WACKY WATERCOOLER MAY MASHUP BLOG HOP

Welcome to my blog and my contribution to the Wacky Watercooler May Mashup Blog Hop.  Although our hop this time around is smaller than usual, only six participant's, I'm sure you'll agree that everyone has given it their all for this mashup.  

What is a "mashup"?  Well for this month's hop we're presenting projects using products that are retiring, products that are soon to arrive and a masculine project. This hop will run from this evening through Saturday May 21st, so I hope you'll hop on board and join the fun. 

If you're joining us for the first time, this is a circular blog hop, so no matter where you joined if you keep going through you'll eventually wind up where you started from.  If you've coming from the previous blog, you'll have been checking out Heidi Weaver's blog, and her incredible projects.  After you finish seeing my projects just click on the next button at the bottom of this post and you'll arrive at Marie Green's blog.  But for now.......

My First Project - Something Old:  
Who doesn't like butterflies?  No one I know, at least none of my stamping friends.  They're all gaga every time a butterfly stamp comes into their world.  That's why I chose the soon to retire Swallowtail stamp for my "sad to see it go" segment of this blog hop.  I know every one of my stamping friends will be as sad as I am to see it gone.  Here is my final hurrah for the Swallowtail stamp: 

My inspiration for this card came from Dawn Griffith's demonstration of a technique she calls "out of the box".  I've been wanting to try this technique for sometime and I'm delighted with the results. I wont go into the details of how I made it, you can check out Dawns video of the technique on this link.

In this view you can see the embossing on the Whisper White layer.  Although you may not be able to see it clearly, I also embossed the Whisper White oval that the butterfly is part of.  The 5 1/2 x 4 1/4" card base was cut from the new Sweet Sugarplum card stock, and the next layer is Rich Razzleberry.  

Here's a view of the inside of the card.  The base is layered with Rich Razzleberry card stock and Whisper White. The sentiment and small butterflies are from the Basic Butterfly stamp set which will still be available in the 2016-17 catalogue.

I used a blender pen Sweet Sugarplum, Rich Razzleberry and Blackberry Bliss inks and the Sweet Sugarplum marker to colour this large swallowtail.  I only coloured the one side of it as once I positioned the oval framelit the rest was cut away. 

I always like to change up at least three things when I CASE a card and so here are the things I changed from the original:

1.  I changed the direction the butterfly sits on the ovals.
2.  I changed the colour of my card stock and inks so I could try out the new "Sweet Sugarplum" Incolour that will be released June 1s, added an extra layer to my card face and a sentiment. Luv, luv, luv how the Sweet Sugarplum and Rich Razzleberry compliment each other.  
3. My final change was to embossed the Whisper White layer with the "Fluttering" Embossing Folder and Silver Glimmer Paper instead of Dazzling Diamonds Glitter.   

Supplies:
Stamp Sets:  Swallowtail #129216 and Butterfly Basics # 137154
Ink:  Sweet Sugarplum, Rich Razzleberry, Blackberry Bliss
Cardstock:  Whisper White, Sweet Sugarplum, Rich Razzleberry, Silver Glimmer Paper
Accessories:  Trimmer, Big Shot, Fluttering Embossing Folder, Ovals Collection Framelit Dies, Note Tag Punch, Dimensionals, Tom Bow Glue, Basic Rhinestones, Dazzling Details,

My Second Project - Something New:One of the great things about being a Stampin' Up! Demonstrator is getting our hands on new stamp sets and products before Stampin' Up! releases them in the new catalogues.

That's how I managed to get this fabulous new stamp set called "Swirly Bird" as well as the new Incolours and card stocks you'll see in this project. 

I've totally fallen in love with this stamp set and the coordinating die cuts called Swirly Scribbles Thinlets.   They are so much fun to play with that I can guarantee they're going to be on everyone's wishlist come June 1st.    

Here's My Project:

Just look at all those swirls!  For this Happy Birthday card I chose a combination of Watermelon Wonder and the new Flirty Flamingo inks and card stocks.  I didn't use the Swirly Scribbles thinlets for this card, although I was tempted.  This stamp set is such fun to play with you can create all kinds of images and different looks.  I'm working on some other samples which I'll post in the coming weeks. 

This is the inside of the card and the envelope to match.  I layered the Whisper White onto a piece of Emerald Envy card stock............such a beautiful new Incolour!

Supplies:
Stamp Sets:  Swirly Bird #141749 and Birthday Blooms #140658
Card Stock:  Flirty Flamingo, Emerald Envy, Watermelon Wonder, and Whisper White
Ink:  Watermelon Wonder, Flirty Flamingo, Emerald Envy
Accessories:  Scissors, Trimmer, Dimensionals, Basic Rhinestones, Tom Bow Glue

 

My Final Project - Masculine Birthday Card:I'm dedicating this next card which is indeed masculine to my nephew who turns "21" next week.  As a child he always played with Lego - almost obsessively, so I thought it would be kind of fun to create a jazzed up kid card for him using one of my all time favourite stamp sets Boys Will be Boys. 

