Watercooler Wednesday Challenge #155 - Anything Goes

This being the fifth Wednesday of the month, our challenge this week is the un-hosted Anything Goes.

I always feel as if I should do something other than a card for this challenge. My mind filled with ideas to do a wreath, a 3-D item, a home decor item, etc. But, I could not focus on any of those. So, I made a card:

I used a product from the 2018 Occasions Catalogue, that is easy to overlook. It's a set of two embossing folders, each one measuring 6 1/2" by 2 1/4", each with a different pattern. It's called Petal Pair Textured Impressions Embossing Folders and can be found on page 25.

After embossing this flower pattern on a strip of Whisper White cardstock, I coloured over the raised portion with Lemon Lime Twist, Tangerine Tango, Berry Burst and Tranquil Tide inks.

In the past, I have tried colouring raised embossing using a variety of tools - brayer, sponge, dauber - with limited success. For this card, I used a different tool - my fingers! I can't take credit for this idea; it is something I had seen done by another demo who posted on our demo Facebook group. And, so sorry, I didn't make note of her name.

The DSP is from Delightful Daisy and the sentiment from You've Got Style. The card base is Thick Whisper White.

Check out Watercooler Wednesday for more inspiration, then show us what you do for Anything Goes!

Watercooler Wednesday Challenge #154 - Judy's All About Christmas Challenge

Welcome to another Watercooler Wednesday Challenge. This week, Judy brings us a Christmas Challenge. I look forwards to these challenges as I'm sure by December 2018 I will have a great collection of cards to send.

For my card, I finally tried a technique I had been wanting to try - tarnished foil. I CASE'd (copy and share everything) Billie Moan for this.

I started with a piece of silver foil cardstock and embossed it with the Winter Wonder Textured Impressions Embossing Folder. Then it was simply a matter of using my VersaMark ink pad to rub random areas and, starting with Gold Embossing Powder, embossed those areas.

After embossing the gold, I did the same thing with Copper, Silver, and Pewter (retired), until it was pretty much embossed  all over. The final step was to take my StazOn black ink pad and just swipe it over random areas.

I used Fresh Fig and black Vintage Crochet Trim across the middle then added the sentiment on top, flanked by two black rhinestones. I wanted to cover as little as possible of all that gorgeous metallic embossing.

It's matted with Basic Black cardstock, and then mounted on Thick Very Vanilla.

To link up your Christmas creation, go to Watercooler Wednesday.

InColor Heartfelt Blooms

It's been a gloomy, gray, rainy day here today on the Sunshine Coast - the one in Canada, that is. I'm sure the Sunshine Coast in Australia is basking in sunshine.

So, it was a perfect day to play with new stuff. I got an order yesterday that contained two brand new stamp sets: Heartfelt Blooms from the 2018 Sale-a-Bration catalogue, and Waterfront from the 2018 Occasions catalogue.

I couldn't wait to play with them! So today, I gathered ink and cardstock and just played with Heartfelt Blooms. I decided to use all of the new InColors: Fresh Fig, Powder Pink, Lemon Lime  Twist, Berry Burst and Tranquil Tide.

The technique used here is known as "tone on tone" - which simply means using the same colour of ink and cardstock. Here is today's collection:

I love them all, but I do have favourites: Tranquil Tide,  Fresh Fig and Lemon Lime Twist. I'm trying to use the Powder Pink and Berry Burst more, but they are not colours I automatically reach for. However, they are perfectly wonderful colours!

A few things I have learned about using this awesome stamp:
1. It is a "photo realistic" style of stamp that has been developed by Stampin' Up and is being patented.
2. It started as a real  photograph taken of a real bouquet of flowers.
3. When you look at it, the surface looks totally flat and you will be convinced that there is no design in the red rubber.
4. I found that the best way to ink it up is to hold the stamp face up in one hand and with the other hand apply the ink pad to  the stamp. That is the best way to make sure the entire surface is inked.
5. The first time you stamp it onto cardstock, you will be amazed!

Now I have these awesome backgrounds to work with. Stay tuned to find out what I do with them! In the meantime, here are closeups of each colour:

Lemon Lime Twist  - love this fresh, greeny-yellow colour. Makes me think of spring.

Tranquil Tide - a lovely bluish-green colour. Although it looks more blue here. I find it really depends on the light as to whether it looks green or blue. I think today it is taking on the colour from outside, which is dark and gray.

Fresh Fig - this is very rich sort of burgundy colour with brownish undertones.

Berry Burst - this is a reddish-purple, more on the pinky side - or so it looks to me. Kind of reminds me of the colour of fresh-picked raspberries.

Powder Pink - not a bubblegummy pink, it has brownish undertones. I think my inkpad needed re-inking. However, with this stamp it is important that your ink pad isn't too juicy.

I've had fun stamping these - maybe tomorrow I will do something with them.

