The Sisterhood of Watery Stampers

It's time for a new Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers post: W is for Water! Here in the Northern Hemisphere, we have entered the ideal season for pools and beaches - but don't forget the physical distancing! Whether you use water as a theme or as an ingredient, we are looking for some use of water on your project. I went for both: 

While this card is not snarky in theme, it is if you consider the sentiment with the fact that this is totally outside my normal card style. :D I started with a panel of watercolour paper, distress inks and a piece of acetate. I smushed my blue inks from lightest to darkest on the acetate, spritzed it and the w/c paper with water, and smooshed them together, repeating until I got the background I liked. After it was dry, I stamped my three floating ladies in black; then inked the sun stamp in yellow and orange, misted with water and added it. The same sheet of stamps had the "be who you are" sentiment, which seemed ideal both in thought and size for the card. Trimmed my panel to size, matted it with black, added to a white card base and called it done. :D 

I'm entering my watery creation at Simon Says Stamp's Wednesday Anything Goes challenge. 

Many more watery treats in store for you from my sisters in snark, so be sure to visit our blog to be inspired! I hope you dip your toes (or fingers, or paint brushes) in the water and join us! 

Supplies: Neenah white & Recollections black cardstock, Canson watercolour paper, Viva Las VegaStamps Three Women in Tubes & Hero Arts sun & sentiment stamps, Versafine onyx black & tumbled glass, broken china, salty ocean, squeezed lemonade & carved pumpkin distress inks

Inkspirational: Sketch

It's time for a new Inkspirational challenge, and we have a word prompt for you today: SKETCH. Here's the fun part... we are not offering a sketch, just the word sketch! So you might decide to use a favourite card sketch, find a new card layout to try, do some sketching on your card - you get the idea. 

I went looking for card sketch challenges, and the current My Favorite Things sketch caught my eye:

And honestly, I was really close to an entirely different idea, but then ended up with a cat card anyway: 

My main deviation from the sketch is taking the middle of the three horizontal strips and placing it over the vertical panel, rather than underneath. I randomly stamped some mice and fish on the main panel and clear embossed them before adding my rainbow of distress inks. There is some sparkle mist splattered on as well. I did some loose (dare I say sketchy?) Copic colouring of my kitty, adding a flower by one ear just because I could.  The horizontal strips were just the right nudge to use washi tape for something besides sealing envelopes. ;) 

Be sure to visit the blogs of the rest of the Inkspirational team - you may discover a sketch or other interpretation of our word prompt that will inspire your next creation! 
(I'll be back in a few hours with the latest Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers challenge!) 

Supplies: Neenah white & Stampin' Up basic black cardstock, MFT Cat-itude & I Knead You stamps & dies, Versamark, Versafine onyx black & festive berries, carved pumpkin, squeezed lemonade, twisted citron, salty ocean, blueprint sketch & wilted violet distress ink, Wow clear gloss embossing powder, Copic markers, Tsukineko clear shimmer mist, MFT blueprints 24 sentiment die, Queen & Co. washi tape, glue dots

Addicted to Stamps and More: Photo Inspiration

Time for a new Addicted to Stamps and More challenge! Sadly, this will be the last ATSM challenge for a while: we are taking a six month break so our leader Kylie and her team can return with fresh inspiration in 2021. 
So much to choose from in this photo collage! From the various elements, this is the card I came up with: 

Pink clouds, a bird, blues, and the patterns from the centre photo. The background was quick to make with a cloud stencil and distress ink. As I coloured my bird with Copics, I realized why I usually watercolour the birds in this set. :D Sketchy is much more suited to the looser look of watercolours! I stippled his pink belly feathers with my colourless blender. The sentiment was picked for the ikat (if that's what it is?) pattern from the central photo. I also added a second-generation stamped pattern along the left of the card - not entirely sure that it was a wise move, but it's there. I picked my main panel die for the same pattern vibe. 
While it's a STAMPlorations stamp I've used, rather than one of their stencils, I'm still going to add this to the June anything goes stencil challenge. 

I love the wide variety of projects the design team was inspired to make from this photo montage! Be sure to check out the team's creations, and then I hope you'll be inspired to play along. 

