Online Store: Project Ideas

With the arrival of the "Share the Fun" 2015-2016 Annual Catalogue, Stampin' Up has made changes to it's On-line store index. When I first looked at the index, I found it had been reduced significantly from previous ones and that can make finding things a bit difficult. A lot of the categories I was used to looking for weren't there.  

It occurred to me that if I'm having difficulty as a demonstrator that you might be facing the same challenges so I thought it would be fun to review the index over the next couple of weeks, and show you how to look for your favourite products and navigate the index more easily.  Sound like something you're interested in?  If so leave me a comment and let me know what you're having difficulty with and I'll cover it in an upcoming post. 

But first, the change I'd like to highlight today is a new addition that I know you're going to like, it's called Project Ideas.  

When you click on this category, it offers you a variety of project ideas to choose from.  If these project ideas look a bit familiar, that's because these ideas are the same as the  "You Can Make It" projects in the annual catalogue. When you click on a project, you will see all the products needed to create the project--including any necessary tools. As an added bonus, the recommended adhesives have also been included (so cool, right?).
 
I've also added a Project Ideas link on my right side panel on this blog so you can go directly to the project ideas category if you're wanting to look for ideas without going to the on-line store. Just look for this icon:

Here's a sample of what you can expect to find with this new link:

Here's the product list for making these sweet little cards.  It takes the guess work out of it!

Happy Stamping!
Penny Tokens

Bonus Deals - 30-60% Off

Yeah it's June 30th and that's the start of something big.  Summer bonus deals are back.  Now's your opportunity to save 30-60% off. 

From June 30 through August 3, there are MORE items in the Clearance Rack and Weekly Deals.  Shop here first and you can save up to 30% on even more Weekly Deals, or up to 60% on extra items in the Clearance Rack. You’ll want to hurry though, because Weekly Deals discounts are available in limited quantities before the items return to retail prices.

• Click here for Weekly Deals
• Click here for Clearance Rack

Happy Stamping!
Penny Tokens 

Artisan's Anonymous Get Together

One of the best things for me about stamping, is being able to get together  with other like minded women who enjoy stamping and paper crafting.  I come home from these events feeling inspired and invigorated.  There's so much talent out there!

Earlier this month I had just such an evening. I went on a road trip with two of my other stamping pals Maureen and Debbie to Chilliwack where we joined a group hosted by Jennilee Pauls called the Artisan's Anonymous group.

The whole evening was about the "Share the Fun" Annual catalogue and getting an up close and personal look at "what's new". Jennilee had really stocked up so there were lots of "oohs" and "ahhs" going on as we looked at Designer Series papers, new card stocks, ribbons, embossing folders, punches and more.  My head was simply swimming with all the ideas and possibilities, and my "Wish List" kept expanding as the night rolled on.   

I didn't take a lot of pictures as my battery was running low, but what I did take I decided to share with you, as these projects were so inspiring.  To begin with here are some shots of the Make N' Take projects demonstrated by Bev Gasjek and Jennilee Pauls.  

The first was a super sweet little card that features the Sprinkles of Life Stamp set.  Bev did a super job of showing us how to assemble this multi-dimensional card. What a great demonstrator!  I'm not sure if there is a name for this type of fancy fold, but it was sure easy to make and packed a big "wow" when it was completed.

Oh did I mentioned that this card featured all five of the new In Colours and the brand new Elegant Dots Textured Impressions Embossing Folder (TIEF).  Loved it!

Jennilee wowed us with this next Make N' Take.  Isn't it a stunner?  The base card was in Blackberry Bliss followed by a layer of Whisper White that was embossed with the brand new Boho Chic TIEF.  Just look at the detail on this impression.  Exquisite!

Would you take a look at that fabulous paper, it's from the Bohemian Designer Series Paper pack.  There are not enough words for this DSP, it's simply delicious!  Jennilee cut the width of the ribbon down for this beautiful bow and the banners were punched out with the new Banner Triple Punch.  Another must have!

