#860 – STB: Cards for Kids

PE: Rocker at Watercooler Wednesday challenge!

Hello and welcome to another challenge at Seize the Birthday, where the latest topping, given to us by JoAnn, is ‘Cards for Kids’! Of course, you can also choose to not go for the topping and make a fresh birthday project to join us!

This time, I tried going making a card with a window – a window created by fussy cutting and surrounded by fun elements.

I played with a variety of stamps from MFT And Mama Elephant. Some of the images had thinner lines, so I made them thicker by going over them again using a fine liner. The sentiment comes from Clearly Besotted Scrumptious Script stamp set.

I first stamped the images for the top layer and fussy cut out the center. I then took a scrap piece of cardstock larger than the window, and then stamped my ewe. I then colored them all using Zig brush markers. I also added a bit of pattern on the banner, the party hat and the balloon using white gel pen and a black fine liner. Then, I added a bit of shimmer using Spectrum Noir clear sparkle pen.

When I trimmed the top panel, somehow, I ended up not getting the dimension right to position the card in the center. So, instead of messing things up, I chose to move the panel a bit to the right, showing the card base in the other three sides instead.

I was so engrossed in making it work…and when I felt like there was no purpose to the window in the card. Frankly, I can’t even make out whether that poor ewe is indoor or outdoor! But, well, the card itself looks fine, so I am glad I could make the idea itself work! 😉

With this card I am joining the following challenges –

Addicted to Stamps #382: Make your Mark

Watercooler Challenge #264: All About Occasions

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge: Anything Goes

Virginia’s Show and Share challenge

Checkout the Seize the Birthday blog for more inspiring instances of creativity by the rest of the design team! Also joining us is our Surprise Party Guest, Stef Perry!

And thank you so much for stopping by!

#857 – A Sympathy Card

Hello and welcome. This time I’ve made a card, that most card-makers would prefer not to make – a sympathy card. I’ve sent it out to a very dear fellow blogger, Monika, who recently lost her young son in an accident. My heart aches for her – what a terrible thing to go though.. 😦

To make this card, I first used the dies from My Favorite Things Birds of a Feather and Pretty Fresh Studio Dainty Blossoms, watercolored them and kept them aside to dry. On the card base, I embossed using one of the die cuts from Winnie & Walter Essentials: Lana Cutaways. I then adhered the die cut pieces and then stamped sentiment from Reverse Confetti Banner in Bloom using MFT Hybrid Black ink.

I hope Monika finds solace soon.

Joining the following challenges with this card –

Inkspirational challenge #208: Designers’ Choice: Animal: Real or Magical

Happy Little Stampers March Anything Goes with Dies challenge

Stamplorations March CAS challenge: Anything Goes with optional color twist Light Blue

Perfectly CAS challenge #7: Die Cuts (I’ve used the center of the 3/3 grid)

Addicted to Stamps and More challenge #381: Anything Goes

Thank you for stopping by.

#854 – STB: Show Me Your White Space

PE: Honorable Mention at Timeout Challenge!

Hello and welcome to another edition of Seize the Birthday challenge! For this challenge, anytime is ‘Anything Goes’ as long as it’s a birthday theme, but, if want little challenge, you can choose to go with the Topping.  This time, the topping, chosen by Barbara is ‘Show Me Your White Space.’

And what Barbara has mentioned about white space –
“The idea of white space doesn’t refer to a primarily white card (though often, as is the case, but rather, the idea of leaving a significant portion of your design open, free from embellishment, allowing your focal point to truly shine.
(Taken from MFT Summer School 2018)”

Thank you! And so, I haven’t used a white card base!! 😀

I started with a dark blue card stock. I added the scattered gold dots in the background using the dotted stamp from Simon Says Stamp Falling Backgrounds stamp and heat embossing it with chunky gold ep. Since I used chunky ep, I got a splattered effect instead of round dots.

I then stamped the flower from Altenew Persian Motifs and heat embossed it in gold twice, to get some dimension. I also stamped, gold embossed a few pieces of leaves. I then fussy cut all of them.

