Musical Joy

I knew this would happen. I got out a few Christmas supplies yesterday, and now I've made a second Christmas card. This time I'm combining two challenges: Jingle Belles: Hark the Herald Angels Sing (music) and Addicted to CAS (Silhouette). 

Usually I save cards this easy to make for, say, the middle of December. ;) But this stamp seemed ideal for combining these challenges. (Silhouettes don't have to be black, right?) A little patterned paper, a gold mat, and done. 

Supplies: Stampin' Up very vanilla cardstock, Deja Views Holiday Joy patterned paper, gold pearl paper, Unity Silhouette Song Bird, Memento Luxe rhubarb stalk ink, Zing clear embossing powder, MFT blueprints 24 die, pop-dot tape

Visions of Christmas Cards

August is almost over, and so my card-making thoughts are turning to Christmas cards — the cards I use the most, as well as some of my favourite to make. Meredith's card caught my eye at Muse: ChristmasVisions the other day. Here's her beautiful card: 

I was inspired by the tag element, the use of vellum, the joy die cut and the floral theme. Here's what I ended up with: 

Meredith stamped her background panel, but I knew I had some patterned paper that would work perfectly for what I had in mind. When I tried vellum over it, the design disappeared a little too much, so instead I used some tracing parchment. I watercoloured and fussy-cut the poinsettia, and die cut the joy sentiment from gold pearl paper (with a bristol board layer underneath) to match the pale gold pearl embossing powder I used for the flower. Instead of a secondary sentiment panel, I cut a tag topper from the patterned paper. I'm not 100% happy with the finished design — it's a little bottom-heavy, but overall it's a pretty and elegant card, I think. 
I've been resisting starting back on Christmas cards, as once I get going, it's hard to stop! Fair warning... ;) 

Supplies: white cardstock, Fluid hot-press watercolour paper, pale gold pearl paper, Echo Park Christmas This & That patterned paper, Borden & Riley parchment tracing paper, bristol board, Gourmet Rubber Stamps Heaven and Nature stamps, Versamark ink, pale gold pearl embossing powder, Papertrey Ink Joy, Technique Tuesday This Tag & MFT blueprints 24 stitched rectangle dies, watercolour pencils, Michaels gold ribbon, pop-dot tape

Release the Hounds!

Judging by the latest challenge at the Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers, it really is the dog days of summer!

Edna and the sisters, at least, have definitely gone to the dogs. (I may be out of corny dog jokes now, I'm not sure.) We want to see a dog or two or many on your creative projects! And of course, snark is always welcomed but not required. I went a little bit snarky. 

As my sister in snark Chris said when she saw this card... that face! While the new Tim Holtz Crazy Dogs are on my wish list (likely as mini dogs along with cats), my two nearest stamp stores still have them on order, so I went with this guy — his expression seemed perfect for the sentiment. I kept my design straightforward... black and white with a few pops of blue. 
While I had my dog stamps out, I made a second hound card, inspired by the current CASology challenge "Dream" and friend and design team member Jen's card: 

Funny thing, usually I use the cat in this set, but Jen helped remind me there's a dog, too. ;) Both of us paper-pieced, but in my defence, I don't think I've ever used the set any other way — the pet and pillow seem to demand it. I decided to leave the front without a sentiment other than the puppy's dream of a shiny, delicious bone to chew on, but inside reads, "May all your birthday dreams come true." 

Now it's your turn! If you are looking for more inspiration, you need to look no further than the cards my sisters in snark have made, as well as our newest Queen of Snark, Jane! Jane has been such a loyal player, we decided to adopt her as a full-time sister! 

Supplies: (HB2U) white cardstock, We R Memory Keepers It Factor patterned paper, Inkadinkado (?) & CASual Fridays The Whole Shebang stamps, Versafine onyx black & Memento Luxe Danube blue inks, Zing clear embossing powder, Spectrum Noir marker, MFT blueprints 24 stitched rectangle die, pop dot tape; (dream) white cardstock, Glitz Designs Cashmere Lane & Studio Calico Classic Calico patterned papers, Simon Says Stamp Pillow Talk & Paper Smooches Woofers & Tweeters stamps, Versafine onyx black & Memento grey flannel inks, Winsor & Newton iridescent medium, Paper Smooches stitched borders & (?) dies, $ store metallic washi tape, fun foam, pop-dot tape 

Mixing It Up Part II

Just as I predicted, I'm back with a second card for Ellen Hutson's Mix It Up challenge with Winnie & Walter. ;) 

I thought this pretty, delicate Winnie & Walter heart worked perfectly with Julie's Be-you-tiful sentiment. The background was an experiment that actually worked! (I'm sure many others have done this, just not in my presence. :D) I combined ink smooshing with a stencil — I was worried at first when I saw how much ink leaked under the hearts, but I really like the finished effect. After I lifted the stencil and mopped up some of the extra ink with a tissue, I splattered the background with a bit of Perfect Pearls mist. I also sprayed the sentiment with sparkle mist; neither one was willing to show up in photographs. 

