Seize the Birthday: Stripe It Up!

Seize the Birthday is sneaking in at the end of March with a new challenge thought up by Jules: Stripe It Up! I have lots of ways I can make stripes, but I also have lots of striped patterned paper, so I let some look after the topping: 

I also happened to have these flowers already stamped and die cut, and thought they were a fun, bright contrast to the muted paper. I wish I'd adhered the sentiment tag a bit lower, but obviously it didn't bother me enough to start over. ;) 

Lots of striped inspiration on the StB blog from my teammates and surprise party guest Deepti, but remember, we have an anything goes birthday card option, too. So make one and join us! 

Supplies: Neenah white cardstock, Sunny Studio Subtle Grey Tones patterned paper, Catherine Pooler Find Your Happy stamps & dies, Simin Says Stamp Furry Cat & Box sentiment stamp, Catherine Pooler party dress, tiki torch, tiara, mint to be & dress blues ink, Sugar Pea Designs card front element builder die

Addicted to Stamps and More: Make Your Mark

It's once again time to Make Your Mark at Addicted to Stamps and More! There are so many choices with this one - but I decided it was time to get out my Twinkling H2Os for some watercolouring: 

 

I picked this pretty floral that hadn't seen ink before, so I'll add this to Darnell's March NBUS challenge.   The narrow pink frame just happened to be in my stash, so I adhered it to a panel I ran through an embossing folder. The sentiment stamped quite nicely over the texture. To keep the flowers from lying flat, I cut a few circles of cardstock and adhered them together to lift the image off the panel a bit.

I'm also adding this to STAMPlorations ongoing Anything Goes challenge. 

My teammates have made their marks on their cards in a variety of ways - you're sure to be inspired to join us! 

Supplies: Neenah white & SU melon mambo cardstock, Ranger watercolour paper, STAMPlorations Bloomfully: Beautiful stamps, Versafine onyx black ink, Wow clear gloss embossing powder, Twinkling H2Os, Darice diagonal stripes embossing folder

It's Hoppy Easter Time at Scrap 'n Stamp

I'm on the Scrap 'n Stamp blog today with a bunny card for today's Random Acts of Cardness prompt, SUNNY! I'm hope you'll, um, hop over and take a look! 

The Sisters Celebrate Snarky Chris!

We have a special challenge starting today at the Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers, celebrating our very own snarky sister, Chris! Chris is the newest stamp designer at STAMPlorations, and her first two sets are (what? really?) snarky sentiments! Some of us snuck her sentiments on our cards for our last challenge, but today we wanted to give them a big shoutout. Here's mine: 

When I made my previous card, I showed off how perfectly Chris's sentiments work with STAMPlorations paper ephemera. This time, I thought I'd demonstrate they play well with others, too, so I grabbed a Tim Holtz snarky cat. Once I'd coloured him in somewhat fiery colours, I masked him and added a little stencilling to the background. I also added a little shading around the edges of the panel. And of course made sure the sentiment was prominently displayed! 

Are you ready to get snarky with the sisters? Visit the blog to see everyone's creations using these fun new sentiments. And we're hoping you have something from STAMPlorations in your stash you can use to join us! 

Supplies: Neenah white cardstock, STAMPlorations Hot Mess & Stampers Anonymous/Tim Holtz Snarky Cats stamps, Versafine onyx black, MFT extreme black & antique linen distress ink, Wow clear gloss embossing powder, Copic markers, Heidi Swapp polka dot stencil, MFT wonky stitched rectangle die

Inkspirational: Critters That Hop

It's a Designers Choice challenge at Inkspirational starting today, and I just so happen to be the designer that chose the theme: Critters That Hop! When I picked this idea, I had every intention of making a frog card when the time came. But then it was the middle of March, it's slowly approaching spring in my neck of the woods, and Easter is a month away! Out came a bunny: 

I revisited a technique I haven't used for a long time - debossing a focal area in my main panel. I die cut three squares out of cardboard, adhered them together, and then used the result with my die cutting machine for my focal square. In that square I stamped and embossed my little bunny, colouring him and a bit of grass with Copics. I stamped and embossed my punny sentiment, then added a bit of scoring around the edges to go with the square. Of course I had to add a bit of puff to his tail with a snow marker. 

Since I've had this cute stamp set for-approximately-ever, I'm adding this to the current anything goes Retro Rubber challenge. For the cuteness factor, I'm entering Time Out Challenges. 

I guess I shouldn't be surprised that all my Ink teammates opted for rabbits, too! But don't let that stop you from choosing any critter that hops - we'd love to see your project in our gallery! 

