Seize The Birthday - Add A Heart

Hello peeps!  Time for a new challenge at Seize The Birthday, and JoAnn has chosen Add A Heart To Your Card - well, it is Valentine's Day tomorrow.

This one flummoxed me for a while.  I've got plenty of heart stamps and dies, but nothing was inspiring me.  Eventually I remembered about the tiny hearts from the Tim Holtz Falling Hearts die, and I wanted to use the Papercut Cafe set and Brushstroke Flowers Mini set, so it all came together on a stencilled background using a Stamperia stencil and a Tim Holtz mini stencil, and plenty of Distress Oxide sprays.

Pop on over to the Seize The Birthday blog for some more fabulous inspiration from the Design Team and our surprise party guests, and play along with us.  If hearts aren't your thing, play along with our Anything Goes theme instead, as long as it's a birthday theme.

Seize The Birthday - Kraft & Red

Hello peeps, time for a new challenge at Seize The Birthday, and time to welcome our newest team member and my friend, Jenny Martin of My Paper Epiphany.

This challenge, set by Glenda, is Kraft and Red (but you could always play along with our Anything Goes theme if you prefer, as long as it's birthday-themed).

I used a couple of flowers from Tim Holtz Abstract Florals set and coloured them red with Tombow brush markers, and added highlights with a white Posca pen.  The sentiment is from TH Glorious Bouquet.

Pop on over to the Seize The Birthday blog for some more fabulous Kraft and red inspiration from the team, and from our surprise party guests, and play along with us.

Seize The Birthday - Use Something New

Hello, and Happy New Year from the Seize The Birthday Team!  Our first challenge of the year has been set by Cathy, and it's Use Something New.

It's a great challenge to start the year because it means we get to play with our new Christmas or Black Friday goodies, if we haven't already ;)

I took advantage of the Sizzix sales of Tim Holtz products a while back, and the goodies have been piled up waiting to be used.  And now Tim is stepping back from releases, the bank balance has heaved a sigh of relief and I might get to actually use what I have instead of stockpiling (separate hobby).

Anyway, I used Brushstroke Flowers #1 and the ladybird from Funky Insects.  And in line with my New Year's resolution (again!) to try to join in more challenges, I'm adding this to Darnell's NBUS challenge.

Hopefully as the year progresses I'll manage to enter a few more challenges and beat last year's attempts.

Pop on over to the Seize The Birthday blog to see what new products the rest of the design team have used, and join in.   You could play Anything Goes if you prefer. 

We also have three surprise party guests for this challenge - Amanda Mertz from Did You Stamp Today?, who is with us for the next two months, and previous winners Valerie and Denise.

See you in the gallery!

Seize The Birthday - Masculine

Hey, Seize The Birthday fans!  For our final challenge of the year, Barb has chosen Masculine.

It's always harder to come up with masculine card ideas, but you should get loads of inspiration from the rest of the design team and our surprise party guests.  But if you don't want to make a masculine card you can always play along with our Anything Goes theme.

I actually made this card for the previous challenge, 'Focal One', but then decided to use it for this Masculine challenge instead.  The focal image is from Woodware, the sentiment strip is Taylored Expressions, and the embossing folder is from Apple Blossom.

Pop along to the Seize The Birthday blog and play along with us!

Seize The Birthday - Focal One

Hello, we've got a great challenge for you this week at Seize The Birthday from Ashwini, and it's Focal One.  Here is her explanation:

What this means is, in your card, for the focal image, use only one stamp and stamp it only once. No more stamping is allowed on the focal image. However, you are free to colour it and free to do anything else with the rest of the card.

If you don't want to follow the 'Focal One' theme, you can always play along with our Anything Goes theme.

I used a new to me stamp from Aall & Create, and a sentiment from Avery Elle.  Once I'd watercoloured the image with Distress Inks I splattered the colours across the panel, then I also splattered the colours across the card base.  I mounted the panel onto glitter card, then onto the card base.

Pop on over to the Seize The Birthday blog for some more fabulous inspiration on Focal One from the rest of the design team and our surprise party guests, and join in the party!

Seize The Birthday - Feather

Hello!  Here at Seize The Birthday, Vicki is our host, and she's chosen Feather.

I went old school and actually used a woodblock stamp and embossing powder for this feather by Stampendous.  The background is a splodge of Fossilised Amber Distress Spray Stain, with a touch of Tumbled Sky.  The sentiment is from Wow!

Pop on over to the Seize The Birthday blog for some more fabulous inspiration from the rest of the design team and our surprise party guests, and join in the fun!

Seize The Birthday - Dots

 

Hello, and welcome to a new challenge at Seize The Birthday!  It's my turn to host, and I've gone for Dots.

My dots are courtesy of a strip of washi tape, but you could stamp, stencil or draw your dots, or use patterned paper, or any other way you can think of to add dots.

The image and top sentiment are by StampingBella, and the Happy Birthday is by Altenew.  The bling is by Stickles.

