Creative Circle CCDT April Blog Hop - It's For The Birds!

Welcome to the Creative Circle Design Team's April Blog Hop.  If you're new to the crafting world or you're not familiar with our acronym "CCDT" it stands for "Creative Circle Design Team". We are a group of like minded Stampin' Up! demonstrators from around the world who love paper crafting, Stampin' Up! products, SVG or electronic cutter patterns and participating in blog hops.  

Our CCDT hop is held on the first Thursday of each month and every 3rd month Liz Holloway, the leader of our group provides a pattern and challenge to create something using her 3D SVG and Silhouette formats.  

For our April CCDT Hop Liz has challenged us to create a bird house/card holder using her wonderful pattern.  This awesome paper bird house can store up to eight cards and envelopes, but could also hold a mini album, candies or other treats.  It would be really lovely for a Mother's Day Gift.

Here's My Bird House and Cards:
So far we've been having a soggy wet and cold Spring. with intermittent rain and occasionally snow and limited amounts of sunshine in between.  Since I'm unable to go outside and work in the garden, the weather has given me a great excuse to stay indoors and play in my craft room. Here's what I came up with.

Following Liz' wonderful pattern I assembled the cut out pieces for the shell and then decorated it in my own quirky style.  I love the way it turned out.  

Although the bird house holds eight cards and envelopes in its interior slot, I only made four cards.  I matched up the materials used for the bird house for my "bird themed" cards.

The  finished bird house measures 4"(w) x 9"(h) x  7-1/4"(d) and can actually be suspended on its own.  The roof is equipped with some strategically placed magnets that really have super holding powers.   I didn't have any wooden dowels to put in for roosts, so took advantage of some twigs in the yard.  

I combined the Swirly Scribbles Thinlets and the images from the new Flying Home stamp set to create this cute little scene.  All the images were coloured with Stampin Blends and were fussy cut.  I sponged over the brick stencil from Pattern Party Decorative Masks with Soft Suede ink.  To create the background for the bird houses I used an Oval die over top of a square piece of card stock.  I used a combination of pool party and soft sky inks for the sky and old olive for the grass and a sponge dauber. 

Supplies:  
Stamp Sets: Flying Home (#145929 - Occasions 2018), Badges and Banners (#141610 - Annual 2017/18)
Ink: Soft Suede, Old Olive, Pool Party, Soft Sky, Real Red, Momento Tuxedo Black
Stampin Blends:  Light and Dark shades of Daffodil Delight, Old Olive, Calypso Coral, Pool Party,  
Card Stock: Very Vanilla, Soft Suede, Real Red and Old Olive
Accessories: Big Shot, Paper Trimmer, Duet Banners Punch, Petal Burst and Fiesta Embossing Folders, Swirly Scribbles Thinlets, EK Success Stitched Rectangles, Stitched Shapes Framelits - Ovals), Pattern Party Decorative Masks, Wink of Stella Glimmer, Sequins, Dimensionals, Foam Tape, Tom Bow Glue.

Flying Home 8 piece rubber clear mount stamp set #145929 

Duet Banner Punch 

Badges and Banners - 7 piece clear mount rubber stamp set 

Pattern Party Decorative Masks - these can be used with sponge daubers and with textured embossing paste. 

I added Clear Wink of Stella to the roof tops and a few scattered sequins.  The images in the Flying Home stamp set were fun to colour.

Here you can see my improvised twig roosts and the bird house design on this side of the bird house.  The tile look on the roof was made with a retired embossing folder called "Fiesta".  The scallops are part of the design Liz created.

Here you can see the top of the bird house whenthe roof is removed.  The holder has enough room for a treat or eight cards and envelopes.  

I made four cards exactly the same except for the Swirly Scribbles design.  I did not add a sentiment or design element to the inside of the card because this is a "hello" card, leaving the inside blank leaves plenty of room for a personal note.  The card base for these cards is Very Vanilla, although in this picture it looks like white card stock.  I embossed the front of the base with the Petal Burst Embossing Folder. 

I stamped the birds nest and a two of the tiny butterflies from the Flying Home stamp set on the face of the envelope in Momento Tuxedo Black ink.  Note:  If I had coloured these images I would have placed a piece of watercolour paper on the inside of the envelope to protect it from ink leaking through. 

Love the little banner from the Badges and Banners stamp set.  I stamped it in Old Olive ink and punched it out with the Duet Banner Punch.  So eash to create a beautiful little sentiment piece.  I popped the banner up with Dimensionals on the Swirly Scribble. Although you can't see it the bird's nest has a coating of Clear Wink of Stella. 

I hope you enjoyed my Bird House project today and will take the time to comment.  

This project was very straight forward and Liz' pattern was easy to follow.  See her blog for more information.  Liz is holding a draw for 3 giveaways on May 3 on her blog so make sure you visit her and leave a comment and use the hashtag #LHDContest. 






Happy Stamping!
Penny Tokens Stampin Spot

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