A Sketchy Change of Pace

If you happen to visit here once in a while, you may have noticed that I am what they call a "clean and simple" stamper. I don't tend to go for lots of layers or embellishments. However, after a month of guest designing for the CASology challenge blog combined with the current one layer challenge at the Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers, I felt the need to break out of the box a little! Layers, papers, embellishments, calling my name...

I decided to use the current sketch from Tuesday Morning Sketches -- especially since my friend and snarky sister Jessi just happens to be this week's sketch artist! No stamping on this (although the inside sentiment is stamped), just lots of Graphic 45 Typography paper. Of the three small tags, the middle is a chipboard piece to match the flourishes on the main panel, while the other two are die cuts. 
I'm also entering this into Simon Says Stamp's current Anything Goes challenge. 

Supplies: Stampin' Up basic black cardstock, Graphic 45 Typography patterned papers and chipboard element, Simon Says Stamp postage stamp die, Spellbinders Page Maps Charmed, I'm Sure dies, Twinery marigold twine, Recollections black half-pearls, pop-dot tape

CASology Week 106

... and my last week guest-designing with this great challenge and team. *sad face*

I found this cue word tricky at first. How to use a rainbow of colours yet keep a clean, simple design? If you're CASology team member Ardyth, you make it look easy, I discovered. I didn't really want to finish off my guest month CASEing (Copying And Sharing Everything) someone else, though. Then I started thinking about the different causes and organizations that use rainbows to symbolize diversity and acceptance, and an idea started to form.

I'm sure there's a rule somewhere that you shouldn't mix ink/embossing colours when paper-piecing, but I also have a feeling there are a lot of unwritten stamping rules I manage to break. I wanted the dragonfly's antennae and trail to be silver and the outline of his body black, so that's what I did. I traced the rectangle of the sentiment with clear glitter pen for a little extra sparkle. 
I have had such a good time pretending to be a CASology designer this month, I wanted to share the happiness! So I have a little blog candy offering today:

A Simon Says Stamp/Kelly Purkey "Cheers" stamp set and a galaxy gold ink! I'll pick a winner from the comments on this post next week. In the meantime, check out how the CASology design team has been inspired by this week's cue card. And then I hope you will be inspired to join us! 

Supplies: white cardstock, Echo Park Everyday Eclectic patterned paper, Hero Arts dragonfly and sentiment stamps, Versafine onyx black & Versamark inks, clear & silver embossing powder, Wink of Stella clear glitter pen, Marvy-Uchida corner-rounding punch

Meet Flat Edna!

Hooray for Saturdays! And this particular Saturday starts a new challenge at the Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers: 

Is our mascot, Edna, not looking fabulous once again? Our challenge this week is to make a one layer card. In a way too convoluted to explain, somehow the Sisters got from one-layer cards to a one layer, or FLAT, Edna! (Think of Flat Stanley, with added snark.) Our graphics maven Lee took her Edna to Rothenburg for the afternoon and this challenge badge is one result. Our flat Ednas have been everywhere! Flat Edna and I spent a recent weekend in our nation's capital, Ottawa:

Edna and I spending some quality time with the Famous Five on Parliament Hill

Why hello, soldier! :Þ 

A peaceful moment with the Peace Tower in the background

On to my card... for some reason, I find the one layer format very suited to making sympathy cards. And since it never hurts to have a few sympathy cards at the ready, that is the route I went: 

One layer cards are hard! If you mess up, there's no way to hide it. Well, other than starting to add layers to the messed-up card, then trying again to make a new one layer. So I am pretty pleased that this card only took one try! That may be a one layer first for me. I also used a stamp set I won ages ago that had yet to make it to a card. The bottom edge is sponged in the same green as the foliage, while the top is sponged with blue. I stamped the sentiment in grey rather than black to keep everything soft and muted. 
CAS on Sunday happens to be looking for sympathy cards for their current challenge, so I'm linking there. 
Be sure to visit all the Sisters' blogs to see not only their one layer card inspiration, but also where Flat Edna has been! We also have a terrific guest designer, Pink Unicorn. You have until August 8th to show us your own one layer creation. You may just be our next Queen of Snark! 


