WWC44 - Congratulations (Buffy's Anything Goes With Weddings Challenge)

I love "Anything Goes" challenges, don't you?  I saw Buffy's and noticed that it has a wedding theme.  That made it even more fun.  As for her inspiration photo, she says herself that the colours don't matter, it's the theme that counts.  Well, that made it perfect.  After a whole lot of fall and Christmas cards, I was ready for a change and making a wedding card would be just that:  a change.

I began with a base of the Heavy Weight Whisper White cardstock.  For my next layer I turned to Hello Honey because that was one of the colours in the Designer Paper which I intended to use and I thought it gave a "nod" to Buffy's colours.

For my main layer, I decided on the beautiful Shimmery White specialty paper.  I love the subtle shimmer in that paper as well as its body.  It has been one of my favourite papers from the beginning.  My piece measured 4" x 5 1/4" and I carefully arranged the swallowtail framelit along its left side, tilting it to have the image at an angle.  I carefully put the die-cuts aside even though I had no plans for them for this card.  Waste not, want not.

Then I took a piece of the Dazzling Diamonds Glimmer Paper and cut a swallowtail butterfly from that, carefully saving the pieces.  After that I cut another swallowtail butterfly from a piece of the stained glass window design  which is from the Season of Cheer designer series paper.  I carefully saved all the pieces, of course.

Assembly time!  I covered the piece of Hello Honey with Fast Fuze, leaving a tiny border free of adhesive.  Then I attached the Shimmery White layer (you'll remember it has the swallowtail shape cut out of it, right?)  I took the outline die-cut of Dazzling Diamonds Glimmer Paper and carefully fit that into the Shimmery White.  Then I carefully took each little cut-out from the Season of Cheer butterfly die-cut and fit it into the empty spots.  It took a while but they attached tightly to the layer of Fast Fuze which I had spread.

To finish I fussy cut the body from the Season of Cheer butterfly and glued it to the Dazzling Diamonds body.  Then I stamped the antennae from the Watercolor Wings stamp set using Hello Honey and (sorry, it's retired) the sentiment from the A Word for You stamp set also using Hello Honey ink.  A scattering of Dazzling Diamonds Glimmer Paper hearts cut using the Confetti Hearts punch and some Tombow Glue finished the card.

Pretty?  It's downright dazzling!  For more cards by fellow Watercooler Artists, check out the Watercooler Wednesday Challenge.

I've also entered my card in another "anything goes" challenge over at the AAA Cards Game.

PCCCS172 - Noel

Sometimes mixing up the new with the old can be so satisfying.  For this challenge I did exactly that.  After all, what good is it having a stash of retired favourites if all you're going to do is look at it?

I began with a base of the Naturals Ivory cardstock.  I'm still in shock that they retired this paper.  It's so gorgeous and there is nothing out there that is similar.  But I have a good stock and I love using it.  My next layer is a piece of Mossy Meadow on which I first used my Softly Falling embossing folder.  I put the most embossed section to the bottom of the card since I covered the top portion with a piece from the Season of Cheer DSP.  To make the embossing stand out, I softly sponged it with some of my Encore Silver ink.

My next layer again came from the Naturals Ivory but this time I cut it into an oval and topped it with an oval of Soft Sky which I embossed using the Elegant Dots embossing folder.  My little Bambi is from the Home for Christmas DSP and was attached using Dimensionals after I carefully fussy-cutting it.  I added a Mossy Meadow banner heat embossed in Silver and a ribbon of the heavy-weight Cherry Cobbler twine.  A little sequin snowflake with a silver sequin in the centre completes my card.

You can find more cards using this sketch at the Paper Craft Crew Challenge.

For fun I've entered my card in the Christmas Card Challenge which is "Anything Goes.

And finally, I've added my card to the Sunday Stamps Weekly Challenge.

It's the Black Friday of Stampin' Up!

Every year Stampin' Up! puts on their own version of Black Friday and holds it for a week.  Instead of Black Friday, they call it their "Online Extravaganza".  And the prices definitely prove it's an extravaganza.  With shipping in lots of time for Christmas, this is a great way to get some gifts for the crafter in your life or some stocking stuffers for people you know.  And if you happen to sneak in one or two (or three) little extras for yourself, well, you deserve something for all your work, right?

Beginning today, you can save from 20% to 50% on a whole list of wonderful items.  There is a bonus, too.  On the first day (today, November 23rd) and on the last day (November 30th) there is a special list of "door-crashers" available for only 24 hours on those dates.  The rest of the items stay on sale for the entire time.

