stunning stencils

Hey crafty friends!  So hard to believe that it's getting towards the end of April.  Spring has arrived here on the west coast of Canada... I'm just hoping it sticks around.  Gotta' hate 'fake spring' - lol!

Shirley has picked stencils as the topping for us this week at Seize the Birthday.  I used a new-to-me stencil from Lavinia (with 2 different white inks) and also a new-to-me Spellbinders foil plate (shout out to my local-ish craft store - Crafty Capers - where a purchased these). Confession: I made a card for this challenge back in January but looked at it earlier this week and thought "uh nope". Haha. I'm not sure if this counts as 'bokeh'? Oh well, even if not, pretty happy with how this turned out.

Be sure to head over to the blog to check out the stunning creations from the rest of the team, our Surprise Party Guest Leslie and previous winner Claire! Hope you can play along with us - using the topping isn't mandatory but I think the "challenge-chooser" gets an extra warm fuzzy when you do (I know I do!).

Always so grateful for the comments.  Thanks so much for stopping by.

Have a terrific day and a wonderful upcoming weekend.

Take care,

Glenda

Card details:

birthday wishes - 4.25"x5.5"

Stamps: none!

Ink: Hero Arts Unicorn pigment ink, Memories white

Paper: white & green card stock, vellum 

Accessories: Lavinia white orb stencil, Spellbinders Curved Everyday Sentiments Hot Foil Plate & Die plus matte gold foil, stitched circle die, Cuttlebug Swiss Dots embossing folder

lovely layers

Welcome to April at Seize the Birthday! Nancy has picked "layer it" as the topping this week. I'm always afraid that I'm going to overdue it when it comes to layers and it's going to get too cluttered ... so I just decided to dive into head first and embrace it. I love these cone flower dies so did four of them!

Be sure to check out the blog to gift some crafty love to the rest of the design team, our Surprise Party Guest, Leslie, and previous winner, Nance. 

Thanks so much for stopping by and have a terrific day.

Glenda

Card details:

beautiful birthday - 5.5"x5.5"

Stamps: Hero Arts

Ink: Versafine black

Paper: yellow, black and kraft card stock, 

Accessories: Honey Bee Stamps Cone Flower dies

big birthday

Happy crafty Thursday friends! Jenny has picked 'milestone birthday' for our Seize the Birthday challenge this week. I have a set of chipboard map letters/numbers that I thought would be fun to use for this card. I tend to hoard collect travel themed stuff so found some map paper to layer in behind. I have friends everywhere from 30 to 70+ so picked the middle - figuring that someone's 50th birthday would likely come up eventually - lol.

Be sure to check out the blog to gift some crafty love to the rest of the design team, our Surprise Party Guest, Leslie, and previous winner, Renate.

Thanks so much for stopping by and have a terrific day.

Glenda

Card details:

adventure awaits - 4.25"x4.25"

Stamps: Spellbinders (sentiments), A Muse (th)

Ink: Versafine black

Paper: cream, black and kraft card stock, patterned paper (can't remember the manufacturer)

Accessories: American Crafts map numbers, Prism Studio stitched square die cuts

anything that flies

Hey crafty friends... welcome to March at Seize the Birthday! Our first challenge of the month is anything that flies courtesy of Linda. I was thinking a little differently and went with airplanes. I never seem to have enough belated birthday cards and it's good to have some on hand. This layout is a Case from this card from the wonderful Kristie Goulet.

Please head over to the blog to welcome our new surprise party guest Leslie Miller and previous winner GerJanne. Be sure to give some crafty love to the rest of the design team too.

Thanks so much for stopping by and have a terrific day.

Glenda

Card details:

belated birthday wishes - 4.25"x5.5"

Stamps: Paper Smooches

Ink: Versa fine black

Paper: white and blue cardstock, patterned paper (can't remember the manufacturer)

Accessories: ScorBuddy, black gems, Tim Holtz Tiny Attacher

stamp free

Today Jules has a super fun challenge for us at Seize the Birthday - no stamping!  I feel like I can do no stamping without thinking about it but when I have to think about it - feels like way more pressure (LOL). I decided to just focus on the sentiment and pull out some alcohol inks.

Hope you can join us! Please be sure to check out the blog and give some crafty love to our Surprise Party Guest Amanda and previous winner Chris.

