WWC 284 - Dawn's Challenge: All About Occasions

This week Dawn is hosting our awesome All About Occasions Challenge and so I've created a fun Christmas card for my stash.  Time is marching on and I need those cards!  What could be better than combining one of those popular Gnomes with a gingerbread man?

 I've  used some very old, retired Designer Paper along with this adorable Gnome.  I think the patterns work together beautifully, don't you?  And I took inspiration for the colours in the card from the patterned paper.  For my base I used the heavy Whisper White and then added a layer of Early Espresso.  After adding a different pattern to each side, I cut out a stitched oval from Whisper White and embossed that using a Falling Snow embossing folder.  Then  I added a stitched rectangle of  Cherry Cobbler and embossed that using the Subtle embossing folder.  

I attached the Gnome using Dimensionals after colouring him (and his sweet friend) with my alcohol ink Blends.   

I love the way the card turned out and hope you do, too.  Have fun checking out our Watercooler Wednesday Challenge and I hope you'll link your creation before the deadline on Monday,  August 17th.

 I've also linked my card to the following challenges:

Lemon Shortbread Challenge #126 - Anything Goes

The Holly and Ivy Christmas Challenge #76 -  Anything Christmas Goes

WWC283 - Tristan's Challenge: Anything Goes With a Feminine Twist

For Tristan's challenge this week, I decided to get in touch with my inner "cat person".  Seriously, I've been accumulating a lot of cat dies of all kinds lately and am happy to be able to use one.  

Isn't it darling?  For my background I used a Darice embossing folder with a combination of debossed and embossed pawprints.  I love the variation, don't you?

For a change my base is Basic Black which make the embossed Whisper White layer stand out beautifully.  I used the little "cat in the square" die to cut out a piece of Basic Black and then used my stitched square die to cut out a piece of Whisper White which I used as a backing.  That allowed me to colour the background a very soft green, the inside of the ears a very soft pink and the eyes a warm yellow.  The sentiment from the retired Pretty Kitty stamp set works perfectly, doesn't it?

I love the way the card turned out and hope you do, too.  Have fun checking out our Watercooler Wednesday Challenge and I hope you'll link your creation before the deadline on Monday,  August 10th.

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

Lemon Shortbread Challenge #125 - Anything Goes

Show Us Your Pussycat Challenges #57 - Furrything Goes

2 Crafty Critter Crazies Challenge #41 -     Dry or Hot Embossing

Crafty Creations Challenges August #412 - Anything Goes

WWC282 - Fifth Week Anything Goes Challenge

Every month which has five Wednesdays we have a special challenge for our Watercooler Wednesday Challenge.  It's an Anything Goes challenge and I decided to create another special fold.  This time it's very simple.  It's a gate-fold but is made special  by the gorgeous Designer Paper which I used.

I used the Heavy Whisper White for my base, cutting it to 5 1/2" x 8  1/2".  The gate-fold is created by scoring first at 2 1/2" and then at 6 3/4".  I purposely made an uneven gate.  The Designer paper seemed to want to be cut at that point and so I went along with it.  My matte is the lovely Highland Heather cardstock.  The Designer Paper is the retired but, nevertheless stunning, Perrennial Essence.

 At this slight angle, you can just see how I've added some sparkle to the centres of the blossoms  with my Sheer Shimmer Stix Dauber.  It compliments the sparkle of the scalloped circle mattle under the stitched circle of the sentiment.  I stamped the sentiment using  Rich Razzleberry ink which is close to the warm tones in the blossoms.  The little butterfly is sparkly as well, cut from glitter paper. 

For the inside of the card, I kept it simple.  I cut a piece of 4 1/2" x 3 1/4" Highland Heather cardstock and then added a piece of 4 1/4" x 3" Whisper White on which I stamped a little butterfly and blossoms, leaving lots of room for a written greeting.

I love the way the card turned out and hope you do, too.  Have fun checking out our Watercooler Wednesday Challenge and I hope you'll link your creation before the deadline on Monday,  August 3rd.

