Watercooler Wednesday Challenge #138 - Marsha's "All About Christmas"

Welcome to this week's "All About Christmas Challenge" hosted by Marsha of the Watercooler Wednesday Challenge blog.  In my book, it's never too early to think about making Christmas cards.  So this week's challenge is right up my alley.  

Marsha Reed our very talented Assistant Coordinator is starting us off with a stunning gate fold winter scene. Just seeing Marsha's beautiful snowy winter scene put me in the Christmas spirit.  I know you're going to love Marsha's card too and be very inspired by the rest of the WWC Design Team who've also contributed inspiring designs.  Believe me when I say everyone's pulled out all the stops to bring you some great Christmas card inspiration!  

Before we get to my entry for this week, I just want to remind you that the Watercooler Wednesday Card Challenge DT welcomes new participants to join in our challenges. Don't be shy!

It's super easy to link up your entry and play along.  Just make sure to enter no more than eight challenges including this Watercooler Challenge, and link up your photo before 5:00pm MST on Monday October 2nd and you're good to go.  See, super easy! Who knows, your entry might "Rock the Watercooler" or join our "Rockers" who have received honourable mentions. No matter, we love having new participants join in our challenges. So, why don't you play along?

Here's My Card:
I seem to be hooked on Navy Blue, Silver and White for this holiday season.

Supplies:
Stamp Sets: Musical Season #144811
Card Stock:  Whisper White, Night of Navy, Silver Glimmer Paper
Ink: Night of Navy
Accessories: Big Shot, Paper Trimmer, Card Front Builder Thinlet Dies #144674, Circles Thinlets, Winter Wonder Embossing Folder #144686, Dimensionals, Tom Bow Glue, Basic Rhinestones.

Card Front Builder Thinlet Dies # 144674 coordinates with the Carols of Christmas stamp set.

Musical Season Stamp Set #144, 811, coordinates with the
Musical Instruments Framelits Dies

Winter Wonder Embossing Folder #144686

Details:
1.  The 8 1/2" x 5 1/2" card base is cut from Whisper White card stock and was scored at 4 1/4".

2.  The 1st layer is Silver Glimmer Paper and measures 5 3/8" x 4 1/8".  Note: to reduce the bulk and not waste my glimmer paper, I cut away the center with a rectangular die cut.  I made sure I left a half an inch on all sides, so that the die cut in the next layer covers the glimmer paper. 

3.  The 2nd layer is Night of Navy card stock that measures 5 1/4" x 4".  I lined up the Card Front Builder Thinlet die on each side to add the cut work design.  

 4.  For the next layer I used my old circle die cuts to make a  3 1/2" circle from Silver Glimmer Paper for the base of the snowflake. 

5.  I embossed a 4" x 4" scrap of Whisper White card stock with the Winter Wonder Embossing Folder and then fussy cut around the embossed image with my detail scissors. I sponged over the embossed image and around the edges with Night of Navy ink.  Basic Rhinestones were attached to the circles between each of the snowflake points. The snowflake was glued flat to the Silver Glimmer paper circle with Tom Bow glue.  This piece was mounted to the center of the card front with Dimensionals. 

6.  I stamped the Peace.Joy.Love sentiment from Musical Season on a 3 3/8" by 3/4" piece of Whisper White and then mounted it on a piece of Night of Navy that measured 3 1/2" x 1".  The sentiment was adhered with Dimensionals to the center of the snowflake.  

7.  For the inside of the card I kept it simple by stamping on the card base instead of adding a layer.  The beautiful sentiment and mandolin from the Musical Seasons stamp set was enough to enhance this panel.  I simple stamped them in Night of Navy Ink.  

I hope you liked my snowflake Christmas card.  It certainly was an easy one to do and is very pretty to look at with all the sparkle.  How do you like the inside of the card? Does it's simplicity offset the outside, which was my intention?  I hope you'll leave me a comment as I really enjoy receiving your feedback and your ideas. 

