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.
 

WWC194 - Anything Goes Challenge

Here we are with another Anything Goes Challenge. That means you can pick your theme, occasion, type of project. It's wide open!

Ever since I became obsessed with making mono prints on a gelatine plate, I've been exploring different ways to incorporate my Stampin' Up supplies into my gelli prints. For this challenge, I've used framelits, a stamp set and shimmer paint along with a gelli plate.

I used various acrylic paint colours to do a dark blue-green background. Then I used the Detailed Dragonfly thinlits to cut three masks from a window sheet. I placed the masks on the gelli plate and brayered a light green layer of paint over everything. The masks were removed and I placed the background I had already made over the plate. That produced the light green layer with the dark blue-green dragonfly silhouettes.

Next, I sponged Frost White Shimmer paint on the stamp from Dragonfly Dreams and stamped in the space left by the masks. The vine shapes are done with a stencil. Using a white Posca paint pen, I drew random circles and a border. The sentiment is from a Tim Holtz collection.

Want to see how the other Watercooler Artists interpret the Anything Goes Challenge? Just visit Watercooler Wednesday to check it out.

 

WWC193 - Tristan's All About Holidays Challenge

There are holidays all through the year that are card-giving opportunities. This week, Tristan hosts our All About Holidays Challenge.

With December just around the corner, I have created a Christmas card.

As do most of my projects, this one also evolved from my original idea of using DSP with just a sentiment. When I was trying to pick one of the patterns from the Dashing Along DSP, my eye kept going to the green, star-shaped snowflakes. I was just itching to cut them out! So, I did.

To give them some sparkle, I applied some Copper Shimmer Paint to the edges with a sponge. Because I had poured some of the paint onto my craft sheet and still had some left, I didn't want to waste it. My eye fell on a piece of the Chicken Wire Elements.

Aha! I got the inspiration to turn the Chicken Wire Element fragment to copper. And, again, because I didn't want to waste the shimmer paint, I grabbed the Cherry Cobbler pattern from the DSP and sponged on top of that for a "two-fer". I'll use it on another project.

I loved the effect of the Copper Shimmer Paint on the DSP - so, onto my card it had to go! A little sponging around the edges with Cherry Cobbler ink helps to define it on the Crumb Cake card base.

For the top part of the card, I stamped the snowflakes from the Colourful Seasons stamp set randomly with Whisper White Craft Ink. I also sponged the edges with Whisper White.

Still not done with the copper theme, I embossed the sentiment from Timeless Tidings with copper embossing powder. It seemed to blend into all the other copper, so I used the fine tip journaling pen and just did a partial outline of each letter.

As a finishing touch, I used some retired star-shaped sequins in the center of each snowflake, and topped that off with a black rhinestone.

And - ta da! - another Christmas card done.

Now just visit Watercooler Wednesday for more ideas for your holiday card.
 

WWC192 - Marsha's Masculine Anything Goes Challenge

Time to add to your stash of masculine-themed cards this week, as Marsha brings us the Masculine Anything Goes Challenge.

I took this opportunity to again see how many stamp sets I can use on one card. The total was only four, but I managed to use eight ink colours!

Here are the stamp sets used: Waterfront, Winter Trees, High Tide, and Carols of Christmas.

And the ink colours are: Balmy Blue, Crumb Cake, Mossy Meadow, Soft Suede, Lovely Lipstick, Mango Melody, Gray Granite and Shaded Spruce.

My scene is stamped on Whisper White cardstock and the card base is Early Espresso. The log 'frame' is Wood Textures DSP. Looking at it on screen, it occurs to me that the logs are just sort of suspended in mid-air. In hindsight, I should have continued them across the top. Hmmmmm......

What's the highest number of stamp sets or ink colours you have ever used on a card?

Check out Watercooler Wednesday for more great examples of masculine-themed cards.
 

WWC191 - Charlotte's All About Occasions Challenge

For Charlotte's All About Occasions Challenge this week, I have a really simple card. I came across a piece of watercolour paper on which I had done a smoosh technique.

What is the smoosh technique you ask? To do it, spread ink directly onto an acrylic stamping block, spritz with water then lay a piece of watercolour paper  over it. This is a really easy and fun way to create a background. Then, it's just a matter of adding an image and a sentiment. Like this:

Colours I used for the background are Lemon Lime Twist and Tranquil Tide. After it dried, I randomly sprinkled drops of water then blotted with a paper towel to create the lighter spots.