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

 Lemon Shortbread Challenge #125 - Anything Goes

A Place to Start July 2020 Challenge - Flowers (Flowers, Floral Papers, etc)

WWC281 - Heidi's Challenge: All About Occasions

It's my turn as host for our awesome Watercooler Challenge this week.  One occasion for which I'm always needing more cards is when I'm sending thanks to someone.  I always seem to run out of Thank You cards.  So that's what I decided to make using some fun retired patterned paper as well as those adorable little House Mouse images.

This is a special fold which I saw on Mary Brown's blog and had to try myself.  If you're curious about Mary's, just click here.  It's actually an easy fold (which is always nice, right?) and helps to use up some of the patterned paper we all seem to wind up hoarding.

You begin with a piece of 5 1/2 x 12 patterned paper.  It works best if your paper isn't strictly "one direction" on one side.  From there you score at 2", 4", 8", and 10".  At each end, you cut diagonally from the fold line to the centre of the edge, as you can see from the pic:

Keep those little triangular pieces.  You're going to glue them onto the uncut end of that last fold as you can see from the pic:

Once glued on with all the folds in place, you will have a special fold card ready to decorate:

On a piece of Mixed Media paper, I stamped the adorable little images from Ellen Jareckie's Acorn Cap House Mouse set.  Perfect for the patterned paper which I used, right?  After using my stitched oval die to cut out the image, I proceeded to watercolour it using my favourite Derwent Watercolour Pencils and Aquapainter.  When the colours were dry, I added some Sakura Glaze to the nut portion of the acorns.

 To finish up I cut a 3" x 4 1/4" piece of Very Vanilla cardstock, added two fussy-cut acorns, and glued it to the centre of the inside of the card. 

I love the way the card turned out and hope you do, too.  Have fun checking out our Watercooler Wednesday Challenge and I hope you'll link your creation before the deadline on Monday, July 27th.

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

 HMFMC #321 - Anything Goes ( Option: use a number)

Lemon Shortbread Challenge #124 - Anything Goes

WWC280 - Kath's Challenge: Anything Goes With a Masculine Twist

With Kath's masculine challenge, I thought it was the perfect time to play with the fun (and new) stamp set I bought from Art Impressions.  The images are by Bonnie Krebs and reflect her usual humorous look at life.

This is what happens when men go hunting.  If one of them is celebrating a birthday, all bets are off.  Clearly both the birthday boy and the birthday cake have gone missing.  Are they carrying their guns for any reason other than protecting themselves from wild bear and disgruntled deer?  We'll never know.   What happens in the woods, stays in the woods.

I had such fun watercolouring Bonnie's terrific images.  Keeping each of the men separate and giving each a bit of a different look took a bit of time and a lot of thought, but I think, in the end, it worked out well.  I used Mixed Media paper for the watercoloured image and, of course, my favourite Derwent watercolour pencils.  I used a matte of Gray Granite and the base is simply white.

In this slightly off centre photo, you can just see the sparkle of the Shimmery Crystal Effects on the glass of the binoculars and the soft sheen of the silver buckles.

I love the way the card turned out and hope you do, too.  Have fun checking out our Watercooler Wednesday Challenge and I hope you'll link your creation before the deadline on Monday, July 20th.

 I've also added my card to the following challenges:

  Cardz 4 Guyz Challenge #249 - No patterned paper

 Lemon Shortbread Challenge #124 - Anything Goes

The Male Room Challenge #140 - Sport

WWC279 - Helen's Challenge: All About Occasions

I'm so glad this challenge is All About Occasions!  I'm ready to begin building up my Christmas card stash and what a perfect way to begin, with those adorable little House Mouse designs.

I began with a base of Heavy Whisper White cardstock and then added a lovely die-cut matte of Garden Green.  I stamped the adorable Ellen Jareckie House Mouse image onto a piece of Mixed Media paper and then proceeded to colour it using my fabulous Derwent Watercolour Pencils.  Because I decided those little Christmas lights should be lit, I added a light wash of colour around each bulb.  You can just see it on the paper and  beside the bulb, but this is the way the colour would naturally spread.  After colouring the image, I took the next smaller die and cut out the image with it so that it would fit perfectly inside that green matte.

I added a layer of the Shimmery Crystal Effects to the Christmas Lights and some silver to the end of the pencil.  You can see that more easily with the slight angle of this photo.

