Snarky Vellum?

The Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers returns with our latest challenge — V is for Vellum! I don't usually think of vellum for a snarky card, but we have proven it can be done. I've made two cards for today; the first one has absolutely no snark at all: 

This card has been developing in my mind since I pinned this card a few weeks ago. What I didn't think about? How to adhere the vellum. I almost always forget to think about that ahead of time. In this case, the brass tacks (lol) seemed to fit the theme. The other problem was the pieces of vellum above the flukes of the anchor. (I asked my sailing aficionado husb what the bottom parts are called...) Without anything to hold them down, they had a tendency to curl up and look goofy. Two microscopic dabs of multi medium matte hold them down nicely and only show if you really look. I could perhaps have used a snarkier sentiment, but I already have my brother-in-law's birthday in mind for this card, and snark would not be appreciated. Sigh. 
So then I needed to make a snarky card to make up for it:

I don't have a lot of people stamps, but I do love the attitude on this Queen of the Universe. I paper-pieced her blouse and gave her gold accessories. You can almost hear her disdainfully sarcastic tone, can't you? This time the vellum was easy; I just folded it around the edge of the panel and adhered it to the back. It was only after I made this that I realized I used basically the same layout for both cards. 
I'm linking up to the Anything Goes challenge at Simon Says Stamp. 
Got some vellum in your collection? Time to break it out and join us! Be sure to check out the creative vellum uses of the rest of the snarky sisters as well as our latest Queen of Snark guest designer, Jane. 

Supplies: (smooth sailing) Stampin' Up naturals white cardstock, Authentique Anchored patterned paper, vellum, Paper Smooches Anchor die, antique brass scrapbook tacks, pop-dot tape; (sarcastic) white & Stampin' Up smoky slate cardstock, Simple Stories Vintage Bliss patterned paper, Unity Queen of the Universe & Rubber Dance Sarcastic Superpower stamps, Versafine onyx black ink, Zing clear embossing powder, Paper Smooches Bam Bubble die, watercolour pencil, gold gel pen, pop-dot tape

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STAMPlorations Butterflies

I need a confirmation card. I don't really *do* religious cards. How to work around that? STAMPlorations sketch challenge to the rescue! 

It just so happened I was already thinking maybe butterflies (I'd narrowed it down to those or flowers) so the example butterflies just helped confirm (hahaha) my decision. I went even more CAS (clean and simple) than the sketch:

Besides leaving out the side layers, I also went big on the butterflies. For the masks, I die cut the butterflies from painters tape layered on waxed paper so they wouldn't be stuck forever to my cutting plate. And because I don't happen to have any proper craft masking sheets. Note the design decision to put the sentiment on a slant? Looks awesome, and prevents sadness if a straight sentiment stamps crooked. :D
Simon Says Stamp is having an Anything Goes challenge this week, so I'll link this card there, too. Finally, I'm linking up with my old teammates at Crafty Creations Challenges (All Creatures Great and Small). 
I'll be back on Saturday with the latest Snarky Sisters challenge! 

Supplies: Neenah solar white cardstock, WPlus9 Smart Kitty stamp, Spellbinders Shapez butterfly dies, Versafine onyx black & spun sugar, picked raspberry, tumbled glass, milled lavender & dusty concord distress inks, Zing clear embossing powder, pop dot tape

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Let Them Eat Cake!

Happy Saturday! And the first "summer" long weekend here in Canada. The Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers is back with a new challenge for you: 

C is for Cake! 

While I have cake stamps (although not as many as you might think), I also have some patterned paper journalling cards featuring fun cake images. This particular one is about the only reason I would combine red and orange on a card — one of my least favourite colour combinations. Surprisingly, I rather like it here. Although it doesn't particularly show in the photo, there is a woven appearance to the background of the journalling card that I echoed on the card base. I decided to cut back the front of the card a bit and line the inside with a strip of the same patterned paper I used on the front. The candle flames and — heat waves? — have a couple of coats of Wink of Stella on them for shine. 
For more inspiration — snarky and not — be sure to visit our blog and see what the sisters have created, including our latest Queen of Snark and Guest Designer, Stephanie! 

Supplies: white cardstock, Fancy Pants It's Your Day & Stampin' Up (?) patterned paper, Hero Arts envelope background stamp, Memento tangelo ink, Wink of Stella clear glitter marker, dimensionals

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Hello!

I'm popping in on this rainy Friday — but it's still Friday! — with a card for Leslie's sketch challenge, CSSC #4. Her sketch:

My card:

Oh look! I added a cat to the design. At first I had trouble with this sketch, since I don't have a lot of big bold sentiments. Luckily, I did have this die cut from Emily that was just right. For the background, I was inspired by this technique. I sponged and blended three shades of distress ink before water-stamping with a newsprint background to get more of an abstract, textured look than actual images. While it was still wet, I spritzed it with some glimmer mist, just for fun. This close-up almost shows the shimmer...

