I'm a Happy Little Stamper!

Happy 2019! I'm starting the new year by joining the Happy Little Stampers Watercolour Challenge Design Team! (For me, it's still 2018 as I post this, but the challenge is based in Australia...) A big thank you to Carol Mayne for recommending me, and to Kylie Purtell for believing what Carol said about me. :D 

The January challenge, and my first as a new member of the team, has the optional twist of Texture. 

In a complete change of pace from weeks of Christmas cards and tags, I chose to make a sympathy card: 

This was my first chance to use this pretty sweet pea image from Studio Katia, as it arrived just as the rush of November's 25 Days of Christmas Tags began. I really like it in the vibrant purples of my Zig markers. I found a pale green cardstock that complemented the leaves and used an embossing folder to add my texture element. The sympathy sentiment is part of the same stamp set, making it easy to complete the card. I'll add this to Simon Says Stamp's Wednesday anything goes challenge. 

I hope you will visit the Happy Little Stampers challenge page to admire all the beautiful creations of my new teammates! What better way to welcome January than to join us with your own watercolour project. 

Supplies: Neenah white & scrap light green cardstock, Studio Katia You're So Sweet stamps & dies, Versafine onyx black ink, Wow clear embossing powder, Zig markers, MFT blueprints 29 sentiment flag, Spellbinders grid embossing folder, Mary-Uchida corner-rounding punch

R is for...

Of course at the Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers, R is for Rude Christmas! Just as Edna is keeping her rudeness on the subtle side - I think? - so am I...

I have paired Santa with this sentiment before, so wanted a new way to use them. Luckily, this sentiment fits perfectly on a tag, so I could feature it in a slightly different way. Some fun patterned paper and a little bit of ribbon for the tag finished it off. 
Some of the sisters are also on the design team at Shopping Our Stash, where the current theme is Tis the Season, so I'm linking my card there as well as to the Happy Little Stampers Christmas challenge, skipping the optional theme of "snow" unless you want to count the red and green dots. :D At least they're not yellow... And one more challenge, the current Christmas-themed Wednesday Simon Says Stamp challenge.
For more rude Christmas inspiration, check out what my sisters in snark, as well as our newest Queen of Snark and guest designer Lisa have dreamed up! This challenge runs for FOUR weeks, so work out some issues on a card and come join us! 

   

Supplies: red, black, Neenah white & desert storm cardstock, Lawn Fawn patterned paper, Technique Tuesday Dear Santa stamps, Versafine onyx black & crimson red ink, Ranger clear & Hero Arts sparkle embossing powder, Copic markers, (?) tag dies, foam tape

It's a Tag!

Every once in a while, I like to break out of my usual clean and simple style of cardmaking. Often when I do, I turn to my Graphic 45 supplies, as they tend to lend themselves to more elaborate creations. (Mine still stay pretty CAS compared to some...) I got all collage-y and made a tag for G45's December challenge: 

It should come as no surprise that one of my favourite G45 collections is A Christmas Carol. Some day I'll run out of it and be sad, but for today I played around with different papers and images until I had a tag I liked. I like how the small journalling card has room for the recipient's name on the front. Of course I will select that recipient carefully, as it needs to be someone who also appreciates Dickens. ;) 

I am also adding this to Simon Says Stamp's Warm Winter Wishes Monday challenge.

Supplies: manila tag base, Graphic 45 A Christmas Carol patterned paper, May Arts ribbon & twine, foam tape

Muse: ChristmasVisions Free-For-All!

Have you ever noticed that the majority of year-round Christmas card challenge blogs close down for the month of December? Not Muse: ChristmasVisions! I don't know about you, but I never have all the cards I need by the end of November, so this can come in handy if you're looking for inspiration. Not only that, but we make it a "free-for-all" challenge, so any holiday-themed card can be linked up. Cornelia offered her inspiration last week, and I'm offering mine below. If you need more ideas, simply stroll through the link-up cards! Something is sure to jump-start your creativity. 

