WWC#164 - Marsha's Feminine Anything Goes Challenge

Welcome Stampers!  Hope you had a wonderful Easter weekend.  We were invited to a small family gathering on Sunday for dinner, and it was just perfect. The food was terrific, conversation was great and we got to break bread with one another again.  Although the day started on the cloudy and windy side it finished with a glorious blaze of sun in the West.  Pretty fitting for the Easter weekend!  

The only problem with a long weekend, and especially a four day one, is getting back to the grind and into the routine of things. Monday was a day of mishaps and time delays which was quite fitting, as my horoscope said Mercury Retrograde in my birth sign was going to wreak havoc.  Right on point!  

We have a Feminine Anything Goes Challenge this week being hosted by Marsha.  She's challenging you to design a feminine card or project and post it with links to our site by 5:00pm Mountain time on Monday April 9th.  I hope you'll join us.  Our design team seems to have been synched in our thinking because many of the designs this week have a floral focus.  Mine fit right in the groove.  

Here's My Card:
I've been working on some ultra feminine "Thank You" cards for my customers who placed March orders.  I love how they turned out.  I used a Sale-A-Bration stamp set I hadn't gotten around to using called "Heartfelt Blooms".  Oh my gosh I wish I'd used this set sooner, because I totally fell in love with it!   

How do you like the combination of floral stamp with the Designer Series Paper. I think it really works well together, and the basic gray panel really helps to show case the floral design and add just the right touch of femininity.  

The inside of the card is pretty basic.  The Whisper White panel measures 5 1/4 x 4.  I stamped a small portion of the floral image in the bottom right hand corner, leaving plenty of white space for writing a message of thanks.  

Stampin' Ups! Whisper White Envelopes have a super deluxe shiny finish that accepts ink so well.  I used a standard envelope and stamped the image across the back flap.  I think this really added to the feminine look of the card.  Alternatives to stamping the flap would be to create a liner or use the DSP to cover the outside of the flap.  

These cards were quick and easy to make using my Mini Misti positioning tool.  Stampin' Up!  has a new platform tool that will be coming out with the new catalogue called a Stamperatus.  

Supplies:
Stamp Sets: Heartflet Blooms (Sale-A-Bration 2018 - Retired)
Ink: Basic Gray, Flirty Flamingo
Card Stock: Whisper White, Basic Gray, Flirty Flamingo
Accessories:  Paper Trimmer, 8" Coordinating Taffeta Ribbon, Dimensionals, Whisper White Envelopes, Tom Bow Glue.

How It's Made:  
1.  Cut Flirty Flamingo to 8 1/2" x 5 1/2" and score at 4 1/4" for the base.
2.  Cut a piece of Designer DSP to 5 1/4" x 4" and adhere to the base.
3.  Cut a piece of Whisper White to 4 1/4" x 3 1/4" - once the layering on this panel is finished attach to the card face with Dimensionals or score tape depending on the thickness you want. 
4.  Cut a piece of Basic Gray to 4" x 3" adhere to Whisper White panel.
5.  Cut a piece of Whisper White to 2 3/4" x 3 3/4" and stamp sentiment and image on it.  Tie ribbon around this piece before adhering to Basic Gray panel. 
6.  For the inside cut a 5 1/4" x 4" panel of Whisper White card stock.  Stamp a portion of the floral image in the bottom right hand corner.
7.  Stamp the image on the flap of the envelope.  

Here are some additional samples using this design:

This sample is in Island Indigo and Whisper White.  The ribbon is 1/4" White Cotton.  

Island Indigo

For this card I used Lemon Lime and switched the contrast card stock to Basic Black to give it some additional pizzazz.  I forgot to put ribbon on the stamped panel before adhering it to the black one, so just addd some black rhinestones 

I decided to keep things simple on the inside of the card, and just added a strip of designer paper on the right hand side of the card.  The black mat adds some drama.

