Whimsy Stamps ~ Let's Go Hopping! Cardstock Warehouse Collab'

Hey crafty friends, we have a wonderful Instagram and Video Hop going on at Whimsy right now in collaboration with the generous folks at Cardstock Warehouse. We have been given a real treat to work with their gorgeous Island Breeze Multipack and some lovely Stardream card bases and envelopes in combination with our fabulous Whimsy Stamps and Dies. I was determined to create with as many of their divine paper colours as possible in my makes and I have to be honest, I still had ideas I didn't have time to complete, so I'll be sharing more using their beautiful papers in the near future. For now though, I'll share the cards I created with a paper strips theme.

I cut four A2 panels of coloured cardstock at a diagonal into half inch strips of paper. Then carefully laid them in the order they would go down so I could just methodically paper piece each layer on all four foam bases. I had some double sided adhesive backed foam sheets, which I used to lay the cardstock strips across and completed all four bases relatively quickly. Best tip for this technique is double sided adhesive over your base, whether you're popping it up on foam or not. The double sided adhesive makes this process really quick and easy. I chose four cardstock shades I felt would have the 'wow factor' used together and I really love the rainbowesque look this achieved. (Yes, that's totally not a 'word', but you know what I mean!)

I pulled out some large word dies from my stash, thinking these would make fun shaker elements if I was careful diecutting them out. Of course, you get a two for one with this technique, because the letters can be used to create a cool card of their own! For the top card, I found some lovely gems from This Calls For Confetti and added those to the shaker well before adhering the card strip panel to the card base. I finished that card with two of the Whimsy Stamps Retro Dancers cut from black cardstock from my stash and a little subsentiment taken from the Gnome Party Row Stamp set to complete the sentiment combined with the YAY word die. 

I've used the gorgeous YAY word die off-cut which was the waste from the previous card and handled all the pieces carefully to ensure I could use them for a second card. I used the shadow layer for this one, which I diecut from shiny silver metallic cardstock. I used one of the beautiful card bases provided by our lovely sponsor Cardstock Warehouse. It's from their Stardream range and this is the Crystal colour. It's a really pretty pearl white with the prettiest shimmery sheen. I ink blended straight onto this with three Distress Ink Shades in Kitsch Flamingo, Scattered Straw and Broken China. Blending those three created. a bit of a crossover of colours, so there's a hint of orange and green in there too. I splashed the ink blended panel with water for a bit of texture and interest and I must say the cardstock held up so well to the ink and water, zero warping! I glued down the YAY word die on it's silver shadow layer, popping up the 'A' and apostrophe with foam tape. I added a couple of cheerleaders from the Whimsy Stamps Cheerleaders Die Set cut out of the white cardstock from the kit, to complete that card.

The next card I did I used the Large Hello Word Die and for this card, I'd used black foam as the backing, so when I went to layer this over the lovely shimmery pearl white card base, it just looked too obvious, so this was the initial impetus to use the black behind the word die. It's just a strip of black cardstock behind the letter openings and then I had the bright idea to turn this into a fun alien card! A 'hello human', kinda theme. How cute is that little one popped up on the 'e' falling over, I thought that was a fun touch! I lined up the aliens, so their eyes would be just one colour, in line with one of the cardstock strips, then added a bit of gelly roll sparkle over them all for a bit of an alien eye spooky finish. I used the same black sparkle gems on this card as the Retro Dancers one. I'll only list each item once, because this is already a long post! This card is quite CAS but kinda fun I think.

Another card using one of the strip backgrounds, very CAS but I think a lovely use of these pretty cardstocks. I diecut the thank you shadow our of the white cardstock from the kit and the thank you from the pink. I cut two more thank you words from white cardstock and stacked them up under the pink for a little bit of dimension. I added the layered thank you to the strip panel then finished with some This Calls For Confetti Glazed Cherry Confetti and final touch was two little white cups, which look so like our little espresso cups from England. This little die is from the Coffee Cup Die Set and doesn't have the finger gap of the handle in it, so I just took a craft knife and carved that out to give it the look I wanted. I didn't bother with the one underneath as the handle was obscured. But I just thought these would be a cute finish.

The final strip base I created I ran the panel a little longer so I could trim it into a mini slimline shape. I wanted to try the lovely Coneflower Die over one of these strip backgrounds and cut the Coneflower from the white cardstock in the kit. I wanted to add just a little bit of shimmer and interest whilst essentially leaving the panel quite white. So I've used an SBC Shimmer Marker on the white petals and I used a light blue Shimmer Marker also from SBC to add just a touch of subtle colour over the flower centres. I popped the frame up on narrow foam strips, but didn't make this one a shaker, though it would have been easy to. But I liked the interest the open top and depth to the strip layer created. I added a little more height under the coneflower tops by doubling up a couple of foam rounds under each flower. So it almost domes across the middle of the panel. 

So that's all my cards so far, I have another I've created which I'll share tomorrow, as it will be shared over on the main Whimsy IG Account first. I must tell you too, that our sponsor was so generous, that I've still a few gorgeous panels of their beautiful paper left over. So I'll be sharing a few more makes too with this gorgeous cardstock. I have honestly been so impressed with this beautiful cardstock. It's a lovely 100lb weight, which is about 270gsm for us down-under and the UK and EU crew. So a lovely weight to work with. Fab for die-cutting and now I just have to work our how to get some more to New Zealand! If you'd like to hop along with us for a chance to win this lovely prize pack, click through on the banner above and it will take you to the Whimsy IG account where the hop begins.

Hop along with us for a chance to win the fabulous prize pack shown above from Cardstock Warehouse, which includes this gorgeous Island Breeze Multipack and some lovely Stardream card bases and envelopes, which our team have been working with for this hop. Two lucky winners will also be randomly drawn at the end of the hop to win a $50 Gift Certificate from Whimsy Stamps, that's three chances to win! Two will be drawn from Instagram comments and one from Video comments, so be sure to visit both. Hop entries will close May 4th. Winners will be announced on the Whimsy IG Account soon after. 

Cardstock Warehouse is a family owned business with 40 years of experience in the manufacture, sales and distribution of direct-from-mill paper, cardstock, and envelopes perfect for craft and hobby enthusiasts. Visit their website at www.cardstock-warehouse.com to check out their beautiful range of papers, cardstocks and envelopes. We know you’re going to love them. Enjoy the hop! Hugs, Wends xoxo

(If you like any of the elements I've created with, I've added thumbnails to make your shopping easier. I do use affiliate links where possible, which gives me a tiny commission but costs you no extra whatsoever, though more importantly it helps the companies I design for to improve their marketing practice and track my contributions. I am deeply grateful if you use them for these reasons. I only design for companies whose products I absolutely love and buy for myself. My opinions are always my own.)

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