Challenge Entry for #GDP048

My preorder arrived for the new holiday catalogue (beginning 1 September) and in the back of my mind was the "Case the Designer" challenge over on Global Design Project. Check out Tania Kolar's original idea. The weather we are dealing with at the moment suited the new Merry Mice set, you'll have to wait to see the other images, but equally as cute! This time my mouse is singing Happy Birthday and I was trying to avoid colours that made him look like christmas which is how I ended up with the combination of Daffodil Delight and Perfect Plum, along with a touch of Tempting Turquoise. I was still in watercolour mode and used my aqua brush with marker pens.  Surprising how far a little bit of colour will go. I have used very vanilla and stamped the image in Basic Black archival ink. As you know, you can't use too much water or repeat brushing or your card will pill. You just have to be a little patient and let it dry if you need to add more depth. The background might suit those of you who feel they 'can't sponge properly', as I used a Touches of Texture stamp with Pool Party - check out the close up below along with how I added "2 U" (to complete the Happy Birthday song).  Balloons and greeting from Balloon Celebration and Balloon Builders. To finish off I aded some new Fancy Frost sequins. 

Thoughtful Branches and Watercolour

As you may have noticed, I am making the most of the short time I can share this bundle (Thoughtful Branches) with you but hoping like crazy it will make a comeback in a future catalogue!  I know I've tried to encourage you before to play with your toys and keep trying until you master a technique, but when I try to do the same, I struggle with not using it. I had some non-SU watercolour paper (not a great quality by any means) and thought I could sacrifice that rather than my 'good' stuff. But I liked the look and these are the results.

The first card I wish to show you was an idea shared by Sara Douglass, Stampin' Up! CEO. The background is masked off at the edge, and then washed with 3 different colours and left to dry. I then veered off from using the leaves she had and added the tree you can see here. I unravelled the thick Cucumber Crush baker's twine and added it to the card, tying it with a single strand. The greeting is from Confetti Celebration.  I used my Wink of Stella brush and picked up Daffodil Delight to colour in the words, Then I wanted more bling so I added a few sequins and Wink of Stella to the leaves - see close up.  And it made it to the mailbox yesterday.

For the next card, it was the same watercolour paper, and this time I just lay a stamp pad on it (Tangelo Twist), the ink was very intense and I initially thought that was going to be a big fail.  However I spritzed it with water and left it to dry.  It was fun watching the colour come apart and spread.  I spritzed again and was happy with the how it toned down yet still enough variety to provide interest.  I cut it out with the Beautiful Branches die and was pleased with the result. I cut a stalk out of the same paper and used the Cucumber Crush ink pad then spritzed as before. Once I had my flower sorted, I knew I wanted to pop it into a vase - so out with the Jar of Love and my new copper embossing powder.  I love how the copper melted so smoothly on the vellum I used for the jar.  I used a marker to colour the back of the vellum for my water.  The head of the flower had dimensions in the centre of it and then I used multipurpose adhesive around the edge - gives a more real look to the hydrangea idea. I picked a Touches of Texture image and embossed that twice at the bottom of the Very Vanilla card and ran the top through the Petal Burst TIEF.  I added a copper embossed banner and a greeting which I brought the Cucumber Crush back into.  I also added some copper metallic thread - see the close up.  A lengthy post but lots of detail to try and explain.

Sitting Here - Thinking of You

Today marks the 1st anniversary of my Dad's passing and I made this card to send my Mum - virtually. I actually made it for our launch day and as it progressed, thought it made a reflective and peaceful card. I also knew that she would enjoy the meaning the words suggested.

We received this stamp set (Sitting Here) at Onstage Local in Auckland and this was my first time using it. I liked the water colour look of the flowers and after stamping on Very Vanilla, I gave everything (except the bench cushion) a wash using my aqua brush. The base card is Early Espresso, with a Pool Party mat.  The sentiment is from the same set and is one stamp, but I masked it off to separate the words a little.