Happy Anniversary --- Again!

My last post was that very colourful Anniversary card using the two champagne glasses from the Making Spirits Bright set.  I enjoyed making that so much that I knew I wasn't quite finished with it.  The sketch for the Paper Craft Crew Challenge seemed the perfect starting point.

I needed a colour palette and so "went shopping" among the various challenges to see what colours they might have as an inspiration.  I found the perfect one in the Sunday Stamps Challenge and got to work.

Since the colour challenges always allow neutrals along with their colour inspiration, I chose Naturals White as my card base.  On top of that I added a narrow layer of Blackberry Bliss and then two pieces for the next layer:  on top a piece of the Park Lane Designer Series paper and for the bottom, a piece of Old Olive which I first embossed using my Fancy Fan embossing folder.  As a "girdle" holding the two pieces together, I added a narrow piece of Gold Foil topped with a piece of Rich Razzleberry into which I had first cut a pattern using my Confetti Stars punch.

I decided to use the Film Negative framelit from the On Film set to cut a piece of Blackberry Bliss.  It provided the perfect frame for a piece of Whisper White onto which I had stamped the champagne glasses using Memento Black ink and then heat embossed the "liquid" inside using my Gold embossing powder.

I used my second to smallest circle framelit to cut out three circles from the Filter Paper and then used my Paper Snips to cut approx. 3/8" lines towards the centre.  Then I secured the three circles using one of my Candy Dots Brad Bases and scrunched the "petals" so that it looked like a flower.  I added some glue to the Brad and covered it with Gold Glitter as well.  I glued the finished flower to the bottom left corner of the Film Negative die cut.

I pleated a piece of the Watercolour Wonder Washi tape so that I could mount it along the right side of the Film Negative die cut.  I glued that down using my Tombo glue.  Then I stamped one of the larger butterflies from the Papillon Potpourri stamp set onto Vellum using Versamark and heat embossed it using my Gold embossing powder.  After cutting that using my Elegant Butterfly punch and colouring it with the lightest of my Rich Razzleberry Blendability markers, I cut a second butterfly from plain vellum.  I also hand cut a body and antennae from Gold Foil using my paper snips.  Then I glued the butterfly halfway up the Film Negative die cut on the right side.

Using the "Happy Anniversary" from my Teeny Tiny Wishes stamp set, I stamped my sentiment onto vellum and heat embossed it using Gold embossing powder.  I attached that to the bottom of the Film Negative die cut.  Finally, to finish the card off, I added three tiny circles (cut using the Cupcake Builder punch) of Gold Glimmer paper to the bottom right of my card.

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

For more cards using these colours, check out the Sunday Stamps Weekly Challenge.

For more cards that feature beverages as a theme, check out Inkspirational Challenges.

Happy Anniversary

Isn't Blackberry Bliss a wonderfully rich colour?  It just takes my breath away.  And when you add gold, well!  It's downright royal!  No wonder the challenge over at Stampin' Royalty includes those colours this week.

I decided to make an anniversary card with my base in Naturals White.  Then I added a narrow layer of Blackberry Bliss and finally a stamped layer of Whisper White.  My stamping was done using the lovely Bloom With Hope Hostess stamp set.  The large "Gerber" daisy just lent itself beautifully to the bright colours.  I wanted to heat emboss golden leaves behind the daisies.  And so I masked the top daisies and stamped the leaves from the Kinda Eclectic stamp set across them.  I also heat embossed the centres of the daisies in gold.  

For the girdle I attached a strip of Gold Foil and then used the Confetti Stars Punch along a piece of Blackberry Bliss before cutting that to the same width.  I love how the gold shines through those star shapes.  

Beside the bottom daisy I stamped Happy Anniversary using the Memorable Moments stamp set and Blackberry Bliss ink.  To finish off, I stamped the champagne glasses from the Making Spirits Bright set and heat embossed the liquid inside using Gold Embossing powder.  I added some more gold "bubbles" to the Whisper White just for fun.

For more cards using this colour inspiration, check out Stampin' Royalty.

WCC09 -- Bite Me!

