Happy Little Stampers: Wings

Here we are, halfway through 2019! Seems almost unbelievable to me. But with July starting, it's time for a new Watercolour Challenge at Happy Little Stampers! Our challenge always accepts any watercoloured creation, but our optional theme this month is WINGS. So many possibilities! I decided to go with birds.  

I started by stamping and embossing this Stamplorations bird on watercolour cardstock as well as stamping him on masking paper. I covered him so I could create the background with blue and green watercolour powders. Once that was dry, I coloured the bird with Gansai Tambi paints. When everything was dry, it was a simple matter to stamp and emboss the sentiment and add the die cut panel to a card base. 

I am squeaking in at the last minute to the June STAMPlorations CAS challenge: stamps and birthdays, as well as their Never-Ending Anything Goes Challenge.. 

Then I decided there was another bird in my collection I wanted to give some attention to: 

I used a Gina K stencil to create the circle of flowers around the central bird image. I watercoloured everything before matting the central panel with black and using a green card base. 

Feel like watercoloring? Be sure to head to the Happy Little Stampers blog for beautiful inspiration from the rest of the design team. You have the month of July to join us! 

Supplies: (happy birthday) Canson watercolour paper, Hero Arts azure layering cardstock, STAMPlorations Smallbirds & Simon Says StampEssential Greetings & Happy stamps, Versafine onyx black & Memento Luxe Danube blue inks, Wow clear gloss embossing powder, Gansai Tambi watercolour paints, Magenta Nuance cerulean & spring green watercolour powders, MFT Blueprints 24 stitched rectangle die; (dream big) Stampin' Up basic black & Hero Arts green layering cardstock, Canson watercolour paper, Pinkfresh Studio Dream Big stamps, Simon Says Stamp extreme black ink, Gansai Tambi watercolour paints, Gina K wreath builder stencil 

The Birds and the Bees...

Oh, oh. Looks like Edna never had THE TALK. So the Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers are really offering a public service by dedicating our new challenge to The Birds and the Bees. Of course, you don't have to go *there* with the challenge, a card with birds and/or bees is fine, too. I went with a bee, no bird:

(Ugh for rainy days when photographing.) I wasn't even sure I had a bee stamp, but then discovered this little cutie in an old Stampin' Up set. (Why I force myself to catalogue my stamps, tedious as it is...) I watercolored him, using a shimmery paint for his wings. There is a wash of blue background that has disappeared in the photograph. I wanted a pretty patterned paper to back him, and computer-generated the sentiment. You can see the shimmery wings and the blue a little better here: 

Our current Queen of Snark and guest designer, Helen and the Sisters have lots of avian and apian inspiration on the blog, so be sure to check it out! Why not show us what you know about the birds and the bees? ;) 

Supplies: Neenah white & Stampin' Up basic black cardstock, Canson watercolour paper, Memory Box Brioche patternad paper, Stampin' Up Every Little Bit stamp, Versafine onyx black ink, Wow clear embossing powder, Gansai Tombi watercolours, MFT blueprints 24 & Sugar Pea Designs Card Front Builder dies

Cover the Card at Seize the Birthday

Happy almost-summer Thursday! It's time for a new Seize the Birthday challenge, and our newest optional topping is "cover the card".  

To be honest, I wasn't absolutely sure what exactly that meant when I first saw it, but what we're looking for essentially is no white space on the card. You can stamp or use die-cuts to cover the whole card. I of course had to go my own way and chose to sponge my entire card panel instead. I know, one of these days I'll get kicked out. 😂

While I of course love playing with new stamps, I also like finding a new way to use my older stuff. I've had this large corner stamp from Unity since shortly after the dawn of time, and this may be its first use. I stamped and embossed it in white before using several shades of distress ink to colour my panel. The sentiment is also embossed in white. I tried all sorts of different bling options before adding Nuvo drops to the flower centres. 

