Watercooler Challenge – WCC25 – Mandarin Wetlands

WCC25 – Mandarin Wetlands

also known as Kath’s Challenge Photo

For this challenge my fellow artist Kath provided us with a beautiful photo of what I think is a Mandarin duck.   Beautiful isn’t it? I kept coming back to the photo (I finally put it on my desktop) trying to decide on the colors I wanted to use.  Using feathers or a bird image or the idea of water was a given for me.  It was the colors that kept my brain running in circles.  There are so many wonderful ones to choose from don’t you think?  And surprisingly some have an almost neon look too.  How does Mother Nature do that? Got me thinking that Stampin’ Up needs a copper metallic paper…don’t you agree?

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Here’s what I finally came up with:

Now if only my camera could have shown the right shade for the Crisp Cantaloupe! (ARGHH).   With the retirement of so many favorite products only days away I took the opportunity to bring out some of the ones I will miss featuring the most for another playtime.   I was late to the party in loving Crisp Cantaloupe…I know…dumb huh?   But now I can’t stop picking it up and working it into any number of designs including this one.  Until this week I hadn’t even realized how beautifully it pairs with Cajun Craze.  In looking at our inspiration photo at first I was caught by the darker and brighter colors…then I looked a bit more closely and what do you know…there were a few almost pastel shades to offset the deeper, darker colors.  Can you see the Cantaloupe color in the small section of the neck?  The Cajun Craze & Early Espresso were a no brainer for me and the Night of Navy was a nod to the slightly more neon blue that shades to a deep purple.

Then I scratched my head about how to show the feathery texture and the edging of cream color that seemed to outline so many colorful sections of this beautiful bird.  Then my eyes lit on my Sahara Sand Lace from the soon to be gone Occasions Catalog.  Perfect!  After all sand and water birds go together right?  That outlining as well as the water ripples was also the inspiration for the scored lines at the top of the Crisp Cantaloupe layer.  I’ve seen quite a few cards on Pinterest that use the scoring technique as an accent and it was fun to give it a try for myself.  Especially since I didn’t want the lace edging overwhelmed by an overall embossed layer.

The use of the Wetlands stamp set (thankfully not retiring) was a tough choice in some ways.  I wanted to play with the retiring Four Feathers but decided in the end that ducks had a lot in common with other shore birds and I wanted something a bit delicate to go with the lace.  I heat embossed two stampings of the single long image from the set with Whisper White Craft Ink and then Whisper White embossing powder on my Early Espresso paper then punched sections from both stamped images with the 1″ square punch.   The mat layer was a nod to the new catalog using Tip Top Taupe with the retiring Postage Punch.   Why oh why did Stampin’ Up have to choose that punch when looking to make room for new ones.   Sigh…it was the perfect layer for the 1″ Square punch don’t you think?   And you know how much I love creating layered inchies.

Supplies:

Stamps:  Wetlands, Label Love (retiring)

Ink:  Whisper White Craft Ink, Night of Navy Classic Ink

Paper: Cajun Craze, Crisp Cantaloupe (retiring), Early Espresso, Night of Navy, Tip Top Taupe (new In Color) Cardstock

Punches: Artisan Label (retiring), 1″ Square, Postage (retiring)

Other:  Heat Tool, Whisper White Embossing Powder, Sahara Sand Lace (Occasions Catalog and thankfully carrying over to the annual), Sticky Strip, Dimensionals, SNAIL

Tool tips:

1) To create a grouping of scored lines you need to take your courage in hand and allow yourself to freehand the look.  Start at your desired point and then draw lines of varying lengths 1/8″ apart.  The Simply Scored Board is perfect for this technique since the entire board is sectioned in 1/8″ lines. 

2) To create the mat for the sentiment – punch another Artisan Label shape in a contrasting color.  Cut the piece in half across the middle, snip the bottom corners and adhere each section to the back of the stamped punch piece.

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Join the rest of the design team over at the Challenge blog website here to see the rest of the teams designs and to add your own with the linky doodad.  When you add your own design and there are more than three entries, one of you will be a challenge winner and have the option to place the winner’s badge on your own site.  Of course…you’ll also win bragging rights!

That’s it for this challenge.   Don’t forget to check the Watercooler Challenge Blog post here to see who was the winner of the last challenge submissions by linky artists.    Check the challenge site for rules on competing for future challenges.

