Creativity Abounds December

 

This month the international team at Creativity Abounds has a great theme for our bundle and hop: Birthday Celebrations. This hop - and the associated tutorial bundle - will give you a lot of examples for birthdays. 

Even if you don't have the exact sets, you'll find inspiration in layouts, folds, colours or techniques.  If you get the tutorial bundle, you'll have step-by-step instructions for thirteen projects, all of which you'll see as you go around the hop.

You can earn the Tutorial Bundle as a free gift from me with a purchase of $100 or more (excluding P&P) or by being a member of my team. You can shop with me, and join my team, from anywhere in New Zealand.

There are two parts to this post: a bonus project and a sneak peek at my tutorial project.

Bonus Project

For my bonus birthday project, I'm sharing a play around with one of the new bundles from the January 2025 Mini Catalogue called Darling Dinos. The three dinosaurs in the set are so cute and come with all sorts of accessories such as balloons, party hats and glasses through to scene building items like rocks and footprints. A real delight to play around with! And of course, among the many sentiments there are some dinosaur puns as well. Darling Dinos will be available in the New Year.

I coloured the images with Stampin' Blends in Crumb Cake, Old Olive, Peach Pie and Pool Party. I used the Perennial Postage dies to cut a panel. The top is sponged in Pool Party to create a sense of sky and then Old Olive at the bottom, over-stamped with the grass stamp.

The background is embossed with the cross-hatch folder from the Basics Embossing Folder set - an online exclusive. A nice easy card that's fun to do!

Tutorial Bundle Project

For my contribution to the tutorial bundle, I used the Online Exclusive bundle, Cake Celebrations.

Here's a peek at the card.

Here's a sneak peek of the whole bundle.

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. 

If you don't live in New Zealand, you can get it from any of my team mates in your country. Here they all are.

Our next Virtual Stamp Camp is 22-23 February and features the gorgeous Floral Delight Suite.

You can find out all the details here.

Keep hopping to see the Birthday themed bonus projects and a sneak peek of the Tutorial Bundle Projects.

Delightful Wishes for Around the World on Wednesday

Welcome to the latest hop at 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 inspiration this month is  Techniques. Our team leader, Angie, has given the challenge of trying out a technique: something we've seen but never done, or revisiting a technique we've not done in a long time, or perhaps something we've seen from the Artisan Team. 

I'm revisiting an old technique that I've not done in years. In fact, I'd forgotten about it until I saw it used by Monica Formosa, one of my fabulous team-mates over at Colour INKspiration. This is her card and you can read all about it here.

With the new catalogue, it seems that Bokeh as a technique is getting new life. This technique though is a Reverse Bokeh: coloured circles on a white ground. 

Although this looks a simple technique - and in many ways it is - you do have to put some thought into the sizes of the circles you're going to use. You also have to put some thought into getting a good balance of both the sizes and colours of the circles. I had a couple of play arounds until I found an arrangement that felt balanced.

Monica talked of organising her circles into a rhomboid shape. I went for more of a rectangular look, since the die cuts I wanted to use were quite long. I used punches to cut out four masks from scraps of Window Sheet then blended the inks using a blending brush. The colours I used were Granny Apple Green, Balmy Blue and Daffodil Delight. 

The 'wishing' is cut from Balmy Blue and the shadow backing from Basic Black. I cut three layers of the backing to give the words some extra height.

I added in three adhesive backed Granny Apple Green sequins as the finishing touch. 

I thought this would make a great masculine birthday card, so I chose the birthday option from several the set offers, and cut it using the die from the bundle. The bundle I used is Delightful Wishes and will it be available in the January-April Mini Catalogue. 

Delightful Wishes and the accompanying suite are the featured products in the next Creativity Abounds Stamp Camp. You can find details about the camp here.

Keep on hopping to see what techniques the rest of the team have been experimenting with. Next up is Leonie Stuart from Australia.

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 here.

Here's a blog roll if you get lost on the hop, or want to re-visit someone.

Jan Clothier - NZ - You are here

Leonie Stuart - AU

Rochelle Laird-Smith - AU

Cheryll Miller - AU

Danielle Kassing - NL

Mikaela Titheridge - UK

Annette Ball - CA

Angie McKenzie - US

Tricia Butts - US

Lori Willcox - CA

Cheryl Hamilton - US

 

For the Books for Colour INKspiration 179

 

Merry Christmas, and welcome to the 179th challenge at Colour INKspiration. It's also the last challenge of the year and will run for FOUR WEEKS, until Monday 6 January 2025.

