Watercooler Wednesday Challenge - WWC104 Kath's Sketch Challenge

Hi everyone!  It's time for this month's Watercooler Wednesday Sketch Challenge WWC104 which is being hosted by Kath.   This is such a great sketch.  It's versatile, quick to assemble and could be used for absolutely any occasion.

Here's My Card:

Today I'm featuring a stamp set I've recently acquired and fallen head over heels in love with.  It's called Bella and Friends.

Oh my, the eleven rubber images and sentiments in this set are so much fun and simply bring a smile to your face.  Having several friends with small dogs that resemble Bella, I know these stamps will be seeing lots of ink in future.  

Supplies:
Stamp Sets:  Bella and Friends and Balloon Adventures
Card Stock:  Whisper White, Calypso Coral and Pool Party
DSP:  A Little Foxy DSP Stack 
Ink:  Momento Tuxedo Black, Calypso Coral and Pool Party Markers, Watermelon Wonder, Smokey Slate
Accessories:  Big Shot, Trimmer, Festive Embossing Folder, Bunch of Banners and Oval Thinlets, Wink of Stella, Aqua Painter, Basic Pearls, Tom Bow Glue, Dimensionals. 
Assembly:

1. Cut Whisper White card stock to 8 1/2" x 5 1/2" and score at 4 1/4".  Cut a 4' x 5 1/4" piece for the inside of the card.
2. Cut a piece of Calypso Coral to measure 4" x 5 1/4" and adhere to the card base.
3. Cut a piece of Pool Party to measure 3 3/4" x 5" and dry emboss with  the Fiesta Embossing Folder, having the design run vertically.
4. For the band, which I chose to place a little higher on the card than the sketch I cut a piece of Calypso Coral 1" x 3 3/4", a piece of A Little Foxy DSP Stack measuring 3/4" x 3 3/4".  I also added a 1/4" x 3 3/4" strip of Pool Party that was embossed.  
5. Sadly I don't own the Stitched Shapes Thinlet Dies that have just come back on the market, or I would have used the beautiful stitched ovals to cut out the Calypso Coral and Whisper White Ovals.  I had to settle for my old Oval Thinlets which are now retired.  I stamped the Bella image and the cupcake in Momento Tuxedo Black ink. I did not colour the images when I assembled the card because I wanted to show how these great line images stand alone on their own.  
6. For the banner I cut two Calypso Coral banners and one Whisper White banner using the Bunch of Banners Thinlet set.  I layered these together starting with the two Calypso Coral pieces and then adhering the Whisper White banner to the top.  I stamped the "Just For You" sentiment from the Bella and Friends set on my card stock before cutting it out.  The label was mounted with Dimensionals. 
7. For the inside of the card I stamped the image "No One Deserves a Happier Birthday Than You" which Calypso Coral and Pool Party Markers. I added a 1/2" x 5 1/4' strip of the DSP to finish it off.
   

So now that you've seen this card with a plain stamped Bella, I'm going to share a stepped up version featuring some watercolouring and Wink of Stella

What a difference a little colour makes. I applied some brush strokes of Smokey Slate and Watermelon Wonder with an aqua painter. Some sparkle was added to the little red heart and the cupcake icing with A Wink of Stella. Voila, a wonderful little card!
I hope you enjoyed this post and this fun card. I'd love to have you comments. For all the challenge details and to share your project, visit Watercooler Wednesday challenge site by clicking this highlighted link. We'd love to have you join us. You have until Monday, February 6th at 6:00 p.m. Central Time to link your project. too.
Happy Stamping!
Penny Tokens Stampin' Spot

WWC84 Deborah's Sketch Challenge

The very talented Deborah Smart is our host for this week's Watercooler Wednesday challenge and she has chosen a wonderful sketch that I know you're going to want to try out.  Here it is:
 

 

Here's My Card:

I really liked the composition of this sketch and new that it would be quick and easy, which I need these days, to recreate.  I decided to change the layout of the sketch though, and chose to go with the card fold at the top and the layers running down the card front. 

As I scrolled through my new Holiday Catalogue I practically shrieked with delight when I came across the Merry Mice 7 piece stamp set.  Mice have been one of my all time favourite images for Christmas cards and the three main stamps in this set do not disappoint.   I knew it would be the perfect stamp set to use with this sketch.

