WWC204 - Gail's Masculine "Anything Goes" Challenge

Both my husband and my son-in-law are avid fly-fishermen and so the brand new Best Catch bundle in the Stampin' Up! Occasions Catalogue was on my very first order.

I used a special "X" fold for this card because it added dimension and spotlights the action.  I thought the wonderful Floral Romance Specialty Designer paper would be perfect for the card and so I took all my greens from the paper.  The hardest thing about the card, I will admit, was the fussy-cutting I chose to do along the left side of the card.  I wanted those leaves hanging over the opening and love the effect, don't you?

For the base of my card I used the Mossy Meadow cardstock.  I love the way it compliments the other colours and also gives a real "out-in-the-woods" feel to the card.  For the narrow panel I made a background using my re-inkers and some of my Brushos.  It looked like moving water--perfect for the die-cut fisherman.

For my fish I wound up using two layers.  The top layer is vellum onto which I've heat embossed the trout using silver embossing powder.  Then I used my Stampin' Blends to colour both the front and back of the vellum.  I found that intensified the colour, which I was hoping it would.  The second layer isn't stamped at all, but is merely a piece of Whisper White which I've also die-cut with the same die.  It really helps the colours to "pop".

The reeds and grasses are included among the dies in this bundle but don't have a stamp to go with it.  I found it was easy to colour the grasses and reeds using my Stampin' Markers.  The cattails have an extra glow thanks to my Wink of Stella.

Finishing off, I stamped the sentiment on Whisper White, cut it out with my 1" punch and then mounted it on a square of Mossy Meadow, cut with the smallest of my Stitched Squares.

The above pattern should help should you wish to try this fancy fold pattern.

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 challenges:

Crafty Creations Challenges #382 - Anything Goes

The Male Room #102 - Anything Goes

Simply Create Too #145 - Anything Goes

WWC203 - Karen's "All About Occasions" Challenge

I am super-exited to announce that I was the winner of the top prize at the House-Mouse & Friends Challenge for this card.  What a super celebration! 

I was so excited to have found this wonderful House Mouse stamp set!  It's perfect for this week's challenge, too, since it's quite normal to celebrate occasions, isn't it?

Don't those little characters look as if they're bringing in the New Year or, perhaps, celebrating a birthday?  I love the way little Monica is jumping around, don't you?  I used my Pencils and Gamsol to colour the images.  Afterwards I added a bit of ground to anchor them (can't have my images floating about, can I?)

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 challenges:

House Mouse & Friends Monday Challenge #282 - Anything Goes 

Simon Says Monday Challenge Blog - Use Something New

WWC202 - Dawn's Feminine "Anything Goes" Challenge

Happy New Year, everyone.  I'm excited to show off the card which I created for Dawn's Feminine "Anything Goes" Challenge.  It's a fun (and easy to do) double easel card.

I created this card after seeing Rick Adkins' lovely double easel card.  I love special folds and this one is showy but, oh, so easy.  If you want the instructions and measurements, they're all over on Rick's post.

I have to admit that I've fallen madly and deeply in love with the Floral Romance Suite.  For this card I used some of the gorgeous Floral Romance Specialty Designer Series paper.  The leafy background is a normal, two sided print while the design in the foreground is only printed on one side and is vellum.  Set against the white background, the colours really shine.  I cut the twig and leaves with the Wonderful Floral Framelits dies and love the way they emboss the veins of the leaves so deeply.

Of course I had to use the new Nine Lives set.  I still have the cat punch which goes with this stamp set and love that I can stamp so many types of cats.  Don't you just love the orange tabby?  He's happily sitting on some of the logs which I cut from the Wood Textures Designer Series paper.  After all, he doesn't want to be hidden behind the front easel.

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

And, of course, enjoy the wonderful creation by our January 2019 Guest Designer, Sandie Munro.

WWC201 - Marsha's Special Two-Week Year-End "Anything Goes" Challenge

Wow!  The year is almost over.  Did anyone else think  it went super-fast?  It's already time for our special year-end challenge, which is always two weeks long to allow everyone time to enjoy those wonderful holidays.  I love that it's an "Anything Goes" challenge.  I have just the right stamp which is perfect to end one year and begin the next.

This stamp set by Gina Marie is s triple stamp set.  So you stamp the first image which is really just the light greys of the elephant and then, with the second and third image, you stamp in the details.  I love how realistic the finished image is, don't you?  Since I don't like my images to just "hang" in mid-air, I used my AquaPainter and Smoky Slate ink to create a shadow-shape .

