Sweet Jar for As You See It 366

Welcome to theme week at As You See It Challenge. It's an interesting one this week... 'candy' or lollies or sweets if you're in New Zealand or Australia. Thanks to everyone who played along with our Rhapsody in Red Recipe Challenge. The entries were stunning and choosing a Featured Artist was tricky. 

One bundle I have that's been really underused is Sweet Jar but it was perfect for this challenge. To pep things up a bit, I decided to create an arched card base using the Everyday Arches dies. I used the largest die and Melon Mambo card for the base, then a next size down in Pretty in Pink for the matte, then the next size down in Basic White for the stamped panel. Before layering them together, I used the small pattern stamp to add some tone-on-tone stamping to the Melon Mambo base. 

On a separate piece of paper, I stamped the outline of the jar in Tuxedo Black. I stamped the jelly bean shapes in Pretty in Pink then added the patterning in Melon Mambo. I punched it out with the matching punch and punched out a separate lid in Basic Black.

The sentiment is in two parts, so I could add in the 'sweetness' in Melon Mambo. I used the small heart stamps in Pretty in Pink around the panel to create a background before adding the sweet jar, popped up on dimensionals.

So, what will you do with this sweet theme?

Visit the As You See It page to link up your entry and to see the rest of the team's inspirations.

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 stamp with me, and shop with me, from anywhere in New Zealand. Click here.

Rolling Waves for Around the World on Wednesday

 

Welcome to the second hop of the year for Around the World on Wednesday. I hope you're all feeling rested, re-energised and ready to create!

On the second Wednesday of each month, the team put together a thematic hop to give you some inspiration for your own crafting. We love it when you try out something new or CAS(E) one of our projects. The team is truly international, with members from each time zone of the world that Stampin' Up! operates. You're with me, in New Zealand - the first place in the Stampin' Up! world to change the date. 😀

This month, we're doing something a little different. It's five years since Around the World on Wednesday started up, so we're doing some close-up looks at the team. Our mission was to both CAS(E) something from the catalogue and to CAS(E) something from team member (and ex-Artisan) Teri West using one of her reimaginings of a Paper Pumpkin kit. 

Going through the new January-April Mini Catalogue, I found this little card which I love the layout of. So often in my cards, I use a texture-embossed card front with the rest of the design taking up about 1/3 of the space. I was quite surprised to discover that, in the end, my CAS(E) of this did not include a texture embossed front! 

For the second part of the challenge, I used a card of Teri's (see it here) that had a similar-ish layout but used colours that I liked: Melon Mambo, Pool Party, Bumblebee (replaced by Daffodil Delight) and Petal Pink.

Sitting on my desk was a new bundle, part of my pre-order for the March Online Exclusive drop, called Rolling Waves.

Instead of the strip of cardstock in the catalogue, I used a stamp to create a width of sand. Then I used one of the wave dies to create a waveline to run across the sand. I think the stamp is really meant to create water for a wave but I liked it as sand. 

Then I used some of the other dies in the set to create an overhead view of a beach brolly and some seashells and starfish. I do love a beach-themed set!

Just as the words are so cleverly placed partly over the disco ball in the original, I've placed my sentiment (also from Rolling Waves) partly over the umbrella. 

Next up on the hop is the wonderful Leonie Stuart in Australia. Let's see what she's CAS(E)d from the catalogue and from Teri. 

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 stamp with me, and shop with me, from anywhere in New Zealand. Click here.

Here's a blog roll in case you get lost or want to revisit someone:

Jan Clothier - NZ

Leonie Stuart - AU

Rochelle Laird-Smith - AU

Cheryll Miller - AU

Marga Bultena - DE

Kim Fee - UK

Angie McKenzie - US

Kelly Taranto - US

Bree Renwick - US

Cheryl Hamilton - US

Gears & Textures for Colour INKspiration 203

 

Welcome to the 203nd challenge at Colour INKspiration! Thanks for all the gorgeous entries for our first challenge of the year. We have another pretty combination for you this time around, chosen by crew member Monica Formosa.

This challenge runs for nearly two weeks and will finish on Monday 23 February, 5pm AEST.

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 three 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. We welcome Verity Pursglove as our Guest Designer for this challenge.

