WWC314 - Dawn's Challenge: All About Occasions

 My cat made me do it!  Seriously, I was trying to decide for which occasion I would create a card for our challenge and spied a piece of paper on the floor.  It looked  remarkably like something I had cut out and had put aside to use for a card "someday".  We all do that, don't we?  Well, putting it aside is one thing.  Finding it on the floor is a totally unacceptable thing.  I knew immediately who the culprit was, of course. My sweet, butter wouldn't melt in her mouth Khali had made another trip across my crafting table and, being the clumsiest (and cutest) feline I've ever met, had inadvertently pushed the cut-out onto the floor.    

And that led to the creation of this Birthday card.

I love the "Happy Birthday" die but absolutely hate putting glue onto the die-cut.  By the time you finish going from one end to the other, across all the lines and intricate details, the portion where you began has dried.  But a few months ago I happened to have purchased a roll of Diecut and Bond.   This is thin paper, double sided with adhesive.  You put it onto a piece of cardstock, use your die to cut whatever design you happen to want for a card, and voila.  The backing peels off and it sticks by itself.  While I'm sure this doesn't come as a surprise to a lot of you, it was like magic for me and I will be using my more intricate dies a whole lot more from now on.        

Oh, and that heat embossing on the red?  It just looked so plain when I laid all the pieces out so I grabbed a relatively neutral background stamp (Crackle Paint) and heat embossed the pattern onto the red using my clear embossing powder.   It gives  it just enough interest without taking any real attention away from the sentiment and cute little squirrel, doesn't it? 

You can see the  heat embossing better from this angle.  And, of course, the  squirrel is clearly raised up from the stitched heart with Dimensionals.  I love the way the card turned out, don't you?

Have fun checking out our Watercooler Wednesday Challenge and I hope you'll link your creation before the deadline on Monday, May 3rd, 2021.

I'm also entering my card in the following challenges: 

Lemon Shortbread Challenge #144 - Anything Goes

Crafty Sentiments Designs: Anything Goes

Simon Says Monday Challenge:  Bright, Cheerful colours

Dragonfly Dreams April Challenge:  Feature a Creature

WWC261 - Kath's Challenge: Anything Goes With a Feminine Twist

My favourite Designer Paper offered by Stampin' Up! in their Annual Catalogue remains the stunning Pressed Petals Specialty DSP.  The photographic images of the flowers truly look as if one can reach in and lift them from the paper.  Coupled with the lovely Wonderful Moments image, the paper helps to lift an ordinary Birthday card into the extraordinary.

For my base I used the Heavy Whisper White cardstock.  To compliment the Stampin' Blends which I used, I added a matte in the Balmy Blue cardstock.  I followed that up by adding a layer of the lovely Pressed Petals.

On a scrap piece of Whisper White cardstock, I stamped the image of the girl walking away.  I carefully stamped the bouquet image into her right hand and then drew a cell phone into her left hand.  After colouring my images using the Stampin' Blends, I fussy cut the image and attached it to the centre of the floral wreath.  After stamping my sentiment on a scrap of Balmy Blue, I hand-cut it into a banner shape and added stitch lines with my journalling pen.

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

I'm also entering this card in the following challenges:

Dragonfly Dreams Challenge: Make it Feminine

Lemon Shortbread Challenge #114 - Anything Goes

Creative Moments Challenge #185 - Anything Goes

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Blog - Feminine

WWC241 - Dawn's Feminine "Anything Goes" Challenge

Ooooh!  It's a feminine challenge at the Watercooler this week and Dawn is our host.  I decided to combine that awesome Pressed Petals Specialty Designer Series paper with the terrific Wonderful Moments stamp set.

Doesn't that combination look wonderful?  I used a base of Heavy Whisper White and, after fussy cutting carefully around the inside of the floral wreath image on that pretty wood-grain paper, I was ready for the image which would be featured inside the wreath. 

I took a piece of Whisper White cardstock and, after using my Basic Black Stampin' Marker to ink up everything but the bouquet and ribbon at the back of the dress, I stamped the "bride".  My intention was to simplify the dress and also to have her hold some balloons rather than the bouquet.  I used my Stampin' Blends to colour the image.  The dress is Rococo Rose while the hair is a combination of Crumb Cake and Daffodil Delight.  Her skin is Ivory and the balloons are Daffodil Delight and, again, Rococo Rose.  Then I covered the image and stamped the dots from the stamp set (confetti?) as my background. 

