Boo to you! PCCCS 107

*So thrilled to have this chosen for the Featured Artisans!*

I really have been enjoying the various sketches at the Paper Craft Crew Challenges.  This week's is no exception, although it did set me back a bit, trying to figure out my own "take" on it.  I've done that.  I've made the card.  I even managed to make it entirely from Stampin' Up! products (although two are retired).   I hope you like it.

A little side-note about the Designer Paper at the top of my card.  Yes, it is current but you may not recognize it.  I took the pattern from the Santa & Co. Designer Paper, coloured the white with my light Pumpkin Pie Blendabilities marker, and sponged the perimeter lightly with Basic Black ink.  Suddenly, instead of being full of Christmas, it has turned into Hallowe'en.

For the bottom Pumpkin Pie cardstock, I first embossed it with my Beautifully Baroque embossing folder and then sponged Basic Black around the perimeter and also across the design to emphasize the lines.

The three layers of scallops between the two patterns were cut using one of my (retired) Adorning Accents edgelits.  I've alternated them Basic Black, Old Olive and Basic Black.  Above them is a ribbon and bow cut from (retired) Raven Trim Lace.

I decided to have my main element in the shape of a Maple Leaf cut  with my Autumn Accents Bigz die from Whisper White.  Once I had the shape, I stamped it in Memento Black ink using my Holiday Home stamp set.  Thank goodness that set is Photopolymer because it made stamping all those various stamps to make my scene so much easier.  I could immediately see if a stamp was too close to a cut line.  Then it was an easy matter to colour it using my Blendabilities.  I love the ease of colouring and blending with those alcohol markers.

My base cardstock is Basic Black and I've already mentioned the next layer which is in two pieces.  For the Maple leaf with the scene which I coloured up, I wasn't entirely happy with the way it looked directly against the card and so I glued it onto a piece of Basic Black cardstock and cut around the perimenter, leaving only a very thin border of black.  And that made all the difference!

For my sentiment I couldn't think of anything more appropriate than the "boo to you" from the new Good Greetings hostess stamp set.  I stamped it in Black on a piece of Pumpkin Pie cardstock.  Before mounting it on Dimensionals, I lightly sponged the edges using Basic Black ink.

For more cards using this sketch, check out the Paper Craft Crew Challenges.

Four feathers and an Open heart

Have you ever wanted to make a card along a certain design and kept coming up blank?  I certainly did with the sketch challenge over at The Paper Players.  I knew I wanted to enter the challenge and must have begun a card at least a half dozen times only to change my mind as I began putting it together.  It just wasn't working out the way I wanted.

Sometimes I dream about a card and then make it.  That's what happened to me with this card.  I woke up knowing what I was going to do and all it really took was stamping, cutting and putting the card together.  It's like I was simply following a plan and hardly had to think.  After all those beginnings that took me no-where, it sure was wonderful having the card come together so well.

I decided to use the Four Feathers stamp set and coordinating framelits.  That made up my circle.  Then I stamped, coloured and fussy-cut the bird from the An Open Heart stamp set.  Yes, I'm always fussy-cutting, aren't I?  It seems to be something I can't get away from.

I used Crumb Cake as my base cardstock, followed by layers of Tangelo Twist, Naturals White and, finally, a piece of the beautiful Colour Me Autumn Designer Series Paper.  I used my 2 1/4" circle framelit to cut out the centre of the Designer Paper and then glued in the same size in Naturals White cardstock which I had first embossed using my Woodgrain embossing folder.  I liked the textured look of it behind my bird.

Around the circle I used Dimensionals to attach the six feathers that I had stamped and cut out.  Then I used my Autumn Accents Bigz die to cut an acorn from a piece of Crumb Cake cardstock.  I used a sponge to add some Baked Brown Sugar colour to the top of it and then glued the acorn to a piece of Whisper White.  Then I cut very close to the acorn shape, leaving a very thin border of white.  Finally, I used Memento black ink to stamp the acorn with "Oh Happy Day" from the Hello Love hostess stamp set.

To finish up I cut a narrow piece of Burlap ribbon and carefully took out the stitching.  Then I cut one end into a banner shape and glued that just under the feather circle.  I attached the acorn at the right end using Dimensionals.  I also mounted the bird on Dimensionals and added some Tombo glue to both the beak and feet so that when I attached the bird, the feet and beak were also attached.

