19 Nov 2015

The Wacky Watercooler November Christmas Celebration


Welcome to our November Christmas celebration.  What is our blog hop about this time?  Why, Christmas, of course.  We're going to use some of our favourtie products and show you all sorts of wonderful creations to get you excited about making your own.  Each of us will also be making one project with products from our stash.  What is our stash?  Well, probably a lot like yours.  Products with which you fell in love and, even when they retired, you had to keep.  Just imagine your stash growing from a manageable little hill into a huge mountain, and you'll have an idea of how much we have stashed away and from which we can choose.  Now aren't you excited to see if we've kept some of the same things as you?

As always, 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 in reverse order.

This month we have nine participants from various spots in the United States and Canada.  As a result, you'll see a lot of diverse projects since we are all affected by our surroundings.

And now, without further ado, here is our list of participants and their order of appearance.  Just click on the name and you'll arrive at their blog post within seconds.










We hope you enjoy checking out everyone's post and we'd love for you to leave a comment.  Comments are the icing on the cake for those of us sharing our posts.

Have a wonderful Christmas, Hanukkah, or whatever you and your loved ones enjoy celebrating.  We're taking the month of December off and so our next Blog Hop will be in January.  Stay healthy.  Have a wonderful time.  Happy New Year!

15 Oct 2015

The Wacky Watercooler October Holiday Round Up


Welcome to our October Holiday Round-Up!  What is this blog hop all about?  The upcoming holidays, of course.  What can you expect?  Really, it's anything goes where the holidays are concerned so you may see some Hallowe'en creations, some that are purely Thanksgiving, some Christmas or Hanukkah.  It's anyone's guess.  The only guarantee is that you'll discover some extremely talented ladies as you go through the posts and, hopefully, will become inspired along the way.

As always, 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 in reverse order.

This month we have thirteen participants from various spots in the United States and Canada.  As a result, you'll see a lot of diverse projects since we are all affected by our surroundings.

And now, without further ado, here is our list of participants and their order of appearance.  Just click on the name and you'll arrive at their blog post within seconds.














We hope you enjoy checking out everyone's post and we'd love for you to leave a comment.  Comments are the icing on the cake for those of us sharing our posts.

17 Sept 2015

The Wacky Watercooler September Blog Hop -- Let's Mix it Up!


Welcome to our Wacky Watercooler September Blog Hop.  What do we mean by mixing it up?  Well, as you know, the Holiday Catalogue began at the beginning of the month.  We also have our Annual Catalogue which not only contains some holiday fun stamps but also has barely been touched, it's so full of goodies.  So we're mixing things up.  Our projects are going to show off some products from both catalogues.  See what you think of our choices and combinations.

As always, 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 in reverse order.

This month we have fifteen participants from various spots in the United States and Canada.  As a result, you'll see a lot of diverse projects since we are all affected by our surroundings.

And now, without further ado, here is our list of participants and their order of appearance.  Just click on the name and you'll arrive at their blog post within seconds.
















We hope you enjoy checking out everyone's post and we'd love for you to leave a comment.  Comments are the icing on the cake for those of us sharing our posts.

20 Aug 2015

The Wacky Watercooler August Blog Hop -- Featuring Sprinkles of Life













Hello and welcome to our August Blog Hop!  We've decided to dedicate our first two projects to that wonderful stamp set, Sprinkles of Life and its companion punch, the Tree Builder punch.  What makes this stamp set so special?  It's this year's Ronald McDonald House Charities set.  This means that for each stamp set sold, Stampin' Up! donates $3.00 to the Ronald McDonald House Charities.  Our third project will be CASEd from the new Annual Catalogue since that was such a popular project last month.

As always, 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 in reverse order.

This month we have twelve participants from various spots in the United States and Canada.  As a result, you'll see a lot of diverse projects since we are all affected by our surroundings. 

And now, without further ado, here is our list of participants and their order of appearance.  Just click on the name and you'll arrive at their blog post within seconds.

