Seize the Birthday #179: A Bit of Red

Hi Friends! It's my last challenge as the Surprise Party Guest over at Seize the Birthday.  I have so enjoyed partying with the Design Team. They are a talented and kind group of card makers and they host one of the best challenges around. Thank you, ladies, for letting me hang out with you! I had a blast!

Seize the Birthday takes the month of December off so folks can spend time with their families during the holidays. The last challenge for 2019 is birthday-themed, as usual, with an added Topping of 'A Bit of Red,' if you'd like.

By now you know I love adding Toppings, so here's a birthday card I made for my wonderful son to celebrate, let's say, a "milestone" birthday, using some of my Christmas supplies.

My 'Little Bit of Red' is a red cardstock layer and a red enamel heart on the buck silhouette die cut (Savvy Stamps Deer Head). I stamped the backgrounds on both layers (MFT and Catherine Pooler) in Twilight ink by Catherine Pooler.  The sentiment from Altenew is heat embossed and the flourishes were die cut (MFT) out of silver vellum.  I did not forget to pop up the top layer this time! 

Thanks so much for stopping by and for your kind comments.  They are so appreciated!

Hugs,

Annie 

Seize the Birthday #178: Off the Edge

Hi Friends!  Happy November and welcome to another fun challenge from Seize the Birthday!  I'm so happy to be staying at the party this month as the Surprise Party Guest.  

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.  This time around the topping is 'Off the Edge.'

My mind kept going with stamping and die cutting off the edge, so this is what I came up with:

I white heat embossed the sentiment (MFT Spotlight Sentiments) and the stars (MFT Stars Above) on a 4-1/4 x 5-1/2 piece of Classic Crest Sand cardstock.  Then I partial die cut the top star with the coordinating die so it was 'off the edge.'  After some random coloring with a Gold Metallic Prismacolor pencil, I layered the piece onto a Neenah Solar White card base.  Now I'm wishing I would have popped it up for some dimension, but oh well...it's a bit easier to mail!

We hope you'll play along and can't wait to see what you come up with.  Thanks for stopping by today!

Hugs,

Annie

Seize the Birthday #177: Candles

Hi Friends! I was a little sad that this was my last post for Seize the Birthday as their Surprise Party Guest BUT they've asked me to stay through November!  Happy dancin' now!

The Seize the Birthday Challenge this time around includes a 'CANDLES' topping.  The challenge is always anything goes birthday-themed and you have the option to include the topping if you'd like.

My card for today features candles because I love me some toppings...on everything!

I pulled out some oldie but goodie products for this one.  First I used a well-loved Happy Birthday embossing folder from Cuttlebug on black cardstock as the backdrop for my Stamps of Life die cut candles (candles4birthday) in rainbow colors.  I glittered up the flames and lathered them with Glossy Accents, sticking my finger in one of them while still wet, of course!  I finished off the card with May Arts black/white twine and a sentiment from Technique Tuesday's 'Umpteenth Birthday' heat embossed on an old Sizzix label die cut.  Love that sentiment!

Thanks so much for stopping by and I'll see you next time!

Hugs,

Annie

Seize the Birthday #176: For Kids

Hi Friends! I'm still enjoying my time as a Surprise Party Guest over at Seize The Birthday! This time around (as usual) you can create a birthday card with any theme or, for extra fun, you can add a topping!  

The Topping for our current challenge is "For Kids" so I thought I would play with some super cute super heroes!

These cuties are from Sunny Studio's 'Super Duper' Stamps & Dies that I simply colored with Copics.  I don't have a large selection of Copic markers so I try to supplement with my Prismacolor pencils for shading, etc.  I used MFT's 'Radiating Rays' stencil and Mustard Seed Distress ink for the background. I die cut a Quickutz Starburst for the heat embossed sentiment and then popped up the little heroes.  A sparkly Jelly Roll pen, Glossy Accents, and a little rhinestone for the wand finished up this card and they are ready to save the day! 

Thanks so much for stopping by and we can't wait to see your birthday creations!

Hugs,
Annie 

Seize the Birthday #175 - Geometric Shapes

Hi Friends! The party continues over at Seize the Birthday and I'm the lucky Surprise Party Guest for September/October.  Every Challenge is always Anything Goes and a special Topping is included for extra fun.  It's not required to include the topping on your birthday card.  

Challenge #175 Topping is Geometric: 

 I enjoy adding Toppings so this time around I went with triangles for my geometric shape:

I started with black cardstock, Nuvo Moonstone Glimmer Paste, and an Abstract Triangle Stencil by KaiserCraft.  It's amazing how the glimmer paste takes on different looks depending on the cardstock.  The black cardstock brings out the gold tones.  Since this card is for a young man, I went with a simple birthday sentiment (MFT Impact Alphabet & Numbers) die cut out of black foam and gold cardstock.  