I love the Photopolymer stamp set, Bite Me!, that Stampin' Up! released last year.  I especially love the fact that this stamp set is still available.  How sweet is that?

One of the best things about this stamp set is the large spider's web.  It's one of the most life-like that I've seen and, even when it's embossed, it looks very real and fragile.  The other thing about the stamp set is the fact that the spiders are very realistic.  If you're not totally grossed out by spiders, these spiders are perfect for Hallowe'en cards.

I decided to resist emboss the web and so I heat embossed it onto Whisper White using my clear embossing powder.  Then I went to work with my sponges and colours.  I used Cherry Cobbler, Tangello Twist, Pumpkin Pie, Crushed Curry, Pear Pizzazz and Old Olive to get the colours you see on the card.  I also really rubbed them in to bring out all the details of the web.  Then I let those inks dry.

I had decided that I would emboss all the details and so added three heat-embossed spiders using Black embossing powder.  Then I added the sentiment.  Since there is so much detail in the sentiment, I had to do it in stages.  This was only possible because the stamp is Photopolymer and I was able to see through it to perfectly line up each stage.  The web is embossed using White embossing powder, the spider, as I already mentioned, is embossed in Black embossing powder and, finally, I lined everything up and embossed the words using Cherry Cobbler embossing powder.

I used a base of Basic Black cardstock, then a layer of Tangello Twist, then another layer of Basic Black and finally my stamped, sponged, and embossed Whisper White piece.  At that point I realized it still needed a little something and so I used the splatter stamp from the same set to add a splatter in Old Olive, Crushed Curry and Tangello Twist to the card.  And that looked finished to me.

For more cards in the Hallowe'en Challenge, check out the Watercooler Challenges.

For more cards with a holiday theme, check out Addicted to Stamps and More.

The Wacky Watercooler September Blog Hop -- Welcome Autumn

Welcome to our September Wacky Watercooler Blog Hop.  I don't know about the area in which you live, but here in Alberta the trees are turning marvellous colours.  That's one of the best parts of late Summer and the beginning of Autumn.  I wish it wouldn't get dark so much sooner, but that's another story.

This month we're excited to show you more wonderful projects from the Holiday Catalogue, especially some reflecting Autumn as well as anticipating such holidays as Hallowe'en and Thanksgiving.  We have some very talented stampers from various areas of the United States and Canada in September's Blog Hop.  Remember, this is a circular Blog Hop.  That means wherever you begin, if you continue to go to the next participant, you will eventually wind up exactly where you began.  I hope you'll take the time to visit all our blogs and, perhaps, leave a comment.

If you've been moving forward in the Blog Hop, you'll have come here from a brand new addition to our Blog Hop, Marie Green.  Marie is excited to be part of the hop and we've all been excited to see her wonderful projects.

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In the Holiday Catalogue, on page 11, you'll see a weird contraption.  It's the Curvy Keepsake Box Thinlits Die.  At first glance it looks like two Christmas lights stuck together.  This weird contraption, however, allows you to make some of the most darling boxes.  They're so cute, they're addictive.  I can see these little boxes, filled with goodies, being given out at birthday parties, weddings, showers, class parties, etc.  They're terrific!

I made a few simple ones just to give you a small idea of how cute they can be.  You can see, I've used cardstock, vellum and Designer Paper for my little creations.  No matter what you use, they wind up being simply delightful.  I'm sure these are going to be a real hit item in the Holiday Catalogue.

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As I mentioned, our leaves are turning marvellous colours.  I have been so enthralled with them that I felt compelled to create a wreath imitating their glory.  Luckily, with all the great colours of cardstock that Stampin' Up! carries, I was able to come close.

I used that wonderful Autumn Accents Bigz die to cut leaves of every shape and size from the following cardstocks:  Baked Brown Sugar, So Saffron, Crushed Curry, Pumpkin Pie, Tangerine Tango, Tangello Twist, Cajun Craze, Old Olive and Mossy Meadow.  Yes, that's a lot of colours, but if you begin to count the colours that Mother Nature presents to us this time of year, you'll agree that she wins by a long shot.

