The Wacky Watercooler December "Best of..." Blog Hop

Welcome to the final Wacky Watercooler Blog Hop for 2014.  It's been a busy year and we've had a lot of wonderful response to our Blog Hops.  Thank you so much for coming back each month and for making our Blog Hops such a success.  We appreciate your loyalty and interest.

This Blog Hop is going to be slightly different from the others you've seen.  This time we've set three challenges for ourselves, the result of which is our version of "the best of...".  The first "best of..." is a particularly interesting challenge.  Each of us had a name drawn and that was the person whose blog posts we searched to find what we each considered "the best of..." for that person.

The second "best of..." is for our choice of the best of Stampin' Up! retired products.  That was a lot of fun, revisiting some of our favourite products which we've stashed away, not being willing to let them go---yet!

The third and final "best of..." is for our choice of the best of Stampin' Up! current products.  You'll see that in this case as in the others, we all have different opinions of what products are the best.  See if you agree with our choices.  Let us know in the comments.  It will be fun to discover what your choice of "the best of..." would have been.

As usual, our Blog Hop runs in a circular fashion.  No matter where in the list of participants you begin, inevitably you'll wind up in the exact same place again if you keep going to the "next" blog.  It works the same way whether you conform to the usual forward movement through the blog posts or if you're a rebel and work your way through backwards.

This month we have thirteen participants from various spots in the United States and Canada with one talented poster coming to us all the way from Germany where her family is currently posted with the military.  As a result, you'll see a lot of different and diverse projects since we are all affected by our surroundings.

Without further ado, here is this month's list in order of appearance:

Christine Giuda

Kathe Deck

Jean Fitch

Gail Allen

Terri Antoniw

Stefanie Pletscher

Kath Ricks

Marsha Reed

Jeanne Kupsh

Deborah Smart

Priscilla Ivler

Marie Green

Heidi Weaver

We hope you enjoyed our version of "the best of...".  We had a lot of fun.  May your Christmas be filled with happy surprises and the warmth and love of family and friends.  We hope to see you again in 2015 when we will unveil the wonderful new products from the Occasions catalogue.

The October Wacky Watercooler Blog Hop

Welcome to our October Wacky Watercooler Blog Hop.  This is an exciting time of the year.  In a few days the kids will be out Trick or Treating for Hallowe'en.  After that, in the United States, there is the huge Thanksgiving celebration.  And then we head into Christmas.  We're keeping all these things in mind as we present our fabulous creations to you.  Prepare to be inspired.  We have some awesome artists in this group.

This month we have eleven participants who will be appearing in the following order:

Marie Green

Kathe Deck

Terri Antoniw

Kath Ricks

Jean Fitch

Deborah Smart

Christine Giuda

Heidi Weaver

Jackie Susnik

                       

Stefanie Pletscher

Gail Allen

Our blog hop is a circular one.  Whether you start at the beginning or the end, whether you begin partway through, inevitably you wind up where you began.  Like a ring, the circle is complete and never-ending.  Of course you can "jump off" at any time, but we trust that you'll find our hop so fabulous that you continue right on through all eleven blogs.

We hope you''ll enjoy October's blog hop.   Bookmark our site and join us in November for more wonderful ideas and projects.

If you have a moment, please leave a comment on the blogs you visit.  It's always exciting to hear from our visitors.

Hallowe'en Goodies from Patti Leeke

We're lucky to have Patti Leeke's projects to share with everyone.  Patti has had so much fun creating and sharing these Hallowe'en projects with her classes and, now, us.

 

You can see from the items on the table that Patti has been very busy.  There is a little burlap bag from the September My Paper Pumpkin.  The Witch's hat was simply cut out and pieced together used two toned trim Baker's Twine.  Patti also used the Fall Fest stamp set and Framelits dies. 

For these 3 gift card holders, Patti used Pumpkin Pie, Whisper White, and Basic Black card stock. That cute Designer Series Paper was on the Clearance Rack and so was the Washi tape and several of the stamps.  This was her first try using the Circle Card Thinlits.  Didn't they turn out wonderfully? 

There's still lots of time left to order your Hallowe'en products so that you, too, can make some of these great projects.  Don't forget, our next Wacky Watercooler Blog Hop will begin October 23rd.

The Wacky Watercooler September Blog Hop

Welcome to our September Wacky Watercooler Blog Hop. This is the time of year when the trees are turning marvellous colours.  That's one of the best parts of late Summer and the beginning of Autumn.  It's also fun to work with fall colours.

This month we're excited to show you more wonderful projects from the Holiday Catalogue, especially some reflecting Autumn as well as anticipating such holidays as Hallowe'en and Thanksgiving.  We have some very talented stampers from various areas of the United States and Canada in September's Blog Hop.

