WWC287 - Helen's Challenge: Anything Goes With a Feminine Twist

Oh my!  I just bought a gorgeous stamp set from the Craft Consortium and had to use it.  The set is called The Riverbank and the images are simply beautiful.

I decided to use the retired but absolutely lovely Perennial Essence Designer Series paper as my background.  The look of the artist's brushstrokes and the bold mix of colours compliments the swan image which I've used as well as the water lilies in the foreground.

My base is the Heavy Whisper White and then I've used a matte of the Gorgeous Grape to accent the colours in the patterned paper.  I fussy cut the swan as well as the water lilies since, alas, there are no matching dies in this set.  For the swan I used a light watercolour wash of Smoky Slate to add form to the body and neck.  For the water lilies, I began with watercolouring the blossoms, using the pretty Powder Pink.  Layering the colour in places, adds form to the blossoms, too.  The leaves, however, were coloured using my Stampin' Blends.  I used both the dark and the light Call Me Clover to give them form as well as carry the colour from the background.

While I adhered the swan directly to the background, I used dimensionals to pop up the water lilies and thus add dimension to the card.  A quick heat embossing of the sentiment using white embossing powder, and the card was done.  I love the way it turned out, don't you? 

Have fun checking out our Watercooler Wednesday Challenge and I hope you'll link your creation before the deadline on Monday, September 7th.

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

Lemon Shortbread Challenge #127 - Anything Goes

Crafty Hazelnut's September 2020 Patterned Paper Challenge

Crafty Cardmakers Challenge #262 - Things With Wings

Simon Says Stamp it in STAMPtember

WWC262 - Marsha's Challenge: All About Occasions

This week our Watercooler Wednesday Challenge is all about Occasions and so, of course, I had to use an adorable House-Mouse image which I just bought called Easter Egg Nap.  It's an Easter theme which is, of course, perfect.

Could anything be more cute than that little mouse napping on top of the brightly coloured Easter egg?  My base if the Heavy Whisper White cardstock and then I added a scalloped matte using the Balmy Blue cardstock.

I've stamped my adorable House-Mouse image on a piece of Mixed Media paper and then cut it using a rectangular die with crossing lines of stitching.  It's subtle but I love what it adds to the card.   I decided to use my Stampin' Blends (alcohol inks) to colour the image and love the clean colours.  My mouse, especially, looks almost as if it's breathing.  The colours are so lifelike.

The Happy Easter sentiment is from a retired SU! stamp set, Indescribable Gift.  It's simple but just perfect to finish the card.

I hope you enjoy my card as much as I enjoyed creating it.  Have fun with our challenge!

I'm also entering this card in the following challenges:

Lemon Shortbread Challenge #115 - Anything Goes

House-Mouse & Friends Monday Challenge #311 - Anything Goes

2 Crafty Critter Crazies Challenge #11 - Anything Goes with a Critter

The Sisterhood of Crafters: Easter Challenge

WWC248 - Kath's Masculine "Anything Goes" Challenge

I had a whole bunch of half-thought out ideas of masculine cards I could create but somehow nothing really caught my interest.  Then I came across a stamp set which I picked up quite a while ago and put aside.  It's funny!  It's cute!  To my mind it was the perfect choice for this week's challenge.  I hope you like it, too.

The set comes as one stamp with this trio of laughing animals and, of course, a nice selection of sentiments from which to choose.  There is something about these three that tickles my "funny bone".  I had fun colouring them with my Stampin' Blends, too.  For the background, I just "scribbled" around the animals using the Light So Saffron.  The ground is coloured using the Light Gray Granite.  The zebra is coloured with the Basic Black and Light Flirty Flamingo.  The giraffe also has some Light Flirty Flamingo and then the body is Light Crumb Cake covered over with Light Pumpkin Pie.  Finally, the elephant is coloured using the Smoky Slate with touches of Flirty Flamingo.

I used a base of So Saffron, a matte of Gray Granite and then stamped on Whisper White.  It's a light-hearted card.  I love it and hope you do, too.

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:

Arty Divas Challenge #9 - Anything Goes

Crafty Creations Challenge #402 - Anything Goes

Lemon Shortbread Challenge #107 - Anything Goes

WWC246 - Tristan's Feminine "Anything Goes" Challenge

Baby, it's cold outside.  There's a lot of snow out there, too.  So I'm definitely thinking of winter and wintry things as I sit wondering what to do for our Feminine "Anything Goes" Challenge.  For some reason the Playful Penguins stamp set keeps coming to mind.  So I'm thinking that there's no reason a penguin can't be feminine, right?

Look at that pink and gold scarf and toque.  Doesn't that just scream "lady penguin" to you?  And the sentiment worked out so well, too.

