The next challenge at Less is More is to make a one-layer card using a self-drawn frame. I went a bit mad and hand-drew the whole thing. The finished piece looks like it is layered because of shading using an alcohol marker on the bottom edge of the mandala – a very effective way of adding depth without layers. The background is a masked, dense layer of blended distress ink over which I’ve used a black pigment marker and Stabilo pencils for shading.
I’ve procrastinated a bit on my homework for this section as I and watercolours often do not get on well together. The lessons have been great on Wanderlust 2022, with each of the tutors carefully and patiently explaining the techniques they use so that they are, in the main, replicable. Here are my results from weeks 29-35…
Various mixed media techniques on papers other than watercolour paper have generally worked ok. I still haven’t fallen in love with watercolours as a medium, but am glad I have tried them. Oh, and buying decent tube watercolours made such a difference to the vibrancy of the colours over the student quality hard pan collections I normally use.
Apparently, World Cardmaking Day is held every first Saturday of October and is dedicated to those that prefer to make cards rather than buy them. In honour of this, the latest challenge at Less is More is to make a CAS card on the theme of friendship. I made the following card, and I’m not sure I like it! I think that the blue shading around the top and bottom of the rose detracts from the clean and simple aesthetic.
A new challenge has just been published over at the AAA Cards challenge blog. This time, it is to create a clean and simple card using a colour theme set by a photo with the optional extra of using dots. I picked out the primary four colours from the inspiration photo and spent a bit of time matching them to archival ink colours before stamping them onto white card using the same dotty stamp. Now, I usually avoid layers on my CAS cards, but most guidelines specify no or few layers so I feel I can get away with two. I like the individual pieces’ drop shadows and the depth they provide.
This ended up being a fast and simple card once I had chosen the stamps! The challenge over at Less is More for the next fortnight is to create a clean and simple card using just black and white. I was tempted to add shades of grey as shadows and to add some depth but decided it wouldn’t meet the challenge.
Here’s a clean and simple card design for a no layer sympathy card. It’s the latest theme over at AAA Cards. No layers means exactly that – all the elements need to be on the card blank, no matting and no embellishments (which count as a layer). They are one of the trickiest challenges to do. My card is just about the simplest I have made!
The recipe challenge this week over at Less is More is to use vellum in your clean and simple card design/make. One of the trickiest things is to find a means of attaching it to the card without the glue showing as a darker area given its translucency. I’ve got around this by taping a fold-over flap to the inside of the card. I found the flower in a long-neglected box of Pergamano parchment craft. I mounted it on black to get the right contrast for the white of the stretched vellum. The sentiment is stamped in white pigment ink several times to get it opaque.
Yet another challenge at AAA Cards this week! The theme this time is a moodboard (shown below) with the optional twist of it being a get well card. For those unfamiliar with making a clean and simple card from a moodboard, you can choose any element to base your design on, e.g. colours. I’ve taken inspiration from the bottle in the bottom middle image and found a never been used stamp in my stash to match:
Just in case you need reminding, OLC stands for ‘one layer card’ where you aren’t allowed to use any layers other than the cardstock that forms the card itself. It’s the latest challenge over at Less is More, along with the theme of your favourite flower. Die cuts are out, as are most embellishments so it’s a difficult challenge. I don’t particularly have a favourite flower, but I do have a favourite daisy stamp so I went with that!
A little challenge over at AAA Cards this fortnight, with the main theme being ‘small and few’. The optional twist is to add (lady)bugs to your clean and simple card design. Here’s my take on the theme:
