Happy Little Stampers: Watercolour

Here we are zipping into June already - and my cardmaking month starts with the Happy Little Stampers Watercolour Challenge! This month our optional theme is LAYERS. Before we get into things, I want to let you know that Happy Little Stampers will be taking a six-month break - our fearless leader, Kylie, who does so much in the papercrafting community, is taking a well-deserved sabbatical. We all hope to be back, refreshed and virus-free, in January!  

Some papercrafters work magic with layers; me, not so much. But I did my best to layer it on: 

I suppose I could call this the cheater's guide to layers, since adding black mats to everything doubles the layers easily! I started with the cloud panel, embossing the clouds in white then adding blue watercolour powder - I love the way some of the smaller clouds stayed white, along with some of the tiny parts of the big clouds. While that dried, I stamped and embossed the globe blueprint image and watercoloured with my Gansai Tambi paints. I also stamped and embossed the "you + me" and coloured it with the same blue watercolour powder as the clouds. Finally, I brushed a wash of green watercolour on the background panel then blotted it with a paper towel to get a mottled look. Somewhere along the way, I managed to get a couple of small ink smudges on it - which just gave me an excuse to splatter it with some spray mist. :D After matting the three large panels, I put the card together. I'll add this to the current Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge: Anything Goes. 

Lots of beautiful watercoloured and layered inspiration on the HLS website for this challenge - layers or not, I hope you will be inspired and join us! 

Supplies: Neenah white, Bazzill marshmallow & Recollections black cardstock, Canson watercolour paper, Tim Holtz/Stamptember blueprints, Pinkfresh So Sweet & Paper Smooches Nirvana stamps, Versamark, Verafine onyx black & Colorbox frost white ink, Wow clear gloss & white embossing powders, Magenta Nuance cerulean blue watercolour powder, Gansai Tambi watercolours, MFT stitched square & blueprints 24 stitched rectangle dies, Mister Huey's pinstripe colour mist, foam tape 

The Sisterhood of Inky Stampers

Another Saturday has appeared, and with it, a new Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers challenge: I is for Inks! I know at least a few of the sistahs have tattoos, although I don't think anyone has inked themselves to the extent that Edna has for this week. :D I don't believe a lot of tattooists are allowed to be open at the moment, so we're looking for your inks on a card or other project. Here's mine:

I went the distress ink route - I did break out my alcohol inks, but the backgrounds I made weren't encouraging me in the snark direction. This Altenew stencil allows for lots of ink use, though! The cat and his water bowl of former aquarium dwellers are watercoloured in distress inks as well, to keep with the theme. I added the little x's to the late fishies' bodies with a Sharpie pen. The sentiment is from Tim Holtz. 

I'm adding my card to the current Wednesday Simon Says Stamp Anything Goes challenge. 

The snarky sisters have had great fun getting all their inks out, and so has our current Queen of Snark and guest designer, Stephanie! Why not get inky and join us? 

Supplies: Neenah white & Recollections black cardstock, Ranger watercolour paper, MFT Cat-itude stamps & dies, Versafine onyx black & shaded lilac, wilted violet, carved pumpkin, squeezed lemonade & candied apple distress inks, Altenew Weave Builder stencil, Tim Holtz/Idea-ology Snarky Small Talk sticker, Sharpie pen, Foam tape

Addicted to Stamps and More: Anything Goes!

Time for the easiest challenge theme of all at Addicted to Stamps and More: Anything Goes! I decided to go with one of the stamp sets I bought when Concord and 9th had their huge sale a few months ago... 

I stamped the single poppy stem, added the leaf, and embossed both. I chose to watercolour with distress inks, as I knew I also wanted to use the brushstroke swath that comes with the set. For it, I used sponge daubers to add ink and misted lightly before stamping. After letting it dry AND using a powder tool to prevent speckling, I stamped and embossed the sentiment. As a final touch, I scattered a few Studio Katia gems near the sentiment.  

If, like me, your crafting mojo tends to come and go these days, there is bound to be something inspiring on the ATSM post with the wide variety of styles and techniques the design team has used! Hope you will make a card and join us. 