Here's another card I made since I had all the fixings out.  This one also used the Moonstone Glimmer Paste but on blue cardstock it took on a silver look.  The sentiment was from The Stamps of Life on a MFT triangle die cut stamped and embossed with Catherine Pooler's Something Borrowed ink.  I think this one could be the "girly" card :)

Thanks so much for stopping by and I hope you can join the birthday party!

Seize the Birthday Surprise Guest!

Hi friends! I'm thrilled that I have been asked to be the Surprise Party Guest over at Seize the Birthday for September and October. It very quickly became one of my favorite challenges when I started playing and I'm so excited!  It is always Anything Goes for Birthdays but they also include a Topping that you can add if you'd like.  

For Seize the Birthday #174, the Topping is NUMBER. 

I started with a Neenah Solar White card base and die cut a rainbow watercolor panel I made and black cardstock for shading with Technique Tuesday's "By The Numbers"  die.  I glued them together, layered on the card base, and added the white heat embossed birthday sentiment from MFT with a piece of MFT striped DSP to finish off the card.

Thanks so much for stopping by and I hope you'll play along us!  We can't wait to see what you create. 

Seize the Birthday #172 - Butterflies

Hi friends! I just had the best week with my DGS visiting for a week. It's always so fun when he comes to the land of "YES!"  

I made a card today for the latest Seize the Birthday Challenge with a BUTTERFLIES topping:

The challenge is always anything goes but they add a "topping" if you'd like. I have a few butterflies in my stash that are my go-to's.  For this card I used the Bellina Butterfly Triptych die from Poppystamps.

After die cutting from Neenah white cardstock, I layered the butterflies over a watercolor wash, added the SSS sentiment, and layered that piece over some MFT DSP on the card base.  The card was finished off with some matching Pretty Pink Posh sequins and a scrap of DSP to the inside.  I love the airy feel of this die!

Thanks for stopping by and have a great week 😎.

A Break from Summer Outdoor Projects!

Hi friends! It's been a busy few weeks. Beautiful weather and lots of company and many outdoor projects but today I was anxious to get in the craft room and play along with a couple of challenges!

The first card is for The Paper Players Theme Challenge hosted by the lovely Claire:

AND to help celebrate Freshly Made Sketches 400th Challenge, I used their sketch that was the very first sketch when the challenge launched 8 years ago. Congratulations!!

I made a school-themed card for my DGS who will be in 4th Grade this year...I can't believe it! I've had this DCWV 'Grade School' paper pad forever that is my go to for school cards.  I white heat embossed the sentiment on a die cut apple (Stamps of Life) and added some VersaMark background dots with a pencil eraser. All were layered on a Hero Arts Black Notecard.

The second card is for the Seize the Birthday AG Challenge with a topping of Flowers:

I watercolored this floral arrangement from Concord & 9th with Zig Clean Color Markers. The MFT Pinstripe background was stamped on a white card base with Catherine Pooler 'It's a Girl' pink ink.  I used a sentiment from MFT's June or July 2016 card kit, white heat embossed on black cardstock, and cut it up and popped it up to work with the 'Wonderful' sentiment.  Nuvo Purple Rain Glitter Drops were added for a little bling to finish it off. 

Thanks for stopping by! I hope you're having an amazing summer!

Hugs,
Annie

Cool Birthday

Hello again! A card today for the latest Seize the Birthday Challenge with a "RAINBOW" topping:

I used Sunny Studio's 'Perfect Popsicles" and Catherine Pooler's inks to create a "cool" birthday card:

They look good enough to eat, don't they?! Hope you're having a great summer and thanks for stopping by!

Hugs,
Annie

Distressed Weekend

Hi there! I played with Distress inks this past weekend making backgrounds and also created a few cards to play along with some of my favorite challenges. There are three cards so I'll keep the descriptions short 😉 

The first card is for CASology #346:

The cue is "Ring" and I thought of Life Rings. Down at the beach, a lot of neighbors use them for outside decor but we all know how important they are!

The life ring was created with MFT's Donut die, masked off, and blended with DI Carved Pumpkin. I added the hemp rope and popped it up over a masked MFT Wave background. The sentiment is from Lawn Fawn's 'Float My Boat' stamp set. 

The second card was for Seize the Birthday's latest Anything Goes challenge with the Topping of "Cover the Card". 

I used a number of blue/green Distress Ink Cubes DTP (direct to paper) and swiped my background on Neenah Solar White cardstock.

Then I added Tim Holtz' Wildflower Stem die cuts in white cardstock and a heat embossed birthday sentiment from The Stamps of Life.  The card base is SU's Shaded Spruce cardstock.

My last card was for The Paper Players #447 - A Sketch Challenge from Jaydee.  I like this sketch...very clean!

More distressing on this one! The Mermaid Tail (Ellen Hutson) was embossed and blended. I added some Pixie Dust for sparkle - I wish the pic showed that.  The distressed blue cardstock layer was clear heat embossed with the same 'Bubbles' background stamp (Hero Arts) as the card base. I die cut some grass (Memory Box) and popped up the tail.  The heat embossed sentiment is from the same Mermaid Tail stamp set. 