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

I've been having a bit of a love affair with the Gears & Textures bundle so thought I'd give it a run with these less expected colours. 

I started by stamping some lines, cogs, chains and ladders in Smoky Slate and different generations of Balmy Blue as a background. I tore a narrow strip from the bottom and mounted it on a piece of Smoky Slate before attaching it to the Azure Afternoon card base. Then the fun part began.

I created two lightbulbs in Afternoon Azure - I think these are my favourite things in the whole bundle. 😀

Then I cut some cogs in various sizes from Balmy Blue. I dabbed Versamark unevenly over them and silver embossed them to give a semi-distressed-but-still-reasonably-clean look. I cut the same cogs in Azure Afternoon and adhered them behind to create a shadow effect. Then I cut some small cogs and pieces in Balmy Blue and Azure Afternoon to add to the centres of the larger cogs before arranging - along with the light bulbs - on the base. I did rule in the lines to represent the light bulb cords. (Note to self: do this before adding cogs!)

To finish off, I added in some Basic Rhinestones. The sentiment is from Sweet Jar and is cut with a banner die from Stylish Shapes. 

You can see what the rest of the Design Team have done with these colours in the Crew Inspiration Album on the Colour INKspiration Challenge Facebook page.

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 stamp with me, and shop with me, from anywhere in New Zealand. Click here.

Avid Craft Collective April Stamp

The Avid Craft Collective - Julia Quinn, Tracy Held and I - are getting ready for our next online Stamp Camp. This time, we'll not be showcasing a suite from the March Online Exclusive Drop. We've chosen to work with the Delicate Dreams suite. This pretty suite has the kinds of flowers and petals we all love, along with some gorgeous die cut bit of foliage. The colours are pretty too. 

When is the Stamp Camp?

We will be going live to present the making of the nine projects on Saturday 11 April at 11 am NZT.

Of course, the presentations will be recorded so that you can rewatch them or watch at your leisure if you can't make it at the live time. 

How many projects will we make?

There will be instructions for nine projects: three fancy folds and six standard cards. 

Each of the three ACC members have created three projects especially for the tutorials. 

How can I participate?

There are three ways to join in the stamp camp. The Ultimate Package and Kit Package are only available to New Zealand residents.

1. The Ultimate Package

• The Delicate Whispers bundle (stamps and dies)
• 1/4 pack of Delicate Dreams DSP
• a pack of Gold Foil embellishments
• a share of Linen Thread
• Kits containing the cut cardstock required to make each of the nine projects
• Envelopes
• PDF tutorial with full instructions in metric and imperial
• Access to the Exclusive Facebook Group including recordings of the live presentations.

COST: $181 (plus postage if not pickup)

2. The Kit Package

• 1/4 pack of Delicate Dreams DSP
• a pack of Gold Foil embellishments
• a share of Linen Thread
• Kits containing the cut cardstock required to make each of the nine projects
• Envelopes
• PDF tutorial with full instructions in metric and imperial
• Access to the Exclusive Facebook Group including recordings of the live presentations.

COST: $81 (plus postage if not pickup)

NOTE: This does not include the stamps and dies, so unless you already have them or plan to get them, this is not a good option. 

3. The Virtual Package

• PDF tutorial with full instructions in metric and imperial
• Access to the Exclusive Facebook Group including recordings of the live presentations.

COST: $35

If you intend to purchase either the Kit or Ultimate Package, you'll need to let me know (and pay) by 20 March so the products can be ordered for you. 

Layers of Beauty for Paper Players 772

 Claire's 'Love is in the Air' theme last week brought some gorgeous entries into the gallery. Thank you to all who played along with us. This week, Ann is the hostess at The Paper Players and she has a pretty colour challenge for us. 

With these colours, I couldn't go past florals so got out my go-to floral set Layers of Beauty.  I stamped the large bouquet in Tuxedo Black and used the coordinating layering stencils to colour the flowers in Petal Pink and Calypso Coral and the leaves in Lost Lagoon with touches of Mossy Meadow.

Then I used the matching dies to partially cut out the spray and attached it to a card base that I'd created using Window Sheet and Thick Basic White card. 

I stamped a smaller version of the flowers on the bottom right of the card inner and coloured it to match. 

The sentiment is from Sweet Jar and cut with a banner from Stylish Shapes.

