Thinking Stamping

Friday, 2 October 2020

Stampin' Up! Artisan Design Team Curvy Celebrations

It's great to be able to share with you a sneak peek at the Curvy Celebration products, which Demonstrators can pre-order from 1 October-2 November, with customer ordering opening after that.

The Curvy Celebrations promotion features two early-release products from the January-June 2021 Mini Catalogue, plus two exclusive products available for a limited time only. This promotion offers customers a first glance at the look and feel of the new catalogue, a chance to purchase early and some exclusive products perfect for Christmas crafting.

Today, I'm sharing with you a Christmas card utilising the limited time Curvy Christmas stamp set and Classic Christmas DSP along with the Curvy dies.

Unlike many stamp sets that feature a large focal image, Curvy Christmas is an eclectic selection of small Christmas motifs and sentiments, some of which match the curve of the dies. It lends itself to collage and repeat stamping.

For this card, I started by repeat stamping the 'Merry Christmas' in Sahara Sand in a left to right diagonal across the Whisper White panel. I added in some of the stars (there are two sizes in the set) in Cherry Cobbler.

I like the colours in the Classic Christmas DSP: Sahara Sand, Cherry Cobbler and Shaded Spruce. One side of each of the 15cmx15cm pieces is a subtle Christmas theme (like the stars) but the other side is more generic (such as the dots) which extends the life of this paper stack well beyond the Christmas season. I cut three narrow curved strips, using one of the Curvy dies and stacked them. I like the sense of movement the curves create and I thought the eyelet edge was adorable.

I cut a star from Stitched Stars using Brushed Gold foil, popped it on dimensionals and added in some foliage from the Curvy dies in Shaded Spruce and a touch of Brushed Gold foil. I gold-embossed the same 'Merry Christmas' stamp onto Cherry Cobbler and trimmed it into two words and popped it up on mini-dimensionals.

The finishing touch was a gold bow, using the gold cord from the Wonder of the Season Ribbon combo pack.

This card is easily achievable by all levels of crafter. There are die-cuts aplenty to keep the most avid crafter happy but the design is easily achievable by a beginner with access to the necessary equipment.

As a Demonstrator, you get early access to the Curvy Celebrations products from 1 October-2 November. Customer ordering begins on 3 November.

During pre-order, products are limited to one of each stamp set and dies (whether purchased separately or as part of the Quite Curvy Variety Bundle) and three packs of Designer Series paper.

As this is a limited-time, early release don't delay getting your order in. The sooner you order, the sooner you have it to play with and share with your customers.

For more inspiration, keep hopping around the Artisan Design Team. Next up is the wonderful Lauren Alarid, aka The Crafty Peach.

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

Curvy Christmas Stamp set

Curvy dies

Classic Christmas DSP

Cherry Cobbler A4 Card Stock

[121681]

$18.50

Whisper White A4 Card Stock

[106549]

$20.50

Shaded Spruce A4 Cardstock

[147006]

$18.50

Brushed Metallic Cardstock

[153524]

$32.00

Sahara Sand Classic Stampin' Pad

[147117]

$15.75

Cherry Cobbler Classic Stampin' Pad

[147083]

$15.75

Versamark Pad

[102283]

$20.00

Gold Stampin' Emboss Powder

[109129]

$12.50

Stitched Stars Dies

[150653]

$80.00

Wonder Of The Season Ribbon Combo Pack

[153537]

$19.00

Stampin' Dimensionals

[104430]

$7.25

Mini Stampin' Dimensionals

[144108]

$7.25

Saturday, 26 September 2020

Queen Anne's Lace for Stampin' Up!'s Facebook Page

In addition to participating in regular Blog Hops, the Stampin' Up! Artisan Design Team also bring you weekly Instagram Tips and Tricks and do a number of posts for the Stampin' Up! Facebook Page. This week, it was my turn to share something on the SU Facebook page, in the form of a photo album. I'm doing this post as I know that more than a few of my customers and followers are not Facebook people and I'd love you to see these too.

I chose to share a favourite set, Queen Anne's Lace, and a favourite technique - sponging.

Here are the three cards I made for this album and a brief explanation of how I did them. You can also see these by going to Stampin' Up's Facebook page and looking at the albums - and you'll also see the work of the other Artisans. (Until recently, these projects were shared in the now-unavailable Notes section.)

1. Sponged Masked Column card

I started by masking off a column 3.5cm wide on a piece of Shimmery Card Stock (item 121717) and sponging it with following inks: Mossy Meadow (item 147111), Old Olive Ink (item 147090), Rich Razzleberry (item 147091) and Crushed Curry (item 147087). Then I used the two-step floral stamp from Queen Anne’s Lace (Item 152607) in Mossy Meadow and Rich Razzleberry inks before adding in some stem-only stamps in Old Olive. The panel was cut using the largest of the Stitched Rectangle dies (item 151820), mounted on a Crushed Curry (item 131288) mat which had been embossed using the Tasteful Textures 3D embossing folder (item 152718). The sentiment, one from Queen Anne’s Lace, was stamped in Tuxedo Black (item 132708) before the whole front was added to a Rich Razzleberry (item 119981) base. Gilded Gems (item 152478) were the finishing touch as the opulence of the gold suited the richness of the Regal colours.