Just go to the right side of my page and click on my shopping cart.  That will take you directly to the Stampin' Up! store and there you can check out the lists.  Excited?  I sure was when I got up this morning.  Who doesn't love a sale?

The Wacky Watercooler November Christmas Celebration Blog Hop

Welcome to our November Blog Hop.  Yes, this time it's all about Christmas.  I'm so excited to be able to concentrate on all my Christmas "treasures", old and new.  That's right, old.  I will get to use some of my treasured stash for one of my projects.  I know exactly which stamp set I will be using, too.  It's one of my favourites.  I wonder if you'll guess which one it will be.

As you will remember, if you've wandered through our blog hops before, our blog hop is presented in a circular fashion.  What does that mean?  Wherever you begin in our blog hop, whether you go forwards or backwards through the participants, eventually you will wind up precisely where you began.  I hope you'll take time to visit all the participating blogs and, perhaps, leave a short message letting us know  what you've thought of our posts.

If you've been moving forwards through the blog hop, you'll have arrived here from a very talented fellow Canadian, Gail Allen.  Weren't her projects terrific?

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My first project is a little 3-D creation.  I've adapted a little box I found on Pinterest.  Actually the person who makes them calls them Belly Boxes and sells the patterns to be used on a personal e-cutter.  Well, I don't have a personal e-cutter but I do have imagination and, even though mine don't look like the originals, they are my version of such a cute creation.  I made the "belly box" using the Curvy Keepsake Box Thinlets but modified the pieces. Then I proceeded to personalize it with some fun punch art.  After all, it's Christmas and we want everything to be full of cheer (and sweets).

Isn't he cute?  I used the Heavy Weight Whisper White cardstock, Basic Black cardstock, my Stampin' Markers, and some of the red and white stripped 1/8" ribbon.  The little sprig of holly is from the Snow Place stamp set, cut out using the Snow Friends Framelits die.

And the reason it's called a "Belly Box" is that the candy fills up his belly.

You can see better from this side angle that I've used my 1/8" punch to put holes along the side and front in order to lace the ribbon through and hold the bos together.  That's right, the only adhesive holding his box together is at the bottom just like in the regular Curvy Keepsake Box but because I don't have the tops which "lock" together, I needed the ribbon.

Along the back, however, I simply used Tombo glue to attach the ribbon.  I'll post dimensions and more photos showing the construction in an upcoming post.  Isn't he just the cutest thing?

For TUTORIAL click here. 

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For my next project I decided to use that beautiful Wonderland stamp set.  Those pines are gorgeous, aren't hey?  I made an oversized card in order to use the full pattern of the Boughs & Berries embossing folder.  I began with a base of the Heavy Weight Whisper White, followed by a layer of Mint Macaron and then the embossed layer of Whisper White.  To make the embossing stand out even more, I sponged over it lightly using Mint Macaron ink.

In the centre where there was no embossing, I added my image layer.  First there is a layer of Mint Macaron, then a layer of Silver Foil and finally my stamped layer of Whisper White.  For the pines I used Mint Macaron ink.  When that had fully dried I stamped the snowflakes using Versamark and then heat embossed them with Silver embossing powder.  My banner is vellum onto which my sentiment is heat embossed in Silver embossing powder as well.

Doesn't that bit of Silver Ribbon which I tied in a bow diagonally across the top left look perfect?

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For my final project, I had the best time hauling out my retired stash and playing with some of the wonderful products which I still love.  I've used only four products for this card which are current.  Everything else is retired.  For my base I've used Naturals White.  I still love that cardstock because the random flecks give it such character.  My next layer is Baked Brown Sugar, a colour which is so versatile, especially this time of the year.  I loved it for gingerbread men and also found it was a perfect match for the colour of the burlap ribbon.

My embossed layer is current.  I used the Shimmery White specialty cardstock.  There is nothing else that looks quite the same and it is absolutely elegant.  I used a retired embossing folder and then sponged over the perimeter as well as the embossing with Baked Brown Sugar ink to make it stand out better.

For the ribbon, I really went to town.  My bottom layer is the current Burlap ribbon followed by the very elegant (and current) Very Vanilla 1 1/4" Subtle Stripes Satin ribbon, and then the retired Linen Cheery Cobbler ribbon.  Since the Linen is so tightly woven, it was possible to heat emboss my sentiment on it in Gold embossing powder.  I absolutely love the effect!