Supplies: Hero Arts colour layering cardstock, Canson watercolour paper, Concord & 9th Pretty Poppy stamps, Versafine & faded lipstick, festive berries, brushed sage & mowed lawn distress ink, Wow clear gloss embossing powder, Studio Katia May crystals, MRMK corner-rounding punch

Seize the Birthday: Totally Tropical

Time for a Seize the Birthday Thursday! Spring has at last sprung here in Central Ontario, but that would not stop me from accepting a few days on a tropical beach right about now - except of course for the pandemic, sigh. So we are going Totally Tropical for our challenge topping, instead! As always, if the theme doesn't inspire you, all birthday cards are welcome in our link-up. Here's my tropical inspiration:

My tropical vibe comes from stencilling the background panel - the stencil is called "Botanical Lush" and tropical vegetation is so often lush. This is a current favourite stencil, so of course seems to have disappeared from the STAMPlorations website. Nevertheless, I'm entering this in the May STAMPlorations Stencil Challenge, as well as their Spring Fling challenge. :D The sentiment is from a new-to-me Studio Katia set. 

I'm also adding my card to the current CASology challenge, where the cue word is PLANT. 

For more tropical inspiration, visit the Seize the Birthday page - my snarky sister Jo continues as our surprise party guest, joining my regular teammates.  

 

Supplies: Neenah white cardstock, MFT Dots & Stripes Neutrals patterned paper, Studio Katia It's Your Birthday stamp, Versafine onyx black & spun sugar, faded lipstick, bundled sage & mowed lawn distress ink, Wow clear gloss embossing powder, ARTplorations botanical lush stencil

Travels with Shopping Our Stash, Part 4

Yep, it's me again, back with a FOURTH card inspired by the current Shopping Our Stash challenge, "Oh the Places You'll Go!". You'll be relieved to know I think this is it for me, though. :D Even though I still have a patterned paper pad or two that didn't make it onto a travel card. I'm ending with a much more *me* card: 

Clean and simple, some ink blending, some stamping and embossing - but notice I managed to sneak patterned paper in there as the base layer! No one will be able to tell, but it's subtly patterned with postage stamps and postmarks. This simple card contains so much irony... not a lot of travelling for fun right now, and much travel these days is more fraught than happy - at least that's how I feel when I go grocery shopping. 

Feel free to take over from me in the travel card department! Meanwhile, I'm back tomorrow with a birthday card... that's only a little bit travel-themed... ;) 

Supplies: Neenah white cardstock, Kaisercraft Check In patterned paper, Clearly Besotted Happy Travels stamps, Versafine onyx black & faded lipstick, shaded lilac, blueprint sketch & chipped sapphire distress ink, Wow clear gloss embossing powder, Winnie & Walter Katharine cutaway die

Travels with Shopping Our Stash, Part 3

Another day in quarantine, another travel card for Shopping Our Stash. Their current theme is "Oh the Places You'll Go!" and since I have no plans of going anywhere anytime soon, I'm pulling out my travel-related paper pads and busting a bit of stash. Here's card number 3:

This one is my simplest yet, but look! I used up two sheets of the same paper by cutting out some of the smaller elements and popping them up over their counterparts on the other sheet! I can't decide if it's a fun design idea or just kind of goofy. :D Still not wanting to rely solely on patterned paper, the tiny plane and sentiment are from a Neat & Tangled stamp set. You can see my popped-up elements a little better on the angled pic...

I have not run out of themed paper pads yet! :o I may be running out of steam on the whole idea though. I _think_ I have at least one more in me... 

Supplies: Stampin' Up bashful blue cardstock, Simple Stories Urban Traveler patterned paper, Neat & Tangled Origami Map stamps, MFT blueberry ink, Wow clear gloss embossing powder, MFT diagonal stitched rectangle dies, foam tape

Travels with Shopping Our Stash, Part 2

Another day, another travel-themed card for the current Shopping Our Stash challenge: Oh the Places You'll Go! 

I haven't just had this paper pad in my stash forever, I've also had this panel die cut forever! I paired it with my favourite stamps for using with map paper, an Itty Bitty set from Unity. It may be that the rest of the stamping world does not like this set as much as me: when you go to Unity's web site, one of the two card samples is actually made by me! :o At least I've used it differently here than for that card. :D For the sentiment, I blended a little distress ink onto white cardstock - I like the way the Glossy Accents on the two hearts lifted the colour a bit, even if the GA ended up more blobby than heart-shaped. 

Off to pick out another travel-themed paper pad... 