Today's colour palette was chosen for us by Crew Member Monica Formosa. Such a lovely alternative Christmas palette!

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're delighted to have Janette Goodall guesting with us 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 Cherry Cobbler for Real Red. Black, White, Very Vanilla, Crumb Cake, Basic Beige and metallics are free colours, as are flesh toned Stampin' Blends.

Now, while this is a very pretty alternative Christmas palette, I've chosen to use it to play with one of the pre-order bundles I have from the January-April 2025 Mini Catalogue. 

As a voracious reader, ex-English Teacher and Librarian, For the Books was always going to make it into my collection! This is the first inking and so is something of an experiment to see what the stamps can do.

There are three different groupings of books and, since they are photopolymer, they're easy to stamp in a line. I used two of them to create the haphazard shelves, using Tuxedo Black to stamp them. Colouring them in with Stamping Blends was fun but the most satisfying bit was adding in the spectacles to the top of a book tower. 😀

To add some interest, I added in an embossed mat of Basic White. I had a piece embossed with the Dotted Circles 3D Embossing folder in my bits box, so re-purposed that. 

I used some Linen Thread to add a bow to bring out the Crumb Cake of the shelving.

I also thought that the sentiment had a sense of thanks about it, so converted the inside to a holder for a book voucher. For decoration, I added in the third book stamp and the spectacles. 

We'd love to see what you do with the challenge colours. You can join the group in the following link, if you aren't already a member. Don't forget to answer the questions when you ask to join. You can see what the rest of the Design Team have done with these colours in the Crew Inspiration Album on the Colour INKspiration Challenge Facebook 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 stamp with me, and shop with me, from anywhere in New Zealand. Click here.

Floral Delight Stamp Camp February 2025

What and When

The next Creativity Abounds Stamp Camp is February 22/23 2025 (South Pacific) and February 21/22 (everywhere else). It's featuring the beautiful Floral Delight Suite from the forthcoming January-April 2025 Mini Catalogue. 

Here's a sneak peek at the products.

What you get from Stamp Camp

Many of you have joined me and twelve other demonstrators around the world for one of our past virtual camps but if you haven't done one before, here's what you get. 

• 13 Make and Take kits, sent to you, together with PDF and Video instructions for the projects. Add in your own DSP and embellishments from the suite and start crafting!
• 13 BONUS projects shared in an exclusive Facebook Group over the Virtual Stamp Camp weekend. You can join us live, or view them at your leisure later. 
• An opportunity to share your projects and interact with other crafters from around the world and the design team.

That's a total of 26 projects ready for you to make, using the Featured Products you've purchased. How often have you purchased a suite, then run out of ideas to use it? Not this time!

How to get your invitation to camp

Your invitation to the Virtual Stamp Camp comes when you purchase this suite from me (if you live in New Zealand) or one of the demonstrators in the team in your country. (Message me if you'd like to be referred.)

The suite contains:

• The Delightful Wishes bundle
• Tiny Bee trinkets
• Daffodil Delight 1/8" ribbon (3.2mm)
• Floral and Gingham Vellum Specialty paper
• Floral Delight Designer Series paper.

The cost for these products is $187.50 (NZD)

This purchase is also eligible for Sale-a-Bration rewards.

You can shop with me from anywhere in New Zealand here.

If you have not shopped with me before, make sure to tick that you want demonstrator contact or I won't be able to send you the kits!

Already Own this set?

If you are a demonstrator and have already purchased these products but you'd still like to join the camp, then make an order of equivalent value from me. Be sure to message me and tell me that's what you've done so I know to add you to the Stamp Camp list. 

Regal Flora et al for The Paper Players 719

I can't believe that this is the last challenge of 2024 at The Paper Players! It feels as though it was only last month that it was Christmas! I hope that all of you have a happy and safe Christmas and get to enjoy lots of time with your family and friends. 

We'll be re-starting challenges on January 12.

This challenge, from Ann, is so pretty! Black and White are free colours. You must use all three colours of the challenge and you can add another neutral of your choice. I've used a touch of Crumb Cake.

