ABC Christmas: H & I

It's the first Wednesday of April, and that means it's time for a new ABC Christmas Challenge! Working our way through the alphabet, we have come to H is for Homes/Houses and I is for Icicles. For the first time since I joined the team, I only made a card for one of the prompts. :( Well strictly speaking, I made a second card, but it went directly into the recycling bin. Here, at least, is my card for H for homes/houses:

Gingerbread houses! I die cut two kraft houses, and two white houses, so I could use the white for the icing parts. I added some extra browning to the gingerbread with a little distress ink. The gumdrops for the roofs are coloured with Copics, then brushed with sparkle mist for their sugar frosting. The sky background is lightly blended with tumbled glass distress ink. 

You can see a little bit of the gumdrop sparkle in this close-up: 

I have never used this Paper Smooches die set before, and I don't think its original owner had, either! (I love hand-me-downs. :D) So off this card goes to Darnell's April NBUS challenge. (Challenge #25 already; congrats, Darnell!) 

Lots of great inspiration on offer from my ABC teammates - including some successful icicle cards! ;) April is a great time to make holiday cards to avoid that last-minute stress in December, so I hope you will join us! 

Supplies: Neenah white & desert storm cardstock, Studio Katia Holiday Village stamp, Stampin' Up real red & tumbled glass & gathered twigs distress ink, Copic markers, Paper Smooches gingerbread house & Sugar Pea Designs card front element builder dies, Tsukineko clear shimmer sparkle mist

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Happy Little Stampers: Stencils

It's time for the April Stencil Challenge at Happy Little Stampers! My choice for this month's anything goes challenge was to make a sympathy card to add to my stash: 

I masked off a rectangular strip on my card panel, and created a muted background by blending the entire section lightly with blue ink, then overlaying the stencil to add the plaid pattern. A week or so ago I spent some time with my distress oxides, trying out different ways to make backgrounds. I used a piece of a coordinating one to die cut my simple flowers. The sentiment is stamped with the same ink as I used for the stencil. I offset the main panel on the card base with some blue cardstock. I am adding this to STAMPlorations April stencil challenge. 

My HLS teammates have used stencils in a variety of ways to inspire you to join us! I hope you will take a look and play along! 

Supplies: Neenah white & (?) blue cardstock, Clearly Besotted Message Me stamp, Catherine Pooler stone blue & tumbled glass, faded jeans & wilted violet distress oxide ink, Simon Says Stamp Fresh Daisies die, ARTplorations just plaid stencil

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The Snarky Sisters Distress

It's a Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers Saturday! Our newest challenge: D is for DISTRESS. (First layers, now distress - are my sisters trying to get rid of me?) Instead of roughing up the edges of my cardstock, I went with the name that goes with all things distress - Tim Holtz: 

Distress inks, TH paper dolls and TH sentiment stickers - that's my version of distress. :D For my background, I sponged my cardstock lightly with three colours of distress ink, then added my stencil to apply the extra later of colour. Die cutting it with a deckle-edge stencil is close to distressing it, right? I added a few details to my paper doll with Copics. To tone down the bright white of the sentiment, I added a little colour with antique linen distress ink. (Wait, is that like... distressing?) Everything is put together on a tan card base. I'm adding this to the April stencil challenge at STAMPlorations. 

After I made this, I had to do a grocery store run - and believe me, the people did indeed make it distressing! 

My snarky sisters show off lots of different ways to be distressed! As does our current Queen of Snark and guest designer, Tristan.  Don't be distressed - join us! 

Supplies: Koh-In-Oor smooth bristol & Hero Arts tan layering cardstock, mermaid lagoon, bundled sage, picked raspberry & antique linen distress ink, ARTplorations cracked glass stencil, Tim Holtz paper dolls, Tim Holtz snarky small talk sticker, Sizzix deckle die

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Inkspirational: Grow

Inkspirational is back with a new word prompt challenge that is perfect for spring: GROW! I have lots of plant sets, plus a few more specifically garden-related sets. I pulled out a ten year old stamp set to see what I could come up with:  

This watering can stamp has a built in weathered look, so all I had to do is ink it up in grey. I masked off the top and added the stems and yellow blossoms. To ground it, I used a couple of the other stamps in the set, along with a little ink blending, to create my own version of washi tape. The sentiment is from a probably equally old set. I added a few small blossoms to accent it.  