I kept all my colour to greys and black.  I like the way it looks against the white.  The sentiment is, I think, perfect for many things, including looking forward to the New Year.  After all, isn't that what we're doing when we approach the new year?  We set new goals and dream ourselves more dreams.  It's a new beginning.  To finish off, I added three black rhinestones to the top right and three to the bottom left.  It's a CAS design 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:

Cardz 4 Guys Challenge #210 - New Year/New Beginnings

{PIN}spirational Challenges #231 - Anything Goes

Crafty Creations Challenges #380 - Anything Goes

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

Enjoy the Warmth of the Season

When I saw the image of those adorable House Mouse characters huddled inside a broken ornament, warming their little hands with the flame of a candle, I knew I had to have it.  And now, having bought it, I've loved every moment of bringing the little characters to life.

Once I had stamped my image on a piece of Whisper White cardstock, I proceeded to colour it using my Kooh-i-noor Woodless Colour Pencils and Gamsol.  In order to make the ornament appear to be glass with a shiny finish, I went over it with my H2O paints.  The shine is subtle but makes it stand out against the furry mice.  For the snow, rather than colour it, I used my White Embossing paste and a spatula.  I didn't like the way it looked against the Whisper White once it dried and so painted over it using the Frost White Shimmer paint.  For the candle's flame, I set some yellow and red colour around the wick and then covered it with a coat of clear Nuvo drops.  Once it was dry, I added some more yellow with my Stampin' Blends and a coat of Wink of Stella.

I cut the image using a large Oval Die and then cut a matte from Poppy Parade using an Oval Rickrack Die.  I mounted it onto a piece of the versatile Wood Textures DSP and backed it with a piece of Kraft cardstock before mounting it onto a base of Heavy Whisper White.  The sentiment, from  the Hearts Come Home set, is heat embossed on Kraft Paper using White embossing powder.

I created this card for fun but am entering a couple of appropriate challenges with it:

HMFMC #280 - Anything Goes with an option of "Something Warm"

Colour Crazy Craft Challenge week 49 - Anything Goes Colouring Challenge

Winter Wonderland:  End of year, Anything Christmas goes!

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

ATSM #321 - A piece of my heart

Oh my goodness, today it's "Anything Goes" for the Addicted to Stamps and More Challenge!  How much fun is that?  I love it when I can just go off and do what I want, don't you?  And with a new House Mouse stamp having arrived, can you guess what I'm using for my card this week?

This one is called Paper Clip Heart and sweet little Maxwell is offering Amanda a heart which he's just created out of a paper clip.  I used my Watercolour Pencils and Aqua-Painter for the colouring.  Of course once I got into the paper clips, I turned to my Silver Gel Pen.  And for a few of those paper clips, I turned to my Gold Gel Pen.  After all, don't we all have a mix of both?

For the paper clip heart I decided that I would give it a bit more of a 3-D effect and used the Silver Liquid Pearls for that.  Before adding my coloured image piece, I put the base through my Big Shot with the Falling Petals embossing folder (retired).  It just continued the heart theme.

This was such fun to create.  I'm looking forward to seeing what everyone else links up as their "anything goes".

Check out the creations by the rest of the Design Team and link your own project up HERE.

I've also linked up to the following:

House Mouse & Friends Monday Challenge #280 - Anything Goes

WWC198 - Gail's "All About Holidays" Challenge

I've said it before and I'll say it again, I love those adorable little "House Mouse" critters!  Small wonder that I chose to use this adorable stamp for Gail's "All About Holidays" challenge this week.

Don't you just love that image?  This one is a large stamp called Carousel Ornament, starring the adorable little Monica Mouse.  I love the amount of detail in this stamp!  Because the horse is a Christmas tree ornament, after colouring it using my Watercolour Pencils I added quite a bit of shine.  On the horse's body I added some of the Frost White shimmer ink and on the tail, hoofs and mane, I added some Champagne Mist shimmer ink.  I also added some silver to the pole and the harness using a silver pen.

Although the stamp itself has lots of greenery at the top and right of the image, I decided to add a bit of dimension by cutting several pine twigs from Pear Pizzazz cardstock.  Once they were cut, I added Soft Suede along the centre to make it appear woody and then added some Granny Apple Green to a few of the needles for added interest.  Glued on top of the stamped twigs, you can still see the stamped image but there is a sense of depth to the image.

