The June Wacky Watercooler Blog Hop---Introducing the new Annual Catalogue

         Oh yeah!  It's that time of year again!  

We are thrilled to be able to offer you projects made with all sorts of goodies from the brand new 2014/15 Annual Catalogue.  You saw some tantalizing glimpses in last month's Blog Hop when we showed off a few of the sneak-peek items we had been able to order early.  Well, this month's Blog Hop has no such limits.  Prepare to be amazed.

For those of you who are familiar with our Blog Hops, you'll remember that it's a circular one.  Whoever you begin with, whether you go backwards or forwards through the names, you will eventually wind up right where you bagan.  Of course you can "jump off" at any time.  For those of you that haven't experienced one of our Blog Hops before, you're in for a treat.

If you've worked your way through the Blog Hop from the beginning, you'll have come to my blogsite from the inimitable Marsha Reed's.  She certainly shared some wonderful projects, didn't she.

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For my first project I was excited to play with the brand new Blendabilities, Stampin' Up!'s answer to the Copics and other alcohol-based inks.  They're very smooth to blend and the colours are jewel-brilliant.  I really do love the way my coloured images just "pop".  I also love the Blooming With Kindness stamp set.  The flower in the set is perfect for colouring with the Blendabilities.  For this card, however, I didn't stop with just one.  I had an idea and didn't stop until I got it down on paper.  By masking my stamped images, I was able to give the illusion of a whole bouquet rather than just the one flower.

With the colourful flowers diagonally covering the paper, I knew I would have to put some bright layers underneath.  Over a base of Natural White, I layered Rich Razzleberry and Hello Honey.  I used the birthday greetings from the Memorable Moments stamp set, but it could so easily be for many other occasions, depending on the sentiment.

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It gets hard to think of something to give for a new little baby, especially when you don't know the people all that well, but well enough that you want to give them something.  Remember that cute little Pillow Box that I made a while back?  I even provided the template for it HERE.  I thought it would be great to make one up for the new baby and enclose a gift card as well as a cute little hair band.

I began with a sheet of the Shimmery White cardstock.  I traced the template onto it and then cut it out.  Then I had fun stamping my own "Designer Paper" pattern all over it using stamps from the Baby We've Grown set as well as the Work of Art and Petite Petals sets.  Even though the Pillow box does not require a belly band to keep it shut, I love the look of one around the centre of it and therefore I made one.  It just finishes it off so nicely, doesn't it?

For the tag I used the framelits that match the Something for Baby set.  Just make sure you leave the fold inside the framelit cutting line and you can make the same type of custom tag.

And if you just aren't in the mood to make your own but think this idea would be perfect for little gifts, just check on page 198 of the brand new catalog(ue) and you will see that you can buy a set of ten that come with all the fixings.  All you have to do is assemble (and add your own touch, if you wish).

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My final project is a masculine card.  With a change of sentiment, it could easily be a Father's Day card, Graduation card or birthday card for someone who travels a lot.  I've used the new Traveler stamp set---a stamp set that is perfect for vintage cards or simply masculine, depending on the way you put the elements together.  My card would probably be a vintage masculine just because I've kept the colours more towards a vintage look.  The background starburst is probably the most modern looking portion of the card.  

For the starburst I used the World Map stamp and then cut it into pieces.  Yes, I made sure I had the pieces numbered because that map isn't easy to put together otherwise.  I wanted to sponge each pie-section with one of three colours:  Baked Brown Sugar, Hello Honey or Lost Lagoon.  All in all, I really like the final effect.  The old-fashioned camera has Crystal Effects on the lenses and then some silver where there is metal.  Along the bellows, I used some Baked Brown Sugar to give it the look of aged leather.

I managed to sneak one more of the new In-Colors into this card.  I layered a Mossy Meadow circle behind the images and also placed a layer of Mossy Meadow between the image layer and the Basic Black base.  The suitcase was coloured using the Old Olive Blendabilities.  The colours blend beautifully with the Mossy Meadow.  Finally the tickets are from the That's the Ticket stamp set and the sentiment is from the Just Sayin' stamp set.

To finish off I stamped the edge of the envelope with the ticket and inside the card with another image from the Traveler set.

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Well, that's it for my projects.  The "next" button will take you to Stefanie Pletscher's blogsite where she will have some amazing projects for you.

If you have a moment to leave a comment, it would be terrific.  Thanks so much.