Thinking Stamping: September 2023

Wednesday 27 September 2023

Botanical Layers for Colour INKspiration 152

Welcome to the latest challenge at Colour INKspiration. This stylish palette was chosen for us by Crew Member, Bronwyn Eastley. Thank you to everyone who joined us for our last challenge. We hope you enjoy this one too. 😀

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 Heidi van den Heuvel 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 Smoky Slate for Gray Granite. Black, White, Very Vanilla, Crumb Cake, Sahara Sand and metallics are free colours, as are flesh toned Stampin' Blends.

I wasn't too sure what I was going to do with these colours - two dark blues and a grey! I though I'd like lots of white and something quite strong and graphic in style. So that's how I arrived at Botanical Layers. I like the bold foliage imagery of this set.

After stamping the foliage in all three colours, I cut the panel down with one of the Deckled Rectangle dies. I was so very tempted to just leave this card at the one layer but after some umming and ahhing over it, I added in the Gray Granite background layer as well.

The Gray Granite layer is embossed with the Exposed Bricks 3D folder and is also cut with Deckled Rectangles.

The sentiment, which is also part of the stamp set, is stamped in Night of Navy and cut with one of the Deckled Circles dies. The Gray Granite twine is from the Essential Twine pack. I've finished it off with some Basic Rhinestone Jewels.

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!

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

Botanical Layers Cling Stamp Set (English)

[158912]

$49.00

Starry Sky A4 Cardstock

[159264]

$21.00

Gray Granite A4 Cardstock

[147008]

$21.00

Basic White A4 Cardstock

[159228]

$22.25

Starry Sky Classic Stampin' Pad

[159212]

$19.00

Gray Granite Classic Stampin' Pad

[147118]

$19.00

Night Of Navy Classic Stampin' Pad

[147110]

$19.00

Exposed Brick 3 D Embossing Folder

[161600]

$23.25

Deckled Rectangles Dies

[159173]

$63.00

Deckled Circles Dies

[162286]

$78.00

Baker's Twine Essentials Pack

[155475]

$23.25

Rhinestone Basic Jewels

[144220]

$12.75

Stampin' Dimensionals

[104430]

$9.00

Friday 22 September 2023

Reach for the Stars for AYSI 308

Welcome to the latest challenge at As You See It. It's hard to believe that we're back around to a sketch challenge. They're actually my favourite kind of challenge.

For this challenge, I had the idea of using some of the gorgeous Milky Way DSP from the Stargazing DSP pack and converting the square of the sketch into a rectangle... and then into an astronaut spacewalking her way towards us.

I stamped the astronaut from Reach for the Stars in Starry Sky and coloured her in with some Starry Sky, Tahitian Tide, Berry Burst and a touch of Smoky Slate, then die cut her out.

Such fantastic DSP needs very little else but I 'glazed' the faceplate of the helmet with some Wink of Stella and added in three holographic stars. The Holographic specialty paper fits in well with this futuristic themed set: great for boys, men and any space geek! (And as a long time Trekkie, I include myself in that. 😀)

The sentiment is white embossed on Starry Sky. The astronaut and sentiment are raised up on dimensionals.

Then to complete the Sci-Fi theme, I added a greeting from Enjoy the Rhythm and a Tahitian Tide space ship on the inside.

Anyway, we'd love for you to join in our sketch challenge and show us how you see it. Pop over to the As You See It site to see what the rest of the team have done and to link up your entry. You can play along with us until Wednesday October 4, 11.59 PST.

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

Reach For The Stars Bundle (English)

[161186]

$112.50

Enjoy The Rhythm Cling Stamp Set (English)

[160361]

$45.00

Starry Sky A4 Cardstock

[159264]

$21.00

Basic White A4 Cardstock

[159228]

$22.25

Stargazing 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 Cm) Designer Series Paper

[161175]

$26.25

Holographic Trio 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 Cm) Specialty Paper

[161744]

$21.00

Starry Sky Classic Stampin' Pad

[159212]

$19.00

Versamark Pad

[102283]

$20.00

Basics Embossing Powders

[155554]

$38.00

Starry Sky Stampin' Blends Combo Pack

[159222]

$21.00

Tahitian Tide Stampin' Blends Combo Pack

[159221]

$21.00

Berry Burst Stampin’ Blends Combo Pack

[161681]

$21.00

Smoky Slate Stampin' Blends Combo Pack

[154904]

$21.00

Clear Wink Of Stella Glitter Brush

[141897]

$17.00

Heat Tool

[129056]

$66.00

Stampin' Dimensionals

[104430]

$9.00

Thursday 21 September 2023

Creativity Abounds Winter Meadow

I'm excited to be sharing with you today my first projects for the wonderful Creativity Abounds team. I've just joined this crew of keen Stampin' Up! Demonstrators from all around the world. Each third Thursday of the month, the team shares a theme or suite to give you ideas or the impetus to try something new.