This month we have nine participants who will be appearing in the following order:

Stefanie Pletscher

Priscilla Ivler

Marsha Reed

Marie Green

Heidi Weaver

Deborah Smart

Kath Ricks

Jackie Susnik

Terri Antoniw

Our blog hop is a circular one.  Whether you start at the beginning or the end, whether you begin partway through, inevitably you wind up where you began.  Like a ring, the circle is complete and never-ending.  Of course you can "jump off" at any time, but we trust that you'll find our hop so fabulous that you continue right on through all ten blogs.

We hope you've enjoyed September's blog hop.   Bookmark our site and join us in October for more of the Holiday Catalog(ue) and some more wonderful projects.

If you have a moment, please leave a comment on the blogs you visit.  It's always exciting to hear from our visitors.

The Wacky Watercooler August Blog Hop -- A Sneak Peek at the new Holiday Catalog(ue)

Can you believe that we're already letting you have a sneak peek at the new Holiday Catalog(ue)?  Hasn't this summer raced by?

You're going to be amazed at the variety of products stuffed into the pages of the Holiday Catalog(ue)!  Seriously!  This little catalog(ue) can't be called a "mini".  There is nothing "mini" about it.  Among the eight of us participating in the Blog Hop this month, we should be able to give you a glimpse of what is coming up when the catalog(ue) premieres on August 28th.  You'd better get out a pen and paper.  You'll want to make a list of all the great projects you'll be wanting to CASE.

This month's hoppers are:

                    Gail Allen

                    Terri Antoniw 

                    Priscilla Ivler

                    Stefanie Pletscher

                    Marsha Reed

                    Kath R.

                    Deborah Smart

                    Heidi Weaver 

                               
As I mentioned, we're having a sneak peek at the new Holiday Catalog(ue).  Of course we'll also be using some of the terrific products that were just released in the new 2014-2015 Annual Catalog(ue) and also the carry-overs from the past two years that will be available to order until August 28th.  Some of those carry-overs work beautifully with the new products and you may wish to order them before they're gone forever.

Our blog hop is a circular one.  Whether you start at the beginning or the end, whether you begin partway through, inevitably you wind up where you began.  Like a ring, the circle is complete and never-ending.  Of course you can "jump off" at any time, but we trust that you'll find our hop so fabulous that you continue right on through all ten blogs.

We hope you've enjoyed celebrating our Holiday Catalog(ue) sneak peek.   Bookmark our site and join us in September for more of the Holiday Catalog(ue) and additional surprises.

If you have a moment, please leave a comment on the blogs you visit.  It's always exciting to hear from our visitors.

Wacky Watercooler Pre-Blog Hop Post---Patti Leeke

It's just a few more days until our next Wacky Watercooler Blog Hop begins on August 21st.  To whet your appetites and get some interest going, we're presenting Patti Leeke's trio of cards.

Patti has used the same design for all three cards but changed them out slightly with different sentiments and/or different colours.  The "Thank You" and "Get Well" cards are both created using a base cardstock of Hello Honey, a doily in Blackberry Bliss, leaves in Mossy Meadow and flowers  and sentiment stamped in Blackberry Bliss ink.  You can see the inside of the "Get Well" card just above it and can imagine how the others were finished off inside as well.

The "Celebrate Today" card has a base cardstock of Lost Lagoon, a white doily and leaves in Mossy Meadow.  The stamping of flowers and sentiment shows off the Lost Lagoon ink.

These are great cards to have on hand or to give as gifts or prizes.  Not only do they show off the new In-Colours beautifully, but they also show how easily the same design can be used for various occasions.

Many thanks to Patti Leeke for sharing these with us.

My Paper Pumpkin---Patti Leeke's informal get-together with friends

Patti Leeke has been a steady contributor to this blog hop site over the months.  It's a pleasure to share her projects since Patti doesn't have a blog of her own.  A good friend and a staunch supporter of this blog hop, Patti manages to join the team by showing us some fun and exciting projects that she and her core group of friends and customers have done in the past month.

Patti likes to keep it informal.  For her a good get-together is filled with friends, fun and great laughs.  Her group has been getting together for a "My Paper Pumpkin Night".  They wait to get together before opening their Red Boxes and then have a good time assembling them.  But simple assembly is not all there is for Patti and her friends.  In her own words:

"This is what we did today.  We really had a fun day.  Good friends, good fun, great laughs, super projects.  The box comes right to your door and includes everything you need except adhesive.  A group of us that have signed up are going to meet once a month to put them together.  Sharing ideas among some very talented ladies.  We all have different tastes.  We all waited to get together to open our Red Boxes.  The kist have really improved, too.  All the stamp sets are unique to My Paper Pumpkin and can't be bought elsewhere.  There is even a special being offered by Stampin' Up! for two months of the My Paper Pumpkin at half price---but you have to sign up before September 10th."   