The stamped piece of the sentiment comes from Winnie & Walter Sentimental: Birthday, which I stamped in a mix of inks to end up with a color near to the cardstock’s color.

I also die cut a few pieces of white cardstock scraps usig the MFT Elegant Rectangle and Simon Says Stamp ‘You’ dies. I then colored one of the ‘You’ red using my Zig brush pen. Of the framed diecuts, I trimmed of one end of each diecut. I then adhered all of the pieces.

Finally, I adhered all the pieces together, added a single gold sequin for embellishing…. and there you have it! That’s my card for the challenge, all ready! 😉

I am also joining the following challenges –

Watercooler Wednesday challenge #258: Occasion

Addicted to Stamps and More challenge #376: Anything Goes

Timeout Challenge #155: Inspired by Words

Check out the Seize the Birthday challenge blog for more amazing inspiration from our talented team and our talented Surprise Party Guest, Joyce Mehrberg!

Thank you so much for stopping by!

#850 – STB: Stencil

Hello and welcome to a new challenge at Seize the Birthday! This time, we have Nancy choosing the topping, and she gave us ‘Stencils’ to work on!

And here’s what I made –

I love stencils and have a ton of them in my stash, but somehow, never end up using them. So this was a great chance for me to get to use them. I wanted to make the stencil have a big impact on the card, so tried out various techniques and media on them. Finally I chose two, out of which I made these cards.

I have used the same stencil – Tie and Dye from CrafTreat – on both of these cards.

Card one: I started with a panel of photo paper. I wanted the colors to stay as soon as they would be applied, so this was the best option. I used the stencil with brusho pigment powders, applying the powder, then lying the stencil on top and misting with water to activate the colors. Working things the other way round – placing the stencil, then sprinkling the powder then misting didn’t work as the stencil had smaller negative spaces. Applying the water first and then the powders didn’t work either, since the panel didn’t stay wet enough for long enough for me to apply the powders. My plan was to actually have colors only where the stencil had openings, but that didn’t work. And it ended with this ‘burst’ look.

Anyway, once everything was dry, I removed as much extra powder as possible using a towel, and then trimmed the panel and adhered it on a white card base. The sentiment, which I stacked, is from My Favorite Things, called Birthday Wishes. I also added a few iridescent sequins for embellishing.

Card two: I used alcohol inks with ink lifting… kind of. 😛

I used yupo paper as the base and applied a rainbow of alcohol inks in a sunburst. Once that dried, I placed the stencil on top, then used a felt applicator with a few drops of alcohol ink blender to apply darker shades of alcohol inks on top, basically, the opposite of ink lift. Why? Because, like my earlier plan, the ink lift didn’t look good, didn’t work well.

So anyway, I moved the stencil a few more times and redid the technique, to cover the whole panel more or less equally with patterns.

Once done, I adhered this over another card panel, since this yupo paper wasn’t thick enough. I then foam mounted it on a white card base and trimmed the excess. The sentiment is from Altenew Inline Alpha dies. I die cut them thrice and stacked them before adhering them to the card. I also used a couple of sequins for embellishing.

With this card, I am joining the following challenges –

Addicted to Stamps and More challenge #372: Make Your Mark

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge: Use a Stencil

Just Add Ink challenge 488: Celebrate. And they’ve turned 10 too!! Congratulations!!

Stamplorations January Stencil challenge: Anything Goes

Checkout more inspiration from our DT and our Surprise Party Guest, Joyce Mehrberg, in the Seize the Birthday challenge blog. Also, don’t forget to join the party!

Thank you for stopping by!

#826 – STB: Cover the Card

Hello and welcome! Its time for a new challenge at Seize the Birthday challenge, and the topping this time is ‘Cover the Card’, given by yours truly. Just use anything, but cover your card with it – die cuts, stamping, embossing – anything goes! Well, or if you are not up for it, you can always play along with just a birthday project!

For my card, I chose a few stamp sets from My Favorite Things, floral and leafy, to cover my card.

Before I started, however, I decided on my sentiments, cut them out from scrap paper, and marked the place on the card, so that I could leave those areas empty. This doesn’t make a major difference, but it leaves the background of anything that might clash with the sentiment.