This butterfly was cut out using the Butterflies Thinlits from Gold Foil Sheets.  Stunning!  Speaking of stunning, that is the only way I can describe the stamp set used to create the butterfly that this gold one is mounted on.  

The newest addition to Stampin' Ups! butterfly collection is a 15 piece two-step Photopolymer stamp set called Watercolour Wings.  Oh my!  It's a show stopper and we had so much fun creating this butterfly which was stamped with Blackberry Bliss and Rich Razzleberry inks.  This set also has a coordinating framelit called Bold Butterfly.   

Here's the inside of the card.  Isn't this a great sentiment?  It's from the Watercolor Wings stamp set too.  We coloured the words with Bermuda Bay, Blackberry Bliss and Hello Honey markers. 

See this ribbon, well I won it.  Yippee Skippee!!!!  If I didn't mention it already, here's another great thing about these get-togethers, there are always awesome door prizes.  This is the new 1 1/4" Striped Grosgrain Ribbon in Bermuda Bay.  It also comes in  Cherry Cobbler and Crumb Cake.  Thanks Jennilee!

Jennilee also gave us a hands on demonstration of the new Gift Bag Punch Board.  I took some samples of gift bags I've made and I'll show you more in an upcoming post, but for now, here's a teaser: 

Here are some of the pictures of the displays provided by Jennilee and the other demonstrators.  See what I mean by inspiration.  

How's this for a great way to show off the new In Colours:  Cucumber Crush, Watermelon Wonder, Delightful Dijon, Tip Top Taupe and Mint Macaron. 

I really liked this card class display board which features a Sprinkle of Life card class.  Looks awesome!

Another beautiful butterfly made with the Watercolor Wings stamp set.  The smaller white butterfly is cut with the smallest of the two new dies in the Bold Butterfly Framelits set, and the larger butterfly is cut with the other. 

 

 

Well that's it for this post, but I just want to finish by saying it was simply a great evening, with a great hostess, wonderful prizes, and awesome  company.  What more could you ask for?

Thanks for dropping by.  Hope you found something inspiring too.  Come back again......


Happy Stamping! 
Penny Tokens

Peek-A-Boo Flip Top Card

On May 28th and June 18th I posted some cards that used a technique called the "Peek-A-Boo Flip"  or "Fold Over Window" card and I promised to give you  some information on how to create them. Sorry that it took so long and I missed a couple of deadlines. 

As mentioned in my Wacky Watercooler Blog Hop post, I found the original design, a graduation card, on Glenda Caulkin's blog.  She had designed a card for her nephew and did a great video showing how she did it. 

I also came across a Sympathy Card created by Dawn Olchefske's called A Fold Over Window Card.  Dawn's video is also an excellent source for information on measuring correctly. 

Okay, so what did I do for my cards?  Well, here's a birthday card I made featuring the Celebrate Today stamp set:

Supplies: 
Stamp Set:  Celebrate Today
Ink: Watermelon Wonder (New In Colour Ink - 2015-2016 Annual Catalogue)
Card Stock: Bermuda Bay, 
DSP:  New - Cherry on Top DSP 2015-2016 Annual Catalogue 
Accessories:  Trimmer, Embossing Folder, Big Shot, Balloon Framelit Dies (coordinates with the  Celebrate Today stamp set or can be used on it's own), sponge daubers, Mono Adhesive,

Assembly:

1.  To begin, make all your paper cuts as follows:

• 1 piece of 3 1/4" x 11"co-ordinating card stock for flip panel, score at 5 1/2"
• 1 piece of 4 1/4" x 5 7/16" co-ordinating card stock for the card base 
• 1 piece of 3 x 5 7/16" Whisper White card stock for the center panel
• 2 strips of DSP or cardstock measuring 1/2" by 5 7/16" for the decorative panels.

