WWC48 - Let it snow! Let it snow! Let it snow!

Guess what!  This week the challenge is mine, all mine!  That's right!  It's Heidi's Anything Goes With Snow.  In other words, any project whether it be a card, a scrapbook page, a banner, a tag or a bag or a box, is eligible as long as there is some snow on it.  It can be anything from a single snowflake to a blizzard.  The project linked up must have snow.  But this time of the year it's not hard to be inspired by the white stuff, is it?

And another surprise!  This challenge will last two weeks.  We have Christmas coming in a couple of days and New Year's not far behind.  People will be travelling and having visitors.  It makes sense to take a bit more time to allow people a chance to participate, right?

So, on with the challenge.  This is the inspiration photo:

No, you don't have to make a snow globe.  Of course if you make one, it's perfectly all right and we'll love it.  The snow globe is, however, simply a prop to get you into the mood.  Think snow!

For my project I decided to make a card.  This time of the year one needs a lot of cards, after all.  The one which I created uses the Heavy Whisper White cardstock as its base and the next layer is Night of Navy.  I needed a good, strong colour because I planned to cover the cardstock with a layer of the Winter Wonderland printed vellum.  If you don't recognize the piece, it's because I've used the reverse side.  You see I didn't want any gold in my card and the snowflakes on that vellum are gold.  On the reverse, however, they are a beautiful white---perfect for my creation.

Before attaching the Night of Navy to the base, I used the largest of the Perfect Pines framelits to cut out the tree shape just to the left of centre.  That way, when the vellum was attached over it, the white really stood out sharply against the muted Night of Navy.  Then I took that die cut tree and used the garland framelit on it.  That left little holes in the tree through which the white showed perfectly.  After attaching the Night of Navy tree, I added some Silver Dazzling Details to the branch edges to give a bit of sparkle to them.

I added small Rhinestones to the centre of each snowflake on the vellum.  Then I added a Silver Glimmer paper star to the tree top and added a Rhinestone to the centre of that.  Finally I heat embossed a long, skinny banner of Night of Navy using my White embossing powder.

It's simple.  It's elegant.  It's a whole lot of snowflakes.  I hope you like it as well as I do.

I invite you to check out the wonderful creations by the other Watercooler Artists at our Watercooler Wednesday Challenge.  You have until January 4th.  I hope to see your creation linked up.

I've also entered my card into the Color Throwdown Challenge #373.

PCCCS175 - Silent Night

This challenge has been extended to a two week period to allow for all the travelling and revelling that occurs around Christmas and New Year's.  We're having a Tic-Tac-Toe Challenge this time and I had such fun deciding which line I would pick.  So many possibilities...

I finally chose the top horizontal line.

I bought the most elegant deer die at our local Farmer's Market and knew I would use that for my card.  I must confess that although I absolutely love the Home For Christmas Designer Series paper and have used some of the images for a number of my cards, I have kept putting off using the beautiful musical sheet music included in the pack.  It's that old "if I use it, I won't have it any longer" mind-set that has resulted in my having heaps of retired products.  Well, this time I decided to use it for my card.

Actually I used a fair bit from my retired stash and loved every moment of it.  Adding the ribbon underneath the Polaroid frame seemed the natural thing to do and I think it really adds a lot, don't you?

I hope you'll join us this week for the Paper Craft Crew Challenge and try your hand at the Tic-Tac-Toe.

Adapting the Curvy Keepsake Box and Winding up With Tummy Boxes---My Tutorial

NOTE:  I began writing this a few weeks ago but realized I needed more pictures if the tutorial was going to make sense.  Panic set in when I couldn't locate my Curvy Keepsake Box thinlit.  The last time I had used it was at the Charity Scrapbooking Crop which I had attended and for which I provided make-n-takes.  A frantic phone call to the organizer did not turn up the missing thinlit, nor did her messages to the attendees.  And so this post was put on hold.  What good would it be without the appropriate photos to show precisely how to make my little adapted tummy box?