Supplies: Neenah white cardstock, CTMH patterned paper, STAMPlorations Small Birds & Unity Tribal Trend stamps, Versafine onyx black, Memento Luxe Danube blue, Altenew Caribbean sky & spun sugar distress ink, Wow clear embossing powder, Copic markers, MFT diagonal stitched rectangle die, foam tape

Seize the Birthday: Watercoloring

It's Thursday, and time for a new challenge at Seize the Birthday: Watercolouring! Watercolouring is a favourite of mine, and I was able to make my card while incorporating a few other current card challenges. Here it is: 

This is watercoloring on vellum. I hadn't tried it before, although I've used Copics with it. The process is essentially the same: I embossed the floral image on one side of the vellum, then flipped it over and used my watercolour markers for colouring. I did dilute the blue of the glass jar with a not-quite-dry brush, and the vellum took the extra bit of moisture without a problem. Framing the image between panels of linen cardstock makes the trick of adhering vellum easy. While I could have stamped the sentiment right on the cardstock, I wanted to link the image and the panel a bit more, so used a sentiment banner instead. 

AAA Birthday Challenge wants us to use vellum; CAS Mix Up is asking us to use embossed vellum (other techniques include stamping and watercoloring); and Paper Smooches currently has an Anything Goes challenge - of course I had their flower challenge in mind when I started this, but time does pass, even during a pandemic. :D 

The watercolouring party continues on the Seize the Birthday Blog, and the design team and current surprise party guest Jo have all sorts of inspiration for you. Remember we love to see any new birthday cards in our linky, so come and join the party! 

Supplies: Neenah linen cardstock, vellum, Paper Smooches Best Buds & Clearly Besotted Message Me stamps, Versafine onyx black ink, Wow clear gloss embossing powder, Zig markers, foam tape

Shopping Our UFOs, Part 3

After a brief interlude yesterday to post cards with new things on them, I'm back with another UFO (UnFinished Objects) card for Shopping Our Stash! Here's today's happy little card: 

The background is made from leftover tissue paper I had coloured with watercolour powders some time ago for another card, now forgotten. :D I used a brayer to add a thin layer of liquid glue to heavy cardstock and smoothed the tissue over it. The fish was also just waiting to be fussy cut and used. The only thing not already coloured was his party hat - very handy, since I could colour it to match the purply bits of colour in the tissue! The thought bubble sentiment is newly made.  

If I continue using unfinished pieces in my craft stash this way, which will happen first... I'll use them all up, or the cure will be found for COVID? Hmm...

Supplies: Neenah white cardstock, tissue paper, Paper Smooches Birthday Buddies stamps, Versafine onyx black ink, Wow clear embossing powder, Magenta Nuance watercolour powder, Twinkling H2Os, Copic marker, Spectrum Noir clear glitter brush marker, MFT wonky stitched rectangle die, WRMK corner-rounding punch, Studio Katia iridescent bubbles

Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers: T is for Technique

Welcome to a new challenge at the Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers: T is for Technique! Last time, Edna was showing off all her ink; now she is showing off some of her techniques... her artistic techniques. 

When there is a technique-related challenge, I often like to try one that's new to me. So I want back to May's challenge at CAS Mix Up, gesso resist. Yes, I'd meant to play IN May, but... life. So I've tried it now:  

My gears stencil seemed just right for this technique, so I ended up with a steampunk card! After applying gesso through the stencil and letting it dry, I blended three shades of distress inks and buffed off the extra on the gesso. The gesso definitely hangs on to some of the colour, which adds a bit of a different look than embossing paste or heat embossing might. I paired my background with a steampunk cat (because of course I have a steampunk cat) and a bit of snark for the sentiment. 

The snarky sisters are showing off their techniques, as is our current Queen of Snark and guest designer, Jenny! You may choose to use a favourite technique, or try a new one as I did - and then join us! You too may be crowned a Queen or Princess of Snark. 

(This is my second post today; click here for my first Inkspirational design team member post!) 