For more cards using this sketch, check out The Paper Players.

A Subtle Salute to Flowers, Butterflies and Friendship!

I must be a glutton for punishment because I've made another card where I cut out the Lupines from the Forever Florals stamp set.  They're gorgeous flowers but, oh, so fussy.  My only excuse is that creative imp that rides on my shoulder and whispers in my ear was very convincing.  Ah well, I like the way the card turned out.

For this card I turned to two challenges.  Around the World Stampin' Up! Challenges provided the sketch

The colours that I chose were suggested by the colourQ Challenge

Actually the whole flower and butterfly theme that I used for my card came as an inspiration from seeing the Botanical Boudoir curtain from ModCloth.,  I love it when it happens like that.

I decided to use Naturals White as my base cardstock and then added a layer of Soft Sky.  For my next layer I used two strips of cardstock.  The upper Wisteria Wonder strip is stamped in Wisteria Wonder ink using flowers from the Forever Florals stamp set.  The lower Old Olive strip is embossed using my Decorative Dots embossing folder. 

I tried something different with my centre panel.  First I stamped one side of a piece of Whisper White cardstock with the Lupine stamp from the Forever Florals set.  Then I coloured the flower using my Rich Razzleberry and Old Olive Blendabilities.  After colouring the Lupine, I fussy cut around the whole of the outside and part of the top and bottom, leaving approximately 2 1/2" uncut.  Then I used my Stampin' Trimmer and cut the Whisper White so that it measured 2 1/2" in height and approximately 4" from the outside of the Lupine to the cut edge.

For my next step, I stamped the trio of tiny flowers from the stamp set into the top right corner of the Whisper White.  Then I stamped the same trio onto a piece of Post-It note and fussy-cut them out.  I stuck them onto the stamped flowers on the Whisper White to mask them and then stamped the leafy branch from the Choose Happiness stamp set over them.   After removing the tiny flower masks, I coloured the trio of flowers using my Wisteria Wonder Blendabilities and the leafy branch using my Old Olive Blendabilities.

I mounted the stamped and coloured Whisper White piece to a 2 3/4" x 4" rectangle of Soft Sky.  After that I stamped the large butterfly from the Papillon Potpourri stamp set between the Lupine and trio of flowers.  I also stamped the same butterfly onto a small piece of Whisper White.  Then I coloured both with my Rich Razzleberry and Wisteria Wonder Blendabilities and Stampin' Markers.  I used my Elegant Butterfly punch to cut out the butterfly and then creased the wings upwards and attached it to the centre of the stamped butterfly.

I had thought I might  put my sentiment onto a piece of Vellum cardstock but then I wondered if I could heat emboss my sentiment onto Washi Tape instead.  Well, you know what they say, right?  Nothing ventured, nothing gained.  So I stamped the sentiment from the Choose Happiness stamp set onto a piece of the Watercolor Wonder Washi Tape using Versamark.  Then, holding my breath, I heat-embossed it using Black embossing powder.  The world didn't end---the Washi Tape didn't crinkle---it was a perfect piece of heat-embossing.  I was thrilled.  It's so nice when things work out the way you hope.

I adhered that Washi Tape across the bottom portion of my centre panel, stretching from one side of the card to the other.  To finish up, I attached a Candy Dot to either end.  I didn't have Rich Razzleberry but the white Candy Dot coloured up perfectly with my Blendabilities---it actually ended up leaving a beautiful marbled effect.

For more cards using this sketch, check out the Around the World Stampin' Up! Challenge.

For more cards using these colours, check out the colourQ Challenge.

WCC07 -- A Sketch Challenge

It's time for another Watercooler Challenge and this time it's all about the sketch:

It's fun to work with sketches and I'm itching to try out some of my new Holiday Catalogue products.  

I used the Wondrous Wreath bundle, For All Things stamp set and Santa Stache stamp set.  I also used some of the paper from the Trim the Tree Designer Series Paper Stack.  My base cardstock is Naturals White with a layer of Garden Green and then a layer of Whisper White onto which I first stamped the sentiment in Garden Green ink.  Then I mounted all the squares using Dimensionals. 

