Sunday, June 28, 2015

Peek-A-Boo Flip Top Card

On May 28th and June 18th I posted some cards that used a technique called the "Peek-A-Boo Flip"  or "Fold Over Window" card and I promised to give you  some information on how to create them. Sorry that it took so long and I missed a couple of deadlines. 

As mentioned in my Wacky Watercooler Blog Hop post, I found the original design, a graduation card, on Glenda Caulkin's blog.  She had designed a card for her nephew and did a great video showing how she did it. 

I also came across a Sympathy Card created by Dawn Olchefske's called A Fold Over Window Card.  Dawn's video is also an excellent source for information on measuring correctly. 

Okay, so what did I do for my cards?  Well, here's a birthday card I made featuring the Celebrate Today stamp set:



Supplies: 
Stamp Set:  Celebrate Today
Ink: Watermelon Wonder (New In Colour Ink - 2015-2016 Annual Catalogue)
Card Stock: Bermuda Bay, 
DSP:  New - Cherry on Top DSP 2015-2016 Annual Catalogue 
Accessories:  Trimmer, Embossing Folder, Big Shot, Balloon Framelit Dies (coordinates with the  Celebrate Today stamp set or can be used on it's own), sponge daubers, Mono Adhesive,

Assembly:

1.  To begin, make all your paper cuts as follows:
  • 1 piece of 3 1/4" x 11"co-ordinating card stock for flip panel, score at 5 1/2"
  • 1 piece of 4 1/4" x 5 7/16" co-ordinating card stock for the card base 
  • 1 piece of 3 x 5 7/16" Whisper White card stock for the center panel
  • 2 strips of DSP or cardstock measuring 1/2" by 5 7/16" for the decorative panels.
2. Decorate the front of the 3 1/4" x 11 flip panel in your style by:
  • stamping or embossing the flip panel to fit your design
  • using a die cut or punch to cut a piece for the window or peek a boo opening. 
3.  To assemble the inside of the card:
  • Stamp images and/or sentiment on the inside panel.
  • Glue the Whisper White panel to the center of the card base.  Tip: I line up the card base and center panel using grid paper, when I can see that it's even on both sides I adhere the white panel
  • I use Tom Bow glue to adhere the two decorative strips along the edges of the white center panel.  Make sure that these pieces line up at the top and are butted up tightly against center panel. Once you've adhered these pieces, flip the card base over and trim away any overlapping edges along the top and bottom of the card base.
  • To finish the front of the card, center the flip panel, against the front side of the card base.  Again I'd recommend using the grid or a ruler to make sure the flip piece is evenly lined up on both sides of the card base.  Next I add Tom Bow glue to the back of the panel and re-center the piece being careful not to get glue on anything. Once you're satisfied with the placement lay the card down and press so the back of the flip panel attaches to the back of the card base.    When you use Tom Bow glue, you still have an opportunity to reposition the card piece if it isn't quite centered.  
This Peek-a-Boo Flip Top fancy fold can be used for any occasion.  Your imagination and creativity are the only limits for making this very versatile, inexpensive and fun card.  Here are some other cards I've made using this technique:

Sympathy Card:
I wanted a simple and clean looking Sympathy Card that didn't involve a lot of layers. For this card, I stamped the cross hatch image in Smokey Slate and the flower from the "You've Got This" stamp set in Elegant Eggplant on the flip panel of this card.  

The opening was die cut using the small label from the now retired Thinlets Card Labels die set. The inside sentiment is from the Petite Pairs stamp set.  I chose Smokey Slate for the card base cut the two decorative strips from Elegant Eggplant that was embossed with the Lovely Lace embossing folder.



It's a little hard to see but I took the fine tip of my Elegant Eggplant marker and outlined the center parts of the flowers to make them standout a bit more.  It worked beautifully and there's just a hint of a darker shade of Eggplant which was perfect.

I repeated the flower image on the inside of the card but I stamped off before adding the image so that it was a bit softer.  

Graduation Card: 
Once again, here's the graduation card I made for my niece who recently graduated. I pretty much CASED this card from Glenda Caulkin's, as noted above.  

I did the card base in Night of Navy card stock, and the two decorative panels were cut from Gold Foil sheets.  Love that stuff!  

The "Celebrate Today" Photopolymer stamp set was a perfect choice for this joyous occasion.  I love the versatility of the images and sentiments in this set. Tip: if you're searching for this set in the catalogue and can't find it, that's because it's filed under "Everyday Occasions" rather than birthdays, because it's one of those sets that's just so much more.  

I embossed the Happy Graduation sentiment and balloon tail with Gold Embossing powder.  The front of the flip panel is dry embossed with the Lucky Stars Embossing Folder.  Metallic Gold thread was used for the bow on the balloon base. 