I began with a base of Heavy Whisper White and then added two thin mattes.  First I added Pool Party and then I added Lovely Lipstick.  The background Designer Paper is retired but I loved the "swirling" snow drifts and flakes.  What a perfect environment for those penguins!

I stamped the penguins onto a piece of Whisper White and then fussy cut them.  After colouring them with my Stampin' Blends, I attached them to the front of the card.  Then I cut out three snowflakes using the Seasonal Layers dies.  Although I just used scraps of Whisper White for those snowflakes, they have a wonderful sheen to them since I painted them with the Frost White Shimmer Paint.  I also added some of that Shimmer Paint to the snow drifts that the penguins are standing on to anchor them.

For the inside of the card, I just added some snowflakes stamped with Pool Party ink and a perfect sentiment from the same stamp set.

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 #106 - Anything Goes

Dragonfly Dreams Challenges - Winter/Christmas

Crafty Sentiments Designs - Anything Goes

Addicted to Stamps and More Challenge #366 - Anything Goes

Crafting by Designs: November Challenge - Anything Goes

WWC229 - Helen's "All About Occasions" Challenge

It's my sister's birthday this coming weekend and so I can fulfil this challenge as well as get a fun card designed just for her.  Doe has gone through some really difficult times over the past four years, with a major operation each year.  I thought something lighthearted would be perfect under the circumstances.  She loves flowers so definitely, the Pressed Petals Specialty Designer paper is perfect for that.  And I'm adding a bit of whimsy with the sweet images from the New Wonders stamp set.

Aren't the images darling?  I fussy cut each out.  The lower one is positioned precisely to make it appear that a layer of paper is being peeled back to expose that gorgeous Designer Paper.  I used the Stitched Nested Labels dies to cut into the cardstock and am pleased that it worked out so well.  The little magical dots and stars are thanks to a retired set, the Fairy Celebration, and work perfectly here.  They're stamped using Rococo Rose ink as is the sentiment.

I used my Stampin' Blends to colour the little fairies.  As you can see from this close-up, I've even added some Rococo Rose to the nib of the pen to make it appear it was dipped in ink.  I'm so happy the Gingham Gala self-adhesive sequins carried over since they are the perfect embellishments for my card.

I tried to use the same colours that appear in the Designer Paper on the fairies.  I think it worked out quite well.  You can see how nicely the fussy cut image joins to the die-cut opening in this photo.  I know the sweet images and colours in this card will bring a smile to my sister's face.

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:

Creative Moments Challenge #172 - Anything Goes

Crafting From the Heart Challenge #247 - Anything Goes

Just Us Girls Challenge #495 - Word Week (Smile)

Dragonfly Dreams Challenges - Things With Wings

Sisterhood of Crafters Challenge - Birthday Month (congratulations Debbie)

Paper Craft Crew Challenge (PPC343) - Designer's Choice

WWC222 - Helen's "All About Occasions" Challenge

Every once in a while a stamp set comes along that totally resonates with you.  That's what happened when I saw the lovely Free As A Bird set in the upcoming new Stampin' Up! Annual Catalogue.  I love the beautifully drawn images as well as the perfect selection of sentiments.  This is a set I knew I wanted and I was stoked when it was among the pre-orders which we were allowed to make this month as Demonstrators for Stampin' Up!

The pretty flowers and leaves are part of the stamp set as is that gorgeous bird.  Of course I had to look up "seed eating birds" for ideas of natural colours for my birds.  Then came the onerous job of fussy-cutting.  If I have one criticism, it is that the images don't have accompanying dies.  Oh, yes, there is a die-set in the bundle which one can buy with a 10% savings, but those dies are elongated stitched hexagonals.

I don't usually go fancy with my backgrounds but it's difficult not to when one has a beautiful set of laser-cut cards.  I couldn't resist the special tin designed for the Bird Ballad Suite.  That's Mint Macaron cardstock behind the laser-cut design.  I think it compliments the Balmy Blue which I used  to watercolour my stitched circle very nicely, don't you?

For the little sentiments "banner" I used my Mint Macaron Stampin' Marker to add faux stitching after stamping "Congratulations" using Calypso Coral ink.

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 #94 - Anything Goes

Crafting From the Heart Challenge #243 - Anything Goes

Freshly Made Sketches Challenge #389 - A Sketch by Narelle

WWC218 - Marsha's "All About Occasions" Catalogue

My card for this week's challenge is a bit of a celebration.  It spotlights products which I'm happy to say are being carried into the upcoming Stampin' Up! Annual Catalogue (2019-20).  I am always "tickled pink" this time of the year when something I love doesn't retire.

The pretty teacup, of course, is from the soon-to-be-retiring Occasions Catalogue.  Of course the framelit dies for the set was one of the Sale-a-bration offerings.  How wonderful it was to discover that the two products would be part of the new Annual Catalogue.  Peeking out behind the teacup are the stylish open-work connected hearts, part of the Be Mine Stitched framelits dies which are part of the Meant to Be set, also from the Occasions Catalogue.  I was happy to see those carry into the new Annual Catalogue as well.

