WWC #167 - Gail's All About Christmas Challenge

Hello friends.  Gail is hosting our Watercooler Wednesday challenge this week and it's "all about Christmas".  What better opportunity for you to get a head start on your annual Christmas cards. 

If you need some ideas just  head on over to the Watercooler Wednesday Challenge blog and check out all the fabulous inspiration from the DT and then play along with us!  You can find all the info you need right HERE.   We hope you'll join in this challenge which is open until 5:00pm Mountain Time on Monday April 30th, 2018.  

Here's My Card: 
Creating Christmas cards at this time of year is such fun.  There's no pressure and it allows me an opportunity to explore different techniques and use stamp sets that might have seen little ink.  

For this week's card, I've gone back in time to use a Stampin' Up set called Wonderland.   It was one of my all time favourites and I took inspiration for this particular design from Alexandra Agelean and her Youtube video.  

Back in the day, I bought this set solely for the "Silent Night" sentiment and for the trees...........I absolutely loved that tree cluster and had all kinds of plans for it.  For this card, I've paired it with a newly retired stamp set called Musical Season. I loved the sentiment in this set too but it barely saw ink.  At the end of the day I have to scratch my head, as I've probably only used these "top of my must have stamp sets" two or three times.  Does this happen to you too? 

Supplies:
Stamp Sets:  Musical Season and Wonderland
Ink:  Emerald Envy, Whisper White, Smokey Slate, Soft Suede Marker 
Card Stock:  Emerald Envy, Whisper White and Dazzling Diamonds Glimmer Paper
Accessories:  Big Shot, Paper Trimmer, Tim Holts' Alterations Snowflakes (661599), Iced Rhinestone (R), Whisper White A2 Envelope, Tom Bow Glue, Dimensional. 

Details:
1.  The Emerald Envy card based measures 8 1/2" x 5 1/2" and is scored at 4 1/4".

2.  The Dazzling Diamonds layer measures 4 1/8" x 5 3/8".  Note:  I removed the center of this layer with a 3 3/4" x 5" rectangular die, after all you simply can't waste Glimmer Paper.

3.  The Emerald Envy layer measures 4 x 5 1/4". Note: The surface of Glimmer Paper and cardstock simply don't mix so I used  Tom Bow ink in the center part of this layer and Glue dots around the edges to secure it to the Dazzling Diamonds layer.  Worked like a charm.  

4.  I stamped the tree image on a piece of Whisper White that measured 3 3/4" x 5".  I began by stamping the image in Smokey Slate image on the right and left side leaving a gap in the center.  I cleaned my stamp, re-inked with Emerald Envy and stamped the image in the Center and partially on the right and left sides.  Then, I cleaned the image again and inked it up with Whisper White.  I stamped the Whisper White over the Emerald Envy tree images and while the ink was still wet I sprinkled on  Dazzling Diamonds Glitter and used a heat gun to set it.  Note:  I probably should have taken the lead from Alexandra and applied the glitter with a two-way glue pen, as it would have stuck to the card stock better.  Oh well, that's what experimenting is all about and this is a good  "Learn From Your Mistakes" lesson for next time.  

Although this picture doesn't capture the beauty of the Glimmer Paper and the Dazzling Diamonds, trust me it is beautiful and so shimmery.

5.  I stamped the snowflakes from the Wonderland set in Smokey Slate and the Silent Night sentiment in Emerald Envy.  

6.  I didn't have any Stampin' Up! snowflake dies so I used an old Tim Holtz set to die cut a medium sized one from Dazzling Diamonds.  I placed it in the bottom left corner of this panel and added a large Iced Rhinestone to the center with Glue Dots.  

7. For the inside panel I used a 5 1/4" x 4" piece of Whisper White card stock.  I stamped off in Smokey Slate ink and stamped the tree image in the center of the card.  I stamped the sentiment from Musical Season "May the spirit of Christmas be the melody that plays in your heart all year long" over top of the trees in Emerald Envy.  

This is one of my favourite Christmas sentiments because it's so meaningful.  For me Christmas is about the heartfelt stuff not presents or commercial things.  It's the peaceful feeling after a walk in the snow or a visit with good friends and it's something that applies all year long.   

8.  I also stamped the tree tops in Emerald Envy on the front left corner of the Whisper White A2 envelope and the small pinecone branch on the flap.  I coloured the pinecone and branch with a Soft Suede Marker.  

