Card Craft
Craft Label DT: Twelve Days of Christmas

Posted on 2nd November 2021 by Neil

I’ve three more cards to share, this time using the First Edition Paper pack ‘The Twelve Days of Christmas’, available from Craft Label. The 12×12″ pad features 48 sheets, 16 designs, with some in canvas effect paper, some with glitter or foil and about half are double-sided. The paper is a good 200gsm weight and printed with soy ink. Illustrations include drummers drumming, partridges in pear trees, candy canes and of course, the obligatory fiiiiivvvvee gooooollllllddd rings. Here are the quick, clean and simple cards I have made using the papers…

twelve days of Christmas drummers and tree cards

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Card Craft
LIM DT: Winter Whites

Posted on 30th October 2021 by Neil

It was sooo tempting to draw a line of drying laundry after a whites’ wash for this week’s ‘winter whites’ theme over at Less Is More challenge blog. I decided that this possibly wasn’t the best idea for a greetings card, so dropped it in favour of this design:

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Arts in Worship
Bible Journaling: Kings

Posted on 23rd October 2021 by Neil

Five more Bible illustrations for your inspiration, this time from 1 & 2 Kings. These are books I am less familiar with, so finding and reflecting on the verses was very valuable.

There will be a chance to do your own versions of these at a Bible Journaling session at The Studio in the New Year, if you haven’t already done so using the free downloadable PDF featuring the designs (search for Bible Journaling 14 in my shop).

Card Craft
Craft Label DT: Clear stamps and alcohol markers

Posted on 22nd October 2021 by Neil

After a small hiatus, I’m back with some Craft Label goodies and design team inspiration. This week, I’m concentrating on using clear stamps and alcohol markers to make three cards with a minimum of other items needed. This is an intellectual exercise as much as anything else but showcases what you can do with a minimal set of media.

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Card Craft
LIM DT: Autumnal one layer card

Posted on 16th October 2021 by Neil

One Layer Cards (OLCs) are often the trickiest of the Less is More challenges. All the elements must be directly on the cardstock used for the card itself. No die cuts, matting layers, or indeed most embellishments are allowed. The card itself must retain the clean and simple rule as well. This week’s theme is ‘autumnal’ and I’ve used a previous art journal page as inspiration for my card, which I think would be suitable for a sympathy card.

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Card Craft
LIM DT: Purple and Yellow

Posted on 2nd October 2021 by Neil

We’ve reached ‘colours’ on our rotating challenge themes at Less is More and this time around it is purple and yellow. For those unfamiliar with the challenge, it is to make a card or project that is clean and simple – there must be lots of clear and clean space around whatever elements you’re using. Here’s the card I made for the design team inspiration:

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Art Journal
Art Journal Page: Scratch ‘n’ scrape

Posted on 1st October 2021 by Neil

It’s lovely to have restarted my art journaling sessions here at the Studio (first and third Monday evenings of the month). This means that I have also returned to my art journal after a several-month hiatus to create the sample pages for the session. This month the theme is scratch ‘n’ scrape, in part known in the trade as sgraffito. We’ll also be playing with analogous and complementary colours. The overall effect is quite grungy and builds up using quite a few layers and media.

If you’d like to know more then I have one space left on Monday 4th October and four spaces on Monday 18th October, just let me know if you’d like to come.

Card Craft
LIM DT: Hexagons

Posted on 18th September 2021 by Neil

It’s a shape challenge at Less is More this week, with the theme being ‘hexagons’. I chose to use a honeycomb die for my shapes and used both the positive and negative elements to make two cards. I had a master sheet that I had coloured with inks and paints during the Creative Jumpstart course at the beginning of the year which I used to cut the shapes from.

Here are the cards:

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Card Craft
LIM DT: Sparkle

Posted on 4th September 2021 by Neil

Ok, so this latest challenge from Less is More is going to cause all sorts of consternation as it is notoriously difficult to photograph glittery things. I’ve tried multiple light sources, but still haven’t managed to avoid shadows or overexposure. So, it’s left up to you to imagine the sparkle in these two cards!

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Arts in Worship
Lasered: Believe

Posted on 26th August 2021 by Neil

Every now and then I have cause to go back and look at some of my previous work. On this occasion, I reviewed a piece I made for Jones Crafts some 7 years ago. I like the wide frame and the recess, so I adapted that concept for my latest piece from my Glowforge laser:

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