2. Decorate the front of the 3 1/4" x 11 flip panel in your style by:

• stamping or embossing the flip panel to fit your design
• using a die cut or punch to cut a piece for the window or peek a boo opening. 

3.  To assemble the inside of the card:

• Stamp images and/or sentiment on the inside panel.
• Glue the Whisper White panel to the center of the card base.  Tip: I line up the card base and center panel using grid paper, when I can see that it's even on both sides I adhere the white panel
• I use Tom Bow glue to adhere the two decorative strips along the edges of the white center panel.  Make sure that these pieces line up at the top and are butted up tightly against center panel. Once you've adhered these pieces, flip the card base over and trim away any overlapping edges along the top and bottom of the card base.
• To finish the front of the card, center the flip panel, against the front side of the card base.  Again I'd recommend using the grid or a ruler to make sure the flip piece is evenly lined up on both sides of the card base.  Next I add Tom Bow glue to the back of the panel and re-center the piece being careful not to get glue on anything. Once you're satisfied with the placement lay the card down and press so the back of the flip panel attaches to the back of the card base.    When you use Tom Bow glue, you still have an opportunity to reposition the card piece if it isn't quite centered.  

This Peek-a-Boo Flip Top fancy fold can be used for any occasion.  Your imagination and creativity are the only limits for making this very versatile, inexpensive and fun card.  Here are some other cards I've made using this technique:

Sympathy Card:
I wanted a simple and clean looking Sympathy Card that didn't involve a lot of layers. For this card, I stamped the cross hatch image in Smokey Slate and the flower from the "You've Got This" stamp set in Elegant Eggplant on the flip panel of this card.  

The opening was die cut using the small label from the now retired Thinlets Card Labels die set. The inside sentiment is from the Petite Pairs stamp set.  I chose Smokey Slate for the card base cut the two decorative strips from Elegant Eggplant that was embossed with the Lovely Lace embossing folder.

It's a little hard to see but I took the fine tip of my Elegant Eggplant marker and outlined the center parts of the flowers to make them standout a bit more.  It worked beautifully and there's just a hint of a darker shade of Eggplant which was perfect.

I repeated the flower image on the inside of the card but I stamped off before adding the image so that it was a bit softer.  

Graduation Card: 
Once again, here's the graduation card I made for my niece who recently graduated. I pretty much CASED this card from Glenda Caulkin's, as noted above.  

I did the card base in Night of Navy card stock, and the two decorative panels were cut from Gold Foil sheets.  Love that stuff!  

The "Celebrate Today" Photopolymer stamp set was a perfect choice for this joyous occasion.  I love the versatility of the images and sentiments in this set. Tip: if you're searching for this set in the catalogue and can't find it, that's because it's filed under "Everyday Occasions" rather than birthdays, because it's one of those sets that's just so much more.  

I embossed the Happy Graduation sentiment and balloon tail with Gold Embossing powder.  The front of the flip panel is dry embossed with the Lucky Stars Embossing Folder.  Metallic Gold thread was used for the bow on the balloon base. 

Christmas Card:  
Here's an early Christmas card made with this same technique.  This card is going to be one of my Christmas in july Stamp-a-Stack cards because it's so quick and easy to assemble. 

I used Tip Top Taupe one of the new In Colours for the card base and flip panel piece.  I dry embossed the Flip Panel with the Woodgrain Embossing Folder and cut out the hole with a 1 3/8" circle punch.  

The wreath is from the Wondrous Wreath stamp set and it was cut out with the coordinating Wonderful Wreath framelit dies.  I'm so happy that both of these products were carried over from the Holiday Occasions Catalogue.  

I love all the accessories that come with the Wonderful Wreath framelit dies including the little bow?  It's the perfect size.  I cut the decorative panel pieces and two bows from Red Glimmer paper .  I glued the bows together so that the glimmer paper is showing on both sides, before I attached it to the wreath with glue dots.  

