Watercooler Wednesday #WWC130 - Gail's Feminine "Anything Goes " Challenge

I don't know about your part of the country but where I live it's hot, hot, hot, and as we begin the month of August the long range forecast looks like more hot weather to come.  

Now I'm not complaining because in the Spring it seemed like it would never stop raining, but now a large portion of our Province (BC) is under extreme fire alert and evacuations so it's a scary time for many folks living here.  Today the sun is hidden in a smokey haze, so picture taking outside is not great. 

I have a lot of friends and family on my August birthday card list, so Gail's Feminine "Anything Goes" challenge will come in handy.  

Are you interested in playing along with us?  It's easy and fun.  Take the challenge, just make a card or project and link it to the Watercooler Wednesday Challenge site. This challenge is open from now until Monday August 7th, so there's plenty of time to post a card or project.  All the rules and how to's are on the side bar on the Watercooler Wednesday Home Page.

Here's My Card:

For this week's challenge I wanted to make an ultra feminine birthday card for my friend Lynda, and I wanted to try a drapery fold.  I looked on Pinterest for a template and found a post by Angie Leach of Too Cool Stampin, who made this drapery fold card back in 2016.  I loved the way the pleats showed just a hint of the background paper, and looked so soft and feminine. I used Angie's measurements for the drapery fold on my card but I've tweaked the rest of the card to make it my own. 

Supplies: 
Stamp Set: Beautiful Bouquet
Card Stock: Whisper White, Powder Pink, Silver Glimmer Paper
Ink: Sweet Sugar Plum, Powder Pink
Accessories: Big Shot, Paper Trimmer, Bouquet Bunch and Stitched Shapes Ovals Thinlet Dies, Mini Glue Dots, Tom Bow Glue, Dimensionals, Basic Rhinestones.

Details - 7 Steps:
1.  Card Base:  Cut the card base from Whisper White card stock to measure 8 1/2" x 5 1/2". Score at 4 1/4" and fold.
2.  First Layer:  Cut a piece of Powder Pink to measure 3 7/8" x 5 1/8". Adhere to card base with Dimensionals.
3.  Second Layer:  Cut a piece of Whisper White to measure 3 3/4" x 5".  Adhere to first layer with Tom Bow glue.
4.  Drapery Fold:  

• Cut a piece of designer series double sided paper to measure 8 3/4" x 3 1/2".  
• Decide which pattern you want on the outside before you score at 1 1/4", 1 3/4", 2 3/4", 3 1/4", 4 1/4", 4 3/4", 5 3/4", 6 1/4", 7 1/4", 7 3/4".
• Place the bottom of the 1 1/4" score line on the cutting line and the opposite top edge of the paper at the 1/2" point on your trimmer.  Cut a straight diagonal line between the two points.
• Alternately fold front and back on score lines to create the pleats.  Crease the pleats with a bone folder to get a sharp edge.  Tip rather than using Tear N' Tape or Tom Bow glue, I affixed Mini Glue Dots between the pleats to hold the pleats in place.  Put a strip of Tear N' Tape along the back top edge and adhere to the second layer.  I lined up the bottom of the longest pleat on the side and bottom of this layer and then firmly adhered this layer.  
• Cut a 1/4" x 3 3/4" piece of Powder Pink card stock and adhere this to the top edge of the Drapery folds.  Note:  You may have to use mini glue dots on the edge with the longest pleat.  

 

5. Sentiment:  Stamp the "Happy Birthday" sentiment from the Beautiful Bouquet stamp set on a scrap of Whisper White with Sweet Sugar Plum ink.  Stamp off the small floral image stamp in Powder Pink ink over the oval.  Cut out the stamped sentiment with the 2nd oval from the Stitched Shapes Oval Thinlets.  Using the next size of Oval cut out a Powder Pink one and attach it with Dimensionals in the center top of the card overlapping the drapery.  Adhere the sentiment oval with Dimensionals to the Powder Pink one.  

6. Card Front Details: To finish the card front, die cut a small flower in Powder Pink and a Glimmer Paper Silver leaf using the Bouquet Bunch thinlets.  Adhere to the bottom corner of the card and add Basic Rhinestones to the flower centers.

7.  The inside of the card has a 4" x 5 1/4" panel of Powder Pink.  I added a cluster of Whisper White flowers and Silver Glimmer leaves in the bottom right corner.   I chose not to add a sentiment  to the inside as I want to personalize this card for one of my girl friends.  