I love the way she fits into the cut out of the wreath, don't you?  And the banner finishes off my card perfectly.

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

{PIN}spirational Challenges #248 - Photo Inspiration

WWC230 - Kath's Masculine "Anything Goes" Challenge

I've been waiting for another Masculine Challenge!  This week Kath is our host and I'm so happy to be using the Country Road stamp set which I just bought.  Yes, it came out with last year's catalogue, but I'm finally convinced that I need it to round out my more masculine stamps.  I kept all my colours very neutral to give the card a more vintage look.

All the images are from the Country Road set except for the background panel which has been stamped with one of my favourite background stamps, the Crackle Paint set.  The faint, tiny "bubbles" behind the weather vane and twigs are from the Artisan Textures set.

I began with a base of Gray Granite cardstock, followed by a layer of Basic Black and then another layer of Gray Granite, this time stamped with the Crackle Paint image using Gray Granite ink.  Then I added a smaller rectangle of Basic Black, another of Basic Gray and then the Whisper White onto which I heat embossed the weather vane in Black embossing powder, followed by stamping the twigs in Gray Granite ink.  Finally I stamped the "bubbles" in once-off-stamped Gray Granite.

I stamped the star in Gray Granite ink onto a piece of the retired Galvanized Metal Foil and then fussy cut that out.  I stamped the wagon wheel onto a piece of Whisper White using Gray Granite ink and then fussy cut that out.  Assembly was easy and then, finally, I stamped the "Happy Birthday" onto a piece of Whisper White with black Memento ink, cut it out using my stitched rectangle die and cut a matte of Basic Black to put behind it.

I love the way it 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:

Get Creative Challenge #82 - Anything Goes with optional twist Monochromatic

Use Your Stuff Challenge #367 - Masculine

Sisterhood of Crafters - Birthday

WWC182 - Tristan's "All About Occasions" Challenge

This week Tristan Dawes is host for our popular "All About Occasions" challenge.  I know that there are a lot of possible occasions that we celebrate throughout the year, but for this one I had to use one of my brand new Art Impressions stamps.  Who can resist these plump chickens?  Especially when one of them is offering a "coop-cake" for your birthday!

I had a lot of fun setting up this card.  Once the worst was over (fussy-cutting those chickens), the card just came together beautifully.  I watercoloured the chickens using my Aqua-Painter and a mix of the following inks:  Crumb Cake, Sahara Sand, So Saffron, Mango Melody, Smoky Slate, Gray Granite and Poppy Parade.  For my background I used a wide brush and my Balmy Blue and Crushed Curry inks.

 I wanted seeds scattered across the bottom and found that the sand image from the Magical Mermaid set worked perfectly.

The foil chicken wire?  Who knew I had a die for that?  I plan to use this one a whole lot more!

And, of course, I had to create a fun envelope to go with the card.

I hope you'll be joining us by linking up your awesome creations before Monday, August 13th at 5 p.m. Mountain Daylight Time.  To see the wonderful creations by our Watercooler Artists, check out our Watercooler Wednesday Challenge blog.

I'm also entering this card in the following challenges:

Seize the Birthday: Water!  (although I've kept to the "anything goes" theme)

Art Impressions Blog Challenge #238 - Card and envelope

WWC174 - Gail's "All About Occasions" Challenge

Oh what fun!  This week's challenge is hosted by Gail Allen and is "All About Occasions".  I love this challenge because there is such a wealth of occasions to choose from during the year.

I had been playing around with an idea for a while and decided it was time to see  if reality could come close  to my imagining.  It all began with the gorgeous Share What You Love Specialty Designer Paper pack.  Those of you who have it will know exactly what I mean.  This paper is enough to inspire anyone.  And while I absolutely love the weight  of it and the indescribable look of the translucent and pearlized finish on the one side, it is the other side of one of the designs which set me on the road to my design.  The pattern which I used has no addition of shimmer but it makes me think of someone watercolouring the series of small circles.