Thanks so much for stopping by! Always appreciate your comments.

Have a wonderful day,

Glenda

Card details:

Celebrate You - 4.25"x5.5"

Stamps: None!

Ink: Ranger alcohol inks

Paper: white & black card stock, 

Accessories: gems, SU! dies, Provocraft embossing folder

birthday heart

It's JoAnn's turn to pick the topping at Seize the Birthday and she wants us to add at heart to our card. I have a couple on mine.  The hearts are both dark purple but as usual, it's hard to photograph.

Be sure to check out the blog for the rest of the lovely designs from the rest of the Design Team as well as our Surprise Party Guest Amanda and previous winner Julia.

Hope you have a terrific day.

Take care and thanks for stopping by,

Glenda

Card details:

Birthday Love- 4.25"x5.5"

Stamps: CZ Designs

Ink: SU! Blackberry, Versafine black

Paper: white & black card stock, SU! Blackberry Bliss

Accessories: gem, Tim Holtz/Sizzix heart die, embossing folder

color hues: red & pink

Happy February! I just got back from a crafty retreat with my friends - so nice to just chill and craft for a few days. Decided to play along with Color Hues again... I struggle with pink but thought I would give it a shot. Thanks to Tracey for challenging me! In love with these dies so decided to use them again. 

Edited to add (thanks Carol!) - also joining in for the Inkspirational Challenge (also red & pink).

Thanks so much for stopping by.

Take care,

Glenda

Card details:

wishing you happiness - 4.25"x4.25"

Stamps: Stampin' Up

Ink: SU! Real Red, 

Paper: white & black card stock, SU! Real Red and Pretty in Pink

Accessories: enamel dots, Spellbinders Fresh Picked Anemones dies

red & kraft

Lucky me!  It's my turn to pick the topping at Seize the Birthday and no surprise, it incorporates red! Our topping is red & kraft. The other exciting part of today is we have a new design team member, Jenny Martin!  So excited to have her join us. Welcome Jenny!

Red is my favourite colour and red & kraft is one of my favourite colour combo.  I recently got these new dies and they suited the colour combo well. I inked up the 'behind' section so it would look a little darker.

Be sure to check out the blog for the rest of the radiant designs from the rest of the Design Team as well as our Surprise Party Guest Amanda.

Hope you have a terrific day.

Take care and thanks for stopping by,

Glenda

Card details:

Happy Birthday - 4.25"x5.5"

Stamps: Papertrey Ink

Ink: SU! Real Red, Distress Ink Aged Mahogany

Paper: white & black card stock, SU! Real Red card stock

Accessories: black enamel dots, Spellbinders Fresh Picked Anemones

color hues: red & kraft

Color Hues is starting off the year with one of my favourite colour combos - red & kraft! I haven't used this fun die set very much but thought it would suit this combo well. Sending this card off to a friend who is having a tough time right now.  The red hearts are the same shade as the rest of the red paper but they look different in the photo - not sure why.  Thanks to Sheri at Color Hues for this combo!

Thanks so much for stopping by and hope 2025 is treating you well so far.

Take care,

Glenda

Card details:

sending hugs - 4.25"x5.5"

Stamps: Hero Arts

Ink: SU! Real Red

Paper: white & black card stock, SU! Real Red and Crumb Cake card stock

Accessories: SU! Sending Love dies, SU! black enamel dot, Provocraft/Cuttlebug embossing folder

new year new crafty stuff

 Welcome to 2025 crafty friends! Hope everyone had a peaceful and relaxing holiday season.

With our first Seize the Birthday of the year, we say goodbye to long time team member Colleen (we'll miss you!) ! I missed saying goodbye in November - some unexpected events kept me from getting my last post up (nothing too serious - some travel plan disruptions - everything worked out. We welcome our new Surprise Party Guest - Amanda Mertz! So glad to have you join us.

Cathy's challenge for us it to use something new. I've had this martini set from Spellbinders for a few months but this is only the second time I've used it (*gasp*!).  The sentiment is also new and also from Spellbinders. 

Be sure to check out the blog for the rest of the new & sparkly designs from the rest of the Design Team as well as Amanda and our previous winners Valerie and Denise.

The world is a bit chaotic at the moment... wishing everyone peace and safety.