Sometimes it feels like I have more difficulty making a feminine card than a masculine one, and it becomes a real challenge for me. But, the stamping gods were with me today, because this card came together beautifully and I'm pretty pleased with the outcome.  All in all a pretty easy card that has a lot of WOW factor and a design that I know I'll be making again. 

Thanks for dropping by today.  If you haven't already visited the other Watercooler Wednesday Design Team members to check out their fabulous projects you can do so by clicking here.  Have fun and if you're so inclined I'd love to hear what you think of this card.  Have you made a Drapery Fold and if so was it easy?  Leave me a comment, I love having feed back, especially when I try something new.   

Happy Stamping
Penny Tokens Stampin' Spot

Watercooler Wednesday Challenge #126 - Fiona's Feminine "Anything Goes" Challenge

Well it's a whole new month, and we're starting it off with a fresh new look.  What do you think of our new banner and badges?  It was time to update our Watercooler Wednesday image and I think that Heidi Weaver and Marsha Reid have done an excellent job of recreating our look.  I'm loving it and I think it's very modern and cool looking.  

This week's WWC126 challenge, hosted by Fiona Whitehead has a "Feminine" Anything Goes theme. 

If you're interested in playing along with this challenge all the rules can be found on the Watercooler Wednesday Home Page.  This challenge runs until 5:00pm MT Monday June 10th, 2017.   

Here's My Card: 
With summer finally heating up this week, I've noticed one of Nature's true wonders, the dragonfly, is back.  I've spotted several around my garden and have watched them in fascination.  Because they've so inspired me, I decided to feature dragonflies on my Feminine "Anything Goes" card this week.

Supplies: Stamp Sets:  Dragonfly Dreams and Beautiful You
Card Stock:  Whisper White and Tranquil Tide
Ink:  Tranquil Tide
Accessories:  Paper Trimmer, Basic Rhinestones, Tom Bow Glue, Wink of Stella, Score Pal.

Dimensions:1.  Card Base measures 8" x 7 1/4" and is scored at 4". Whisper White.

2.  1st Layer - 3 1/4" x 6 5/8" Tranquil Tide

3.  2nd Layer - 3 1/8" x 6 1/2" 

4.  I stamped two Dragonfly images from Dragonfly Dreams on the 2nd layer in Tranquil Tide ink and added 5 Basic Rhinestones to the body of each of them.  The sentiment "Live with Passion, Laugh Out Loud and Love Deeply " is from the Beautiful You stamp set.   Wink of Stella was brushed across the wings to add some magical shimmer.

   
5.  Even Clean and Simple cards sometimes need a little boost of elegance, so using my Score Pal I scored a line 1/4" around the Tranquil Tide layer on the card front.

6.  I stamped the dancing girl and the sentiment "Life Looks Beautiful on You", in Tranquil Tide ink in the bottom right hand side of the card base inside the card.  

So that's it for this week's post.  Thanks for dropping by to take a look.  I hope you liked the clean and simple lines of this card.  Leave me a comment if you get a chance and come back next week for another great Watercooler Wednesday challenge.

Happy Stamping!
Penny Tokens Stampin' Spot

Watercooler Wednesday #123 - Marsha's "Fireworks" Theme Challenge

The Watercooler Wednesday challenge this week, hosted by Marsha is a Clean & Simple Challenge with a "Fireworks" theme.

After getting off to a super slow start with this "CAS Fireworks" challenge, I believe I came up with a pretty good interpretation of it with this card.   

I initially had a lot of difficulty because I was really stressed over the fact that I didn't have any fire works stamps.  I knew what I wanted to make and spent a lot of time trying out several different floral, star and splotch stamp images in my search for something that resembled fireworks even if it was in an abstract way.  In the end, I lucked out at the Clipper Street Garage sale this past weekend when I  found a gently used fireworks stamp from Great Impressions that worked for me and got my mojo going.  

Here's my card: 

Supplies:
Stamp Sets:  Holiday Home (R-135095), Great Impressions - Fireworks (Non SU), Beautiful You (143637)

Card Stock: Whisper White, Real Red

Inks: Basic Gray, Momento Tuxedo Black, Smokey Slate, Night of Navy, Elegant Eggplant, Marina Mist inks; Real Red, Old Olive and Daffodil Delight SU Markers, and Red, Yellow and Green Sharpie Markers

Accessories: Big Shot, Paper Trimmer, Bitty Banner (R) and Bunch of Banners (144488) Thinlet Dies, Post It Notes for Masking, Aqua Painter, Wink of Stella, Dazzling Details in Cherry Cobbler, Stickles in Green and Yellow, Basic Rhinestones, Cherry Cobbler, Crushed Currie, and Crushed Cucumber Embossing Powders,  Sponge Daubers, Coffee Filters, Heat Gun and Post It Notes for masking.

