As You See It 190 - Design Team Card

This week, we have a lovely sketch for you to play with. 

I was very tempted to go with making a Christmas wreath but, in this instance, I resisted temptation and went for a floral thank-you instead.

The circle element I cut using two scalloped circles from the Layering Circles framelits. The wreath is made entirely from elements of the Bouquet Bunch framelits and Beautiful Bouquet stamps. No longer available as a bundle, these two things are well worth having for the infinite variety they provide on the floral front.

The white background panel has a few flowers stamped on it and then it has been embossed with the Subtle embossing folder. Don't you love the understated texturing it adds to any design?

You can join in with us until Wednesday 12 December, 11.55 p.m. PST. Drop in to As You See It to see what the rest of the team have done, then get your mojo going and show us how you see it. We'd love to see what you do.

If you live anywhere in New Zealand and don't have a Stampin' Up demonstrator, I'd love to help you with ideas and Stampin' Up products. Please message me through my Facebook page, linked in the sidebar of this blog or leave a comment below. 

And, of course, you can shop with me from anywhere in New Zealand by clicking any of the products pictured below or the SHOP NOW button in the sidebar of this blog or you can message me.

Product List

Beautiful Bouquet Photopolymer Stamp Set

[143666]

$57.00

Itty Bitty Greetings Clear-Mount Stamp Set

[146667]

$76.00

Bouquet Bunch Framelits Dies

[143659]

$60.00

Layering Circle Framelits Dies

[141705]

$69.00

Sahara Sand A4 Card Stock

[121695]

$17.75

Whisper White A4 Card Stock

[106549]

$20.50

Garden Green A4 Card Stock

[108605]

$17.75

Granny Apple Green A4 Cardstock

[147014]

$17.75

Poppy Parade Classic Stampin' Pad

[147050]

$15.75

Flirty Flamingo Classic Stampin' Pad

[147052]

$15.75

Subtle Dynamic Textured Impressions Embossing Folder

[143706]

$20.00

Stampin' Dimensionals

[104430]

$7.25

Freshly Made Sketches 365

That there was such a great sketch at Freshly Made Sketches this morning was good timing, since a friend was coming over today so we could look at (and play with) each other's pre-purchases from January's Occasions catalogue.

I flipped the sketch on its side and made the back rectangle from the cogs and gears die cut from the Geared Up Garage bundle. Aren't they magnificent? I can't wait to play around with rust effects with them. Today, I just gave them a light inking with Basic Gray.

I stamped the card, coloured it with Stampin' Blends then gave it some Wink of Stella windows and whatever those chrome-y bits on cars are called. After masking the car, I added in some oil stains, the sentiment and distressed the edge.

While I was playing around deciding what coloured mat to give the car panel, I saw the mat and panel askew and decided that that was the way they'd end up on the finished card.

I think this set is going to be an invaluable addition to my Stamp collection, despite my overall lack of car knowledge.

If you live in New Zealand and don't have a demonstrator but would like a copy of the Occasions catalogue when it comes out, please message me so I can organise you a copy.

The Geared Up Garage bundle will be available for purchase at the start of January. Add it to your wish list.

Product List

Basic Gray A4 Card Stock

[121689]

$17.75

Whisper White A4 Card Stock

[106549]

$20.50

Card Stock A4 Crushed Curry

[131288]

$17.75

Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad

[132708]

$12.00

Basic Gray Classic Stampin' Pad

[149165]

$15.75

Smoky Slate Classic Stampin' Pad

[147113]

$15.75

Real Red Combo Pack Stampin' Blends

[147935]

$19.00

Smoky Slate Stampin' Blends Markers Combo Pack

[145058]

$19.00

Daffodil Delight Stampin' Blends Markers Combo Pack

[144603]

$19.00

Clear Wink Of Stella Glitter Brush

[141897]

$14.00

Stamping Sponges

[141337]

$7.25

The Paper Players 420 - Design Team Card

This week, we have a sketch for you to play with at The Paper Players.

One of the advantages of being a demonstrator is access to new product before it is generally available. If you go to an On Stage event, it gets even better: you get it even ahead of other demonstrators. So it's been bothering me that my box of new goodies has been sitting largely unused owing to commitments with extra card classes and having taken on some temporary work with school exams. So today, I was determined to use this beautiful bundle from the forthcoming Occasions catalogue for today's Design Team Card.

The Beauty Abounds set combines with the Butterfly Beauty thinlits in a stunning way. The butterfly thinlits layer with each other so can be used separately or together. In this card, I've used both layers and I've snipped out some of them from the bunch to make them the focus of a smaller space. The tiny butterflies and the spray of foliage are extras in the die set.

The set also co-ordinates with one of the Saleabration offerings: Botanical Butterly DSP, which I've used a small sliver of as one of the two rectangular elements. The other one I have self-stamped using a lovely floral spray stamp from Beauty Abounds, which I've also used behind the big butterflies.

