Wacky Watercooler August Blog Hop

Wow it's August already and time for another Wacky Watercooler Blog Hop. This hop is called "Let's Sprinkle August With Life" and runs from today through Saturday August 22nd, 2015.  We're showcasing the Sprinkles of Life Stamp Set from the new 2015/2016 Annual Catalogue!

If you've been following the hop, you should have arrived here from the very talented and creative Debbie Spano's site. She has such awesome projects! 

We hope you'll enjoy our virtual hop, learn some great techniques for your paper crafting projects or simply enjoy visiting our 12 participants sites and seeing all their great creations! Be sure to click on the "next button" at the end of the post to continue your journey on this blog hop or return to the start point.

Projects One & Two - Sprinkles of Life: 

I'm so happy to be showcasing the Sprinkles of Life Stamp Set along with my fellow Wacky Watercooler designers for the first two projects today.  What fun! 

This set includes 22 Photopolymer versatile stamps 

The Sprinkles of Life Stamp set is notably one of Stampin' Ups! most popular stamp sets this year, and there are a couple of very important reasons for that:  

• The first reason is that Stampin' Up! donates time and money to support Ronald McDonald House Charities. To date they've contributed over $1,000,000 to RHMC and their network of local RMHC Chapters. When you buy the Sprinkles of Life Stamp Set, Stampin' Up! donates a portion ($3.00) of the proceeds to RMHC. 

• The second reason is that it's down right fun to use this set!  You can unleash your creative genius and stamp your heart out with these very versatile stamps.  You can make cards for any occasion using a myriad of combinations of the 22 photopolymer images and sentiments. Your projects can be adorned with cupcakes, clouds, rain, ice cream cones, baskets of flowers, apples, trees and much, much more.  And, as if that's not enough, there's even a co-ordinating Tree Builder punch, to make cutting out the tops of the cupcakes, trees, clouds etc. that much faster.

All Occasion 3 x 3 Note Cards & Gift Box: 
I love having small note cards on hand to tuck into hostess gifts or as a small thank you for good deeds.  You can never have enough of them.  So, for my first project I designed a set of 4 note cards with matching envelopes and a gift box holder using the Sprinkles of Life Set .

The Gift Box:

 

Love this cute little gift box.  It holds 4 gift cards and matching envelopes and is simply tied shut with a ribbon.

The 16" piece of ribbon simply slides under the Whisper White mat that is mounted to the box front with dimensionals and ties at the top of the box. 

Here's what the back of the box looks like when it's closed and done up with the ribbon. 

  3 x 3 Note Cards:
The four note cards that I made match the front of the gift box.  
 

This cute little scene began by stamping the tree trunk from the Sprinkles of Life stamp set onto a 2" x 2" piece of Whisper White card stock.  Next I added two bunches of flower stems around the base of the tree in Cucumber Crush ink.  The flower heads were stamped in Hello Honey and Watermelon Wonder inks. The clouds were sponged in Soft Sky ink around a 1 3/4" scalloped circle.  The top and sides of the square were sponged with Soft Sky ink to blend in the clouds and the bottom of the square was sponged with Cucumber Crush ink.  To finish off the little scene I added small basic rhinestones for a touch of glimmer.  The foliage on the tree was stamped on a piece of Cucumber Crush card stock and then punched out with the Tree Builder punch.  I used dimensionals to adhere it above the tree trunk.

That might sound like a lot of work, but trust me you can complete this card front in just a few minutes.  It will put a smile on your face when you're done!

The Envelopes:

 

I am hooked on using the Envelope Punch Board.  It's one of the best tools I have and I use it for every project that requires an envelope.  Here I made four cute little 31/4 x 31/4" envelopes from Whisper White card Stock.  I've lined then with paper from the Cherry On Top Designer Paper Pack (DSP).  I stamped the flower image on the front left corner of each of the cards, repeating the colouration and design from the front and inside of the gift cards.

How cute is this? 

See below for link to measurements and how to make the liner.  It's super easy!

 

Supplies:
Stamp sets: Sprinkles of Life
Card Stock:  Bermuda Bay and Whisper White 
DSP:  Cherry on Top Designer Series Paper Pack
Ink:  Cucumber Crush, Hello Honey, Tip Top Taupe, Watermelon Wonder, and Soft Sky
Accessories:  1 3/4" Scalloped Circle Punch, Basic Rhinestones, 16" White Cotton Ribbon, Envelope Punch Board, Paper Trimmer, Adhesive, Dimensionals

Cutting Dimensions for Four Cards:
1.  Cut 4 pieces Bermuda Bay to measure 3 x 6" and score at 3" (card base).
2.  DSP layer cut 4 pieces 2 1/2" x 2 1/2" adhere to card base.
3.  2nd layer - cut 4 pieces of Bermuda Bay measuring 2 1/4" x 2 1/4" adhere to DSP layer.
4.  3rd layer - cut 4 pieces of Whisper White card stock, adhere to Bermuda Bay layer once stamping has been completed.   

