Thinking Stamping: August 2023

Wednesday 30 August 2023

Joy of Noel for The Paper Players 655

Today I'm sharing with you a card I made while exploring a new bundle, Joy of Noel. This bundle will be available from 6 September when the September to December Mini Catalogue goes live. I love this wee bundle for the traditional Christmas vibe it gives me and the range of possibilities I see in it. For inspiration today, I used the sketch at The Paper Players, one of my favourite challenges.

The NOEL image stamps square, so I started by gold embossing it and die cutting it into individual letters, then reassembling it on the DSP panel. (I was possible swayed into thinking of this bundle as a 'traditional' Christmas set because of the gorgeous Joy of Christmas DSP that is part of the suite, with its rich reds and greens.😀)

I'm not much of a ribbon used, so I replaced the ribbon with a 'ribbon' of gold foil, cut with an extension of one of the banner dies from Stylish Shapes. Then the 'bow' was replaced with some pine die cuts and some holly berries, filled with Champagne Rhinestones. HINT - the tiny holly die cuts are much easier to manage with the sticky tip of the Take Your Pick tool.

The card front is embossed with the new Distressed Tile 3D embossing folder, which will also be available from 6 September.

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 here, so if you'd like to own this set visit from September 6.

As an added incentive, if you purchase this set, you'll be given a set of four exclusive tutorials to kick start your creativity as a gift from me. These tutorials are put together by me and my friend, Joanne James - aka The Crafty Owl - as a thank-you to our customers, so if you buy this bundle from her, you'll get the same deal. You'll also be invited to join our private Facebook Group where you can share your projects, ask us questions and get even more ideas. 😀

Friday 25 August 2023

Waves of Inspiration for AYSI 306

It's theme week at As You See It and our theme this week is 'At the Beach'. Now that the days are lengthening again, it's not impossible to imagine some long, hot days at the beach so this challenge is timely. All you have to do to join in is to create something new with a beach theme.

I wanted to create something quite clean and simple this time around, so I turned to a tag format. The tag all by itself seemed a little too bland, so more elaborate measures were undertaken in the form of a die cut wave.

First, I stamped the wave on Basic White using Boho Blue, Tahitian Tide and Starry Sky. After cutting out the tags, using the Tailor Made Tag dies, I sponged in some Daffodil Delight to give the impression of sunshine.

I cut out two waves, one in Basic White and the other with some retired Silver Foil. I added the silver foil over the wave tag, added the white one to the base and did my best to line them up!

I split off one strand of Boho Blue jute to tie onto the tag. I liked the natural fibre because it fitted in better with the beach theme.

At As You See It, we love to see how YOU see our challenge. Go on over to the As You See It page, see what the rest of the team have done and link up your own entry while you're there!

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 here, or on any of the products below.

Product List

NB Silver Foil is a retired item

Waves Of Inspiration Cling Stamp Set (English)

[158833]

$49.00

Waves Dies

[158840]

$72.00

Tailor Made Tags Dies

[155563]

$47.00

Basic White A4 Cardstock

[159228]

$22.25

Starry Sky A4 Cardstock

[159264]

$21.00

Boho Blue A4 Cardstock

[161733]

$21.00

Silver Foil Sheets

[132178]

$10.50

Starry Sky Classic Stampin' Pad

[159212]

$19.00

Tahitian Tide Classic Stampin' Pad

[159210]

$19.00

Boho Blue Classic Stampin' Pad

[161650]

$19.00

Boho Blue A4 Cardstock

[161733]

$21.00

Daffodil Delight Classic Stampin' Pad

[147094]

$19.00

Blending Brushes

[153611]

$28.00

2023–2025 In Color Jute Trim

[161637]

$17.00

Stampin' Dimensionals

[104430]

$9.00

Wednesday 23 August 2023

A Pretty Pair using Inked & Tiled for Colour INKspiration 150

Welcome to the latest challenge at Colour INKspiration. This bright and pretty palette was chosen for us by Crew Member, Lou Kitzelman. Both the bright colours and the celebratory cake are fitting as this is our 150th Challenge! We so hope you'll join in with us to help us celebrate!

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 three 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. We welcome Donna Hardcastle as Guest Designer for this challenge.

If you don't have an exact challenge colour, feel free to replace it with whatever you have that's closest, for example Shaded Spruce for Pretty Peacock. Black, White, Very Vanilla, Crumb Cake, Sahara Sand and metallics are free colours, as are flesh toned Stampin' Blends.

One of the new, but previously unused, items on my trolley was the Inked & Tiled bundle. This pretty distressed floral set bundles with a pair of punches. It's also part of the Inked Botanicals suite that includes DSP and ribbon. You can view both in my online store by clicking the links.

I played around with one idea two ways - and in the end, decided to show them both to you!

If you'd like to see how I made these - or want to make your own versions - here is the video tutorial showing you how to make both cards. Also give it a watch if you've never done direct to rubber colouring using sponge daubers.

We'd love to have you join in the challenge with us. Visit the Colour INKspiration page to check out the album of Crew Cards for inspiration. You can also add your entry there. We all enjoy seeing what you do with our colour palettes, so join in!

You can shop with me from anywhere in New Zealand by clicking here, or on any of the products below.

