Inkspirational Challenge # 297 - Word Prompt - Clothing/Closet - Witching You A Happy Halloween (MCT)

Hello,

Welcome to Inkspirational Challenge #297.

Our new Word Prompt challenge begins today, where we're inviting you to draw inspiration from CLOTHING, in general, or an article of clothing from your CLOSET. Whatever you choose -  from fashionable outfits, to laundry baskets of clothes, to baby attire, to pants/skirts/shirts, even winter wear, like mittens, scarves and hats, clothing being made - sewing machines/knitting needles, and so on - as long as you feature a garment of some nature, we'd love for you to share your card/project in the gallery. 

As I mentioned in my post for our previous Inkspiration challenge, August-September send me into Halloween mode - and my card today is no exception. My MCT Happy Witchin' stamp/die have been in my collection for AGES...and finally, finally, they're making their debut. We're talking full on CLOTHING here: skirt, leggings and boots, right? A nearly complete outfit, sans a top and stylish witch's hat. LOL! Copic colouring took no time at all and now I want to colour up a bunch more! Should have used this set sooner; guess I was just waiting for the 'right' challenge.

Check out the fabulous cards by my awesome team, then join us in the gallery with your take on CLOTHING/CLOSET.

Thank you for dropping by!

Just Us Girls Challenge #694 - CAS Week - Baby - Welcome, Little One (MFT Sky High bunnies, Sunny Studio Quad Dies, TE Sentiment)

Hello,

Welcome to Just Us Girls Challenge #694, where Sue, our lovely hostess, invites us to create Clean-and-Simple cards featuring the theme of BABY. I predict a gallery filled with an abundance of cute!

Greta Hess joins us for her final post as our August Guest Designer - and what an inspiration she's been! Thank you, Greta, for sharing your abundant creativity with us. 

The bunny baby is from My Favourite Things Sky High kit, four little windows created with Sunny Studio's square quad die and a sentiment from Taylored Expressions. One focal point (the baby 'scenes' square), plenty of white space, no embellishments...clean and simple. And kind of cute! Hope you think so, too.

Looking forward to seeing your CAS BABY cards/projects in the gallery.

Thank you for dropping by!

Coffee Loving Cardmakers Guest Designer August 25th - Two Cards Wrap-up

Hello,

Welcome to my fourth - and wrap-up - post as the August Guest Designer for Coffee Loving Cardmakers. I can't believe how quickly the month has gone - and I still have so many ideas brewing (and products waiting in the wings for their turn to play).

I'm sharing two cards today. The first features Your Next Stamp, a well-known, popular Canadian company and Super Sponsor that, sadly, is closing its doors. I was able to order an assortment of products a little while back, including the absolutely adorable Thanks a Latte stamp/die set (still available, if you're interested) and the Geometrics 6 x 6 Paper Pad, (also available). The adorable coffee cups can be used with or without the lid and the sleeve I've selected is one, of three, choices. I placed them on ovals from My Creative Time, added some heart speech bubbles from My Favourite Things and ta dahhh....done!

Here's a closer view of the coffee cups...so.much.cute! 

My second card is just plain fun...a coffee cup shaped card, a cute-patootie bunny and a big ol' cup of java...

The coffee cup is from My Creative Time; the bunny, coffee cup and sentiment from the Missees Pet Collection/Studio Light.

So...there you have it. A month's worth of coffee cards from me that, in the course of making, have brought me immense joy. As I mentioned, I've barely scratched the surface of ideas/supplies; plenty more coffee-themed crafting happening soon!

Thank you, Amy, for this wonderful opportunity; it's been an honour.  To those who dropped in and left sweet comments: thank you.  You've made being a Guest Designer extra special!

Thank you for dropping by!

Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers - Guest Designer - M is for Music - For the Record (Concord and 9th)

Hello,

Recently, I was honoured to be named "Queen of Snark" for the Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers "L is for Lindsey" challenge (card here); a title that comes with the further honour of being the guest designer for this challenge: M is for Music. Thank you so much, Sisterhood, for inviting me to play alongside you.

After fretting about my lack of music-themed products in my collection, it dawned on me that yes, yes I do have something that will work perfectly:  Concord & 9th's For the Record bundle. Wild cheering, a bout of happy dancing...followed by wild creating with the awesome album background and die-cut sentiment. 

Looking forward to seeing how M is for Music inspired you!

Thank you for dropping by!

