Friday 12 February 2016

Happy Birthday 'Less is More'


It's the 5th Birthday of one of my favourite challenges - Less is More. The theme is 'White on White' and 'accents in metallic or B/W are perfectly acceptable'. I think my black is somewhat more than just an accent (probably I'd go so far as to use the word overpowering!), sigh, but am still linking in to wish all the hardworking girls on the DT a Very Happy Birthday .... and many more to come!
I was trying to achieve a bit of an Art Deco look - 'nul points' as zee French would say when judging zee UK in zee Eurovision Song Contest :)

I used:

- 4" x 6" white card blank

- piece of white card from the same A4 sheet of card, trimmed slightly smaller than the card front and then die cut an aperture at an angle using the Memory Box 'Prim Poppy' die. I kept the die cuts themselves, needed the cut piece from the centre later on and also the poppies will be used at some point

- then backed the aperture with a snippet of white card which I'd covered using medium strength double sided adhesive sheet and set it to one side

- die cut the 'Prim Poppies' again, this time from a piece of white adhesive glitter sheet from the Xcut 'Metallics' set which I'd backed with a snippet of white card before die cutting - that was to make sure the level was right between the background and the poppies - didn't want them to be recessed and they only stand very slightly proud of the backing card

- then tucked the white sparkly poppy die cut into the aperture as an inlay (remember it was already backed with adhesive sheet faced upwards/to the front of the card) and followed that with the plain white die cut piece from the centre which I mentioned earlier

- next die cut the sentiment from black adhesive glitter sheet from the Xcut 'Metallics' set using the Joanna Sheen 'Retro Happy Birthday' die and added that to the card

- wow, what a lot of black against the white in one area - so I punched each corner using a Woodware 'Fancy Corner' punch and added little 1" squares of black card, covered with leftover snippets of the black adhesive glitter sheet behind each one

- used thin sticky pads to adhere the panel to the front of the card

- final touches, a few clear diamante gems around the poppies and one black gem above the letter 'i' in the sentiment

If it wasn't LIM's Birthday I wouldn't bother linking this into their challenge as frankly I don't think it's a success - but I do so want to help them to celebrate!

Lately I've been referring to medium strength adhesive sheet. Just to clarify - my definitions of adhesive sheet start with the strong stuff which is made by the likes of Woodware and comes with a red plastic backing, just like the ultra sticky red line tape. I tend to use that stuff quite sparingly as it isn't cheap - and it also is no good for die cutting IMHO.

Then, the medium stuff is covered with waxed paper backing, it die cuts quite well so long as the die isn't too finely detailed and is pretty robust. If I was using micro beads I'd go for the stronger stuff mentioned above but this will generally hold fine glitter and also gilding flakes without any problems.

And lastly, the lightweight adhesive sheet is 'Stick-It'. The layer of adhesive on Stick-It is very thin and it's really great for those intricate dies so long as you remember that it is deliberately still movable until you've really pressed it in place firmly. If I was layering several thicknesses of card or paper to do the 'camouflage' technique then I certainly wouldn't expect Stick-It to hold several layers onto my project. I would layer up using Stick-It as it's just so good with die cuts - but, the layer right on the card would be held in place with stronger adhesive sheet or even glue.

Hope this made some sense! I found all this out by trial and a good few errors so just wanted to share my thoughts :)

Di
x

21 comments:

  1. I love how you've kept the WoW with the white, glittery Prim Poppies - one of my favourite dies. You're too hard on yourself, Di, it's a lovely card. Thanks for all the info about the adhesive sheets. xx

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  2. The white on white rocks. Beautiful card

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  3. That five years seems to have whizzed by, it's one of those I keep promising myself to join in with and am yet to make it.

    Love the simplistic elegance of your card today Di, a real beauty and of course it's Poppies.

    B x

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  4. A CAS card which I like very much! Well done Di!!
    Lia xx

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  5. Well it's a pretty card regardless of whether or not it meets the LIM brief.

    Happy Friday!

    Hugs, Sarn xxx

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  6. Di, it's beautiful! I love it!
    Hugs x

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  7. Oh, I love this, classy, elegant and will be so easy to post...another beauty!!

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  8. Great to see you playing long in the birthday challenge at Less is More die and what a stunner! Love all that shimmer of course and a delightful elegant and CAS take. Thanks so much. Sarah x

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  9. I like it Di - but to fit more with wow you could cut another sentiment and off set over the top of the black one? Just a thought.

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  10. I do like the happy birthday, it is bold but a lovely die and the poppies are pretty.

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  11. Mucho tres Fabulouso! As I'm sure the French would say after a couple of bottles of wine. I like the sweeping black greeting with the inlaid dies. Interesting descriptions of the different adhesives. I followed along quite well, and exactly why you can't answer the question "what is your favorite adhesive" so easily. Favorite adhesive for *what*?!

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  12. Very elegant CAS with these sparkling poppies and the gems are a lovely touch!

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  13. Lovely card Di, I love this poppy die and use it such a lot.
    Janice x

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  14. Those sparkly poppies look beautiful against the plain white, and I really like the black accents that perfectly balances this card! Very pretty!

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  15. One of my all time favourite dies and this looks just terrific Di!
    Thanks so much
    Chrissie
    "Less is More"

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  16. Aww wow Di your Cas card is so lovely and elegant too! x

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  17. A beautiful card Di and I love that poppy die and your big bold sentiment finishes it perfectly. I did have a card for this challenge and got so busy I missed the deadline! I could have made it to the playground but it goes against the grain adding it so much at the last minute so decided to leave it. I do hope your foot is now completely back to normal too. x

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  18. So glad you linked up, Di. Love this die cut and the swoosh in the sentiment echoes the curve of the stem. Thanks for your kind wishes.
    Thanks so much for sharing with us.
    Anita x
    Less is More

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  19. Beautiful! So elegant, I just love the bits of bling. I always love that white on white look!

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  20. Love the poppy Di, thank you for the kind words :)
    Thanks so much for joining our 5th birthday celebration challenge!
    Anne
    "Less is More"

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