MFT Sketch Challenge

Happy New Year's Eve! I had just enough time between Christmas and now to play along with this week's My Favorite Things sketch challenge. My friend Emily has been a guest designer for them this month, and I'd so wanted to play along! So at least I'm sneaking into the last one for December. This is the sketch:

I didn't stray too far from the design for my version...

And look! I remembered how to make a non-Christmas card. 😂 Going with a cat for my first non-holiday attempt in a while likely helped. The cat himself is from Catitude, while the bench — I decided he needed to be on a bit of a pedestal — and sentiment are from I Knead You. It only took a bit of masking to pop him on his bench. Instead of the small banner in the sketch, I moved the sentiment down to the bottom of the card. 
I'll be back tomorrow with my first post of 2017 — the latest Naughty or Nice challenge! 

Supplies: white, grey & teal cardstock, MFT Catitude & I Knead You stamps, MFT black licorice & Versafine onyx black inks, Ranger clear embossing powder, Spectrum Noir markers, MFT Blueprints 24 dies, pop-dot tape

Merry Christmas

... And One More Merry Monday Card!

I have one more card to share for the current Merry Monday challenge: Winter Fun. This time, I went a little more traditional in style than with the too cool skiing penguin dude of my last card. 

Some simple watercolouring of the scene and an embossed sentiment was all this detailed image really needed. I did use chalk to colour the sky a bit... some day, just maybe, I will learn to do pale background watercolouring first. Although, probably not. 🙄 Of course, I couldn't help myself and added a little glitter marker to the snow at the end. 

Supplies: grey cardstock, Strathmore mixed media paper, Stampin' Up Winter Memories stamps, MFT black licorice & Brilliance starlite black inks, Zig clean colour real brush markers, $ store chalk, MFT blueprints 24 stitched rectangle die, Spectrum Noir clear overlay sparkle marker

One More Week!

Yep, one more week before the big day to get everything done. 😱 Luckily for me, I include making Christmas cards in my to-do list, and Merry Monday gave me a great theme to work with: winter fun. Here's my card: 

The angled photo shows off a little bit of the sparkle of his hat and the shine of his goggles. I used a treeline-punched paper as a mask to create the sky, then also added a little pale blue down the ski slope to mark his path. Do the wonky stitches along the edges of the panel look like ski trails to you, or is that just me? 😝

Supplies: white & American Crafts textured blue cardstock, MFT Chill Wishes stamp & die, Hero Arts Be Merry stamp, MFT licorice black, Versafine onyx black & tumbled glass & broken china distress inks, Hero Arts sparkle embossing powder, Zig clean colour real brush markers, MFT wonky stitched rectangle die, EK Success alpine trail border punch, frosted lace Stickles, Glossy Accents, pop-dot tape

Tag You're It Reminder!

Tags! This is a perfect time of year to make an extra tag or two, don't you think? And there is still time left to enter the current Tag You're It challenge, with this inspiration tag by Laurie Willison: 

For my challenge reminder tag, I wanted to use the same square format that Laurie used, as well as keeping to a clean and simple design. Here's mine:

I chose to use a large central image and a small sentiment, the reverse of what Laurie did. Since I don't have a square tag die, I used two stitched square die cuts and sandwiched a red circle between them. I added a baby snowflake to go with the main one, and punched a small hole through all the layers so I could add some silver cord. 

Supplies: white & Stampin' Up real red cardstock, American Crafts silver glitter paper, STAMPlorations Holiday Artsy stamp, Stampin' Up real red ink, MFT stitched square, Sizzix/Tim Holtz mini paper snowflake & Spellbinders circle dies. snowflake punch, silver elastic cord

Essentials by Ellen Pin-Sights Challenge GUEST DESIGNER!

