#993 – Your Radiate Kindness

PE: Retro Rubber Challenge Top Pick!!

Color Hues Runner Up!!

Hello and welcome! I made time for myself to make a card for other than my DT duties. Its been such a long time, I had a real great time! 🙂 And here’s what I made –

I was inspired by the colors in the Color Hues challenge. I used a stamp set that I’ve not used for such a long time – Altenew Dodecagram. I think this is one of the stamp sets which shines more when used with a lovely color combination – which is something I am interested in now-a-days – color theory.

So anyway, I just took out the solid stamps from this set, and stamped the whole panel using my Misti. The sentiment comes from Concord & 9th Sunshine Turnabout, which I stamped in black, then brushed the white cardstock with the same teal ink as I stamped the background with and fussy cut. I then die cut a frame using Waffle Flower Nesting Squares dies and colored it black and mounted both the sentiment and frame using foam tape.

And that’s my card! I love how dramatic that background looks. I am inspired!! 😀

Joining the following challenges with my card –

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge: Favorite Things (Stamping and Colors)

Retro Rubber challenge #178: Anything Goes (Altenew Dodecagram was released in 2017)

Color Hues challenge #37

Thank you so much for stopping by! 🙂

#990 – Color Hues – Support for Ukraine

PE: Addicted to Stamps and More Honorable Addict!

Hello and welcome! Today is a special post, where members of the Seize the Birthday DT are joining the sister challenge, Color Hues challenge to show support for Ukraine. It’s heart wrenching to see people suffer because of some completely unreasonable people. I don’t have words to express the frustration, the helplessness, the fear. I hope these people are able to return to their lives soon, they deserve peace and simple everyday as much as rest of us. Prayers!

In the challenge this time, the Color Hues team has added an option to make a card in the challenge colors and/or to make a card using the Ukraine flag colors of Blue and Yellow. Of course, since we are making our cards in blue and yellow.

So, here’s the card I made –

I knew what I would make as soon as saw the colors. I thought of using an embossed background in blue and flowers in yellow.

I first made the background using Itsy Bitsy Leaves embossing folder on Navy cardstock. Before running it through, I inked the flatter side of the inside with Memento Tuxedo black ink – now my ink pad was a little dry, so it wouldn’t give a perfect black, but instead darken the cardstock a bit. Exactly what I wanted!

I then adhered this on a bright yellow cardbase, along with a strip of the same cardstock on one edge. Next, I made a distress ink panel to die cut the flowers from. I used a few shades of yellow ink to create an ink-splotched panel and die cut the flowers using Simon Says Stamp Crocus Flowers. I also die cut a few more panels from scrap yellow cardstock to adhere behind the main piece to get some dimension. I then adhered this on the card and also added few gold sequins to embellish. Finally, I gold heat embossed the sentiment from Concord & 9th Lots to Say, trimmed it and adhered it on the card as well.

I’m joining the following challenges –

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge: Anything Goes

Addicted to Stamps and More challenge #424: Any Occasion

Do join the Color Hues challenge. You can take up the original set of colors (Green and Gold) or show your support for Ukraine and choose to go with blue and yellow.

Thank you very much for stopping by.

#974 – Gardening Bear

Hello and welcome! Its time for a new challenge up at Seize the Birthday, and this will be the last challenge for this year. We will, of course be back the next year with another challenge – after celebrating Christmas and New Year’s to our heart’s content! 🙂

The topping for this time is chosen by our wonderful team mate Lindsey, and she has chosen ‘Hobbies and Pastimes‘. Of course, as always, ‘Anything Goes‘ theme also applies, so you can join with any birthday project!

And this is what I created –

My hobbies are pretty varied – card-making (of course!!), sewing, cooking, watercoloring, mixed media, reading, gardening – I love a bit of everything that helps me stay at home, but still occupied! 😀 Of all of these, since I had just the right stamps for it, I chose gardening.

I used stamps from Waffle Flower called ‘Bear and Bird’ and ‘Happy Day’, stamped them in VersaFine Onyx Black ink on Hndmd watercolor paper. I stamped the bear partially, so the bird isn’t stamped, and drew a gardening hat for the bear – how handsome he looks!! 😀 I then did a messy watercoloring using Distress Inks. I also added dots here and there using the same Uniball black fineliner pen I used to draw the bear’s hat.

