Cardz 4 Guyz #248 - Red, White and Blue

The new challenge for the next two weeks at Cardz 4 Guyz is #248 - Red, White and Blue, chosen by Pamela with the winners picked by Pamela.  The design can be related to the July 4th USA Independence Day or non-related.

Please check out the blog for details and also to see the awesome samples by the Design Team.

I kept this card simple, using the Heavy Whisper White as my base and then adding a layer of Real Red cardstock and Whisper White cardstock.  I used a fun die to cut out the combination image/sentiment from a piece of Pacific Point cardstock.  

This could easily be for someone's birthday, whether he was born on the 4th of July or not.  It's fun and very striking.

I hope you enjoy this card as much as I enjoyed making it.  Have fun with our challenge.

WWC277 - Tristan's Challenge: All About Occasions

Oh, I love our "Occasions" challenges.  It's the perfect opportunity to use another one of the wonderful House Mouse images which I've accumulated over the past year.  This one is all about birthdays!

I love this image!  I didn't have to go looking for a sentiment since those adorable little mice are busy painting "Happy Birthday".

I used a base of Heavy Whisper White and then added two mattes, one of Night of Navy and the other of Balmy Blue.  The image is stamped on a piece of Mixed Media paper and all the colouring, except for the silver of the metal near the brush head, is done with my Derwent Watercolour pencils and an Aqua Painter or the inks from several of my ink pads (and, of course, the Aqua Painter).

At this angle you can more easily see the shine of the "Happy Birthday" letters.  I achieved that by stamping the words in Balmy Blue and then covering the ink with clear embossing powder so that I could heat emboss them.  The brush heads, too, are shiny because I added Shimmery Crystal Effects to them after colouring them with the Balmy Blue.  You can also see the shine of the silver on the brushes, which I achieved by using my UniBall silver pen.  Finally, since the Mixed Media paper is towards a creamy shade, I coloured the inside of the paint box with one of my white "snow" pens.

I love the way the card turned out and hope you do, too.  Have fun checking out our Watercooler Wednesday Challenge and I hope you'll link your creation before the deadline on Monday, June 29th.

I've also entered my card in the following challenges:

House-Mouse & Friends Monday Challenge #319 - Anything Goes or Celebrate

Lemon Shortbread Challenge #122 - Anything Goes

Simon Says Challenge - Anything Goes

WWC276 - Marsha's Challenge: Anything Goes With a Masculine Twist

I bought this Gina Marie stamp set last year and am finally getting around to using it.  The images are simple and the sentiments are fun, especially if you happen to have someone in your life that is forever curious about all things science.

I used the Basic Gray as my base cardstock and added a matte of Whisper White which I first embossed using a retired embossing folder.

I stamped each of the three images on Whisper White using black Versafine ink and then cut them out with my stitched square die.  I mounted the stitched squares on a strip of Basic Black and then cut around the squares, allowing a nice, skinny matte to show.  Then I coloured them using my Stampin' Markers, keeping to simple colours.

For the sentiments, I heat embossed two separate ones on Basic Black cardstock using White embossing powder.  After using an old punch to cut the sentiments out, I added them to the card propped up on foam dimensionals.

I love the way the card turned out and hope you do, too.  Have fun checking out our Watercooler Wednesday Challenge and I hope you'll link your creation before the deadline on Monday, June 22nd.

I've also entered my card in the following challenges:

Lemon Shortbread Challenge #122 - Anything Goes

Tuesday Throwdown #459 -  Special Guy

Crafty Cardmakers #259 - Masculine

Crafty Creations June Challenge #410 - Anything Goes

It's a Shaker card for Challenge #247 at Cardz 4 Guyz

The new challenge for the next two weeks at Cardz 4 Guyz is #247 - Shaker, chosen by Mary Ellen with the winners picked by Mary Ellen.

Please check out the blog for details and also to see the awesome samples by the Design Team.

I love the Tim Holtz embossing folder which I used for the background of this shaker card, don't you?  It works so well with the varied die-cut gears from Stampin' Up!'s Geared Up Garage bundle.  I also used the sentiment from this bundle since it carried on the "gear" theme.  For the shaker, I simply used one of my jar dies to cut the shape into the embossed piece of Smoky Slate cardstock.  

My base is also the Smoky Slate cardstock with the matte a Basic Black.

I hope you enjoy this card as much as I enjoyed creating it.  Have fun with our challenge.