Christmas Card:  
Here's an early Christmas card made with this same technique.  This card is going to be one of my Christmas in july Stamp-a-Stack cards because it's so quick and easy to assemble. 

I used Tip Top Taupe one of the new In Colours for the card base and flip panel piece.  I dry embossed the Flip Panel with the Woodgrain Embossing Folder and cut out the hole with a 1 3/8" circle punch.  

The wreath is from the Wondrous Wreath stamp set and it was cut out with the coordinating Wonderful Wreath framelit dies.  I'm so happy that both of these products were carried over from the Holiday Occasions Catalogue.  

I love all the accessories that come with the Wonderful Wreath framelit dies including the little bow?  It's the perfect size.  I cut the decorative panel pieces and two bows from Red Glimmer paper .  I glued the bows together so that the glimmer paper is showing on both sides, before I attached it to the wreath with glue dots.  

While you can't see it in this photo, I've added a window transparency sheet behind the wreath so it looks like it's hanging over a real door window.  I cut out the window sheet with a 1 3/8" circle punch and adhered it to the back of the wreath.  I didn't want all the leaves showing through the transparency so I re-cut the Tip Top Taupe 1 3/8" circle negative with a 1 1/4" circle punch and attached it behind the wreath.  You can see it in the second picture below.




You can see the second bow and the inner circle I made with Tip Top Taupe, to hide the unfinished back of the wreath.  


Well that's it for this post.  I hope I've shown you how much fun and how versatile this  Peek-a-Boo or Fold Over Window card can be, and I hope my instructions as well as the video links were easy to follow.  Look forward to hearing your comments.

HAPPY STAMPING!
PENNY TOKENS 

Thursday, June 25, 2015

Floral Wings Take Flight

This week's delightful colour challenge WWC26 is brought to you by Jean Fitch a long time member of the Watercooler artists group..  
Jean's selection of Marina Mist, Daffodil Delight and Crumb Cake evokes fond memories of the lazy hazy summer days of my youth.  When school was out we'd head for the hills and play for endless hours among the buttercups, bachelor's buttons, and waving grasses.  And of course there were butterflies flitting on the breeze.  Ahhhh, summer. Those great memories and great colours gave me special motivation to ink up my new Floral Wings stamp set.

Here's My Card:
Supplies:
Stamps:  Floral Wings and Butterfly Basics
Ink:  Marina Mist, Daffodil Delight and Crumb Cake
Cardstock, Whisper White, Daffodil Delight, Marina Mist and Crumb Cake 
Accessories:  Butterfly Framelits, Basic Pearls, Spring Flowers Embossing Folder, Elegant and Bitty Butterfly punches, trimmer, big  shot.  


 
When I began making this card, I envisioned what my finished card would look like, however, things just didn't go as planned.  As I progressed, my earlier image changed and began morphing into something else, and by the time I finished, my card looked nothing like it's beginnings.  Have you ever had this happen to you?

I didn't have any particular sketch in mind when I started on this card. I originally planned to start with a whisper white card base, then add layers of Marina Mist and Daffodil Delight followed by a stamped image of the large butterfly on a Whisper White layer. I was thinking of adding some small butterflies of other accent with the Crumb Cake card stock.


In the end, I wasn't happy with my stamping and decided to use the Butterfly Framelit die to cut out two of the butterfly images I'd stamped on Whisper White.  This was a good decision as they turned out so soft and lacy looking and added a whole different dimension to this card. These butterflies look like they were cut from a beautiful designer series paper.

By punching out smaller butterflies with the Elegant and Bitty butterfly punches and layering them in the center of the card I totally changed the layout.  I'm happy with all the changes and how the card turned out in the end. 
If you look closely at the card base you'll hopefully see the honey comb images stamped as a watermark in Crumb Cake ink around the edges of the card base. I also cut down the size of the original mats and embossed them with the Spring Flowers Embossing Folder (retired).
I also stamped the honeycomb image and the Happy Birthday sentiment from the Butterfly Basics stamp set on the inside card piece.  Here you can see what the original butterfly stamping looked like before I cut out the butterflies with the Butterfly Framelit.  Aren't those yellow flowers pretty?

I really enjoyed stamping with the Floral Wings stamp set.  TIP: Start off by stamping the flowers first, then layer in the leaves and finally center the butterfly over the images. You'll get a nicer result.  When you mount the stamps on your clear block make sure the tabs are all facing or lined up the same, and you will have perfect results every time.  

Here's another card I made with this stamp set and two of the challenge colours, Marina Mist and Daffodil Delight.  This 10 piece photopolymer stamp set gives a two-step stamped image that is very versatile.  I'm sure there are endless possibilities. 


For these cards I used the Marina Mist and Daffodil Delight combo to create a warm and inviting scene.  The Whisper White background is embossed with one of my favourite embossing folders this year called Lovely Lace.  