If you came to my site first and haven't had a chance to check out the rest of the WWC138 Christmas Anything Goes DT cards just click here to return to the home page.  See you next time....

Happy Stamping!
Penny Tokens Stampin' Spot

BOGO Stampin' Up! DSP Event - Back by Popular Demand

I think we can all agree that whether we're card making or scrapbooking we just love gorgeous Designer Series Paper.  So, by popular demand, Stampin' Up! has just announced they're bringing back an incredible offer on Designer Series Paper just for the month of October. 

That's right, beginning October 1st and running through to the 31st, all you have to do is purchase three packages of select Designer Series Paper and get you'll get one of your choice for FREE! 

This amazing sale includes:

• Designer Series Paper from both the annual and holiday catalogs. 
• Select Specialty and Designer Series Paper Stacks and 
• DSP that coordinates with stamps available for 15% off October 1-10th during Stampin' Ups! World Card Making Day Sale on sale!
  

Note: 

• Designer Series Paper purchased as part of a Starter Kit does not qualify for this sale.  
• Designer Series Paper ordered with Stampin’ Rewards does not qualify for this sale.

Click here to see PDF Sale information

World Card Making Day - October 1st - Stampin' Up!

Did you know that every year in October there's one absolutely special day set aside for the joy of making hand made cards?   It's true and it's called World Card Making Day.  This year World Card Making Day is on the 7th of October, so make sure you save the date!  Here are some samples to help you along.

World Card Making Day is dedicated to doing what you love most—making handmade cards! It celebrates the creativity and personal connection handmade cards create between loved ones, it's a paper crafting, stamping thing and it's sure to be fun!.   Why not set aside some time to stamp with your friends, or cozy down and create your own special stamping day with your kids or family. 

Stampin' Up! didn’t come up with World Card Making Day, but they're thrilled to participate in this world wide event.  To celebrate in style, Stampin' Up! ix extending their World Card Making celebrations and offering a special ten day sale event running from October 1–10th. 

Like every sale event Stampin' Up holds, there are some special savings for you.  For this special sale event, they're offering a 15% discount on Notecards & Envelopes and select stamp sets.  Also, if you purchase Fast Fuse Adhesive during this time period, you’ll get two refills for FREE!

World Card Making Day Flyer.  You can check out all the sale items by clicking here. This special sale starts October 1st.  

Happy Stamping!
Penny Tokens Stampin' Spot

Watercooler Wednesday Challenge #137 - Penny's Masculine "Anything Goes"

Today is the second of two rainy days in BC.  Good for the fires but depressing for the soul unless you have something to do.............like spending time in your craft room.  Nothing could be better!

It's time for this week's Watercooler Wednesday Challenge and I get to be the hostess!  What fun!  

Before I get on with the challenge details I'd like to welcome our newest temporary guest artist Charlotte Ehrukainen from Finland. Charlotte's contributed many, many times as a participant in our challenges as "Lady Joyful", and has often Rocked the Watercooler with her terrific designs. So, welcome Charlotte it's going to be great having you on board!

This week is one of those love it or hate it challenges because it's about crafting a Masculine card. Don't groan..... I get it.  With the over abundance of floral and cutesie stamps that are geared to our feminine side, it's sometimes hard to come up with a design for the guys in our life.  Well don't despair, our WCW Design Team artists have come up with some  delightful samples that I'm sure will inspire you.

Here's My Card:

 

Here's what the inside looks like.  When you open the card the secret hinge allows this display to pop out.  There's plenty of room on the red bottom panel for writing a birthday message.

This is a Twist and Pop birthday card I made for a friend's cousin who was celebrating his 70th birthday. To create a card that was perfect for him, I needed to get into detective mode to find out whatever details I could about his life so the card would be a very personal experience for him.

