totally tropical

We are jetting away to tropical paradises this week at Seize the Birthday.  We can't actually do it so might as well cheer ourselves up with some beautiful tropical cards.  Thanks to teammate Shirley for picking this theme!

The background paper is some very old stuff from Making Memories but thought it suited the theme well.  The flowers were run through the good old standby Swiss Dots embossing folder and then I added some white gel pen.  Pretty CAS but bright and cheerful.

Hope you can join us for this challenge! Check out the blog for the rest of the terrifically tropical creations from the team and Jo, our fantastic Surprise Party Guest! Welcome!

Have a terrific day and wonderful weekend.  Thanks for stopping by. Hope you are taking care of yourselves and staying well. 

Glenda

Tag details:
Happy Birthday - 4.25"x5.5"
Stamps: PTI sentiment, Paper Smooches flowers
Ink: Versafine Black
Paper: white & coloured card stock, Making Memories patterned paper
Accessories: white gel pen, MFT rectangular stitched die, Cuttlebug Swiss Dots embossing folder, SU! mini paper clip

magnificent monochrome

Happy Thursday friends!  Hope you are hangin' in.  There will be some loosening of the restrictions soon - I'm looking forward to it but will still be staying smart about this.  Adapt to this 'new normal'... as if life was ever really normal.  ;)

It's all about monochromatic at Seize the Birthday this week.  The queen of amazing colours, TaeEun, picked this theme for us.  You had to know what colour I would pick...

Hope you can join us for this challenge! Check out the blog for the rest of the colourful creations from the team and Dotty Jo, our new Surprise Party Guest! Welcome!

Have a terrific day and wonderful weekend.  Thanks for stopping by. Hope you are taking care of yourselves and staying well. 

Glenda

Tag details:
best wishes - 4.25"x5.5"
Stamps: sentiment of unknown origin (borrowed from a friend), SU! Painted Poppies
Ink: Adirondack Black Ink, SU! Real Red, Distress Ink Candied Apple
Paper: Watercolour paper, SU! Real Red and Basic Black
Accessories: Wink of Stella 

delightful drinks

Hey crafty friends... I don't know about you but I'm definitely having my fair share of food and beverages these days! ;) Actually, I am trying really hard not to snack while at home (moderately successful) and limit my adult beverages to the weekends (again, moderately successful). 

Appropriately, our theme at Seize the Birthday this week is food and/or drinks.  My love of delicious food and beverages is no secret so it won't come as a surprise that I picked this theme.  Hope you like the result! Olives never make an appearance in my martinis but I am fond of them with a twist.

Hope you can join us for this challenge! Check out the blog for the rest of the tasty creations from the team and Stef, our Surprise Party Guest!

Have a terrific day and wonderful weekend.  Thanks for stopping by. Hope you are taking care of yourselves and staying well. 

Glenda

Tag details:
CHEERS! 4.25"x5.5"
Stamps: Unity (martini), Simon Says Stamp (Cheers)
Ink: Versafine Black, Versa mark, Distress Inks Hickory Smoke & Forest Moss
Paper: watercolour paper, vellum, white card stock, SU! patterned paper
Accessories: A Muse red pearl, gold embossing powder, Tim Holtz water pen

not all heroes wear capes!

Over at Seize the Birthday, Birthday cards aside for a bit and focus on making some cards for our HEROES during this World Wide Pandemic. There are many different people stepping it up and continuing to provide us all with what we need to get through this terrible time. For instance, you could make a card for Hospital staff (including medical staff and all the other people who are keeping our hospitals running), First Responders, Caregivers, Grocery Workers, Delivery Workers, Custodians, Pharmacists, and even Teachers. 

I got this great free digi download from A Jillian Vance Design.  Just kept the card simple and bright.

Hope you can play along with us!  Be sure to check out all the inspirational designs over at the blog.

Thanks for stopping by and if you are one of those front line heroes, words can not express my gratitude.  Not all heroes wear capes!

