Global Design Project 84

The current challenge at Global Design Project is to case a card by designer, Michelle Last. This is a heavenly project because the card contains so many of the elements I love in a card: lots of clean white space, some texture, a coloured border and a focal point in the lower right corner.  Glorious! I love the card we've been given to CASE and love even more Michelle's CASE of her own card!

Additional features I've taken from the card are the scallop border on the focal point, the use of die cuts and the sentiment being contained within the borders of the shape. 

I'm still having a love affair with the new Eastern Palace suite, available next week to customers, so I turned to it again for this card. 

It seemed to be begging me to dig out of retirement the Beautifully Baroque embossing folder - one of my first Stampin' Up embossing purchases.

I do love the way the medallion dies in this suite fit so well with both the layering circles framelits and the stitched framelits so that it's easy to build depth in a design. The little touch of copper adds opulence to the card. I ombred the sentiment with Sweet Sugarplum and Fresh Fig, a lovely tip I picked up from the Artisan blog hop featuring Eastern Palace a couple of weeks ago.

Ingredients

Card: Fresh Fig, Very Vanilla, scraps of Sweet Sugarplum and copper foil 

Stamps: Eastern Beauty

Inks: Sweet Sugarplum, Fresh Fig

Other: Eastern Medallions framelits, Layering circle framelits, Stitched Shaped framelits, Beautiful Baroque embossing folder (retired), Sweet Sugarplum candy dot, dimensionals.

Retro Rubber 61 - DT Card

Welcome to a new challenge at Retro Rubber. It was fun looking at all the different ways people used critters in our last challenge. It's a good thing when it's hard to choose, I think!

This time round, the challenge is to use buttons in your project. As always, since this is RETRO rubber, you must use stamps that are at least a year old AND give us an indication of how old they are.

I'll confess that I've gone a bit crazy this week. If you follow me regularly, you'll know that at heart I like a lot of clean, empty space and I'm often found playing with soft and muted colours. This week, things got riotous!

There's two reasons for this. The first was the colours of the buttons that I had that matched my papers and inks. The second came out a recent technique class I held. One of the cards I did used Joseph's Coat as a background technique. One of the women there asked me if you could use a colour other than black to cover over the embossing, so I needed to try it out.  

The answer, it turns out, is yes. Believe it or not, the colour I used to  cover over the sponging and embossing is Elegant Eggplant and in real life, you can see that. It's just a little less dark and a bit warmer than using black and that's also why I used Elegant Eggplant for part of the greeting. Such a bright card must surely be destined to cheer someone up, so it became a get well card.

I'd always planned to used my button as the centre of the flower but I added in a couple of others, kind of in the way you might add sequins or enamel shapes. 

Both my stamp sets are old. Flower Shop, although still current, has been around ever since I first discovered Stampin' Up and was maybe the third set I ever got. I see it first appeared in the 2013-14 Catalogue. The other set, Fabulous Four, I haven't had so long but it appeared in the 2014-15 catalogue but has since, sadly, retired.

Remember - stamps older than a year, tell us how old they are and don't link up to more than ten challenges in total. Those are all the rules. We'd love to see what you do with your retro stamps and your buttons. You can join us until 5 May. 

Ingredients

Card: Crushed Curry, Wild Wasabi, Whisper White, watercolour paper

Stamps: Flower Shop, Fabulous Four

Inks: Calypso Coral, Crushed Curry, Wild Wasabi, Elegant Eggplant, versamark

Other: Clear embossing powder, sponges, aquapainter, buttons, Leaf sizzlit (well retired!)

Paper Players 341

One of the reasons I like school holidays is that I have a better chance of joining in at The Paper Players. This week, there is a sketch challenge that I was pleased to be able to get to.

I'm still in the honeymoon phase with the Eastern Palace suite, fresh from the forthcoming catalogue as a pre-release to demonstrators - and to the public, starting in May.  So, since we're still honeymooning, it was on my mind when I saw the sketch, which is how I ended up here....

