Pastel Birthday

 Today's card is for the Seize the Birthday Use Pastel Colours Only challenge and the Just Us Girls 6 of anything challenge.  These colours look a lot darker on the screen than they do in real life so hopefully they'll qualify.  I haven't used this Neat & Tangled die since 2015.  How nuts is that?  Clearly there's way too much stuff in my craft room if it's taking that long to get back around to things again...  Anyway since I had it out I ended up making two cards.  Not sure which one I like best... The second one appeals more to my CAS soul as there's a bit less going on but then all the colors mixed up together in the first one are kind of fun.  What do you think?

Supplies Used:

Cardstock:  (White) Papertrey Ink, (Pretty In Pink, Peekaboo Peach, So Saffron, Certainly Celery, Bashful Blue, Wisteria Wonder, Basic Grey) Stampin' Up

Dies:  (Birthday Tags) Neat & Tangled, (Bows) Avery Elle

Gems:  Recollections

I Ate Him

I've got a card today for the Inky Paws Use Stripes challenge and the Stripes challenge at Seize the Birthday.  I'm always a little torn about this image and sentiment (poor birdie!) but Newton's so cute it's hard to resist him - so much so that I made two cards!

 

Supplies Used:

Cardstock:  (White) Papertrey Ink

Patterned Paper: (Dots & Stripes Sorbet 6x6, Dots & Stripes Fresh 6x6) My Favourite Things

Stamps:  (All from Newton's Birthday Flutter) Newton's Nook

Ink:  (VersaFine Onyx Black, Memento Tuxedo Black) Tsukineko

Markers:  (R11, Y15, BG09, C1, C3) Copic) Copic

Other:  (Nuvo Rhubarb Crumble & English Mustard Crystal Drops) Tonic

Flamingo Birthday

 Today's cards are for Addicted to Stamps (Birthday), Seize the Birthday (Anything Goes) and Shopping Our Stash (Tropical Delights).  I broke out of my usual CAS style today with bright card bases and patterned paper.  It's 12x12 paper that's been kicking around for ages so I was excited to make use of it.  The flamingos are oldies but goodies from Reverse Confetti and I snagged the second sentiment from an MFT set.

Supplies Used:

Cardstock:  (Regal Rose, Melon Mambo, Basic Black) Stampin' Up

Patterned Paper:  (Margarita 12x12) American Crafts

Stamps:  (Face, legs & sentiment from Fabulous Flamingo) Reverse Confetti, (Sentiment from Tickled Pink) My Favorite Things

Inks:  (VersaMark, VersaFine Onyx Black) Tsukineko

Embossing Powder:  (Opaque Bright White Super Fine) Wow

Dies:  (Flamingo) Reverse Confetti, (Speech Bubble) XCut, (Scalloped Rectangle) WPlus9

Other:  (Nuvo English Mustard Crystal Drops) Tonic

Nautical Birthday

I was flipping through my 12x12 paper stash yesterday and came across this American Crafts paper that I thought would be perfect for the Seize the Birthday nautical theme birthday challenge.I pondered a few different layouts but in the end decided to keep it simple and let the paper be the star of the show.

Supplies Used:

Cardstock:  (White, Black) Papertrey Ink, (Textured White) Bazzill

Patterned Paper: (Margarita 12x12) American Crafts

Stamps:  (Sentiment from Essential Sentiments) My Favourite Things

Inks:  (Suede Shoes) Catherine Pooler

Dies:  (Sailboat) WPlus9, (Squares) Essentials by Ellen

Other: (Nuvo English Mustard Crystal Drops) Tonic

Floating Kitty

 I've got a card today for the Just Us Girls (Float) and Seize the Birthday (Furry Friends) challenges.   Working through more patterned paper here.  Bit by bit I am determined to conquer it!  This is ancient paper from Hot Off the Press and seemed like the perfect background for naughty Newton floating off on a birthday balloon and the WPlus9 scalloped die gives it a bit of a cloud feel.

 

Supplies Used:

Cardstock:  (White) Papertrey Ink

Patterned Paper:  (Green Party Words, Purple Party Words) Hot Off the Press

Stamps:  (All from Newton's Birthday Bash) Newton's Nook

Inks:  (VersaFine Onyx Black, Memento Tuxedo Black) Tsukineko

Dies:  (Scalloped Rectangle) WPlus9, (Speech bubble) Paper Smooches

Markers:  (E33, E35, E37, 100) Copic

Other: (Nuvo Red Berry & Violet Galaxy Crystal Drops) Tonic

Pink Stripe Flowers

 

I've got a card today for the Seize the Birthday Spring Flowers challenge.  For some reason I never have the patience to colour this Altenew flower and in the past have just embossed it with coloured embossing powder.  This time I decided to "colour" it with striped cardstock.  I combined a Mama Elephant happy die with one of their stamped sentiments and finished things off with some scattered gems.

