WWC159 - Marsha's "All About Christmas" Challenge

This week's challenge is being hosted by Marsha Reed and it's all about Christmas.  I love these challenges because they help me get my stash together so that I'm not as stressed at Christmas.  That's a great reason for everyone to join the challenge, don't you think?

Of course it's not hard to get in the Christmas mood when I look outside and see snow everywhere.  In fact the snow was my inspiration this time.  At least the snow on my card didn't require me to bundle up from head to toe.

I kept my card simple.  I took a piece of Whisper White and added five strips of Washi tape vertically to the right of centre.  The Year of Cheer Specialty Washi tape I used is retired now but it was in the last Holiday catalogue and is hands down one of the most elegant Washi tapes I've ever seen.  After adding the tape, I stamped my sentiment using Pacific Point ink and then used the Softly Falling embossing folder to carefully emboss each side without actually embossing the tape.  Then I added a matte of Pacific Point cardstock so that it showed only on the sides before attaching everything to a base of Heavy Whisper White.

For the snowflakes I turned to the snowflake dies in the Seasonal Layers Thinlits and cut three snowflakes out of Silver Foil using the medium die and two snowflakes using the small die.  After adding them, I finished up with a rhinestone in the centre of each one.

In real life this card simply shines and sparkles.  I hope you'll check out the cards created by our wonderful Watercooler Artists at the Watercooler Wednesday Challenge blog.

I'm sorry to share that Judy Markowitz will be leaving our team.  Family health problems make it difficult for Judy to commit to the demands of a weekly challenge.  I'll miss her creations as well as her bubbly personality.

I'm happy to be welcoming Tenia Nelson to our team.  I've loved her work for a long time and will enjoy working with her.

I'm also entering this card into the Winter Wonderland Challenge - Anything Goes (Our Tribute to Eileen.

And into the Merry Christmas Challenge #9 - Anything Goes

WWC158 - Helen's Masculine "Anything Goes" Challenge

This week's challenge is being hosted by Helen Finlay and was absolute perfect timing, too.  I had to make a birthday card for my grandson and this challenge is our Masculine "Anything Goes" challenge.  How serendipitous is that?

Since he had loved a pop-up card which I had created recently, I decided to create one just for him.  As luck would have it, I had just received a die in the mail which I had ordered with him in mind.  (Don't you love it when things fall into place like that?)

The die-cut on this card is beautiful, isn't it?  I cut it out of gold foil and then used my alcohol Stampin' Blends to add a bit of colour.  My grandson's favourite colour is red and so those drums are gold and red with black feet.  His name begins with an "X" which explains that great big X in the centre of that large drum.  I had such fun making this card because he is a special guy and besides loving to play the drums, he also follows "the beat of his own drum".

As I mentioned, I made the inside of the card a pop-up.  This one is all about his birthday and that great big red star comes out at least an inch or so.  As you can see, I left room in the centre to write something special to our special boy.

Oh, and since his birthday was a couple of days ago, I can tell you that he really was delighted.  He told me it's going into his treasure box. 

I hope you'll check out the wonderful creations by our other Watercooler Artists at our Watercooler Wednesday Challenge.

WWC157 - Heidi's "All About Occasions" Challenge

It's my turn to host the challenge this week and it's an "All About Occasions" challenge.  What fun!  There are so many occasions during the year.  Wouldn't you know it, I had a birthday card in mind.  That has to be one of the most frequently celebrated occasions of the year.  After all, everyone has one--birthday, that is.

What's a birthday without a bit of whimsy thrown in?  I've been dying to use the Party Pandas stamp set which I received free with my qualifying order (it's Sale-a-bration time--Woo Hoo!)  But I kept reaching for other newly purchased stamp sets.  Well, all that changed with this card.  I reached for those Pandas and introduced them to ink.

So where's the whimsy, you ask.  I did my usual mix and match bit with my stamp sets and added some fun from the Birthday Memories Suite as well.  Guess what!  That cute little girl and her friend, the Panda, are going to a birthday party.  Are you ready?

Don't you just love it?  I used the matching framelit to cut the little cutie from the Birthday Memories Designer Series paper.  Yes, they work on the patterned paper as well as on the stamped images.  Bonus!  I also used the framelits to cut out those party hats and the little gift which her friend the Panda is carrying.  The clouds?  They're from the Up and Away thinlits set and that wonderful red foil "celebrate" is another free Sale-a-bration item, the Celebrate You thinlits.  The background is just a watercolour wash using Soft Sky and Pear Pizzaz.

But there's more fun inside!  Why just use one Panda when you can use two, after all?  And the Panda inside the card is an especially talented little guy.  He's taken five of the cupcakes (all fussy cut) and is showing off his juggling skills by keeping them in the air.  I've made the inside a "pop out" so that our friend the Panda is standing away from the card and I've added a carefully cut "tree" of window acrylic to his back so that the attached cupcakes appear to be hanging in the air.

I decided to keep the background pale and neutral by adding a piece of Soft Sky cardstock and then the die-cut Happy Birthday (using the Happy Birthday thinlits) in Very Vanilla.  Any more fuss behind our Panda and those sweet cupcakes would not show up as clearly.

And there we have the complete inside of the card.  I hope you love it as much as I do.

I hope you'll check out the wonderful creations by the other Watercooler Artists at our Watercooler Wednesday Challenge.