After cutting all those leaves, there was the preparation phase.  I wanted my leaves to be similar to those that crunch under foot and overload our visual senses.  So, armed with two Stampin' Spritzers, one filled with isopropyl alcohol and a few drops of Baked Brown Sugar re-inker and the other filled with isopropyl alcohol and a few drops of Old Olive re-inker, I set all those leaves on some old papers on my back deck (this is too stinky a job to do indoors) and spritzed them all until they were nicely soaked.  Then I scrunched them as much as I could without actually tearing them.  Instead of straightening them out as flat as possible after the scrunching, I partially straightened them, leaving them sort of crumpled looking the way real leaves look when they've dried and fallen.

Luckily, with the alcohol, the drying time was minimal.  Before taking them indoors, however, I sprayed them all lightly with my Vanilla Shimmer Smooch Spritz.  The drying time with that was just a little bit longer.  I also cut seven acorns using the die and proceeded to "fix them up" during this time.  I had cut them from Baked Brown Sugar cardstock and used my Blendabilities to draw in a bit of a pattern across the "cap" and to colour in the nut area.  Then I took my Crystal Effects and covered the nut area with it.  I left the acorns to dry.

I had bought a flat, lightweight wreath form at the craft store and proceeded to wrap it using a roll of my 1 1/4" Burlap Ribbon.  It took all but seven inches of the roll.  Mind you, I left a generous "hanger" which I glued down with my glue gun when I secured the last wrap of the burlap.  It certainly made the cheap wreath form look great, but then I like the look of burlap.  

By the time I finished the burlap, my leaves were nicely dried and I was able to begin assembly.  Let me say, simply, that there was no real rhyme or reason to gluing down the leaves.  I went by instinct and by how I liked the colours next to each other.

I had left just over a quarter of the wreath free of leaves.  For that area, I took some Champagne Glimmer paper and cut out the letters A-U-T-U-M-N using my Little Letters Thinlits.  Then I mounted them on 1" circles cut from the various colours of cardstock used in the leaves and glued them to the "empty" area.  The finished wreath was everything I had hoped it would be.

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Well, that's it for my projects.  I hope you've enjoyed them.  Your next stop will be with the exciting Deborah Smart.  She always has some wonderful surprises up her sleeve.  

If you get a moment, before you leave each blog, please leave a comment.  They're always appreciated.

Adventure Bound -- PCCCS#110

It's been a while since I've done a vintage-style card and today just seemed to be the day for me to create one.  I had been looking at the sketch for the Paper Craft Crew Challenge and when I thought "vintage" it all came together.

I knew I didn't want to do three word bubbles but, thank goodness, it's acceptable to change the shapes as long as the general layout is recognizable.  I am satisfied that I've managed to maintain the layout.

I began with three stamp sets on my work table:  Traveller, World Map and Artistic Etchings (retired).  First I stamped the suitcase and then made a mask and covered it so that I could stamp the Eiffel Tower.  I left the mask on the suitcase so that I could stamp the background.   I had decided to use a portion of the World Map in place of the spatters in the sketch and so I inked only a portion of the stamp with Baked Brown Sugar and stamped that onto the piece of Very Vanilla.  

When I removed the mask, my suitcase was free of additional stamping and I proceeded to colour it with my Blendabilities.  For my sentiment I chose the "adventure bound" from the Project Life Remember This stamp set.  I cut that out using my Word Bubble framelit and then trimmed it a bit more so that it just surrounded the sentiment.  I lightly sponged around the word bubble using Baked Brown Sugar ink.  

Then I took my stamped piece of Very Vanilla and did some heavy distressing around the perimeter.  After that I sponged around the perimeter and slightly into the actual surface using Baked Brown Sugar ink.  Before I began assembly, I stamped the spatter from the Bite Me stamp set in the three spots where the sketch shows embellishments.

My base is Early Espresso, then comes a layer of Baked Brown Sugar, then another layer of Early Espresso and finally the stamped piece of Very Vanilla.  To finish off, I attached the sentiment word bubble using Dimensionals.

