#101 Watercooler Wednesday - Jean's Color Challenge

The second week of every month is a color challenge at the Watercooler Wednesday blog and this one is hosted by the incredible Jean Fitch.  Jean has chosen to mix Bermuda Bay, So Saffron and Sweet Sugarplum along with a Neutral of choice for this challenge.  What a great color combination:

Here's My Card:
Although these are spring like happy colours, I'm using them today for a sympathy card. 

I'm dedicating and giving this card to a friend who's just lost her husband and soul mate of many years and the service was today.   I'm hoping the bright colours in this card will bring some light back into her world. 

Supplies:
Stamp Set:  Nature's Wonders (2002) Retired Set, The sentiment stamps are non-Stampin' Up! rubber stamps
Card Stock:  Whisper White (Neutral), Bermuda Bay, Sweet Sugarplum, So Saffron
Ink:  Bermuda Bay, Sweet Sugarplum, So Saffron
Accessories:  Trimmer, Big Shot, Tom Bow Glue, Dimensionals Stamp-a-ma-jig and Layering Squares Framelits.

 Assembly: 

1.  The Whisper White Card Base measures 8 1/2" x 5 1/2" and was scored at 4 1/4".
2.  The Sweet Sugarplum layer measures 5 1/4" x 4" and was adhered with Tom Bow glue.
3.  The Whisper White layer measures 5 1/8" x 3 7/8" and was adhered with Tom Bow glue.
4.  I stamped the floral image in Bermuda Bay, Sweet Sugarplum and So Saffron inks on scraps of Whisper White card stock.  I cut them out with  a plain 1" x 1" die from the Layering Squares Framelits.  
5. The next layer was another Whisper White square cut with the the 1" x 1" Scalloped Edge Framelit. This scalloped square is about 1/16th" of an inch larger than the plain square die, so you just see a little fringe of the scallops around the edge of the stamped piece.  This was adhered to the stamped square with Tom Bow glue. 
6. Die cut the next largest scalloped square in each of the three solid colour card stocks and adhere them to the image of the same colour. 
7. Mount the finished squares to the card face with Dimensionals.

8. The sentiment "Thinking of You" was stamped in Sweet Sugarplum ink and centered below the scalloped squares.  I used the Stamp-a-ma-jig for straight placement. 
9. The inside of the card was stamped with the full floral image in the bottom right hand side of the card. The sentiment "With Sympathy" was stamped just above the floral image, and again I used the Stamp-a-ma-jig.    

Well that's my card for today.  Please leave me a comment if you think this card is worthy.  I hope you'll also check out the other design team members cards over at the WWC101 - Watercooler Wednesday challenge blog.  

Happy Stamping! 
Penny Token's Stampin' Spot 

Birthday and Thank You Cards

While on my recent vacation I had very limited stamping supplies and stamps on hand but I tried to rise to the occasion using what I had.  I needed to make a masculine card for my friend John's 86th birthday and thank you cards for two very dear female friends. Looking through my sets I decided to do double-duty and use a retired set called Nature's Wonders to create both cards. 

This wonderful 4-piece wood block stamp set from 2006 features stippled reverse images of a flower, sand dollar, dragonfly and a leaf or twig. 

To make the most of these images you need to have a very juicy stamp pad and a firm hand.  I chose to use the flower and leaf stamps for my cards.   I'm thinking that the new foam pad stamp pads that Stampin' Up will be releasing in June would be perfect for this type of stamp image.

My card base is Whisper White layered with a piece of 4  x 5 1/4" Poppy Parade cardstock.  The next layer is a piece of Whisper White that's been embossed with the Perfect Polka Dots Embossing Folder.  The image is stamped in Poppy Parade and layered up with dimensionals on more Poppy Parade and Whisper White layers. 

Here's a closer look at the image which I absolutely love. 

I kept the inside of the card simple just adding the flower image to the upper right hand corner and adding a Thank You sentiment.  Both were stamped in Poppy Parade. 

For the masculine birthday card I chose Really Rust (retired cardstock) for my card backer. I layered this with Basic Black, Really Rust and a piece of Whisper White cardstock that was stamped in Really Rust with the French Script background stamp. 

To make the leaf image pop off the page, I first stamped it into Versa Mark Ink and then inked it up again in Basic Black Ink.  I stamped the image four times (reinking each time) on my piece of Whisper White Card stock and then covered the four images with Clear Embossing Powder and heat set them. 

I then cut the images into 1 1/2" x 1 1/2" squares which were mounted with dimensionals onto a piece of Basic Black cardstock, leaving a 1/4" gap in-between the four images to give a window pane effect.

In this closeup you can see the fine detail of the images and sentiment and how embossing and heat setting really brought the images forward.  You also get a small glimpse at the French Script on the 4th layer. 

For the inside of the card I chose to layer again with Basic Black and Whisper White and added a simple stamped leaf in Really Rust to the bottom right corner.  The Happy Birthday sentiment was heat set using Basic Black Ink, Versa Mark and Clear Embossing Powder.

I hope you enjoyed these cards and the steps used to make them.  Although the Natural Wonders set has long been retired it is one of those sets that I've brought out time and time again and I've always been pleased with the results.