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Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Whimsical Wednesday Challenge: Just Because

Happy Whimsical Wednesday, sweet friends! :o)

The Whimsical Wednesday challenge this week is "Just Because." The requirements are to create a card or project to let someone know that you are thinking of them and that they're special. Blessing someone with a handmade creation "just because" as opposed to a specific occasion/celebration is one of my favorite things, so I was pretty excited about this challenge. :o)

The design team had the wonderful opportunity to select an image of our choice provided by this week's sponsor, Bugaboo Stamps. She and her store are positively delightful! The options seemed endless, but my heart gravitated to sweet little Ava, the Mistletoe Fairy:

"With Love"... (my first shaker card!)


At first glance this might seem like a Christmas or New Year's card, but it is a regular "thinking of you" card. I used the mistletoe fairy to incorporate a recognizable romantic spin for a sweetheart across the miles. The idea is to use her year-round with changing seasonal backdrops as a loving reminder that your honey is close in heart. In this case, she's fluttering along with snowflakes. Ava provides the lovey-dovey aspect all on her own with her glittery mistletoe. :o) I colored her with pinks and frosty blue since it's not for the holidays... she's somewhat undercover. ;)

Now for the story on this wintery love note. Not seen well unless you make it bigger is how super sparkly it is.... everywhere. That is Ava's doing. One touch of her ultra-glittery mistletoe has sparklified the card, beginning with the two sets of rhinestones on the heart frame of my shaker. Once her pure love is felt, the entire heart is filled with glittery joy. The small beads (used here as snow) are iridescent, so they are actually several hues despite looking clear in the pictures. I added a few glitter shapes, which are brightly glowing in love. They're circular like bubbles to reflect love bubbling up within our hearts. There are three because God is always with us. :o) So now the beautiful love grows and reaches out to others, evidenced by the sparklified flourishes whimsically bursting forth from the heart-shaped shaker.

I loved the pink and blue elements together, so I made the shimmery snowflakes two layers. I separated the pink and blue-edged flakes with a pop-dot, making them dimensional and letting both colors show up a little better. The white cardstock is pearlescent, making the snowflake-embossed center glisten like winter. I welded together two scallop borders on my Gypsy (flipping one of them) and coated the scallops in Stardust to resemble little mountains of fluffy snow. Lastly, I sprayed the card with Shimmer Spritz to seal the sparkling winter scene.

I had such a great time making this shaker card! It's a great interactive element, plus it amps up the fun and beauty. There are so many ways to fill it. I opted for beads instead of simply glitter so it would make a nice amount of noise when shaken. There are several wonderful tutorials available, including this one that I followed:

I hope you'll play along with us this week by linking up your projects at the Whimsical Wednesday Weekly Challenge post! I'm excited to see what you create. :o) Our sponsor for this challenge is Bugaboo Stamps, who is generously donating seven digital stamps to one random winner who enters our challenge. Thank you very much, Bugaboo! :o) To learn more about this wonderful company, please visit their Catch The Bug Challenge Blog. :o)

I'm thrilled that we have two guest designers from the Bugaboo Design Team joining us this week. Be sure to check them out on the Whimsical Wednesday blog. :o) Then flutter on over to the rest of the Design Team's blogs to see their fabulous projects. :o) Thank you for stopping by and I hope you have a spectacular (and sparkly) day!

Key Recipe Components:
 * Cricut cartridges: Cindy Loo, Elegant Edges, Gypsy Wanderings
 * Cuttlebug embossing folder: Winter Wonderland
 * Paper: Core'dinations, K & Company Peppermint Twist, Papertrey Ink
 * Sentiment Stamp: Hampton Art
 * Copics: E000, E00 (skin); E25, E31 (hair); RV10, RV13, RV14 (dress, holly berries); BG11 (mistletoe)
 * Miscellaneous: Dew Drop Brilliance ink, Glossy Accents (on berries), iRock, Marvy snowflake stamp, Recollections Glitter Shapes, Shimmer Spritz, Stickles, TOHO treasure beads 

Photobucket

24 comments:

  1. Hi Karen, wow your card is amazing love the image and your gorgeous colouring also the heart is amazing too! all the background papers really finish this off truly beautiful!!:) Sandra H

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  2. hi karen what a lovely card the bugaboo image is too sweet :) wasnt it hard just picking one image :) i like the colors you chose for this and the shaker part is a cool touch. great job with the challenge this week :)

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  3. Love Love your card it super sweet. TFS

    Hugs
    Kate

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  4. WOW! I love the shaker and the glitter accents. And well EVERYTHING. This is absolutely BEAUTIFUL!!!! Hugs- Glora

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  5. Hi Karen,GORGEOUS job with you card!I LOVE the image from bugaboo,TO CUTE!AMAZING job as always!!:)

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  6. Love your shaker card!!! She is so pretty and I'm sure will bring a smile to whoever you give this too! Beautiful image! Love all the little details you put into it!!
    hugs,
    joni

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  7. This is SO SO SO CUTE! I love the beautiful girl image and the shaker! I love all the sparkles this card has!