The stunning Poinsettia is made using one of my very favourite retired stamp sets, Joyful Wishes.  Yes, after heat embossing the images twice in Gold embossing powder on Vellum, I did have a lot of cutting to do.  But I don't mind doing a lot of fussy-cutting, as you know, and it went more quickly than I expected it to.  Once cut out, I set to colouring the flowers and the leaves.  I hauled out the retired but still-loved Blendabilities and set to work with the Cherry Cobbler and the Old Olive pens.  First I coloured them from the back side of the image and then I carefully coloured the front inside the golden lines.  A bit of curling and bending with my Bone Folder and the Poinsettia was ready to assemble.

For the centre I used one of my favourite embellishments (also retired) but first pushed it into my Versamark, covered it in Gold embossing powder and then used my heat gun to turn it into gold.  It looked perfect in the centre of the flower.

For the inside of the card, I used layers as well.  I decided to use a layer of Baked Brown Sugar and then added my stamped layer, which was Shimmery White to continue the elegance.  Both stamp sets which I used are retired.

And that's it for my projects.  I hope you've enjoyed them as much as I enjoyed creating them.  From here you'll be returning to the beginning of the circle again, and another wonderfully creative Canadian stamper, Deborah Smart.

If you get a moment, I'd love it if you would leave a comment.  

WWC43 - Thanks (Kath's Colour Challenge)

It's time for our Watercooler Wednesday Challenge.  This week Kath Ricks has provided us with a terrific set of colours for our colour challenge.  Her colours are actually quite perfect for this time of year, especially with the American Thanksgiving looming close.  For me the colours immediately spoke of Fall and the changing colours of leaves.  What do you think?

I love all those colours.  They're wonderfully vibrant and strong colours.  Strangely, Kath didn't choose to use the Hello Honey.  The other three colours, after all, are all part of the 2014-2016 In-Colors.  But I do love the warmth of the Crushed Curry which she chose instead.

Like I said, my first instinct when I saw these colours, was that they would be perfect for a Fall card.  And so that's exactly what I created.  I wanted to keep it rather simple.  My card would be classed as a CAS style of card (that means it's clean and simple).  Sometimes they're the best way to go because they can be so striking.  I used a base of the heavy weight Whisper White and added a layer of Blackberry Bliss.  Then I took a piece of the normal weight Whisper White and stamped two maple leaves from the Vintage Leaves set, one at the top and one at the bottom.  The top one is stamped using the Tangelo Twist ink and the bottom one is stamped using the Mossy Meadow ink.  Then I used my Stampin' Markers to colour the white area in the top leaf with Crushed Curry and the white area in the bottom leaf with Tangelo Twist.

I wanted a bit of dark colour at the top and so stamped a smaller leaf on a scrap of Crushed Curry using Mossy Meadow ink.  Then I cut it out using the matching framelit.  It balanced the colours better once I adhered it using my Dimensionals.  Finally I cut out the "thanks" from a piece of Blackberry Bliss using my thinlit.  Doesn't the white background make those colours "pop"?

I hope you'll make time to check out the other Watercooler Artists' wonderful creations at our Watercooler Wednesday challenge.

I'm also entering my card into the SUO challenge.

PCCCS170 - Give Thanks

Today is a day we've set aside for remembering those who have lost their lives in preserving our freedom as well as those who have served, sometimes at great loss to themselves.  But we shouldn't just remember these heroes one single day each year.  They should be part of our daily thoughts of gratitude.  Without them, what sort of world might we have?  My father served.  My father's sight was never the same nor was he ever again as strong because of shrapnel and bullets.  But he was my hero.  He never complained.  In fact when his health forced him to retire from the Army early, he continued to serve with the Reserves.  And each Remembrance Day he was out there, foul weather or mild, marching proudly among the other veterans.

I had to create this card using this week's sketch.

I've kept it very plain.  My colours are simply Basic Black, Grey and Red.  The poppy which I made using the Pansy Punch and my Bone Folder is held to the card with a Mini Silver brad.  My images are from  the For Your Country, You've Got This and Gorgeous Grunge stamp sets and my sentiment is from the For All Things set, only partially stamped.

I don't think it needs anything more.  

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

For more cards using these colours, check out the Paper Players challenge this week.

And for another challenge using these colours, check out Create With Connie and Mary.

WWC42 - Celebration!

There is something about photo inspiration challenges.  You can take so many things from the photo, such as the colours, shapes, theme.  Really, it's a wide open smorgasbord of possibilities.  Bev's photo inspiration challenge definitely offers a lot of possibilities.  For me the problem was to focus on just one and  use it for my card.

