Happy Little Stampers: Stencils

It's time for the April Stencil Challenge at Happy Little Stampers! Our stencil challenges are anything goes, so I picked a stencil I hadn't used before: 

This is a turnabout stencil, meaning I could rotate it and make a design using four different colours of ink - I went with four shades of blue. I used the same four inks to colour my big die cut sentiment, backing it with a black die cut to help it stand out against the stencil pattern. I cut the panel at an angle and added the smaller congratulations right on the card base. 

Lots of fun ways to use stencils on the HLS blog, so be sure to visit - and then join us! 

Supplies: Neenah white & Recollections black cardstock, Concord & 9th In Bloom sentiment stamp, Versafine onyx black & Catherine Poolersomething borrowed, suede shoes, dress blues & juniper mist ink, Wow clear gloss embossing powder, Concord & 9th Joyful Tiles turnabout stencil, Ellen Hutson Yasss die

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Happy Little Stampers CAS: Tropical

Happy Little Stampers CAS Challenge is going tropical for April! Since I have a stamp set called Tropical Sensations, it seemed only right to use it: 

The hibiscus and sentiment make me think of Hawaii, ahhhhh. After stamping both, I added some splatters of the peach and yellow inks using a paintbrush. I know there's no green on the main panel, but this strip down the side seemed right, anyway. :D 

The cards on the HLS blog will also transport you to the tropics! I hope you will make a tropical CAS card and join us. 

Supplies: Neenah white cardstock, American Crafts Amy Tangerine Sketchbook patterned paper, MFT Tropical Sensations stamps, Versafine onyx black & Catherine Pooler bellini, tutti frutti & tiara ink

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The Snarky Stampers Do ATCs

It's time for a new Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers challenge - too bad we missed April 1st by a day! ;) Our new theme is A is for ATC. Also known as Artist Trading Cards or Coins. Edna has helpfully offered the correct dimensions for both! 

I had some packaging I thought would make for fun ATC bases, and had enough to cut a pair: 

It's a fairly porous kraft-style card, so I used distress oxides with my stencil to make sure the colours would show up. I thought these two Mod Birds from my Favorite Things went well with the snarky stickers from Tim Holtz. These were fun and easy to put together - here's a closer look at each. 

More fun inspiration from my sisters in snark as well as our current Queen and guest designer, Fran! Hope you decide to join us. 

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Inkspirational: Photo Inspiration

Welcome to the newest Inkspirational challenge, where we have a pretty photo to inspire you! I was inspired by the flowers in glass containers, and the grey backdrop: 

...and inspired to make another sunflower card as the war in Ukraine continues. :( The image is watercoloured with Zigs. I actually looked at a few tutorials for watercolouring glass, but they were way above my pay grade. :D After the flowers were done, I went a bit nuts with patterned paper! For my usual style, at least. I liked how the yellow brought out the sunflowers and the small, darker grey panel added a bit of contrast. Hugs seemed an appropriate sentiment. 

I love the variety of cards my teammates were inspired to make from this photo - and I hope you'll feel inspired to join us. 

Supplies: Neenah white cardstock, Canson watercolour paper, Authentique Be(you)tiful patterned paper, Technique Tuesday Sunny Flowers stamp & die, Clearly Besotted Many Mini Messages stamp, Versafine onyx black ink, Wow clear gloss embossing powder, Zig markers, Sizzix/Tim Holtz deckle die, foam tape

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Time for Some Embossing Magic at Scrap 'n Stamp!

Happy April! The Scrap 'n Stamp design team and special guests are kicking off the month with an Embossing Magic Inspiration Hop! There are so many creative ways to use embossing powder, and we'll be showing you different ideas on our blogs, YouTube channels and Instagram accounts. Here's my card: 

I use embossing powder all the time - but mostly clear or sparkle, and mostly to emboss whatever images or sentiments I happen to be stamping. So it was fun to come up with a way to use these pretty pastel colours from Hampton Art! I decided they would be perfect to colour some of my Whittle dies. Of course, if you give me a choice between plain and sparkle, I'm probably going to choose sparkle! I coloured the belly of my shark with grey Copics before embossing the top half in blue sparkle. For the octopus, I wanted a little shading difference between his front and back legs, so while I used Versamark ink for the main body, I used black Versafine ink for the back four legs. The sun is done in yellow and orange sparkle powders. The watery background is an ink smooshed watercolour panel - next to all the sparkle, it looked rather dull, so I spritzed it with some shimmer mist. To keep the main panel from being too plain, I dry embossed it with a Heffy Doodle bubble wave stencil. Finally I added a sentiment from Poppystamps Whittle Sealife Sentiments set, then added some patterned paper along the bottom so the sentiment wouldn't be the only thing in black. Yep, that's the level of design expertise I aspire to. :D 

It's a hop, so in addition to lots of paper crafting inspiration, there's a prize on offer! Comment on participating blogs, Youtube videos and Instagram posts, and you might be the lucky winner of a $50 gift certificate to the Scrap 'n Stamp store! Here's the full lineup: 

SNS Blog

Lindsey --> you are here! 

Kia

Deepa

Meghan

Karen

Susan

Allison

Tara

Tracey

MadeByMeghanK

Thanh

Jessica

SNS IG

I hope we've inspired you to try some embossing magic of your own! Have a great weekend, and happy hopping!

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Color Hues: Pink and Green

And just like that, it's April! Apart from April Fools Day, the 1st of the month brings a new Color Hues challenge: PINK and GREEN. Perfect colours for spring flowers, so of course I was determined to go off in a different direction: 

How about a pink flamingo in some reeds, instead? :D I recently received this stamp set from my friend Julie, and it seemed an ideal time for it to see a little ink. I found some appropriate greenery on an old Paper Smooches set. Simply coloured with Copics, I added a pink mat, and my clean and simple card was done. It does make me chuckle! :D 

For some beautiful pink and green inspiration, visit the Color Hues blog, and then I hope you'll join us!

Supplies: Neenah white & (?) pink cardstock, Picket Fence That's Flocking Great & Paper Smooches Courteous Cuties stamps, Versafine onyx black ink, Wow clear embossing powder, Copic markers

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