I'm so excited and I just can't hide it I'm  about to lose control and I think I like it ! yeah yeah. If any one remembers it please let me know. Anyways, why am I so excited, well two fold actually, the first fold is that, oh dear I can feel another song coming on.........  I'm leaving on a jet plane don't know when I'll be back again. If anyone remembers that one they must be really old ! Tonight am flying back to the UK to see my lovely family who to my shame I haven't seen for many a moon. The second fold is it just so happens to coincide with a craft fair near my family's home in Aintree. This will be my first craft show !!!!!!   We don't have them in Greece and as I have only been crafting since December  this will be my first opportunity to run amok , to touch and smell and fondle the merchandise ooh I'm getting all giddy just thinking about it.

Before I leave I didn't want to miss taking part in one of my favourite challenges at Just for Fun. The gorgeous Neet who as luck would have it will be attending the aforementioned fair and we have arranged to meet (can't wait ) has set this weeks theme as postcard 6 x 4 inches .  I'm afraid this is all I could muster as I really should be packing , although I have been advised to come with an empty suitcase so maybe the packing won't take that long after all ! I used some backing paper from my stash which if you look closely has lot's of little vintage postage stamps underneath and stamped with CI script stamp which I heat embossed . Quite a simple one this week but I'm sure you will forgive me under the circumstances.


Marie

Just for Fun" Scraplings "

What  a week last week was ! I had amassed over 100 followers and also received 103 comments for a recent post on LIM challenge, only to have blogger go bananas and take me back into double figures !  Not too bad I suppose some people lost whole posts ! Bloggers revenge happily coincided with the weather forecast for Thessaloniki being for hot weather for three consecutive days . It has been  miserable for so long , rainy and cold while the rest of Europe has been basking in sunshine. So Off I went to the beach where I attained  third degree burns all over ! I'm blaming blogger if it hadn't gone do lally tap I would still be all lovely and pasty instead of this crispy crimson that I am now. OK that's the moaning done and dusted now onto the non moaning part.

The gorgeous Neet over at Just for Fun has set us a very interesting theme this week which is scraplings .For those of you that don't know what scapplings are pop over to Just for Fun to find out and to see the amazing works by the design team members. I love this challenge site as it is what it say's all about fun and reminding us to enjoy what we create . Zoe, Neet, Sam and  Von couldn't be nicer and more supportive, always on hand to answer all and any questions we might  have .so thank you ladies, right that's enough grovelling from me,  people will think I've gone all soft !

 

 Here I used aluminum,  embossed paper and gold foil in conjunction with my PaperArsty die cut (seems like we where on the same wavelength this week Zoe ) 

Distress inks and PaperArtsy flower stamp, Crafty Individuals bird a bit of blending and matting and there it is. I have to say that they both look so much better in the flesh and was very pleased with them which is somewhat unusual for me, that was until I tried to photograph them the sun having disapeared ( I must have soaked it all up ) leaving behind a gloomy day and an even gloomier me !

 This is my take on a book mark . I used distress inks straight to the paper on the longest length just stamping whilly nilly , the dots stamp is Hero Arts and the small piece on top which is raised to help mark the page is a Stampin Up Heart not that you can tell, but your not supposed to !

Although the pictures make the scraplings look huge they are tiny skinny little cast offs but they make groovy little cards .

Hope you like them.



Over at Get Creative it's a new layout challenge from Chryssa who has supplied us with a great sketch once again, pop on over and check it out and that of the other design team members who once again have done themselves proud. Don't forget there is some lovely blog candy up for grabs and the challenge is open until the end of the month so plenty of time to take part.

Well that's all from me just wanted to say thank you to all my new followers and to everyone who leaves a comment very much appreciated. Am of to visit you all and see your fabulous creations.

Marie

Less is More " White on White "

Let me just start of by asking would any one like a white card ? No, you have plenty OK then, will just have to ask somewhere else ! You see I have somewhat of a surplus, at the last count I made about ten ! None of which are up to much so they will most probably end up in the pile  " to throw or not to throw ".

For weeks while I was hovering on the sidelines of the Less is More challenges playing " should I or shouldn't I " it was mainly because of the huge amount of talented work I saw week after week. Well three weeks ago I took the plunge ( am I a Limette yet ? ) and I thoroughly enjoyed it, even the acetate challenge ! This week I was back to dithering again and why well the theme this week at Less is More is White on White. Nowhere to hide on this baby, this one separates the haves ( talent ) and the have not's and it looks like I am the only one in the not's category . I was stunned by the amazing quality and quantity of entries so far this week and the amazing technical abilities of all the lovely Limettes, beautiful embossing and die cutting. For those of you who think it's easy using a die cutting machine let me tell you if the pokey tool hadn't been invented then I don't know where I would be !

I can't say I'm super happy with the outcome but after so many hours it seems a shame not to give you all a little giggle ! So feel free let it all out............you know you want to !

Would like also to say a big thank you to everyone who visited and left a comment , very much appreciated as is your advice and humour.

Mandie, Chrissie will I have to go and sit on the naughty step now ? Please let me know as I will put on a pair of extra pants as I suffer from bloggers bum and want to avoid a flare up !

