Watercooler Wednesday #124 - Fiona's Masculine "Anything Goes" Challenge

Well we managed to make it through another soggy weekend here in Abbotsford.  I'm starting to grow webs between my toes.  Too bad it wasn't nicer for Father's Day on Sunday.  It poured most of the day and I know a lot of BBQ's and camping trips were rained out.   Sigh......

This week's challenge at the Watercooler Wednesday is a "Masculine Anything Goes" theme hosted by Fiona.  This challenge will run from June 21st until Monday June 26th at 10:00MT.   I hope you'll join our Design Team (DT) and share a masculine card or project.  We'd love to have you join us this week.

Here's My Card:

This is another Twist N' Pop card made with love for my youngest brother who turns 58 on July 4th. He's an outdoorsy kind of guy who loves nature and fishing, so I thought he'd appreciate this birthday card. Oh and I added images from one of my favourite stamp sets "Bear Hugs" because we've had a bear lurking around in the woods behind our house for the past week. Hopefully he'll keep on trekking down to the river and out into the Valley, so I can get out for a walk soon.

I wanted to send a gift card with this birthday wish so I added a 4" x 2 1/2" piece of basic black card stock for a gift card holder in the top of this card.  I punched a half circle with a 1" circle punch in the center of the card to make for easier access for the gift card.

Supplies:
Stamp Sets:  Bear Hugs, Thoughtful Branches, and Balloon Adventures
Ink: Momento Tuxedo Black for images and sentiments.  Early Espresso and Soft Suede for bears.  Dapper Denim, Tranquil Tide, Watermelon Wonder, Pear Pizzazz, Soft Sky and So Saffron for background scenes and fish.
Card Stock: Crumb Cake, Basic Black, Very Vanilla
Designer Series Paper (DSP): Warmth and Cheer (R) - Clearance Rack 
Accessories: Big Shot, Paper Trimmer, Bear Hugs and Ovals Thinlits, Acrylic Blocks, Wink of Stella, Aqua Painter, Sponge Daubers, Dimensionals, Sticky Strip or Tear N' Tape, Tom Bow Glue. 

The fish, baby bear and sentiments are all from the now retired Bear Hugs stamp set.   Definitely this is one of my favourite stamp sets.  So cute!

Sentiment is from Balloon Adventures.

How It's Made:
My instructions are for this specific card, however they can be adapted for any Twist N' Pop card layout.  I'm a very visual person and while I watched a lot of videos on how this card was made, it didn't come easy for me until I made a paper template I could follow.  I cut my original template from plain white card stock and included all the measurements and placements for the Tear N' Tape placement and score lines. This works for me and I hope it will work for you too. Okay so here we go:

This Twist N' Pop card starts with two 8 1/2" x 11 sheets of Crumb Cake card stock.  

• From the long side of the first sheet cut:
• 4 1/4" x 11" card base scored at 5 1/2".  Mark a dot at the center of the score line for positioning the Hinge piece.
• 10" x 3 1/2" panel scored at 2 1/2, 5 and 7 1/2" for the Picture panel. Fold along score lines and burnish with bone folder. Your piece should have a valley, mountain and valley fold when it's facing upright.  To decorate the picture panels cut the following:
• 4 pieces of Basic Black card stock 3 1/4" x 2 1/4" - one for each panel
• 4 pieces of  Very Vanilla card stock 3" x 2" one for each panel.  The two center panels will be stamped with images and/or sentiments, so are left plain.  Do your stamping before adhering.
• 2 pieces of DSP 2 7/8" x 3 7/8" for the two outer panels. 
• Once the above layers have been adhered with Tom Bow Glue, flip this picture panel over and put two strips of Tear N' Tape in the top right hand corner of the first panel and on the bottom inside left of the last panel. 
• Cut a 3/4" x 10" piece for belly band and score it at 2" and 6 3/8" (Note:  you may have to adjust scoring for the belly band dependent on the thickness of the finished card - so don't score until you're finished).