Lots of beautiful inspiration from my Inkspirational teammates! Grow a card and join us! 

Supplies: Neenah white & Stampin' Up basic grey cardstock, Papertrey Ink Garden Variety & Simple Sunflower stamps, Stampin' Up basic grey & garden green & Catherine Pooler tiara inks, MFT stitched rounded rectangle die, foam tape

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Do the POLKA HOP with Scrap n Stamp!

Happy Friday, happy start to a long weekend, and if you celebrate, Happy Easter! It's the first Friday of the month, and so the design team at Scrap n Stamp is ready to hop! This month we are hosting a Polka Blog Hop - polka dots, that is! (I was momentarily worried about having to do the polka, but phew, not necessary.) I combined Easter and polka dots, and this is what resulted: 

(Oh, the sacrifices we make - I had to buy chocolate eggs to stage my card!
Now I'll have to eat them! )

The Lawn Fawn Mini Easter Egg dies have two different polka dot options, so they were perfect for this hop. To replicate the look of dyed Easter eggs, I grabbed some Yupo paper and alcohol inks in fiesta, red pepper, sunshine yellow, sailboat blue and purple twilight for a rainbow of colours. I added the two styles of polka dot designs over top. Since purple is a traditional Easter colour, I picked a light shade for my main panel, and embossed my sentiment (a combination of Lawn Fawn's Hoppy Easter and My Silly Valentine - a classic!) in purple as well. 

Scrap n Stamp is offering a $50 gift certificate to a lucky commenter! Comment on all the stops along the hop for your chance to win. Here is your bunny hop order: 

Tara

Kia

Nancy

Chala

Lindsey  --> you are here! 

Deborah

Susan

Jessica

Come hop with us for lots of springtime inspiration and a chance to win! 

Supplies: Neenah white & Crafters Companion violet cardstock, Yupo paper, Lawn Fawn Hoppy Easter & My Silly Valentine stamps, Versamark ink, Ranger purple embossing powder, Adirondack fiesta, red pepper, sunshine yellow, sailboat blue & purple twilight alcohol inks, Lawn Fawn Mini Easter Eggs & Winnie & Walter Katharine cutaway dies, glue dots

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Happy Little Stampers: CAS

It's time for a new Happy Little Stampers CAS challenge! For April, we are looking for a clean and simple card that includes flames or fire. I used my stamp with the biggest flame:

This little rocket was a thank you freebie from Hero Arts many orbits of the sun ago. ;) To start, I ink smooshed a watercolour panel with blues and purples for an easy way to make a sky. I coloured the rocket with watercolours, adding shimmer almost everywhere. And of course I spritzed the sky with some shimmer mist, too. After embossing the sentiment on one, I added the two white panels over the sky and sprinkled a few star gems around. This really was quick and simple to make! 

My HLS teammates all have terrific ways to interpret our new theme, so I hope you will visit the HLS blog and then play along! 

Supplies: Neenah white cardstock, Ranger distress watercolour paper, Hero Arts Rocket Thank You stamps, Versafine onyx black, shaded lilac, wilted violet, blueprint sketch & chipped sapphire distress inks, Wow clear gloss & Hero Arts clear sparkle embossing powder, Gansai Tambi watercolours, Tsukineko clear shimmer sparkle mist, Studio Katia iridescent stars, foam tape 

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Seize the Birthday: Squares

It's time for a new Seize the Birthday challenge! Our topping this month, chosen by JoAnn, is SQUARES. Square card, square elements... or, just make a birthday card and join us! ;) (Our toppings are always optional.)

I pulled out a very old set of wood mount stamps that are perfect for using on squares: 

Mickey! I stamped three out of the four images in the set and added a little Copic colouring. I die cut each one and layered onto a scalloped square. In my mind, scallops are a teeny bit like his ears, so I added a scalloped border to the white panel as well, before getting everything onto a red card base. 

I'm adding this to the current Anything Goes Wednesday challenge at Simon Says Stamp. 

It's a brand new month, and we have a brand new Surprise Party Guest: Lynda! She and my design teammates have found all kinds of fun ways to incorporate squares into their cards. Make a birthday card and join us! 

