WWC167 - Gail's "All About Christmas" Challenge

I just looked at the calendar and it's precisely eight months until Christmas Day!  Can you believe it?  Thank goodness I'm getting some of my Christmas cards created ahead of time, thanks to our challenges.  This week Gail is our host for the "All About Christmas" challenge.  Any layout, any colour, anything goes, as long as it's Christmas.

I have to admit that I could not bring myself to use anything pertaining to snow for my Christmas card.  Call me crazy but there is still snow in my yard (although it's finally creeping back and melting) and I'm just so ready for a world without snow.  Until next winter, that is.  So I went for a fun card featuring that adorable little Dachshund and some Christmas cookies.  How fun is that!  And it's definitely about Christmas without adding the white stuff.  Bonus!

You won't recognize the yellow which I've used behind that wonderful sentiment.  It's one of our new In-Colors and is so much brighter and "yellower" than the others in our colour families.  For all the hand-colouring I've used my Stampin' Blends.  Otherwise I've added the new Pineapple Punch (yellow) and the Lovely Lipstick (red matte and red sentiment).  The gorgeous greens are stamped first in Memento Black and then in Tranquil Tide.  I love all these colours and love the happy feelings that this card evokes.  All the images are from one stamp set, the wonderful Ready for Christmas set (which is carrying over into the new catalogue---YAY!).  Whoops!  Wrong.  The yellow image behind the sentiment is from the brand new Love What You Do set.

I hope you'll check out the awesome creations by the other Watercooler Artists over at our Watercooler Wednesday Challenge.  And then, by all means add to your Christmas stash and link up your creation for us to enjoy.

WWC166 - Kath's Masculine "Anything Goes" Challenge

This week's challenge, hosted by Kath Ricks, is one of my favourites because of all the men in my life.  It's our Masculine "Anything Goes" Challenge.

For my card this week I decided to use a brand new set which will be in the new Annual Catalogue, launching June 1st.  It's called Animal Outing and comes with a set of framelits (yay!).  I decided to use the adorable kangaroo which is giving a ride to a good friend of his, the little koala bear.  For some reason I couldn't get the thought out of my head to combine this set with the One Wild Ride set, so I went with it.  I think the sentiment is perfect, don't you?

My base is the Heavy Whisper White followed by a layer of the retiring Dapper Denim cardstock and then a layer of the retiring Myths & Magic Specialty Designer Series paper.  I love the colours in that paper and decided to use them throughout my card.

I hope you'll check out the cards created by the other Watercooler Artists at our Watercooler Wednesday Challenge.  I look forward to seeing what you've created and linked up this week.

I'm also entering my card in the Cardz 4 Guyz Challenge #192 - Travel or Transport (because this is clearly both travel and transport).

Pets - the April Twofer Challenge

One of my Mum's favourite pets was her budgerigar, Ringo.  Now you have to understand that Ringo was her favourite Beatle and she felt the bird's beak was on a par with Ringo's rather well-formed nose.  Mum had taught her Ringo a number of words and phrases, one of which was "hurry up".  Apparently my sister and I were told that so many times in the morning, getting ready for school, that the bird began  nagging us as well.

Imagine my delight when Stampin' Up! came out with the Bird Banter stamp set.  It included a pair of budgerigar stamps which I knew would be perfect for my cards.  I was over the moon with delight when I discovered that the Twofer Challenge decided on the theme "Pets" this month.  What a great reason to ink up this adorable bird!

I made two cards, of course.  The first could be used for friendship or a bit of "mush" for your sweetie.  I used only the images from the Bird Banter for this card and then coloured them using my Prismacolor pencils and Gamsol.

The second card is for someone who is under the weather with illness or is just having a rough time.  For this card I combined the images from Bird Banter and from the Weather Together bundle.  I cut the umbrella from a piece of scrap retired Designer Paper and propped  it up on Dimensionals.  The handle is cut from a scrap of dark brown cardstock and that centre rod is cut from silver foil.  I fussy cut the budgerigar (the feet almost killed me) and placed him on the rod, looking out at the weather.  I used my Prismacolor pencils and Gamsol to colour the bird but the wet ground is actually my Stampin' Blends with the drip swirls hand drawn using my white marker.

And here are the two together.

I hope you'll check out the awesome samples and entries at the Twofer Card Challenge Blog.  #twofercardchallenge

I'm also entering the second card in the Inkspirational Challenge #158 - Rain Photo

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.

