WWC240 - Kath's "All About Occasions" Challenge

I am finally going to use a stamp set which has retired, the Spirited Snowmen set.  I have no idea why I haven't used this fun set until now, but I plan to make up for the oversight.

I combined the lovey-dovey pair of snowpeople with two designs from my still-favourite Specialty Designer Paper from the Holiday Catalogue:  the Feels Like Frost paper.  What I love is that one side of the two-sided paper has a photographic image on it while the other side has a pattern in white on silver foil.  I decided that the foil with the random white dots was perfect as a background for the pretty "snowfall" image.  And, of course, the snowpeople look perfect against the colours as well.

After stamping the image using my black Memento ink, I fussy-cut it and then proceeded to colour it using my Stampin' Blends.  I used the Pretty Peacock, Basic Black, Highland Heather, Soft Suede, Purple Posy, Old Olive, and Poppy Parade.  You can't really tell, unfortunely, since the camera didn't catch it, but I added some of the Wink of Stella to both of the snowpeople.  The die-cut sentiment is from a fun set of dies with which I was gifted (lucky me, since it works perfectly for this card).

My base is the Heavy Whisper White while the matte is the Pretty Peacock.  I love how this card turned out, 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:

Lemon Shortbread Challenge #103 - Anything Goes

The Holly and Ivy Christmas Challenge #56 - Anything Christmas Goes

Cute N Crafty Challenge #32 - Anything Goes

Get Creative Challenges #84 - Anything Goes

Jingle Belles Challenge - Goodwill to Men (Peace)

Cute N' Crafty Christmas Challenge #18 - Anything Christmas

Simon Says Wednesday Challenge Blog #66 - Anything Goes

WWC239 - Helen's Masculine "Anything Goes" Challenge

I had so many ideas for this masculine challenge!  Finally I decided to use that wonderful "A Good Man" stamp set for my card.  With some masking and several other stamp sets, I created a scene that I'm sure would work for a birthday or some other celebration.

I combined the "A Good Man" set with the "Waterfront" set as well as the retired "Carols of Christmas" set.  I used a lot of inks for my watercolouring.  The background combines the Balmy Blue, Smoky Slate, Pear Pizzaz, Old Olive, Crushed Curry, Crumb Cake and Gray Granite inks.  The trees are stamped using Mossy Meadow while the deer is Black.  For the people I've used primarily Stampin' Markers in Cajun Craze, Balmy Blue, Soft Suede, Crushed Curry, Poppy Parade and the retired Blush Blossom.

My base is the Heavy Whisper White while the matte is Gray Granite.  I love how this turned out, 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:

Lemon Shortbread Challenge #102 - Anything Goes

Cute N Crafty Challenge #31 - Family

Creative Craft Cottage Challenge #122 - For the Men in your life

WWC238 - Tristan's "All About Occasions" Challenge

I love our All About Occasions Challenges!  It's so much fun to decide on an Occasion and then to create a card for it.  I've chosen to make another Christmas card simply because I'm going to need them sooner than I'd like to admit.  Of course the fact that I was dying to use the gorgeous Nature's Beauty stamp set and more of that stunning Feels Like Frost Designer Series Paper played a large role in my decision.

The photographic images used on this Designer Paper are simply breathtaking, aren't they?  When I saw this piece, I knew it would be perfect for the darling little bunny image in the Nature's Beauty set.  What I particularly love about the paper is that there is enough white and "empty" space near the bottom to allow for an image to be stamped and coloured, integrating it into the paper as if it had been printed there.  In fact, as well as the bunny, I stamped the little bare twigs of the bushes in the lower right corner.  And they, too, look as if they were part of the paper design, don't they?

I used my coloured pencils and Gamsol to colour the bunny and also to add the same blue to the base of the bunny and twigs so that the shadows appeared to be natural.  Continuing with the simple design, I decided to heat emboss my sentiment using the gorgeous Copper Embossing Powder.  I finished the card by mounting the design onto a copper foil matte and then onto the base of Heavy Whisper White cardstock.

