To Goth or Not to Goth

In another life, I could be a Goth. I could be a Goth papercrafter! Steampunk, lots of distressing, cool Goth images... but I'm not. However, there's this week's Drunken Stampers challenge to deal with: 

So since I'm in this life, not my parallel Goth existence, I decided to go Goth...ic in my style. I've been meaning to play around with trying inset diecuts, and decided to use the technique here. I've also had this card pinned for two years, so thought maybe I should try being inspired by it. 

I completely planned to use the vellum overlay, as in the inspiration card, but when it came to it, I liked it better without. The layout is very similar to the original though. I really like the look of the text tree inset in the black cardstock. 

Of course, when you do an inset diecut, you end up with the other halves of the diecuts...

This time I liked the way the vellum looked. I changed the layout of the card a bit, and used an Echo Park sticker sentiment. The papers and stamps are Echo Park as well. 
As you can see, you don't need to feel too restricted by our challenge this week! I do feel badly I didn't even manage to get a person into either card... unless that bat is really...? :D So come and link up your Goth or Halloween creations this week! As for me, I'm also going to link these up to the Halloween Simon Says Stamp and the Halloween/orange &black Shopping Our Stash challenges. 

Supplies: (text tree) white & black cardstock, vellum, Echo Park Apothecary Emporium patterned papers, Unity/Echo Park Fright Night stamp, Versafine onyx black ink, clear embossing powder, Quickutz house and tree die, Martha Stewart bat punch, Stampin' Up scallop border punch, Paper Smooches twine, pop-dot tape; (trick or treat) black & white cardstock, Echo Park Apothecary Emporium patterned papers & sticker, Unity/Echo Park Fright Night stamp, Colorbox mango tango ink, clear embossing powder, QuicKutz house and tree & Spellbinders reverse wonky rectangle dies, pop-dot tape

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Crafty Creations Challenges... and Characters!

It's a brand new challenge day at Crafty Creations Challenges, and this week we are looking for your Halloween Characters. They can be cute, they can be spooky, they can be scary! We are generously sponsored this week by Clearly Besotted stamps.
I have a few of the more traditional Halloween characters in stamp form -- witches, vampires and the like -- but I wanted to use some new images I'd die cut and stamped last time I went for a crafty afternoon at my friend Emily's. 

I know that black cats are traditionally associated with Halloween; my shading just leaves this one a little ghostlier, perhaps. If I'd been at home with all the time in the world, I might have masked the cat on the broom and cut them out together. But then, of course, I couldn't have taken advantage of the matching die. :) The purple background is distress inks patted on an acrylic block then smushed on watercolour paper. The moon? A scrap of the inside of a charity Christmas card I'd saved that had just the right amount of distressing already done. After the purple panel had dried, I sprayed it with vanilla Smooch Spritz for shimmer. Here's a close-up:

Don't forget to check out what the rest of the Crafty Creations challenges design team has made -- there's a fun variety of creatures! Then link up your creature creation with us! I'm also adding this card to this week's Shopping our Stash Halloween or orange and black challenge. 

Supplies: white cardstock, Canson 140 lb watercolour paper, vellum, Lily Bee Design Pinwheel patterned paper, scrap greeting card, Lawn Fawn Critters in Costume stamps & dies, Memories black, Ranger milled lavender & dusty concord distress inks, distress markers, vanilla Smooch Spritz, Spellbinders circle die, Queen & Co lavender half pearls, pop-dot tape

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Let's Chill...

It's Sunday, so as usual, that means time to enter this week's Paper Smooches SPARKS challenge! This week is a sketch challenge:

I also used the challenge as the opportunity to get another Christmas card done.

When I saw the little diagonal trail along the card, I thought right away of both misting and sequins, so they're both here on my card. I was going to make a nice snowy landscape for my little penguin Polaroid, but then I decided I liked seeing him on the blue path. I layered vellum under the frame to soften the path a bit. The sequins are silver and two shades of blue; and though are old, they're not as old as the silver marker I used to outline the sentiment banner... I used to use that marker for elementary school projects. I'll also pop my penguin into this week's Christmas/Holiday challenge at Simon Says Stamp. 
Enjoy the rest of your Sunday!

Supplies: white & Recollections silver cardstock, Paper Smooches Chilly Chums & Swanky Snowdudes stamps, Memories black ink, Sea Kiss Smooch Spritz, Sharpies, Uchida silver DecoLiner, Lil' Inkers Instant Camera die, sequins, Glossy Accents

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Friday!

Happy Friday! For a short week (Thanksgiving here) it's been a very loooonnng one. So it's nice to say hello to the weekend, and what better way than to link up to this week's Unity Friends with Flair? Yesterday the latest {be inspired} challenge was revealed. I think I will be back again to the challenge to use this month's colours, but today I concentrated on the sketch. 