I went a bit old-school and broke out my distressing sponges and sponged the edges of all the panels. My favourite Annual Catalogue embossing folder, the Subtle folder, was used as well to give some interest to the background.

Visit the rest of the Paper Players team to see what they've done with this versatile sketch, then join in with us!

Here's a quick reminder of our few rules.

1. Create a new paper project.
2. Upload your project to your blog with a link back to The Paper Players.
3. Provide a direct link to your blog post for your challenge entry.
4. Please link your card to no more than FOUR challenges (including ours).
5. Enjoy!

Please take not as entries that do not comply will be deleted from the gallery. 

If you live anywhere in New Zealand and don't have a Stampin' Up demonstrator, I'd love to help you with ideas and Stampin' Up products. Please message me through my Facebook page, linked in the sidebar of this blog or leave a comment below. 

And, of course, you can shop with me from anywhere in New Zealand by clicking any of the products pictured below or the SHOP NOW button in the sidebar of this blog or you can message me.

Product List
Note: Beauty Abounds bundle and Botanical Butterfly DSP will be available in January. Add them to your wish list.

Basic Black A4 Card Stock

[121688]

$17.75

Whisper White A4 Card Stock

[106549]

$20.50

Lemon Lime Twist A4 Cardstock

[144250]

$17.75

Highland Heather A4 Cardstock

[147010]

$17.75

Lemon Lime Twist Classic Stampin' Pad

[147145]

$15.75

Daffodil Delight Classic Stampin' Pad

[147094]

$15.75

Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad

[132708]

$12.00

Subtle Dynamic Textured Impressions Embossing Folder

[143706]

$20.00

Stamping Sponges

[141337]

$7.25

Layering Squares Framelits Dies

[141708]

$69.00

Forever Lovely Pocket Card Tutorial

Since showing a selection of cards that I made for OnStage Auckland this month, I've been asked a few times about how I made the pocket card for avid card-makers.

I made it up as I went, so it might well be that someone comes up with a more efficient way to do it but this is what I did.

The Pocket

1. Choose your base colour. Cut the card so you end up with two pieces 14.8cm x 21 cm. 
2. Score both along the wider edge at 10.5 cm - you will have two standard card bases.
3. Designate one as the left flap and one as the right flap. Measure up 4cm from the bottom of each of the flap sides and cut diagonally to the score line.
   
4. Glue the two centre rectangles together to make one double-thickness back. You can fudge a mm or two here to give your insert a bit more space, if you want, Experiment.
   
5. Optional - add some DSP to the centre back for contrast. Much easier to do at this stage! Put some tape and tear cross the bottom and fold over the left hand flap. 
   
6. Cut a square of DSP 14 cm x 14cm then cut it into two right-angle triangles.
   
7. Adhere one to front of the left-hand flap. You will need to trim off the excess where the card front triangle has been shortened.
8. Add some more tape and tear across the bottom of  DSP'd left hand side, then fold over the right hand side. Add the other triangle of DSP, trimming the end as necessary.

The Belly Band

The belly band is entirely decorative in this card since the flaps and bottom are sealed. However, I think a pretty variation would be to leave them to open out once the belly band is removed.

You can decorate this as you like but this is what I did.

1. Cut a strip of Whisper White 4cmx25cm. Run it through the Big Shot using the Subtle embossing folder. If you organise it right, the 'join' will be on the fold as it goes around.
2. Overlap the ends and adhere them together.
3. Add a length of 3.2mm Flirty Flamingo ribbon.
4. Stamp two roses in Flirty Flamingo. Give them a layer of clear Wink of Stella. 
5. Die cut the roses and some foliage in Soft Sea Foam. 
6. Arrange and adhere to the belly band.

The Insert

Again, decorate this as you wish. This is what I did.

1. Take two pieces of Whisper White, 10x14cm.
2. Die cut one of them, at the top, using the floral fretwork die.
3. On the other, stamp the two-step floral spray. Don't stamp right at the very top. Stamparatus is great for this.
   
4. Add in your chosen greeting using versamark and gold embossing powder.
5. Line up the fretwork die cut over the stamping. Adhere the two layers together and trim to the desired length. (The die cut layer will naturally be longer.)
6. Punch a small (1 3/8") circle out of Soft Sea Foam and attach it as a tab. Add a small gold library clip. 
7.  READ THIS BIT ONLY IF YOU HAVE TROUBLE getting the die-cut layer and the stamped layer to line up without a bit of overhang at sides near the bottom. I found it helpful to lay the die cut in Stamparatus, then lay the flower stamps on top of it, face down and then bring the Stamparatus plate down and pick them up. If you put the card to be stamped in the same place you had the die cut, lining up is easier at the end because you've custom positioned the stamps to the die cut. The key is making sure you've marked where the die cut piece was and make sure you put the piece to be stamped in exactly the same spot.

I hope you enjoy making one of these. If you do, I'd love to see a picture of how it turned out.