This card also works for two other challenges: What's the Good Word at Shopping Our Stash and Anything Goes with Dies at Happy Little Stampers. My snarky sister Chris just reminded me to add this to the Just Us Girls watercolouring challenge, too! 

 

Supplies: Bazzill marshmallow cardstock, Strathmore watercolour paper, Essentials by Ellen be-you-tiful, Winnie & Walter flawless heart dies & MFT blueprints 24 stitched rectangle die, Stamplorations hearts all over stencil, worn lipstick distress ink, Kuretake Gansai watercolours, homemade confetti white perfect pearls mist, Imagine Crafts sparkle sheer shimmer mist, glue dots

Mixing It Up, Part I

It's a rainy Tuesday here, so it seems like a fine time to post a couple of cards for the current Ellen Hutson Mix It Up challenge! The latest challenge is to mix some Winnie and Walter goodies with Essentials by Ellen. For the first card, I kept things relatively clean and simple:

I think this is pretty cute! My bear is coloured with markers, while the sentiment is watercoloured for a nice soft look. I liked the interest leaving the elements off-centre adds to the card. (It does for me, at least. :D) 

This card also fits two other current challenges: Shopping Our Stash's What's the Good Word challenge (use die cut words) and Happy Little Stampers Anything Goes with Dies. 
Back later with a second card! 

     

Supplies: Bazzill marshmallow cardstock, Spectrum Noir cardstock, Strathmore watercolour paper, Essentials by Ellen All Inside stamps and dies, Winnie & Walter In a Word: Hugs die, Versafine smokey grey & Ranger classic cherry inks, Spectrum Noir markers, Kuretake Gansai watercolours, MFT blueprints 24 stitched rectangle die, glue dots

Naughty or Nice Reminder

Welcome to a new week... I thought July went by quickly, now where has the first half of August gone?
We're half way through our current Naughty or Nice Challenge... YOUR NUMBER'S UP! We're looking for age-related cards or projects.

You can never have too many birthday cards on hand, so I made another: 

This stamp set has been very handy for age-related birthday cards! At the moment, I am totally stuck on stamping the bottle in this pearlescent green colour. (One of these days, I'll move on.) Using the MISTI made it easier to stamp the bottle foil in gold, although it still took me two tries. Always remember to take the mask off the other part of the image BEFORE stamping. :P I added a little patterned paper up the left side — to really match the challenge, it even has numbers on it. 

You have until August 25th to play along! (Psst... we even have a prize up for grabs in honour of our 30th challenge!)

Supplies: white cardstock, Crate Paper DIY Shop patterned paper, Papertrey Ink Uncorked stamps & dies, Versamark onyx black, Brilliance pearlescent thyme & galaxy gold inks, Zing clear embossing powder, pop-dot tape

Third Time's the Charm?

I'm back with a third and final entry for Ellen Hutson's call for guest designers for their Pin-Sights Challenge. And just for something completely different, I made a Christmas card. 

I purposely took the month of July off from Christmas card making. But it's August now. :D I love this Tis the Season stamp set! It was my husb who asked me if I could colour the bulbs in a way that would make them "glow". So I used two of these teeny ball applicators to sponge distress inks in and around each light. My husb thinks I did it so well, he suggested I make several of these for the Christmas season! :o For the panel on the left side, I stamped the lights several times and coloured them. When I tried them with the main panel, they seemed to be competing for attention too much, so I softened them with an overlay of vellum. And of course a little glitter was needed. ;) As was clear embossing powder on the sentiment.

Enjoy your weekend! 

Supplies: white cardstock, vellum, Essentials by Ellen Tis the Season stamps, Versafine onyx black, festive berries & mowed lawn distress inks, clear embossing powder, Glitter Ritz regal red glitter

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Pin-Sights Guest Call, Take Two

I'm back with a second card to enter for Ellen Hutson's Pin-Sights guest designer call. (Pick me! Pick me! :D) This time I'm playing with the Mondo Hydrangea: 

It really IS mondo in size! I tried to highlight that by having it escape the side borders of the background panel. Confession: I have yet to take the time to watercolour this flower properly, even though I've seen many beautiful examples across the interwebs. I take the easy route and let watercolour powders do the work. 