Since I absolutely love the Silver Foil-Edged cards and envelopes available in the Holiday Catalogue, I cut the image panel to size, allowing for a narrow matte of Poppy Parade.  A tiny sentiment from the Wishing You Well set (also in the Holiday Catalogue), finishes the card off nicely.

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:

House-Mouse & Friends Monday Challenge #280 - Anything Goes

Mod Squad Challenge - Happy H-Owlidays (Use a Critter)

Cardz 4 Guyz Challenge #208 - Christmas Critters

WWC197 - Kath's Masculine "Anything Goes" Challenge

With Christmas getting closer and closer, I decided that I'd make a Christmas themed masculine card for our challenge this week.  Of course the fact that I found this awesome stamp with the two horses wearing Santa caps made it an easy decision.

Isn't that a lovely image?  The stamp is from Impression Obsession with the image by Melissa Gordon.  After using my watercolour pencils on the images, I used an oval die to cut it out.  I wanted to give the card a real masculine flair and so mounted the oval on a piece of the wonderful Wood Textures Designer Series Paper.  With a base of the Heavy Whisper White, I chose Real Red as a matte to bring out the colour of those Santa hats.

I tried stamping a sentiment on a banner but it just didn't look right and decided to cut out the "Noel" from the retired Christmas Stockings Thinlits dies using some of the Red Glimmer paper.  Cutting them apart allowed me to use them vertically and I think it works beautifully, don't you?

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:

2 Crafty Critter Crazies Challenge #20 - Anything Goes with a Critter

Cardz 4 Guys Challenge #208 - Christmas Critters

The Holly and Ivy Christmas Challenge #41 - Anything Christmas Goes

ATSM #319 - CAS

It's time for another Addicted to Stamps & More Challenge.  This time it's all about CAS (clean & simple).  While it's fun to put together a really detailed and layered card, sometimes it's great to see how much impact you can have by keeping it rather clean and simple.

When I saw the adorable snowmen created by Bonnie Krebs for Art Impressions, I knew I had to have the set.  It's perfect for this challenge, too.  I decided to use the image of the joy-filled snowman, skating along and using Christmas lights as a banner.  I knew he'd be fun to colour and decided that the "Oh What Fun!" sentiment included in the set would be perfect.  With all the wonderful details and the amount of colouring, this worked perfectly as a single layer added to a base.  For that base, I used the brand new Gorgeous Grape colour and love it!  It compliments the same colour which I used for his vest.  

I used a watercolour wash of Balmy Blue for the ice.  Before I added the wash, I sketched a few lines to show blade marks on the ice with my glaze pen and those lines did not take on the colour.  Love that!  

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

I've also entered my card in the following:

Crafty Sentiments Designs - Snowman

Stamping Sensations November Challenge - Get Ready for Christmas

WWC196 - Heidi's "All About Occasions" Challenge

I'm so glad that we're having our "All About Occasions" challenge this week.  It gave me the perfect opportunity to use Gina Marie's wonderful layered stamping set, Tabby Cat.  I thought it would be fun used for an anniversary card.

What I love best about this stamp set is that with each layer stamped, more detail appears in the image until, when one is finished, it looks absolutely realistic.  Isn't that a wonderfully stamped tabby cat?  I love it!  I chose to use a base of Heavy Very Vanilla and then added a layer of Poppy Parade.  On top of that I added a retired piece of the Naturals Ivory cardstock (love those little flecks in it, don't you?)  But first I ran that cardstock through the lovely Basket Weave Dynamic embossing folder.

Then I cut out a heart from a piece of Poppy Parade cardstock, using Sunshine Wishes Thinlits.  The red really showed off the cat well, didn't it?  To anchor my cat, I stamped the sentiment onto a piece of Very Vanilla cardstock and then cut it out using one of my stitched rectangle dies. and then had the cat sitting on 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

Show Us Your Pussycats Challenge #36 - Furrything 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

ATSM #317 - 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 Stampin' Markers as well as my inks and Aqua Painter.  To add a bit of interest, I also used a Glaze pen over some of the design.

