WWC293 Tristan's Challenge: All About Occasions

Well, I'm a couple of days late with my occasion.  Our Canadian Thanksgiving was on Monday, October 12th, after all.  But let's face it, we should be thinking of giving thanks every day, right?  So I'm really not out of sync.  (What happens to be out of sync at the moment is my weather.  We're barely into Fall and it is snowing steadily outside.)

I've used a lot of retired Stampin' Up! products for this card.  The wheelbarrow full of pumpkins is from the Pleasant Pheasants set as is the sentiment.  The leaves, on the other hand, are the dies from the Colorful Seasons bundle.  After stamping the image and sentiment, I used the tiny maple leaf die to cut out three leaves along the left hand border, each in a different  position. 

I decided to use a strip of retired Specialty Designer paper under those die cuts.  This piece from the Mosaic Mood papers was perfect, with the gorgeous, warm Fall colours.  I didn't, however, like the squares which were white and so, before adhering the strip under the die cuts, I coloured them using the light Old Olive Stampin' Blends.  I think the results really work well for those leaves, don't you?

I watercoloured the wheelbarrow and pumpkins using my Derwent watercolour pencils and Aqua Painter.  Then I used a larger, flat brush and my Oxides to add the ground and sky. 

They may all be retired images, but they certainly work well for my Thanksgiving card, don't they?

Have fun checking out our Watercooler Wednesday Challenge and I hope you'll link your creation before the deadline on Monday, October 19th.   

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

Lemon Shortbread Challenge #130 - Anything Goes

Shopping Our Stash Challenge #431 - Happy Fall Y'All

Make My Monday Challenge #133 - Orange as a Dominant Colour

WWC184 - Helen's "All About Holidays" Challenge

Oh my goodness!  I received my pre-order from the Holiday Catalogue last Wednesday and the first stamp set which I mounted and used was the Pleasant Pheasant set.  As you know, I love watercolouring and this set just demands some serious colouring.

I kept my card very clean and simple since I wanted all the attention to fall on the wonderful pheasant couple.  Don't the colours just dazzle?  I wound up layering my watercolouring, adjusting the colours just to the point where they looked closest to the real pheasant photos which I had found on the internet.  For the most part, the pheasants are watercolour pencils and Aqua-Brush with a bit of additional coloured ink layered on.  The background grasses, sky and foreground are all Stampin' Up! inks applied with my Aqua-Brush.

As an added bit of embellishment (and I don't do a lot of that), I used three tiny Metallic Pearls.  It's the first time I've used them even though they came out with the Annual Catalogue.  I love the way the gold works with this card, don't you?

I hope you'll be joining us by linking up your awesome creations before Monday, August 27th at 5 p.m. Mountain Daylight Time.  To see the wonderful creations by our Watercooler Artists, check out our Watercooler Wednesday Challenge blog.