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

This is our last challenge for the year 2018! Can you believe it?  Because it's a busy time of year for everyone, we make this a two-week challenge.

For this challenge, I'm sharing a really over-the-top project. Well, it's over the top for me. I made two pop-up cards for customer who has ordered Christmas cards from me for about seven years now. Two of the cards are for her granddaughters, and these are what I made.
 
I have a lot of photos this week, so let's get right to them! The first photo shows the outside of both cards:

I used a long-retired Bigz die for the stocking and some retired Christmas Designer Series Paper. The cuff of the stockings is cut from White Velvet Paper and the snowflakes, using the Snowfall Thinlits, are from Shimmer White cardstock. Red Dazzling Details, the bows from Santa's Sleigh Thinlits, and pinecones from Pretty Pines finish off the cardfronts.

Inside each stocking is a tag made using the Scallop Tag Topper punch and some black glitter ribbon.

And now for the big reveal! Here is what's inside:

I used so many stamp sets, dies, markers, glimmer papers and DSPs that I don't think I can remember them all. Of course I didn't write them down. Also, I had no real plan when I started and just kind of winged it as I went.

Here's some side views:

I find these challenging to photograph, so I hope you are able to see some of the detail.

And that's it till next year! Make a visit to Watercooler Wednesday to see what they rest of the design team came up with as we say goodbye to 2018.
 

WWC200 - Helen's All About Occasions Challenge

Wow! This week we reach our 200th challenge with Helen hosting an All About Occasions Challenge. Seems like only yesterday this challenge was born from a  group of Stampin' Up demonstrators chatting in a forum.

The occasion I've picked is that of a male-themed birthday  card.

Crumb Cake is one of my favourite neutral colours and I love stamping on it with a strong colour. I went with Blueberry Bushel for the truck image from Countryside, a retired stamp set.

The band across the middle is Very Vanilla, stamped with the Buffalo Check background stamp and Blueberry Bushel, which I also used for the sentiment from Window Shopping, also a retired set.

Using the Tag Topper punch to punch out the sentiment, and a bit of Thick Black Baker's Twine, gives just enough detail to finish off this card.

Now visit Watercooler Wednesday for more great ideas for your occasions creations. 

WWC199 - Tristan's Feminine Anything Goes Challenge

Taking a break from Christmas cards? Check out this week's challenge hosted by Tristan.

I don't think I'm the only crafter who has supplies that sometimes get pushed to the back burner. While perusing Pinterest the other day, I came across a stunning card created by Karen Dunbrook. She used Brushos and I realized I hadn't used mine in a while.

They are so easy to use and I'm always surprised at the results. I wanted to use the resist technique as Karen had done on her card.

First step was to stamp some images and a sentiment from the Dandelion Wishes stamp set on watercolour paper with Versamark Ink, then emboss with white embossing powder.

Next, I sprinkled some Brushos - Prussian Blue, Yellow and Gamboge (orange) in different areas. Obviously, I went a little heavy on the blue. Then spritz liberally with water.

I did use a small paint brush to move some of the colour around. After it dried, I wanted some areas of the blue to be darker. In an empty embellishment container, I mixed a few grains of Brushos with some water and used the paint brush to get in the areas where I wanted it darker.

When it was totally dry, I mounted the piece onto Whisper White cardstock and then mounted that to the Tranquil Tide card base.

Lastly, I randomly placed some Glitter Epoxy Shapes. They are a little hard to see as they are clear, but I love how they look on the darker areas. Here's a closeup:

Visit Watercooler Wednesday for more wonderful projects from the Watercooler Artist team. And - a special announcement!

WWC198 - Gail's All About Holidays Challenge

I don't often reach for pink when I'm making cards - but when I do, it's sparkly. Well, not necessarily, but I like how the sparkle and pink work with Crumb Cake and white. And, Christmas is the time for sparkle!

If you happened to see my blog post from last week's challenge, when I die cut the large snowflake from the Snowfall Thinlits Dies, this week you'll what I did with that snowflake.

I cut a small snowflake from some retired Sweet Sugarplum glimmer paper to put in the center. Then I used the new Rose Metallic Thread behind the snowflake to pick up on the Sweet Sugarplum.

