Watercooler Wednesday Challenge #137 - Penny's Masculine "Anything Goes"

Today is the second of two rainy days in BC.  Good for the fires but depressing for the soul unless you have something to do.............like spending time in your craft room.  Nothing could be better!

It's time for this week's Watercooler Wednesday Challenge and I get to be the hostess!  What fun!  

Before I get on with the challenge details I'd like to welcome our newest temporary guest artist Charlotte Ehrukainen from Finland. Charlotte's contributed many, many times as a participant in our challenges as "Lady Joyful", and has often Rocked the Watercooler with her terrific designs. So, welcome Charlotte it's going to be great having you on board!

This week is one of those love it or hate it challenges because it's about crafting a Masculine card. Don't groan..... I get it.  With the over abundance of floral and cutesie stamps that are geared to our feminine side, it's sometimes hard to come up with a design for the guys in our life.  Well don't despair, our WCW Design Team artists have come up with some  delightful samples that I'm sure will inspire you.

Here's My Card:

 

Here's what the inside looks like.  When you open the card the secret hinge allows this display to pop out.  There's plenty of room on the red bottom panel for writing a birthday message.

This is a Twist and Pop birthday card I made for a friend's cousin who was celebrating his 70th birthday. To create a card that was perfect for him, I needed to get into detective mode to find out whatever details I could about his life so the card would be a very personal experience for him.

On questioning, my friend said her cousin was a well traveled man who loved cars.  He's taken to the open road in his little red and white Corvette and on his Harley driving through California and Arizona on many trips.  He's also traveled Route 66 and been a big NASCAR fan.  So, road trips in the southern states have played a big part in his life.  

From this information, I tried to create a card that mirrored her cousin's life experiences and would signify not only what a great journey he's had but those he will continue to have.

Supplies:
Stamp Sets: Stylized Birthday, Guy Greetings, One Wild Ride, Badges and Banners, Happy Birthday Gorgeous, Gorgeous Grunge and Route 66 (Carta Bella non SU)
Card Stock: Basic Black, Real Red, Crumb Cake and River Rock (R) and Route 66 DSP Carta Bella
Ink: Momento Tuxedo Black, Real Red, Crumb Cake and River Rock
Accessories: Big Shot, Paper Trimmer, Detail Scissors, Stamp-a-ma-jig, Post-It Notes for masks, Dimensionals, Mini Glue Dots, Tom Bow Glue, Sticky Strip, Envelope Maker, Misti.

The Envelope:  
This card making adventure begins with the Real Red envelope which I made with my Envelope Maker. It's a handy tool to have when making a Twist and Pop card because they can be bulkier than an A2 card and need some room.

The lighting in this photo doesn't make it look like Real Red but trust me it is.  I've stamped the Badge from Badges and Banners  in Momento Black ink on Crumb Cake.  It was cut out with the Best Badge Punch.  The Banner with Dan's name in it was punched out with the Duet Banner Punch, and the little houses are from the retired Sleigh Ride Edgelits.  The strip of DSP is from the Carta Bella Route 66 DSP.

This envelope started with a 9" x 9" piece of textured card stock.  This card stock isn't as dense as regular card stock, so it's easier to work with when making envelopes.  The only pitfall to using it is it's rough and uneven texture which makes it difficult to stamp on. To remedy this  I used my Misti to stamp the Stylized Happy Birthday sentiment multiple times to get a good image without fear of blurring it. 

Details:
I'm not providing instructions on how to make a Twist and Pop card in this post, but you can check out this link to one of my previous posts that provides a detailed tutorial. 

The Belly Band:
This Belly Band is unique because it's made from an Acetate Window Sheet rather than card stock.  The Acetate measured 3 1/2" x 10".  By mounting the die cut on the Acetate, it still allowed the map on the top of the card to show through. 

