WWC61 - Anything Goes

 

Anything Goes this week for the Watercooler Wednesday Challenge. This is always a fun challenge because it's great to see whatever projects people have been working on - whether it is 3-D, home decor, scrapbooking, Project Life or cards.

One of the reasons I like the Anything Goes challenge, is that it gives me a chance to use retired products. And this week's project uses both a retired stamp set - Morning Cup, and some retired DSP, which I don't remember the name of because I don't have the packaging anymore. And I combined them with current products. Take a look:

 

While I do like tea, and have got into the habit of having "a cuppa" in the afternoons, I need my coffee in the morning! I cut the mug and the creamer from the DSP using the Cups & Kettle framelits. The mug sits on a circle of the Corrugated cardstock and there are wisps of Gold Thread behind the mug. I folded one of the doilies in half.

A piece of First Edition DSP was scrunched up and sponged with Crumb Cake ink, and the circles from Timeless Textures are stamped in Soft Suede. The card base is Crumb Cake and the sentiment, from Morning Cup is stamped on Very Vanilla in Soft Suede.

Here's a close-up of the mug details:

Now, it's your turn! Visit Watercooler Wednesday to see what the other artists have done, and share your project with us. We can't wait to see it! 

WWC60 - Marsha's CAS Birthday Challenge

It's time for a new challenge at the Watercooler Wednesday Challenge Blog! And this really was a challenge for me because it involves CAS - which stands for Clean And Simple.

Marsha has chosen a birthday theme for her CAS Challenge. So I got out my Age Awareness stamp set. It has a sentiment in it that I've wanted to use, but haven't had the opportunity. This seemed like the perfect time to use the 'Thanks, Facebook' line.

I've used Cucumber Crush cardstock for the base and because CAS means not using a lot of layers, I decided to stamp onto a piece of the Daffodil Delight from the Perfectly Artistic DSP - sponged around the edges with Tangelo Twist. Ink colours are Tangelo Twist and Smoky Slate. For the candles, I coloured each one using Tangelo Twist and Cherry Cobbler markers. The flames are accented with Gold Wink of Stella.
 
This truly is clean and simple  - one layer, one stamp set, no embellishments. Now it's your turn. Go to Watercooler Wednesday to see what the other Watercooler Artists have come up with and give Clean And Simple a try!

March Madness at the Watercooler

It's March Madness at the Watercooler! If you are following the Hop in its traditional circular route, you have arrived here from Heidi's blog. Did she have your head spining with her creativity? I don't know how she always comes up with such great designs!

The Madness in this month's hop is that it is all about Fancy Folds. What is a Fancy Fold, you ask? I think it's anything other than a traditional card which is a piece of cardstock, typically folded in half, decorated on the front and has a greeting or message inside.

A very easy Fancy Fold is the Z-Fold. This simply means a piece of cardstock folded in a zig-zag fashion. I've combined the need for projects for this Blog Hop with a custom order for Easter Cards for young children. The challenge in this for me, is that I don't typically buy child-themed stamp sets. But, in this year's Occasions Catalogue is the adorable Easter Lamb stamp.

I pictured bright Easter-ish colours and lambs on grassy slopes. Like this:

To get the basic shape, start with an 8.5" x 11" piece of cardstock - mine is Watermelon Wonder. Trim 1/5" off the long edge to make your cardstock 8.5" x 10.5". Measure up to the 5.5" mark on one short edge and make a light pencil mark. On the opposite short edge, measure up to the 2.5" mark and make another light pencil mark.

Line each mark up on your paper cutter - your entire piece will be slanted - and cut from mark to mark. This gives you the slanted top. Then score at 3.5" and 7" marks and fold to give you the zig-zag. I cut each piece of Whisper White cardstock 1/4" smaller each way.

Using Archival Black Ink, stamp the lamb with the greeting onto the front piece of cardstock. I stamped the lamb three more times on another piece of cardstock, coloured them and fussy cut.

Colours used are: Watermelon Wonder, Daffodil Delight, Pool Party, Blackberry Bliss, Blushing Bride, Cucumber Crush and Tip Top Taupe. The grass is Cucumber Crush, cut with the Fringe Scissors and sponged on the ends.

I also used the little flower stamp from the Botanical Garden stamp set to add a bit more colour. Since this is for a very young child, I wanted to use bright colours and a fairly simple design.

Here is a shot of the last section, where a message can be written:

Next up is a Fancy Fold I just stumbled across on Pinterest. Patty Bennett did a really easy-to-follow video - but I don't know what this fold is called. My first shot shows it all folded up:

 It features the Have A Cuppa bundle which has lots of really fun tea-themed stamp images and co-ordinating Framelits. I just had to order this bundle when my sister recently became a Steeped Tea consultant and I offered to make her a selection of thank you cards for her to include when she delivers orders. What a great excuse for me to order new stuff!