Supplies: Neenah white, Recollections black & Papertrey Ink pure poppy cardstock, Rubber Stampede Mickey Mouse & MFT Bitty Bears stamps, MFT extreme black & versa fine onyx black ink, Wow clear gloss embossing powder, Nellie's square, Provocraft scalloped square, Sunny Studio slimline basic borders & MFT blueprints 29 sentiment banner dies

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Color Hues: Pink and Green

And just like that, it's April! The first of the month means a new challenge at Color Hues, and we have a pairing that's perfect for spring: PINK and GREEN. Seems to call out for some flowers, doesn't it? So of course I had to find something else I could use: 

How about some juicy pink watermelon, instead? Using a mask, I stamped my row of watermelon slices then watercolored them with my Zig markers. At this point, I realized I had the makings of a rare one layer card! I found two inks that went well with the watercolouring, and stamped and embossed my sentiment. It really can't get much easier than that! 

I'm adding this to the Wednesday Simon Says Stamp challenge, Anything Goes. 

You will see some beautiful floral cards from my teammates on the Color Hues blog, along with a few other fun ideas! Hope you'll join us.

Supplies: Ranger distress watercolour cardstock, Technique Tuesday Sweet Summertime stamps, Versamark, MFT extreme black, Catherine Pooler melon ice & Colorbox fuchsia ink, Wow clear gloss embossing powder, Zig markers

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Happy Little Stampers: Watercolour

The arrival of a new month (well almost, here in Canada) means the monthly challenges at Happy Little Stampers begin with the Watercolour Challenge! It seemed a good time for some flowers: 

This large poppy from Concord & 9th is actually two stamps - the smaller flower to the right has a gap built into the stem so it can be combined with the larger one, or used with a sentiment. (You even get the fill-in stem piece if these options don't work with your plan.) In the mood for a little shimmer, I painted these with my Twinkling H2Os. I obviously had been looking at too many Debby Hughes cards recently, and so added lots of splatter, too - hers look like art, mine look like... splatter. :D After everything dried, I die cut my panel and added the sentiment - black ink along with black sparkle embossing powder, to make sure it popped against the leaves. A pale green card base finishes the card. 

A lot of my HLS teammates were in the flower mood this month, too - but not all! Each card is worth your time to view. :) You have the month to join us! 

Supplies: Hero Arts green layering cardstock, Canson watercolour paper, Concord & 9th Pretty Poppy stamps, Versafine onyx black ink, Wow clear gloss & Ranger black sparkle embossing powder, Twinkling H2Os, Winnie & Walter Katharine cutaway pierced rectangle die, gold Smooch, black acrylic paint

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Addicted to Stamps and More: Christmas

Is it spring where you are yet? Or maybe I should be asking about fall (for the other hemisphere), but whichever, we are back to CHRISTMAS at Addicted to Stamps and More! I may be the last cardmaker you know to finally own a deer/stag/reindeer head die, but now I do, so I used it: 

I started with my background, blending a night sky using an oval mask and lots of distress inks. Leaving the mask on, I stencilled some stars onto the sky. While the embossing glaze dried, I die cut my deer a few times out of black cardstock as well as one from silver glitter paper. After adhering the black layers together, I offset the silver top layer for a bit of shadow and extra dimension. At first I stamped my sentiment in black, but it looked way too blah, so stamped it in navy instead - much better! I also found some shimmery navy cardstock to back the main panel. 

I'm adding this card to the current Jingle Belles die cut challenge and the STAMPlorations March stencil & Anything Goes challenges. 

Be sure to visit the ATSM blog to see the great inspiration from my teammates! Why not make a Christmas card and join us? ;) 

Supplies: Neenah white, Recollections black & Fabriano navy cardstock, (?) silver glitter paper, Uniko Simply Said Blocks: Christmas stamp, Catherine Pooler juniper mist, milled lavender, dusty concord, mermaid lagoon, blueprint sketch, chipped sapphire & hickory smoke distress inks, CUTplorations Two Reindeer die, Heffy Doodle Starfall &ARTplorations Oval Flexi-Template stencils, Picket Fence snowdrop white paper glaze

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One Stencil, Two Ways for Scrap n Stamp

I'm on the Scrap n Stamp blog today with two birthday cards featuring one stencil, Waffle Squares from Picket Fence Studios. Here are a couple of peeks! I hope you'll go check them out. 

Remember you can use my design team code "10Lindsey" for a ten percent saving at Scrap n Stamp! And if your click through my design team badge over on the right, I will get a small commission from any purchase you make - at no extra cost to you! (Really, I don't know how anyone resists those snarky cats, lol.) 

