WWC247 - Marsha's "All About Occasions" Challenge

I have a brand new House Mouse stamp that is perfect for our "All About Occasions" Challenge.  And this time I was able to "marry it up" with one of my favourite Stampin' Up! Specialty Designer Series papers, the Feels Like Frost.  I hope you love the results as much as I do!

Isn't that a fun image?  I love the way the mice appear to be swinging on top of those bells, hanging from the snow-laden branch above.  For this card I used a base of Heavy Whisper White and added a matte of Night of Navy.

I stamped the adorable little House Mouse image onto a piece of Mixed Media paper using my Stamparatus.  I left the paper attached with the magnets and proceeded to paint the bells using the Champagne Mist Shimmer Paint.  Once that had dried, I inked up the bell images again, avoiding the mice, and then stamped the lines back onto the bells.  I love the results, don't you?

I used the Stampin' Blends to colour the mice, the ribbons, and the details on the bells.  Of course I had to fussy cut the images and it was simply impossible to cut each hair that sticks out around those sweet mice.  I therefore used my Basic Black Stampin' Marker to ink only the hair around the mice and stamped that where I intended the images to be on the Designer Paper.  You can see how well that worked once they had been glued down.  It looks as if the entire image was stamped in one piece, doesn't it?

I also used the Shimmery Crystal Effects to add sparkle to the snow on those branches.  It adds more dimension, not to mention the pretty shimmer.

Since I had a strip of the Designer Paper left over, I used it inside the card, adding a wide strip to the left side and a very narrow strip to the right.  I think it makes a perfect border for the sentiment, 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:

House-Mouse & Friends Monday Challenge #304 - Anything Goes

Lemon Shortbread Challenge #106 - Anything Goes

Arty Divas Challenge #8 - Anything Goes

WWC242 - Marsha's "All About Occasions" Challenge

We're having an "All About Occasions" Challenge this week and I had a terrific idea for a card.  You know how much I love that Feels Like Frost Specialty Designer Series Paper.  Well, I decided to combine that with one of the adorable images from the New Wonders host set.

Isn't that just the sweetest thing?  I've fussy cut her and placed her so that it appears as if she's drawing the snowflake with a magic frost pen.  My base is the Heavy Whisper White and the next layer is the Night of Navy which I've first embossed using that new Hammered Metal 3D Embossing Folder.  I've added three snowflakes cut using the dies from the Seasonal Layers.  My sentiment?  Well, I couldn't find anything that struck me as just right for this card and so I wrote my own using my Night of Navy Stampin' Marker.

You can see more of the details in this close-up.  Unfortunately the shimmery effect of the Wink of Stella on her wings doesn't show very well in either photo.  Nor does the gorgeous shine and shimmer I've added to the closest frosty flower using the Shimmery Crystal Effects.  In real life they catch the light and sparkle beautifully.

I love the way she fits into the scene so well, don't you?  I had such fun with this 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:

Lemon Shortbread Challenge #104 - Anything Goes

The Holly and Ivy Christmas Challenge #57 - Anything Christmas Goes

Christmas Crafts All Year 'Round for October - Christmas Angels, Fairies or Nativity

Christmas at Sweet Stampin' October Challenge - Anything Goes

WWC240 - Kath's "All About Occasions" Challenge

I am finally going to use a stamp set which has retired, the Spirited Snowmen set.  I have no idea why I haven't used this fun set until now, but I plan to make up for the oversight.

I combined the lovey-dovey pair of snowpeople with two designs from my still-favourite Specialty Designer Paper from the Holiday Catalogue:  the Feels Like Frost paper.  What I love is that one side of the two-sided paper has a photographic image on it while the other side has a pattern in white on silver foil.  I decided that the foil with the random white dots was perfect as a background for the pretty "snowfall" image.  And, of course, the snowpeople look perfect against the colours as well.

After stamping the image using my black Memento ink, I fussy-cut it and then proceeded to colour it using my Stampin' Blends.  I used the Pretty Peacock, Basic Black, Highland Heather, Soft Suede, Purple Posy, Old Olive, and Poppy Parade.  You can't really tell, unfortunely, since the camera didn't catch it, but I added some of the Wink of Stella to both of the snowpeople.  The die-cut sentiment is from a fun set of dies with which I was gifted (lucky me, since it works perfectly for this card).

My base is the Heavy Whisper White while the matte is the Pretty Peacock.  I love how this 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:

Lemon Shortbread Challenge #103 - Anything Goes

The Holly and Ivy Christmas Challenge #56 - Anything Christmas Goes

Cute N Crafty Challenge #32 - Anything Goes

Get Creative Challenges #84 - Anything Goes

Jingle Belles Challenge - Goodwill to Men (Peace)

Cute N' Crafty Christmas Challenge #18 - Anything Christmas

Simon Says Wednesday Challenge Blog #66 - Anything Goes

WWC238 - Tristan's "All About Occasions" Challenge

I love our All About Occasions Challenges!  It's so much fun to decide on an Occasion and then to create a card for it.  I've chosen to make another Christmas card simply because I'm going to need them sooner than I'd like to admit.  Of course the fact that I was dying to use the gorgeous Nature's Beauty stamp set and more of that stunning Feels Like Frost Designer Series Paper played a large role in my decision.

The photographic images used on this Designer Paper are simply breathtaking, aren't they?  When I saw this piece, I knew it would be perfect for the darling little bunny image in the Nature's Beauty set.  What I particularly love about the paper is that there is enough white and "empty" space near the bottom to allow for an image to be stamped and coloured, integrating it into the paper as if it had been printed there.  In fact, as well as the bunny, I stamped the little bare twigs of the bushes in the lower right corner.  And they, too, look as if they were part of the paper design, don't they?

I used my coloured pencils and Gamsol to colour the bunny and also to add the same blue to the base of the bunny and twigs so that the shadows appeared to be natural.  Continuing with the simple design, I decided to heat emboss my sentiment using the gorgeous Copper Embossing Powder.  I finished the card by mounting the design onto a copper foil matte and then onto the base of Heavy Whisper White cardstock.

A simple design, but I absolutely love it and hope you do, too.

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:

Lemon Shortbread Challenge #102 - Anything Goes

Crafty Animals Challenge #30 - Anything Goes

CHNC Challenge #454 - Anything Christmas Goes

Crafty Creations Challenges #398 - Anything Goes

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