• From the second sheet create the Hinge Panel:
• On short side of 8 1/2" x 11 card stock cut an 8" x 3 1/2" piece and score it on the long side at 1 3/4". 
• On all four sides measure down 2 1/4" and mark with a pencil. Make sure these measurements are exact or your hinge won't work properly.
• Use your score bar on your paper trimmer to make the X in the center of this piece.  Start from the right side and score a line from the 2 1/4" mark to the corresponding mark on the left hand side. Make sure both marks are sitting in the well of the trimmer before scoring.
• Repeat this score line but this time go from left to right. Your scored lines should have formed a perfect X in the center of the hinge panel.
• Fold on the 1 3/4" score line and burnish with your bone folder.  Next fold in on the diagonal lines making sure they line up and once you're satisfied burnish with your bone folder.  You should now have a piece that looks like a house.  Put two strips of Tear N' Tape on the triangular part of the house peak on both sides.  
• Remove the Tear N' Tape on both sides of the peak.  Carefully line up the peak of the house against the mark you made on the score line of the card base.  Before pressing down make sure the hinge is even on both sides and precisely in the middle with the tip of the peak touching the score line.
• Close the card base and press down.  Your hinge should now be securely mounted to the inside of your card base. When you open the card base it should open fully. 

• Adding the panel to the hinge:
• Open the card base so the hinged piece is lying flat.  Make a small pencil mark so it shows above the score line to help you with placement of the picture panel.
• Remove the sticky strips from the picture panel and with the decorated side of the picture panel facing upwards center the mountain fold of the panel against the mark made on the card base. Make sure the top edge of the picture panel is not only lined up with the center of the card, but it is also sitting against the top and bottom edges of the hinge piece.
• When you've got it exactly in the middle and you've lined up everything just press down the sides of the picture panel and they will adhere to the hinge.   Now close the card.  If you've done everything correctly the picture panel and hinge will magically close.  You may have to do it a couple of times to make it move fluidly.   

My Template: 

I'm sharing the drawn out template with you as well as pictures of my actual cut out template pieces.  For easy reference I store the cut out template pieces in a clear envelope so it's handy every time I make this fancy fold card.  Enjoy. 

The measuring/cutting dimensions for the card base, picture panel and belly band of my Twist N' Pop card.

This is the back side of the Picture Panel template and shows wear the Tear N' Tape is placed. 

This diagram shows the cutting and scoring lines for the Hinge Panel as well as the placement of the Tear N' Tape, when the hinge has been folded.  The red dashed line is not a score line in this picture.  You'll see in the cut template pictures below that the two sides of the house are actually split in the center and if scored and folded properly should line up side by side. 

These are my template diagram pieces all cut out.  It makes it easier for me to use as a teaching tool and to jog my memory on placement if I haven't made this fancy fold card for a while. 

This picture shows the reverse side of the picture panel and the right side of the Hinged Panel when it's folded and the placement of the Tear N' Tape.  Don't use too much tape and make sure you've got it placed properly or the Hinge and Picture Panels will not work together.

Here you see the folded hinge panel being placed against the center mark on the inside of the card base.  If I was doing this for real, I would have removed the Tear N' Tape strips from both sides of this panel.  Once I've made sure this hinged piece is lined up evenly on both sides and with the center mark then simply close the card and press down to make sure the adhesive on the both sides of the peak adheres to the card base. 

Once you've adhered the hinged piece and you open the card base it will look like this.  Bear in mind that my sample isn't glued down so it looks bulgy in the center.

Take the picture panel and I fold the two outer panels inward and then set up this panel over top of the "now" adhered hinge panel and line up with the center of the card base. You can see the Tear N' Tape is facing towards the outside on both the top and bottom of the Picture panel.

Once I had it lined up properly in the last photo I removed those strips of Tear N' Tape and simply open both sides of the Picture Panel and press down.  The Tear N' Tape will adhere to the Hinged Panel and Voila you have a Twist N' Pop card.

