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

WWC208 - Charlotte's "All About Occasions" Challenge

I love our "All About Occasions" challenges!   They're perfect for all sorts of celebrations throughout the year.  This time I decided to go all romantic with a Valentine's Day card using colours inspired by the gorgeous vellum pattern in my favourite Specialty Designer Series paper, the Floral Romance.

I used that pretty Vellum patterned paper along the left side of the card and complimented it along the right side by embossing the Whisper White layer with the retired Falling Petals embossing folder.  Since I love those darling little mice from the Sweet Storybook set, I stamped one on each of two Whisper White hearts which I cut using the Be Mine Stitched Framlelit dies.  I love that there is a scalloped stitched piece to be used as a matte for the simple hearts.  I also cut a much smaller heart from a piece of Petal Pink cardstock to link the two larger hearts and also to compliment the Petal Pink in the patterned Vellum. 

I wanted a smaller Whisper White heart to pop on top of that scalloped Petal Pink heart but there wasn't a die in the right size and so I cut another scalloped heart from a small piece of Whisper White and then simply cut off the stitching and scallops and had the piece I wanted.  For the centre of that white heart, I cut a small heart from the gorgeous Sale-a-bration Grapefruit Grove foil sheets.  That foil is amazing because it looks a different colour from every angle, just like an opal.

For the inside of the card I used a matte of Petal Pink behind a piece of Whisper White and then stamped the pretty flourish from the Timeless Textures set using Petal Pink ink.  The sentiment is also from the Sweet Storybook set.

Remember, you can get the Grapefruit Grove Foil free with qualifying purchases from Stampin' Up! until March 31st.

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

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

Always Fun Challenges #97 - Love-Valentines

Dream Valley Challenges #195 - Love & Kisses

WWC199 - Tristan's Feminine "Anything Goes" Challenge

Oh, I had such fun with my card!  I used the Seasonal Wreath embossing folder for the first time and added the sweet mice from the Sweet Storybook stamp set.  Don't you love it?

Of course my plans for the card forced me to do a whole lot of additional work.  You see, I wanted to use the Softly Falling embossing folder for my background, to give the card a wintery feel.  That meant I had to give us either the Softly Falling or the Seasonal Wreath since it's rather difficult to use two embossing folders without winding up with a mess.  But then I thought, why not fussy cut the embossed wreath?  Now that I've done it, I love it, but I freely admit there were some rather strong words said during the cutting, which wound up being fussy, indeed.

Once the wreath had been cut, I took a small paint brush and the Frost White Shimmer Paint.  I carefully painted the entire wreath and put it aside to dry.  While it was drying, I stamped the two little mice and then realized that, for placement on the wreath, I would have to fussy cut them rather than use the die from the bundle.  A small setback but at least they were easily cut out.  By this time the wreath was dry and so I took the Soft Sea Foam ink pad, forced some ink into the lid, and proceeded to colour the twigs in the wreath using my AquaPainter.  Because I painted over the Frost White Shimmer Paint, the pale green has a real shimmer to it.  I love it!

So, with my base of Heavy Whisper White and a matte of Soft Sea Foam, I took a piece of Whisper White and embossed it using the Softly Falling embossing folder.  I adhered that to the matte and then glued on the wreath, being careful to simply glue the edges so that the depth of the embossing wasn't affected.  Then I used Dimensional foam to attach the little mice.  I held my breath while stamping the sentiment (from a retired set) but luckily it stamped cleanly.  A trio of little Faceted Dots and my card was done.

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:

Cards in Envy:  The Spirit of Christmas Challenge

Papercraft Challenges #26 - Wintertime 

The Holly and Ivy Christmas Challenge #42 - Anything Christmas Goes

Crafty Creations Challenge#379 - Anything Goes

WWC191 - Charlotte's "All About Occasions" Challenge

It's October and Hallowe'en is getting closer and closer.  When I was a kid, that was one of my absolute favourite Occasions.  Dressing up and getting candy---what could be better?  And let me tell you, I had it a lot easier than my poor grandsons.  Hallowe'en in Victoria meant I could still go out in my Princess gown with a tiara and pretty stole around my shoulders.  Frost?  In October?  In Victoria at that time, unlikely.  It's changed a bit but the climate everywhere keeps changing, doesn't it?  Here in Alberta, however, there is likely to be snow.  Frost is something that, in October, is completely taken over by freezing temperatures.  Trick or Treating here is for the hale and hearty.

For our Watercooler Wednesday Challenge this week I've combined a number of terrific products.  Yes, you can see the little witch and cauldron from my favourite Hallowe'en suite in the Holiday Catalogue this year, the Toil & Trouble Suite.  That "window" through which you're seeing her is created with the Sweet Storybook Bundle.  The wonderful embossed pattern on the purple front of my card is created with the gorgeous Tin Tile Dynamic Textured Impressions embossing folder.  Don't the colours and textures make you want to open that card to see what else is waiting inside?

As you can see, as soon as you open the card, there is a wonderful display of stars thanks to the lovely Toil & Trouble designer series paper.  The images are beautifully coloured and vivid as well.  Several of the images can also be cut out using the dies in the bundle.  The cat and frogs, however, are all stamped and cut out using the actual Cauldron Bubble bundle.  As you can see from the window, there is more waiting inside.

The very inside page of the card shows off the little witch, her cauldron, the spider and web as well as the little frog from this Suite.  What a lot of fun these images are!  The background?  I used the Woodland Embossing folder on a sheet of Pacific Point and then coloured the embossed trees using the White Chalk Marker.  For two of the embossed trees I added green over the white to reflect the green of the roiling cauldron and also to add atmosphere.  I hand cut the bats from some of the designer paper.

I had such fun creating my tri-fold card for this challenge.  Hallowe'en is such a fun Occasion!  I hope you'll check out the cards by the other Watercooler Artists at our Watercooler Wednesday Challenge.

I've entered my card in the following challenges:

Paper Minutes #558 - Hallowe'en Countdown

Crafty Gals Corner Challenge #176 - Fancy Folds

Crafty Creations Challenges #376 - Anything Goes

Addicted to Stamps & More Challenge #313 - Holiday