 

It was very difficult to take pictures of this card.  The silver on the surface of the Shine On DSP and the silver foil really caught the light.  The base piece of this card which you can barely see is a 5 3/4 x 4 1/2" piece of Basic Black Cardstock followed by a 5 1/2 x 4 1/4" piece of Whisper White card stock. 

Isn't this little robot just the cutest!  I added some small and medium size silver beads that I had in my stash to really give him that futuristic look.  He's coloured with the Smokey Slate marker.

The design on this Shine On DSP really suited the card and was part of my inspiration for making it.  The pattern looks like widgets and bits that would be found in a tool box.  Love it!  This DSP is still available for purchase until May 31st in the Occasions Spring Catalogue.

The card design comes from a post and video by Linda Bauwin and is called a Fancy Fold Pullout card.  I love this fancy fold card design and find I'm going back to it more and more.  It's got just enough of that WOW factor that it makes the card special and yet it can be dressed up simply, and because it doesn't have too many layers mails easily. 

Supplies:

Stamp Sets:  Boys Will Be Boys and Big Day (SAB 2015)
Card Stock:  Basic Black, Whisper White, Silver Foil, and Shine on Specialty DSP
Ink:  Momento Tuxedo Black and a Smokey Slate Marker
Accessories:  Trimmer, Scissors for fussy cutting, Dimensionals, Silver Beads (non SU), Word Window Punch.  

I hope you've enjoyed these three projects and will try out some of these techniques.  I'd love to see what you make, and I'd like to hear your comments on whether you liked these designs.  Have fun and enjoy the rest of the hop.  Your next stop is the beautiful Tanglewood Cottage blog, by Marie Green: 
   

Marie Green

Heidi Weaver

Wacky Watercooler May Blog Hop

 


Happy Stamping!
Penny Tokens Stampin' Spot 

Wacky Watercooler April 2016 Blog Hop - A Focus on the Retiring In-Colours

One of my greatest pleasures in the past year and a half has been playing along on several of the Wacky Watercooler Blog Hops.  Now that I'm home and settled back into a crafting routine once again I'm totally excited about participating in their latest hop which is focusses on the 2014-2016 Stampin' Up! In-Colours which will soon be retiring.  

Say good bye to the 2014-2016 In-Colours - Tangello Twist, Mossy Meadow, Lost Lagoon, Hello Honey and Blackberry Bliss

Okay let's get to it! The Wacky Watercool April Blog Hop is a "circular blog hop" running from 6:00pm Thursday April 21st through 6:00pm Saturday April 23, 2016.  The focus is on the 2014-2016 In-Colours which will soon be retiring.  No matter where you begin just keep going to the “next” blog on the list and eventually you'll wind up right where you started. What fun!

If you've been working your way forward through this hop you'll have arrived here after visiting the totally talented Libby Fens's blog.   What a great selection of cards she posted to start this blog hop off.  


CASEing Our Friends:
For my first project I've been given the privilege of CASing a card designed by the very talented Marie Green.  Marie has one of those great blogs where you want to spend time wandering so it was difficult narrowing down my choice of cards to CASE.  If you haven't visited Marie's "My Tanglewood Cottage" blog site before, make sure you do, because you'll come away with lots of ideas and tips. 

Telescoping Card Technique:
For my first CASE I fell in love with one of her more recent projects entitled the "Traveler".  This is simply an incredible and inspirational card which offered me an opportunity to play with a "new to me" technique called "telescoping". Here is Marie's stunning "Traveler" card.  

Here's My Card: 

For this card I've used three of my favourite retiring in-colours - Lost Lagoon, Mossy Meadow and Hello Honey for the base and layers of my card. I also used a gorgeous designer series paper featuring those colours from the "Going Places" DSP paper pack which also retires the end of May 2016.   

This incredible marbled sheet of designer series paper was the perfect match for my second layer.  I cut a 4 x 5 1/4" piece and sponged around the edges with Lost Lagoon ink, then randomly stamped the small dots image from Party Pants around the edges, with Versa Mark Ink.  Gold Glory Embossing Powder was heat set on the dots. Love it! 

Here's a closer look at the "telescoping" layers used to highlight the big blue Maine Lobster.   I only added three layers, while Marie used four in her sample. I have to say I'm totally fascinated by the 3-D dimension this easy technique achieves.  Tip:  Make sure that you increase the depth of the foam tape for each layer you add above the first layer and use good firm foam tape so the layers don't sink. 

I used the center 3 squares on the Square Framelit Dies (counting from the center of the framelits set), but using Circle or Oval framelits would also achieve this same effect.  Originally I was going to line up the squares in a block in the center of the card, but changed this to a diamond pattern as it better suited the stamping on my design and really helps to focus on the lobster which was my intent. 

Don't you love this "birthday banner"?  This super easy to cut and stamp banner is from the coordinating Large Number Framelit Dies and Number of Years Stamp Set.  I really liked the cool "happy birthday" sentiment in Boys Will Be Boys and it fit perfectly on this banner. Bonus!  Because I liked the antique look of the dark embossed gold dots on the DSP layer, I repeated this accent on the stamped collage layer. 

