WWC227 - Michelle's "All About Occasions" Challenge

Winner

Design Team's Choice at the Creative Moments Challenge

Oh, I love these "All About Occasions" Challenges, don't you?  Michelle is our host this week and I am itching to create another card using those gorgeous birds from the Free As A Bird set.

I got my inspiration for the colouring from this fun bird sculpture beside the card.  The bonus is that the birds on the card appear to be looking over at him, playing his cello.  For this card I used the long image stamp with the four birds and only stamped three of them on the branch near the top left of the card and then stamped the remaining one on the branch near the bottom right of the card.  

I used my ink pads and Aqua Painter to colour in the images.  Then I ran the piece through the Big Shot using the Subtles Dynamic Embossing Folder to give it a Linen look.  I love the results, don't you?  Once I attached it to a base of Balmy Blue and added three tiny Artisan Pearls from the retired Share What You Love embellishments, my card was finished.

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

I've entered my card into the following challenges:

Addicted to Stamps and More Challenge #347 - Make Your Mark

Inkspirational Challenges #189 - Garden

Artistic Inspiration Challenge #216 - Anything Goes

Creative Moments Challenge #171 - Anything Goes

Simon Says Wednesday Challenge Blog - Anything Goes

WWC226 - Dawn's Masculine "Anything Goes" Challenge

Wonderful timing!  I needed a Father's Day card and we're having a masculine challenge.  What could be better?  I had such fun mixing the Let It Ride and A Good Man stamp sets.  They compliment each other so well, don't they?  Then I threw in some die-cut rope from the Smooth Sailing dies and a sentiment from an old, retired Project Life set, and the card just about made itself.

I used a base of Crumb Cake followed by a layer of the retired (but still loved) Wood Textures Designer Series paper.  I cut the Whisper White piece with the images smaller than usual so that I would have room to attach the die-cut rope.  I stamped the horses and trees from the Let it Ride set rather high on the paper to allow enough distance to make the sizing between the father and son and the horses more believable.   Then, for some grassy and ground texture, I used the water image from the High Tide stamp set, stamping it with Crumb Cake ink.  I think it worked well, don't you?

With a bit of watercolouring and the use of several colours of my Stampin' Blends, I brought the scene to life.  And if you're wondering, yes, I did stamp the father and son separately and then fussy cut them out.

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

I've entered my card into the following challenges:

Try It On Tuesday Challenge - It's A Man's World

Unicorn Challenge #44 - For the Men/Boys

Tales From the Craft Room Challenge #5 - Let's Hear it for the Boys

Addicted to Stamps and More #346 - Anything Goes

Crafty Creations Challenge #392 - Anything Goes

WWC225 - Donna's "All About Occasions" Challenge

I had fun making not just one, but three cards, for Donna's "All About Occasions" Challenge.  Why, you ask?  Well, I chose not to buy the Good Morning Magnolia bundle because I already have a lot of floral stamps.  Instead, I bought the Magnolia Lane Memories & More Card Pack.  It has gorgeous images as well as several beautiful pieces of stamped vellum.  And, oh, what wonderful cards can be made from this pack!

Aren't they lovely?  Both the top and bottom left cards are the conventional 4 1/4" x 5 1/2" size.  The one on the right is actually oversized, measuring 6 1/4" x 4 1/4".  The reason for that is the special Magnolia Lane Memories & More Large Specialty Cards and Envelopes.  You can't see the pretty white foil accent lines on the folded card because I've used a full sized Memories & More card on it (6" x 4").  I love the way it looks as the base, however, because the Kraft colour really compliments the colours in the pieces I've used.

For the card on the top left, I've also used a 6" x 4" Memories & More card but trimmed down to 5 1/4" x 4".  That way it fit beautifully on the Mossy Meadow base, leaving an edge of the pretty, deep green.  In this case the Memories & More card was simply outlined, as if it had just been stamped.  So I took my Petal Pink, Mossy Meadow, Crushed Curry, and Sahara Sand stamp pads and proceeded to add colour with my AquaPainter.   I love the way it turned out.  The centre has a rectangle of Mossy Meadow and a sentiment cut from a smaller Memories & More card using one of the Stitched Nested Label dies.  Three Petal Pink self-adhesive sequins and a sticker complete the card.

The card on the bottom left has a Heavy Whisper White base.  I decided to use one of the smaller Memories & More cards for this one.  After embossing the image using the Subtle 3-D embossing folder to give it a "linen" effect, I used a narrow matte of Early Espresso and a wider matte of Petal Pink.  I set the matted image off to the side for effect.  I also used one of the pre-stamped sentiments in the pack, with a narrow matte of Whisper White and a wider matte of Early Espresso.

All three cards were fun to create and, if you're not sure you want the entire suite or even the stamp/die bundle, this is a great way to enjoy the images at a much lower cost.

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

I've entered my card into the following challenges:

Lemon Shortbread Challenge #95 - Anything Goes

Crafting From the Heart Challenge #245 - Anything Goes

Make My Monday Challenge #98 - Lots of Flowers

Crafty Creations Challenges #392 - Anything Goes

Creative Moments Challenge #170 - Anything Goes

WWC224 - Karen's Feminine "Anything Goes" Challenge

We're having an "anything goes" challenge with a feminine twist, hosted by Karen, at the Watercooler and I'm absolutely thrilled about it.   Why?  Well I just received an order from Altenew and anyone who knows that company, knows they make some awesome floral stamps.  And floral is perfect for a pretty, feminine card.

This pretty Dotted Blooms set comes with matching dies but for my card I decided I just wanted to do my stamping on the one piece of Mixed Media paper.  I love the lines of this image and wanted to try the "no-line" colouring for the blossoms.  I think they turned out rather nicely, don't you?  You can just see the crystal Nuvo drops on the petals, resembling the morning dew.

I added some blue around the image and then stencilled in a faint brick background.  I really didn't want to add much since I wanted the branch and blossoms to take centre stage.

I used the Heavy Whisper White as my base and then added a layer of Poppy Parade, lifted up with Foam Adhesive Strips.  Then I added a partial layer of Soft Suede for interest.  The sentiment is one of my favourites, from the Stampin' Up! Colorful Seasons stamp set.  I'm so glad that set carried over into the new catalogue.

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

I've entered my card into the following challenges:

Lemon Shortbread Challenge #95 - Anything Goes

Crafting From the Heart Challenge #244 - Anything Goes

Double D Challenges:  Rose Garden

Crafty Creations Challenges #391:  Anything Goes