I'm adding this card to the current Inkspirational Garden challenge, since flowers and butterflies are the perfect ingredients for my kind of garden. I'm also linking up to the Addicted to Stamps and More anything goes challenge. 

For more inspiration, head over to the blog, where the design team and our current surprise party guest, Linda, have beautiful interpretations of our theme. Remember, we welcome all birthday cards, so join us! 

Supplies: Neenah white cardstock, Unity (grab bag) & Inkadinkado Happy Birthday stamps, Versamark & mermaid lagoon, salty ocean, blueprint sketch & chipped sapphire distress inks, Wow white embossing powder, Nuvo sea breeze Jewel Drops

Christmas in June... Again

The Happy Little Stampers ATC challenge for June just happens to be CHRISTMAS. I have to admit, since the weather finally is cooperating with the date on the calendar, I'm less interested in Christmas projects. (Of course, HLS is in Australia, maybe the cooler weather is the best time for Christmas creations?) It did seem like a fine way to use up some leftover bits and pieces in my Christmas stash, though. So I made a set of three: 

I cut the two dry-embossed bases out of an embossed panel that for some reason, I'd never used; the base on the left I cut from a card that just never made it to the finish line. The only stamping I did was the little "Merry Christmas" sentiment; the watercolored poinsettia was already painted but I did add a deeper colour over top to better match the stamped ones on the base. The "Tis the season" sentiment came from the same card as the poinsettia base. The stamped plaid layer was an offcut from another card. 

A closer look at each one: 

My Christmas stash is down a little bit! 

No Wonder We're Snarky

Edna and the Snarky Sisters *welcome* you to our newest challenge, M is for Menopause! Let's face it, the majority of papercrafters out there do seem to be women, and at least some of those women know what we're talking about with this theme. Edna obviously does, with the industrial-strength fan and that little extra flush to her cheeks!    

My intention originally was to make artistic representations of the various symptoms leading to menopause... but when it came time to make my card, my artistic muse just wasn't cooperating. So I went my usual clean and simple route...

Mood swings? Oh yes. So the sentiment was perfect, and of course has to be paired with a cow. The cloud and lightning bolt add a little fun to the otherwise simple card, I think. 

I'm adding this to the June Happy Little Stampers CAS Challenge: Funny. 

Be sure to see what my sisters in snark have done with this challenge, as well as our current Queen of Snark and guest designer, Lisa. Whether or not you're feeling the heat, I hope you'll join us! 

Supplies: Neenah white & Stampin' Up real red cardstock, Taylored Expressions Grouchy Grumplings stamps, Versafine onyx black ink, Wow clear embossing powder, Copic markers, MFT stitched rounded rectangle die, cloud and lightning die cuts from stash, foam tape

Anything Goes at Seize the Birthday!

It's the first Thursday in June, and time to Seize the Birthday! And to make it easy, it's a true anything goes challenge this time around, no toppings. Anything birthday goes! Which in a way makes me wonder why I decided to go on a masking frenzy for my card...

At least the girl comes already seated in the armchair! ;) The scene started with the dog, moved on with the girl/chair, then the books, and then the table. All of the elements stayed masked with an added post-it note across the card so I could add the wood flooring. I also sponged some antique linen distress ink over the woodgrain stamp so it wasn't so starkly white. I couldn't even leave the light fixture unmasked, since I wanted to add the light she's reading by. (The fixture matches the ones in my kitchen!) After everything was coloured with Copics, I heat embossed the sentiment and added the panel to a red card base to match the book and lamp. This is not my usual style of card to make - I far prefer the ones that appear to be a lot more work than they are! This is more of the opposite. :D 

With an anything goes theme, there is a wide variety of inspiration from the Seize the Birthday design team members and our current surprise party guest, Linda! Be sure to check out their cards, and then I hope you'll join us!

