#1132 – A Winter Gift

Hello and welcome to the first challenge of the year in Seize the Birthday!! Yay! And we’re off to a spectacular start with our leading lady, Barabara, has chosen the optional Topping of ‘Make your own Snowflake Background‘. Anytime is ‘Anything Goes‘ as long as it’s a birthday theme. But, if you’re a toppings kind of person (like me) you can add a little extra.

And here’s my creation –

I started with the background, blending in distress inks ins shades of purple and pink together. It wasn’t a perfect blend, but since I was going to add the snowflakes die cut on top, that wasn’t an issue. Next, I die cut two pieces of white cardstock panels using Craft Adda Snowflakes Grid 2 die. The snowflake patterns are so varied and gorgeous in this die! I adhered the two pieces together for some dimension and adhered them on the ink blended background.

I then stamped and colored the cat bearing gifts from Simon Says Stamp Gifts of Love on cardstock, colored it using Faber Castell Polychromos pencils and fuzzy cut it. I also stamped the images on scrap cardstock and fussy cut that to adhere behind the colored image to get some stability and dimension. I then adhered all the pieces on the card. The sentiment comes from Winnie & Walter Sentimental: Gift, which I stamped in black, trimmed to size and adhered on the card.

I couldn’t resist adding some white/clear gemstones in the center of some snowflakes for some shine. And that’s my card for you!

I am joining these challenges –

Die Cut Divas January challenge – Use New Crafty Item – I’ve used CraftAdda Snowflakes Grid 2, never used before and new!

AAA Birthday Card challenge #81: Winter Birthday

Crafty Animals challenge #101

Do hop on to the Seize the Birthday challenge blog to checkout more inspiration from the rest of the DT and our wonderful surprise Party Guests!

Thank you so much for stopping by!

#1127 – Pumpkin Kitty

PE: Honorable Mention at The Card Concept!!

Hello and welcome!! It’s time for another challenge at Seize the Birthday and this time, our newest member Nance is the leading lady and she has given us the topping ‘Favorite Fall Treat‘. The topping is optional and we always have our ‘Anything Goes‘ option open.

Here’s what I made –

I don’t have that many products related to Fall treats – but I spotted this Boo Kitty stamp from Pink & Main and though that with a little partial stamping, I could turn this Halloween Kitty into a Fall Treat Kitty. I used my Misti and stamped the cat and pumpkin only skipping the mask on the kitty and the face carving on the pumpkin on a piece of Fabriano Accademia Disegno Drawing paper. I then colored the image using Faber Castell Polychromos pencils. I then fussy cut the image and set it aside.

For the card, I planned to use two pieces of pattern paper – I wanted to have a tag or central die cut shape but that didn’t work. In the end I just chose the pattern paper for the background, added a frame die cut from Kraft cardstock. I used two pieces of dies to get the frame – Neat and Tangled Scalloped and Simon Says Stamp Stitched Rectangles. I die cut a couple more pieces to add some dimension behind the frame. Did the same for the two leaves, which I die cut using My Favorite Things Birds of a Feather. I added these two pieces to fill in the whitespace – that cat alone was looking so lonely!

For the sentiment, I used a banner die cut from Neat and Tangled Scalloped and after die cutting it from the kraft card stock, I stamped it using a sentiment from My Favorite Things Cat-itude using Versafine Onyx black pigment ink. I die cut two of them for stability and then adhered it on the card.

To be frank, I feel like the coloring is actully looking better IRL – this picture doesn’t capture the shading quite well – editing photos to make them look exactly – or even mostly like reality – is really though!!

So anyway, that’s my card for the fall treat! And I’m joining these challenge with it –

Neglected Stuff challenge #1025: Anything Goes – I haven’t used this stamp set, which I believe was given free on a purchase I made more than 5 years ago! So glad I finally got to use it!

We Love Stamping October challenge: Anything Autumn or Anything Goes – I’ve used the autumn theme here

Addicted to Stamps & More challenge #504: Any Occasion

The Card Concept #220: Autumn Days

Checkout what treat the rest of the team and our party guests have for you at the Seize the Birthday challenge blog and don’t forget to join the party yourself!

Thank you so much for stopping by!

#1126 – Splish-Splash on a Rainy Day

PE: Winner at Addicted to Stamps & More!! Yay!!

Hello and welcome! It’s already the 10th month of the year!! And we have yet another challenge at Seize the Birthday to up the count on your birthday card stash. This time it’s Shirley’s turn to be our leading lady and she has chosen the Topping as ‘Splish Splash‘. Of course, as always, the ‘Anything Goes‘ option is available in case you want to skip the topping.

