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 

Celebrate Today & Make a Wish

Hi everyone!  Hope your Sunday is a little brighter and sunnier than ours is.  

It's currently cloudy and on the verge of rain.  One good thing about the weather not being so enticing outside is that I get to play in my stamp room today...........yeah!

Last Tuesday when I was making cards with my bestie Sheri, we were working on a Colour Challenge put out by Just Add Ink.  The colour mix was Calypso Coral, Pear Pizzazz, Pool Party and Crumb Cake. Nice combination right? 

Well, as I sometimes do, I suckered myself into using Pear Pizzazz for the background on my card, even though my better judgement was screaming "go neutral" keep it "clean and simple".  

In the end because of my misguided decision followed by my indecision and dissatisfaction, I missed the post time for this challenge.  Urrrrrrrrgh!!! The final birthday card was finally finished a few days later after much creative angst and major revisions, but the good news is it did get finished and even though it was late for the challenge I decided to post it here.  


Here's the card I came up with: 

The card in MHO is overwhelmed by the Pear Pizzazz background which I tried to make more interesting by embossing with the Lovely Lace embossing folder.  I'm pretty sure that if I'd stuck to a Whisper White background for the card base and the stamped layer I think it would have worked better. Sometimes as the saying goes "less is more".

Along with the colour challenge we were eager to try out a new to us fancy fold technique called a "corner fold card".  This is a great card technique and takes very little time or effort to accomplish.

I'm not going to give you the dimensions and details for completing a corner fold card in this post as you can find several good examples on Youtube .  The one we chose to follow was done by Linda Bauwin.

Supplies:
Stamps:  Celebrate Today, Perfect Pennants
Ink:  Calypso Coral, Pool Party
Card Stock: Calypso Coral, Pear Pizzazz, Crumb Cake and Whisper White 
Accessories:  Balloon Framelit Dies, Lovely Lace Texturized Embossing Folder, Trimmer, Big Shot, Basic Rhinestones, Dazzling Details Glimmer Adhesive in Dazzling Diamonds, Note Tag and 1/2" Circle Punches, Snips, Crystal Effects, Adhesive, Dimensionals

Some Details:

Originally I stamped the birthday balloon from Celebrate Today in Pool Party ink on the whisper white layer, and coloured in the word happy with Calypso Coral blendabilities.  I also stamped the sprinkled stars image over top of the balloon and added some Dazzling Details glimmer adhesive to the stars.

One thing about the 17-piece Celebrate Today set is that you get so many creative options and can combine individual stamps to build the final image you want in the colors you want.  I decided to use some more of the images  to dress up this card.  I stamped 4 of the shaker images on Pool Party card stock with the matching ink.  I layered two of the shakers and then cut small strips below the tab part to make them look 3 dimensional.

The banner was stamped in Calypso Coral on Whisper White card stock and then cut out using the Balloon Framelits (love those).  To add a lacquered look to the banners I covered them with Crystal Effects and let them dry before adhering some small rhinestones. 

I fussy cut the balloon tail which was stamped in Calypso Coral on Crumb Cake cardstock and used dimensionals to adhere it to the card base.   I finished it off by adding basic rhinestones in every second tail.  

I stood back, looked at the card and I still wasn't satisfied.   By now I'm sweating because time is ticking on the challenge clock and I so wanted to enter my card.  "What's a girl supposed to do?"

Well, I'll tell you, in frustration I went back to the drawing board, removed all the added details from the card front, that's right stripped it right back down to just the balloon image, and then I stared at it.   I hummed, played on the computer, looked at other stamp sets, planned dinner, and still nothing.  

Then, failing inspiration and in desperation, I did what all good stampers do when they get stumped............. I went and ate a bunch of chocolate and pondered what to do.  And finally the "ah ha" light went off in my head as inspiration hit me!  

It was while I was "wishing" for an idea to hit me that I remembered the "Make a Wish" sentiment stamp in the Perfect Pennants stamp set.  

Bingo this would be the perfect sentiment to layer onto the balloon and I could use my Note Tag Punch to cut it out.  I stamped the image in all four of the colours from the challenge to see which one would work best on the card front and chose to use a Calypso Coral on Crumb Cake.  I punched out the "a" from one of the tags I'd stamped in Pool Party with a 1/2" circle punch and then  mounted it with a dimensional to the center of the tag.  

The rest was easy peasy.  I re-attached the shakers, banners and balloon tail, and stamped the inside of the card with another balloon image.  I missed the challenge but, I did finish the card and that was important to me, along with being satisfied with the second attempt. 

I hope you enjoyed this card and the journey I took to finish it.  How about you, have you experienced my "I'm not satisfied" feeling, and if so what did you do about it?  I'd love to hear your story.  Please share and links to your card if any.  

Happy Stamping!
Penny Tokens

May Hostess Code is in effect Until May 31st:   BD37E4S4

Scalloped Tag Topper Punch Gatefold Card

Do you like flowers and butterflies?  How about fancy fold cards?  Do you like learning new techniques?  

Well today I've got all that and more for you, because I want to share a fun gate fold card made with Stampin' Ups! Scalloped Tag Topper Punch. 

My stamping friend Sheri and I made this card on Tuesday when we were trying out some new techniques.  

We based ours on one made by Linda Bauwin of Stamping With Linda. She called it a "landscape scallop tag topper card" because it is done width wise as opposed to the Scallop Tag Top card that's been around for awhile. Linda has included a video on her post.  

Here's one that is made features the Scalloped Tag Topper Punch on the length of the card or in portrait mode.  I made this one during Sale-a-bration, using the Flower Shop stamp set and the Sweet Sorbet DSP:

Tag Top Closure Card made with the Flower Shop stamp set.