Take care and thanks for stopping by,

Glenda

Card details:

celebrate - 4.25"x5.5"

Stamps: Spellbinders Typewriter Adventure Sentiments

Ink: SU! Real Red

Paper: white & black card stock, silver paper, SU! Real Red card stock

Accessories: Spellbinders Olive Martinis etched dies, SU! Maths embossing folder

focal one

Hey crafty friends... welcome to another Seize the Birthday challenge.  This is the second last one of 2024 as we take December off. Ashwini has chosen the challenge this week - for the focal image, use only one stamp and stamp it only once. No more stamping is allowed on the focal image.

I used one of my favourite big floral stamps and coloured it with watercolour pencils.  To liven it up, I splattered with some pink (! I know, I know) Distress Mica spray.  Happy with how this fun card turned out.

Be sure to stop by the blog and check out the fabulous creations from the design team, our Surprise Party Guest Fran.

Sending crafty love to all of you. 

Thanks for stopping by and take care,

Glenda

Card details:

celebrate - 3.5 " x 6"

Stamps: Casual Fridays (image) and A Muse (sentiment)

Ink:Versa Claire Nocture, Distress Mica Spray - Cocktail Party, Distress Ink - Uncharted Mariner

Paper: watercolour paper, black card stock

Accessories: Derwent watercolour pencils, Tim Holtz water brush, clear embossing powder

red & black

Hey crafty friends.  I couldn't resist playing along with one of my favourite colour combos - red & black - over at Colour Hues Challenge. I recently took a fall leaves watercolour painting class and couldn't resist putting some of those techniques into this card. I used Distress Ink for this card... since I made it, I've picked up some watercolour paints (always more crafty supplies to buy - right?). I've also accumulated many leaves in my jacket pockets - lol.

Thanks to the design team for all the fabulous inspiration.

Have a great day and I'll be back on Thursday with another Seize the Birthday challenge.

Thanks for stopping by.

Glenda

Card details:

best wishes - 4.25" x5.5"

Stamp: Spellbinders

Ink: Versafine Black, Distress Aged Mahogany 

Paper: watercolour paper, black card stock

fine feathers

Welcome to another Seize the Birthday Challenge! Vicky chose feathers as the topping this week. I don't have any feather dies or stamps so I went with a bird. Tried to just make it simple and elegant. The card base is a dark purple - oh purple, how I love you but how difficult you are to photograph.

Be sure to stop by the blog and check out the fabulous creations from the design team, our Surprise Party Guest Fran and our previous winner, Leslie.

Thanks for stopping by.  Always appreciate the comments,

Glenda

Card details:

Sending Birthday Wishes - 5½" x 4¼"

Stamp: A Muse (bird)

Ink: Distress Uncharted Mariner

Paper: SU! Blackberry Bliss, white and red card stock

Accessories: Spellbinders Glimmer hot foil system and sentiment, SU! embossing folder & enamel dots

Case Me a Christmas Card with Michelle Lupton

It's that time of year again when I'm joining the fabulous Michelle Lupton with Case Me a Christmas Card. I'm always so honoured that Michelle invites me back!

I've chosen this card of Michelle's to CASE. Love the rich gold and teal.  I didn't have that shade of teal so went with a navy blue and use hot foiling for my gold. I inked around the edges (a bit hard to see in the photo)

Thanks again for having me Michelle! Be sure to check Michelle entire CASE Me a Christmas Card series and the rest of her wonder creations.  She's amazing with alcohol inks!

Have a wonderful day.

Glenda

dazzling dots

Shirley picked dots for our Seize the Birthday Challenge this week.  I've been on a bit of a rainbow kick lately so I decided to rainbow my dots.  I just swiped various Distress Oxides across this dots background stamp to get the effect.  I thought this was going to be a recipe for several "do-overs" but I actually managed to get this to work on the first time. Spritzed a bit of water on it and then stamped on some watercolour paper. Couldn't resist using this fun sentiment.  I used some iridescent embossing powder on the sentiment to add some more rainbow.

Be sure to head over to the blog to welcome our new Surprise Party Guest Fran Wing! Check out the dynamite creations from the rest of the design team too.

So hard to believe it's October! I'm not loving the cooler temps but we are still getting a bit of sunshine. Sending my thoughts to those in the southern US who are being impacted by hurricanes.  Hope you are staying safe.

Take care and thanks for stopping by,

Glenda