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

White Christmas

*So thrilled to be a Top Pick for the Sunday Stamps Weekly Challenge!*

I love the new White Christmas Photopolymer stamp set.  There are so many things you can do with it.  When I saw the challenge on the Sunday Stamps challenge, I knew that I'd be using that stamp set.

My base is Soft Sky, then a layer of Naturals White and another layer of Soft Sky onto which I've done my stamping and subtle colouring.  I didn't want anything to take over the card so all my images and the sentiment are stamped using Island Indigo ink.  I used my Stampin' Chalk Marker as well as my Signo White Pen to do all the white colouring.  The stars are punched out of Silver Foil and the ribbon is 1/8" Silver Ribbon.  I used a small piece of White Baker's Twine as well.

For more cards using this design, check out Sunday Stamps.

Bring on the Boos!

Have you ever wanted to make a really different sort of Holiday card?  Well, with the Making Spirits Bright stamp set that's as easily done as said.  What a great set of sentiments with a great set of images!

I decided to use the adorable Bring on the Boos image with matching sentiment.  I separated the two and made the sentiment into a word bubble simply because it suited the style I had decided on.  I chose the colours from the Just Add Ink challenge simply because it forced me to think outside the usual Hallowe'en colours.  The finished result is different---and in this case, different is good.

My base cardstock is Basic Black.  My next layer is Crushed Curry and then another layer of Basic Black, but this layer has been embossed using my retired Spider Web embossing folder.  I very lightly sponged a bit of Whisper White Craft Ink over the raised web embossing to give it definition. On a piece of Whisper White I stamped the image, making sure I didn't ink up the sentiment.  On another piece of Whisper White I stamped the sentiment, making sure I didn't get any ink on the image.

I coloured the liquid in the glass and the cocktail pick using my Crushed Curry marker and then coloured the iris of the eyeball using my Bermuda Bay marker.   Then I fussy cut the image and covered it with Crystal Effects.  While that dried, I cut around the sentiment to make it into a word bubble.

I have a friend who always has Hallowe'en parties and will be thrilled to use this as her invitation.

For more cards using these colours, check out Just Add Ink.

So Thankful

I am so thankful for so many things.  I try to give thanks every day for a few of those things.  It's a great feeling---the giving of thanks.  We set aside one day a year to give thanks.  I have stamp sets with sentiments that give thanks.  That's all well and good.  For me, it's the daily giving of thanks that swells my heart.

I made a card for a challenge and for its sentiment I put "so thankful".  It shows a Canada Goose backed by a circle of sunset colours.  I love scenes like this.  When I am lucky enough to see the Canada Geese in real life, flying against the setting sun, swimming in ponds, feeding in meadows, I say a quick thank you because I know I'm lucky.  Not everyone is blessed to see such wonderful sights.

For my base I used Naturals White cardstock.  Then a layer of Old Olive and another layer of Tangello Twist.  My top layer is Whisper White onto which I stamped the Canada Goose from the Wetlands stamp set using Memento black ink.  Then I cut a circle mask and used it to sponge the Tangello Twist ink and Crushed Curry ink around my goose, which I had also masked to save it from the colours.  At the bottom of the circle, I sponged Old Olive ink.  Then I took off the circle mask and the mask from the goose and applied some colour to its body.

For my sentiment I stamped "so thankful" from the Project Life Holiday Cheer stamp set onto Naturals White and cut that into a narrow banner.  I poked a hole into each end of the banner and used a silver Mini Brad on each end to attach it to a piece of Naturals 5/8" Chevron Ribbon.  Then I attached the ribbon to a strip of cardstock which I had put together with Tangello Twist at the top and Old Olive at the bottom.  That strip was attached with sticky tape across the lower portion of the card.

I used the sketch from Freshly Made Sketches in my design.  For more cards using this sketch click on the sketch, below.

I used the "so thankful" sentiment for the anniversary challenge at Around the World Stampin' Up! Challenges.  Their theme is "thanks".  For more cards in this challenge, click the image below.