Supplies: Neenah white & Stampin' Up real red cardstock, MFT Our Story & Winnie & Walter Mini Scenery: Multigrain stamps, Versafine onyx black, Simon Says Stamp extreme black, Memento espresso truffle, antique linen distress & fossilized amber distress oxide ink, Wow clear embossing powder, Copic markers, Winnie & Walter Katharine cutaway die, black Sharpie pen

ABC Christmas Challenge: L & M

It's June, and that just means Christmas is getting closer all the time! And that's why it's great to have Christmas card challenges, such as ABC Christmas Challenge! This month we are inspiring you with L is for Little and M is for Masking. The two prompts would work well together, but that would only get me one card! 😉 First up, my *little* card: 

I covered the prompt two ways, with little elves, and little in the sentiment. I hand-cut the sentiment panel to look like a big banner the elves are holding. Other than adding some Stickles to their hats and glitter marker to their belt buckles, this was a quick and simple card to make. 

Elves! I'm adding this to the current Christmas Kickstart challenge. 

Now for my masked card:

Of course I couldn't just go for simple masking, what would be the fun of that? My card was inspired by this one by Kristina Werner. I started by stamping and embossing (because why not add that extra challenging element...) the little Santa hat. Next I masked it to stamp and emboss the penguin and the present. Then I added a mask to the penguin so I could stamp the ice floe. The ice floe needed a mask too, then I masked the bottom of the card with a couple of post-it notes so I could sponge the sky. (It did occur to me after that the sky in Antarctica wouldn't be that dark in December, but hey, artistic licence.) I added a little sponging to the ice, too, for some reflection and depth. After I removed all the masks, I coloured the central images with Copics. Finally, I added a big white die cut sentiment. The little black movement marks make him seem really excited! 

Feeling inspired yet? There are lots more inspiration cards on the Happy Little Stampers blog... and you have until the end of the month to join us!

Supplies: (little) Neenah white & Recollections black cardstock, Basic Grey Evergreen patterned paper, Lawn Fawn Holiday Helpers stamps & dies, Technique Tuesday Jingle All the Way stamps, Versafine onyx black & Memento Luxe love letter ink, Wow clear & Hero Arts clear sparkle embossing powder, MFT double-stitched rectangle die, Copic markers, icicle Stickles, Gelly Roll clear glitter marker, foam tape; (masking) Neenah white cardstock, Mama Elephant Arctic Penguins stamps, Verafine onyx black, Victorian velvet, shaded lilac, faded jeans & chipped sapphire distress inks, Wow clear embossing powder, Copic markers,  CUTplorations Be Jolly & MFT wonky stitched rectangle die, Gelly Roll white glaze pen

We Are Snarky Family

It's snarky Saturday again! For this, our 136th challenge, the Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers offers you F is for Family. 

I think all families bring out the snarky feelings at some point, don't they? Perhaps some families, or at least certain members, more than others. 

I have a very small family, and none of us are particularly demonstrative, so my supply of obvious stamps for this challenge was limited. But here is what I came up with:

It's a crazy dog family! I masked them together so it could be a family portrait. As I finished colouring them with my Copic markers, I realized... I had created the Bluth family! Fellow fans of Arrested Development, do you see what I mean? That's Michael Bluth in the centre of course, with the reaction to his family's antics clearly on his face. His son, George-Michael, is on the far left, with his uncle Gob next to him. On Michael's other side is his mother, Lucille, and who else could that be at the end but Buster. Or... maybe it's just me. 

Be sure to check out what my sisters (see, we're a family, too!) have created for this challenge, as well as our current Queen of Snark and guest designer, Michelle. And then join our little snarky family and play along! 

Supplies: Neenah white & Stampin' Up basic black cardstock, Basic Grey Kelly Purkey Mon Ami patterned paper, Stampers Anonymous/Tim Holtz Mini Crazy Cats & Dogs & Unity sentiment stamp, Simon Says Stamp intense black ink, Copic Markers, Gelly Roll clear glitter pen, Twinery twine, small hole punch, foam tape