#1120 – Find the Mail!

PE: Shout out at Just us Girls challenge!

Honorable Mention at Addicted to Stamps and More!

Hello and welcome! We have a new challenge up at Seize the Birthday and this time, out leading lady Jules, has asked us to use ‘No Flowers‘. Of course, there’s always the option of ‘Anything Goes‘ which means that if you are a flower person, you can always make a birthday project of theme you choose and join the party!

And here’s what I created –

No flowers under the sea! Bright corals are a good substitution for flowers though, and I managed to add one. 🙂 The images are from a few ocean themed stamps that I own – Waffle Flower Mermaid Mail, Paper Trey Ink Salt Air Flora and Trinity Stamps Sea Life Silhouettes. The paper is Canson Montval, which I watercolored using Daniel Smith watercolors.

Once dry, I trimmed the piece into a little lesser than 6″x 3 3/4″. I then wrapped a piece of acetate around it and taped it in the back, leaving the top open, dropped a few different sequins into it and sealed it in the back as well. I then taped this onto a white cardbase measuring 6″x4″.

For the sentiment, I first die cut a panel from the same white cardstock using My Favorite Things Stitched Jumbo Fishtail Banner, stamped the sentiments from Simon Says Stamp Seas and Greetings + Tiny Words: Birthday stamp sets. I also stamped the shell and a few tiny fish. I then scored and folded the piece to wrap around the front flap of the cardbase and stapled it. Of course, I had also added some tape behind it to make sure it stayed in place.

And that’s my no-flower card! Did you spot the lost mail yet? Not so difficult to spot, is it? The mermaid’s fish friend seems to have spotted it as well! 🙂

I’m joining the following challenges with my card –

Just us Girls challenge #788: Word Week: Birthday

Addicted to Stamps and More challenge #499: Any Occasion

Neglected Stuff challenge #825 (I had never used the Trinity Stamps Sea Life Silhouettes since i bought it a couple of years ago!)

Checkout the Seize the Birthday challenge blog to see what other ideas you can use to make cards without flowers, showcased by our talented DT and guests.

Thank you so much for stopping by! 🙂

#1111 – A Tunnel Birthday card

PE: Honorable Addict at Addicted to Stamps and More!

Hello and welcome! It’s time for a new challenge at Seize the Birthday. The leading lady this time is our leader, Nancy, and she has chosen the Topping of ‘Layer It‘. The topping is, as always, optional and you are always welcome to join as long as your project is birthday themed.

Incidentally, my sister’s birthday also fell recently and this is the card I had made for her –

Yeah, the outside looks nothing special. Because the fun is inside!

The card opens with a double door layout which opens to a tunnel card, with a wild garden theme. I was inspired by one of my own cards I had made in the beginning of the year.

For the card front, I used a pattern paper from and the sentiment die cut using Simon Says Stamp Birthday Wishes. I added a few small butterflies from My Favorite Things Hip Clips.

I started with making the different panels for each of the layers. I used Canson Montval watercolor paper and before adding anything, I added a base layer of color on the panels using distress inks ink smooshing technique. And I used quite a few different products on this one.

Coming to each of the panels – for the botton most, I used Hero Arts Blooming Meadows and Technique Tuesday Wildflowers and used distress pencils to color them. In places where the print wasn’t good enough or smaller places where I didn’t want to stamp, I took my brush and painted them myself using the color from the distress pencils. middle layer, used Mudra Leaves and Altenew Floral Shadow stamps, coloring the stamps with the water dipped distress pencils, them stamping them and then coloring them some more using a brush wherever I needed it. Once this dried, I cut out the window in the center. I also added a few more die cut leaves from WPlus9 Folk Art Floral and also some flowers using Paper Smooches Flowers 2 dies and then some butterflies using a small die from My Favorite Things Hip Clips.

For the top layer, I used Simon Says Stamp Arching Leaf Border, Spellbinders Be Bold Blooms, Paper Smooches Flowers 2, Simon Says Stamp Delicate Hummingbird Duo and butterflies from My Favorite Things Hip Clips. I had intended to leave the layer as is, but it was too flimsy, so make the layer more stable, I die cut a frame from the same cardstock to stick it on.

For making the sides (the doors) to the card which extends to the tunnel, I took two pieces of cardstock, scoring the sides to 0.5″ each, then folding them to get the zig-zags where I would attach each panel. (If my explanation is confusing, a simple search in youtube might give you a video with a much better one!!). I used one door for the card front, and the other to add my greetings.

For some embellishing, I used Sakura Glaze pen in black on the butterflies and the eyes of the hummingbirds and some Nuvo drops on the flower centers.

