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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Addicted to Stamps and More: Christmas

It's time for a new Addicted to Stamps and More challenge, and this one is all about helping to build up a stash of Christmas cards! I suppose I could call this post "one stencil, two ways": 

This is a new-to-me stencil from my friend Julie, and I thought it would look good in red on white. After I had done that, I thought it might be even more fun with some texture, so used it again with glitter gel on some navy cardstock! (I'll be trying it in white on red, too.) I decided to use one horizontally, the other vertically. These sentiment strips fit nicely in the most open area of the stencil. A closer look at each:  

With the stencil so prominent, I'm adding these to the April stencil challenge at STAMPlorations. 

Lots of festive variety to inspire you on the ATSM blog - hope you'll join us! 

Supplies: Neenah white, Recollections red & Fabriano textured blue cardstock, Taylored Expressions Simple Strips - Christmas stamp, Versamark & festive berries distress ink, Wow white embossing powder, Simon Says Stamp holiday sweater stencil, Gina K. Designs/Thermoweb white glitter gel, Spellbinders mini Christmas sentiment strip foiling die, GoPress blue foil 

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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

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Addicted to Stamps and More: Any Occasion

Addicted to Stamps and More is back and it's time to make cards for any occasion! Even though our last challenge was a birthday one, I felt like making another: 

I also decided it was time to play with a blueprint stamp, and this one is perfect for a birthday. It's stamped on very textured watercolour paper, which I seem to forget doesn't really take well to stamping. In this case, I thought the little bit extra distressing of the image was okay. I wanted a loose watercoloured look, but with a brush I'm not always freewheeling enough for that, so I went with watercolour powders instead. I'm really happy with the result! 

If you need a card for any occasion at all, why not join us? 

Supplies: American Crafts textured green cardstock, Master's Touch watercolour paper, Simon Says Stamp/Tim Holtz Stamptember 2014 blueprint stamp, MFT extreme black ink Magenta Nuance spring green & bright yellow watercolour powders, MFT blueprints 24 stitched rectangle die

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A Special Double Color Hues

We are starting a very special double challenge today at Color Hues! Besides our already-scheduled colour pairing (picked by me!) we wanted to join the many cardmakers out there that are making cards in support of Ukraine and its people. And since the Ukrainian flag has two colours, blue and yellow, it's a perfect tie-in for us. 

I decided if I was going to make a card in support, I'd make my support obvious: 

The trickiest part of this card was, of course, adhering those letters in a straight line. ;) Some washi tape along the right edge helped a lot with the alignment. The flowers are stamped in two shades of yellow, and the textured paper got even more with an embossing folder. 

Back to regularly scheduled programming, and my choice of colour duo starting today: GREEN and GOLD.  I was looking ahead to St. Patrick's Day when I made my selection, and my card is influenced by that: 

I don't actually have much in the way of St. Patrick Day images, but the set that my two-part sentiment comes from just happens to have shamrock stamps! I started by heat embossing the large part of the sentiment in sparkly gold embossing powder. Next I added the smaller sentiment in green, embossing it as well, but didn't emboss the shamrocks in a show of restraint. ;) A scattering of gold bling and a green card base finished it off. As usual, an angled pic shows the shine better:

Blue and yellow? Green and gold? The choice is up to you, and of course we'd love to see you make cards for both pairings. Lots of inspiration on the Color Hues blog, so be sure to check it out! 

Supplies: (Ukraine) Neenah white & Fabriano textured cardstock, Papertrey Ink Simple Sunflowers stamps & dies, Catherine Pooler tiara & sauna ink, Spellbinders grid embossing folder, MFT Birdie Brown Alphabet & (?) heart dies; (good luck) Neenah white & Hero Arts green layering cardstock, Simon Says Stamp/CZ Designs Great Things stamps, Versamark & Catherine Pooler garden party ink, gold tinsel embossing powder, MFT stitched rounded rectangle die, Studio Katia gold sparkle crystals

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Happy Little Stampers CAS: Inky

It's time for the Happy Little Stampers CAS challenge, and this month we've got a fun theme: Inky! Inky may seem like it lends itself to more complex projects, but you'll see from the HLS design team that a clean and simple card can also be inky. Here's mine: 

It's a little layered, but still has an overall clean look, I think, and apart from the drying time, was quick and easy to make. I used pink, red, purple and silver alcohol inks on some mineral paper for my main panel - I decided to try mineral paper to see if it took heat better than Yupo paper does. It doesn't. :D While the inks dried, I die cut my heart from silver glitter paper and black cardstock. I also white-embossed the sentiment on black. Putting everything together, I have a dramatic-looking CAS valentine. With that in mind, I'm adding this card to the CASology Affection challenge and Simon Says Stamp's With Love challenge. 