Christmas Wishes --- A Mixture of Retired and New

I love the new products in our Holiday Catalogue but I'm also nostalgic for some of the great products that have retired from Stampin' Up!  The card which I've made is entirely Stampin' Up! but it's a mixture of the retired and the current.  Come with me and take a nostalgic look back at some of my favourtie things.

To prepare my card, I used a base of Old Olive cardstock and then had three different strips of cardstock or Designer Paper for my next layer.  From the top down I used Early Espresso which I first embossed using my Woodgrain embossing folder.  The middle strip is a lovely "knit-look" design from the Trim the Tree Designer Series Paper Stack.  The bottom strip is the sparkly Champagne Glimmer Paper.  Dividing the Glimmer Paper and the designer paper is a narrow strip of Cherry Cobbler which I cut using my Finishing Touches Edgelit.  I also added a piece of Early Espresso Seam Binding approximately half an inch above that. The long, tilted banner is cut from Sahara Sand and embossed using my Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder.

If you haven't guess already, I'm designing this card for a couple of challenges.  The sketch is from the Paper Craft Crew Challenges:

For the next layer above the banner, I wanted to have a sled.  I found one but it was a stamp and not as large as I desired and so I made my own.  First of all I took a piece of Cherry Cobbler cardstock and stamped it with Cherry Cobbler ink using my Hardwood stamp.  Then I cut it out, using the lines within the Hardwood stamp for convenience.  I had sufficient stamped cardstock to cut a couple of cross-pieces for the sled and I think it looks pretty good, considering I didn't have a pattern.  I mounted the "sled" over the slanted banner using Dimensionals after sponging around it with Cherry Cobbler ink and adding a "rope" to the front of the sled.  That rope is actually a piece of Baked Brown Sugar Thick Baker's Twine.  

Instead of that little square at the bottom right of the design, I chose to stamp and fussy-cut the skates from the retired Winter Memories stamp set.  Before adding them to the bottom right of the sled using Dimensionals, I coloured the holly and berries using my Blendabilities and the blades using my Silver Stampin' Dazzle Marker.  I also carefully covered the holly and berries and blades with a layer of Crystal Effects.  

I wanted mittens for the small embellishments that sit diagonally across from each other on the sled.  The only current mittens that I have are the tiny ones from the Project Life Holiday Cheer stamp set so I went back to my retired stamps.  The Make a Mitten stamp set was perfect but I still wound up fussy-cutting them because I didn't want the white margin around them.  (What is it with me and fussy-cutting?)   I used Old Olive ink to stamp the mittens and then coloured in the white very carefully with my Blendabilities.  Finally I mounted them onto the card using Dimensionals.

So I'm in the home stretch with this card.   You can see from the sketch that I need a banner with a sentiment and some embellishments in the top left corner.  I didn't want the banner to take over the card.  There is so much detail and I prefer that it shows through and so I reached for my Vellum and heat embossed it with Gold embossing powder.  I used the sentiment from the Ornamental Pine stamp set.  So that the adhesive wouldn't show through the semi-transparent vellum, I carefully traced some Crystal Effects along several of the letters from the reverse of the vellum and then used that to adhere the banner to the card.

I chose the embellishments carefully.  I want to enter this card into the SUO Challenges which are calling for one or several embellishments from pages 208 or 209 of the 2014-2015 Annual Catalogue.  And so I chose three little Baked Brown Sugar star sequins (the colour is incredibly close to the colour of the Champagne Glimmer paper) and then set an Early Espresso Candy Dot into the centre of each star.

And that's my card.  It was a long road getting there, but it's finished.  I love the way the new products enhance the retired ones.  

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

For more cards using Stampin' Up! embellishments, check out the SUO Challenges.

And finally, for more Christmas cards, check out the Christmas Card Challenge.

Hey there Friend -- Clean and simple

Sometimes when you make a clean and simple card, it is just like eating a potato chip: you can't just have one.  That's what I frequently find after doing a clean and simple card.  My mindset is still concentrating on how simply I can create a card and yet still make it striking (or fulfil a challenge). This is what happened to me today.

I really like the colour challenge at the Colour Me...! challenge blog.  It is very, very simple.  Two colours and a neutral are what they asked for.