Supplies: Neenah white cardstock, Lawn Fawn My Silly Valentine stamps, Versafine onyx black ink, Wow clear gloss embossing powder, Copic markers, Marvy Uchida snow marker

Seize the Birthday: Green and White

Happy St. Patrick's Day, and welcome to the newest Seize the Birthday challenge! In honour of the day, my teammate JoAnn has picked green and white as our (always optional) challenge topping. I decided to take the challenge as is, with no added neutrals or metallics: 

A lot of my plant stencils are florals, but this bamboo was was perfect to use with just green. It's actually a slimline format, but I used just the top portion, allowing the bamboo to trail off the bottom of the panel. The two part sentiment is stamped in the same green, and I also used it to colour the cardstock I embossed the secondary sentiment on. Then lucky me, I had a matching green card base already cut, scored and ready! I layered the happy portion on a few extra die cuts for a little dimension. 

I'm adding my card to the STAMPlorations March stencil challenge. 

Green and white cards galore from my StB teammates and our current surprise party guest, Deepti! Join the party with your own birthday card! 

Supplies: Neenah white & (?) green cardstock, Birch Press Design Make a Statement stamps & die, Versamark & Catherine Pooler garden party ink, Wow clear gloss & opaque white embossing powder, ARTplorations bamboo stencil, Winnie & Walter Katharine cutaways pierced rectangle die

Color Hues: Yellow and Pale Teal

It's mid-month already, and time for a new Color Hues challenge! Nancy has picked our new hues, and they are yellow and pale teal. (I have enough trouble figuring out teal, and Nancy gives it a qualifier, yikes!) With thoughts of making cards to show support for Ukraine, here's how I interpreted the colours:

It could be said my teal is not overly pale, but if it's not dark teal, it must be light, right? :D My sunflower is an older wood-mount stamp, and after embossing, I coloured it with Copics and added a bit of sparkle to the centres. To keep the main panel from being too plain, I added some background interest with a stencil and yellow ink. (Easier to see in person than in photos.) The sentiment is stamped on some coordinating yellow cardstock. The bottom strip? From a Concord & 9th envelope I saved after they had to replace a die for me! 

What will you do with these two hues? I hope you will join us! 

Supplies: Neenah white & scrap yellow cardstock, Rubber Stampede Sunflower II & PTI Brushed Blooms stamps, Versafine onyx black & squeezed lemonade distress ink, Wow clear gloss embossing powder, Copic markers, Memory Box scraped paint stencil, Lawn Fawn glitter pen, foam tape

Addicted to Stamps and More: Die Cuts and Stencils

It's time to show off your die cuts and/or stencils at Addicted to Stamps and More! I've got a bit of each on my card today: 

My friend and snarky sister Barbara sent me some die cuts along with a card recently, and instead of hoarding all of them, I decided to put this layered butterfly to use almost right away. I really like it in the shades of blue, with the glittery black body. The top layer was a good match for tumbled glass distress ink, and so I used it with a cloud stencil/mask to create a sky panel. It's matted with some black glitter cardstock as well. I adhered just the one side of the wings to the card base, and tucked a sentiment into the corner, embossed with sparkly embossing powder to go with the black pieces. I also rounded one corner to soften the overall look a bit. 

Thanks to a tip from my friend Barbara, I'm adding this to the current Shopping Our Stash challenge: Spread Your Wings. (The butterfly may be new-to-me, but the cloud stencil and sentiment are definitely stash.) 

My teammates at ATSM have used stencils and die cuts in beautiful ways, so head over to the blog for lots of inspiration. I hope you'll join us! 

Supplies: Neenah white, $ store black glitter & assorted blue cardstock, Clearly Besotted Say What? stamp, Versafine onyx black & tumbled glass distress ink, Hero Arts sparkle embossing powder, Birch Press glimmer butterfly dies, MFT cloud stencil

A Tiny Craft: Masculine

Look at that, it's the middle of March! And that means it's time for a new A Tiny Craft (ATC) challenge. This month, we're all about masculine artist trading cards or coins. I have some terrific masculine patterned paper that I am much better at admiring than actually using, so out it came:

Most of the designs for this set of four comes from a Graphic 45 paper pad called A Proper Gentleman, with a few pieces from a DCWV pad called Timeless Type. I thought it would be fun to keep to a sports/leisure theme, and picked my main panels accordingly. A few I matted with black cardstock while others I left plain. I used some very old office-supply brads on two of them, and added a trio of Nuvo drops to a third. Here's a closer look at each one: 

I'm adding these to the current ATC Around the World Challenge where it's Anything Goes this month. 

I'm hope you'll head to A Tiny Craft and see the fun creations of my design teammates, and then I hope you'll be inspired to join us! 

A Little Splatter at Scrap 'n Stamp

I'm on the Scrap 'n Stamp blog today with a card to go with the Random Acts of Cardness prompt I chose: splatter! (I never said it had to be a lot of splatter... :D) Click on the blog link to see more! 

