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!