WWC215 - Donna's Feminine "Anything Goes" Challenge

I have a confession to make.  I don't always plan ahead.  Lots of times I decide I want to use an image or two or more and I go ahead and stamp them and/or fussy-cut them  and colour them.  And I put them aside.  A week or more may go by while I'm allowing my subconscious to "incubate" ideas.  For me this system works.  Suddenly I'll know what I want to do and it's full steam ahead.  That's what happened while I was creating this card.

I love the sweet images from the Fairy Celebration set.  I've used them in many ways before but I keep coming up with new ideas.  For me, this has definitely been a worthwhile purchase.  Being a glutton for punishment, I stamped the sweet little fairy on a scrap of Whisper White by inking the stamp with my Basic Black Stampin' Marker.  That gave me a chance to eliminate the flower which the fairy is actually holding as well as the other flowers in the image.  I had a different idea in mind.  Since it's the beginning of Spring and I'm just dying to see some daffodils, I wanted her to be holding one.  There was a perfect image in the You're Inspiring stamp set.  Of course that daffodil was one of two on the stamp and so, again, I inked only the one which I wanted.

As if that wasn't enough work, I decided to fussy-cut the images as well.  Have you noticed the detail, especially with the grasses and those little arms and legs?  Besides my little "snips", I had to use my special kraft knife and mat.  But I had an end goal and that was that.  To tell the truth, the hardest part of all was cutting those tiny hands and fingers so that they could curl around the stem of the daffodil.

My base is the Heavy Whisper White.  Then comes a matte of Mossy Meadow.  The next couple of layers actually have ovals cut into them and then the splattered layer was attached under those layers with the base of the fussy-cut Fairy image between.

I decided that I needed a little something to balance the die-cut and stamped sentiment at the right bottom and so I fussy-cut one of the butterflies from the Sale-a-bration Botanical Butterfly DSP.  I think it worked out just right.  It echoes the colours in the fairy and the Floral Romance Specialty DSP.

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:

Classic DT Open Challenge #4 - 3rd Birthday Anything Goes

Lemon Shortbread Challenge #90 - Anything Goes

The Creative Crafters Challenge #14 - Anything Goes

WWC211 - Kath's Feminine "Anything Goes" Challenge

This week's Watercooler Wednesday challenge is an "Anything Goes" with a feminine twist.  Fun?  Of course it is, especially with that gorgeous Botanical Butterfly Designer Series Paper which I got through my Sale-a-bration credits.  Oh...and there is a huge surprise inside.

My base is Basic Black and then I've simply added a layer of the Botanical Butterfly DSP.  The paper I've used is so elegant with its black and white design, isn't it?  I love those butterflies!  Beside using one piece for the front of my card, I also fussy cut one butterfly from a small leftover piece.  The way I've designed the card, I also had the opportunity to finally use the dies from the Celebrate You thinlits.

What looks like a narrow panel with a butterfly and die-cut "YOU" is actually a belly-band, holding the card together.  I've posted a close up of the butterfly because it is actually covered on both sides with a layer of clear Nuvo crystal drops.  The result is a butterfly that appears to be plastic rather than paper.  The awesome part is that the antennae (yes, I fussy-cut those, too) are nice and strong.

And this is the surprise inside:

I've used the retired Petal Passion Designer Series Paper because its simple black and white design is perfect for this card.  Each of those coloured butterflies is from the Botanical Butterfly DSP and, yes, each one has been fussy-cut.  Sometimes I wonder if I'm a glutton for punishment.  The "Happy Day" die cut on the top panel is actually the wonderful Happy Birthday thinlits die with the "birth" missing.

I love how this Twist Pop Up card 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:

"Just Us Girls" Challenge #477 - Word Week (Birthday)

Inkspirational Challenge #181 - Use Your Stash

WWC207 - Helen's Feminine "Anything Goes" Challenge

I love our feminine challenge!  The best part, in my opinion, is that it's an "anything goes" challenge so, as long as I stick to a feminine theme, I can do anything.  This time I decided to give some love to the gorgeous Sale-a-bration Botanical Butterfly Designer Series Paper, among other products.

I began with a base of the Heavy Whisper White, followed by a layer of Basic Black which I first cut along the right side using  one of the border framelit dies from the Be Mine Stitched Framelits dies.  Just for fun I also rounded the upper and lower corners on that side using my Detailed Trio punch.  Then I added another layer, this time the lovely Highland Heather.

For the "main image" I turned to the Sale-a-bration Botanical Butterfly DSP.  I decided to cut a piece of the black and white butterfly print.  Then I chose a beautifully coloured butterfly from another sheet and fussy cut that to be glued on top of one of the black and white butterflies.  I only glued it along the centre so that the wings appear to be ready to take off at any moment.  As you can see, that coloured butterfly is what helped me to choose the colours for this card.

Along the lower border I decided to use the open, connected hearts die, also from the Be Mine Stitched Framelits dies.  I first cut a piece of the Sale-a-bration Grapefruit Grove Foil and then cut a piece of the Highland Heather cardstock.  When I attached the openwork hearts, I did so at a slant so that there would be room for a heat-embossed white sentiment.  Then I proceeded to glue in the hearts cut from the Highland Heather.  I left one heart open and glued in the appropriate Grapefruit Grove Foil heart.

I wasn't completely happy with the card at this point.  It seemed to empty between the butterflies.  So I took the small random dots stamp from the Wonderful Romance stamp set and proceeded to fill in the white using Grapefruit Grove ink.  I think that was just what the card needed, don't you?

Remember, you can get the Grapefruit Grove Foil and/or the Botanical Butterfly DSP free with qualifying purchases from Stampin' Up! until March 31st.

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

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

Lemon Shortbread Challenge #86 - Anything Goes

Try It On Tuesday Challenge - Romance

Crafting By Designs - Anything Goes

Double "D" Challenges - Hearts