Well that's it for today Stampers.  I hope you've enjoyed my card and my little tutorial and it was easy to follow.  I'd like to have your feedback if you plan to use my instructions and how they work out for you.  Trust me once it's all cut out and you play with it a bit you'll find it's one of the simplest cards to make.  The main thing is remembering to mark everything for placement and be precise with it.  It's a pain, I know but remember the old carpenter's saying..... "measure twice cut once", as it really applies with this card and will save you from wasting both time and materials. 

If you've come directly here and haven't checked out the other Watercooler Wednesday design team's masculine cards make sure you do, as you're in for a treat.  And remember this challenge is open until June 26th.  We'd love to have you join in.

Happy Stamping!
Penny Tokens Stamping Spot

WWC99-Marsha's Clean and Simple (CAS) Make It With Hearts Challenge

Wednesday has rolled around again and it's time for the last WWC99 Watercooler Wednesday challenge  of the year since this challenge will run from December 21st through to January 2nd, 2017.  This Clean and Simple (CAS) challenge is being hosted by Marsha and it's all about "hearts". 

Just so you know the Watercooler Design Team Artists decided to lower our expectations for our CAS challenges so all you need to do is enter an uncluttered card with lots of open space and minimal layers and embellishments and you can play along.  We hope you will join in the challenge! 

 

Here's My CAS Card:

Supplies:
Stamp Sets:  Merry Mice, Bear Hugs, and Love Sparkles*
Ink:  Cherry Cobbler, Crumb Cake, Early Espresso, Delightful Dijon, Basic Black Archival Ink, Flirty Flamingo and Smokey Slate
Card Stock:  Cherry Cobbler, Cansun 90lb Watercolor Paper
Accessories:  Big Shot, Trimmer, Bear Hugs Thinlets, Aqua Painter, Baby wipes, Scissors, Dimensionals, Tom Bow glue, Tear and Tape.

The Merry Mice stamp set is from the Holiday Occasions catalogue and will retire January 2nd, 2017.  It's currently on sale in the Year End Extravaganza.  Product #42154

The cluster of hearts behind the little mouse is supposed to be a balloon bouquet. The "love you" heart is from the Bear Hugs stamp set and is cut out with the Bear Hugs Thinlet heart die. 

I bet you're wondering where that fancy double-outlined heart came from aren't you? Well, I got it for free when I attended Stampin' Up!s OnStage Presentation in Vancouver.  It's from a delightful new stamp set called "Love Sparkles" and will be available in the new Occasions catalogue, just in time for Valentine's Day.

Bear Hugs Stamp Set #39546 in the Annual Catalogue

Assembly:

1.  The Cherry Cobbler card base was cut to 8 1/2" x 5 1/2" and scored at 4 1/4". 

2.  I cut three pieces of Watercolor Paper, for the layers.  The first layer measured 4" x 5 1/4" and the second layer measured 3 3/4" x 5". The final layer which measured 4" x 5 1/4" was for the inside of the card. 

3.  I stamped the mouse image from Merry Mice with Black Archival ink on the second layer of watercooler paper. Note:  After inking up the image and before stamping, I wiped the ink off the stocking hat and piece of scarf that poked out below the mouse's arm because I didn't want them to show up on the finished card.  I just used a baby wipe to take the ink off. 

4.  I stamped a second image of the mouse on a scrap of watercolor paper and again wiped away the hat and scarf portions of the image before stamping.  I fussy cut away the bottom portion of the mouse, and the hat leaving his face, upper body and arms in tact.  And, I cut away the portion of the book top between the mouse's hands so I could insert the little red heart. This portion of the mouse was coloured the same as the base and it was mounted with dimensionals after the stamping on the base layer was finished.

 

I fussy cut out a second image of the to portion of the mouse so I could layer it on top of the original layer.  This is just a sample so it isn't cut very neatly.... it's just to give you the concept.

5.  I painted the mouse image with Cherry Cobbler, Crumb Cake, Flirty Flamingo, Early Espresso and Delightful Dijon inks, using a fine tipped aqua painter. I repeated this colouring on the portion of the mouse that would be layered later on.