Here's what it looks like as it's unfolded:

I used Tempting Turquoise and Whisper White cardstock. Ink colours are Tempting Turquoise and Hello Honey. The DSP is from Botanical Gardens and the cute little spoons are cut from Gold Foil. To finish off, I used both the clear and the gold Wink of Stella on the lemon slices and heart at the bottom.

 Next up is Libby - be prepared, she has some awesome designs for you! Just click on the 'Next' button below to go to her blog. Enjoy!

WWC59 - Bev's Colour Challenge in Green

It's Wednesday and that means it's Watercooler Wednesday Challenge day! And this week, we're all about green, thank's to Bev who put together this palette:

I have to say I did find this to really be a challenge. The four shades of green are so different from each other. And I had just received an order with a new stamp set and co-ordinating Framelits that I wanted to use. Seeing that it was the Botanical Gardens Suite, I didn't think it would be too difficult.

After doing a LOT of what I call "research" on Pinterest, I came across a card done by Helen Read - who has given me lots of inspiration with other projects as well! And this is what I did:

I cut the flowers and leaves from Watercolour Paper and using my Aquapainter, coloured them with all the different shades of green. Then I arranged them on a piece of the Mint Macaron DSP from the Perfectly Artistic DSP in the Sale-a-Bration collection - which does look very blue in this photo! - and backed it with Thick Whisper White for the card base. Of course, a little bit of bling was needed to finish off the flowers.

As I pulled out the Framelits and looked at all the elements arranged on the sheet, I thought "Oh, dear, I'll never be able to figure out how to fit them all back on there!" I do keep my Framelits and Thinlets in the plastic envelopes they come in.

Thank goodness the light bulb came on and I had this brilliant idea:

I used the Project Life Journaling Pen, which has a nice, fine tip, to outline each of the elements. Now it's easy to put them all back and I also know if I'm missing one of them - some of the pieces are quite small and would be really easy to overlook.

Have to say I just love this whole Suite - the stamps, the Framelits and the DSP. It is available until May 31, so if you love it - get it now!

Click here to see what the other Watercooler Artists have done with this Green Palettte. And then, get your green inks and cardstock and give it a whirl!

WWC58 - Gail's Reflection Technique

It's Watercooler Wednesday - and this is my first time hosting a Challenge! I chose to do the Reflection Technique - which is a whole lot easier to do than it looks.

For my card, I wanted to use the super cute Easter Lamb stamp from the 2016 Occasions Catalogue. I pictured him in a meadow with spring flowers standing by a lake. The Sheltering Tree stamp set had the perfect elements for creating the meadow scene.

The first thing I did was stamp the lamb image using Archival Black Ink. To make the reflection image, I used the clear imaging sheet that comes with the Stamp-a-ma-Jig and stamped the image again on the side that feels a bit rough. You could also use a piece of acetate. Flip the image sheet over and line it up where you want it. Lay it on the cardstock and rub over it with your fingers to transfer the image. It will not be a crisp, clear image - but that's exactly what you want.

I repeated the same process for the flowers and grasses. The water line is done by masking off the top portion of the Whisper White card stock and sponging the bottom part where you want the water.

The colours I used were: Bermuda Bay, Soft Sky, Blushing Bride, Watermelon Wonder, Hello Honey and Mossy Meadow. Cardstock is Whisper White and Mossy Meadow.

Now it's your turn to show us your Reflection Technique. To see what the other Watercooler Artists have done - there are some truly beautiful creations! - click on the Watercooler Challenge image at the top, or click here.

WWC57 - Deborah's Sketch Challenge

Deborah has given us a very fun sketch for this week's challenge. Sketch challenges are great - all you need to do  is pick your stamp set - or sets  - and colours. All the rest is done for you! This is the sketch we got to work with:

I didn't have to make a lot of decisions on this, as my sister had asked me to make a birthday card for a friend whose favourite colour is blue and likes flowers. All I had to do was decide which of my many flower-themed stamp sets to use - Butterfly Basics - and the shade of blue - Pacific Point.
Take a look:

I coloured the flower with Tangelo Twist, using an aquapainter. The leaves and stem are Mossy Meadow. For the horizontal strips, I decided to stamp them with one of the designs from Chalk Lines, stamped with Pear Pizzaz. The three little flowers are stamped with Tangelo Twist, fussy-cut, given a sheen of clear Wink of Stella and a rhinestone centre. And done!

Now, grab your favourite stamp set of the moment and show us what you come up with! You don't even have to use the sketch in this portrait orientation - you can do it in landscape orientation if you want to.

If you need more inspiration, check out what the other Watercooler Artists have done here.