While you can't see it in this photo, I've added a window transparency sheet behind the wreath so it looks like it's hanging over a real door window.  I cut out the window sheet with a 1 3/8" circle punch and adhered it to the back of the wreath.  I didn't want all the leaves showing through the transparency so I re-cut the Tip Top Taupe 1 3/8" circle negative with a 1 1/4" circle punch and attached it behind the wreath.  You can see it in the second picture below.

You can see the second bow and the inner circle I made with Tip Top Taupe, to hide the unfinished back of the wreath.  

Well that's it for this post.  I hope I've shown you how much fun and how versatile this  Peek-a-Boo or Fold Over Window card can be, and I hope my instructions as well as the video links were easy to follow.  Look forward to hearing your comments.

HAPPY STAMPING!
PENNY TOKENS 

Floral Wings Take Flight

This week's delightful colour challenge WWC26 is brought to you by Jean Fitch a long time member of the Watercooler artists group..  

Jean's selection of Marina Mist, Daffodil Delight and Crumb Cake evokes fond memories of the lazy hazy summer days of my youth.  When school was out we'd head for the hills and play for endless hours among the buttercups, bachelor's buttons, and waving grasses.  And of course there were butterflies flitting on the breeze.  Ahhhh, summer. Those great memories and great colours gave me special motivation to ink up my new Floral Wings stamp set.

Here's My Card:

Supplies:
Stamps:  Floral Wings and Butterfly Basics
Ink:  Marina Mist, Daffodil Delight and Crumb Cake
Cardstock, Whisper White, Daffodil Delight, Marina Mist and Crumb Cake 
Accessories:  Butterfly Framelits, Basic Pearls, Spring Flowers Embossing Folder, Elegant and Bitty Butterfly punches, trimmer, big  shot.  

 
When I began making this card, I envisioned what my finished card would look like, however, things just didn't go as planned.  As I progressed, my earlier image changed and began morphing into something else, and by the time I finished, my card looked nothing like it's beginnings.  Have you ever had this happen to you?

I didn't have any particular sketch in mind when I started on this card. I originally planned to start with a whisper white card base, then add layers of Marina Mist and Daffodil Delight followed by a stamped image of the large butterfly on a Whisper White layer. I was thinking of adding some small butterflies of other accent with the Crumb Cake card stock.

In the end, I wasn't happy with my stamping and decided to use the Butterfly Framelit die to cut out two of the butterfly images I'd stamped on Whisper White.  This was a good decision as they turned out so soft and lacy looking and added a whole different dimension to this card. These butterflies look like they were cut from a beautiful designer series paper.

By punching out smaller butterflies with the Elegant and Bitty butterfly punches and layering them in the center of the card I totally changed the layout.  I'm happy with all the changes and how the card turned out in the end. 

If you look closely at the card base you'll hopefully see the honey comb images stamped as a watermark in Crumb Cake ink around the edges of the card base. I also cut down the size of the original mats and embossed them with the Spring Flowers Embossing Folder (retired).

I also stamped the honeycomb image and the Happy Birthday sentiment from the Butterfly Basics stamp set on the inside card piece.  Here you can see what the original butterfly stamping looked like before I cut out the butterflies with the Butterfly Framelit.  Aren't those yellow flowers pretty?

I really enjoyed stamping with the Floral Wings stamp set.  TIP: Start off by stamping the flowers first, then layer in the leaves and finally center the butterfly over the images. You'll get a nicer result.  When you mount the stamps on your clear block make sure the tabs are all facing or lined up the same, and you will have perfect results every time.  

Here's another card I made with this stamp set and two of the challenge colours, Marina Mist and Daffodil Delight.  This 10 piece photopolymer stamp set gives a two-step stamped image that is very versatile.  I'm sure there are endless possibilities. 

For these cards I used the Marina Mist and Daffodil Delight combo to create a warm and inviting scene.  The Whisper White background is embossed with one of my favourite embossing folders this year called Lovely Lace.  