I mounted the Happy Birthday die cut sentiment which was cut from Real Red and Basic Black card stock to the center front of the Belly Band.  The two die cuts were glued together with Tom Bow glue.  They were offset slightly to get an illusion of a shadow and depth to the letters.  Mini glue dots secured the lettering to the Acetate Sheet.

To finish the Belly Band, I carried on the desert theme from the front of the card on Crumb Cake card stock and stamped the bike from One Wild Ride.  

I stamped a second image of the bike on a Post It Note and masked the original image before stamping the cactus and the "pit stop" images.  These stamps were from the Route 66 stamp set. The edges of this layer were sponged with Basic Black ink and I used the large splatter stamp from the Gorgeous Grunge stamp set to add dots of Real Red, River Rock and Basic Black ink randomly across the images. 

 The Card Front:

I found some great DSP with a matching stamp set called Route 66 that was perfect for my card.  The top section of the card was a 3 7/8 x 5 1/8" piece of the DSP that features a map of California. 

I stamped the Corvette on a piece of River Rock card stock, and fussy cut out the car.  The desert scene from the Route 66 stamp set was stamped in Momento Tuxedo Black ink.  The sentiment "To a Classic" from the Guy Greetings stamp set was perfect for the Banner which was cut out with the Bunch of Banner Thinlet dies.  The edges were sponged with black ink.  

The Inside Panels: 

The top panel dsp has a map of Arizona and the motorcycle is from the One Wild Ride stamp set.  I've also used the Route 66 stamp set again to recreate the desert image.

The first two panels in the center of the pop up feature the Best Badge and Banners and Badges stamp set and the new Every Day Label Punch. the Happy Birthday and confetti are from the Happy Birthday Gorgeous stamp set.

The third panel has an old Chevy from the Route 66 stamp set and the sentiment "Hope Today is One Wild Ride!" is from One Wild Ride. The Real Red numbers were cut out with the Large Numbers Framelit dies.

Well that's the end of this journey, and I hope you enjoyed it.  It's such a challenge making a card that tells a story and I think I've succeeded in capturing some of Dan's journey.  My friend said he really liked the card, so that's all that counts.  If you liked it too I hope you'll leave me a comment. 

Don't forget to check out the rest of the WWC Design Team if you haven't already done so.  Just click on the Designer's name above their cards to check out their individual blog posts. 

Also, if you want to participate in this challenge, and I sure hope you do, it's easy to play along.  All you need to do is make a Masculine card and link your blog post to the Linsky before 5pm Mountain time on Monday September 25th.  Please don't enter your card in more than 7 other challenges or you won't be eligible to win our "Rocked the Watercooler" or "Honourable Mentions" badges, and that would be sad.  Until next time....

Happy Stamping!
Penny Tokens Stampin' Spot

SUO Demo/Designers Showcase Blog Hop - 2017 Holiday Catalogue

Hi everyone!   Welcome to the SUO Demos and Designers Showcase Blog Hop. We're going to be focusing on new products from the 2017 Holiday Catalogue, and sharing samples of our favourites.  

The new catty has been out for almost two weeks now and there are so many exciting products and ideas we want to share with you. 

I hope you'll check out all the participants blogs for ideas on how to use these products and great tips!

Here's My Favourite:  Musical Season Bundle

I was hoping this season's holiday catalogue would include some designer series paper with musical images or a stamp set.  Well, you simply can't imagine how excited I was when I found not only was there designer paper but a stamp set with coordinating dies too!  I'm sure you could hear me all the way down the block, I was so elated with the Musical Season Bundle and the Merry Music Specialty Designer Series Paper. 

The Musical Season Bundle includes the 7 piece rubber stamp set called Musical Season and a 6 piece coordinating die set called Musical Instruments. 

This is the Merry Music Specialty Designer Series Paper which includes 24 sheets of lightweight paper printed with traditional Christmas carols in English, French and German. This Basic Black and White paper pack has four each of six  double sided sheets.