        

This picture shows Patti's July My Paper Pumpkin.  She punched out some small stars with soft sky cardstock and added rhinestones.  

Isn't that little box with the tag darling?

For the flag card, Patti used the World of Art stamp set, Champagne Glimmer paper, Hello Honey, Real Red and Night of Navy inks.  Everyone loved making that one.  The pinwheel is from the June My Paper Pumpkin kit.  That lovely masculine card beside the pinwheel uses the Open Sea stamp set, Basic Black, Whisper White, and Marina Mist cardstocks, the Chevron embossing folder and the Teeny Tiny Wishes stamp set.  The sentiment looks great cut out with the Bitty Banners framelits, doesn't it?

The Wacky Watercooler First Anniversary Blog Hop

Yes, you read that right---it's our First Anniversary!  Wow!  I'm still overwhelmed that we've been presenting our Blog Hop for a year now.  Who thought when we first started that we would begin having a monthly Blog Hop and that it would be so popular?  It's wonderful and we have to thank all of you who come to our Blog Hops and support them.  Without you, our First Anniversary would never have happened.

During this first year we've added a lot of new people to our list of "Hoppers".  The core group remains but there are enough of us now that when life happens and someone can't participate, we still have a nice, healthy line-up to take part in the Blog Hop.  With it being Convention Week for Stampin' Up! we're lucky that we managed to get a group together.  We are excited that we have ten "Hoppers", six of whom are from the original core group.  See if you remember who those six are when you read the following list:

                    Jackie Susnik - Jack Otter Stamp

                    Heidi Weaver - Stampin Along With Heidi

                    Deb Smart - Stamp and Create

                    Marsha Reed - Coffee Pot Stamping Cafe

                    Priscilla Ivler - Priscilla Stamps

                    Kath Ricks - All That Scrap

                    Stefanie Pletscher - The Crafty Medic

                    Terri Antoniw - Stamp With Ter

                    Bev Quinn -   Stamp With Bev
               
                    Kathe Deck - Kathe's Adventure
                                 
To celebrate our First Anniversary our theme is anniversaries.  There should be some exciting posts and projects with anniversary cards and other items in the spotlight.  If you don't have any anniversaries coming up in your lives soon, remember it's a simple matter to change the sentiment for any card that takes your fancy.  We share our projects to give you ideas.

Our blog hop is a circular one.  Whether you start at the beginning or the end, whether you begin partway through, inevitably you wind up where you began.  Like a ring, the circle is complete and never-ending.  Of course you can "jump off" at any time, but we trust that you'll find our hop so fabulous that you continue right on through all ten blogs.

We hope you've enjoyed celebrating our First Anniversary with us.   Bookmark our site and join us in August for the Holiday Catalog(ue) Hop we are now preparing.  We'll be featuring product and projects from the soon-to-be-released 2014 Holiday Catalog(ue).

If you have a moment, please leave a comment on the blogs you visit.  It's always exciting to hear from our visitors.

Patti Leeke shares her projects

We're lucky to be able to welcome Patti Leeke once again this month.  Patti has been enjoying the new Blendabilities just like everyone else that has tried them.  She's sharing some of her recent projects since she doesn't have a blog to join our blog hop.  This is the next best thing.

Doesn't the Rich Razzleberry cardstock just "pop" on Patti's first card?  The flowers on the "postage stamps" at the corners were all stamped with Memento ink and the Petite Petals Stamp set.  Then Patti coloured them using her Rich Razzleberry Blendabilities.  The Bookmark really looks great embossed using the Arrows Embossing folder, doesn't it?  And then the pops of Coastal Cabana cardstock against the Whisper White compliment the Coastal Cabana Blendabilities used to colour those adorable birds from the For the Birds Stamp set.

For these next two card, Patti used the Lullaby Designer Series paper.  The flowers, again stamped with the Petite Petals Stamp set in Memento ink, are all in different colours, showcasing some of the Blendability colours.  Pumpkin Pie, Coastal Cabana, Daffodil Delight and Rich Razzleberry really look great against the colours in the Designer paper for the first card, don't they?  And then for the second card, Patti kept to Pumpkin Pie for all three flowers.  I love the texture on the Pumpkin Pie cardstock.  It really adds a lot of interest to the card.