Thanks for stopping by ~ I hope you're having a great week!

Hugs,

Annie 

Super Duper Birthday

Hi there! Today the weather is a lot cooler and I spent some time playing along with a couple of challenges.  The Paper Players #445 is a Color Challenge from Anne Marie:

Loved this color combo so I put together a birthday card for the PP challenge and also wanted to link up to the Seize the Birthday Challenge #167 - Anything Goes:

I just received a new stamp set from Ellen Hutson that featured a scooter which I had to have! I actually have a scooter like many folks do down at the beach...mine is red, of course!

The stamp set is called 'Good Times' and is from the newest release by Julie. And for a change, I used almost every stamp in the set for this card.  The images were simply colored with Copics because that's how I roll...simply. I layered a scrap of MFT DSP before adding the die cuts. The balloons, little French bulldog with shades, and the beep beep sentiment were all popped up before adding some sequins to the party.  The inside sentiment says "Let the GOOD TIMES roll." 

Thanks for stopping by! I hope you're having a great week and a fun Father's Day this weekend. I'm going to have lunch with my son who is an absolute awesome Dad to my DGS...so proud!

Hugs,

Annie

Seize the Birthday - #166 Presents

Welcome back! I created a birthday card for my stepdaughter's birthday in June and made sure one of the elements was a present for the latest Topping over at Seize the Birthday:

I'm still in a watercoloring mood and enjoying trying different mediums.  This time I used a $2.99 watercolor set from Crayola (my grandson's :) and it was better than I expected! The images and die cuts are from Simon Says Stamp's 'Birthday Numbers' set.

I really like this challenge...I'm making birthday cards ahead of time rather than the day before!  Thanks for stopping by!

Seize the Birthday #165 - Balloons

Hello again! This time around I'm playing along over at Seize the Birthday where the topping is Balloons:

I had just picked up these adorable balloons from Unity Stamp Company and thought they'd be perfect for this challenge.  I love anything with a smiley face! I did a lot of masking and stamped the balloon "crowd." Then they were watercolored in rainbow colors using my Zig markers.

A strip of black/white DSP was added to the left side, some black/white May Arts twine tied at the top and finished it off with some black dot stamping. I like how this turned out for a happy Happy Birthday card!

Thanks for stopping by ~ I hope you have a great week ahead!

Hugs,

Annie

Freshly Made Sketches #383 & Seize the Birthday #163

Happy Monday! I made a couple of cards yesterday during more April showers. I used the latest sketch from Jen over at Freshly Made Sketches as a jumping off point for the first card. I think I just made the posting deadline by a hair!

Neenah Solar White Cardstock

SU Tropical Escape DSP

Catherine Pooler's Toucan Do It Stamps & Dies

MFT Wonky Oval and Stitched Strips

Catherine Pooler inks, Copics, Nuvo Glitter Gloss

The second card is a birthday card for a dear friend that I'll be linking up to Seize the Birthday - Anything Goes:

MFT Musical Background Stamp

MFT DSP

MFT Turntable dies and sentiments

Thanks for stopping by ~ Have a great week!  Now, I need to finish those Easter cards!

Hugs,

Annie

Seize the Birthday #159: Anything Goes

Hi! Back again with a birthday card for the latest challenge over at Seize the Birthday. 

I was able to make a couple of cards yesterday for challenges.  I've really missed playing along with many of my favorites. Yesterday, though, the residual tremors from the chemo treatments had subsided and I was so excited to get inky!  

 I played with new Confetti stencils from MFT and Concord & 9th's Happy Balloons stamps and dies for this card. I used Catherine Pooler inks in 3 different colors: All That Jazz, Grass Skirt, and Fiesta Blue, on a SU Whisper White card base.

I finished the inside with the stencils and a new sentiment die from MFT that I ink blended before die cutting:

Thanks for stopping by ~ Have a great week!

Blow Out The Candles!

It's been weeks since I've been able to play in any of my favorite challenges.  Summer has been crazy busy with fantastic weather but yesterday it rained, and rained, and rained. So, I played the entire day with ink and paper!  Best therapy ever!

My card was inspired by two challenges, The Card Concept and Seize the Birthday:

Inspired by bright rainbow stripes

Anything Goes with Die Cuts or Punches Topping

And here's my card:

I used MFT's 'Make a Wish' stamps and dies for this bright birthday card. I die cut the candles three times, twice out of solid rainbow colored cardstock and the third layer out of MFT's Tiny Hearts DSP. The flames were die cut and colored with Copics and Wink of Stella. I was pretty proud of myself for stamping the sentiment FIRST before layering all of those candles on the card base!  I know you know what I mean! LOL!

Have a great week and thanks much for stopping by!