This card is made with Berry Burst DSP, inks and card stock.  The contrasting card stock and ribbon are Crumb Cake.

I love the captions in the Heartfelt Blooms set.  There are three different ones:  "Thinking of You", Sending Heartfelt Thoughts" and "Thank You".  The fonts in these sentiment are simply beautiful.

I loved all the variations I made and the versatility of the double sided designer papers gives you even more choices.  This is a terrific way to use up some of those paper stashes, we all have.  

Well that's it for today.  I hope you've enjoyed my floral feminine cards this week and that you'll use this design template for your own cards.  You can create the same effect using any larger floral stamp so don't be intimidated if you don't have the Heartfelt Blooms.  Cards in this style can be used for any occasion and it's an economical way to get your card supplies loaded up.  

If you haven't already checked out the WWC164 Challenge on the main Watercooler Wednesday site, take some time and check it out.  The other DT members have created some beautiful cards to share with you and would be delighted if you visited them too.  Until next time............

Happy Stamping!
Penny Tokens Stampin Spot 

WWC #163 - Penny's "All About Christmas" Challenge

I find at this time of year there's always lots of appointments, paperwork, spring cleaning and other tasks that take over my life and settling into a routine after a vacation absence doesn't always leave much time for doing the things I love to do.  With a long list of "must do's" it was a little hard to focus on this week's All About Christmas Challenge for Watercooler Wednesday, which I'm hosting, but focus I did and I came up with a card that I'm very pleased to share with you.   

The Watercooler Wednesday WWC163 Linsky is open until 5:00pm Mountain Time on Monday April 2nd, 2018.  If you're looking to get a head start on your Christmas cards, challenges like this are a perfect way to get them done.  I hope you'll join in with your own creation, and also check out the beautiful cards created by our very talented Design Team.  

Inspiration:
My inspiration for this weeks card came from one I made in a class held by Cheryl LeFore, using the Good Tidings stamp set and featuring the Eclipse Technique.  I thought it would be fun to make one using the Merry Patterns stamp set.  Here's the Original Card: 

Here's My Card: 

I love how the Eclipse stamping and lettering merge and give the front of this card so much dimension.   

The inside of the card is special because the stamped panel is designed to hold a gift card.  

Supplies:
Stamp sets: Merry Patterns(R), Hearts Come Home #145416
Ink: Cherry Cobbler and Garden Green
Card Stock: Cherry Cobbler, Garden Green and Very Vanilla
Accessories: Big Shot, Paper Trimmer, EK Success Alphabet (1 1/4" dies), Foam Strips, Basic Rhinestones, 1" Circle Punch, Tom Bow Glue

How It's Made: 
1.  Cut an 8 1/2" x 5 1/2" piece of Cherry Cobbler for the base and score it at  4 1/4".

2.  Cut two 5 3/8" x 4 1/8" pieces of Garden Green for the first layer on the card front and inside.

3.  Cut a 5 1/4"" x 4" piece of Very Vanilla cardstock for the stamped layer.  Using Cherry Cobbler and Garden Green inks randomly stamp a pattern using the deer and branch images from Merry Patterns.

4.  Place the stamped piece on the big shot platform and place the "N" "O" "E" and "L" die cuts in the center of the design.  The letters should be close together, almost touching, and in a straight line. Run through the big shot and remove the letters.  Adhere the stampled panel to the Garden Green layer.

5.  Using a scrap of Garden Green card stock cut a second set of letters and adhere them to the backs of the patterned letters.  Attach Foam Adhesive Strips to the backs of the letters.

6.  Before removing the backings on the foam strips temporarily place the letters into the negative image slots left on the patterned paper when the dies were cut out. Adhere the center of the "O" carefully realigning it through the center of the foam mounted "O" to the negative space.

7.  Once the "O" center is in place, remove the adhesive backings and carefully place the letters in the negative spaces pressing down to adhere.