And there you have them.  Patti Leeke's four great new projects which she has so generously shared with us.  I hope you enjoyed them as much as I did.

 

The Wacky Watercooler June Blog Hop---Welcome to the new Annual Catalog(ue)

That's right!  We have a brand new catalogue that launched at the beginning of this month.  There are so many new products that we wish to show off to you.  Are you ready?

As usual, this is a circular Blog Hop.  That simply means that wherever you begin, if you keep clicking on the "NEXT" button once you've finished looking through each participant's post, you will, eventually, wind up in the exact place that you began.  We have participating blogs from both the United States and Canada, from East to West, North to South.  As a result there will be wonderfully different creations even if the same products are used by several participants.  The beauty of the Blog Hops is that we can let our inner artist out and give it our all.

Ready?  There are six participants this time.  Computer problems have decimated our ranks this time, but prepare to be amazed despite the small numbers.  The line-up, in order of appearance, will be:

                    Kath Ricks - All That Scrap

                    Gail Allen - Stamping and Other Stuff

                    Terri Antoniw - Stamp With Ter

                    Marsha Reed - Coffee Pot Stamping Cafe

                    Heidi Weaver - Stampin Along With Heidi

                    Stefanie Pletscher - The Crafty Medic

We're not especially wacky (maybe a little eccentric) but we do like to chat around our virtual watercooler.  We invite you to join us and have a look at our blogs.  If you get a moment, please leave a comment.  It really does make our day to hear that you've enjoyed our presentations.

Thanks for joining us.  And now, as they say, "On with the show!"

Patti Leeke celebrates the new Annual Catalogue

Our good friend and supporter, Patti Leeke, is back again to show off  some of the wonderful projects that made her new Annual Catalogue Open House such a success.  As well as two gorgeous cards, Patti included some bookmarks and a look at the Blended Bloom stamp set flower coloured with the new Blendabilities.

I love all the pops of colour in Patti's projects, don't you?  The Father's Day card is just perfect featuring the new Lost Lagoon and Hello Honey.  The Thank You card spotlights three of the pansies from the Flower Shop bundle, beautifully coloured using four of the new Blendabilities markers.

Those two bookmarks show one of the cute stamps that are included in the Something for Baby stamp set, the little Rock-a-Stack that almost every new baby receives.  The best thing about this stamp set is that one can buy the matching framelits to cut out all the shapes.  Such a bonus, especially is you're making a lot of baby cards or, perhaps, give-aways for a shower.

As usual, Patti's projects are a treat to share.  Thanks so much, Patti, for your continued support of the Watercooler Blog Hop and for sharing your projects with us.

The Wacky Watercooler May Blog Hop

Welcome to our May Blog Hop.  It's still Spring and, of course, there are still occasions happening that require cards and other projects.  We can't forget Father's Day, after all, or Graduation, or, perhaps upcoming weddings or birthdays.  This month we're concentrating on all the retiring products which we will miss when they go at the end of the month.  We're also welcoming some of the new products which we have been allowed to order as a sneak peek for the upcoming 2014/15 Annual Catalogue.  In other words, "out with the old and welcome the new".  It's going to be fun!

This month we have seven participants.  They've joined us from various areas of the United States and Canada and bring with them a diversity of inspiring designs.  It's always exciting to see what surprises they'll offer us, isn't it?  The variety never fails to surprise me.  Our line-up, in order of appearance, is as follows:

          Kathe D. -  Kathe's Adventures

          Stefanie Pletscher -  The Crafty Medic

          Buffy Cooper -  Stamping With Buffy

          Kath R. -  All That Scrap

          Terri Antoniw -  Stamp With Ter

          Deborah Smart -  Stamp and Create With Deborah

          Heidi Weaver -  Stampin Along With Heidi

Our blog hop is a circular one.  Whether you start at the beginning or the end, whether you begin partway through, inevitably you wind up where you began.  Like a ring, the circle is complete and never-ending.  Of course you can "jump off" at any time, but we trust that you'll find our hop so fabulous that you continue right on through all seven blogs.

If you have a moment, please leave a comment on the blogs you visit.  It's always exciting to hear from our visitors.

Thanks so much for joining us.

Patti Leeke shares her awesome projects

Not everyone has a blog for a variety of reasons, one of which is that they are just not comfortable putting one together.  Patti Leeke is one of those people.  Patti makes some amazing projects which she frequently shares with her fellow-demonstrators.  This time I'm going to share some of these projects with you.

Patti has been designing some beautiful bookmarks.  Some of them spotlight the retiring products while others are made with current products which will continue into the new catalogue.  Either way, the bookmarks are worth seeing and, you guessed it, CASEing.