2. Faux Torn Paper Mask with Resist Embossing

Using a mask of torn copier paper, I stamped some of the flower stem stamps from Queen Anne’s Lace (item 152607) in Versamark (item 102283) and embossed the images using White Embossing Powder (item 109132). Then I used the following inks to sponge over the exposed area: Old Olive (item 147090), Rich Razzleberry (item 147091) and Crushed Curry (item 147087). The sponging highlights the white embossed flower stems. Before removing the mask, I added in some of the same stem images in Crushed Curry. The sentiment is stamped in Tuxedo Black (item 132708 ) and die cut using one of the Tasteful Labels dies (item 152886). As in the first card, the panel is cut using the largest of the Stitched Rectangles dies (item 151820) and mounted on a mat of Crushed Curry (item 131288) embossed using the Tasteful Textiles embossing folder (item 152718). The front is mounted onto an Old Olive (item 106576) base. Three Gilded Gems (item 152478) complete the card.

3. Window Card with a Simple Sponged background

I started with a piece of Whisper White card (item 106549) and stamped the flower stem image from Queen Anne’s Lace in the bottom corner twice in Old Olive ink. After placing it on top of the Rich Razzleberry base, I used the second largest of the Stitched Nested Labels dies (item 149638) to cut a window through both layers. I lined up a piece of Crushed Curry under the window in the white piece and cut out a smaller window using the next-size-down die. The white piece was embossed with the Dainty Diamonds embossing folder (item 152712). The Crushed Curry window is sandwiched between the base and embossed white piece so that only the inner window edge is showing. The sentiment was die cut using one of the Tasteful Labels dies (item 152886). After pencilling in the outline of the window on the white card inner, I stamped the two-step floral stamp in Old Olive and Rich Razzleberry and the stem only in Old Olive. Then I sponged over the whole image lightly in Crushed Curry to ground the image and to suggest a hint of sunshine.

Here's what it looks like open.

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. And remember, you can shop with me from anywhere in New Zealand by clicking on the SHOP NOW tab in the sidebar.

Friday, 25 September 2020

Itty Bitty Christmas for AYSI 235

Our regular rotation of challenges continues at As You See It and that make this week 'THEME' week.

The theme this week is 'Sewing or Stitching' which gives lots of scope for you to come up with something interesting.

While I'm a patchworker, quilter and embroiderer, stamps that champion those activities have, strangely, never much appealed to me so there are none in my stash. What I do like though, are dies that have stitched details. Those, I have a BIG stash of.

In this card, I've used an old favourite, Stitched Rectangles for the white panel and the sentiment. I've used my latest acquisition, Stitched Triangles, for the tree forms.

As I was blogging this card, I realised that if I'd used a folder other than Winter Snow for the background, this would have been a great card for a hot Southern Hemisphere Christmas. Next time! 😀

Having said that, the Winter Snow folder is marvellous and the light sponging in Pacific Point really shows off the gorgeous pattern, so I don't really regret using it.

Perhaps the real star of the show is a product I'd initially overlooked in the 2020 Annual Catalogue and that's the Rainbow Glimmer Paper. I only cut from the blue/green section to make the triangles look like trees. I was keen to do so after seeing some of the wonderful Christmas projects my fellow NZ Demonstrator and former Artisan Design Team member, Angela Meritz-Reid (aka Stamping Beauty) had made.

The sentiment is from my favourite Christmas sentiment set, Itty Bitty Christmas.

You can visit the As You See It Challenge site to see what the rest of the team have done and to link up your entry.

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

Itty Bitty Christmas Cling Stamp Set (En)

[150513]

$46.00

Pacific Point A4 Card Stock

[116202]

$18.50

Card Stock A4 Bermuda Bay

[131286]

$18.50

Whisper White A4 Card Stock

[106549]

$20.50

Rainbow Glimmer Paper

[153056]

$12.50

Pacific Point Classic Stampin' Pad

[147098]

$15.75

Winter Snow Embossing Folder

[153577]

$15.75

Stitched Rectangles Dies

[151820]

$74.00

Stitched Triangles Dies

[152710]

$74.00

Adhesive-Backed Snowflakes

[153545]

$12.50

Stamping Sponges

[141337]

$8.50

Stampin' Dimensionals

[104430]

$7.25

Wednesday, 23 September 2020

Seaside Notions and So Sentimental for CI86

Welcome to a new challenge at Colour Inkspiration. We've got a lovely, refreshing natural palette for you this time around: Coastal Cabana, Shaded Spruce and Pacific Point. Isn't it lovely?

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 got me thinking a little nautical this time. I created a rich background so that the bold sentiment would shine out.

I started with a piece of Shimmery White cardstock and sponged it with Pacific Point, Shaded Spruce and Coastal Cabana, progressing from darker to lighter as I moved up the page. Then I gave it a fine mist of water with a spritzer. After adding in a little more colour in places, I splattered it with larger drops to lift some colour. To complete the background, I stamped three images from Seaside Notions in the three colours.

The lovely sentiment is from So Sentimental and cut with the coordinating Stitched So Sweetly dies. Isn't it great the way the stitched edged label wraps around the sentiment like this? I've sponged very lightly around the edge in Pacific Point. The finishing touches are three of the stunning new Blue Adhesive-backed Gems: there's a hint of gold and of a rich Pacific Point blue and some strands of frayed Braided Linen Trim.

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.

Product List