There are some awesome colours in this particular designer paper and so it was easy to choose the colours I used for both the watercolouring and the mattes.  My mattes are Mint Macaron and Rich Razzleberry.  For the die-cut birthday and the paint "dripping" from it, I used Mint Macaron, Rich Razzleberry, So Saffron, Pear Pizzaz and Grapefruit Grove.  Those colours are all echoed in the background designer paper.

I've been  going through my retired stamps and came across the Talented Trio set (which I've decided to keep) and realized that I hadn't yet stamped with the little artist.  Well this card took care of that omission.  For her I used the Rich Razzleberry and So Saffron for her smock and the Mint Macaron and Rich Razzleberry for her paint brushes.  I really enjoyed using my inks and AquaPainter for this card.

I hope you've enjoyed checking out my card and reading about the materials.  You'll find more when you visit the blogs of the other Watercooler Artists featured in our Watercooler Wednesday Challenge post.  I look forward to seeing your awesome cards linked up to the challenge.

By the way, you'll see we're also having a Design Team call.  Sadly we lost two of our team members because of personal and family responsibilities.  I'm really going to miss Penny Hanuszak and Tenia Nelson.  Now it's time to see who wants to be part of our awesome team.

WWC158 - Helen's Masculine "Anything Goes" Challenge

This week's challenge is being hosted by Helen Finlay and was absolute perfect timing, too.  I had to make a birthday card for my grandson and this challenge is our Masculine "Anything Goes" challenge.  How serendipitous is that?

Since he had loved a pop-up card which I had created recently, I decided to create one just for him.  As luck would have it, I had just received a die in the mail which I had ordered with him in mind.  (Don't you love it when things fall into place like that?)

The die-cut on this card is beautiful, isn't it?  I cut it out of gold foil and then used my alcohol Stampin' Blends to add a bit of colour.  My grandson's favourite colour is red and so those drums are gold and red with black feet.  His name begins with an "X" which explains that great big X in the centre of that large drum.  I had such fun making this card because he is a special guy and besides loving to play the drums, he also follows "the beat of his own drum".

As I mentioned, I made the inside of the card a pop-up.  This one is all about his birthday and that great big red star comes out at least an inch or so.  As you can see, I left room in the centre to write something special to our special boy.

Oh, and since his birthday was a couple of days ago, I can tell you that he really was delighted.  He told me it's going into his treasure box. 

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

WWC157 - Heidi's "All About Occasions" Challenge

It's my turn to host the challenge this week and it's an "All About Occasions" challenge.  What fun!  There are so many occasions during the year.  Wouldn't you know it, I had a birthday card in mind.  That has to be one of the most frequently celebrated occasions of the year.  After all, everyone has one--birthday, that is.

What's a birthday without a bit of whimsy thrown in?  I've been dying to use the Party Pandas stamp set which I received free with my qualifying order (it's Sale-a-bration time--Woo Hoo!)  But I kept reaching for other newly purchased stamp sets.  Well, all that changed with this card.  I reached for those Pandas and introduced them to ink.

So where's the whimsy, you ask.  I did my usual mix and match bit with my stamp sets and added some fun from the Birthday Memories Suite as well.  Guess what!  That cute little girl and her friend, the Panda, are going to a birthday party.  Are you ready?

Don't you just love it?  I used the matching framelit to cut the little cutie from the Birthday Memories Designer Series paper.  Yes, they work on the patterned paper as well as on the stamped images.  Bonus!  I also used the framelits to cut out those party hats and the little gift which her friend the Panda is carrying.  The clouds?  They're from the Up and Away thinlits set and that wonderful red foil "celebrate" is another free Sale-a-bration item, the Celebrate You thinlits.  The background is just a watercolour wash using Soft Sky and Pear Pizzaz.

But there's more fun inside!  Why just use one Panda when you can use two, after all?  And the Panda inside the card is an especially talented little guy.  He's taken five of the cupcakes (all fussy cut) and is showing off his juggling skills by keeping them in the air.  I've made the inside a "pop out" so that our friend the Panda is standing away from the card and I've added a carefully cut "tree" of window acrylic to his back so that the attached cupcakes appear to be hanging in the air.

I decided to keep the background pale and neutral by adding a piece of Soft Sky cardstock and then the die-cut Happy Birthday (using the Happy Birthday thinlits) in Very Vanilla.  Any more fuss behind our Panda and those sweet cupcakes would not show up as clearly.

And there we have the complete inside of the card.  I hope you love it as much as I do.

