Happy Little Stampers: Stencils

It's time for the April Stencil Challenge at Happy Little Stampers! Our stencil challenges are anything goes, so I picked a stencil I hadn't used before: 

This is a turnabout stencil, meaning I could rotate it and make a design using four different colours of ink - I went with four shades of blue. I used the same four inks to colour my big die cut sentiment, backing it with a black die cut to help it stand out against the stencil pattern. I cut the panel at an angle and added the smaller congratulations right on the card base. 

Lots of fun ways to use stencils on the HLS blog, so be sure to visit - and then join us! 

Supplies: Neenah white & Recollections black cardstock, Concord & 9th In Bloom sentiment stamp, Versafine onyx black & Catherine Poolersomething borrowed, suede shoes, dress blues & juniper mist ink, Wow clear gloss embossing powder, Concord & 9th Joyful Tiles turnabout stencil, Ellen Hutson Yasss die

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Don't Forget, It's the Last Naughty or Nice!

Midway through April already! And that means more than halfway through the very last challenge at Naughty or Nice. 😢 It's true, all good things must come to an end. For this final challenge, we are asking you to look through the previous 49 challenges, pick one of the themes, and make a project to share with us! For my mid-month reminder card, I went all the way back to Challenge 17: Seeing Stars. Can you believe none of the design team ventured into space for their cards? I decided I needed to fix that:

Yes, I decided to go nice, not naughty — but I wanted a card that told everyone who played along with us in the past four years (!) that they rock! And is it perhaps a bit naughty that anytime I use this Hero Arts set, I wish this sentiment was "You Rock(et)!"? (Maybe even, "You Rocket It!"...)

While I love seeing and making galaxy backgrounds, I'm also kinda liking this straight black cardstock sky. I used embossing paste with glitter to add the starry backdrop. 

I hope you will consider joining us for this 50th and final challenge at Naughty or Nice Challenges. We have a guest designer, Toni, and PRIZES!!! 

Supplies: white & black cardstock, Stampin' Up silver glimmer cardstock, Ranger silver foil cardstock, Hero Arts Rocket Thanks stamps, Versafine onyx black ink, Ranger clear embossing powder, Memory Box Celestial Bodies & Winnie & Walter Katharine cutaway dies, Winnie & Walter Big Bang Sci-Fi Star stencil, Dreamweaver glossy white embossing paste, Stampin' Up dazzling diamonds glitter, Copic & Spectrum Noir markers, Glossy Accents, Spica silver glitter marker, foam tape, fun foam

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Otterly Awesome!

Day 4 of the Daily Marker 30 Day Colouring Challenge, and today Emily, Angela and I are all using the stamp set Otterly Awesome. Lots of sweet images to colour in this set, but I kept it simple and picked the large single otter and a clam for him to hang onto. 

I mixed things up a bit by forsaking my Zigs in favour of distress inks for the otter, as I knew I wanted a deep brown that wouldn't go too "pinky" as I blended it out. For the clam, I used grey and green Twinkling H2Os, and for some extra shimmer added a coat of iridescent medium. You can also see my shimmery background, again using Twinkling H2Os. After I took this picture, I decided my splatters were a bit too obvious and watered them down a little bit. I added my sentiment to a small panel and put it all together. 

I _almost_ didn't use my blue panel, because brown and blue together are one of my least favourite pairings. But he's an otter, so I relented and gave him back his water.

September's CAS Mix up Challenge is to use a watercolour wash, so this is going there. (I also stamped, heat embossed, used patterned paper, Glossy Accents for a few water bubbles and die cuts on this.)  And I think this is my final entry for the current Simon Says Stamp Anything Goes Wednesday challenge. 

 

Supplies: white cardstock, Canson watercolour paper, Studio Calico Memoir patterned paper, Essentials by Ellen Otterly Awesome stamps & dies, Versamark onyx black & ground espresso & pumice stone inks, Ranger clear embossing powder, Twinkling H2Os, Winsor & Newton iridescent medium, MFT wonky stitched rectangle die, pop dot tape

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Pawesome

July 1st means Canada Day (or Dominion Day, if you are so inclined) and a brand new Naughty or Nice Challenge. This month, we're making it easy for you... it's ANYTHING GOES! 

Just to prove that we mean it when we say "Anything Goes", I have made a card that is absolutely ALL nice with NO naughty! 

I had fun playing with these cat stamps a couple of weeks ago for My Favourite Things' Camp Create, so decided to pull them out again for another card. This is my version of a spotlight card, with the sleeping cats stamped in grey, and the main one stamped in black, embossed in sparkle powder and coloured in. I added a little extra sparkle to his collar, nose and ears, too. 