          Christine Giuda

          Marie Green

          Gail Allen

          Jean Fitch

          Jaylin

          Kath Ricks

          Priscilla Ivler

          Bev Q.

          Deb Smart

          Debbie Spano

          Penny Hanuszak

          Heidi Weaver

We hope you enjoy checking out everyone's post and we'd love for you to leave a comment.  Comments are the icing on the cake for those of us sharing our posts.

16 Jul 2015

The Wacky Watercooler Blog Hop presents Christmas in July (and other things)


Hello and welcome to our July Blog Hop!  This year is proving to be a scorcher in so many areas so we thought we'd help cool things down by sharing a Christmas in July project.  We're also showing off  a project CASEd from the new Annual Catalog as well as a project using our new punches.     

As always, 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 in reverse order.

This month we have thirteen participants from various spots in the United States and Canada.  As a result, you'll see a lot of diverse projects since we are all affected by our surroundings.

And now, without further ado, here is our list of participants and their order of appearance.  Just click on the name and you'll arrive at their blog post within seconds.
 













We hope you enjoy checking out everyone's post and we'd love for you to leave a comment.  Comments are the icing on the cake for those of us sharing our posts.

18 Jun 2015

Wacky Watercooler Blog Hop -- Welcome to the New Catalog(ue)













Welcome to our June Blog Hop.  Like you, we're celebrating the brand new 2015/16 Annual Catalogue.  Join us  while we show off our personal favourites in this wonderful new catalogue.

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 in reverse order.

This month we have thirteen participants from various spots in the United States and Canada.  As a result, you'll see a lot of diverse projects since we are all affected by our surroundings.

And now, without further ado, here is our list of participants and their order of appearance.  Just click on the name and you'll arrive at their blog post within seconds:

          Marie Green

          Gail Allen
 
          Priscilla Ivler

          Deborah Smart

          Heidi Weaver

          Marsha Reed

          Jackie Susnik

          Penny Hanuszak

          Kath Ricks

          Stefanie Pletscher

          Jean Fitch

          Buffy Cooper

          Christine Giuda

That's thirteen of us!  We hope you'll have time to check out everyone's post and, if you get a moment, to leave a comment.  Comments are the icing on the cake for those of us sharing our posts.


14 May 2015

The Wacky Watercooler May "Retirement Blues" Blog Hop


May Retirement Blues photo May Retirement Blues Banner.jpg

Welcome to our May Blog Hop.  Like you, we're "blue" about all the wonderful products which have appeared on the retiring list.  This is our "last hurrah" in showing off some of our very favourite products.

We've had a long list of products retiring from the Annual Catalogue.  As if that wasn't enough, there are only a couple of weeks left before all the wonderful products in the current Occasions Catalogue retire if they did not make the jump into the brand new Annual Catalogue.  It's a matter of balances.  On the one side there is the sadness of losing so many old "friends" but then on the other side of the scale is the excitement of getting to know the new Annual Catalogue and making new "friends".

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 in reverse order.

This month we have thirteen participants from various spots in the United States and Canada.  As a result, you'll see a lot of diverse projects since we are all affected by our surroundings.

And now, without further ado, here is our list of participants and their order of appearance.  Just click on the name and you'll arrive at their blog post within seconds:

     Kath Ricks

    Christine Giuda

     Buffy Cooper

     Marsha Reed

     Penny Hanuszak

     Jean Fitch

     Marie Green

     Heidi Weaver

     Priscilla Ivler

     Jackie Susnik

     Deborah Smart

     Stefanie Pletscher

     Gail Allen

That's thirteen of us!  We hope you'll have time to check out everyone's post and, if you get a moment, to leave a comment.  Comments are the icing on the cake for those of us sharing our posts.

16 Apr 2015

The Wacky Watercooler April (Fool) Blog Hop












Welcome to our April Blog Hop.  No, it's not April 1st, the day dedicated to jokes and foolish pranks, but we've got a surprise up our sleeves.  Prepare to be fooled today.  One of our projects is not what it appears to be.  We hope you'll enjoy our special projects as much as we enjoyed creating them.