It's a great excuse to get another Christmas card made, and so the sketch led me to this:

I'm not unconditionally in love with this card yet, but I decided to share it anyway. It also did not want to play nice with the camera, particularly all the nice shiny silver embossing on the elegant tree. I stamped the navy panel in silver with a grab bag stamp that seemed to echo the tree design perfectly. 

I'm also putting this into this week's Simon Says Stamp challenge, Christmas/Happy Holiday cards. 

Happy weekend!

Supplies: white, navy & Bazzill light blue textured metallic cardstock, Echo Park Winter Wonderland patterned paper, Greetings of Christmas, September 2011 Kit of the Month (All Seasons) & (?) Unity stamps, Versamark & Colorbox silver inks, silver embossing powder, Sizzlits crescent tag die, Twinery platinum shimmer twine, pop-dot tape

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Carnival Time!

It's the weekend! What better time to consider going to a carnival? And that's exactly what we're doing at Drunken Stampers this week. 

We're focusing on a place this week, and that place is a carnival, or anything you might find at a carnival. I ended up making two cards. I wanted to go with the capital "C" carnival... Mardi Gras! 

So I've never been to Mardi Gras, or to New Orleans for that matter. (And doesn't Mardi Gras sound so much more festive than Fat Tuesday? How could you have a celebration around that?) Luckily, the Web can tell you anything about Mardi Gras you might want to know. I used the traditional Mardi Gras colours of gold (power), green (faith) and purple (justice). I found a clipart mask on the internet and printed it onto the back of gold cardstock to cut out. Completely influenced by Emily, I layered purple pearls onto green sequins. I thought the misted panel looked appropriately Carnival-y. :D It's tricky to see in my photograph, but I also embossed a fleur-de-lis tipped border along the bottom of the misted panel.
I also wanted to make a small "c", fun-fair type of carnival card. 

When I initially saw the Carnival theme, this elephant stamp was my first thought. He is so winsome! He's paper-pieced and watercoloured. If you go to a carnival, you're going to need tickets, so here they are in the patterned paper and for the sentiment. (Thanks for the idea, Chris!) I also used an embossing folder to add polka dots to the ticket paper. My design is based on this older Mojo Monday sketch. Loosely. ;) 

Both my cards qualify for this week's challenges at Shopping our Stash (#122: Embossing x2) and Simon Says Stamp (Use a Rubber or Clear Stamp). 

There is a carnival of inspiration over at the blog from my fellow Drunken Stampers! Check it out, then come play with us!

Supplies: (party) white & Recollections gold cardstock, Echo Park For the Record 2 patterned paper, Unity Mix-Up of Cuteness stamp, Colorbox violet ink, Zing! clear embossing powder, Art Anthology Colorations timeless colour spray, Cuttlebug border embossing folder, May Arts ribbon, Darice sequins, Queen & Co. lavender half-pearls, feathers, pop-dot tape; (fun) white cardstock, My Mind's eye Miss Caroline Dilly Dally patterned paper, Unity It's a Party & Mix-Up of Cuteness stamps, Memnto Luxe gray flannel & Stampin' Up riding hood red inks, Zing! clear embossing powder, watercolour pencils, Cuttlebug seeing dots embossing folder, Simple stories Sn@p sticker, silver Stickles

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SPARKS Time!

It's only (at last?) Friday -- happy Friday, and happy start to a long weekend if you're Canadian! -- and I already have a Paper Smooches SPARKS card for this week's challenge! What makes that more amazing is that I wasn't really feeling the Trend Watch this week:

Lace just wasn't calling to me. But then when I was tidying some of my stash yesterday, I happened across my supply of crocheted mats -- handmade by my talented buddy and Drunken Stampers teammate Jessi -- and an idea was born. 

The crocheted edge counts as lace in my books, but I also paired it with some lacy patterned paper. I really like the soft pink and grey colour scheme, with the pastel "squeals". I offstamped the yellow one first to soften it appropriately.
This card is also going into the current Simon Says Stamp challenge... to use a rubber or clear stamp. 
And since it's only Friday, this could be your reminder to make something for this week's challenge! Unless, like me, the rest of your weekend is already filled with family, and turkey, and pumpkins... ☺

Supplies: white & Stampin' Up pink pirouette cardstock, Echo Park Just Married patterned paper, Paper Smooches Party Posse stamps, Memento gray flannel Luxe, angel pink, lulu lavender, new sprout & dandelion inks, Zing! clear embossing powder, watercolour pencils, crocheted mat, Spellbinders circle die, Creative Memories corner-rounding punch

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Easy as 1, 2, 3 at Crafty Creations Challenges

This week at Crafty Creations Challenges, we have a recipe challenge that's as easy as 1, 2, 3 -- one ribbon, two embellishments and three papers! So let me say, not my favourite type of challenge, being a relatively clean and simple stamper. Paper-piecing to the rescue!