I used a fun Penny Black stamp called Cup of Java to make a card for my daughter who, some days, just can't find a coffee cup large enough for the amount of caffeine she needs.  I used my Stampin' Markers for everything but the soft yellow background which is a wash of So Saffron ink, painted on with my Aqua Painter.  I also used a wash of Coastal Cabana inside the cup and at the bottom of the cup.  The flourishes on the cup and the stitched "ribbon" frame were both coloured with my Melon Mambo Stampin' Marker and then made glossy with the Glaze pen.

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

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

WWC193 - Tristan's "All About Holidays" Challenge

Oh, I love making Holiday cards, don't you?  And this week it's Tristan's "All About Holiday" challenge.  A great time to try out one of the new sets from this year's Holiday Catalogue.

I've been looking forward to using the awesome new Alpine Adventure bundle.  The stamps and Thinlit dies are so perfect for anyone who love the great white outdoors in the winter.  I decided to use the sled this time.  Instead of stamping it, I chose to die-cut it twice.  The first time I cut it from a piece of Real Red cardstock and the second time I cut it from a piece of the beautiful Wood Textures Designer Series paper.  Once I had both die-cuts, I cut the Wood Textures one apart carefully and glued some of the pieces onto the Real Red one, making a wood-topped sled with a painted red metal frame.  Awesome, right?

For my background I took a piece of the Stampin' Up! watercolor paper and scattered a few of the Prussian Blue Brusho crystals onto it.  After spritzing the crystals with some water, I took a broad brush and spread the blue over more of the paper.  Once that dried, I took the evergreen tree stamps from the Rooted in Nature set and stamped several images in the lower portion using Mossy Meadow.  I continued to stamp some more images using only the remaining ink and creating a distant look as the colour faded.  Then I took two narrow pieces of Whisper White cardstock and tore each on the long side in an undulating pattern to emulate snow drifts.  After lightly sponging the torn edge, I glued one down, then the sled at an angle, and then, finally, glued the second one down.

To finish I stamped the sentiment on the lower "snow drift" using Pacific Point ink.  I used a Pacific Point matte for the finished image panel and then adhered the whole on one of the gorgeous Silver Foil edged cards available in the Holiday Catalogue.  Then, in a random pattern,  I glued on five snowflakes cut from Silver Foil with the Seasonal Layers thinlit dies.  With a rhinestone in the centre of each snowflake, my card was complete.

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

Addicted to Stamps & More #315 - Photo Inspiration

What I love about photo inspirations is that there are so many possibilities.  You can look at the photos in the Inspiration Collage and some of the images may inspire you and that's the way you go.  Or you can do as I did, which was to take the colours in those images for inspiration and create a card based on that.

Several colours in the collage "spoke" to me.  I love the repetition of light greys as well as the lovely yellows.  Several other colours insisted on being noticed as well.  The pretty pink, the bluish green and the spot or two of orange were impossible to ignore once they caught my attention.  And so I used those colours to create my card.  The soft Smoky Slate of the card base is also the colour on which I stamped the image.  I watercoloured the image using Daffodil Delight, Pineapple Punch, Pumpkin Pie, Mango Melody, Rich Razzleberry, Mint Macaron, Pear Pizzazz and Smoky Slate.  A lot of colours, to be sure, but then there are a lot of colours in the photo inspiration.

I used the Tailored Tag punch for my sentiment, layering Basic Black, Pineapple Punch and Smoky Slate.  The flowers shimmer in real life because I've touched them with Wink of Stella here and there.  If only such things showed up as well in photos as in real life.

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

WWC192 - Marsha's Masculine "Anything Goes" Challenge

It's Marsha's turn to host the Masculine "Anything Goes" Challenge this week.  What fun!  Masculine cards always add to the challenge, making me think outside my usual comfortable "box".  Of course I have enough men in my family to make having a stash of masculine cards a real bonus. 

There are so many products which I love in this card.  That wonderful background, for example, is a piece of the new and gorgeous Galvanized Metallic Paper introduced in the Holiday Catalogue.  I've used the new Tin Tile Dynamic Textured Impressions embossing folder on it and, wow!  Isn't it absolutely gorgeous?  I aged it a bit by sponging some Grey Granite ink over it and the pattern only got better.

The other product which I used for the first time is the All the Good Things stamp set.  Don't you love those Koi?  I fell in love with the movement they seem to have but haven't had a chance to use them until now.  I love the sentiments in the set, too, but must confess that the beautiful words were attached to the large Koi, going in the wrong direction for my vision.  So I carefully cut apart the Koi and the words and can now use them separately whenever I wish.