I love these colours but it was hard to see past Christmas with them. I think that this will be my LAST Christmas card of the year. 😀

I feel as though it's a Regal Flora card - maybe because of the Regal Winter DSP I've used. Really, this card uses an eclectic mix of things including: Regal Flora dies for the label, Regal Winter DSP (very Christmassy, for a non-Christmas collection), Distressed Tile 3D embossing folder (my favourite), Reindeer Fun dies for the holly leaves and berries, Lifetime of Love dies for the Crumb Cake foliage and Greetings of the Season for the sentiment.

The thing I like the best is the holly leaves. I cut them from Fluid 100 Watercolour Paper then water-coloured them with Pretty Peacock ink and a Water Painter. When they were dry, I painted over them using some of the gold Pearlised Enamel Effects Metallics. I like that golden glow that resulted. 

The embellishments are lovely: Pretty Peacock Adhesive Foiled Gems.

We'd all love to see what you do with these colours. You can see what the rest of the design team have done, and link up your entry, at The Paper Players page.

Here's a quick recap of our challenge rules:

1. Create a new paper-craft project specifically for this challenge.
2. Upload your creation to your blog with a link back to us.
3. Please provide a direct link to the post featuring your challenge entry.
4. Please link your card to no more than four challenges, TOTAL, including ours
5. Have fun, and thank you for playing with us!

Don't forget to check out the great inspiration from the rest of the design team.

Jaydee

LeAnne Pugliese

Claire Broadwater

Joanne James

Anne Marie Hile

Ann Schach

Jan Clothier - You are here

Stef Perry

Eliz Stewart

Jolanda Johnstone

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 here.

Darling Dinos for AYSI 338

Welcome to the last challenge of the year at As You See It. Thank you to everyone who has played along with us this year. It's always a pleasure to see how you all see the challenges. I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas with friends and family. 

Now, on with the challenge. It's a sketch: my favourite!

My demonstrator pre-order for the January Mini Catalogue arrived recently, so I've had a play with one of the new bundles: Darling Dinos. As a long time lover of dinosaurs, and having a grandchild who is just beginning her obsession, this set was a must have!

I started by stamping one of the three dinosaurs and then colouring her in. I restrained myself as I could have added in glasses, a hair bow and various hats but instead opted to give her a trio of balloons. And some outrageous horns. She's coloured with Stampin' Blends in Granny Apple Green, Melon Mambo and Crumb Cake. The balloons are in Melon Mambo, Pumpkin Pie and Daffodil Delight. 

I sponged the square, cut with Stylish Shapes, with some Granny Apple Green ink then stamped over some grass. Again, I showed restraint as I could have added trees, rocks and dinosaur footprints as well!

The banners are cut with Stylish Shapes. The sentiment is stamped in Shaded Spruce. The rainbow is cut from a scrap of paper from the Full of Life DSP stack.

The card base is Granny Apple Green and the card front embossed with the cross-hatch folder from the  Basics embossing folder set.

Darling Dinos - and many more goodies - will be available in the New Year. Sale-abration begins at the same time.

The team and I would love to see what you can do in ten minutes or less. Visit the As You See It page to see what the rest of the team have done and to link up your entry. You can join in the challenge until Wednesday December 19, 11.59pm 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 here.

Reindeer Fun for The Paper Players 718

Wasn't Stef's sketch last week a lot of fun! Once again, there were just so many lovely creations in the gallery. It was a pleasure to look at them all. 

This week, LeAnne has given us a very timely theme challenge: 'Be a Deer'.

 

My surprise like of the current catalogue is actually the  Reindeer Fun bundle. I wasn't sure I'd like it but I bought it because it was the featured suite of the Creativity Abounds October Virtual Stamp Camp and I needed to have it to create projects for the Camp. As it turned out, I grew to really love it. 

I think it was the bright busy-ness of the DSP that had given me some reservations about it - but I even grew to like that!

For this card, I went soft and gentle. Even Christmas red and green has evolved into Soft Sea Foam and Pretty in Pink. 

I cut the mother and baby deer from the Reindeer Days DSP using a die from the set. Another of the dies gave me this lovely 'glimpses through the trees' aperture. I stamped some stars in Soft Sea Foam in the window.