Have a great rest of the weekend

Marie

Just for Fun Size Matters !

No it's not another R & B ( Rosie and Bailey ) the paper eating mutts story. It's the Just for Fun Challenge Size Matters ! As you can see by the above photo not in our house, Rosie the french bulldog 10 kilos and Bailey her sidekick who incidentally is the man of the house 1.9 kilos !




This week It's Neets turn to set the challenge and it's her first one so best of luck to her ! Our subject for this week is  " Inchies " 1 x 1 inches more for the likes of Bailey than Rosie. I love these little mini pieces of art although the bloggers blindness and having quite long nails proved to hold me back a little , but that's all I have to whinge about this week  ( is that cheering I hear in the background ??)  In fact I loved it so much that I made two pieces !!!
Just a little apology Mr I Mac has decided for some reason not to rotate this image so we are having to view it sideways and uncropped sorry for that. I used Hero Arts mini flower stamps and cut them into the inchies and then distressed the edges and added a little distress ink here and there. On this one I wanted each image to be random .I made my little flower and used Paper Artsy stamps for the leaves a tiny pearl for the centre and layered them on stamped rice paper and velum. This one looks so much better in the flesh and of course the right way up !

Here I stamped a flower onto onto white card stock stock and used distress inks to colour the background , I then cut into six one inch squares and placed foam pads underneath to give it a bit of depth, made a couple of leaves from some gorgeous velum . It was then mounted onto black card. The most time consuming part of the whole thing was trying to get the correct spacing between the inchies and unsticking them from my talons !

Do pop over and see the wonderful art the gorgeous design team have come up with at Just for Fun truly inspiring !

Hope you all have a fab weekend , it's finally stopped raining here !!!!!!hooray

Marie

Get Creative Card Challenge 5th May

 

Its the 5th of the month and over at Get Creative and we have a new card challenge for you. The theme is to make a card for " an older person " Being a teenager myself ( well I am in my mind and if I don't look in the Mirror ) I had to use all of my imaginative skills. This is what I came up with and I hope the " older person "  whoever they are will like it  so go on put your hand up and tells us your opinion.

For my card I used some lovely paper from Websters pages , the stamp is from Hero Arts which I embossed with Ranger Red Brick embossing powder, a couple of pearls and ribbons and a little birdie to top it of.

Why not pop over to Get Creative and see what the rest of the talented Design Time members have come up with we have some wonderful blog candy up for grabs again this month.

On another note I have been given The stylish blogger award by two new followers who I have met through the LIM challenges  Massofhair and Valerie I would like to thank these two lovely ladies for this award it's very much appreciated. To be honest I just couldn't limit my choice to so few people so would like to pass it on to all of you wonderful crafty bloggers out there ! To me you are all stylish.

Marie

Just for Fun " Triangles "

Let me just say right off I'm not happy, not happy at all ! The time has come for a good old moan and it's about time too ! In keeping with the Easter spirit and also due to the fact that I just didn't have time my blog was a moan free zone. Would you believe it though there are a lot of weird people out there who actually prefer me when I'm winging, on my blog that is , maybe it's because they can just go and look at some one else's page if they don't like what they see. Unfortunately my family  do not have the same luxury.

So back to business, over at Just for Fun ( are they having a laugh ? ) I can just imagine them week after week trying to pick a theme that will give us the most difficulty. This week is no exception .Von ( she was lovely Von last week ) has chosen a triangle for us !!!!!!!!! Nothing came to mind except for well a triangle but a blank one at that I've been dreaming of the little things all weekend ( must see someone about that preferably someone in a white coat ) Things must be bad if your start to dream about challenges am I right ??  I love ( read used to love ) the JFF Challenges and for that reason wanted to participate in them every week , so am afraid due to lack of inspiration I am entering this piece of triangular rubbish.

( 

Feel free Zoe, Von Sam, or Neet to accidentally delete it , it's fine by me. Oh by the way the cheeky little monkey hanging from the banner is you Von !!!!!!!!

Hope you are all having a more creative week than I am and if I get one nice comment I will be crossing whoever tells the crafty fib of my blog list !!!!!

Marie

Less is More " Lucky Dip "

I did read on several blogs that if you took the plunge ( I did three weeks ago ) that taking part in the Less is More challenges  would become addictive and how right they are ! This weeks challenge is to create a card using the the words " Thank You " or  " Congratulations "

Instead of boring you with my usual ramblings I will just show you my little medley !

All very simple I even used acetate on the the congratulations card , I guess I am one of the few who like to use it !



Another big thank you to all of the Limettes who popped by last week 97 comments !!!!!! I was totally blown away. I also reached my 100th  follower, another milestone for me as I have only been blogging for three months so thank you all for your fantastic support .

It's a new month and a new challenge over at Get Creative .The first challenge is to scrap a layout featuring yourself and stating your age if you dare !  We have a guest designer this month the very talented Amanda Jones who is kindly sponsoring us with some beautiful prizes from her shop Scrap Rat. Go over and check out what she and the wonderful design team have come up with , who knows you could be one of our lucky winners this month.

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend .

Marie