The tree is from Rooted in Nature and I love the wonky look of it. I stamped the tree with Shaded Spruce and Soft Suede. The sentiment from Wetlands is also stamped in Soft Suede.

I mounted the panel on a piece of Basic Black cardstock so it has just a tiny black border all the way around.

The card base is Thick Whisper White. To give it some interest, I used the leaf embossing dies from Nature's Roots Thinlits set. Hopefully, it will show in this close up:

Now it's your turn to show us your occasions card. Check out Watercooler Wednesday for more inspiration.
 

WWC190 - Gail's Feminine Anything Goes Challenge

We come again to a Feminine Anything Goes Challenge. The feminine part is self-explanatory, but do you know what the 'anything goes' part means? That means you can do things other than a card, such as a journal page, a 3-D item, etc.

As I've mentioned before, I've been really fascinated by gelli printing. So that's what I started with for this week's project - a piece of printer paper that I had created a background on using autumn colours of acrylic paint.

And then I just built on that!

Because I was going for a fall theme, I thought about using the leaf dies from Seasonal Layers Thinlits. I cut them from Mossy Meadow, Crushed Curry, Merry Merlot and Copper Foil.

To add detail to the background, I stenciled some script in random places using Paynes Gray paint.

Then I got the idea of a wall made from fall-coloured bricks. First I used embossing paste and the brick wall stencil. Once that was dry, I coloured the bricks with various colours of Stampin' Blends.

To do the sentiment, rather than trying to stamp it over the bricks, I stamped it on tissue paper with Early Espresso ink, then tore it out and adhered it with some matte medium. Tearing the tissue paper avoids having a straight line show where the tissue paper ends. The matte medium makes the tissue paper disappear and all that is visible is the sentiment, which is from Colourful Seasons.

Here's a closeup of the bricks and leaves. I used some retired embellishments on the leaves.

I matted the image panel with Merry Merlot, and the card base is Crumb Cake. This card is 5x7, and part of a collection of 4 that I made for a fund raiser for the local Arts Council. They had called for 5x7 art cards and did not want a sentiment inside. I did decorate the inside, as well as the envelope.

So, let your imagination go! You might be surprised where it will take you. Check out Watercooler Wednesday for projects from the rest of the team.

WWC189 - Heidi's All About Holidays Challenge

Many cardmakers are already working on their Christmas projects. If that includes you, Heidi brings us the perfect challenge this week.

My card for this challenge features a colour combo I really love: copper and Merry Merlot.

I think the Tin Tile Dynamic Textured Impressions Embossing Folder is just made for the metallic foil papers such as the copper I have used here. The middle opening is cut out with an oval from the Stitched Shapes framelits.

On the Very Vanilla cardstock, I stamped the tree from the Timeless Tidings stamp set in Shaded Spruce. The sentiment is from the same set, stamped in Merry Merlot.

This seemed to me to be a perfect opportunity to use the star shape from the Snowflakes & Stars Wire Elements. I threaded a length of thick black Baker's Twine through it.

And that's it! A really simple card, but that yummy embossed copper takes this to another level.

Did you notice the little tree? I was playing around with the tree from the In the Woods Framelits and wanted to try this out. I used a palette knife to "frost" the tree with embossing paste. This one is made with the copper glimmer paper, and I'm picturing in my mind a grouping of trees in each of the glimmer paper colours.

For more fabulous festive fun, go to Watercooler Wednesday. 

WWC188 - Helen's Masculine Anything Goes Challenge

Do you struggle with making cards for the men in your life? Well, this week the Watercooler Artists will give you a lot of inspiration!

I tend to gravitate to images and colours from nature when it comes to a masculine design. Lately, I've been somewhat obsessed - OK, a LOT obsessed - with making mono prints on a gelli plate. The papers are piling up and if I want to keep making them, I have to start using up the ones I've already done.

So I used a gelli-printed background for my card this week.

The background is what is called a clean-up print in gelli-world. That just means there were bits of paint left over from each print pulled from the plate, and not cleaning your plate in between pulls is a good thing! I used various colours of Golden Fluid acrylic paints.

For the trees, I used that fabulous line of bare branched trees from the Winter Woods stamp set, and stamped them in Early Espresso. The sentiment is from Colourful Seasons, and I stamped it first with Mossy Meadow and then traced over it with a fine point black Sharpie to make it stand out a bit more.