I stamped the vase in Marina Mist on both the Whisper White card stock for the actual vase image as well as on Marina Mist for the butterfly background. By using a combination of the multiple flowers and a single flower I was able to create the abundant bouquet image. 

Do you recognize the little bow on the vase?  It comes from the Mini Treat Bag Thinlits set.  Isn't it cute?  TIP:  I have a small Xyron for making stickers, so once I cut out the bow with the thinlit die, I ran it through the Xyron. It was perfectly glued with no excess oozing out on the sidelines.  
 
The Mini Treat Bag Thinlits are currently on sale in the Weekly Deals.  Purchase before June 29th and you'll save 15% off on this great framelit die.  Click here to see the Weekly Deals. 

For my third and final card using Floral Wings, I worked with last week's  Colour Me Subtle Colour Challenge although I missed the cut off to the link by just a few minutes.  Here's my card:

I loved this colour mix too.  So soft and beautiful and absolutely perfect for the card I planned.  







The card base is Whisper White with a layer of Elegant Eggplant that's been embossed with the Lovely Lace Embossing Folder, and then stamped with the splatter from Gorgeous Grunge in Elegant Eggplant ink.  


This was followed by a layer of Whisper White that was first cut with the Apothecary Framelits die and then  stamped with three of the splatter stamps from Gorgeous Grunge that had been inked up with Old Olive, Coastal Cabana and Eggplant inks.  To distress this layer further I ran it through the Big Shot with the Lovely Lace Embossing folder, and then used a sponge dauber and Elegant Eggplant ink to highlight the embossing.  

The beautiful butterfly was first stamped in the challenge colours and then using the Butterfly thinlit I cut out the butterfly image in Elegant Eggplant cardstock and glued it over top of the stamped butterfly.  I love that veined look...........so beautiful.  To finish off the butterfly I used a combination of medium and small basic rhinestones, and then attached it to the card with dimensionals.  

For the sentiment I used the Happy Birthday from the Butterfly Basics stamp set stamped in Elegant Eggplant on Whisper White.  This piece was layered with a 2 3/4" x 1 1/8" strip of Coastal Cabanna cardstock.  For the final touch I fussy cut one of the flowers and added it with a dimensional.

Well that's it for this week's post folks.  I hope you enjoyed it.  I think you're going to be seeing a lot more of this Floral wings set, especially since Stampin' Up introduced a new set of butterfly framelits that works perfectly with this set.  It's called Bold Butterfly Framelits.  It's on my wish list.  






Happy Stamping!

Penny Tokens

Thursday, June 18, 2015

The Wacky Watercooler Blog Hop Welcomes the New Annual Catalog(ue)



Hi everyone and welcome to my contribution to the June Wacky Watercooler Blog Hop

This month we're celebrating the launch of the new 2015-2016 Share the Fun Annual Catalogue, and projects related to Father's Day, Graduation and "something new".  

There are lot's of participants in this blog hop so I hope you'll play along and visit everyone's site between now and Saturday night (June 20th).  There are some awesome projects that I know you're going to love!

If you've been following the blog hop from the beginning you will have arrived here from the wonderful and talented Jackie Susnick's blog.  

Father's Day Project:

For my first project, I've made a Father's Day Card using the Guy Greetings stamp set featured on page 98 of the catalogue. Before I share my card, I just want to express how grateful I am that this stamp set was carried forward from the Spring Occasions catalogue.  It is probably one of the best male themed stamp sets I've used in a long time. 

Guy Greetings Stamp Set #137178 is a 22 piece stamp set that comes in Clear or Wood Mount and Photopolymer, and is available in English and French versions.  
Here's My Card:
Love that Tip Top Taupe Striped paper from the Cherry on Top DSP Paper Pack. 
Supplies:
Cardstock:  Whisper White, Chocolate Chip, Watermelon Wonder and Tip Top Taupe
Ink:  Tip Top Taupe,  Watermelon Wonder
DSP: Cherry on Top  Designer Series Paper Stack #138443
Accessories:  Extra Large and Large Oval Punches, 1" and 1 1/4" square punches, scissors, trimmer, adhesive and dimensionals.  


Graduation Card 
Since my niece is graduating this month, I wanted to make her a special graduation card.  While scouting around on the internet for graduation card ideas I found one by Glenda Caulkins of The Stamp Camp blog, that really caught my interest.  As the school colours were exactly what I was looking for, I decided to CASE her original card, with is called a "Peek A Boo Front Flip card".  You can see Glenda's card here, and here's my original CASE with a couple of changes.
This is a flip top fancy fold card.  Just the center part opens up.  I'll be posting more details and a brief tutorial on how this card and the shaker card below are assembled in my Sunday post, so make sure you come back and check it out.
When you open the flip top you have room to right your message below the sentiment.
When I was asked to make something with a graduation theme for this blog hop, I wanted something a little more exciting so I used the same card colours and stamp set, but designed a "shaker" card.

