Creativity Abounds Techniques

This month the international team at Creativity Abounds has a great theme for our bundle and hop: Techniques. Who doesn't like to try out a new technique?

All thirteen of us have contributed a project to our Exclusive Tutorial Bundle, which you can earn as a free gift from me with a purchase of $90 or more (excluding P&P) or by being a member of my team. 

There's a sneak peek of my project and the whole bundle at the end of this post....

BUT

In addition to the exclusive bundle that you can earn, we also put together a monthly hop on the same theme for added inspiration for you. So if you hop around from this post, you'll see a dozen more techniques to get your mojo flowing. 

Because each of us has used the same technique for our hop card and our tutorial card, there's no instructions in the hop this time but if you receive the tutorial package with a purchase, you'll find both PDF instructions AND a video tutorial for the technique.

The technique I'm showcasing is Ink Smooshing. There's a number of ways you can go about this but generally it involves some ink, some water and some sort of squashing with some sort of equipment. I'm sharing with you what I do when I intend to die cut the resulting panel.

Here's my alternative project.

I love the way that this technique, done this way, gives such wonderful blends and  transitions of colour.

Here's a sneak peek of the card, using the same technique, that's part of the Creativity Abounds Tutorial Package.

And here's the sneak peek of the whole tutorial package.

If you've enjoyed our Stamp Camps, the next one is mid-June featuring the Country Birdhouse bundle. More details coming soon.

Here's our whole team. If you're interested in the tutorial but don't live in New Zealand, contact one of our team members from where ever you live.

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.

Gorgeous Garden for AYSI 321

 Two weeks have flown by and it's time for a new challenge at As You See It. As always, after a sketch challenge comes a colour challenge. Aren't these colours lovely? The rules for a colour challenge are that you must use all the given colours in some way but no other colours except a neutral of your choice. 

Usually, my neutral is Basic White. But I've gone a bit rogue on this one and have used Basic Black instead!

I ink smooshed the four colours on a piece of Fluid 100 Watercolor paper. I did arrange them in a loosely ombre fashion, moving from Daffodil Delight, to Bubble Bath, to Flirty Flamingo, to Calypso Coral.

From a piece of Basic Black, I die cut the foliage die from the Gorgeous Garden dies and backed it with the ink smooshed panel. 

This lovely pair of dies is available, heavily discounted, in the current Last Chance Sale. If you don't already have them, why not treat yourself?

The sentiment, from Inked & Tiled, is white heat embossed on Basic Black and cut using one of the Everyday Details dies. It's backed with one of the circles from Stylish Shapes cut in Calypso Coral.

For embellishments, I coloured some Basic Rhinestone Jewels with a dark Calypso Coral Stampin' Blend.

Make sure you visit the As You See It page to see what the rest of the Design Team have with this sketch - and to link up your own entry.

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 purchase Gorgeous Garden from me, you will receive as a free gift, a tutorial bundle. This will give you step-by-step instructions for four original projects: two by me and two by UK Demonstrator Joanne James, aka The Crafty Owl.

Other Tutorial Gifts with Purchase from Joanne and Jan are:

• Cheerful Daisies bundle
• Hooray for Surprises bundle
• Gorgeously Made bundle

Simply purchase the bundle and we'll give you the inspiration to get going with it!

Faux Torn Paper Masking for Stampin' Fancy Friday

This month, the theme at Stampin' Fancy Friday is 'A Favourite Technique'. 

We don't blog hop as such but the team at Stampin' Fancy Friday do a daily inspiration post on Instagram. The team at Stampin' Fancy Friday are all current or past members of Stampin' Up!'s Artisan Design Team, so it really is a great place to pick up ideas or recharge your creative mojo. Follow @stampinfancyfriday if you don't already. 😀

A favourite technique of mine is Faux Torn Paper masking. It's very easy to do and gives an interesting look. Simply tear a piece of photo copy paper or grid paper to use as a mask, blend over your chosen ink colours, stamp, remove the mask then carry on with whatever embellishments you like. 

I used the Season of Chic bundle because I love the marine images and dies - and that wonderful net die makes everything look good! Season of Chic is retiring at the end of April, so look out for it in the Last Chance Sale.

The colours I've used are Pool Party, Coastal Cabana and Azure Afternoon. 

If you're unsure of the technique, you can see a video of another card I made using the same technique 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 by clicking here. 

Around the World on Wednesday This or That

Welcome to a new hop with the crew 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. 😀

This month, our challenge is a "This or That". When I'm making things I often have a moment where I can't decide which colour to use, which DSP is best, which sentiment. Sometimes when I'm prepping classes I make two or three variations before deciding which one I'll use. I doubt I'm alone in that process!

This challenge celebrates that process. We were challenged to make two versions of the same card. Turned out that I'd inadvertently done that in last month's hop when I couldn't choose whether to go for a dark or light background. You can see it here.

For this challenge I'm going to show you two versions of a card I made for a recent class. I was playing around with a new fancy fold that I saw while participating in the last Creativity Abounds Virtual Stamp Camp. US Demonstrator Lorraine Tierney presented this during the camp using Notes of Nature. These Stamp Camps are worth it for all the new ideas you'll see and the new people you'll interact with.

I've experimented using the Simply Zinnia bundle from the Online Exclusives. Here are the two versions closed up.

Each card is the same design just with different DSP, sentiments and colours. The vibrant Flowering Zinnias DSP offers many options for different panels, including the panorama background. 

