Mixing It Up with Ellen Hutson

I finally had a chance to play along with the barely-still-current Mix It Up challenge at Ellen Hutson. This month they are mixing their own Essentials by Ellen products with those of Concord & 9th. There were a lot of different directions I thought of taking this challenge (why I'm entering with half a day left...) but shockingly, I ended up with... a SHAKER card! 

I don't particularly like making shaker cards! But once I'd settled on the JOY die cut with background letters, and this cheeky elf (doesn't he look like he's up to something?) it was difficult to imagine it not as a shaker card. Using fun foam with a middle section cut out for the shaker element seemed less work than using pop-dot tape. We'll see how well it holds. (Advantage to making cards early.) The shaker is a mix of red and iridescent stars, with a few extra red ones decorating the front panel. I love how the patterned paper echoes the main joy sentiment and also adds a secondary one. 
With all the sequins involved, I'm going to link this up to Just Us Girls trend week, which just so happens to be sequins! 

Supplies: white cardstock, Studio Calico Magical patterned paper, acetate, Essentials by Ellen Elf'd & Concord & 9th Joy stamps & dies, Versafine onyx black & Stampin' Up real red inks, Spectrum Noir markers, Little Things from Lucy's Cards clear iridescent & stash red star sequins, frosted lace Stickles, fun foam

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Christmas Muse Wreath

It's well into September, so my Christmas stamps are calling to me more and more. At the Muse: ChristmasVisions challenge this week, Kimberley Wiener is the Muse with this beautiful card: 

I focused on the wreath with its hanging ribbon and bow, as well as the general layout of the card. It's early enough in the season (read: it's really nowhere near the season) that I'm still okay with the traditional colours, so I went with a green wreath instead of the trendy teal. Here's mine: 

I chose to stamp my wreath directly on my main panel, rather than die cutting it. It's actually a layered stamp set, but I decided I preferred it stamped all in the one shade of green. You get some variation of colour just from the layers of ink building up. I paired it with a cute dimensional bow die cut and a sentiment from the same set. I finally cracked open my pack of Hero Arts "dots" to decorate the wreath. I'm also adding this to the current Wednesday Simon Says Stamp challenge to "Stamp It". 
Now it's time for me to get outside and enjoy this beautiful September afternoon! 

Supplies: white & Stampin' Up real red cardstock, Hero Arts Color Layering Wreath stamps, Simon Says Stamp grass green & Stampin' Up real red inks, Paper Smooches baby bow die, Hero Arts Shades of Blush dots

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Rerun Challenge

Good Sunday evening! I'm stopping by with a card for a new-to-me challenge, Winnie & Walter's Rerun challenge. 

The challenge is looking for cards using the Winnie & Walter set In Bloom: Renee's Leaves. Here's what I came up with: 

I started by stamping and clear embossing the sunflower from Anna's Flora onto watercolour cardstock. I also stamped and cut a mask for the flower from a sticky note so I could stamp and emboss the two leaves. After watercolouring, I stamped the sentiment and embossed with sparkle embossing powder just to add a little something. I die cut the panel and popped it up just a little, using some fun foam, on the patterned paper base. Sequins seemed a little too blingy, but a few enamel dots felt just right. 
With lots of stamping, I'm going to add this to the current Simon Says Stamp challenge, Stamp It. 
If you haven't checked out this challenge, there's some great inspiration, including a video by my friend Emily! Enjoy the last few hours of your weekend. ;) 

Supplies: white cardstock, Strathmore watercolour paper, My Minds Eye Lost & Found: Rosy patterned paper, Winnie & Walter In Bloom: Anna's Flora, In Bloom: Renee's Leaves & The Party stamps, Versafine onyx black ink, Zing clear & Hero Arts Sparkle embossing powders, Winnie & Walter Katharine die, Zig clean colour watercolour markers, My Minds Eye Vintage Christmas enamel dots, fun foam


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Muse Times Two

Happy weekend! If you're reading this in Canada or the US, it's not even over yet, thanks to the Labour Day long weekend! It just so happened I had a little time yesterday and today to play with stamps and ink, and made a couple of cards. My friend Ardyth runs two different card challenges, and I made one for each. 
First up, Muse Card Club, where Sarah Platt is the current Muse with this card: 

When being inspired by someone else's card, I almost always use the card design as one of my inspirations. This time, I decided to set myself an extra challenge by purposely not using the same layout. Instead, I primarily focused on the faceted heart with Brushos colouring it, and the layered sentiment. Here's my version: 