I can't say enough about these fun products. I first used the Merry Music DSP for my cards in the Creative Circle 3-D Piano Project last week and I was very happy with the way they turned out.  This paper is amazing.

I hope you'll enjoy the card I made for tonight's hop and come back to see more over the coming weeks. 

Supplies:
Stamp Set:  Musical Season Clear Mount
Card Stock:  Basic Black, Whisper White, Silver Foil, Silver Glimmer Paper
Ink:  Momento Tuxedo Black
Accessories:  Big Shot Machine, Paper Trimmer, Black Rhinestones, Seasonal Layers Thinlet Dies, Stitched Shapes Thinlet Dies, Dimensionals, Zip Glue

The snowflakes were cut out with Seasonal Layers Thinlet dies.  I've added one of those gorgeous Black Rhinestones to the center and there are some more rhinestones in the top and bottom corner of the card.  Love them!  

The Silver Glimmer Paper is to die for and paired with the DSP it's pure magic.  There are lots of layers on this card and for the most part I only left a 1/8" difference in the measurements.  It seems to give a more glamorous look than the wider margins do.  I really enjoyed blending the Silver Foil and Glimmer with this DSP.  

Well I hope you enjoyed seeing my favourites from the Holiday Catalogue.  This is such a great hop.  Hope you'll continue going down the list and seeing all of today's projects. 




Happy Stamping!
Penny Tokens Stampin' Spot

Watercooler Wednesday Challenge #136 - Gail's "All About Birthdays"

I don't know about your household but in mine, September and October are almost continual birthdays for friends and family. Because I need so many cards for these special occasions, I was happy to have the opportunity to play along with Gail Allen's Watercooler Wednesday "All About Birthdays" challenge.

Why don't you play along this week too? This challenge will be open until 5:00pm on Monday September 18th. It's easy to link up your card to our Linkski and who knows, your creation might "Rock the Watercooler"! Just click here to go to the Watercooler Wednesday home page and check out the rules of play.

One of the stamp sets I fell in love with from the new Holiday catalogue is called Half Full and features a wonderful array of stamps and sentiments that are wine based. I just knew this set would be perfect for some upcoming birthdays. So, without further adieu I'd like to share my Half Full Birthday card for this week's challenge.
Here's My Card: 

Supplies:Stamp Sets:  Half Full #144999 and Stylized Birthday #141828
Ink and Markers: Momento Tuxedo Black, Fresh Fig,
Card Stock: Crumb Cake, Basic Black and Fresh Fig
Accessories: Stamp-a-ma-jig, Paper Trimmer, Scissors, Dimensionals, Glossy Accents, Basic Rhinestone, Ribbon (non-SU), Paper Snips for Fussy Cutting.

Details:
1.  Cut a piece of 8 1/2" x 5 1/2" Fresh Fig card stock for base and score at 4 1/4".   These are a A2 card dimensions.

2.  Cut a 4" x 5 1/4" piece of Basic Black card stock for the first layer and adhere to base.

3.  Cut a  3 7/8" x 5 1/8" piece of Crumb Cake for top layer.  Using the Stamp-a-ma-jig and Fresh Fig ink, stamp four rows of the multi wine glass image across the widest part of this panel.  Sponge the edges with Fresh Fig ink and adhere to the Basic Black layer.

4.  Stamp the sentiment "Wine improves with age....." on a scrap of Crumb Cake card stock in Fresh Fig.  Fussy cut the image and using a sponge dauber and Fresh Fig ink sponge around the edges.  Using the 4th label die from the Lots of Labels Framelits cut out a Basic Black label.  Center and adhere the Wine Label to the Basic Black label and then cut it down so only the top and 1/16" show around the sides and bottom.  Adhere to card front on an angle on the left side.  Make a small bow and attach with a glue dot and a Basic Rhinestone. 

