Around the World (with Bernie) Blog Hop!

Hi Friends! Welcome to this month’s AWOW Blog Hop! I am super excited to share my project with you today, but first let me tell you about the theme! My sweet friend, Angie MacKenzie, is our awesome AWOW leader and she ALWAYS amazes me with our blog themes, and this month’s is no exception! Here’s Angie’s description for our blog hop:

Enjoy being creative with our June “The Adventures of Benji” Challenge!

Benji is my little Shih Tzu… he’s so full of personality and is my stamping and walking companion. He can only go for a half mile before he wants to be carried when I go on my longer walks… but, boy can he run and play soccer! He’s always near me and communicates with me like no other furry family member I have ever had. He loves cheese, eggs, popcorn, and anything made with butter. His nose leads him in so many ways! He also loves to go for car, tractor and wagon rides. And I know I’m in trouble whenever I see his Elvis smirk… I better figure out quickly what he wants!

I promised him two years ago, that I would take him for a trip around the world with me… and you know that I can’t break a promise… so here goes!

Benji is coming to see you!!! What will you show him in your little corner of the world? Is there a special treat you’ll give him? A special spot (even if it’s in your craft room) that you know he’ll enjoy? Is there an animal (any type/size) that he would become best buddies with?

Pics of him that you can add to a picture (or two) for the blog hop that shows him having fun in your part of the world.

Benji helps me find my inspiration for so many of my cards… and this month he gets to help you!

I hope you enjoy this “anything goes” Adventures of Benji Challenge as the sky is the limit with what you can do with this!

If you’re not a dog lover (I’m personally an animal lover!), I hope you can watch one of these dog movies – “Benji”, “Marley and Me” or “Arthur the King” (currently in theaters here in the US) – you just might see why dogs are man’s best friend. xx

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Being a fellow animal lover, with three cats and two dogs, I couldn’t wait to play along in our “Adventures of Benji” challenge! And I knew exactly what I wanted to create! I had a cute photo and the new “Tune In Bundle” and the project just came together from there. So first, let me explain my photo:

A few months back we were given this old TV. My hubby took out the insides for me and I used the TV as a record stand – and it looked pretty cool! However, it was taking up a lot of space in our sunroom, so I moved my record collection and Brian got the TV ready to go to the recycling. Meanwhile, two of our kitties, Romeo and Forest (Forest is the one with white nose) decided to hop inside the TV and I just HAD to snap a photo. So cute, right?

My “Tune In Bundle” from the new Stampin’ Up! catalogue was a perfect choice to use with my photo! I also chose this adorable picture of Benji for my project:

Just look at that face? Oh my Lord. Angie’s furbaby is so precious! Now that I had my photos chosen it was time for me to do some editing and combine them together:

Holey moley, TOO CUTE, right? Sometimes I impress even myself LOL

Well, my creative wheels were just a chuggin’ and I was on a roll…

To say that I had FUN making the following card is an understatement and I am just thrilled with how it turned out:

OMG! LOVE this! I resized some of the photos I had printed, and created a 3-D TV for my card!

CARD DETAILS:

• I used Petunia Pop card stock to create my card base (11″ x 4 1/4″ and fold in half).
• Early Espresso card layer is 4″ x 5 1/4″
• Crumb Cake card layer is 3 3/4″ x 5″, stamped images from “Tune In” set using Crumb Cake ink. So Swirly embossing folder to add some fun texture, then I glued this layer to card front.
• Time to make the TV! I used the Tune In die to cut my photo, as well as a piece Early Espresso card stock for the back of the TV.

I used mini glue dots as well as Tear & Tape adhesive to put my pieces together:

I couldn’t resist making a rug to go under the TV. To do this I simply cut Crumb Cake card stock with a deckled circle die, covered it with Tear & Tape and layered ribbon over top. I then cut the die in half (I can use the extra half for another card):

A second circle die was cut (using a smaller circle this time), folded in half and glued to the inside flap of card to hold the rug in place.

While there are dies in the “Tune In Bundle” that I could have used for the ‘dials’, I instead cut the channel controls from my photo and glued them to the side of my TV:

Oh my word, I was seriously in my element, making this project!

Next up was making a plant to sit on top of the TV…

To create the plant pot:

• I stamped an image from the “Planted Paradise” set onto a scrap piece of Designer Series Paper, using my markers for inking.
• After cleaning my stamp, I inked it with Versamark, stamped again, and embossed the plant pot with clear powder.
• I cut out two plant pots to create a front and back, gluing one to the base of the card.
• I then used dimensionals for the middle and added the embossed plant pot on the front.
• The leaves were cut using the “Textured Floral” dies, misted with water, scrunched up, and dried.

For the TV antenna, I inked the image from the “Tune In” set with Versmark and stamped it onto a scrap piece of Smoky Slate card stock. Emboss with silver and cut with coordinating die. I used a bit of liquid glue to adhere my antenna to the top of the TV set.

I couldn’t resist creating another photo with Benji and all my pets, which also required a bit of fancy foot-work using Canva for editing:

Note: the ‘1970’s Living Room’ in the background was completely made with AI. Crazy, right?

Here is the AI photo I created, without the pets:

Here’s the same picture, but this time I added photos of all my pets:

This final photo I created with all our sweet muppets is the one that I glued inside the card:

To make the TV on the opposite side I stamped the inside sentiment using my markers (and Stamparatus). I also placed a small piece of window sheet behind the TV die cut.

PS: this card will not fold up and fit inside an envelope. This is a 3-D project that would need its own custom packaging or box if you were to give this away. You could certainly make this in a pop-up 3-D card that COULD fold up, but I’ll save that idea for another day!

Product List

It was fun to have Benji ‘visit’ me and my furkids, here in Nova Scotia! Thanks Angie, for your wonderful blog themes and for letting Benji travel “Around the World” with us!

I can’t wait to see what all my fellow AWOW friends have in store for Benji, but right now it’s time for you to see him on his home turf, as his Mom’s blog is up next!

Leonie Stuart – AU

Rochelle Laird-Smith – AU

Cheryll Miller – AU

Aurélie Fabre – FR

TIna Zinck-MacDonald – CA you are here!

Angie McKenzie – US

Chris Smith – US

Theresa McEntee – US

Lori Willcox – CA

Bree Renwick – US

Enjoy the day & HAPPY STAMPING!