WWC96 - Gail's "Special Folds" Challenge

Woo Hoo!  We're having a special challenge because today is the 5th Wednesday of the month.  Whenever that happens during the year, we throw in an extra, completely different challenge just for fun.  And what could be more fun than creating a card or project that features a fun fold?  What type of fold, you ask?  Surprise us.  It's "anything goes" as far as the special fold is concerned.  Enjoy!  We have some wonderful samples for you.

Before we have a look at the wonderful cards created by our Watercooler Artists, we have a Guest Designer this week.  One of our regulars, Jean Fitch, is off having some serious medical tests.  We all hope everything is going well for Jean, of course.  To step into this week's temporary vacancy, we have a talented Australian Demo, Bronwyn Eastley, who is becoming very well-known for her wonderful folds.  Her tutorials are sold as quickly as she creates them.  During the week of our challenge, however, this special Z-Fold Spinner tutorial will be available free for download at Bronwyn's blog site.  How generous is that?

This is what Bronwyn has to say about herself:  "Hi, I’m Bronwyn Eastley, an Independent Stampin’ Up! ® Demonstrator from Tasmania, Australia.  I love to create paper craft projects using SU’s extensive and gorgeous range of co-ordinating products. My passion is designing and making 3D, interactive cards with fun folds. I also love blogging, am an avid Pinterest fan and write card tutorials to help fund my obsession. Thank you, Heidi, for inviting me as a Guest Designer for the Watercooler Wednesday Challenges.  I hope you like the z- fold, slider card that was inspired by a fellow Aussie, Kelly Kent."

Bronwyn Eastley

  

And now back to our team.  We have some great samples created by the Watercooler Artists to get your creative juices flowing. As usual, if you click on the name under each card, you can visit the blog post to see details on the way the special fold is designed.   We begin with Gail's surprise fold birthday card.  The background metallic dots add the perfect touch, don't they?

Gail Allen

Marsha Reed

Heidi Weaver

Kath Ricks

Deborah Smart

Penny Hanuszak

Libby Fens

And now it's your turn.  You can join us by linking up your creation with the InLinkz at the bottom of this challenge.  

Remember:

          1.  This must be a new project---no back-linking to a previous post.

          2.  You must link your project back to our challenge (details at top of page).

          3.  You must link directly to your post, not simply your general blog.

          4.  Please link to no more than 4 challenges, including ours.

          5.  Have fun!

Please use the link-up below to share your project.  This Linky will close on Monday, December 5th at 5:00 p.m. Mountain Standard Time.

An InLinkz Link-up

WWC95 - The Winner

Drumroll please!  It's time to announce the winner of Libby's "anything goes" Masculine Challenge.  Libby's pick was  Donna Scholz's wonderful Woodworker Birthday card.  With its wealth of woodgrain and twine as well as the wonderful hardware, this card was masculine to the core.

Donna Scholz

Donna, we hope you'll  display your winner's badge, shown below, proudly on your blog.

Our Honourable Mentions were chosen by Libby and the remaining Watercooler Artists.  Congratulations to Jane Willis and Marina.  Your cards were very versatile as well as masculine.

Jane Willis

Marina

Jane and Marina, we hope you'll proudly display the badge shown below on your blogs.

Many thanks to Sharon, Tina, Steffi, Heather and Wendy for linking up and sharing their wonderful creations.

Be sure to stop back tomorrow, November 30th, for the new Watercooler Wednesday challenge and the wonderful creations by the Watercooler Artists.

WWC95 - Libby's Masculine "Anything Goes" Challenge

Woo Hoo!  This is going to be an amazing challenge.  We all need more masculine cards, right? Well, Libby Fens is hosting a Masculine "Anything Goes" challenge this week.  How great is that?

So basically you just have to think masculine.  Otherwise anything goes.  It can be as simple or as fancy as you please.  It can be for a birthday, anniversary, Christmas, or anything at all.  Your choice.  You can see from the diversity of the cards created by our Watercooler Artists that there is a huge range of options open to you.  As usual, if you click on the name under each card, you can visit the blog post to see details on how the card was created.   We begin with Libby's inviting "Happy Beerthday" card.

