best of wacky watercooler blog hops adventure

It's so nice of you to join us for another Wacky Watercooler blog hop - welcome!  We have a spectacular lineup of artists this month, and I'm sandwiched between two amazing people - Christine and Jean.  You can tour all of the hop posts simply by clicking Next or Back from each page, as the hop is circular, or you can navigate from our Home page, as well.  Our theme this time around is The Best of….  We’re going to show you the best of our blog hop posts, the best of retired Stampin’ Up!® products, and the best of current Stampin’ Up!® products. 

That's the plan, anyway.  I drew Marsha Reed's name for choosing the best of blog hop posts.  If you're around my age, you may remember "wish books" from Sears & Roebuck, J.C.Penney, and Montgomery Ward.  My sister and brother and I would sit down each year and page through them together.  I could never choose one "best of" anything, and being the oldest, I could make up the rules (well, sometimes I could), so we chose one best thing on each page.  If you skipped a page, you could choose two things on another page.  And that's kind of how I chose "best of" for this hop. 

I chose the second card in Marsha's August post to CASE (Copy And Share Everything) because I love the simplicity and the way she turned the triplet of trees into a line.  I copied it pretty closely, right down to the placement of the rhinestones, which I usually forget to use.  I wish I could have copied the straightness of her line, but let's just call my crooked line "charming", ok?

stamp set - Christmas Bliss; Stampin' Write marker - Mossy Meadow; card stock - Mossy Meadow, Whisper White; designer series paper - Confetti Celebration; Big Shot with Chalk Talk framelits; basic jewels - Rhinestones; Stampin' Dimensionals

But of course I couldn't choose one "best" post, so I also chose the second card from this post to showcase "best of" retired Stampin' Up!® products.  I couldn't even choose just one "best of" retired product, so I've included a selection of retired designer series papers, retired stamp sets, retired punches, a retired Big Shot die, and a retired embellishment!

stamp sets - Joyful Christmas, Ornament Keepsakes (on envelope); ink - Cherry Cobbler; card stock - Cherry Cobbler, Crumb Cake, Whisper White; designer series papers - Deck the Halls, Snow Festival, Season of Style; punches - Scallop Trim border, Large Heart; Big Shot with Perfect Pennants die; stitched felt embellishment - Handmade Holidays; basic jewels - Pearls, Stampin' Dimensionals

And then I chose the second card from Marsha's January post and used her layout to showcase "best of" current Stampin' Up!® products - designer series paper,  stamp set and framelits bundle, and background stamp:

stamp sets - Hardwood, Wonderful Wreath; ink - Lost Lagoon, Pear Pizzazz, Smoky Slate, Soft Sky; card stock - Basic Gray, Pear Pizzazz, Whisper White; designer series paper - All is Calm; Big Shot with Wondrous Wreath framelits; Stampin' Dimensionals 

Please hop over to Jean's Stamping Studio in the Rogue Valley for her Rogue Thoughts on the "Best Of ..." or use the links below to go back to Christine's Dancin' Stamps or the Wacky Watercooler Home site to continue your blog tour.