On questioning, my friend said her cousin was a well traveled man who loved cars.  He's taken to the open road in his little red and white Corvette and on his Harley driving through California and Arizona on many trips.  He's also traveled Route 66 and been a big NASCAR fan.  So, road trips in the southern states have played a big part in his life.  

From this information, I tried to create a card that mirrored her cousin's life experiences and would signify not only what a great journey he's had but those he will continue to have.

Supplies:
Stamp Sets: Stylized Birthday, Guy Greetings, One Wild Ride, Badges and Banners, Happy Birthday Gorgeous, Gorgeous Grunge and Route 66 (Carta Bella non SU)
Card Stock: Basic Black, Real Red, Crumb Cake and River Rock (R) and Route 66 DSP Carta Bella
Ink: Momento Tuxedo Black, Real Red, Crumb Cake and River Rock
Accessories: Big Shot, Paper Trimmer, Detail Scissors, Stamp-a-ma-jig, Post-It Notes for masks, Dimensionals, Mini Glue Dots, Tom Bow Glue, Sticky Strip, Envelope Maker, Misti.

The Envelope:  
This card making adventure begins with the Real Red envelope which I made with my Envelope Maker. It's a handy tool to have when making a Twist and Pop card because they can be bulkier than an A2 card and need some room.

The lighting in this photo doesn't make it look like Real Red but trust me it is.  I've stamped the Badge from Badges and Banners  in Momento Black ink on Crumb Cake.  It was cut out with the Best Badge Punch.  The Banner with Dan's name in it was punched out with the Duet Banner Punch, and the little houses are from the retired Sleigh Ride Edgelits.  The strip of DSP is from the Carta Bella Route 66 DSP.

This envelope started with a 9" x 9" piece of textured card stock.  This card stock isn't as dense as regular card stock, so it's easier to work with when making envelopes.  The only pitfall to using it is it's rough and uneven texture which makes it difficult to stamp on. To remedy this  I used my Misti to stamp the Stylized Happy Birthday sentiment multiple times to get a good image without fear of blurring it. 

Details:
I'm not providing instructions on how to make a Twist and Pop card in this post, but you can check out this link to one of my previous posts that provides a detailed tutorial. 

The Belly Band:
This Belly Band is unique because it's made from an Acetate Window Sheet rather than card stock.  The Acetate measured 3 1/2" x 10".  By mounting the die cut on the Acetate, it still allowed the map on the top of the card to show through. 

I mounted the Happy Birthday die cut sentiment which was cut from Real Red and Basic Black card stock to the center front of the Belly Band.  The two die cuts were glued together with Tom Bow glue.  They were offset slightly to get an illusion of a shadow and depth to the letters.  Mini glue dots secured the lettering to the Acetate Sheet.

To finish the Belly Band, I carried on the desert theme from the front of the card on Crumb Cake card stock and stamped the bike from One Wild Ride.  

I stamped a second image of the bike on a Post It Note and masked the original image before stamping the cactus and the "pit stop" images.  These stamps were from the Route 66 stamp set. The edges of this layer were sponged with Basic Black ink and I used the large splatter stamp from the Gorgeous Grunge stamp set to add dots of Real Red, River Rock and Basic Black ink randomly across the images. 

 The Card Front:

I found some great DSP with a matching stamp set called Route 66 that was perfect for my card.  The top section of the card was a 3 7/8 x 5 1/8" piece of the DSP that features a map of California. 

I stamped the Corvette on a piece of River Rock card stock, and fussy cut out the car.  The desert scene from the Route 66 stamp set was stamped in Momento Tuxedo Black ink.  The sentiment "To a Classic" from the Guy Greetings stamp set was perfect for the Banner which was cut out with the Bunch of Banner Thinlet dies.  The edges were sponged with black ink.  

The Inside Panels: 

The top panel dsp has a map of Arizona and the motorcycle is from the One Wild Ride stamp set.  I've also used the Route 66 stamp set again to recreate the desert image.