Hugs and Blessings to all my friends and readers.

Watercooler Challenge – WCC24 – Red Letter Birthday

WCC24 – Stefanie’s Sketch resulted in…

a Red Letter Birthday Card

For this challenge Stef provided us with a sketch that sent many of us in different directions (up, down and sideways).   I think you’ll notice a bit of a theme that emerged…many of us received out sneak peek products from the new annual catalog that launches June 2 and of course…we just had to play with them!

Join the rest of the design team over at the Challenge blog website here to see the rest of the teams designs and to add your own with the linky doodad.  When you add your own design and there are more than three entries, one of you will be a challenge winner and have the option to place the winner’s badge on your own site.  Of course…you’ll also win bragging rights!

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Here’s my interpretation of Stef’s sketch flipped In a different direction.   It’s a red letter birthday card ( I know..bad image pun in the card, but I have lots of friends with significant milestone birthdays this year) using one of my favorite non catalog stamp sets from the Photopolymer Collection.  Lovely Amazing You provided one of  the sentiments, the feather background and the stamped red letter envelope.  This stamp set covers it all that’s for sure.

Did you see the new catalog sneak peeks?  They’re subtle…here’s a hint…think shapes.  Punches and dies.

 Supplies:

Stamps:  Lovely Amazing You, Crazy About You (Birthday).

Ink:  Marina Mist, Real Red, Night of Navy & Project Life Journaling Pen (Black)

Paper: Naturals Ivory, Crumb Cake, Very Vanilla, Marina Mist, Night of Navy

Punches: Tree Builder (new – bitty bird), Boho Blossom (retiring), Banner Triple (new – creates the flag/banner ends and side indent)

Other:  Big Shot, Mini Treat Bag Thinlit Die (bow is one of the accessories), Flower Frenzy die (leaf bough), Sale-a-Bration In Color buttons (no longer available), Paper Snips,  Two Way glue pen, Glue Dots, Dimensionals, SNAIL

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When I saw the new Banner Triple punch my heart went into triple time hammering!   I know…crazy right…over a punch?    But it did.  I saw the same bypass channel (yep…another bad pun) that the Scallop Tag Topper punch has and I knew I could slide the side of a card in and punch an indent!   I love alternate uses.  Of course the original intention of punching a perfect banner end to a strip of paper is pretty cool too!  This punch does it all…and for three different sizes of strips.   Of course I’m sure those crafty crafters out there will find other and cooler uses as well.

So that was new product #1.  Have you guessed what #2 is?  The little birds come from the Tree Builder Punch that coordinates with the new Ronald McDonald House Charity set Sprinkles of Life.   Not only do I love this new stamp set…but I love that with my purchase I just donated $3 (courtesy of Stampin’ Up!) to the RMHC fund.  They do amazing work and help patient’s families be present for their loved ones who are hospitalized.  Stampin’ Up demonstrators help in many of the houses too, providing a bit of distraction through crafting as well as donating supplies and ready made cards as needed.

And product #3…it’s not exactly new but the Mini Treat Bag Thinlit die from the 2015 Occasions catalog has moved into the new annual catalog.  Yay!!   While the bag is fun to make, the accessory dies have even more use for cards and other project types.  My “label” and the “skinny” bow for today’s project came from that die set.

Here are a few more pictures to give you a better look at the elements and products used.

To get the layered indent look that I had envisioned, I punched (sliding the cardstock into the bypass channel of the punch)  both the Naturals Ivory card base and the Marina Mist layer.  I had to remove a skosh off the unpunched side of the layer so that all the edges lined up correctly when the mat was placed on the base.  Note to self…put those corrected measurements in a document or other set of notes for future reference.  The leftover punch piece as stamped and added to the inside of the card base.

Here’s the link to a flyer for the stamp set as well so you can see all it’s cool images:

Click to access Flyer_photopolymer_LovelyAmazingYou_02.10_US.pdf

It’s only guaranteed available for another month or two (after that it’s while supplies last) so if you want it…buy it now!

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That’s it for this challenge.  I hope you’ll join the Watercooler challenge and show us your own sketch inspired project and link up to us.  We didn’t have sufficient linky posts to declare a winner for the last challenge but I hope you’ll check this post out so you can see the wonderful additions by Susie & Sheri. Check the challenge site for rules on competing for future challenges.

