Thinking Stamping

Tuesday, 20 October 2020

Swirly Frames for Retro Rubber 146

Welcome to a new challenge at Retro Rubber, the challenge that gives you reason to get out your old favourites! This week, we have a colour challenge for you: use black, white and orange in your card. Of course, since this is RETRO rubber, you must use at least one stamp that's more than a year old and give us an indication of the age of that stamp.

Despite this being a colour challenge, the graphic and the wording made me feel that this was really a Halloween challenge. Of course, if you want it to be one then go right ahead!

Luckily for me, it doesn't HAVE to be a Halloween challenge since in New Zealand, Halloween barely makes a ripple on the social radar. I'm not much of an orange user either but sitting on my desk, staring at me, was my Terracotta Tile ink pad. Kind of orange, right?

From that, the idea of a masculine card using the circle stamps from Swirly Frames (2018-19 Annual Catalogue) was born. I stamped them in Tuxedo Black and Terracotta Tile in a random fashion.

For the sentiment, I used Well Said, from the 2019 Occasions catalogue, and the coordinating Well Written dies. I love the versatility of expression this set offers. I three rhinestones, coloured with a dark Pumpkin Pie Stampin' Blend as an accent.

Since I was on a bit of a roll, I made a companion card with the same supplies but instead of using the Well Written dies for the 'thanks', I used the Playful Alphabets dies. They're much bolder and perhaps a touch more masculine than the cursive 'thanks' in the first card. I couldn't pick a favourite.

You can see what the rest of the team have done with this challenge, and link up your entry, by visiting the Retro Rubber Challenge site. We'd love to see what you do and what stamps you have in your stash.

If you live in New Zealand and don't have a Stampin' Up! Demonstrator, I'd love to be yours. I can help you with ideas, get you catalogues and provide you with Stampin' Up products. You can leave a message in the comments or contact me using any of the methods listed in the Contact Me tab at the top of the page. You can shop with me from anywhere in New Zealand by clicking on the SHOP NOW button in the sidebar or clicking on any of products below.

Product List

Swirly Frames Photopolymer Stamp Set

[146519]

$44.00

Well Said Cling Stamp Set

[148796]

$95.00

Well Written Dies

[151816]

$84.00

Basic Black A4 Card Stock

[121688]

$18.50

Terracotta Tile A4 Cardstock

[150890]

$18.50

Whisper White A4 Card Stock

[106549]

$20.50

Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad

[132708]

$12.00

Terracotta Tile Classic Stampin’ Pad

[150086]

$15.75

Layering Circles Dies

[151770]

$69.00

Rhinestone Basic Jewels

[144220]

$10.50

Pumpkin Pie Stampin' Blends Combo Pack

[154897]

$19.00

Friday, 16 October 2020

Stampin' Up! Artisan Design Team - In the Pines

This month, the Stampin' Up! Artisan Design team is showcasing the In The Pines bundle. I'm delighted to be able to share with you some of the things I've made with this versatile bundle. Although it appears in the August-December Mini Catalogue, in the Christmas section, trees are timeless images and the variety of sentiments make it useful all year round.

So here's my two projects: A gift box and a card.

As you can see, I've gone for a non-traditional colourway. I've used Rich Razzleberry, Flirty Flamingo and Gold. At first, I wondered if I'd lost my mind when I gave those colours a go but I discovered that they really appealed. Has that happened to you - trying something that seems outrageous and then finding it works?

1. Gift box of tags

This colour experiment started when I used an acrylic block to smoosh together Rich Razzleberry and Flirty Flamingo on to some Shimmery White Cardstock. Then I used that wonderful lacy tree die cut to see what would happen and I discovered that I loved those trees.

I started with one of the Mini Paper Pumpkin boxes. I cut a top in Rich Razzleberry, one slightly smaller in Gold Foil and one slightly smaller again in Whisper White. This one, I embossed using the Evergreen Forest 3D embossing folder. I highlighted the forest with a touch of sponging in Flirty Flamingo.

The Rich Razzleberry panel is embossed using the Dainty Diamonds embossing folder. I've added in a twist of gold cord from the Wonder of the Season Ribbon Combo pack and some Snowflake adhesive-backed embellishments.

The box closes with a tie of 1/4" Whisper White Crinkled Seam Binding ribbon for an extra bit of drama.

Inside the box, I created a divider so that 5 tags could sit in each half. I place the trees on different sides so that when the box is opened, the trees are centred. I've used all the same materials as the box and the tags are cut using the stitched scallop-edged rectangles from the Stitched So Sweetly dies.

2. Christmas Card

This card is on a Rich Razzleberry card base with a mat of Gold Foil. I took the Whisper White card front and cut out the filagree tree from it. I cut a second filagree tree from my piece of smooshed Rich Razzleberry/Flirty Flamingo but took care that the pieces did not come out of the cut.

I put that to one side while I completed the rest of the card front: gold embossing the sentiment, adding in the stamped grounds for the trees and assembling the second tree. Isn't it great that the solid shaped dies that fit the stamped images also fit perfectly with the lacy die cut trees? I used the outline die for the small tree and cut it in Gold Foil to make a backing for the small lacy die-cut tree.