Supplies: Neenah white & Recollections black cardstock, vellum, Teresa Collins Far & Away patterned paper, Unity Stamp Co. Direction of Your Heart stamps, Versamark & tumbled glass distress ink, Simon Says Stamp antique gold embossing powder, Mama Elephant Femme Frames & Spellbinders circle dies, Glossy Accents, Echo Park Magic & Wonder enamel dot

Travels with Shopping Our Stash: Part 1

Shopping Our Stash's current challenge is called "The Places You'll Go". This travel theme coordinates quite nicely with my quarantine goal of using up some of my stash of patterned paper! I have a number of travel-themed paper pads, most of them hand-me-downs. (Thanks, Em!) Checking over the SOS rules, I don't see anything about maximum number of entries, so we'll see how many I make before I tire of the concept. :D Here's my first one: 

Two papers from an October Afternoon paper pad - the polka dot panel has destinations written faintly in the background. I ran the edges along my blue ink pad instead of adding another matting layer. Since Palm Beach girl is waving, I paired her with this sentiment from Neat & Tangled. Everything is serious stash, even my cardstock, since I haven't bought anything from Stampin' Up for years. :D 

Someday, maybe, there'll be travel again. :( For now, I'll travel virtually with my cards, I guess! 

Supplies: Stampin' Up very vanilla & Recollections textured navy cardstock, October Afternoon Boarding Pass patterned paper, Neat & Tangled Sailmates stamp, MFT blueberry ink

Sisterhood of Yellow Stampers

Another Saturday! Where I am, it's still a #stayhome Saturday, although things are verrrry slowwwwwly starting to open back up a bit. For me it doesn't count until the libraries are open again. :D (And I feel comfortable going there.)  Until then, there's a new Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers challenge to play along with! Isn't Edna looking fine as she models our newest theme, Y is for Yellow? Funny thing, even though the sistahs get together and vote for these challenges, turns out a bunch of us don't even like yellow. Guess we're just snarky that way. Here's my take on the challenge:

Is it just me, or is this sentiment not snarky? At the very least, I don't think I would send this to anyone who was truly suffering through difficult times. But it is absolutely perfect for a challenge calling for yellow to be used! For the main panel, I blended yellow ink through a dot stencil, then added the larger buttercup image several times using second-generation stamping. Next I stamped several of the two buttercup flowers, blending a darker yellow ink in the middle and the lighter yellow over the rest of the petals. Once I cut them out, I added a bit of the the darker shade to the edges of the petals, as well. Next I stamped and embossed the sentiment and scattered the buttercups around. The card base? Coloured with the same yellow ink. The last step was to add some Nuvo drops to the centres of the flowers. I'm entering this n the May STAMPlorations Stencil Challenge. 

There is a beautiful shower of yellow (I'm sorry, I really could not stop myself) on the Sisterhood blog today, from my sisters and our current guest designer and Queen of Snark, Rosmarie! I hope you'll check out their fine creations, and then come and play along! 

Supplies: Neenah white cardstock, The Ink Road Cheer Up, Buttercup stamps, Versafine onyx black & Catherine Pooler tiara and sauna inks, Wow clear gloss embossing powder, ARTplorations Dots All Over stencil. MFT rounded stitched rectangle die, white blizzard Nuvo Drops, Many-Uchida corner-rounding punch, foam tape

Christmas Challenge Time

Yesterday, I felt like making cards... but had no particular inspiration in mind. When in doubt, make a Christmas card! My friend and snarky sister Jo's Christmas Kickstart Challenge for May is "Wreathed in Christmas Smiles". I can do wreaths! Here's my version: 

Of the wreaths I could choose from, I went with one that I had a die for, so I didn't have to fussy cut it. ;) The ornaments are coloured with four different shades of green Copics, and given a healthy coating of sparkly brush marker. After stamping the large J and Y, I ran the white panel through my die cutter with a woodgrain embossing plate. I added the small sentiment in embossed black on green, and found a coordinating piece of green plaid paper. 

I'm also adding this to the May Happy Little Stampers Christmas challenge - and it even has the optional ornament theme! - and to Fezziwig's Festive Frolics Anything Festive Goes challenge. 

Stay well! 

Supplies: Neenah white & scrap green cardstock, Jillibean Soup All About Plaid patterned paper, Essentials by Ellen Homespun Holiday stamp & die, Concord & 9th Merry Shapes & Papertrey Ink Wonderful Words: Joy stamps, Versafine onyx black & Catherine Pooler rockin' red ink, Wow clear embossing powder, Copic markers, PTI woodgrain impression plate, Spectrum Noir clear glitter marker, foam tape

Addicted to Stamps and More: Clean and Simple

This week at Addicted to Stamps and More, we are having our Clean and Simple challenge!  For me this is essentially an anything goes challenge, since the majority of my cards are CAS. For a little extra personal challenge, I dusted off my Gemini Foilpress. 

