Did Cats Invent Snark?

I think it's entirely possible that cats were snarky long before people ever were. Imagine them, swanning around Egypt, being treated like the royalty they so obviously are. Of course, there is also that bit about being mummified...

Anyway, it seems more than time for the Sisterhood to offer K is for KITTIES as a challenge! 

I have a cat stamp or two (dozen). I pulled out my newest set, though, as it lends itself to snark: 

I used last week's Paper Players sketch as the basis for my design, but of course the challenge ended before I could post. At least that meant I could modify it to my heart's content. After adding the washi tape to the white panel, it still needed a little something, so I ran it though an embossing folder. The grey patterned paper seemed to have a bit of a cat-scratched look to it. And the vellum oval just seemed to set off my grouchy cat perfectly. 
Simon Says Stamp has an Anything Goes challenge, so I'm sending the grump over there. ;) 
Snarky or sweet, we'd love to see your kitty card! My snarky sisters have great inspiration for you, as do our latest guest designers, Leslie and Kathi. Thanks for stopping by, and Happy Halloween! 

Supplies: white cardstock, Echo Park Be Mine patterned paper, vellum, Tailored Expressions If Cats Could Talk stamps & die, Memento Luxe grey flannel & rhubarb stalk inks, Zing clear embossing powder, Spectrum Noir markers, Spellbinders oval & reverse wonky rectangle & Paper Smooches stitched dies, Queen & Co trendy tape, Cuttlebug Seeing Spots embossing folder. pop-dot tape

STAMPlorations October Challenge

I have been happily playing along with card challenges this week, and today I have one for the October STAMPlorations theme and sketch challenge. Here's the sketch: 

The theme for the month is to use a favourite colour combination. One of my favourites for Christmas is red and teal, and that's what I went with:

I stayed fairly close to the sketch... my three squares/sweaters are bigger, and I moved the sentiment above the bottom panel. I was even more colouring-challenged than usual when I made this (Spectrum Noir markers and I may not be an ideal match...), but here's a close-up anyway, so you can see the embossing along the bottom: 

I thought both the delightful sweaters and the crisp embossing lent themselves to this sentiment. :) It also keeps the overall design clean and simple (CAS). 
I'll be back tomorrow with the latest Snarky Stampers challenge! 

Supplies: Neenah solar white cardstock, Paper Smooches Tis the Season & Stampin' Up Visions of Santa stamps, Versafine Onyx black & Memento tuxedo black inks, Zing clear embossing powder, Paper Smooches Tis the Season die, Darice embossing folder, Spectrum Noir markers, Creative Memories corner-rounding punch, dimensionals

Merry and Bright And Jingle

Halloween is almost upon us... so expect a lot of Christmas cards here from now on. ;) I am playing along with the current sketch challenge at Jingle Belles:

I *adapted* the sketch quite a bit, flipping, stretching and squashing it, but I hope think you can still see the original inspiration: 

The circle element made me think immediately of this sentiment die cut, while the curved lines obviously said snow to me. I picked up this Lawn Fawn stamp more than a year ago from a stamping friend, but when I went to use it last year, it had disappeared. (In the giant end-of-season clean up, I found it hiding between a couple of patterned paper pads...) I decided not to add any shading to the bunny or the snow to keep it *bright*. The lower hill and bunny are popped up on my thinnest pop-dot tape, and then I used my thickest for the ends of his scarf. 
I'm also adding this card to Simon Says Stamp's Anything Goes challenge. 
I do have another idea for this sketch, but it's currently struggling to translate from brain to cardstock... 

Supplies: Neenah solar white cardstock, Stampin' Up dazzling diamonds glitter paper, Echo Park Winter Wishes patterned paper, Lawn Fawn winter bunny stamp, Versafine onyx black ink, Zing clear embossing powder, Paper Smooches borders 1 & Die-versions dies, Spectrum Noir markers, Stickles silver glitter glue, pop-dot tape

Zombie Time

Challenges are great if you feel like making something and don't have anything specific in mind. I've been thinking of playing along with CASology this week ever since I saw the current cue card. 

Zombies and Halloween... a perfect match. Seems more logical to me than Christmas moose, at least. (See earlier posts...) I was sure I had a great zombie digi, but it must be lost in the bowels of my computer. Then I remembered I had stamped a couple of zombies one day when I was on a playdate with Emily. I managed to wreck the first one trying to watercolour it, so used my backup all-green one. 

