Snarky Turns Wicked

Happy Saturday! Edna and the Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers are back with a new challenge: W is for Wicked! Edna and I both turned to Halloween for our inspiration: 

Bad is several degrees down the scale from wicked, I know, but I worked with what I had. That included a sentiment from one stamp set, the designer boots from another, and some remarkably old patterned paper. :D The boots are coloured in fashionable purple Copic marker, with lime green laces and shiny gold hooks. 

Since I actually made a Halloween card in May, I'll link it up to the May Two Old Bats Anything Halloween challenge. 

Our guest designer and current Queen of Snark, Fran, along with the snarky sisters, have offered lots of inspiration to lure you into... making a wicked card! You have two weeks to join us. 

Supplies: Neenah white & Recollections black cardstock, Echo Park Apothecary Emporium patterned paper, Catherine Pooler Everything But the Broom stamps & dies, Stampin' Up Tee-tee-Hee stamps, Versamark onyx black ink, Wow clear gloss embossing powder, Copic markers, MFT blueprints 24 stitched rectangle die, Gelly Roll golden star stardust pen

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Inkspirational: Photo Inspiration

Inkspirational is back with a new photo challenge! When I first glanced at this, I wasn't seeing a lot to inspire me - I mostly noticed the neutral colours. Then I took a closer look... there are books! And the plants provide a touch of green! And the walls have a very cool texture to them. I was ready to make my card:

I was even able to add a comfy armchair, thanks to the photo. Having a reading rabbit is all me, though. :) I can't decide if the walls in the inspiration are brick or wood, but using a brick stencil gave me a little bit of the same textured look, I thought. Both the bunny and the chair are coloured with Copic markers. It took a great deal of willpower to use that sentiment - where's my U in favoUrite? :D But it seemed right for the little reading scene. 

It's always interesting to see how my Ink teammates are inspired, so be sure to check out their work. And then I hope you'll join us! 

Supplies: Neenah white & Fabriano green cardstock, Avery Elle Feels Like Home & Feels Like Home Addition stamps & dies, Versafine onyx black & antique linen distress ink, Wow clear gloss embossing powder, Copic markers, Stampers Anonymous/Tim Holtz bricked stencil

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Seize the Birthday: Use a Stencil

Welcome back to a new challenge at Seize the Birthday! Teammate Vicki has picked our (always optional) topping: USE A STENCIL. I was inspired by Sandie's entry for our previous challenge to pull out a big floral stencil for my card: 

I also wanted to try one of my new mini distress inks, saltwater taffy. I blended it onto the flowers, with rustic wilderness for the stems. I found some dark green cardstock to mat the main panel and white-emboss the sentiment. Pretty and easy to put together! 

Lorraine continues as our surprise party guest, and she and all the regular birthday partygoers have created beautiful cards to inspire you! Make a birthday card and join us! 

Supplies: Neenah white & (?) green cardstock, Clearly Besotted Say What? stamp, Versamark & saltwater taffy & rustic wilderness distress ink, Wow opaque white embossing powder, ARTplorations Happy Flowers stencil

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Addicted to Stamps and More: Die Cuts and Stencils

It's time for some Die Cuts and Stencils at Addicted to Stamps and More! Recently I had a fun time creating some blended backgrounds, and decided to combine a couple of them with die cuts for cards: 

I was also in need of a wedding card, and so these took shape. For the one on the right, I cut the daisy and the love sentiment from a linen panel, then used them for the card on the left. I went with much more intense colours for that card - in fact, except for needing a little extra yellow for the second colour band, I was able to blend the second panel with just the inks left on my brushes. Here's a closer look at each one:

As always, beautiful cards by my ATSM teammates - I hope you'll be inspired to join us! 

Supplies: (1st card) Neenah white and linen cardstock, picked raspberry, squeezed lemonade, twisted citron & shaded lilac distress ink, Simon Says Stamp fresh daisies, LittleB handwritten sentiments & MFT blueprints 24 stitched rectangle die; (2nd card) Neenah white & linen cardstock, squeezed lemonade, picked raspberry & twisted citron distress ink, Simon Says Stamp fresh daisies, LittleB handwritten sentiments & MFT stitched rounded rectangle die

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Keeping It Clean and Simple at Scrap 'n Stamp

I'm on the Scrap 'n Stamp blog today with this clean and simple (CAS) card featuring Anita Jeram stamps from Colorado Craft Company! I hope you'll pop over to see more! 