Three of the squares are a layer of Cherry Cobbler, then the designer paper and a die-cut ribbon that I had heat embossed using Cherry Cobbler embossing powder.  The fourth square is a layer of Cherry Cobbler, a crumpled layer of White Creped Filter Paper and then a cut-out of the acorns from the For All Things stamp set.  The little tag by the acorns is from the Santa Stache stamp set.

I'm really happy with the way the sketch translated into this card.  It's fun but still clean and simple which I like.

For more cards in this sketch challenge, check out the Watercooler Challenge Blog.

I also decided to enter the card into the Handstamped Sentiments colour challenge.  

   

The Wacky Watercooler August Blog Hop --- A Sneak Peek at the Holiday Catalogue

A month goes by so quickly, doesn't it?  So much goes on during the Summer that time seems to fly by faster than usual.  Of course, since our last Blog Hop, we've had a peek at the brand new Holiday Catalogue and have also been allowed to pre-order from it before it becomes "live" for customers on August 28th.  That gives us a chance to let you see what's coming up in our posts this time.  Prepare to be excited by the new products you're about to see as you go from blog to blog during our August Wacky Watercooler Blog Hop.

Remember, this is a circular Blog Hop.  That means that wherever you begin, if you continue to go the the "next" person on the list, you will eventually wind up right where you began.  I hope you'll take time to have a look at all our blogs.  We have some very talented people participating.

If you've been working forward, you'll have come to my blog from that of the exciting Deb Smart.  Deb is busy with many other blog hops and challenges and always amazes me with her wonderful projects.

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My first project is a simple one.  This year Stampin' Up! has introduced something to make tags a whole lot easier.   With this matching stamp set and punch bundle you'll find making tags a whole lot easier.  In the Merry Everything stamp set there are stamps for Hallowe'en, Thanksgiving, and Christmas.  The Note Tag punch is a perfect match.  I used the Blendabilities to colour the Hallowe'en tag.  The two Christmas tags that I created from this stamp set are in the "chalkboard" style.  The other one was made using another stamp set, Festival of Trees, which has a co-ordinating punch as well.  I mounted that tag onto one made with the Scalloped Tag Top punch.  Won't this be a handy way to make your tags this year?

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My next project is a card made using the Wondrous Wreath stamp set and Framelits Dies bundle.  I was amazed at how much I enjoyed these Photopolymer stamps!  Each of the wreath stamps has a tag on the side.  As you stamp each layer---background lighter leaves, darker leaves and then berries---you just match the mark you've made for the initial tag and the layers are easy to match up.  I could get used to the convenience!

First for the inside.  Yes, it's a bit of a tease, but let's end with the front view, okay.  I've added a strip of paper from the Trim the Tree Designer Series Paper Stack because it echoes the front of the card.  For the greeting I've used the one included in the Wondrous Wreath stamp set and stamped it using Cherry Cobbler ink.

I've used Baked Brown Sugar as my base cardstock even though the colour is wonky for the inside of the card.  Then I added a layer of Cherry Cobbler and then a layer of Whisper White which I first stamped using my Hardwood stamp and Baked Brown Sugar ink.  It's lighter than it would normally be because I off-stamped once.  I also sponged the edges lightly using Baked Brown Sugar ink.

For the wreath I used Garden Green ink on Whisper White.  For the first layer I off-stamped once and then for the second layer I stamped full-strength Garden Green ink.  The next layer of berries is Cherry Cobbler ink.  After cutting the wreath out using the framelits and mounting it using Dimensionals, I added a ribbon heat embossed using Cherry Cobbler embossing powder and also three little flowers which are Cherry Cobbler off-stamped once to lighten them up.  The centre "Noel" is cut from Gold Foil as is the wreath holder.  Everything was cut using the framelits for this set.  Convenient?  You bet!

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My final card is oversized.  I decided to make it 6 1/2" x 5".  I planned to use both the carried-over Joyful Christmas stamp set and the brand new Ornamental Pine stamp set.  Both the Poinsettia and the pine branch are very large images and so I knew I would need more room than the conventional 5 1/2" x 4 1/4" card offers.