I am beyond thrilled to be guesting for the new Essentials by Ellen Pin-Sights Challenge!  😄 The Pin-Sights challenge is a monthly inspirational challenge based on a Pinterest-inspired photo. Here is this month's: 

To play along, use Essentials by Ellen products, take inspiration from the photo above and link up your creation on the challenge inlinkz. One random participant will win a $50 gift certificate to the Ellen Hutson store!
I was inspired by the images of Christmas at home, and of course by the red — I'm amazed more red didn't end up on my card! Here it is:

The images and sentiment are all from Essentials by Ellen Homespun Holiday — it seemed an ideal set for the inspiration photo. I started by stamping the popcorn string in black on watercolour paper, then used a masking pen to mask the popcorn and cranberries before stamping the tree in brown. I also stamped the base of the tree in red onto a scrap of fabric I found in my stash. It has the perfect burlap-y look! I stamped the star for the top of the tree in gold, then swiped the inkpad along the edges of the watercolour panel. I used Zigs to watercolour. Finally, I stamped the sentiment in the same ink as I used for the tree bag before mounting the panel on a kraft card base. 
It's definitely a busy time of year, but it's so worth it to play along! Besides, you must need at least one more Christmas card... 😉

Supplies: Neenah desert storm cardstock, Strathmore watercolour paper, Essentials by Ellen Homespun Holidays stamps. Memento tuxedo black, cocoa brown & rhubarb stalk & Delicata golden glitz inks, Zig clean colour real brush markers, scrap fabric, Molotow masking pen

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X(XX)mas at the Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers

It's that time of year again! You know you want to. Ready to join Edna and the Sisterhood for our latest challenge, X IS FOR XXX Xmas? I have to confess, I always find this one a bit of a, well, challenge. But here's my card: 

I picked up this JJ Christmas Cheer image a little while ago imagining I could come up with something (in)appropriate. Right up until it was time to print out my sentiment, I thought I was going to do something along the lines of "but it's too nice being naughty", but then came up with this one instead. I couldn't let my Sisters down, so of course her glasses and glass have Glossy Accents on them. Shoes, bubbly and antler headband are sparkled with some Wink of Stella; and the pearl on her choker even has some Liquid Pearls on it. 
You definitely have to see what the Sisterhood came up with for this challenge. And great news, we're giving you double the time to play along! Since it's a busy time of year for many, you have until January 6th, 2017 to enter your x-rated creation! 

Supplies: white & black cardstock, red Craft Smith card base, Bugaboo JJ Christmas Cheer digital image, Prismacolor pencils, Wink of Stella, Glossy Accents, white opal Liquid Pearls, Stampin' Up dazzling diamonds glitter, MFT wonky stitched rectangle die

Guesting Again at Tag You're It!

I get to play along with the talented design team at Tag You're It again! The new challenge features a beautiful tag from featured artist Laurie Willison. 

I was inspired by the colours; the patterned and die cut sentiment; and the trees going along the bottom of the tag. Here is where I took those elements:

To start, I cut down two die cut wine tags so that my finished tag would be close to square and would have a decorative bottom. While I really like the square shape of Laurie's, I wanted to leave lots of room around the sentiment I'd chosen. I die cut the sentiment from one of the tags as well as patterned paper — dots instead of stripes just because. After adhering the two layers of tag, I inset the patterned sentiment into the die cut negative, adding back the white "o" centre and tail of the "y". Instead of stamping, I used some die cut holly and berries, adding glossy accents to the berries for shine and dimension. A little cord and ribbon (Look at that bow! I will never tie as perfect a one again...) completes the tag. 

Supplies: white & Stampin' Up real red cardstock, American Crafts green glitter paper, Teresa Collins Santa's List patterned paper, Avery Elle Cheers, Papertrey Ink Wonderful Words: Joy & Lil' Inkers Holly Jolly dies, Marvy-Uchida corner-rounding punch, Lawn Fawn Mistletoe hemp cord & scrap green ribbon, Glossy Accents

Bah! Humbug!

It's December! And now the holiday rush really begins. 😉 December also means it's time for a new Naughty or Nice Challenge, and this month we're asking you to choose between traditional and modern with A Christmas Carol vs. Frozen. 

I am a big Dickens fan, so this was an easy choice for me:

I used paper and stamps from Graphic 45's A Christmas Carol collection to make this quick card. And while not everyone appreciates an unrepentant Scrooge, I can definitely think of a few people that would get a chuckle out of this. 
You'll have to check the Naughty or Nice Challenges page to see whether the majority of Troublemakers picked traditional or modern. While you're there, check out the nice little prize that we are offering to one lucky entrant this month! Pick your style and join us! 

