Thursday 16 July 2015

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











It's so much fun to create something that evokes colder weather when one is melting from the heat.  That was one of the reasons for featuring a Christmas in July project this month.  The other reason?  It's just so much fun!  We've also decided to CASE (copy and share everything) one of the projects illustrated in the new Annual Catalogue.  Considering how many projects are shown on those pages, finding just one project to copy was quite the task.  And, finally, we've decided to create one of our projects featuring a brand new punch.  Fun?  Definitely!  And you'll get to see the results in our posts.

As you will remember, if you've wandered through our blog hops before, our blog hop is presented in a circular fashion.  What does that mean?  Wherever you begin in our blog hop, whether you go forwards or backwards through the participants, eventually you will wind up precisely where you began.  I hope you'll take time to visit all the participatings blogs and, perhaps, leave a short message letting us know  what you've thought of our posts.

If you've been moving forwards through the blog hop, you'll have arrived here from the very talented Jean Fitch's blog.

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My first project is for Christmas in July.  I have several of the Christmas themed stamp sets which carried over into the new Annual Catalogue.  Rather than go the easy route, however, I decided to check out my non-Christmas stamps to see what could be used to create something that would be appropriate for Christmas.  I turned to two of my favourite stamp sets:  Lovely as a Tree which is an old favourite and The Wilderness Awaits which is a new favourite.  The two sets worked beautifully together.  I also decided to use non-traditional colours for my card.  You'll notice that the base is Bermuda Bay.  I combined the Bermuda Bay and Pacific Point in colouring my background sky and love the effect.  The giant moon is Daffodil Delight with hints of Crushed Curry added.  

I stamped the fir tree image from Lovely As a Tree twice at different heights and added some Mossy Meadow to the branches.  Then I added some "snow" by using my Signo white gel pen as I also did for the outcropping of rock on which the elk is standing.  I also added countless stars to the sky with that pen.  My sentiment is from the Wondrous Wreath stamp set (yes, it's in the new catalogue!)


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My second project is all about CASEing the new catalogue.  After changing my mind countless times and slowly eliminating the many little stickers poking from various pages in the new catalogue, I finally decided to create the bag on page 28.  Why?  Several reasons.  I thought it would be fun to have a 3-D project.  I really wanted to create something new with the Gift Bag Punch Board.  And finally, it gave me an excuse to use the gorgeous Timeless Elegance Designer Series Paper again.  I really can't get enough of using it.

p. 28 in the Annual Catalogue

I decided to go a bit bolder and brighter with my colours.  I used the same pattern of Designer Paper but changed out the embossed Basic Black banner with a Gold Foil banner embossed with the same Elegant Dots embossing folder.  I also chose to colour my stamped flowers (from the Timeless Love stamp set) using more vivid colours.  Instead of using the "Happy Anniversary" stamp from the set, I decided to use "Congratulations".  That allowed the bag to be appropriate for so many more occasions.  Overall, however, I stayed true to the original.  I made my bag the same size and even used the same Gold Baker's Twine to tie it closed.  


What do you think?  Which one do you like better?

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My final project is all about the new punches.  I turned to my favourite among them, the Tree Builder punch.  What a versatile punch that one is!  I've enjoyed using it for so many projects.  This time I chose to make a special fold card using the scoops of ice cream to hold it shut.

I used the wonderful new Ronald McDonald House stamp set, Sprinkles of Life, for my card.  It coordinates with the punch and is such fun to use.  It's also extremely versatile.  This is probably my favourite of the Ronald McDonald House stamp sets so far.  The bonus?  For every stamp sold, $3 goes to the Ronald McDonald House Charities.


You can see from the inside view of my card that there is one scoop of ice cream on the left side of the gate fold card.  That's the scoop that hold the card shut.  What an important job for a scoop of ice cream!  The inside of the card is stamped using the Gorgeous Grunge stamp set with Watermelon Wonder ink and Daffodil Delight ink.  The sentiment is stamped on top of that using Memento black ink.

For the front of the card I used some of the script pattern in Tip Top Taupe from the In-Color Designer Series Paper Stack.  I also stamped five scoops of ice cream on a piece of Whisper White and then coloured them using my aqua painter and Watermelon Wonder, Daffodil Delight, Calypso Coral, Wisteria Wonder and Mint Macaron inks.  The Mint Macaron has chocolate sprinkles stamped on it using, of course, Chocolate Chip ink.  I've also used the Gorgeous Grunge images to create some splatters before assembling the ice cream cone and wobbly scoops using Dimensionals to attach them.


This was such fun to make!  Of course I had a crazy ice-cream craving by the time I finished.

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Well, that's it for my projects.  I hope you enjoyed them as much as I've enjoyed creating them.  If you get a moment, please leave a comment and let me know what you thought of them.

Your next stop will be with a very creative member of our group, Gail Allen.  I'm sure you'll be amazed with her wonderful projects.




15 comments:

  1. Beautiful, as always, Heidi. Love that elk against the moon! What a great Christmas card!

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  2. Heidi, I was trying to figure out which one of your projects was my favorite. After looking through your post many times and looking at all the details you put in each project, I finally decided the Sprinkles of Life card got my vote. Love the ice cream scoop that has toppled over! How fun is that.

    I hope you took care of your ice cream craving once you were done!

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  3. I can't stop looking at your moose Christmas ... It is so wonderful!

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  4. Heidi, these are awesome projects. I like the drama of the elk up against the cold winter sky and the moon rising, as well as your use of non-traditional colours for this scene. What a difference adding a splash of colour makes for your CASEd card..........It really makes the flowers stand out. What fun you must have had with your third card. Awesome!

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  5. Oh my - I just love your Christmas card using Wilderness Awaits, Heidi! I may have to CASE that one! I think that the brightly coloured flowers, combined with the 'congratulations' was the perfect choice for your CASE card. I laughed when I saw your ice-cream card - I've been wanting to do one, but haven't found the right occasion! Yours is too cute - love the splatter of melted ice cream inside! :)

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  6. Heidi, wonderful projects. I really like all of them and get a big kick out of the ice cream cone!

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  7. Your icecream card is just great! I love it.

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  8. I love the ice cream cone with the splatter and spill. Very cute card

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  9. Your CASE is really nice, I love the colors! But the ice cream card, that's awesome! A card perfect for my children who always spill their ice cream!

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  10. Great projects! We don't have to work to evoke colder weather here in Maine...it was 43 degrees here this morning, LOL! (Well, maybe we weren't exactly laughing!) : )

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  11. Sooo in love with your Holiday card, how wonderfully inventive! Your bags are wonderful as well! But your ice cream cone card really captured my heart and made Myers laugh out loud....fabulous!

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  12. Heidi, your projects never cease to amaze me. These all are so lovely. I definitely have to case that Wilderness Awaits card.

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  13. to me, your bags & cards are beautiful & perfect! I enjoy your blog immensley, so thank you for everything you do to keep blogging up dated items.

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  14. great job, Heidi, as always!!!!

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