This is an exciting time of the year as Spring takes over the Northern Hemisphere.   The birds are coming back, leaves are making the trees and shrubs look alive again, and there are even flowers coming up.  Of course for some of us there are more flowers than others.  We even have Mother's Day coming up around the corner.  It's a great time to use the beautiful stamps and products from the Occasions Catalogue.

This time we have thirteen talented ladies sharing their projects for this Blog Hop.  Hailing from various parts of the United States and Canada, our participants offer some wonderfully diverse projects.  Without further ado, here is this month's list, in order of appearance:













As usual, our Blog Hop runs in a circular fashion.  No matter where in the list of participants you begin, you wind up in the same spot eventually if you continue going to the "next" blog.

We hope you have a chance to check out everyone's blog post and, if you get a moment, to leave a comment.  We all love to hear how you've liked our endeavours.

19 Mar 2015

March Madness hits the Wacky Watercooler Gang












Welcome to our March Blog Hop.  You're probably wondering what led us to add the "madness" to the Blog Hop.  It's mainly because this winter has left many of us feeling as mad as the Mad Hatter as a result of all that snow and looking forward to Spring feverishly.  This time we're featuring fancy folds as the one common thread among all the posts.  With twelve of us in this month's hop, there should be a smorgasbord of fancy folds.

Along with the special folds, we're celebrating Spring and the coming Easter holiday.  We have so much product to choose from in the Occasions Catalogue, the Annual Catalogue and, of course, the Sale-a-bration brochure which ends at the end of this month.  Remember, there are many more additional Sale-a-bration items available which aren't even shown in the brochure.  Your demonstrator or the Stampin' Up! home page can show you all the new additions.

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 in reverse order.

This month we have twelve participants from various spots in the United States and Canada.  As a result, you'll see a lot of different and diverse projects since we are all affected by our surroundings.

And now, without further ado, here is our list of participants in order of appearance:













That's twelve of us!  We hope you'll take the time to check out everyone's post and, if you get a moment, to leave a comment because that is the icing on the cake for those of us sharing our posts.

26 Feb 2015

Spring Fever with the Wacky Watercooler Gang

Welcome to our February Blog Hop which, in many parts of Canada and the United States, has been mis-named the Spring Fever blog hop.  For those of us suffering from excess white stuff, it may well be better named "Cabin Fever".  But what better way to get our thoughts away from this lengthy winter than to showcase projects that are all about Spring and Easter?

Back by popular demand for this Blog Hop is our CASE (copy and share everything) of one of our fellow hoppers' projects.  This time we each had a name drawn and that was the person whose past blog posts we searched to find what we each considered "our favourite" for that person but the project we would CASE would have to have a Spring or Easter theme.

The other two projects for this Blog Hop are also going to have an Easter or Spring theme.  Our hoppers will have the option of making cards and/or a 3-D project.  It will be exciting going through all the participating blog posts to see what they've done.

We have a lot of sources for our products this time.  There is, of course, the ongoing Annual Catalogue.  Then we currently also have the Occasions Catalogue as well as the Sale-a-bration Brochure.  There is also a wealth of wonderful products available in the Clearance Rack.  There's also a big surprise coming up on March 1st.  Stampin' Up! is adding four new products to the Sale-a-bration brochure.  Exciting?  Definitely!

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 in reverse order.

This month we have eleven participants from various spots in the United States and Canada.  As a result, you'll see a lot of different and diverse projects since we are all affected by our surroundings.

And now, without further ado, here is our list of participants in order of appearance:

          Buffy Cooper

          Jackie Susnik

          Christine Giuda
   
          Penny Hanuszak

          Heidi Weaver

          Deborah Smart

          Stefanie Pletscher

          Marsha Reed

          Priscilla Ivler

          Gail Allen

          Kath Ricks

That's eleven of us!  We hope you'll take the time to check out everyone's post and if you get a moment, to leave a comment because that is the icing on the cake for those of us sharing our posts.

22 Feb 2015

Folding Screens are in Demand!

Have you caught the Screen Card bug yet?