Card Box and Envelopes: 
For full details on making the card box, envelopes and cards click here for my original tutorial.


Project Two - Sprinkles of Life Positivity Card
One of the wonderful things about the Sprinkles of Life set is that it is definitely full of "positives".  That became the theme for my next card which could be used as a birthday card, an incentive card or a "just because card".  

The positive affirmation on this card reads:  Hope Your Day Stacks Up to Be One Good Thing On Top of Another!

This is the inside of the card.  I simply repeated the ice cream cone from the front of the card but omitted the glitter. 

Love these cones.  I stamped the cones onto Tip Top Taupe card stock and then fussy cut them with my detail scissors and adhered them over the 1 3/4" x 4 1/4" DSP layer.  I stamped and punched out the ice cream scoops from Hello Honey and Watermelon Wonder card stocks.  The scoops were added above the cone with dimensionals. I highlighted the design on the scoops and cherries with Dazzling Details glitter (luv that stuff).  The cute little window and frame was made using my brand new Lots of Labels Framelits.  I'm delighted with how it turned out and I know I'll be using these framelits a lot.

Supplies:
Stamp Set:  Sprinkles of Life 
Card Stock:  Whisper White, Bermuda Bay, Watermelon Wonder, Hello Honey and Tip Top Taupe
DSP:  Cherry on Top Designer Series Paper Pack 
Inks:  Bermuda Bay, Watermelon Wonder, Tip Top Taupe, Hello Honey
Accessories:  Large Polka Dot TIEF, Lots of Labels Framelits (new), Tree Builder punch, Big Shot, Magnetic Platform, Paper Trimmer, Detail Scissors,and Dazzling Details Glitter.

Project Three - Case The Catalogue: 
We had such a blast and received such excellent feedback from our July Blog Hop "CASE THE PROJECT", that we decided to do it again.  If you haven't checked it out, the Annual Catalogue is an absolute treasure trove of design ideas.  No need to buy a stamping magazine or search Pinterest, it's all there and you simply can't go wrong CASEing projects from it.

Here's the card I'm CASEing.  It's from page 114 of the Annual Catalogue and features the stamp set "Blended Bloom".  

I loved using the original design of this card but changed it up a bit to meet my own needs.  CASEing this card was a great opportunity to use another of my favourite tools the Mini Treat Bag Thinlets and my new Brick Wall Embossing Folder.   Here's my card:

I wanted a sophisticated looking card for my upscale friend who has a passion for white, yellow and black.  I switched up the flower from Watermelon Wonder to Daffodil Delight.  I loved the bold stripes on the original banner but decided to go more subtle with a smaller striped pattern from the Go Wild Designer Series paper pack and the Triple Banner Punch.  The Blended Bloom image was stamped onto Daffodil Delight card stock with Momento Tuxedo Black Ink.  I love the depth you get with that ink and it dries so quickly.  The flower has three layers and I used a Zentangle technique to add dimension to the petals. 

Here's the back side of the treat bag.  I joined two 2" x 6" pieces of DSP together and punched out the banner with the Triple Banner punch.  Sorry this is such a lousy picture........ it's pouring rain out and there's no natural light.  Grrrrrrrr.

 

You can see the detail on the flower a bit more in this shot. I stamped the flower image on Daffodil Delight card stock three times to create the flower layers.  Each layer was fussy cut and the edges were sponged with black ink. Black was coloured into the edges on the flowers to give them a rolled look and adding Crystal Effects to these coloured areas gives them more depth. The basic rhinestones in the flower's center were coloured with a Black Sharpie Alcohol Marker.  I didn't like the bow in the flower center on the original card, so this was the "just right" finish for mine.

A gift card tucks nicely into the DSP pocket.

I cut a 2" x 3 1/2"  piece of the designer series paper and put a thin line of adhesive around the outer edges and bottom to adhere it to the Daffodil Delight card stock.  I stamped a partial image of the flower in black ink.

I like to write my own personal message on my cards so I added a 3 x 4 1/4" piece of Whisper White card stock to the back of the Gift Card insert.

Supplies:
Stamp Sets:  Blended Bloom and Wetlands
DSP:  Go Wild Designer Series Paper Pack
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black 
Cardstock:  Whisper White, Daffodil Delight
Accessories:  Big Shot Machine, Brick Wall Embossing Folder, Crystal Effects, Banner Triple Punch, Basic Rhinestones, Black Sharpie Marker Alcohol based, Detail Scissors, Tom Bow glue, Adhesive Strips, Paper Trimmer. 

