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

Watercooler Wednesday Challenge #134 - "Anything Goes"

The last week in August has arrived and I'm left wondering where the summer disappeared to. How about you?  Are you ready for Fall, shorter days, cooler weather and the kids returning to school?  

Because August is one of those five week months, the Design Team over at the Watercooler Wednesday Challenge is hosting an "Anything Goes" challenge that will run from August 30th through to 5pm MST on Monday September 4th.  We hope you'll join our challenge.

 Here's My Card:
Throughout the year I frequently send "thinking of you" or "hello" cards to friends and relatives I haven't talk to in a while. Since my supply of "hello" cards is running low I decided to use this week's  "Anything Goes" challenge to make a batch.  Here's what I came up with. 

I'm totally in love with the Eastern Beauty circle stamps.  You can use them in so many ways.  Here I've got them joining and creating a wonderful framework for the flowers from the Beautiful Bouquet set.    

Supplies:
Stamp Sets: Eastern Beauty #143675, Bountiful Bouquet #143666, Bold Botanicals from 2016 Paper Pumpkin Kit, Thoughtful Branches
Card Stock: Whisper White, Fresh Fig, Wild Wasabi
Ink:  Fresh Fig, Wild Wasabi
Accessories:  Big Shot, Paper Trimmer, Bouquet Bunch Framelits #143659, Small Circle from Itty Bitty Punch Pack, Stitched Shapes Framelits, Wink of Stella

Eastern Beauty Stamp Set

Thoughtful Branches Retired

Beautiful Bouquet

Layers: 1.  The card base is an 8 1/2" x 5 1/2" piece of Whisper White scored at 4 1/4".
2.  The first layer is a 4 " x 5 1/4" piece of Fresh Fig.
3.  The second layer is a 3 7/8" x 5 1/8" piece of Wild Wasabi.
4.  The third layer is a 3 3/4" x 5" piece of Whisper White.  
5.  The fourth layer is a 3" circle cut from Fresh Fig card stock with a retired Circles die.
6.  The fifth layer is a 2 7/8" circle cut from Whisper White card stock with the Stitched Shapes circle die. 
7.  For the inside panels cut a 4" x 5 1/4" piece of Wild Wasabi and attach to the card base.  Cut a 3 7/8" x 5 1/8" piece of Whisper White card stock and attach to the Wild Wasabi panel after it's stamped. 

Stamping and Assembly:
1.  The third layer of the card is a background created with stamps from the Eastern Beauty and Bountiful Bouquet stamp sets. Since I was making several cards,  I stamped the design on a full 8 1/2" x 11" sheet of Whisper White in this order:

• I randomly stamped the double circle image from Eastern Beauty in Fresh Fig ink beginning at the center of the card stock and working towards the outer edges. 
• I stamped a flower image from Beautiful Bouquet in the center of each of these circles in Fresh Fig. Note:  I wanted a lighter image for these flowers so I stamped off on scrap of paper first.
• I stamped one of the flower center images from Beautiful Bouquet in full strength Fresh Fig in the center of each of the flowers.
• I stamped the small dotted circle image from Eastern Beauty in Wild Wasabi overlapping the edges of the Fresh Fig circles.  
• I stamped the small dotted center image from Beautiful Bouquet Wild Wasabi in in each of the dotted Wasabi circles.  
• Once all the background stamping was completed the card stock was cut to size and adhered to the Wild Wasabi card stock (second layer).

2.  Using the Stitched Circle die I cut the fifth layer, a stitched circle, from a second piece of Whisper White card stock and stamped it in this order:

• Stamp the "HELLO" image from Bold Botanicals, in the center of the circle in Fresh Fig ink.
• Stamp the flower image on the top and bottom left of the circle in Fresh Fig.  
• Stamp three small floral images using the flower center stamp to the right of the larger image on the top and around the edge of the lower flower.
• Stamp two flower images on scrap paper in full strength Fresh Fig and fussy cut them.  Mount these flowers with dimensionals to the stamped flowers  on the circle. 
• Stamp the flower center image twice on scrap Whisper White card stock and punch out with the Itty Bitty Circle punch (R).  Adhere to the center of the two flowers. 
• Cut out 6 small leaves using the Bouquet Bunch Framelits from Wild Wasabi card stock.  Sponge the leaf edges with Wild Wasabi ink and then glue them beneath the cut flower images.

• Mount the Whisper White circle to the Fresh Fig circle and then attach the circles with Dimensionals to the card front.  
• Dab Wink of Stella on all the flower and circle centers and on the leaves. 
• Stamp the sentiment "You're in My Thoughts" from Thoughtful Branches (R) in Wild Wasabi towards the center top of the inside panel.  

