Mix It Up Muse

I was part of a crafty playdate yesterday! Friends Tracey, Ardyth, Natasha, Steph and i got together for a day of food, laughter and stamping. We had lots of fun, and I even managed to get a little stamping done. ;) Which meant I had the raw materials to get FOUR (count 'em, four!) cards made today! Two are for challenges that end soon, so I'm sharing them now. 

First up, a card for the Muse challenge ending tomorrow morning, where Anita Bowden is the current muse with this gorgeous card: 

I was inspired by the layout, the beautiful flower image and the colours. I went with a negative version of the card: 

I am in LOVE with this layered peony image! And also Tracey's MISTI, which allowed me to finally stamp a layered flower image (almost) perfectly. (So at least two things to add to my wish list...) Once home, I die cut the peony panel, added a sentiment, and used fun foam to pop it up on a dark purple card base. 

Next, a card for the current Ellen Hutson Mix It Up challenge. 

I mixed Ellen's mondo magnolia image with a sentiment by Savvy Stamps. The magnolia is coloured with Zig markers (yep, they're on my wish list, too). I think choosing the sequins took longer than anything else about this card! Although you can't tell in the pic, the main panel is layered on black glitter paper and then on a pale yellow card base. 
All in all, a fun and productive weekend! 

Supplies: (peony) white & purple cardstock, Altenew layered peony & Simon Says Stamp happy sentiments stamps, various purple inks, fun foam; (magnolia) American Crafts pale yellow textured & black glitter cardstock, Strathmore watercolour paper, Essentials by Ellen mondo magnolia & Savvy Stamps happy birthday stamps, Versafine onyx black ink, Ranger clear embossing powder, Zig clean colour real brush markers, Wink of Stella clear glitter marker, Little Things from Lucy's Cards sequins

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Bugs

Saturday! The Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers is here with a brand new challenge... and Edna has picked what could, perhaps, be a controversial one... 

Ugliness, as with beauty, is in the eye of the beholder. What makes me say ew may make someone else swoon. What you turn up your nose at may be my favourite thing ever. Preferred colours, patterns, styles... so personal. Luckily the Snarky Sisters love to court controversy. 

My goal was to take something I deemed fugly and turn it into something... less so. ;) Much recycling occurred for the first couple of days, as fugly stayed fugly. Then I ran across a stamp set I won years ago and have never used. I decided that must mean it qualifies as fugly! I also brought out a paper pad I bought on clearance right after I discovered how much fun patterned paper could be. It was such a good price, I totally overlooked how much I didn't like the colours and patterns. And finally, I found a panel I'd made once that I didn't like because the embossing hadn't worked on one part of the panel. Did I throw it out because of that? Of course not. (Sheesh.) Put it all together, and this is the result: 

So the stamp set... bugs. This one, another beetle-y one and a centipede. The small flowers I used are essentially the same as the ones on the bug I used. There's also a ginormous flower. I find the bug's eye kinda creepy. Rather than try to ink the little flowers in two colours, I just inked them in green and layered the sequins over the (ugly!) blossoms. (Sincere apologies to the illustrators of this set! It's just not my style.) The sun is die-cut from the colour closest to yellow in the paper pad. I used up a little more of the paper with the strip along the back. Oh, and the kraft card base? Contrary to popular belief that kraft is the go-to for masculine cards, my husband thinks it's fugly, so I used it as a nod to him. 
For more transports of ugliness, head over to our challenge blog! Our latest Queen of Snark, Creepy Glowbugg, was up for the challenge, too! How about you? 

Supplies: Stampin' Up kraft cardstock, Strathmore watercolour paper, Cosmo Cricket Clementine patterned paper, Unity/Ippity A Little Buggy & Hero Arts envelop pattern background stamps, Versafine onyx black, Colorbox frost white, Brilliance gamma green & tumbled glass & peeled paint distress inks, clear & white embossing powders, Lil' Inkers small sunshine die, Creative Memories corner-rounding punch, Darice sequins, pop-dot tape

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Tearing Up at CASology

CASology has an interesting cue word this week:

Tear... is it crying? Is it the rending of paper or other materials? Maybe you could go on one? So many options. 
Of course I decided I had to incorporate two meanings... sadness in the form of a sympathy card and masking using torn paper. I spent a day making attempts for the recycling bin. But I didn't let that stop me! Today I tried again, with I think a little more success. 