 




 At the CASology challenge blog they had a cue card that simply said "three".




So those are the two challenges which I decided to enter and for which I decided to design my card.

The colours immediately made me think of the stamp set that I used yesterday:  Sea Street.  Wouldn't those little starfish be the perfect "three"?  And what better colour for them than Hello Honey.  For my background I decided to use a stamp from yet another set:  By the Tide.  I love the simple script of one of the stamps and, stamped in the Coastal Cabana, it provided a perfect "sea" background for my little starfish.  Of course it meant I had to mask the starfish in order to do that, but I'm getting used to fussy-cutting.

I added a spatter of Hello Honey to the left top and right bottom of the card using one of the My Paper Pumpkin stamps that I have and, from the same package, added the sentiment using Coastal Cabana.

My base cardstock is Naturals White followed by Hello Honey and then a layer of Coastal Cabana.  Finally my stamped piece is Whisper White.  It's a clean and simple card.  I'm happy with it.

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

For more cards interpreting the cue card, three, check out CASology.

Sea Street Simplicity

*Thrilled to be Top Pick for Hand Stamped Sentiments*

Keeping it simple looks so much easier than it is.  I wanted to keep the design I had in mind on one single stamped sheet and that, of course, meant masking if I was going to manage to have my schools of fish swim behind the octopus from the Sea Street stamp set.  Fussy cutting the octopus turned out to be exactly that:  fussy.  All those tentacles, twisting every which way, made it quite the task.  But in the end the card wound up precisely the way I had imagined it.  That made it all worthwhile.

I kept the colours simple, too.  I wanted to be able to enter the Hand Stamped Sentiments challenge and that was for three colours (as well as a neutral, which, for me, was Whisper White):

I also wanted to enter the card into a sketch challenge so the design had to fall into the general lines provided:

I used the sketch but turned it on its side.  And so I stamped the octopus using the Night of Navy ink right about where you would expect the flower shape to be.  Then I masked the octopus and stamped several schools of fish using the Marina Mist ink, followed by the starfish which I stamped in Hello Honey ink.  For my sentiment I used the Hello Love stamp set and Marina Mist ink.

I used a base of Night of Navy, then a layer of Hello Honey, a layer of Marina Mist and finally the stamped layer of Whisper White.  As a finishing touch, I added the tiniest of the Basic Pearls to the centre of each of the three starfish.

For more cards using this sketch, check out CAS(E) this Sketch!

For more cards using these colours, check out Hand Stamped Sentiments.

Playing with Clay -- Hello Fall!

*I'm thrilled to have this card picked for the Fab Faves at the Fab Friday Challenges*

I really loved the Simply Pressed Clay when it was released last year.  I've made buttons and flowers and a few other items such as eggs and pussy-willows.  But there are so many other things that are possible with the clay and I'm just beginning to scratch the surface.

If you follow my non-SU! blog, you'll know that I've fallen head-over-heels for modelling paste.  I love what I can do with it using my stencils and masks.  Inevitably I  had to ask myself if I could do anything like that using the Simply Pressed Clay.  Of course I had to try it out.  I had cut out a few leaves using my Autumn Accents Bigz die and the maple leaf negative looked like a great stencil to try out.  First I mixed up some of my Simply Pressed Clay and a half dozen or so drops of the Crushed Curry re-inker.  That made the clay rather sticky and thinner which was perfect for my plans.  I chose a piece of Chocolate Chip cardstock and attached my leaf stencil to it using Washi Tape.  Then I spread the clay across the leaf shape, using my fingers to get it right into all those little leafy corners.

I let that set for about half an hour.  Then I took off the Washi Tape and carefully peeled back the stencil.  What I really loved was that the clay stretched and curled at a few of the corners, giving it a lot more dimension and making it look more like a dried leaf found on one of my walks.  I let the clay dry on its Chocolate Chip base for a couple of days just to be sure.

