Wacky Watercooler Blog Hop – September Mix-it-Up!

 

Welcome back to another Wacky Watercooler Blog Hop!!  I’m so glad that you’re here – I hope you’re enjoying the hop, and the eclectic mix of project we have to share with you.

Since we now have the 2 catalogues to pull from – the Annual and the Holiday catalogues – we’ve decided that this hop will be a ‘mix-up’; pulling together our projects from whichever catalogue we like.  So, we hope that you will like them, too.

A reminder; our blog hop goes in a circular fashion, which each blog linked to the one before it, and the one after it.  We also have a ‘Home’ blog, where you will find the list of all of the participating blogs, should you get lost, or just want to randomly hop about at your leisure.  If you choose to travel through the blogs in an orderly fashion, then simply click on the ‘Next’ button at the bottom of this post, and you’ll be taken to the next blog – that way you won’t miss a single project!

If you’ve been traveling forward via the ‘next’ button, then you’ve arrived here (hello!) from the amazing Christine Giuda’s post – weren’t her projects fabulous!?

I’m sure you’re ready to see some more – so here is my first project; a classic Christmas card:

This  card features the lovely stamp set Reason for the Season, which you can find on pg. 31 of the Holiday catalogue.

Staying with the traditional Christmas colours, I first stamped the flower/leaf image stamp in Memento Black ink onto a panel of Whisper White cardstock.  I then inked up the flower colour stamp using the Real Red ink pad, and stamped it; then used Pear Pizzazz ink to stamp the leaf colour stamp on the leaves.  With this set being in photopolymer, there is no problem at all in lining up the images to apply the different layers of colours!  I stamped the sentiment, also in Real Red ink, onto a smaller piece of Whisper White cardstock, and used the Tags & Labels Framelits Dies & Big Shot to die cut the sentiment, as well as the piece of Gold Glimmer cardstock that I layered behind the sentiment.

I then layered the stamped panel onto a panel of Basic Black cardstock, then alternated layers of Real Red & Basic Black panel in 1/8″ increments, until my final card base of Real Red.

Finally, I finished off the card by adding Gold Dazzling Details to the center of each poinsettia.  I think the final result is a classic Christmas card that could be quickly produced, if you like to send out a lot of cards with the same design.

You can also Bundle this stamp set with the Festive Flower Builder Punch – some of the stamps coordinate with this punch!  I  used the punch and some of the new Red Foil Paper and some Dazzling Diamonds Glimmer Paper to make this super-glam poinsettia:

Wouldn’t this look gorgeous on a card, or better yet as a topper on one of our gift boxes?!  This punch is so versatile for making any kind of flower you want; change up the colours you use, and the number of layers, and create your own custom flowers!

For my next project, I tried out an idea that had been in my head since first seeing the Hearth & Home Thinlits Dies window, and the Sleigh Ride Edgelits Dies;

I just love how my luminaria turned out!  I die-cut 8 of the window frames using the Big Shot and Hearth & Home Thinlits Dies from Basic Black cardstock, and cut 4 images from the Sleigh Ride Edgelits Dies from Vellum Paper, and then 4 ‘window’s from Window Sheets.

Here are some pictures of how I put the luminaria together;

The top left: shows all of the pieces I cut; 8 windows, 8 window ‘boxes’, which I used to hold the 4 windows together; the 4 Sleigh Ride images in Vellum paper, and the 4 pieces of Window Sheet.

Top right: I used Tombow multipurpose liquid glue to attach the Vellum Sleigh Ride images to the inside of the windows.  I then used the Tombow glue to attach the Window sheet over top of that; and finally to give it a finished look, attached the 2nd window over top of the first one.

Bottom left: shows how I scored the window box pieces in half, and attached them to the sides of the windows using Tear & Tape.

Bottom right: shows how I inserted the last inside window; you do need to cut off the very outside of the window trim to ensure a good fit.

Here is another picture of the luminaria; I did put an image on all 4 sides, and embellished 2 sides using the fabulous new Gold Cording Trim and wooden Snowflake Elements:

For safety reasons, I used a battery operated tealight inside; this one flickers like a real candle, and gives off a lovely glow!

My final project is another Christmas card – I was really feeling the season! – again featuring products from the new Holiday catalogue:

The Festive Fireplace stamp set and matching Festive Fireplace Framelits Dies were on the top of my ‘must have’ list as soon as I saw them!

Oh- and note to self – always look at your dies before you start fussy-cutting things; I fussy cut the fire logs & flames, as well as the garland, before opening up my dies and finding out I didn’t have to use my scissors! *face palm*  Oh well – they still turned out just fine!

I started by stamping the fireplace on Smoky Slate cardstock using Memento black ink; then I used my Blender Pen and ink pad to add some smudges on the bricks.  You can’t really see it under the garland, but I also stamped & cut the mantle piece separately, and coloured it the same way.  I then added some of the ‘glow’ from the fire by using Sponge Daubers and ink from the Pumpkin Pie and Daffodil Yellow ink pads, and sponging directly onto the cardstock.

To create the fire, I stamped the image in Tip Top Taupe, then used my Blender Pens and inks pads in Crumb Cake and Smoky Slate for the logs, and Real Red, Pumpkin Pie and Daffodil Yellow for the flames.

The garland was stamped in Old Olive ink onto Whisper White cardstock, then sponged using the same ink and a Sponge Dauber.  I coloured in the pine cones using my Crumb Cake Stampin’ Write Marker.  The wreath was also stamped in Old Olive ink onto Whisper White, then sponged with the same ink. I then added in the red berries using my Real Red marker, and stamped the sentiment in the center in Real Red ink.

The cat was stamped in Tip Top Taupe ink and coloured using the Crumb Cake ink & Sponge Dauber; the Bow was stamped in Real Red ink, and both were die cut using the Big Shot and the Festive Fireside Framelits Dies (by that time, I had opened up the package of dies!)

Everything was layered together using Stampin’ Dimensionals, then the fireplace and wreath were attached to the bottom panel, which I had stamped using the Hardwood background stamp in Crumb Cake ink on Whisper White cardstock.  I added a few loops of the Gold Cording Trim behind the wreath for some ‘bling’.  Finally, all was attached to my Real Red cardstock base, using Stampin’ Dimensionals.

This is such a fun and versatile set; I’ve only just begun using it, and I know I’m going to have fun using all of the 13 stamps that come in this set.  By the way – you can order the stamp set & framelits bundle – and save yourself 15%!!

Well, that it’s for my projects; if you have the time, I’d love it if you would leave a comment, and let me know what you think.

Now, you can click on the ‘Next’ button below, and head back to the beginning of the hop at Gail Allen’s blog to see her terrific projects, or click the ‘Previous’ button & go back for another look at Christine’s designs (no one would blame you!).

Enjoy the blog hop, and thanks for spending some time with us today!

Until next time – happy stamping!