I stamped the vase in Marina Mist on both the Whisper White card stock for the actual vase image as well as on Marina Mist for the butterfly background. By using a combination of the multiple flowers and a single flower I was able to create the abundant bouquet image. 

Do you recognize the little bow on the vase?  It comes from the Mini Treat Bag Thinlits set.  Isn't it cute?  TIP:  I have a small Xyron for making stickers, so once I cut out the bow with the thinlit die, I ran it through the Xyron. It was perfectly glued with no excess oozing out on the sidelines.  
 

The Mini Treat Bag Thinlits are currently on sale in the Weekly Deals.  Purchase before June 29th and you'll save 15% off on this great framelit die.  Click here to see the Weekly Deals. 

For my third and final card using Floral Wings, I worked with last week's  Colour Me Subtle Colour Challenge although I missed the cut off to the link by just a few minutes.  Here's my card:

I loved this colour mix too.  So soft and beautiful and absolutely perfect for the card I planned.  

The card base is Whisper White with a layer of Elegant Eggplant that's been embossed with the Lovely Lace Embossing Folder, and then stamped with the splatter from Gorgeous Grunge in Elegant Eggplant ink.  

This was followed by a layer of Whisper White that was first cut with the Apothecary Framelits die and then  stamped with three of the splatter stamps from Gorgeous Grunge that had been inked up with Old Olive, Coastal Cabana and Eggplant inks.  To distress this layer further I ran it through the Big Shot with the Lovely Lace Embossing folder, and then used a sponge dauber and Elegant Eggplant ink to highlight the embossing.  

The beautiful butterfly was first stamped in the challenge colours and then using the Butterfly thinlit I cut out the butterfly image in Elegant Eggplant cardstock and glued it over top of the stamped butterfly.  I love that veined look...........so beautiful.  To finish off the butterfly I used a combination of medium and small basic rhinestones, and then attached it to the card with dimensionals.  

For the sentiment I used the Happy Birthday from the Butterfly Basics stamp set stamped in Elegant Eggplant on Whisper White.  This piece was layered with a 2 3/4" x 1 1/8" strip of Coastal Cabanna cardstock.  For the final touch I fussy cut one of the flowers and added it with a dimensional.

Well that's it for this week's post folks.  I hope you enjoyed it.  I think you're going to be seeing a lot more of this Floral wings set, especially since Stampin' Up introduced a new set of butterfly framelits that works perfectly with this set.  It's called Bold Butterfly Framelits.  It's on my wish list.  

Happy Stamping!
Penny Tokens

The Wacky Watercooler Blog Hop Welcomes the New Annual Catalog(ue)

Hi everyone and welcome to my contribution to the June Wacky Watercooler Blog Hop. 

This month we're celebrating the launch of the new 2015-2016 Share the Fun Annual Catalogue, and projects related to Father's Day, Graduation and "something new".  

There are lot's of participants in this blog hop so I hope you'll play along and visit everyone's site between now and Saturday night (June 20th).  There are some awesome projects that I know you're going to love!

If you've been following the blog hop from the beginning you will have arrived here from the wonderful and talented Jackie Susnick's blog.  

Father's Day Project:

For my first project, I've made a Father's Day Card using the Guy Greetings stamp set featured on page 98 of the catalogue. Before I share my card, I just want to express how grateful I am that this stamp set was carried forward from the Spring Occasions catalogue.  It is probably one of the best male themed stamp sets I've used in a long time. 

Guy Greetings Stamp Set #137178 is a 22 piece stamp set that comes in Clear or Wood Mount and Photopolymer, and is available in English and French versions.  

Here's My Card:

Love that Tip Top Taupe Striped paper from the Cherry on Top DSP Paper Pack. 

Supplies:
Cardstock:  Whisper White, Chocolate Chip, Watermelon Wonder and Tip Top Taupe
Ink:  Tip Top Taupe,  Watermelon Wonder
DSP: Cherry on Top  Designer Series Paper Stack #138443
Accessories:  Extra Large and Large Oval Punches, 1" and 1 1/4" square punches, scissors, trimmer, adhesive and dimensionals.  