Supplies: Neenah solar white 110 lb cardstock, Gina K. tropical flowers & Unity bevy of butterflies stamps, Memento new sprout, lulu lavender & Luxe grey flannel inks
(One layer card making bonus: short supply list!)

The Road to Clean and Simple

It's time for a new challenge at CASology, and here is this week's cue word:

Run. I don't. Maybe from a burning building, but luckily I haven't had to test that theory. So not a lot of interest in making a card with that kind of running theme. People run for political office, but that held even less appeal. What to do? Then I thought about my distress markers, and how delightfully they *run* with water. Now that's my kind of running. 

 

After colouring my tulip stamp, I spritzed it twice with water before stamping it on watercolour paper. I then took inspiration from Ardyth's card from last week's challenge, and cropped the full image using a circle die. I was quite pleased to discover I had a cardstock match for the tulip colour! A white-embossed sentiment finished the card.

I did have a first attempt at this, that I like, but didn't quite make it into the clean and simple category...

The full image, and extra layers, take this card just out of the purely CAS realm. ;)
Need more inspiration? The CASology design team has lots! And then run to your supplies and join us! 

Supplies: (CAS tulips) American Crafts textured cardstock, Canson watercolour paper, Hero Arts Newspaper Tulips & Unity Watermelon Gazpacho Soup stamps, Versamark ink, Wow white embossing powder, distress markers, Spellbinders circle die; (not-so-CAS tulips) Stampin' Up naturals ivory cardstock, Canson watercolour paper, Basic Grey Oxford patterned paper, Hero Arts Newspaper Tulips & Memory Box happy birthday stamps, peeled paint distress ink, distress markers, Creative Memories corner-rounding punch

Dotty Wanna Sketch!

I woke up this morning with what I thought would be a great idea for Lisa Arana's latest Wanna Sketch challenge... and when I checked, there were even several hours left to be able to join! ;) Here is the sketch:

And here is my relatively faithful take on it:

I used the "rock & roll" technique on that chubby kitty, inking him first in light orange before rocking and rolling a darker orange around the edges. He and the sentiment are grounded with a simple marker line. Note the stripes on cat and twine; dots on two different papers. So balanced. :D I'm going to enter this into Simon Says Stamp's current Spots and Dots challenge, as well. 
And I just couldn't bear to drag myself to my usual photography spot in the basement, so I took my photo in the beautiful sunshine on our deck -- which is also where I made this card. Gotta love summer! 

Supplies: white cardstock, My Mind's Eye Lime Twist Fly a Kite patterned papers, Paper Smooches Feline Friends stamps, Memento cantelope & tangelo & Versafine onyx black inks, black Sharpie, Twinery marigold twine 

CASology Week 104

I'm back for another post alongside the talented team from CASology! I am lucky enough that this month has five Tuesdays, so this marks my half-way point as a guest designer for July.

While there can be other interpretations, this is not a Snarky Sisters post ;), so I went with what I think is the most obvious meaning of the cue word:

I just got the new Paper Smooches Feline Friends stamp set, so it was an obvious choice to ink up. I love when solid stamps ink so nicely the first time! To really give the silhouette some dimension, I heat embossed with liquid glass embossing powder -- it adds extra thickness and shine. The sentiment is embossed with regular clear embossing powder. I wasn't entirely sure how it would go, stamping over the washi tape, but everything worked very nicely. The main panel is popped up on the grey card base for a clean, simple, classy card. 
For more inspiration, be sure to check out the CASology challenge post. And if you wish to go with another meaning of the cue word, I for one can't wait to see it! 

Supplies: white & Stampin' Up basic grey cardstock, Paper Smooches feline Friends & Memory Box Happy Birthday stamps, Memento Luxe tuxedo black ink, clear and liquid glass embossing powders, Little B thin silver strip washi tape, dimensionals

The Snarky Sisters are Back...

... and we are in some fine company for our latest challenge!

