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

Peek-A-Boo Flip Top Card

On May 28th and June 18th I posted some cards that used a technique called the "Peek-A-Boo Flip"  or "Fold Over Window" card and I promised to give you  some information on how to create them. Sorry that it took so long and I missed a couple of deadlines. 

As mentioned in my Wacky Watercooler Blog Hop post, I found the original design, a graduation card, on Glenda Caulkin's blog.  She had designed a card for her nephew and did a great video showing how she did it. 

I also came across a Sympathy Card created by Dawn Olchefske's called A Fold Over Window Card.  Dawn's video is also an excellent source for information on measuring correctly. 

Okay, so what did I do for my cards?  Well, here's a birthday card I made featuring the Celebrate Today stamp set:

Supplies: 
Stamp Set:  Celebrate Today
Ink: Watermelon Wonder (New In Colour Ink - 2015-2016 Annual Catalogue)
Card Stock: Bermuda Bay, 
DSP:  New - Cherry on Top DSP 2015-2016 Annual Catalogue 
Accessories:  Trimmer, Embossing Folder, Big Shot, Balloon Framelit Dies (coordinates with the  Celebrate Today stamp set or can be used on it's own), sponge daubers, Mono Adhesive,

Assembly:

1.  To begin, make all your paper cuts as follows:

• 1 piece of 3 1/4" x 11"co-ordinating card stock for flip panel, score at 5 1/2"
• 1 piece of 4 1/4" x 5 7/16" co-ordinating card stock for the card base 
• 1 piece of 3 x 5 7/16" Whisper White card stock for the center panel
• 2 strips of DSP or cardstock measuring 1/2" by 5 7/16" for the decorative panels.

2. Decorate the front of the 3 1/4" x 11 flip panel in your style by:

• stamping or embossing the flip panel to fit your design
• using a die cut or punch to cut a piece for the window or peek a boo opening. 

3.  To assemble the inside of the card:

• Stamp images and/or sentiment on the inside panel.
• Glue the Whisper White panel to the center of the card base.  Tip: I line up the card base and center panel using grid paper, when I can see that it's even on both sides I adhere the white panel
• I use Tom Bow glue to adhere the two decorative strips along the edges of the white center panel.  Make sure that these pieces line up at the top and are butted up tightly against center panel. Once you've adhered these pieces, flip the card base over and trim away any overlapping edges along the top and bottom of the card base.
• To finish the front of the card, center the flip panel, against the front side of the card base.  Again I'd recommend using the grid or a ruler to make sure the flip piece is evenly lined up on both sides of the card base.  Next I add Tom Bow glue to the back of the panel and re-center the piece being careful not to get glue on anything. Once you're satisfied with the placement lay the card down and press so the back of the flip panel attaches to the back of the card base.    When you use Tom Bow glue, you still have an opportunity to reposition the card piece if it isn't quite centered.  

This Peek-a-Boo Flip Top fancy fold can be used for any occasion.  Your imagination and creativity are the only limits for making this very versatile, inexpensive and fun card.  Here are some other cards I've made using this technique:

Sympathy Card:
I wanted a simple and clean looking Sympathy Card that didn't involve a lot of layers. For this card, I stamped the cross hatch image in Smokey Slate and the flower from the "You've Got This" stamp set in Elegant Eggplant on the flip panel of this card.  

The opening was die cut using the small label from the now retired Thinlets Card Labels die set. The inside sentiment is from the Petite Pairs stamp set.  I chose Smokey Slate for the card base cut the two decorative strips from Elegant Eggplant that was embossed with the Lovely Lace embossing folder.

It's a little hard to see but I took the fine tip of my Elegant Eggplant marker and outlined the center parts of the flowers to make them standout a bit more.  It worked beautifully and there's just a hint of a darker shade of Eggplant which was perfect.

I repeated the flower image on the inside of the card but I stamped off before adding the image so that it was a bit softer.  

Graduation Card: 
Once again, here's the graduation card I made for my niece who recently graduated. I pretty much CASED this card from Glenda Caulkin's, as noted above.  

I did the card base in Night of Navy card stock, and the two decorative panels were cut from Gold Foil sheets.  Love that stuff!  

The "Celebrate Today" Photopolymer stamp set was a perfect choice for this joyous occasion.  I love the versatility of the images and sentiments in this set. Tip: if you're searching for this set in the catalogue and can't find it, that's because it's filed under "Everyday Occasions" rather than birthdays, because it's one of those sets that's just so much more.  

I embossed the Happy Graduation sentiment and balloon tail with Gold Embossing powder.  The front of the flip panel is dry embossed with the Lucky Stars Embossing Folder.  Metallic Gold thread was used for the bow on the balloon base. 

Christmas Card:  
Here's an early Christmas card made with this same technique.  This card is going to be one of my Christmas in july Stamp-a-Stack cards because it's so quick and easy to assemble. 

I used Tip Top Taupe one of the new In Colours for the card base and flip panel piece.  I dry embossed the Flip Panel with the Woodgrain Embossing Folder and cut out the hole with a 1 3/8" circle punch.  

The wreath is from the Wondrous Wreath stamp set and it was cut out with the coordinating Wonderful Wreath framelit dies.  I'm so happy that both of these products were carried over from the Holiday Occasions Catalogue.  

I love all the accessories that come with the Wonderful Wreath framelit dies including the little bow?  It's the perfect size.  I cut the decorative panel pieces and two bows from Red Glimmer paper .  I glued the bows together so that the glimmer paper is showing on both sides, before I attached it to the wreath with glue dots.  

While you can't see it in this photo, I've added a window transparency sheet behind the wreath so it looks like it's hanging over a real door window.  I cut out the window sheet with a 1 3/8" circle punch and adhered it to the back of the wreath.  I didn't want all the leaves showing through the transparency so I re-cut the Tip Top Taupe 1 3/8" circle negative with a 1 1/4" circle punch and attached it behind the wreath.  You can see it in the second picture below.

You can see the second bow and the inner circle I made with Tip Top Taupe, to hide the unfinished back of the wreath.  

Well that's it for this post.  I hope I've shown you how much fun and how versatile this  Peek-a-Boo or Fold Over Window card can be, and I hope my instructions as well as the video links were easy to follow.  Look forward to hearing your comments.

HAPPY STAMPING!
PENNY TOKENS