Back to Christmas

It was unseasonably cool here this week, so what better time to get back to making Christmas cards? Through an incredibly long and involved process, I managed to incorporate four different challenges, and only one is Anything Goes! 
Shopping Our Stash's challenge this week is Splish Splash, to use a wet medium on a project. I of course wanted to be a smart aleck and do a stamped card since ink is wet, right? But I decided to get with the program and watercolour. But what to watercolour, exactly? I thought back to this tag and card I made last year. Since I was using a tag element, I checked the latest Tag You're It challenge for further inspiration. I liked the die cut sentiment and the placement of the tag on the finished card. Then it was off to Merry Monday Christmas Challenge and their colours of light green, dark green and red. Simon Says Stamp is my Anything Goes challenge. 
Sorry about all that! Here's my card:

I thought the gradient tag was a great way to incorporate light and dark green. Then I watercoloured through a holly stencil and echoed the light to dark as best I could. The red comes in through the glitter die cut, the ribbon and the card base — I might have preferred a green base, but that particular tone does not exist in my many (many) greens. 
Then I made another one! 

I used a different green (Memento cottage ivy ink instead of Koh-in-oor watercolour) and sponged inks through the stencil before distressing the edges of the stencilled panel. 
One more Christmas card and I'll be up to a dozen for this coming season! 

Supplies (card 1) Stampin' Up real red & glitter cardstock, Strathmore watercolour paper, Koh-in-oor pan watercolours, Paper Smooches stitched tag die, Papertrey Ink joy die, ARTplorations holly background stencil, May Arts ribbon, pop-dot tape; (card 2) similar except: Stampin' Up naturals cream cardstock, Memento cottage ivy & Stampin' Up real red inks

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Unsentimental

The Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers has a new challenge starting today — I is for Image Only (no sentiment). 

I do cards without sentiments on the front quite often... so of course initially drew a blank when I had to do that on purpose. Then, driving home from visiting family the other day, inspiration struck... 

I also wondered how to make a card snarky with only an image. The answer, obviously, was to put the snark on the inside:

I realize I could expand my repertoire of people stamps, but I do love this one! I debated putting an actual crown on her, but really, isn't "supreme ruler" written all over her face? The background was inspired by J.J. Bolton's card I saw on the Paper Smooches blog recently. Since the sentiment wasn't allowed to be on the outside, I gave it some extra showcasing on the inside. 
Since a picture says a thousand words, why not show us your images-only card? If you need further inspiration, you will find lots of it on the Snarky Stampers blog, including those of our latest Queens of Snark, Stephanie and Indy! 

Supplies: white cardstock, Teresa Collins He Said, She Said patterned paper, Unity Queen of the Universe stamps, Memories black, Memento dandelion & tumbled glass distress inks, Spellbinders oval & My Favourite Things layered Labels dies, watercolour pencil, silver Sharpie, pop-dot tape

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Inspired by the Crooked Stamper

I was determined to play along in Leslie's (The Crooked Stamper) latest sketch challenge! And I'm slipping in on the last day. The card has been gestating in my mind for several days now, it was just a matter of finding the time to put ink to cardstock. Here's the sketch:

And here's my semi-faithful take on it: 

Lots of fun inkiness going on here! Leslie also convinced me to try Jennifer McGuire's faux textured metal technique. Here's a close-up of the shimmer and shine: 

The clock panel is a leftover from a wine tag I made a few weeks ago. It has some shine, too... I smooshed some distress inks on a piece of butcher paper, spritzed with both water and perfect pearls mist, than inked my clock background with the result. 
This has more paper layers than I'm generally comfortable with, so I'm also adding this to another challenge Leslie is a part of, Shopping our Stash: Layer It On Me. Oh, did I mention I cut three purple wine glasses and layered them for extra dimension? ;) 
I hope you'll come back bright and early tomorrow to check out the latest Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers challenge! 

Supplies: purple and Stampin' Up basic black cardstock, Strathmore watercolour paper, Hero Arts Time to Stamp & Paper Smooches Free Spirits stamps, Versafine onyx black & tumbled glass, salty ocean & dusty concord distress inks, Zing clear embossing powder biscotti Perfect Pearls, Cuttlebug Seeing Dots embossing folder, Spellbinders circle & Paper Smooches Free Spirits Icons dies, Marvy Uchida corner-rounding punch, Hemptique twine, Recollections hole punch, pop-dot tape

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Got Game?

Today starts a new sketch challenge at My Favourite Things (MFT)... and since I had decided I was making a card with the MFT Television die, off I went to see if I could incorporate the sketch. I think I did, more or less... 

The sketch... 

My card...

You see it, right?  The oval turned into my rounded corner panel (and no, I don't have a giant corner-rounder, I traced and cut with scissors... I liked the echo of a tv screen shape) and the twine steps in for the banner as well as adding a pop of colour. If you really really want to, you could say the knot is standing in for the small circle. This card will soon have a gift card to an electronic games store tucked inside it, so I thought this would be a fun, retro tie-in. I decided I could live with the one teensy speckle of stray white embossing powder, considering I was using the extra-fine stuff and there's approximately 800% humidity today. It wasn't going to get any better than that, I figured. :D 
I've been having a surprisingly productive week, craft-wise, so you just might see me here again soon! 

Supplies: white & Stampin' Up smoky slate & basic black cardstock, Echo Park We are Family patterned paper, Studio G stamp, Versamark ink, Wow white ultra-fine embossing powder, MFT Dienamics Television dies, Twinery marigold twine, pop-dot tape

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Ugly?