Again, I'm going to lead off with the inside of the card.  I decorated it up with strips from the Trim the Tree Designer Series Paper Stack as well.  For the greeting, I used the one from the Joyful Christmas set because it was a better fit for the space.  The greetings from both stamp sets are great.  Since the base cardstock for the card is Mossy Meadow, I stamped the greeting using that ink.  

I decided to make this card horizontal to accomodate the design I had planned for the Poinsettia and the pine branches.  On top of my base of Mossy Meadow, I layered Cherry Cobbler and then Gold Foil.  On top of that I attached my stamped and coloured layer of Whisper White.  I also stamped a second Poinsettia and cut out the centre so that it would give more dimension to the design.  All the colouring was done using my Blendabilities.  The centre pearls, too, were first coloured with my Daffodil Delight Blendabilities before being attached.  The sentiment is from the Joyful Christmas stamp set.

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Well, that's it for my projects.  I hope you've enjoyed them.  Your next stop will be with the talented Gail Allen.  I know you'll enjoy her projects.  If you get a moment, please leave a comment...they're always appreciated.

From Our Home to Yours -- keeping it clean and simple

There is a new stamp set in town and it's lots of fun!  I'm talking about the Holiday Home set, of course.  This set has everything for so many occasions.  First of all there are three great houses which colour up beautifully whether you're using the new Blendabilities or Stampin' Markers.  An added bonus is that each of the houses has a matching Framelit and so your days of fussy cutting are over (at least for these houses).  And then there are the fun additional stamps that allow you to make cards for Thanksgiving, Hallowe'en, Christmas and even a "Welcome to your new Home".  There are 24 stamps in all and they are all fun to use to make the scene work for the occasion.

In my case I didn't use the Framelits.  I kept my stamping to one layer and, with the help of sponging and some masking, created a Christmas scene.  My base cardstock is Naturals White followed by a layer of Night of Navy.  The Whisper White piece has been stamped using Memento black ink and then coloured using my Blendabilities.  I added a few dots of Dazzling Details Cherry Cobbler to the tree as well as one sequin from the In-Color Sequin Assortment.  My sentiment is heat embossed using White Embossing powder on Cherry Cobbler cardstock.

I kept it simple because of the "Less is More" challenge which offered the following sketch this week:

For more cards using this sketch challenge, check out "Less is More".

For more cards using a "clean and simple" theme, check out Addicted to Stamps and More.

Clean and Simple -- A Child's Birthday

That new stamp set, Boys Will Be Boys, is simply wonderfully versatile.  I've already designed three completely different cards with it and haven't had it for much more than a month.  It's funny how a stamp set can have so much appeal at times and keep on giving you inspiration, isn't it?

Two challenges came along, both asking for CAS (clean and simple) designs.  That could be interpreted as being a single layer card or a very simple multi-layer card.  What you don't want to see is all sorts of embellishments and "frou-frous".  I kept my card to a single layer design with a background of several colours of cardstock frames.

My base cardstock is Cherry Cobbler with a skinny layer of Daffodil Delight and another skinny layer of Pacific Point.  I wanted the colour but not a wide "frame" of each.  What I wanted to focus the most attention on was the stamped Whisper White layer.  For that I first stamped the little robot and then the Lego pieces just below it to the right.  I only inked one piece of the Lego stamp in order to get the one Lego lying just below the robot to the left.  From the Sketched Birthday stamp set, I took the balloon stamp and carefully stamped it to the left of the robot.  Then I extended the "string" with a black marker so that it appeared to be held by the robot.  I also used the marker to draw in floor lines on either side of the robot.

All the colouring was done with Blendabilities except for the floor which I gave a colour wash with my Aqua Painter and some Pistachio Pudding ink.  It's a clean and simple one-layer card which I think any child would be thrilled to receive.

For more clean and simple cards, check out The Paper Players whose theme is "A Child's Birthday".

For more clean and simple cards where anything goes, check out Addicted to Stamps and More.

And finally I added this card to the East Wind Challenge Blog.

Goodbye to "Seize the Sketch" -- a challenge blog I've enjoyed.