And the cat? I wanted a small critter to contrast with the giant sentiment, and I like the way he appears to be photo-bombing the layout. :D 
Hope you'll stop by again tomorrow for the unveiling of the latest Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers challenge!  

Supplies: white & Stampin' Up basic black cardstock, Strathmore mixed media paper, My Favourite Things I Knead You stamp & die, Hero Arts Newspaper Background stamp, Versafine onyx black & salty ocean, mermaid lagoon & chipped sapphire distress inks, My Favourite Things Say Hello die, Radiant Rain shimmer spray, watercolour pencils 

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Friday and Unity

It's Friday, it's warm and sunny, and I have a card for Unity's latest {be inspired} Challenge and Friends with Flair. Life is good. 

The photo accompanying this month's colour palette brought to mind the itty bitty "Countryside Blooms". So I decided to use it as I continue on with my current mission to use challenges to bump up my stash of sympathy cards. 

After stamping the image in Versafine to maintain as much detail as possible, I watercolored the flower arrangement with distress markers that were the closest matches for the inspiration colours. While it was tempting to use Glossy Accents on the jar, it didn't seem quite right for a sympathy card. Instead I used a pale shade of Twinkling H2Os to give it a bit of an old glass look. And it's just as I typed that last sentence that I realized the jar isn't clear: you can't see the stems! Hmm, I was obviously thinking of milk glass, then. ;) Here's a close-up to show the pearlescent effect the Twinkling H2Os add. 

I found some patterned paper that also match the inspiration colours and used an offset layout to add a bit of interest to an otherwise simple design. 
Hope you have a great start to your weekend! 

Supplies: white cardstock, Strathmore mixed media paper, Crate Paper DIY Shop patterned paper, Unity Countryside Blooms & Bevy of Butterflies stamps, Versafine onyx black ink, distress markers, Twinkling H2Os, Creative Memories corner punch, EK Success circle punch, dimensionals

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Monochromatic Mamas at the Sisterhood!

Happy first Saturday of May! This must mean spring is here to stay here in Ontario. (Please?) And in North America, the start of May means Mother's Day is on its way. The ever-helpful Snarky Sisters are happy to get your Mother's Day crafting in motion with their latest challenge: 

It's Monochromatic Mama! Make a monochromatic Mother's Day project, or if we've missed the occasion where you are, at least something special for Mom. I went with purple for mine, just like our challenge badge, which happens to be one of my mother-in-law's favourite colours. Not snarky, but my MIL just might not appreciate snark the way some of us do. ;)

As usual, I seemed to have trouble photographing purple accurately. The front panel is reasonably close, but the patterned paper isn't that dull in real life. (Aside: why is there so little purple patterned paper in the universe? This comes from a Christmas pad. :D) Finding that my hemp twine was an exact match for my dusty concord distress ink was a nice bonus. 
My contribution may not be snarky, but I think you just might find a little snark over on the Sisterhood blog! We are also welcoming our latest Queen of Snark, Jenna. Then you have two weeks to join us! 

Supplies: white cardstock, Echo Park Winter Wishes patterned paper, Unity Insightful Meadows, Market Street Stamps Vintage Music & My Favourite Things Tropical Sensations stamps, milled lavender & dusty concord distress inksZing clear embossing powder, My Favourite Things layered label (for masking) & Lil' Inkers stitched sentiment flag dies, Hemptique purple twine, Creative Memories corner-rounding punch, dimensionals

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Are Your Friends Naughty or Nice?

May! It's May! And time for a new monthly challenge at Naughty or Nice Challenges:

                                                      

It seemed to be a challenge for most people to come up with a naughty card for last month's In Bloom challenge, and now friendship? I think I managed to throw just a little bit of naughtiness into my contribution: 

For some reason, I just had to have this Uncorked set from Papertrey Ink. I think it will get lots of use, and I was happy to christen it for this card. For once, I picked my patterned paper first and then chose which green ink matched! And luckily, it was an ink with matching cardstock for the mat. I know the cork is sized to fit in the bottle, but isn't it fun popping out this way? And let's not talk about the trouble I went to making sure the two halves of the bottle and the sentiment lined up the way I wanted them to. And I have to admit, I have more than a few friends I could send this to. ;) 
There is lots more inspiration from my fellow design team members over on the Naughty or Nice blog! And then I hope you'll join us -- you have until the 25th of May. 

Supplies: white & Stampin' Up garden green cardstock, Crate Paper Random patterned paper, Papertrey Ink Uncorked stamps, Versafine onyx black, Stampin' Up garden green & Martha Stewart putty inks, pop-dot squares

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