The first two panels in the center of the pop up feature the Best Badge and Banners and Badges stamp set and the new Every Day Label Punch. the Happy Birthday and confetti are from the Happy Birthday Gorgeous stamp set.

The third panel has an old Chevy from the Route 66 stamp set and the sentiment "Hope Today is One Wild Ride!" is from One Wild Ride. The Real Red numbers were cut out with the Large Numbers Framelit dies.

Well that's the end of this journey, and I hope you enjoyed it.  It's such a challenge making a card that tells a story and I think I've succeeded in capturing some of Dan's journey.  My friend said he really liked the card, so that's all that counts.  If you liked it too I hope you'll leave me a comment. 

Don't forget to check out the rest of the WWC Design Team if you haven't already done so.  Just click on the Designer's name above their cards to check out their individual blog posts. 

Also, if you want to participate in this challenge, and I sure hope you do, it's easy to play along.  All you need to do is make a Masculine card and link your blog post to the Linsky before 5pm Mountain time on Monday September 25th.  Please don't enter your card in more than 7 other challenges or you won't be eligible to win our "Rocked the Watercooler" or "Honourable Mentions" badges, and that would be sad.  Until next time....

Happy Stamping!
Penny Tokens Stampin' Spot

SUO Demo/Designers Showcase Blog Hop - 2017 Holiday Catalogue

Hi everyone!   Welcome to the SUO Demos and Designers Showcase Blog Hop. We're going to be focusing on new products from the 2017 Holiday Catalogue, and sharing samples of our favourites.  

The new catty has been out for almost two weeks now and there are so many exciting products and ideas we want to share with you. 

I hope you'll check out all the participants blogs for ideas on how to use these products and great tips!

Here's My Favourite:  Musical Season Bundle

I was hoping this season's holiday catalogue would include some designer series paper with musical images or a stamp set.  Well, you simply can't imagine how excited I was when I found not only was there designer paper but a stamp set with coordinating dies too!  I'm sure you could hear me all the way down the block, I was so elated with the Musical Season Bundle and the Merry Music Specialty Designer Series Paper. 

The Musical Season Bundle includes the 7 piece rubber stamp set called Musical Season and a 6 piece coordinating die set called Musical Instruments. 

This is the Merry Music Specialty Designer Series Paper which includes 24 sheets of lightweight paper printed with traditional Christmas carols in English, French and German. This Basic Black and White paper pack has four each of six  double sided sheets.

I can't say enough about these fun products. I first used the Merry Music DSP for my cards in the Creative Circle 3-D Piano Project last week and I was very happy with the way they turned out.  This paper is amazing.

I hope you'll enjoy the card I made for tonight's hop and come back to see more over the coming weeks. 

Supplies:
Stamp Set:  Musical Season Clear Mount
Card Stock:  Basic Black, Whisper White, Silver Foil, Silver Glimmer Paper
Ink:  Momento Tuxedo Black
Accessories:  Big Shot Machine, Paper Trimmer, Black Rhinestones, Seasonal Layers Thinlet Dies, Stitched Shapes Thinlet Dies, Dimensionals, Zip Glue

The snowflakes were cut out with Seasonal Layers Thinlet dies.  I've added one of those gorgeous Black Rhinestones to the center and there are some more rhinestones in the top and bottom corner of the card.  Love them!  

The Silver Glimmer Paper is to die for and paired with the DSP it's pure magic.  There are lots of layers on this card and for the most part I only left a 1/8" difference in the measurements.  It seems to give a more glamorous look than the wider margins do.  I really enjoyed blending the Silver Foil and Glimmer with this DSP.  

Well I hope you enjoyed seeing my favourites from the Holiday Catalogue.  This is such a great hop.  Hope you'll continue going down the list and seeing all of today's projects. 