I also used my green powder for the background. A scripty die cut hello seemed to finish this off perfectly. 
Now that my self-imposed July ban on Christmas card making is over, I am playing around with a few ideas for a third and final entry to this call. Stay tuned! 

Supplies: white & indigo cardstock, Strathmore watercolour paper, Essentials by Ellen Mondo Hydrangea stamps & dies, Versamark ink, Hero Arts white embossing powder, Magenta Nuance cerulean blue & grass green watercolour powders, Winnie & Walter The Big, the Bold and the Happy die, glue dots

Somewhat Inappropriate

Welcome to the latest Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers challenge! All things considered, it's amazing it's taken us to Challenge #64 to arrive at...

I is for Inappropriate! I'm not sure it's possible to top Sister Lee's graphic for this post, but the Sisters have given their best. Sometimes I'm amazed I still have membership in the Sisterhood — I'm much better at being snarky in thought than deed. So here is about as inappropriate as I get (on a card):

I love to disguise snark with cute, so paired my sentiment with the most innocent of the Crazy Birds. The polka-dot background was created with translucent embossing paste coloured with one of the same purples used to colour said bird. For the card base, I lightly sponged some distress ink around the card borders. I like the almost patterned paper look it gives; I may do that again!  

You won't be surprised to hear that my sisters have done a fine job with this challenge! Be sure to head over to the blog to see their masterpieces. We also have a fine sample from our latest Queen of Snark and guest designer Mimi! You know you want to play along with us! ;) 

Supplies: white cardstock, Fluid watercolour paper, Stampers Anonymous/Tim Holtz Bird Crazy stamp and die, Paper Issues/Snarky Stamps Ahh Birthday sentiment stamp, Versafine onyx black MFT black licorice & milled lavender distress inks, Zing clear embossing powder, Zig clean colour markers, Dreamweavers translucent embossing paste, Heidi Swapp polka dot stencil, Stampin' Up ticket corner punch, pop-dot tape

Pin-Sights Guest Call Challenge

Ellen Hutson is looking for guest artists for their Pin-Sights Challenge! Since I like the Essentials by Ellen stamps and dies, and have played along in the challenge, I just can't resist trying my luck. Here's my card:

I love how this cute bear is designed to hold things! There are hearts and a smiling sun in the set that he can hold, but I decided I wanted him holding a gift for this card. I had to reach into my Christmas stash for a present that was just the right size. His party hat is from another Ellen set, Wish Big. For the background, I misted some paper and sprinkled just enough watercolour powder for a light wash. Purple and orange are not usually a go-to colour combo for me (occasionally at Halloween...) but I like the way it pops here. The party hat and gift ribbon are brushed with Wink of Stella for some shimmer, while the pompom has Stickles. Pretend you can see the Wink of Stella shine! 

I plan to revisit this design closer to December with Christmas colours! But first, I might make another card or two for this guest call. ;) 

Supplies: white & mauve cardstock, Strathmore bristol paper, Essentials by Ellen All Inside & Wish Big stamps & dies, Lawn Fawn Toboggan Together stamp, Versafine black ink, Spectrum Noir markers, Zig clean colour markers, Magenta Nuance purple watercolour powder, MFT Blueprints 24 stitched rectangle die, Wink of Stella clear glitter marker, frosted lace Stickles, pop-dot tape

Your Number's Up!

Hello, August! The first of the month signals a new Naughty or Nice challenge, and since we've hit the big 3-0, it seems only appropriate that our newest challenge is YOUR NUMBER'S UP! We're looking for age-related cards or other creations, which gives you lots of opportunity for a bit of naughtiness. ;) Here's mine: 

This card made me realize I need more cake stamps in my life. This is a combination Unity cake with the candles from a Studio G stamp. When I made this, I was having the kind of day where masking the two together seemed waaaay more difficult than it should have been. :D The sparkly glow behind the candles is inspired by cards my friend Jessi has made — she has a cool kind of paint she uses, I sponged yellow ink and iridescent medium to achieve a similar look. The crazy cat looks rather worried, doesn't he? 
Check out the fun inspiration the rest of the Naughty or Nice designers have created for your viewing pleasure! You have until August 25th to join us. 

Supplies: white cardstock, Fluid watercolour paper, Stampers Anonymous/Tim Holtz Crazy Cats stamps & dies, Snarky Stamps Ahh Birthday, Unity Eat Cake & Studio G stamps, Versafine onyx black, Colorbox espresso, Memento dandelion & twisted citron distress inks, Zing clear embossing powder, MFT blueprints 24 stitched rectangle die, Zig clean color markers, iridescent medium, Glossy Accents, glue dots