Thinking Stamping: February 2020

Friday 28 February 2020

Friend Like You for AYSI 220

It's Colour Challenge week at As You See It and LeAnne has chosen these hot colours for us to play with.

I used these colours as an opportunity to revisit a card I made last year and see if it worked in these colours and without Pigment Sprinkles.

Instead of a Pigment Sprinkle background, I sponged in Poppy Parade, Grapefruit Grove and Mango Melody, blending them carefully together. Then I spritzed them with a fine mist of water and added in some splotches of water to lift the colour before stamping some of the bulrushes.

The hot colours certainly added up to a vision of a hot, lazy summer day: a 'Happy Day'.

It's easy to overlook the Friend Like You bundle in the 2019-20 Annual Catalogue but it is one of those sets that offers a myriad of different looks.

We'd love to see how you see these colours. You have until Wednesday 11 March, 11.55pm PST, to join in with us. You can see what the rest of the team have done, and link up, by visiting the As You See It Challenge 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 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

Friend Like You Bundle

[151084]

$99.75

Poppy Parade A4 Cardstock

[121694]

$18.50

Mango Melody A4 Cardstock

[147013]

$18.50

Whisper White A4 Card Stock

[106549]

$20.50

Shimmery White A4 Card Stock

[121717]

$21.00

Poppy Parade Classic Stampin' Pad

[147050]

$15.75

Grapefruit Grove Classic Stampin' Pad

[147142]

$15.75

Mango Melody Classic Stampin' Pad

[147093]

$15.75

Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad

[132708]

$12.00

Coastal Weave 3D Embossing Folder

[151503]

$19.00

Stampin' Spritzer

[126185]

$6.00

Stamping Sponges

[141337]

$8.50

Mini Stampin' Dimensionals

[144108]

$7.25

Wednesday 26 February 2020

Seaside Notions for CI72 - Crew card

I can't believe it's time for a new challenge at Colour Inkspiration! We had wonderful entries last week and look forward to seeing even more wonderfulness this time around.

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.

If you play with us regularly, you'll notice a couple of changes from this point forward. We will no longer be doing a Design Team Blog Hop to kick off each challenge. Instead, there will be an album of Design Team projects for you to look at for inspiration. If there is a blog post on a particular project, there will be a link to it in the comments. Secondly, we will no longer be holding a poll of the Top 5 picks to choose a winner. A Top 5 and overall Winner will be selected by the Design Team and announced. The winner will still be offered the chance to Guest Design with us for a future challenge.

Here's the gorgeous colour combination for you to work with in the next fortnight.

The challenge graphic was so suggestive of a marine-inspired card that I couldn't get past using Seaside Notions, one of my favourite new sets from the 2019-20 Catalogue.

I love the little seahorse image and used my Stamparatus to create a mirror image of her so the two seahorses could face each other. I watercoloured them using an ink pad and aquapainter.

Originally, I'd planned to do a much more elaborate sponged and spritzed background but once I made the Timeless Textures die cut I decided on a simpler treatment of the ground so that the seahorses didn't get lost in the noise.

I simply sponged lightly around the die cut with Bermuda Bay to suggest water. Then I watercoloured a piece of Fluid100 with both Bermuda Bay and Pretty Peacock to sit in behind the die cut. The eyes are pearls coloured with a dark Pretty Peacock Stampin' Blend.

You have two weeks to join in with us and show us what you've done with these colours. We'd love to see, so make sure you post to the Facebook Group.

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

Seaside Notions Cling Stamp Set

[149278]

$48.00

Pretty Peacock A4 Cardstock

[150886]

$18.50

Fluid 100 Watercolor Paper

[149612]

$19.00

Shimmery White A4 Card Stock

[121717]

$21.00

Bermuda Bay Classic Stampin' Pad

[147096]

$15.75

Pretty Peacock Classic Stampin’ Pad

[150083]

$15.75

Grapefruit Grove Classic Stampin' Pad

[147142]

$15.75

Calypso Coral Classic Stampin' Pad

[147101]

$15.75

Tasteful Backgrounds Dies

[149545]

$63.00

Stamping Sponges

[141337]

$8.50

Aqua Painters

[103954]

$24.00

Pearl Basic Jewels

[144219]

$10.50

Pretty Peacock Dark Stampin’ Blends Marker

[149559]

$9.50

Stampin' Dimensionals

[104430]

$7.25

2019-2021 In Color Faceted Dots

[149607]

$13.75

Friday 21 February 2020

Stampin' Up! Artisan Design Team Hop - Peaceful Poppies

For me, the Peaceful Poppies suite is one of the highlights of the January-June Mini Catalogue. The two stamp sets, each with coordinating dies, offer endless combinations and possibilities while the utterly gorgeous DSP practically begs you to use it.

Another reason that I love this mega-suite of products is that my lovely mother-in-law loves poppies. She's a dear grandmother and wonderful MIL, so I saw a great chance to make her a special card and gift bag for her next birthday, full of over-the-top poppy-ness!

I'm not usually someone who uses DSP in great quantities but I made an exception in this case. The paper is so luscious: the colours are so rich and the pattern so floral and pretty. It was perfect for making a crossover pocket card for her. I lined the inside of the pocket with contrasting DSP and used the dies from Peaceful Moments to embellish it with the large poppies and leaves. I added in a couple of the subtle vellum printed leaves from Peaceful Poppies Elements pack as well as some of the sequins from Peaceful Poppies Sequins- isn't it sweet the way some of the sequins are flower shaped?

I used the two largest of the Stitched Rectangle dies to create the insert. The decorative pull was created using one of the dies from the Painted Poppies bundle and completed with a double bow using the other silent hero of this suite, the Whisper White 1/4" Crinkled Seam Binding. This ribbon is magic - it ties so beautifully.

The sentiment is from Peaceful Moments. The line of wild flower poppies is made by repeat stamping the image from Painted Poppies, adding in the 'ground' using the splatter stamp from the same set, then colouring with two shades of Poppy Parade Stampin' Blends.

Here it is, as it would be straight from the envelope - yes, it does fit inside a standard Stampin' Up! envelope.

The gift bag uses the same papers and die cuts as part of the matching set. The pretty swirly circle die from the Painted Poppies bundle is worth pointing out. Here, you can see the lacy edges in behind the poppy but the centre is solid and just right for its own sentiment. The label with the 'Happy Birthday' is also from the Painted Poppies bundle. The thing that delighted me about this label is that in addition to being a really pleasing shape, there is an embossed outline just inside the cut edge that adds a real touch of elegance to it. Finally, here again are the vellum leaves and more of the pretty flower shaped sequins.