A simple design, but I absolutely 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:

Lemon Shortbread Challenge #102 - Anything Goes

Crafty Animals Challenge #30 - Anything Goes

CHNC Challenge #454 - Anything Christmas Goes

Crafty Creations Challenges #398 - Anything Goes

WWC237 - Michelle's Feminine "Anything Goes" Challenge

Yay!  Michelle is hosting our awesome Feminine "Anything Goes" Challenge and I am finally going to put ink to the adorable octopus image from the Sea of Textures bundle.  Over the months I've reached for it many times, but each time found myself doing something completely different.  This time the gorgeous Perennial Essence Designer Series Paper inspired me to use the octopus.

Look at the wonderful colours in the background.  Isn't it just perfect as an undersea cavern?  Of course my octopus is sporting rather unique colours since I stamped the image using Melon Mambo and then coloured the white portion of the underneath using my Flirty Flamingo Stampin' Blends.  Who knew those colours would compliment each other so well?  And don't you just love those sparkling black rhinestone eyes?

I used a base of Heavy Whisper White and then added a layer of the Highland Heather cardstock before adding the Perennial Essence DSP.  The netting in the background is cut from the retired Galvanized Metal foil using the matching Under the Sea dies.

In this close-up you can see those sparkling eyes so much better.  I love all the colours and I believe Madame Octopus is quite pleased with the ones I chose for her.

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 #101 - Anything Goes

Get Creative Challenges #84 - Anything Goes

WWC236 - Heidi's "All About Occasions" Challenge

Guess what!  I'm hosting the challenge over at the Watercooler Wednesday Challenge this week.  And I decided to make a Christmas card using the stunning new Feels Like Frost Specialty Designer Series paper combined with the even more stunning new cardinal from the Toile Christmas stamp set.

I love the realism of the Designer paper, don't you?  It comes in a package of 6"x6" pieces with one side showing a gorgeous photographic image and the other side, a pattern in white with silver foil.  No matter which side you use, it's a win/win situation.  Of course, for this card I used the photographic image.  I though the icy branches and the bokeh effect would be a perfect backdrop for my wonderful Cardinal.  He really does show up wonderfully against those neutrals, doesn't he?

My base for this card is the very subtle Purple Posy since the background has some of that colour in it.  Then I added a matte of Basic Black and, of course the gorgeous DSP.  For my Cardinal, I looked up images on the Internet to get a good idea of colouring.  With my Koh-I-Noor coloured pencils and Gamsol, I layered the colours until it looked nearly life-like.  Then I used the matching die to cut him out.  First I thought I'd simple have him stand on a branch and then I changed my mind and used the banner in the stamp set, stamped on Highland Heather cardstock and cut with the matching die.  I thought that he looked great standing on that.  For a bit of added "bling", I die-cut a "swirly" piece of silver foil to go at the bottom of the banner.

In this close-up you can see the glittery ice-like Shimmery Crystal Effects which I added to several of the branches.  I love the way it sparkles subtly and gives the illusion of real ice.

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:

The Holly and Ivy Christmas Challenge #55 - Anything Christmas Goes

Cute N' Crafty Christmas Challenge #17 - Anything Goes

Addicted to Stamps & More #356 - Anything Goes

WWC235 - Marsha's Masculine "Anything Goes" Challenge

Oh I love a masculine challenge, don't you?  Since it's an "Anything Goes" twist, I've chosen to use a Deep Red Stamp Company image.  Doesn't that grizzly bear look realistic?

I kept all my colours neutral, beginning with a Crumb Cake base, adding a layer of Basic Black and then adding the image portion which was stamped on Sahara Sand cardstock.  I used the Waterfront stamp set for the trees and the rock formation in front.  The clouds and the reflections are all just hand drawn with my coloured pencils.  After I finshed, I ran it through my Big Shot, using the Subtle embossing folder for texture and interest.

The bear image was fussy cut and added.  After that I used the Catch of the Day dies to cut out the reeds and grass from a piece of Basic Black cardstock.  The sentiment is just perfect, especially if this winds up being a birthday card.