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Color Hues: Aqua and Red

And whoosh, we're into the second part of May, meaning it's time for a new Color Hues challenge! Teammate Cindy has picked our pairing, and it's RED and AQUA. Yet again, a hue in the blue-green section of the spectrum that confuses me! :D I decided a Copic called coral (wait, what?) SEA must count as an aqua. ;) I quite like a pairing such as this for Christmas cards, so that's the direction I went:

Sneaking in an ugly Christmas sweater is merely an extra added bonus! :D I just used the one shade of aqua, but go from a tomato red for the snowman's carrot to what to me is more a "true" red for his scarf and other sweater parts. Amazingly, I also managed to find some patterned paper that echoes the same reds. (And this is why I keep all my old patterned paper pads...) The only drawback to this fun sweater stamp is that the snowflake, by default, stamps in black - but what's a Christmas sweater without at least one bit of bling? 

We have two guest designers for this challenge, Kim and Marcia - so there is lots of inspiration on the Color Hues blog today! I hope you'll join us. 

Supplies: Neenah white cardstock, Basic Grey Aspen Frost patterned paper, Paper Smooches Tis the Season stamps, Versafine onyx black ink, Wow clear gloss embossing powder, Copic markers, MFT double-stitched rectangle die, Hero Arts gem

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A Tiny Craft: Flowers

It's the middle of May already, and that means it's time for a new challenge at A Tiny Craft! This month, we are looking for Artist Trading Cards or Coins with FLOWERS. I made a quartet:

I was able to abide by my favourite ATC principle: using stuff I already have. The bases are all from gel plate prints or ink smooshing panels I had already made, and the Catherine Pooler You've got Flowers had already been stamped and die cut. I added to the various backgrounds with some other stamping (mostly Neat & Tangled's Hello Spring), and ended up only adding three of the bigger flowers - but at least I have tiny flowers on the fourth one! I'm not sure I've actually made a one layer ATC before. :) Here's a closer look at each one: 

There is a bouquet of floral ATCs on the challenge blog - be sure to visit, and I hope you'll join us! 

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Floral and Feminine for the Sisterhood

Happy Saturday! The Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers is back with a classic challenge: F is for F WORDS! There is, of course, the definitive F word; and Edna is showcasing a number of F word ideas behind her. For my card, I went with the F words Feminine and Floral. 

My snarky sister Chris knows me well enough to suggest I could also add a third F word: fibbing. :D I was in the mood to make a pretty card that initially hides its snarky intentions, so I pulled out this ATC panel and added some Copic colouring. The rose on her hat gave me the idea to add a rose die cut as an extra element. The Tim Holtz sentiment sticker works well with her "who, me?" posture, I think. The white of the sticker and the ATC background are both toned down with a little warm grey Copic to keep with the vintage feel. 

Given that we're the SNARKY Sisters, I think you'll be impressed at the range of F words from the team and our current guest designer and Queen of Snark, Tristan! Feeling full of fun or fury? ;) Come join us! 

Supplies: Hero Arts sand, Recollections black & Stampin' Up real red cardstock, STAMPlorations retro fashionistas ATC, Copic markers, Paper Smooches roses die, Tim Holtz snarky small talk sticker

 

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Inkspirational: Use Something Free or Gifted

The new challenge at Inkspirational is fun and one, I think, all of us can participate in because of this generous crafting community: USE SOMETHING FREE OR GIFTED! I have two gifted items in play on my card: 

My cute little hedgehog and accompanying sentiment are from a set gifted to me by friend and Ink teammate Carol! My background panel is edged with a stencil I received from Uniko as part of a package when I was designing for 25 Days of Christmas Tags. (By the way, Uniko has some free digital images if you're unsure what you should use for this challenge...) After I stencilled the snowflakes, I also blended some of the same ink over them, and then edged the panel by running it along the ink pad's surface. I sometimes like to do this when I don't want to add a mat for another layer. Hedgie is coloured in Copics, and of course had to have some Stickles on his Santa hat. He's popped up on some foam tape - if I currently had some wobbles, it would have been a definite consideration! 

