WWC198 - Gail's "All About Holidays" Challenge

I've said it before and I'll say it again, I love those adorable little "House Mouse" critters!  Small wonder that I chose to use this adorable stamp for Gail's "All About Holidays" challenge this week.

Don't you just love that image?  This one is a large stamp called Carousel Ornament, starring the adorable little Monica Mouse.  I love the amount of detail in this stamp!  Because the horse is a Christmas tree ornament, after colouring it using my Watercolour Pencils I added quite a bit of shine.  On the horse's body I added some of the Frost White shimmer ink and on the tail, hoofs and mane, I added some Champagne Mist shimmer ink.  I also added some silver to the pole and the harness using a silver pen.

Although the stamp itself has lots of greenery at the top and right of the image, I decided to add a bit of dimension by cutting several pine twigs from Pear Pizzazz cardstock.  Once they were cut, I added Soft Suede along the centre to make it appear woody and then added some Granny Apple Green to a few of the needles for added interest.  Glued on top of the stamped twigs, you can still see the stamped image but there is a sense of depth to the image.

Since I absolutely love the Silver Foil-Edged cards and envelopes available in the Holiday Catalogue, I cut the image panel to size, allowing for a narrow matte of Poppy Parade.  A tiny sentiment from the Wishing You Well set (also in the Holiday Catalogue), finishes the card off nicely.

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

I've also entered this creation in the following challenges:

House-Mouse & Friends Monday Challenge #280 - Anything Goes

Mod Squad Challenge - Happy H-Owlidays (Use a Critter)

Cardz 4 Guyz Challenge #208 - Christmas Critters

WWC197 - Kath's Masculine "Anything Goes" Challenge

With Christmas getting closer and closer, I decided that I'd make a Christmas themed masculine card for our challenge this week.  Of course the fact that I found this awesome stamp with the two horses wearing Santa caps made it an easy decision.

Isn't that a lovely image?  The stamp is from Impression Obsession with the image by Melissa Gordon.  After using my watercolour pencils on the images, I used an oval die to cut it out.  I wanted to give the card a real masculine flair and so mounted the oval on a piece of the wonderful Wood Textures Designer Series Paper.  With a base of the Heavy Whisper White, I chose Real Red as a matte to bring out the colour of those Santa hats.

I tried stamping a sentiment on a banner but it just didn't look right and decided to cut out the "Noel" from the retired Christmas Stockings Thinlits dies using some of the Red Glimmer paper.  Cutting them apart allowed me to use them vertically and I think it works beautifully, don't you?

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

I've also entered this creation in the following challenges:

2 Crafty Critter Crazies Challenge #20 - Anything Goes with a Critter

Cardz 4 Guys Challenge #208 - Christmas Critters

The Holly and Ivy Christmas Challenge #41 - Anything Christmas Goes

ATSM #319 - CAS

It's time for another Addicted to Stamps & More Challenge.  This time it's all about CAS (clean & simple).  While it's fun to put together a really detailed and layered card, sometimes it's great to see how much impact you can have by keeping it rather clean and simple.

When I saw the adorable snowmen created by Bonnie Krebs for Art Impressions, I knew I had to have the set.  It's perfect for this challenge, too.  I decided to use the image of the joy-filled snowman, skating along and using Christmas lights as a banner.  I knew he'd be fun to colour and decided that the "Oh What Fun!" sentiment included in the set would be perfect.  With all the wonderful details and the amount of colouring, this worked perfectly as a single layer added to a base.  For that base, I used the brand new Gorgeous Grape colour and love it!  It compliments the same colour which I used for his vest.  

I used a watercolour wash of Balmy Blue for the ice.  Before I added the wash, I sketched a few lines to show blade marks on the ice with my glaze pen and those lines did not take on the colour.  Love that!  

Check out the awesome creations by the rest of the Design Team and link up your card HERE.

I've also entered my card in the following:

Crafty Sentiments Designs - Snowman

Stamping Sensations November Challenge - Get Ready for Christmas

WWC196 - Heidi's "All About Occasions" Challenge

I'm so glad that we're having our "All About Occasions" challenge this week.  It gave me the perfect opportunity to use Gina Marie's wonderful layered stamping set, Tabby Cat.  I thought it would be fun used for an anniversary card.

What I love best about this stamp set is that with each layer stamped, more detail appears in the image until, when one is finished, it looks absolutely realistic.  Isn't that a wonderfully stamped tabby cat?  I love it!  I chose to use a base of Heavy Very Vanilla and then added a layer of Poppy Parade.  On top of that I added a retired piece of the Naturals Ivory cardstock (love those little flecks in it, don't you?)  But first I ran that cardstock through the lovely Basket Weave Dynamic embossing folder.

Then I cut out a heart from a piece of Poppy Parade cardstock, using Sunshine Wishes Thinlits.  The red really showed off the cat well, didn't it?  To anchor my cat, I stamped the sentiment onto a piece of Very Vanilla cardstock and then cut it out using one of my stitched rectangle dies. and then had the cat sitting on it.

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

I've also entered this creation in the following challenges:

Lemon Shortbread Challenge #80 - Anything Goes

Show Us Your Pussycats Challenge #36 - Furrything Goes

WWC195 - Charlotte's Feminine "Anything Goes" Challenge

Oh, I love our Feminine challenges, don't you?  It's such fun to figure out what to make and to try new things.  After all, cards don't have to be frilly or full of flowers to be feminine.  They can be clean and simple, like my card:

First let me say that I am madly in love with the sweet House Mouse images.  I am amazed at the detail in Ellen Jareckie's little mice.  For this card I used the Strawberry Wish stamp which is a 2015 release.  I loved the image so much that I didn't want any clutter to take away from it.  Colouring sweet little "Mudpie" and that lovely strawberry was pure pleasure.  I used my watercolour pencils and AquaPainter.  To finish, I added just a bit of shadow around the bottom using my Smoky Slate ink and AquaPainter.

For my sentiment I wanted something simple but feminine.  The beautiful script in the sentiment from the Happy Little Stampers Dandelion Wishes stamp set was perfect and so I stamped it in black.  I mounted the image onto a narrow black matte and then onto a base of the Heavy Whisper White.  And I love it!

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

I've also entered this creation in the following challenges:

Lemon Shortbread Challenge #80 - Anything Goes

Retro Rubber Challenge #99 - Anything Goes

House Mouse & Friends Monday Challenge #278 - Anything Goes

Crafty Creations Challenge #377 - Anything Goes

ATSM #317 - Make Your Mark

It's time for another Addicted to Stamps & More Challenge.  This time it's all about making your mark.  What does that mean?  We'd love to see any creations for which you use your pens, pencils, watercolours, markers, anything that creates a mark. 


For my card I decided to use my Stampin' Markers as well as my inks and Aqua Painter.  To add a bit of interest, I also used a Glaze pen over some of the design.

I used a fun Penny Black stamp called Cup of Java to make a card for my daughter who, some days, just can't find a coffee cup large enough for the amount of caffeine she needs.  I used my Stampin' Markers for everything but the soft yellow background which is a wash of So Saffron ink, painted on with my Aqua Painter.  I also used a wash of Coastal Cabana inside the cup and at the bottom of the cup.  The flourishes on the cup and the stitched "ribbon" frame were both coloured with my Melon Mambo Stampin' Marker and then made glossy with the Glaze pen.

Check out the awesome creations by the rest of the Design Team and link up your card HERE.