Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers #209

 

The Edna and The Sisterhood are back with another challenge for you to try.  Our prompt for the next fortnight is Underwater.  

I was so tempted to create yet another shark card

 but went for something a bit more out of the box.

And now for our awesome graphic from Lee!

Ever have days like this?  

After deciding on the stamp and sentiment I worked on the background.  I applied a couple of drops of alcohol ink to the back of a piece of vellum using a sponge dauber to spread out the ink.  Once dry I stamped/heat embossed the sentiment onto the front using black pigment ink and clear embossing powder.  The schools of fish were stamped directly onto a panel of light grey cardstock matted with white.  I folded the vellum around three sides of the panel, adhering it onto the backside with double sided tape.  I tucked the bottle under the waves and added some Stickles to finish off the top edge.  The panel was then popped up with some fun foam for a bit of added interest and dimension.

Supplies:

Ellen Hutson - Stay Salty stamp set

Ellen Hutson - S'Whale stamp set

vellum

alcohol ink

Stickles

I invite you to come visit our blog for more underwater inspiration from my fellow Sistahs as well as our Reigning Queen of Snark, Monika.

As always, thanks so much for spending a bit of your day with me!

Jules

Seize the Birthday #237

Can you believe it's time again already for a new Seize the Birthday challenge?  My days/weeks/months all seem to run together nowadays.  Please tell me that I' not alone.

My focal point is a huge clue to the new Topping.  

My card started with the butterfly stamp and die.  I chose to do some heat embossing onto vellum to create the wings which I adhered to the pink cardstock body at only the center point.  I taped off the top portion of a white panel and ink blended a very subtle ombre onto the lower portion.  The panel was then run through my die cutter with a pegboard cover die.  After heat embossing the sentiment in white onto a strip of black cardstock, all that was left was to assemble the components and add a few clear aqua droplets.  

Whether you're Team Butterfly or Team Hummingbird we are excited to see your creations.  If you're not a Toppings sort of person then any birthday card works.  Come visit our blog for more inspiration.  We hope to see you in our gallery!

Supplies:

MFT Brilliant Butterflies stamp and die set

MFT - Bitty Birthday Wishes stamp set

MFT - Pegboard Cover Up

Studio Katia - gems

Thank you so much for spending a bit of your day with me.

Jules 

Color Hues #39

 

I'm back today with another non DT challenge card.  (Yay me!)  This time I'm playing with my friends over at the Color Hues blog.  You all know by now that purple is not a favorite of mine but I dove in feet first.

I stamped the background in a Copic friendly ink and then proceeded to color it in using three shades of purples and two shades of green.  I cut down the panel and matted it with gold cardstock.  The sentiment and shadow are stacked three high for some dimension.  All that was left was some pearl embellishments.  

Supplies:

Simon Says Stamp - Interlocking Leaves cling stamp

Simon Says Stamp - Thanks die and shadow

Honeybee Stamps - gold pearl stickers

Tonic Studios - honey gold cardstock 

As always, thanks so much for spending a bit of your day with me!

Jules

 

Just Us Girls #628

 

I found myself with some extra time on my hands yesterday which is a rare occurrence in this multigenerational household.  Today I'm playing with the gals at JUGS (Just Us Girls) where the prompt is one I couldn't pass up.    

Red/Black/White

There is something about this color combo 

that always has me striving for a international vibe.

This is a very simple design however it does require some masking.  I stamped the beret and suitcase onto the blank background before stamping them once again onto masking paper.  I masked these images before stamping the bear.  I created another mask for him before stamping the tower.  All that was left was to do some alcohol ink coloring.  Voila! (See what I did there?  LOL!)

Supplies:

Ellen Hutson - Bear Ware Grand Tour

As always, thanks so much for spending a bit of your day with me!

Jules

Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers #208

 

Edna and the Sisterhood are back with another technique challenge for you to try.  Today we're asking you to incorporate Layers into your design.  There are many ways to do this and we're looking forward to seeing your creativity.  

My layers are two-fold.  You can see by the front of my card that I overlapped an abstract image stamp to create some layers behind my paper pieced old biddie.  

