Thinking Stamping: June 2021

Wednesday 30 June 2021

A Message for my email subscribers

Hello,

Several hundred people currently have an email subscription to my blog, Thinking Stamping. I'd like to say a huge THANK YOU to you all for doing so. It's lovely to know people are interested in what I do and the comments many of you have left for me are heart-warming.

Subscribing means that each time I make a post, you receive an email letting you see it so you never miss a post.

Subscriptions have been run by Feedburner, which is unfortunately ceasing operation on 1 July.

I am transitioning my subscribers to a new service which I hope will be up and running by 1 July. You should not notice a difference except perhaps in how the email looks.

However, this message is to let you know that if things go awry and you stop getting notifications of new posts you can visit Thinking Stamping and use the follow.it widget to sign up again.

Once again, many thanks for your interest in my work and for following it.

Kind regards,

Jan

Friday 25 June 2021

Forever Fern for As You See It 253

The roster of challenges at As You See It has worked its way around to the dreaded (or loved) Speed Challenge. This item on our roster is something you love or hate but which will always challenge you.

If you've never done a speed challenge with us, the rules are simple: create a card on the given theme in under ten minutes. To clarify, this does not included planning time (or clean up). You can have all your equipment ready to go - eg the dies out on the table, the stamps on the blocks, the embellishments on the desk. However, once you take the first cut or ink the first stamp, the timer begins!

Who knew that stamping could raise your heart rate! Try our speed challenge and see!

My favourite foliage set is Forever Fern so no surprise it features this week. Such a beautiful image needs little else. I daubed it with a mix of Bermuda Bay and Blackberry Bliss then stamped it onto Basic White.

The 'hello' is from the same set, stamped in Blackberry Bliss and cut with one of the Tasteful Label dies. I cut a second one in Bermuda Bay to shadow it with.

I placed the Basic White card front off-centre to add interest. I had time to spare, so added in some Champagne Rhinestones as well.

Total time: 6 minutes 36 seconds.

So, are you ready to take up the challenge? We'd love to see what you do in ten minutes.

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

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

Forever Fern Cling Stamp Set (English)

[152559]

$50.00

Blackberry Bliss A4 Cardstock

[133682]

$18.50

Card Stock A4 Bermuda Bay

[131286]

$18.50

Basic White A4 Cardstock

[159228]

$20.50

Blackberry Bliss Classic Stampin' Pad

[147092]

$15.75

Bermuda Bay Classic Stampin' Pad

[147096]

$15.75

Tasteful Labels Dies

[152886]

$65.00

Champagne Rhinestone Basic Jewels

[151193]

$12.50

Sponge Daubers

[133773]

$11.00

Thursday 24 June 2021

Plentiful Plants for CAS Colours and Sketches 425

I've taken inspiration for today's card from the sketch at CAS Colours and Sketches.

I'm enjoying playing around with the Plentiful Plants bundle this week and today, played around with the many small die cuts and the Paper Lattice that is available to coordinate with this set.

I started by cutting three of the smaller pots from Cajun Craze and some grasses from Evening Evergreen.

The snake plant was stamped in Evening Evergreen and die cut.

I cut the Paper Lattice down to size and adhered it to the Basic White card front, then added in the plants. Then I cut 0.5cm wide strips of the Brick pattern DSP to create some floating shelves for the plants.

I think the strong earthy colours make this card suitable for a masculine recipient as well as a female one.

Product List

Plentiful Plants Bundle (English)

[155688]

$99.75

Cajun Craze A4 Card Stock

[121683]

$18.50

Evening Evergreen A4 Cardstock

[155575]

$18.50

Basic White A4 Cardstock

[159228]

$20.50

Bloom Where You're Planted 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 Cm) Designer Series Paper

[155696]

$24.25

Paper Lattice

[155697]

$12.50

Evening Evergreen Classic Stampin' Pad

[155576]

$15.75

Wednesday 23 June 2021

Tasteful Touches for CI102

Welcome to a new challenge at Colour INKspiration! We have this lovely image to get you thinking, chosen for you by Crew Member Lou Kitzelman.

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, Sahara Sand and metallics are free colours, as are flesh toned Stampin' Blends.

I loved the bright pop of the Polished Pink against the neutrals and it got me thinking of a bright flower against leaves. In turn, this lead me to Tasteful Touches because of the bold bloom and the lovely eclectic mix of other stamps in the set.

I started by stamping the big bloom in Basic Gray, then colouring it using Polished Pink Stampin' Blends before fussy cutting it out. I stamped the tattered lace in Smoky Slate and the foliage in Basic Gray.

I used the Basic Borders dies to cut the stitched curved edge of the Basic White card front and another matching layer in Polished Pink.

I used the foliage stamp in Smoky Slate on Smoky Slate for the bottom layer. The sentiment is from Best Years, stamped in Basic Gray. A few Polished Pink gems finished off the design.

We'd love to see what you do with these colours. You can add your project, see the other entries and look at the Design Team inspiration by clicking here. We'd love to see what you do with these tranquil colours.

Product List

Tasteful Touches Cling Stamp Set (English)

[152562]

$48.00

Basic Gray A4 Card Stock

[121689]

$18.50

Card Stock A4 Smoky Slate

[131291]

$18.50

Polished Pink A4 Cardstock

[155711]

$18.50

Basic White A4 Cardstock

[159228]

$20.50

Basic Gray Classic Stampin' Pad

[149165]

$15.75

Smoky Slate Classic Stampin' Pad

[147113]

$15.75

Polished Pink Stampin' Blends Combo Pack

[155520]

$19.00

Smoky Slate Stampin' Blends Combo Pack

[154904]

$19.00

Basic Borders Dies

[155558]

$61.00

Best Year Cling Stamp Set (English)

[152568]

$42.00

Lovely Labels Pick A Punch

[152883]

$48.00

2021–2023 In Color Jewels

[155571]

$14.75

Stampin' Dimensionals

[104430]

$7.25

Sweet Strawberries for Paper Players 546

The latest challenge at The Paper Players was just meant to be. I have been in possession of the Sweet Strawberry bundle for most of this year and have never got around to opening it. So the Clean and Simple Berry/Fruit Challenge seemed to be there just to make me take the leap!

I like to make things CAS, and this set was an easy one to CAS-ify. The strawberries really dictated the colours: red, green, white and a touch of yellow and gold.

Although the set provides outline stamps and lovely filler stamps, I chose to colour the outline stamps with Stampin' Blends for a richer colour.

The punched strawberries and flower are popped up on dimensionals to give more sense of depth. A trio of Gilded Gems completes the clean and simple design.

Update: Over the moon to be chosen as the Headliner at The Paper Players!

Product List