Seeing Spots

This week, Paper Smooches SPARKS has their "picture perfect" challenge, and this is the inspiration photo:

Cupcake roses -- how brilliant is that? So of course my card has neither flowers nor cupcakes. Instead, I took my inspiration from the polka dots and the blue.

Lots of dots! Why yes, that is Target washi tape. Welcome to Canada, Target -- and it's true, I did mostly check out a new store in order to see if their tapes had come to Canada. The red panel is embossed with dots as well, and even this happy puppy is spotted. His nose and eye got some enamel accents, while his collar received some glossy accents. (I think Polaroid could be revived if they came out with three-dimensional photos -- as my puppy is, popping off the background -- don't you?)
With slightly better odds than the average lottery, I'm also entering this card in the current Simon Says Stamp "Anything Goes" challenge.

       

Supplies: white & Stampin' Up real red cardstock, Recollections patterned paper, Paper Smooches Woofers and Tweeters & Birthday Buddies stamps, Memento tuxedo black & Stampin' Up real red inks, Prismacolor pencils, Lil' Inkers instant camera die, Spellbinders large circle die, Cuttlebug embossing folder, Target washi tape, pop-dot tape

Vintage Friends with Flair

Happy Friday! I thought I'd join in on the Unity Friends with Flair fun this week with a vintage birthday card. 

Unity weekend sales are tough to beat, aren't they? I picked up this Itty Bitty during one of them recently. This Graphic 45 paper is a perfect match for the vintage autos. I think this is a great way to recognize a *vintage* birthday with a bit of subtlety. ;)
Of course this is going into this week's Anything Goes challenge at Simon Says Stamp. 
Have a great weekend! 

Supplies: Stampin' Up Very Vanilla & Naturals Ivory cardstock, Graphic 45 A Perfect Gentleman patterned paper, Consider Yourself Vintage stamps, Brilliance coffee bean ink, clear embossing powder, Lil' Inkers instant camera die, pop-dot tape

Pink Plus at Crafty Creations Challenges

           

This week at Crafty Creations Challenges, we are looking for cards or other projects featuring pink along with one other colour. Easy if you love pink, perhaps not so much if you don't. ;) I fall somewhere in between, so it wasn't too onerous a task.

Inspired by yesterday's Tuesday Trigger photo at Moxie Fab World, for my second colour I went with rich razzleberry. It seems to be one of those shades you either like or loathe; you can guess which side I'm on. And if you check the other design team creations, you'll see I'm not the only one! I decided to go classy with this card, and that often leads to me using this gorgeous rose image. I second-generation stamped it on the patterned paper as well as embossing one to cut out and pop up. 
Our sponsor this week is Bunny Zoe's Crafts. This store was new to me, but it looks like there is a great selection of crafting products, and one lucky winner will receive a £10 credit to the store! 

Supplies: white & Stampin' Up rich razzleberry cardstock, American Crafts Dear Lizzy Lucky Charm patterned paper, Stampin' Up Fifth Avenue Floral & Judikins Calligraphic Sentiments stamps, versamark & Stampin' Up rich razzleberry inks, clear embossing powder, Spellbinders small oval die, Recollections pearls, ribbon, pop-dot tape

Cheers!

Happy Sunday! I may be leaving it till the last day, but I have a card for this week's Paper Smooches SPARKS challenge:

Kim has a colour challenge this week, and it seemed to me that the colours would be ideal for a nautical card. (Oh look, the combo is even called "oceanside".) For once, I've stayed fairly true to the colours, with the possible exception of the lower right one. In the description, it's called kraft, but the lighter tone pictured seemed to work better than the darker kraft for this. Even with that big gem in the centre of the ship's wheel, I think this makes a perfect masculine birthday card, don't you? 



Supplies: Papertrey Ink soft stone, Paper Smooches Lily & Beverly & Stampin' Up bashful blue cardstock, Paper Smooches Wicked Nauticool & Birthday Sampler stamps, Memento tuxedo black ink, Doodlebug flowerbox jewel, circle punch, corner-rounding punch

Purrrfect SPARKS

Have you noticed? I've been trying my best to play along with the Paper Smooches SPARKS challenges as much as possible. This week is a sketch challenge.

As soon as I saw this layout, I wanted to make it into a modified gate-fold card. Which may just mean I'm weird, but whatever. 

Closed...

... aanndd open.

You've got to love the glint of mischief in this cat's eyes, despite his suave-looking chevron-patterned coat. A little trick I picked up from my friend Emily is to leave the tail unadhered -- much more fun that way. 
I wouldn't exactly call this strictly a masculine card, but I am going to give it to my brother for his birthday. He'll appreciate the cat's look of mischief, too. 

Supplies: white, orange & green cardstock, Cosmo Cricket Clementine & Basic Grey Plumeria patterned paper, Paper Smooches Nine Lives stamps, Versafine onyx black, Versamark & Memento new sprout & tangelo inks, clear embossing powder, Spellbinders small circle dies, Queen & Co. paw print trendy tape, dimensionals

Hero Arts Sketch Time

The April Hero Arts contest is almost half over, and I thought I'd get an entry in before the first deadline. I really like their sketch this month: 

The flower immediately made me think of an older Hero Arts stamp that I acquired in a grab bag at a Victoria, B.C. stamp store -- a bag of stamps with the proceeds going to an animal charity. 