As well as just showing you ideas, we also produce a Make and Take Tutorial bundle that will be given as a free gift with an eligible purchase.

(Make and Take means you'll be sent a kit of the things needed to make the projects minus those items you will already have as part of the suite - like DSP or embellishments.)

Our featured suite this time is the oh-so-pretty Winter Meadow from the September - December Mini.

This month is also one of the three times a year we offer a Virtual Stamp Camp. When you purchase the Winter Meadow suite, you'll not only get the standard thirteen project Make and Take Bundle but a whole lot of extras. Read on to find out the details.....

But first, here's a sneak peek at the thirteen Make and Take Tutorial bundle projects.

Don't they look exciting? But wait... there's more! 😀

When you purchase the Winter Meadow suite from me, you'll not only get this bundle of thirteen projects but your invitation to the exclusive Face Book group that will host the Virtual Winter Meadow Stamp Camp, where you'll get an extra thirteen projects and video presentations. So a total of 26 projects for you to make! The presentations will be recorded and the private group will remain accessible for you.

Here's a sneak peek of my bonus project - the one I'll be presenting at Stamp Camp.

I'll be showing you how to make one of these sweet circle easel cards. Which one do you hope I'll demonstrate?

To get your invite to our Exclusive Stamp Camp

If you live in New Zealand, buy the Winter Meadow suite from me. If you're not already a customer, make sure to tick that you want Demonstrator contact so I can send you your invitation.😀
If you already have the suite, make another purchase from my online store of an equivalent value ($203.50 plus p&p) and message me to tell me so I know to send you the invite. Demonstrators welcome.
If you don't live in New Zealand and would like to join the camp, buy the suite from one of our team who are in your market. I'm happy to refer you.

Stamp Camp Information

The live camp will take place 20-21 October (USA, Canada, Europe) and the 21-22 October (Australia and New Zealand)
If you can't join live, sessions will be recorded and the group will remain accessible afterwards.
There will be other live sessions and activities aside from the presentations.
Perfect if you like to share you crafting with others.

Here's our team.

You may be starting here or have come from someone else’s blog – either way there is a list at the end of this post to help you move around all the different blogs and see all the amazing projects that will be demonstrated at the Stamp Camp. We all have our country listed – so if you are looking for a demonstrator in your country, these demonstrators would love to look after you.

Wednesday 13 September 2023

Tropical Leaf for AWOW September

It's already time for another Inspiration Hop with Around the World on Wednesday. On the second Wednesday of each month, the team put together a thematic hop to give you some inspiration for your own crafting. We love it when you try out something new or CAS(E) one of our projects. The team is truly international, with members from each time zone of the world that Stampin' Up! operates. You're with me, in New Zealand - the first place in the Stampin' Up! world to change the date. 😀

Our theme for this month is.... "Let's go for a walk." Tricky one, right? We were allowed to think about any kind of walk, anywhere and with anyone, literal or figurative. I kept coming back to a walk I took with my husband when we were enjoying warm escape from winter in Samoa just before the pandemic. It was a blistering hot day and we'd gone to visit a local swimming hole. Along the way, the vibrant colours of the trees and flowers really made an impression.

So I included some of those bright colours with the Tropical Leaf bundle. I stamped and cut some large and small leaves in various bright colours and stamped some directly onto the card front. I sponged a Daffodil Delight background to recreate some of the warmth of the island, and to remind me of the bright yellow flowers we saw too.

Since the finished arrangement of leaves was so very bright, the sentiment from Cheerful Daisies seemed appropriate! 😀

I used Garden Green for the base and some of the leaves to help ground the bright colours. I feel warm and happy looking at this card because it reminds me of our walk and our holiday, before the world went crazy.

Next up on the hop is the fabulous Leonie Stuart who will surely have more stunning inspiration for you.