I hope you will get inky - but stay clean! ;) - and join us! 

Supplies: Neenah white & Stampin' Up basic black cardstock, Yasutomo mineral paper, Concord & 9th Little Love Tags stamp, Versamark ink, Wow white embossing powder, senorita magenta, chili pepper, passion purple, pearl & silver Jacquard Piñata inks, Simon Says Stamp scribble heart & MFT blueprints 24 dies

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Color Hues: Red and Black

A new month means a new challenge at Color Hues, and I think it's a great one: RED and BLACK! While pondering a few Valentine ideas, I remembered I had a buffalo check background already stamped, and my card became a Christmas one: 

With the check already done, the rest of the card came together quickly: two deer die cuts adhered together, and a little banner sentiment. I was going to keep to entirely red and black, but decided on the pop of white embossing at the last minute. 

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

Beautiful cards from my Color Hues teammates and our current guest designer, Michal, so I hope you will check them out and then join us! 

Supplies: Stampin' Up real red & Recollections black cardstock, Concord & 9th Plaid Background & Simon Says Stamp/Kelly Purkey Oh, Dear stamps, Versamark & MFT extreme black ink, Wow white embossing powder, CUTplorations Two Reindeer & MFT Blueprints 29 dies 

 

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Happy Little Stampers CAS: Christmas Characters

It's time for the last CAS challenge of 2021 at Happy Little Stampers! For December, we are looking for clean and simple cards featuring Christmas Characters. 🦌 🧸 🐧  For my character, I used that iconic jolly old elf himself: 

That's right, it's Santa! I have lots of Santa stamps, but for this card decided to use this sweet die cut. Sometimes I colour his face and give him rosy cheeks and nose, but for this card just gave him his classic red hat and a little circle of felt for the pompom. I added texture to the main panel with a cover plate, and matched Santa's hat with a red sentiment banner embossed in white. Quick and easy to put together, but still a lot of fun. 

With gold glasses and red as my colour, I am adding my Santa to the CAS challenge at STAMPlorations as well as the Wednesday Happy Holidays/Christmas challenge at Simon Says Stamp. 

The HLS design team's cards always have lots of character, but now there are characters, too! Check out the inspiration, and then I hope you'll join us! 

Supplies: Neenah white, Stampin' Up real red & Sizzix gold foil cardstock, Simon Says Stamp Coolest Yulest stamp, Versamark, Wow white embossing powder, A Jillian Vance Design Santa and Friends dies, CUTplorations circles all over texture cover plate, foam tape

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The Sisterhood of Yuletide Stampers

Oh look, here's Edna, ready to roast Chet's nuts - oh wait, I mean some CHESTNUTS on the fire to get ready for Christmas - and so are the Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers with our new challenge, Y is for Yuletide! My card today is exactly as snarky as you want it to be... 

In an admittedly small sample size, women are far quicker to get the potential snark on this card than men. :D I stamped and masked a battery so I could add a second leaning against it, then coloured them with Copics. The sentiment is stamped in red and embossed - as are the batteries, of course, I emboss everything I can. :D I added a couple of scored lines on each side of the panel before adding it to a card base with patterned paper. 

Yuletide is approaching, so I hope you will consider joining us! Be sure to check out what my sisters in snark, and our newest Queen of Snark and guest designer Justene have created for the challenge! 

Supplies: Neenah white cardstock, Teresa Collins Noël patterned paper, Simon Says Stamp Big Holiday Wishes stamps, Versamark, Versamark onyx black & Stampin' Up real red ink, Wow clear gloss embossing powder, Copic markers

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The Sisterhood of Naughty Stampers

Now that the weather is getting chillier on the northern half of the globe, Edna is here to heat things up with a new Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers challenge: N is for Naughty! So hey, I made a cat card! 