Supplies: Stampin' Up very vanilla cardstock, Graphic 45 A Christmas Carol patterned paper, Graphic 45/Hampton Arts A Christmas Carol stamps, Versafine onyx black ink, Ranger clear embossing powder

Tag You're It! Reminder

Yes, it's another tag! The current challenge at Tag You're It continues, and I'm back with a reminder inspiration tag: 

I was less literal in my CASEing of Loll's tag this time around. I kept the same colours and tree theme again, but chose to use just blues for the background and had the tree and ribbon pick up the bright green. I clear-embossed the snowflake background before sponging the tag. This little tree already had matching snowflakes as part of the stamp! 

The theme at the Simon Says Stamp Monday challenge is O Christmas Tree, so I am linking my little tag there. 

There is still almost a week left to play along, so I hope you'll be inspired! 

Supplies: white cardstock, Hero Arts Christmas Reindeer & Local King Rubber Stamp Snowflake Background stamps, Versamark, Colorbox Citrine, tumbled glass & salty ocean distress inks, Ranger clear embossing powder, May Arts green & Offray white ribbon

End of November Muse

November is almost over, and so too is the current challenge at Muse: ChristmasVisions. This week's muse is Cornelia Wenokor with this pretty tag: 

Since I have a goodly supply of tags already 😂 I translated Cornelia's tag into a card. I was inspired by the blue and silver colour scheme as well as the bells and large sentiment. Here's mine: 

The sentiment (with bells at two corners!) is silver-embossed on the navy cardstock and then spritzed with some sparkly mist. (IF I had a few stray specks of embossing powder, the sparkle would totally camouflage it. 😉) I mounted the navy panel onto silver pearl paper before adhering everything to the card base. CAS and elegant. 

Supplies: white & navy cardstock, silver pearl paper, Stampin' Up Christmas Postcard stamp, Versamark ink, silver embossing powder, MFT blueprints 24 stitched frame die, Tsukineko sparkle sheer shimmer mist

Tag, Day 26... on the 27th

Just for fun (!), there is a 26th day of the 25 Days of Christmas Tags! I took yesterday off, to celebrate a family birthday, but I made sure I made a tag today. I was inspired by the cool reindeer on Tenia Nelson's and Tracey's tags, as well as the beautiful sponged background on Tracey's tag. (I was inspired enough by the reindeer to pop over to the Stamplorations site to get my own! Sold out already, sigh.)  Here's mine: 

I started with an assortment of Hero Arts snowflakes from three different sets, clear embossed onto my tag. From there I sponged the background with blue and mauve distress inks. Of course I had to splatter some sparkly mist on it, too. I tried my funkiest reindeer stamp, but it was too small for the tag. So instead, I embossed this one in silver, fussy-cut it and popped it up on the tag. Silver ribbon and iridescent white cord was all this needed to finish it off! 

Supplies: white cardstock, Unity/Samantha Walker Greetings of Christmas & various Hero Arts stamps, Versamark & stormy sky & shaded lilac distress inks, Ranger clear & Wow white embossing powders, homemade white confetti Perfect Pearls mist, Papertrey Ink tag sale #2 die, May Arts silver ribbon & iridescent twine, pop-dot tape

UFO Sightings

You ever seen a UFO in these parts?

~Fox Mulder, The X Files

Today is the day for UFO sightings, and not just on The X-Files! The Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers can guarantee it! 

U is for UFO — Unfinished Objects! The stamped image you coloured but then set aside, the background you stencilled that turned out not to work for the card you were making... you get the idea. We sisters came to the conclusion that we all have one or two (hundred) UFOs lurking on our desks or tucked in baskets awaiting future action. So we are challenging ourselves (and YOU) to get them out and use at least one of them! I was able to put together two UFOs for my project today: 

Of course I had every intention of photographing my UFOs before putting them together into a card... and immediately forgot once I got to work. UFO #1: the background panel. A couple of years ago, I was playing with the distress ink technique where you ink up a background stamp with various colours, mist with water, then stamp. This has been in my Christmas UFO bin ever since. All I did was cut it with a stitched panel die. UFO #2: the wonky rectangle die cut panel with sponging and white-stamped snowflakes. This is also from a couple of years ago, when I made a number of cards using this particular panel. This was an extra. On the original cards, the panel was paired with a cute little Christmas tree, but with this background layer, I went with a more elegant holly image. It, the vellum sentiment and the card base are the new components. 
For more UFO sightings, check out my snarky sisters' creations, as well as those of our current Queen of Snark and guest designer, Sue! Then dust off those unfinished objects and join us! 