As I often do, I went for clean and simple and cute. I coloured my little snow guy with markers, and did the same with my die cut sentiment, as I'd originally cut it in white. The sentiment also has sparkle thanks to a Wink of Stella marker. Just for fun, I used a swiss dot embossing folder for the backing panel for an easy hint of snow. 

Supplies: Neenah white and Stampin' Up real red cardstock, Neat & Tangled Santa's Wonderland stamps & dies, Versafine onyx black ink, Ranger clear embossing powder, Neat & Tangled Be Merry & MFT diagonal stitched frame dies, Copic Markers, Cuttlebug swiss dots embossing folder, foam tape

Winter with the Snarky Sisters

We know, it's not officially winter yet, but it feels like it where I live! And so the Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers has a new challenge, W is for Winter. For some reason, even though I am definitely not a fan of winter, I couldn't seem to summon up any snark for my card...

Perhaps my lack of snark is due to all the Christmas tags I made last month? Whatever the reason, I went for this serene winter scene, not dissimilar to this tag (scroll down) I made. I started with a smooshed distress ink background for a wintry afternoon, then added all the different die cuts. A red frame and embossed white sentiment were all I felt were needed to finish the card.  
I'll add this to the current Simon Says Stamp Anything Goes Wednesday challenge. 

There are lots more wintry creations to admire on the Snarky blog, by my sisters in snark as well as our returning queen, Donna! Snarky or not, why not join us with your own winter project? 

Supplies: Neenah white, Papertrey Ink smokey shadow & Stampin' Uo real red cardstock, Canson watercolour paper, Versamark & tumbled glass, stormy sky & spun sugar distress inks, Sunny Studio rustic winter, CUTplorations stitched snow hills & MFT diagonal stitched rectangle frame dies, foam tape

Christmas Tags, the Aftermath... and a Card!

While there are still a few more days to comment or make tags, for me Tracey's 25 Days of Christmas Tags is essentially done. But I thought it would be fun to show just what almost a month of tag-making looks like... 

I think I have more than enough tags for the upcoming season. 😂 
Without tags, I had time to get back to Christmas card making! Jingle Belles' current challenge, "Bring Us Some Figgy Pudding", wants to see festive food on our projects. In stamp form, not sloppy eating. Here's mine: 

That may even be a figgy pudding in my grouping of traditional holiday treats! It's some kind of traditional Christmas pudding, at any rate. There's also Christmas cake (I'm a fan, although I don't need the marzipan icing) and a yule log. I made mine chocolate. All treats are coloured with Copic markers for Kathy Racoosin's The Daily Marker 30 Day colouring challenge. I'm also going to add this to Happy Little Stampers Anything Goes with Dies challenge. 

         

Supplies: Neenah white & Recollections dark red cardstock, Pink and Main Sweet Christmas stamps & dies, Versafine onyx black & Colorbox Kismet inks, Ranger clear & Hero Arts sparkle embossing powder, Copic markers, MFT stitched rounded rectangle die, Gelly Roll white gel pen, foam tape

25 Days of Christmas Tags: Day 26!

Hooray, I'm back! With a tag, that is. I know Tracey McNeely calls it the 25 Days of Christmas Tags event, but we've got a bonus 26th day today! Our final guest and sponsor is A Jillian Vance Design. 

Jillian and her mom sent the tag team a couple of sweet stamp sets to work with. I managed to incorporate a few different stamps on this final tag for the event: 

Why yes, I did manage to use three different embossing powders on the bell image. :D This Christmas embossing powder does not come out too often, but I thought it would be fun for the main body of the jingle bell. Then I inked the outline over top in black with clear embossing powder, and lastly added the red glitter bow. (Next time, I would be more likely to just use silver ink with the black stamped over top and emboss them together, but this was fun to try.) Even though I was pretty sure the embossing would resist, it was easy to cut a circle mask to cover the bell while I added the music notes to the tag base. To finish, I added the red topper. 

But wait, there's more! I decided to make this a tag that opens, this time with the fold on the back tag: 

I used a stitching die where I wanted the fold to be, matching the stitching on the tags themselves. 