I do like the way the various medallion dies layer so seamlessly with both the existing circle dies and the stitched framelit dies, making it so easy to layer designs. Also on show here is one of the new in-colours for 2017-19, Tranquil Tide which works very well with Dapper Denim.

Update: Delighted to be a Cut Above at the Paper Players. 

Ingredients

Card: Tranquil Tide, Dapper Denim, Very Vanilla, paper from the Eastern Palace Specialty DSP collection, Gold foil

Stamps: Eastern Beauty, Floral Phrases

Inks: Dapper Denim. versamark

Other: Gold embossing powder, Eastern Medallions thinlits, Eastern Gold stickers, mini tassels assortment, dimensionals, Layering circles framelits, Dapper Denim stampin' write marker to colour cut edges of sentiment.

CAS 219 JAI 356

I started today with two challenges in mind and somewhere along the way, they morphed into one and then separated again. So in this one post are two cards with a shared genesis but for two challenges. Variations on a theme, I guess.

The two challenges that I started from were the colour challenge at CAS Colours and Sketches

and the rather intriguing challenge at Just Add Ink...

I'd always liked the look of bokeh backgrounds but had never experimented with making one before. So last night, instead of watching the rugby, I played around with bokeh using Mint Macaron and Old Olive and that happened because I was thinking about the circles from the JAI challenge.

While making up the dragonflies for the Colours and Sketches card, I realised how good the background looked with gold - so that lead to a second card using metallics for the JAI challenge. 

Here they are. For the CAS Colours and Sketches colour challenge....

The dragonflies are stacked to give some height. I've stamped over them using the wing pattern from the large dragonfly stamp then given them a coat of clear Wink of Stella.

For the JAI Choose Two challenge, using circles and metallics...

I played around with giving the dragonfly layers but in the end, decided that plain gold worked best with the colours of the background, making it light and airy and playful.

And here they are together, fraternal twins...

And just like children, hard to pick a favourite!

Ingredients for CAS Colours and Sketches card

Card: Tip Top Taupe, Very Vanilla, Mint Macaron, Very Vanilla

Stamps: Dragonfly Dreams, Big on Birthdays

Inks: Mint Macaron, Old Olive, Tip Top Taupe, White pigment ink

Other: Detailed Dragonfly thinlits, Metallic Enamel Shapes, clear Wink of Stella

Ingredients for JAI Choose Two card

As above, except for no Wink of Stella

And

Gold foil paper, Gold metallic thread, versamark, gold embossing powder, dimensionals

As You See It 148 - DT card

After last week's lovely sketch, this week at As You See It, we have a beautiful spring colour challenge for you.

With those colours, it was hard to go past florals. Touches of Texture is a fabulous set and I enjoyed getting out for this challenge. I black embossed the flower cluster and coloured it with markers.

We'd love to have you join us in this challenge. You have two weeks until Wednesday 3 May, 11.55 p.m. PST to show us how you see this challenge.

Ingredients

Card: Pink Pirouette, So Saffron, Garden Green, Whisper White

Stamps: Touches of Texture, One Big Meaning

Inks: Versamark, Tuxedo Black, So Saffron, Stampin' Write markers in Garden Green and Pink Pirouette

Other: Black embossing powder, Layering Oval framelits, dimensionals, Washi Tape from Warmth and Cheer (retired), button in Garden Green (retired) and Garden Green twine (retired), dimensionals.

Freshly Made Sketches 284

I got out Birthday Blooms last week because going through the retiring list reminded me that I'd not used it in a while. Thankfully, it's not retiring but it was still on my desk after I'd made a card for another challenge and I decided that I wasn't done with it yet.

I've taken inspiration from this week's sketch at Freshly Made Sketches.

Last time, I coloured that glorious bloom with watercolour on watercolour paper. Today, I've used colour pencils and blender pen on shimmery white. I've gone for a very opulent look which seemed right for an anniversary.

