Watercooler Wednesday Challenge #147 - Charlotte's Anything Goes Challenge

This week we have an Anything Goes Challenge from Charlotte.

At this time of year, a lot of us are working on Christmas projects. And, I'm no exception. When the Carols of Christmas stamp set and co-ordinating Thinlits were made available in an early release in the late summer, I was seeing some awesome projects from other demonstrators on Pinterest. One of the early projects I pinned was one done by Sandi McIver, a fellow demonstrator.

I had wanted to CASE her creation as  one of  my  cards for this 2017 Christmas season, and this is my version:

Sandi had many more elements on her card, but mine is simplified. I loved her colour scheme: the card base is Thick Whisper White and I used Tranquil Tide cardstock, DSP from the Delightful Daisy pack, and Watercolour Paper.

For the trees, they were die-cut from Tranquil Tide, then I smeared them with Embossing Paste. Before it dried I sprinkled Dazzling Diamonds onto the paste.

The background on the watercolour piece could not be easier to do. It is  simply Bermuda Bay and Tranquil Tide ink applied with an Aqua Painter. I stamped the sentiment from Merry Messages with Tranquil Tide.

And of course, that cute little deer peeking out from behind the tree is from the Carols of Christmas die set, using Champagne Foil.

Now it's your turn. Visit Watercooler Wednesday and check out more inspiration from the team. 

Watercooler Wednesday Challenge #146 - Kath's All About Christmas Challenge

It's Christmas again at the Watercooler! Our host this week is Kath.

Are you a big fan of Designer Series Paper? I can't say I'm a fan, but every once in a while, Stampin' Up comes along with a collection that just calls to me. In the 2017 Holiday Catalogue there just happen to be a few collections that did that. One of them is the Year of Cheer Specialty Designer Series Paper.

I'm not normally a blingy kind of crafter, but at this time of year, it seems as if I'm all about the bling. And this pack of SDSP has lots of it with foil designs in Champagne, Copper, Gold and Silver.

As I was looking over all the yummy patterns, I got the idea of stamping on a piece that reminded me of light around a candle flame. And the perfect stamp set for this was the Merry Patterns candles.

I stamped the candle outlines with Archival Basic Black, then stamped with designs with Fresh Fig. The candles in the back row are second generation stamping, which means stamping the inked image on a scrap piece then, without re-inking, stamp onto your cardstock. It's a great way to get varied shades of one colour.

When it came to the candle flames, I wasn't thinking when i went for my Daffodil Delight Stampin' Blends. If you look closely, the black outline smeared a bit and the yellow bled outside the lines. That's because the Stampin' Blends are alcohol-based ink, so I should have used a water-based ink like Memento Tuxedo Black.

As for the bleeding, I think it just looks like the glow from the flame!

The pine branches and sentiment are also from the Merry Patterns set.

Another item I don't often reach for that I've used on this card, is ribbon. For some reason, I just had to have that Fresh Fig 1/8" sheer ribbon. The DSP piece is mounted on Whisper White, then onto the Fresh Fig card base.

For more Christmas inspiration, visit Watercooler Wednesday and check out what the other 'Cooler Artists have come up with.

Watercooler Wednesday Challenge #145 - Judy's Masculine "Anything Goes" Challenge

Judy is our host this week with a Masculine Anything Goes Challenge.

It is good timing for me, as I need to do some masculine-themed cards this week. Also, I had just received an order with a package of the Merry Little Christmas Designer Series Paper. This collection has some great patterns that work for this masculine challenge.

I used the black & white plaid design and the tree design from the DSP. The card base is Basic Gray. I cut a strip of Basic Black cardstock and ran it through the new Wood Planks embossing folder.

The sentiment is from Merry Little Labels stamp set, stamped with Archival Black on Whisper White, then punched out with the Everyday Label punch. I punched two more labels from Basic Black and cut them apart then adhered them to the back to make a "frame" for the white label.

This could easily be a Christmas card for a male friend, family member or co-worker. But, I need a birthday card. Here is the inside:

I used more of the plaid pattern and stamped the sentiment on Whisper White. It is from the Window Shopping stamp set, and I though the font was a good match for the sentiment on the front.

The Watercooler Artists have some more great samples of masculine-themed cards. Just visit Watercooler Wednesday and check them out.

Watercooler Wednesday Challenge #144 Penny's All About Birthdays

Our challenge this week, hosted by Penny, is All About Birthdays.

Birthday cards are something we need several times a year. After all, everyone we know has a birthday! It's good to have a stash on hand, ready to just grab one and go.

For my project this week, I used a brand, spanking new product and a favourite stamp set that was just made to be used with the aforementioned new product - even though it was released a couple of years ago.

The new product: Stampin' Blends - alcohol based markers!
The stamp set: Remarkable You.
Do you think they are made for each other?

When using alcohol markers, it is important to use a water-based ink to stamp the images. This eliminates the risk of smearing. For this card, I used Memento Tuxedo Black ink to stamp the images onto Shimmer White cardstock. Another tip - give your stamped images a few minutes to thoroughly dry before you start colouring.

I used the masking technique here to create a "stack" of blooms - to go along with the sentiment from Sprinkles of Life stamp set. Stampin' Blends colours used are Night of Navy, Cherry Cobbler, Daffodil Delight and Old Olive.

Some Crushed Curry Thick Bakers Twine, black rhinestones and Metallic Enamel Shapes finish off the main panel. This is matted on Night of Navy cardstock, then onto a Crushed Curry card base.

The Watercooler Artists have all come up with some wonderful birthday designs. You can see them at Watercooler Wednesday.

Watercooler Wednesday Challenge #143 - Gail's Feminine Challenge

This week we bring you a Feminine Challenge, courtesy of yours truly!

While I know it isn't true that only women love cats, some do think that more women than men are cat fans. That was my reasoning behind using the fabulous cat punch that can be found in the 2017 Holiday Catalogue.

I also used this as an opportunity to try a technique I found on the blog of the awesomely talented Lydia Fiedler. She used the shaving cream technique - with a twist.

First, take a look at what I did:

At first glance, it looks like I just used the cat punch to punch from some patterned paper. However, what I actually did was use a piece of Window Sheet and punched out one cat to make a stencil.

Next, I took a paper plate and sprayed a layer of cheap shaving cream onto it, then smoothed out the top. Onto that smoothed surface, I dropped ink randomly, using Melon Mambo, Tempting Turquoise and Daffodil Delight re-inkers. With a bamboo skewer, I just lightly ran it through the spots of ink, being careful not to make mud.

Up to this point, it sounds pretty much like the shaving cream technique of years ago. But, instead of placing cardstock on top of the ink, I used an old gift card to carefully lift up some of the shaving cream with the ink on top.

I placed my cat stencil on a piece of Whisper White cardstock, then using the shaving cream/ink loaded gift card, dragged it carefully over the stencil. It's bit tricky to do this without the shaving cream leaking under the stencil and I do confess I did a lot of "practice" before getting these clean images. At bit of repositionable adhesive helps. But, the practice ones didn't go to waste, as I punched them out and they can be used on other projects.

What is your idea of a feminine theme? We would love to see it! Just visit Watercooler Wednesday to see how the Watercooler Artists interpret it.