All of these bookmarks have one thing in common:   they were created using the Scallop Tag Topper Punch. What a pretty top that makes, especially with the ribbon laced through the punched hole.  I love the Modern Medley Designer Paper that Patti has used, don't you?  And, of course the Arrow Embossing Folder (which, by the way, is also carrying over into the new Annual Catalogue).

Besides these lovely bookmarks, Patti has also shared a couple of cards with us.

The Wildflower Meadow bundle which Patti used for her first card really makes me think of Spring.  You'll be happy to know that this bundle has also made it into the new Annual Catalogue.  That's good news for those who have been sitting the fence on buying the bundle.  You have another year to get this.  The second card is so elegant, isn't it?  I love white and black!  The musical notes from the Modern Medley Designer Paper are perfect with the piano keys that Patti created using the Word Punch, don't you agree?

Our thanks to Patti Leeke for generously sharing these project with us.

The Wacky Watercooler "Spring has Sprung" Blog Hop

Welcome to another fun blog hop with the Wacky Watercooler gang!  I don't know about you, but I've been looking forward to seeing some of the terrific projects that are always unveiled during our blog hops.  The variety never fails to surprise me.

What can be said about Spring?  So many occasions come up during Spring, don't they?  We have Easter just around the corner.  Mother's Day is only a month away.  For some reason birthdays abound during the Spring.  And, of course, people are already planning for their late spring or summer weddings or for graduation.  As you can see, there are endless opportunities for projects among these occasions.  This month we've opened the door to all of them and can hardly wait to show off the cards and projects with which we've come up.

We have eleven participants this month.  Ten come to us from various places in the U.S. and Canada while number eleven is an American living in Germany.  The beauty of this diversity is that frequently one's location inspires one's projects.  Our line-up, in order of appearance, is as follows:

Marsha Reed - http://www.coffeepotstampingcafe.com/

Terri Antoniw - http://stampwithter.blogspot.ca/
                         
Christine Giuda - http://www.dancinstamps.blogspot.ca/
                         
Heidi Weaver - http://heidistampinalong.blogspot.com/

 Stefanie Pletscher - http://www.craftymedic.blogspot.ca/ 

 Jackie Susnik - www.jackotterstamp.blogspot.com/
 
 Debbie Martin - http://www.cleverandcute.blogspot.com/ 

 Deborah Smart - www.stampandcreate.net

 Gail Allen - http://stampingandotherstuff.blogspot.ca/ 

 Kath R. - http://kath-allthatscrap.blogspot.com/ 

 Jeannie Kupsh - http://www.happy-jeannie.blogspot.ca/ 

Our blog hop is a circular one.  Whether you start at the beginning or the end, whether you begin partway through, inevitably you wind up where you began.  Like a ring, the circle is complete and never-ending.  Of course you can "jump off" at any time, but we trust you'll find the hop so fabulous that you continue right on through.

Note:  All posts will be "live" as of 6:00 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time on Thursday, April 10th.  If you've logged in before that time, there is a possibility that one or more links won't be active yet.  Then, of course, we have to allow for possible technical problems.  That's what our late-start on Thursday is for:  getting rid of the possible glitches.  The Blog Hop will run right until midnight on Saturday, April 12th, so we trust you'll forgive any possible early problems and definitely find time to come back.

Leave a comment for the participants if you have time.  It's always exciting to hear from everyone.

Thanks so very much for coming.

Less than a week...

That's right, we have less than a week to wait for the next wonderful Wacky Watercooler Blog Hop.  Are you ready for the terrific new projects that will be unveiled?

"Psst!  The Wacky Watercooler Blog Hop

is coming next week.  Mark April 10th to 12th

on your calendar."

Our theme will be "Spring has Sprung!"  Even if you live in an area where Spring hasn't decided to show up yet, you'll love our Blog Hop.  See you next Thursday!

Welcome to the Wacky Watercooler March Blog Hop!

 

Are you ready for another Wacky Watercooler hop?   I hope so.  We've settled into the monthly program we announced previously and here it is the second Thursday in March...so we're ready to hop and hope you are ready to be inspired by a smorgasbord of talent, multiple occasions to celebrate and create for and inspiring ideas. 

March has so much going for it don't you think?   St. Patrick's Day, Spring,  lions, lambs, wind, snow, sun and of course prep time for Easter, Passover, birthdays, weddings and anything else you can think of.  Of course for some March Madness is also on the mind with bouncing basketballs, cheerleaders and of course scores and trophies.