It may have helped that I CASEd myself and this card. Different stamp from the same floral set, a new sympathy sentiment, one straight and one torn edge mask for the sponging, and an offset panel on patterned paper. 
I had meant to use this challenge to build up my sympathy card stash, not my recycling pile. ;) I still have till Monday to see if I get any more done! 

Supplies: white cardstock, Heidi Swapp No Limits patterned paper, Unity Insightful Meadows & Hero Arts sympathy sentiment, Versamark & milled lavender, tumbled glass, stormy skies & chipped sapphire distress inks, Ranger clear embossing powder, Marvy-Uchida corner-rounding punch


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Mother's Day Sprinkles

I've got a card today that combines two fun challenges, CASology and CAS(E) This Sketch. 

      

With Mother's Day just a week away, I thought it might be time to make the one card I need, for my mother-in-law. 

I decided to take the CASology prompt literally and got out my watercolour powders, so I could sprinkle them on this mondo hydrangea! I really like how it turned out. I didn't want to take away from the flower too much, so I thought the sketch added some interest without competing with the focal image. This scripty hello fit nicely in the bottom right part of the panel. (I bought this Simon Says Stamp set for precisely ONE reason... it offered a COLOR and COLOUR option in the sentiments. You have to support these kinds of things. :D) 
Wow, I'm a week ahead with this! That never happens. ;) 

Supplies: white & Bazzill textured yellow cardstock, Strathmore mixed media paper, Authentique Be(you)tiful patterned paper, Essentials by Ellen Mondo Hydrangea stamps & dies, Simon Says Stamp Color and Sunshine sentiment, Versafine onyx black ink, Zing clear embossing powder, Magenta Nuance violet & grass green watercolour powders, MFT Blueprints 24 stitched rectangle die, pop-dot tape

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Hello, Cupcake!

And just like that, it's May! May 1st means it's time for a brand new Naughty or Nice challenge! 

Hello Cupcake! While you might think a card with a cupcake (or several) would have to ba all sweetness and light, it doesn't have to be... 

That grumpy bunny is drawn by my talented Troublemaker teammate Danielle! I coloured him with Spectrum Noirs before framing him and adding the perfect accompanying sentiment. I'm going to add my card to the current challenges at Seize the Birthday and the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge. 
We have big news over on the Naughty or Nice blog... we've added a few new Troublemakers! Hop over to the blog to see who we've added to the team and to see more cupcake inspiration from the old standby troublemakers. ;) You have until May 25th to join us! 

Supplies: Spectrum Noir white & Stampin' Up smoky slate & melon mambo cardstock, Tailored Expressions Party Grumplings stamps, MFT black licorice & Memento Luxe grey flannel inks, Zing clear embossing powder, Spectrum Noir markers, MFT peek-a-boo wonky window dies, pop-dot tape

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The Shortcut Guide to Paper-Piecing

Hello, Saturday and a new Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers challenge! 

The multi-talented Edna has chosen "Q is for Quilts" for our latest challenge. And by that, we mean paper-piecing of any type. As you'll see if you click over to the main blog, we are giving this one a wide range of possibilities! I went for straight-up paper-piecing, but a lot of it... 

Paper-piecing can add a fun look to an image, but all that careful cutting can be a lot of work. So here's my shortcut... use an image that has matching dies that cut RIGHT ON THE EDGE! The Bird Crazy dies do exactly that. They even have little dies that cut out the eyes, beak and wings! Now that being said, I did still have some fussy-cutting left to do. I decided I wanted the wings in a contrasting paper to the bird's body, but they didn't look right without matching his tail feathers and back. I also cut out the ribbon for the present. I patted some distress ink on an acrylic block, spritzed with water and smooshed it on the bottom of a watercolour cardstock panel so he'd have somewhere to stand. All the papers are from an incredibly old patterned paper pad. 
My friend Glenda is on the team at Seize the Birthday, and for some reason I've never played(!), so I'm going to add my bird to their Anything Goes birthday challenge, as well as the current Wednesday Anything Goes challenge at Simon Says Stamp. 
Not only do we have great inspiration over on the Snarky blog, but we are also introducing some guest designers joining us for the next few months! I hope you'll pop over and give them a warm and snarky welcome, then join us with your own *quilted* creation! 

Supplies: white cardstock, Fluid hot press watercolour paper, Basic Grey PB&J patterned papers, Tim Holtz/Stampers Anonymous stamps & dies, Paper Smooches Birthday Buddies stamps, Versafine onyx black ink, Wow clear & clear matte embossing powder, Paper Smooches word bubbles die, Glossy Accents, pop-dot tape

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