 The sentiments are from the Hooray for Surprises set.

Here they are from behind, showing off the message panel.

So, if you'd come to my class, which one would you have rather made? 

Blackberry Bliss/Melon Mambo 'You're the Best'? 

Or the more subtle Old Olive/Petal Pink 'Make a Wish'?

Next up on the blog with another 'this or that' for you to ponder, is the wonderful Leonie Stuart in 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 list of participants, with links, if you get lost or want to revisit someone.

Jan Clothier - NZ -You are here

Leonie Stuart - AU

Rochelle Laird-Smith - AU

Cheryll Miller - AU

Danielle Kassing - NL

Aurélie Fabre - FR

Angie McKenzie - US

Kelly Taranto - US

Chris Smith - US

Tricia Butts - US

Theresa McEntee - US

Bree Renwick - US

Lori Willcox - CA

Teri West - US

Cheryl Hamilton - US

Trusty Tools for Colour INKspiration 163

Welcome to 163rd challenge at Colour INKspiration. This bright, almost rainbow palette was chosen for us by crew member Monica Formosa.

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 very pleased to welcome Teah Karr Woodward as our Guest Designer for this challenge. This challenge is open for two weeks and closes Monday 22 April, 7pm AEST.

If you don't have an exact challenge colour, feel free to replace it with whatever you have that's closest, for example Daffodil Delight for Crushed Curry. Black, White, Very Vanilla, Crumb Cake, and metallics are free colours, as are flesh toned Stampin' Blends.

I had a class last weekend and one of the participants talked about how she was doing things to thank the people who were painting  her house. The idea must have stuck because the next thing I knew, I was digging out Trusty Tools to make this card!

 

I even used the Painted Texture embossing folder to partially emboss the background!

You can see how I made it, including easy partial embossing and some tips on getting accurate die cuts in the tutorial.

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 or any of the products below.

Product List

Trusty Tools Bundle (English)

[162723]

$116.00

Basic Black A4 Card Stock

[121688]

$21.00

Basic White A4 Cardstock

[159228]

$22.25

Card Stock A4 Coastal Cabana

[131302]

$21.00

Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad

[132708]

$13.75

Crushed Curry Classic Stampin' Pad

[147087]

$19.00

Poppy Parade Classic Stampin' Pad

[147050]

$19.00

Coastal Cabana Classic Stampin' Pad

[147097]

$19.00

Starry Sky Classic Stampin' Pad

[159212]

$19.00

Gorgeous Grape Classic Stampin' Pad

[147099]

$19.00

Crumb Cake Stampin' Blends Combo Pack

[154882]

$21.00

Glossy Dots Assortment

[158827]

$17.00

Painted Texture 3 D Embossing Folder

[154317]

$21.00

Magnolia Mood for AYSI 320

Our last challenge at As You See It, the Speed Stamping Challenge, is the last on our rotation so this week we're back to the start with a Sketch Challenge. This sketch is one of my contributions, so I'm particularly keen to see what everyone does with it! 

Sketches are my favourite types of challenge. I find they get ideas flowing really well. I also love that the same starting point can end up in so many different looks. 

For this one, I rotated the sketch to a landscape orientation. I used two snippets of DSP from the Nature's Sweetness pack: one gold foil, the other a textured-look Pebbled Path.

Then for the circular element (which can be pretty much any shape that's vaguely circular-ish) I stamped and coloured the largest image from Magnolia Mood. I stamped the image in Pebbled Path thenused Stampin' Blends to colour it before die cutting the image out. I stamped a second image but only coloured the large bloom, which I fussy cut out and popped up over the original flower to add some dimension.

The sentiment is from Something Fancy, as is the die for it. The embossing folder is the Cross Hatch design from the Basics Embossing Folder set in Online Exclusives.

Make sure you visit the As You See It page to see what the rest of the Design Team have with this sketch - and to link up your own entry.

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 

Product List

Magnolia Mood Bundle (English)

[163507]

$116.00

Something Fancy Cling Stamp Set (English)

[160416]

$49.00

Something Fancy Dies

[160424]

$59.00

Pebbled Path A4 Cardstock

[161731]

$21.00

Basic White A4 Cardstock

[159228]

$22.25

Nature's Sweetness 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 Cm) Specialty Designer Series Paper

[162616]

$35.00

Pebbled Path Classic Stampin' Pad

[161648]

$19.00

Granny Apple Green Stampin' Blends Combo Pack

[154885]

$21.00

Flirty Flamingo Stampin' Blends Combo Pack

[154884]

$21.00

Blackberry Bliss Stampin' Blends Combo Pack

[154877]

$21.00

Daffodil Delight Stampin' Blends Combo Pack

[154883]

$21.00

Basics 3 D Embossing Folders

[161598]

$63.00

Brushed Brass Butterflies

[158136]

$21.00

Stampin' Dimensionals

[104430]

$9.00

.

Earn a Free Gift

Option 1

Purchase either the Gorgeous Garden dies or the Hooray for Surprises bundle from me and you'll receive FOUR PDF Join in with Joanne and Jan tutorials matching the purchase: two by me and two by UK Demonstrator Joanne James aka The Crafty Owl. 

Option 2

Orders over $90 will receive, as a free gift, the latest Creativity Abounds Tutorial Bundle. This bundle of 13 PDF tutorials is on the theme of 'Anything but a Card'.

Here's a peek at the whole tutorial package.