Time passed and finally, a couple of days ago I pulled the comforter out of the back of my SUV, intending to clean it since the dogs had been all over it.  And suddenly I heard a metallic clang---a soft one, but still, a clang.  I checked the cement floor of the garage and there it was!  My thinlit had jumped out of the bag into which I had packed it after the Crop and was just hanging out, having a good old time travelling around with me.  Well, no more.  I've put it to work again and here it is.  My tutorial is finally ready.

I love using the Curvy Keepsake Box.  I've used it countless times as it was designed to be used, and decorated it up with great success.

I've even used it as a wrap, adapting it to be used with just two sides.  That has been a lot of fun and well received.

And then I designed the Tummy Boxes, another adaptation of the Curvy Keepsake Box.  These have been terrific little gift boxes for Christmas but could be used anytime, for all sorts of different occasions.  Here, if you haven't seen it yet, is my little Snowman Tummy Box:

He's easy to make.  I'm going to lead you through the process and have taken pictures as I've gone along.  The fun thing is that once you've made my little snowman, the sky is the limit.  You can change the colours of cardstock and make a gingerbread man, Santa, any of the elves or even a reindeer.  Your imagination is your limit with this adaption of the Curvy Keepsake Box.

Ready?  Let's begin.  For the initial box you'll need the Curvy Keepsake Box thinlit, of course. Before I began cutting, I took a black marker and drew lines on the sides of my thinlit as shown:

If you find this difficult to read, on the left it says 2" from cutting

bar. (this will be the front).

On the right it says 1 1/2" from cutting bar. (this will be a side).

Materials:

Heavy weight Whisper White, piece 1:  4" x 6 1/2"
Heavy weight Whisper White, piece 2:  4" x 4 1/2"

Real Red cardstock, optional:  1 7/8" x 1 7/8"

24" of your choice of 1/8" ribbon.

Tear & Tape Adhesive

Tools:

Big Shot
Curvy Keepsake Thinlit
1/8" Hole Punch
Scissors

Step-by-step photos:

Now assemble your box the way you normally would, using the adhesive of your choice to hold the bases together.  I've used Fast Fuse because I find it holds beautifully.  Then, if you wish to have a liner for your base, adhere the piece of Real Red to the inside bottom.  I also used my scissors to curve the corners of the front.

Cut your piece of ribbon.  Find the center of the ribbon and place the ribbon across the back of the box, on top of the Tear & Tape Adhesive. 

You are now ready to begin lacing the ribbon through the holes you've punched.

Once you've pulled the ribbon through the punched holes, as shown, you can pull the sides and front up and tie the bow in front.

And that is basically how to make the Adapted Curvy Keepsake Box.  It becomes the "tummy" of whatever character you decide to make.

The following is how I've made it into a snowman.

I've shaded around the perimeter of the head by using a sponge and Basic Grey ink.  I drew the eyes using my Basic Black Stampin' Marker as well as all those little "pieces of coal" which make up his mouth.  The nose is actually the ice-cream cone framelit from the Snow Friends framelits with the "ice-cream" cut into a smaller circle.  It was cut from a piece of Tangelo Twist cardstock and the little "carrot-wrinkles" were hand-drawn using the Tangelo Twist Stampin' Marker.  I used the Blushing Bride Stampin' Marker to colour in his cheeks.

You can see that I've curved the "arms" from the baby's onesie for the brim of the hat and also curved the top of the hat.  I glued a piece of the matching striped ribbon around the hat and attached a sprig of holly using the Snow Friends framelit and matching stamp.

Finally, the arms.  If you follow my lines, you can get both arms from the circle which you've already cut.

You can see how easily the circle becomes two arms.

I used Tombo glue to attach the head and arms after  sponging a bit of Basic Grey to give the body, arms and head some "dimension".  I attached a blank white circle to the back of the head to hide the cut-out from the Curvy Keepsake Die.

You can see how everything is attached from the back.

