Creative Circle Design Team - September 2017 Blog Hop "Upright Piano"

Hello Stampers! September has arrived and I'd like to thank you for joining us for another of our monthly blog hops with the Creative Circle Design Team. 

Our hops are held on the first Thursday of each month. We are a small group of like minded, international Stampin’ Up! Demonstrators led by Liz Holloway.  Liz provides us inspiration and different challenge themes each month.  I'm sure you'll agree, although this hop is small, its a wonderful source of inspiration! 

If you're musically inclined or know someone who is, I know you're going to simply love this month's theme which features a 3-D "Up Right Piano" and card holder designed by Liz. Each of the Creative Circle Design Team members has been challenged to put our own spin on her wonderfully crafted "upright piano" template.  

Here's My Piano:
Whether it's a Steinway, a Schumann or Wurlitzer, pianos come in many shapes, sizes and designs. My piano is based on one I saw many years ago in an old bar in Virginia City. This upright piano was a rare thing of beauty.  The front, back and sides had an inlaid glass design that reflected all the light in the room. Hopefully I've captured the essence of that piano in my design.  

Supplies:
Stamp Sets: Merry Little Labels #144795, Floral Phrases #141767
Card Stock: Basic Black, Whisper White
Specialty Papers:  Champagne Foil Sheets #144642, Merry Music DSP #144623
Inks: Momento Tuxedo Black
Accessories: Piano Template SVG (Liz Holloway Design), Gold Thread, Basic Rhinestones, Sponge Dauber, Big Shot, Paper Trimmer, Music Embossing Folder, Detailed Floral Thinlet #141482, Everyday Label Punch #144668


The Piano:

The piano itself,  came together rather quickly using Liz's great SVG design.  This is what it looked like before I began the process of piecing it together.

All the pieces are numbered and she provided a great video tutorial which made assembly a breeze.   It was up to me to design the outer shell and the 4 cards that nestle into the top opening.  

The floral design on the front, sides and back of my piano were created by running the cut panels through the Big Shot with the Detailed Floral Thinlets.  Each panel is backed with the new Champagne Foil sheets that are in the Holiday Catalogue.  

 

Detailed Floral Thinlet Dies

I also embossed the fabulous Champagne Foil Sheets with a non Stampin' Up Musical Notes Embossing Folder and added them to the outer and inner keyboard cover.  

The keyboard cover is held in place with small magnets and opens and closes very easily.  The beautiful key board was printed out on Whisper White card stock.  Note:  My printer wouldn't print out the file on Whisper White card stock, so I took my two sheets of card stock and the file to my local Staples and I had them print out copies for me.  The total charge for the printing and for the counter girl's expertise in duplicating the file for me was only 21 cents.  Best deal I've had in a long time! 

The Cards: 
When I first began this project I was planning to make Musical Flash cards to put in the slot on top of the piano, and Liz had very nicely cut out some musical notes for me to use. However, when I got my first glimpse of the new Holiday Catalogue I change my mind and decided to make "Just for You" cards.

 

Supplies:
Stamp Sets:  Merry Little Labels #144795, Floral Phrases #141767
Ink:  Momento Tuxedo Black 
Card Stock:  Whisper White, Basic Black
Designer Paper:  Merry Music DSP #144623, Champagne Foil Sheets.
Keyboard on Whisper White, Musical Notes on Basic Black card Stock 
Accessories:  Paper Trimmer, Sponge Dauber, Everyday Label Punch #144668, Gold Thread, Basic Rhinestones and Dimensionals.  

Details:
1.  Cut 4 1/4" x 11" piece of Whisper White and score at 5 1/2" for card base.
2.  Cut a 4" x 5 1/4" piece of Basic Black for the first layer.  Cut a 1/4" by 5 1/4" strip of Champagne Foil and adhere it to the left hand side of the Basic Black layer with only an 1/8th of an inch showing.  Adhere this layer to card base.
3.  Cut a 3 3/4" x 5 1/8" piece of Merry Music DSP and sponge around the edges with black ink.  Adhere leaving only an 1/8" strip around the top, bottom and right side of the Basic Black layer.
4.  Cut key board to measure 5 1/8" by 1 1/8" and sponge the edges with black ink then adhere to the left of the Merry Music DSP.
5.  Stamp the sentiment "Just For You" on scrap of Whisper White card stock and distress with a sponge dauber and black ink around the edges.  Punch out with the Everyday Label Punch.  Using this punch cut out a Basic Black label, cut it in half and attach it to the top and bottom of the Whisper White label.  Attach two Basic Rhinestones to the center top and bottom of the label.  Attach some gold thread to the back of the label so it shows on the left hand side before attaching to the card front with Dimensionals. 
6.  I had some large musical notes cut out in Basic Black card stock that I adhered to the fronts of the cards.  Each card was different. 
7.  The inside of the card has a 4" x 5 1/4" Basic Black Layer and a 3 3/4" x  5" layer of Whisper White card stock.  I used the filigree stamp from Floral Phrases to stamp on the right edge.  

Here are the four cards:

I simply love the Merry Music Designer Series Paper.  It's so lightweight and I love that there are four each of six double sided designs.  The songs are all traditional Christmas songs and come in either English, French or German.  There is also a beautiful Musical Season Bundle that includes a stamp set and a Musical Instruments Framelit Die set.  One of the dies is a smaller but equally beautiful musical cleff.  

Well that's it for this post.  I hope you enjoyed this Upright Piano Project.  Make sure you go over to Liz Holloway's blog as she'll have more details on making this project.   Below you'll also find links to all the other Creative Circle Design Team Members, so make sure you check out their renditions of this piano too.  

Thanks for spending some time on my blog today.  I really appreciate your visiting and I do treasure your comments and feedback, as it totally makes my day.  To leave me a comment just scroll down to the comment section.

Happy Stamping! 
Penny Tokens Stampin' Spot