Our sponsor this week is Robyn's Fetish, and thinking ahead to Canadian Thanksgiving this weekend, I decided to use this sweet preserves jar to create a label for a box holding some homemade treats. My recipe: one ribbon (twine), two embellishments (sequins, chipboard tag) and three different papers from my scrap bin. A little white gel pen helped make the cord around the jar lid stand out. 
What are you cooking this week? Check out the rest of the design team's creations, then link up your own tasty recipe treat! 

Supplies: white cardstock, DCWV Holiday Stack & Amber Ink plaid picnic gingham patterned papers, Robyn's Fetish jar image, My Favorite Things layered labels dies, Twinery stone twine, Darice sequins, Colorbok chipboard tag, white gel pen

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Let's Chill

Paper Smooches SPARKS Anything Goes challenge ends tonight, and I have a second card to enter! 

I have had the snowman from Freezy Fellas and the trees from Warm Hearts inked and cut out for ages, but for some reason hadn't used them. So I brought them both out today and started to play. I even managed to incorporate a third set, Swanky Snowdudes, with the sentiment. I grabbed my Echo Park Holly Jolly paper pad -- it may be old, but I continue to love its bright colours and cute designs. Once I picked the two papers, I matched the sky colour with a distress marker for the trees. The twine just happened to coordinate quite nicely as well. I coloured the heart red and covered it with red glitter glue. I think this would be a fun card to send to a bff with its sentiment!
Hope you're enjoying the end of your weekend!

Supplies: white & Stampin' Up real red cardstock, Echo Park Holly Jolly patterned paper, Paper Smooches Freezy Fellas, Swanky Snowdudes and Warm Hearts stamps, Memories black & Stampin' Up real red inks, Ranger distress markers, Twinery Caribbean twine, pinking shears, black Enamel Accents, Studio G red glitter glue, pop-dot tape

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World Card Making Day!

Yes, there really is a World Card Making Day. And it's today! What a great excuse to celebrate, and maybe even make a card or two. Indulging this little hobby of mine has made me friends around the world, given me the privilege of being part of two fun papercrafting design teams, let me participate in lots of creativity-stretching challenges and given me the opportunity to learn some beautiful art techniques. Oh! And make cards, of course. 

On this day, I thought it might be appropriate to join in with one of my design teams, using one of my favourite brands of stamps. 

It's not officially my week to post on the Drunken Stampers challenge blog, but luckily the Tropical Hooters team doesn't mind if a Yellow Canary decides to play along. ;) The challenge this week is a PERSON: Neil Armstrong. Of course, you also have the option of making a space- or astronaut-themed card. Naturally, some of the design team rose to the challenge and created cards dedicated to that pioneer astronaut. I went with a slightly more generic space card: 

How cute is this little Paper Smooches space alien in his UFO? Not surprisingly, I'm not the only Drunken Stamper using this fun stamp set today. As a Star Trek fan, I would of course like the sentiment to read "boldly go", but I realized that, out of context on a card, that could actually sound a little rude. :P
Since part of my card-making journey has been entering challenges, I'm going to enter this card in two: the current Paper Smooches SPARKS Anything Goes challenge, and Simon Says Stamp's We're Going Dotty challenge. 
Happy World Card Making Day! And happy weekend, of course. 

Supplies: white cardstock, Echo Park Dots & Stripes Metropolitan patterned paper, Paper Smooches Space Cadet stamps, Memento tuxedo black ink, Bic Mark-Its, Sharpies, Uchida Deco-Liner silver marker, Recollections silver half-pearls, ancient silver sequins from my stash, Multicrafts googly eye, pop-dot tape

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Christmas? Not Yet!

Happy Friday! It's Unity Friends with Flair time, and I'm happy to be joining in two weeks in a row. It's October now (how is that possible?), so all I seem to want to do is make Christmas cards. :P How fortunate I picked up a couple of the new Snow Peeps during one of Unity's amazing weekend sales. 

This is Kurt, and this is the Unity sketch I used to create my card:

I used my new love, my distress markers, to colour Kurt on watercolour paper. He's stamped and embossed directly to the patterned paper in white, but hard to see in the photograph with the dots of snow that are already part of the paper. Instead of black, I stamped the popped Kurt in grey to keep with the soft colours of the card. Of course there are Stickles on his hat and mitten trim. 
Did you know that tomorrow is World Card Making Day? I'll be back tomorrow as part of a World Card Making Day blog hop -- but in the meantime, you can't go wrong checking out all the inspiration on the Unity blog! 

Supplies: white & Recollections textured navy cardstock, Echo Park Winter Wishes patterned paper, Unity Just Skating By (snowpeep Kurt) stamps, Colorbox frost white, Memento Luxe grey flannel & Ranger smoky sky distress inks, holographic embossing powder, Tim Holtz broken china, smoky sky & weathered wood distress markers, Stampin' Up silver tinsel trim, frosted lace Stickles, Spica silver & clear glitter markers, Creative Memories corner-rounder punch, pop-dot tape

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