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Snarky and Different

It's time for a new Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers challenge! The new one is certainly a challenge for this sister: L is for Layers. I did think about making a card with chickens on it (get it?) but then decided to go all out and accept the challenge. In doing so, I combined it with the current challenge at Time Out: Different. Let me show you my card: 

Here are some of the ways this is a DIFFERENT card for me: 

• So. Many. Layers. I even double matted each of the patterned paper panels. 
• Total lack of snark for a Snarky challenge. (This does occur, but I try not to let it happen too often.) 
• Fancy, frilly edge - made with a punch. 
• Muted colours. 
• A big velvet embellishment. 

Of course, you see I have all the supplies to do this very different card - but as the meme states, collecting crafting supplies and using them are two different hobbies. :D Other than the Graphic 45 paper, which I always love, most of the other supplies are from long-ago giveaways. The edge punch is actually a friend's. 

Some of my sisters are naturals at using layers on their cards, some are more like me - but check the Snarky blog to see how we have all risen to the challenge! Our current Queen and guest designer happens to be a former sister, Jane. Layer it on and join us! 

Supplies: Stampin' Up naturals white & Recollections black cardstock, Graphic 45 Typographic patterned paper, Hero Arts newspaper background stamp, MFT biscotti ink, Martha Stewart edge punch, Maya Road black velvet pleats, foam tape

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Inkspirational: Fur or Feathers

Happy Saturday! Time for a new challenge at Inkspirational - FUR or FEATHERS. I thought about cats, then about birds, and ended up with a silly old bear for my card! 

How I had never noticed the resemblance between this Bitty Bear and my favourite bear of books is beyond me. :D But here he is, with his overflowing honey pot and everything. As a background, I cut a mask with a heart die and lightly blended some grass and sky. After embossing the sentiment and popping the bear on, I couldn't resist adding some Glossy Accents to the dripping honey. (Or "T", because once you see it like that, it doesn't go away. :D) 

The fur and feathers are flying at the Inkspirational blog, with lots of great cards from the design team. Take a look, and then I hope you'll be inspired to join us! 

Supplies: Neenah white cardstock, Ranger distress watercolour paper, MFT Bitty Bears stamps, Memento Luxe espresso truffle, Brilliance Mediterranean blue & tumbled glass & bundled sage distress ink, Wow clear gloss embossing powder, Daniel Smith & Gansai Tambi watercolours, QuicKuts heart die, Glossy Accents, foam tape

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Ink-Blended Happy Birthday - and a Scrap 'n Stamp Giveaway!

Happy Friday! It’s a happy day for me, as I'm sharing my first post on the Scrap 'n Stamp blog today! It might just be a happy day for you, too - I have a Scrap 'n Stamp giveaway to share! 

Here's my card: 

Rainbows and gold are hard to beat, even if it is after St. Patrick’s Day! I’d never attempted ink-blending a panel before hot foiling, so I decided to give it a try. For my rainbow, I used distress oxides in spun sugar, festive berries, wild honey, bundled sage, mermaid lagoon, and wilted violet.  My favourite part is flicking water onto the inks and blotting with a tissue to get all the fun splotches. Going all out, I also added some gold and black spatters, as well.
Once my panel was dry, I let my Gemini FoilPress heat up, and foiled my sentiment with gold, adding the little “to you” underneath. Turns out I have a million "for you" stamps, and had to really search for this "to you". The card still wasn’t sparkly enough, so I matted my rainbow panel on some Concord & 9th glitter cardstock. My last step (which now I realize might have been one step TOO far, LOL) was to add some black Nuvo drops on either side of the sentiment.

Thanks to Scrap 'n Stamp's generosity, I am giving away the Glimmer faux script happy birthday die I used for this card, as well as two rolls of Gemini foil, in gold and silver shimmer. For your chance to win, leave a comment here and on the Scrap ‘N Stamp blog. You can enter until March 31st. All my Scrap 'n Stamp teammates have had or will have giveaways of their own this month as well, hint, hint. ;) 

Supplies: Neenah white, Recollections black & Concord & 9th granite glitter cardstock, Concord & 9th Perfectly Penned stamp, Versamark & distress oxide inks, Wow fine white embossing powder, Glimmer faux script happy birthday die, Gemini gold foil, gold Smooch, black acrylic paint, Nuvo ebony black crystal drops

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