The finishing touch was a trio of Faceted Circles in Calypso Coral for a bit of bling. 

What will you do with Ann's pretty colours?

Here's a quick recap of our challenge rules:

1. Create a new paper-craft project specifically for this challenge.
2. Upload your creation to your blog with a link back to us.
3. Please provide a direct link to the post featuring your challenge entry.
4. Please link your card to no more than four challenges, TOTAL, including ours
5. Have fun, and thank you for playing with us!

Don't forget to check out the great inspiration from the rest of the design team.

Jaydee

LeAnne Pugliese

Claire Broadwater

Joanne James

Anne Marie Hile (on leave)

Ann Schach

Jan Clothier - You are here

Stef Perry

Eliz Stewart

Christy Stanford

You can stamp with me, and shop with me, from anywhere in New Zealand. Click here.

An Eclectic Mix for Paper Players 771

Thank you to everyone who played along with Jaydee's super sketch last week - the gallery was amazing! I'm sure it will be this week too with this week's theme from Claire: Love is in the Air,

Today's card is a real mix of things from the stash and the new box, which is something that's nice to do. I like it when you can mix and match what you have with something new for a fresh look. 

The starting point of this card is the new - and gorgeous - Lovely & Beautiful specialty DSP.  The other starting point was a card by my team mate, LeAnne Pugliese who recently made a card that featured hearts layered with scalloped hearts. This reminded me that I had a pair of punches that I got when I was on the Artisan Design Team so I hunted them out. 

I layered heart in the Lovely & Beautiful DSP with scalloped hearts in Petal Pink and Peach Pie to pick out DSP colours. Then what? That was the question!

I needed a ground for the hearts, so embossed a piece of Basic White with the Exposed Brick embossing folder then flicked over some splatters of Petal Pink and Peach Pie ink. At that point, I decided on a Calypso Coral base in order to bring out the richness of the colour from the DSP.

Next question: what sentiment? Well, I got out Lifetime of Love and inked up the 'Love You' from there then cut it with a banner from Stylish Shapes. I felt it needed something else, so I added a gold bow with the sadly retired Elegant Trim... it's nearly all gone now!

The final thing was the addition of a trio of Pearlised Faceted Circles in Calypso Coral. These little beauties are part of the Lovely & Beautiful suite but of course, work well with lots of other things too. 

What will you do with Claire's theme?

Here's a quick recap of our challenge rules:

1. Create a new paper-craft project specifically for this challenge.
2. Upload your creation to your blog with a link back to us.
3. Please provide a direct link to the post featuring your challenge entry.
4. Please link your card to no more than four challenges, TOTAL, including ours
5. Have fun, and thank you for playing with us!

Don't forget to check out the great inspiration from the rest of the design team.

Jaydee

LeAnne Pugliese

Claire Broadwater

Joanne James

Anne Marie Hile (on leave)

Ann Schach

Jan Clothier - You are here

Stef Perry

Eliz Stewart

Christy Stanford

You can stamp with me, and shop with me, from anywhere in New Zealand. Click here.

Capturing Smiles for Freshly Made Sketches 721

I was happy to play along with the latest challenge at Freshly Made Sketches when I found myself with a little spare time today. The arrival of my pre-order goodies for the March Onine Exclusive drop yesterday was, of course, an added incentive!

So first out of the box was the charming Capturing Smiles bundle. This set, which has a range of scrapbook appropriate sentiments, also has dies that allow you to make up a lovely camera and various other camera-related bits and pieces. While this is going to be a great set for scrapbooking, I thought it would also make for a cute birthday card. 

I picked a favourite colour combination: Basic Gray, Pool Party, Lost Lagoon and Pretty in Pink. I played around and made up some film strips and a camera. I thought the sentiment worked well with a 'Happy Birthday' on the inside. The camera is just so dinky and can be made up in many variations. 

Another new item out of the pre-order box was this lovely Lazy Daisy embossing folder.  I may have fallen a liitle bit in love with it this afternoon. It looked great on line but the minute I put it through the Stampin' Cut and Emboss Machine, I realised that it was amazing!

To finish off, I added a trio of Pretty in Pink flat pearls.

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 stamp with me, and shop with me, from anywhere in New Zealand. Click here.