Libby Fens

Heidi Weaver

Marsha Reed

Kath Ricks

Penny Hanuszak

Jean Fitch

Deborah Smart

Gail Allen

And now it's your turn.  You can join us by linking up your creation with the InLinkz at the bottom of this challenge.  

Remember:

          1.  This must be a new project---no back-linking to a previous post.

          2.  You must link your project back to our challenge (details at top of page).

          3.  You must link directly to your post, not simply your general blog.

          4.  Please link to no more than 4 challenges, including ours.

          5.  Have fun!

Simply use the link-up below to share your project.  This Linky will close on Monday, November 28th at 5:00 p.m. Mountain Standard Time.

An InLinkz Link-up

WWC94 - The Winner

Drum roll, please!  It's time to announce the winner for Heidi's Tea or Coffee themed Simply Stamping Challenge.  Heidi's pick was Marina's great example of masking in order to get just the effect she wanted from the stamp, even without all the additional embellishments.  Congratulations, Marina.

Marina

Marina, we hope you will display your winner's badge, shown below, proudly on your blog.

We also wish to thank Stasia, Steffi and Melanie for linking up their wonderful cards.

This will be the last Simply Stamping challenge.  It's clear that there is no real demand for this type of stamping with all the wonderful dies and embellishments available on the market.  For this reason, we are going back to the tried and true CAS (Clean and Simple) challenges that are gaining in popularity.  Our aim for the CAS challenges will be to create wonderful cards that have minimal layering and minimal embellishments.

Be sure to stop back tomorrow, November 23rd, for the new Watercooler Wednesday challenge and the wonderful creations by the Watercooler Artists.

WWC94 - Heidi's Simply Stamping "All about tea or coffee" Challenge

Woo Hoo!  It's time for one of our special challenges, a "Simply Stamping" challenge hosted by Heidi Weaver.  This challenge is all about simplicity.  And what could be more simple than stamping with no more than two layers?  And this time the theme is close to most people's hearts (especially first thing in the morning).  Yes, that would be coffee  or tea.

Before we get to the terrific samples created by our Watercooler Artists, let's talk about what we're expecting if you decide to link your creation to this challenge.

"Simply Stamping" is a return to basics.  We expect either one single stamped layer or a base with one single layer on that.  We expect simple stamping.  You can use masking, heat embossing, stencilling, sponging.  You cannot use an embossing folder or embellishments or additional layers (not even a tag). 

Simple, right?  It's a fun type of challenge which more and more people are enjoying.  Penny Hanuszak is still travelling and so we turned to a frequent participant, Heather Hopson, who was able to jump in and fill the gap. 

This is what Heather has to say about herself:  "I am a happily married lady with a cat named Jellicoe. My husband is awesome.  We love to dance, camp, rock-hound, and to entertain.  We have a beautiful back yard and love to have our friends over for BBQ.  I have travelled to South America, Mexico, and several islands in the Caribbean.  I used to sail but my passion now is down-hill skiing.  I love it.  Soon as it starts to snow, that is all I can think of.  My second passion is making cards."

Heather Hopson

And now back to our team of Watercooler Artists.  We have some great samples to get your creative juices flowing and to show our take on Simply Stampin.  As usual, if you click on the name under each card, you can visit the blog post to see details on how the card was created.  We begin with Heidi's teacups and invitation to tea.

Heidi Weaver

Marsha Reed

Libby Fens

Kath Ricks

Gail Allen

Jean Fitch

Deborah Smart

And now it's your turn.  You can join us by linking up your creation with the InLinkz at the bottom of this challenge.  

