AAA Cards DT: Sketch and cold

The last theme of the year has been set out over at AAA Cards’ clean and simple card challenge blog. It has a wintery feel with ‘sketch and cold’ being the design features to include. If you need a reminder, the sketch is there as inspiration and doesn’t need to be literally followed (though a couple of the DT cards have done so). The colour palette does need to be from the cold side though.

Sadly, this card will also be my last design team card for AAA Cards. I’ve made a card every fortnight for them over the last two years and it’s time to move on to do something new/different. There are plans to take the challenges into next year, so do keep joining in the fun 🙂

Here’s my take on the challenge:

sketch and cold themed Christmas card

Continue reading

Art Journaling: A shiny Christmas

The last Art Journal Session of the year is on Monday, 4th December at The Studio in Leicester. Inspired by all things sparkly and shiny around this time of the year, I’ve come up with this shiny Christmas double-spread:

A shiny Christmas art journal layout with coloured glazes over aluminium foil tape.

If you’d like to come to the session, please let me know. I remembered to take step-by-step photos this time, so instructions follow…

Continue reading

AAA Cards DT: Fall/leaves

We’re still in meteorological autumn (just) and there’s an apt theme to the next challenge over at AAA Cards‘ clean and simple challenge blog: fall/leaves. I’m writing earlier in the year, so I don’t know whether there have been gales and thrashing rain or an Indian summer. However, I can pretty much guarantee there was the traditional leaf-changing-colours period and it’s to this I pay tribute with my take on the theme:

Fall/leaves sympathy card

Continue reading

LIM DT: Anything goes (as long as it’s CAS)

In the penultimate challenge of the year, we’re looking for your clean and simple cards over at Less is More. Anything goes this week as long as you keep it CAS. Don’t forget to look at our definitions for more guidance on what this entails. I searched through my stash and looked for a rubber stamp that had never been used and found this one featuring a poinsettia. I chopped a strip from it to keep it CAS rather than use the full image. Here’s the card I made for the design team inspiration gallery:

Christmas poinsettia image coloured with watercolour paints

Continue reading

Art Journaling: Up, Up & Away

My next Art Journaling Session is on Monday evening, 6th November at The Studio. If you’re recovered your hearing after the fireworks, do come along and join in! We’ll be working on the theme of ‘up, up and away’ for our mixed media layouts in our journals. Here’s the inspiration example:

Mixed media art journal layout based on the theme of 'up, up and away' featuring a bright ink background and hot air balloon.
Continue reading

LIM DT: Blue, pink and white colour challenge

We have a colour challenge over at Less is More this week… Your clean and simple card should feature blue, pink and white to enter our gallery. Now, my cards don’t necessarily fit the guidance for ‘simple’ or ‘easily reproducible’ but I find them rather pleasing and am running with them! Here’s my first card for the design team inspiration page and below is another I made:

Blue embossed mandala with pink and white shading to colour mounted onto white card blank using foam pads.
Continue reading

LIM DT: Music

Theme week at Less is More, and we’ve been set ‘music’. Despite the fact I play the clarinet, massacre a tenor sax piece and know where the notes are on a piano, I’d not say I was a musician! (Just ask how well I can play a syncopated rhythm…) I’m also not an avid listener of music – it is on in the background for most of my working day but I don’t choose to listen to it in my down time. So this theme was a bit of a challenge until I realised just how many ‘classic’ music-themed stamps and embellishments I had in my stash. This is my design team card for your inspiration, but don’t forget to check out the rest of the cards the team have created.

music themed card with rubber stamped background, rusty quaver embellishment and a quote sentiment

Continue reading

Art Journal: Maps

It has been a little while since I have shared one of my art journal spreads, so I thought I would do so today as a plug for next week’s art journaling session here at The Studio. I’m also sharing the stages the layout went through to get from where I started to the finished article. ‘Maps’ is the theme this month and you’re very welcome to join us on Monday at 7:30pm for the session where you will create your own take on the theme. All materials are provided, and you can get a suitable journal from me for just £2 if you don’t have one already. Just let me know if you’d like to attend. Here’s my finished layout:

Continue reading

AAA Cards DT: Skies, planets & galaxies

This week’s theme at AAA Cards blog is quite broad. So broad, it’s almost universal. We want to see your clean and simple cards featuring skies, planets or galaxies. I considered blatant advertising by using a chocolate bar wrapper on my card but thought better of it and raided my stash instead. Here’s my design team card for the challenge…

planets birthday card
Continue reading

LIM DT: Alphabet – C is for celebrate

Less is More clean and simple card challenge blog has a new theme for the next fortnight… We’re working through the alphabet and this week it’s the turn of C – make card for something to celebrate. I had various ideas and ended up going with this one:

Celebrate wedding day clean and simple card

Continue reading