One of my favourite things to create are Collage images.  For this one I began by stamping the 3 x 4 piece of Very Vanilla card stock the printed verse stamp from By the Tide.  To achieve a lighter image that I could layer other images on I stamped off the Mossy Meadow ink before each application of the word stamp to this layer. I then randomly stamped the coral image at full strength in Hello Honey.  Next I stamped the Sea Horses and Anchors in Mossy Meadow.  The beautiful lobster which is the focal point of the card front was stamped in Lost Lagoon.  I sponged the edges in Lost Lagoon and Hello Honey.

The inside of the card features a 5 1/4" x 4" layer of Very Vanilla card stock stamped in Hello Honey and Mossy Meadow.  I thought the sentiment "Hope your day stacks up to be...." from the Sprinkles of Life Stamp Set was a really fun and appropriate verse considering the stacked layers on the front of the card. 

 

Supply List: 
Stamp Sets: By the Tide, Party Pants, Number of Years, Boys Will Be Boys 
Sprinkles of Life 
Ink:  Lost Lagoon, Hello Honey, Mellow Moss, Versa Mark and Gold Glory EP
Card Stock:  Very Vanilla, Mossy Meadow, Lost Lagoon
DSP:  Going Places (Spring Occasions 2016)#140581
Accessories:  Square Framelit Dies, Heat Gun,  Large Number Framelit Dies, Big Shot, Dimensionals, Foam Tape

Peek-A-Boo Technique Card:
For my second CASE I chose a Peek-A-Boo Technique card from Marie's blog, that actually was part of the Watercooler Blog Hop in April 2015. Again, this is a "new to me" technique and I just had to try it with my own spin for a boy's birthday card.   

Here's my card:  

For this fun masculine peek-a-boo card I started with a Very Vanilla card base covered with a Mossy Meadow/Very Vanilla designer series paper from the Going Places DSP pack.  I used the Boys Will Be Boys stamp set to stamp the Robot in Mossy Meadow ink.  I used a blender pen and Hello Honey ink to colour the Robot. The Lego image was stamped on scraps of Lost Lagoon, Hello Honey and Mossy Meadow and then fussy cut glued together to form one multi piece block. I stamped the YoYo image as a background on the sentiment piece in Hello Honey.  This is such a fun stamp set to have on hand for crafting kids cards. 

When you open up this card, the magic of the Peek-A-Boo technique begins.  
As you open the card front the picture in the oval changed from the Robot to the Parachute image.  What fun!  To add some dimension to the parachute I first stamped the parachute image on the 2 1/2" oval and then stamped it again on Hello Honey.  I cut out the parachute from the Hello Honey piece and mounted it on the original image with dimensionals.  I used the Large Numbers Framelit set to cut out the number five in Lost Lagoon card stock. The "Look Who's Turning" sentiment is from the Number of Years Stamp Set.  And the "Happy Birthday to you" sentiment is from Party Pants a 2016 Sale-A-Bration stamp set.

The next few pictures show the back panels of this card.  You don't have to do anything with these panels, but I decided to continue decorating and stamping on them and this is the result.   

Supplies:

Stamp Sets:  Boys Will Be Boys, Party Pants, Number of Years

Card Stock:  Mossy Meadow, Lost Lagoon, Hello Honey

DSP:  Going Places (Occasions Spring Catalogue)

Ink:  Mossy Meadow, Hello Honey, Lost Lagoon

Accessories:  The Big Shot, Ovals Framelit Dies, Itty Bitty Accents punch (Star), Banner Punch, Dimensionals, Sponge Daubers, 11/4,1 3/4 and 1/38" circle punches, scissors  

Double Fold Card:
For my third  and final project I was inspired to CASE a card made by Lisa Curcio of Lisa's Stamp Studio.  She called it a Double Fold Card. 

Grateful Bunch Double Fold Card by Lisa Curcio of Lisa's Stamp Studio.

For measurements and a video on how to make this card click on this link.

Here's My Card:  
The sky's really the limit when creating with this fancy fold card.  It's just that super simple but it packs a big wow! I chose to use Blackberry Bliss as the main colour in this card and have added only small touches of Lost Lagoon and Mossy Meadow.  I think it turned out pretty posh?    

Supplies:
Stamp Sets: Remembering Your Birthday, Party Pants 
Card Stock:  Blackberry Bliss, Whisper White, Lost Lagoon, Mossy Meadow
Ink:  Blackberry Bliss
Accessories:  The Big Shot, Botanical Gardens Thinlet Dies, Lost Lagoon Ribbon, Black Berry Bliss Ribbon, Rhinestones, dimensionals 

I hope you're having fun on the blog hop today and that my creations have been an inspiration for you.  Let me know if you have any questions about the projects I made, I'd be happy to respond.  

Now it's time to move on to the amazing Buffy Cooper's blog to see her wonderful creations.  Enjoy! 

Buffy Cooper

Libby Fens

Wacky Watercooler April Blog Hop

Happy Stamping!

Penny Tokens Stamping Spot