WWC164 - Marsha's Feminine "Anything Goes" Challenge

I love our Feminine "Anything Goes" challenges!  And this week Marsha is hosting it.  What fun!  The great thing about feminine challenges is that there are so many wonderful stamps that are absolutely perfect for them.

Of course with all the wonderful choices, it's easy to get lost trying to decide what to create.  I was going to stamp some flowers and then Mr. Winter came and covered everything up with his white mantle and somehow I didn't feel that inspired any longer.  So I turned to our fantasy set, Myths and Magic, and had a great time ignoring the cold outside.

I have to say that the Myths & Magic Specialty Designer Paper is the heaviest I've ever had the pleasure to use.  Because one side of each double-sided sheet has iridescent glittered images or designs, the paper is as heavy as our Whisper White cardstock.  That's one of the reasons I love cutting out some of the images and using them in my designs.  The colouring is sensational and, of course, there is that wonderful glitter.

You can see that I've carefully fussy cut the gorgeous mermaid, the gallant knight, the seahorse and the castle.  The sassy dragon, however, has been stamped and cut with its coordinating die.  I had such fun colouring him and adding a bit of glitter to his scales and wings with the clear Wink of Stella.

The rocks on which the mermaid is perching?  Those are from a retired Designer Paper Stack.  I've heat embossed the sentiment from the Myths & Magic set on vellum using black embossing powder and then cut around the shape tightly before adhering it using Tombo liquid glue.  The black stamped sentiment beside the knight is from the Magical Mermaid set.

I hope you'll check out the wonderful creations by the other Watercooler Artists over at our Watercooler Wednesday Challenge blog.  I look forward to seeing what you create and link up this week.

I'm also entering my card in the TGIFC #153 - March Madness! Anything Goes!

And the Addicted to Stamps & More ##286 - Anything Goes

And, finally, the Inkspirational Challenge #157 - Mythical

WWC163 - Penny's "All About Christmas" Challenge

We're having a Christmas challenge this week, hosted by Penny Hanuszak.  What fun!  It's great to have the opportunity to add another card to the stash I'm hoping to build for Christmas.  If all goes well, I should have enough cards to send out when the time comes.

The hardest thing about making a Christmas card right now is that it's finally Spring and I don't want to tempt the "white stuff" to make a come-back.  It still hasn't all melted from the ground, after all.  Rather than create a snow-filled scene for this card, I decided to concentrate on the small stuff.  And when I say small stuff, I'm talking about something about the size of a mouse.

The Merry Mice stamp set, although retired, is so absolutely cute and fun that I had to keep it.  Look at the adorable face on this little mouse!  And how cute is he, carrying that gorgeous ornament?  As much as anything, I love this set for the opportunity to do some colouring.  With the right colours and shading, the  image simply comes to life.  For that I used my Prismacolours and some Gamsol to smooth them out.

I kept things simple.  Besides adding some faint floor to ground Mr. Mouse, I also added some shadow because of the "light above him, just behind the "joy" die-cut sentiment.  The light rays are from the Sale-a-bration Amazing You stamp set and the "light" is actually a gold Faceted Gem.

I hope you'll check out the awesome cards by the other Watercooler Artists over at our Watercooler Wednesday Challenge.  And then why not link up your own Christmas creation for us to enjoy.

I've also entered this card in the Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Challenge #378 - anything goes

And I've entered this card in the Simon Wednesday Challenge Blog - Simon Says Anything Goes #ssswchallenge

WWC162 - Charlotte's Masculine "Anything Goes" Challenge

It's Charlotte's week to host our challenge!  Woo Hoo!  And it's a Masculine "Anything Goes" challenge, too!  I'm stoked.  I have lots of men of many ages in my life and it's great to get a few cards made and put aside so that I don't have to frantically rush when an Occasion comes around.

The first thing that popped into my head was that I wanted to use the Memory Box Virtuoso Music die which I had bought years ago.  The next thing that popped into my head was that I wanted to mix the Woodgrain stamp with the Country Livin' set.  So I got to work.

I had a scrap of Heavy Whisper White and used that for stamping the guitar image.  I set that aside to dry thoroughly for colouring.  Then I took another piece of Heavy Whisper White, an 8 1/2" x 11" piece, and folded it to make it my base.  I tore the centre from a piece of copy paper and, through the ragged shape that remained, stamped the woodgrain using the retired Tip Top Taupe ink.  Then I thoroughly distressed the three edges of the front of the card before sponging the same ink around the perimeter.