As you can see, I stayed pretty true to the sketch. I liked the idea of taking the casual, sketchy look of the stamp and pairing with the usually formal-looking vellum. It just might be the freezing rain and ice pellets in our weather forecast that made me go for the bright summery colours to go with it! :P 
That's it for me tonight. Although I have a couple of other cards trying to make their way from vague idea to actuality... 
Edited to add: Silly me! I totally forgot last night to add this to the current Simon Says Stamp challenge, April ice pellets Showers and/or Spring Flowers! 

Supplies: white, navy & Bazzill Basics yellow cardstock, vellum, Simple Stories summer fresh patterned paper, Hero Arts 5 Petal Outline Daisy & Hero Arts/Basic Grey sentiment stamps, Versamark & Memento Paris Dusk inks, clear & WOW white embossing powder, Creative Memories corner-rounding & EK Success 3/4" square punches, Studio G gold glitter glue

Don't Be Square!

Wednesday means it's time for a new challenge at Crafty Creations Challenges. This week's theme? NO SQUARES. Seems to me that's open to a wide variety of interpretations! I decided that for me, it meant a shaped card. I don't do a lot of shaped cards; I like the shape to be integral to the overall theme of the design. I hopped over to Pinterest and searched "shaped cards" for a little inspiration. And that's where I rediscovered that Paper Crafts magazine had featured a spool card template several months back. That led to this: 

If you look very closely, you can see where I scored the (not quite square! In case that counts) white linen-textured cardstock to give it a thread-like look. The two pins I think are saved from one-time corsages. 
While I was avoiding squares, I also made a quick tag, this time with nary a square in sight:

You can only imagine how happy I was the day I found this copper cardstock that is an exact match to my copper pearl embossing powder. The stamped layer is diecut; then I traced the outside of the die for the base layer. All I felt it needed was some watercolouring. I was going to punch a hole and add ribbon, but then I thought what a lovely addition this would be to some thank you flowers, and left it the way it is.
Both these projects have embossing, so I'm adding them to the current challenge at Playing in Paradise. 
Now it's your turn! Don't be square; link up with our challenge! 

Supplies: (spool) white linen-texture &  Stampin' Up kraft & real red cardstock, Memory Box brioche patterned paper, The Girls' Paperie Paper Girl stamps, Versamark & Stampin' Up crumb cake inks, silver embossing powder, Spellbinders potpourri die, corsage pins, silver elastic cord, pop dot tape; (thank you tag) white & Recollections copper cardstock, Hero Arts Art of the Card Le Journal stamp, Versamark, copper pearl embossing powder, Twinkling H2Os, Hero Arts scallop frame die

Butterfly SPARKS

So glad I took a second look at this week's Paper Smooches SPARKS challenge! After thinking all week about what kind of colourful, rainbow-y kind of card I wanted to make, I read more closely. Butterflies! Yes, I know it says it right on the inspiration picture, but obviously I was entranced by the psychedelic colours. Might have also been ignoring it because I have no Paper Smooches butterflies (yet?). So I looked through my alternate forms of butterflies, and came up with a little gift tag.

I don't use stickers very often, but once in a while, they seem to be just what is needed, as in the case of this butterfly sticker, layered over watercolour paper painted with some Twinkling H2Os. Of course I accidentally performed an antennae-amputation as I cut around the image, so made new ones with some wire, which then helped me decide on the silver-embossed sentiment, silver accent stickers (why yes, they do cover the adhesive sticking the vellum to the tag) and silver cord. I hope the Paper Smooches sentiment and die cut tag make up for the dearth of PS butterflies. 
With the embossed sentiment, I'm also adding this to the current Playing in Paradise embossing challenge. 

Supplies: Stampin' Up Pacific Point cardstock, Canson watercolour paper, vellum, Paper Smooches Woofers and Tweeters stamps, Versamark, silver embossing powder, Paper Smooches tag zig zag die, Elizabeth Craft Designs butterfly sticker, Stampendous silver dot sparklers stickers, Twinkling H2Os, Fibre-Craft wire, silver elastic cord, Fiskars pop-dot

Embossing Flair

Wow, the first Friday in April already! Although if you had to guess by my local weather, you might think early March instead. Here's hoping spring arrives soon. In the meantime, I've missed a few Friends with Flair weeks, and wanted to join in on the fun.

I have mostly used the butterfly image from this Key to Joy set, and decided to play with the large collage stamp this time. I embossed the image in clear before sponging it with distress inks, and when those were dry, some iridescent medium for a little extra sparkle. The sentiment is embossed in gold and edged in gold ink. With all this embossing, I'm entering this in the current challenge at Playing in Paradise. 
If you are in need of some creative inspiration, be sure to check out the Unity Friends with Flair post! 

Supplies: white & Stampin' Up old olive cardstock, Unity Key to Joy stamps, Versamark, Colorbox gold, peeled paint & bundled sage distress inks, clear & pirate's gold embossing powders, Winsor & Newton iridescent medium, Marvy-Uchida corner-rounding punch, dimensionals