Supplies: Neenah white & (?) dark blue cardstock, Viva Las VegaStamps Steampunk Cat & Technique Tuesday You Aren't Normal stamps, Memento grey flannel & broken china, faded jeans & chipped sapphire distress ink, Copic marker, Stampers Anonymous/Tim Holtz gears stencil, Claudine Hellmuth gesso, MFT stitched rounded rectangle die

Inkspirational!

That's me! The newest member of the Inspirational design team! I am so excited to join this group of talented papercrafters. Inkspirational is a bi-weekly challenge looking to inspire your creations! This week we have a photo challenge: 

This photo immediately put me in mind of two things: the colour yellow (obvs) and the making of art. So that's where I went with my card:

And look! Making use of Graphic45 papers twice this month! :D I knew the Typography paper pad had lots of references to art. Sadly, whether this is really attributable to Einstein seems in doubt, but I like it anyway! For the background, I found a piece of yellow patterned paper, and added the lines with a stencil and second-generation stamped the ink splashes. For a final touch, I stamped and fussy cut the ink bottle. (I stamped it four times, actually: it didn't look right in teal, it didn't look right embossed, and I messed up fussy cutting the third. Sigh.) 

There are many interpretations of the challenge photo on the Inkspirational blog! We'd love to see your interpretation in the gallery. 

(I'll be back later this morning with my Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers post!) 

Supplies: Neenah white cardstock, Graphic45 Typography & Authentique Be(you)tiful patterned paper, Viva Las VegaStamps Spilling Ink Bottle & Neat & Tangled Ink Splash stamps, Simon Says Stamp extreme black & Catherine Pooler sauna ink, Memory Box scraped paint stencil

Shopping Our UFOs, Part 2

Day 2 of playing along at Shopping Our Stash and their UFO challenge! UFO as in UnFinished Objects; we cardmakers seem very good at hanging on to bits and pieces that we make in case we use them *someday*. And then they pile up like so many abandoned flying saucers... 
Anyway, for my second card, my UFOs are an extra stencilled background from making this card, and a die cut sentiment from who knows when: 

The background panel is stencilled with distress inks. It's not often that my various UFOs play nicely together, but the green of the thanks worked perfectly with the greens of the stencil! Since the sentiment picks up the greens, I matted the stencilled panel with pink. 

Two more UFOs now identified as card elements! 

Supplies: Neenah white, SU melon mambo & (?) green cardstock, spun sugar, faded lipstick, bundled sage & mowed lawn distress inks, ARTplorations botanical lush stencil, Winnie & Walter In a Word: Thanks die

Shopping Our UFOs

Shopping our Stash has headed into the Area 52 of the crafting world for their current challenge: UnFinished Objects, or UFOs. :D I am hoping to jump in and use up lots of my *saved* bits and create a little more room... for more bits? Here's my first one: 

I can't even tell you when I made this little outdoor scene... except I remember my plan was for there to be an Eiffel Tower in the background behind the greenery. I tried it twice, it just didn't want to work, and I made a tower-less scene that I then didn't use. So here it is now! I stamped and embossed a pandemic-appropriate sentiment on an already die cut sentiment banner, and presto, I have a card. 

I have a squadron of UFOs lined up, waiting to take off and be made into finished cards! 

Supplies: Neenah white cardstock, Strathmore mixed media paper, Unity (?), Gina K. Designs Tropical Flowers stamps, Versafine onyx black, Stampin' Up garden green & tumbled glass & mowed lawn distress inks (I think), Wow clear gloss embossing powder, MFT stitched square & Simon Says Stamp Small Folded Banners dies, MFT cloud stencil, Frisket masking liquid

Addicted to Stamps and More: Holiday

The new Addicted to Stamps and More challenge is HOLIDAY! I almost went with my default choice of Christmas for a holiday card, but decided to think summer, instead: 

To me this card epitomizes summer holidays. Once again reaching into the vault for these stamps; even Google had trouble finding them. ;) The background is blended distress inks, and then I stamped and embossed the image. For the sunburst layer, I just used a scrap of notepaper as a mask and blended yellow distress ink on a rectangle of cardstock. I used the same ink to colour the cardstock for the stamped and embossed sentiment. This card is also perfect to link up to the current challenge at Just Us Girls, where the word this week just happens to be "sunshine".

