Hi, stamping friends! Welcome to another Watercooler Blog Hop. We couldn’t decide if we wanted to hop early in the month or hop at the usual time. We wanted to have some time to create after the holidays, but we also wanted to give you Occasions Catalog and Sale-a-bration ideas as soon as we could. So – we’re having two mini hops this month! Fun, right?

You may have arrived here from Jackie Susnik’s blog. If you did, I know you were totally wowed by her creations. Jackie always has such amazing projects. Her style is so clean and beautiful. If you’re just starting here, that’s ok. Hops are circular, so just keep following the “Next” links until you get all the way around.

I did two cards this time, and they were both inspired by the “Watercooler Wednesday” challenges. My projects showcase new products from the 2016 Occasions Catalog. I’ll use more Sale-a-bration sets in the next hop.

First – this is the Watercooler Wednesday challenge for January 6 – January 11. It’s a sketch from Jackie. (Yes, she does double duty, designing for the hop and the challenges! Several other designers do as well. They’re all amazing!) If you haven’t had a chance to enter this week’s challenge, give it a whirl.

Here’s Jackie’s sketch.

Here’s the card I made using the sketch.

I created this while I was away, and had limited supplies. I also had my left hand in a brace, because somehow I’ve really messed up my wrist. Did I mention I’m left-handed? Even though all four fingers are free, the brace seriously restricts thumb mobility. Do you think I could get the pity vote?

Enough whining. Here are the card deets. I used the new Love Blossoms Designer Series Paper Stack for the center layer. I love this paper. (Rose Red, Blushing Bride, Crumb Cake…what’s not to love?) Blushing Bride always says, “Vintage,” to me, so I sponged some Crumb Cake over the DSP to tone down the white hearts a bit.

The sentiment, heart, and little flowers are from the new Bloomin’ Love stamp set. It’s perfect for Valentines Day projects, but it will also work for birthdays, anniversaries, weddings, thinking of you, and more. I stamped the flowering heart on Blushing Bride with Rose Red ink, then cut it out and sponged it with Crumb Cake ink. The little flowers are Rose Red (stamped off two times) on Blushing Bride. I used Very Vanilla for the banner and cut it out with my bandaged hand. (Didn’t want you to forget I’m on the “injured list.”) “Love” is actually a “Love You” stamp, but it’s really easy to ink just the part you need with our new firm foam stamp pads. “…it’s in the air,” is, of course, more Crumb Cake, and, just for good measure, I sponged a little more Crumb Cake over the Blushing Bride layer.

For the card base, I used my favorite new set from the Occasions Catalog – Timeless Textures. Stampin’ Up! has had some fabulous texture and grunge sets in the past, but this one tops them all, I think. Pair this with Gorgeous Grunge and you’ll have a nice collection of textures and backgrounds.

This next card was inspired by one of the entries in the Watercooler challenge. Kathe Deck entered a beautiful “snow” card for the last challenge of 2015. I was stuck with ideas for using my limited resources. And then I saw Kathe’s card. *Light bulb!*

I used Timeless Textures again – with Soft Suede, Mint Macaron, VersaMark, and Crumb Cake ink on Mint Macaron card stock. I wanted to use a bold color with the Mint Macaron, so I chose Night of Navy. I think it was an excellent choice, don’t you? The scripture from Isaiah is one of my favorites, and seemed like a great way to start a new year. It can be found in the Rose Wonder set, also in the Occasions Catalog.

I grabbed my Curvy Corner Trio Punch (carried over from the Holiday Catalog) as I ran out the door, so it was easy to punch  the tag for the ribbon. (The tag “ears” were hand cut.) Alas, I didn’t grab ribbon, but I did grab washi tape. Sadly, the Winter Wonderland Designer Washi Tape retired a few days ago, but I kept it on the card, because I love the gold with the Soft Suede dots and the Night of Navy and Mint Macaron card stock. I simply doubled a piece of tape so it wouldn’t be sticky (about 12-24″, so it was 6-12″ when doubled. See, I can do math!), then used it like ribbon. You can easily substitute a current ribbon, though. Here’s how it would look with burlap ribbon and the thin gold ribbon.

Your next stop on the hop is the amazing Priscilla Ivler. Priscilla is another super talented artist, and I know you’re going to love her projects.

Thanks for stopping by Stamping with Buffy. Have a wonderful day!

Pricilla’s Blog

Jackie’s Blog

Hop Home Page