I See You

Hi everyone! It's time for a new challenge at Seize the Birthday. This time around there are no "Toppings", so it's Anything Goes Birthday. As long as it's a birthday card, you are good to go! 

The DT have come up with such beautiful cards this week and mine pales in comparison, but I needed something a little more masculine for my DH's birthday which is coming up soon, and he prefers CAS cards. I recently made a similar, more feminine version, which inspired this one. If you're interested you can see the other version here. 

I used Amy's layout from this week's challenge at Freshly Made Sketches. The Libra in me loves the beautiful symmetry. Hmm, I wonder if Amy is a Libra, too? 

I rotated the sketch thusly, as I wanted the orientation to coincide with my inside sentiment...

... and here is the inside sentiment. A little snarky, but DH will get a kick out of it and it goes with the glasses theme.

As I used Simon products for my card, I'm also adding it to the gallery at the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge, which is Anything Goes.

Stamp Sets: I See You (Simon Says Stamp), Endless Birthday Wishes (Stampin' Up)

Card Stock: White, Fog (Simon Says Stamp), Espresso (Stampin' Up)

Patterned Paper: Welcome Home (Carta Bella)

Ink Pads: Tuxedo Black (Memento), Cup O' Joe (Hero Arts)

Tools: Big Shot, I See You Dies (Simon Says Stamp)

Accessories: Enamel Dots (My Mind's Eye)

I'm so glad you paid me a visit today! If you have a moment please leave a comment, then visit the rest of the wonderful Design Team at Seize the Birthday. We'd love for you to play along, too!

Inky hugs :)

Just Fur You, FMS 333

Hi, friends! I have a second kitty themed card today, and if you'd like to see the other, click here to see yesterday's post. Once again I am using the I Knead You stamp set from MFT, and many of the same supplies. I am a cat lover, and I love this adorable set!

With today's card I am playing along with this great sketch from Narelle at Freshly Made Sketches.

My original plan was to also play along with Darnell's new Twofer Card Challenge for the first time, the theme this month being Pets. However, I messed up! I thought the rules were to create two cards from the same stamp set for two different occasions, but it needs to be the exact same stamp. Boo hoo! Back to the drawing board... Next time I need to read the fine print first :) On the bright side, I have two cards done! 

Stamp Sets: I Knead You (My Favorite Things)

Card Stock: Solar White (Neenah)

Patterned Paper: Kitten Smitten (Doodlebug), Perfectly Plaid Christmas (Lawn Fawn)

Ink Pads: Tuxedo Black (Memento)

Markers: Copic

Tools: Big Shot, I Knead You Dies (My Favorite Things), Stitched Rectangle & Stitched Circle Dies (Lawn Fawn)

Accessories: Enamel Dots (Simple Stories)

Thanks so much for stopping by! 

Inky hugs :)

I Love Mew, PP390

Hi friends! It's Sunday and that means time for a new challenge at The Paper Players! This week the wonderfully talented Jaydee is our hostess with an awesome sketch challenge. 

I have several different cat stamp sets, but these sweet MFT kitties are my favorite. I just love their chubby little bodies and happy smiles, and look at those cute little toes!  The equally cute patterned paper is called Kitten Smitten, and if you look at the close up of the gray paper, you'll see that it's a pattern of kitties. I always have so much fun making critter cards, and loved working with this sketch, too. Thanks, Jaydee!

Stamp Sets: I Knead You (My Favorite Things)

Card Stock: Solar White (Neenah)

Patterned Paper: Kitten Smitten (Doodlebug)

Ink Pads: Tuxedo Black (Memento)

Markers: Copic

Tools: Big Shot, I Knead You Dies (My Favorite Things), Stitched Rectangle & Stitched Circle Dies (Lawn Fawn)

Of course this post wouldn't be complete without a picture of Ollie. Though his food bowls are in the kitchen, we keep an extra bowl for water upstairs in a bedroom. He loves drinking (and playing) in this bowl, and this is his way of letting us know it's empty. And I know what you are going to say, he is a boy and shouldn't have a pink bowl! It doesn't seem to bother him, though :)

Thanks so much for stopping by! Please leave a comment, and then head over to visit the rest of the Design Team at The Paper Players. We hope you'll play along with our challenge this week, too! 

Inky hugs :)

Fairy Garden

Hi friends! It's Sunday and that means time for a new challenge at The Paper Players! This week, I have the pleasure and honor of being your hostess with a Clean and Simple challenge: Magical. There are so many ways you can go with this: fairies, unicorns, mermaids, gnomes, or anything your imagination can dream up! 

I had so much fun with this card! I combined three different stamp sets to assemble my fairy garden, and if you scroll down you'll see what my inspiration was. There are a lot of images, but I tried to keep things clean and simple with lots of white space and minimal layers. Of course I had to add some glitter on the wings, because what's a fairy without her fairy dust?!

I'm also linking this up to our "vibrant color" challenge at Seize the Birthday, though you can also make an "anything goes" birthday card.