Both cards were made with the Celebrate Today stamp set, another carry over and favourite of mine. 



Here's my graduation shaker card:
 

I added some gold and royal blue seed beads along with the Metallic Sequins to the inside of the balloon shaker.  What fun!  The sentiment is embossed with Gold Embossing Powder.
Supplies:
Stamp set:  Celebrate Today

Cardstock:  Very Vanilla, Night of Navy and Gold Foil 
Ink:  Versa Mark 
Accessories:  Balloon Framelits, Metallics Sequin Assortment, Gold Seed Beads (non-SU), Fun Foam, Adhesive, Gold Stampin' Emboss Powder, trimmer, Big Shot
 
This is the bundle which includes 17 Photopolyer two-step stamp images and 4 framelit dies.  By purchasing these products as a bundle, you save 15% off the original price.

 

Something New 
For my "Something New" project, I wanted to share a combo gift card holder and birthday card made with this year's Ronald McDonald House (RMH) Charities stamp set "Sprinkles of Life".  Did you know that for every Sprinkles of Life stamp set sold, Stampin' Up! contributes $3.00 towards the RMH Charities?  I think that's so awesome!

Sprinkles of Life is a 22 piece Photopolymer stamp set that you're absolutely going to fall in love with.  It has a matching punch called the Tree Builder which helps you cut out all those ice cream or cup cake tops in the blink of an eye!
Here's My Card:



The gift card holder on the inside of the mini gift bag. 
Here you can see the gift card holder with an actual gift card inserted in it. 
Supplies:
Cardstock:  Daffodil Delight, Cucumber Crush, Watermelon Wonder, Mint Macaron, Tip Top Taupe and Whisper White 
Ink:  Watermelon Wonder, Cucumber Crush, Tip Top Taupe, 
DSP: Cherry on Top  Designer Series Paper Stack #138443
Accessories:  Tree Builder and Banner Triple Punches, Mini Treat Bag Thinlits, Dazzling Details, sequins, trimmer, adhesive and dimensionals.
The Banner Triple Punch gives you triple the banner options in one punch. You can make banners in three widths--1", 1-1/2", and 2"--in any length. Just slide the paper in, punch, and get perfectly notched banners (or gift tags, bookmarks, belly bands) every time. * Punch size: 3-3/8" x 5-3/4" x 1-1/4"
Well that's the end of my projects for this month. Enjoy the remainder of the blog hop... and thanks for stopping by!  

Since this is a circular blog hop you have some choices about how to proceed.  You can click on the "next" button below to move on to the awesome Kath Rick's blog or move back to Jackie Susnick's.  You can also click on the Home link and go back to the beginning of the hop where all the participant's blog links are listed.  Come back and visit again soon!

Click here to go to Kath Rick's incredible blog


Click here to go back to Jackie Susnik's blog
If you want to start at the beginning of the blog hop you can click on this link to go back to the Wacky Watercooler Blog Hop site for the list of participants.  

Tuesday, June 2, 2015

Share The Fun - Launch

 
Today is a very special day in the stamping world!  What's so special about June 2nd, you might ask?  It’s the day we’ve all been waiting for--the 2015-2016 annual catalogue is here!  You can begin ordering all the fun new products from the new catalogue. In addition, this is the last day to order from the 2014-2015 annual catalogue and the occasions catalogue.
How to take advantage of all that's going on:
  • Place an order of $200 or more today and receive hostess benefits of $35 or more. Select your free items from any of the three catalogues (note: some items may already be retired).
  • Doing what I love, and sharing what I love with others are just a few of the benefits that made me decide to become a Stampin' Up! demonstrator. I love sharing my passion for stamping with family and friends, meeting new people, and having the chance to build a great business doing so. I also get to set my own schedule and that is a definite plus!  Choose any two stamp sets from the new annual catalogue when you join Stampin’ Up! as a demonstrator June 2–June 30, 2015
 

  • Purchase a Stampin’ Up! Starter Kit for only $125 in June and receive:
    • $155 in your choice of products
    • Two free stamp sets of your choice from the new catalogue
    • Free Shipping on the kit and the GST is paid
    • A discount of 20% or more on all future orders as a demonstrator
     
    Click here and select  to get started
      
    June 3rd is the first day for the new 2015-16 Stampin’ Rewards program seen on page 178 of the new catalogue.
 
Happy Stamping!
Penny Tokens 


Catalogue Launch Party
10:00am to 2:00pm
Saturday June 6th, 2015 
RSVP 778-880-1296


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