WWC219 - Heidi's Feminine "Anything Goes" Challenge

It's strange how things work out.  When I first saw the Varied Vases bundle, it didn't impress me.  The images all seemed so small.  I wasn't a fan.  And then, on a whim, I bought it.  What can I say?  I've fallen in love.  Sometimes "small" makes a big impact.

I used a base of the Heavy Whisper White.  Then I layered a piece of Mossy Meadow and a piece of Mint Macaron.  The Mint Macaron was embossed using the gorgeous Subtle 3-D embossing folder.  Now someone else would have taken the easy road and just cut out a piece of Whisper White using the scalloped Oval die.  But someone like me doesn't realize there is an easier way and so I wound up cutting out a scalloped oval from the Mossy Meadow layer as well as the Mint Macaron layer.  That allowed the Heavy Whisper White to show through and thus created a white border around the pretty leafy Floral Romance Specialty Designer series paper.

I stamped the little vase using Mossy Meadow ink and then cut it out using the matching Vases Builder Punch.  Then I stamped the gorgeous orchid after inking up the stamp with my Mossy Meadow and Flirty Flamingo Stampin' Markers.  After I "huffed" the stamp, I managed a very nice image on a scrap of Whisper White.  I used the Flirty Flamingo ink pad to stamp the colour into the outlined orchid.  Then I proceeded to fussy cut the flowers and stem.  I used the punch to cut out the orchid leaf from a scrap of Mossy Meadow.

Assembly was simple.  I used dimensionals to adhere the vase and orchids to give the card more depth.  To finish up I stamped "Birthday Wishes" at the bottom right of the card using Mossy Meadow ink.  I 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:

International Art & Soul #57 - Anything Birthday

Crafting From the Heart #242 - Anything Goes

The crafty Addicts Challenge 60 - Anything Goes

Seize the Birthday #164 - Texture

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

WWC208 - Charlotte's "All About Occasions" Challenge

I love our "All About Occasions" challenges!   They're perfect for all sorts of celebrations throughout the year.  This time I decided to go all romantic with a Valentine's Day card using colours inspired by the gorgeous vellum pattern in my favourite Specialty Designer Series paper, the Floral Romance.

I used that pretty Vellum patterned paper along the left side of the card and complimented it along the right side by embossing the Whisper White layer with the retired Falling Petals embossing folder.  Since I love those darling little mice from the Sweet Storybook set, I stamped one on each of two Whisper White hearts which I cut using the Be Mine Stitched Framlelit dies.  I love that there is a scalloped stitched piece to be used as a matte for the simple hearts.  I also cut a much smaller heart from a piece of Petal Pink cardstock to link the two larger hearts and also to compliment the Petal Pink in the patterned Vellum. 

I wanted a smaller Whisper White heart to pop on top of that scalloped Petal Pink heart but there wasn't a die in the right size and so I cut another scalloped heart from a small piece of Whisper White and then simply cut off the stitching and scallops and had the piece I wanted.  For the centre of that white heart, I cut a small heart from the gorgeous Sale-a-bration Grapefruit Grove foil sheets.  That foil is amazing because it looks a different colour from every angle, just like an opal.

For the inside of the card I used a matte of Petal Pink behind a piece of Whisper White and then stamped the pretty flourish from the Timeless Textures set using Petal Pink ink.  The sentiment is also from the Sweet Storybook set.

Remember, you can get the Grapefruit Grove Foil 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:

Always Fun Challenges #97 - Love-Valentines

Dream Valley Challenges #195 - Love & Kisses

WWC204 - Gail's Masculine "Anything Goes" Challenge

Both my husband and my son-in-law are avid fly-fishermen and so the brand new Best Catch bundle in the Stampin' Up! Occasions Catalogue was on my very first order.

I used a special "X" fold for this card because it added dimension and spotlights the action.  I thought the wonderful Floral Romance Specialty Designer paper would be perfect for the card and so I took all my greens from the paper.  The hardest thing about the card, I will admit, was the fussy-cutting I chose to do along the left side of the card.  I wanted those leaves hanging over the opening and love the effect, don't you?

For the base of my card I used the Mossy Meadow cardstock.  I love the way it compliments the other colours and also gives a real "out-in-the-woods" feel to the card.  For the narrow panel I made a background using my re-inkers and some of my Brushos.  It looked like moving water--perfect for the die-cut fisherman.

For my fish I wound up using two layers.  The top layer is vellum onto which I've heat embossed the trout using silver embossing powder.  Then I used my Stampin' Blends to colour both the front and back of the vellum.  I found that intensified the colour, which I was hoping it would.  The second layer isn't stamped at all, but is merely a piece of Whisper White which I've also die-cut with the same die.  It really helps the colours to "pop".

The reeds and grasses are included among the dies in this bundle but don't have a stamp to go with it.  I found it was easy to colour the grasses and reeds using my Stampin' Markers.  The cattails have an extra glow thanks to my Wink of Stella.

Finishing off, I stamped the sentiment on Whisper White, cut it out with my 1" punch and then mounted it on a square of Mossy Meadow, cut with the smallest of my Stitched Squares.

The above pattern should help should you wish to try this fancy fold pattern.

And let's not forget that the talented Sandie Munro is our Guest Designer this week as well.  Check out her work and the wonderful creations by the Watercooler Artists over at our Watercooler Wednesday Challenge.

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

Crafty Creations Challenges #382 - Anything Goes

The Male Room #102 - Anything Goes

Simply Create Too #145 - Anything Goes