I even added a bit of stamping to the back of the tag: 

And there you have it... the very last day of Tracey's tag event. If you're still making tags and/or commenting on designers' blogs, don't worry, you still have a few days before things wind down and Tracey announces the winners. Thanks for joining us on this tag-making journey, and thanks to Tracey for organizing this amazing month of creativity! 

Thanks, too, to these amazing sponsors!

Supplies: Neenah white & Stampin' Up real red cardstock, A Jillian Vance Design Jingle All the Way & To & From stamps, Versamark, Versafine onyx black & Stampin' Up real red inks, Ranger clear, Zing red glitter & Christmas silver embossing powders, CUTplorations manila tag & Paper Smooches stitched dies, twill ribbon, glitter cord, $ store jingle bells

25 Days of... Oh No!

I am tagless today. 😭 Sadly, Canadian postal disruptions have left me empty-handed for supplies to make tags for today's guest and sponsor at Tracey McNeely's 25 Days of Christmas Tags, Hello Bluebird. So instead, I've made a couple more Christmas cards! 
Somehow, for all of my Christmas card making, ABC Christmas Challenge has flown under my radar until now. But a friend let me know that they are currently looking for new design team members (thanks, Carol!) and so I'm joining in now! 

The current challenges are W is for Wishes and X is for Xmas. I've made one for each. First, my Xmas card: 

I made a galaxy sky background using a number of distress inks. It's also spritzed and spattered with shimmer mists and white acrylic paint. My reindeer is watercolored with distress ink for Kathy Racoosin's The Daily Marker 30 Day colouring challenge. I couldn't resist giving him a red nose with Nuvo glitter drops - it also gave me an excuse to add a red sentiment and card base. 

Next up is my wishes card:

I used a Hero Arts layering wreath with three different green inks. The scoring, I hope, subtly suggests a door frame. The wreath is decorated with red, gold and silver confetti sequins and a die cut bow. The red foil cardstock? A dollar store find! 

I am back tomorrow with the last day of the 25 Days of Christmas Tags! (Yes, there are actually 26 days. 😉) Hope to see you back here then! 

Supplies: (merry xmas) Neenah white, CTMH navy & Stampin' Up real red cardstock, Canson watercolour paper, STAMPlorations Christmas Reindeer stamps & dies, PinkFresh Studio Christmas Wishes stamp, Versamark, Stampin' Up real red & many distress inks, Ranger clear, Hero Arts sparkle & Wow superfine white embossing powder, Tsukineko clear sparkle shimmer mist, Claudine Hellmusth blank canvas acrylic paint, white confetti Perfect Pearls, CUTplorations stitched snow hills & MFT blueprints 24 stitched rectangle dies, foam tape; (warmest wishes) Neenah white, Stampin' Up real red & $ store red foil cardstock, Hero Arts Colour Layering Wreath stamps, Versamark, Memento bamboo leaves, Simon Says Stamp green leaf, Stampin' Up garden green & real red inks, Hero Arts sparkle embossing powder, Paper Smooches baby bow die, Studio Katia classic Christmas confetti, Martha Stewart scoring board

25 Days of Christmas Tags: Day 24

November is winding down, and so is Tracey McNeely's 25 Days of Christmas Tags! Today we are showcasing Sunny Studio Stamps.

I have been looking for the perfect Santa and his sleigh silhouette for a long time, and now, thanks to Sunny Studio, I've got one! 

My black glitter embossing powder is so sparkly and shiny, this was hard to photograph! I hadn't made a galaxy sky background in a long time, so out came the distress inks before embossing the trees and Santa. I couldn't decide quite what I wanted for a sentiment, but then I found this bit of flair. Also shiny and hard to photograph, but it says, "'twas the night before Christmas". 

And yes, I have a second tag... (I may need an intervention!) 