5.  Stamp the wine bottle image on Fresh Fig Card Stock and on Crumb Cake card stock.  Fussy cut the Fresh Fig bottle.  Fussy cut the wine label and the bottle top from the Crumb Cake bottle and piece on the Fresh Fig bottle.  To give the appearance of a glass bottle, use clear glue or Glossy Accents on the Fresh Fig portions of the bottle and let dry.  Attach with Dimensionals beside the tag.

6.  Stamp the wine glass on Crumb Cake and fussy cut it. Use a Fresh Fig marker to colour in the wine in the glass.  Cover the glass with Glossy Accents and let dry, then go over the wine with a Fresh Fig Marker to make it stand out.  Attach the glass with Dimensionals beside the wine bottle.  

7. To finish the inside of the card begin by cutting a Basic Black panel 5 1/4" x 4" and adhere to card base.

8. Cut a 5 1/8" x 3 7/8" piece of Crumb Cake for the inside panel.  Sponge the edges with Fresh Fig ink and stamp "Happy Birthday" using the Stylized Birthday stamp in the center.  Stamp a wine glass in the bottom right hand corner.  

This card came together pretty quickly and I love the glossy accents on the wine bottle and the glass, it just brought them to life.  I know my friend will love receiving this birthday card. 

I hope you like it as well and would love to hear your comments.  If you started at my blog forget to check out the other Watercooler Wednesday Design Team Birthday Projects.  So much inspiration! 

 

Happy Stamping!
PennyTokens Stampin' Spot

Creative Circle Design Team - September 2017 Blog Hop "Upright Piano"

Hello Stampers! September has arrived and I'd like to thank you for joining us for another of our monthly blog hops with the Creative Circle Design Team. 

Our hops are held on the first Thursday of each month. We are a small group of like minded, international Stampin’ Up! Demonstrators led by Liz Holloway.  Liz provides us inspiration and different challenge themes each month.  I'm sure you'll agree, although this hop is small, its a wonderful source of inspiration! 

If you're musically inclined or know someone who is, I know you're going to simply love this month's theme which features a 3-D "Up Right Piano" and card holder designed by Liz. Each of the Creative Circle Design Team members has been challenged to put our own spin on her wonderfully crafted "upright piano" template.  

Here's My Piano:
Whether it's a Steinway, a Schumann or Wurlitzer, pianos come in many shapes, sizes and designs. My piano is based on one I saw many years ago in an old bar in Virginia City. This upright piano was a rare thing of beauty.  The front, back and sides had an inlaid glass design that reflected all the light in the room. Hopefully I've captured the essence of that piano in my design.  

Supplies:
Stamp Sets: Merry Little Labels #144795, Floral Phrases #141767
Card Stock: Basic Black, Whisper White
Specialty Papers:  Champagne Foil Sheets #144642, Merry Music DSP #144623
Inks: Momento Tuxedo Black
Accessories: Piano Template SVG (Liz Holloway Design), Gold Thread, Basic Rhinestones, Sponge Dauber, Big Shot, Paper Trimmer, Music Embossing Folder, Detailed Floral Thinlet #141482, Everyday Label Punch #144668


The Piano:

The piano itself,  came together rather quickly using Liz's great SVG design.  This is what it looked like before I began the process of piecing it together.

All the pieces are numbered and she provided a great video tutorial which made assembly a breeze.   It was up to me to design the outer shell and the 4 cards that nestle into the top opening.  

The floral design on the front, sides and back of my piano were created by running the cut panels through the Big Shot with the Detailed Floral Thinlets.  Each panel is backed with the new Champagne Foil sheets that are in the Holiday Catalogue.  

 

Detailed Floral Thinlet Dies

I also embossed the fabulous Champagne Foil Sheets with a non Stampin' Up Musical Notes Embossing Folder and added them to the outer and inner keyboard cover.  

