Joyful Tidings for Colour INKspiration194

Welcome to the 194th challenge at Colour INKspiration. This challenge runs for nearly two weeks and will finish on Monday September 8, 7pm AEST.

This colour palette was chosen for us by Crew Member, Rose Packer. 

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 Marga Bultena as our 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 Night of Navy for Secret Sea. Black, White, Very Vanilla, Crumb Cake, Basic Beige and metallics are free colours, as are flesh-toned Stampin' Blends.

Although this colour palette seemed quite vintage to me, I really wanted to try out Joyful Tidings, one of my preorder sets from the soon-to-be-released September-December Mini Catalogue.

So I've tried out a non-traditional Christmas card with it. 

The card base is Secret Sea with a Calypso Coral mat. The wreath image is stamped in Secret Sea and coloured with Stampin' Blends in Soft Sea Foam, Fresh Freesia and Calypso Coral. 

 I added in some Purple Fine Shimmer Gems in Fresh Freesia to add a touch of bling. 

This set will be available from 3 September. 

This was a quick and easy card to make, and if you prefer traditional Christmas colours, it would work well if you were looking to create multiples. I think next I'll try it out with some gold embossing. 

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.

Branching Out for Paper Players 752

How lovely it was to see all the Clean and Simple Critter cards in Elizabeth's gallery last week! So much creativity! This week at The Paper Players, Jay Dee is our hostess and she's given us this super sketch to inspire us. 

It's no secret that sketch challenges are my favourites and this one is great. As my preorder for the September- December Mini catalogue had arrived, it seemed the perfect chance to try out something new. 

I've used the new Branching Out bundle. This set has branches, cones and various bits to create a tree scene of your own design as well as a good range of sentiments that cover many occasions. The dies contain some pine-related bits but the bulk of the die package is a layered set of stitched edged labels. 

I've used two of these new label dies to create the central cartouche. Although the set doesn't have any overtly Christmas sentiments, with these pines it would be easy to add one and quickly switch this into a Christmas card. 

I've used the Joined Together 3D embossing folder, split into two panels for the background. I think that, together with the pines, there's a hint of Oriental in this set too. 

I did add in a horizontal of Linen Thread and a bow which are additional to Jay Dee's sketch. The embellishments are Flower Accents and add a wee touch of luxury. 

What will you do with Jaydee's sketch? You can see what the rest of the team have done and link up your entry on 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 (on leave)

Ann Schach

Jan Clothier - You are here

Stef Perry

Eliz Stewart

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.

 

Textured Notes for As You See it 355

Well, at As You See It it's once again time for our loved (and sometimes loathed) SPEED STAMPING CHALLENGE! What's speed stamping you ask? In this instance it means you have to complete your card on the given theme inside of ten minutes.

Before you go into complete meltdown mode, there are a few provisos that make the challenge do-able.

What you can do before the timer starts

• Plan. Take all the time you need to plan out what you're going to make.
• Set Up. You can get out your stamps and block them, put your dies on the table, get out the card stock pieces and ink pads, put the embellishments to hand: anything that's setting up what you will need.

But

Once you make a cut, put a stamp to ink, actually use your Cut and Emboss machine: anything that counts as creating, then the timer must start.

Thankfully clean up time is not included in the ten minutes either! 

The speed challenge is one of those times when your cardmaking becomes an adrenaline rich activity!

The theme for this one is LEAVES. I got to choose this challenge and I love foliage. My go-to at the moment is Textured Notes,  which I'm enjoying pairing with Elements of Text, .

Patterned paper is a good friend when it comes to speed challenges so I got out Woven Textures because I like the natural patterns. DSP gives big bang for little effort - just cut and stick. That leaves lots of the clock left for stamping.

A quick pass through the Cut and Emboss machine and the Textured Notes dies gave me a rectangle with a pretty edge all ready for stamping.

I stamped the large leaf stamp twice, using Mossy Meadow ink, but without re-inking for the second impression.  I added in some text background stamping using one of the stamps from Elements of Text, using Gray Granite then some Crushed Curry splatters with another from the set. I created a similar, but smaller, cluster in the opposite corner. 

I stamped the sentiment in Basic Gray. Then I added in some Crushed Curry around the stamped areas using a blending brush. 