I partially embossed the card front with the Forever Plaid 3D embossing folder before attaching it to the Soft Sea Foam mat.

Then it was a simple matter to attach the deer on dimensionals and to stamp the Pretty in Pink sentiment. Slightly less simple was cutting the sentiment with one of the Stylish Shapes banners, since I had to extend it to be long enough. It only took two goes! 😁

The finishing touch was three Pretty in Pink shimmer gems.

We'd all love to see your take on 'Be a Deer.' You can see what the rest of the design team have done, and link up your entry, at The Paper Players page.

Here's a quick recap of our challenge rules:

1. Create a new paper-craft project specifically for this challenge.
2. Upload your creation to your blog with a link back to us.
3. Please provide a direct link to the post featuring your challenge entry.
4. Please link your card to no more than four challenges, TOTAL, including ours
5. Have fun, and thank you for playing with us!

Don't forget to check out the great inspiration from the rest of the design team.

Jaydee

LeAnne Pugliese

Claire Broadwater

Joanne James

Anne Marie Hile

Ann Schach

Jan Clothier - You are here

Stef Perry

Eliz Stewart

Jolanda Johnstone

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 here.

Sea Turtle for CAS Colours & Sketches 549

One of my favourite challenges, even though I don't often get time to play, is CAS Colour & Sketches.  

I like the alternating of sketch and colour challenges and the variety of challenges the designers offer up. 

Here's my take on it, using a favourite set of mine, Sea Turtle.

I blended a strip of Balmy Blue ink with a blending brush, then stamped some bubbles on it with Balmy Blue and Azure Afternoon. Then a school of Melon Mambo fish swam along.

The Blueberry Bushel small turtle and sand dollar, and the Melon Mambo starfish, were stamped and popped up on dimensionals. I added the sentiment in Blueberry Bushel ink from Simply Said. 

It wasn't until I came to blog this card that I realised I'd jotted down the sketch very loosely and perhaps haven't given the sentiment the prominence it should have. But this card was definitely inspired by the sketch so I've shared it anyway! 😀

Update: Delighted to be a Fabulous Favourite at CAS Colour & Sketches.

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 stamp with me, and shop with me, from anywhere in New Zealand. Click here.

 

Magnolia Mood for Colour INKspiration 178

Welcome to the 178th challenge at Colour INKspiration. Today's colour palette was chosen for us by Crew Member and Stampin' Up! Artisan, Vicki Boucher. Aren't the colours just so soft and pretty?

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're delighted to have not one but two Guest Designers: Janette Goodall and Yvonne Spikmans - Van Bruggen.

If you don't have an exact challenge colour, feel free to replace it with whatever you have that's closest, for example Peach Pie for Calyspo Coral. Black, White, Very Vanilla, Crumb Cake, Basic Beige and metallics are free colours, as are flesh toned Stampin' Blends.

This challenge is open for two weeks and closes Monday December 9, 7pm AEST.

Well, I just couldn't help myself. I took the obvious path and went with a floral card. Really, what's the point in having beautiful floral stamps if you don't use them? 😀

I got out Magnolia Mood  bundle from the Online Exclusive section. These products are ones that can only be seen online and not in any paper catalogue. It's worth a browse in here as you might well discover some things you thought had retired! You can view the online exclusives here.

I stamped the large spray of flowers and two buds in Old Olive then coloured them with Calyspo Coral and Soft Sea Foam Stampin' Blends. After die cutting them out, I also cut the large spray die in Soft Sea Foam to create a background of lacy leaves.

The fun part was layering up my various stamped images and die cuts to create the bouquet. The Basic White panel was embossed with the Dotted Circles 3D embossing folder. Striking, isn't it?

The sentiment is stamped in Old Olive and I used a die from Everyday Details to create the label. To create the Calypso Coral jewels, I coloured some Basic Rhinestone Jewels with the darker Calyspo Coral Stampin' Blend.

We'd love to see what you do with the challenge colours. You can join the group in the following link, if you aren't already a member. Don't forget to answer the questions when you ask to join. You can see what the rest of the Design Team have done with these colours in the Crew Inspiration Album on the Colour INKspiration Challenge Facebook 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 stamp with me, and shop with me, from anywhere in New Zealand. Click here.