Sunday, 29 September 2024

Tropical Leaf for Paper Players 709

Hello and thanks for joining me today for a new challenge at The Paper Players. As there are five Sundays this month, we have a Tic Tac Toe challenge for you as a bonus, put together by the lovely Claire. We enjoyed looking at the wonderful responses to Joanne's sketch challenge last week and look forward to what you do with this one.


I like a Tic Tac Toe challenge as it really helps me get the ideas flowing. I'm excited to see what everyone does with this array of choices. 

I played across the top row: Leaves - Patterned Paper - Embossing.

I've gone for a simple, quick card today because we all need them both in our stash - and as a recipe in our tool box. 😀

I've used the Tropical Leaf bundle for this card, as using a punch is so easy and quick. Plus the gorgeous leaves always put me in mind of happy holidays spent on tropical islands like Fiji and Samoa and as  winter ends, we all need a reminder of warm places!


So, mindful of the Summer Splash card base, I punched out a two large leaves: one from each of two Summer Splash patterns in the In Color 6x6 DSP stack. For contrast, I also punched one from Petunia Pop.  Then I stamped in some veins with Tuxedo Black. Photopolymer stamps are see-through, so the lining up was easy, 


So, that ticked off the leaf and patterned paper from the list. Next, I embossed the Basic White card front with the Dotted Circles 3D embossing folder. Isn't it a bit of fun, with the swirling circles?

The sentiment is from the stamp set, stamped in Tuxedo Black. I cut it out using one of the dies from Unbounded Love although really, I had lots of things in my room to choose from. I do like the little decorative stitched details and scalloped corners - interesting without being over fussy.

The finishing touch was to add some In Color Resin dots in Summer Splash and Petunia Pop.

We look forward to seeing what you do with Claire's Tic Tac Toe. 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.

Jan Clothier - You are 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 here.



Friday, 27 September 2024

Cheerful Daisies for AYSI 333

 Welcome to the latest challenge at As You See It. After each sketch challenge, we have a colour challenge. This colour palette was chosen by design team member, Deborah. Lots of possibilities with these bright colours!

I've gone floral for this challenge. I got out a set that's been a bit neglected of late - Cheerful Daisies stamps and dies. The dies are so gorgeous that I had a bit of a field day cutting and layering daisies and leaves to create the bouquet. The centres of the bottom layers were sponged with Granny Apple Green.


I sponged some Azure Afternoon onto the card base with a blending brush to create a sense of sky or a summery day. Now that spring has sprung, summer can't be far away!

I used my favourite Distressed Tile 3D embossing folder for the card front, then layered it onto a piece of Azure Afternoon. The card base is Thick Basic White.


The sentiment is stamped in Azure Afternoon using the label die that is part of the set but I added in an Azure Afternoon banner cut using the Stylish Shapes dies (another go-to in my craft room).

The finishing touch was the addition of three blue gems from the Tinsel Gem Pack.

The team and I would love to see how you see these vibrant colours. 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 October 9, 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.

Thursday, 26 September 2024

Reindeer Fun for Freshly Made Sketches 655

I finished cutting the kits for my weekend card class, so it was time for some relaxation! I turned to the latest sketch at Freshly Made Sketches for some inspiration.


I've been doing a lot with the Reindeer Fun bundle, since I'm involved in the Creativity Abounds Virtual Stamp Camp next month. The thing that surprised me the most with the set (apart from how much fun I've had with it) is that you can do so much with it that doesn't involve a single reindeer! 

The wee gift dies are so cute. I've used scraps of Take A Bow DSP to make the gifts and made the bows from scraps of matching plains: Real Red, Granny Apple Green and Garden Green,

To add to the sense of festivity, I gave the bows a lick of Wink of Stella. The background is embossed with the Forever Plaid 3D Embossing Folder - isn't it a beauty? Useful all year round, even if it appeared as part of a Christmas suite. 😀


The finishing touch was the addition of a few Adhesive Backed Peppermints - they look good enough to eat!

This is such a great sketch. I have an idea or two for some other interpretations of it too. 

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.


Wednesday, 25 September 2024

Country Birdhouse for Colour INKspiration 174

 


Welcome to the 174th challenge at Colour INKspiration. Today's colour palette was chosen for us by Crew Member Vicki Boucher.


Isn't it a pretty combination of colours?

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 Heuvel Vd as our Guest Designer for this challenge. We also welcome two new members to our Crew: Sharon Dalton and Alisa Tilsner. I'm sure you'll enjoy seeing their creations in the Crew Inspiration Albums. 😀

If you don't have an exact challenge colour, feel free to replace it with whatever you have that's closest, for example Fresh Freesia for Bubble Bath. 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 October 7, 7pm AEST.

Between the gorgeous graphic and the ever so pretty colours, it was hard to look past something floral for this challenge. However, I've gone for flowers with a bit of a twist - a birdbath scene. Out came the Country Birdhouse bundle and the remains of my Country Woods DSP collection. 