Pop on over to the Seize The Birthday blog to see how the rest of the team and our surprise party guests have used dots in their creations, then come and join us.  If dots aren't your thing, you can still play along with any birthday themed project.

See you in the gallery!

Seize The Birthday - Celebrate

 

Hello, it's Nancy's turn to choose the topping for Seize The Birthday, and she wants us to use the word 'Celebrate" on our cards.  Easy enough on a birthday card, eh?

This must have been one of the quickest cards I've pulled together recently, and it's a good job it was quick, because it was the night before hubby's birthday when I realised I hadn't made him a card!!! 😂 

I had a spare beer glass that was stamped, cut and coloured, and the background was also in my stash.  So I lined up all the sentiment stamps from Visible Image Birthday Wishes on my stamping platform and stamped them all in one go.  Genius.

The beer glass is from Visible Image Bring On The Beers stamp set and coordinating die set, and if you look at the background you can just make out the Visible Image Echoes stencil where Ive used it as a mono print.

Pop on over to the Seize The Birthday blog for more fabulous inspiration from my teamies and our wonderful surprise party guests, and join the party!  If you don't want to use the word celebrate you can still play along with with our Anything Goes theme.

Seize The Birthday - Stripes

Hello, we've got a new challenge for you at Seize The Birthday, chosen by Linda, and it's Stripes.

The stripy background was in my stash from a couple of years ago, so I can't remember what I used - possibly Distress paint.  Actually, the lily (Altenew) and sentiment (The Stamp Market) were also in my stash.  I just diecut the panel, and a coordinating black panel, and mounted then onto green card.

Pop on over to the Seize The Birthday blog where you can see some more fabulous inspiration from the rest of the design team, and our fab Surprise Party Guests, and join in the fun.  If stripes aren't your thing, you can always play along with our Anything Goes theme.

See you in the gallery!

Seize The Birthday - Retro

Hello peeps, we've got a fun challenge for you at Seize The Birthday - Retro, chosen by Jules.  I think we were on the same wavelength when we made our cards!  My girls look like they've just stepped out of her campervan and are headed into town :)

The background is Distress Inks, and the ray stencil and groovy chicks stencil are by Sheena Douglass.  The sentiment is from my Groovy Shoes set by STAMPlorations.

Pop on over to the Seize The Birthday blog to find out how our team, and our surprise party guests, have interpreted this fun challenge, then join us in the gallery.  If Retro isn't your thing, you can still play along with any birthday card in our Anything Goes theme.

Seize The Birthday - Cute Critters

Hey, Seize The Birthday fans!  We've got an irresistible challenge for you this week, chosen by JoAnn - Cute Critters.

I couldn't resist using this Anita Jeram image from Colorado Craft Company.  Originally I sponged the grass area, but it all looked a bit meh, and this gelli print piece from my scraps was saying, "Look at me,  I match, I'll jazz it up!"  And it did.  And I like it much better now :)

Pop along to the Seize The Birthday blog for some more fabulous inspiration from the team, and play along with our Cute Critters challenge.  If cute critters aren't your thing, you can still play along with any birthday project.

Seize The Birthday - Tic Tac Toe

Hello!  We've got a fab new challenge for you at Seize The Birthday - Tic Tac Toe, chosen by Glenda.

I went for the middle row - watercolour, clean and simple, dots/circles.  The flower stamp is from Carabelle Studio, and although there are some dots on the image around the flowers, I added a few more with my paintbrush.  The sentiment is from MFT.

There are so many options with this challenge, but if that's too erm, challenging, you can play along with any birthday theme.

Pop on over to the Seize The Birthday blog for some more gorgeous inspiration from the team and our surprise party guests, and play along.

Seize The Birthday - Fruits

Hello, we've got a new challenge for you at Seize The Birthday, and this time our host Colleen has gone for fruit.  All of my fruit is either drink related or cake related, so seeing as Monday's post was drinks, I've gone for cake today.

This is another card that was thrown together from bits on my desk.  The background was in my stash.  It had been there for a while, a bit lurid, and I wasn't sure how I would use it.  It was a mop-up piece, and I wasn't really impressed with the colours. So I dry-embossed it with a linen folder, even less impressed.  Then I rubbed Inca gold over it.  A bit better, but still a bit hard on the eyes.  And there it had lain for months, neglected.

Meanwhile, I'd already decided on the cupcake from Colorado Craft Company Big and Bold Sweet Friend, and sloshed a bit of colour on it and trimmed it.  Then I set about looking for a background, tried this, and they just went together.  And this is why I can't throw stuff away!  The sentiments were also retrieved from my stash.

Pop on over to the Seize The Birthday blog for some more fabulous inspiration from the team, and our guest designer Julia, and join the party.  If fruit isn't your thing, just play along with any birthday project.

Seize The Birthday - Add A Star

Hey, peeps, it's time for a new challenge at Seize The Birthday.  Cathy is our host for this challenge and she wants us to add a star to our birthday project.