Here are a few more things to celebrate this month from various calendars:

• Irish American Month
• Music in Our Schools Month
• National Craft Month
• National Frozen Food Month
• National Irish American Heritage Month- designated by Congress in 1995.
• National Nutrition Month
• National Peanut Month
• National Women's History Month
• Red Cross Month
• Social Workers Month

Perfect occasions for a card right?  Or a treat holder with a sweet something in it?

In case you are new to our hops heres a thumbnail description of who we are:

We are a creative group of Independent Stampin' Up Demonstrators who hang out together on our demonstrator website in the Wacky Women's Watercooler thread. We share stamping, business, life, love, animals and pretty much whatever comes into our heads with a generally wacky slant on most things. Luckily being virtual the watercooler is always open for fun, frivolity and most of all creativity at any hour of the day.

Feel free to run the hop either forwards or backwards or somewhere in between.  Every post will have links to get you back home here to hop central in case you get lost or a link gets broken.

 Note:  All posts will be active as of 6 p.m. Pacific Standard Time.  If you log in before that you may miss a stop or two.  If a link isn't working when you check out the Blog Hop, please try again later as technical problems can arise and will be fixed.

Let's meet this months round of hoppers:

Note: Links all go directly to the hop post (as of 3/15/14)

                                 *****

Deborah Smart - www.stampandcreate.net

 

Jackie Susnik - www.jackotterstamp.blogspot.com

Susan Horr - http://susanstamps.wordpress.com

Marsha Reed - http://www.coffeepotstampingcafe.com

Heidi Weaver - http://heidistampinalong.blogspot.com

Jean Fitch - http://jlfstudio.wordpress.com

Jeanne Kupsh - http://happy-jeannie.blogspot.ca

Christine Giuda - http://www.dancinstamps.blogspot.com

Kath R. - http://kath-allthatscrap.blogspot.com

Gail Allen - http://stampingandotherstuff.blogspot.ca

Stefanie Pletscher - http://craftymedic.blogspot.ca

KatheD - http://kathesadventure.blogspot.ca

Buffy Cooper - http://buffycooper.com

Terri Antoniw - http://stampwithter.blogspot.ca

Bev Q - http://stampwithbev.blogspot.ca

We've also got a non blogging hopper this month.  Germaine has shared her projects on the home blog here and here.

As you can see we have a few new hoppers this month...including...ta da...one from Germany!   We've gone Bi Continental this hop!   I hope you'll leave some comment love as you circle the hop and the globe with us.

For now though...lets get hopping!

Simply Sketched à la Germaine

Welcome back friends to another shared pre-hop posting by Jean and Germaine.

Germaine is back once again to share her beautifully monochromatic Simply Sketched creation.  And using one of my favorites of the new In Colors...Baked Brown Sugar.  Love that color!  The variety and layout of the many layers on this wonderful card really adds to the texture that the burlap ribbon with button brings to the fore don't you think?

  Simply Sketched is one of my favorites of the current crop of Hostess Stamp Sets.  As you can see from the online store picture this set gives you a variety of images for every occasion as well as the sentiments to make them all work.  A real work horse of a stamp set.  And available free to hostesses (or customers) with qualifying orders.

Here's Germaine's shared description of her card:

I really like the pretty little sparrow from Simply Sketched.  I like this set because it gives my group the option to use the same card design as a thank you, birthday, or sympathy card.

I used Baked Brown Sugar and VeryVanilla card stock.  And the use of the Hardwood stamp makes an excellent background.  The ribbon is burlap and I made the medium clay button (using our Stampin' Up molds and Simply Pressed Clay), also used linen thread as the twine for the button.

*****

Here's the Supply List for your convenience and CASE'ing pleasure.

Supplies

Stamps: Simply Sketched (hostess set), Hardwood (Occasions Catalog)

Ink:  Baked Brown Sugar


Paper: Baked Brown Sugar, Very Vanilla Cardstock

Punches: Extra Large Oval, Scallop Oval

Other:  Simply Pressed Clay, Buttons and Blossoms Simply Pressed Clay Molds, 1-1/4" Burlap Ribbon (Occasions Catalog pg. 37), sponge daubers, adhesives.

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Thanks once again for joining Germaine and myself for another pre-hop post.  Feel free to share what you love about Germaine's lovely design in the comments.   And don't forget to join us Thursday night starting at 6pm West Coast time for another great Wacky Watercooler Blog Hop!

Germaine's Scallop Tag Topper - Lattice Cross cards

Welcome everyone to another edition of pre-hop posting.

 Heidi our usual poster and webmaster of late is off in Cancun soaking up the sun before returning to the snowy wilds of Canada once again.  So today you get Jean and her Watercooler Crew friend Germaine from the States.   When the cats away the cross border mice will play right? :D

As a warm up for our upcoming Blog Hop (March 13-15) one of our blogless Wacky Watercooler crew has offered the following for your inspiration.  I hope you'll leave Germaine a warm welcoming comment as this is her first posting with the home hop blog.