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  8. This is so super cute! I love the beautiful girl image and the shaker! Also I LOVE all the sparkle!! Tfs and have a great day. :)

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  9. Karen~ This is AMAZING!! Such a beautiful, colorful, sparkly card! You did an excellent job with this image and I love how you took a "christmas image" and made it an all around image. I just LOVE Ava and you made her shine!!
    TFS

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  10. This is just gorgeous! Love the bling in the shaker box! =)
    Hugs & Happy Days
    ~Min

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  11. Guess who is crazy insane in love with this card?!

    MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!

    OMJ Sunshine! This is unbelievable!!! A Shaker Card?!?!?!?! Noooooooo wayyyyy!!! GASP! It is AMAZINGGGGGGG!!! I can't stop staring at it sis. How did you make the shaker? It is SO gorgeous! Your heart sparkles just as flawlessly as this card, Sunshine. It takes an extra special someone to put so much love into every single inch of a creation such as this. *squishers you madly*

    Know what I love most about this card, Sunshine? Your story about the meaning and significance of the heart and its contents. God loves you something fierce, sis. And today His heart is bubbling over with pride because of how special you are in His eyes.

    *hugglers Eva and borrows her mistletoe and keeps it handy just in case my future Prince Charming should happen to flutter-by one day soon* TEE HEE!

    God bless you my sweetest sis...I love you soooooooo much!!! *forever twinkling snowflake squishies*

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  12. What a beaufiful and shimmery card! I love the little girl image and the beautiful layered snowflakes. I need to try making one of these shaker cards. Yours is so fun and elegant at the same time. Love all the details...another gorgeous card my friend!
    sherrie K
    http://sherriescraps.blogspot.com

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  13. Tee hee. I just called your sweetest little Ava, Eva in my last message! TEE HEE! Sorry little one! *hugglers her little wings*

    *does happy snowflake dance with my Sunshine*

    LOVE YOUUUUUUUU!!! :)

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  14. Very, very beautiful card Karen!!! I love everything about it including the "undercover" mistletoe fairy! Melanie

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  15. As always my super-sweet friend, this card is just FABULOUS! Ava, the mistletoe fairy is so adorable! You colored her perfectly! And the colors are stunning! The shaker is gorgeous! I am in love with the entire card! I love the story behind each card as much as I love looking at them! You are simply amazing :) Stop by my blog when you get a chance, Karen...I have an award for you! :)

    Lisa
    http://indymermaid.blogspot.com

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  16. Karen I am at a loss for words! Your beautiful sparkly creation touched me so, make me smile, and I loved hearing all the sweet details about it! Ava, is so adorable and you made her come alive with your coloring and all the sparkles...it looks like she is going to jump right off the card onto my desk (oh how I wish) I am honored to have you on my WW design team sweet friends. Hugs!

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  17. Karen what a beautiful,sparkly card.Love your colouring and shading of Ava,she is so sweet.The shaker is a great touch.
    Jayne x

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  18. This card is fantastic, Sweets! I love that it's full of sparkly, shaking goodness. You know I'm a shaker ;) I also love the symbolism of the mistletoe; you're right, it's not just for Christmas. Fabulous as ever!

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  19. Karen this is a beautiful shaker card!! Ava is adorable. I am so sorry for being MIA. My life is in disarray right now. I still lurk around, but I have so little time, to actually stop for long. Hugs, Pam at http://craftycards4u2.blogspot.com/

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  20. I always love coming here. That card is amazing, Christinas comments to you always make me smile so big and I LOVE the way you used the shaker. It is simply beautiful and the detail is perfect! Great choice of image. xx

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  21. Karen, you have such a lovely card here. I love the heart shape and the little girl...

    Happy crafting

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  22. Oh so sweet and I love the shaker. xxD

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  23. Your shaker card is so pretty! I love the embossing and the beads inside the heart. The inking on the snowflakes looks great too. And Ava is just the cutest! :)

    Karen
    craftedwithlovebykaren.blogspot.com

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  24. Oh Karen, I love this card, but of course, I LOVE all of your creations! The sweet little girl is precious and your copic coloring is excellent! I love the soft colors, and all the sparkly embossing and swirls! The heart shaker box is so cute! LOVE IT my friend! Sparkly hugs to you! xo

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Thank you for leaving some love! Have a beautifully blessed day. :o)

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