WWC275 - Karen's Challenge: All About Occasions

As a rule I don't make Sympathy cards ahead.  I know some people like to have almost every occasion on hand and, generally, I do that as well.  I just don't make Sympathy cards ahead because I prefer not to think someone I know will pass away.  Just a little mental block.

Unfortunately not making a card ahead doesn't stop people from passing away, either.  I'm glad that I had this stunning stamp on hand.  It's by Stampendous and is probably the most moving stamp of its type that I have seen.  From the delicate foliage and blossoms to the beautifully written sentiment, this stamp took some of the sting out of the reason for the card's creation.

For the foliage, I first coloured the images with various greens and the purple and then used my stamping platform to stamp it on Mixed Media paper.  After that, I covered the image with Versamark and stamped it again, over the colours.  Taking the paper from the platform, I heat embossed the image using clear embossing powder.

With the stamping platform it's an easy matter to get the paper in precisely the same spot.  This was necessary because the actual rubber stamp is in one piece: both image and sentiment are combined.  I first stamped the sentiment using Smoky Slate ink and then covered the sentiment with Versamark and stamped it once more.  Taking the paper from the platform, I heat embossed the sentiment using silver embossing powder.

You can see in this image for which I used a flash, the sparkle of the clear embossing powder where it stands out against the watercolouring.  The silver, too, shows up   better with the flash.  I used a base of Heavy Whisper White and then added a matte of Gorgeous Grape.  The Mixed Media paper was roughed up along the perimeter with my distressing tool.

I love the way the card turned out and hope you do, too.  Have fun checking out our Watercooler Wednesday Challenge and I hope you'll link your creation before the deadline on Monday, June 15th.

I've also entered my card in the following challenges:

Lemon Shortbread Challenge #121 - Anything Goes

Simon Says Wednesday Challenge - Something Metallic

The Crafter's Cafe Challenge Blog #244 - June 1st, Anything Goes

WWC274 - Dawn's Challenge: Anything Goes With a Feminine Twist

As you know, I have an obsession with those adorable little House-Mouse images by Ellen Jareckie.  This little image simply delighted me when I saw it.  Being a bit (a lot) of a choco-holic, I couldn't pass up creating a card with a mouse totally covered in chocolate sauce.

I've kept the design rather CAS.  My base is the Heavy Whisper White and then I've added a matte of Gorgeous Grape.  I stamped the image and sentiment onto a piece of Mixed Media paper using the Versafine black ink so that it wouldn't smear when I watercoloured.

I had so much fun colouring the images, but you know how much I love these little House Mice.  I used my Derwent Watercolour pencils and, of course, my Aqua Painter brush to turn the pencilled colour into gorgeous watercolour.   Once that was totally dry, I put some Crystal Effects onto a pallette and mixed in a bit of water to make it easier to brush on.  Using a very small brush, I covered the chocolate on the Mouse, on the floor, and dripping down the jar with the Crystal Effects mix.  Once it dried, it looked so much like real chocolate that I wanted to lick it.  Thank goodness for self restraint.

The sentiment isn't by Stampendous like the House Mouse image.  Actually, I hunted around to find "the perfect sentiment".  You know how hard that can be.  But finally, in a rather old set which I haven't used for years, I found it.  By Hero Arts, it's called "Friends" and came out in 2010.   Old, but perfect.

Have fun checking out our Watercooler Wednesday Challenge and I hope you'll link your creation before the deadline on Monday, June 8th.

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

HMFMC #317 - Anything Goes with an Option of Gingham or Plaid

CAS on Friday Challenge #181 - Animals

Lemon Shortbread Challenge #141 - Anything Goes

It's Father's Day for Challenge #246 at Cardz 4 Guyz

The new challenge for the next two weeks at Cardz 4 Guyz is #246 - Father's Day, chosen by Caz with the winners picked by Caz.

Please check out the blog for details and also to see the awesome samples by the Design Team.

This image is by Art Impressions and is the perfect card for my husband.  After stamping the image, I used my Derwent Watercolour pencils to colour it and then my Aqua Painter brush to "magically" turn it into a watercolour.  The sentiments are from random sets.

I decided to use two different colours for the background mattes.  Before using them, I dry embossed them with two different embossing folders.  I love the way the Granny Apple Green and the Pineapple Punch look against the base of Soft Suede, don't you?

I hope you enjoy this card as much as I enjoyed creating it.  Have fun with our challenge.