Happy Little Stampers: Watercolour

As February fades into March, it's time for the new round of Happy Little Stampers challenges to begin, starting with the Watercolour Challenge! Just to give myself a challenge, I decided to go for a no-line watercolour: 

Of course for inspiration, I had to look to the master, so watched a couple of videos by Debby Hughes. Mine in no way whatsoever compares, but I did pick up a couple of helpful tips. The flowers are coloured with Daniel Smith paints, and the watering can with a Gansai Tambi metallic watercolour. Using another master's tip, I darkened a few "nooks and crannies" with watercolour pencils - thanks, Kathy Racoosin! As I said, not even trying to compare my card to their work! 

Lots of beautiful watercolour inspiration on the Happy Little Stampers blog - you have the month to join us! 

Supplies: Stampin' Up grey cardstock, Canson watercolour paper, Unity Tulips and Daisies & Waffle Flower Tankful Mouse stamps, Memento tuxedo black & antique linen distress ink, Daniel Smith & Gansai Tambi watercolours, watercolour pencils, MFT rounded stitched rectangle die, Marvy-Uchida corner-rounding punch, Little B washi tape

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The QUEENS OF Snarky Stampers

It's time for a new Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers post! Our latest challenge: Q is for Queen. From Freddie Mercury to Elizabeth II, we are looking for your interpretation of the word QUEEN. 

I know it's a shock, but I went with a cat card:

Breaking out some older but NBUS (never before used schtuff) for this card: the cat, the crown and sentiment are seeing ink for the first time. Although my own cat is male (and generally known as LORD Duncan), the expectation to be treated as royalty work for all felines, I think. To start, I ink blended a panel with distress oxide inks, making sure to get purple in there for that royal touch. I splattered the panel with both plain water and diluted Lawn Fawn liquid stardust for interest. The cat, crown and sentiment are all stamped and embossed in black with clear embossing powder. 

Our newest Queen and guest designer, Tristan, and the Snarky Sisters have lots of interpretations to whet your appetite for this regal challenge! I hope you will join us. 

Supplies: Recollections black cardstock, Koh-In-Oor smooth bristol, Picket Fence Studios Cali Cat & A Muse Keep Calm stamps, Versafine black, tumbled glass, faded jeans & wilted violet distress oxide ink, Wow clear gloss embossing powder, Lawn Fawn liquid stardust

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Inkspirational: Tower

It's time for a new Inkspirational challenge! And our new word prompt is TOWER. I think it must be a symptom of the ongoing pandemic that I was completely at a loss for this theme for the longest time. I mentioned it aloud, and my husb reminded me that I have lots of towers! Skyline stamps and dies, an Eiffel tower stamp... with these things in mind, I made my card: 

This stamp has a few towers as part of its international skyline! Before I stamped it, I blended the background with distress inks. With an old-school wooden stamp, I got out my Stamp-a-ma-Jig to place the skyline where I wanted it. This could have perhaps been a one-layer card, but I'm rarely that confident. ;) 

Visit the Inkspirational blog to see just how many ways the word TOWER can be interpreted! Hope to see how the word prompt inspires you. 

Supplies: Neenah white cardstock, Hero Arts International Skyline & Neat & Tangled Origami Map stamps, Versafine onyx black, carved pumpkin, shaded lilac, blueprint sketch & chipped sapphire distress inks, Wow clear gloss embossing powder, MFT blueprints 29 stitched rectangle die

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Seize the Birthday: Create a Scene

Yay, it's time for a new Seize the Birthday! It was my turn to pick our challenge *topping* and I chose CREATE A SCENE. (Of course I considered calling it "make a scene"... :D) I decided to create a little birthday concert scene: 

To start, I stamped, embossed and watercolored my trio of animals. Rather than layer die cuts, I stamped the maestro chick on top of the music stand, as well as the musical score. This meant fussy cutting it, but I was able to die cut the owl and raccoon. For the background, I very lightly blended ink for the floor, then added a little stencilling over top for a bit of hardwood texture. (So light it's not really showing up in the photos.) The stage background is sponged lightly in pale green. I used my thinner foam tape to pop up the maestro, and regular foam tape for the musicians. 

There are so many ways to create a scene on a card - in fact, I think I may be the only one of the team to have created an indoor scene! Lots of fun makes to enjoy from the DT and our current surprise party guest, Carol. Of course, as always, we love to see any birthday card in our gallery, so join us! 

Supplies: Neenah white & Stampin' Up basic black cardstock, Canson watercolour paper, Lawn Fawn Critter Concert stamps & dies, Versafine onyx black, Catherine Pooler melon ice & antique linen distress ink, Wow clear gloss embossing powder, Gansai Tambi watercolours, Memory Box scraped paint stencil, MFT blueprints 29 stitched rectangle die, pop dot tape
 

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Addicted to Stamps and More: Any Occasion

It's time for a new challenge at Addicted to Stamps and More, and this time we're looking for cards for Any Occasion! Having made more than enough Valentine's cards for this year, I moved on to an Easter card: 

Easter is such a good excuse to use bunny stamps! 🐰 This little cutie from Paper Smooches is coloured with Copic markers. I couldn't resist adding a little dimension to his tail. He's popped onto a panel I had from a playdate at Emily's from before the pandemic. (Sigh.) I lightly blended some pale green ink over the linen cardstock. White seemed a little plain, so everything was layered onto an orange card base. 

If you need a card for an occasion of any kind, we have the challenge for you! I hope you will join us. 

Supplies: Neenah white, white linen & Hero Arts layering cardstock, Paper Smooches Spring Fling stamp & die, Clearly Besotted Sweet Little Sentiments stamp, Simon Says Stamp intense black & bundled sage distress ink, Copic markers, Catherine Pooler Puddle Jumper mini cover plate & MFT blueprints 29 banner die, Nuvo gloss white crystal drops, foam tape

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Color Hues: Peach and Green

It's time for a new challenge at Color Hues! And we have a pretty, springlike duo of colours for you: peach and green. It's far from spring where I am, but I went with flowers anyway:

I am using a stencil from STAMPlorations - I have the similar stencil with smaller images, but couldn't resist adding the larger version to my collection. I positioned it so I'd have one of the large flowers front and not quite centre, then blended peach and green inks. Once I'd removed the stencil and die cut the panel, I also added a little green around the perimeter of the panel, just with the ink still on the brush. I was also able to colour in the sentiments with the same brush - either it is perfectly saturated, or in need of a good cleaning. :D As a final step, I added a few clear drops to the flower petals. 

Lots of peach and green inspiration from my Color Hues teammates, and our guest designer, Chick! I hope you will join us. 

Supplies: Neenah white cardstock, The Greetery Birthday Blooms stamp & die, Uniko Pure Florals: Gerbera & Hero Arts Color Layering Wreath stamps, Simon Says Stamp intense black, Catherine Pooler bellini, Memento cottage ivy & bundled sage distress ink, ARTplorations bold botanicals stencil, Winnie & Walter Katharine Cutaways rectangle die, Studio Katia clear drops mix 1

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