WWC289 - Heidi's Challenge: Anything Goes With a Masculine Twist

I love the wonderful images created by Bonnie Krebs for Art Impressions, don't you?  In the set which I'm using, Bonnie has brought the adorable Opossum images to life.  I had such fun using them.

 

A lot of little things came together to make this card work.  I began with a base of Garden Green cardstock.  Then I added a layer of Whisper White which I first embossed using the confetti embossing folder and then adhered to the base.  For the background oval I used a piece of Pool Party cardstock to which I adhered three clouds which I had fussy cut from some retired patterned paper .  Then I heat embossed the sentiment using White Embossing powder.   To give it some added interest, I ran the piece through my Big Shot using the Subtle embossing folder.  I like the  way the  embossing makes those clouds appear to be part of the paper and yet still lets the sentiment be legible.  Win/win.  

 After stamping my little Possum on a piece of Mixed Media paper,  I carefully fussy cut it out and then used my Aqua Painter to watercolour it.  I kept the colours neutral but layered them to give a sense of dimension and shadows.  I used Crumb Cake, Gray Granite, Petal Pink, Pink Flamingo (for that sweet little nose), Garden Green and Pineapple Punch.   After the watercolouring had completely dried, I added some Shimmery Crystal Effects to both the balloon and that cute nose.  I love the shimmery shine, don't you?

 The oval is raised above the base and matte with a ring of Adhesive Strips around the perimeter.  I love the effect!

Have fun checking out our Watercooler Wednesday Challenge and I hope you'll link your creation before the deadline on Monday, September 21st.  

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

Lemon Shortbread Challenge #128 - Anything Goes

 Creative Craft Cottage Challenge #133 - Include an Animal

Simon Says Monday Challenge - Frame It

WWC270 - Tristan's Challenge: Anything Goes With a Feminine Twist

Mother's Day is almost here.  In Canada, we're celebrating it this Sunday, May 10th.  Since Tristan's Challenge this week is an Anything Goes With a Feminine Twist, it's a perfect time for me to show off my Mother's Day card.  If my Mum were still alive, I think she would love it!

The images are so sweet, aren't they?  They're from Stampin' Up!'s Wildly Happy stamp set.  I thought it was perfect for such a special day.  I kept the colours rather neutral, not wanting to shift attention away from the darling Pandas.

My base is the Heavy Whisper White with a matte of Pear Pizzaz which I first embossed using the Subtle 3D embossing folder before adding it to the base.  Next, I embossed a piece of Soft Sea Foam using the Layered Leaves 3D embossing folder.  I cut the bottom on the diagonal before adding it to the card.

For the centre oval, I stamped the Pandas on a piece of Mixed Media paper using  Black Versafine ink and, once it was dry, used my watercolour pencils and Aqua Painter to colour the images. I used the Leaf Punch to cut out two pieces of vellum which I sponged with Mossy Meadow ink.  Once that had dried, I added white lines and then added the sentiment which I cut using the stitched circle die.

I love the way the card turned out and hope you do as well.  Have fun checking out our Watercooler Wednesday Challenge and I hope you'll link your creation before the deadline on Monday, May 11th.

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

Cuttlebug Mania - To all kinds of Moms out there

 Lemon Shortbread Challenge #119 - Anything Goes

Always Fun Challenges #161- Female or Mom

Dream Valley Challenges #224 - Our Four-Legged Friends

WWC227 - Michelle's "All About Occasions" Challenge

Winner

Design Team's Choice at the Creative Moments Challenge

Oh, I love these "All About Occasions" Challenges, don't you?  Michelle is our host this week and I am itching to create another card using those gorgeous birds from the Free As A Bird set.

I got my inspiration for the colouring from this fun bird sculpture beside the card.  The bonus is that the birds on the card appear to be looking over at him, playing his cello.  For this card I used the long image stamp with the four birds and only stamped three of them on the branch near the top left of the card and then stamped the remaining one on the branch near the bottom right of the card.  

I used my ink pads and Aqua Painter to colour in the images.  Then I ran the piece through the Big Shot using the Subtles Dynamic Embossing Folder to give it a Linen look.  I love the results, don't you?  Once I attached it to a base of Balmy Blue and added three tiny Artisan Pearls from the retired Share What You Love embellishments, my card was finished.

