Seize the Birthday #175 and (another) Self Pat

Hello all.  I had a very productive day in my craft room yesterday so I'll be sharing lots of challenge cards this week.  Before I get in to today's challenge of the day though I'd like to share a bit of Happy Monday news.  A card I shared several weeks ago was chosen as one of the monthly winners at Lil Inkers Designs this morning.  It's always a thrill to have one of my creations recognized and even more fun to get to display a cute little blog badge.  

Remember this one?

Thanks for the shout out Laura!

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On to today's challenge...

The Topping this time around at the Seize the Birthday blog is Geometric Shapes.  

After many unsuccessful attempts at triangles (I just kept seeing Jack o Lantern faces) I switched gears and went with squares.  Boring squares.  But I added some "oomph" by using some bright Catherine Pooler inks to make a "very vanilla design" a bit more vibrant.

The squares were created using the smallest two dies in a set by MFT Stamps.  I used Neenah Solar White cardstock in the 80 lb weight and then colored them by blending with ink.  (I also ink blended the blue background)  I then dipped each side of the squares in Versamark ink followed by a dusting of white embossing powder which, after heat setting, gives the squares a bit more pop.  

The sentiment is from one of my all time favs....the original Simple Strips stamp set along with the coordinating Simple Strips die from Taylored Expressions.  This set is ingenious!  A MUST HAVE in my opinion.  (She currently has several sentiment sets that work with this die.  Well worth the investment.

So that's my card for today.  Another completed challenge and another birthday card to add to my masculine stash.  I really appreciate that you took some time out of your day to visit.  Thanks!

See you on the crafty side.....

Jules