  

The snark is revealed once the card is opened.

And in my mind, flashing means the removal and/or exposing of layers.  

Subtle, right?  :-)

This is Layers to the Extreme!  

To create my card I began with the overlapped stamping of the background onto a panel of white cardstock.  I stamped the Ethel (not her real name) onto both white cardstock as well as a piece of lavender patterned paper.  I fussy cut the dress and adhered it to the stamped piece which I also fussy cut right up to the edge (sans balloon.)  The coloring and shading were both done with Copic markers after which I adhered her to the background, stamping the balloon straight onto the background before also coloring it in.  I popped up the stamped sentiment, gave the panel a narrow border with a coordinating color and adhered the finished panel to an A2 card front.  I stamped the inside sentiment onto a separate piece of cardstock before adhering it to the inside.  I added some two hearts die cut from the same paper as Ethel’s dress to give it a bit more presence.  

Supplies:

Art Impressions - Never Too Old to Laugh stamp set

Stamplorations - Some Snark stamp set (designed by our own Chris Dring!)

Ellen Hutson - Abstract Nature

HoneyBee Stamps - Modern Spring 6x6 paper

I invite you to come visit our blog for more layering inspiration from my fellow Sistahs as well as our Reigning Queen of Snark, Rachel.

As always, thanks so much for spending a bit of your day with me!

Jules

Perfectly CAS - April Challenge

Calling all CAS card makers!  The Perfectly CAS card blog would love for you to join in our challenges.  This month our theme is Gold.

The idea behind the PCAS challenge is to use only 1/3 of the front panel in your design.  This isn't always as easy as it sounds.  

I've found that the use of a transparent 4.25" x 5.5"grid as an overlay is extremely useful when creating a design.  The easiest way to explain my process is to determine the total number of squares on your grid and divide by three.  Your finished design should use only this number of squares.  

 

I utilized the scraps from a previous alcohol inked background to create the colors you see peeking from behind the die cut panel.   I also used it for the sentiment grounding strip as well as the tiny die cut hearts.  The sentiment is from a pre-printed package of foiled greetings.  I popped the panel onto the white card base with some fun foam.  This is an easy card to recreate and it uses almost exactly 1/3 of the squares according to my transparent overlay grid.  :-)

Supplies:

Pink Fresh Studio - Foiled Sentiment pack

Ellen Hutson - Alpine Snowfall die

Ranger alcohol inks

Martha Stewart - heart punch 

Check us out here for more inspiration and come play along!

Thank you so much for spending a bit of your day with me.

Jules

Seize the Birthday #236

 

It's Lindsey's turn to choose the Seize the Birthday topping this week and she is asking us to showcase Signs of Spring on our cards.  

Nothing says spring like flowers so I opted for a large floral stamp that covers the entirety of my card panel.

I began by stamping the image onto a white card panel and giving it a quick and loose coloring with Copic markers.  I matted the panel with an "ever so slightly" larger panel of black cardstock and then adhered it to a green card base.  The sentiment is from a pre-printed sheet which helps make this card super simple to recreate.  All that was left was a sprinkling of pretty pearls.

Supplies:

Altenew - Delicate Bouquet stamp set

Simon Says Stamp - Reverse Sassy Birthday printed sentiments

Trinity Stamps - Luminous Lemon Baubles

I invite you to visit our blog for more inspiration from my fellow teamies!

Thank you so much for spending a bit of your day with me.

Jules

Freshly Made Sketches #530

 

I'm popping in really quick to share a card I created yesterday for the Freshly Made Sketches challenge blog.  I haven't had much time for non-DT crafting so I am excited that I could fit this in.  

Here is the sketch on which my design was based.

I took the artistic liberty of using a partial circle as my main element rather than the round cornered square.  The wide black stripes are actually a sheet of very old 12x12 acetate that I pulled from my stash.  I adhered it to the white card base using double sided tape behind the black stripes.  I stamped and Copic colored in the coffee girl, cut it out with a circle die and adhered it to the acetate as shown in the sketch.  The sentiment was heat embossed in black over a strip of matching Copic colored cardstock.  I love how it turned out and may make a second card with some of the remaining acetate.  