I thought it was perfect for the Fab Friday challenge.  The size, after trimming the cardstock, was just right.  I used more Chocolate Chip as my base cardstock and then added a layer of Cajun Craze.  Next I cut a piece of Whisper White and Designer Series Paper to layer on top of that.  Before I added the Whisper White, however, I sponged it with Chocolate Chip, Cajun Craze, Crushed Curry and Mossy Meadow inks and also embossed it using my Woodgrain embossing folder.

The sentiment from the For All Things stamp set, two-toned Natural and Old Olive Time, and Candy Dots finish up the card nicely.

For more cards using this sketch, check out Fab Friday.

For more cards showcasing leaves, check out Curtain Call.

And last but not least, for more cards that celebrate Fall, check out The Paper Players.

Merry Christmas --- Bearing Gifts

I've combined a few challenges for this card.  For one thing, I wanted to enter the Freshly Made Sketches challenge, which is a simple sketch this time:

I also wanted to enter the Christmas Card Challenge which is "Think Skinny".  So the card would be longer and narrower than normal, with whichever dimensions one would wish to use.  Last of all, I wanted to enter the card into the CASology challenge which offered the cue card:  UNDER.

I hadn't used the new and super-cute stamp set, Bearing Gifts and so I knew I wanted to get that one inked up.  It was perfect for the CASology since the bear is under the children.  In keeping with its outdoorsy style, I thought that the tree-filled design from the Santa & Co. Designer Series Paper would be ideal as a background.  Since one of the colours in it is Soft Suede, that's the colour that I chose for my base cardstock.  

After stamping and colouring the stamped image, I cut it out using my Oval Framelits and then mounted it on a piece of Old Olive cardstock and cut around that, leaving a narrow border.  I also added some tiny snowflakes in Encore Silver to the scene and some Cherry Cobbler Dazzling Details "berries" to the wreath around the bear's neck.  

While that dried, I cut a piece of Soft Suede for my band and embossed it using my Delicate Designs embossing folder.  Before attaching that to the card, I added a strip of Cherry Cobbler Seam Binding ribbon to run along the centre.  I also stamped the sentiment onto a narrow strip of Cherry Cobbler using my Craft Whisper White ink and cut one end to be a banner.

On top of the band and over towards the right of the card, I attached the oval with Dimensionals.  Then I used glue dots to attach the narrow banner to the left, onto the Cherry Cobbler ribbon.

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

For more cards that "think skinny", check out Christmas Card Challenges.

For more cards that interpret the cue card "under", check out CASology.

Give Thanks For All Things

For All Things is a lovely new stamp set in the Holiday Catalogue that gives a watercolour impression much in the way of the Work of Art stamp set.  This one, however, is a celebration of Autumn and Thanksgiving.  As a perfect compliment to that set, there is also the Color Me Autumn Designer Series Paper.  I've used both  in my card.

I love the sketch for this week's Paper Craft Crew Challenge, but until I changed its position, I really wasn't inspired.  Once I did that, however, the card simply fell into place for me.  I chose to use the Naturals White for my base and then piled on the colours that are shown in the Designer Series Paper.  My next layer is Old Olive (which is like a lighter shade of the Mossy Meadow and works better for this card) and then comes a layer of the Designer Paper.

For the off-kilter piece, I've layered Crushed Curry, Cajun Craze and then a different layer of the Designer Paper.  On the Designer Paper I've used Mossy Meadow (off-stamped twice) with the rectangle stampe from the For All Things stamp set.  Then I've stamped the oak leaf from the set with Cajun Craze (also off-stamped, but only once).  Once those were dry, I heat embossed the sentiment from the set using my Early Espresso embossing powder.

For the strip across the bottom of the card, I chose to use Cajun Craze which I cut using my Chevron Punch.  I wanted some of those wonderful colours from the Designer Paper to show through.

I cut two squares from the Burlap Ribbon and took out the stitching before attaching them to the lower right of the card.  After that I stamped, coloured, and fussy-cut the wheat sheaf from the Truly Grateful stamp set and mounted that on the Burlap Ribbon using Dimensionals.

Three little Candy Dots finish up my card.  The sketch may be on its side but I think it works quite well this way.

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

For more card with a fall theme, check out The Paper Players.