I'm also entering my card into the following challenges:

Crafting From the Heart #194 - Anything Goes

Pammie's Inky Pinkies Challenge #1806  - Anything Goes

WWC#156 - Penny's Feminine "Anything Goes" Challenge

It's a Feminine "Anything Goes" challenge which Penny Hanuszak is hosting this week.  Such fun!  I'm so happy for the excuse to use a stamp set which I've been anxious to try out.

Which stamp set am I talking about?  The Sale-a-bration "Beautiful Peacock" of course.  I've seen some fascinating projects but each time I thought about using it I either came up blank or needed to make something totally different.  Not this time.  This time I'm going all the way.

I began with a piece of Mixed Media paper onto which I scattered some Yellow Brusho crystals and then let them work their magic as I sprayed them with a bit of water.  I love the varying shades of colour which come from one colour of the Brusho.  You never quite know what to expect and that's part of the magic.  Once I had heat dried the colour, I was ready to stamp.

There are some interesting pieces to this particular stamp set.  The peacock is a solid stamp, so you're stamping the colour instead of colouring an outline in.  Since I don't always get a perfect image the first time with a solid stamp, I hauled out my Tim Holtz Stamp Platform so that I could restamp if necessary without having the headache of trying to totally match my initial stamping.  I'm glad I used it because I had to restamp another two times after my initial stamp in order to get the saturated Bermuda Bay colour for my image that I had in mind.   While I had the paper on the platform I chose to stamp the "feathers" that way as well.  I wound up restamping each one so that was a good move.

As you can see from the card, the "feathers" are almost like flourishes or vines.  They do look wonderful, however, especially when you add several together.  I chose to have two Bermuda Bay "feathers" and then added one between them which I heat embossed in Copper embossing powder.  Don't you simply love the contrast?

As you can see, I also stamped a few of the tiny flower images along the "feathers" using Calypso Coral.  I thought the tiny flecks of warm colour in the Yellow Brusho were quite similar in colour to the Calypso Coral.  It doesn't hurt that the warm tones look great next to the Bermuda Bay.

Since I had the one "feather" heat embossed in Copper, I decided to heat emboss the crown and the wing in Copper as well.  As it happened, I had a negative bit of a die-cut lying on my table and it looked almost like the wing.  A couple of snips and it fit perfectly with a band of copper embossing around it.  Serendipitously, the piece had been the retired Bermuda Bay Glimmer paper.  It was clearly meant to be.

As you can see, I also added a few little copper foil hearts.  To finish off, I added tiny pearl embellishments to the centre of each flower as well as to the peacock's eye.

I simply love the finished card, don't you?

I hope you'll check out the wonderful creations by the other Watercooler Artists over at our Watercooler Wednesday Challenge.

I'm also entering my card in the following challenges:

Always Fun Challenges #44 - Anything Goes

Crafty Gals Corner #158 - Anything Goes

Lil Patch of Crafty Friends #75 - Anything Goes

A Musical Birthday

While looking through the challenges I enjoy entering, I noticed that two have the same theme.  Great news!  One card serves both and, since the "Less is More" challenge is celebrating its 7th Birthday, of course I would be creating a Birthday card.

Although both challenges don't ask for "clean and simple", the "Less is More" challenge hosts only clean and simple cards.  The Cardz 7 Guyz is open to many styles.  I decided to simply use a base of Heavy Whisper White and then add the cut-out image of the trumpet-playing raccoon from the gorgeous Birthday Memories Designer Series Paper.  Since the theme is music, I also decided to add a die-cut of musical notes on a staff to trail behind the raccoon.

To add a bit of colour and to anchor my raccoon, I sponged some grass using the retired Mint Macaron ink and also sponged some Soft Sky ink onto the musical staff.

To repeat the red in the raccoon's party hat, I stamped the "Happy Birthday" sentiment using Real Red ink and my retired Endless Birthdays set.  To finish up, I added a tiny punched out red foil heart to the final note on the staff.

I'm entering this fun card in the "Less is More" #364 - Music Challenge

And also in the Cardz 4 Guyz #187 - Mujsic Challenge

Challenge #187
MUSIC

Amazing YOU

I've loved the You've Got This stamp set since it first came out and have happily watched it continue in each Annual Catalogue.  I suspect its time is nearing the end, but this is one stamp set I will be keeping.  What makes it so special?  Well, for one thing, I love all three sentiments and the font that was used for them.  I also love that terrific, large background grid pattern.  It has seen  its way onto quite a few different cards.  But it's the flower itself that really appeals to me.  This is such a generously sized flower and lends itself to so many types of colouring.  I've used watercolours, markers, alcohol blends and, now, even Brusho.  Each time the flower has come to life and I've been happy with the results.

This time I decided to heat emboss my flower in white embossing powder and then used the Brusho crystals to add colour.  For the bloom I turned to the Gamboge (orange) while for the stem and leaves I used the Moss Green.  I wet the bloom in stages with a wet brush, added a scant number of crystals, and then used a finer brush to move the colour around.  The results, especially once it was dry, were spectacular.  There is a clarity to this Brusho colours as well as a colour shift within the colour one uses due to the variety of colours in the crystals, that one does not see normally when colouring.

I fussy cut my flower and added it to the left on a Whisper White note card.  Then I simply added a die-cut "amazing" and a die-cut "YOU", thanks to the SAB Celebrate You thinlits.  Overall it's a simply constructed card but I think it is extremely striking and dramatic.

I'm going to enter this card in the following challenges:

CASology Week 285 for which the cue word is "Swoon"

LTCCB #19 - February Anything Goes!