And here’s what I made –

I started with a panel of Fabriano Accademia Disegno Drawing paper, stamped images from My Favorite Things Piggy Pebbles and Simon Says Stamp Butterfly Blossoms and then colored the whole scene using Faber Castell Pastel color pencils. Once done, I sprayed it with Winsor & Newton fixtative, so the color wouldn’t spread.

I then adhered it over a beige cardbase. For the sentiment, I used My Favorite Things Well, Hello stamp set. I stamped them over white cardstock, trimmed it and adhered a couple of scrap cardstock beneath them for some extra dimension before adhering it to the card.

I hope you liked my inspiration. I’m also joining these challenges:

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge: Bright & Colorful

Addicted to Stamps and More challenge #503: Birthdays

You can also checkout the Seize the Birthday challenge blog for more inspiration from the rest of the team and the guests. And of course, don’t forget to join the party yourself!

Thank you so much for stopping by! 🙂

#1101 – Sky-High Wishes

PE: Winner at AAA Birthday card challenge!

Hello and welcome! There is just a month and a half left in this year!! Wow!! That went by really quickly! But it’s time again for a new challenge at Seize the Birthday and this time, I am your hostess. I’ve chosen for you the Topping ‘Focal One‘. All this means is that for the focal image, use only one stamp and stamp it only once. You are free to color the image or do anything else, but no other images are to be used for the focal. You are free to do anything with the rest of the card as well.

And this is what I created –

I did have a different idea of using a clustered flower stamp, but I thought of doing something else with that idea, so decided to change it at the last moment. And came up with this card instead.

I used the image My Favorite Things Sky-High Friends and the sentiment from The Stamp Market Scripty Sentiments, and stamped both on white cardstock with light grey ink and then colored them using Faber Castell Polychromos pencils. I then used paper stubs to spread the colors using baby oil. I then cut out a mask for the image, put it on the image and then brushed shades of distress inks to create the sky. I then stamped the last part of the sentiment from Simon Says Stamp Tiny Words Birthday using Versafine Onyx black pigment ink.

I trimmed the sides and partially fussy cut the left edge around the sentiment. For the clouds, I used Picket Fence distress paint. I had forgotten I even had this paint!! But it worked surprisingly well, giving a good opacity when concentrated and translucency when diluted with water. It even sat well on the wax of the pencils and baby oil.

For the background, I chose a light blue cardstock and used My Favorite Things City Block background stamp, stamping it in shades of blue to match the sky in the foreground. After adhering the focal panel on this, I felt that the background was lacking a bit. So I used Zig brush marker pens to color the roofs of the buildings in shades of blues. That looked better! 🙂 And that also finished my card.

Joining the following challenges with my card –

Inkspirational challenge #328 – Designer’s Choice – Layer It

Addicted to Stamps and More challenge #481 – Make Your Mark

AAA Birthday Card challenge #67 – Favorite Image Lately I’ve been into coloring critter images. And this big stamp with lots of details is one of my favorites!

Step over to the Seize the Birthday blog to checkout how our party guests and our talented DT has put this Topping to use. And don’t forget to join the fun!

Thank you so much for stopping by! 🙂

#1088 – Critter Birthday Wishes

PE: Top Pick at Inspirational challenge!! Yay!!

Top Four at AAA Birthday challenge!

PBSC Favorite!! Wow!! So happy about that!! 🙂

Hello and welcome! I finally had some extra time and my mojo running and so I gathered a few challenges I could play with to make a card.

I chose a sand colored cardstock for the base. I used the critter images from Penny Black Every Which Way, stamped them in a lighter brown ink, then colored them using my Faber Castell Polychromos pencils. I then die cut them using Memory Box Basic Rectangles dies, and Waffle Flower Nesting Squares dies. I also die cut frames from kraft cardstock using the same two die sets. I then set these aside to prepare the background and sentiment.

For the background, I used an ivory cardstock and used a makeup brush to color the background through Winnie & Walter Buffalo Check stencil. For the sentiment, I used the same kraft cardstock with My Favorite Things Best Wishes die, adhering 3 die cut pieces together for dimension. The stamped part is from Winnie & Walter In a Word: Happy stamp set.

I’m joining the following challenges:

Addicted to Stamps and More challenge #469: Any Occasion

Inkspirational challenge #317: Word Prompt: Frame

AAA Birthday card challenge #62: Cute

Penny Black Saturday challenge June: Happy Birthday

Thank you so much for stopping by!! 🙂