Happy Little Stampers: Stencils

It's time for the March STENCIL challenge at Happy Little Stampers! I picked a full card stencil for my inspiration this time: 

I started by blending yellow and orange distress inks on my cardstock panel - at first, I tried a third colour, but didn't like the result. I just flipped it over and started again! As you can see, I also splatted some water drops on for a little extra interest. Then I added the stencil and the same two inks. The orange was fine, but the yellow was almost invisible, so I blended off most of the orange ink on my brush onto scrap paper, then added just enough orange to the yellow so they showed. With the cheery colours, I thought the sentiment was apt - and as it turned out, I needed a get well card for a friend who recently broke her leg, and this makes a nice encouragement card. 

I'm adding this to the March STAMPlorations Stencil challenge. 

Lots more stencil inspiration on the HLS blog, and you have the month to join us! 

Supplies: Neenah white cardstock, Papertrey Ink Simple Sunflower stamps, Catherine Pooler orange twist & squeezed lemonade & carved pumpkin distress ink, ARTplorations happy flowers stencil, The Greetery speed tagging die, The Twinery marigold twine, foam tape

The Sisters are Vibrantly Snarky

The Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers is back with a new challenge: V is for Vibrant! Early March seems like a good time to add a little extra vibrancy to things. Edna has certainly embraced the challenge, although I am a little worried about her hair. :D I decided to go vibrant with alcohol inks: 

This yellow and blue are two of my brightest alcohol inks, so I added a few drops of each to my Yupo panel and blew them around with some rubbing alcohol. While that dried, I matched a couple of Copic markers to colour in the backdrop of this retro ATC panel. And my sentiment? Part of one of two brand new stamp sets from our very own sister, Chris! I know, snarky sentiment sets, who would have guessed? :D 

With an ATC and sentiment both from STAMPlorations, I'm adding this to their ongoing Anything Goes challenge. 

You will find vibrantly snarky inspiration on the blog from my sisters in snark as well as our current guest designer and Queen of Snark, Granne! Design something vibrant and join us! 

Supplies: Neenah white & Recollections black cardstock, Yupo paper, STAMPlorations Some Snark stamp, Versafine onyx black ink, Wow clear gloss embossing powder, STAMPlorations Retro People ATC, Copic markers, Piñata sun bright yellow & Baja blue alcohol inks, Sugar Pea Designs cardfront element builder & MFT blueprints 29 die

Inkspirational: Curve

Welcome to a new Inkspirational challenge, where our latest word prompt is CURVE! This word led me to some celebratory streamers:

The length of the streamer stamp also led me to a mini slimline card design. I started by stamping and embossing the sentiment in the middle of the panel, then added a rainbow of streamers above and below. For some extra festiveness, I added a silver glitter mat and a smattering of iridescent star sequins. 

Time Out Challenges is celebrating the 8th birthday of their blog, so I'd like to send this card their way. 

My Ink teammates have each interpreted our prompt differently, so be sure to check out their fun creations! 

Supplies: Neenah white & Sizzix silver glitter cardstock, Mama Elephant Party Kit & Stampin' Up Birthday Wishes stamps, Versafine onyx black & Memento ladybug, tangelo, dandelion, pear tart, teal zeal & lilac posies ink, Hero Arts clear sparkle embossing powder, Photoplay stitched frame dies, Little Things from Lucy's Cards clear iridescent star sequins

It's Birthday Bash Time at Scrap 'n Stamp!

It's the first Friday of March, and we are celebrating Scrap 'n Stamp's 🎉14th birthday🎉 with a Birthday Bash Inspiration Hop! The design team, along with some special guests, are all making birthday cards, and here's mine: 

I started with my cupcake, stamping and embossing it before colouring the liner with Copic markers. After cutting it out with the matching die, I added sparkly frosting to the cake with some nebula Stickles Glitter Gel. I had to work a little bit quickly to get the stars somewhat aligned with those on the cupcake! While that dried, I stamped and embossed my sentiment from Birthday Banners, cutting it out with one of the dies included in the set. I added confetti to the top of my card with a snow stencil (mine is old and retired, but this one would work equally well) and distress ink, wiping off and shifting the stencil with each new colour. Once the glitter gel was dry, I put everything together, popping up the cupcake on a little foam tape. 

As with every hop, Scrap 'n Stamp is giving away a $50 gift certificate to the store! All you need to do to be in the running to win is hop and comment on the stops! Here is this month's hop order: 

SNS Blog

Lindsey --> that's me! 

Kia

Meghan

Karen

Emily

Susan

Allison

Deepa

Tara

Tracey

MadeByMeghanK

Thanh

Jessica

SNS IG

There is also a sale! Select birthday items are 14% off this weekend. 

Your next stop on the hop is Kia, and you can always head back to the SnS blog for complete hop details. Have a great weekend!