Naughty or Nice Reminder

Welcome to a new week... I thought July went by quickly, now where has the first half of August gone?
We're half way through our current Naughty or Nice Challenge... YOUR NUMBER'S UP! We're looking for age-related cards or projects.

You can never have too many birthday cards on hand, so I made another: 

This stamp set has been very handy for age-related birthday cards! At the moment, I am totally stuck on stamping the bottle in this pearlescent green colour. (One of these days, I'll move on.) Using the MISTI made it easier to stamp the bottle foil in gold, although it still took me two tries. Always remember to take the mask off the other part of the image BEFORE stamping. :P I added a little patterned paper up the left side — to really match the challenge, it even has numbers on it. 

You have until August 25th to play along! (Psst... we even have a prize up for grabs in honour of our 30th challenge!)

Supplies: white cardstock, Crate Paper DIY Shop patterned paper, Papertrey Ink Uncorked stamps & dies, Versamark onyx black, Brilliance pearlescent thyme & galaxy gold inks, Zing clear embossing powder, pop-dot tape

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Third Time's the Charm?

I'm back with a third and final entry for Ellen Hutson's call for guest designers for their Pin-Sights Challenge. And just for something completely different, I made a Christmas card. 

I purposely took the month of July off from Christmas card making. But it's August now. :D I love this Tis the Season stamp set! It was my husb who asked me if I could colour the bulbs in a way that would make them "glow". So I used two of these teeny ball applicators to sponge distress inks in and around each light. My husb thinks I did it so well, he suggested I make several of these for the Christmas season! :o For the panel on the left side, I stamped the lights several times and coloured them. When I tried them with the main panel, they seemed to be competing for attention too much, so I softened them with an overlay of vellum. And of course a little glitter was needed. ;) As was clear embossing powder on the sentiment.

Enjoy your weekend! 

Supplies: white cardstock, vellum, Essentials by Ellen Tis the Season stamps, Versafine onyx black, festive berries & mowed lawn distress inks, clear embossing powder, Glitter Ritz regal red glitter

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Pin-Sights Guest Call, Take Two

I'm back with a second card to enter for Ellen Hutson's Pin-Sights guest designer call. (Pick me! Pick me! :D) This time I'm playing with the Mondo Hydrangea: 

It really IS mondo in size! I tried to highlight that by having it escape the side borders of the background panel. Confession: I have yet to take the time to watercolour this flower properly, even though I've seen many beautiful examples across the interwebs. I take the easy route and let watercolour powders do the work. 

I also used my green powder for the background. A scripty die cut hello seemed to finish this off perfectly. 
Now that my self-imposed July ban on Christmas card making is over, I am playing around with a few ideas for a third and final entry to this call. Stay tuned! 

Supplies: white & indigo cardstock, Strathmore watercolour paper, Essentials by Ellen Mondo Hydrangea stamps & dies, Versamark ink, Hero Arts white embossing powder, Magenta Nuance cerulean blue & grass green watercolour powders, Winnie & Walter The Big, the Bold and the Happy die, glue dots

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Somewhat Inappropriate

Welcome to the latest Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers challenge! All things considered, it's amazing it's taken us to Challenge #64 to arrive at...

I is for Inappropriate! I'm not sure it's possible to top Sister Lee's graphic for this post, but the Sisters have given their best. Sometimes I'm amazed I still have membership in the Sisterhood — I'm much better at being snarky in thought than deed. So here is about as inappropriate as I get (on a card):

I love to disguise snark with cute, so paired my sentiment with the most innocent of the Crazy Birds. The polka-dot background was created with translucent embossing paste coloured with one of the same purples used to colour said bird. For the card base, I lightly sponged some distress ink around the card borders. I like the almost patterned paper look it gives; I may do that again!  

You won't be surprised to hear that my sisters have done a fine job with this challenge! Be sure to head over to the blog to see their masterpieces. We also have a fine sample from our latest Queen of Snark and guest designer Mimi! You know you want to play along with us! ;) 

Supplies: white cardstock, Fluid watercolour paper, Stampers Anonymous/Tim Holtz Bird Crazy stamp and die, Paper Issues/Snarky Stamps Ahh Birthday sentiment stamp, Versafine onyx black MFT black licorice & milled lavender distress inks, Zing clear embossing powder, Zig clean colour markers, Dreamweavers translucent embossing paste, Heidi Swapp polka dot stencil, Stampin' Up ticket corner punch, pop-dot tape

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Pin-Sights Guest Call Challenge

Ellen Hutson is looking for guest artists for their Pin-Sights Challenge! Since I like the Essentials by Ellen stamps and dies, and have played along in the challenge, I just can't resist trying my luck. Here's my card:

I love how this cute bear is designed to hold things! There are hearts and a smiling sun in the set that he can hold, but I decided I wanted him holding a gift for this card. I had to reach into my Christmas stash for a present that was just the right size. His party hat is from another Ellen set, Wish Big. For the background, I misted some paper and sprinkled just enough watercolour powder for a light wash. Purple and orange are not usually a go-to colour combo for me (occasionally at Halloween...) but I like the way it pops here. The party hat and gift ribbon are brushed with Wink of Stella for some shimmer, while the pompom has Stickles. Pretend you can see the Wink of Stella shine! 

I plan to revisit this design closer to December with Christmas colours! But first, I might make another card or two for this guest call. ;) 

Supplies: white & mauve cardstock, Strathmore bristol paper, Essentials by Ellen All Inside & Wish Big stamps & dies, Lawn Fawn Toboggan Together stamp, Versafine black ink, Spectrum Noir markers, Zig clean colour markers, Magenta Nuance purple watercolour powder, MFT Blueprints 24 stitched rectangle die, Wink of Stella clear glitter marker, frosted lace Stickles, pop-dot tape


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Your Number's Up!

Hello, August! The first of the month signals a new Naughty or Nice challenge, and since we've hit the big 3-0, it seems only appropriate that our newest challenge is YOUR NUMBER'S UP! We're looking for age-related cards or other creations, which gives you lots of opportunity for a bit of naughtiness. ;) Here's mine: 

This card made me realize I need more cake stamps in my life. This is a combination Unity cake with the candles from a Studio G stamp. When I made this, I was having the kind of day where masking the two together seemed waaaay more difficult than it should have been. :D The sparkly glow behind the candles is inspired by cards my friend Jessi has made — she has a cool kind of paint she uses, I sponged yellow ink and iridescent medium to achieve a similar look. The crazy cat looks rather worried, doesn't he? 
Check out the fun inspiration the rest of the Naughty or Nice designers have created for your viewing pleasure! You have until August 25th to join us. 

Supplies: white cardstock, Fluid watercolour paper, Stampers Anonymous/Tim Holtz Crazy Cats stamps & dies, Snarky Stamps Ahh Birthday, Unity Eat Cake & Studio G stamps, Versafine onyx black, Colorbox espresso, Memento dandelion & twisted citron distress inks, Zing clear embossing powder, MFT blueprints 24 stitched rectangle die, Zig clean color markers, iridescent medium, Glossy Accents, glue dots

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