I finally decided to use a combination of shapes and colours.  Even then it was difficult for me since there are so many ways to use those shapes and colours.  

My colour palette is Basic Black, Tempting Turquoise, and Whisper White.  To that I added touches of Rich Razzleberry, Pear Pizzazz, Smoky Slate and a touch of Silver Foil.  I kept primarily to using squares and then added some swirls of colour using the Everything Eleanor flourish image.  I wanted a bit of texture as well and therefore using the Decorative Dots embossing folder on the Rich Razzleberry squares and punched my black squares out of the Black Glimmer paper.  

I invite you to join our Watercooler Artists in creating something special from Bev's photo inspiration at the Watercooler Wednesday challenge this week.

WWC41 - Many thanks

I'm so excited about our new Watercooler Wednesday challenge.  This week Jackie Susnik has supplied a wonderful new sketch and I love its simplicity.  I immediately thought of Fall and the beautifully coloured leaves.  I also thought of my owl.  Jackie's sketch lent itself beautifully to a combination of the two and I was off to create my card.

I wanted to keep it simple and focus attention on the leaf and owl.  What better way than to use a base of Whisper White, especially the nice heavy weight that is now available.  My next layer is Tip Top Taupe which I first embossed using the Boho Chic embossing folder.  My next layer of Whisper White is the lighter weight and I kept it plain so that it wouldn't fight for attention.  I used the 1 1/4" Jute Ribbon for exactly that reason as well:  it looks great and satisfies the sketch but doesn't call a lot of attention to itself. 

What I wanted all the attention on, of course, is the maple leaf, cut using the Leaflets framelits die, and the little fussy-cut owl.  My leaf is cut from the script-printed Delightful Dijon In-Color Designer Series paper stack and is sponged with the same Delightful Dijon around its perimeter.  My owl, which I hand-carved using the retired Undefined carving kit, was stamped using the Basic Grey Archival ink and then coloured using my Delightful Dijon, Tip Top Taupe, Early Espresso and Basic Grey Stampin' Markers.  I attached it to the card with Dimensionals, making it appear as if it's perched on the stem of the leaf.  I love that little owl!

I stamped the "many" from the Crazy About You stamp set just below the leaf using Tip Top Taupe ink and then added the die-cut "thanks" which I cut from a piece of Early Espresso cardstock using the Greetings thinlits.

I hope you'll check out the cards created by the other Watercooler Artists at our Watercooler Wednesday challenge site.

I've also entered my card in the SUO challenge which is all about "thanks".

And finally I've entered my card in the Paper Players challenge which has a theme of Fall Thanks.

PCCCS169 - A Merry Little Wish...

I love it when one challenge pushes me along the road of creativity for another challenge.  As a Design Team member for the Paper Craft Crew Challenge, I can work ahead with the challenges.  Sometimes, however, it seems that I need a "kick-start" to come up with a card for a sketch that has been posted.  That's when a colour challenge can come in handy to make me see new possibilities.

Here is our sketch for this week:

I really couldn't decide whether I wanted a casual card, a Thanksgiving card or a Christmas card.  So I just looked at it every day or so, trying to decide.  And along the way, I wandered over to the Weekly Christmas Card Challenge and saw their colour challenge:

That's when something "clicked" for me and I had absolutely no problems coming up with my card.  It's funny how that works sometimes, isn't it?

It's hard to tell, but I only used the Archival Basic Gray ink for my stamping.  It softened the look and also kept me within the colour palette.  I've always loved the look of wonder that the little snowman from the White Christmas set has and paired him up with the natural looking tree from the Festival of Trees set.  At first I thought I would put a single silver die-cut star near the top which would have caught his attention but then I remembered the Santa and sleigh from the retired Holiday Home set.  A bit of a bend to the photopolymer stamp and the image fit onto my Whisper White piece perfectly.

For a final touch, to keep within the sketch parameters, I added a floral die-cut using the Delicate Ornaments Thinlits die and some Glimmer paper.  Pieced together with the negative bits from my Bermuda Bay cardstock die-cut, it looks great, doesn't it?  A little bow made from Glimmer paper, using the Bow Builder punch finishes it off nicely.

I hope you'll check out the other Design Team cards at the Paper Craft Crew Challenge.

More cards with this colour palette can be found at the Weekly Christmas Card Challenge.

I've also added my card to the Just Add Ink challenge which is "Just add W".  I think this card with the snowman's sense of Wonder and its Merry little Wish suited the challenge perfectly.