Happy Saturday! It'a time for a new challenge at the Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers -- we had a large and talented turnout for our previous challenge, Z is for Zoo! I think you'll find our new one appealing as well, even if some of the design team seem to have been a little confused...
It seems we thought that the K stood not just for KRAFT, but for KRINGLE! Some of us decided that a kraft challenge was a perfect excuse to break out the Christmas spirit(s) and make a festive card. For me it was also a chance to use this subway-style stamp (and is it just me, or has that trend already left the station?) and combine it with a chalkboard technique. The shiny background circles are courtesy of a stencil, embossing paste and microfine glitter.
Of course I didn't stop there, but made a tag too.
This one is stamped and embossed on watercolour paper, then each section brushed with distress inks.
Perhaps you too will decide that our latest challenge is the perfect excuse to get a late-August start on your holiday card-making! We will happily accept any season or occasion as long as you've added some kraft to the mix. ;) Remember to check out the challenge blog for the rest of the design team's creations -- including our latest guest designer, Hazel! She got the Christmas memo, too!
Supplies: (card) white, Neenah desert storm & DCWV red silky smooth cardstock, Doodlebug Home for the Holidays patterned paper, Unity Santa, Stockings, Candy Canes, etc. stamp, Colorbox frost white ink, Wow white embossing powder, Heidi Swapp stencil, Dreamweavers translucent embossing paste, Wow microfine red glitter, white Prismacolor pencil, pop-dot tape; (tag) Stampin' Up kraft & garden green card stock, watercolour paper, Unity Santa, Stockings, Candy Canes, etc. stamp, Colorbox frost white & salty ocean, festive berries & mowed lawn distress inks, Wow white embossing powder, vanilla Smooch spritz, generic green ribbon & Twinery peapod twine
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After all my cards based on the first day of my online card class, Stretch Your Stamps 2, I'm skipping ahead to Day 3 -- alphabet and sentiment stamps! I do have some great panels that I made from the second day of background stamp lessons, they just haven't made the leap to any finished cards yet. In the meantime, I combined the techniques of Debby Hughes and Stephanie Klauck to create a cheery birthday card:
I started with three die cut clouds on which I stamped "birthday" randomly. In hindsight, I also could have stamped first, die cut second, but I'm not sure if that would have made much difference. I sponged around each cloud -- perhaps a little too much, they're pretty stormy for birthday clouds! Then I cut the hill and tried to randomly stamp "happy"... nope. Needed the stamp positioner for that. Sponged around the edges of the hill with green, and the white panel is sponged with a light blue for the sky. Finally I stamped the happy sun, embossing the orange rays with holographic embossing powder. Isn't art great? You can put the sun in front of the clouds if you want. :D
With the sentiments doing a lot of the work on this card, I'm linking up to Unity's Friends with Flair -- I haven't joined in for ages! Hope you'll come back tomorrow to discover the newest Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers challenge. Have a great weekend!
Supplies: white & textured orange American Crafts cardstock, Unity stamps (from grab bags) & Simon Says Stamp Color & Sunshine stamps, Memento teal zeal, new sprout, bamboo leaves & dandelion, Colorbox mango tango & tumbled glass distress inks, holographic embossing powder, Memory Box small cloud dies, Paper Smooches Borders I dies, pop-dot tape
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Another card inspired by the online card class Stretch Your Stamps 2 -- and yes, it's another card just from the first day's lessons!
This one again uses Shari Carroll's watercolour technique, while the layout is inspired by Lisa Spangler's card. I really like how the distress inks blended on this, and lets the background stamp become a pretty foreground. ;)
With that, I think I might even be ready to move on to the next section of the class... alphabet and sentiment stamps!
Supplies: Stampin' Up rich razzleberry cardstock, Strathmore 140 lb watercolour paper, Impression Obsession roses & Papertrey Ink simple sunflower sentiment stamps, Versafine onyx black & Victorian velvet, faded lipstick, stormy sky & dusty concord distress inks, clear embossing powder, pop-dot tape
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I'm back with another card inspired by the online card class Stretch Your Stamps 2. Just the first day has led me to three cards already -- I may never finish the course! ;) It's a great incentive to pull out all kinds of stamps and try all kinds of things with them.
For this card, I was inspired by Shari Carroll and her technique of faux-watercolouring a background stamp with distress inks. Shari used a reverse background stamp -- the kind where the design itself stays clean and the background takes the ink. Turns out I don't have any of those, so I pulled out a stamp I thought might work.
Shari used a patterned background stamp that she cut into inchies to make a grid-style card. I felt the roses on mine might not lend themselves to that, so selectively die cut three sections. The centre, larger square is popped up on the blue panel.
I have another card using this same technique I like even better! I hope to be back soon with it.
Supplies: white & blue cardstock, Strathmore 140 lb watercolour paper, Impression Obsession roses & Memory Box happy birthday stamps, stormy sky, Victorian velvet, worn lipstick & dusty concord distress inks, Nellie Snellen square dies, pop-dot tape
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I was so excited to learn I had won a spot in the newest Online Card Class -- Stretch Your Stamps 2! I found out the day the classes started... and wouldn't you know it, it was the start of two crazy-busy weeks. So yes, the classes officially ended Friday, but I started catching up this weekend.
The first two days are all about using using your background stamps. My card is inspired by Kristina Warner and her multilayer emboss resist technique, as well as Tasnim Ahmed, who cut out portions of a patterned background.
I used my Hero Arts plaid background, embossed in white and watercoloured in red, green and yellow. I was initially thinking I'd use it for a Christmas card, but a) it looked not at all Christmasy when complete, and b) plaid and watercolours aren't really all that compatible. :D So I chose to minimize the plaidness by cutting one row of the squares out on the diagonal to get a strip of diamonds. I also cut a thin strip from one edge to anchor my bold sentiment and balance the card. I have of course kept the plaid scraps for when a different inspiration strikes.
So there you have my first class-inspired card! There are more, just from day one, coming up soon!
Supplies: white card stock, Strathmore 140 lb watercolour paper, Hero Arts plaid background & Maya Road picture perfect cameras stamps, Versamark & Versafine onyx black inks, Wow white embossing powder, Grumbacher cake watercolours, Marvy Uchida corner-rounding punch
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"In here" referring to the world of the Snarky Sisterhood!
Our fourteenth challenge brings you the last letter of the alphabet, Z! Z as in zoo -- use an animal or animal print on your project. I hadn't offered much in the way of snark to the sisterhood lately, so I added a bit to a birthday card:
If there's going to be an elephant in the room, might as well make him a cute one. I paired him with patterned paper offering lots of age guesses, and a computer-generated sentiment.
Since I have never played along at Seize the Birthday, where my friend Glenda is on the design team... I'm linking there. (No "topping" -- if it was dark chocolate, I would have already eaten it anyway...)
While you're here, it seems like a good time to pick a winner from the comments on last week's CASology blog candy post! Drumroll (and random.org), please...
And what do you know, random.org randomly picked my occasionally random, often snarky sister JESSI! (Not rigged, honest.) Jessi, email me about your prize!
Be sure to visit Jessi and the other snarky sisters for more zoo inspiration. Our guest designer this week is the one and only Darnell, so stop by and check out her cards, too!
Supplies: white cardstock, Echo Park Lime Twist Fly a Kite patterned paper, Sassafras Freedom (such irony for a zoo theme...) stamp, Memento Luxe gray flannel ink, Zing clear embossing powder, Spellbinders circle die, pop-dot tape
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