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

I'm also entering my card into the following challenges:

Crafting From the Heart #194 - Anything Goes

Pammie's Inky Pinkies Challenge #1806  - Anything Goes

Watercooler Wednesday Challenge #151 - Charlotte's Feminine "Anything Goes" Challenge

Welcome to the brand new year and to another Watercooler Wednesday Challenge.  I'm so happy we're starting the year with Charlotte's Feminine "Anything Goes" challenge.  I began playing with my Brushos over the holidays and am anxious to show off the results.

But before I get around to showing off my card and telling you how I created it, I want to give a heartfelt welcome to our new Watercooler Artist, Helen Finlay.  You can read a short bio about Helen and see her photo over at the Watercooler Wednesday Challenge post.

* * * * * * * * * * 

I had never heard about Brushos.  Well, that's not quite true.  I had read the name in passing when viewing the posts of quite a number of our participants but didn't look into it any further.  That is, until Stampin' Up! announced that five colours would be released in the new Occasions Catalogue.  Did I want them or not?  Well, I had seen some remarkable results featured by some awesome crafters, time to check them out more fully.

Brusho watercolour crystals are produced in Sheffield, England and are simply remarkable.  The tiny crystals "explode" with colour when sprayed with water or immersed in water.  Using them isn't just a matter of having a colour, dipping in your brush, and painting your image.  It can be that simple but it can be so much more.  For my card I first stamped my rose image from the Rose Wonder set, using Versamark and then heat embossed it with silver embossing powder.  Then, once that was set and hard, I sprayed the rose and leaves with water and tapped out a few crystals, green for the leaves and red for the rose.  I used a damp paint brush to spread the colour, leaving areas darker in places and lighter in others.  Once that had dried completely, I fussy-cut the rose and leaves and attached them to a piece of Heavy Whisper White which I had previously prepared by tapping out just a very few green crystals and then spraying them.  I like the resulting splatter effect.

The border of the Heavy Whisper White is also heat embossed using silver embossing powder as is the sentiment.  Once finished, the piece was mounted on a base of Heavy Whisper White.

I found the Brusho colours to be incredibly brilliant and am anxious to try them out with some other projects.  I hope you'll decide to try them out as well.

Please check out the wonderful creations by the other Watercooler Artists over at our Watercooler Wednesday Challenge this week.

I'm also playing along with the CAS Watercolour Card Challenge for January since it's all about birthdays.

Watercooler Wednesday Challenge #141 - Heidi's Masculine "Anything Goes" Challenge

Guess what!  I get to be host over at the Watercooler Wednesday Challenge this week.  And it's one of my favourites, the Masculine "Anything Goes" Challenge.  With my nephew's birthday in October and needing a card, it's simply perfect timing.

I enjoyed making an eclipse technique card a couple of weeks ago and thought of the perfect way to use that technique for this card.  Bonus:  my nephew's name is just three letters long and so I wouldn't have to change the sizing of the card.

I began with Heavy Whisper White, a layer of Basic Grey, and then another layer of Whisper White.  That and some stamping would be my card.  With the eclipse technique, I think it's really effective to keep the stamping as simple as possible so that the raised letters don't get lost.  So I stamped the grove of trees from the Lovely as a Tree set along the bottom of the piece of Whisper White.  Then I lined up the framelits for the letters so that I could plan for the clouds and the hot-air balloon.  Once I had stamped those, it was just a matter of colouring everything.

I watercoloured a light wash of Soft Sky ink across part of the top of the card, down into the branches of the tree.  Then I watercoloured a light wash of Wild Wasabi ink across the bottom of the trees to give the illusion of grass.  Finally I used my Stampin' Markers to colour the hot-air balloon.

Taking the stamped piece, I placed it on my Big Shot and aligned the Large Letters Framelits just a bit below centred.  Once I had cut that out, I began to assemble the card.  I attached the Basic Grey to the base first and then the stamped piece, minus the die-cut letters.  Once everything was in place, I stamped my sentiment across the top left of the card.  Then I placed foam adhesive strips along the letters and attached them to the negative spaces on the card.

And that's how simple it is to do that technique.  But it sure looks great, doesn't it?

I hope you'll check out the cards created by the other Watercooler Artists over at our Watercooler Wednesday Challenge.