I didn't take a picture of the front of the envelope as you know what the trees look like, but this tiny little branch from the Wonderland set is so beautiful I just had to share it.  It made the back of the envelope looks as inviting as the front. 

And that's it for today's post.  I hope you enjoyed my trip down memory lane with these two Christmas themed stamp sets.  I hope you'll leave me a comment and let me know what if you have a favourite Christmas sentiment you like to use.  Until next time.............

Happy Stamping!
Penny Tokens Stampin' Spot 

WWC #166 - Kath's Masculine Anything Goes Challenge

Where do the days and weeks go?  It's hard to believe that only a week ago we were celebrating my mom's 96th birthday and the family was all here to celebrate.  Honestly, this past week seemed to simply evaporate. Since my company left on Monday the rest of the days just blended one into another and here we are and it's Wednesday again.  

We've also been having pretty nasty weather and everyone around me is complaining and wishing the rain and cold winds would "evaporate too".  I'm not letting the weather dampen my spirit though.  I guess I'm a bit like the old saying "when life gives you lemons.......... and I've managed to turn some of that gray dreariness into wonderful stamping adventures.  So far I'm not minding this unusual Spring weather a bit.

Kath is challenging us this week to create a card or project in line with our Masculine "Anything Goes" theme.  

We'd love to have you play along.  There are so many talented stampers out there and we love to see your take on our weekly challenge.  Be sure to check out our Design Team's inspiration this week at the Watercooler because there's ton's of inspiration.  While you're there, be sure to check out our rules for entering your own creation.  It's easy and fun.  You'll find a Linksy at the bottom of the WWC166 post.  This challenge is open until 5:00pm  Mountain Time on Monday April 23rd, 2018.    

Here's My Card:  

This is my first time using the Truly Tailored Bundle from Stampin' Ups! Occasions catalogue, and I have to say I "love everything about it".  There just aren't enough great masculine sets around, so this one just knocks it out of the park for ease of use.  Whether it's the paper, the stamp images or the great Tailored Tag Punch, you can't beat this one.    

Supplies:
Stamp Sets: Truly Tailored, Guy Greetings 
Ink:  Early Espresso, Crumb Cake
Card Stock: Chocolate Chip, Very Vanilla
DSP:  True Gentleman #145593
Accessories:  Paper Trimmer, Tailored Tag Punch, Small and Large Oval punches (R), Tom Bow Glue, Dimensionals, Detail Scissors.

Details:
This is a standard size Double Z- Fold card and folds to A2 size.  To assemble:

1.  Cut a 4 1/4 x 11 piece of Chocolate Chip for the card base.  Score at 2 1/4" and 5 1/2" and crease on score lines. 

2.  To dress up the base cut Designer Paper as follows:

• Cut a 4 x 5 1/4" piece of DSP for the large panel on the right, and
• cut two 2 1/2" x 4" pieces of DSP for the front and inside panels.
• Adhere all panels to the Chocolate Chip base with Tom Bow glue.

3.  For the smaller Z-Fold:

• Cut a 3 1/2" x 8 12" piece of Chocolate Chip for the base. 
• Cut a 4" x 3 1/4" piece of DSP for the front left panel and two 1 7/8" x 3 1/4" pieces for the inside and back panels.  Adhere with Tom Bow Glue. 
• Cut a 3 3/4" x 3" piece of Very Vanilla for the largest panel, stamp the sentiment "Today is your Day....." in Early Espresso and add a 1/4" x 3 1/4" strip of dsp to the left side.  Adhere to DSP.
• Cut a 1 3/4" piece of Very Vanilla and adhere to the inside panel.  Leave the last panel with just the DSP layer.
• To attach the smaller Z-Fold to the larger one put sticky strip on the outside edges of the smaller Z-Fold.  Remove the protective sheet from the end panel and center and adhere it to the back panel of the larger Z-fold. Remove the protective strips from the front panel of the small Z-Fold cener on the front panel of the larger one and adhere. 
• After stamping the image "To a Classy Kind Of Guy" in Early Espresso on a scrap of Very Vanilla I used the Tailored Tag Punch to cut it out.  Easy peasy! To add some pizzazz I cut a second tag from Chocolate Chip and after fussy cutting around the edge of the Very Vanilla sentiment with my detailed scissors I adhered the two tags together with Dimensionals and glued them to the center bottom of this panel.  To add a little more dimension I stamped the comb portion of the sentiment again, cut it out and adhered with a small piece of Dimensionals over the original comb for a nice little pop.
    