This was a super fun and easy card to make and I hope you enjoyed my instructions and along with this card.  I wish you could see how beautiful it looks with the Wink of Stella adding just enough glimmer to the floral centers to reflect the light.  

If you haven't already checked out the other Watercooler Wednesday Design Team members click here.  You don't want to miss their wonderful creations.
Until next time.............

Happy Stamping!
Penny Tokens Stampin' Spot

Watercooler Wednesday #133 - Penny's All About Christmas Challenge

It's time for another Watercooler Wednesday "All About Christmas" Challenge, and guess what?  I'm hosting this week.  

I thought I would start off the Christmas Challenge using the one stamp set that is currently available prior to the Holiday Catalogue going live on September 1st, called "Carols of Christmas".    You're going to see a lot of cards made with this stamp set and matching die cuts and the reason is simple, combined they create a remarkable range of combinations and beautiful stamping experiences.   

Here's My Card:

Supplies:
Stamp Sets: Carols of Christmas #144804, Colorful Seasons #143726, Six Sayings Hostess set #139852(R)
Card Stock: Dapper Denim, Whisper White
DSP: Color Theory Paper Pack - Dapper Denim and White Crackle
Inks: Dapper Denim and Versa Mark
Accessories: Big Shot, Paper Trimmer, Card Front Builder Framelit #144674, Stitched Shapes Framelits (Circle), Snow Flurry Punch #139680, White Embossing Powder, Basic Rhinestones
Details:  
1.  Cut Dapper Denim card base to measure 8 1/2" x 5 1/2" and score at 4 1/4".

2.  Cut a 5" x 4" piece of Whisper White for the next layer and cut out the corner pattern with the beautifully efficient Corner Builder Framelits.  Line up the die close to the edge of the card stock and make sure its even before running through the big shot. Tip:  When you need to make sure a cut is precisely in place use a bit of Washi Tape to hold the die down before cutting.  Works like a charm.  Glue the panel to the card base using a fine detail liquid glue around the edges of this layer and make sure the lines and corners are adhered.  

3.  Cut a 2 1/4" x 4 3/8" Dapper Denim panel and top with a 2" x 4 1/8" piece of the dapper denim crackle design paper from the Color Theory paper pack.  Randomly stamp the small and large snow flakes from the Colorful Seasons stamp set in Dapper Denim ink.  Glue to center of Whisper White layer. 

4.  Cut a 3 1/4" circle from Dapper Denim card stock and a 3" Stitched Circle from Whisper White card stock.  

Here you can see the snowflakes stamped on the designer series paper. 

5.  Stamp the Peace on Earth sentiment in the center of the circle and randomly stamp the small snowflake from Colorful Seasons around the edges of the sentiment.  Note:  I stamped my sentiment and snowflakes* prior to cutting it out with the die and the images were too far apart to show up properly on the cut image.  In future I'll cut my circle first and then stamp on it. Lesson learned. 

*Oops, you can barely see those small snowflakes stamped around the edges of this circle.  Next time I'll cut out the circle before stamping additional images.

6.  Stamp two small snowflakes on a scrap of Dapper Denim card stock with Versa Mark ink and emboss with White Embossing powder**.  Cut out the snowflakes with the Snow Flurry Punch and mount to card face and circle with dimensionals.

When I was stamping this snowflake for my Perpetual Calendar project last month I made a great discovery. The small snowflake in the Colorful Seasons stamp set is almost the same shape as the small snowflake in the Snow Flurry punch.  What do you think?  Pretty close and gives a different look from the die in the matching framelits.   Just sayin'......

**Okay, who put the Very Vanilla Embossing Powder cap on the Whisper White jar?   I didn't really notice this color variation until I was taking pictures of my card.  When I checked my Embossing Powder bottles sure enough there had been a switch-up with the caps.......... another oops?

7.  Cut a 5 1/4" x 4" piece of Whisper White card stock for the inside panel.  Stamp a sentiment in the center.  I used the Merry Christmas to You and Yours from the retired "Six Sayings Hostess Stamp set".  I really love the size and style of the fonts in this set and use them often.  To finish off the inside panel I randomly stamped a couple more snowflakes.

Well there you have it, the first of many cards I'll be making and sharing with you featuring the Carols of Christmas stamp set and Card Builder Framelits. I hope you like it as much as I do and will leave me a comment.

If you haven't already checked out the rest of the Design Team Artists creations this week, I suggest you do so. What a fantastic range of cards and inspiration.
Happy Stamping! 
Penny Tokens Stampin' Spot