Graduation Card 
Since my niece is graduating this month, I wanted to make her a special graduation card.  While scouting around on the internet for graduation card ideas I found one by Glenda Caulkins of The Stamp Camp blog, that really caught my interest.  As the school colours were exactly what I was looking for, I decided to CASE her original card, with is called a "Peek A Boo Front Flip card".  You can see Glenda's card here, and here's my original CASE with a couple of changes.

This is a flip top fancy fold card.  Just the center part opens up.  I'll be posting more details and a brief tutorial on how this card and the shaker card below are assembled in my Sunday post, so make sure you come back and check it out.

When you open the flip top you have room to right your message below the sentiment.

When I was asked to make something with a graduation theme for this blog hop, I wanted something a little more exciting so I used the same card colours and stamp set, but designed a "shaker" card.

Both cards were made with the Celebrate Today stamp set, another carry over and favourite of mine. 

Here's my graduation shaker card:

 

I added some gold and royal blue seed beads along with the Metallic Sequins to the inside of the balloon shaker.  What fun!  The sentiment is embossed with Gold Embossing Powder.

Supplies:
Stamp set:  Celebrate Today

Cardstock:  Very Vanilla, Night of Navy and Gold Foil 
Ink:  Versa Mark 
Accessories:  Balloon Framelits, Metallics Sequin Assortment, Gold Seed Beads (non-SU), Fun Foam, Adhesive, Gold Stampin' Emboss Powder, trimmer, Big Shot
 

This is the bundle which includes 17 Photopolyer two-step stamp images and 4 framelit dies.  By purchasing these products as a bundle, you save 15% off the original price.

 

Something New 
For my "Something New" project, I wanted to share a combo gift card holder and birthday card made with this year's Ronald McDonald House (RMH) Charities stamp set "Sprinkles of Life".  Did you know that for every Sprinkles of Life stamp set sold, Stampin' Up! contributes $3.00 towards the RMH Charities?  I think that's so awesome!

Sprinkles of Life is a 22 piece Photopolymer stamp set that you're absolutely going to fall in love with.  It has a matching punch called the Tree Builder which helps you cut out all those ice cream or cup cake tops in the blink of an eye!

Here's My Card:

The gift card holder on the inside of the mini gift bag. 

Here you can see the gift card holder with an actual gift card inserted in it. 

Supplies:
Cardstock:  Daffodil Delight, Cucumber Crush, Watermelon Wonder, Mint Macaron, Tip Top Taupe and Whisper White 
Ink:  Watermelon Wonder, Cucumber Crush, Tip Top Taupe, 
DSP: Cherry on Top  Designer Series Paper Stack #138443
Accessories:  Tree Builder and Banner Triple Punches, Mini Treat Bag Thinlits, Dazzling Details, sequins, trimmer, adhesive and dimensionals.

The Banner Triple Punch gives you triple the banner options in one punch. You can make banners in three widths--1", 1-1/2", and 2"--in any length. Just slide the paper in, punch, and get perfectly notched banners (or gift tags, bookmarks, belly bands) every time. * Punch size: 3-3/8" x 5-3/4" x 1-1/4"

Well that's the end of my projects for this month. Enjoy the remainder of the blog hop... and thanks for stopping by!  

Since this is a circular blog hop you have some choices about how to proceed.  You can click on the "next" button below to move on to the awesome Kath Rick's blog or move back to Jackie Susnick's.  You can also click on the Home link and go back to the beginning of the hop where all the participant's blog links are listed.  Come back and visit again soon!

Click here to go to Kath Rick's incredible blog

Click here to go back to Jackie Susnik's blog

If you want to start at the beginning of the blog hop you can click on this link to go back to the Wacky Watercooler Blog Hop site for the list of participants.