WCC08 -- Sparkle

This week the artists of the Watercooler Challenge are presenting their versions of Punch Art.  Granted, my version of the technique called "punch art" is a bit primitive.  I consider myself more of a beginner in the "punch art" field.  Some people manage to create punch art that is almost magically alive.  Mine barely croaks---but she can dance.

The tutu is made using those very handy Fringe scissors and a piece of Blushing Bride.  That was the easy part of my little creation.  That and the water-lily pad with its flower.  Those were the easy parts. I finally decided to cut the body out of Old Olive using my Oval framelits and the legs using the framelit for the wreath hanger from the Wonderful Wreath framelits dies.  For the arms I used my Circle framelits, putting one inside the other for a curved, narrow piece that I cut into two pieces.  The hands are a portion of the middle sized flower from Boho Blossoms.

The head gave me a bit more trouble but I finally decided to use the Small Oval punch to cut one full oval and one half oval.  Placed together and with a white eye made using my 3/4" Circle Punch, it almost looked right and became much more believably a face when I used my Old Olive Blendabilities to draw in a mouth and to shade in places.  The ballet slippers were also cut with the Small Oval punch, cut in half and then artfully cut to resemble slippers.

I used Naturals White as my base with a layer of Marina Mist and then another layer of Naturals White onto which I glued my creation.  The bit of blue water is simply the lightest of the Night of Navy Blendabilities.  Oh---the crown!  Yes, that bit of glitz and sparkle is actually a bit of Silver Foil cut with the second largest of the Boho Blossoms punch.  After cutting it down to size and gluing it in place, I added three rhinestones to let the little lady have some glitter.

Those that know me, know that I have two blogs that are primarily for anything I've created.  Why two?  Well, I keep this one purely for my Stampin' Up! products while I allow myself to try other products with my other blog.  Why am I even mentioning this?  Well, my project for the Watercooler Challenge is based on a stamp that isn't Stampin' Up! and with which I made a card earlier in the week.  You can have a look at it here.   I like the stamped version better, but the punch art lady is growing on me.  (Or is that a wart?)

Happy Birthday --- In Black and White

*So thrilled that this card won honours at Seize the Birthday Challenges." 

*So thrilled to have both the Design Team Pick and Readers' Pick at 

Around the World Stampin' Up! Challenges*

I've done a lot of black and white photography and so love the look.  It's great getting back to those roots when I design a black and white card.  The dynamics are different from using colour.  You really have to work on your image and use lighting to bring out the key points of the scene.  I enjoyed doing that with my moose in the woods.  I used a lot of dark sponging to make it more of a vignette and made sure that the key area, around the head, remained "in the light".

I decided to design the card as an easel card.  I love the way they're "on show" and this one would look like a framed picture since I planned not to have any sentiment on the front of the card.  That would show up when it formed into the easel.  My base cardstock is Naturals White.  The base for the front of the card, however, is Basic Black.  The next layer for the front is Naturals White which I embossed using my Woodgrain embossing folder and then sponged to help the texture show more prominently.  Then comes the Whisper White which is cut much smaller than the Naturals White layer so that it appears to be matted inside a black frame.

I stamped the Whisper White using black Memento ink and the Walk in the Wild and Lovely as a Tree stamp sets.  Before adding the trees, I masked the moose so that it wouldn't be stamped on.  Since this was going to be left black and white, I used my sponge extensively and really darkened the edges, moving in enough to give the impression of a vignette.  I also lightly sponged the moose, except for the head, to give it more substance and also for the lighting effect I desired.

For the sentiment which I placed at the very bottom of the inside where it would show immediately when the card was up on its easel, I used the "Happy Birthday" from the Sassy Salutations stamp set and also the acorns from the For All Things stamp set.  I stamped both using Versamark and then heat embossed them using White embossing powder.

I love how it all comes together when you open the card and stand it up in its easel.  To finish off the Happy Birthday strip, I stuck a white Candy Dot at each of the four corners.  

For more black and white birthday cards, check out Seize the Birthday.

For more cards featuring animals, check out Around the World Stampin' Up! Challenges.

For more cards where anything goes, check out Loves Rubberstamps.