Once all that had dried, I took the truck image from the Country Livin' set and stamped it onto the woodgrain using Smoky Slate ink.  Then I took the boots from that set and proceeded to stamp portions of that image on three corners.  I liked the "ghost" look of the boots but knew I needed more for the truck and so used my AquaPainter and the Soft Suede, Peekaboo Peach, and Crumb Cake inks to add some colour but still let the woodgrain show through.

You can see I sponged a bit of the Peekaboo Peach around the perimeter, too and also used it to warm up the guitar.  The music is die-cut using Soft Suede and the same colour is used for the sentiment.  The "Happy Birthday" is from the new Picture Perfect Birthday set while I pieced together the "Country Boy" using the handy "Labeler Alphabet".

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

I'm also entering this card for the Time Out Challenges #105 - It's their 4th Birthday Celebration

Experimenting with colours

Sometimes it's fun to simply grab a few products and have some fun.  No challenges.  No time constraints.  No agenda.  Just some fun experimenting with colours. 

For what I had in mind, a landscape of sorts, I decided to use the Nature Sings stamp set as well as my Brushos.  I haven't played with those Brushos enough.  There are so many ways to use them.  Instead of shaking loose some crystals and spraying them with water, or variations of that technique, I decided to treat them as watercolours.  I took my paint palette and added a tiny layer of crystals to the bottom of three of the little "bowls" and then added just a bit of water.  My chosen colours for this experiment were Emerald Green, Aquamarine, and Moss Green.

Before I began using my Brushos, however, I stamped the image of the trees and the image of the two reindeer onto my watercolour paper.  I decided to use the Basic Black Archival ink since it doesn't "bleed" into the watercolours.

From there I freehanded my scene using a flat square end brush, laying in a wash with a hint of Aquamarine for the sky and then a darker sweep of Aquamarine for the stream.  The Aquamarine didn't hold any surprise colours for me and I loved the way it became deeper in colour with each additional layer. 

The Moss Green was another story entirely.  It had hints of browns, tans, yellows and greens which all came into play as I set down my hills, rises and meadows.  I had swept colour right over the stamped trees, knowing that I could add Emerald Green to bring out the details.  I avoided colouring in the reindeer, however, because I wanted to stick to the clearer colours of my inks to add details to them using a fine pointed round head.  For that my inks were Soft Suede and some Sahara Sand.

The picture turned out reasonably well.  I can see where my weaknesses are.  But the Brushos are a product which will be interesting to try in more and different ways.  I look forward to it.

My sentiment is from the retired Remember This Project Life set.

WWC161 - Helen's "All About Occasions" Challenge

This week's challenge is being hosted by Helen Finlay and it's all about the special Occasions in our lives.  You can see a few listed in the challenge icon, but you can probably think of a bunch more.  Let's face it, special occasions are one of the reasons we create our cards.

Here in Canada it's still quite a while before Mother's Day occurs in May but it was my mother's birthday last week and I've been thinking of her a lot lately.  Making a Mother's Day card just felt totally natural under the circumstances.

I kept this card very simple.  In fact it's a one layer card except that I matted the one layer and then adhered it to a base.  But you know what I mean. After stamping it, I masked the pretty stone wall image from the Hostess set, "Cosy Cottage".  Then I stamped the trees from the retired "In the Meadow" set so that they would appear to be behind the wall.  The sizing of the two sets is perfect.  They appear to be made for each other.

The scene I've created and watercoloured reminds me so much of a pretty garden to which we'd frequently go for a little picnic when I was growing up in Victoria.  After a snack, I'd weave together the little wild daisies so I could wear them like a crown in my hair.  Most of the time both my sister and I wound up wearing the daisy "crowns" which our Mum had made.  For some reason mine seldom held together properly.

While the outside of my card is rather simple, without embellishments or surprises, I had to do something special for the inside.  So I took the Sale-a-bration "Blossoming Basket" set and stamped the basket in the centre of a piece of 8" x 5" Whisper White and then watercoloured it before carefully cutting around much of it using my craft knife.  I left enough attached so that it would "pop out" when the card was opened.

I hope you'll check out the cards created by the other Watercooler Artists at our Watercooler Wednesday Challenge.

I've also entered this card into the CAS March Watercolour Challenge which is all about Gardens.

I've entered this card into the Addicted to Stamps and More Challenge #283 - Holidays.

