WWC71 Heidi's Tic-Tac-Toe Challenge

It's Wednesday and that means it's time once again for a new Watercooler Wednesday Challenge.  Heidi Weaver has taken the lead on this one and chosen a Tic-Tac-Toe theme.....what fun!

WWC71-Heidi's Tic-Tac-Toe Challenge

Wow, so many decisions!  I wasn't sure which way to go - vertical, horizontal or diagonally across the middle.  In the end, I decided to use the end column and make a Gift Card Holder for Father's Day, using one of my new stamp sets called Bear Hugs and its matching Bear Hugs Framelit Dies.  In the end it turned out this design also worked diagonally.  Who knew!
Here's my card:

This is a quick and easy gift card holder to make. I found the original instructions in a video by Dawn Griffith.   Here are a few more details and views.

The easel on the front of the card can be in either in a raised position or flat (see next picture).  To stop the top portion of the card from sliding forward I cut a scalloped circle from Dapper Denim and layered it with a wood grain piece and a blue button with some rafia tied in a bow.   

 

The card base was cut from Dapper Denim card stock, one of the new Incolours.  The wood grain panels were stamped on Crumb Cake  card stock and the sentiment panels on Very Vanilla card stock. I wanted the Papa Bear to look like he was in a huge tree trunk so I inked up the Wood Grain embossing folder with Soft Suede ink and my trusty brayer and ran these pieces through the Big Shot.  

This is such a fast and fun technique and clean-up of the embossing folder and brayer are a breeze with warmy soapy water. For the hole in the tree I punched out a 2" circle and put a square of basic black card stock on the back.  I stamped the full image of the bear and tucked him into the opening.  His bottom half is glued to the back of the card front and I placed a dimensional behind his head and paws to make him stand out.
  

The "World's Greatest" and "DAD" sentiments from the Guy Greetings stamp set really work with this card face.  What would we do without this great masculine set? Guy Greetings covers every occasion and is so versatile. 

Look at that Papa Bear, he's soooo cute!  He was stamped in black ink on Crumb Cake card stock and his fur and around the edges were sponged with Soft Suede ink.  I also added a wee bit of Crystal Effects (now retired) to his nose and claws to make them stand out.  That cute bow tie is stamped in the black ink on Dapper Denim and then cut out with the matching Bear Hugs Framelit die.    

These jars started out as honey pots but I wanted them to say "DAD".  I began by stamping the three honey pots in black ink on Very Vanilla card stock.  Before I actually stamped the image, I wiped off the word "honey" with a wet one. Once the pots were stamped I inked up the word "DAD" and added it to the center of each pot. To finish the jars I coloured the lids with a Hello Honey (appropriate) marker and the jars with Sweet Sugarplum, Peek A Boo Peach and Flirty Flamingo markers.  The final touch was some Crystal Effects on the honey.  Voila! 

This view gives you an idea of what's going on inside the card.

The top wood grain panel holds a standard size gift card.  The opening is cut out with the 2 1/2" circle punch. To give it some strength for removing the gift card, I used 1/8" sticky strip instead of glue around the 3 edges

 
I love this cute little bear.  He's stamped with black ink on Crumb Cake and I softened the edges and added a bit of colour with a sponge dauber and Soft Suede ink.  A 3/4" strip of the woodgrain card stock was added about 1/2" from the bottom of this panel.  Don't you just love that bow tie? The sentiment "It's For You" is from the Bear Hugs Stamp Set. 

The Very Vanilla panel was stamped with black ink.  The "Happy Father's Day" sentiment is from Guy Greetings and the "I love you" heart is from Bear Hugs.

Stamping Supplies:
Stamp Sets:  Bear Hugs, Guy Greetings
Ink:  Momento Tuxedo Black, Soft Suede
Markers:  Hello Honey, Sweet Sugarplum, Peek A Boo Peach, Flirty Flamingo
Card Stock:  Dapper Denim, Crumb Cake, Very Vanilla, Basic Black
Accessories:  Big Shot, Trimmer, Woodgrain Texturized Embossing Folder, Bear Hugs Framelit Dies, Scallop Circle Punch, 1 3/8" Circle Punch, 2" Circle Punch, Scissors, Brayer, Button, 8 " Raffia, Crystal Effects (now retired).

Well that's it for my card this week. I hope you like it.   Be sure to check out all the Design Team cards and leave some comments along the way.  

Oh and, how about participating in this challenge?  If you've never done a Tic- Tac-Toe challenge now's the time to try it out, we'd love to have you join us and play along!  You can do it!

Happy Stamping! 
Penny Tokens Stampin' Spot