Remember:

          1.  This must be a new project---no back-linking to a previous post.

          2.  You must link your project back to our challenge (details at top of page).

          3.  You must link directly to your post, not simply your general blog.

          4.  Please link to no more than 4 challenges, including ours.

          5.  Remember what we want to see in a clean and simple creation.

          6.  Have fun!

Please use the link-up below to share your project.  This Linky will close on Monday, November 21st at 5:00 p.m. Mountain Standard Time.

An InLinkz Link-up

WWC93 - The Winner

Drum roll, please!  It's time to announce the winner for Deborah's Colour Challenge.  Deborah's pick was Donna Scholz's masculine take on the colours.  The colours worked beautifully with the birthday theme of her card.

Donna Scholz

Donna, we hope you'll  display your winner's badge, shown below, proudly on your blog.

Our Honourable Mentions were chosen by Deborah and the remaining Watercooler Artists.  Congratulations to Katie Brooks and Tenia Nelson.  Your use of the colours for the challenge was terrific.

Katie Brooks

Tenia Nelson

Katie and Tenia, we hope you'll proudly display the badge shown below on your blogs.

Many thanks to Steffi, Heather and Fiona for linking up and sharing their wonderful creations.

Be sure to stop back tomorrow, November 16th, for the new Watercooler Wednesday challenge and the wonderful creations by the Watercooler Artists.

WWC93 - Deborah's Color Challenge

Welcome to another challenge with our Watercooler Artists.  This week it's a terrific Color Challenge hosted by Deborah Smart.  The colours are perfect for those Christmas cards which everyone is starting to create:  Whisper White, Real Red, Soft Suede, Old Olive and Basic Black.   Are you up for the challenge?

Before we have a look at the wonderful cards created by our Watercooler Artists, we have a Guest Designer this week since Penny Hanuszak is off travelling at the moment.  Luckily a frequent participant, Sheri Lee, was able to jump in and fill the gap.

Sheri has always been crafty, even as a young girl.  She was introduced to cardmaking many years ago and then, 10 years ago, discovered Stampin' Up!  Four years ago Sheri resigned as a demo and rediscovered her love of cardmaking.  We're glad she did because it's always such a joy to see her cards.  (When not making cards, Sheri loves yoga, impromptu headstands and, if she can find one, devouring a nice slice or two of cheesecake.)

Sheri Lee

And now back to our team.  We have some great samples created by the Watercooler Artists to get your creative juices flowing. As usual, if you click on the name under each card, you can visit the blog post to see details on how the card was created.   We begin with Deborah's wonderful Christmas sleigh and reindeer.  That background tree adds the perfect touch, doesn't it?

Deborah Smart

Heidi Weaver

Marsha Reed

Libby Fens

Kath Ricks

Gail Allen

Jean Fitch

And now it's your turn.  You can join us by linking up your creation with the InLinkz at the bottom of this challenge.  

Remember:

          1.  This must be a new project---no back-linking to a previous post.

          2.  You must link your project back to our challenge (details at top of page).

          3.  You must link directly to your post, not simply your general blog.

          4.  Please link to no more than 4 challenges, including ours.

          5.  Have fun!

Please use the link-up below to share your project.  This Linky will close on Monday, November 14th at 5:00 p.m. Mountain Standard Time.

An InLinkz Link-up

WWC92 - The Winner

Drum roll, please!  It's time to announce the winner for Jean's Sketch Challenge.  Jean's pick was Susie Nelson's simple but elegant little Christmas tree.  The colour coordination and vertical sentiment won the day for this lovely card.

Susie Nelson

Susie, we hope you'll  display your winner's badge, shown below, proudly on your blog.

Our Honourable Mentions were chosen by Jean and the remaining Watercooler Artists.  Congratulations to Louise Cyr and Kathe Deck.  Your interpretations of the sketch were terrific.

Louise Cyr

Kathe Deck

Louise and Kathe, we hope you'll proudly display the badge shown below on your blogs.

Special thanks to Heather, Ina and Rita for linking up and sharing their wonderful creations.

Be sure to stop back tomorrow, November 9th, for the new Watercooler Wednesday challenge and the wonderful creations by the Watercooler Artists.