I haven't participated with challenges for very long.  I think my first challenge was back in June this year.  It's only August.  That's under three months.  In that time I've been fortunate enough to win or be considered in the Top picks of several challenge blogs.  The Seize the Sketch blog is one of them.  I've enjoyed their sketches and am lucky enough to show their badge in the right margin of my blog.  It was an honour to be among those picked for their sketch challenge.  And now they're closing their challenges forever.  Of course I'll participate in their last challenge but it is with a heavy heart.  I will miss them.

I like the sketch.  It is simple and yet allows for a lot of imagination.  A good sketch is like that.  My choice for a stamp set was the wonderful Wetlands set.  I still haven't run out of ways to use this stamp set and love every opportunity to try something new with it.  

My base cardstock is Naturals White with a layer of Baked Brown Sugar and then an embossed layer of Pool Party.  For the embossing I chose to use the woodgrain pattern sideways because it makes it appear like ripples and waves on water.  I stamped the images on Whisper White using Baked Brown Sugar, Pool Party, and Early Espresso inks.  The sentiment is also stamped in Baked Brown Sugar but, after being cut with my Word Bubbles framelit, I sponged a bit of Pool Party ink around it.

Stamp sets used were:  Wetlands (of course), Just Sayin' and Work of Art.  The fringe under the image squares was cut from the Burlap Ribbon.  The embellishment at the top right corner is from the Essentials Wooden Elements topped with an Early Espresso candy dot.

For more cards in this last challenge at Seize the Sketch, check them out here.

Festival of Trees

There is a new punch in the Holiday Catalogue that is super cool.  Just think, this punch cuts out your Christmas tree.  The trees in the Festival of Trees stamp set co-ordinate perfectly with the new Tree Punch.

The trees are very simple trees and are therefore perfect for a very clean and simple card.  I decided to design one that showed off the trees and also met a colour challenge that had intrigued me all week.  The Pals Paper Arts colour challenge:

I also wanted to follow a very clean and simple design at the AAA Cards:

I chose my base cardstock to be Naturals White and left a wide margin before adding a layer of Pear Pizzazz and then a layer of Basic Black.  In the centre I attached the Whisper White layer onto which I had stamped two trees and attached a centre, punched-out tree.  My trees were stamped using Pear Pizzazz ink and the baubles were all coloured using my Strawberry Slush Stampin' Marker.  As a final touch, I added three rhinestones---one for the top of each tree.

Like I said, it's a clean and simple card.  It spotlights the Festival of Trees stamps and, of course, the colours.

For more cards using these colours, check out the Pals Paper Arts Challenge.

For more cards using this design, check out the AAA Cards Challenge.

Fab Friday Theme Challenge for Baby Ian

Babies are exciting news even when you haven't met the parents or the baby in person.  Mindy Backes, a very talented Stampin' Up! demo who is the leader of the Fab Friday challenge team, just gave birth to baby Ian on August 5th.  So the Design Team changed out the challenge as a surprise for Mindy and made it all about the baby.  What fun!

Because baby Ian is a little "Leo", I wanted to put a little lion into my design.  I also wanted to use the Something for Baby stamp set.  So I checked out some other challenges to see if anything fit the bill.  The striking colours from the Colour Me...! challenge were absolutely perfect:

 as was the design from the Freshly Made Sketches challenge:

So, armed with a theme, colours to use and a design, I proceeded to make baby Ian's card.  My base cardstock is Naturals White followed by a layer of Tangelo Twist which I had embossed using my Decorative Dots embossing folder.  The next layer was a smaller rectangle of Whisper White embossed with my Alphabet Press embossing folder.  Then I cut out a piece of Tempting Turquoise into a frame of a banner using the largest and second largest of my Banner framelits.

For the little "onesie", I first used Tangelo Twise ink to stamp just the lion's head from the Zoo Babies stamp set, once on Whisper White and another time on a piece of Post-It note.  I cut out the head stamped on the Post-It note as my "mask" and stuck it to my Whisper White over the stamped lion's head using my Two-Way glue.  Then I stamped the "onesie" from the Something for Baby stamp set, centred over the lion's head.  After I had removed the mask, I went over any still-white spots with my Tempting Turquoise marker and then free-handed a pattern over the "onesie" with the marker as well.

The additional little details were stamped using the Teeny Tiny Wishes, Truly Grateful and Baby, We've Grown stamp sets using either Tangelo Twist ink or Tempting Turquoise ink.