Supplies:

Penny Black - Love Ya.... stamp set

Ellen Hutson - A Breve Note stamp set

MFT - Stitched Dome die

Teresa Collins - acetate sheet

I'll be back on Thursday for not one, but two posts.  Until then, thank you so much for spending a bit of your day with me.

Jules 

Happy Little Stampers Die Challenge - April 2022

 

The new challenges continue at the Happy Little Stampers blog.  Today starts a new round of Anything Goes with Dies.  I had so much fun with my die cutting that I'm bringing you two cards today.  

Card one uses the positivie pieces of a large die...

While card two uses the leftover negative background.

I began by ink blending a panel with three shades of Distress Oxides.  (Picked Raspberry, Aged Mohagany and Ground Espresso)  The large sentiment was die cut from the panel (a single die gets you all of the sentiment) leaving me with colorful letters to position on a white card panel as well as the negative space die cut from the blended panel.  (Hopefully that makes sense.)  I stamped, colored and die cut the bears, a balloon bear for card one and a cupcake bear for card two.  After that, card one was just a matter of assembly.

I ran the die through my cutter once again with white cardstock to get some additional letters for a second card. To give the white letters a bit more "oomph" I masked them off so as to add a bit of rose gold embossing to the lower sections before inlaying them into the blended background panel.  I opted for a trio of clear droplets to finish this one off.

I hope you'll stop by our blog for more inspiration.  Better yet!  Come join us in the gallery.  

Thank you so much for spending a bit of your day with me.

Jules

Color Hues #38

 

Today I'm playing along with my friends over at the 

Color Hues challenge blog where the duo 

this time is Pink and Green.  

I took the opportunity to create a playful Get Well Soon card that I hope I never need to send.  I stamped and Copic colored the kitty image and then stamped the sentiment in a crisp black pigment.  I used a cover die to pierce a panel of pink cardstock onto which I popped up the image panel before adhering it to my white card base which completes this very CAS card.  

Supplies:

Colorado Craft Company - Watering Can stamp set

Gina K - Assorted Sentiments stamp set

Altenew - Dotty Swirls cover plate

HAI - Clear White Stars 

glitter pen

Thanks so much for spending a bit of your day with me!

Jules

Happy Little Stampers Christmas Challenge - April 2022

 

Another month has arrived so it's time for a new holiday prompt over at the Happy Little Stampers Christmas challenge blog.  In April we'd like to see some glitter on your cards.    

If glitter isn't your thing, any Christmas card qualifies.  

This particular stamp is all one piece so this was a fairly easy card to create.  I stamped the image and colored it with Copics, adding some shadows to ground it.  I used some old fashioned glitter glue to add my sparkle.  The panel was popped up onto a piece of candy cane striped patterned paper which was adhered directly to a kraft card base.  Some clear confetti finishes it off.

Supplies:

Stamping Bella - Teeny Tiny Townie Hot Chocolate

Taylored Expressions - Build a Snowman Christmas 6x6 paper

Ranger Stickles

Wink of Stella

Pretty Pink Posh - Sparkling Clear Confetti

Why not get a start on your holiday cards by joining us in our gallery?

Thanks so much for spending a bit of your day with me!

Jules

Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers #207

 

Are you ready for another challenge from the Sisterhood?  We sure hope so!

Today we're asking you to create a snarky ATC. 

 (aka Artist Trading Card)

Your finished ATC size should be a rectangle of 2.5" x 3.5" or 2.5" circle.

My card design is super simple.  I stamped the image and loosely colored it with Copics.  The sentiment was stamped using a crisp pigment ink.  I felt like it needed a bit "pop" so I added the narrow border using a piece of black cardstock cut slightly larger than the ATC.  (Final dimensions are 2.5" x 3.5")  

Supplies:

Art Impressions - The Zoo stamp 

Create A Smile Stamps - Shit Happens stamp set

I encourage you to visit our blog for more inspiration from the team as well as our Reigning Queen of Snark Fran.  

Thank you so much for spending a bit of your day with me.

Jules