Addicted to Stamps and More: Holiday

It's time for a new challenge at Addicted to Stamps and More - and the new challenge is HOLIDAY. Luckily for me (and maybe you), spring is here, so I was easily able to take a break from my fallback Christmas cards and make an Easter card: 

This card is my contribution to that age-old challenge of masculine holiday cards - and teenage boy cards in particular. This bunny is far enough away from the cutesy end of the spectrum that I thought he was just right. After I watercoloured him, it was a matter of what to do with him. I went for clean and simple (big surprise) with a big fishtail banner panel and some fun patterned paper. I used scraps of the same paper for my sentiment, witch is a mashup of two Clearly Besotted stamps. 

Do you need an Easter card, or just feel like making any kind of holiday card? Or maybe you can channel your current cabin fever into a holiday-away-from-home card. ;) I hope you'll join us! 

Supplies: Neenah white linen & Recollections black yardstick, Canson watercolour paper, American Crafts/Amy Tangerine Sketchbook patterned paper, Ellen Hutson Tree Farm stamp & die, Clearly Besotted Many Mini Messages, Versafine onyx black ink, Wow clear gloss embossing powder, Zig markers, Sunny Studio Stamps fishtail banners die, pop dot tape

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Happy Little Stampers: Watercolour

Welcome to a new Happy Little Stampers Watercolour Challenge! Our optional theme for April is ⭐STARS⭐. It just goes to show my level of distraction in these unusual times that when faced with the combination of stars and watercolour, I did not immediately think Doctor Who. :D 

Funny thing about this card... the part that took the longest was a watercoloured galaxy sky that when dry, I stencilled stars on. When I was trying to decide what colour card base looked best, my Tardis landed on the black card base - and it stood out so much better than on the carefully constructed background! So I have a space sky for my stash, and the Tardis flying through the jet black sky. :D Luckily, the Tardis is watercoloured with distress ink. I don't think I've ever coloured it any other way. 

This card is perfect for the new Shopping Our Stash challenge, Under the Sun, Moon and Stars! I've had these Doctor Who stamps for approximately forever. 
You will love seeing the wide variety of cards that the design team has created using the combination of watercolour and stars! Don't forget, the stars are an option, so any watercoloured card is welcome! Why not join us? 

Supplies: Recollections black & Neenah white cardstock, Canson watercolour paper, Viva Las VegaStamps Plate 925 stamps, Versamark, Memento Luxe love letter & chipped sapphire distress ink, Wow clear gloss embossing powder, Zig ochre watercolour marker, MFT blueprints 29 sentiment banner, (?) home decor stars, foam tape

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Seize the Birthday: Cards for Kids

Hope this Thursday finds you well and staying at home! We have a new challenge for you at Seize the Birthday: Cards for Kids. I have a few stamp sets I've purchased specifically with younger humans in mind, so I pulled one of them out: 

There's absolutely nothing spectacular about this card, but I'm finding the current world situation is not overly conducive to imaginative card making. Which is too bad, considering how much extra time we all have on our hands. That being said, the majority of the single-digit birthday set aren't all that interested in fancy techniques anyway. ;) This card will be for a young nephew who loves all things Star Wars. (He knows his aunt is Star Trek all the way, though. :D) Yub Nub doesn't exactly mean Happy Birthday, but since it's all about celebration, I thought it was close enough. 

I'm going to add this furball to the current Shopping Our Stash challenge: Happy Birthday. as well as Simon Says Stamp's Anything Goes Wednesday challenge.   

There is more inspiration on the Seize the Birthday blog, from my teammates as well as our current surprise party guest, Stef! Make a birthday card suitable for the younger set - or any birthday card - and join us! 

P.S. In one of those fun coincidences, the Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers is also looking for kids cards - join us there, too! 

Supplies: Neenah white & (?) green cardstock, The Ink Road Furball & Clearly Besotted Many Mini Messages stamps, Versafine onyx black & Memento espresso truffle ink, Wow clear gloss embossing powder, MFT cloud stencil, MFT Blueprints 24 & Grassy Fields dies. silver gel pen, foam tape

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Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers: Kids!

We are back with a new Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers challenge, and this one is K is for Kids! Are you social distancing at home with your family? Perhaps it's been just long enough that you'll be ready to make a snarky kids-themed card. ;) 

Mine is not so much for kids, but has an image of a kid on it - close enough for me. 

Pairing a Tim Holtz paper doll with this sentiment seemed like a fun combination to me! I sponged some distress oxide through a stencil to give my boy something to sit on. Added a leftover strip of a Concord & 9th turnabout stamp to give him something to lick. Finally I added a strip of cardstock matching one of the ink colours down the left side for an extra bit of interest. 