Supplies: Craft Smith green cardstock card base, Stampin' Up pear pizazz cardstock, Strathmore watercolour paper, vellum, Hero Arts music collage background & assorted snowflakes, Inkadinkado Sketches Holiday & Cavallini Vintage Christmas stamps, Versamark, MFT black licorice, Colorbox frost white & assorted green distress inks, pirate's gold embossing powder, Zig clean colour real brush markers, Winsor & Newton iridescent medium, MFT blueprints 24 stitched rectangle & Spellbinders reverse wonky rectangle dies, pop-dot tape

Tag, Day 25!!! and a Card

Day 25 (!!!) of the 25 Days of Christmas Tags event! I have a generous selection of Christmas gift tags to choose from when I eventually get around to wrapping presents... of course, they have to be bought first. 
Today I was inspired by Kat Benjamin's kraft and polka-dot tag. Here is my version: 

I had nothing similar to the polka-dot paper tape that Kat used, so I stencilled a thin layer of embossing paste on a manila tag, instead. (I actually sponged white ink through the stencil first, but didn't like the look.) I used some die cut pieces to embellish it as well as some sheer green ribbon. 
I also have a card! Jingle Belles' last challenge of the year is a beautiful photo inspiration: 

I took inspiration from the white fireplace hung with stockings and the quatrefoil rug to get this: 

Making this card was a bit of a comedy of errors; there were a couple of times when I considered being inspired by the rack of wine bottles beside the fireplace and forgetting about cardmaking! The photo immediately reminded me of this fireplace stamp set that I ordered but didn't get in time for last year's cardmaking. I started by stamping the fireplace and the extra mantle, only to discover these were the two images that didn't have dies! Being used to the Tim Holtz Sizzix dies, I fussy cut the fireplace very closely to the outside lines. Then when I cut the stockings and evergreen garland, I discovered that these dies leave a white margin. So I stamped and cut another fireplace. (By this time, I had decided I didn't need the separate mantle piece.) The background panel comes from the pattern of the rug in front of the fireplace. 
I may just take the day off tomorrow! Besides, family obligations beckon. 😊

Supplies: (tag) manila tag, Kaiserkraft Turtledove die cut pieces, Heidi Swapp polka dot stencil, Dreamweavers glossy white embossing paste, May Arts green ribbon; (card) white cardstock, My Mind's Eye All is Bright, Echo Park Be Mine & (?) patterned paper, Stampin' Up Festive Fireplace stamps & dies, Versamark smoky gray & Colorbox evergreen inks, Ranger clear embossing powder, watercolour pencils, Spica silver glitter marker, Spectrum Noir clear glitter marker, fun foam

Guesting at Tag You're It!

I'm excited to be a guest designer at Tag You're It! Today's challenge is brought to you by featured artist Loll Thompson with this beautiful tag: 

Beautiful background sky, white silhouette trees, snowy landscape and lots of sparkle. More than enough inspiration for me! Here is my tag: 

I started by sponging my sky with green and blue distress inks, although I didn't manage as much green in my sky as Loll did. (My first attempt, with more green, was not a success...)  For the snow, I used a toothpick to dot acrylic paint all over. I used a border punch for the first layer of landscape, then ripped white cardstock for the second. While I would have loved to have the Stickles on my tree look as artistic as Loll's, it wasn't working for me, so there is an overall glittery coat instead. 
All the details for how to play along with the Tag You're It Challenge can be found here. I hope you'll join in the fun! 

Supplies: white cardstock, Prima North Country stamp, tumbled glass, mermaid lagoon & twisted citron distress inks, MFT blueprints tag builder 4 & (?) tree dies, Claudine Hellmuth Studio blank canvas acrylic paint,  EK Success alpine trail border punch, icicle Stickles, May Arts twine & scrap ribbon

Tag, Day 24

It's the 24th day of the 25 Days of Christmas Tags event! What will I do with all my free time once this is over? 😂 In the meantime... I decided to pick Jeanne Jachna's pretty tag as my inspiration today. Going with a snowman and a snowy background, here's my version: 

I hadn't played with my watercolour powders for what seemed like a long time, so after clear-embossing a flurry of snowflakes at the top of the tag, I used a blue powder for my sky. While that dried, I stamped, embossed and watercoloured this little snowman. I die cut a couple of snowhills and layered them at the bottom of the tag before adding my snow guy. I really need to remember that Stickles are water-based and really don't work well when I've watercoloured something. 🙄 A second coat of them on the hat trim minimized the bleeding. 