Details:
1.  4 1/4" x 11 piece of Real Red card stock scored at 5 1/2" for a Top Fold card base. 

2.  4" x 5 1/4" Whisper White panel  adhered to card base.

3.  3 3/4" x 5" Whisper White panel:
a.  Begin by stamping the house images from the retired Holiday Home stamp set in Momento Tuxedo Black ink along the bottom portion of the panel. 

b. Stamp and fussy cut three more images from Post It Notes and use these to mask off the houses.

c. I began sponging, starting at the top of the panel and working downwards,   starting with Basic Gray ink.  This was followed with Night of Navy, Marina Mist, and Elegant Eggplant inks to create the night sky.  I sponged around the edges of the entire panel with Momento Tuxedo Black ink, so the Whisper White card stock didn't show through. 

d. After sponging the panel I removed the masks and coloured the houses with Smokey Slate, Basic Gray and Daffodil Delight inks and an aqua painter.

e. I stamped the fireworks image with Versa Mark ink and covered each of the three bursts with embossing powders in Cherry Cobbler, Crushed Currie and Cucumber Crush and then heat set.  Tip:  I stamped the first image which has three bursts and carefully poured the embossing powder individually over the images trying not to overlap the colour.  I used coffee filters to capture each of the inks separately.  Once the Embossing Powder was spread I heat set the image with my heat gun and then repeated this process for the next image.
 

f. I finished off the star bursts with medium sized Basic Rhinestones that were coloured with Sharpie Markers.  Using Dazzling Details and Stickles I outlined each of the star bursts to add some shine.  I coloured the small bits in the background with Wink of Stella.

 

4.  For the inside of the card I cut a 4" x 5 1/4" piece of Whisper White card stock. Instead of embossing the image I coloured the fire works stamp with Real Red, Daffodil Delight and Old Olive markers and stamped the image in the bottom left corner.  Note:  I didn't add a sentiment to the inside as this card could be used for many different types of celebrations.

5.  For the sentiment I stamped the "Celebrate" stamp from Beautiful You on a scrap of Whisper White, cut it out with the Itty Bitty Banners dies and then mounted it to a Real Red banner from the Bunch of Banners thinlet dies.  I used Tom Bow glue to adhere it flat across the house images.
  

Well that's it for this week's card challenge.  I hope you'll leave me a comment and let me know if this card works for you. I'd also like to hear what you would substitute for fireworks if you didn't have a stamp. 

If you want to play along with this challenge (and I hope you will), it's open for link up until 5pm Mountain Time on Monday May 19th.  All the rules and information for posting are on the home page.  

If you haven't checked out the other Design Team creations pop on over to the Watercooler Wednesday challenge blog.  Trust me there are some amazing renditions of fireworks to be seen.

Until next time.........

Happy Stamping!
Penny Tokens Stampin' Spot

Watercooler Wednesday #120 - Gail's Christmas Challenge

Our new lineup of weekly challenges includes a Christmas Challenge and the talented Gail Allen is leading the first one with her WWC120 - Christmas Challenge.  Her inspiration photo is so cute, who could resist.  What fun! 

So even though it's not quite summer the Watercooler Wednesday Design Team have mustered up their Christmas Spirit and come up with some really great seasonal cards to share with you.  I know you're going to enjoy them too.   

And, hopefully you'll feel inspired too and get an early start on your seasonal cards and share your creation by linking up with us for some fun too!  This challenge is open from May 24th through 5pm Mountain Time on Monday May 29th, 2017.  

My Card:

One of my most stamped Christmas sets last year was Cookie Cutter Christmas. I absolutely adored every single image.  When I found out it was carried over into the new 2017-18 Annual Catalogue, I whooped for joy and did a happy dance!  It was like welcoming back an old friend. 

So, for this first ever Christmas Challenge at the Watercooler, it will probably come as no surprise that I chose this set and my favourite image from it for today's card.  Hope you love it as much as I do! 