Lastly I used the Owl Builder Punch and cut five little circles (the second largest of the punch) and attached them to his body and the front of the box.  This is the completed little snowman.  He's a lot of fun to make and his "tummy" holds a lot of candies.

As you can see, a lot of candies fit into his waiting tummy.

And here, just for fun, is a little Gingerbread "tummy" Man which I created from the Kraft paper.

I hope you enjoy making your own little "tummy" people and animals.  Your imagination is your limit.  If you have any questions, just email me or ask in my comment section.

I'd love to see your creations, as well.

I've entered my little Gingerbread "tummy" Guy into the Merry Monday Christmas Challenge.

And I've also entered him into the {PIN}spirational Challenge.

WWC47 - Lots of Joy

This week Marsha has provided us with a colour inspiration for the Watercooler Wednesday challenge.  The beautiful image is ours to use thanks to Design Seeds

When I chose the colours for my card, I knew I would use Pacific Blue and then chose complimentary colours which are in the Stampin' Up! palette.  In the end I wound up with, of course, Whisper White as my base.  The rest of the colours are Sky Blue (ink for stencilling the stars in the background), Night of Navy (as my second layer), Pacific Point (as my star and the background in the smaller ornament), Marina Mist (as the background in the larger ornament), Smoky Slate (as my smaller oval) and Basic Grey (as my larger oval).  I've also used Silver Foil, but that is considered a neutral just as the white is, and is therefore allowed.  

I had fun making this card.  I really wanted something different that covered most of the wonderful blues and greys in Marsha's photo.  I think I managed to do that.

Please come and check out the other Watercooler Artists' designs at our Watercooler Wednesday Challenge and then link up your own version of this colour inspiration.

PCCCS174 - Merry Christmas (through the window)

Time for another Paper Craft Crew Challenge and this one is is a fun sketch.  I wanted to have a Christmas scene through a window but decided not to use the window framelit for this card.  Instead I cut a rectangle into four smaller rectangles and stamped the scene on those, mounting them onto a larger piece of Real Red cardstock to make them appear like window panes.

The diagonal striped piece is from the Holidays Fancy Foil Designer Vellum.  The little Christmas tree is fussy cut from the Home for Christmas Designer Series paper and that cute little gift is simply Red Foil tied up with a piece of the Garden Green 1/8" Striped ribbon.  I've used the tree scene from the Happy Scenes set as well as the Santa from the Holiday Homes set (retired).  Finally, the cute Siamese cat is from the Festive Fireplace set.

I invite you to come over to the Paper Craft Crew Challenge and see what you can do with our sketch.

WWC46 - Silent Night

I love CAS challenges and when Jean Fitch chose to make her challenge for our Watercooler Wednesday challenge masculine as well, I was anxious to get started.

I decided to make mine a Christmas card.  It's not always easy to find something strictly masculine among the many Christmas cards on display, is it?  For my husband, for example, I usually try to have something of an outdoor theme on a card.  He is an avid fly fisherman and has hunted for most of his life.  His job, too, has taken him to many wilderness places that some people only dream of seeing.  With this in mind, I chose the elk image from The Wilderness Awaits stamp set.  To that I added the beautiful tall pines from the Wonderland stamp set as well as the sentiment from the same set.

I kept my card very simple (of course) and kept to an almost complete black and white palette.  I say "almost" because I did add a touch of colour to the elk, using my Sahara Sand and Crumb Cake Stampin' Markers.  While my husband may not understand the concept of "clean and simple", I know he'll love the card.

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

I've also entered my card into the Addicted to Stamps and More Challenge since their's is, serendipitously, CAS this week.

PCCC173 - A Very Merry Christmas

I really enjoyed creating my card for the Paper Craft Crew Challenge this week.  It was a sketch that put an idea into my head immediately.  I knew I wanted this to be a Christmas card and I also knew that I wanted to include a red foil butterfly.  I love butterflies at Christmas!

