WWC214 - Marsha's "All About Occasions" Challenge

I love our "All About Occasions" challenges, don't you?  This time of the year, especially, they give me a chance to put together some fun Easter projects.

I have two grandsons and one of the things both love about Easter is the hunt.  We can only hope that the snow will be gone this year and that it isn't replaced by rain.  Paper products just don't do all that well when it's wet, nor do the yummy chocolate-filled eggs in these little baskets.  I have to give credit to Angie Juda for this pattern.  Although I made a few cosmetic changes, I stayed true to her measurements.  If you click on Angie's name, you'll find the instructions, a great video and an awesome template.

I've combined the newest Sale-a-bration paper, the Painted Seasons Designer Series paper, with one of the absolutely adorable stamp sets from the Occasions Catalogue, the Fable Friends set.  I love that bunny because he makes me think of Peter Rabbit and, of course, that makes me think of poor Mr. McGregor who was forever trying to save his carrots and cabbage from the marauding bunnies.  Yes, I know those are flowers on the Designer Paper, but look at them sideways and squint, and they make perfect cabbages.

I've used Crumb Cake for the basic baskets and then added the pieces of Designer Paper.  For the bunnies, I stamped them on pieces of Whisper White, cut them out using the Stitched Oval Framelits and then coloured them using my Stampin' Blends and Watercolour Pencils.  The Matte is Call Me Clover, which is one of the colours in the Designer Paper.

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 #90 - Anything Goes

Get Creative Challenges #78 - Anything But A Card

Incy Wincy Designs Challenge - For the Men and Boys

WWC183 - Gail's Masculine "Anything Goes" Challenge

I've been waiting for this.  It's a Masculine "Anything Goes" challenge this week, hosted by Gail Allen.  Why have I been waiting for it?  I've been dying to use an Art Impressions stamp set which I bought a few weeks back.  The name of the set is "Reel Great Guys", which should give you a hint.  Yes, it's all about fishing.  What else would I get for the man in my life?

I love this set!  It's funny but the images are so well drawn.  Look at that little Dachshund, for example, so self-satisfied, floating around in his inflatable.  And the fisherman, decked out in his special fishing vest and hat, having fun casting his line.  Those images are awesome, aren't they?  I coloured them using my Stampin' Blends and love the results.  I decided to cut each image separately, using two different styles of stitched dies.  The little Dachshund is peaceful with that single line of stitches around his oval.  The fisherman, however, is cut with a square "wonky" double-stitched die which reflects all that "wonky" casting he's doing.

I decided to mount the images on the wonderful Wood Textures Designer Series paper.  It just supports that masculine theme so well, doesn't it?  And behind that is a layer of Early Espresso.  I mounted both background pieces a-kilter for fun, using a retired Natural White base.

And for the inside, what could be better than a greeting with a smiling fish?

I hope you'll be joining us by linking up your awesome creations before Monday, August 20th at 5 p.m. Mountain Daylight Time.  To see the wonderful creations by our Watercooler Artists, check out our Watercooler Wednesday Challenge blog.

I've entered my card in the following challenges:

Craftaholics R Us Challenge #33 - Anything Goes
The Crafty Addicts Challenge #51 - Boys and Men
A Bit More Time to Craft Challenge #74 - Anything Goes

WWC165 - Tenia's "All About Occasions" Challenge

I'm so excited for this challenge!  Tenia Nelson is hosting our popular "All About Occasions" Challenge and I've made a birthday card.  But wait, it gets better.  First of all, however, I'd better display our challenge icon for this week.

So "what is so exciting about making a birthday card" you ask.  Well, it's what I used to make the card which made it such a lot of fun.  This past weekend I went to one of Stampin' Up!'s OnStage Events.  This one was held in Red Deer and was more special than many previous ones since this is their 30th Anniversary year.  Exciting?  Definitely!  Not that many companies keep growing and keep going for so many years.

Besides learning about so many new products and having fun making some awesome projects with a few of those products, those who attended lucked out by receiving some of the new stamp sets and products early.  That's what's so exciting about this card.  I've made it using a brand new stamp set and some gorgeous new Designer Vellum.  They're both from the Graceful Glass suite.

What I love about the vellum is that it has been embossed in black with some gorgeous "stained glass" designs.  They're perfect for colouring with some of our Stampin' Blends or with the Stampin' Markers.  I've used the Stampin' Blends for the Vellum and then used the Stampin' Markers for the stamped butterflies.  I love the way all the images in the stamp set have that stained glass look and the sentiments are all in gorgeous, fancy script.

My base is the Heavy Whisper White.  The solid layer is Tranquil Tide cardstock and the next layer is a pretty ombre piece from the still current Naturally Eclectic Designer Series Paper.  That lovely green faceted dot is from the new, not-yet-released Annual Catalogue.

I love the way the current products work so beautifully with the soon-to-be-released ones, don't you?  I can't show you photos of the stamp set but I can tell you it's awesome and that it is paired with a great set of Framelit Dies.

This week Gail Allen is away from electronic devices as she travels and in her absence we've welcomed Stephanie Lanzalotto as our Guest Designer.  I hope you'll check out her awesome card as well as those by our Watercooler Artists over at the Watercooler Wednesday Challenge.