That stunning 3-D style embossing behind the teacup and hearts?  That folder was also one of the Sale-a-bration offerings.  Happily it, too, made its way into the new Annual Catalogue.  This is an embossing folder that is wonderfully versatile.  I can hardly wait to try some other ways of using it.

I'm happy with the way these products came together for this Mother's Day card.  I kept the colours simple with a base of Heavy Whisper White and then a layer of Mint Macaron and Highland Heather.  Even the Stampin' Blends I used and those open die-cut hearts carry on with those colours.

Oh, and those pretty Gold Metallic Pearls in the centres of the flowers?  Yes, they've also carried over into the new catalogue.

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:

Inkspirational Challenge #185 - Tea Photo

Lemon Shortbread Challenge Blog #92 - Anything Goes

Incy Wincy Designs Challenge - Coffee/Tea Time

Crafty Creations Challenges #389 - Anything Goes

WWC216 - Dawn's "All About Occasions" Challenge

Sometimes an occasion is no more than a wish to brighten someone's day.  Isn't that an awesome reason to send a card?  That's what I've done for Dawn's "All About Occasions" Challenge, by mixing together the Sweet Storybook and Fable Friends stamp sets.

I kept the card clean and simple by stamping the foliage from the Sweet Storybook set directly onto my base of Heavy Whisper White.  I used the Call Me Clover, off-stamped once.  For my adorable little squirrel, I stamped the image onto a small piece of Whisper White and then stamped the flower portion once on a scrap of Whisper White.  After colouring the images using my Stampin' Blends, I proceeded to fussy-cut them out.  (I need a helpful Crafting Elf to keep me company and do all my cutting.)

I mounted the separate flower on top of the flower which was part of the image, using a small Dimensional foam and some Tombo white glue.  I wanted the petals beside the squirrel's face to be flat against him instead of raised.  Then I added Dimensional foam pieces all over the back of the squirrel and flower image and mounted that at the base of the stamped foliage image.

I'm very happy to share the results in Dawn's challenge.

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:

CAS on Sunday Challenge #155 - Anything Spring

Inkspirational Challenge #184 - Pop it up!

Lemon Shortbread Challenge #91 - Anything Goes

WWC212 - Tristan's "All About Occasions" Challenge

Yay!  I made the top three!

We're having an "All About Occasions" Challenge hosted by Tristan this week.  I love the possibilities that are offered by this challenge.  So many big and little occasions happen in our lives all year long.  I also love that I had an opportunity to use a brand new Happy Hoppers stamp created by Ellen Jareckie.

Isn't that a fun image?  Stampendous offers all these wonderful images created by Ellen Jareckie in rubber stamps.  I wound up with a perfectly crisp image which I had a lot of fun colouring with my Aquapainter and several of my ink pads.  The umbrella is Rich Razzleberry, the raindrops and puddle are Balmy Blue, and the adorable little frog is a combination of Pear Pizzaz and Mossy Meadow.  For the bunny's fur I changed to my Stampin' Blends and used the Crumb Cake and Petal Pink.

That lovely patterned piece with all the watercoloured dots is from the Share What You Love Specialty Designer Series paper.  I've taken all my colours from that paper (except the frog).  My two slanted pieces of cardstock are Grapefruit Grove and Tranquil Tide.  I love the way the colours and images came together.  I think someone's spirits are going to be lifted with this little card.

I hope you'll check out the wonderful creations by the Watercooler Artists over at our Watercooler Wednesday Challenge and also welcome our brand new Watercooler Artist, Michelle Wallace.

I've entered my card into the following challenges:

House Mouse & Friends Monday Challenge #286 - Anything Goes with Option of Dots or Stripes

Lemon Shortbread Challenge #89 - Always Anything Goes

WWC205 - Donna's "All About Holidays" Challenge

I love the "All About Holidays" challenge but decided that I had to get away from Christmas cards this month.  What could be better than making an Easter card, especially since I was dying to use the gorgeous new Sale-a-Bration stamp, Lovely Lattice.

I love the colours I chose for this card, don't you?  My base is the Heavy Whisper White followed by a layer of Calypso Coral and then a layer of Soft Sea Foam.  Before adding the Soft Sea Foam, I ran it through my Big Shot in the Subtle embossing folder and then cut it using the lovely stitched Rectangle framelits.

For the actual image from the Lovely Lattice stamp set, I decided to heat emboss it onto a piece of vellum cardstock with the Silver embossing powder.  Once that dried and cooled, I carefully fussy-cut it out.  Then I used my Calypso Coral, Old Olive, Mango Melody, Daffodil Delight, and Mint Macaron Stampin' Blends to colour the image from the back of the vellum.  I love the beautiful colours and especially love the look of the coloured vellum.