Hugs and Blessings to all my challenge friends and readers.

Retirement Blues Watercooler Blog Hop

Welcome to the hop.

I’m typing one handed so keeping it short and simple today.

Moonlight Silhouette

Moonlight Silhouette 2

Moonlight Designer Series Stack has been one of my all time favorite papers so I had to give it a Retirement Blues Hop send off.  After all…Lost Lagoon is a sorta blue right?   Luckily the rest of the products on these cards are staying, so my mourning period should be short.

The new catalog is coming and I’ve had a sneak peek.  I’ll be able to reproduce this quick and simple design (one I’ve CASE’d from my dear friend Linda Aarhus) with new and wonderful papers.   You didn’t hear it from me…but the new catalog has 3 new paper stacks and they’ve been upgraded to 6″ x  6″ in size – perfect for small envelopes, small boxes and of course cards and scrapbooking.

Supplies:

Stamps: Trust God (staying) & Really Good Greetings (retiring)

Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black

Paper: Basic Black, Lost Lagoon, Whisper White (all staying) & Moonlight Designer Series Paper Stack (retiring)

Punches: Bird Builder, Owl Builder (circles) – both staying

Other: Sticky Strip (retiring but a new replacement will be loved by us all) , SNAIL or Tombow multipurpose adhesive glue.  Glue dots

 

To follow the hop click on the link below:

Watercooler Challenge – WCC23 – Mother’s Day Flowers Inspiration

WCC23 – Mother’s Day Flowers Inspiration

For this challenge Marsha provided us with a beautiful photo of a flower bouquet for a Mother’s Day (or other occasion) Inspiration.  Beautiful isn’t it?  My own Mom is no longer here to receive a bouquet but I hope she would like the paper version I’ve placed on a card for her and all my “other” mothers.  If you have a Mom or an “other” mother (a friend or person who you look up to and learn from and love as you would a mother) maybe this would be a good time to create your own card to let them know you are thinking of them.  Other mothers are wonderful to have in your life don’t you agree?

Join the rest of the design team over at the Challenge blog website here to see the rest of the teams designs and to add your own with the linky doodad.  When you add your own design and there are more than three entries, one of you will be a challenge winner and have the option to place the winner’s badge on your own site.  Of course…you’ll also win bragging rights!

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Here’s my interpretation of Marsha’s lovely inspiration piece using one of my favorite stamp sets from the 2015 Occasions Catalog.  Build a Bouquet provided the sentiment, bamboo looking background and the stamped elements on the flower.  This stamp set has it all that’s for sure.

 Supplies:

Stamps:  Build a Bouquet, Butterfly Basics (butterfly image).

Ink:  Calypso Coral, Crisp Cantaloupe, Baked Brown Sugar, So Saffron

Paper: Naturals Ivory, Crumb Cake, So Saffron, Calypso Coral, Whisper White, Wild Wasabi

Punches: Petite Petal, Pansy, Bitty Butterfly

Other:  Big Shot, Labels Framelit Collection, Flower Frenzy die (leaf bough), Rhinestone Basic Jewels, Wild Wasabi Twine from the Painted Blooms Cotton Twine Collection (Occasions Catalog), Crisp Cantaloupe Thick Baker’s Twine, Two Way glue pen, Sticky Strip, SNAIL

I also just happen to have project directions in a PDF format in case you want to make one of your own.   There is one direction I realized after rereading that I left off.  You can take a stylus and add lines to the the leaves on the bough to give a more natural and textured look.

Build a Bouquet Card

One quick note:  The Label’s Collection Framelits and the Flower Frenzy die are on the retiring product list and even better…are 50% off.  Cool!  Some of the items used are also in the Occasions Catalog which ends June 2.  Check with your demonstrator for details.

Some parts of the card are my own idea but the basic layout came from a number of Pinterest posts that came up when I did a quick Google search for inspiration using Build a Bouquet.  The primary being a post from Nicole Tugrul for a Connie and Mary Spring Collection Blog Hop.  You can see that card here.

That’s it for this challenge.  I hope you’ll join the Watercooler challenge and show us your own Flower Inspiration project and link up to us.  Don’t forget to check the Watercooler Challenge Blog post here to see who was the winner of the last challenge submissions by linky artists.    Check the challenge site for rules on competing for future challenges.

Hugs and Blessings to all my other mothers out there, friends and readers.