PENNY TOKENS STAMPIN SPOT: Wacky Watercooler Blog Hop June 2016

Hi there! Today I'd like to welcome you to our June Wacky Watercooler Blog Hop which runs from June 16th through 18th and it's all about celebrating the new Stampin' Up! 2016-2017 Annual Catalogue. We have eight fabulous blogs for your inspiration.

Because this blog hop is circular it doesn't matter where you start, you'll eventually wind up where you started from. If you've come here from Priscilla Iver's wonderful blog, I bet you were super impressed with her great projects. Priscilla is always so creative. When you've finished with my post you'll find some icons at the bottom of the page to move along either to the next or previous blogs, or you can go right to the beginning.

So let's get started. I've been anxiously waiting to share my three projects featuring my new favourite Incolour, my favorite stamp set and finally the designer series paper that I can't get enough of. Are you ready? Have fun and enjoy!

My Favourite New Incolour:
I've never been a "blue" person in either colour or attitude so I'm surprised that this year my favourite colour is fast becoming Dapper Denim. Whether it's that mid range of colour or the reminder of a good pair of jeans, I'm not sure. But, that's my colour choice.

Here's my card:
I decided to make a birthday card using Dapper Denim card stock for the base and a layer of Emerald Envy. I stamped the floral bloom from Birthday Blooms stamp set in Dapper Denim around the perimeter of a 4 x 5 1/4" piece of Very Vanilla card stock and then coloured it with sponge daubers and a blender pen. I added a bit of Emerald Envy for the leaves.

For the inside of the card I stamped around the outer edge with a textured stamp from Timeless Textures and then stamped the flower once again in Dapper Denim.

When the images were coloured on the Very Vanilla piece, I embossed it with the Fluttering Embossing Folder. You can see the butterflies better in this image.

Supplies:
Stamps: Birthday Blooms, Timeless Textures
Ink: Dapper Denim, Emerald Envy
Card Stock: Dapper Denim, Emerald Envy and Very Vanilla
Accessories: Big Shot, Trimmer, Fluttering Embossing Folder, Sequins, Blender Pens, Sponge Dauber.

My Favourite New Stamp Set:
It's really difficult for me to call one stamp set my favourite because I have a handful I love combining for my projects. However, I'm thrilled that the Picture Perfect Two-step Photopolymer stamp set was carried over from the Occasions Catalogue, because it's quickly becoming a "favourite" not only for its 18 stamps but the ease of creating something art worthy with the two-step stamp process.

Here's My Card:

I really enjoyed stamping and colouring this beautiful little hummingbird, my "favourite part" of the stamp set. Where we live we have five feeders and each day are host to 50 or more voracious little feeders. They've become a big part of our outdoor life. I can really wile away the hours watching them at my feeders and flowers baskets.

Four stamps were used to create the hummingbird image and I added additional details with a gel pen, blender pen and Dazzling Details. Smokey slate ink was used for the foundation colour or first image and the second layer of Blushing Bride and Sweet Sugarplum were added for the ring around the neck. I actually stamped the image again into the top of the wing for an additional pop of colour and used the blender pen to draw the pinks into the darker areas. When I added the third stamp layer I inked up with Emerald Envy but stamped off before adding it to the image to dilute the colour.

The final layer is Night of Navy full strength. I added some details to the wings, eye and underbelly with a white gel pen and added some Dazzling Details for sparkle. If you're wondering how I got two wings from a one winged stamp, I stamped the bird twice and fussy cut the whole image and then just the wing from the second image. The back wing was glued to the card stock and the hummingbird was added with dimensionals.

The card base is Night of Navy followed by a layer of Blushing Bride. Oh my those colours are so beautiful together. Then I added a layer of Whisper White that I'd embossed with the Softly Falling Embossing Folder (another great carryover from the Occasions Catalogue). The verse "you are made of WONDERFUL" is from the same stamp set and is stamped in Night of Navy.

For the flowers I used the Botanical Builder Framelit set. This is another great tool to have on hand when you want to create die-cut flowers and leaves in no time at all. From leaves to flowers and stamens it's all included in this set and it coordinates perfectly with the Botanical Blooms Photopolymer stamp set. Additional details on the card face include a sprinkling of Basic Rhinestones in the flower centers and above the sentiment.