Take care and stay well,

Glenda

spectacular spring

Happy Thursday crafty friends... I trust all of you are staying spatially distant but socially connected these days ;).  I prefer those terms to social distancing. I'm working from home (fortunately) so that's keeping me busy but I am going to try and catch up on some of those long neglected projects - some fun, some not so fun! I am looking forward to this upcoming long weekend though... fingers crossed the weather is nice.

This week at Seize the Birthday, we are celebrating spring (for those in the southern hemisphere, I know you're celebrating autumn ;) ).  Thanks to teammate and friend, Lindsey, for this challenge. I found a leafy tag in my stash and thought I would dress it up a bit for this challenge.

Hope you can join us for this challenge! Check out the blog for the rest of the springy creations from the team and Stef, our Surprise Party Guest!

Have a terrific day and wonderful weekend.  Thanks for stopping by. Tell me what you're doing to keep busy. :)

Glenda

Tag details:
happy birthday
Stamps: Papertrey Ink
Ink: Versafine Black
Paper: kraft tag, white card stock
Accessories: Tim Holtz Leafy stencil, Gelli plate, vellum, SU! enamal dots and die, white twill, Artist's Loft acrylic paints

awesome kids!

Well.... it's strange days my crafty friends!  Hope you are staying healthy and physically distant. On the plus side... all this spare time means more time in the craft room (hopefully!).  I'm going to start doing virtually craft nights with friends.  Should be fun!

This week at Seize the Birthday, it's all about kids cards, thanks to my fabulous teammate JoAnn! I need to get over the mental hurdle of kids cards. For this one I just did a bunch of die cuts and arranged them the best I could.  What do you think?  I'm happy with how it turned out and think it would work for pretty much any kid. 

Hope you can join us for this challenge! Check out the blog for the rest of the kids creations from the team and Stef, our Surprise Party Guest!

Have a terrific day and wonderful weekend.  Thanks for stopping by. Tell me what you're doing to keep busy. :)

Glenda

Card details:
Go and Be Awesome- 4.25"x5.5"
Stamps: Neat & Tangled Awesome
Ink: Versafine Black
Paper: white card stock, scraps of yellow card stock, SU! Tangerine Tango and Brilliant Blue
Accessories: Tim Holtz Atomic Elements dies

gorgeous green

Welcome to March crafty friends! It's heavy birthday months like this when I'm happy that I'm on a birthday card challenge design team. ;)  We have a challenge this week that is perfect for those of us who are wishing for spring to arrive... it's basically here for us so we are pretty lucky.

The challenge for Seize the Birthday this week (courtesy of Vicky) is touch of green. I love 'splash' challenges and green is an easy one for me.  I ended up doing two cards - couldn't decide which one to post so have added them both!

This first one has green in the centre of the leaves (coloured with a Copic) but it may be hard to see. There are also tiny pearls in the centre of some of the flowers.

The second one came together at the crafty retreat I went to at the end of January. A friend has these poppy dies and I kind of went wild with them.  I used the negative of the poppy die and really like the effect. It's also stamp free! I used to be surprised when I didn't stamp on a card but not any more - it's fun when a card comes together without any stamping.

Hope you can join us for this challenge! Check out the blog for the rest of the glorious green creations from the team and give a warm welcome to Stef Perry, our Surprise Party Guest for the next couple of months!

Have a terrific day and wonderful weekend.  Thanks for stopping by.

Glenda

Card details:
Happy Birthday- 4.25"x5.5"
Stamps: PTI
Ink: Versafine Black
Paper: black cardstock, SU! Peaceful Poppies patterned paper (green) and Golden Honey patterned paper (floral)
Accessories: EK Success corner rounder punch, rectangle slot punch, A Muse ribbon & pearls, Copic marker

celebrate - 4.25"x5.5"
Paper: white cardstock, SU! LIime
Accessories: SU! poppy die & celebrate die

spectacular sentiments

I'm having a hard time believing it's the end of February! Wasn't is just January 1?!?! But we get an extra day in February thanks to it being a leap year.  Do you know anyone with a February 29th birthday? One of my coworkers has her birthday that day.  I think it's cool.