Supplies: Stampin' Up real red cardstock, Strathmore watercolour paper, Hero Arts Snow Much Joy, Decorate You & Get Merry stamps, Versamark & Versafine onyx black inks, Ranger clear & Wow white embossing powders, Zig clean colour real brush markers, Magenta Nuance cerulean blue watercolour powder, Papertrey Ink tag sale #2 & MFT scenic safari dies, Lawn Fawn mistletoe hemp cord, May Arts ribbon

Tag, Day 23

It's me again, back with yet another tag for the 25 Days of Christmas Tags event! Just for fun, I asked my husb to pick which tag I should interpret today. That was possibly too much pressure, as he gave me a shortlist of three. From those, I went with Tracey's cute moose tag, and came up with this: 

Of course I had to go with a sweatered reindeer, and one of the trees that comes with him is very much like the one Tracey has on her tag. I felt like sponging a background sky, so I did. To echo the die cut topper, I dry-embossed some red cardstock and cut it to fit. A couple of gold jingle bells and gold and white twine finish this off. 

Supplies: white & red cardstock, Hero Arts Christmas Reindeer stamps, Colorbox espresso & tumbled glass distress inks, Ranger clear embossing powder, Zig clean colour real brush markers, Darice diagonal stripe embossing folder, May Arts gold & white twine, $ store jingle bells, pop-dot tape 

Tag, Day 22

Happy Tuesday! Yep, it's another day and another tag for the 25 Days of Christmas Tags event! Today I'm using the layout and predominant colour of Lisa Lahiff's sweet tag for my inspiration. 

I sponged the bottom of the tag lightly with some tumbled glass distress ink. I grabbed the marker of the same colour plus a red one to colour my little bird. After I popped him up on the tag with a square of foam tape, I of course had to add Stickles to his hat. 😉 

Supplies: white cardstock, Paper Smooches swanky snowdudes & Simon Says Stamp/Kelly Purkey Tis the Season stamps, MFT black licorice & tumbled glass distress inks, distress markers, MFT stitched squares & Technique Tuesday this is tag die, frosted lace Stickles, small hole punch, May Arts ribbon, pop-dot tape 

Tag, Day 21

It's the final week of the 25 Days of Christmas Tags event! If I'm beginning to tire of tag-making, I can just imagine how Tracey feels! LOL!) 

Today I went with being inspired by Tracey's cute Santa in pyjamas tags... when I first looked at them, I thought, I have none of the supplies to make a tag like that. Well, if that's not a challenge...! 

I gave Santa a jolly belly by using a round tag. A scalloped oval die cut started the beard. Some textured black cardstock and a small piece of silver glitter paper with two slits cut in it added the belt. Won't this be a fun tag on a child's gift? 

Supplies: white, red & Bazzill textured black cardstock, American Crafts silver glitter paper, Papertrey Ink tag sale #4 & Spellbinders scalloped oval dies, Hemptique red & silver baker's twine

Tags, Day 20

There is an embarrassment of riches on Tracey's blog today for the 25 Days of Christmas Tags event! With two sponsors today, there is more than enough inspiration to choose from. I went with Sunny Studio's owner Mendi Yoshikawa's cute CAS tags with toppers. Since they were relatively simple to make (and with today's high winds, our power went out, so there were lots of other things I couldn't do, darn) I went with a tag set again. 

I went through a few stamp sets and found some small images that would be fun and easy to colour. My Prismacolor pencils have been sadly neglected lately, so they came out for colouring. None of my tag dies have toppers, so I grabbed a couple of border punches to fancy up the patterned paper scraps I picked. Next came both black and clear Wink of Stella markers to add a little sparkle. Ribbon and twine added the finishing touches. 

I really need to make more cards. 😝 But tags are fun! 

Supplies: white cardstock, assorted patterned paper scraps, Hero Arts Decorate You, Lawn Fawn Toboggan Together & Craft Smart stamps, MFT black licorice ink, Prismacolor pencils, black & clear glitter Wink of Stella brush markers, Paper Smooches stitched tag die, Stampin' Up scallop & Fiskars threading water punches, scrap ribbon & twine