Joking Around with the Snarky Sisters

Even Edna still has a prank-pulling kid inside, and so this week the Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers is offering J is for Joke as our newest challenge! It's a good thing I didn't come up with this card when I was still working, it might have been way too tempting to use... 

My sentiment is a Funny Bones stamp from Riley & Company, and I built my card around it. Browsing through some Graphics Fairy images I've saved, I came across this guy, and with his valise and flying umbrella, he seemed to be a perfect fit. I did flip him to make the two-part sentiment easier to place. Ink and cardstock to match his subtle colouring, and I was done! I'm adding this to the current challenge at Addicted to Stamps and More, where they are currently asking for Clean and Simple cards.

Add a few laughs to your day by visiting the Snarky Stampers blog, where you'll see more funnies by the Sisters and our reigning Queen of Snark and guest designer, Helen. Join us to perhaps win a snarky crown to call your own! 

Supplies: Neenah white & Hero Arts blue layering cardstock, Riley and Company Calling in Sick stamp, Versamagic Aegean blue ink, Graphics Fairy image

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Artist Trading Card News!

Today I get to announce why I have been practicing my Artist Trading Card skills the past couple of months... I am joining Happy Little Stampers ATC Challenge Design Team! This month our theme is FLORAL. 

I like to make ATCs in sets, so I made a set of four. I tried photographing them all together, but since two are on white cardstock and two are on a creamier mixed media paper, they really didn't play nicely together. So here they are in pairs. 

For the first pair, I started by selectively inking and stamping a dotted background stamp. Over that I used a floral stencil with translucent embossing paste. The stencilled areas resisted the sponging of the blue and green inks. for the left ATC, I added a sponged and die cut flower and a green hello sentiment. The right has a cluster of flowers and a wreath I cut in half to add some greenery.

For the second pair, I smooshed blue and purple distress inks onto an acetate sheet, misted them and used that for stamping my background roses stamp. For the left ATC, I found this large floral-style die cut in my stash, spritzed it with shimmer mist, and added a purple foil centre. For the last one, I adhered an assortment of die cuts, stickled the centre of the main flower and added a sentiment. 

Artist Trading Cards (and Coins) are a fun, small canvas to play with stamps, inks, techniques and more! Any details you may need can be found on the Happy Little Stampers blog. I hope you'll come and play along! 

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Seize the Sunshine!

It's the first Thursday in July  - and Happy 4th of July to my US friends! It's also time for the first July Seize the Birthday challenge. 

Appropriately enough, our new challenge topping is SUNSHINE. Where I am, we've been enjoying a few days of sunshine and warm temperatures this week, yay! So I must have been feeling inspired when I made this card: 

My palm trees and tiki cocktail are left over from last years 30 Day Colouring Challenge - not that I'd actually coloured these pieces last year. I knew I had this sheet of sunray paper, and found a scrap of cardstock that matched for the sun. The beach is a combination of antique linen and vintage photo distress inks applied with a stippling brush. I was stuck as to where a sentiment would go, but then added the words to the sun rays, following the curves of the palm trunks. A few brushes of Wink of Stella to the cocktail was my last touch. 

I suppose to a few lucky people, this just looks like home, but to me it looks like an ideal vacation destination, so I'm adding this to the current Addicted to Stamps and More challenge: Holiday. 

We have a new surprise party guest for the summer: Su! Lots of inspiration from Su and the usual birthday party regulars, so be sure to head over to the main blog. You have two weeks to join us! 

Supplies: Neenah white & generic blue & yellow cardstock, Lawn Fawn Hello Sunshine patterned paper, MFT Tiki Party & Avery Elle Monsters stamps, Versamark, Memento tuxedo black, Verafine smoky grey, & antique linen & vintage photo distress inks, Hero Arts sparkle embossing powder, Copic markers, MFT Tiki Party, MFT blueprints 24 stitched circle & Sugar Pea Designs card builder elements dies, Wink of Stella clear glitter marker, foam tape

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ABC Christmas Challenge: N & O

Here we are at Christmas in July for ABC Christmas Challenge! We are also halfway through the alphabet - this month our themes are N for NO PEEKING and O for ORNAMENT. 