Now for my inspiration... There is a park a few miles from my house, and it has a trail which is a one mile loop around a small lake. I've been there many times over the years, but this time was different. 

One by one, I came across one fairy garden after another, all created by  other park-goers just for the enjoyment of others. 

There must be at least a dozen fairy gardens now, and there is even a gnome fishing in the creek. 

Nobody damages or steals anything, and every time I go back now I see that people have added more to it. It's quite magical!

Fairies, gnomes, even Smurf's... everybody is welcome in this garden!

Stamp Sets: Pixie Dust, Cupcakes (Avery Elle), Roses for You (Simon Says Stamp)

Card Stock: Solar White (Neenah)

Ink Pads: Tuxedo Black (Memento)

Markers: Copic

Accessories: Dazzling Diamonds Glitter (Stampin' Up)

Thanks so much for stopping by! Please leave a comment, and then head over to visit the rest of the Design Team at The Paper Players. We hope you'll play along with our challenge this week, too! 

Inky hugs :)

Coloring Outside the Lines

Hi everyone! It's time for a new challenge at Seize the Birthday! 

This time around the "Toppings" options is "Vibrant Colors". However, you can also chose to do an Anything Goes birthday card, the choice is yours!

When I think of vibrant colors, the first thing that comes to mind is my Zig Clean Color Brush Markers. They deliver the most vibrant color of any other ink that I own. I heat embossed my image with white embossing powder, and deliberately colored outside the lines as I thought this image was conducive to that technique. It's also kind of fun to do! I didn't want to cover up any of the image, so I chose to do a sentiment heat embossed on vellum.

My row of colorful flowers looks just like those in Darnell's inspiration challenge at Inspired By All The Little Things! Thanks, Darnell! 

Stamp Sets: Ranunculus Field (Stampendous), Birthday Greetings (Altenew)

Card Stock: Watercolor (Strathmore), Vellum (Bazzill), Sea Glass (Simon Says Stamp)

Ink: Versamark, Clean Color Brush Markers (Zig)

Tools: Heat Tool

Accessories: White Embossing Powder, Moonshine Sequins (Simon Says Stamp)

I'm so glad you paid me a visit today! If you have a moment please leave a comment, then visit the rest of the wonderful Design Team at Seize the Birthday. We'd love for you to play along, too!

Inky hugs :)

Enjoy Today

Hi friends! It's Sunday and that means time for a new challenge at The Paper Players! This week the sweet and talented LeAnne is our hostess with a color challenge.

Though I love the inspiration photo and actually do have a lavender stamp, I decided to go in a bit of a different direction. I've been into using more meaningful sentiments lately, and decided to use a quote I printed off my computer, and work the rest of my card around it. With a little adjustment of the rows, I was able to get it to follow the shape of my single blossom, which I colored with Copic markers in the challenge colors. I die cut the image and stacked it up on two additional layers of black card stock for some added depth. 

I love this sketch from Cecile at Freshly Made Sketches! I visualized my card immediately. Love when that happens :) 

My card also seems to work perfectly with the gray and purple hues for the inspiration challenge at the Altenew Blog. Love when that happens, too!

Stamp Sets: Beautiful Lady (Altenew)
Card StockL Solar White (Neenah), Smoke, Black (Simon Says Stamp)
Patterned Paper: Welcome Home (Carta Bella)
Ink Pads: Tuxedo Black (Memento)
Markers: Copic
Tools: Big Shot, Beautiful Lady Die (Altenew)
Other: Sentiment printed off my PC

Thanks so much for stopping by! Please leave a comment, and then head over to visit the rest of the Design Team at The Paper Players. We hope you'll play along with our challenge this week, too! 

Inky hugs :)

Hipster Birthday

Hi friends! It's Sunday and that means time for a new challenge at The Paper Players. This week the sweet and talented Laurie is our hostess with a theme challenge: Musical. I love this challenge and knew just what I wanted to do with it! 

My eldest son is a music-loving city dweller. His birthday is in a few days, and this card is for him. In the summer, almost all of the restaurants where he lives have outdoor tables and live music, and I tried to capture a little of that. I gave my hipster-musician-dog a city background, and followed up on the music theme with an embossed background. I had a lot of fun making this card, and I hope I accomplished the Brooklyn vibe I was going for! 

The inspiration for my layout came from the sketch challenge at CAS(E) this Sketch! The circle element was just the right size for my little scene.

Stamp Sets: Rock and Paws, Mini Messages (Mama Elephant)

Card Stock: Solar White, Desert Storm (Neenah), Black (Simon Says Stamp), Textured Black (Recollections)

Ink Pads: Tuxedo Black (Memento)

Markers: Copic

Tools: Big Shot, Rock and Paws Dies, Cityscape (Mama Elephant), Stitched Circle Dies (Lawn Fawn), Circle Dies (Sizzix), Music Embossing Folder (Crate Paper)

Thanks so much for stopping by! Please leave a comment, and then head over to visit the rest of the Design Team at The Paper Players. We hope you'll play along with our challenge this week, too! 

Inky hugs :)