Go grab your favourite stamp, ink and cardstock and just play! It's a good activity for a rainy day.
 

 
 
 
 

Watercooler Wednesday Challenge #153 - Gail's Masculine Anything Goes Challenge

We're back with another Masculine Anything Goes Challenge, hosted by yours truly.

For my card this week, I used one of the new products from the 2018 Occasions Catalogue - Brushos Crystal Colour. And I paired it with the Layering Leaves embossing folder for a fun effect.

This technique is super easy. Simply choose your Brusho colours: I used Moss Green and Gamboge. Sprinkle the colour crystals directly onto the embossing folder. I sprinkle it on the debossed side of the folder. Spritz with water and place your cardstock onto the activated colour crystals.

When using Brushos, it's best to use a cardstock that can handle a lot of water, such as watercolour paper or Shimmery White cardstock, which is what I used.

I then used the Large Letters Framelits to die-cut the word YOU from the patterned cardstock, once it was dry. I also cut the word YOU three more times from Basic Black cardstock, glued them all together, then glued them to the patterned letters.

Here's a side-view:

 

The hats were stamped with Early Espresso ink on Whisper White cardstock, then fussy cut. I used Mini Dimensionals to pop up a hat on each letter. Both the hats and the sentiment are from Guy Greetings.

I used Always Artichoke for the card base. Do you think the pattern almost looks like camouflage?

Check out Watercooler Wednesday for more inspiration for your masculine-themed projects.

Watercooler Wednesday Challenge #152 - Kath's All About Occasions Challenge

There are many card-giving occasions throughout the year, and it's a good idea to have a stash of cards on hand to cover any occasion. That's exactly what this week's challenge from Kath is all about - occasions - any occasion.

I thought I would create sort of a generic occasions card that could cover several celebrations such as birthday, anniversary, or retirement. I also thought I would use colours I don't normally reach for. That's my mission for this year, since I have almost every current colour (and some retired) of cardstock that Stampin' Up makes.

My colours are Night of Navy and Calypso Coral (this is the one I don't use a lot) and of course, Whisper White. The DSP is from Delightful Daisy and the gingham ribbon (retired) is from the Holiday catalogue. I should make it another mission this year to use up ribbon.

The "best" is part of a Sale-a-Bration set, Happy Wishes. This is an awesome set with multiple phrases and words that can be used with the word best - such as 'day', as I've used here. If you look closely at the Calypso Coral layer, you will see that I've used the other phrases and words and stamped them repeatedly, tone-on-tone.

To pop things up a bit, so to speak, I've used what's being called the eclipse technique. First, I did the  stamping on the Whisper White cardstock, then I used the cat punch - which is being carried over from the Holiday Catalogue - yay! to  punch out the cat, making sure to punch out over the stamping.

I then punched 3 more cats from Night of Navy cardstock, glued them together then glued the white cat to that stack and fit all of them back into the punched-out area.

I'm really liking this colour combo and think I will try Calypso Coral with some other colours, now. It just may become one of my go-tos!

So, hop on over to Watercooler Wednesday and see what occasions the other Watercooler Artists are highlighting.

Watercooler Wednesday Challenge #151 - Charlotte's Feminine Anything Goes Challenge

Welcome to a brand new year of challenges from the team at Watercooler Wednesday!

We also start off a new year with a new member of the Watercooler Artists Team - Helen Finlay. Welcome, Helen!

To start us off, we have a Feminine Anything Goes Challenge from Charlotte.

 
As well as being the beginning of a new year, this is the time of a new catalogue from Stampin' Up - the 2018 Occasions Catalogue - and the launch of the most anticipated promotion of the year - Sale-a-Bration. For my card I've used a new product from the Occasions Catalogue along with a stamp set from the Sale-a-Bration collection.

The stamp set is called Happy Wishes and is a huge set of 16 stamps that I can predict will be useful for many occasions. I stamped it with Tranquil Tide ink.

The new product is Brusho Colour Crystals. That's what I used on the watercolour paper background behind the sentiment. Brushos come in a set of five colours. I used the Moss Green here.

One of the easiest - and most fun! - ways to use the Brushos is to simply sprinkle a few grains on the watercolour paper, then spritz with water. They almost explode with colour and spread across the paper. A little goes a long way and it is very cool to watch.

I matted the focal piece with Tranquil Tide, then popped it up with Dimensionals. The DSP is my favourite pattern from the Delightful Daisy DSP, and the card base is Lemon Lime Twist. A big, floppy bow of black Baker's Twine is a great finishing touch to ground the design.

Another finishing touch may be a bit hard to see in a photo. Also in the Occasions Catalogue, are Glitter & Clear Epoxy Shapes. I've used the Glitter Shapes on this. Here's a close-up:

 
It was fun to work with these bright, spring-like colours.

Now visit Watercooler Wednesday to check out the inspiring creations from the rest of the team.