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:

SheepSki Designs Challenges #29 - Animal Madness

WWC234 - Dawn's "All About Occasions" Challenge

I love our "All About Occasions" challenges.  This week Dawn is our host and I've decided to create a Christmas card since I don't want to get into a frantic state when it's time to write my cards, only to discover I haven't enough for everyone on my list.  (Isn't this year just speeding along?)

I fell in love with the sweet images from the Wildly Happy stamp set.  And while I love all the animal images, the fox is closest to my heart.  And so I began by stamping the foxes onto a piece of Heavy Whisper White cardstock, using my Memento ink.  While I was colouring the images with my Stampin' Blends, I was also considering what I would do with them.  Would I cut them out?  Would I create a dark background and add some falling snow?  I don't always have a definite plan in mind but go where my thoughts lead me.

Well, once the images were coloured to my satisfaction, I decided to colour the complete background black, carefully skirting the images without taking away any details.  I had a piece of the wonderful, retired Wood Textures DSP on my table and that inspired me to use it as my background.  As you can see, it's the pile of firewood.  I carefully cut out several of the pieces of firewood, leaving a "cave" or den for my little fox family.  As it happened, the black background I had given them worked out beautifully.  I also took some of the Designer Paper scraps and created a second layer of them, making the foxes appear further inside.

Then I cut two pieces of Shimmery White cardstock to make it appear like snowdrifts at the bottom of the wood piles.  I used the Puffy Snow to outline the drifts and also to "cap" a lot of the pieces of firewood.  After using my heat tool to dry and puff up the snow, I added a shadow of Seaside Spray along the snowdrift using my AquaPainter.  Then I stamped a retired sentiment, Silent Night, onto a piece of Whisper White using Seaside Spray ink and added that to the upper right logs.

I used a base of Heavy Whisper White for this card and absolutely 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:

The Holly and Ivy Christmas Challenge #54 - Anything Christmas Goes

Crimbo Crackers Challenge #190 - Anything Christmas Goes

WWC233 - Karen's Feminine "Anything Goes" Challenge

Oh my goodness, we're having a Feminine challenge this week and I've decided to finally introduce ink to my Beautiful Day stamp set.  Am I ever lucky that it hasn't retired since I bought it!  Strange how one can buy something and then keep passing it by instead of using it.  Has that ever happened to you?

I've used a base of Heavy Very Vanilla.  I had thought to use the Heavy Whisper White but the Watercolour Paper onto which I stamped the butterfly image had too much cream in it.  The Very Vanilla compliments it far better.  There was quite a "journey" for this butterfly image.  First, after cutting my piece of Watercolour Paper, I heat embossed a generic piece of music onto it using my Clear embossing powder.  I didn't want it to appear on the paper except where the watercolours were repelled by the embossing.

After having heat embossed the music, I stamped the butterfly image from the Beautiful Day set using my black StazOn.  I don't often use the StazOn because of the smell, but for this image, I wanted the black to stay on the heat embossed notes rather than be repelled by them.  After that dried, I spritzed the paper with water.  Then I took my four new In-Color re-inkers and, one by one put a drop of ink onto the wings, helped it spread with my AquaPainter, and, by the fourth colour, had my finished image.  Beginning at the top of the right wing and moving clockwise, I used the following inks:  Pretty Peacock, Seaside Spray, Terracotta Tile, and Rococo Rose.

I used a matte of Basic Black and then attached it askew onto the base using my Foam Adhesive Strips.  Finally, I stamped the sentiment in black ink and the card was done.  I love the watercolour effect and the whimsy of the musical notes, 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:

The CAS Watercolour Card Challenge - August 2019 Butterflies

Seize the Birthday Challenge #171 - Anything Goes with optional twist of flowers

MOO-MANIA #197 - Butterflies

WWC232 - "Anything Goes" Challenge

Hurrah!  July has a 5th Wednesday and so we get to have one of our amazing "Anything Goes" Challenges this week.  I have finally received the Heirloom Frames Dies & 3D Embossing Folders which had been on backorder for a while.  Of course I had to use them and, for this challenge, decided to go all out and open a new package of Designer Series paper as well, the Mosaic Mood Specialty DSP.  The finished result turned out amazingly well, don't you agree?

