WWC232 - "Anything Goes" Challenge

Hurrah!  July has a 5th Wednesday and so we get to have one of our amazing "Anything Goes" Challenges this week.  I have finally received the Heirloom Frames Dies & 3D Embossing Folders which had been on backorder for a while.  Of course I had to use them and, for this challenge, decided to go all out and open a new package of Designer Series paper as well, the Mosaic Mood Specialty DSP.  The finished result turned out amazingly well, don't you agree?

I began with a base of Heavy Whisper White.  Then I added a narrow layer of Balmy Blue cardstock, a wider layer of Whisper White and then a layer of a very subtle pattern from the Woven Threads Designer Series paper.  In order to get a very sharp impression on the Balmy Blue oval, I sprayed the piece with water, getting it quite wet, before putting it through the Big Shot.  Once it dried, the pattern turned out sharp and crisp, almost like a carving.  I love the results.

After using Dimensionals to lift up the oval on the card, I added two more ovals, centered on the embossed oval, one stitched oval in Whisper White and the other a plain oval in the same paper as the Woven Threads DSP.

After choosing which humming bird I would fussy-cut from the gorgeous Mosaic Mood Specialty DSP, I quickly got that done and mounted him onto the card with Dimensionals as well.  For my flower I thought the pretty Altenew Dotted Blooms images were perfect and, after stamping one using the Terracotta Tile ink, cut that out and then finished colouring it using my Grapefruit Grove Stampin' Marker.  I love the colours that I created, mixing the stamped ink and the ink from the marker, don't you?  With a Gold Faceted Gem in the centre, the flower was complete and ready to be added with Dimensionals.

I decided to stamp the sentiment on a scrap of Whisper White using the Balmy Blue ink.  The "Thank You" is nice and large and I love the script from the versatile Love What You Do stamp set.  After quickly cutting that out, I added it to the card, also on Dimensionals.  What do you think?  It turned out great, didn't it?

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

And then I decided to play with the Magnolia Lane Memories & More Project Pack.  There are several sheets of printed vellum in the pack, one of which had the perfect sized Magnolia printed on it.  Of course my curiosity was piqued and I had to see how that might work with this card.  The only problem was, well, vellum!  I love the stuff but it does change the look of things when one can see through the flower.  Well, they say that a lot of things can be resolved during one's sleep.  It sure worked in this case.  I woke up with a complete resolution in line.  First I cut out the vellum Magnolia image which most appealed to me.  Then I covered the back of the vellum piece COMPLETELY with VersaMark.  Once that was done, I covered the VersaMark with White Embossing Powder, heated it up to melt it, and the result was absolutely perfect.

After using the Mango Melody and Terracotta Tile inks to colour the front of the image and adding a Gold Faceted Gem to the centre, I changed out the flower on the card and love the results.  Either flower works perfectly, but I'm glad I tried the vellum as well.

I've entered my card into the following challenges:

Lemon Shortbread Challenge #99 - Anything Goes

Dragonfly Dreams Challenge - Things With Wings

Crafting By Design - August Anything Goes

Creative Moments Challenge #173 - Anything Goes

WWC231 - Tristan's "All About Occasions" Challenge

Consider this my contribution to Christmas in July.  I just received this stamp set and am dying to use it.  I love the four-step camel in this lovely Gina Marie set, don't you?  It seems so real, it's almost like a sepia photograph.  And the sentiment?  Perfect!

I began with a base of Heavy Very Vanilla followed by a layer of Early Espresso.  I stamped the camel on a piece of Sahara Sand, layering first some Sahara Sand ink, then some Crumb Cake ink, next some Grey Granite ink and finally some Soft Suede ink.  The finished image turned out even better than I had hoped.

Since I wanted to stamp the town of Bethlehem behind the camel, I stamped another single image of the camel onto a piece of copy paper, fussy cut it out and used it to mask the completed camel image and thus protect it.  The stamp of Bethlehem is Stampin' Up's Night In Bethlehem, stamped using Early Espresso ink while the star is from the retired Star of Light set, heat embossed using Gold Embossing Powder.

For the sentiment I cut a piece of Sahara Sand and stamped it using Early Espresso.  After adding a matte of Early Espresso, I added it to the left of the card.

I love the way it turned out, don't you?

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:

The Holly and Ivy Christmas Challenge #52 - Anything Christmas

Cute N Crafty Challenge #29 - Christmas in July

Crimbo Crackers Challenge #189 - Anything Christmas Goes

Crafting by Designs - Get Ready for Christmas

Addicted to Stamps & More #351 - Anything Goes

WWC230 - Kath's Masculine "Anything Goes" Challenge

I've been waiting for another Masculine Challenge!  This week Kath is our host and I'm so happy to be using the Country Road stamp set which I just bought.  Yes, it came out with last year's catalogue, but I'm finally convinced that I need it to round out my more masculine stamps.  I kept all my colours very neutral to give the card a more vintage look.

