Watercooler Wednesday Challenge #123 - Marsha's Fireworks Challenge

Marsha is our host for this week's challenge, and she has given us a really fun theme to work with.

We're coming up to a time of year that will see fireworks used to celebrate occasions and milestones in many places around the world. Here in Canada, July 1 is known as Canada Day:
 
Canada Day in Canada

On July 1, 1867, Canada became a self-governing dominion of Great Britain and a federation of four provinces: Nova Scotia; New Brunswick; Ontario; and Quebec. The anniversary of this date was called Dominion Day until 1982. Since 1983, July 1 has been officially known as Canada Day.

This year is the 150th birthday of our country - and it's a good bet there will be fireworks somewhere!  That's what I was thinking of when I created this OH, happy day! card.

I used a retired stamp set from a few years ago called Build a Bouquet. These images are meant to be layered in a two-step stamping technique to create flowers. But, I think they make great fireworks.

I used three of the brand new In Colors: Lemon Lime Twist and Berry Burst for the smaller images and Powder Pink for the large image.  The Berry Burst images were stamped off three times to get the different shades.

Using the Copper Thread, I wound it around my fingers several times and secured it with a Mini Glue Dot in the middle of the Lemon Lime Twist images, then cut the loops. One of the new Gold Faceted Gems covers up the glue dot.

The Watercooler Artists have outdone themselves with this challenge and there are some really creative interpretations of the Fireworks Theme Challenge. Visit Watercooler Wednesday and I am sure you will agree!
 
 

Watercooler Wednesday Challenge #122 - Libby's Feminine Anything Goes Challenge

This week Libby is hosting a Feminine Anything Goes Challenge.

If colours can be said to have gender, then pink is the ultimate feminine colour. Two of the brand new In Colors for 2017-2019 fall into the pink tones - for me anyway: Powder Pink and Berry Burst. I combined these two colours with a really easy watercolour wash background done as a resist technique. I CASEd a card done by a German Stampin' Up! demonstrator. Her blog is in German and doesn't have a translate button and I can't figure out what her name is. The name of the blog is Stempelzeit - I think.

I loved the colours she used, but decided to try doing it in Powder Pink and Berry Burst.

The stamp set is Daisy Delight. I stamped randomly with Versa Mark ink on the Whisper White cardstock and embossed with clear embossing powder. Using an Aquapainter, I diluted Powder Pink ink in the lid of my ink pad and did a loose wash across the cardstock. Then repeated with the Berry Burst.

I used some of the Copper Ribbon and Linen Thread to tone down the pink tones somewhat. The little tag is cut with a die from the new Wood Crate Framelits.

And that's it! Now check out what the other Watercooler Artists have done with this challenge and then show us your interpretation.
 

Watercooler Wednesday Challenge #121 - Anything Goes Challenge

This week at the Watercooler we have a really fun challenge! It's Anything Goes. That means it doesn't have to be a card. Could be a framed sampler or other home decor item, a 3-D item, even a card - whatever you fancy!

For my project this week, I went to some brand spanking new things you will see in the 2017-2018 Catalogue when it launches June 1. I put in my pre-order as soon as we were allowed to, so I was really lucky to get the fabulous Daisy Delight stamp set and co-ordinating Daisy Punch. Sadly, the punch is on backorder until June 26. But, I promise it is worth the wait!

I just had to create a daisy bouquet and used the new 2017-2019 In Colors for my flowers.

I stamped the daisies with each of the new colours - Tranquil Tide, Lemon Lime Twist, Berry Burst, Fresh Fig and Powder Pink - on Whisper White cardstock and then punched them out. Did some sponging around the center of each flower then stamped the centers with Crushed Curry. I used some floral wire for the stems.

The holder is an antique shaker that we had when I was growing up on the farm. I have a lot of items like this - call them my "family heirlooms". The holes in the lid are perfect for putting the wire stems through. Here's a view from the top:

And another side view:

Just visit Watercooler Wednesday to see more inspiration from the Watercooler Artists  - then show us your Anything Goes project!

Watercooler Wednesday Challenge #120 - Gail's Christmas Challenge

Yes, it's Challenge time again and we are really thinking ahead. This week we are all about Christmas. How many of you scramble at the last minute to get cards made and sent in December? Well, we will help you out with that and get you started early!

There are two Christmas sets I bought last year, and was so happy to learn they have been carried over and will be in the new catalogue that launches soon. Those are Father Christmas and Christmas Pines, which has co-ordinating thinlits - Pretty Pines.

And they all go just perfectly with some of the patterns from the new Designer Paper Series Paper Stack - Wood Textures.

 
Father Christmas is stamped right onto the DSP using Early Espresso ink. I used Watercolour Pencils to colour him, and did not use a blender pen as I wanted a soft look. I stamped some of the pine boughs on the DSP with Always Artichoke, and cut some out of Old Olive. The pine cone is cut from Copper Foil. And the arch is, of course, more DSP, sponged with Early Espresso.

