WWC180 - Marsha's "All About Holidays" Challenge

Woo Hoo!  We have a brand new challenge today!  Marsha is hosting the new "All About Holidays" Challenge this week.  I'm excited because it means I could make a card for any special holiday.  How perfect when Easter and Thanksgiving roll around!

You can see a few of the choices of holidays on the banners shown in the challenge icon.  I've decided that I may as well keep adding to my Christmas stash.  I don't want to be scrambling to make my cards when it's time to write them, after all.

I chose a clean and simple design with my card base in the Heavy Whisper White.  On a regular weight Whisper White I used a circle mask to sponge Bermuda Bay topped with a light coat of Pacific Point.  Then I removed the mask and let my circle dry.  At that point I used my Memento ink to stamp the trees, the reindeer, and the sentiment from the wonderful (and still current) Nature Sings stamp set.

I added a bit of Soft Suede to the reindeer and a bit of Mossy Meadow to the trees, using my Stampin' Markers.  I attached the piece to my base using the Foam Adhesive Strips and then added five sequins.  Simple but I love the results, don't you?

I hope you'll check out the wonderful creations by the other Watercooler Artists at our Watercooler Wednesday Challenge blog.   And then I invite you to link up your Holiday creation to our challenge.

I'm also entering my card in the Holly and Ivy Christmas Challenge #32 - Anything Christmas

as well as in the Crafty Gals Corner Challenge 170 - Christmas in July

WWC176 - Kath's "All About Christmas" Challenge

It's Kath's turn to host a challenge this week and this time it's "All About Christmas".  I love this challenge and have a nice little stash of Christmas cards building up, waiting to be filled out and sent at the end of the year.  Such a "painless" way to do it!

I had the worst time with this card!  Oh, making it was fun and no trouble at all, but getting a decent photograph was such a pain that I almost decided to make a different card.  Why, you ask.  Well, I'll bet you think this is a blue and white card, right?  You would be wrong.  This card is definitely blue.  In fact I've used one of my favourites, the Pacific Point cardstock.  Everything else is silver.  The background to the die-cut oval piece, the scalloped edge around the embossed piece, and the heat-embossed sentiment:  all are silver.  Try as I might, they all photographed white. 

In person this card looks elegant and absolutely gorgeous.

I've used the Sparkle embossing folder.  I've also used the Hometown Greetings Edgelits.  And that sentiment?  That's from the Nature Sings stamp set.  Don't they all work well together?

I hope you'll check out the awesome samples by the other Watercooler Artists over at our Watercooler Wednesday Challenge blog.

I'm also entering this card into the CHNC Challenge #391 - Christmas Anything Goes

Experimenting with colours

Sometimes it's fun to simply grab a few products and have some fun.  No challenges.  No time constraints.  No agenda.  Just some fun experimenting with colours. 

For what I had in mind, a landscape of sorts, I decided to use the Nature Sings stamp set as well as my Brushos.  I haven't played with those Brushos enough.  There are so many ways to use them.  Instead of shaking loose some crystals and spraying them with water, or variations of that technique, I decided to treat them as watercolours.  I took my paint palette and added a tiny layer of crystals to the bottom of three of the little "bowls" and then added just a bit of water.  My chosen colours for this experiment were Emerald Green, Aquamarine, and Moss Green.

Before I began using my Brushos, however, I stamped the image of the trees and the image of the two reindeer onto my watercolour paper.  I decided to use the Basic Black Archival ink since it doesn't "bleed" into the watercolours.

From there I freehanded my scene using a flat square end brush, laying in a wash with a hint of Aquamarine for the sky and then a darker sweep of Aquamarine for the stream.  The Aquamarine didn't hold any surprise colours for me and I loved the way it became deeper in colour with each additional layer. 

The Moss Green was another story entirely.  It had hints of browns, tans, yellows and greens which all came into play as I set down my hills, rises and meadows.  I had swept colour right over the stamped trees, knowing that I could add Emerald Green to bring out the details.  I avoided colouring in the reindeer, however, because I wanted to stick to the clearer colours of my inks to add details to them using a fine pointed round head.  For that my inks were Soft Suede and some Sahara Sand.

The picture turned out reasonably well.  I can see where my weaknesses are.  But the Brushos are a product which will be interesting to try in more and different ways.  I look forward to it.

My sentiment is from the retired Remember This Project Life set.