Faceted heart, check. Layered sentiment, not quite so much, but I couldn't quite get the layered thing to work for me with the supplies I had. Because I wasn't using Sarah's card design, I added a little interest by embossing the main white panel before adding everything to a white card base. After cutting the watercolour heart, I used a small heart punch from the same piece to make two faux enamel dots. (Remember when we would have said they were faux brads? lol) 
Onto Ardyth's other challenge, Muse: ChristmasVisions. Here the Muse is Kim Makortoff. Here's her card: 

this time I planned to go for a much more straightforward CASE (copy and share everything), but the stamp I initially thought would be perfect didn't work the way I wanted it to. Instead, I used a stamp from a set I bought last year but hadn't yet used. My version:

The evergreen garland was just the right size for the top and bottom of the panel. I was even brilliant enough (for me lol) to turn the panel in my MISTI instead of repositioning the stamp so the top and bottom images would be the same distance from the edges. A little brown pencil crayon for the pine cones was all the colouring needed. The big sentiment is embossed in red glitter embossing powder for some festive shine. A few red star sequins take the place of the berries in Kim's card. 
Since my evergreen bough is seeing ink for the first time, I'll add this to Darnell's current NBUS (Never Before Used Schtuff) challenge. 
That's all from me for now! 

Supplies: (Happy Anniversary) white & blue cardstock, Strathmore watercolour paper, vellum, Simon Says Stamp Essential Greetings stamp, chipped sapphire distress ink, Zing clear embossing powder, Winnie & Walter Flawless Heart & unknown Happy dies, Darice diagonal stripe embossing folder, Magenta Nuance purple watercolour powder, Glossy Accents, pop-dot tape; (Merry Christmas) white cardstock, red Craft Smith card base, Stampin' Up Festive Fireplace & Hero Arts Lowercase Christmas stamps, Versamark, Stampin' Up garden green & real red inks, Zing red glitter embossing powder, MFT blueprints 24 stitched panel die, Prismacolor pencil, red star sequins

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Caffeine Snark

It's time for a new Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers challenge! 

C IS FOR CAFFEINE! Coffee and tea cards are hugely popular with stampers these days, and while it's true I may actually drink more tea than coffee, nothing says caffeine like good old coffee. So despite my lack of coffee-related images, I went the java route: 

The phrase that launched a thousand memes... and this is one coffee-related stamp I do own. What I don't have is a coffee-ring stamp. So I grabbed a small glass and my ground espresso distress ink. I smooshed the ink onto a craft sheet and misted with water before stamping with the glass. DIY coffee rings. I took the leftover ink and added some splatter. 
I'm going to add my card to the current {PIN}spirational Photo Challenge: it's definitely coffee-related, and my rings are reminiscent of the photo as well:

My sisters in snark are riding the caffeine buzz too, and have lots more inspiration for you to admire! Our latest Queen of Snark and guest designer, Michelle, is so wired she made two cards! Grab a cup and join in the fun! 

Supplies: Stampin' Up whisper white, real red, chocolate chip & kraft cardstock, Viva Las VegaStamps Drink Coffee & Basic Grey Tweet stamps, Versafine onyx black, Versamark & ground espresso distress inks, Zing clear & Wow white embossing powder, MFT Hot Cocoa Cups & Mama Elephant Femme Frames dies, pop-dot tape

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Eat, Drink and Make a Card

The start of September means it's time for a new Naughty or Nice Challenge! 

Food and Drink! So many possibilities. Cakes, cupcakes, ice cream... and yet I went for beer. 

My idea started with this sentiment from Riley & Company. (This card will be for my step-son, who puts in long hours at work.) Not being a beer drinker myself, I have hardly any images that work with the sentiment. Off to The Graphics Fairy I went, and found this retro guy, who seemed to me was relaxing at the end of a long day at the office. The illustration put me in mind of a New Yorker cartoon, so I decided to keep my card clean and simple, with just a little pencil colouring so it wasn't totally boring. The pierced frame was coloured with distress ink before I adhered it... getting it on straight was definitely the most challenging part of this card. 
The Troublemakers have lots of fun projects on the blog to inspire you! You have until September 25th to grab a snack and a beverage and join us. 

Supplies: white cardstock, Riley & Co sentiment stamp, Graphics Fairy image, Versafine onyx black & stormy sky distress inks, Zing clear embossing powder, MFT blueprints 25 pierced rectangle die, watercolour pencils

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