I used Very Vanilla card stock for the inside panel of this card. It was stamped with the large floral image from the Botanical Blooms 17 piece two-step photopolymer stamp set. I had an oops moment when I stamped the sentiment from Kinda Eclectic on the inside panel. I was so proud that I got it straight without using my Stamp-a-ma-jig (which I was too lazy to grab), that it took me a moment or two to realize I'd stamped the verse in Tuxedo Black Ink instead of Night of Navy. Oh well, I won't tell if you don't............

Okay one last look at this card which I really enjoyed making:

Supplies:
Stamp Sets: Picture Perfect, Botanical Blooms and Kinda Eclectic
Ink: Momento Tuxedo Black, Night of Navy, Blushing Bride, Pear Pizazz, Emerald Envy, Sweet Sugarplum and Smokey Slate
Card stock: Night of Navy, Very Vanilla, Blushing Bride
Accessories: Trimmer, Big Shot, Botanical Builders Framelits, Softly Falling Embossing Folder, Basic Rhinestones, scissors, Black Marker, White Gel Pen, dimensionals, Tom Bow glue

My Favourite New Designer Series Paper:
So far, my favourite new DSP is called Playful Palette and it comes in a 6 x 6" paper stack. The designs in this pack are a mixture of upbeat and active patterns and the 12 double sided designs feature a mix of Very Vanilla, Basic Black, Blushing Bride, Emerald Envy, Peekaboo Peach and Sweet Sugarplum colours.

The great mix and match in this colour scheme will make for some exciting projects such as the ones in this Stampin' Up! sampler:

Here's my card:
Beyond using my favourite designer paper, for this project, my concept was to create an upbeat, colourful and gender neutral adult milestone birthday card. Here's what I came up with:

The card face features a split diagonal technique. To achieve this I cut a piece of DSP to 4" x 4 1/4" and then cut on the diagonal from corner to corner. The basic black layer beneath the DSP measures 4 1/8" x 5 3/8". The card base is Peekaboo Peach and measures 8 1/2" 5 1/2" and is scored at 4 1/4".

I used the black space left by shifting the diagonal DSP pieces to the edges of the black card stock for my sentiment. The "Happy" "Birthday" sentiments from the Number of Years stamp set worked perfectly in this space and because the words are two separate images I was able to ink them up with Versa Mark ink and emboss them in gold.

Number of Years Order #40653

While I had the heat gun out , Versa Mark ink and embossing powder handy I randomly stamped the dots image from the same set and heat set them with gold embossing powder. This addition to the DSP adds a little highlight and ties in with the gold sentiments.

I really wanted the large numerals from the Large Numbers Framelits to pop off that card so I did two things. First I like to create a shadow effect with the numbers, so I cut two sets, of numbers, one in Basic Black and the other in Emerald Envy. When I glued them together I just slightly offset the black set so it looks like a shadow.

I created a pin wheel and used two different sheets of dsp for the squares. If you have never made a pinwheel or would like a refresher click here for my pinwheel tutorial. Make sure you scroll down because there are step by step pictures. What fun! I love that set.

Large Number Framelits Order #140622

I carried over the dsp to the inside of the card and added some fun balloons.

The inside of the card has a Very Vanilla panel that measures 4" x 5 1/4". I added a 1" x 5 1/4" strip of Playful Palette DSP and a 1/2" x 5 1/4" strip of Basic Black card stock to the right edge of the panel. Because this is a Birthday card and it looked just a little too plain for the occasion I added two Emerald Envy and one Peekaboo Peach balloons. If you're interested in how I made these check out my entry in last week's Watercooler Wednesday Challenge for detailed instructions.

Supplies:
Stamp Sets: Number of Years
Card Stock: Peekaboo Peach, Emerald Envy, Basic Black and Very Vanilla
Ink: Versa Mark, Emerald Envy and Peekaboo Peach
Accessories: The Big Shot, Trimmer, Gold Embossing Powder, Heat Gun, Large Number Framelits, Stylus, Black Marker, dimensionals and Tom Bow Glue.