WWC236 - Heidi's "All About Occasions" Challenge

Guess what!  I'm hosting the challenge over at the Watercooler Wednesday Challenge this week.  And I decided to make a Christmas card using the stunning new Feels Like Frost Specialty Designer Series paper combined with the even more stunning new cardinal from the Toile Christmas stamp set.

I love the realism of the Designer paper, don't you?  It comes in a package of 6"x6" pieces with one side showing a gorgeous photographic image and the other side, a pattern in white with silver foil.  No matter which side you use, it's a win/win situation.  Of course, for this card I used the photographic image.  I though the icy branches and the bokeh effect would be a perfect backdrop for my wonderful Cardinal.  He really does show up wonderfully against those neutrals, doesn't he?

My base for this card is the very subtle Purple Posy since the background has some of that colour in it.  Then I added a matte of Basic Black and, of course the gorgeous DSP.  For my Cardinal, I looked up images on the Internet to get a good idea of colouring.  With my Koh-I-Noor coloured pencils and Gamsol, I layered the colours until it looked nearly life-like.  Then I used the matching die to cut him out.  First I thought I'd simple have him stand on a branch and then I changed my mind and used the banner in the stamp set, stamped on Highland Heather cardstock and cut with the matching die.  I thought that he looked great standing on that.  For a bit of added "bling", I die-cut a "swirly" piece of silver foil to go at the bottom of the banner.

In this close-up you can see the glittery ice-like Shimmery Crystal Effects which I added to several of the branches.  I love the way it sparkles subtly and gives the illusion of real ice.

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 #55 - Anything Christmas Goes

Cute N' Crafty Christmas Challenge #17 - Anything Goes

Addicted to Stamps & More #356 - Anything Goes

WWC235 - Marsha's Masculine "Anything Goes" Challenge

Oh I love a masculine challenge, don't you?  Since it's an "Anything Goes" twist, I've chosen to use a Deep Red Stamp Company image.  Doesn't that grizzly bear look realistic?

I kept all my colours neutral, beginning with a Crumb Cake base, adding a layer of Basic Black and then adding the image portion which was stamped on Sahara Sand cardstock.  I used the Waterfront stamp set for the trees and the rock formation in front.  The clouds and the reflections are all just hand drawn with my coloured pencils.  After I finshed, I ran it through my Big Shot, using the Subtle embossing folder for texture and interest.

The bear image was fussy cut and added.  After that I used the Catch of the Day dies to cut out the reeds and grass from a piece of Basic Black cardstock.  The sentiment is just perfect, especially if this winds up being a birthday card.

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:

SheepSki Designs Challenges #29 - Animal Madness

WWC234 - Dawn's "All About Occasions" Challenge

I love our "All About Occasions" challenges.  This week Dawn is our host and I've decided to create a Christmas card since I don't want to get into a frantic state when it's time to write my cards, only to discover I haven't enough for everyone on my list.  (Isn't this year just speeding along?)

I fell in love with the sweet images from the Wildly Happy stamp set.  And while I love all the animal images, the fox is closest to my heart.  And so I began by stamping the foxes onto a piece of Heavy Whisper White cardstock, using my Memento ink.  While I was colouring the images with my Stampin' Blends, I was also considering what I would do with them.  Would I cut them out?  Would I create a dark background and add some falling snow?  I don't always have a definite plan in mind but go where my thoughts lead me.

Well, once the images were coloured to my satisfaction, I decided to colour the complete background black, carefully skirting the images without taking away any details.  I had a piece of the wonderful, retired Wood Textures DSP on my table and that inspired me to use it as my background.  As you can see, it's the pile of firewood.  I carefully cut out several of the pieces of firewood, leaving a "cave" or den for my little fox family.  As it happened, the black background I had given them worked out beautifully.  I also took some of the Designer Paper scraps and created a second layer of them, making the foxes appear further inside.

Then I cut two pieces of Shimmery White cardstock to make it appear like snowdrifts at the bottom of the wood piles.  I used the Puffy Snow to outline the drifts and also to "cap" a lot of the pieces of firewood.  After using my heat tool to dry and puff up the snow, I added a shadow of Seaside Spray along the snowdrift using my AquaPainter.  Then I stamped a retired sentiment, Silent Night, onto a piece of Whisper White using Seaside Spray ink and added that to the upper right logs.

I used a base of Heavy Whisper White for this card and absolutely love the results, 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 #54 - Anything Christmas Goes

Crimbo Crackers Challenge #190 - Anything Christmas Goes

WWC233 - Karen's Feminine "Anything Goes" Challenge

Oh my goodness, we're having a Feminine challenge this week and I've decided to finally introduce ink to my Beautiful Day stamp set.  Am I ever lucky that it hasn't retired since I bought it!  Strange how one can buy something and then keep passing it by instead of using it.  Has that ever happened to you?

I've used a base of Heavy Very Vanilla.  I had thought to use the Heavy Whisper White but the Watercolour Paper onto which I stamped the butterfly image had too much cream in it.  The Very Vanilla compliments it far better.  There was quite a "journey" for this butterfly image.  First, after cutting my piece of Watercolour Paper, I heat embossed a generic piece of music onto it using my Clear embossing powder.  I didn't want it to appear on the paper except where the watercolours were repelled by the embossing.

After having heat embossed the music, I stamped the butterfly image from the Beautiful Day set using my black StazOn.  I don't often use the StazOn because of the smell, but for this image, I wanted the black to stay on the heat embossed notes rather than be repelled by them.  After that dried, I spritzed the paper with water.  Then I took my four new In-Color re-inkers and, one by one put a drop of ink onto the wings, helped it spread with my AquaPainter, and, by the fourth colour, had my finished image.  Beginning at the top of the right wing and moving clockwise, I used the following inks:  Pretty Peacock, Seaside Spray, Terracotta Tile, and Rococo Rose.

I used a matte of Basic Black and then attached it askew onto the base using my Foam Adhesive Strips.  Finally, I stamped the sentiment in black ink and the card was done.  I love the watercolour effect and the whimsy of the musical notes, 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 CAS Watercolour Card Challenge - August 2019 Butterflies

Seize the Birthday Challenge #171 - Anything Goes with optional twist of flowers

MOO-MANIA #197 - Butterflies