6.  Because I'd eliminated the stocking hat from the second mouse image I needed to replace it with something else.  To do this, I stamped a reindeer head from the Cookie Cutter Christmas set and cut off the portion between the horns to make a little cap.  I coloured this with Delightful Dijon and then added it with a piece of dimensional to the top of the mouse's head to form a cap.  

I just wanted the portion of the deer head that is coloured in yellow.  I drew a line along the bottom of that image with a Basic Black marker and cut it out.  This became the cap on the mouse, all the rest of the . 

7.  I stamped the mouse image on a Post-It-Note and fussy cut this out for a mask.  I applied the mask over the mouse and stamped the heart images.  I also stamped masks for the hearts so I could layer them.  They were all stamped in Cherry Cobbler Ink.

Masks stamped on Post-It-Notes.

8.  Once the inks had dried I attached the upper portion of the mouse with dimensionals. I punched out a little red heart using the punch from the retired Itty Bitty Punch Accents set and attached it between the mouse's hands with a piece of dimensional.  I used an aqua painter and Smokey Slate ink to outline the mouse image and give some depth to the background.  Some of the Cherry Cobbler ink ran a bit so I just lightened and blended it into the background.

Note: After I made the above card, I thought I should have used flowers instead of the heart, so I had to try out that look. Voila here's what that version looked like.

The floral bouquet in this sample is from the Bear Hugs stamp set. 

9.  The layers were glued together with Tom Bow Glue and then attached to the card base with Tear and Tape.  The inside of the card was finished with the remaining Watercolor paper layer. 

Well that's it for this year! I hope you've enjoyed this card along with others I've contributed to the Watercooler Wednesday Challenges and that you'll continue to follow and contribute your cards to this site.  I'd love to hear your thoughts on this card and my little tutorial explaining how it was assembled.

I also hope you'll visit the other Watercooler Wednesday Design team sites and leave them some comments too.   It's so inspiring for us.   

Happy Stamping!
Penny Tokens Stampin' Spot

WWC91 Marsha's Masculine Challenge - Anything Goes!

Hi Stampers.  Today at Watercooler Wednesday we have one of my favourite challenges hosted by Marsha Reed.  It's a Masculine Challenge and as long as it has a masculine theme "Anything Goes".  

Here's My Card: 

It will come as no surprise to those of you who follow my blog that I love the Bear Hugs stamp set.  It's become my number one "go to stamp" when I want something quirky and fun.  I think this Birthday Card is just that! 

 

Supplies:
Stamps:  Bear Hugs #139546, Swirly Bird #141749, Thoughtful Branches #143539 (R), and Stylized Birthday #141828
Card Stock:  Very Vanilla, Dapper Denim, Soft Suede, Crumb Cake
Inks:  Daffodil Delight, Dapper Denim, Crumb Cake, Honey Dijon, Soft Sky, Pear Pizzazz, Emerald Envy, Soft Suede, Early Espresso, Watermelon Wonder, Momento Tuxedo Black
Accessories: Bear Hugs Framelits, Bunch of Banner Framelit Dies, Big Shot, Trimmer, Dimensionals, Tom Bow Glue, Sticky Strip, Wink of Stella

Assembly:
1.  The card base is cut from Soft Suede Texturized Card Stock and measures 8 1/2" by 5 1/2".  This is a top fold card so it's scored at 4 1/2".

2.  The first layer is a piece of 5 1/4" x 4" Dapper Denim.

3.  The top layer is a piece of 3 3/4" x 5" Very Vanilla.  

4.  The inside layer is a piece of 5 1/4" x 4" Very Vanilla.  

5.  I stamped the large Swirly Sun from the Swirly Bird in the top left hand side of the Very Vanilla panel.  To add more dimension, I stamped the center of the sun with the solid medium circle image in Honey Dijon. I needed to create a mask to protect the sun while I sponged in the background colours so I did that on a post it note.  I began by sponging the sky in Soft Sky ink, leaving some white space so it looked like clouds.

