twist on a treat

Nance (happy birthday to you!) has chosen Favourite Fall Treat for the Seize the Birthday topping this week. I'm taking a slightly differently take on this! I'm in a lot of denial about fall because I am 100% a summer person... but one of my favourite things to do in autumn is to walk and kick my feet through big piles of leaves. So that is my favourite fall treat ... I have to find something positive about autumn! I used my Artsy Leaves dies with some smooshed Distress Inks for this leafy card.

Hope you can join us! Please check out the blog to see what fabulous creations the design team, our Surprise Party Guest Johanna, and previous winner Stephanie, have come up with!

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:

Happy Birthday to You - 4.25"x 5.5"

Stamps: Waffleflower Sweet Lattice

Paper: watercolour paper, white card stock

Ink: SU! Chocolate Chip, Tim Holtz/Ranger Distress Inks

Accessories: Tim Holtz/Sizzix Artsy Leaves

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

a little note

It's a been a minute since I played along with the Color Hues Challenge but fall is definitely in the air and I'm feeling the rust and green colour combo. I got these Tim Holtz leaf dies recently and hadn't used them yet so thought it was a good opportunity. I smooshed a couple of Distress Oxides for the green (Mowed Lawn & Pine Needles) and swiped a regular Distress (Rusty Hinge) for the rust.

Really need to try to play along with this fun challenge more often.  The team always has such great creations.

Thanks for stopping by.  Always appreciate the comments.

Glenda

Card details:

a little note - 4.25"x5.5"

Stamp: A Muse 

Paper: white card stock, watercolour paper

Inks: Distress Oxides Mowed Lawn & Pine Needles; Distress Rusty Hinge

Accessories: Tim Holtz Artsy Leaves dies; SU! Word Window punch

green & blue

Happy Thursday and welcome another Seize the Birthday Challenge! Our challenge this week is chosen by the wonderful and talented Nancy and it is green plus one other colour. I love green so this was an easy one for me.  I particularly like green and blue together.  However, I did so many different green and blue cards and none of them quite worked for me. Finally came up with this one that I'm mostly ok with - lol.

Be sure to head over to the blog to welcome our new Surprise Party Guest for April and May, Jolanda Johnston, and recent winner Melanie. Check out the great designs by the rest of the team too.

Thanks for stopping by and hope you have a terrific day.

Glenda

Card details:

happy birthday - 4¼" x 5½" 

Stamps: Mama Elephant

Inks: Distress Oxide Mowed Lawn, Distress Uncharted Mariner, SU Lucky Limeade

Paper: white card stock, Distress Heavy Stock

Accessories: EK Success circle punches, Honeybee Gems, Simon Says Stamp Jazz Dance Stencil

#cardsforukraine

I am joining Seize the Birthday's sister challenge, Color Hues Color Challenge, in honouring Ukraine today with a yellow & blue challenge (for the Ukrainian flag). My words are few about what is going on in the world.  I'm trying to find a balance between staying informed and keeping my mental health intact. That said, I am so glad to be joining them today... just to put some some crafty love out into the world.

After some false starts, I finally made a card that I'm happy with. I made a 'stencil' by running my sunflower (the national flower of Ukraine) die through my die cutter with some masking paper. Used some Distress Ink to blend this sunflower background.  Fortunately, a random scrap of blue paper I found just happen to match with a couple of enamel dots I had lying around.

It would be great if you could join Color Hues with this blue and yellow challenge (or their regular challenge for this week). All the details are on their blog. I'm so honoured that they asked me to join in.

With the state of the world at the moment, I hope you are being kind to yourself and others. Taking time away from the news to relax and do things you enjoy.

Thanks for stopping by.

Glenda

Card details:

Thinking of you - 4.25"x5.5"

Stamps: Ellen Hutson/Julie Ebersole Totally Random Sayings Vol. 3

Ink: Tim Holtz Mustard Seed Distress Ink

Paper: White card stock, scrap of blue card stock

Accessories: SU! sunflower die, MFT stitched rectangle dies, enamel dots

by the sea

Great news! We have a new Seize the Birthday team remember - the fabulously talented Jules Peddicord! Really excited to have her on the team. Welcome Jules!

