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.

WWC184 - Helen's All About Holidays Challenge

This week, Helen brings us All About Holidays. It's a fun challenge because you get to pick the holiday you want!

Here in the northern hemisphere, we are soon entering the season we call "fall". And with that season, comes our Thanksgiving holiday. So that's what I picked.

To me, the sunflower says fall. There is something about the sunflower that just makes me smile. Luckily, I just happen to have the perfect stamp set - Painted Harvest.

This card features a lot of new product. But, first, take a close look at the pattern behind the sunflowers. How did I do that? It's not Designer Series Paper. It's not a background stamp. Here's a hint:

When I first saw the Chicken Wire Elements in the brand new 2018 Holiday Catalogue - that goes live Sept. 5 - the first thing I thought of was to use it as a stencil. So, I played around with different ink colours applied with a sponge roller. In this sample, I used Soft Sea Foam. For my card, I used Mango Melody with little touches of Gorgeous Grape.

And, as a bonus, if you roll the ink over the metallic side of the Chicken Wire Elements, you can turn it over and "stamp" it for another look.

For the focal sunflower, I combined Mango Melody and Lovely Lipstick. The sunflowers underneath were done with Mango Melody - I stamped off once for the bottom layer and stamped the top layer full strength. That's an easy way to get different shades of one colour.

Using the stamping off technique again, I used Shaded Spruce to do the leaves. For the flower centers, I used Crumb Cake and Early Espresso, then sponged the edges with Mango Melody.

The ribbon is also from the Holiday Catalogue and is a really fun combo of Merry Merlot on one side and Copper on the other. The punched out leaves are of Copper glimmer paper, also from the Holiday Catalogue.

It's all backed by a Merry Merlot card base.

What will your Holiday be? Want to see what Holidays the other members of the team picked? Just go to Watercooler Wednesday.

WWC183 - Gail's Masculine Anything Goes Challenge

It's my turn to host the challenge this week and it's masculine.

Lately, I've been leaning to the grungy side of things when it comes to masculine card designs.

I started by stamping a piece of Gray Granite cardstock with the Handwritten background stamp and Gray Granite ink then embossed with the Basket Weave embossing folder. I then sponged randomly with Gray Granite and Shaded Spruce inks. To give it some shine, I used some Pewter embossing powder in random areas.

The guitar from Epic Celebrations was stamped with Early Espresso on a piece from Woodgrain DSP and fussy cut. For the sentiment, also from Epic Celebrations, I used Shaded Spruce ink on Whisper White cardstock, then punched it out with the Decorative Label punch.

To back up the guitar and sentiment, I tore a strip of sheet music and edged it with Shaded Spruce, then put everything on a strip of Shaded Spruce cardstock.

What is your favourite style/technique for making cards for the men in your life? Check out Watercooler Wednesday to see what the rest of the team has come up with.
 

WWC182 - Tristan's All About Occasions Challenge

This week is all about Occasions - of which there are many throughout the year. Our host is Tristan, one of the new members of the Watercooler Artists.

Lately, I seem to like doing what I call generic occasion cards. That means I don't stamp anything specific on the front. Rather, I wait until I need a card for something and then put the 'Happy Birthday' or 'Happy Anniversary', etc. on the inside.

This card was originally intended to have a lighthouse on the rock. I had even stamped and fussy cut a lighthouse. But, just as I was getting ready to place it, my eye fell on the Beautiful You stamp set that was on my table. And I went with the impulse!

I love doing watercolour techniques, and this has a lot of watercolour wash going on. Sorry, I used so many ink colours, I don't even remember them all, other than lots of blues, some pinks, and yellows.

The line of hills dividing the sky area from the water area was done with the Waterfront stamp set.

For the dancing lady, I used the paper piecing technique by stamping the image twice with Memento Tuxedo Black ink, first on a piece of Whisper White cardstock, then on a piece of DSP from Tranquil Textures. Fussy cutting required for this technique!

To add a bit of colour to her arms and legs, I used the Ivory Stampin' Blends. For the card base, I stayed with the blue theme and used Bermuda Bay.

Now, I still have that lighthouse...

What occasions do you have coming up in your card-making schedule? Head on over to Watercooler Wednesday if you need more inspiration.

WWC181 - Kath's Feminine Anything Goes Challenge

Kath brings us a feminine theme this week. This theme is one that lends itself well to going all out with all kinds of girly things, which can be a lot of fun.

Or, it can be done with simplicity, such as a one-layer card. Like this one:

Not only is this a somewhat minimalist design, but I further simplified things by using one of Stampin' Up's pre-cut and pre-scored 3x5 Whisper White note cards. Perfect for when you need to do a quick card.

The background from Bokeh Dots is the perfect size for the note cards. And using the Stamparatus meant I could easily do a lot of cards with this same design in a short time.

Because the Stamparatus has two plates, I was able to  set up the Bokeh Dots stamp on one plate and the image from Dandelion Wishes with the sentiment from Wood Words on the other plate.

Using a sponge brayer, I inked up the Bokeh Dots stamp with Coastal Cabana - one of the returning colours. I did have to ink and stamp a few times to get the result I wanted. Love the Stamparatus!

To get the dandelion image in two colours, I used Post It notes to mask off the sides of the bokeh image, and inked the dandelion image with Tranquil Tide. After removing the side masks, I then masked the stamped portion, again lining up the mask with the sides, and inked the stamp with Coastal Cabana and stamped again.

I inked the sentiment with Memento Tuxedo Black ink and stamped at the same time as doing the sides of the dandelion. Did I mention I love the Stamparatus? It took no time at all to stamp a whole stack of these.

Now check out Watercooler Wednesday to see what the rest of the talented Watercooler Artists have done.