The sentiment is from the Snow is Glistening stamp set, stamped with Crumb Cake on a strip of Whisper White cardstock. Some accents also cut from the Sweet Sugarplum glimmer paper set it off.

Now, for the background. While it doesn't show on photo, it is really plush in real life! I embossed a piece of White Velvet Sheet with the Basket Weave embossing folder. Sadly, this paper was so popluar, as part of the Snowflake Showcase suite, that it quickly sold out.

The card base is Sweet Sugarplum. I quite like this Crumb Cake/white/pink combo for Christmas. How about you?

There is an abundance of holiday inspiration waiting for  you at Watercooler Wednesday.

WWC197 - Kath's Masculine Anything Goes Challenge

This week, Kath brings us a theme that many cardmakers find challenging - making cards for the men in our lives.

My card was inspired by a card I saw online that was made using a large snowflake die from another company. Luckily, I just happened to have recently received the wonderful Snowfall Thinlits set. And it has a gorgeous large snowflake that was perfect. Take a look:

This card was quite easy to make. I started by cutting the large snowflake die from the piece of Crumb Cake cardstock, then ran it through the Big Shot with the Corrugated Textured Impressions Embossing Folder.

Next I sponged Whisper White Craft Ink all over. Once that was dry, I used a very find paint brush to paint Copper Shimmer Paint all around the shape of the snowflake.

On a piece of Very Vanilla cardstock, I stamped the pine trees from Rooted in Nature using Mossy Meadow ink. By using the stamping off technique, it's possible to get various shades of green and create depth in the image. The sentiment is also from Rooted in Nature, stamped with Soft Suede. I also sponged a little bit of Mossy Meadow over the edges of the embossed piece.

Here's a closeup of the trees:

When I was ready to photograph my card, it happened to be sitting on my craft table right beside a Distressed Red Card Tin that had been in my last order. I love anything distressed! Thought it went well with my card, so it became a prop.

If you need ideas for creating masculine-themed cards look no further than Watercooler Wednesday and the very talented Watercooler Artists!

WWC196 - Heidi's All About Occasions Challenge

There are so many card-giving occasions throughout the year, including birthdays. Heidi hosts this week's challenge and you can choose your occasion.

I went with a birthday, as one of my sisters celebrated hers recently and I am the offical card maker for our birthday celebrations. (Last week's gift bag project was also made for her birthday.)

I love the You've Got Style stamp set. It was so much fun colouring this, as I just grabbed any Stampin' Blend from a pile without giving it much thought. Except for the cat - I did pick a colour for her.

After the colouring was done, I used the clear Wink  of Stella and 'winked' her shoes, hair, ear rings and jewelery. To add some more bling, I matted the image with the Black Foil and then mounted it all on a Berry Burst card base.

I put the birthday greeting on the inside:

And that's it! Check out Watercooler Wednesday for more ideas and occasions.
 

WWC195 - Charlotte's Feminine Anything Goes Challenge

Our theme this week, from Charlotte, is Feminine Anything Goes.

I needed to make a gift bag, so decided it would do double duty and also be my project for this challenge. I love when stores use bags with handles to put your purchases in. They are perfect for upcycling. Like this:

I went with a fall theme and stamped random leaves from the Rooted in Nature stamp set using Merry Merlot, Mango Melody and Shaded Spruce. I stamped all around the bag.

The tag is a large shipping tag from the office supply store. I embossed it with dies from the Nature's Roots Framelits. I sponged lightly with Crumb Cake.

Peeking out from behind the tag is some of the Chicken Wire Elements that I coloured with Copper Shimmer Paint. Still going with my copper obsession, I die-cut some Copper Glimmer Paper from the Joyous Noel Glimmer Paper pack with a die from In The Woods framelits.

Then I went kind of overboard with Merry Merlot & Copper reversible ribbon, Linen Thread and Burlap Ribbon to finish off the tag. Well, what's that saying? Go big or go home!

You can see a little bit of what looks like tissue paper peeking out from the top of the bag. It's actually from a sewing pattern I bought at the thrift store. It's a huge pattern for a costume and it was .50. I've used parts of it on some mixed media and love it because of the lines and lettering on it. And it works great to stuff in a gift bag.

Now it's your turn to show us your Feminine Anything Goes project. Check out the other Watercooler Artists at Watercooler Wednesday.