Well that's it for this month's projects.  I hope you liked them and will leave me a comment or two on your favourites, and come back again.  Thanks for visiting!

Heidi Weaver our fabulous blog host and super talented Wacky Watercooler Designer is next on this blog hop so make sure you click on the "next" button below to move to her blog.   You won't want to miss her wonderful and exciting projects!

Heidi Weaver

Debbie Spano

Wacky Watercooler August Blog Hop - Start

Happy Stamping!
Penny Tokens

All Occasion Cards in June

Note:  This post is late! June was an extremely busy month with birthdays, retirements and unfortunately more funerals, so I've been busy trying to keep up with my card making, and attending various celebration events.  

The downside to being so busy is that I slacked off on my blogging and card events, and to all my followers, I apologize.   The upside is that while the month flew by I've been exercising my creativeness and enjoying my get-to-gether's with friends and family.  

Here are some of the cards I made in June:

This "Just For You" card was made with the new Work of Art stamp set.  If you need a card in 5 minutes this is the set to use.

I love the inside of this card, it makes me feel happy just looking at it. 

Here you can see the various stamps used to create this card.  All from the one set.  You've got to like that. Inks used were Strawberry Slush, Crisp Cantaloupe, and Coastal Cabanna. 

Here's another Work of Art stamp set card.  These were my June customer appreciation cards for those wonderful customers who placed a June order on my on-line store.  Love you guys! 

This beautiful sympathy card is stamped with Early Espresso Ink on Very Vanilla card stock and then layered up with a Very Vanilla card stock base and layer of Early Espresso.  I used a transparency mask with a 2 1/2" circle opening to stamp the En Francais (retired background stamp) in the center of the card.  I stamped the tall floral silhouette from Serene Silhouettes and then added a simple "with sympathy sentiment from the Petite Pairs stamp set.  The butterflies are from the Beautiful Wings Embosslit die. 

For the next two cards I used a double embossed folder technique to layer one embossed image over another.  I plan on teaching this really neat technique at one of my July classes so stay tuned for information on how you can participate.  These unique cards have a real vintage quality about them and I love the colour mix of Coastal Cabana, Very Vanilla and Crumb Cake. 

So what do you think, isn't this card simply beautiful?  It's one of those rare cards that could be used for a birthday, thinking of you, sympathy or thank you.  Because it is so versatile, I think I'll make a few of these maybe in different colour combinations (think subtles) and simply leave the inside sentiment blank until I need them for an occasion.  

The card base and the inside insert are in Very Vanilla cardstock.  I stamped the floral image from Serene Silhouettes in Coastal Cabana ink on a piece of Very Vanilla cardstock and then layered this piece behind the Crumb Cake embossed layer.  The Crumb Cake layer was embossed with the retired Designer Frames embossing folder* and then re-embossed using a mask with the Beautiful Baroque Embossing Folder   Basic Pearls, a small butterfly from the Beautiful Wings Embosslit die and a piece of 3/8" Crumb Cake Taffeta Ribbon (retired) all add to the antique look of this card. 

 Note:  Stampin' Up! has replaced this embossing folder with two new ones called Fun Frames in the 2014-2025 IB&C. 

For the inside of this card I simply stamped the image again in Coastal Cabana and added two of the smallest butterflies from the Beautiful Wings Embosslit.   The envelope was also stamped with this image. 

My second card was embossed with the Modern Mosaic Embossing Folder and the Designer Frames Embossing Folder.   I chose the birds in a tree image from Serene Silhouettes for this card and again stamped the images in Coastal Cabana ink.

The small flowers on the face of the card were punched from Coastal Cabanna and Basic Black cardstock with the Itty Bitty Punch pack and Boho Blossoms punch.  Basic Pearls were added to the centers of the flowers. 

Hope you liked these cards.  Remember if you like this technique and would like to attend a class to learn how to do double embossing, simply drop me an email or give me a call and I will arrange a time.

The next card I want to share with you combines En Francais with the Work of Art stamp set to create a very unique and fun birthday card.  Once again, this card style could be used for almost any occasion.    The card base is Crumb Cake with layers of Daffodil Delight, Marina Mist and Whisper White card stocks.  I stamped the En Francais background stamp in Crumb Cake onto the Whisper White layer, and then stamped one of the images from the Work of Art set in a circular motion in Marina Mist ink to achieve the flower shape.  The Daffodil Delight accents are decorative dots 

 

Work of Art' painted swatches, swaths, and shapes make up the bulk of this set that comes in clear or wood mount.  With eleven different stamps in this set you have lots of options for deciding which strokes are right for your project. 2014-2015 Annual Catalog.

Happy Stamping!
Penny