Just Us Girls Challenge #693 - Photo/Moodboard - Birthday Greetings (Concord and 9th - Pinwheel Quilt)

Hello,

Welcome to Just Us Girls Challenge #693, where our lovely hostess, Bobby, has selected a fabulous summer/travel themed moodboard as inspiration this week. Lots of texture, pretty colours and patterns visible too...

Once again, Greta Hess joins us as our August Guest Designer; so happy to have you on board this month.

Obviously, I played with patterns; specifically, the ones on the card just beneath the sunglasses. I used a patterned paper from my stash and the fabulous Pinwheel Quilt dies from Concord & 9th. This set is so easy to work with...and I really need to give it much more attention. The stitching detail...so pretty! 

Looking forward to seeing your takes on the moodboard.

Thank you for dropping by!

Coffee Loving Cardmakers Guest Designer August 18 - Stretching Supplies - Coffee-Patterned Umbrellas and Umbrella-Patterned Coffee Mug

Hello,

Welcome to my third post as the August Guest Designer for Coffee Loving Cardmakers. 

Today's cards are inspired by fan-favourite, Jennifer McGuire, who both encourages and shows us ways to 'stretch our supplies.' Lately, I've been obsessing over a couple of newcomers to my collection from Concord & 9th.  As much as I love coffee, I LOVE Concord & 9th. Their stamps/dies/stencils are top-notch in both design and quality; their turnabouts, delightfully unique. 

A quick google search to 'confirm' my ideas - coffee-patterned umbrellas and umbrella-patterned coffee mugs (they are real things!) - I decided on a mashup of two Concord & 9th turnabouts and die sets for my stretching your supplies feature.  The following products were used, as indicated:

Concord & 9th: Coffee Blend Bundle - all

Concord & 9th: Rain or Shine Bundle - all

Lawn Fawn: Rainy Backdrop Portrait (Card #2)

Lawn Fawn: Sunflower Greetings Frame dies (from Crop and Create event, 2022) (Card #3)

Taylored Expressions: Simple Strips - Coffee - all

Process:

Create one four colours of ink panel with Coffee Blend bundle on white cardstock and a monochromatic version on kraft carstock.

Cut out two umbrellas from the four-colours panel using the Rain or Shine bundle.

Create your umbrellas. Adhere to card base; add a sentiment strip.

Process:

Use the second umbrella cut from the four inks panel

Cut a background with the Rainy Backdrops panel

Adhere umbrella to panel; add sentiment strip.

Process:

Create a four colours of ink panel using the Umbrellas turnabout.

Cut out a section (I did the middle, which means I have another partial base to create with) with the coffee mug die from the Coffee Blends bundle.

Cut frames from coloured + white cardstock.

Adhere frames, add mug, add sentiment strip.

There you have it: simple ways to stretch your supplies - in this case, turnabouts (or any small-image stamps) and dies. Coffee patterns...they can be found on so many things! Have fun searching for ideas and transforming them into your caffeinated creations.

Thank you for dropping by!

Color Hues Challenge #70 - Red and Yellow - Thanks for Brightening My Day (Concord and 9th Umbrella Turnabout, Rain or Shine)

Hello,

Mid-August already, which means time to introduce Color Hues Challenge #70, where our sensational Stef invites us to play with hues of RED and YELLOW for the next two weeks. Pretty combination for so many occasions.

We're delighted to welcome Annette as our guest designer for this challenge.

I'm having a wonderful time playing with an older, but new-to-me, Concord & 9th set: Rain or Shine bundle. The umbrella turnabout, paired with the cute umbrella dies, make me smile.

Looking forward to seeing how RED and YELLOW inspire you!

The challenge will be open until August 28th @ 9 AM EST.

The winners will be posted an hour before our next challenge goes live.

The overall winner will have the opportunity to be a

future Guest Designer!

Thank you for dropping by!

Inkspirational Challenge # 296 - Designer's Choice - Iridescent/Clear - Spider Web and Witch's Cauldron Happy Halloween

Hello, 

Welcome to Inkspirational Challenge #296, where our wonderful Marlena, for her Designer's Choice challenge, invites us to use something "IRIDESCENT/CLEAR" on our projects. Holographic paper, images of glass or ice items, foil, embellishments with a sheen, etc. - anything (regardless of size) that varies in colour when light catches is perfect.  

Here we are, nearly mid-August, and my thoughts are turning to Halloween! Seriously...I'm 'this close' to tuning in to full-on spooky mode. For this challenge, I'm bringing back a favourite stencil and die set: Halloween Create-in-Quads from Taylored Expressions. This time, rather than stencil the background, I used one of the Spider Web Foil It panels and ran it through my laminator with iridescent Deco Foil. Super easy and the panels turn out wonderfully every time. I also didn't stencil the cauldron bubbles; Studio Katia iridescent embellishments did the trick. 