I hope this is enough stencilling to qualify for the current Simon Says Stamp Monday challenge! 

For kids, about kids, goat kids - the choice is yours! We love to see some snark on your card, but even that is optional - so come and play along! 

Supplies: Neenah white, Recollections black & scrap orange cardstock, Rubber Dance Sarcastic Superpower & Concord & 9th Cool Treats stamps, Versafine onyx black & Altenew pink pearl, coral bliss, sunkissed & sea glass & fossilized amber distress inks, Wow clear gloss embossing powder, Copic marker, Simon Says Stamp/Kelly Purkey stripes stencil

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Addicted to Stamps and More: Anything Goes!

It's time for a new Addicted to Stamps and More challenge, and this week it's an easy one: Anything Goes! While you're socially distancing yourself by staying in your craft room, might as well make more cards! 

I have a friend who wanted a card for a christening. It was the perfect opportunity to get out one of my favourite stamps: 

I love this sleeping bunny from My Favorite Things - mostly because I have a little figurine just like it that my grandmother gave to me when I was very young. Watercoloured and paired with that little bear, it's one of my go-tos for baby cards. For this one, I added a blended ink background and a Lawn Fawn heart tag for the sentiment. 

Now is a great time to make a card to send to someone you might not be seeing for a while. For more inspiration, be sure to check out the ATSM blog! 

Supplies: Neenah white cardstock, Ranger watercolour cardstock, MFT Somebunny I Love & Alexandra Renke Best Wishes stamps, Versafine onyx black, Altenew blush & chipped sapphire distress ink, Wow clear gloss embossing powder, Zig watercolour markers, Winnie & Walter Katharine Cutaway & Lawn Fawn tiny tag dies, baker's twine, foam tape

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Seize the Birthday: A Touch of Green

Happy Thursday and welcome to a new challenge at Seize the Birthday: A Touch of Green! Although spring is on the way in my part of the world, I'm not seeing any touches of green here yet. So perhaps that's why I ended up with more than just a touch of green on my card! 

Apart from Christmas and foliage, green is not a particularly go-to colour for me. As I mulled over various ideas, I decided this turnabout stamp from Concord & 9th would work in just green, rather than the usual four colours. (Also, did you see the current C&9th sale? I have a few more turnabout stamps coming my way, so I thought now was a good time to practice!) I used a pearlescent ink to stamp, so the image has a bit of shimmer to it. Not nearly as much as the sentiment, though - I added holographic embossing powder to it for lots of fun shine. Luckily, I had some patterned paper that was a nice match for the ink to use for a background panel. 

In a fun coincidence, Simon Says Stamp Monday and Wednesday Challenges are looking for green, too! 

As always, we love to see any newly created birthday cards in our link-up - green or not, make a birthday card and play along! 

Supplies: Stampin' Up very vanilla cardstock, Jillibean Soup You Make Miso Happy patterned paper, Concord & 9th Everyday Bouquet Turnabout & Altenew Label Love stamps, Brilliance pearlescent thyme ink, holographic embossing powder, Winnie & Walter Katharine Cutaways dies, foam tape

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The Sisterhood of Boozy Stampers

Happy Saturday! Edna is in a place I'd like to be on this wintry day - a tiki bar! She is introducing our newest challenge at the Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers: B is for Booze. It's wonderful how many synonyms for alcohol there are, so we can just keep revisiting the theme! :D 

Somehow I ended up making two cards. Here is the first: 

Someone we know swears by her "tequila diet" :D, so I made this with her in mind. This stamp set is designed by my Seize the Birthday teammate Shirley Bampton - it's a layering set, but I decided to use just one of the layers for my limes. I actually used one of my Hero Arts ombré ink pads successfully! I often struggle with them. The sentiments are heat embossed except for the "add", that I also stamped in just one panel of the ombré ink. 

Card number two: 

This may be my oldest drink-related stamp - it's from the long departed Market Street Stamps. I am pretty sure I've only ever stamped it in red before, so bright yellow was a definite change! After I stamped it, I took advantage of the MISTI to restamp it in Versamark and add the fabulously glittery holographic embossing powder. Some of the elements of this patterned paper looked enough like citrus slices to me to get the background panel job. 

This challenge seems to have brought out the best in my snarky sisters and our current Queen of Snark and guest designer, Helen! (Who as of this writing has become a new sister, along with Julie!) Grab the refreshing beverage of your choice and join us! 

P.S. If you happen to make a drink-related Christmas card, you should also link it up at snarky sister Jo's Christmas Kickstart Challenge! 