The keyboard cover is held in place with small magnets and opens and closes very easily.  The beautiful key board was printed out on Whisper White card stock.  Note:  My printer wouldn't print out the file on Whisper White card stock, so I took my two sheets of card stock and the file to my local Staples and I had them print out copies for me.  The total charge for the printing and for the counter girl's expertise in duplicating the file for me was only 21 cents.  Best deal I've had in a long time! 

The Cards: 
When I first began this project I was planning to make Musical Flash cards to put in the slot on top of the piano, and Liz had very nicely cut out some musical notes for me to use. However, when I got my first glimpse of the new Holiday Catalogue I change my mind and decided to make "Just for You" cards.

 

Supplies:
Stamp Sets:  Merry Little Labels #144795, Floral Phrases #141767
Ink:  Momento Tuxedo Black 
Card Stock:  Whisper White, Basic Black
Designer Paper:  Merry Music DSP #144623, Champagne Foil Sheets.
Keyboard on Whisper White, Musical Notes on Basic Black card Stock 
Accessories:  Paper Trimmer, Sponge Dauber, Everyday Label Punch #144668, Gold Thread, Basic Rhinestones and Dimensionals.  

Details:
1.  Cut 4 1/4" x 11" piece of Whisper White and score at 5 1/2" for card base.
2.  Cut a 4" x 5 1/4" piece of Basic Black for the first layer.  Cut a 1/4" by 5 1/4" strip of Champagne Foil and adhere it to the left hand side of the Basic Black layer with only an 1/8th of an inch showing.  Adhere this layer to card base.
3.  Cut a 3 3/4" x 5 1/8" piece of Merry Music DSP and sponge around the edges with black ink.  Adhere leaving only an 1/8" strip around the top, bottom and right side of the Basic Black layer.
4.  Cut key board to measure 5 1/8" by 1 1/8" and sponge the edges with black ink then adhere to the left of the Merry Music DSP.
5.  Stamp the sentiment "Just For You" on scrap of Whisper White card stock and distress with a sponge dauber and black ink around the edges.  Punch out with the Everyday Label Punch.  Using this punch cut out a Basic Black label, cut it in half and attach it to the top and bottom of the Whisper White label.  Attach two Basic Rhinestones to the center top and bottom of the label.  Attach some gold thread to the back of the label so it shows on the left hand side before attaching to the card front with Dimensionals. 
6.  I had some large musical notes cut out in Basic Black card stock that I adhered to the fronts of the cards.  Each card was different. 
7.  The inside of the card has a 4" x 5 1/4" Basic Black Layer and a 3 3/4" x  5" layer of Whisper White card stock.  I used the filigree stamp from Floral Phrases to stamp on the right edge.  

Here are the four cards:

I simply love the Merry Music Designer Series Paper.  It's so lightweight and I love that there are four each of six double sided designs.  The songs are all traditional Christmas songs and come in either English, French or German.  There is also a beautiful Musical Season Bundle that includes a stamp set and a Musical Instruments Framelit Die set.  One of the dies is a smaller but equally beautiful musical cleff.  

Well that's it for this post.  I hope you enjoyed this Upright Piano Project.  Make sure you go over to Liz Holloway's blog as she'll have more details on making this project.   Below you'll also find links to all the other Creative Circle Design Team Members, so make sure you check out their renditions of this piano too.  

Thanks for spending some time on my blog today.  I really appreciate your visiting and I do treasure your comments and feedback, as it totally makes my day.  To leave me a comment just scroll down to the comment section.

Happy Stamping! 
Penny Tokens Stampin' Spot

Watercooler Wednesday Challenge #135 - Judy's Feminine "Anything Goes"

Hi everyone welcome to our first Watercooler Wednesday Challenge in September.  It already looks like this month is chalking up to be super busy, at least for me and my family that is.  How about you?   

Judy is hosting our challenge this week and it's a Feminine "Anything Goes".  What fun!  The design team came up with some pretty amazing feminine projects so I hope you'll check them out. 