• I left the inside panel in Very Vanilla without any sentiment or design and added a small happy birthday sentiment from the Teeny Tiny Wishes stamp set onto a scrap of  Very Vanilla.  I punched this out with the old Small Ovals punch and layered it onto a Large Ovals that had been cut from Chocolate Chip - miss those two punches!  To finish off this tag I stamped the small bow tie (so cute) in Crumb Cake and added it to the tag with Dimensionals.  

• I love Z-fold cards, but I never find they have enough room to write your personal greeting on unless you use a light neutral for the base of the small Z-fold.  Since I didn't do that I added a 4" x 5 1/4" piece ov Very Vanilla to the large panel on the back of the card.  I've left mine plain but you could easily stamp another sentiment here.  

Thank you for visiting my blog today and checking out my  card.  I really enjoyed using this stamp set and this truly amazing paper.  I hope you'll leave me a comment and let me know how you like the Z-Fold card.  

Happy Stamping!
Penny Tokens Stampin Spot 

2018 Color Revamp

Stampin' Ups! last big colour revamp to core colour families was way back in 2010.  The newest colour revamp will be updated in the 2018-2019 annual catalogue release happening on June 1st, 2018.

Stampin' Up! has listened to the feedback from their demos who along with Stampin' Up! want to stay fresh, current and on trend.  They explored different ways to group colors into collections, with each collection having a colour spectrum element and inclusion of colours that worked best together.  The demos also requested the return of some of the most loved retired In Colours, and Stampin' Up! listened.  

Colour Revamp In A Nutshell:

• 27 of the 50 existing Core Colours are being kept.
• 13 Core Colours are being retired
•   5  2017-2019 In Colours*
•   5  2018-2019 In Colours 
• 10 New Core Colours are being added
•   6 previously retired In Colours are returning 
• A total of 53 Colours are in the new Colour Offering which happens on June 1, 2018

* Stampin' Up! will continue to introduce five new In Colours each year and these new offerings will be available for a total of two years.  The five existing In Colors from the previous year (in this case 2017-2019) will remain in their colour offering in June. 

To see what's going and coming, just click on these pictures and they will enlarge.  

I hope this information I'm providing will help you navigate through the process of change.  I for one can't wait to get my hands on some of these new colours, while I'm sad and have mixed feelings about some of the colours that are leaving.  

Happy Stamping!

Penny Tokens Stampin' Spot 

WWC #165 - Tenia's "All About Occasions" Challenge

Hi stampers! Last week was a blur getting ready for weekend house guests and celebrating my mom's 96th birthday.  What a busy time with absolutely no time for stamping, which I missed.  I've spent the time cooking up a storm, cleaning and entertaining.  All worthwhile though, as it was totally great seeing and being together with my family, especially after the tragedy in Hombolt Saskatchewan.  Hug those you love and celebrate when you can.   

This week's Watercooler Wednesday Challenge is being hosted by Tenia Nelson and it's "All About Occasions".  We hope you'll play along with us and post a card or project.  Like the scrolled list says it can be "Any" occasion such as a birthday, wedding, sympathy, retirement - the sky's the limit.

It's easy to link up to our challenge  and it's open until 5:00pm on Monday April 16th, 2018.  

Here's My Card: 
I needed a milestone birthday card last week for a girlfriend who's sensitive about her age.  I wanted to give her a laugh and not emphasize her actual age  so I chose this great stamp from Artistic Impressions called "29 Again".  I think it worked out perfectly.   

Supplies:
Stamp Sets:  29 Again Artistic Impressions (AI), Picture Perfect Birthday, Swirly Birds
Ink:  Emerald Envy, Momento Tuxedo Black, Skin Toned SU Blendability Markers
Stampin' Blends:  Crumb Cake, Light Pink, 
Card Stock:  Basic Black, Whisper White, Emerald Envy
Accessories:  Paper Trimmer,  Sequins, Aqua Painter, Tom Bow Glue

Details:
1.  The card base is an 8 1/2" x 5 1/2" piece of Basic Black card stock, scored at 4 1/4".

2.  The first layer is a 5 3/8" x 4 1/8" piece of Emerald Envy card stock.

3.  The third layer is a 5 1/4" x 4" piece of Whisper White that has been stamped with the small to large swirly circles from Swirly Birds stamp set.  I only stamped from the top left corner to the bottom right corner, leaving some white space on the upper right of this panel. 