I began with a base of Heavy Whisper White.  Then I added a narrow layer of Balmy Blue cardstock, a wider layer of Whisper White and then a layer of a very subtle pattern from the Woven Threads Designer Series paper.  In order to get a very sharp impression on the Balmy Blue oval, I sprayed the piece with water, getting it quite wet, before putting it through the Big Shot.  Once it dried, the pattern turned out sharp and crisp, almost like a carving.  I love the results.

After using Dimensionals to lift up the oval on the card, I added two more ovals, centered on the embossed oval, one stitched oval in Whisper White and the other a plain oval in the same paper as the Woven Threads DSP.

After choosing which humming bird I would fussy-cut from the gorgeous Mosaic Mood Specialty DSP, I quickly got that done and mounted him onto the card with Dimensionals as well.  For my flower I thought the pretty Altenew Dotted Blooms images were perfect and, after stamping one using the Terracotta Tile ink, cut that out and then finished colouring it using my Grapefruit Grove Stampin' Marker.  I love the colours that I created, mixing the stamped ink and the ink from the marker, don't you?  With a Gold Faceted Gem in the centre, the flower was complete and ready to be added with Dimensionals.

I decided to stamp the sentiment on a scrap of Whisper White using the Balmy Blue ink.  The "Thank You" is nice and large and I love the script from the versatile Love What You Do stamp set.  After quickly cutting that out, I added it to the card, also on Dimensionals.  What do you think?  It turned out great, didn't it?

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

And then I decided to play with the Magnolia Lane Memories & More Project Pack.  There are several sheets of printed vellum in the pack, one of which had the perfect sized Magnolia printed on it.  Of course my curiosity was piqued and I had to see how that might work with this card.  The only problem was, well, vellum!  I love the stuff but it does change the look of things when one can see through the flower.  Well, they say that a lot of things can be resolved during one's sleep.  It sure worked in this case.  I woke up with a complete resolution in line.  First I cut out the vellum Magnolia image which most appealed to me.  Then I covered the back of the vellum piece COMPLETELY with VersaMark.  Once that was done, I covered the VersaMark with White Embossing Powder, heated it up to melt it, and the result was absolutely perfect.

After using the Mango Melody and Terracotta Tile inks to colour the front of the image and adding a Gold Faceted Gem to the centre, I changed out the flower on the card and love the results.  Either flower works perfectly, but I'm glad I tried the vellum as well.

I've entered my card into the following challenges:

Lemon Shortbread Challenge #99 - Anything Goes

Dragonfly Dreams Challenge - Things With Wings

Crafting By Design - August Anything Goes

Creative Moments Challenge #173 - Anything Goes

WWC231 - Tristan's "All About Occasions" Challenge

Consider this my contribution to Christmas in July.  I just received this stamp set and am dying to use it.  I love the four-step camel in this lovely Gina Marie set, don't you?  It seems so real, it's almost like a sepia photograph.  And the sentiment?  Perfect!

I began with a base of Heavy Very Vanilla followed by a layer of Early Espresso.  I stamped the camel on a piece of Sahara Sand, layering first some Sahara Sand ink, then some Crumb Cake ink, next some Grey Granite ink and finally some Soft Suede ink.  The finished image turned out even better than I had hoped.

Since I wanted to stamp the town of Bethlehem behind the camel, I stamped another single image of the camel onto a piece of copy paper, fussy cut it out and used it to mask the completed camel image and thus protect it.  The stamp of Bethlehem is Stampin' Up's Night In Bethlehem, stamped using Early Espresso ink while the star is from the retired Star of Light set, heat embossed using Gold Embossing Powder.

For the sentiment I cut a piece of Sahara Sand and stamped it using Early Espresso.  After adding a matte of Early Espresso, I added it to the left of the card.

I love the way it turned out, 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:

The Holly and Ivy Christmas Challenge #52 - Anything Christmas

Cute N Crafty Challenge #29 - Christmas in July

Crimbo Crackers Challenge #189 - Anything Christmas Goes

Crafting by Designs - Get Ready for Christmas

Addicted to Stamps & More #351 - Anything Goes

WWC230 - Kath's Masculine "Anything Goes" Challenge

I've been waiting for another Masculine Challenge!  This week Kath is our host and I'm so happy to be using the Country Road stamp set which I just bought.  Yes, it came out with last year's catalogue, but I'm finally convinced that I need it to round out my more masculine stamps.  I kept all my colours very neutral to give the card a more vintage look.