Supplies Used:

Cardstock:  (White) Papertrey Ink, (Regal Rose, Strawberry Slush, Melon Mambo, Smokey Slate, Basic Black) Stampin' Up

Stamps:  (Flower) Altenew, (Birthday from Labeled Love) Mama Elephant

Inks:  (VersaFine Onyx Black) Tsukineko

Gems:  Recollections

Wavy Birthday

 

Today's card is inspired by the CAS Colors and Sketches double challenge.  Usually I have a hard enough time just following a sketch or colours so it's pretty rare that I play long when I have to combine both.  I stumbled across this PTI birthday die that I haven't used in ages and thought it would be perfect for the circle element.  My first attempt at this card used straight blue stripes but it seemed a little meh so I went for some wavy stripes.  (Hopefully it doesn't mean I've started too far from the sketch).  I'm also going to play along with the Anything Goes portion of Seize the Birthday. 

Supplies Used:

Cardstock:  (White) Papertrey Ink, (Peekaboo Peach, Tempting Turquoise, Marina Mist) Stampin' Up

Dies:  (Happy Birthday) Papertrey Ink, (Stacked Edges 1) Pretty Pink Posh

Other:  (Nuvo Ebony Black Crystal Drops) Tonic

Ribbon Rainbow

 

As I mentioned in Thursday's post (and showed in my craft room tour) I have a ton of ribbon that I never use.  So I decided to continue to challenge myself to do something with it.  This works well with Time Out's challenge to do something different and I'm also going to play along at Seize the Birthday (no topping) since I ended up with a bright and cheery birthday card.  I used my ribbon to make a bright rainbow background and topped it with a Simon Says Stamp birthday die.  I'm loving the vibrant colours and the fun textures from the different ribbons.  Now to see how much more of the stuff I can use going forward...

Supplies Used:

Cardstock:  (White) Papertrey Ink, (Basic Black) Stampin' Up, Vellum

Ribbon:  Hero Arts

Other:  (Nuvo Ebony Black Crystal Drops) Tonic

Birthday Hearts

 I don't usually enter a bunch of challenges all with one card but it's that heart time of year and I'm already done with making Valentine's cards.  Both the birthday sentiment and the scalloped frame were on my desk so all I had to do was die cut some hearts from some patterned paper, layer everything up and I was done!

I'm playing along with AAA Birthday (Large sentiment), Inkspirational (Hearts), Seize the Birthday (Topping: Hearts) and Time Out (Inspiration photo).

Supplies Used:

Cardstock:  (White) Papertrey Ink, (Basic Black) Stampin' Up, (Vellum)

Patterned Papers:  (Love Story 6x6) Echo Park

Dies:  (Hearts) Taylored Expressions, (Sentiment) Simon Says Stamp, (Scalloped frame) My Favourite Things

Gems:  Recollections

Flower Cluster Birthday

 

I've got a card today for two challenges - Simon Says Wednesday challenge (use something new) and Seize the Birthday.  (The Topping for STB is Snowy Background but since I rarely make snowy cards I'm going for the Anything Goes topping).  This is a new to me die from Simon Says Stamp.  It wasn't as fiddly as I expected it to be and in the end the hardest part was choosing the colours for the flowers.  The sentiment is made up of a Mama Elephant die and a Neat & Tangled stamp.

Cardstock:  (White) Papertrey Ink, (Textured White) Bazzill, (Strawberry Slush, Flirty Flamingo, Crisp Cantaloupe, Calypso Coral, So Saffron, Wild Wasabi, Basic Black) Stampin' Up

Stamp:  (Birthday from Everyday Labels) Neat & Tangled

Ink:   (Strawberry Slush) Stampin' Up

Dies:  (Flower cluster) Simon Says Stamp, (Happy) Mama Elephant

Other:  (Nuvo English Mustard Crystal Drops) Tonic

Ham It Up

 

Today's card is for the Fusion and the Seize the Birthday challenges.  I used the sketch from Fusion and took inspiration from the pig in the photo.  I had this little piggy stamped, partially coloured and ready to go in my scrap bag so I'm playing along with the Use Your Scraps topping at STB.  I found some fun and festive patterned paper for the background and die cut a few Reverse Confetti flags for the top corner.