In the process, I may have found my new sympathy card template - I like this simple but elegant look. After foiling the tree, I added the sentiment in grey rather than black to soften the look a little, then added it to a grey card base. This is perfect to have on hand as I think it could be used for almost anyone when needed. Apologies for the dark photos - I need to work on my shiny-foil-photography techniques. ;) 

I'm adding this card to the current CASology challenge, where the cue word is plant, and to Darnell's NBUS Challenge, since it's my first time foiling this tree. 

Since the foil press was all heated up anyway, I made a second card:

This time I used a beautiful blue foil with this elegant rose. Again, all it seemed to need was a sentiment, so as not to take away from the glorious shine. This card os off to play at The Flower Challenge, where the theme is monochromatic. 

Beautiful clean and simple inspiration from my design teammates - be sure to visit the blog to see their cards. I hope you'll join us! 

      

Supplies: (sympathy) Crafter's Companion white cardstock, Memory Box grey card base, Clearly Besotted Sweet Little Sentiments stamp, Versamark smoky grey ink, Wow clear gloss embossing powder, Crafter's Companion Blooming Tree Gemini Foil Press die, Crafter's Companion gold foil; (just because) Crafter's Companion white cardstock, Studio Katia You're So Sweet stamp, Versamark onyx black ink, Wow clear gloss embossing powder, Crafter's Companion Rose Bloom Gemini Foil Press die, Crafter's Companion turquoise foil, MFT stitched rounded rectangle die, fun foam

Seize the Birthday: Monochromatic

I think it must be Thursday, because it's time for a new Seize the Birthday challenge! Our (always optional) topping for the next two weeks is Monochromatic. Here's mine: 

I thought it would be fun to create a monochromatic wreath using my Gina K. builder stencil. We shall not discuss the attempts made before I managed this one that I liked. ;) I found some patterned paper that coordinated, and used a scallop fishtail die to sort of echo the wavy fussy cutting around the wreath. Some Wink of Stella on the dark green *berries*, a sentiment in the centre and I called it done. 

I'm happy to welcome my snarky sister Jo as the surprise party guest for the next two months! Be sure to check out all the monochromatic inspiration from her and the rest of the Seize the Birthday team. I hope you'll join us! 

Supplies: Neenah white cardstock, Simple Stories Summer Fresh patterned paper, Gina K Tiny Wreath Builder stamps & stencil, Inkadinkado Happy Birthday stamp, Memento new sprout, pear tart, bamboo leaves & cottage ivy ink, Sunny Studio Stamps fishtail banners & Spellbinders circle dies, Wink of Stella marker, foam tape

ABC Christmas Challenge: J & K

It's time for the May ABC Christmas Challenge! As we get closer to the halfway point of 2020 (really???), we are up to J and K. This time, J is for JOY! I have lots of Joy sentiments, and went with one of my favourites:

This was a easy card to make, as I pulled some inspiration from the very first card I made as a design team member for ABC. I really like this Hero Arts background stamp as it looks after an artistic collage look with no effort on my part. I knew I wanted to use this Papertrey Ink Joy stamp and die, as well as one of the secondary sentiments. It looked a little lost on its own against the background, so I added a strip of silver glitter paper to set it off a bit. 

And now we come to K is for KINGS. I don't have any Christmas kings or magi, so I improvised...

This was a lot of fun to make! I found this fab cartoon of Elvis using Google images, and fussy cut him. For the background, I grabbed blue and red watercolour powders. Being Elvis, I thought he needed some stars in the background. They are embossed in silver, and the sentiment in red. 

So sure, it's May, but it's also the pandemic - why not spend a little time getting ahead on your Christmas cards? Lots of inspiration on the ABC Challenge website. I hope you'll join us! 

Supplies: (Christmas Joy) Stampin' Up very vanilla & garden green, (?) blue & American Crafts silver glitter cardstock, PTI Wonderful Words: Joy stamps & die, Hero Arts Collage Music stamp, Versamark, Memento Luxe love letter & Stampin' Up garden green inks, Wow super fine white & Ranger super fine red embossing powder, WRMK corner-rounding punch; (joy to the world) Neenah white cardstock, Canson mixed media paper, Unity Greetings of Christmas & Ellen Hutson Reason to Sparkle stamps, Versamark & Memento Luxe love letter ink, Ranger silver & red embossing powder, Magenta Nuance watercolour powders, Elvis clipart