Welcome to my crafty blog. I’m firmly back in my comfort zone with this CAS (clean and simple) card today, using the ‘oriental vine’ stencil from Claritystamp and the colours from Less is More. There is a bit of a twist to this card, though, that has stretched me as this week’s challenge from Just Us Girls is ‘no stamping’ – and I am most definitely a stamping girl at heart! I did find a solution though, so read on…

I started by laying the stencil over a strip of white card to just pick up one column of the vine design (it’s an all-over stencil), using low tack tape to mask it off, and then sponged Distress Oxides in ‘broken china’ and ‘mustard seed’ through it. I tried to keep the colours separate, but they did blend in a few places, although I like that as it does give it a more natural effect. I then mounted it on another strip of card after blending the ‘broken china’ down each edge, and then attached it to a 6×6 card blank.

Now this is where I would normally reach for my stamps to make the sentiment! Thankfully, I’ve got some of the Claritystamp words stickers, so spent the next half an hour trying to decide which one to use (…is that just me?)! I settled on ‘many happy returns’ and mounted it on another scrap of card blended with the ‘broken china’. A couple of Glossies hearts to finish and it was done.

Thanks for dropping in. I’m off to have lunch with friends today – making the most of the sunshine while it lasts!