It's a beautiful August Saturday, and the Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers is here with our latest and not so beautiful challenge! U is for Ugly — pull out the ugliest patterned paper you have and turn it into something! We're all about helping you get the most out of your supplies. 
Those of you not a part of this cult hobby may wonder why anyone would end up owning ugly paper! There are several reasons...

1. Buying a pad of patterned paper that you like doesn't necessarily mean you'll like every. single. page.
2. Sometimes you win paper that you might not necessarily choose for yourself. 
3. It was SUCH a good deal! 

My project today results from door #3. I was new to the world of patterned paper pads — I think I owned two. When I was placing an online order, Cosmo Cricket's Clementine pad was clearing, so I of course popped it into my order. And while it's not UGLY ugly, it's definitely not my style. 
Of course, once I picked the paper, I hit a creative brick wall. How does one make something when one doesn't like the components? Finally, I just went with something that was as outside of my usual style as the paper is. ;) 

My tag is... okay. The greens and oranges? Not really my colours. Flower embellishment? Not really me. (What a coincidence! I used these same flower dies last year for a similar challenge.) If I happen to sew or knit up a gift anytime in the near future, I now have the perfect gift tag. And I used up a little of the paper! 
Come and see all the delights of everyone's ugly paper projects, including our returning Queen of Snark, Stef! I hope you'll consider joining us... if nothing else, you'll be ridding your craft stash of unwanted paper! 

Supplies: manila tag, Stampin' Up very vanilla cardstock, Cosmo Cricket Clementine patterned paper, Unity Mix-up of Cuteness stamp, Memento morocco ink, Spellbinders carnation creations dies, orange Divine Twine, scrap green ribbon

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My First MFT Challenge

Happy Friday! I spent a fine afternoon crafting on the deck in the sunshine. As a result, I have a card to enter in this week's My Favorite Things (MFT) Sketch Challenge! (I also have a few sparkly deck boards now, but that's for a different project. :D) 
Here is the sketch:

The horizontal bar under the four squares made me think of the little bench in the MFT set I Knead You. Since you can always talk me into making a cat card, that's what I went with. 

As always lately, I coloured the cat to resemble our guy Duncan — although his napping toy of choice is a big furry mouse rather than a ball of yarn. (I'm not sure Duncan meeting a ball of yarn would be such a wise idea.) Originally I had the four squares matted and framed as awesome wall art, but it was too overwhelming. I sponged the edges of the blue patterned paper panel... it's the second time I've done that lately. I think the summer heat may be getting to me. :D To accommodate everything, the card is a little bigger than the average A2 size. 
I'll be back in ten hours or so with the latest Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers challenge! Hope you'll be back too. 

Supplies: Neenah solar white cardstock, Strathmore mixed media paper, Echo Park Here & Now patterned paper, MFT I Knead You stamps and dies, MFT black liquorice hybrid, Memento angel pink, teal zeal, lilac posies, grape jelly & broken china & gathered twigs distress inks, distress markers, EK Success 1 1/2" square punch, pop-dot squares

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SO(S)S: Shopping Our SNARKY Stash!

Tuesday is often a rather ordinary day, but not this one! The Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers are buddying up with the good folk at Shopping our Stash this week for a snarky stash-shopping challenge! 

    

Since I like nothing better than perusing my stash to make something new, this is the perfect collaboration. Here's what I came up with:

I love these Bird Crazy stamps, and I think this one expresses exactly how I feel when sarcasm zooms over someone else's head. ;) I don't actually own this set, but have had some stamped and in my stash for several weeks thanks to my stamping friend Tracey. (They really do ned to come and nest in my stamp stash soon, though.) 
Make sure you check out the snarky inspiration of both the Shopping Our Stash and the our very own design teams! You have until 11:55 pm (EDT) on Monday to join in on the snarky fun.

Supplies: white & black cardstock, Strathmore watercolour paper, Aunthentique BE(you)tiful patterned paper, Tim Holtz Bird Crazy & Rubber Dance Art Stamps sentiment stamps, My Favourite Things black liquorice ink, Gansai watercolour paints, pop dot tape

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Fun (???) in the Sun!

It's time again to flip your calendar over to a fresh month and to see what Naughty Or Nice Challenges has to inspire you for August! Since many of us are enjoying a long, hot summer, how about Fun in the Sun? 

I love summer, I love the sun, I was even able to make my card while sitting out on the back deck basking in the heat. :) 

An idyllic beach scene! But wait, what's that? Off in the distance, in the waves? And why is that chair (Muskoka, Adirondack, or whatever name you give to these chairs) empty? Do you hear some familiar movie theme music echoing in your mind? 
Yes, I had a little fun with this card. The shark fin addition didn't occur to me until I was putting the layers together, when I was thinking that apart from the wink in the sentiment, there was nothing particularly *naughty* about this card. And then the little light bulb went on. 
Now it's your turn! Be sure to check out the naughty and nice inspiration of my troublemaker teammates, then turn your favourite sunny activity into a project and join us! The water's lovely. ;) 

Supplies: white, oatmeal, grey & yellow cardstock, My Mind's Eye Lime Twist Life of the Party & Echo Park Here & Now patterned papers, Stampendous Fun in the Sun & Viva Las VegaStamps sentiment stamps, Versafine onyx black & tumbled glass distress inks, Zing clear embossing powder, Paper Smooches Borders I & Clouds dies, Lil' Inkers small sunshine die, pop dot tape

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