For the inside, I inked up only the one Christmas bulb and stamped it in the upper left corner.  Then, after watercolouring, I added some Shimmery Crystal Effects to the bulb as well.  The sentiment is from an old, retired set which I've kept simply for the assortment of sentiments. 

I love the way the card turned out and hope you do, too.  Have fun checking out our Watercooler Wednesday Challenge and I hope you'll link your creation before the deadline on Monday, July 13th.

I've also added my card to the following challenges:

HMFMC #320 - Anything Goes with the option of stitching

Shopping Our Stash #424 - Hanukkah/Christmas in July

Lemon Shortbread Challenge #123 - Anything Goes

Fezziwigs Festive Frolics - Anything Festive Goes

WWC278 - Michelle's Challenge: Anything Goes With a Feminine Twist

I love Coneflowers (also known as Echinacea)!  They have become a popular garden addition and boast a whole lot of colours now.  I bought a die set with three sizes of Coneflowers which I've been wanting to use.  And, finally, I've used the dies for this week's challenge card.

I decided to use a slightly cream coloured base and then added two mattes.  The first is a very narrow Daffodil Delight followed by a wood patterned paper.  On top of that, I added a lovely retired piece of Designer paper which has a Heat Embossed finish to it.  Not only does that add interest and weight but it also has a wonderful shine to it, almost like mosaic tiles.

I cut the pieces for the Coneflowers from Watercolour Paper.  When I first cut the pieces, I intended to check on the internet to see the possible  colours.  To my surprise there were many from which to choose.  I think I changed my mind half a dozen times and then, finally, decided on yellow.  Watercolouring them allowed me the opportunity to add shading, which I prefer to simply using a yellow cardstock.  Of course, seeing the close-ups of the cones showed me that there was more of a pattern and more colours to them than I had anticipated.  For the additional dots of red, I used a paint brush to add some pearlized Nuvo Drops.  

As you can see from this picture, I created an easel card.  I added an outline of the same patterned paper to the inside as well as a little die-cut bee.  Not only is the bee perfect for the flowers, it provided that very important little "stopper" for the card, forcing it to stay put in the easel position.

I love the way the card turned out and hope you do, too.  Have fun checking out our Watercooler Wednesday Challenge and I hope you'll link your creation before the deadline on Monday, July 6th.

I've also added my card to the following challenges:

Lemon Shortbread Challenge #123 - Anything Goes

Tuesday Throwdown Challenge #460 - Anything Goes

Crafty Creations July Challenge #411 - Anything Goes

Cardz 4 Guyz #248 - Red, White and Blue

The new challenge for the next two weeks at Cardz 4 Guyz is #248 - Red, White and Blue, chosen by Pamela with the winners picked by Pamela.  The design can be related to the July 4th USA Independence Day or non-related.

Please check out the blog for details and also to see the awesome samples by the Design Team.

I kept this card simple, using the Heavy Whisper White as my base and then adding a layer of Real Red cardstock and Whisper White cardstock.  I used a fun die to cut out the combination image/sentiment from a piece of Pacific Point cardstock.  

This could easily be for someone's birthday, whether he was born on the 4th of July or not.  It's fun and very striking.

I hope you enjoy this card as much as I enjoyed making it.  Have fun with our challenge.

WWC277 - Tristan's Challenge: All About Occasions

Oh, I love our "Occasions" challenges.  It's the perfect opportunity to use another one of the wonderful House Mouse images which I've accumulated over the past year.  This one is all about birthdays!

I love this image!  I didn't have to go looking for a sentiment since those adorable little mice are busy painting "Happy Birthday".

I used a base of Heavy Whisper White and then added two mattes, one of Night of Navy and the other of Balmy Blue.  The image is stamped on a piece of Mixed Media paper and all the colouring, except for the silver of the metal near the brush head, is done with my Derwent Watercolour pencils and an Aqua Painter or the inks from several of my ink pads (and, of course, the Aqua Painter).

