Wacky Watercoolor Blog Hop

Welcome to another edition of the Wacky Watercooler Blog Hop. You must have just come from Jackie’s blog. Weren’t her projects amazing? She always does such a nice job!

This month our assignment was to do whatever we wished. I always like assignments like that. I decided to do a couple of birthday cards because everyone needs birthday card ideas.

My first project uses the Stampin’ Up! Pop ‘N Cuts Card Base Big Shot die with the Label Insert. Pop ‘n Cuts cards are always so much fun because when you open then, there is a surprise inside that is not expected. In 2012, Stampin’ Up! introduced the Pop ‘N Cuts line with the Dress Form Insert and in 2013 they added this Label Insert. I think it is very versatile and matches our Deco Labels Framelits perfectly.

The card base uses the Designer Series Paper called Quatrefancy Specialty Paper. The great thing about Designer Series Paper is that each side has a different pattern with different colors. It is perfect to used with the Pop ‘N Cuts dies.

One side of this paper uses Daffodil Delight while the other side is Strawberry Slush. I added Rich Razzleberry because it looks good with both of those colors. The sentiment is from Perfect Pennants and the Mosaics are from Mosaic Madness (which has a matching punch also called Mosaic).

The inside of the card uses a couple of different stamp sets. The banners are a Sale-a-bration stamp set called Banner Blast that you can get FREE with a qualifying purchase. That set also has a matching punch (you have to love those sets that have matching punches because it makes life so much easier). Look closely at the stamp in the middle. Have you ever seen it?

Now the fun part about this card (besides the Pop Up) is the stamp I used in the middle of it. I actually designed this stamp. Stampin’ Up! now offers a Photopolymer Stamp called Circle Monogram (item # 132852) where you design what it says. This particular stamp is a Happy Birthday stamp. Here is a close up of it:

Don’t you just love it? I had so much fun designing it and it was easy to do. When you order it, a window pops up and you just put whatever you want it to say in the blanks. I made two of them. The other one has my name, email address and web site address on it.

My second project is also a birthday card that is a Fun Fold Card. Karen Burniston is the woman who designed the Pop ‘N Cut dies for Stampin’ Up! A couple of years ago, I saw a card she made that she called an Accordion Card. I purchased the template from her and finally decided to use it for this hop. I must admit that Karen makes it look so easy to make, but honestly, it took me a while. I also decided to just use three panels instead of four.

Here is the front of the card ( I also used the Envelope Punch Board to make a matching envelope that you can see in the background):

I used the stamp set called Starburst Sayings with the matching Framelits that are in the Occasions Catalog. The Designer Series Paper is called Sweet Sorbet and is a Sale-a-bration item you can get for FREE with a qualifying purchase.

When you open the card, it looks like this:

Here is a close up of the middle panel:

I used the Small Oval Punch and the feet in the Owl Builder Punch to make the balloons.

Here is the last panel:

This stamp is from the Occasions Catalog and is called Another Great Birthday only I did not use this stamp set. Confused? I don’t actually own this set. I downloaded a digital download of it to My Digital Studio and then printed it on my printer. The “real” stamp is actually a lot bigger than this and would not have fit on this panel. My Digital Studio was perfect because you can re-size it to whatever size you need.

My last project is a last minute thing I actually decided to add yesterday. I know. It is so unlike me to do a last minute thing and I am sure I will get lots of comments about this. I can’t help it. I am a planner. Anyway, I saw a video on the Stampin’ Up! Facebook page and decided to try it out. It uses My Digital Studio and some Plastic Shrinkable Pages (in other words Shrinky Dinks!).

I made key chains for some ladies who are taking a My Digital Studio Class with me. All you do is design the little charms using My Digital Studio. Then print them out on the Shrinky Dink Plastic Pages, cut them out and put them in your oven for about 2 minutes. Well, there is a little bit more to it than that because they are double sided. You can watch the video here.

The designs do shrink quite a bit. For the larger circles I used Designer Series Paper called Sweet Sorbet from the Sale-a-bration Digital Download called One Big Sale-A-Bration 2014 (you can get this download for FREE with a $50 purchase). I cut them out using the 2 1/2″ Circle Punch. This is how much they shrank:

That is it for my projects for the March Blog Hop. Now hop on over to Marsha’s blog to see her amazing projects. I am sure you won’t be disappointed! If you get lost along the way, you can always come back here and click on the Next Button to go to Marsha’s blog, the Previous Button to go back to Jackie’s blog or the Home Button to go to the Blog Hop home page. Happy hopping!

Welcome to my first ever blog hop! For those of you who do not know what a blog hop is, it is where a group of Stampin Up! demonstrators make projects based on a theme and the viewer goes from blog to blog to see everyone’s projects. You probably just came from Jean’s amazing blog. Her projects are always gorgeous!

Why the Wacky Watercooler Blog Hop? If you are a Stampin Up! demonstrator you have access to a forum called Stampin Connection where only demonstrators can enter. On that forum is a thread called the Wacky Women’s Watercooler. It is basically a thread where we talk about anything and everything (except business!). The demonstrators who go there the most decided to do a blog hop a few months ago. I could never participate because I was usually out of town on the dates they picked but this time I am home and here (although a little nervous!).

This hop’s theme is about the products in the Sale-a-bration and Occasions Catalogs. The first card I made is a wedding card. You could probably use it for just about any holiday or event (well maybe not a masculine birthday card). Just change the sentiment from Teeny Tiny Wishes and it becomes whatever you want. The card uses the Spiral Flower Originals Die that is in the Occasions Catalog. It is so easy to make a flower using this die. It is a Bigz die so you can cut up to 4 pieces of cardstock at a time. I didn’t have a black brad so I decided to dip a brad from Antique Brads in Versamark and then Black Embossing Powder and heated it up with my Heat Tool. The Designer Series Paper is called Modern Medley and is in the Annual Catalog.

Here is a close up pictures of the flowers.

The next project(s) I made used the Scalloped Tag Topper Punch which is in the Occasion Catalog. I actually saw this technique on Pinterest and fell in love with it. I had to figure out how to make it but it wasn’t hard to do. If you look closely, the “tag toppers” are all one piece with the card. Of course, I decorated it differently then the card I saw, making it my own. I actually made two of them, one has the tabs on the side and one has them in the middle. Both cards use the Designer Series Paper in the Sale-a-bration Catalog called Sweet Sorbet. You can’t buy this paper but you can get it for free with a qualifying purchase. I love the colors of this paper. I used the stamp sets called Perfect Pennants and Chalk Talk for these cards.

Here is a closer picture of the tabs.

The last card I made uses the Sale-a-bration stamp set called Banner Blast and the matching Banner Punch. You can not purchase these items right now but you can get them for free with a qualifying purchase. The card also uses the Decorative Dots Embossing Folder that is also in the Sale-a-bration Catalog. By the way, the Banner Punch and the Decorative Dots Embossing Folder will be available for purchase in the 2014/2015 Annual Catalog that comes out in June but you can only earn the Banner Blast Stamp Set through a qualifying purchase. The Birthday Wishes stamp is from Four You.

Well I hope you enjoyed my projects for the Blog Hop! Now hop on over to Heidi’s blog to see her amazing projects! If you get lost along the way you can click on one of these blog buttons. The “Next” Button will take you to the next blog (Heidi’s). The “Previous” button will take you back to Jean’s Blog and the Home Button will take you to the home web page where all the blogs and their addresses are listed.