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

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

Crafty Creations Challenge #376 - Anything Goes

Ellibelle's Creative Moments/Crafty Wednesday  

Hand Stamped Sentiments Challenge #300 - Photo Inspiration  (The colours inspired me)

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

ATSM #313 - Holiday

It's time for another Addicted to Stamps & More Challenge.  This time it's all about Holidays.  Such fun!  Especially as we have a number of holidays within the next few months.

For my card I turned to Hallowe'en for inspiration.  My family has always embraced that spooky holiday and I love making cards for it, from the simply cute to the downright scary.  I found several retired stamp sets which, with a little additional help from me, created a suitably ghastly scene.

On a base of Basic Black, I added a piece of embossed cardstock which I had sponged with a variety of greys, greens and some black.   The murky tones really set the stage, don't they?  I used the large jar from the Jar of Love set for the rather ghastly solution with the eyeballs floating in it.  Those wonderfully gruesome eyeballs are from the retired Jar of Haunts set.  I used the mug from a retired set and stamped it with a skull and crossbones from the retired Toil & Trouble set.  The sentiment is from the retired Merry Cafe' set  and the spider's web at top right is from this year's Cauldron Framelits dies.  I had fun with the colours and creating that line of pouring liquid.

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

I've also entered this into the following challenges:

Use Your Stuff Challenge #333 - Autumn/Halloween

CWS #31 Hallowe'en or Leaves (Creative With Stamps Challenge)

Die-Cut-Divas - Dies R Us Autumn & Halloween

Time for a Change!

I've had my blog for seven years now and it's time for a change.  My banner was made up of creations which show off only products from Stampin' Up! which have long retired.  Somehow that isn't the first impression that I want to give anyone.  I do own and create with current products (and the occasional retired classic), after all.

The more I've thought about changing the banner to my blog, the more I've become convinced that I shouldn't be making a new one using any of my crafting products.  That just brings on built-in obsolescence since products are forever being replaced.  And so I've decided to go in another direction.  Why not a photograph from among the many which I take every year?

I didn't want anything too, too personal, but when I came upon this gorgeous sunflower, I knew that my choice was made.  Going back a whole bunch of years, I also found several bees on flowers and also in flight which I had taken at a friend's apiary.  Combining the two images, leaving a lot of wonderful white space to keep it clean and simple this time around, I added my Blog's name to the new banner and love it.

Do you love it, too?  I hope so.  It certainly gives me a happy feeling when I see it.

WWC190 - Gail's Feminine "Anything Goes" Challenge

I love our wonderful feminine challenges and had the best idea for a card.  Of course what I had in mind called for an awful lot of masking and planning, but you know what they say.  Where there's a will, there's a way.

You can see that I've used two of my favourite stamp sets.  I love the fairy from the Fairy Celebration set but didn't want to use the branch which was part of her image.  I also love the dandelion clock with the blowing seeds from the Dandelion Wishes set and wanted my little fairy to be hanging from that; flying along with that, actually.  What I had to do was to cover all the unwanted lines of the branch with Washi tape and then I inked up the stamp, removed the Washi tape and stamped the remains of the fairy where I wanted her.  Then, since the dandelion stamp, like the fairy stamp, was rubber, I couldn't stamp the full dandelion clock.  Again, I covered the unwanted stem with Washi tape, inked the stamp, removed the Washi tape and stamped the clock image approximately where I thought it should go with the fairy holding onto it.

After that it was easy-peasy.  I drew in the remainder of the stem for the dandelion clock, fitting it between the fairy's hands and extending past them.  I stamped several more additional seeds to fly behind and beyond the images.  Then I coloured my images using my Stampin' Markers and watercoloured a soft sky.

My base is the Heavy Whisper White and then I've used a matte of Crushed Curry for the image.  After stamping the sentiment from the Dandelion Wishes set, I cut it out using the Taylored Tag punch.  After trimming it down slightly, I cut a matte from the Mossy Meadow.  My little fairy is, after all, wearing fall colours and her girdle is Mossy Meadow.  I hope you like it as much as I do.

I hope you'll check out the awesome cards by our Watercooler Artists over at ourWatercooler Wednesday Challenge Blog. 

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

Moving Along with the Times Challenge 81 - Autumn/Fall

Addicted to Stamps & More #312 - Make Your Mark

The House That Stamps Built DCC103 - It's Up In the Air