Introducing the Stampin' Up 2014-2015 Annual Catalogue

Yes, it's Blog Hop time again! I know you really enjoyed the projects on Kath R's blog. She is our blog leader this time and has really set the bar high for the rest of us!

If you are a first-time visitor to our Hop, you may be wondering just what exactly is the Wacky Watercooler? Well, this is the definition you will find on our Homepage:

"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."

This month we're all excited about the new stamp designs, In-Colour collection and tools in the new Catalogue. One of the most exciting tools is the Blendabilities, which are alcohol based markers. There is a bit of a learning curve when starting out with them, but they are oh, so much fun to use! Right now, the are only available to demonstrators on a limited basis and hopefully will be available for all of you to order in July.

For this Hop, I thought I would share with you some of my practising. I only have two sets of Blendabilities right now: Cherry Cobbler, which has three shades of red, and the Skin Tones which has five different shades ranging from a very light beige-y colour to a nice shade of bronze.

To go along with these gorgeous new colouring tools, we have some new stamps just begging to be coloured! My first example features Blended Bloom, a single stamp available only in wood mount.

The flower is stamped on Whisper White cardstock using Memento Tuxedo Black ink. When using the Blendabilities - which are alcohol-based - you need to use a water-based ink like the Memento. If you use an alcohol-based ink, such as Staz-On, you may get bleeding from the Staz-on.

I coloured the middle part with Daffoldil Delight and Pumpkin Pie markers, then added highlights with the Signo Jell Pen. After colouring, I cut out the flower using my Stampin' Up paper snips and popped it up with Dimensionals. The mat behind the image is one of the new In-Colours - Blackberry Bliss. It's already one of my favourites because it is so very rich and vibrant! That in turn is mounted on one of the patterns from the Moonlight Paper Stack. Also already a favourite! A Crumb Cake base finishes it all off.

And finally, the sentiment from Really Good Greetings is stamped with Blackberry Bliss.

Next up is a brand new Hostess Set called Bloom With Hope that is also tailor-made for the Blendabilities.

I stayed with the colour-combo of Blackberry Bliss, Whisper White and Crumb Cake with the Cherry Cobbler Blendabilities. This time I stamped a few times with one of the lovely splotch stamps from the Work of Art stamp set using another of the In-Colours - Mossy Meadow. Green is one of my favourite colours and Mossy Meadow is gorgeous! The sentiment is also from Really Good Greetings. This set has something for everyone.

My final offering features something I have never done before. I carved my own stamp!!!!

At last summer's Convention, we were introduced to the Undefined Stamp Carving Kit. We were given a sample of the material, but not the tools. There was a table set up where we could use the carving tools and try it out right there. But, the line-up was really long, so I brought mine home. I ordered a full kit when it was made available last fall, but could not decide what I wanted to do with it.

Then, one of my friends who I used to travel to dog shows with, got a new German shepherd puppy named Osar-Justice Shines, or Justice for short, and began showing him. While still under a year old, he has accumulated Group and multiple Puppy Group wins. After he turned one year old and began showing in the adult classes, he earned his Canadian Championship at one 3-day show. So he is now officially Ch. Osar-Justice Shines.

When I saw his picture in the February issue of Canadian Dog Fancier, I knew I had to carve a GSD stamp! For now, I will just show you the card I made and I plan on doing a post in a couple of days outlining the process. While I'm pleased that I finally attempted to carve a stamp, I think I tried to do something too ambitious for my first attempt and want to do another one, now that I am more familiar with the process.

So, this is it!

I used the Memento Tuxedo Black ink for both the image annd the sentiment, which is from Wetlands. The image is stamped on one of the cards from the Everyday Adventure Project Life Card Collection. This new catalogue features the first collaboration between Stampin' Up and Becky Higgins.

Mossy Meadow is used to mat the image layer and for the card base. And, yes, that's another piece from the Moonlight Paper Stack.

Whew! This new catalogue is jam-packed with so many new things. I want to try them all. How about you?

Now I can't wait to see what lovely things all the other Watercooler Hoppers have come up with. Just click Next to go on to the next stop - Terri, who has a beautiful masterpiece to share. If you get lost at any point, click on the Home button to go to the main page.

WCC01 - New In-Colors

It's a new month, we're on the verge of a new Stampin' Up catalogue becoming available and the Watercooler group is embarking on a new venture - a Challenge Blog!

In case you're wondering what - or who - the Watercooler is, we are a group of Stampin' Up demonstrators who gather from time to time at our virtual watercooler and discuss topics covering many aspects of our lives. Sometimes we even talk about stamping!

For many months now we have been doing Blog Hops and having a lot of fun with them. For myself, it's been a great way to challenge myself as all the participants are extremely talented and offer a lot of inspiration.

We decided to start doing a Challenge Blog so that anyone, anywhere in the world, can join in the fun. This first challenge is all about the new 2014-2015 In Colours. They are all yummy! I decided to use Mossy Meadow and Hello Honey as my colours. And, can I just say - the new ribbon is very easy to work with and has a beautiful texture! I don't tend to use ribbon a lot as I find it difficult to tie neat bows. I think I will use this new ribbon a lot.

And I just had to also use the brand new Blendabilities alcohol markers! The flower image is from Bloom With Hope - a new Hostess set with endless possibilites. My idea was to colour it with the Skin Tone set of Blendabilites, but it didn't look like the image I had in my brain. So I went over it with the lightest shade of the Cherry Cobbler Blendabilities and then blended that with the Nude marker from the Skin Tones. I coloured the center of the flower with the Daffodil Delight Stamp 'n Write Marker, added a few lines with the Bronze Blendabilities and then a few highlighting dots with the Signo Jell Pen.

The sentiment is also from the Bloom With Hope set and I stamped it with Mossy Meadow, along with the leaves from the same set on a piece of the very nice Moonlight Designer Series Paper Stack.

Also a new technique for me is the way this card is held closed by the ribbon. This was done using the Scallop Tag Topper punch.

Whew! That was pretty long-winded, so I better show you what I created.

Here's a recap of ingredients:
Stamps: Bloom With Hope (hostess)
Cardstock: Whisper White, Mossy Meadow, Hello Honey
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Mossy Meadow, Cherry Cobbler and Skin Tones Blendabilities, Daffodil Delight marker, Signo Jell Pen
Other: Mossy Meadow 3/8" Stitched Satin Ribbon, Scallop Tag Topper Punch

If you want to participate just go to the Watercooler Challenges blog here.