We look forward to seeing all kinds of holidays represented in our gallery this week - I know my design team colleagues went with a variety of holidays... just to keep things interesting and inspiring. ;)

Supplies: Neenah white, Recollections black & (?) orange cardstock, Unity Stamp Co Good Day Sunshine Itty Bitty stamps, Versafine onyx black & squeezed lemonade, carved pumpkin & festive berries distress ink, Wow clear gloss embossing powder, Lil Inkers small sunshine die, WRMK corner-rounding punch

Seize the Birthday: All About Summer

It's Thursday (don't worry, I double-checked my pandemic calendar) and that means a new Seize the Birthday challenge: All About Summer! Ahh, summer. I suppose if you're in the Southern Hemisphere, you can look upon this as equivalent to a Christmas in July challenge. :D For me, I cannot wait until summer really settles in and gives us some warm, sunny weather. 

Like a number of my design team colleagues, summer made me think of the beach/water:

My background is alcohol inks on Yupo paper, mostly blue with a little bit of green for that ocean vibe. What refuses to show up in photos are the tiny specks of gold I added with gold foiling paper when the inks were almost dry. They add a beautiful little sparkle in real life. I stamped and embossed this little MFT crab and coloured him with red and orange Copics. His mirrored sunglasses are reflecting the beautiful summer sky. Some Glossy Accents seemed necessary for his shades. ;) The sentiment is also embossed with clear embossing powder. 

As always, our theme is an option - we welcome all newly created birthday cards! Surprise party guest Jo and the StB design team have lots of happy summer inspiration to get your ideas flowing. I hope you will join us! 

Supplies: Neenah white cardstock, Yupo paper, MFT Beach Buds stamps & dies, Versafine onyx black ink, Wow clear embossing powder, Jacquard Piñata Baja blue & rainforest green alcohol inks, Crafter's Companion gold foil, Copic markers, MFT Blueprints 24 & wonky stitched rectangle dies, foam tape

ABC Christmas Challenge: L & M

The first Wednesday of the month means a new ABC Christmas Challenge! Now that it's June, we're halfway through the alphabet. Our prompts this month are L for LOVE and M for MOVIES. 

Here is my L for Love card: 

I dug into my archives ;) for the stitched images and the sentiment. I added a couple of strips of silver washi tape for a little extra festive glitter. Couldn't resist a little Glossy Accents on the heart, as well. 

While I suppose there are lots of options for M for Movies, all I could think of was A Christmas Carol - any excuse for Dickens! My version of choice is the Alistair Sim version, but I have to say, the Muppet version is not too far behind. :D Out came my Graphic 45 papers. 

All patterned paper - I rounded the corners of the text and main image panels, backed them with some red paper, and added the two narrow strips at the top and bottom. 

While I had my beloved Dickens stash out, I made a second card with snarky sister Jo's current Christmas Kickstart Challenge in mind! 

The challenge is "Care to Tag Along?" I just happen to have a package of G45 die cuts, including this Bob Cratchit and Tiny Tim tag. Since I also have some Christmas Carol stamps, I used them on the background panel. But wait, there's more! I also have some Christmas Carol stickers! Using one for the sentiment qualifies for the current Shopping Our Stash challenge, Stuck On You! 

Lots of festive inspiration on the ABC website, and you have the entire month of June to join us!

  

Supplies: (love) Neenah white & Stampin' Up real red cardstock, Papertrey Ink Fair Isle Motifs & Simon Says Stamp/Kelly Purkey Tis the Season stamps, Versamark & Stampin' Up real red ink, Wow clear gloss & ultra fine white embossing powder, Nellie's Multiframes square die, silver glitter washi tape, Glossy Accents, foam tape; (movies) Recollections red cardstock, Graphic 45 A Christmas Carol patterned paper, die cuts & stickers, Graphic 45/Hampton Arts A Christmas Carol stamps, Altenew velvet ink, Recollections gold ribbon hole punch