My darling friend Nancy has picked 'by the sea' for our Seize the Birthday challenge this week.  I love all things ocean so I was delighted with this challenge.  The original inspiration for this card is this one from my friend Jenn. She was the person who first got me into watercolouring and then gave me a mini lesson on how to get this effect. I've made a few cards like this and always have fun. I've tried doing a shaker with this card but I prefer 'shaker-less'. 

Be sure to swim on over to the blog to check out the spectacular creations from the design team and our Surprise Party Guest, Jenny.

Hope you have a terrific day and a wonderful weekend!

Thanks for stopping by,

Glenda

Card details:

Celebrate the day - 4.25" x 5.5"

Stamp: My Favourite Things

Ink: Versafine Black, Ranger/Tim Holtz Distress Inks & Distress Oxides

Paper: watercolour, white card stock, Yupo glitter paper

Accessories: Memory Box die, Trinity Stamps baubles

yellow & pink

I'm thrilled that I'm able to play along with Color Hues Challenge!  It's not really a matter of time - it's a matter of me just getting organized to photograph the card and do the post. I seem to be very good at getting the card done but missing the deadline. I was so determined to get a card done for this challenge that I am doing one that involves pink (and you know how I feel about pink).

Hope you have a great week.  It's a holiday Monday for us so looking forward to some more down time.

Thanks for stopping by,

Glenda

Card details:

Hello there 

Stamps: Taylored Expressions / Lori Craig

Ink: Distress Oxides, Distress Ink, Versafine Black

Paper: Distress Heavy Stock

Accessories: Hero Arts stencil, A Muse yellow gems, Taylored Expressions blending brushes

wondrous wheels

Happy Thursday crafters!  Hope you are doing well.  This week at Seize the Birthday, Shirley has given us the challenge of wheels. The possibilities are endless!  I've been trying my hand at blending... sometimes I am more successful than others. This one was successful and goes well with the water theme.

Hope you can join us this week to create some wondrous wheel creations (or just birthday of course). Head over to the blog to see what our Surprise Party Guest, Lynda and the rest of the team came up with.

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

Glenda

Card details:

happy birthday - 3.5"x5.5"

Stamps: Paper Smooches (ship wheel), Avery Elle Loads of Wishes

Ink: Versafine Black, Distress Oxides - Twisted Citron & Broken China

Paper: SU! shimmer (for background), white card stock

Accessories: Altenew Ribbon Waves 3D embossing folder, grommet, stitched ribbon

sketchy

It was the 1 year anniversary for our 'shelter in place' this week. Wow - hard to believe! What do you do to occupy your spare time right now? I've been really good at reading, exercising and eating ... not so good at cleaning the house, yard work, or practicing languages and piano.  ;) Just grateful to be healthy, to be able to go outside, to be employed and to be able to see friends at a distance.

I got to pick the challenge for Seize the Birthday this week... so I pulled together a sketch.  Thanks Ashwini for "blogifying it"! I was inspired by this card of mine, just flipped on it's side.  This card was not at all what I initially envisioned... I like it but don't love it ... but I'm posting it anyway.  LOL!  Maybe I'll warm up to it.

Hope you are able to play along!  I always love sketch interpretations.  There are some brilliantly creative ones from our Surprise Party Guest Carol and the rest of the DT over at the blog.

Thanks so much for stopping by.  Hope you are staying healthy and sane (mostly anyway)!

Glenda

Card details:
Oh happy day - 6.25" x 4.25"
Stamps: Mondo Gerbera from Ellen Hutson/Julie Ebersole, Loads of Wishes from AveryElle
Inks: Versamark, VersaFine Clair in Nocturne, Distress Oxides
Paper: watercolour paper, black card stock, SU! Granny Apple
Accessories: clear drops from Studio Katia, white embossing powder, clear embossing powder, SU! embossing folder, sewing machine

...and end scene

It never ceases to amaze me, after all these years of card making, how some cards just come together so quickly and easily (like this one) and others take FOREVER to get right. Our current challenge at Seize the Birthday is to create a scene.  Thanks (maybe?) to my friend Lindsey for choosing this one.  Scenes are always a struggle for me - this one perhaps the biggest struggle ever but definitely happy with the result. 