When you check out the sketch, you'll notice that instead of the splatter, I've used snowflakes.  Instead of the oval, I've used a Deco Label.  Instead of the hexagon, I've used my wonderful red Foil butterfly.  I have white and silver silk butterflies all over my Christmas tree.  No-one can tell me that butterflies aren't a part of Christmas.  In fact, my grandsons think my butterflies come from the North Pole.

It's fun to take a sketch and make it your own.  You can see all the ways in which I've changed the sketch, shown below, but you can also see all the similarities.  Check out what everyone else on the Design Team has created from this sketch at the Paper Craft Crew Challenge this week.

Joy!

As Christmas approaches, one is filled with a sense of joy.  The beautiful decorations on the tree.  The wonderful lights along the streets.  The music---oh yes, the music!  That truly brings me joy.  How serendipitous, therefore, that Addicted to CAS has JOY as their theme.  With that in mind, I took the colours from the Create With Connie and Mary's challenge and got to work.

I wanted the word and the ornament to pop and so my base is the heavyweight Whisper White and my next layer is the "normal" Whisper White.  I've cut the corners for that layer using my Curvy Corner Trio punch plus the 1/8" Circle punch and then used my Scoring Stylus to score lines connecting the tiny circles.  I cut my JOY from Mossy Meadow cardstock and the ornament from Cherry Cobbler cardstock.  In order to have silver glinting through those beautiful cuts in the ornament, I cut a circle from the Silver foil using my 1 3/4" Circle punch.  The sprig of holly is fussy-cut from the Home for Christmas designer series paper.

Those little red dots in each of the corners?  I decided to cut some Red foil using my 1/8" circle punch and glued them into the holes I had originally punched.

This card is being entered into the Create with Connie and Marie Challenge

This card is also being entered into the Addicted to CAS Challenge

And finally, this card is also being entered into the SIP Challenge

WWC45 - Merry Everything (Susan's Sketch Challenge)

This week our Watercooler Wednesday Challenge is a sketch provided by Susan Horr.  It's a great sketch and I had a lot of fun with it.  I'm sure you will, too.  I hope to see your version on our challenge page this week.

I decided to use the Home For Christmas Designer Series Paper as my background.  I don't use a lot of Designer Paper and it's annoying because we have some wonderful designs in the Holiday Catalogue.  And then I wind up with the paper in my stash.  It's a really bad habit and I'm trying to break it.

The design I decided to use is the one with all the houses and churches in a snowy setting.  It just evokes such an old-fashioned Christmas feeling and, with the snow on the ground here, I was ready to begin thinking of Christmas.  The design has some terrific colours in it.  I probably took almost as long deciding which colours I would use for my cardstock and ink as I did making the card.  I had just about convinced myself that I would be using the Mint Macaron and then, at the last minute, I decided to use the Mossy Meadow instead.  Now, looking at the card, I'm very glad I made that decision.  I don't always use what are considered the conventional Christmas colours, but for this card they really work, don't they?

My base is the heavy weight Whisper White.  Then I added a layer of Real Red followed by the Designer Paper.  With such a lot going on in the patterned paper, I knew I had to keep the rest of my card very simple.  For the two skinny horizontal pieces in the sketch, I chose to use a background of Real Red topped with Mossy Meadow for the narrower one and then I used a background of Mossy Meadow topped with Real Red for the wider one.

I used the Merry Everything stamp set for my sentiment and stamped that using Mossy Meadow ink on Whisper White.  After cutting that out using my Note Tag punch, I added a backing of Real Red which I fussy cut close to the tag.  To finish off, I took Real Red ink and stamped the ribbon from the Wondrous Wreath stamp set and then cut that out using the matching framelit.  A Real Red Home For Christmas Enamel dot finished it off.

When I look at my card, I find myself wondering why I don't use Designer Paper more often.  It certainly worked out well for this one.  

I hope you'll join me and the other Watercooler Artists this week and add your creation to our page at the Watercooler Wednesday Challenge.