As you'll see from my teammates' cards, free and gifted elements can make fabulous cards! Hope you'll be inKspired to join us. 

Supplies: Neenah white cardstock, Sunny Studio Hedgey Holidays stamps and dies, Versafine onyx black & tumbled glass distress oxide ink, Copic markers, Uniko Let It Snow stencil, frosted lace Stickles, foam tape

 

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Feels Like Home at Scrap 'n Stamp!

I'm on the Scrap 'n Stamp blog today with a card inspired by today's Random Acts of Cardness prompt: HOME. I hope you'll head over to check it out! 

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Seize the Birthday: Stitching

Seize the Birthday is back with another fun (but always optional!) topping: Faux or Real Stitching! I tend to stick to faux stitching on cards (although I may try embroidery some time). My sewing machine is old, there are no maintenance/repair shops close, and so I like to reserve it for actual sewing. ;) I did make sure I had lots of faux stitching: 

Before adding any stitching, I blended my panel with three distress inks, misted it lightly with water, then crumpled some plastic wrap on it while it dried. This adds some fun extra texture. When it was dry, I used both a stitched cover plate and a stitched rectangle die to add lots of stitchwork. Since I liked my background so much, I kept the rest of the card simple with a die cut balloon and sentiment. 

We have a new surprise party guest for the next two months that I'm sure you will recognize: Lorraine Aquilina, or Lols! She and my teammates have made beautiful stitched cards for the challenge, so be sure to visit and be inspired! 

Supplies: Neenah white cardstock, Koh-in-oor smooth white bristol, kitsch flamingo, shaded lilac & chipped sapphire distress ink, CUTplorations wonky stitched grid texture cover plate & shaker balloons #3 oval, MFT blueprints 24 stitched rectangle & Creative Expressions borderline happy birthday dies

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Addicted to Stamps and More: Any Occasion

Addicted to Stamps and More is back with the latest challenge: Any Occasion! Sometimes the occasion can be a sad one, and I have a sympathy card this time around: 

I pulled out these layering daffodil stamps again, since they seemed appropriate for a cancer-related death. I kept the colours a little more muted than my last daffodil card. The lighter shade of green I picked for my leaves seemed a little too light, so I darkened it a bit with a green pencil crayon. I added a little interest to the cardbase with some subtle patterned paper and an embossed strip of green down the left side. The sentiment banner even manages to cover a bit of a layering booboo on one of the leaves. 

With my spring daffodils, I'm adding my card to these challenges: The Four Seasons Challenge: Anything Goes Spring and Just Us Girls word week: flowers. 

Lots of inspiration for many occasions from my ATSM teammates. Make a card for any occasion and join us! 

Supplies: Neenah white & Stampin' Up garden green cardstock, Pinkfresh Studio patterned paper, Sunny Studio Daffodil Dreams & Hero Arts With Deepest Sympathy stamps, Stampin' Up garden green & Catherine Pooler tiara, sauna & garden party ink, Darice diagonal stripe embossing folder, Prismacolor pencils

 

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Create Crafty Memories at Scrap 'n Stamp!

It's the first Friday in May, and time for a new Scrap 'n Stamp Inspiration Hop! Tomorrow is National Scrapbooking Day, and so we decided on a CREATE CRAFTY MEMORIES hop, with inspiration from the Scrap 'n Stamp team and some special guests!

First off, I should mention... I don't scrapbook. I love making cards and tags, and really, that's pretty much the extent of it. But I wanted to make something a little different for this hop, so here's what I came up with:

That's my boy Duncan! And now his photo has a custom frame. I had picked up a pack of plain wooden frames at IKEA pre-pandemic, and so it was more than time to decorate one. I started by giving the frame a couple of coats of gesso to prep the bare wood, and followed with some white acrylic paint. For decoration, I added the three My Favorite Things cats to the top of the frame - I backed each one with some heavy cardboard for durability. From a design standpoint, they should contrast more with the white of the frame, but from Duncan's point of view, grey is just fine. :D The little paw prints on the bottom corners are from an older Lawn Fawn set. 

