Enjoy the Ride

I've been having fun playing along with challenges now that I'm back to stamping again — it often seems hard to get back in the groove after a break, and Christmas/New Year's was definitely a break from crafting, if not from being busy. ;) Today I'm using the sketch and theme from the January challenge at STAMPlorations. 

I can use stamps, I can do CAS (clean and simple), and the sketch has a lot of possibilities. Here's my interpretation:

I'd say my main deviation from the sketch is leaving a border of the green card base showing on the right side of the card as well as the left. With that car looking like it just might be careening out of control, I think this may make a fine age-related birthday card with the right snarky sentiment inside. ;) 

Since I've used STAMPlorations stamps, I'll also be entering this into their never-ending anything goes challenge. 

Supplies: white cardstock, Craft Smith textured green card base, STAMPlorations Enjoy the Ride stamps, Ranger lilypad ink, fun foam (under the white panel for dimension) 

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Shopping Our Stash (Gah!)

Several of us in the stamping world were shocked and saddened with the recent death of fellow stamper (and for many, friend) Leslie Hanna, aka the Crooked Stamper.  In tribute, Shopping Our Stash's current Colour Me Monochromatic challenge suggests creating a card either in a favourite colour, or Leslie's LEAST favourite colour (gah! — as she would have said) pink. I definitely wanted to play along, even though I feel a little bit (gah!) about pink myself. 

Pink this definitely is. I started with smooshing four (why do I have FOUR? Now there's a question) shades of pink distress ink on my craft mat/butcher paper, misting with a bit of water, and using the result to ink this roses background stamp. While I got a very pretty full size impression, with a second inking I also got this smaller panel. I decided to use it with some coordinating cardstock and a simple thank you sentiment. The full size panel has gone into what Leslie would have called a UFO (unfinished object) pile for use some other time. 

There's still a bit of time left if you want to play along, too, in (gah!) pink or some other colour.

Supplies: Stampin' Up melon mambo & textured blushing bride cardstock, Strathmore mixed media paper, Impression Obsession Cover-a-Card roses & Hero Arts thank you stamps, spun sugar, worn lipstick, picked raspberry & victorian velvet distress inks, pop-dot tape

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How Old?

Saturday! And after giving ourselves a couple of extra weeks to recover from the festive season and all that entails, the Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers is back with a new challenge! 

O is for OLD. We're hoping you'll get your snark on and make something that pokes gentle (or not-so-gentle) fun at the ageing process. As has been said, it is better than the alternative. Here's what I came up with: 

Yes, I'm using a Bird Crazy stamp again! They seem ideally suited to a snarky sentiment. I went for this guy for his oh-so-innocent look. A little watercolouring was all he needed. Now to find the perfect person to send this to! ;) 
If you haven't already, it's time to put away all those stamps referencing peace and goodwill and all those happy happy things and get back to being snarky! My sisters in snark had a lot of fun with this prompt, as did our latest guest designer and Queen of Snark Cyndi! You have until January 22 (wait, how is that possible? Did January not just begin?) to join us. 

Supplies: white & blue cardstock, Strathmore watercolour paper, Tim Holtz Bird Crazy stamp & die, Snarky Stamps Ahh Real Birthday sentiment stamp, My Favourite Things black licorice ink, Kuretake Gansai Tambi watercolour paints, Lawn Fawn A Birdie Told Me & Simon Says Stamp Pstage Stamp Edge Frame dies, Versamarker, pop-dot tape

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I Can't Believe...

... I made a Christmas card today, the start of the second week of January. Lots of people do make holiday cards year-round, to save some stress come November/December, and I often do as well. But this year I felt I was done with making them for a month or so at least. And then along came the latest Essentials by Ellen Mix It Up challenge. This month, the challenge is looking for a mix of their product and My Favorite Things (MFT). So I mixed and matched and made my card: 

I can't help it if this is my very favourite Essentials by Ellen stamp set. I thought Santa would be perfect poking his head out of this wonky window. His beard is adhered to the card base, while his hat is popped up on foam tape that is just a bit thicker than what I used to pop the stitched panel, so there is some interesting dimension. Otherwise, I kept my design very simple... white on white with just the pops from his red hat and the black embossed ink. It is one of the most CAS Christmas cards I've ever made, which is why I'm going to add it to the current Simple CASology challenge. Since I used my NEW MFT Peek-a-Boo wonky window and Blueprints 24 dies, I am also linking up to the current Monday Simon Says Stamp Something New challenge. 

Supplies: white cardstock, Essentials by Ellen Tis the Season stamps and die, Versafine onyx black ink, Zing clear embossing powder, My Favorite Things Peek-a-Boo wonky windows & Blueprints 24 stitched rectangle dies, Spectrum Noir marker, pop-dot tape

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Muse Challenge

Apart from a card for the latest Naughty or Nice challenge (Are you playing? You should!) I haven't been making anything for several days now — partly that's what happens when I actually clean up and put everything away, I'm not overly inclined to get stuff back out again. :D However, lest I forget how to stamp, I decided it was time to start again, and the latest Muse challenge seemed a good way to begin. Here's the Muse card, by Michele: 

I was inspired by Michele's card layout, her design of black and white with just a pop of colour, and her mushy theme. ;) I wandered off a bit, but here's what I ended up with: 

Shockingly, I went with blue instead of red for my pop of colour. In addition to a shiny blue foil heart, my cat's collar/ribbon is also blue. My black and white patterned paper isn't a true black, and my cat and sentiment are on watercolour paper, which isn't really white, so I ended up with a grey card base. Since it matches the cat, that's fine with me. And obviously, instead of putting my image and sentiment on one large oval panel, I chose a smaller circle and a sentiment flag. 
Now that I've made one card, I may feel like making more! Thanks for stopping by, and check back tomorrow, just in case... 

Supplies: American Crafts textured grey cardstock, Strathmore watercolour paper, KaiserCraft Black and White Timeless patterned paper, My Favourite Things I Knead You stamps, Versafine onyx black ink, Zing clear embossing powder, My Favourite Things Blueprints 24 stitched circle die, distress markers, blue heart die cut from stash, pop-dot tape

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New Year, New Naughty or Nice Challenge!

Happy Day One of 2016! I hope the new year holds only good things ahead. Here's one good thing... the newest Naughty Or Nice challenge! This month, we are asking you to Get Silly. Silly images, silly sentiments... whatever tickles your silly bone!

When I sat down to make my card for this, I wasn't sure I still remembered how to make anything that wasn't Christmas-related. I decided to go the puns-are-silly route, and here's what I came up with: 

Isn't that little guy (hamster? gerbil? Never did own any rodent-related pets) cute? I almost hung him from the top of the wheel, but decided that might be a step too silly. I chose bright cheery colours to go with the happy, punny sentiment. 
You know the Troublemakers will have their sillies on, so be sure to stop by the challenge blog for some giggles. And then bring out your silly supplies and join us! 

Supplies: white & yellow cardstock, Stampin' Up patterned paper, Lawn Fawn Wheelie Like You stamps & dies, My Favourite Things black liquorice ink, Prismacolor pencils, Mama Elephant Femme Frames die, Creative Memories corner-rounding punch, pop-dot tape

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