I don't know why I couldn't get my ink-smooshed background to photograph properly (other than general lack of ability, of course), so you'll have to trust me that the background is blue, not grey. Another happy acquisition to my supplies is this little bird die — I always like the pop of a red bird on a winter card or tag. The beautiful birch trees are an added bonus, as are the deer dies that didn't make it onto this tag. I couldn't find a stamped sentiment that worked to my liking, so a bit of patterned paper did the job for me. 

As Tracey says... do you want to win a prize? All the info is to be had on her blog, along with lots of inspiration from the Sunny Studio team and our tag team! 

Our amazing sponsors! 

Supplies: ('twas the night) Neenah white cardstock, Sunny Studio Here Comes Santa stamps, Versamark & a whole bunch of distress inks, Ranger black sparkle embossing powder, Tsukineko sparkle shimmer spray, Claudine Hellmuth blank canvas acrylic paint, CUTplorations manila tag die, Basic Grey Aspen Frost flair, Mara Mi & May Arts ribbon; (noel) Neenah white, Papertrey Ink smokey shadow & Stampin' Uo real red cardstock, Teresa Collins Noel patterned paper, tumbled glass, milled lavender & salty ocean distress inks, Sunny Studio rustic winter & CUTplorations manila tag dies, Studio Katia iridescent ice flakes, May Arts ribbon, Hemptique baker's twine

25 Days of Christmas Tags: Day 23

Happy Friday! Are you Black Friday shopping? Before you do, I hope you will check out Day 23 of Tracey McNeely's 25 Days of Christmas Tags. Today we welcome Lil' Inker Designs as our guest and sponsor. 

I lasted 23 days before I made my one annual shaker tag! 

Shaker tags (or cards)... admire those made by others, not a fan of making them. Yet as I looked over my Lil' Inker collection, this idea wouldn't go away. I cut the photo frame both from cardstock and fun foam, as well as a solid cardstock and a patterned paper rectangle of the same dimensions. On the patterned paper I stamped and embossed the trees before adding s white cardstock slope. (Pro tip: paper layers tend to catch sequins...) From red cardstock, I cut the sentiment. I used a combination of silver sequins and iridescent stars for the shaker element. 

Be sure to visit Tracey's blog for lots of tag inspiration, as well as everything you need to know about how to participate... and perhaps win a prize! 

Check out our great sponsors!

Supplies: Neenah white & Stampin' Up real red cardstock, Close to My Heart Rough and Tumble patterned paper, Lil' Inkers Jolly & Joyful stamps, Versamark ink, Wow ultrafine white embossing powder, Lil' Inkers Instant Camera, Jingle Joy, Gift Bow Topper & Paper Smooches Borders 1 dies, Little Things from Lucy's Cards iridescent stars, Darice silver sequins, Hemptique cord, fun foam

Seize the Birthday... and TAGS?

Welcome to another Seize the Birthday challenge! Imagine my reaction when I realized what the optional *topping* was for this challenge...

TAGS!!! If you've been around this blog at all lately, you will know that I have been making at least one tag every day for the entire month! (I'm pretty sure I know who came up with this challenge theme, and I plan to speak with her about it. :P) If you decide to enter this challenge, you can choose to skip the option. I felt I should comply, however, and here's what I came up with:

About as far away from a Christmas tag as I could get. ;) I found four colours of scrap cardstock that went with this fun patterned paper, cut my tags, and embossed the letters and number in holographic embossing powder, which is much more effective in real life than I can capture in a photograph. I was even able to find the four colours of twine to match the tags, then added a few sparkly flower sequins for a little more interest. 

It's always a good idea to add another birthday card or two to your stash, so why not come and play along with us? Be sure to check out the fun tag-related inspirations of the rest of the team, as well as current surprise party guest, Marianne. Of course, you could also check out my early morning Christmas tag post... :P 

Supplies: Neenah white, Stampin' Up basic black & scrap coloured cardstock, American Crafts Hip Hip Hooray patterned paper, Maya Road Retro 80s Alphabet & (?) number stamps, Versafine onyx black ink, holographic embossing powder, MFT wonky stitched rectangle & Sizzix tag dies, Studio Katia dazzling celery petals, icicle Stickles, scrap baker's twine, foam tape