Merry Mice 7 piece stamp set #142142 (wood) or #142145Clear Mount.  Also available in French.  Page 23 of the Holiday Catalogue

Supplies:
Stamp Sets:  Merry Mice, Teeny Tiny Wishes, Cookie Cutter Christmas 
Card Stock:  Garden Green, Cherry Cobbler, Very Vanilla, Water Colour Paper
DSP:  This Christmas Specialty Designer Series Paper

Ink:  Tuxedo Momento Black Ink, Crumb Cake, Cherry Cobbler, Garden Green, Dapper Denim, Soft Sky, Pirouette Pink, Smokey Slate
Accessories:  Big Shot, Trimmer, Holly Textured Impressions Embossing Folder, Dimensionals, Tom Bow Adhesive, Candy Cane Lane Baker's Twine - Whisper White with Red Metallic Thread, Mini Glue Dots, Wink of Stella Clear

Assembly:
1.  The card base is a 4 1/4" x 11" piece of Garden Green card stock scored at 5 1/2".  I've chosen to do a top fold card and have flipped the original sketch to the top.

2.  The first layer is a 4" x 5 1/4" piece of Cherry Cobbler card stock.

3.  The second layer is a 3 3/4" x 5" piece of "This Christmas Specialty Designer Series paper". 

This Christmas Specialty Designer Series Paper #141628 page 172 of the Annual Catalogue is a light weight Christmas themed paper, including sheet music. It includes 24 12 x 12 sheets of paper - 4 each of 6 double-sided designs, that can be used with Basic Black, Cherry Cobbler, Garden Green, and Very Vanilla card stocks and inks. 

4.  The third layer is a 1/2" by 4 1/4" strip of Garden Green card stock that was embossed with the Holly Embossing folder. I mounted this strip with dimensionals across the face of the card and left a small strip of the Cherry Cobbler card stock visible at the top.

5.  The fourth layer is a 3" x 4 1/4" piece of Cherry Cobbler card stock that is mounted on the DSP layer with dimensionals.

6.  The final layer is a 2 3/4" x 4" piece of water colour paper on which I coloured the image.  Before adhering this piece to the Cherry Cobbler layer, I wrapped it with a 12" piece of Candy Cane Lane Baker's Twine.  I used the Whisper White with Red Metallic thread spool. 

7.  I stamped the sentiment "Merry Christmas" from the Teeny Tiny Wishes stamp set in Garden Green ink at the bottom of the water colour paper layer. I chose this stamp because of the dots underneath the sentiment.  They match the diagonal red dots in the designer series paper. 

8.  I had so much fun colouring this little guy and the more colours I added the more animated he became.  Don't you just love the expression on his cute little face? He just makes me smile!

Note:  I began by stamping the image on water colour paper with Momento Tuxedo Black ink.  In retrospect, I should have used Staz On ink as the Momento ink bled a teeny bit along the tail and around the ear. The reason was because the aqua painter I was using to apply the colour was releasing too much water and it saturated the paper in places, causing the bleed. 

You can't tell from this picture but the book has a shiny gray cover achieved by covering it with Glossy Accents.  I also added some sequins with Mini Glue Dots and Wink of Stella Clear on the White strip of the mousies hat, the pom pom and the musical notes.   

I brushed on Soft Sky ink in the background around the mouse and Smokey Slate beneath him.  I think he turned out pretty cute!

9.  For the inside of the card I cut a 4" x 5 1/4" layer of Very Vanilla card stock.  I embossed the top of the layer with the Holly Embossing Folder and stamped the sentiment "Have Yourself A Beary Merry Christmas" from the Cookie Cutter Christmas stamp set in Cherry Cobbler.  I used scraps of Garden Green and DSP on the base of the layer.  The Garden Green measured 1" x 4" and the DSP 6/8" x 3 7/8".  

I'm a little embarrassed to admit I missed the word "Beary" in the sentiment I stamped on the inside of the card, because it's actually referring to the Bear image in the Cookie Cutter stamp set.  Instead of throwing out this panel I decided to add the Holly embossing in the hopes that it would be interpreted as "berry" not "beary".  We'll see!

Well that's it for this week.  I'd love to hear what you think of my card or this stamp set. Let me know what your favourite images are at Christmas, I'd love to know. And, don't forget to check out the other design artists for this Watercooler Wednesday Sketch Challenge, they've created some awesome designs.  

Oh, and if you like this holiday card be sure to come back on September 15th as we're having our September Wacky Watercooler Blog Hop and we're going to be featuring our favourite holiday stamps and accessories from the new 2016 Holiday Catalogue. 

Happy Stamping!
Penny Token's Stampin' Spot 
September Hostess Code:  2KDCKBQE