I made two gold embossed outline images of the blooms, coloured them with watercolour pencils then fussy cut them. The flower centres have had a coat of clear Wink of Stella. One bloom I cut down smaller. The sentiment is also gold embossed. The layout gave me plenty of places to tape the foiled acetate without any tape showing.

Update: Delighted to be named a Perfect Princess at Freshly Made Sketches.

Ingredients

Card: Basic Black, Shimmery white cardstock, foiled acetate 

Stamps: Birthday Blooms, Falling for You

Colour: versamark and gold embossing powder, watercolour pencils, blender pen

Other: dimensionals

Colour Inkspiration 7

Easter is also the start of first term school holidays. This translates into more crafting time for me, so I was happy to get a chance today to work on the latest palette from Colour Inkspiration.

When the retiring list came out, I went through my catalogue marking the outgoing items. This was not only good to do in terms of saying goodbye to things but it was a great way to be reminded of things that were still in. One of those was the ever so lovely Birthday Blooms set that I hadn't used in a while.

In all of the two years that Tip Top Taupe has been an in-colour, I've never quite made up my mind about it. I loved how it looked with Mint Macaron and Watermelon Wonder and I sometimes thought it looked stylishly elegant and sometimes I thought it looked dull and uninteresting. Colour procrastination... 

I watercoloured the flowers after stamping them in Tip Top Taupe then fussy cut them and gave the centre a lick of Wink of Stella.

After creating the background, I layered over it with vellum. I embossed the sentiment using clear embossing powder because I like the glossy yet subtle effect of it.

So today I'm coming down on the side of liking Tip Top Taupe ... a lot.

Update: Delighted to be a Top 5 Pick at Colour Inkspiration!

Ingredients

Card: Tip Top Taupe, Whisper White, Vellum, watercolour paper

Stamps: Birthday Blooms

Inks: Versamark, Tip Top Taupe, Pink Pirouette, Mint Macaron, Daffodil Delight.

Other: Clear embossing powder, clear Wink of Stella, aquapainter.

CAS Colours and Sketches 218

Looking through the catalogue to see what was retiring reminded me of this set, Seaside Shore, which was my first purchase from last year's catalogue. I've used the sketch at CAS Colours and Sketches for inspiration.

I find I never have enough Thank You cards, so this seemed a good chance to stock up.

I like the clean, crisp look of this card stemming from the strong colours, white space and straight lines. Good to have a card in the stash that could be given to a man, as well.

Update: Happy to be a Weekly Winner at CAS Colours and Sketches.

Ingredients

Card: Dapper Denim, Whisper White

Stamps: Seaside Shore, Thoughtful Banners

Inks: Dapper Denim, Calypso Coral, Emerald Envy, Soft Suede, Crumb Cake, Soft Sky

Other: Aquapainter, sponges, dimensionals

SIP 94

It was with sadness this week that I made this sympathy card. 

I used the challenge at Stamp, Ink, Paper for inspiration: the bottom line of die cut, light blue and bird. Best Birds is a set I’ve not used nearly enough, although in the past I’ve used it for happier events.

The die cut bird and branch are layered to give them some height. The die cut flowers are not. The vellum circle is die cut using Layering Circles framelits. The bird's breast is a pale wash of Soft Sky.

Update: Delighted to be a Winning Pick at Stamp, Ink, Paper.

Ingredients

Card: Soft Sky, Vellum, watercolour paper, Sahara Sand to layer the die cuts.

Stamps: Best Birds, Better Together

Inks: Versamark, Sahara Sand, Soft Sky, Pear Pizzazz, Blushing Bride

Other: Copper embossing powder, Layering Circle Framelits, Birds and Blooms thinlits, pearls, aqua painter, Softly Falling embossing folder.