I chose an ocean scene because I love the ocean and thought it would be easy. I really don't know how long this card took (at least an hour).  I kept picking up things and moving them around (definitely lost some paper thickness on some of those little pieces), swearing, making new (this card had an octopus on it originally) and different pieces in different colours, swearing more, moving stuff around more.  Amazed that moving things around that had already been attached didn't leave any adhesive or tears. I felt sorry for my friend Jo who was online crafting with me that day.  I was relieved to finally get the the scene together. I then had to draw in the & between the two sentiments and had to hold my breath that I got it right and didn't ruin the card.  I really love this card but I don't love how long it took. Apologies for the long story. I'm not complaining, just lamenting my incompetence  - lol.

Hope you can join us!  Be sure to check out what Carol, our Surprise Party Guest, and the rest of the team created!

Thanks for stopping by.  Hope you are staying well and staying sane.

Glenda

Card details:

big hugs & birthday wishes- 4 ¾" x 4 ¾"  

Stamps: Mama Elephant (sentiments), SU! Sea of Textures

Ink: Distress Inks (too many to remember), VersaFine Black

Paper: watercolour

Accessories: SU! Sea of Textures dies, Memory Box Elegant Jellyfish

oranges & blues

Playing along with another Color Hues challenge - orange & blue. I have to admit that I struggled with this one... took more than one try to come up with a card that I was happy with. As a note - there is Wink of Stella on the flowers but it's challenging to see. 

Even though this was challenging, I am loving Color Hues. Especially when it's bright & bold colours like this.

Hope you're having a great week. Hard to believe it's almost the end of October! 

Thanks for stopping by.

Glenda

Card details:

just because - 4 ⅛" x 4 ⅜"

Stamps: Ellen Hutson/Julie Ebersole Totally Random Sayings Vol 2, Stampin' Up Painted Poppies

Paper: watercolour, Jillibean Soup orange polka dots, A Muse blue shimmer, cream card stock

Ink: Archival black, Distress Ink Mermaid Lagoon & Spiced Marmalade

Accessories: Cuttlebug Swiss Dots embossing folder, orange & blue twine, Wink of Stella

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

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

Challenge Michelle a Christmas Card

I was lucky enough to be asked to play along with Michelle Lupton's Challenge me a Christmas Card!  I challenged Michelle to make clean and simple CAS Christmas card.

I took some shimmer paper and did some green splatter. Then gold embossed merry and stamped Christmas.  Next, I scored two lines along the left side and then adhered to the base. It's hard to see the shimmer and the gold embossing so I took a close up.

I really do love CAS soooo much.... so I whipped up another one!  Just did a quick watercolour over the snowflake and then added the sentiment.  Put a little sparkle in the centre (the second photo shows that).

So thrilled that Michelle asked me to play along!  Be sure to check out Michelle's fabulous card.

Wishing everyone a wonderful holiday season. Thanks for stopping by. Always appreciate your comments!

Glenda

Card details:

Merry Christmas - 4.25"x5.5"

Stamps: Lawn Fawn happy happy happy add-on

Paper: Stampin' Up Merlot and shimmer paper

Ink: Stampin' Up Merlot, Versafine Black, Mr. Huey's Bookworm Mist

Accessories: Gold embossing powder, scoring tool

Peace & Joy - 4.25"x4.25"

Stamps: Avery Elle Holiday Bouquet (sentiment), A Muse snowflake (retired)

Paper: Stampin' Up Very Vanilla, watercolour paper

Ink: Distress Ink Broken China, Stampin' Up! Merlot

Accessories: glitter, water & paint brush

Tag - you're it!