For the background kitties, I did just a tiny bit of masking so the two cats on the left could overlap a bit. I added a strip of double-sided tape underneath them and added some glitter to ground everyone. I tried a bunch of different papers for the card base, but went with the grey zig-zags so as to not detract from the pops of colour on the main panel. 
What would you know, Simon Says Stamp is having an Anything Goes challenge, too, so off go my kitties to the link-up there. Meanwhile, the current CASology cue word is ROW, as in my row of sleeping kitties. 
With no restrictions, you have no excuse not to come and play along with us! The Anything Goes challenge runs until July 25th. 

Supplies: white cardstock, Studio Calico patterned paper, MFT I Knead You & Cat-itude stamps & die, Memento gray flannel & Luxe tuxedo black, Hero Arts sparkle embossing powder, Spectrum Noir markers, Gelly Roll clear glitter gel pen, Wow powder ultra-fine glitter, dimensionals

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You Rock(et)!

Welcome to Saturday, and to the new Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers challenge, O is for Outer Space! 

Doesn't the challenge badge alone make you want to participate? Although it was very tempting to get out my Doctor Who stamps (I know, geek alert) yet again for a challenge like this, I went a little more generically traditional this time. 

I started by stamping and embossing the rocket in silver and the fireworks and stars in sparkle embossing powders. Then I sponged a night sky over them in various blue and purple distress inks, then splattered a little perfect pearls mist for background stars. While that dried, I stamped and embossed a few more rockets so I could colour, fussy-cut and layer them for the look I wanted. The main body of the rocket is also coated in some iridescent medium for sparkly shine. A close-up:

After embossing the sentiment in silver, I coloured it to match the rocket flames before adding it to the card along with the skyline silhouettes. I think this sentiment would be so much better if it said "You Rock(et)", but perhaps that's just me. 
With all the shimmer and sparkle going on, I'm going to add this to the current Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge, Add Some Shimmer. 
Be sure to check out the many different galaxies my sisters in snark have visited this week, as well as our newest Queen of Snark and guest designer, Sharon! And then I hope you will strap on your jetpack and join us! 

Supplies: white & Bazzill textured shimmer black cardstock, Hero Arts Rocket Thank You stamps, Versamark & milled lavender, dusty concord, mermaid lagoon, faded jeans & chipped sapphire distress inks, silver & Hero Arts sparkle embossing powders, Zig watercolour markers, MFT skyline border die, homemade white confetti Perfect Pearls mist, Winsor & Newton iridescent medium

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Starry-Eyed?

It's July, and that means it's time for a new Naughty or Nice Challenge! This month, we're all seeing stars...

Stars seemed like the perfect theme for an end-of-school-year card for a boy, so alas, it's perfectly nice. ;) 

Since I didn't think up anything naughty, I decided instead to see how many different ways I could get stars on my card. The gold ones on the main panel are embossing paste mixed with galaxy gold ink and applied through a stencil, while the stars on the tag are embossed in pale gold pearl embossing powder. The dark and medium blue stars are either punched or die cut, from both regular and glitter cardstock. The pale blue stars are stamped. And of course there's also the patterned paper. 
I had hoped to make a slightly less nice card also, but sometimes life just seems to get in the way of card-making plans, doesn't it? ;) So you will just have to check the main challenge blog to see what the rest of the design team troublemakers created. Then I hope you'll join us!  And...

Supplies: white and scrap blue cardstock, My Mind's Eye Line Twist Go Fly a Kite patterned paper, Paper Smooches Birthday Buddies & Studio G stamps, Versafine onyx black, Brilliance galaxy gold, Versamark & tumbled glass distress inks, clear & pale gold pearl embossing powders, Simon Says Stamp stars stencil, Dreamweavers translucent embossing paste, Sizzix crescent tag thinlet die, assorted star dies and punches, Hemptique twine, pop-dot tape

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STAMPlorations Butterflies

I need a confirmation card. I don't really *do* religious cards. How to work around that? STAMPlorations sketch challenge to the rescue! 

It just so happened I was already thinking maybe butterflies (I'd narrowed it down to those or flowers) so the example butterflies just helped confirm (hahaha) my decision. I went even more CAS (clean and simple) than the sketch:

Besides leaving out the side layers, I also went big on the butterflies. For the masks, I die cut the butterflies from painters tape layered on waxed paper so they wouldn't be stuck forever to my cutting plate. And because I don't happen to have any proper craft masking sheets. Note the design decision to put the sentiment on a slant? Looks awesome, and prevents sadness if a straight sentiment stamps crooked. :D
Simon Says Stamp is having an Anything Goes challenge this week, so I'll link this card there, too. Finally, I'm linking up with my old teammates at Crafty Creations Challenges (All Creatures Great and Small). 
I'll be back on Saturday with the latest Snarky Sisters challenge! 

