WWC285 - Karen's Challenge: Anything Goes With a Masculine Twist

I fell in love with this adorable set of "Frenchie" pups enjoying all sorts of summer activities.  The only problem was choosing which image to use for Karen's fun masculine challenge this week.  In the end I couldn't resist the one of the pup enjoying a swim.  I suspect our hot weather made me decide to live vicariously through him.

I used the Heavy Whisper White as my base and added a matte of Granny Apple Green.  Then I embossed a piece of Pineapple Punch using the Darice Pawprint embossing folder.  I love the vibrant colours together, don't you?

I stamped the image on a piece of Mixed Media paper using my black Versafine ink.  I fit the fancy stitched die over the image to get the placement of the "Just Chillin" right and then cut it out.  As a matte backing, I used the next size up die to cut a piece of the Granny Apple Green.  I love how the watercoloured image just "pops" against the bright colours, don't you?

I love the way the card turned out and hope you do, too.  Have fun checking out our Watercooler Wednesday Challenge and I hope you'll link your creation before the deadline on Monday,  August 24th.

I've also linked my card to the following challenges:

Lemon Shortbread Challenge #126 - Always Anything Goes

Make My Monday Challenge #129 - On the Beach

AAA Birthday: Fame #16 - Tic Tac Toe  (I used "bright, embossing, masculine")

WWC253 - Karen's Challenge: Anything Goes With a Feminine Twist

Oh my!  It's a brand new year!  Time has flown by, hasn't it?  Last time I was here, I was getting ready for Christmas.  Welcome back to our challenge and to my blog. 

A new year brings changes.  One positive change in my life is that I've chosen to leave Stampin' Up!  It was time.  There is so much to explore in the world of art and crafting, and I couldn't do that fairly while tethered to a company.  Mind you, that doesn't mean you won't see some of SU!'s terrific products here.  I bought them and I'm using them.  Why not, right?

If you've seen the new Mini Catalogue from Stampin' Up! then you'll have seen the sweet Grace's Garden stamp set.  It comes as a bundle but I chose to buy only the stamp set.  I know myself and I would not have used the dies very much.  You can see from the details of my card that it is, for the most part, simply stamping and watercolouring.  I've masked the hollyhocks before stamping the gate, but I've kept the masks I fussy-cut for future use.  The little cat?  Yes, I've fussy cut it as well.  But I prefer the lack of white border and so I probably would have felt compelled to cut that away if I had the die--a waste of effort, really, but I love clean lines.

If you look carefully at the watercoloured sky, you will see that I've used some 3-D gloss gel to stencil in clouds.  They're subtle but they show up better in person, as does so much that we create.

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

I've linked this card up to the following challenges:

Tuesday Throwdown TT448 - Something New (the stamp sets from the new catalog)

Dream Valley Challenges #216 -Something New (stamps and 3-D gloss gel)

WWC200 - Helen's "All About Occasions" Challenge

Wow!  We're celebrating our 200th Challenge this week.  Isn't that extraordinary and wonderful, all bundled into one awesome celebration?  I felt like celebrating earlier today when my Stampin' Up! order arrived.  All those wonderful goodies from the upcoming Occasions and Sale-a-bration Catalogues--YAY!  So, of course, I had to jump right in and use some of the new stuff.

Needless to say, I had to mix and match.  (There was so much to play with!)  And so I grabbed the new Tea Together stamp set and a piece of Whisper White cardstock and stamped the teacup as well as the teapot using Balmy Blue ink.  Then I took the green twig from the Wonderful Romance stamp set and, using Tranquil Tide ink, stamped it across the lower portion of the teapot and then stamped only a portion of it diagonally across the teacup.  For this creation, I just didn't want flowers.

The framelits for the teapot and teacup are only available free with a purchase of $120 in regular products.  So, of course, I have the framelits.  I cut out the teapot and teacup, put them aside, and proceeded use the framelits from the Wonderful Romance bundle to cut that beautiful grid and leaf background out of Tranquil tide cardstock.  Finally, while I was still at the Big Shot, I used the gorgeous new Lace Dynamic embossing folder on a narrow piece of Whisper White.

Colouring was easy since I had the Balmy Blue Watercolour Pencil which is part of the Cute Crew Punch Box in the Occasions Catalogue.  For the leafy twig, I used the Tranquil Tide ink and my AquaPainter.  For the sentiment, I used the Tranquil Tide Stampin' Marker on the stamp from the Tea Together set, colouring the tiny heart with the Berry Burst Stampin' Marker.  After "huffing" the stamp to remoisten the ink, I stamped it onto a piece of Whisper White and then cut it out using the Stitched Round framelit.

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

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

Crafty Sentiments Challenge - Celebrate challenge

{PIN}spirational Challenge #230 - Inspiration photo

Creative Moments Challenge #158 - Always Anything Goes

WWC195 - Charlotte's Feminine "Anything Goes" Challenge

Oh, I love our Feminine challenges, don't you?  It's such fun to figure out what to make and to try new things.  After all, cards don't have to be frilly or full of flowers to be feminine.  They can be clean and simple, like my card:

First let me say that I am madly in love with the sweet House Mouse images.  I am amazed at the detail in Ellen Jareckie's little mice.  For this card I used the Strawberry Wish stamp which is a 2015 release.  I loved the image so much that I didn't want any clutter to take away from it.  Colouring sweet little "Mudpie" and that lovely strawberry was pure pleasure.  I used my watercolour pencils and AquaPainter.  To finish, I added just a bit of shadow around the bottom using my Smoky Slate ink and AquaPainter.

For my sentiment I wanted something simple but feminine.  The beautiful script in the sentiment from the Happy Little Stampers Dandelion Wishes stamp set was perfect and so I stamped it in black.  I mounted the image onto a narrow black matte and then onto a base of the Heavy Whisper White.  And I love it!

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

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

Lemon Shortbread Challenge #80 - Anything Goes

Retro Rubber Challenge #99 - Anything Goes

House Mouse & Friends Monday Challenge #278 - Anything Goes

Crafty Creations Challenge #377 - Anything Goes

ATS&M #307 - Make Your Mark

It's time for another Addicted to Stamps & More Challenge.  This time it's all about making your mark.  What does that mean?  We'd love to see any creations for which you use your pens, pencils, watercolours, markers, anything that creates a mark. 

For my card I decided to use my Watercolour Pencils and Aqua Painter.  

I've used the new Country Home stamp set from the soon-to-be-released Stampin' Up! Holiday Catalogue.  I love the old milk can with that gorgeous bouquet of cotton bols, eucalyptus and dried florals.  

From this angle you can see the shine of the metallic inks I painted onto the milk can, over the original shaded grays of the watercolour pencils.  I also added some copper ink to dress up the milk can.  It looks great against the silvery body of the can as well as the copper ribbon, doesn't it?

Here you can see the details of the shading I did with the watercolour pencils.

Check out the awesome creations by the rest of the Design Team and link up your card HERE.