Love that big sentiment! But I decided to modify it to make it more zombie-specific. I coloured the outline letters of FEET with my new (!) black Wink of Stella marker, and coated EAT, the X and BRAINS! with my clear one. I went old-school and cut the right-hand side of the sentiment panel with a pair of deco scissors. I debated adding some splatters with a dark red mist (really, blood spatter is the best use of any red mists, must stop buying them) but went with this distressed patterned paper instead. I think I've kept it pretty CAS (clean and simple); I just hope it's not too PAB (plain and boring). 
And now I have way more Halloween cards than I need; but they're so much fun to make! 

Supplies: white & black cardstock, Echo Park The Apothecary Emporium patterned paper, My Favourite Things Trick or Treat stamps, My Favourite Things jellybean green & orange fizz inks, black & clear Wink of Stella markers, black Sharpie, aged mahogany distress marker, pop-dot tape

Just Us Pumpkins

After being away for a few days, I decided to check out some challenges to see if there were any I wanted to try. My first stop was Just Us Girls, and I had my challenge! 

Halloween is coming up soon, and these colours are perfect. I was impressed to see some of the design team use them for non-Halloween projects, but I was happy to go seasonal: 

The jack-o-lantern is a Unity stamp I've had for years but never used, and the sentiment is  from a Michaels bin. I smushed three purple distress inks onto my craft mat (you know when I say that, I mean butcher paper, right?) and made the spooky background with watercolour paper. The front of the card is dry-embossed with cobwebs. As I was putting the card together, I felt it needed a bit more orange for balance, so I trimmed a ¼ inch from the front of the card and added a strip of patterned paper to the inside. 
Of course I managed to pick a challenge that's almost over, so I'd better go link this up... :D 

Supplies: Stampin' Up basic black cardstock, Strathmore watercolour paper, Pebbles Thirty-One patterned paper, Unity & Craft Smart stamps, Versafine onyx black & milled lavender, dusty concord & seedless preserves distress inks, Zing clear embossing powder, Tim Holtz/Sizzix cobwebs embossing folder, corner-rounding punch, pop-dot tape

Pink Halloween

First there was pink Christmas, and now there is... pink Halloween? That's right, to recognize Breast Cancer Awareness Month, the Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers is challenging you to make a pink Halloween card or other creation. 

I didn't go overboard on the pink this year, but I think there's enough to qualify...

Funny how my one Halloween paper pad had zero pink in it. I did find this in a more generic pad, though, and thought it could make for a fun background with the pink drippiness... incomplete bloodstain removal? :P Next I sorted through my Halloween odds and ends and found the dimensional tombstone sticker and a ghost I'd previously die cut. What looks like a smudge of dirt is really Perfect Pearls mist brushed on, so shiny in real life rather than smudgy. The haunted house was die cut from dark purple paper then sprayed with grey mist. The last step was to stamp the bats in shimmery dark grey ink. It's only when I uploaded my photo just now that I realized the one bat seems to be shooting a pink laser beam at the ghost. :D 
Pink Halloween cards... they can be done! For more proof, check out the fine creations of my sisters in snark. You have until October 30th to join us! 

Supplies: white, purple, pink, black & Stampin' Up smoky slate & garden green cardstock, We R Memory Keepers It Factor patterned paper, Studio G bat stamp, Brilliance starlite black ink, Paper Smooches Borders 1, Memory Box Ghost Trio & Quickutz House & Tree dies, K&Company Ghostly Greetings sticker, pop-dot tape

More Moose

Yep, I have now made my second ever moose Christmas card. Merry Monday Christmas Challenge has a lot to answer for. 

While I really liked how my card turned out, it was a tough slog to get it there. 

I started by stamping and heat embossing my moose and sentiment. When I turned on my heat tool... crickets. No grand puff of smoke, no fiery explosion, just... nothing. Naturally, the embossing powder had already been sprinkled, so I reverted to my early years of stamping and heated it over a toaster. 

Did I mention I had debossed a square in a white panel and stamped the moose, with the sentiment below? All well and good... till I mysteriously nicked my finger and smudged the glorious whiteness. Time for a new plan. I still chose to once again follow The Crooked Stamper Sketch Challenge: 

What's that you say? I forgot the panel down the side? Take a closer look: 

Believe it or not, it is there in the form of five scored lines that show up better (but yes, still subtly) in real life. 

I think I am done with moose for a while; they haven't exactly made for easy cards! 

Supplies: Spectrum Noir cardstock, Basic Grey Evergreen & Echo Park Winter Wishes patterned paper, Stampin' Up Visions of Santa stamps, Versafine onyx black ink, Zing clear embossing powder, Spectrum Noir markers, Simon Says Stamp postage stamp edge die, Stampin' Up ticket corner punch, Frosted Lace Stickles, Glossy Accents, pop-dot tape

Merry Mooseday!