Supplies: Neenah solar white cardstock, WPlus9 Smart Kitty stamp, Spellbinders Shapez butterfly dies, Versafine onyx black & spun sugar, picked raspberry, tumbled glass, milled lavender & dusty concord distress inks, Zing clear embossing powder, pop dot tape

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A Confession, an Announcement... and Cards

First, the confession: despite the best of intentions, I rarely manage to play along with the weekly challenges at the challenge blog CASology. I follow the blog faithfully, save the cue word... and then *poof*! Time runs out. 
Then the other day, the post asked commenters to guess what what their 100th challenge word would be... and I was the one who got it right! That means I have the privilege of joining the talented design team as a guest for July. Woo hoo! 
I decided I really should get my act together and get a card made IN TIME for the current 100th challenge, with the cue word CELEBRATE.

And here is my completely unsubtle approach to that word:

In my personal definition of it, this squeaks in under the CAS (clean and simple) style. Although there are a lot of die cut glasses, they combine to form one main focal image. The hardest part of the card was trying to figure out how I was going to adhere all the glasses in just the *random* way I wanted them. Micro glue dots to the rescue! Micro glue dots are entirely too large for those teeny sequins, though... the smallest possible dots of Glossy Accents hold them in place. 
With all the Paper Smooches glasses, I am also going to enter this in the current Anything Goes challenge at SPARKS. I have a second Paper Smooches card I made, but it is such a major CASE (copy and share everything) of a card by current guest designer Diane that I'm certainly not entering it in a challenge. It will make a great end-of-school-year card though -- and that's something to celebrate, too! 

One more thing to celebrate... I think I've proved to myself that if I put my mind to it, I really can make a challenge card on time! ☺

Supplies: (celebrate) a rainbow of cardstock from various companies including Stampin' Up, Lawn Fawn Hello Sunshine patterned paper, Paper Smooches Free Spirits Icons & Avery Elle Cheers dies, Simon Says Stamps sequins; (yee haw) white, Stampin' Up (?) blue & kraft & Bazzill textured yellow cardstock, Paper Smooches Smarty Pants & Buckaroo stamps, Versafine onyx black, Memories black & Memento Luxe espresso truffle inks, Zing clear embossing powder, Prismacolor pencils, pop dot tape & squares

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G is for Glitter and GIF!

Hello Saturday! Not only is it bright and sunny outside, but check out what's going on at the Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers starting today! 

Is that not the best challenge badge ever? Our sister in snark Lee has some mad skillz with both stamps and computers. All this in preface to pointing out that our newest challenge is all about GLITTER! Dry glitter, glitter paper, glitter glue... show us some shine. Here's what I came up with:

You may be noticing I used Lisa Arana's latest Wanna Sketch -- unfortunately, the link-up closed about four hours before this was due to post. However, I created my glitter panel with a stencil and embossing paste (and, yes, glitter), so I will be linking up to Simon Says Stamp's current "Stencil It" challenge. Embossing paste is a great way to add glitter without TOO much mess. I still chose to do my glittering outside, though. ;) I'd also like to point out that while there is no snark on the front of this card, I could easily add an inside sentiment such as "exactly what kind is open to debate." :D
Wait till you see the variety of ways the Sisters -- and our latest guest Regan -- decided to use glitter! Then come and join the fun... perhaps you will be our next Queen of Snark! 

Supplies: white & Stampin' Up basic black & basic grey cardstock, Hero Arts Cheer Up stamp, Memento Luxe love letter ink, Zing clear embossing powder, Spellbinders circle die, Heidi Swapp polka dot stencil, Dreamweavers translucent embossing paste, American Crafts red microfine glitter, pop-dot tape

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World Card Making Day!

Yes, there really is a World Card Making Day. And it's today! What a great excuse to celebrate, and maybe even make a card or two. Indulging this little hobby of mine has made me friends around the world, given me the privilege of being part of two fun papercrafting design teams, let me participate in lots of creativity-stretching challenges and given me the opportunity to learn some beautiful art techniques. Oh! And make cards, of course. 

On this day, I thought it might be appropriate to join in with one of my design teams, using one of my favourite brands of stamps. 

It's not officially my week to post on the Drunken Stampers challenge blog, but luckily the Tropical Hooters team doesn't mind if a Yellow Canary decides to play along. ;) The challenge this week is a PERSON: Neil Armstrong. Of course, you also have the option of making a space- or astronaut-themed card. Naturally, some of the design team rose to the challenge and created cards dedicated to that pioneer astronaut. I went with a slightly more generic space card: 

How cute is this little Paper Smooches space alien in his UFO? Not surprisingly, I'm not the only Drunken Stamper using this fun stamp set today. As a Star Trek fan, I would of course like the sentiment to read "boldly go", but I realized that, out of context on a card, that could actually sound a little rude. :P
Since part of my card-making journey has been entering challenges, I'm going to enter this card in two: the current Paper Smooches SPARKS Anything Goes challenge, and Simon Says Stamp's We're Going Dotty challenge. 
Happy World Card Making Day! And happy weekend, of course. 