8.  Finish off the front of the lettering with some randomly placed Basic Rhinestones.

9.  Cut a 1 1/2" x 4"  and a 5 1/8" x 4" piece of Very Vanilla for the inside card panels.

10.  Stamp the sentiment "Wishing You a Beautiful.........." from the Hearts Come Home stamp set in Cherry Cobbler. Stamp a couple of boughs in Garden Green to the bottom right hand side of this panel.  Adhere to the Garden Green layer.

10.  For the gift card holder, stamp the boughs and deer images on the 1 1/4" x 4" piece of Very Vanilla and then cut a half circle from the center right with  the 1" circle punch.  Add adhesive to the back side on the top, bottom and left hand side and adhere to the larger panel.  

It may look like a lot of work, but really this is a very straight forward card to make and it's got a really "wow" look to it.  If you haven't tried out the Eclipse Technique yet I urge you to experiment with it.  You're going to find that it's fun and I'm sure you'll have fun with it.  Don't worry if you don't have any alphabet dies, just try the same technique with any punched shape or die cut.  Experimentations the key! 

Thanks for visiting my site.  I hope you'll let me know what you think of this card.  I love receiving comments on my work.  If you haven't already checked out the other Design Team entries here's a link to the WWC163 challenge.  I hope you'll drop by again.  In the meantime.....

Happy Stamping!
Penny Tokens Stampin Spot 

WWC #162 - Charolotte's Masculine "Anything Goes" Challenge

Spring Equinox arrives this week and I'm so excited because it means longer days and the move towards warmer weather, hopefully and all things Spring.  It hasn't arrived yet though, and today it's a tad cool in the shade and when the clouds move overhead.  I'm trying to layer up rather than turn on the furnace all the time, so it was a bit cool in my stamping room. 

This week's host for the Watercooler Wednesday challenge is Charlotte and she's challenging us to make a Masculine style card or project and "Anything Goes".  

This challenge will be open until 5:00pm Mountain Time on Monday March 26th, so if you feel inspired to join us we'd love to see your creation. All the rules and how too's are on the main screen of the Watercooler Wednesday blog. While you're there, check out all the awesome cards contributed by the Watercooler Wednesday Design Team Artists, they're awesome and so inspiring.

Here's My Card: With less than two weeks to go for the Sale-A-Bration Promotion, I was encouraged to make a card for a friend's son who's really in to sports, using the Epic Celebration stamp set.  What a charming and fun card for a young man!

My card is an A2 with a top fold, made with a Night of Navy card base measuring 8 1/2" x 5 1/2" and scored at 4 1/4".  I've layered the card base with a 5 1/4" x 4" piece of Whisper White card stock.  Before I adhered this panel to my card I stamped the sneakers and two sentiment pieces and cut them out.   Why waste card stock?  The Cherry Cobbler layer measures 5" x 3 3/4" and I randomly stamped the sneakers and headset in Versa Mark ink before adhering to the white layer. 

I stamped the sneakers in Momento Tuxedo Black ink and coloured them with the light and dark Night of Navy Stampin' Blends.  These are fantastic and easy to add depth and colour with.  I also coloured the white parts of the sneakers and laces with some Wink of Stella to add a little gleam.  I wanted to ground the sneakers to the card stock so I coloured around them with a Light Smokey Slate Stampin Blend.  The square was cut out with the 2 1/8" Stitched Shapes Square Die.  For some birthday fun I stamped some confetti in the top corner using the Confetti stamp from the Picture Perfect Birthday stamp set.  

I stamped the sneakers  and headsets from the Epic Celebrations stamp set randomly across the Cherry Cobbler layer with Versa Mark ink.  I love the look of this because the stamping lies subtly in the background and doesn't take away from the main images.  The panel with the "Happy Birthday" sentiment from  the Picture Perfect Birthday stamp set was stamped a row at a time in alternating Cherry Cobbler and Night of Navy inks.  I used my Stamp-A-Ma-Jig to line up the sentiments and make sure they were evenly spaced.  