For more Christmas inspiration, visit Watercooler Wednesday and check out what the rest of the Artists have done.

Watercooler Wednesday Challenge 119 - Judy's Masculine Anything Goes Challenge

 
With Father's Day just around the corner, our host, Judy, has chosen the perfect theme for this week's challenge.

I had just received my pre-order of goodies from the up-coming new 2017-2018 Catalogue, which will launch June 1, and really wanted to play with some of the new In Colors.

So, I went with some watercolour circles on watercolour paper and three of the new colours: Fresh Fig, Tranquil Tide and Lemon Lime Twist.

The images in the Lemon Lime Twist circles are from a new stamp set, Daisy Delight. The grapes in the Fresh Fig circles are from Tuscan Vineyard and the anchor in the Tranquil Tide circle is from Guy Greetings, as are the other sentiments.

These new colours are really vibrant and will be a lot of fun to work with. And don't forget - men like colour too!

Now go check out the Watercooler Wednesday blog and see how the other Watercooler Artists have handled Judy's Masculine Anything Goes Challenge.
 

Watercooler Wednesday Challenge #118 - Penny's Mom Theme Challenge

With Mother's Day coming up - here in North America - this week's host, Penny, picked a perfect theme for the challenge.

My Mom loves dragonflies, so the first stamp set I pulled off the shelf was Dragonfly Dreams.

But first, I wanted to try a new technique. Well, new to me. It's a sort of distressed look. I started with a piece of Whisper White cardstock and sponged colour all over it using Daffodil Delight, Peekaboo Peach and Crushed Curry.

The distressed part comes in by flicking drops of water onto the ink to create water spots. Take a look:

After it was totally dry, I took the dragonfly stamp and inked it liberally with Versamark. Then I inked over that with Rich Razzleberry and with the Dapper Denim ink pad, just touched it to random areas. I embossed it with Clear Embossing Powder.

Here's a closeup of the dragonfly.

 
The smaller dragonflies are stamped in Rich Razzleberry with a stamp from Touches of Texture. The Happy Mother's Day sentiment is from Oh So Succulent and the font matches the "Enjoy your special day" from the Dragonfly Dreams set. Both are stamped with Dapper Denim.

I thought the background still needed some interest, so I pulled out a stencil I had purchase recently to use on my Mixed Media projects. It's a 12" x 12" stencil and has a collage of patterns, one of which is a script-y looking pattern. I used Crushed Curry ink on bits of it.

Finally, I mounted the image panel onto a Rich Razzleberry card base.

Now, pay a visit to Watercooler Wednesday and get inspired by the talented Watercooler Artists.
 

Watercooler Wednesday Challenge #117 - Heidi's Feminine Anything Goes Challenge

First off, I want to welcome our two new members to the Watercooler Challenge Design Team: Fiona and Judy.

Our challenge this week, hosted by Heidi, is about all things feminine.

For this one, I went back to the flowers - why not? 

As you may or may not know, this is an exciting time in Stampin' Up! world. Our new catalogue will be available for customers to order from on June 1. But that means we are saying goodbye to many products from the current catalogue.

There is a stamp set I had been looking at all year but couldn't quite decide whether or not to get it. When the retired list was released, I saw that it was carrying over, however it would not be bundled with the co-ordinating framelits.

So, I went for it. Mostly because I really wanted the jar images. But, I've been having fun with the flowers in the set too! The stamp set is Jar of Love. The framelits are Everyday Jars.

I was going for a look of terra cotta with the jar. To get that, I used the Calypso Coral Ombre ink pad like a stamp - just pressing it onto a piece of Very Vanilla cardstock. After cutting it out with the jar framelit, I sponged it with Crumb Cake ink

Next, I sponged a bit of Crumb Cake ink onto the bottom of the Whisper White piece, using a Post-it note as a mask to get the straight edge. When I put half a doily on top, it didn't show up enough, so I sponged more Crumb Cake ink around it and over it  - using it as a stencil.

Then it was time to play with the flowers! I wanted a lush, colourful display. While trying to decide on colours, I came across a colour I don't use nearly enough - Rose Red. For the bigger blooms, I used Crushed Curry. Really like how vibrant the two colours are together.

The Rose Red flowers are stamped right onto the Whisper White. To get placement for them and the stems, I turned the jar over and used it as a mask while I stamped the images. For the stems and leaves, I used Old Olive and Pear Pizzaz.

After die-cutting the Crushed Curry flowers, I sponged around the edges to cover the white outline left after cutting. Some of them are glued down onto the Whisper White, and the rest of them are popped up on dimensionals.

I almost didn't leave room for a sentiment - but the 'just for you' from So in Love just fit. And I love the font.

Now check out Watercooler Wednesday and see what the other artists have done.