At this angle you can more easily see the shine of the "Happy Birthday" letters.  I achieved that by stamping the words in Balmy Blue and then covering the ink with clear embossing powder so that I could heat emboss them.  The brush heads, too, are shiny because I added Shimmery Crystal Effects to them after colouring them with the Balmy Blue.  You can also see the shine of the silver on the brushes, which I achieved by using my UniBall silver pen.  Finally, since the Mixed Media paper is towards a creamy shade, I coloured the inside of the paint box with one of my white "snow" pens.

I love the way the card turned out and hope you do, too.  Have fun checking out our Watercooler Wednesday Challenge and I hope you'll link your creation before the deadline on Monday, June 29th.

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

House-Mouse & Friends Monday Challenge #319 - Anything Goes or Celebrate

Lemon Shortbread Challenge #122 - Anything Goes

Simon Says Challenge - Anything Goes

WWC276 - Marsha's Challenge: Anything Goes With a Masculine Twist

I bought this Gina Marie stamp set last year and am finally getting around to using it.  The images are simple and the sentiments are fun, especially if you happen to have someone in your life that is forever curious about all things science.

I used the Basic Gray as my base cardstock and added a matte of Whisper White which I first embossed using a retired embossing folder.

I stamped each of the three images on Whisper White using black Versafine ink and then cut them out with my stitched square die.  I mounted the stitched squares on a strip of Basic Black and then cut around the squares, allowing a nice, skinny matte to show.  Then I coloured them using my Stampin' Markers, keeping to simple colours.

For the sentiments, I heat embossed two separate ones on Basic Black cardstock using White embossing powder.  After using an old punch to cut the sentiments out, I added them to the card propped up on foam dimensionals.

I love the way the card turned out and hope you do, too.  Have fun checking out our Watercooler Wednesday Challenge and I hope you'll link your creation before the deadline on Monday, June 22nd.

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

Lemon Shortbread Challenge #122 - Anything Goes

Tuesday Throwdown #459 -  Special Guy

Crafty Cardmakers #259 - Masculine

Crafty Creations June Challenge #410 - Anything Goes

It's a Shaker card for Challenge #247 at Cardz 4 Guyz

The new challenge for the next two weeks at Cardz 4 Guyz is #247 - Shaker, chosen by Mary Ellen with the winners picked by Mary Ellen.

Please check out the blog for details and also to see the awesome samples by the Design Team.

I love the Tim Holtz embossing folder which I used for the background of this shaker card, don't you?  It works so well with the varied die-cut gears from Stampin' Up!'s Geared Up Garage bundle.  I also used the sentiment from this bundle since it carried on the "gear" theme.  For the shaker, I simply used one of my jar dies to cut the shape into the embossed piece of Smoky Slate cardstock.  

My base is also the Smoky Slate cardstock with the matte a Basic Black.

I hope you enjoy this card as much as I enjoyed creating it.  Have fun with our challenge.

WWC275 - Karen's Challenge: All About Occasions

As a rule I don't make Sympathy cards ahead.  I know some people like to have almost every occasion on hand and, generally, I do that as well.  I just don't make Sympathy cards ahead because I prefer not to think someone I know will pass away.  Just a little mental block.

Unfortunately not making a card ahead doesn't stop people from passing away, either.  I'm glad that I had this stunning stamp on hand.  It's by Stampendous and is probably the most moving stamp of its type that I have seen.  From the delicate foliage and blossoms to the beautifully written sentiment, this stamp took some of the sting out of the reason for the card's creation.

For the foliage, I first coloured the images with various greens and the purple and then used my stamping platform to stamp it on Mixed Media paper.  After that, I covered the image with Versamark and stamped it again, over the colours.  Taking the paper from the platform, I heat embossed the image using clear embossing powder.

With the stamping platform it's an easy matter to get the paper in precisely the same spot.  This was necessary because the actual rubber stamp is in one piece: both image and sentiment are combined.  I first stamped the sentiment using Smoky Slate ink and then covered the sentiment with Versamark and stamped it once more.  Taking the paper from the platform, I heat embossed the sentiment using silver embossing powder.

You can see in this image for which I used a flash, the sparkle of the clear embossing powder where it stands out against the watercolouring.  The silver, too, shows up   better with the flash.  I used a base of Heavy Whisper White and then added a matte of Gorgeous Grape.  The Mixed Media paper was roughed up along the perimeter with my distressing tool.

