WWC299 - Heidi's Challenge: All About Occasions

 I am so very excited!  A few weeks back, for Challenge WWC294, my card was the winner of Sue's hostess prize over at the House-Mouse and Friends Challenge.  That's exciting in itself, but the prize was a gorgeous House-Mouse rubber stamp of a Hallowe'en scene.   I have a lot of House-Mouse stamps, but this stamp would be my very first for Hallowe'en.  So please forgive the sudden upset in seasons, but I have decided to use that wonderful stamp for this challenge.  It is the challenge I'm hosting, after all.

 Aren't the little characters in this scene absolutely adorable?  I love the various costumes and all the wonderful detail which Ellen Jareckie has added to her creation.  She's a terrific artist and brings these images to life.  I'm just excited that I can work with them and try to do justice to her magic.

I began with a base of Heavy Whisper White.  With all the colours I've used, I had to think about what I would use for the matte and, in the end, decided on two colours which are in the scene and which also suggest Hallowe'en to me:  Gorgeous Grape and Pear Pizzazz.  For the colouring of this very detailed image, I used a combination of Stampin' Blends and my Koh-i-Noor and Derwent wax-based pencils.  The pencils are fun to use along with the Gamsol to blend and "melt" the wax.  I love the finished product and the nice, bright colours which resulted, don't you?

I'm so grateful that Sue Drees picked my card and sent me this wonderful stamp.

Have fun checking out our Watercooler Wednesday Challenge and I hope you'll link your creation before the deadline on Monday, November 30th.

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

HMFMC #329 - Anything Goes

Lemon Shortbread Challenge #133 - Anything Goes

Simon Says Wednesday Challenge 79 - Anything Goes

Two Old Bats Halloween Challenge - November Anything Halloween

WWC298 - Kath's Challenge: Anything Goes With a Masculine Twist

With the idea of gratitude in mind for the USA Thanksgiving, I decided to use an adorable Fall set featuring Ellen Jareckie's wonderful little House-Mouse images.  I hope you love them as much as I do.

I began this card several weeks ago and put it aside.  I had done a lot of masking and didn't like the cluttered results.  This week I took it up again and used the Stitched Nested Label dies to cut out the portion which most appealed to me.  After that it was easy.  I found some retired Designer Paper which suited the image very nicely as well as supporting the colours I had used for watercolouring.  Big win there!

My base is the Heavy Whisper White to which I added a matte of Merry Merlot before adding the Designer Paper.  Then I took the cut out image, added a matte of Merry Merlot to it by using the next size up of the Stitched Nested Label dies, and attached that to the card.  For the sentiment I turned to the lovely Country Home stamp set.  I think it's perfect for the time of year and also for the card, don't you?

It's so hard to see some details in photos.  In this close-up you can just tell that some of the twigs on the Designer Paper are metallic.  That really adds a nice touch of elegance.  To make the nut portion of the acorn show up against the rougher "cap", I added a layer of the Shimmery Crystal Effects, which really looks awesome in real life.  I think you can tell by the highlights in the photos just how shiny the results are.  I love the way the colours work together and the way those adorable images seem so animated, don't you?
 

Have fun checking out our Watercooler Wednesday Challenge and I hope you'll link your creation before the deadline on Monday, November 23rd.

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

Dare 2 B Artzy November Challenge - Thankful

HMFMC #328 - Anything Goes OR Option Theme Use a Die or Punch

Lemon Shortbread Challenge #133 - Anything Goes

WWC297 - Helen's Challenge: All About Occasions

 Oh those Gnomes!  They're everywhere this year.  But I love them and was thrilled to get this stamp set by Stampendous with  the little birthday Gnomes.  Who wouldn't love a card like that?

I decided to keep this card clean and simple.  I began with a base of Whisper White, added a thin matte of Bermuda Bay cardstock and then added my piece with the stamped image and sentiment.  

I used a piece of Mixed Media paper for my image and sentiments.  Once I had stamped that little Gnome, colouring him was a real pleasure.  The image is very simply drawn, but it's easy to add some dimension by shading the colours.  For that I did watercolouring with my Derwent watercolour pencils.  I just love how much control there is and how easy it is to mix colours as well.  To ground my little character, I added some ground and then just topped it off with a bit of happy background.  

For a bit of birthday sparkle, I used my Nuvo Aqua Shimmer pen to add some lovely sparkle and shimmer to that balloon.  You can really see it in this close-up.  And that's it.  Just clean and simple.  I think it's a perfect birthday card and should give someone a great big smile, don't you?

Have fun checking out our Watercooler Wednesday Challenge and I hope you'll link your creation before the deadline on Monday, November 16th.

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

Lemon Shortbread Challenge #132 - Anything Goes

Seize the Birthday Challenge #203 - Anything Goes

WWC296 - Michelle's Challenge: Anything Goes With a Feminine Twist

I bought the loveliest stamp and die set from a company in Australia, the Paper Rose Studio.  It's a pretty set called the Daisy Bouquet.  I absolutely fell in love with it as soon as I saw it.

I began with a base of the Heavy Whisper White.  Then I cut a piece of Flirty Flamingo using one of my rectangle stitched dies for the matte.  I cut another piece to fit that matte, using Whisper White cardstock and then used one of my fancy scalloped stitched edge dies to cut the right side.  After that, I played around splattering some of the Broken China Distress Oxide ink over it to make a pretty background for the daisies.

I stamped the daisies onto a piece of Mixed Media paper and then used the matching die to cut it out.  Using my Aqua Painter and the Flirty Flamingo ink, I watercoloured the petals, shading them with additional layers to give them form.  For the stems and leaves, I watercoloured with the Mint Macaron.  Finally, for the centres, I watercoloured them with several layers of Pineapple Punch and then, when dry, added some Nuvo Glitter Gloss.

The finishing touch for the card was heat embossing the simple sentiment in White Embossing Powder.  I love the results, don't you?

Have fun checking out our Watercooler Wednesday Challenge and I hope you'll link your creation before the deadline on Monday, November 9th.

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

Lemon Shortbread Challenge #132 - Anything Goes

Dream Valley Challenges #236 - Dies and/or Punches