Inspiration Monday: Too Much Birthday...

This is my first time sharing for Monday Inspiration at the Crafter's Companion Challenge Blog! I'm so excited to be part of this creative group of stamp artists!

In thinking about what to create for this month's theme Something Sweet, I went back and forth about whether to create something with food or something that captures sweetness. In the end I went with food. :o) This cute little kitten from is from the Birthday Kitten set.

I used Spectrum Noir Markers for all my coloring - the more I use them, the more I'm digging them!! Refills are now available too! To figure out what color I wanted my kitten to be, I used two things, 1) a homemade color chart (shown below) and google. Once I found a photo of a kitten I liked on google, I used my color chart to guide me for the color combinations of my markers. I searched through my paper stash and found this complimentary party paper. Sometimes I will choose my paper first and then match my color markers. Most of the time I get caught up in coloring and then search for matching paper. :o) If I can't find matching paper, I'll make my own. There are so many cool techniques you can do with alcohol inks - I'll share a background technique in a future Monday post.

After coloring, I used the BG1 and BGR1 to outline the kitten & cupcake. I then used the Blender to trace closely around the image. It pushed out the inside grey and made a subtle little line. I liked it! I actually found that by accident. I colored outside the cupcake when I was touching up color after I made the grey boarder. I was using the blender to push the pink color back into cupcake when I discovered the grey line. Isn't that how it happens sometimes? You make a boo boo and find a new technique! Some people call it a "happy accident." :o)

I then cut out the kitten & cupcake image and all the letters. I wanted the sentiment to pop against the background so I cut out each letter. I really liked the two colors I used for my letters, CR10 and DR5, so I'll add that combo to my chart! I adhered all the pieces together. I did place the cupcake outside the border on purpose - artist license. :o) Sometimes, I like to have my images hang outside the border. Lastly, I added a bit of bling to her bow and the flame with Stickles Star Dust glitter glue. Here are the colors I used on this project:

Here's the color chart I created. I colored this with my stampin' sister Marge. We were excited about our new markers and wanted to try different combinations to see how they work together. As you can see, I have more room for new combinations I find!

There's a giveaway each Monday. Please visit to see what they are giving away!!

Take care and STAY POSITIVE!

Trena