6.  I also made a mask from a scrap of card stock to shape the hillside across the center of the card, and  sponged it with Crumb Cake and Soft Suede inks. My mask looked a little like the wave die in the bundle above.  I moved the mask down and alternated the inks as I sponged the hillside, creating a feeling of texture and depth. I stamped the grass image from Thoughtful Branches randomly across the hillside in Pear Pizzazz and Soft Suede inks.

7.  I stamped the 3-tree image from Thoughtful Branches across the hillside.  The branches were stamped in Pear Pizzazz and the trunks in Soft Suede.  Tip: I inked up the whole tree image in Soft Suede then removed the colour from the top of the trees with a baby wipe. Then I tapped the Pear Pizzazz ink pad over the top of the image to create the tree branches.  This could also have been done with a marker.

8.  I sponged Soft Sky and Dapper Denim inks on the bottom portion of the panel for the lake and then stamped over this with the wave image from Thoughtful Branches in Dapper Denim ink. I also swooshed some Dapper Denim over the water before adding the fish to give it some depth.

9.  The fish were stamped on a scrap of Very Vanilla card stock in Momento Tuxedo Black ink and were cut out with the Bear Hugs Framelit dies.  I coloured them with an aqua painter in shades of Dapper Denim, Emerald Envy, Watermelon Wonder, Honey Dijon. I coated them with Clear Wink of Stella to bring out that Rainbow Trout look.  I also waved the brush over the water to make it look like ripples.  The two end fish were glued directly to the water and the middle fish was popped up on a dimensional.  Note:  Before I give this card away I'm going to coat the fish with Crystal Effects(R) to make them shine.  I think that would be a nice touch.

10.  The bear from Bear Hugs was stamped on a scrap of Very Vanilla card stock with Momento Tuxedo Black ink and cut out with the Bear Hugs Framelits. I sponged the bear with Crumb Cake and Soft Suede inks.  I wanted the bear to look like it had just scooped up his fish so I cut a second bear image and removed the left arm.  I glued the corresponding arm to the back of the one that I wanted bent after sponging it with ink then gently bent it forward so it could hold the fish.  I glued the tail of the fish to the arm and popped the body of the fish up on a dimensional to give it more depth.

11.  Originally I stamped the sentiment from the Bear Hugs stamp set, "Wishing You a Day Full of Sunshine and a Lake Full of Fish" above the bear in Soft Suede. However, it didn't stand out well enough so I re-stamped it on a 3" x 1" piece of Crumb Cake card stock, cut it out with the pointed single banner from the Bunch of Banners Framelit set and mounted it with Dimmensionals. Better.

12.  To finish the inside of the card I stamped the "Happy Birthday " sentiment from Stylized Birthday in Early Espresso Ink in the center of the Very Vanilla panel.  I randomly stamped four fish across the bottom and coloured them with an aqua painter.

Well that's it for today's card.  I hope you like it as much as I do.  I'd love to hear from you, whether you think a guy would like this card.  I think they would get a chuckle out of it, especially if they love to fish.

If you've come directly to my blog I hope you'll go back to the Wacky Watercooler site and check out the rest of the design team's creations for the WWC91 Masculine Challenge.  You won't want to miss them!   

Happy Stamping!
Penny Token's Stampin' Spot

WWC88 - Heidi's Sketch Challenge

  This week at the Watercooler our awesome and talented Heidi Weaver is presenting us with a great sketch challenge, and we encourage you to join in.  

The great thing about sketches is that you can interpret them in your own way, provided they 
have some resemblance to the original sketch.


 

Here's My Card: 
I took a bit of creative license with my take on Heidi's sketch for this week's challenge by omitting the scalloped circle element and substituting it with my family of bears.  I also used the background trees to replace the splatter. 