When I attached the card front to the Gold Foil mat, I made sure that I laid down plenty of Stampin' Seal behind the cut-out tree shape. Then I got took the tree cut from the ink-smooshed paper and carefully transferred the pieces into the card front layer, making sure to push them firmly onto the Stampin' Seal backing. Before you go thinking that I'd once again lost my mind, the Take Your Pick Tool makes transferring those tiny pieces an absolute breeze. Trying to do this without one probably would be madness!

Once again, a few of the Snowflake Adhesive-backed embellishments finished the project.

If you like the idea but not the non-traditional colours, of course you can use any colours you like.

For more inspiration with the In The Pines bundle, keep moving around the hop. Next up is the fabulous Lauren Alarid, aka The Crafty Peach.

In case you get lost along the way, or want to re-visit a blog, here's a list of everyone on the hop with a link.

Caroline van der Straaten Emma Goddard Helene den Breejen Jan Clothier Lauren Alarid Leah Fedynak Manuela Geiswinkler Marine Wiplier Martha Groger Martin Stone Narelle Farrugia Nina Waldschmidt Rochelle Blok Stesha Bloodhart Tammy Wilson Zsuzsanna Balazs

If you live in New Zealand and don't have a Stampin' Up Demonstrator, I'd love to be yours. I can help you with ideas, get you catalogues and provide you with Stampin' Up products. You can leave a message in the comments or contact me using any of the methods listed in the Contact Me tab at the top of the page. You can shop with me from anywhere in New Zealand by clicking on the SHOP NOW button in the sidebar or clicking on any of products below.

Product List

In The Pines Bundle

[155182]

$108.00

Rich Razzleberry A4 Card Stock

[119981]

$18.50

Gold Foil Sheets

[132622]

$10.50

Whisper White A4 Card Stock

[106549]

$20.50

Shimmery White A4 Card Stock

[121717]

$21.00

Rich Razzleberry Classic Stampin' Pad

[147091]

$15.75

Flirty Flamingo Classic Stampin' Pad

[147052]

$15.75

Versamark Pad

[102283]

$20.00

Gold Stampin' Emboss Powder

[109129]

$12.50

Evergreen Forest 3D Embossing Folder

[153576]

$21.00

Dainty Diamonds 3D Embossing Folder

[152702]

$19.00

Wonder Of The Season Ribbon Combo Pack

[153537]

$19.00

Adhesive-Backed Snowflakes

[153545]

$12.50

Mini Paper Pumpkin B0xes

[153069]

$15.75

Whisper White 1/4" (6.4 Mm) Crinkled Seam Binding Ribbon

[151326]

$15.75

Stamping Sponges

[141337]

$8.50

Stampin' Spritzer

[126185]

$6.00

Take Your Pick

[144107]

$20.00

Stampin' Dimensionals

[104430]

$7.25

Wednesday, 14 October 2020

Blossoms in Bloom for CI87

This time, our challenge colours are quite autumnal even though Spring is fast approaching us here in Australia and New Zealand. We hope you enjoy playing with them.

If you haven't played with us before, we are a group of Stampin' Up Demonstrators from the South Pacific. Challenges are shown and entered via our Facebook Group page. If you don't belong, and would like to, click here. Don't forget to answer the two easy questions you'll be asked when you ask to join the group.

Each challenge, Top Picks and a winner are chosen by the crew and the winner offered a chance to Guest Design with us for a future challenge.

If you don't have an exact challenge colour, feel free to replace it with whatever you have that's closest. Black, White, Very Vanilla, Crumb Cake and metallics are free colours, as are flesh toned Stampin' Blends.

These colours spoke floral to me. One set I've not recently is Blossoms in Bloom and with the very showy large die-cut spray of flowers, it's easy to overlook the smaller blooms and leaves on offer.

Because I wanted the smaller flowers to be the stars, I opted for a lot of white space. I used the Many Medallions die to create the background. The geometric pattern is a pretty alternative to an embossed background and adds a touch of elegance to the design.

The hoop is cut from gold foil using the two largest plain circles from the Layering Circles die set.

I started by sponging Mango Melody, Pumpkin Pie and Pear Pizzazz on Shimmery White card. Then I stamped some flowers and leaves in the various colours. I fussy cut the stamps and also die-cut some of the flower layers. From all these sponged bits, I layered up the three flowers.

The Sahara Sand leafy foliage is from the about-to-be-released Curvy die set. This set will be available to customers from early November, so watch out for it. Finally, I added three Gilded Gems to the flower centres to tie in the gold from the hoop with the flowers.

I'm afraid that a senior moment means I'll have to invoke the 'use the closest colour' clause in out rules. Somehow, while looking at the challenge graphic I managed to mistake Very Vanilla for Whisper White!

We'd love to see what you make of these colours. You can add your project, see the other entries and look at the Design Team inspiration by clicking here.

Further inspiration for this card came from the sketch at Global Design Project.