This card sort of fell together.  I've been having a massive sort-out in my craft room (but you'd never know it), and the white and red panel had landed near the red and yellow dotted paper.  The stamped and coloured Eiffel Tower panel was nearby.  I rummaged through my stash of stars and found that this Tim Holtz star mimicked the shape of the Eiffel Tower perfectly.  The penny farthing is a printout that's been in my stash for ages, and the diecut birthday sentiment is from The Stamp Market.

I had to add some bling to my tower to remind me of seeing it light up and sparkle when Jenny and I took a night-time open-top bus trip in Paris last year, quite a magical experience.

Pop on over to the Seize The Birthday blog for some more fabulous inspiration from the team and from our surprise party guests, and join in the fun.  If stars aren't your thing, you can still join in with any birthday-themed project.

Seize The Birthday - Double Stencilling

Hi peeps!  Time for a new challenge at Seize The Birthday and Barbara has chosen Double Stencilling - i.e. add colour through one stencil, and before you lift it, add another stencil on top and add colour through that.

I stamped the image (Imala, Stamps By Me) then added Twisted Citron distress ink through the Tim Holtz Splotches stencil, left that in place and layered the TH Code stencil in Picked Raspberry, then sloshed the same colours onto the dress and added a bit of splatter.  Of course.  And a bit of credit card scratch with black ink.

Pop on over to the Seize The Birthday blog for some more fabulous examples of double stencilling from the design team and our surprise party guests, and join in the fun.

If you don't fancy trying double stencilling, you can always play along with our Anything Goes theme.

Seize The Birthday - Use Metallics

 Hello, time for a new challenge at Seize The Birthday, and our host Ashwini has chosen Use Metallics.

I found this silver-foiled panel (Spellbinders Modern Lines) in my very small stash of foiled items (need to make more).  I stamped the new Abstract Flowers from Tim Holtz, using Distress Stains and drawing the colour in with a wet paintbrush.  The sentiment is from Glorious Bouquet and the background text from Ledger Script.

You can see the silver foiling better in this pic.

Pop on over to the Seize The Birthday blog for some more fab inspiration from the team and our Surprise Party Guests.  And if metallics aren't your thing, you can still play along with our Anything Goes challenge.

Seize The Birthday - Beach Theme

Hi peeps, it's time for a new challenge at Seize The Birthday, chosen by Vicki, and she's gone for Beach Theme.

I sponged my sand and sky onto a piece of white card, stamped some palms (Altenew Wild Ferns), flip flops (Card-io) and sentiment (Pink 'Fresh Studio) and added a cocktail by Tim Holtz.

Pop on over to the Seize The Birthday blog for some fabulous inspiration from the team and our surprise party guests, and join in the fun.  If the beach theme doesn't suit, you can always play along with our Anything Goes challenge, just as long as it's birthday-themed.

Seize The Birthday - Off The Edge

Hello peeps, it's my turn to choose the topping at Seize The Birthday, and I've gone for Off The Edge.  You can take this either of two ways - extend your design off the edge of the card, or chop it off at the edge.  Or indeed any other interpretation of Off The Edge!  I went for chopping it off at the edge.

The image and sentiment are from Colorado Crafts - Just Because Lilacs, and I used Distress Inks to colour.

Pop on over to the Seize The Birthday blog to see how the team and surprise party guests have interpreted the them, and join in.  If you don't want to go over the edge, you can still play along with any birthday-themed project.

Seize The Birthday - Any Colour Plus Green

Hello Seize The Birthday fans!  It's Nancy's turn to pick the challenge theme, and she's gone for Any Colour Plus Green.

I used a partial image from Altenew's oversized Sketchy Floral stamp on a mop-up piece of Wilted Violet and Mowed Lawn, then fussy cut it.  To prepare my card base, I stamped some marks from Tim Holtz Media Marks and Fireworks Pear Tart spray then adhered the cutout floral to the card.

Pop on over to the Seize The Birthday blog for some more fabulous inspiration from the team, and from our surprise party guests, and join in the fun.  If the colours aren't your thing, you can still play along with our anything goes theme.

Seize The Birthday - Spring Florals

Hello, and welcome to a new challenge at Seize The Birthday.  This time Linda is our hostess, and she wants to see spring florals.  Well, there's certainly plenty of inspiration around!

Did you see the toilet roll heart Valentine's cards circulating on the interwebs in February?  I'd already made the card for my valentine, but I still tried the technique, inspired by Tiffany Solario and Rieslingmama's instagram posts.  These were my attempts:

I love the blue version!  But then I thought I would try my hand at creating tulips.  Added a sentiment from The Stamp Market, and some leaves and splatters, and called it done!

Pop on over to the Seize The Birthday blog for some more fabulous inspiration from the team, and our surprise party guests, and play along with us.  If spring florals aren't your thing, play along with any birthday-themed project.  See you in the gallery!