Here's a close up of both the foil and the droplets. 

Check out the fabulous cards by my awesome team, then join us in the gallery with your take on IRIDESCENT/CLEAR.

Thank you for dropping by!

Just Us Girls Challenge #692 - Word Week - Happy Bee-Day and Just Bee-cause (Concord and 9th, MCT, Mama Elephant)

Hello,

Welcome to Just Us Girls Challenge #692, where our lovely hostess, Lisa K, has selected BEE as this week's Word prompt. The crafting universe is buzzing with bees of late; hopefully, you'll bee playing along with us with a bee or two of your own.

Greta Hess joins us once again as our August guest designer; guaranteed her card, as well as those of my teammates, will put a smile on your face.

I've played with an assortment of papers, dies and, yes, little bees from a trio of my favourite companies. Papers and daisy are MCT; frame die, Mama Elephant; bees and sentiment, Concord & 9th. Since ME die cuts two of each square/rectangle, I 'had' to make a nearly matchy-match pair.

Looking forward to seeing how you'll BEE inspired!

Thank you for dropping by!

Coffee Loving Cardmakers Guest Designer August 11 2023 - Featuring the Perk Up Kit from Taylored Expressions

Hello,

Welcome to my second post as the August Guest Designer for Coffee Loving Cardmakers. 

When it comes to beverages, coffee is tops as my favourite; when it comes to crafting, stencils top my list as my #1 reach-for-them-first favourites. Single, layered, with dies: stencils, in their various forms, are really taking the card-iverse by storm and they are, to say the least, plentiful in my stash, too.

A while back, I purchased Taylored Expression's Perk Up kit and ohmystars! Everything included - stamps, stencils, dies, foil it sheets, sentimentsm envelope seals - is a coffee-lover's delight. Today, I'm sharing not one, not two, but four easy-to-make cards. 

The first three showcase the assortment of cute coffee mugs that you first stamp, then stencil and, if you so choose, die cut. I used two Catherine Pooler Designs inks for these. Card #1 is simply an  inked panel, a die cut frame elevated for some dimension, and a sentiment that, I'm sure, resonates with many of us. Short Mondays + strong coffee...yes, please! 

Cards #2 and #3 showcase a trio of 'extra' stenciled die cut mugs paired with two of the Foil-It sentiment sheets. These are designed to use with a Minc or laminator and deco foil sheets. Easy to add a bit of sheen to your backgrounds, if you so choose - and choose I did. Black deco foil for both of these.

For Card #4, I 'had' to go all rainbow! I used one of the Foil It coffee mug sheets (laminator + gold Deco Foil), which means no stamping required, an assortment of Concord & 9th inks, and a TE sentiment strip.

A second photo, simply to share the pretty sheen of the gold foil. 

Thank you so much for spending time with me today. I hope my cards inspire you to show your coffee stash some extra love and attention.

Thank you for dropping by!

HLS Anything Goes with Dies Challenge - Aug. 2023 - Uh Oh Laundry Day (Colorado Craft Co., Anita Jeram)

Hello,

Welcome to Happy Little Stampers August 2023 Anything Goes with Dies Challenge. 

I'm slowly, slowly getting around to playing with a long-ago rather large *ahem* Anita Jeram stamps/dies order from Colorado Craft Co. As many of you know, the cute critters are difficult to resist. 

My sister-in-law does a LOT of laundry, so I ordered Laundry Days to make cards/home decor pieces for her. The puzzled look on the dog's face makes me smile - and I think many of us can relate to the mystery of missing socks!  Once again, I watercoloured with distress inks and used a checkerboard stencil for the background. So happy this set has dies! Oh...sentiment is from Ice Cream cats.

Looking forward to seeing which dies from your collection you'll be featuring this month.

Thank you for dropping by!

HLS August 2023 Stencil Challenge - Flower Press Celebrate You (Concord and 9th)

Hello,

Welcome to Happy Little Stampers August 2023 Stencil Challenge, where Anything Goes. I LOVE stencils!

Sharing another of my cards using Concord & 9th's Flower Press stencils, along with a sentiment from Just Say More dies. Not matter what ink combination you choose, the final results are fabulous!

Looking forward to seeing your stencil sensations in the gallery!

Thank you for dropping by!