Happy Stamping!
Penny Tokens Stampin' Spot

Watercooler Wednesday Challenge #136 - Gail's "All About Birthdays"

I don't know about your household but in mine, September and October are almost continual birthdays for friends and family. Because I need so many cards for these special occasions, I was happy to have the opportunity to play along with Gail Allen's Watercooler Wednesday "All About Birthdays" challenge.

Why don't you play along this week too? This challenge will be open until 5:00pm on Monday September 18th. It's easy to link up your card to our Linkski and who knows, your creation might "Rock the Watercooler"! Just click here to go to the Watercooler Wednesday home page and check out the rules of play.

One of the stamp sets I fell in love with from the new Holiday catalogue is called Half Full and features a wonderful array of stamps and sentiments that are wine based. I just knew this set would be perfect for some upcoming birthdays. So, without further adieu I'd like to share my Half Full Birthday card for this week's challenge.
Here's My Card: 

Supplies:Stamp Sets:  Half Full #144999 and Stylized Birthday #141828
Ink and Markers: Momento Tuxedo Black, Fresh Fig,
Card Stock: Crumb Cake, Basic Black and Fresh Fig
Accessories: Stamp-a-ma-jig, Paper Trimmer, Scissors, Dimensionals, Glossy Accents, Basic Rhinestone, Ribbon (non-SU), Paper Snips for Fussy Cutting.

Details:
1.  Cut a piece of 8 1/2" x 5 1/2" Fresh Fig card stock for base and score at 4 1/4".   These are a A2 card dimensions.

2.  Cut a 4" x 5 1/4" piece of Basic Black card stock for the first layer and adhere to base.

3.  Cut a  3 7/8" x 5 1/8" piece of Crumb Cake for top layer.  Using the Stamp-a-ma-jig and Fresh Fig ink, stamp four rows of the multi wine glass image across the widest part of this panel.  Sponge the edges with Fresh Fig ink and adhere to the Basic Black layer.

4.  Stamp the sentiment "Wine improves with age....." on a scrap of Crumb Cake card stock in Fresh Fig.  Fussy cut the image and using a sponge dauber and Fresh Fig ink sponge around the edges.  Using the 4th label die from the Lots of Labels Framelits cut out a Basic Black label.  Center and adhere the Wine Label to the Basic Black label and then cut it down so only the top and 1/16" show around the sides and bottom.  Adhere to card front on an angle on the left side.  Make a small bow and attach with a glue dot and a Basic Rhinestone. 

5.  Stamp the wine bottle image on Fresh Fig Card Stock and on Crumb Cake card stock.  Fussy cut the Fresh Fig bottle.  Fussy cut the wine label and the bottle top from the Crumb Cake bottle and piece on the Fresh Fig bottle.  To give the appearance of a glass bottle, use clear glue or Glossy Accents on the Fresh Fig portions of the bottle and let dry.  Attach with Dimensionals beside the tag.

6.  Stamp the wine glass on Crumb Cake and fussy cut it. Use a Fresh Fig marker to colour in the wine in the glass.  Cover the glass with Glossy Accents and let dry, then go over the wine with a Fresh Fig Marker to make it stand out.  Attach the glass with Dimensionals beside the wine bottle.  

7. To finish the inside of the card begin by cutting a Basic Black panel 5 1/4" x 4" and adhere to card base.

8. Cut a 5 1/8" x 3 7/8" piece of Crumb Cake for the inside panel.  Sponge the edges with Fresh Fig ink and stamp "Happy Birthday" using the Stylized Birthday stamp in the center.  Stamp a wine glass in the bottom right hand corner.  

This card came together pretty quickly and I love the glossy accents on the wine bottle and the glass, it just brought them to life.  I know my friend will love receiving this birthday card. 

I hope you like it as well and would love to hear your comments.  If you started at my blog forget to check out the other Watercooler Wednesday Design Team Birthday Projects.  So much inspiration! 

 

Happy Stamping!
PennyTokens Stampin' Spot