An inspiration hop means there's a prize to be had! One lucky commenter will win a $50 gift code to the Scrap 'n Stamp store. Visit and leave a comment at each inspiration stop for your chance to win. Here's the entire hop order: 

SNS Blog

Lindsey --> that's me!

Emily

Kia

Annette

Deepa

Meghan

Allison

Susan

Tara

Tracey

MadeByMeghanK

Thanh

Jessica

SNS IG

Of course there's a sale for National Scrapbook Day, too! Just click the graphic below: 

Hope you enjoy all the inspiration on the hop, and have a great weekend! 

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Happy Little Stampers: Stencils

It's time for the May Stencil Challenge at Happy Little Stampers! Here's what I came up with this month: 

I'm not 100% happy with this card, but decided to share it with you anyway. This is actually my second attempt at making it. The first time, I found some heavyweight blue cardstock, used two stencils - the cat, which actually fills a slimline card, and an oval to keep just the head and upper body - and added crackle paste. I thought the crackles would nicely complement the mosaic style of the cat. I didn't get back to it for a few days, but when I did... all the crackles were flaking off! The paste and paper obviously didn't get along. For my second attempt, I used a different blue cardstock. It's definitely not as heavy, since the moisture of the paste has warped it a bit - but it shows up much more in the photo than in real life, so there's that. The crackle paste also picked up dye from the paper! When it was still wet, it looked quite mottled, but fortunately dried to an even colour. And isn't flaking off! And that's the story of this far-from-perfect card. :) 

As always, this is an anything goes challenge, so as long as you've used a stencil, I hope you'll join us! 

Supplies: Memory Box light blue & Bazzill dark blue cardstock, Studio Katia You're So Sweet stamp, Versamark ink, Hero Arts white satin pearl embossing powder, ARTplorations kitty & oval flexi-template stencils, Nuvo Russian white crackle mousse

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Happy Little Stampers CAS: Blend

A new month brings a new round of challenges at Happy Little Stampers, and today the CAS Challenge starts with a BLEND theme! I seem to be on a nautical kick lately, and so here's another one: 

I used three shades of blue to blend my main panel and added a few splatters of water. After giving it a good coating with my powder tool, I stamped the compass rose and birds in Versamark and the sailboat in black before embossing with clear embossing powder. Even though it adds an extra layer, I gave my panel a thin black mat. I added the sentiment before adhering the panel on a bit of an angle. CAS to make and CAS to describe! :) 

My interpretation of "blend" is likely the most obvious one, but I'm sure there are other ways to use it as well! I hope you'll join us! 

Supplies: Neenah white & Recollections black cardstock, Birchpress Designs Let Your Dreams Set Sail, Versamark, Versafine onyx black & tumbled glass, broken china & salty ocean distress ink, Wow clear gloss embossing powder

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Colour Hues: Blue and Tan

There is a new pairing of colours at Color Hues starting today, BLUE and TAN! I'm quite happy to work with these colours, as way back in January, I made this box with blue and tan patterned papers, and now I've made a couple of cards to put in it! 

I had two offcuts of paper from making that box which just happened to be 5¼ inches across, so they became my background panels. I then picked images from the die cut assortment that came in the original box-making kit and added them to each card. Now that I'm looking at them again, I may decide to add a few enamel dots or other embellishment to the tan card on the right, but we'll see. Here's a closer look at each card: 

Having only made two cards, adding content to my box is obviously a long-term project. :D 

Blue and tan do lend themselves nicely to an ocean theme, but you will see other great ideas on the Color Hues blog as well, from my teammates and our current guest designer, Shawna! I hope the colours and the cards will inspire you to join us. 

Supplies: Stampin' Up naturals white cardstock, Graphic 45 Ocean Blue patterned paper and die cuts, Hemptique blue twine

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