The challenge at Seize the Birthday this week is all about sentiments! They need to be front and centre for this one. Thanks to team mate Colleen for this one! Nothing to wild and crazy for me on this one... just simple and fun. Hope you like it.  I think it would work for a masculine card... which I never seem to have enough of.

Hope you can join us! Be sure to head over to the blog to see the rest of crafty creatures the team and our Surprise Party Guest Joyce have created.  A big thanks to Joyce for her fabulous creations over the last couple of months.

Have a terrific day and I'll see you in March! Thanks for stopping by.  Always appreciate your comments.

Glenda

Card details:
It's a Good Day to be Awesome - 4.25"x5.5"
Stamps: Neat & Tangled Awesome
Ink: Versafine Black
Paper: white cardstock, SU! Blackberry Bliss 
Accessories: SU! Math embossing folder, Neat & Tangled Awesome die, Tim Holtz Atomic Elements die

wondrous white space

Hope your February is going well so far crafty friends. Even though we've had a lot of rain, we have flowers blooming already so definitely can't complain.

This week at Seize the Birthday, we are embracing the white space! This is one of my favourite challenges as I can go super clean and simple (CAS).  I hope you like it!

Be sure to head over to the blog to see the rest of crafty creatures the team and our Surprise Party Guest Joyce have created.

Thanks for stopping by.  Have a terrific day and a wonderful weekend.
Glenda

Card details:
celebrate - 4.25"x5.5"
Stamps: Concord & 9th Perfectly Penned
Ink: Versafine Black
Paper: white cardstock, SU! Blackberry Bliss & Peaceful Poppies patterned paper
Accessories: SU! Lily Pad dies, EK Success corner rounder punch

crafty creatures

Happy Thursday crafty friends. No time for chit chat today (nothing like doing things last minute!). Our theme/topping at Seize the Birthday is creatures great & small. My creature is pretty great in every sense of the word! One note on this card - I used Nuvo for the bubbles.  I hardly ever use them (they were a gift) but figured this was a perfect way to use them!

Be sure to head over to the blog to see the rest of crafty creatures the team and our Surprise Party Guest Joyce have created.

Thanks for stopping by.  Have a terrific day and a wonderful weekend.
Glenda

Card details:
wishing you the best day ever
Stamps: Paper Smooches (whale), Avery Elle (sentiment)
Ink: Versafine Blakc, Tim Holtz Distress Ink
Paper: black & white cardstock, watercolour paper
Accessories: Nuvo drops, corner rounder punch, Copic markers

stunning stencils

Happy Thursday crafters!  Hope you're having a great week.  Winter weather is hitting us here on the west coast but I can't really complain.  We still have the best weather in the country!

At Seize the Birthday this week, we are having some fun with stencils.  I decided to get out my Gelli Arts plate and some paints for this challenge.  I played around with a bunch of different stencils and colour combos (see my Instagram) so it was hard to pick which one to make a card with.  (Note: don't be surprised if you see more of these panels on upcoming cards!) I finally decided to make two cards, one using the positive and the other using the negative. Plus, I love purple but don't use it nearly enough. The backgrounds are 'so much' that I kept everything else fairly simple. I have to give a shout out to my friend Cheiron for teaching me this technique!

Do you have a favourite? I really like how they both turned out but think it's so cool that the colours show up so well on the black.

Be sure to head over to the blog to see what the rest of the team and our Surprise Party Guest Joyce have created with their stencils.

Thanks for stopping by.  Have a terrific day and a wonderful weekend.
Glenda

Card details:
happy birthday to you & happy birthday
Stamps: Unity
Ink: SU! Elegant Eggplant
Paper: white and black cardstock
Accessories: Tim Holtz Splashes stencil, Gelli Arts plate, Art Loft paints, SU! hardware, Amuse ribbon and gems

lovely layers

Happy 2020 crafty friends! Welcome to a new decade... or not... depending on your point of view. ;) Wishing you all the best for the upcoming year... hope you had an enjoyable holiday season.

Exciting times at Seize the Birthday with a new look for the new year!  I just love how fun and colourful it is... a big shout out to team mate Ashwini who created it.  Thank you so much!