I make a lot of Christmas critter cards. But you know, I've never made a moose card. Then along comes Merry Monday, with their challenge to make exactly that. 

I opined that moose don't really have anything to do with Christmas, but then my husband pointed out that neither do penguins, really, and they don't even live in the same hemisphere as Santa does. There is a certain logic to that, I suppose. And I do have festive moose stamps, so might as well use one! 

It's Riley, the snow angel moose. I stamped him once and embossed with snowflake embossing tinsel, and then once with brown so I could cut him out. The background is a little more subtle than I'd like, but live and learn. My watercolouring is also a lot less capable than I'd like, but I'm using my cold as an excuse for that. ;) Here's a close-up of that less-than ideal colouring so you can see the shadows I tried to create for the snow angel...

I used the current Crooked Stamper sketch for the design of my card. I'm sure Leslie won't mind that I shifted the sentiment over to the left. Among other tweaks. ;) 

I do have other moose stamps... 

Supplies: Bazzill marshmallow cardstock, Strathmore mixed media paper, Studio Calico Magical Paper pad, Riley & Co. Riley Snow Angel & Essentials by Ellen Tis the Season stamps,Colorbox frost white, Memento Luxe espresso truffle & Versafine onyx black inks,  Wow clear embossing powder, Ranger snowflake embossing tinsel, Spellbinders circle & Lil' Inkers flag tag dies, watercolour pencils, Stampin' Up silver tinsel ribbon, pop-dot tape

Under the Weather but In the Pink

Happy Thanksgiving! It was a beautiful warm day here today. I can't enjoy it quite as much as I'd like, as I'm doing battle with a cold that doesn't want to go away. I did manage to make a card for Jingle Belles' Pink Christmas challenge, in recognition that October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. 

When I see this style of bottle-brush tree, I automatically picture a retro neon pink one, often with fake snow on the bristles. So it was an easy decision to use this stamp set. the tree is embossed with holographic embossing powder for extra sparkle. I kept the sky sponging light so the tree would really pop. I coloured the base with a silver marker to match the embossed star at the top. The edges of the panel were swiped on a silver ink pad to add a bit of contrast against the white card base. I'm also popping this card in at the current Clean and Simple Christmas challenge at Simon Says Stamp. 

Supplies: white cardstock, Hero Arts Hero Arts Family and Friends stamps, Versafine onyx black, Colorbox orchid & silver, Versamark & tumbled glass, spun sugar & milled lavender distress inks, holographic, clear & silver embossing powders, Darice sequins, Spica silver marker, pop-dot tape

The Hop to Stop

The talented Becca Cruger (aka the Damsel of Distressed) has organized a fantastic blog hop to draw attention to Domestic Violence Awareness Month in the United States. (A little Googling reminded me that in much of Canada, Domestic Violence Prevention Month is in November. Awareness and prevention are important all year round, of course.)

To participate, you need to create something with the colour purple predominating. I wanted to participate, and needed some sympathy cards (unfortunately). So I combined the two. 

I even used some new supplies for this card. When crafting with friends recently, Ardyth no longer wanted her Altenew Vintage Flowers set... so I nabbed it! I had been planning on buying and trying one of their flower layering sets, so this was perfect, thank you Ardyth! They take a little practice. But wow, when you get the layers more or less lined up, a gorgeous rose is the result! I'll mention yet again the lack of purple patterned paper in my world, so I made my own with a background stamp. The sentiment stamp is a recent purchase... it has taken me approximately forever to find a classy sympathy sentiment on a single line. I think this is it. 
I was happy enough with the card above to make a variation on the theme: 

Same stamps, mostly the same inks (I didn't go quite as dark for the shadow layer), darker mat. This time I used an off-white card stock, but through my amazing photography skillz, you'd never know it. 
Just Us Girls happens to be highlighting the word SYMPATHY this week, so I will link up there, too. And to Simon Says Stamp's Wednesday Anything Goes challenge, as well. 
I hope you'll visit The Hop to Stop to show your support and admire all the beautiful projects! 

Supplies: (1st card) white & mauve cardstock, Altenew Vintage Flowers, Impression Obsession roses & Hero Arts With Deepest Sympathy stamps, Memento lulu lavender, Stampin' Up lavender lace & Papertrey Ink royal velvet inks, Creative Memories corner-rounding punch, pop-dot tape; (2nd card) Stampin' Up naturals white & purple cardstock, Vintage Flowers & Deepest Sympathy stamps, Memento grape jelly ink in place of royal velvet ink

October

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month in Canada, the United States and many other countries. So how else did you think the Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers would commemorate this? 