Supplies: (tequila) Neenah white & American Crafts textured green cardstock, STAMPlorations Layered Citrus stamps, Versafine onyx black & Hero Arts neon ombré chartreuse to blue ink, Wow clear gloss embossing powder, MFT diagonal stitched rectangle die; (keep calm) Neenah white cardstock, Basic Grey/Amy Tangerine Sketchbook patterned paper, Market Street Stamps Keep Calm and Sip On stamp, Versamark & Catherine Pooler tiara ink, holographic embossing powder, MFT wonky stitched rectangle die, foam tape

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ABC Christmas Challenge: E, F & G

The first Wednesday of the month means it is time for a new ABC Christmas Challenge! We are taking care of three letters this month; the first is E for Embossing: 

Since I always heat emboss, I thought I should add some dry embossing, too. I combined a glitter-embossed winter sweater with a knit embossing folder. The texture shows up a little better in the close-up...

Our second prompt this month is F for Freebie. Use something you got for *free*, whether a magazine freebie, or a free digi... you get the idea. I decided to go with free digis: 

My cardinal tag can be downloaded here. When I printed the tag, the sentiment was not as crisp as I would have liked, so I covered it with a Kaisercraft die cut banner. A couple of die cut patterned papers and a bit of ribbon finished the card. 

My second *freebie* image has been on my computer so long I'm not sure where I initially found it: 

The shape of this fun image was perfect for a tag; all I really needed to add was the die cut martini glass. 

Finally, our third prompt this month is G for Gold: 

Another clean and simple card, but dramatic in gold and black. The gold embossing and glitter paper match much better in real life than in photographs. 

It may be March, but making a few Christmas cards now gives you a head start for the holiday season! I hope you will play along. 

Supplies: (sweater) Neenah white & (?) green cardstock, Essentials by Ellen Tis the Season stamps & dies, Unity sentiment stamp, Colorbox evergreen ink, Wow clear sparkle embossing powder, Prismacolor pencils, Sunny Studio Stamps cable knit embossing folder, foam tape; (joy) Neenah white & PTI smoky shadow cardstock, My Mind's Eye Vintage Christmas patterned paper, Kaisercraft Christmas Carol die cut, Sunny Studio Stamps Fishtail Banners 1 die, Michaels ribbon; (tag) Neenah white & Ranger silver foil cardstock, Paper Smooches Free Spirits Icons & CUTolrations manila tag dies, scrap ribbon; (peace joy & love) Recollections black cardstock, gold pearl paper, Studio Calico Very Merry stamps, Versamark, Simon Says Stamp antique gold embossing powder

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The Snarky Sisters are Guesting at Christmas Kickstart!

Snarky Sister Jo has invited her adopted siblings to play along at her newest Christmas Kickstart Challenge: Christmas Cheer! Of course she thought of us, because when the Sistahs hear CHEER(S), we obviously think of cocktails. :D 

Here is my CHEERful inspiration for you: 

My card revolved around this fun sentiment from Riley & Co - I hadn't used it before so thought it was a fine time for it to see ink. I decided I wanted to make a retro-styled card, so went wandering until I found this image on Flickr of all places. (Although maybe you find things like this on Flickr all the time - I just think of it more as a photo-sharing site...) I heat-embossed the sentiment, matted it and the image on black cardstock, then layered them on a dark red panel. The snowflake balanced everything out. 

The current Christmas Kickstart lasts for the month of March, so you have lots of time to play along. And Jo is happy to see any type of Christmas cheer in her link-up! 

Supplies: Neenah white & Recollections black & red cardstock, Riley & Co. Holiday Cookie Swap, Versafine onyx black ink, Wow clear gloss embossing powder, Sizzix/Tim Holtz mini snowflake dies 

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Happy Little Stampers CAS Challenge: Favourite Technique

Welcome to a new Happy Little Stampers CAS Challenge! This month we are looking for your favourite technique on a clean and simple card. If you know me at all, you know I love to heat emboss. In fact, it's a challenge for me to NOT heat emboss! :D 

Here is my heat-embossed cat and sentiment. This fun little guy from Taylored Expressions has a variety of facial expressions that can be stamped onto his body, from happy to sad to scared to this grumpy one. It's perfect for the sentiment! To add interest to this CAS card, I avoided the usual black ink, stamping the cat in grey and the sentiment in red before adhering to a red card base. 

The CAS team at Happy Little Stampers is showing off lots of favourite techniques! Have a look then show off your favourite technique! 

Supplies: Neenah white & Recollections red cardstock, Taylored Expressions If Cats Could Talk stamps & dies, Versafine smoky grey & Memento Luxe love letter inks, Wow clear gloss embossing powder, Copic markers, MFT double stitched rectangle die, foam tape

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