Product List

Inked & Tiled Bundle (English)

[161168]

$126.75

Pretty Peacock A4 Cardstock

[150886]

$21.00

Calypso Coral A4 Card Stock

[124392]

$21.00

Basic White A4 Cardstock

[159228]

$22.25

Pretty Peacock Classic Stampin’ Pad

[150083]

$19.00

Calypso Coral Classic Stampin' Pad

[147101]

$19.00

Old Olive Classic Stampin' Pad

[147090]

$19.00

Sweet Sorbet Classic Stampin' Pad

[159216]

$19.00

Pumpkin Pie Classic Stampin' Pad

[147086]

$19.00

Versamark Pad

[102283]

$20.00

Basics Embossing Powders

[155554]

$38.00

Heat Tool

[129056]

$66.00

Sponge Daubers

[133773]

$11.75

Iridescent Pearls

[153549]

$15.75

Very Vanilla A4 Card Stock

[106550]

$22.25

Deckled Rectangles Dies

[159173]

$63.00

Inked Botanicals 6" X 6" (15.2 X 15.2 Cm) Designer Series Paper

[161157]

$26.25

Iridescent Rhinestones Basic Jewels

[158130]

$15.75

Sunday 20 August 2023

Magical Meadow for CAS Colours and Sketches 518

My pre-order arrived this week and today, a wet and wintery day, was play day! First equal out of the box was the Winter Meadow suite, which features the Magical Meadow bundle. While playing around, I came across the latest sketch at CAS Colours and Sketches, which I found intriguing because of the instruction that the image and sentiment HAD to stay within the rectangle. That was challenging because I always like to break the frame, so I decided to take up the gauntlet on this one.

My project today was inspired by the example of design team member, Cecile, who had rotated the sketch and then stamped a minimalist scene onto an interesting paper.

One of the elements of the Winter Meadow suite is a Specialty DSP - Snowflake Magic - which gives you six 12x12 sheets of foiled paper, two each of three designs. Although two of these are lushly coloured in Lost Lagoon, one is white shot through with silver. I've used a sliver of this and stamped one of the meadow images and one of the sentiments directly on it. It's a kind of sneak peek of the set, all in one! 😀

I've also used the new Distressed Tile embossing folder for the background. It's already a favourite item!

This is such a simple card but one that really shows you don't need a ton of gear and a heap of time to make a card you'd be happy to give! Just stamp, ink and paper - and the option of an embossing folder!

All these new products (and more) will be available 6 September. If you live in New Zealand, you can shop with me from anywhere in the country. You can view my online store here. You can view this suite and the other items I got in this video.

Here's a sneak heads up - this suite is also the featured suite at the Creativity Abounds International Virtual Stamp Camp in October. To receive an invitation to this fun event, all you need to do is purchase this suite from me. If you don't live in New Zealand, you can get your invitation from team members in your own Stampin' Up! area. Message me and I'm happy to give you details or refer you.

Joy of Noel for Freshly Made Sketches 599

My preorder for the September - December Mini Catalogue arrived a couple of days ago. Today was play day! First equal out of the box was the Joy of Noel bundle. This is a lovely, traditional Christmas bundle that is part of a two-set mega suite. Today, I only used the bundle and used the sketch at Freshly Made Sketches for inspiration.

If I'm going for a traditional Christmas look, then for me it's most likely red, green, white and gold - just what happened today!

I used one of the new embossing folders, Distressed Tile, for the card front because I love it! I also embossed the gold foil with the same folder.

Isn't that leafy background stamp gorgeous too? I stamped off Old Olive for that and used Stampin' Blends to colour the Christmas spray.

I can feel a whole lot of projects coming with this one! You can view what else I got in my pre-order here.

These new mini catalogue products will be ready for you to purchase from 6 September.

If you live in New Zealand, you can shop with me from anywhere in the country. A little secret.... this bundle will featured in the next tutorial package from me and Joanne James, aka The Crafty Owl. Buy it from either of us any time from catalogue and we'll send you the tutorials by email, and give you entry to our exclusive Facebook Group, as soon as they're available.

Sunday 13 August 2023

Timeless Arrangements for Freshly Made Sketches 598

The Timeless Arrangements bundle is lovely, with the floral images and the huge range of wonderful die cuts. In fact, the die cuts are so lovely, it's easy to overlook the stamps! I wanted to create something that used only the stamps, as a kind of consolation for the fact I'd mostly ignored them. Inspiration came from the sketch at Freshly Made Sketches.

I started by stamping a couple of the grape hyacinth stamps in each corner in Tuxedo Black and then some leaves. I coloured them using Lost Lagoon and Berry Burst blends. Then I added some Pool Party bubbles. This stamp is the quiet star of the set in my opinion. 😀

Then I blended some Pool Party around the decorated corners and added a few Bubble Bath pink flowers to the mix.

I was spoiled for choice with the sentiments, with there not only so many options but so many combinations, but settled on 'You make me smile'. There was a brief moment of stress until I was sure I'd stamped it straight - perhaps next time, I'd stamp the sentiment first, just in case!

Then I added a few of those wonderful Brushed Brass Butterflies, looking as if they're fluttering about a garden.

You can shop with me from anywhere in New Zealand by clicking here, or on any of the products below.

Product List