By making boob cards, of course. ( . Y . )  Approximately forever, I've had this card by May Sukyong Park pinned, thinking it would make a fun valentine. I made a couple (haha) of additions, and had my card. 

I used patterned paper for the matching bra and panties, rather than masking and stamping, as May did. A couple of small stamps were enough to add a sentiment. While this would certainly make a fun valentine, I think I'll surprise someone with it one day soon, just for fun. 
Now it's your turn! It's great if your card has a breast cancer awareness theme, but as you can tell by mine, that is optional — as is snark! Be sure to head over to the challenge blog to see what my snarky sisters have on display (haha again), as well as our latest Queen of Snark and guest designer, Emily! 

Supplies: white card stock, Recollections patterned paper, Unity Bevy of Butterflies & Paper Smooches Wicked Nauticool stamps, Memento tuxedo black & lady bug inks, Spellbinders circle dies

Last Minute and First Minute!

With hours to spare, I have my card for the Fall Coffee Lovers Blog Hop! And only one day in, I used the October sketch from the Crooked Stamper Sketch Challenge! 

    

It's rare for me, but I am using a stamp set that I just bought last week! (Usually, I have to just *look* at something new for a while...) 

I needed another cat set, obviously. :D But this one is drawn by my Naughty or Nice teammate, Danielle Lounds! (Our latest NoN challenge started yesterday...) That there was a coffee sentiment right in the set was an extra added bonus. Another thing I like... the facial expressions are separate and interchangeable. I had to decide between this one and a closed-eyes one, but the closed-eyes expression looked a little too happy for not enough coffee. ;) The colours and patterned paper reflect the fall theme. I messed a bit with Leslie's sketch, but I think you can still see it. I was going to use washi tape to ground the cat, but of course had nothing that matched. So I flipped over a scrap of the leaf paper and cut it with a border die just for fun. 
I'll wrap this up now and post to the blog hop before it's too late! P.S. Tomorrow starts a new Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers challenge — you'll have to see it to believe it...

Supplies: Cougar cream & Stampin' Up more mustard (?) textured cardstock, Stampin' Up patterned paper, Taylored Expressions If Cats Could Talk stamps & die, Memento Luxe espresso truffle ink, Zing clear embossing powder, Paper Smooches borders 1 & Spellbinders ribbon trio dies, distress markers, Hemptique twine, Creative Memories corner-rounding punch 

Feeling Witchy

Not quite sure how it happened, but look, it's October! That means it's time for a new Naughty or Nice challenge:

That's right, the Naughty or Nice troublemakers are Feeling Witchy. This is a perfect time to create something for Halloween, or if that's not your thing, perhaps a *naughty* card for a friend. We all feel a little witchy some days, don't we? ;) 

I chose to go the Halloween route.

This is one of those cards that I added various elements to until I liked it. I started with the witch and the sentiment. She is coloured with distress markers and inks, and I used some of the purple to sponge the edges of the sentiment, as well. Next up, I picked the patterned paper background. Then I added the die cut tree. For a little more interest, the cat and bats came next — I knew I wanted a black cat, so I covered the wood veneer in Versamark followed by two coats of black embossing powder. As I played with the layout, the tree and bats (cut from black cardstock) were more or less disappearing against the black and grey paper. I spritzed the bats with some white perfect pearls mist... and disaster! After my test spray was perfectly misty, it splotched when I sprayed the bats! I grabbed a paintbrush and spread the splotches around to get shimmery grey bats. The tree is sprayed with two grey mists for a little contrast as well. Here's a close-up:

For more witchy inspiration, be sure to check out the Naughty or Nice challenge page... there may even be a little surprise waiting over there! Don't worry, we're into treats not tricks, most of the time. ;) You have until the 25th of the month to join us! 

Supplies: white & Stampin' Up smoky slate & basic black cardstock, Hero Arts watercolour paper, Pebbles Thirty-One patterned paper, Paper Smooches Halloweenies & Stampin' Up Tee-Hee-Hee stamps, Versafine onyx black, dusty concord & iced spruce distress & Versamark inks, distress markers, clear & black embossing powders, Paper Smooches Halloweenies & QuicKutz House & Tree dies, Martha Stewart bat punch, Mr Huey's pinstripe & Tattered Angels graphite mists, homemade confetti Perfect Pearls mist, pop-dot tape