The Wacky Watercooler Gang Celebrates Occasions!

Yes it's time for another blog hop of the Wacky Watercooler Gang.  This month we are all about celebrating occasions--and there are SO many to celebrate!  What's your favorite?

Our hop is circular; jump on anywhere and follow around to see what 11 artists have prepared this month.  You may have just come from Leanne Johnson's blog.  Leanne is new to our hop, and I'm so glad she has joined us!  Her creations are wonderful, don't you think?

A BIG occasion for me right now is knowing that I am expecting a new grandbaby--yippee!  My son and daughter-in-law are adding to their clan sometime in August, and I so look forward to a new little one in our family.  So here is the card I sent them to say "congratulations":

As soon as I saw Bear Hugs in the Occasions Catalog (with matching framelits!) I knew it had to be mine.  And this was perfect to welcome a new member of our tribe, especially when paired with the phrase from Suite Sayings (also in the Occasions Catalog):

My bears were all stamped and cut in record time; I embossed some Early Espresso card stock with the Woodgrain Embossing Folder and hand cut the "tree".  A hole was cut with the Ovals Collection Framelits, so a baby bear could be placed inside:

And of course a matching envelope (this is a large, square card), made easy with the Envelope Punch Board and the In Color Envelope Paper:

Needless to say, I'm looking forward to this Occasion!

Now, for another occasion we all celebrate (at least until we no longer want to):  Birthdays!  Here's a Party in a Box that can help a recipient be ready for three birthdays:

I saw this cute idea by another Stampin' UP! demonstrator who made a 3" x 3" box full of small cards.  I decided to cut this down a bit, and after a number of failed experiments, came up with a 1-5/8" x 3-1/4" box.  It's decorated with one of my favorite Designer Series Paper from the Occasions Catalog, It's My Party, and the stamp is from a brand new Sale-A-Bration (read  as "FREE") set called Party Pants.

And here is what this little party in a box holds:

Three 3" x 3" cards with matching envelopes and gift tags.  Here is each one:

Party Pants will put anyone in a party mood, and it's available now!

My final occasion is an upcoming one - Easter:

Here's a sweet little Easter basket (made from the Berry Basket Bigz L die and Coaster Board topped with Birthday Bouquet Designer Series Paper) and a couple of Easter friends.

And check out the special treats for the Curvy Keepsake Bunny--a "carrot" made from the Polka Dot Cone Cellophane Bags stuffed with orange Jelly Bellys (I shamelessly stole this idea from the Occasions Catalog). 

And sweet little chick has some pretty Easter eggs, decorated with the Birthday Bouquet DSP in her basket.

Well that's all the Occasions I can celebrate right now.  So it's on to our next artist; go check out what Gail Allen has for you--she always comes up with such creative projects!  Thanks for stopping by!

Halloween Friends

I've been busy getting ready for Halloween later this week, and will share with you my new group of Halloween friends:

Have you seen the Curvy Keepsake Box dies?  Eeek!  They are to "die" for!  (sorry, couldn't resist).  Not originally on my Stampin' UP! order, I saw so many examples of these cute little boxes, that I eventually broke down.  Now I can't get enough.

So first up are my Halloween pals:

Frankie

Made from Garden Green cardstock I added Perfect Plum "hair", some eyes using the 3/4" punch and the 1/2" punch, the wonderful Project Life Journaling pens (for his mouth) and Gold Foil Sheets with the Word Window Punch for his "bolts".

The Count

The Count is Perfect Plum cardstock with black hair (punched with the 3/4" circle punch).  His ears are the wings from the Bird Punch with a little score to make them stand out.  I used the star punch for his fangs.

Spidey

Spidey is all black; his legs are from two sizes of the square framelits, cut on the diagonal (each square makes two legs) and with a small score line for gluing them.  (I think he's my fav!)

Jack

Jack is cut from Tangelo Twist cardstock, and is the only box with stamping.  I used Work of Art (the single stripe) to create "pumpkin lines" on Jack, then used the retired star punch for his eyes and nose.  I hand-cut his mouth.  I also added a tag, using the tag shape from the Curvy Keepsakes dies along with the Project Life Holiday Cheer stamp set.  It's tied on with threads from the Burlap Ribbon, which gives it great texture.

And now I'm off to make more--giving them as gifts to my supervisor team at work (yes, I have a day-job, sigh).

All products can be purchased here.

Let's get creating!