All the images are from the Country Road set except for the background panel which has been stamped with one of my favourite background stamps, the Crackle Paint set.  The faint, tiny "bubbles" behind the weather vane and twigs are from the Artisan Textures set.

I began with a base of Gray Granite cardstock, followed by a layer of Basic Black and then another layer of Gray Granite, this time stamped with the Crackle Paint image using Gray Granite ink.  Then I added a smaller rectangle of Basic Black, another of Basic Gray and then the Whisper White onto which I heat embossed the weather vane in Black embossing powder, followed by stamping the twigs in Gray Granite ink.  Finally I stamped the "bubbles" in once-off-stamped Gray Granite.

I stamped the star in Gray Granite ink onto a piece of the retired Galvanized Metal Foil and then fussy cut that out.  I stamped the wagon wheel onto a piece of Whisper White using Gray Granite ink and then fussy cut that out.  Assembly was easy and then, finally, I stamped the "Happy Birthday" onto a piece of Whisper White with black Memento ink, cut it out using my stitched rectangle die and cut a matte of Basic Black to put behind it.

I love the way it turned out, 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:

Get Creative Challenge #82 - Anything Goes with optional twist Monochromatic

Use Your Stuff Challenge #367 - Masculine

Sisterhood of Crafters - Birthday

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

WWC228 - Marsha's Feminine "Anything Goes" Challenge

Oh I love our fabulous Feminine "Anything Goes" Challenges.  What fun to be able to create anything as long as I give it a feminine twist.  And what could be a better patterned paper to reach for than that gorgeous Pressed Petals Specialty Designer Series paper?  The images are photographs and simply "pop" off the page!

Look at that wreath of flowers.  Doesn't it look as if I've added real pressed flowers to my card?  Well, I haven't.  The patterns on this paper are all so incredibly realistic that they seem to be 3-D.  The butterflies?  Now those are 3-D since I cut them from Soft Suede using the gorgeous Butterfly Beauty Thinlits dies which carried over and are now in the Annual Catalogue.  The Soft Suede compliments the patterns I've cut from the retired Sale-a-bration paper, doesn't it?  I lifted the lower right butterfly up on a foam Dimensional while the upper left butterfly is simply glued down along the centre of its body.

I've used the sentiment on the front of the card and inside the card from the Beauty Abounds stamp set (also carried over into the Annual Catalogue).  It's hard to tell, but it's stamped using the Mossy Meadow ink.  The two layers of cardstock on top of the Heavy Whisper White are actually Rococo Rose and Mossy Meadow.

Those pretty butterflies and the "bokeh" circles inside the card are also from the Beauty Abounds stamp set.  I used the Merry Merlot and Rococo Rose inks to continue with the colours in the patterned paper.  The sentiment is, again, stamped using Mossy Meadow 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:

Artistic Inspirations Challenge #216 - Anything Goes

Tuesday Throwdown Challenge #435 - Anything Goes

Lemon Shortbread Challenge #97 - Anything Goes

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

WWC226 - Dawn's Masculine "Anything Goes" Challenge

Wonderful timing!  I needed a Father's Day card and we're having a masculine challenge.  What could be better?  I had such fun mixing the Let It Ride and A Good Man stamp sets.  They compliment each other so well, don't they?  Then I threw in some die-cut rope from the Smooth Sailing dies and a sentiment from an old, retired Project Life set, and the card just about made itself.

I used a base of Crumb Cake followed by a layer of the retired (but still loved) Wood Textures Designer Series paper.  I cut the Whisper White piece with the images smaller than usual so that I would have room to attach the die-cut rope.  I stamped the horses and trees from the Let it Ride set rather high on the paper to allow enough distance to make the sizing between the father and son and the horses more believable.   Then, for some grassy and ground texture, I used the water image from the High Tide stamp set, stamping it with Crumb Cake ink.  I think it worked well, don't you?