Of course, because of the zig-zag sides, the card ended up being too thick and couldn’t fit in a normal envelope. I had to make one out of thicker paper and adhere the pattern paper on it (it had a width of half an inch!) – thank goodness I didn’t have to mail it – there would be no quarentee that it would arrive intact! 😉

And that’s my ‘took so many days to make’ card! I’ve already declared to my sister that never again will any card I make be this elaborate. This is my apex! 😀

And I’m also joining these challenges with my card –

Addicted to Stamps and More challenge #490: Die cuts &/or Stencils

Neglected Stuff challenge #425 – It’s been years since I used WPlu9 Folk Art Floral dies, Hero Arts Blooming Meadows and Technique Tuesday Wildflowers and I have never used Mudra Leaves stamp since I bought it years ago! I am so glad I used them here!! 🙂

Checkout the Seize the Birthday blog to see what the rest of our DT and our guests have created for your inspiration! And don’t forget to join the party yourself!

Thank you so much for stopping by! 🙂

#1104 – Garden for a Humming Bird

Hello and welcome! It’s time for the first Seize the Birthday challenge of the year!! Our leading lady Cathy and she has chosen the topping of ‘Use Something New‘. Of course, the topping is optional, and you can just make any birthday themed project and join us.

And here’s what I made –

I purchased the Simon Says Stamp Arching Leaf Border die during their Die-cember sale last year, and I couldn’t be more pleased with it. I had seen so many pretty cards online that I just couldn’t wait to start playing!

So anyway, I started with creating ink smooshed panels. I used different shades and tones of greens and blues to make a few panels to die cut from. I also made a couple of panels with pink, purple and blue so I could cut out the flowers and the humming bird from them.

I then used the Simon Says Stamp Arching Leaf Border dies, Simon Says Stamp Delicate Hummingbird Duo dies, Spellbinders Be Bold Blooms dies on different panels to get a variegation of colors.

Before mounting this on Paper Trey Ink Rustic Cream cardstock, I embossed the card base using Simon Says Stamp Vine Canopy embossing folder. I then assembled and adhered all the die cuts on the card base. For the sentiment, I used JustRite Lace Vintage Labels 3 and cut off one of the edges at a diagonal before adhering that too on the card.

I have to confess I am really happy with the dies – they are perfect for quickly creating a garden/forest like impression on the card. And this card, in particular, looks even prettier in real life! Can you believe that!?

Ok, enough of patting my own back. I’m going to join these challenges with this card –

Addicted to Stamps and More #483 – Birthdays

Simon Says Stamp Monday challenge – Something New

I hope you hop over to the Seize the Birthday challenge blog to checkout all the impressive cards the rest of the design team and also our guest designers have created. You won’t be disappointed! And I think you’ll be inspired enough to join the party! 🙂

Thank you so much for stopping by!

#1100 – Happy Diwali

Hello and welcome! I am a day late in this post. I was busy prepping for the festival and never wrote the post until just now. But since the festival is still going on, wishing everyone who is celebrating Happy Diwali!

This post serves double – giving Diwali wishes and also our latest Inspiration Station challenge.

Even though we alternate the challenger for every challenge, my sister has presented both the previous and this challenge, since her pick coordinated with the festival theme so well. We both thought it would be a great idea to go with. Instead, I’ll take over the coming two challenges.

And this is her picture/color inspiration –

{source; Converted to palette at coolers}

Isn’t it gorgeous! The colors are so stunning!! And the diay looks so artistic. I knew I had to replicate this best I could!! And here’s what I came up with –

I started with the background, watercoloring it using a mix of Gansai Tambi and Daniel Smith watercolors. To replicate the threded swirly pattern on the ground the diya is laid on, I wanted to stamp the Hero Arts Leafy Vines in gold pigment ink, but that didn’t stamp very well. Instead I went over with Gansai Tambi Starry Colors with my own design. I also added gold splatters.. and then some more dots using the brush.. using the same watercolor gold.

For the diya I used Ranganjali Ornamental Diya. I have some cardstock with metallic sheen in different shades. I used the die to cut a gold cardstock twice and then used another lighter colors cardstock wot emboss it. I then fussy cut it, and then colored it using Zig Brush markers. I then adhered the die cut layers together on top.

For the sentiment, I used CrafTangles Festive Lights and heat embossed it in gold over some navy cardstock and fussy cut it. I then assembled the whole card and glues the pieces in place.

Well, that’s my card! Checkout some dazzling tags my sister made here! So festive!! I really loved the design on all three of them.

Thank you so much for stopping by!