WWC267 - Karen's Challenge: Anything Goes With a Masculine Twist

Something I am hearing about almost every day since the snow is shrinking back and the temperatures are getting milder is fly fishing.  Yes, my hubby is nuts about tying flies and going fishing.  So when I was trying to decide what I should do for our new Masculine Challenge, it was a no-brainer that I would haul out Stampin' Up!'s Best Catch stamp set as well as an old, retired favourite, In the Meadow.

I decided to keep it clean and simple.  My base is the Heavy Whisper White cardstock and then a matte of Gray Granite.  On another piece of Whisper White I stamped the mountain range from the In the Meadow set in the top third and then stamped the fisherman from the Best Catch set in the lower area.  To the right of the fisherman, I stamped the sentiment which is from a lovely fishing stamp set by Inky Antics.

I used watercolours for this card.  Several greens and then the Gray Granite ink colour the mountains and then a light wash of Balmy Blue defines the sky.  I also added a light wash of Coastal Cabana for the lake.

It's simple but I know that the fisherman in my life will love it and I hope you do, too.    Have fun checking out our Watercooler Wednesday Challenge and I hope you'll link your creation before the deadline on April 20th.

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

Always Fun Challenges #158 - Clean and simple

Lemon Shortbread Challenge #117 - Anything Goes

WWC161 - Helen's "All About Occasions" Challenge

This week's challenge is being hosted by Helen Finlay and it's all about the special Occasions in our lives.  You can see a few listed in the challenge icon, but you can probably think of a bunch more.  Let's face it, special occasions are one of the reasons we create our cards.

Here in Canada it's still quite a while before Mother's Day occurs in May but it was my mother's birthday last week and I've been thinking of her a lot lately.  Making a Mother's Day card just felt totally natural under the circumstances.

I kept this card very simple.  In fact it's a one layer card except that I matted the one layer and then adhered it to a base.  But you know what I mean. After stamping it, I masked the pretty stone wall image from the Hostess set, "Cosy Cottage".  Then I stamped the trees from the retired "In the Meadow" set so that they would appear to be behind the wall.  The sizing of the two sets is perfect.  They appear to be made for each other.

The scene I've created and watercoloured reminds me so much of a pretty garden to which we'd frequently go for a little picnic when I was growing up in Victoria.  After a snack, I'd weave together the little wild daisies so I could wear them like a crown in my hair.  Most of the time both my sister and I wound up wearing the daisy "crowns" which our Mum had made.  For some reason mine seldom held together properly.

While the outside of my card is rather simple, without embellishments or surprises, I had to do something special for the inside.  So I took the Sale-a-bration "Blossoming Basket" set and stamped the basket in the centre of a piece of 8" x 5" Whisper White and then watercoloured it before carefully cutting around much of it using my craft knife.  I left enough attached so that it would "pop out" when the card was opened.

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

I've also entered this card into the CAS March Watercolour Challenge which is all about Gardens.

I've entered this card into the Addicted to Stamps and More Challenge #283 - Holidays.

I've entered this card into the That's Crafty! Challenge - Spring Into Action

And, finally, I've entered this card into the The Crafty Addicts Challenge #46 - All About Mums