For the sentiment I turned to the You're Inspiring stamp set because of its size and the pretty Font.  It's stamped with Calypso Coral ink and then cut out with the stitched Oval framelits.  The matte is cut out of Calypso Coral with the Oval framelits.

Remember, you can get the gorgeous Lovely Lattice stamp set free with a qualifying purchase from Stampin' Up! until March 31st.

And let's not forget that the talented Sandie Munro is our Guest Designer this week as well.  Check out her work and the wonderful creations by the Watercooler Artists over at our Watercooler Wednesday Challenge.

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

Stampin' From the Heart #235 - Anything Goes

WWC194 - "Anything Goes" Challenge

Oh my goodness!  It's the fifth Wednesday of the month and we're having an "Anything Goes" challenge.  I am so ready for this!  I've been wanting to create a special fun Christmas framed decor item and that's what I've done!

The So Santa stamp set in this year's Holiday Catalogue is perfect for this type of creation.  The images are just the right size for the openings in this adorable frame I found at the Dollar Store.  With the four mini frames inside the larger frame, I had room for each of the three images in the stamp set as well as the longer sentiment in the set.

I took a few liberties.  The image of Santa holding his surf board and that tropical drink does not actually include a palm tree.  But that's what masking and other little stamps are for, right?  I coloured the scene with my Stampin' Blends and love the way it turned out.

For the second little frame I stamped the image of Santa on his motor scooter "popping a wheelie".  When I coloured the image I also left his legs skin coloured to make it appear that he was wearing shorts.  We wouldn't want Santa to be too dehydrated, right?

For the third little frame I again did some masking and added the palm tree.  Besides that I inked his arms, avoiding the cuffs, so that I could make him appear to be bare armed---again, keeping in mind the heat.

I loved creating this piece of decor and now have to decide who will be the lucky recipient.

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 Creations Challenge #377 - Anything Goes

Creative Moments #155 - Anything Goes

Simon Says Wednesday Challenge Blog - Anything Goes

Dream Valley Challenges #189 - Anything But a Card

You're Incredible!

As I continue to sort through my retired stamps, I come across sets which I've kept simply because they work perfectly for kids, especially boys.  One of the sets I came across this morning is the Everyday Hero stamp set.  I love the way you can put the images together to make the card more "girlie" or more"for the boys".  After all, super-heroes should not automatically be boys (or men). 

Using the new Gray Granite to stamp on, I used the Basic Gray to stamp the city scape at the bottom of the piece.  I wanted it to be twilight or dark and this combination worked well.  It also allowed me to stamp the big "expression frame" using the new Lovely Lipstick.  Having that in place, I heat embossed the sentiment "You're incredible!" using White embossing powder, placing it between the city scape and the "frame".  Then I free-handed two "WOW" sentiments using an embossing pen and then heat embossed those using White embossing powder.

My "hero" would fit perfectly into that "expression frame".  The stamps in the set let you mix and match heads, bodies, and capes.  It's such fun because there are almost endless choices.  Mine wound up being a blond guy wearing a blue mask and a blue cape.  His costume is a vivid red and yellow.  Of course I used my Stampin' Blends to do the colouring.  Once I had mounted the super hero using Dimensions, I used a narrow Whisper White matte and then attached the whole piece to my base of Coastal Cabana.

This was a fun card to create.  I've decided to enter it into the TGIF Challenge #tgifc164 - Doodle bug since I've hand drawn the two "wow's" and also drew in some lit up windows in the city scape.

And I'm also entering it into the Try It On Tuesday - For the Boys challenge.

Watercooler Wednesday Challenge #152 - Kath's "All About Occasions" Challenge

It's time for that new "All About Occasions" Challenge we introduced before Christmas and this time it's hosted by Kath Ricks.  I love this challenge because there are so many occasions which we celebrate throughout the year.

I decided on a birthday card because that is, without a doubt, the occasion that comes up most frequently.  I had ordered the new Bird Banter stamp set before Christmas and last week, finally had a chance to play with it.  Those birds make me smile.  And the types of birds lend themselves to some awesome colouring.  For my card I turned to the new Stampin' Blends.  Didn't the parrot turn out wonderfully bright?  I love the shading that's possible with the Blends as well as the lovely brilliant colours.

The stamp set comes with the branch and additional leaf and flower stamps.  I decided to add quite a bit of foliage and some flowers to add to the birthday fun.  And the sentiments that come with the set--so much fun!

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

I'm also entering this card in the Inkspirational Challenge #151 which is "all about stamping".

And I'm entering it into the Addicted to Stamps and More Challenge #274 which is "clean and simple"