I used retired Stamparatus to mirror stamp the bird, but you can use a silicon mat for the job if you don't have a Stamparatus in your stash. 

I enjoyed playing around arranging the flowers cut from Bubblebath, Highland Heather and Gorgeous Grape. Pool Party worked well as the 'green' foliage.


Once again, I got good use from the Stylish Shapes dies - the banner is a perfect match for the 'happy birthday' in the stamp set. I'm sure this set would win the prize for the most used die set in my craft room!

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 shop with me from anywhere in New Zealand by clicking here















Sunday, 22 September 2024

Humble Home for The Paper Players 708

 Welcome to a new week at The Paper Players. We loved seeing all of the Clean and Simple Animal or Plant cards from last week. Ann set us a great challenge and it's always interesting to see different interpretations of Clean and Simple. 
There's no stylistic restrictions this week though! Joanne has set us a sketch challenge - and it's a beauty. 


The new Humble Home bundle was sitting on my desk. It's one of those times, which I'm sure many of you will identify with, where you pick something with great excitement then when it arrives you wonder quite what  you thought  you were going to do with it!

So this sketch was the inspiration required to get me going with it. I stamped the brick house in Crumb Cake and punched it out. Then I used the punch to cut a Granny Apple Green roof. The doors and windows were stamped in Granny Apple Green, then cut/punched out.

To balance out the house, I cut a holly in Granny Apple Green with Real Red berries from Reindeer Fun dies. The sentiment is in Garden Green, as is the card base.


The strip of DSP is from the Take A Bow 6x6 DSP stack. I like the strong, clean colours and the fact that some of the patterns work just as well out of Christmas as in.

The background is embossed with the Exposed Brick 3D Embossing folder, a favourite of mine. 


I felt as though the sentiment trapezium needed a little more oomph, so I took the long zip die from Hooray for Surprises, cut it from Crumb Cake then removed the zipper. This became the scallop edge peeping out from the bottom edge. I was quite pleased by that little piece of lateral thinking. 😀

Since I was experimenting with Humble Home and I liked the sketch, I made a companion card with a non-Christmas topic while I had everything out. 


We look forward to seeing what you do with Joanne's sketch. 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.

Jan Clothier - You are 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 here.




Sunday, 15 September 2024

Reindeer Fun for The Paper Players 707

Welcome to a new week at The Paper Players. Ann has chosen the Clean and Simple Theme this week - back to nature: any plant or animal. 

Elizabeth's bright and cheerful colour combination brought out some great entries to the gallery.



Full confession here. I made my card, then saw the small print: CLEAN and SIMPLE. Hmmm. 

I decided that the card just sneaked into the CAS category, especially since at The Paper Players we are not absolute minimalists in our idea of Clean and Simple. I think if I'd gone in with the Real Red and White Adhesive Peppermint Dots, I might well have disqualified myself though!


I was playing with the Reindeer Fun bundle. I cut the circle-with-trees dies from the Basic White card front, then white embossed the stars around the top of the card. Then I added in some Pool Party Ink with a blending brush.


I stamped the sentiment in Real Red, then attached a piece of DSP from Reindeer Days which featured a cute reindeer behind the cut out. 

And really, that's all there is to it. Easy, peasy!

We look forward to seeing what you do with Joanne's sketch. 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.

Jan Clothier - You are 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 here.

Friday, 13 September 2024

Reindeer Fun for As You See It 332

Welcome to the latest challenge at As You See It, where we're back to the start of our challenge roster - a sketch! It was great seeing what people came up with in the last Speed Challenge. Isn't it amazing to discover what can be done in a mere ten minutes!

I've been playing around a lot with the Reindeer Fun bundle, since it's the featured bundle for the upcoming Creativity Abounds Stamp Camp next month. I'd actually packed it all away having decided I'd give something else a turn for this DT card... but when I looked at the sketch it just seemed to me that the circle was a reindeer and the rectangle was a sentiment. So I got it all out again!


I embossed the Basic White card front with the Forever Plaid 3D embossing folder. Then I added a 4.5cm wide strip of DSP from the Reindeer Days pack.


The reindeer is fussy cut from one of the Reindeer Days DSP sheets - although some of them match the dies in the bundle, which is even better!

The sentiment is cut using the one of the dies from Nested Essentials and was stamped in Real Red. For the horizontal element, I used some Real Red and White Baker's Twine. The finishing touch was a trio of Peppermint dots. Adorable, aren't they?

The team and I would love to see your takes on this sketch. 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 September 25, 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.

If you like this set, you might like to join me for the next Creativity Abounds Stamp Camp on 19-20 October. Read all about it here....

Creativity Abounds Virtual Stamp Camp


The next international virtual Creativity Abounds Stamp Camp is being held the weekend of October 19-20. The featured products for the camp are the Reindeer Fun Bundle, Reindeer Days DSP, Forever Plaid embossing folder, Real Red and White Baker's Twine and Adhesive Backed Peppermint Dots.

To get your invitation to Stamp Camp, simply purchase the featured products from me by the 27 September, to allow time for them to arrive. 