Folding Screen Cards (also called screen divider cards) are in demand and Sale-a-Bration stamp sets really take off in this wonderful creation by Watercooler Artist Patti Leeke.  Sadly Patti doesn't have a current blog so it seemed the perfect time to feature her work here in anticipation of our next upcoming Blog Hop this Thursday the 26th of February.


Click on the picture to see a larger close up

 Supplies:

Stamps:   Sale-a-bration stamps - Big Day and Lotus Blossom & Perfect Pennants from the Annual Catalog
Ink: Crushed Curry, Rich Razzleberry, Mossy Meadow
Markers: Crushed Curry
DSP:  Brights Paper Stacks
Card stock:  Crushed Curry, Whisper White
Punches:  Decorative Label, Scallop Edge Border, Bow Builder Punch

You may notice that this screen card is a bit less usual in that it divides into 3 sections instead of the more usual 4.  Patti wanted a card that would be easy to fold into an envelope, easy to score and that could be made with just a half sheet of paper for the card base.  This size also leaves a bit more of a "canvas" to work your artful stamping on.  She's kindly shared a few basic directions below so you can try this out and make your own.

I'm not aware of any full tutorials for this three panel version but a good basic video with some of the punching tips and general construction of the traditional 4 style version can be found here.   The punching tips Deb shares in her video also apply to how Patti constructed her version.

Patti's Basic Directions/Information:

Screen Divider Card with 3 panels:

Card Base: 1/2 sheet of cardstock - 8-1/2 x 5-1/2 Scored at 2-7/8" intervals for a resulting 3 sections.
Using whatever border punch you prefer punch across the top.  For most border punches this will remove about 1/4"-1/2" in height.

Decorative Label punch each section for the legs making sure it's centered (so you can see the paper on each side of the punch evenly). Punch the first with punch placed halfway just below the indentation...then fold over next section and punch from the first "template". Then the legs will match up perfectly.

Layer as desired with DSP and mat's. Stamp images used will determine for the most part the size of the final focal layers.  Feel free to mix up the sizing in each panel.  

****************************

Thanks Patti for sharing your wonderful creation!

We just had to wet your appetite for the coming infusion of creativity and inspiration this Thursday.   Don't forget to mark your calendars so you remember to join us right back here on the hop in a few days time.

22 Jan 2015

The Wacky Watercooler Welcome 2015 Blog Hop


Welcome to our first of 2015 Blog Hop!  It's a brand new year, a brand new Occasions Catalogue, and a brand new Sale-a-bration.  That's a whole lot to celebrate!

We had so much fun with our last blog hop and so much positive response that we've decided to arrange this blog hop along the same lines.  There are some differences, of course, but like last month, this blog hop is set up as three challenges we've given ourselves.

The first challenge is based on our favourite from a past blog post.  Each of us had a name drawn and that was the person whose blog posts we searched to find what we each considered "our favourite" for that person.  To make it more interesting, it had to have been a past post showcasing either the Occasions Catalogue or that year's Sale-a-bration.  Of course our interpretation could use current products.

The second challenge is based on our favourite Occasions/Sale-a-bration product this year.  With some of the wonderful products available in this year's catalogues, it will be interesting to see what each of the blog hop participants consider their favourite.

The final challenge is based on each individual's favourite from the current or clearance products (or a mixture of the two).  There are some real treasures to be found in the Clearance Rack and the posted projects may just show you why a visit could be worth the time.

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 in reverse order.

This month we have nine participants from various spots in the United States and Canada.  As a result, you'll see a lot of different and diverse projects since we are all affected by our surroundings.

And now, without further ado, here is our list of participants in order of appearance:

          Priscilla Ivler

          Marsha Reed

          Kath Ricks

          Terri Antoniw

          Christine Giuda

          Heidi Weaver

          Marie Green

          Stefanie Pletscher

          Deborah Smart

That's nine of us!  We hope you'll take the time to check out everyone's post and if you get a moment, to leave a comment because that is the icing on the cake of our Blog Hops.