  

I stamped the "Here's To An Epic Celebration" once in Night of Navy and again in Cherry Cobbler on Whisper White card stock and then cut both sayings out with a 1" circle punch.  I wanted to add the Night of Navy word "EPIC" so I cut across the circle just above and below the word Epic and then adhered the cut piece with Tom Bow Adhesive to the Cherry Cobbler circle.  This piece is mounted on a 1 1/4" circle cut from Night of Navy card stock.  It's popped up on top of the two other stamped panels with Dimensionals.  

The inside of the card is pretty simply, just a few more sprinkles of confetti and the Stylized Birthday stamp in Cherry Cobbler.  

Supplies:
Stamp Sets:  Epic Celebration (Sale-A-Bration 18), Picture Perfect Birthday #145519, and Stylized Birthday #141828
Card Stock:  Night of Navy, Cherry Cobbler and Whisper White
Inks:  Night of Navy, Cherry Cobbler, Versa Mark, and Night of Navy (Light/Dark) Stampin' Blends
Dies/Punches:  Stitched Shapes - 2 1/8" Square, 1" and 1 1/4" Circle Punches, Memory Box Pinpoint Rectangles 
Accessories:  Stamp-A-Ma-Jig, Big Shot, Paper Trimmer, Wink of Stella, Dimensionals, Tom Bow Glue 

Well that's it for this week's project.  I sure hope you enjoyed it.  I think I'll be making several more cards with this stamp set as it was really fun to colour and play with.  I'd love to hear your thoughts on this card.

Happy Stamping!
Penny Tokens Stampin Spot 

Two Weeks Left for Sale-A-Bration 2018 Promotion

We're now in the third and final month of Stampin' Up!'s Annual Sale-A-Bration promotion, and there are even more fantastic products available for you to earn. Check out these final additional offerings which include some current Stampin' Up! products, that just became available on March 14th for Sale-A-Bration. 1st Release New Products  Sale-A-Bration 2018 Catalogue of Free Products Join My Team During Sale-A-Bration  We are now in the third and final month of Stampin' Up!'s Annual Sale-A-Bration promotion, and there are even more fantastic products available for you to earn. Check out these final additional offerings which include some current Stampin' Up! products, that just became available on March 14th for Sale-A-Bration. 3rd Release of Stampin Up Current Products - Note the order #s in the PDF Flyer must be used to qualify for these products as free items.

Happy Stamping! Penny Tokens Stampin' Spot

WWC161 - Helen's "All About Occasions" Challenge

Hey thanks for stopping by.  I have a fun card to share with you for the Watercooler Wednesday Challenge this week.  Our host is Helen Finlay and she's challenging you to create a card or project for any occasion.  So, folks the sky is the limit because it can be about any holiday, a wedding or anniversary, a birthday, retirement...........oh and the list goes on.  

Here's My Card:
During the  month's of March and April, my paper crafting is all about "birthdays".  It's like everyone I know was born in these two months.  What's with that?  

The card design I'm featuring this week is not original to me.  It was designed by my friend and fellow demo Cheryl LeFore.  Cheryl introduced me to Brusho Crystal Colour inks and how to use them in the creation of this wonderful card.
Thank you Cheryl.  

Supplies:
Stamp Set:  Beautiful Day 5 piece rubber stamp set.
Card Stock:  Dapper Denim, Crushed Curry, Whisper White 
Ink:  Dapper Denim, Crushed Curry, Versa Mark and Prussian Blue and Yello Brusho's Crystal Color
Accessories:  Big Shot, Paper Trimmer, Clear Acryllic Blocks, Fluttering Embossing Folder, 3/8" Mini Chevron Ribbon in Crushed Curry, Heat Gun, White Embossing Powder, Basic Rhinestones, Tom Bow Glue, Water Sprizer and Aqua Pen.