After stamping throughout the whole card – in fact I made two cards, one using ivory cardstock and one using white – I went ahead and added the sentiment. Stacked die cut and the rest of it, foam mounted. For the one with the ivory base, I also added a few dots to the centers of the mint colored flowers.

Here’s the list of supplies that I used:
My Favorite Things Flashy Florals stamp set
My Favorite Things Modern Blooms stamp set
My Favorite Things Mini Modern Blooms stamp set
Simon Says Stamp Sending die
Simon Says Stamp Tiny Words stamp set

I am joining the following challenges –

Addicted to Stamps and More challenge #346: Anything Goes

The Flower Challenge #33: Focus on Background Stamping

Inkspirational Challenge #189: Garden

Hope you enjoyed my card. Remember to check up on the Seize the Birthday blog for more creative inspiration from the rest of our design team and of course, from out talented Surprise Guest Linda Snodgrass! And don’t forget to join us using your own birthday project!

Thank you so much for stopping by!

#821 – Missing You

PE: Top 3 at A2ZScrapbooking challenge!!

Hello and welcome! Its been quite some time since I actually made a card in between my DT projects. So I am really happy to have found some time in between to make this one! 🙂

I was totally inspired by the card that Aga had made for the latest Altenew Inspiration challenge. I picked a few main elements – like white embossed texture over a grey background, a little pink in the focal floral element and a clean bold sentiment in black.

For my card, I first stamped the flowers from Altenew Painted Florals stamp set using Versafine Onyx ink, then the coloring layers in shades of grey for the flowers and a darker, subdued shade of green for the leaves. I also water colored a little bit it grey and green using distress inks in the gaps in between the images. Once it dried, I fuzzy cut the trailing side of the image and kept it aside. I also stamped a few more flowers separately, stamped them in pink and bright green and fussy cut them.

I then used Prima Magnolias stencil and embossing paste over a grey cardstock and let it dry. Once it dried I mounted the previous piece on top. Fro the sentiment, I used Altenew Label Love and foam mounted it with the pink flowers.

With this card I am joining the following challenges –

Addicted to Stamps and More challenge #341: Anything Goes

Altenew Inspiration Challenge: May Challenge

A2Z Scrapbooking May challenge: May Flowers

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge: For a Special Lady

Simon Says Stamp Work it Wednesday challenge: Spring Flowers

Thanks for stopping by! 🙂

#818 – Inspiration Station Challenge 03

Hello and welcome to the third Inspiration Station challenge!! This challenge is something my sister and I started, for us to have just another reason to get inspired and create, without the pressure of deadlines or rules. You can check out the what I created for the first and second Inspiration Challenge, if you like!

This time, I chose something from the products of the store Seedlings Cards, which I came across from Paper Crave‘s website. There are plenty of fantastic whimsical card designs on the website, but my sister chose this panel of cards, from which I extracted the color combo.

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I was completely inspired by the colors. I actually wanted to create something whimsical, but in the end, I gave up since I wanted to use this new stamp set I bought – MFT Gill Friends. I didn’t have any fish/sea themed stamps with me until now, and I couldn’t wait to try this!! So, I went with the look of the bottom right card featured in the picture. Sea and fishies..

I started with the background. Tried out the technique taught by Jennifer McGuire in this post. Adding plenty of watercolors from my Gansai Tambi set, I used some scrunched up plastic cling wrap on it, left it to dry before removing the cling to get this amazing texture.

For the fish and the underwater plants, I used the same method – I first heat embossed it using white embossing powder, then colored the pieces by blending in distress inks. I then fussy cut the images.

Combining everything – I trimmed the watercolor background, foam mounted it on a white card base. I adhered the water plants directly, but foam mounted the fishies and also the sentiment.

Hope you liked what I created! Hop on to this link to see what my sister has created – its a fantastic mixed media creation that was made specially for our dear mom!! Am I next on the list, sis?? ;P

Joining the following challenges too –

Addicted to Stamps and More challenge #337

Fusion Card Challenge: Tropical Fish

Thanks for stopping by! 🙂