Happy Thursday friends and happy Thanksgiving to my American friends.  It's our last Seize the Birthday challenge for 2018 and we are playing with tags.  I played with my Distress Oxide - I've used them so rarely so I am still learning but I think this turned out ok.

Thanks so much to our fall Surprise Party Guest, Marianne!  She's been fabulous ... be sure to head over to her blog and give her some love.  Remember to head over to our blog as well... check out the fabulous creations from the rest of the team.  All the rules & regs are over there too. 

Thanks for stopping by.  Have a terrific holiday season and I look forward to seeing you in January!! I'll try to do a few posts in December.  

Glenda

Card details:

happy birthday tag

Stamps: AlteNew

Paper: Ranger Tag, black card stock

Ink: Distress Oxide, Versafine Black

Accessories: washi, enamel dots, Happy die from Altenew

celebrate you

Hey crafty friends! We are having a little reprieve from the fall weather with a whole bunch of sunshine this week!  I'm a summer lover so I'll take the warm temperatures.  I actually don't mind the rain in the winter either though... better than snow!

Seize the Birthday is 'topping free' so I started mucking around with some watercolouring and a vellum layer.  Hope you like it!

Check out our fall Surprise Party Guest, Marianne!  Be sure to head over to her blog and give her some love.  Remember to head over to our blog as well... check out the fabulous creations from the rest of the team.  All the rules & regs are over there too. 

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

Glenda

Card details:

celebrate - 4.25"x5.5"

Stamps: Neat & Tangled 

Paper: black, grey & blue card stock, SU! shimmer paper

Ink: Versafine Black, Tim Holtz distress inks

Accessories: water, pant brush, sequins, vellum, SU! celebrate die

wonderful water

Happy August!  Where did July go??  Feels like it just flew by. Hope all is with your crafty selves. It's challenge time over at Seize the Birthday and we are playing with water (watercolour, rain, streams, ocean, rivers, etc).  I went with smooshy watercolour!  Hope you like it.

Hope you can play along with us this week!  All the details on how to play along are on the blog. Give some crafty love to our spectacular summer Surprise Party Guest, Trina Pham, and the rest of the team.

Have a terrific day and wonderful weekend.  Always appreciate your thoughtful comments!

Thanks for stopping by,

Glenda

Card details:

happy birthday - 4.25"x5.5"

Stamp: Papertrey Ink

Ink: Distress Ink, Ranger Archival black

Paper: watercolour paper

Accessories: star die, paste, glitter

stunning sequins

Happy July friends.  Hope everyone is doing well... especially those on summer vacation!  I'm doing the opposite right now - celebrating a new job!  It's in a new field for me, away from marine science, but I will still be doing research in a really great work environment.  Really excited to have my long unemployment stint finally come to a close.

Over at Seize the Birthday, we are playing with sequins for our option/topping this week.  Sequins scare me a bit, to tell you the truth.  I managed to throw a few on here and think it looks ok.  Hope you do too.

Hope you can play along with us this week!  All the details on how to play along are on the blog.  Give some love to our new Surprise Party Guest, Trina Pham, and the rest of the team.

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

Glenda

Card details:

Happy Birthday - 4.25"x5.5

Stamps: Hero Arts

Paper: grey & black card stock, watercolour paper, vellum

Ink: VersaMark, Distress Ink Abandoned Coral

Accessories: white embossing powder, sequins

happy solstice

Happy first day of summer to those in the northern hemisphere!  It think it has finally arrived here... hope it has where you are too.

Over at Seize the Birthday, we have an 'anything goes' challenge this week.  I went pretty CAS with this card.  Absolutely love this die... just used some Distress Ink, water and a paint brush to colour it.

Hope you can play along with us this week!  All the details on how to play along are on the blog.  Give some love to our Surprise Party Guest, Sonja K, and the rest of the team.

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

Glenda

Card details:
Happy Birthday - 3.5"x5"
Stamps: Papertrey Ink
Paper: white card stock, watercolour paper
Ink: Versafine Black, Distress Ink
Accessories: EK Success corner rounder punch, A Muse gem, Memory Box Prim Poppy