Germaine has a wonderful eye for design don't you think?  And she really rocks a now popular use for Stampin' Up's newest Scallop Tag Topper Punch from the 2014 Occasions Catalog.   Check out these two variations on a theme.

First the Sympathy Card variation - a monochromatic use of Wisteria Wonder and Whisper White with a hint of a deeper purple in the Concord Crush ribbon.

Then the more colorful Easter selection that adds that punch of Daffodil Delight to warm the soul.  Rather like many of our winter gardens that are showing daff's peeking through the snow and ice right about now.

Whether for Easter or for a needed Sympathy card the Lattice die cut cross is a wonderful focal point.  And the Everything Eleanor images make for a wonderful One Sheet Wonder technique that allows you to stamp your own background papers then cut to size as needed for a multiplicity of cards.

Germaine shared these details with me:

I did the crosses for a class.  As some people send out Easter cards and others do not. I gave people the choice of making one or the other by substituting either the Wisteria Wonder Patterned Stack Designer Series Paper from the Subtles Collection or the Daffodil Delight from the Brights Collection. the main card base is Wisteria Wonder for both.

The cross is made from the Lattice BigZ die . I really like the new Scallop Tag Topper punch.

The ribbon is a retired ribbon called Concord Crush (an older retired In Color) and the Happy Easter stamp is also retired.

Of course you recognize the current and available Everything Eleanor stamp set and the Love and Sympathy set.

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Thanks Germaine...that covers it in a nutshell.

So here's what the supply list still available for purchase boils down to:

Supplies

Stamps: (non retired): Everything Eleanor, Love & Sympathy

Ink: Wisteria Wonder

Paper: Wisteria Wonder, Whisper White, Subtles (Wisteria Wonder)  and Brights (Daffodil Delight) Patterned Stacks Designer Series Paper Collections

Punches: Scallop Tag Topper, Scallop oval, Extra Large Oval

Other:  Big Shot, Lattice Bigz die, Large Rhinestones

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If you'd like to see how the cross was "snipped" from the Lattice die cut here's a quickie template from an old blog post of mine.  Template shows the long and the "short" form of the cross.  Germaine used the short form.

Thanks Germaine for sharing your talent with our home hop blog.  You've given me a new idea to play with.

Come back tomorrow for another post showing Germaine's latest creation with the Simply Sketched Hostess set.  And don't forget to follow or bookmark us so you don't miss the March Hop that starts the 13th.

Happy Hopping folks and stay tuned... and Heidi if your reading...don't forget the sunblock and the underwater coverup for your camera while snorkeling.
 - Jean

Pinch Me! The Wacky Watercooler March Blog Hop is almost here!

Have you heard?   The Wacky Watercooler March Blog Hop is coming!

March 13-15

That's right!  Save the dates March 13-15, because there is another awesome blog hop coming in just over a week. 

15 Stampin' Up bloggers this month will be looking to jump start your creativity and inspire your March Madness.

Anything current is fair game this hop.  From St. Patrick's Day, to Easter to basketball to...I'm so ready for Winter to be over will be fueling our hoppers entries.    Blogs will be reporting in from the USA, Canada and tada...Germany!   Yep...we've officially crossed the pond this hop.  Not to worry...our German entry is a militarily misplaced American so no translation utilities needed...unless of course you are joining us from overseas yourself...in which case...Google Translate is your friend. :D

See you for the Hop!   Tell your friends...the more the merrier.

Happy Valentine's Day from the Wacky Watercooler Gang!

 

Happy Valentine's Day!

I hope you are enjoying our current Sale-a-Bration Hop now in progress.  Check out the post for details and hop route.

To celebrate this day devoted to love we wanted to showcase some projects from one of our Wacky Watercooler thread gang who doesn't yet have a blog.

 Patti really went to town for this holiday don't you think?   A 6"x6" decorated Kraft box from the last Holiday Catalog.   Scored pieces from the Rosette die to surround a votive light with beauty. And of course cards and a sweet little treat holder made from the new Scalloped Tag Topper Punch.  The larger card has a Real Red embossed section that used the Honeycomb Embossing Folder.

Supplies:

Stamps: Just Sayin' (Occasions 2014 Catalog)

Paper: Real Red Cardstock and retired Designer Series Papers.