If you are a demonstrator and already own these products, simply order goods of equivalent value from me, message me to let me know you want to come to camp and you will still receive your invitation and kits.

What do you get from the Creativity Abounds Virtual Stamp Camp?

  • PDF and Video tutorials for 13 projects using the products
  • Make and Take kits for the projects (excluding the items you've purchased)
  • Access to the exclusive Stamp Camp Facebook Group where you can interact with the team and other participants from around the world, join in the challenges and chats and share your projects.
  • View the Facebook Lives for an additional 13 projects made using the products -that's a total of 26 projects for your purchased products. The Lives are recorded so you can access them at any time.
If you do not live in New Zealand but would like to participate, there are team members in all Stampin' Up! markets I can refer you to. 



Thursday, 12 September 2024

Creativity Abounds Get Ready for Stamp Camp!

 


Exciting times at Creativity Abounds as our next stamp camp draws near! This time, we're featuring the Reindeer Fun bundle. Each of the members of the team have put together one project for the tutorial bundle. We've all done a second project to share with you during Stamp Camp. That's 26 projects in total.

Usually on our monthly hops we give you a sneak peek of the tutorial project (that will still happen) and then we go on to give you a bonus project and tutorial on the same theme. This time we'll  be giving you a look at what the Stamp Camp Live project is going to be. You'll learn how to make it during the Camp.

This is the project I'll be sharing during the Stamp Camp. It's a very sweet fancy fold with a belly band.

And this is the card you'll receive a kit and instructions for in the tutorial bundle.


Here's a peek at the whole tutorial bundle.


Here's all the details about the camp and how you can get your invitation.
As you follow the hop, you'll see all the 26 projects you'll get to make!

Creativity Abounds Virtual Stamp Camp


The next international virtual Creativity Abounds Stamp Camp is being held the weekend of October 19-20. The featured products for the camp are the Reindeer Fun Bundle, Reindeer Days DSP, Forever Plaid embossing folder, Real Red and White Baker's Twine and Adhesive Backed Peppermint Dots.

To get your invitation to Stamp Camp, simply purchase the featured products from me by the 27 September, to allow time for them to arrive. 


If you are a demonstrator and already own these products, simply order goods of equivalent value from me, message me to let me know you want to come to camp and you will still receive your invitation and kits.

What do you get from the Creativity Abounds Virtual Stamp Camp?

  • PDF and Video tutorials for 13 projects using the products
  • Make and Take kits for the projects (excluding the items you've purchased)
  • Access to the exclusive Stamp Camp Facebook Group where you can interact with the team and other participants from around the world, join in the challenges and chats and share your projects.
  • View the Facebook Lives for an additional 13 projects made using the products -that's a total of 26 projects for your purchased products. The Lives are recorded so you can access them at any time.
If you do not live in New Zealand but would like to participate, there are team members in all Stampin' Up! markets I can refer you to. 

Here's the team and where they're from.


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.

Follow the hop to see all the 26 projects you'll get instructions for at Stamp Camp, plus a look at the projects included in the make and take tutorial bundle.


Wednesday, 11 September 2024

Seaside Wishes for Around the World on Wednesday September


Welcome to a new month 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 theme this month is one that has many interpretations: The Way We Were.

The theme made me think memory keeping straight away. That's usually why we scrapbook, isn't it? To preserve special memories of the way we were.

Initially I thought I'd scrapbook a wedding photo, since things have really changed since that day! But while I was searching for the 'safe' place I'd put the wedding photos when we moved, I came across this photo of me with one of my daughters taken ten years ago. 

I've always liked it and seeing it again made me think of the New Year's Eve Eve when we took this photo on the beach front in a nearby town. The family went for a walk along the beach front after dinner at a local restaurant and the two of us just selfied this one. So much has happened in both our lives, as well as the world in general, over the last decade that it seemed just the thing to scrap it today: a reminder of simpler times and a happy moment together as a family.



I remember the surf was really thundering in to the beach that evening and we were standing over it on a newly built observation pier. So with the sea so front and centre in the photo, I went with my newest craftroom addition, Seaside Wishes. Even though the DSP is from the Country Woods collection, much of it seems maritime to me, with allusions to weathered beach baches, hot days and peeling paint. So it was a perfect starting point for this layout.

The sentiment from Seaside Wishes was just perfect for this photo and I cut it out using the lovely stitched label from Unbounded Love, along with a shadow in Misty Moonlight. The sand dollars are cut and embossed with the hybrid Seaside Wishes embossing folder, part of the bundle, from Gray Granite and Basic White.

The starfish are cut from Petal Pink, then embossed with the Distressed Tile 3D embossing folder. The touches of bling are another new thing - and I can't believe I hadn't noticed them in the catalogue until now - the Petal Pink and Pretty Peacock Foiled Gems.

So, a nice simple layout but one that brings back happy memories of the way we were. 😀

Next up, you can visit the fabulous Rochelle Laird-Smith to see what she has made of the theme.


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.