With a bit of watercolouring and the use of several colours of my Stampin' Blends, I brought the scene to life.  And if you're wondering, yes, I did stamp the father and son separately and then fussy cut them out.

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:

Try It On Tuesday Challenge - It's A Man's World

Unicorn Challenge #44 - For the Men/Boys

Tales From the Craft Room Challenge #5 - Let's Hear it for the Boys

Addicted to Stamps and More #346 - Anything Goes

Crafty Creations Challenge #392 - 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

WWC224 - Karen's Feminine "Anything Goes" Challenge

We're having an "anything goes" challenge with a feminine twist, hosted by Karen, at the Watercooler and I'm absolutely thrilled about it.   Why?  Well I just received an order from Altenew and anyone who knows that company, knows they make some awesome floral stamps.  And floral is perfect for a pretty, feminine card.

This pretty Dotted Blooms set comes with matching dies but for my card I decided I just wanted to do my stamping on the one piece of Mixed Media paper.  I love the lines of this image and wanted to try the "no-line" colouring for the blossoms.  I think they turned out rather nicely, don't you?  You can just see the crystal Nuvo drops on the petals, resembling the morning dew.

I added some blue around the image and then stencilled in a faint brick background.  I really didn't want to add much since I wanted the branch and blossoms to take centre stage.

I used the Heavy Whisper White as my base and then added a layer of Poppy Parade, lifted up with Foam Adhesive Strips.  Then I added a partial layer of Soft Suede for interest.  The sentiment is one of my favourites, from the Stampin' Up! Colorful Seasons stamp set.  I'm so glad that set 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:

Lemon Shortbread Challenge #95 - Anything Goes

Crafting From the Heart Challenge #244 - Anything Goes

Double D Challenges:  Rose Garden

Crafty Creations Challenges #391:  Anything Goes

WWC223 - Anything Goes Challenge

Hurrah!  It's a real "anything goes" challenge this week and there are no twists, guides or restrictions.  How perfect since I had a graduation card on my schedule with some pretty special images, colours and folds.

While this doesn't look like a conventional graduation card, I fell in love with this sentiment.  Of course that wonderful Come Sail Away Designer Series paper I've used as my background pulls everything together.  How wonderful that the blue in the paper is the blue of the school's colours.  Could anything have worked out more perfectly?  Now I know that the super-wide Jute ribbon (sadly retired) looks as if it's only decorative in this photo.  But there is more to this card than first meets the eye.

Et voila!

As you can see, the ribbon, which is adhered to a piece of Soft Suede cardstock, is, in fact, the "belly band" which holds the rather thick card together.  For the inside of this awesome graduation pop-up twist surprise card, I've also used the Come Sail Away Designer Series paper, although this one is much brighter and lighter so that the large numbers, cut from Pacific Point cardstock, would be the focal point.  The sentiment and sailboat image are both from the stunning new Come Sail Away Suite and I can see many more cards designed using the various images in my future.

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:

Cardz 4 Guyz Challenge #220 - Beside the Seaside

Always Fun Challenges #112 - Graduation

Creative Moments Challenge #169 - Anything Goes

Simon Says Wednesday Challenge - Anything Goes

Crafty Gals Corner Challenge #192 - Fancy Folds

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

WWC221 - Tristan's Masculine "Anything Goes" Challenge

I love masculine challenges!  And this one came at the perfect time for me to create a card for my awesome son-in-law.  Could the timing be better?  And I'm sure the images are just what he's day-dreaming about, too.

I love this terrific new stamp set in our new Stampin' Up! Annual Catalogue.  Finally, "A Good Man" offers some awesome images of men at leisure.  This image lends itself perfectly to that beach and palm trees, doesn't it (palm trees not part of this set).  I did some masking to get that beach watercoloured in place and then, once that was done, coloured in my images using my Stampin' Blends.  As expected, Adam loved it.

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:

Cardz 4 Guyz:  Challenge #219 - Man Cave

Crafting from the Heart Challenge #243 - Anything Goes

Addicted to Stamps and More Challenge #341 - Anything Goes

The Male Room Challenge #111 - Anything Goes