For the background, I used CrafTangles Argyle stencil. I shifted the stencil to when applying each of my three colors – blue, green and yellow. It came out pretty lovely – pity I had to cover most of it. So anyway, it didn’t look quite right to just add the trimmed watercolored on top, so I matted it with some plain white cardstock and foam mounted it on the card base.

Finally for the sentiment, I used one from the Waffle Flower ‘Bear and Bird’ stamp set. Before stamping, I covered the scrap white cardstock with a blue Distress Oxide ink and then stamped it. I then trimmed it and them foam mounted on the card.

And that’s my card! I’ll also be joining these challenges –

AAA Birthday challenge #31: Animals

Timeout challenge #201: Da Vinci quote

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge: Anything Goes

Checkout the Seize the Birthday challenge blog for more inspiration on Hobbies and Pastimes, given by our talented team and our Surprise Party Guest, Carol McFarland! And don’t forget to join the last birthday party of this year! 🙂

Thank you very much for stopping by!

#972 – Happy Diwali

Hello and welcome! So close to the end of the year, and we also have a major Indian festival just around the corner – Diwali! But before that, its the start of the new Happy Little Stampers Watercolor challenge!

And here’s what I made-

I made a simple diya giving off light aginst a colorful background. The watercolor paper is from CrafTangles and I used Gansai Tambi watercolors to color it. I did draw the diya myself too. Since I was using so many colors , I first added an underpainting in soft yellow, then painted the diya in layers of colors, finally adding the brown-black part of the diya itself. Once things were partially dry, I added gold splatters from Gansai Tambi Starry Nights. I also colored the flame of the diya and its reflection in the oil with a little of the same gold.

Once dry, I trimmed the piece and glued it on top of a beige colored cardstock. For the sentiment, I die cut gold glittered cardstock using Tim Holtz Alphanumeric Tiny Type Lower Thinlits Die Set and a few extras from spare black cardstock, stacked them together and adhered them on the card. For some extra glitter, I added some gold stickels on the flame and its reflection as well.

And that finished my card! It goes to a dear friend of mine. But before that, I am also submitting this card to a couple of challenges –

Inkspirational challenge #251: Word Prompt: Cheer (Spreading the Diwali cheer)

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge: Anything Goes

CrafTangles challenge Monthly challenge: Glitter or Ethnic

Checkout more inspiration from the rest of our team at the Happy Little Stampers Watercolor challenge blog.

Thank you for stopping by!

#971 – A Sunset Scenery

Hello and welcome! Its time for a new challenge at Seize the Birthday and this time, Colleen has given us the topping ‘Make a Sunset Scene‘. Of course, the topping is optional and you can choose to go without it and just make any birthday project to join the challenge.

And here’s what I made –

I chose the Concord & 9th City Stacks to make a simple scene. Stamping it so that the upper portion is mostly empty, I then watercolored it using distress inks. I also watercolored the staircase, which was not already present in the scene Once dry, I added white splatters for the stars using Hero Arts Unicorn White pigment ink, mixing it with perfect pearls for some extra ‘starry’ shine. I did have to go over some the lines that hadn’t stamped properly using a fine liner marker. I also added some grass and leaves-lines on the trees, along with adding the long staircase.

I then trimmed the watercolor panel to size, trimming a bit more on the top and the bottom than a regular card size. I then used foam tape to mount this on a black card base. Finally, I used sentiments from My Favorite Things Well, Hello stamp set to white heat emboss the sentiment on black cardstock, trimmed them and foam mounted them on the card.

And that’s it! A really easy card to make, since the stamps provided so much of the scenery! 🙂

I’m joining the following challenges with my card –

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge: Anything Goes

Timeout challenge #199: Down to Earth

Tic Tac Toe challenge #137: I’ve chosen Sparkle – Green/Blue – Tree

Hop over to the Seize the Birthday challenge blog to checkout more inspiration from the rest of our innovative design team and our Surprise Party Guest, Carol McFarland!

Thank you so much for stopping by!