For more cards for baby Ian and Mindy, check out the Fab Friday Challenge.

For more cards using this sketch, check out Freshly Made Sketches.

For more cards using these colours, check out Colour Me...!

Ho! Ho! Ho! Santa meets a couple of challenges.

So happy to have learned that this card was picked for the Fab Faves.  Yay!

I enjoy the Fab Friday Challenges and am glad I managed to get a card together before this one was over.  The sketch is perfect for one of the new stamp sets that I just received in yesterday's order.

Another challenge that I enjoy and for which my planned card would be great is the Stampin' Royalty one which calls for Glitter.  I planned to make a very clean and simple card but I also planned to use a fair bit of glitter.  Perfect!

The stamp set, Santa Stache, that I used for this sketch is from the new Holiday Catalogue that will premiere on September 1st.  It's perfect for some fun and also for the Blendabilities.  I chose to use the Santa image for the large shape in the sketch and then a word bubble containing the "ho! ho! ho!" from the Hostess Good Greetings set for the medium shape and, finally, a star cut from Silver Glimmer Paper for the smallest of the shapes.  

I used Cherry Cobbler for my base cardstock and stamped or adhered all the shapes onto a layer of Whisper White.  I kept it clean and simple and love the final result.  I hope that you do as well.

For more cards included in this challenge, check out Fab Friday Challenges.

For more cards using glitter in a challenge, check out Stampin' Royalty.

New Products and a New Friend---Life is good!

I was so excited last night!  I finally received my pre-order from the brand new Holiday Catalogue.  It's always so much fun to actually have the stamps and paper and punches and framelits, etc. in hand rather than just see it on a page.  I definitely loved everything I ordered.  That's always a good start.

Today I got up early and prepared to meet someone that I've only known through the Internet.  Marilyn Meadows is from New Zealand and she's "liked" my Facebook page and follows my blog.  How great is that!  She and her husband have been travelling in the U.S. and here in Canada and she asked if she could visit.  Of course!  I was ecstatic.  I thought it might be fun and a way to keep our hands busy if we made a card while we got to know each other in person.  After all, the Internet, while wonderful in bringing people together, is limiting.  I also thought Marilyn might be as excited about all the new Stampin' Up! products as I was.  Yes, she was!

The stamp set we decided to use was the Christmas Bauble.  We first heat embossed the image in Silver embossing powder on Whisper White and then decided to do some fancy colouring using the Blendabilities.  Unhappily both of us wound up going slightly outside the embossing and so we mutually agreed that this would become a fussy-cut image.  I like it when there's an easy fix---especially when it gives the finished card a bit of an extra "wow".

Since Marilyn's husband had chosen to snooze outside in his vehicle, it couldn't be too very long a visit and Marilyn had to leave before the card was completely finished.  Since she has Blendabilities back in New Zealand, however, she can easily finish up.  I continued working on my own after she left and added a bit of an extra element by stamping a layer of Whisper White with the new Ornamental Pine stamp set before attaching the fussy-cut ornament.

The base cardstock is Naturals White and then I've added a layer of Coastal Cabana.  The sentiment is from the new Good Greetings Hostess set.

Thanks for a great time stamping together, Marilyn.  Wish you lived closer so that we could do it often.

I've decided to enter the card into the challenge at Addicted to Stamps and More.  It's for anything "Holiday" and so the card definitely qualifies.  For more cards in this challenge, just click here.

Bloom With Hope

The hostess stamp set, Bloom With Hope contains so many stamps.  There are so many flowers to choose from as well as terrific sentiments.  For those who earn hostess credits, it's a terrific stamp set to get.

I decided to enter a colour challenge and, because one of the colours was Crisp Cantaloupe, immediately thought of a flower.  I also thought of a special fold I had seen and decided to combine the two.

The card stands on its own because of the way it has been folded.  As a result, one has "wings" to work with as well as a centre panel.  I love it when that happens.  The base cardstock I chose was Naturals White.  For the wings, I layered a piece of Island Indigo and then a layer of the Cirsp Cantaloupe polka dot 2013-2015 In-Color Designer Paper stack.  On top of that I scattered small stars in Crisp Cantaloupe, Wild Wasabi, Island Indigo and Dazzling Diamond Glimmer paper.