I've entered this card into the That's Crafty! Challenge - Spring Into Action

And, finally, I've entered this card into the The Crafty Addicts Challenge #46 - All About Mums

WWC160 - Heidi's Feminine "Anything Goes" Challenge

It's my turn to host the Watercooler Wednesday Challenge this week.  What fun!  The challenge this week is our popular Feminine "Anything Goes" challenge.  I can think of so many possibilities!

I decided to make a Birthday card using the Beautiful You stamp set as well as the Charming Cafe bundle.  I wanted to create this card in the "Z" fold style and also wanted to have the image of the girl swing out when the card opened.  After a bit of planning and some detailed work, it came together beautifully.

I used the Memento Tuxedo Black ink to stamp all my images as well as the sentiments.  That made it possible for me to use both watercolouring and alcohol colouring techniques without any smudging.  For the image of the girl, I pencilled in a line where my fold would go and carefully centered her on that line.  Then I took my craft knife and cut around the image from the top middle of the umbrella to the bottom of her shoes, along the side facing into the card.  That allowed her to swing out as the card opened.

For the inside image, of the cafe, I used both the base for stamping and a second piece of Whisper White.  First I stamped the image of the table and chairs on the second piece of Whisper White.  Then I used the framelit for the table and chairs to cut those out, after which I used the square topped framelit with the table and chairs at the bottom to cut out the remainder of the "window".   After colouring my images, I attached the die-cut  Whisper White to the base using Foam Adhesive Strips to create dimension.  I also attached the table and chairs with the foam strips.

Unfortunately, the added depth of the inside of the card made closing it virtually impossible.  To fix that, I scored a second line along the score line I had made at 4 1/4", thus giving it a 1/8" fold, and the card closed perfectly.  It still fits into a normal envelope as well.  Bonus!

I'm dedicating this card to my Mum, whose birthday it is today, March 7th.  I miss her every day and know she would have loved a simple little card like this.

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

I'm also entering my card into the Seize the Birthday:  Anything Goes Challenge

I've also entered my card into the Addicted to Stamps & More #181 - Make Your Mark

I Love You and Coffee!

Every once in a while two challenges converge and I can create something that's perfect for each.  That's what happened with The Card Concept and Inkspirational.  It's all about the coffee. 

At first I hemmed and hawed about using the Coffee Cafe set since it, too, is all about coffee.  In the end, however, I went in another direction.  Since both challenges featured a pretty teacup in their inspirational photo, I hauled out a retired die set, the Cups & Kettle Framelits dies, and used the large teacup die to cut out a piece of the striped Springtime Foils Specialty Designer Series paper from the Sale-a-bration second release.  It made a perfect cup, especially after I sponged some Sahara Sand ink around the perimeter to give it dimension. 

For my background I used a base of Heavy Whisper White, a layer of the retired Baked Brown Sugar cardstock, and a layer of the retired Falling in Love Designer Series paper.  Before adding the DSP, I sponged around the perimeter using Baked Brown Sugar ink.  To give the cup more dimension, I used flower shaping tools to round it out and then added dimensionals (two deep in the centre) when adhering it to the card.  The sentiment is from the retired Merry Cafe set and is also stamped using Baked Brown Sugar ink.  To finish off, I cut a butterfly from Copper Foil and from Blushing Bride using the Bold Butterfly framelits and Butterflies thinlits. 

I'm entering this card in The Card Concept #87 (Freshly Brewed)

I'm also entering this card in the Inkspirational Challenge #155 - Coffee Photo

WWC159 - Marsha's "All About Christmas" Challenge

This week's challenge is being hosted by Marsha Reed and it's all about Christmas.  I love these challenges because they help me get my stash together so that I'm not as stressed at Christmas.  That's a great reason for everyone to join the challenge, don't you think?

Of course it's not hard to get in the Christmas mood when I look outside and see snow everywhere.  In fact the snow was my inspiration this time.  At least the snow on my card didn't require me to bundle up from head to toe.

I kept my card simple.  I took a piece of Whisper White and added five strips of Washi tape vertically to the right of centre.  The Year of Cheer Specialty Washi tape I used is retired now but it was in the last Holiday catalogue and is hands down one of the most elegant Washi tapes I've ever seen.  After adding the tape, I stamped my sentiment using Pacific Point ink and then used the Softly Falling embossing folder to carefully emboss each side without actually embossing the tape.  Then I added a matte of Pacific Point cardstock so that it showed only on the sides before attaching everything to a base of Heavy Whisper White.