4.  There are three layers to the image panels.  The first one is a piece of Basic Black that measures 2 1/4" x 4 1/4".  The next panel in Emerald Envy measures 2 1/8" x 4 1/8", and the Whisper White panel the image is stamped on measures 2" x 4".  

5.  I stamped the "29 Again" AI image with Momento Tuxedo Black ink.  The image is coloured with an Aqua Painter directly from the Emerald Envy ink pad.  I used the skin tone Stampin' Blendabilities that were out a few years ago for the facial features, legs and arms.   

This is such an incredibly fun image to colour.  I added some sequins for some pizzazz.  I probably should have done some more shading with the hair and added some Wink of Stella here and there on her balloon or the flowers on the dress, but oh well, next time.

6.  The inside panel measures 5 1/4" x 4" and is stamped with the sentiment and party blowers from a Picture Perfect Birthday stamp set.  Love this set! 

I love these stamps from the Picture Perfect Birthday Set .... what fun!

Well that's it for this challenge.  I hope you liked my 29 Again Birthday Card.  I know the recipient will get a kick out of it.  Let me know what you think.  I hope I inspired you to get out your ink pads and start colouring your images.  

If you haven't checked out the other members of the Watercooler Wednesday Design Team, be sure to do so.  They've done such a fabulous job on their cards this week.  Click here to return to the Watercooler Wednesday WWC#165 challenge.


I'm also entering this card at the following challenges:

http://audsentimentschallengeblog.blogspot.ca/2018/04/201-happy-birthday-aud-sentiments.html

and

http://seizethebirthday.blogspot.ca/2018/04/vibrant-colors.html

Happy Stamping!
Penny Tokens Stampin' Spot 

On April 9th Stampin' Up! released their Retirement lists for the Spring Occasions 2018 and the Annual Catalogue 2017-18 in preparation for the new Annual Catalogue release on June 1st, 2018.  And you're going to fall in love with the new Cattie, honestly.  Stampin' Up! has gone all out on this one in celebration of their 30th Anniversary.  

So What Does "Last-Chance Products" mean?

• It means that all InColour products for 2016/17 are retiring (except for Flirty Flamingo)
• It means that many stamp sets from both the Occasions and the Annual Catalogues will no longer be available because they are being retired
• It means that all the bundles of stamp sets and dies offered in those catalogues will no longer be available.  Note: Some of the dies and stamp sets will be carried over to the new Annual Catalogue however they will no longer be sold at 15% off they will be sold as individual items.
• It means that this year 13 colours will be retired from the existing colour families and will be replaced with some new released colours.  If you have a favourite ink or card stock that is retiring it will not be available after June 1st.  

The 13 colours that are retiring are:  

• Tempting Turquoise
• Tangerine Tango
• Marina Mist
• Pink Pirouette
• Soft Sky
• Wild Wasabi
• Always Artichoke
• Elegant Eggplant
• Island Indigo
• Perfect Plum
• Rose Red
• Chocolate Chip and
• Black Archival ink

All retiring products will go fast so if there's something you're interested in you can check out the lists below or go to my On-Line Ordering page here  and see what's on the way out.  Items are divided into Retiring Stamps, Retiring Bundles and Everything Else.

Here are the links to the PDF Lists for those of you who like lists:

OCCASIONS:

https://su-media.s3.amazonaws.com/media/Promotions/NA/2018/Retiring%20List/OCC%20Retired%20List-CA.pdf

ANNUAL

https://su-media.s3.amazonaws.com/media/Promotions/NA/2018/Retiring%20List/AC%20Retired%20List-CA.pdf

Happy Stamping!

Penny Tokens Stampin' Spot

Creative Circle CCDT April Blog Hop - It's For The Birds!

Welcome to the Creative Circle Design Team's April Blog Hop.  If you're new to the crafting world or you're not familiar with our acronym "CCDT" it stands for "Creative Circle Design Team". We are a group of like minded Stampin' Up! demonstrators from around the world who love paper crafting, Stampin' Up! products, SVG or electronic cutter patterns and participating in blog hops.  

Our CCDT hop is held on the first Thursday of each month and every 3rd month Liz Holloway, the leader of our group provides a pattern and challenge to create something using her 3D SVG and Silhouette formats.  