A Tim Holtz Snarky Cat seemed the perfect choice for this challenge, especially when I added the little bird for him to eye. The sentiment is part of the same set, so that made it easy. A little Copic colouring, some patterned paper, and a bit of sparkle on his jingle bells and hat trim were all I felt were needed. 

My sisters in snark, as well as our Queen of Snark and guest designer Tristan, are up to all kinds of naughtiness over on the Snarky blog! Hope you'll join in the fun! 

Supplies: Neenah white cardstock, Teresa Collins Noël patterned paper, Stampers Anonymous/Tim Holtz Stamptember Snarky Cats stamps, MFT extreme black ink, Copic markers, PSX silver glitter 3D paper paint, frosted lace Stickles

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Seize the Birthday: Make a Sunset Scene

Time for a new challenge at Seize the Birthday: Make a Sunset Scene! I think I managed the sunset part, although my "scene" is rather minimalist. :D Luckily, we always welcome all birthday cards at Seize the Birthday... even mine. ;) 

I enjoy making little scenes on my cards, but the day I made this, I just wasn't feeling it. This die from Simon Says Stamp is a great one for using a gradient of colours in the background, so that's what I decided to go with. When I tried making my first sunset background with distress oxides... ugh. So I grabbed another panel, and just used the ink left on my brushes - so much better! I die cut the cattail triptych on linen cardstock for a little extra interest, then stamped the sentiment in dark orange. I may have managed a small smudge on the panel in the cardmaking process, so... embellishments! 

As always, beautiful sunset examples from my teammates and our current surprise party guest, Carol! Pop over to the StB blog and be inspired! 

Supplies: Neenah white & linen cardstock, Clearly Besotted Sweet Little Sentiments stamp, Catherine Pooler mandarin spice & fossilized amber, wild honey & faded jeans distress oxide ink, Simon Says Stamp cattail triptych die, Studio Katia clear bubbles

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Seize the Birthday: Pastels

Here we are with the first Seize the Birthday challenge for September! JoAnn has picked our new optional *topping*, and it is Use PASTEL Colours Only. Wow, who knew that one simple word could cause such an immediate brain freeze? :D Eventually I created this card: 

Clean and simple and very pastel! I started with my card base, masking off most of it with a torn paper mask. I blended three pastel shades of distress ink along the left side. I then used the same inks to stamp a music background over top. I angled the stamp on purpose - way better than trying to stamp a background cling stamp straight and being just a tiny bit off. ;) I die cut my flowers and sentiment banner from white cardstock, using the same pink ink to colour the sentiment border and stamp the sentiment. 

Jenny returns as our surprise party guest, and she and the design team have worked wonders with pastel colours! With or without the the topping, I hope you'll join us with your own birthday card creation. 

Supplies: Neenah white cardstock, Local King Rubber Stamp Notes & Clearly Besotted Sweet Little Sentiments stamps, Versamark & spun sugar, milled lavender & tumbled glass distress ink, Wow clear gloss embossing powder, Simon Says Stamp Fresh Daisies & Paper Smooches Bannerific dies

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Colour Hues: Lime Green and Aqua

Welcome back for the mid-month Color Hues challenge! Today we have a fun colour pairing for you to try: lime green and aqua. As often happens when someone selects specific hues (versus, say, BLUE or GREEN), I had to attend a little mini-conference on what these colours might represent. Sessions included: if Wikipedia says aqua and cyan are the same, is that good enough for me? and lime green - so much brighter than a lime's rind. (I also attended the special break-out workshop: why is random stamping so hard?) All these helped me put my card together: 

I began by stamping these flowers - in cyan! identical to aqua! - on my card panel. The centres are stamped in green (no named lime green pad in my collection) and sparkled with a marker. The Paper Hugs sentiment is coloured with the same ink, and sprayed with sparkle mist. It's layered on a black-inked die cut to give that little shadow effect.  The card base is also sponged with green ink, so everything could be matchy-matchy. 

The CH design team and our current guest, Rosemary, definitely show off how versatile this colour combination is! I hope you will test it out and join us! 

Supplies: Neenah white cardstock, Concord & 9th Filled in Florals stamps, Colorbox cyan, Catherine Pooler garden party & MFT extreme black ink, Simon Says Stamp Paper Hugs & Winnie & Walter Katharine cutaway pierced rectangle frame die, Spectrum Noir clear glitter sparkle pen, Tsukineko clear shimmer spray, Studio Katia crystal clear confetti

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