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.