I love the way the card turned out and hope you do, too.  Have fun checking out our Watercooler Wednesday Challenge and I hope you'll link your creation before the deadline on Monday, June 15th.

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

Lemon Shortbread Challenge #121 - Anything Goes

Simon Says Wednesday Challenge - Something Metallic

The Crafter's Cafe Challenge Blog #244 - June 1st, Anything Goes

WWC274 - Dawn's Challenge: Anything Goes With a Feminine Twist

As you know, I have an obsession with those adorable little House-Mouse images by Ellen Jareckie.  This little image simply delighted me when I saw it.  Being a bit (a lot) of a choco-holic, I couldn't pass up creating a card with a mouse totally covered in chocolate sauce.

I've kept the design rather CAS.  My base is the Heavy Whisper White and then I've added a matte of Gorgeous Grape.  I stamped the image and sentiment onto a piece of Mixed Media paper using the Versafine black ink so that it wouldn't smear when I watercoloured.

I had so much fun colouring the images, but you know how much I love these little House Mice.  I used my Derwent Watercolour pencils and, of course, my Aqua Painter brush to turn the pencilled colour into gorgeous watercolour.   Once that was totally dry, I put some Crystal Effects onto a pallette and mixed in a bit of water to make it easier to brush on.  Using a very small brush, I covered the chocolate on the Mouse, on the floor, and dripping down the jar with the Crystal Effects mix.  Once it dried, it looked so much like real chocolate that I wanted to lick it.  Thank goodness for self restraint.

The sentiment isn't by Stampendous like the House Mouse image.  Actually, I hunted around to find "the perfect sentiment".  You know how hard that can be.  But finally, in a rather old set which I haven't used for years, I found it.  By Hero Arts, it's called "Friends" and came out in 2010.   Old, but perfect.

Have fun checking out our Watercooler Wednesday Challenge and I hope you'll link your creation before the deadline on Monday, June 8th.

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

HMFMC #317 - Anything Goes with an Option of Gingham or Plaid

CAS on Friday Challenge #181 - Animals

Lemon Shortbread Challenge #141 - Anything Goes

It's Father's Day for Challenge #246 at Cardz 4 Guyz

The new challenge for the next two weeks at Cardz 4 Guyz is #246 - Father's Day, chosen by Caz with the winners picked by Caz.

Please check out the blog for details and also to see the awesome samples by the Design Team.

This image is by Art Impressions and is the perfect card for my husband.  After stamping the image, I used my Derwent Watercolour pencils to colour it and then my Aqua Painter brush to "magically" turn it into a watercolour.  The sentiments are from random sets.

I decided to use two different colours for the background mattes.  Before using them, I dry embossed them with two different embossing folders.  I love the way the Granny Apple Green and the Pineapple Punch look against the base of Soft Suede, don't you?

I hope you enjoy this card as much as I enjoyed creating it.  Have fun with our challenge.

WWC273 - Marsha's Challenge: All About Occasions

I love Stampendous Stamps.  Not only does the company make those wonderful House Mouse stamps which I adore, but it also makes some wonderful stamps for all sorts of occasions.  This one, called Little Mushroom Cling Set, is one which really speaks to my heart.

I love these images so much that I decided to make this a single layer card.  I simply didn't want a matte or secondary colours to take any attention away from the stamping.

After stamping the images and the sentiment in black, I traced a circle around part of the mushroom image and butterfly image using one of my blue watercolour pencils.  Then I proceeded to use my Derwent Watercolour Pencils to colours all the images.  Once that was done, I used my Aqua Painter to "magically" turn the pencilled-in colours to watercolour.  I love the control that the pencils afford me.

Then I used the same blue pencil with which I traced the circle to fill it in.  After that I used the Aqua Painter to give it the watercolour finish.  It took a while for everything to fully dry, but once it had I took my Nuvo Aqua Shimmer pen in a clear Glitter Gloss and covered the blue completely.  While that dried, I used my White Inkssentials Enamel Accents to add a bit of dimension to the white on the butterfly's wings.

This close-up shows off the glitter as well as the pretty white enamel accents quite well.  I love the final effects and hope you do, too.  Have fun checking out our Watercooler Wednesday Challenge and I hope you'll link your creation before the deadline on Monday, June 1st.