Hello, BRADS! Oh, and buttons, right. I'll tell you right up front, I am not a button girl. Don't mind them on other people's cards, but not really my thing. Of course, I HAVE buttons; I just don't use them. And of course I HAVE brads... but I still used this challenge as an excuse to buy some more. ;)

Kitty brads! How could I resist? And let me tell you, I spent far too much time trying to get this card to photograph accurately... if you know the Stampin' Up paper Almost Amethyst, that's the card base and thought bubble colour, so adjust your (mind)sets accordingly. And while this may not appear at all snarky... pause for a moment and consider that what else would the average cat dream be, if not snarky? :P
Brads or buttons... or both! You have two weeks, so why not join us? Be sure to check out the terrific inspiration my sisters in snarkiness have created, too! 

Supplies: white, purple & Stampin' Up almost amethyst textured cardstock, Authentique Be(you)tiful patterned paper, Simon Says Stamp Pillow Talk stamps, Versafine onyx black & Stampin Up almost amethyst inks, clear embossing powder, Spellbinders oval die, Stampin' Up ticket corner punch, Eyelet outlet brad, pop-dot tape

Clearly SPARKS!

Hooray, it's Friday! The weekend is upon us, and I have a card for a pair of challenges... Paper Smooches SPARKS and Simon Says Stamp Let's Be Clear:  

Since I'm hoping the Paper Smooches stamp and die connection is obvious, I'll point out the clear aspects of this card:
-Paper Smooches CLEAR stamps
-Wink of Stella CLEAR glitter marker on Mr. Super's teeth and the word SUPER
-CLEAR Glossy Accents on Mr. Super's teeth (obviously he has a PR agent) and to adhere the sequin stars
I'll be back tomorrow with the latest Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers challenge... and there are a few hours left in the current Steampunk challenge. You know you want to! ;) 

Supplies: white, teal & Stampin' Up real red cardstock, Echo Park patterned paper, Paper Smooches Super stamp, Memento tuxedo black & teal zeal & Stampin' Up real red ink, Paper Smooches Bam Bubble & Super 1 dies, Simon Says Stamp falling stars stencil, Spectrum Noir markers, watercolour pencils, gold Smooch, gold star sequins, pop-dot tape

Glow...

It's my second post as CASology's guest designer for July, and this week's cue word is GLOW: 

Just like last week, lots of ideas crossed my mind,  but I still ended up going with my first instinct, which was to pull out this light bulb stamp with its perfect sentiment. After stamping and heat-embossing the image, I cut it out and traced around it onto my card base before sponging the glow. I stamped the sentiment, then coloured in "light" using the same ink. 
Here's a close-up that shows the silver embossing better:

The regular CASology design team has of course come up with their usual creative ideas, so be sure to see where this week's cue word took them. Then I hope you'll join us! 

Supplies: white cardstock, Unity stamps, Versamark, Memories black & Memento dandelion inks, silver embossing powder, Simon Says Stamp postage stamp die, pop-dot tape

CASology Guest Post

Happy Canada Day! It's Canada's 147th birthday, and it also happens to be my first post as guest designer for CASology! Yep, just a little excited. Here is this week's cue word:

There are lots of directions one could take with this, but I ended up sticking with my initial idea, which was to use a boat. Here's my card:

I started by masking the top half of the card with some washi tape, before mirror stamping a reflection of the sailboat using the plastic sheet from my stamp positioner. I used distress ink, as I wanted the ink to run a bit when I went over it with a watercolour wash of Twinkling H2Os. This adds a lovely shimmer to the card. After removing the washi tape, I used my stamp positioner again to get the upright image of the boat in just the right place. The sentiment is rather perfect for this challenge, too, don't you think? And while this could easily have been a one-layer card, my current supply of watercolour paper is not my favourite card base, so I popped the panel up on a blue base instead.  
I'm going to sneak this card in on the last day of Simon Says Stamp's current Anything Goes challenge. 
Of course, for true inspiration, make sure you check out what the regular CASology design team has created. And then I hope you'll join us this week with your take on the cue word!

Supplies: blue cardstock, Canson 140 lb. watercolour paper, Unity/Webster's Pages Celebrate & Technique Tuesday Vroom stamps, chipped sapphire distress ink, Twinkling H2Os, clear embossing powder, pop-dot tape