For the centre panel I first layered a piece of Island Indigo and then a piece of the Crisp Cantaloupe polka dot paper.  Then I stamped a piece of Whisper White, first with Wild Wasabi leaves from the Kinda Eclectic stamp set and then with an Island Indigo sentiment from the Sassy Salutations stamp set.  Then I attached that to the centre of the layers.

On a piece of Whisper White, I stamped the largest bloom from the Bloom with Hope stamp set using Memento black ink.  After colouring the bloom with my Crisp Cantaloupe Stampin' Write Marker, I fussy cut it out and then attached it onto the leafy area using Dimensionals.

For more cards in the colour challenge, check out Pals Paper Arts.  These are the colours:

I also entered the card in a challenge to use markers or pens.  You can check that out at the Inkspirational Challenge.

WCC06 -- A Birthday Spinner Card

This challenge is a different one than most.  Our challenge was to CASE a card or project that one of the Watercooler gang has posted on their blog.  Well, there are a lot of us in the Watercooler gang and we seem to post quite prolifically.  Finding something that I wanted to CASE wasn't a problem.  Finding one thing out of all the great projects was definitely a problem.  Finally, growing bleary-eyed and overwhelmed from all the great projects, I decided that I would CASE the circle card thinlits die spinner card that Kath Ricks shared with us for the May Wacky Watercooler Blog Hop was the one that I really wanted to try making and, if I was going to make it, why not for this challenge?  It helped a lot that in her next post, Kath was generous enough to give a comprehensive tutorial with great photos.

Now the fun began.  I wanted to make Kath's card but I didn't want to copy it outright.  To CASE is not necessarily to make a carbon copy, of course, and I wanted Kath's card with my own spin on it.  (Notice that play on words with which I'm entertaining you?)

The thing about spinner cards is that something has to spin (obviously) and so it's always a good thing to have an image that can easily be glued together back-to-back.  Kath's butterflies are an excellent example.  I quickly discovered that I don't have a whole lot of images that would fit inside the circle and also be identical enough to glue back-to-back.  Finally I decided on a sentiment using the Artisan Label Punch.  I could work with a birthday theme and the punched image was the perfect size for the circular space.   My stamp sets would be the Label Love, Sketched Birthday and the Hostess set, Life's Adventure.  I also decided that I would stick to a limited colour scheme and chose vanilla as my neutral, Crisp Cantaloupe and Calypso Coral.

And so my card was born.  You can see all the details on how to make it here, on Kath's posting.  I can't say it any better than that.  As for the stamping and such, I think everything is pretty obvious.  The images are all coloured using the Blendabilities.  I also coloured the Rhinestones using the Blendabilities (love the way they match).  I did go out of my colour scheme for the platter holding the cake by using the Gold Glimmer Stampin' Marker and, of course, by using the black Memento ink for the images.  I did the sponging with Crisp Cantaloupe ink.  The Designer Paper is perfect for the birthday theme and is part of the Gold Soiree Specialty Designer Paper.

What the picture doesn't show you is how that "Happy Birthday to you" in the centre of the circle spins freely.  By winding it up before putting the card into an envelope, the recipient gets the happy surprise of this cute spinning element in the card.  How sweet is that?

World of Dreams meets several challenges and wins with two!

Sometimes a sketch can catch one's imagination and sometimes a colour challenge can do that.  In the case of this card, it was both.  I loved the sketch at Mojo Monday and knew it would work beautifully with the wonderful colours at Hand Stamped Sentiments.  I like it when things like that happen.

        

I chose to use the beautiful World of Dreams stamp set.  There is something about silhouettes that I love and these particular silhouettes are simply gorgeous.  Because I chose to use Night of Navy as my base cardstock, I chose to heat emboss the main silhouette for this card in Pool Party on a piece of Night of Navy.  For my other silhouettes, I first had to prepare a piece of Whisper White with a wash of all those beautiful colours in the pictures shown above.  After that dried, I sprayed the piece with some Vanilla Shimmer Smooch Spritz and then let that dry.

