Happy Little Stampers: Stencils!

Happy Little Stampers has added a STENCIL challenge for 2021, and I am part of the new design team! As long as you use a stencil, anything goes, so I thought I would create a card that's typically *me*: 

Clean and simple? Pretty much so. A little cheeky? Yep. :D The first step to this card was picking what colour I wanted to use and stencil martinis all over it. I am ready to leave the classic red and green of Christmas behind, blue seemed a little too traditional, so I picked this bright - I could say chartreuse? - green cardstock. Luckily for me, it's quite a nice match for twisted citron distress ink (more so than the photos would indicate), so used it to create the contents of my girly martini. (Lest you think I'm a complete philistine, I like my classic martinis with gin.) I also added the same sparkly paste to the rim of the glass. The black card base made the other elements really pop. 

There's a brand new design team for this brand new challenge, with brand new creations to inspire you! If you have a stencil and a bit of time, I hope you will join us! 

Supplies: Neenah white, Stampin' Up pear pizazz & Recollections black cardstock, MFT Martini Time stamp, MFT Let's Toast die, Picket Fence Studios Martini Glasses stencil, Nuvo moonstone glimmer paste, foam tape

Pin It Now!

ABC Christmas: A & B

We're almost a week into 2021, and I'm here with my first Christmas cards of the year, thanks to ABC Christmas Challenge! We are starting the year with A for Advent and B for Bells. 

There are many traditions and customs associated with Advent, and I, like many of my teammates, decided to focus on the colour purple/violet, traditionally associated with the season of Advent through liturgical vestments: 

I wanted to combine the colour with Christmas trees, but after several attempts that went nowhere, settled for just the colour. I used shaded lilac distress ink with a snowflake stencil, then added a thin layer of glimmer paste for sparkle and shine. I die cut the sentiment and sponged it with the same ink, spraying it with sparkle mist before backing it with vellum to let it stand out a little more. The card base is also coloured with the same ink. 

With B for Bells, I had a choice between traditional bells and jingle bells, and opted for a jingle bell: 

I really hope this sentiment has less of a pandemic vibe to it by the time Christmas 2021 rolls around! It and the bow are stamped in red and embossed with sparkle embossing powder, while the bell itself is embossed in silver. For the card base, I crossed my fingers, hoped for the best, and embossed a music background on the red TEXTURED card base. Fortunately, with a generous application of anti-static powder, I kept stray speckles to a minimum. Both cards are relatively flat for easy mailing come the season. 

My talented teammates have lots of Advent and Bell inspiration for you - and imagine how nice it will be to have such an early start on your 2021 holiday cards! 

Supplies: (merry & bright) Neenah white cardstock, vellum, shaded lilac distress ink, Uniko Let It Snow stencil, Dieversions Merry & Bright die, Nuvo moonstone glimmer paste, Tsukineko clear sparkle shimmer mist; (jingle on) Neenah white cardstock, Craft Smith textured red card base, A Jillian Vance Design Jingle All the Way & Market Street Stamps Vintage Music stamps, Versamark & Memento Luxe love letter ink, Hero Arts sparkle, Ranger silver & Wow white embossing powder

Pin It Now!

Addicted to Stamps and More: Make Your Mark

Addicted to Stamps and More is back for 2021! And we are starting off with the Make Your Mark challenge. For this challenge, we want you to use anything that makes a mark - and I decided to let alcohol inks make my background *marks*: 

I am definitely still in the early learning stages with alcohol inks, but I like this background made with just two inks, a blue and a silver. Although the blue is called Celestial, the panel seemed more ocean-like to me, so I added a trio of fish and two very carefully embossed sentiments. Of course the inked fish count as making a mark, too. ;) 

Beautiful inspiration from my design teammates on the ATSM blog! I hope we can inspire you to make your mark and join us! 

Supplies: Neenah white cardstock, Yupo paper, MFT Adorned Ocean Friends stamps & dies, Sunny Studio Stamps Best Fishes stamps, Versafine onyx black, Altenew sea glass & ocean waves ink, Wow clear gloss embossing powder, Jacquard silver & Ranger celestial pearl alcohol ink, MFT wonky stitched rectangle die

Pin It Now!

Happy Little Stampers: CAS

The Happy Little Stampers CAS Challenge is back! We are starting off with the theme Short and/or Tall. I went tall with my card and my image: 

My background is blended with distress oxides, with a little water splatter, of course. ;) This flower stamp suddenly doesn't look as tall after all on a slimline card! I left a gap in the embossing to fit the sentiment. 

We are welcoming three new designers to the CAS team: Lady Joyful, Maja and Lynda! Visit the HLS blog to see the beautiful inspiration cards my teammates - old and new - have created. I hope you will join us. 

Supplies: Neenah white cardstock, Unity Insightful Meadows stamps, Versamark & bundled sage, faded lipstick & wilted violet distress oxide inks, Wow white embossing powder, Pinkfresh Studios stitched slimline die

Pin It Now!

Color Hues: Red and Grey

Happy 2021! Let's jump into the new year with a new Color Hues challenge - this one, RED and GREY,  picked by me! Surprisingly, I ended up with more grey than red in my card: 

Once again, as I struggle to move away from making Christmas cards, patterned paper comes to the rescue. ;) With grey as one of my colours, I knew I was going to have a cat, and watercoloured a Tim Holtz crazy cat, adding a shimmery red balloon to his tail. The paper I picked gave my cat something to stand on, and added a little extra interest to the large background panel. A snarky sentiment was all it needed! :D 

A beautiful array of red and grey cards awaits you on the Color Hues blog! I hope you'll make this part of your new year's crafting. 

Supplies: Neenah white Cardstock, Canson watercolour paper, Teresa Collins Far & Away patterned paper, Stampers Anonymous/Tim Holtz Crazy Cats & Crazy Things & Hero Arts Irreverent Birthday stamps, Simon Says Stamp intense black ink, Zig watercolour markers, Sizzix/Tim Holtz Crazy Cat dies, Winsor & Newton iridescent medium, Creative Memories corner-rounding punch, foam tape 

Pin It Now!

Happy Little Stampers: Watercolour

Happy New Year's Eve (in my time zone) or perhaps, Happy New Year! 

Happy Little Stampers is back! After taking a six-month sabbatical, we are starting off 2021 with our watercolour challenge, and as long as it includes some kind of watercolouring, it's anything goes! 

I'm finding it hard to shift myself out of Christmas crafting, so had a false start with an ocean scene that quickly went nowhere. :D Instead, I went with this beautiful big floral image, and for an extra incentive for myself, finally tried my Daniel Smith watercolours. I've had them for ages, but felt, perhaps, a little intimidated by them! Now that I've used them, they'll be coming out more often. When I die cut the finished image, I also used the optional centre die to add some extra dimension to the flower petals. While trying different background ideas, I came across this patterned paper that matched the darker leaves perfectly. I added glue dots under the petals to make sure they keep that little bit of dimension, adhering the rest of the image flat. A simple sentiment was the only other addition. 

We are welcoming three new watercolour members to our team - Ashwini, Bhavya, and Penny! Be sure to head to the HLS blog to see their their beautiful designs, as well as those of my returning teammates Helen, Caz, Swapna, Barb, Susan and Sue. You have the month of January to add your own watercoloured creation!

Supplies: Bazzill marshmallow cardstock, Canson watercolour paper, Jillibean Soup Garden Harvest patterned paper, Concord & 9th Vintage Flower stamp and dies, Concord & 9th Everyday Bouquet stamp, Simon Says Stamp intense black ink, Daniel Smith watercolours, Creative Memories corner-rounding punch

Pin It Now!