All the images are from the Country Road set except for the background panel which has been stamped with one of my favourite background stamps, the Crackle Paint set.  The faint, tiny "bubbles" behind the weather vane and twigs are from the Artisan Textures set.

I began with a base of Gray Granite cardstock, followed by a layer of Basic Black and then another layer of Gray Granite, this time stamped with the Crackle Paint image using Gray Granite ink.  Then I added a smaller rectangle of Basic Black, another of Basic Gray and then the Whisper White onto which I heat embossed the weather vane in Black embossing powder, followed by stamping the twigs in Gray Granite ink.  Finally I stamped the "bubbles" in once-off-stamped Gray Granite.

I stamped the star in Gray Granite ink onto a piece of the retired Galvanized Metal Foil and then fussy cut that out.  I stamped the wagon wheel onto a piece of Whisper White using Gray Granite ink and then fussy cut that out.  Assembly was easy and then, finally, I stamped the "Happy Birthday" onto a piece of Whisper White with black Memento ink, cut it out using my stitched rectangle die and cut a matte of Basic Black to put behind it.

I love the way it turned out, don't you?

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:

Get Creative Challenge #82 - Anything Goes with optional twist Monochromatic

Use Your Stuff Challenge #367 - Masculine

Sisterhood of Crafters - Birthday

WWC229 - Helen's "All About Occasions" Challenge

It's my sister's birthday this coming weekend and so I can fulfil this challenge as well as get a fun card designed just for her.  Doe has gone through some really difficult times over the past four years, with a major operation each year.  I thought something lighthearted would be perfect under the circumstances.  She loves flowers so definitely, the Pressed Petals Specialty Designer paper is perfect for that.  And I'm adding a bit of whimsy with the sweet images from the New Wonders stamp set.

Aren't the images darling?  I fussy cut each out.  The lower one is positioned precisely to make it appear that a layer of paper is being peeled back to expose that gorgeous Designer Paper.  I used the Stitched Nested Labels dies to cut into the cardstock and am pleased that it worked out so well.  The little magical dots and stars are thanks to a retired set, the Fairy Celebration, and work perfectly here.  They're stamped using Rococo Rose ink as is the sentiment.

I used my Stampin' Blends to colour the little fairies.  As you can see from this close-up, I've even added some Rococo Rose to the nib of the pen to make it appear it was dipped in ink.  I'm so happy the Gingham Gala self-adhesive sequins carried over since they are the perfect embellishments for my card.

I tried to use the same colours that appear in the Designer Paper on the fairies.  I think it worked out quite well.  You can see how nicely the fussy cut image joins to the die-cut opening in this photo.  I know the sweet images and colours in this card will bring a smile to my sister's face.

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:

Creative Moments Challenge #172 - Anything Goes

Crafting From the Heart Challenge #247 - Anything Goes

Just Us Girls Challenge #495 - Word Week (Smile)

Dragonfly Dreams Challenges - Things With Wings

Sisterhood of Crafters Challenge - Birthday Month (congratulations Debbie)

Paper Craft Crew Challenge (PPC343) - Designer's Choice

WWC228 - Marsha's Feminine "Anything Goes" Challenge

Oh I love our fabulous Feminine "Anything Goes" Challenges.  What fun to be able to create anything as long as I give it a feminine twist.  And what could be a better patterned paper to reach for than that gorgeous Pressed Petals Specialty Designer Series paper?  The images are photographs and simply "pop" off the page!

Look at that wreath of flowers.  Doesn't it look as if I've added real pressed flowers to my card?  Well, I haven't.  The patterns on this paper are all so incredibly realistic that they seem to be 3-D.  The butterflies?  Now those are 3-D since I cut them from Soft Suede using the gorgeous Butterfly Beauty Thinlits dies which carried over and are now in the Annual Catalogue.  The Soft Suede compliments the patterns I've cut from the retired Sale-a-bration paper, doesn't it?  I lifted the lower right butterfly up on a foam Dimensional while the upper left butterfly is simply glued down along the centre of its body.

I've used the sentiment on the front of the card and inside the card from the Beauty Abounds stamp set (also carried over into the Annual Catalogue).  It's hard to tell, but it's stamped using the Mossy Meadow ink.  The two layers of cardstock on top of the Heavy Whisper White are actually Rococo Rose and Mossy Meadow.

Those pretty butterflies and the "bokeh" circles inside the card are also from the Beauty Abounds stamp set.  I used the Merry Merlot and Rococo Rose inks to continue with the colours in the patterned paper.  The sentiment is, again, stamped using Mossy Meadow ink.

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:

Artistic Inspirations Challenge #216 - Anything Goes

Tuesday Throwdown Challenge #435 - Anything Goes

Lemon Shortbread Challenge #97 - Anything Goes