Here's My Card: 
I still haven't finished all my "Hello" cards yet, so I decided to create another one for a friend of mine who is really into cats. She has two precious fur baby's and they are the light of her life, so I thought it appropriate to say hello with this card which features the "Pretty Kitty" stamp set.

Isn't this just "purrfect"?  I know this card will be well received. 

Supplies:
Stamp Sets:  Pretty Kitty #141864, Cat Sayings SSC1222 Stampendus
Card Stock:  Basic Black, Whisper White, Berry Burst
DSP:  Colour Theory Designer Series Paper Pack #144193
Ink: Berry Burst, Momento Tuxedo Black, Basic Gray, Smokey Slate
Accessories: Big Shot, Paper Trimmer, Aqua Painter, Pinpoint Layers 30065 Memory Box dies, Tom Bow Glue, Dimensionals. 

Details:
1.  The card base is an 11" x 5 1/2" piece of Berry Burst scored at 5 1/2".
2.  The first layer is a 5 1/4" x 5 1/4" piece of Basic Black card stock.  
3.  The second layer is a 5" x 5" piece of Berry Burst Color Theory Paper.There are different designs on the paper but I chose the plain one with just a slight gradation of the colour for this layer.

4.  Cut the following for the cat images from Whisper White card stock:

• 2 pieces that measure 1 3/8" x 2 3/8" - stamp kitten with wool and kitten with tail on floor
• 1 piece that measures 2 3/4" x 1 3/4" - stamp kitten looking at butterfly
• 1 piece that measures 1 1/2" x 1 3/4" - stamp kitten in flower pot 
• 1 piece that measures 1 3/8" x 1 3/8" - stamp kitten walking
• 1 piece that measures    7/8" x 1 7/8" - stamp the sentiment "Just peeking.."

5.  Mount those images on Basic Black card stock cut as follows:

• 2 pieces that measure -  1 1/2" x 2 1/2"- kitten with wool & kitten with tail on floor
• 1 piece that measures -   2 7/8" x 1 7/8" - kitten looking at butterfly
• 1 piece that measures -  1 7/8" x 1 5/8" - kitten kitten in flower pot
• 1 piece that measures - 1 5/8" x 1 5/8" - kitten walking
• 1 piece that measures - 1" x 2"  - sentiment

Because the sentiment was just a tad to long to nestle in between the squares and rectangles, I mounted it with Dimensionals.  so that it's touching the other blocks. 

6.  To finish the inside of the card I cut a 5 1/4" x 5 1/4" layer of Basic Black card stock.  I topped this with a 5 x 5" piece of Whisper White.  I stamped the Stampendous sentiment and one of the little kittens in Tuxedo Black Ink. 

7.  Once the images were stamped, I coloured them with an aqua painter in Basic Gray and Smokey Slate inks.  Details such as the bows and the ball of wool were added in Berry Burst ink.

I hope you enjoyed this card.  I'm pretty pleased with it and plan to do several more in different colours.  What do you think?  If you like it I'd love to hear from you.  Your comments totally make my day.

If you haven't already checked out the other Watercooler Wednesday design team blogs, simply click here and the link will take you to the main page.  Just click on the name  below each card.  

Happy Stamping!
Penny Tokens Stampin' Spot

HOLIDAY CATALOGUE HAS BEEN LAUNCHED

Hi everyone!  It's the first day of September and for me this is one of the happiest times of the year.  Why?  Well the Stampin' Up! Holiday Catalogue is now available.  It went live today and will remain active right through to January 2nd 2018.  I've added direct links on my Catalogue Header and on my sidebar, so if you don't have one of your own you can still view it on line. 

Here's what it looks like.  

Click here to see PDF version

 Along with the launch of the new catalogue there is a Stamp Promotion called "Merry Patterns" and from today through October 31, if your order is >$375 - you will earn this  EXCLUSIVE FREE Host set! 

Happy Stamping!
Penny Tokens Stampin' Spot