Other: Big Shot, Word Bubble Framelit Dies (Occasions 2014 Catalog), Scalloped Tag Topper Punch (Occasions 2014 Catalog), Small & Large Heart Punches, Scalloped Ribbon Border Punch

And here's Patti's  Wacky Watercooler Sale-a-Bration Blog Hop entry:

Same Real Red theme in a lovely contrast with the Sweet Sorbet Sale-a-Bration Designer Series Paper.  This time Patti embossed with the Decorative Dots embossing folder also from SAB (and also will appear for sale in the upcoming Annual Catalog).  The Decorative Label punch makes for a terrific layering element for the sentiment (Wacky Wishes retired hostess set).  Gotta love that sassy Love Ya text from the Just Sayin' stamp set that's die cut with Word Bubbles Framelits from the Occasions Catalog.

Excellent entries Miss Patti.   Thanks for flooding the Wacky Watercooler blog with lots of color and love this Valentine's Day!

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There's another Watercooler tradition in our chat thread on Stampin' Connection (site for Stampin' Up Demos only).  The Princess Bride.   Somehow that book and movie manages to make a regular appearance every few weeks or so in our chats.   In honor of that recurring theme I used some graphics that came across my desk from The Toymaker website to create this fun and fast mini poster.    Gotta love that My Digital Studio and other graphics capable software these days makes creating so fun & easy.  

Just a little peek into the life of the Watercooler.  Fun isn't it?   If you haven't ever read the book or seen the movie...really you have to...that's a requirement for honorary Watercooler membership right?   OK...just kidding...but really...it's a lot of fun.

Let's Celebrate Sale-a-bration with the Wacky Watercooler Blog Hop!

Welcome to another Wacky Watercooler Blog Hop.  We're happy to announce that we'll be having a Blog Hop each month, beginning on the second Thursday of that month, unless otherwise posted here on the Wacky Watercooler blog.  It is your enjoyment of these Blog Hops that has encouraged us to make this a monthly affair.  Thank you for all your support!

Why do we call it the Watercooler?  There is always friendly chatter going on around an office watercooler and we enjoy socializing with each other on the internet (the modern-day version of an office situation).  Why Wacky?  We all delight in our eccentricities and each have rather an off-the-wall sense of humour.  Wacky fits the bill and we're proud of it.

What are we featuring in this month's Blog Hop!  As suggested by the title of this post, the hop is going to be all about Sale-a-bration.  You're going to see all sorts of projects made using various Sale-a-bration products.  Why so much attention to Sale-a-bration?  It's the one time of the year when you can order the things you love from the Stampin' Up! catalogues and products online and, with each $50 that you spend ($60 in Canada), you receive your choice of one free product from the Sale-a-bration brochure.  Since the prices of the products in the brochure, if they could be bought outright, range from just under $10 to about $25, you can see what a bonus you get during Sale-a-bration.  Your Demonstrator can tell you more about all the other benefits of Sale-a-bration, especially to those having a Stampin' Up! party during this event.

If you're in search of a demonstrator to place an order, any one of the participants would be happy to be of service.  Or you can check out the demonstrator locator at www.stampinup.com to find one in your local area.

Here's the line-up of demonstrators participating in this Blog Hop.  You can see they come different areas of Canada and the United States.  Each name is hot-linked to their blog, so you can begin by clicking any name from this list.  Since the blogs are linked, you can move forwards or backwards through the Blog Hop as you may wish.  If you simply keep clicking the "next" on each blog, you will be moving in an endless circle.

         Buffy Cooper  (Virginia, USA)

         Kath R.  (Utah, USA)

         Deborah Smart  (British Columbia, Canada)

         Gail Allen  (British Columbia, Canada)

         Jackie Susnik  (Ohio, USA)

         Jean Fitch  (Oregon, USA)

         Susan Horr  (New York, USA)

         Heidi Weaver  (Alberta, Canada)

         Marsha Reed  (Iowa, USA)

         Bev Q.  ((Alberta, Canada)

         Christine Giuda  (New Hampshire, USA)

Note:  All posts will be active as of 6 p.m. Pacific Standard Time.  If you log in before that you may miss a stop or two.  If a link isn't working when you check out the Blog Hop, please try again later as technical problems can arise and will be fixed.

We hope you enjoy this look at some of the current Stampin' Up! products and get some great ideas from our blogs.  Bookmark our site and join us again for another Hop.  The next one is scheduled for March 13th.  See you then!

Oh my! The hop is this Thursday!

Time passes so quickly.  This Thursday we are sharing another blog hop.  This time we are celebrating Sale-a-bration.  I can hardly wait to see what everyone is going to create---how about you?

Don't forget to save the date!  And remember, if you aren't able to join us on Thursday, the hop continues from Thursday, February 13th until Saturday, February 15th.  This is so exciting!