For our April CCDT Hop Liz has challenged us to create a bird house/card holder using her wonderful pattern.  This awesome paper bird house can store up to eight cards and envelopes, but could also hold a mini album, candies or other treats.  It would be really lovely for a Mother's Day Gift.

Here's My Bird House and Cards:
So far we've been having a soggy wet and cold Spring. with intermittent rain and occasionally snow and limited amounts of sunshine in between.  Since I'm unable to go outside and work in the garden, the weather has given me a great excuse to stay indoors and play in my craft room. Here's what I came up with.

Following Liz' wonderful pattern I assembled the cut out pieces for the shell and then decorated it in my own quirky style.  I love the way it turned out.  

Although the bird house holds eight cards and envelopes in its interior slot, I only made four cards.  I matched up the materials used for the bird house for my "bird themed" cards.

The  finished bird house measures 4"(w) x 9"(h) x  7-1/4"(d) and can actually be suspended on its own.  The roof is equipped with some strategically placed magnets that really have super holding powers.   I didn't have any wooden dowels to put in for roosts, so took advantage of some twigs in the yard.  

I combined the Swirly Scribbles Thinlets and the images from the new Flying Home stamp set to create this cute little scene.  All the images were coloured with Stampin Blends and were fussy cut.  I sponged over the brick stencil from Pattern Party Decorative Masks with Soft Suede ink.  To create the background for the bird houses I used an Oval die over top of a square piece of card stock.  I used a combination of pool party and soft sky inks for the sky and old olive for the grass and a sponge dauber. 

Supplies:  
Stamp Sets: Flying Home (#145929 - Occasions 2018), Badges and Banners (#141610 - Annual 2017/18)
Ink: Soft Suede, Old Olive, Pool Party, Soft Sky, Real Red, Momento Tuxedo Black
Stampin Blends:  Light and Dark shades of Daffodil Delight, Old Olive, Calypso Coral, Pool Party,  
Card Stock: Very Vanilla, Soft Suede, Real Red and Old Olive
Accessories: Big Shot, Paper Trimmer, Duet Banners Punch, Petal Burst and Fiesta Embossing Folders, Swirly Scribbles Thinlets, EK Success Stitched Rectangles, Stitched Shapes Framelits - Ovals), Pattern Party Decorative Masks, Wink of Stella Glimmer, Sequins, Dimensionals, Foam Tape, Tom Bow Glue.

Flying Home 8 piece rubber clear mount stamp set #145929 

Duet Banner Punch 

Badges and Banners - 7 piece clear mount rubber stamp set 

Pattern Party Decorative Masks - these can be used with sponge daubers and with textured embossing paste. 

I added Clear Wink of Stella to the roof tops and a few scattered sequins.  The images in the Flying Home stamp set were fun to colour.

Here you can see my improvised twig roosts and the bird house design on this side of the bird house.  The tile look on the roof was made with a retired embossing folder called "Fiesta".  The scallops are part of the design Liz created.

Here you can see the top of the bird house whenthe roof is removed.  The holder has enough room for a treat or eight cards and envelopes.  

I made four cards exactly the same except for the Swirly Scribbles design.  I did not add a sentiment or design element to the inside of the card because this is a "hello" card, leaving the inside blank leaves plenty of room for a personal note.  The card base for these cards is Very Vanilla, although in this picture it looks like white card stock.  I embossed the front of the base with the Petal Burst Embossing Folder. 

I stamped the birds nest and a two of the tiny butterflies from the Flying Home stamp set on the face of the envelope in Momento Tuxedo Black ink.  Note:  If I had coloured these images I would have placed a piece of watercolour paper on the inside of the envelope to protect it from ink leaking through. 

Love the little banner from the Badges and Banners stamp set.  I stamped it in Old Olive ink and punched it out with the Duet Banner Punch.  So eash to create a beautiful little sentiment piece.  I popped the banner up with Dimensionals on the Swirly Scribble. Although you can't see it the bird's nest has a coating of Clear Wink of Stella. 

I hope you enjoyed my Bird House project today and will take the time to comment.  

This project was very straight forward and Liz' pattern was easy to follow.  See her blog for more information.  Liz is holding a draw for 3 giveaways on May 3 on her blog so make sure you visit her and leave a comment and use the hashtag #LHDContest. 






Happy Stamping!
Penny Tokens Stampin Spot