Measurements for this card are:
1.  Card base 8 1/2 x 5 1/2 in basic black
2.  Cut panels for front - Cranberry Crisp measures 2 1/2 x 5 1/4" and DSP panel (Sweet Sorbet) measures 2 1/4 x 5". 
3.  Inside panels measure - Whisper White 3 3/4" x 5" and Cranberry Crisp measures 5 1/4 x 4.  
4.  On 5 1/2" side mark with a pencil 2 3/4" from the top and the bottom.
5.  Pull cardstock through Tag Topper Punch and line up pencil mark with the center of the scallop on the punch and punch.  Repeat on the other side of the card.
6.  Cut off the excess tabs at the top and the bottom of each side by lining up the end of the tag in the channel of the trimmer and then sliding the cutting blade up to the top to remove the little tab and then repeating to remove the bottom tab.  On the right hand side of the card you will need to score the scalloped tag topper and crease.  
7. Once you have removed the tabs on both sides of the card put the card base back in the trimmer with the creased scallop tag topper on the left hand side and line it up with the 4 1/4" line and score.  This will create your front panel.  


Here's My Card:  
   

Here is the front of our beautiful card.  I love the mix of Gumball Green, Island Indigo and Smokey Slate.  You'd think that might be a gloomy colour mix, however it looks so soft and cheerful in this card.   

The inside of the card is stamped in Island Indigo with the Papillon Potpourri stamp set.  Tip:  I like using Clear Mount stamps and acrylic blocks because they offer me more options than wood block when I'm stamping.  For instance, Sheri mounted all four butterflies on Block F (118483) Stampin' Ups! 4 7/8" x 6 inch Acrylic Block, instead of stamping them individually.  This comes in really handy if you're making several of the same card and you want them all to look the same. It allows you to set up the layout exactly as you want it.  Mounting more than one stamp on the block also works well when you're working with multiple two-step stamp images, such as the ones in the Too Kind stamp set.    

In this view you can see the full inside of the card.  There's plenty of room for writing a note or adding an additional sentiment stamp. 

SUPPLIES:
Designer Series Paper (DSP):  Watercolour Wonder DSP Occasions Cattie*
Card stock:  Whisper White, Smokey Slate, and Island Indigo
Ink:  Island Indigo
Stamp Sets: Papillon Potpourri and Chalk Talk
Accessories:  Tag Topper Punch, Chalk Talk Framelit Dies, Beautiful Wings Embosslits, Smokey Slate Taffeta Ribbon, Dimensionals, Basic Pearls, adhesive.

Papillon Potpourri is a 7-piece two-step stamping set featured on page 90 of the IB&C.  It comes in wood mount #132058 $22.95 or clear mount #123759 $17.95.  This set coordinates with the Elegant Butterfly and Bitty Butterfly punches sold on pg. 183. 

Chalk Talk is available in English, Spanish, French and Germany languages.  It coordinates with the 1 3/8" Circle, Extra Large Oval punches on pg 182 of the IB& C and with the Chalk Talk Framelits seen below. 

Chalk Talk Framelits and the Chalk Talk Stamp set can still be purchased as a bundle until the end of May 2014.  By purchasing as a bundle you automatically save 15% of the regular price.  The wood mount bundle #132731 is $53.50 and the clear mount bundle #132730 is $45.75.

* The Occasions Catalogue will be finished it's sales period on May 31st so if you need any of the products used to make this card (with the exception of the Scalloped Tag Topper Punch) you'll have to order by then or they'll no longer be available.  

HOW I MADE IT: 

1.  To make card base cut a piece of Smokey Slate card stock to measure 4 1/4 x 10 3/4".  
2.  Score this piece at 2 3/4" and 8".  Crease score lines.
3.  On 4 1/4" side measure to 2 1/8" and put a mark in pencil.  This will be your punch guide.  Repeat on both sides of the card.
4.  Insert the 4 1/4" side of the card into the Tag Topper Punch and pull all the way to the top of the punch.  Center the middle of the Tag Topper over the pencil mark and punch.  
5.  Insert in paper trimmer and cut away from top edge to the tag and repeat on the bottom half cutting away from the side of the tag to the end of the card.  Repeat on other side of the card. 
6.  To finish inside of the card cut a piece of Island Indigo card stock to measure 4 1/8" x 5 1/8" Adhere to card base.  
7. Cut a piece of Whisper White card stock to measure 4 x 5.  Stamp with butterflies in Island Indigo and adhere to Island Indigo card stock.
8.  To finish outside panels of the card cut two side panels from Island Indigo to measure 1 3/4" x 4" adhere to the card front.
9.  Measure two pieces of DSP to measure 1 1/2" x 3 3/4" and adhere them to Island Indigo panels.  
10. Using Beautiful Wings Embosslits run a scrap of Island Indigo through the Big Shot and attach to either side of the front panels.  I attached the largest butterfly die cut with dimensionals and added four basic pearls down its spine.  
11.  Stamp the "happy Big day" image from Chalk Talk in Island Indigo on a scrap of Whisper White card stock and cut it out with the corresponding die from the Chalk Talk framelits set.  Adhere to the right panel with dimensionals. 
12.  Cut a 10" piece of 3/8" Smokey Slate Taffeta ribbon and fit an end through each of the tabs on the Tag Top punch pieces and tie a box.  
13.  Now stand back and admire your card, it's all done and it was easy peasy! 

I hope you enjoyed this card and find the instructions easy to follow.  Please leave me your comments if you like making these type of cards.  I think this is a design I'll be using often as it gives such a WOW look.  

Thanks for dropping by I sure appreciate it.