Our topping this week is layers.  I don't do a lot of layers most of the time so it was fun to get creative with layer implementation. I cut out and popped up the flowers and leaf. This was also about using up scraps.  I've been hoarding this patterned paper and striped vellum forever! I'm also trying my phone camera for the first time for my card picture (as opposed to my DSLR).  What do you think?

I'd like to welcome the super talented Joyce Mehrber as our Surprise Party Guest for the next couple of months.  Welcome Joyce! Be sure to check out the blog for all of lovely layered cards from the Design Team!

Thanks for stopping by and have a terrific day and wonderful weekend.

Glenda

Card details:

Happy Birthday - 4.25"x5.5"

Stamps: Paper Smooches

Paper: SU! Soft Sky card base, white card stock, Jillibean Soup patterned paper, striped vellum

Ink: Versafine Black

Accessories: Copic markers, EK Success corner rounder punch, SU! white enamel dot

splash of red

Hey crafters! It's our last Seize the Birthday challenge of the year (what!?!?!?) and I got to pick the topping/theme this week.  Not surprisingly, it involves red!  Just a splash though.  I went fairly CAS on this card... and no stamping!

I wanted to give a big thank you to Annie for all of her fabulous guest creations over the last few months! Also a thanks to the rest of our Surprise Party guests in 2019.  Last, but not least, a huge shout out to the rest of the fabulously talented STB design team. Thanks for being a fabulous team.

We now have a Seize the Birthday Instagram account so be sure to check it out! We'll be back with more birthday challenges in 2020 (what?!?!?).

Thanks so much for stopping by and all the best for the rest of 2019. Maybe I'll pop by in December with some holiday creations (we'll see how inspired/energetic I get!).

Glenda

Card details:

celebrate you - 4.25"x5.5"

Paper: white card stock, SU! red sparkle paper and black glossy paper

Accessories: Lifestyle Crafts embossing folder, SU! die cuts

off the edge

I might be a little 'off the edge' this week because it's November!  So hard to believe... but I'm looking out the window to sunshine so can't complain at all. Hope all of you crafty people are enjoying your November so far too.

At Seize the Birthday this week the topping is off the edge. Thanks to JoAnn for this fun challenge.  I always enjoy doing this but don't do it often. Pulled out some scrap paper, some ribbon and my Copics for this bright and cheerful card.  Hope you like it.

Be sure to head over to the blog to give our Surprise Party Guest Annie and the rest of the design team some love for their edgy creations!

Thanks so much for popping by. Always appreciate it!

Have a terrific day and a wonderful weekend.

Glenda

Card details:

Happy Birthday - 4.25"x5.5"

Stamps: Studio Katia Potted Plants

Paper: white card stock and scrap patterned paper

Ink: Versafine Black

Accessories: Copic markers, SU! Ribbon, MS circle cutter

Challenge Me a Christmas Card with Michelle Lupton

Hey crafty friends... I know it's far too early to be talking Christmas but not when it comes to Christmas card making! I'm playing along with the fabulous crafter and fellow science nerd Michelle Lupton again this year. Thanks so much for having me again Michelle!

I challenged Michelle to do some watercolouring with Distress Inks.  This is what I came up with on my end.  The Distress Inks used are Candied Apple, Twisted Citron and Shabby Shutters. I don't have poinsettias around my house at Christmas but this stamp from Avery Elle just shouts watercolour to me.  The sentiment is from my days on the Skipping Stones Design design team.  Using a French sentiment reminds me that I need to practice my French more... hoping to go to Quebec next year and 6 years of high school French won't get me far since it was so long ago! Added a bit of sparkle just for fun. Hope you like it!

Be sure to check out Michelle's blog for more Christmas inspiration!

Thanks for stopping by.

Glenda

Card details:

Joyeux Noel - 4.25"x5.5"

Stamps: Avery Elle Holiday Bouquet, Skipping Stones Design sentiment

Paper: SU! Real Red and Basic Black, Canton watercolour

Ink: Distress Inks - Candied Apple, Twisted Citron and Shabby Shutters; Versafine Black, Archival Black

Accessories: glitter, SU! ribbon