For the snowflakes I turned to the snowflake dies in the Seasonal Layers Thinlits and cut three snowflakes out of Silver Foil using the medium die and two snowflakes using the small die.  After adding them, I finished up with a rhinestone in the centre of each one.

In real life this card simply shines and sparkles.  I hope you'll check out the cards created by our wonderful Watercooler Artists at the Watercooler Wednesday Challenge blog.

I'm sorry to share that Judy Markowitz will be leaving our team.  Family health problems make it difficult for Judy to commit to the demands of a weekly challenge.  I'll miss her creations as well as her bubbly personality.

I'm happy to be welcoming Tenia Nelson to our team.  I've loved her work for a long time and will enjoy working with her.

I'm also entering this card into the Winter Wonderland Challenge - Anything Goes (Our Tribute to Eileen.

And into the Merry Christmas Challenge #9 - Anything Goes

WWC158 - Helen's Masculine "Anything Goes" Challenge

This week's challenge is being hosted by Helen Finlay and was absolute perfect timing, too.  I had to make a birthday card for my grandson and this challenge is our Masculine "Anything Goes" challenge.  How serendipitous is that?

Since he had loved a pop-up card which I had created recently, I decided to create one just for him.  As luck would have it, I had just received a die in the mail which I had ordered with him in mind.  (Don't you love it when things fall into place like that?)

The die-cut on this card is beautiful, isn't it?  I cut it out of gold foil and then used my alcohol Stampin' Blends to add a bit of colour.  My grandson's favourite colour is red and so those drums are gold and red with black feet.  His name begins with an "X" which explains that great big X in the centre of that large drum.  I had such fun making this card because he is a special guy and besides loving to play the drums, he also follows "the beat of his own drum".

As I mentioned, I made the inside of the card a pop-up.  This one is all about his birthday and that great big red star comes out at least an inch or so.  As you can see, I left room in the centre to write something special to our special boy.

Oh, and since his birthday was a couple of days ago, I can tell you that he really was delighted.  He told me it's going into his treasure box. 

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

WWC157 - Heidi's "All About Occasions" Challenge

It's my turn to host the challenge this week and it's an "All About Occasions" challenge.  What fun!  There are so many occasions during the year.  Wouldn't you know it, I had a birthday card in mind.  That has to be one of the most frequently celebrated occasions of the year.  After all, everyone has one--birthday, that is.

What's a birthday without a bit of whimsy thrown in?  I've been dying to use the Party Pandas stamp set which I received free with my qualifying order (it's Sale-a-bration time--Woo Hoo!)  But I kept reaching for other newly purchased stamp sets.  Well, all that changed with this card.  I reached for those Pandas and introduced them to ink.

So where's the whimsy, you ask.  I did my usual mix and match bit with my stamp sets and added some fun from the Birthday Memories Suite as well.  Guess what!  That cute little girl and her friend, the Panda, are going to a birthday party.  Are you ready?

Don't you just love it?  I used the matching framelit to cut the little cutie from the Birthday Memories Designer Series paper.  Yes, they work on the patterned paper as well as on the stamped images.  Bonus!  I also used the framelits to cut out those party hats and the little gift which her friend the Panda is carrying.  The clouds?  They're from the Up and Away thinlits set and that wonderful red foil "celebrate" is another free Sale-a-bration item, the Celebrate You thinlits.  The background is just a watercolour wash using Soft Sky and Pear Pizzaz.

But there's more fun inside!  Why just use one Panda when you can use two, after all?  And the Panda inside the card is an especially talented little guy.  He's taken five of the cupcakes (all fussy cut) and is showing off his juggling skills by keeping them in the air.  I've made the inside a "pop out" so that our friend the Panda is standing away from the card and I've added a carefully cut "tree" of window acrylic to his back so that the attached cupcakes appear to be hanging in the air.

I decided to keep the background pale and neutral by adding a piece of Soft Sky cardstock and then the die-cut Happy Birthday (using the Happy Birthday thinlits) in Very Vanilla.  Any more fuss behind our Panda and those sweet cupcakes would not show up as clearly.

And there we have the complete inside of the card.  I hope you love it as much as I do.

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

I'm also entering my card into the following challenges:

Crafting From the Heart #194 - Anything Goes

Pammie's Inky Pinkies Challenge #1806  - Anything Goes