Supplies:
Stamp Sets:  Bear Hugs, Time of Year, Thoughtful Branches, Cookie Cutter Christmas
Card Stock:  Cherry Cobbler, Very Vanilla and Garden Green card stock
Paper:  This Christmas Specialty Designer Series Paper
Inks:  Cherry Cobbler, Garden Green, Soft Suede, Crumb Cake 
Accessories:  Big Shot, Trimmer, Dimensionals, Tom Bow Glue, Holly Embossing Folder, Bear Hugs Framelits, Bunch of Banners Framelits and Balloon Framelits 

When I saw the ribbon candy designer paper included in the "This Christmas" DSP pack it took me back to my youth, reminding me of the beautiful Norwegian knit sweaters we saw in the store windows at Christmas time.  I thought it would be fun to dress up these bears in that design and I was thrilled with the end results.   

Assembly:

1. The card base is a piece of 8 1/2" x 5 1/2" Cherry Cobbler card stock that was scored at 4 1/4". 
2. The Garden Green layer measures 5 1/4" x 4"
3. The Very Vanilla layer measures 5" x 3 3/4".  The three trees from the Thoughtful Bunch stamp set were stamped randomly and overlapping in the center of the card.  Three Rhinestones were attached to the top left hand corner.
4.  The three Bears were stamped on Very Vanilla card stock with Momento Tuxedo Black Ink. Note:  I stamped and cut a second large bear image for the Mama bear.  The images were cut out using the Bear Hugs Framelits and they were sponged with Crumb Cake and Soft Suede inks.

For these next few pictures you won't see any sponging or colouring on the bears.

This adorable stamp set is available in the Annual Catalogue

These are the matching Framelits

5.  To make the sweaters for Papa and Baby Bear, I used some small scraps of designer paper and cut out just the sweater part with the Bear Hugs Framelits.  

For Mama Bear's dress I cut out the skirt Framelit using the same designer paper and I used a large scallop circle and a 1/2" circle punch to make the top of her dress and Baby Bear's collar.

In this photo, you can see the sweaters don't actually fit the bears well.  In Papa Bear's case, the neck is too high and the sleeves too long.  Not too worry though, as I adjusted the sizes easily by trimming away the excess dsp from the collar area and on the arms.

The arms of the sweater were trimmed back and cuffs and collars cut from small strips of Cherry Cobbler card stock were attached with adhesive. I added the bow tie from the Bear Hugs Framelit set. 

In this picture you can see that I actually reversed the onsie.  The collar for the onsie was made by cutting a 1/4 circle with the 1/2 circle punch.  The scallop circle for Mama Bear's outfit was attached with dimensionals and in the final version has a pretty green bow cut using the Balloon Framelit Dies

 6.  Once the clothes were adhered to the bears I used adhesive to attach the Papa bear to the left of the trees.  I used Dimensionals to attach the Mama Bear and her image overlaps the Papa Bear.  I used double mounted Dimensionals on the Baby Bear so you can tell he is out front.  

7.  The Christmas Banner was stamped with the Time of Year stamp set and cut out with the Bunch of Banners Framelits.  Love those banners.  It was mounted with Dimensionals.

8.  If you look at the sketch, there isn't a panel on the bottom of it, but I managed to get ink on the bottom of my Very Vanilla card stock, so covered it up with a 1" x 4" piece of Garden Green card stock that was embossed with the Holly Embossing Folder.  My goof up actually worked out nicely as this additional piece of card stock seemed to anchor the picture.  

9.  Three Basic Rhinestones were added to the top left hand corner of the card front.  

9.  For the inside of the card I cut a 5 1/4" x 4" piece of Very Vanilla card stock and stamped the sentiment "Warm Heartfelt Greetings for a Very Merry Christmas" in Cherry Cobbler ink.  The sentiment was from the Cooking Cutter Christmas stamp set.  A 1/4" strip of dsp was added to the right side of the panel. 

This was a really enjoyable card to make, so hats off to Heidi for a great sketch challenge this week!  I hope you enjoyed my version of it and will leave me a comment.   Hopefully my small tutorial will be of help if you decide to make sweaters for your bears 

Don't forget to check out the rest of the Watercooler Wednesday design team's cards.  They are truly wonderful.

Happy Stamping!
Penny Tokens Stampin' Spot