During these drying periods, I stamped my background layer using the Handcarved stamp and Wisteria Wonder ink.  The next centre layer was a piece of Pistachio Pudding Designer Paper from the 2013-2015 In-Colors stack.  I backed that with some Pistachio Pudding cardstock before attaching it to the card.  By this time my spritzed piece was dry and so I stamped it with the leaves image from World of Dreams using Wisteria Wonder ink and Coastal Cabana ink.  Finally it was ready to attach as well.  On top of that at an angle I adhered the main silhouette using Dimensionals.

Then for the "girdle" I cut a piece of the new Dazzling Diamonds Glimmer Paper and put it through my Big Shot in the Delicate Designs embossing folder.  The effect was subtle but because it was no longer flat, the piece was even more dazzling than before.  A Night of Navy banner heat embossed in white with the sentiment from For the Birds followed and then I went a bit over the top for my accent.

I used my Chevron Border punch to cut two Night of Navy chevrons and two Pool Party chevrons.  I cut each one in half and then mismatched them so that they pointed towards the banner.

For more cards with these colours, check out Hand Stamped Sentiments.  Chosen as an Artist Pick!

For more cards with this sketch design, check out Mojo Monday.

For more cards that feature a handstamped background, check out Stampin' Royalty.  Top pick for Challenge.

A Button and Sketch challenge --- Oh my!

*Yay!  This card was chosen for the "Featured Artisans" at the Paper Craft Crew!*

You've hear the term "cute as a button", right?  Well, that's how they begin the challenge over at The Paper Players.  The card must include one or more buttons.  Easy?  I don't use buttons in my creations very often.  But then I found a sketch challenge over at the Paper Craft Crew and everything came together.  I could actually "see" myself making a card that included a button and enjoying it.  And so we begin...

The sketch that changed my mind:

I decided to keep to a limited colour palette and kept the card to a neutral of Very Vanilla (that would be Naturals Ivory for the base), Cherry Cobbler and Basic Black.  For what I had in mind, this would bring attention where I wanted it most. 

On top of my base of Naturals Ivory, I layered a piece of Cherry Cobbler and then a layer of Very Vanilla.  The Very Vanilla was first run through my Big Shot using my Decorative Dots embossing folder and spritzed with a bit of Cherry Cobbler ink using my (unfortunately retired) Spritzer Tool.

The next detail was a bit more complicated.  I began with two squares, one Very Vanilla and one slightly larger one Basic Black.  On the Very Vanilla I stamped the largest flower from the Everything Eleanor stamp set using my Memento black ink.  Then I coloured the flower using my Cherry Cobbler Blendabilities.  Once that was dry, I coloured the filaments of the flower using my Gold Stampin' Dazzle marker and then covered each anther with a Basic Pearl jewel.  

At the top right I stamped a sentiment from my new Good Greetings hostess stamp set also using the Memento black ink.  Then I took a piece of Cherry Cobbler seam binding and pleated it into a piece of Sticky Strip.  I took another piece of Sticky Strip and sandwiched the seam binding between the two strips.  I attached the pleated ribbon along the right edge of the Very Vanilla square and then attached that to the slightly larger Basic Black square. Finally I adhered the square to the lower right corder of the card using Dimensionals.

After the square was attached, I took the largest of my Designer Very Vintage buttons and tied a piece of Cherry Cobbler Baker's twine through that.  After I attached it to the right bottom of the little square with glue dots, I added a large pearl to the centre.

I didn't want to add pennants to the top left of the card.  The mood of the card just didn't support pennants and therefore I chose to add butterflies.  First of all I braided three strands of the Cherry Cobbler Baker's twine together for a more solid "rope" effect.  Once that was attached, I added four small butterflies which I had created by heat embossing Vellum cardstock with Cherry Cobbler embossing powder using the Papillon Potpourri stamp set.  I bent the wings upward, glued the butterflies to the "rope" using Tombo and added pearls to the centres.

And that finished off my card.  I'm very pleased with the effect of just those three colours.  I love my butterflies and, of course, the flower coloured with those wonderful Blendabilities.  What I didn't expect to love was the button, because I'm not a button-type of cardmaker.  In this case, however, I'm very happy with it.  The button actually adds a final detail that enhances the card.  I may yet begin using those buttons a bit more frequently.

For more cards using buttons, check out The Paper Players.

For more cards using this sketch, check out the Paper Craft Crew Challenge.