Supplies Used:

Cardstock:  (White) Papertrey Ink, (Calypso Coral, Mint Macaron) Stampin' Up

Patterned Paper:  (Saturday 6x6) American Crafts

Stamps:  (All from Hog Heaven) My Favourite Things

Inks:  (VersaFine Onyx Black, Memento Tuxedo Black) Tsukineko

Dies:  (Flags) Reverse Confetti, (Stitched rectangle) Mama Elephant

Markers: (RV23, R17, G000) Copic

Awesome Birthday

 

I'm popping in at the last minute with a card for the Seize the Birthday Dies Cuts Only (Optional Stamped Sentiment).  I went for fun and bright colours and paired a layered Neat & Tangled sentiment with a Simon Says Stamp star background.  I don't usually go this bright but I'm really loving these colours and and feel like they definitely say, "Celebrate!"    

Seize the Birthday Guest Designer Part 5

 

I'm back for my final challenge as Surprise Party Guest at Seize the Birthday.

As usual you can make any kind of birthday card and join the Anything Goes portion of the challenge or you can play along with our Topping which this week is Add Gold! 

I had a hard time photographing this card because I kept getting a shine from the gold but I guess it makes it easy to see how pretty it is when you move it in the light.  The butterflies are oldie but goodie Papertrey Ink dies and they're popped up on foam tape over the Essentials by Ellen Skinny Stripes.  My sentiments are usually stamped in black or are embossed in white.  Neither felt right here so I went for some Bermuda Bay ink to compliment the butterfly and I love how it came out!

I want to thank Nancy and the team for having me as Surprise Party Guest for the last two months.  Its been an honor to have my cards showcased along such a talented group at such a long standing challenge!

I hope you'll join in the fun!  You have until 9am (PST) on Tuesday, 8 September to play along.

Supplies Used:

Cardstock:  (White) Papertrey Ink, (Bermuda Bay, Basic Black) Stampin' Up, (Gold)

Stamps:  (Sentiment from Signature Greeting) Papertrey Ink

Inks:  (Bermuda Bay) Stampin' Up

Die:  (Butterfly) Papertrey Ink, (Skinny Stripes) Essentials by Ellen

Gems: Recollections

Seize the Birthday Guest Designer Part 4

I'm back for my fourth challenge as Surprise Party Guest at Seize the Birthday.

As usual you can make any kind of birthday card and join the Anything Goes portion of the challenge or you can play along with our Topping which this week is Rainbow Colours!. 

I think this might be the first time I've inked up this Essentials by Ellen set.  I originally considered creating rainbow icing for the cupcake but then I decided to flip things around and put the rainbow in the background using the sprinkle stamp with Catherine Pooler inks.  I first stamped the cupcake in a soft grey but it felt a little wishy washy so I used black ink and now it really pops off the rainbow!

I hope you'll join in the fun!  You have until 9am (PST) on Tuesday, 25 August to play along.

Supplies Used:

Cardstock:  (White) Papertrey Ink, (Bermuda Bay) Stampin' Up

Stamps:  (Cupcake and sprinkles from Sweet Sprinkles, Sentiment from Latte Love) Essentials by Ellen

Inks:  (VersaFine Onyx Black) Tsukineko, (Party Dress, Tutti Frutti, Tiki Torch, Tiara, Lime Rickey, Aquatini, Flirty Fuscia) Catherine Pooler

Die:  (Flag) My Favourite Things

Other:  (Nuvo Oyster Grey Crystal Drops) Tonic

Seize the Birthday Guest Designer Part 3

I'm back for my third challenge as Surprise Party Guest at Seize the Birthday!

As usual you can make any kind of birthday card and join the Anything Goes portion of the challenge or you can play along with our Topping which this week is a Tic Tac Toe challenge. 

I was a little panicked when I saw a Tic Tac Toe challenge because for some reason I really struggle with them.  However I put on my big girl pants and sat down to figure it out.  I ended up going with a diagonal line - One image/Flowers/Large Sentiment - and it was so much easier than I expected!  I dug out my trusty PTI In Bloom flower and stamped it onto coloured cardstock.  I used my Copics to do a little bit of outlining and highlighting around the edges of the flower and leaves and then paired it with a gorgeous scripty Simon Says Stamp birthday sentiment die.  I dithered forever about what colour Nuvo drops to use - purple? green? purple? green? - and finally went for green just so I wouldn't end up sitting there forever!

I hope you'll join in the fun!  You have until 9am (PST) on Tuesday, 11 August to play along.

Supplies Used:

Cardstock:  (White) Papertrey Ink, (Pear Pizazz, Wisteria Wonder, Basic Black) Stampin' Up

Stamps:  (Flower & leaves from In Bloom) Papertrey Ink

Inks:  (Memento Tuxedo Black) Tsukineko

Die:  (Happy Birthday) Simon Says Stamp

Markers:  (YG03, BV23) Copic

Other:  (Nuvo Bottle Green Crystal Drops) Tonic