Details:

1.  The card base is an 8 1/2" x 5 1/2" piece of Dapper Denim scored at 4 1/4".

2.  The first layer is a 5 1/4" x 4" piece of Crushed Curry card stock.  Adhere to card base.

3.  The second layer consists of two pieces of card stock.  The upper part is a 3 1/2" x 4" piece of Watercolor Paper and the bottom piece is 1 3/4" x 4" piece of Dapper Denim that has been scored with the Fluttering embossing folder.  Note:  I messed up putting this piece on the card, and didn't realize until it was finished that I put it on upside down and backwards.  Don't do this at home............just saying.

Not only are the butterflies upside down, but I also attached the piece with the debossed side showing. I obviously wasn't paying enough attention to the details when I assembled this part.   

4.  The butterfly from the Beautiful Day set on page 26 of the Stampin' Up! Occasions catalogue was stamped in Versa Mark ink on the Watercolor Paper and heat embossed with White Embossing Powder.  Once the embossing powder was heat set I spritzed water over the paper and wet it fairly well and then sprinkled on Prussian Blue and Yellow Brusho Crystals to create this colourful backdrop for the butterfly image.  Note:  This is a messy technique so make sure you have paper towels on hand and use the brushos with a gentle hand as a little go a long way.  

The Brushos are a watercolor ink crystal, that when mixed with water make wonderful washes.  You simply sprinkle or shake the brushos directly on tothe watercolour paper and then spray with water.  The colours will burst and flow.  You can use an aqua painter to move them around.  Here's a video on how to use them properly.  

5.  Once the watercolour paper was dry it was adhered to the top part of the Crushed Curry layer and then the Dapper Denim strip was attached.  The Crushed Curry ribbon strip was added before this layer was attached to the card front.  

6.  Three Basic Rhinestones were added to the center of the butterfly for adornment.  

7.  The inside panels on the card are a 5 1/4" x 4" piece of Crushed Curry and a 5" x 3 3/4" piece of Whisper White.  The small rosettes and the sentiment "Happy Birthday, May Your Day Be AS Beautiful As You" are from the Beautiful Day stamp set.  

8.  I made a coordinating envelope by stamping a partial image of the Butterfly and flowers in the bottom left corner. 

This was a fairly quick card to make and one that would be easy to do in assembly line fashion.  The embossing on the watercolour paper was a bit difficult because of the bumpy texture of the paper, so be persistent when applying the heat to make sure you have embossed everything.  

I hope you liked this week's card.  If you have any questions about the Brushos or how I assembled this card, please comment or contact me on my email.  

For details on how Helen and the other Watercooler Artists created their projects, just click on the name underneath the pictures and you will be taken to that blog post.  Click here to go to the WWC161 Challenge.  Lots of really cool cards!  Until next time.....

Happy Stamping!
Penny Tokens Stampin Spot 

WWC #160 - Heidi's Feminine "Anything Goes" Challenge

Hi everyone and welcome back.   It's time for another Watercooler Wednesday Challenge and this week it's being hosted by Heidi Weaver.  This challenge is a feminine one and I think from the look of all the awesome cards the Design Team has shared that you're going to love it.  Heidi is challenging you to create a card or any item with a "Feminine" theme and to post it on our challenge site by 5pm Mountain Time on Monday March 12th, 2017.  

 

Here's My Card:

Black and white attracts me like a magnet.  It's one of my favourite colour combinations whether it's used in card making, clothing or home decor.  For whatever reason, it just reaches out to me every time.  So, when I attended a stamp camp held by Cheryl Lefore a few weeks ago and she showed us how to make this very special black and white card, I was overjoyed.

The inside of the card is simple in detail.  It consists of a 5 1/4" x 4" piece of Basic Black card stock topped with a 5" x 3 3/4" piece of Whisper White card stock.  The small floral image is from the Petal Palette stamp set and stamped in Momento Tuxedo black ink in the bottom left corner.