I like to back image panels with a fine border of black cardstock to make the colours pop. Next, I stamped the Buffalo Check background stamp with Mossy Meadow ink on the Mossy Meadow cardstock card base.

Visit Watercooler Wednesday and check out all the fabulous ideas!

WWC187 - Kath's All About Occasions Challenges

Occasions happen all year long, and it's nice to have a stash of cards all ready to go at a moments notice.

This week I'm sharing a card I made at the request of my sister. She needed a wedding card for the daughter of a friend of her's. The wedding couple, she said, are outdoor enthusiasts and animal lovers.

Perfect opportunity to use the Animal Outing stamp set.

 I started by stamping the giraffe image onto Whisper White cardstock with Memento Tuxedo Black ink. Using the silicone craft mat and the Stamparatus, it was a breeze to do a reverse stamped image.

To dress up the bride and groom, I found a piece of white tulle ribbon with pearls along each edge in my stash. Perfect for a veil! For the groom, I cut a piece of the black glitter ribbon and tied a piece of thick black Baker's Twine around it.

The heart was puched from a piece of retired glimmer paper. I stamped an arch of leaves using the branch stamp from Animal Outing and Soft Sea Foam and Shaded Spruce. The sentiment is also from Animal Outing, but I replaced the word "we" by stamping "you" from another set in Bermuda Bay on a scrap piece of Whisper White, then cut it out. It's popped up with a dimensional.

A Bermuda Bay mat under the image panel makes it stand out from the DSP from Serene Scenery (ret.). The card base is also Bermuda Bay.

To finish everything off, I added a sprinkling of Black Rhinestones to the branches.

What occasion do you have coming up in your life? Go visit Watercooler Wednesday and check out all the amazing creations from the other Watercooler Artists.

WWC186 - Marsha's Feminine Anything Goes Challenge

This week's theme, hosted by Marsha, is feminine. The "anything goes" means it can be for any occasion - or for just because.

I am again this week using the Galvanized metallic paper. There's just something about it that has me constantly looking at it. And I just love how it looks with the Blackberry Bliss cardstock.

The embossing folder is Swirls & Curls. As if it doesn't already have enough texture, I added the die cut trees from the  In The Woods framelits, cut from the Galvanized metallic foil.

For the sentiment, I stamped the words from Jar of Love and the dots from Timeless Tidings with Blackberry Bliss ink on Shimmery White cardstock, and punched with the Everyday Label punch. It is popped up over a strip of Black Glittered Organdy Ribbon. For a bit more glitter, I added some black rhinestones.

Now it's your turn to show us your interpretation of a feminine project. For more inspiration, visit Watercooler Wednesday and check out the fabulous creations from the rest of the team.

WWC185 - Anything Goes Challenge

This is one of the months where we have an Anything Goes challenge. That means it's wide open as to what you do - card, journal page, 3-D item, mixed media canvas - whatever you feel like doing!

I'm still playing with items I got in my pre-order from the new 2018 Holiday Catalogue that goes live Sept. 5. But, this isn't necessarily a Christmas card. It might just be a note card.

The trees are from a set called Winter Woods. I've always loved to look at the patterns formed when tree branches have dropped their leaves. And, while there is an awesome evergreen image in this set, which has a co-ordinating framelit, it was this row of leaf-less trees that drew my eye.

I started by stamping the image from the Bokeh Dots stamp set on Whisper White card stock using Coastal Cabana ink. To do the trees, I masked off all the sides of that image and inked the trees with Crumb Cake and stamped them over the Bokeh image. Next, I masked off the trees, re-inked the stamp with Soft Suede and stamped again. Doing this with the Stamparatus makes this technique very easy to do.

Does this give you the feeling that you are looking through a frosted window? That was my thinking as I sponged some Frost White Shimmer Paint across it. This is a returning product that a lot of us are excited to have again.

The embossing is the fabulous Tin Tile Dynamic Textured Impressions Embossing Folder and a piece of the new Galvanized Metallic Paper. My mind is busy thinking of many more projects to do with these two products!

To give the embossing a bit of an aged look, I rubbed my StazOn black ink pad across the surface. To set everything off, I used one of the brand new colours - Shaded Spruce - for the card base.

It's a simple design, but the wonderful embossing folder, the shimmer paint and the endlessly fascinating bare tree branches make it a bit special.

For more Anything Goes inspiration, just visit Watercooler Wednesday.