Since it's summer (finally!) where I live, I enjoyed making my Christmas projects sitting outside on our deck while enjoying some iced tea. I also broke from tradition and made my first project a tag: 

To me, a "no peeking" sentiment seems perfect for a tag, and I had all the makings for it in one Concord & 9th set. I started by die cutting the tag holder and creating a pattern by stamping the diamonds all over it. Then I heat embossed the no peeking sentiment... and realized it would have shown better if I'd not put diamonds behind the little letters. Sigh. A coat of sparkly gel pen made them much more readable. Second mistake was white-embossing the inner tag sentiment on red using Versamark instead of a white pigment ink - the thicker The North Pole letters aren't exactly perfect. :( I consoled myself with the knowledge that tags get even LESS attention than cards do. :D 

   

I got back to the cards with O for Ornament: 

I've had this cute little Christmas cat for ages and this seemed the perfect reason to add ink to her again. Some fun patterned paper for the background and to frame her, sparkly spray on the snow, and of course some gloss on the ornaments. 

Here we are, it's the second half of 2019 - time to start stockpiling some Christmas cards! With two fun prompts and lots of design team inspiration - plus some from prizes from co-team leader Samantha! - why not join us! 

Supplies: (no peeking) Neenah white & Stampin' Up real red cardstock, Holiday Cheer Tags stamps & dies, Versamark & Stampin' Up real red ink, Zing red glitter & Hero Arts white embossing powder, Gelly Roll clear glitter pen, Hemptique twine; (ornaments) Neenah white, Doodlebug Frosty Friends & (?) patterned paper, Memory Box grey card base, Magenta Christmas Cat stamp, Versafine smoky grey ink, Wow clear embossing powder, Copic markers, Sugar Pea Designs Card Builder Elements & (?) scalloped frame die, Glossy Accents, Tsukineko clear shimmer spray, foam tape

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Happy Little Stampers: Wings

Here we are, halfway through 2019! Seems almost unbelievable to me. But with July starting, it's time for a new Watercolour Challenge at Happy Little Stampers! Our challenge always accepts any watercoloured creation, but our optional theme this month is WINGS. So many possibilities! I decided to go with birds.  

I started by stamping and embossing this Stamplorations bird on watercolour cardstock as well as stamping him on masking paper. I covered him so I could create the background with blue and green watercolour powders. Once that was dry, I coloured the bird with Gansai Tambi paints. When everything was dry, it was a simple matter to stamp and emboss the sentiment and add the die cut panel to a card base. 

I am squeaking in at the last minute to the June STAMPlorations CAS challenge: stamps and birthdays, as well as their Never-Ending Anything Goes Challenge.. 

Then I decided there was another bird in my collection I wanted to give some attention to: 

I used a Gina K stencil to create the circle of flowers around the central bird image. I watercoloured everything before matting the central panel with black and using a green card base. 

Feel like watercoloring? Be sure to head to the Happy Little Stampers blog for beautiful inspiration from the rest of the design team. You have the month of July to join us! 

Supplies: (happy birthday) Canson watercolour paper, Hero Arts azure layering cardstock, STAMPlorations Smallbirds & Simon Says StampEssential Greetings & Happy stamps, Versafine onyx black & Memento Luxe Danube blue inks, Wow clear gloss embossing powder, Gansai Tambi watercolour paints, Magenta Nuance cerulean & spring green watercolour powders, MFT Blueprints 24 stitched rectangle die; (dream big) Stampin' Up basic black & Hero Arts green layering cardstock, Canson watercolour paper, Pinkfresh Studio Dream Big stamps, Simon Says Stamp extreme black ink, Gansai Tambi watercolour paints, Gina K wreath builder stencil 

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The Birds and the Bees...

Oh, oh. Looks like Edna never had THE TALK. So the Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers are really offering a public service by dedicating our new challenge to The Birds and the Bees. Of course, you don't have to go *there* with the challenge, a card with birds and/or bees is fine, too. I went with a bee, no bird:

(Ugh for rainy days when photographing.) I wasn't even sure I had a bee stamp, but then discovered this little cutie in an old Stampin' Up set. (Why I force myself to catalogue my stamps, tedious as it is...) I watercolored him, using a shimmery paint for his wings. There is a wash of blue background that has disappeared in the photograph. I wanted a pretty patterned paper to back him, and computer-generated the sentiment. You can see the shimmery wings and the blue a little better here: 

Our current Queen of Snark and guest designer, Helen and the Sisters have lots of avian and apian inspiration on the blog, so be sure to check it out! Why not show us what you know about the birds and the bees? ;) 

Supplies: Neenah white & Stampin' Up basic black cardstock, Canson watercolour paper, Memory Box Brioche patternad paper, Stampin' Up Every Little Bit stamp, Versafine onyx black ink, Wow clear embossing powder, Gansai Tombi watercolours, MFT blueprints 24 & Sugar Pea Designs Card Front Builder dies

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