Supplies:
Stamp Set:  Petal Palette
Ink:  Momento Tuxedo Black Ink
Card Stock:  Basic Black and Whisper White
Specialty Papers:  Petal Passion Designer Paper 
Accessories:  Big Shot, Paper Trimmer, Layering Squares Framelits and Stitched Shapes, Petals and More Thinlet Dies, Butterfly Die  Petal Pair Embossing Folders, Stripe Embossing Folder, White Ribbon, Basic Rhinestones (2), Dimensionals.

The highlight of this card is the black and white layered frame covering of all things a lolly and a beautiful black butterfly.  Just to clarify in case you're not familiar with the term "lolly" (also know as rosettes or yoyos), a lolly is created by making a number of consecutive scores on a strip of paper, gluing the ends together and then pressing down to form a circular shape.  If you've never seen a lolly constructed, you can find  directions here. 

What's unusual about this "lolly" is that once it's created it's attached to the square frame and then the overlapping edges of the lolly are cut away and it's hidden behind the frame.  This looks hard to do, but it actually comes together very quickly.

Details:
1.  The card base is an 8 1/2" x 5 1/2" piece of Whisper White card stock scored at 4 1/4".  Because this card has some weight to it the thick card stock would better support it.

2.  The first layer is a piece of 5 3/8" x 3 7/8" piece of Basic Black card stock that is embossed with a Stripes Embossing Folder (EF). Note:  Do not attach this layer until the ribbon has been added.

3.  A 2" x 5 1/2" piece of Whisper White was embossed with the fabulous floral design EF from the Petal Pair Embossing Folder set in the Occasions Catalogue.  I absolutely fell in love with the floral detail in this one - there's lots of it.  This panel was adhered to the left side of the Basic Black layer leaving about a 1/4" gap from the side edge.  A piece of 1/4" white cotton ribbon was tied around the two panels before they were adhered to the card base.
 

You can see some of the fine detail on the White embossed strip in this photo.  Believe me it doesn't do it justice.  There are two 2 embossing folders included in the  pack that measure 6 1/2" x 2 1/4" from the Petal Pair EF, one has the floral design and the other is a stem and leaf design.

4.  The sentiment "Best Wishes" is also from the Petal Palette array of stamps and it was stamped in Momento Tuxedo black ink on a strip of Whisper White card stock and then die cut out with the label die in the Petals and More Thinlet Die set.  Two dimensionals were added to the back and it was adhered below the ribbon.  

I love the frame from the die cut.............it's perfect.

5.  To create the frame a piece of Whisper White card stock was cut out with the 3" x 3" scalloped square frame and then it was topped with the 2 3/4" stitched square die.  The centers were removed with the 2 1/2" square die.  These two pieces were adhered together with Tom Bow glue.

6.  The lolly was created with a 12" x 1 1/2" strip of the Petal Passion DSP paper that was scored every 1/4" and then folded to create the lolly as in the link above.  The frame was placed over top of the lolly with the center whole towards the top left hand side of the frame.  Once the positioning was right the frame was glued to the lolly with Tom Bow glue and the overlapping edges of the lolly were carefully cut away.  

7.Two butterflies were die cut and adhered together then attached over the hole in the lolly, and rhinestones were added to the center of the butterfly.

8.  The square was attached to the center top of the card with Tear N' Tape to make it more secure.  

And that my friends was a relatively easy card to make.  It came together very quickly.  Thanks again to Cheryl Lefore for the directions.   This very feminine card could be used for any occasion or celebration.  I hope you enjoyed this card and will try out this design.  Let me know if you do and if my instructions were helpful.  I love having feedback.  

If you haven't already checked out the cards by the Design Team Artists take a moment to pop on over to the Watercooler Wednesday main page. For details on how Heidi and the other Watercooler Artists created their projects for WWC160, just click on the name underneath and you will be taken to that blog post.  You won't want to miss them.  Until next time..... 

Happy Stamping!
Penny Tokens Stampin Spot