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

Crafty Cardmakers Challenge #257 - Butterflies

Simon Says Monday Challenge Blog - We're Going Around in Circles

Addicted to Stamps & More Challenge #391 - Anything Goes

Arty Divas Challenge #22 - Anything Goes

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Anything Goes

WWC272 - Helen's Challenge: Anything Goes With a Masculine Twist

It's been a while since I pulled out my Brusho Crystals.  Since I recently bought a really different little die which I have been dying to use, a Brusho background seemed like an excellent idea.

As you can see, the die actually gives a silhouette reflection of a man walking his dog.  Of course I cut that out of a piece of Basic Black cardstock.  I also decided to use a Basic Black matte so that the edges of the die-cut would blend right in.  For the background, I chose to use a piece of Watercolour paper.  It holds up much better to the amount of water one usually uses with Brusho than does the Whisper White cardstock.

I decided to use only two of my Brusho colours:  Gamboge and Ultramarine.  The Gamboge has a lot of the yellows, oranges and reds which one sees in some spectacular sunsets.  Well, I was aiming for a rather spectacular sunset for this background.  I had marked in pencil where I intended the die-cut to be placed and I created an "explosion" of the Gamboge so that it would look like a fiery sunset behind the man and dog as well as a fiery reflection of that same sunset across a pond. 

After that was well dried, thanks to my heat tool, I used a brush to wet the remaining white areas and carefully shook some Ultramarine crystals onto those areas. 

I love the final effects and hope you do, too.  Have fun checking out our Watercooler Wednesday Challenge and I hope you'll link your creation before the deadline on Monday, May 25th.

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

Lemon Shortbread Challenge #120 - Anything Goes

Artsystamper Challenge #12 - It's a Guy Thing

It's a Sketch for Challenge #245 at Cardz 4 Guyz

The new challenge for the next two weeks at Cardz 4 Guyz is #245 - A Sketch, chosen by Julie with the winner picked by Julie.

Please check out the blog for details and also to see the awesome samples by our Design Team.

I used a base of Heavy Whisper White for this card and then added a matte in Basic Black and then a  piece of grey toned patterned paper with a lovely wood grain pattern.  I thought the wood looked weather beaten much in the same way that an old fence would or, perhaps, an old barn.  Using my circle dies, I cut out one circle in Basic Black and then another in Whisper White.  I stamped the horse images on the Whisper White and used watercolours to colour the scene.  Then, before adhering the image circle to the card, I  went around the perimeter of the circle with my distressing tools and then sponged the edges with a soft grey.

 For the additional shape, I decided on a die-cut cowboy hat.  With a bit of watercolouring I think it wound up looking nice and worn.   After stamping my sentiment, I cut it out using a stitched rectangle die.

I hope you enjoy my card as much as I enjoyed making it. Have fun with our challenge.

WWC271 - Kath's Challenge: All About Occasions

So often, in conjunction with an Occasion, I need a "thank-you" card.  Surprisingly I don't make those often enough to satisfy the need for them.  Lately I've been trying to make them more frequently.  This time I turned to the lovely Free As a Bird stamp set and the stunning Mosaic Mood Specialty Designer Series paper.

My base is the Heavy Whisper White cardstock.  I added a matte of Garden Green and Whisper White and then a piece of the beautiful Mosaic Mood DSP.  That patterned paper really must be seen in person to be appreciated since it looks as if it has been heat embossed with all those leaves.

I stamped the single bird image from the set onto a piece of Mixed Media paper and then added some background by hand.  After the inks had fully dried, I watercoloured the bird and background using a combination of Stampin' Up! and Derwent watercolour pencils and my Aqua Painter.  I cut that image out with one of my circle dies and then added a matte of Garden Green.

I had such fun creating this card and hope you love it as much as I do.   Have fun checking out our Watercooler Wednesday Challenge and I hope you'll link your creation before the deadline on Monday, May 18th.

I've also entered the following challenges:

Lemon Shortbread Challenge #119 - Anything Goes

Crafting Happiness Challenge #48 - Anything Goes (Optional Nature)

The Sisterhood of Crafters - Birds, Bees, Butterflies