Supplies:
Stamp Sets: Cookie Cutter Christmas #132043, Here's to Cheers (R)
Card Stock and DSP: Cherry Cobbler, Garden Green, Crumb Cake and Warmth and Cheer DSP Stack(R)
Ink: Momento Tuxedo Black ink
Accessories: Big Shot, Trimmer, Cookie Cutter Builder Punch (140396), Shaker Shapes Framelits (R), Stitched Shapes Framelits (145372, Jingle Bell (R) 

How It's Made:
Card Layers Inside and Out:  
1.  Card Base - Cherry Cobbler 8 1/2" x 5 1/2" scored at 4 1/4" 
2.  First Layer - Garden Green 4" x 5 1/4".  Cut out the Oval and Circle from this piece before adhering it to the card base. 
3.  Second Layer - Basic Black 3 3/4" x 5" - Cut out oval before adhering to first layer. 
4.  Third Layer - Warmth and Cheer DSP - 3 5/8" x 4 7/8" adhere to second layer.  Note:  I purchased this paper pack on the current Clearance Rack and it's going to be perfect for making this season's Christmas projects.  Love it!

Warmth and Cheer DSP  is currently on sale for more than 50% off on the Clearance Rack

Oval Layers: 
Note:  As you probably know from past tutorials, I number my Stitched Shapes Thinlets from the inside (smallest) to the outside (largest).  The following directions list the number (#) of the thinlet instead of the size.

Stitched Shape Thinlets There are 12 dies in this set of Thinlets, and I number them from the smallest die through to the largest 1 - 4:
Circle: 4 dies, largest image 2-7/8"
Square: 4 dies, largest image 2-5/8”
Ovals: 4 dies, largest image 3-1/4” x 2-5/16”
Use with Big Shot, Big Shot Platform, and Standard Cutting Pads

 

1. 1st layer:  #4 Oval - Garden Green oval (cut from First Panel).
2. 2nd layer: #3 Oval - Basic Black oval (cut from Second layer).  Cut another #3 oval from a scrap of DSP, and then cut it into thirds.  Throw away the two ends and glue the remaining piece across the center of the Basic Black Oval, lining up the stitch marks.  Mount the black oval with Dimensionals to the green one. 
3. 3rd layer:  Stamp the Deer image from Cookie Cutter Christmas in Momento Tuxedo Black ink on Crumb Cake card stock and punch out with the Cookie Cutter Builder Punch.  Adhere to DSP with Dimensionals.  Die cut a small bow from Shaker Shapes in Cherry Cobbler card stock and mount with Mini Glue dots below the deer head.  Attach a silver jingle bell to the center of the bow with Mini Glue dots.  Attach the oval to the top left corner of the Third Layer approximately a 1/2" below the top and to the side.  Glue flat with Tom Bow Glue to the DSP layer. 
 

Cookie Cutter Builder Punch cuts out all the characters from the Cookie Cutter Christmas Stamp set, plus a cute little bow tie and heart. 

Sentiment Layer:

1.  Stamp the "Just Spreading Cheer This Christmas" sentiment in Momento Tuxedo Black ink onto Crumb Cake card stock.  Cut out with 1 5/8" circle die and layer onto the #2 Stitched Circles Garden Green circle with Dimensionals. Glue flat with Tom Bow glue to the bottom right hand corner of the card face overlapping the panels. 

Inside Panel:

1.  Cut a 4" x 5 1/4" panel from Garden Green card stock and adhere to card base. 
2.  Cut a 3 3/4" x 5" panel from Crumb Cake card stock and adhere to Garden Green panel. Stamp the sentiment " Warm Heartfelt Greetings....." from the Cookie Cutter Christmas stamp set in Momento Tuxedo Black ink.  Stamp the deer's head in lower corner of the panel.  Add a small Cherry Cobbler bow under deer's chin with Mini Glue dots.  
3.  Cut a 1/2" x 5 piece of the Warmth and Cheer DSP and glue to the left side of the Crumb Cake panel leaving an 1/8" gap between the edge and DSP.

Well that's it for my Christmas share today.  I hope you like this card.  I know I do and I've got plans to duplicate it several times over using other papers from the Warmth and Cheer paper pack.  I just know that my relatives and friends will get a kick out of it too! 

If you haven't had a chance to see the cards from the rest of the DT make sure you stop by and check them out.  And, if you feel like it, leave me a comment and let me know if you enjoyed Gail's Watercooler Wednesday Christmas Challenge and how early you start making your seasonal cards.  I'd love to have your feedback, it makes my day! 
Happy Stamping!
Penny Tokens Stampin' Spot