Just Add Ink

It’s been a wild start to Easter with Cyclone Cook hitting New Zealand on Thursday amid predictions of it being the worst storm in 50 years. It wasn’t quite that bad there was widespread damage and lots of travel disruption. 

That Thursday night was the night of my first regular monthly classes and as the weather worsened during the day, I cancelled it. Just as well because during the early evening two trees across the road were uprooted, blocking the road and access to my driveway. In doing so they hit three cars, one parked and two just travelling along the road. Right where my people would have been parked!

Good Friday dawned clear and beautiful and the sound of chainsaws filled the air as cleanup began. Fortunately, our property suffered no damage except losing the chimney top so there was time to craft! The lingering annoyance is loss of phone lines - because it leads to loss of internet. A very first world problem! I hope we get it back soon or I’ll be visiting my daughter’s house where there is a connection. :-)

So there was time to play with the new Eastern Palace Suite, pre-released from the new Annual Catalogue and which will be available to customers in May. It is such a beauty. It’s Morocco and medallions on steroids.

For one of my plays, I used the sketch challenge at Just Add Ink for inspiration. It also uses one of the new In-Colours that will be out in June, Fresh Fig.

Update: So delighted to get an Honourable Mention at Just Add Ink!

Ingredients

Card: Fresh Fig, Very Vanilla, DSP from the Eastern Palace Specialty papers, gold foil

Stamps: Eastern Beauty

Inks: Fresh Fig, Versamark

Other: Eastern Medallion dies, Eastern Gold vinyl stickers, gold embossing powder, Stitched framelits, Circle layering framelits, dimensional, metallic shapes

Retro Rubber Challenge 60 - DT card

Welcome to our baby critters challenge! As always, the rules are simple: use at least one stamp older than a year, tell us how old the stamp is (approximately) and don't link up to more than ten challenges in total.

This was a great excuse to get out my favourite baby critter set: Zoo Babies from Stampin' Up, which was first seen in the 2013-14 Annual Catalogue.

It was hard to choose which of the adorable baby critters to use but as you see, the giraffe and the toucan won the day. 

It's quite a simple card. The little hill is sponged using a post-it note mask, then stamped over using a grass stamp that I got three or four years ago from jumble at the Church Fair. It's unmarked, so I don't know how old it is but I think, very!

The new thing I tried out was to try to partially emboss the corner. I wanted to have embossing fading out just as though it was sponging that was gently fading out. There were a few false starts, getting the angle just right and it perhaps not something I'll attempt on a regular basis but somehow, on the third try, I got what I was aiming for!

So, dig out those retro baby critters, ink them up and show us what you can do. We love to see what everyone does and we love to comment. You have until 21 April to show us your retro rubber.

Ingredients

Card: Whisper White, Blushing Bride

Stamps: Zoo Babies, unnamed grass stamp

Inks: Blushing Bride, Pear Pizzazz, Tuxedo Black

Other: sponges, Happy Heart embossing folder, Blushing Bride enamel dots

As You See It 147 - DT card

It was great to see all the varied entries into our Spring theme challenge and to read all of the reasons people like Spring. This week, we have a sketch challenge that I really love and enjoyed working with...

I had a lot of fun with this sketch and I hope you will too. The die is from Impression Obsession.

The leaves are from Kinda Eclectic. I love these leaves, especially when paired up with Papillon Potpourri.

The butterfly is watercoloured and highlighted with silver gel pen then coated with Glossy Accents, layered and finished off with a couple of rhinestones. The sentiment is from Big on Birthdays.

You have until Wednesday 19 April, 11.55 p.m. to join us. We'd love to see what you do with this wonderful sketch. Please join us!

Ingredients

Card: Watermelon Wonder, Whisper White

Stamps: Big on Birthdays, Kinda Eclectic, Papillon Potpourri

Inks: Mint Macaron, Tuxedo Black, Watermelon Wonder, Daffodil Delight

Other: Glossy Accents, Impression Obsession die, Elegant Butterfly punch, rhinestones