Supplies: white cardstock, Echo Park Dots & Stripes Metropolitan patterned paper, Paper Smooches Space Cadet stamps, Memento tuxedo black ink, Bic Mark-Its, Sharpies, Uchida Deco-Liner silver marker, Recollections silver half-pearls, ancient silver sequins from my stash, Multicrafts googly eye, pop-dot tape

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End of School, End of June

The last day of June already! And yet it seems like summer has barely begun. I thought I'd sneak in one last June post for the current Paper Smooches SPARKS challenge. This week it's an inspiration photo. 

I knew pretty much right away I wasn't going for my usual, be inspired by the colours approach. Instead I took inspiration from the row of crayons, and the thought that my first crayons had only one "flesh" colour; it's good to see the figurative rainbow available now. 

Which led me, of course, to a popped-up rainbow of crayons along the bottom of my card. Even more ink colours were used for the variety of school-related objects on the rest of the panel. I doubt I've ever used quite so many inks on one card! I stamped the little stars in gold ink; but when they weren't quite sparkly enough, added gold Smooch paint to bump up the shine. One thing about using so many colours: you can use pretty much any other papers you choose! So I went for a patterned paper celebrating end-of-school phrases and a mauve base. 
Of course this is also going into the Simon Says Stamp Anything Goes challenge. 
And thanks to a couple of SPARKS challenges, I have my end of school cards! Happy Canada Day tomorrow; feel free to be an honourary Canadian for a day if you're usually not. ;)

Supplies: white & Stampin' Up almost amethyst cardstock, My Mind's Eye Six by Six Away We Go patterned paper, Paper Smooches Smarty Pants & Studio G alphabet stamps, Stampin' Up real red & lavender lace, Colorbox gold & silver, Memento tangelo, dandelion, pear tart, Paris dusk, elderberry, lulu lavender, teal zeal, cantaloupe, bamboo leaves & tuxedo black inks, gold Smooch paint, silver gel pen, pop-dot tape

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End of School SPARKS

Happy Sunday! And Happy Father's Day, especially if it didn't make for a ton of extra work today. ;) We did the family thing for lunch, and tonight is grilled burgers-- not my department. 
Anyway... jumping in with yet another last-minute entry for a Paper Smooches SPARKS challenge! Yes, I do get a head start by checking the PS blog on Sundays, and yes, it usually takes me to the last day, if I make it in at all. This week is a sketch challenge. 

Look! I followed the sketch fairly closely! 

I thought I'd get a head start on a couple of end-of-school cards for the kiddlies. In place of the flowers, I made a collage of various stamps from Smarty Pants. And what better school-themed panel than some chalkboard cardstock to stamp the sentiment on? Oversized googly eyes add an element of fun. It was also fun to use white as more of an accent than a main element. I think it will work well as a "boy" card. 

Supplies: white, Martha Stewart Crafts cornflower blue & DCWV black chalkboard cardstock, Basic Grey Oliver patterned paper, Paper Smooches Smarty Pants stamps, Memories black, Colorbox frost white, Memento indigo, teal zeal, Paris dusk & dandelion inks, Wow! white embossing powder, Prismacolor pencils, googly eyes

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Hero Arts August Contest

*This is my second post of the day! (I'm shocked, too.)
Click here for my Growing in Unity post.*

Hero Arts not only makes great stamps, they also sponsor a monthly contest. And this month is perfect for me -- Clean and Simple Stamping! That's what I do best! So I plan to inundate them with entries. (We'll see if that actually happens. :D) 

Isn't this big award stamp fun? I paper-pieced the ribbons, and coloured the outline of the circle with my trusty Sharpies. I have no idea who makes the #1 stamps; I won them as blog candy. I cut out the image and popped it up on the orange mat, although it would be fun to make it into a pin and have it removable, too. 
I'm also going to enter this card into A Blog Named Hero's freestyle challenge. 
(Don't forget, I'm back tomorrow with another Growing in Unity post!) 

Supplies: white & Stampin' Up cajun craze cardstock, My Mind's Eye Lime Twist Fly a Kite patterned paper, Hero Arts/Basic Grey You're the Best stamp, Brilliance graphite black ink, clear embossing powder, orange Sharpie, Marvy Uchida corner-rounding punch, pop-dot tape Pin It Now!