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.

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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.

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.

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Tuesday 22 September 2020

Itty Bitty Birthdays for Retro Rubber 144

This week at Retro Rubber, we have an 'Anything Goes' challenge. Of course, since this is Retro Rubber it's not quite anything goes. You still have to use at least one stamp that's a year or more old AND give us an approximate age for it.


I've made a quick, easy card that is very dramatic because of the black background and brightly coloured die-cut.  However, the design could be made in any colour - maybe Petal Pink on Whisper White for a baby girl?

A couple of years ago, I held a card class where we coloured a white glimmer paper using Brusho and then cut the resulting coloured paper using the Butterfly Beauty dies. The results were spectacular but oh my, it was so, so much easier to just use the new Rainbow Glimmer Paper! Isn't it lovely, the way it moves from colour to colour?


While the Butterfly Beauty dies have been around for a couple of years, the Ornate Floral embossing folder is new as are the 2020-2022 In-Colour enamel dots.




The greeting is from Itty Bitty Birthdays, one of my favourite sentiment sets which came out in the Occasions catalogue, January 2019. The pretty little stitched banner is from Tasteful Labels.

You can see what the rest of the team have done with this challenge, and link up your entry, by visiting the Retro Rubber Challenge site. We'd love to see what you do and what stamps you have in your stash.

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.

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Sunday 20 September 2020

In the Pines for Fab Friday 197

 I was playing around with my fantastic new bundle, In the Pines, yesterday. I think I'm going to love this bundle! I always like it when, in addition to dies to cut out the stamped images, there are other exciting extras. In this case, some gorgeous trees.

I took inspiration from the sketch at Fab Friday to get me started.


I started by repeat stamping the smallest group of pines onto the honeycomb design from the In Good Taste DSP, using Early Espresso. I like that one of the stamps in the set lets you add in some ground, so that the trees don't end up floating on the page. 



I die cut the two 'extra' trees in Copper Foil.  They coordinate with the outline dies for the stamped images too, which is a nice bonus. So I mounted the smaller one onto an outline cut from Early Espresso and popped it up on dimensionals so that it wouldn't merge in with the trees behind.


The 'Season's Greetings' is just the right width for the stitched banner die from Tasteful Labels and just requires a tweak to extend the dies to get the right length. I mounted this panel on a piece of woodgrain paper, also from the In Good Taste DSP pack and used an Early Espresso card base.

The finishing touch was to add a Star Designer Element to the skyline.

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