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:

Addicted to Stamps and More Challenge #347 - Make Your Mark

Inkspirational Challenges #189 - Garden

Artistic Inspiration Challenge #216 - Anything Goes

Creative Moments Challenge #171 - Anything Goes

Simon Says Wednesday Challenge Blog - Anything Goes

WWC225 - Donna's "All About Occasions" Challenge

I had fun making not just one, but three cards, for Donna's "All About Occasions" Challenge.  Why, you ask?  Well, I chose not to buy the Good Morning Magnolia bundle because I already have a lot of floral stamps.  Instead, I bought the Magnolia Lane Memories & More Card Pack.  It has gorgeous images as well as several beautiful pieces of stamped vellum.  And, oh, what wonderful cards can be made from this pack!

Aren't they lovely?  Both the top and bottom left cards are the conventional 4 1/4" x 5 1/2" size.  The one on the right is actually oversized, measuring 6 1/4" x 4 1/4".  The reason for that is the special Magnolia Lane Memories & More Large Specialty Cards and Envelopes.  You can't see the pretty white foil accent lines on the folded card because I've used a full sized Memories & More card on it (6" x 4").  I love the way it looks as the base, however, because the Kraft colour really compliments the colours in the pieces I've used.

For the card on the top left, I've also used a 6" x 4" Memories & More card but trimmed down to 5 1/4" x 4".  That way it fit beautifully on the Mossy Meadow base, leaving an edge of the pretty, deep green.  In this case the Memories & More card was simply outlined, as if it had just been stamped.  So I took my Petal Pink, Mossy Meadow, Crushed Curry, and Sahara Sand stamp pads and proceeded to add colour with my AquaPainter.   I love the way it turned out.  The centre has a rectangle of Mossy Meadow and a sentiment cut from a smaller Memories & More card using one of the Stitched Nested Label dies.  Three Petal Pink self-adhesive sequins and a sticker complete the card.

The card on the bottom left has a Heavy Whisper White base.  I decided to use one of the smaller Memories & More cards for this one.  After embossing the image using the Subtle 3-D embossing folder to give it a "linen" effect, I used a narrow matte of Early Espresso and a wider matte of Petal Pink.  I set the matted image off to the side for effect.  I also used one of the pre-stamped sentiments in the pack, with a narrow matte of Whisper White and a wider matte of Early Espresso.

All three cards were fun to create and, if you're not sure you want the entire suite or even the stamp/die bundle, this is a great way to enjoy the images at a much lower cost.

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 #95 - Anything Goes

Crafting From the Heart Challenge #245 - Anything Goes

Make My Monday Challenge #98 - Lots of Flowers

Crafty Creations Challenges #392 - Anything Goes

Creative Moments Challenge #170 - Anything Goes

WWC219 - Heidi's Feminine "Anything Goes" Challenge

It's strange how things work out.  When I first saw the Varied Vases bundle, it didn't impress me.  The images all seemed so small.  I wasn't a fan.  And then, on a whim, I bought it.  What can I say?  I've fallen in love.  Sometimes "small" makes a big impact.

I used a base of the Heavy Whisper White.  Then I layered a piece of Mossy Meadow and a piece of Mint Macaron.  The Mint Macaron was embossed using the gorgeous Subtle 3-D embossing folder.  Now someone else would have taken the easy road and just cut out a piece of Whisper White using the scalloped Oval die.  But someone like me doesn't realize there is an easier way and so I wound up cutting out a scalloped oval from the Mossy Meadow layer as well as the Mint Macaron layer.  That allowed the Heavy Whisper White to show through and thus created a white border around the pretty leafy Floral Romance Specialty Designer series paper.

I stamped the little vase using Mossy Meadow ink and then cut it out using the matching Vases Builder Punch.  Then I stamped the gorgeous orchid after inking up the stamp with my Mossy Meadow and Flirty Flamingo Stampin' Markers.  After I "huffed" the stamp, I managed a very nice image on a scrap of Whisper White.  I used the Flirty Flamingo ink pad to stamp the colour into the outlined orchid.  Then I proceeded to fussy cut the flowers and stem.  I used the punch to cut out the orchid leaf from a scrap of Mossy Meadow.

Assembly was simple.  I used dimensionals to adhere the vase and orchids to give the card more depth.  To finish up I stamped "Birthday Wishes" at the bottom right of the card using Mossy Meadow ink.  I love the results, don't you?

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:

International Art & Soul #57 - Anything Birthday

Crafting From the Heart #242 - Anything Goes

The crafty Addicts Challenge 60 - Anything Goes

Seize the Birthday #164 - Texture

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