After adding the DSP to the Gray Granite card base and the stamped panel, I popped in three Glossy Enamel Dots in Crushed Curry (retired) to finish off. 

And then.... don't forget to stop the timer!

I'd love to see what you can cook up in ten minutes or less!  You can also see the rest of the team's inspirations 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 stamp with me, and shop with me, from anywhere in New Zealand. Click here.

Hippest Hippos for The Paper Players 751

Thank you for all the beautiful entries in Claire's colour challenge last week. I enjoyed seeing the rich autumnal colours used in such pretty ways. Our hostess at The Paper Players this week is Elizabeth and she has given us the Clean and Simple theme of 'Critters'.

Sometimes, I overthink things. I came to work on this challenge and realised that while I was very clear on what Clean-and-Simple meant (lots of white space, minimal layers and embellishments) I was much less clear on what a critter was.

I can remember Ellie-May Clampett talking about her critters on The Beverly Hillbillies way back when I was child. So maybe a critter could be any animal? A dictionary search told me that it was a word derived from 'creature' originating as a dialectal pronunciation and often used in informal way. It also told me that in American usage it is often used to refer to domesticated animals.

None of this was really helping me decide whether I could use my Beautiful Butterflies stamp set in the challenge as it was my only current set that contained a creature of any kind. Part of me felt like this was going in the wrong direction.

By chance, while looking through a box of old children's books in the garage, I came across some of  Mercer Mayer's Little Critter series. This led me to conclude that critters are cutesy, anthropomorphised animals. This I could work with!

It was off to the retired shelves to find Hippest Hippos, an old Sale-a-bration bundle. I started by stamping the dancing hippo in Tuxedo Black then colouring it with Smoky Slate, Strawberry Slush and Pretty in Pink Stampin' Blends. I die cut it out. I paper pieced the skirt using a pattern from the 2025-2027 6x6 In Color DSP stack. I also used that to paper piece the umbrella from the dies and to create the love hearts.

The sentiment is also from Hippest Hippo. To texture the background, I used one of the folders from the Glass & Gardens pair of embossing folders. 

 Although the trio of hearts were acting like embellishments, I couldn't resist adding in a trio of Strawberry Slush gems too. 

So, how do you see critters? We'd love you to show us this week at The Paper Players - and remember to keep it CAS. You can see what the team have done and link up your entry on 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 (on leave)

Ann Schach

Jan Clothier - You are here

Stef Perry

Eliz Stewart

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.

Gallery Blooms for Colour Inkspiration 193

 

Welcome to the 193rd challenge at Colour INKspiration. This challenge runs for nearly two weeks and will finish on Monday August 25, 7pm AEST.

This colour palette was chosen for us by Crew Member, Vicki Boucher. Isn't this just the most gorgeous, delicate set of colours? I hope you enjoy crafting with it as much as I did!

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 Michelle Pepper as our 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 Pool Party for Balmy Blue. Black, White, Very Vanilla, Crumb Cake, Basic Beige and metallics are free colours, as are flesh-toned Stampin' Blends.

These colours were so delicate that I knew I wanted to use something with lacy die cuts and probably some water colouring. The dies in Gallery Blooms were just perfect so I started by ink smooshing some Fluid 100 Watercolor Paper with some Balmy Blue and Highland Heather. Once it was dry, I cut several of the lacy agapanthus heads from it and also several maidenhair fern leaves from Cloud Cover. From these beginnings a card was born!

I had a wreath in mind, so cut a hoop using circles from Stylish Shapes to use as a base. I cut a square of Basic White, embossed it with the Damask Delsigns embossing folder, added the wreath and then wondered what was next?!

I toyed with the idea of a square card but instead used a Cloud Cover base and a piece of Cloud Cover DSP from the 2025-2027 In Color Stack. I chose this design because it has an ink smooshed look to it. The card needed something else to make it pop, so I added in a piece of Highland Heather, embossed with the Exposed Brick 3D folder behind the square which also helped to visually elongate the wreath panel.

The next dilemma was the sentiment. What colour to stamp it and what colour to stamp it on? Embossed white on Highland Heather? A Balmy Blue banner? Too many choices. While pondering that, my eye fell upon the narrow piece of the DSP that I'd trimmed off for the card front. Perfect - I used that, stamped with Highland Heather and turned into a banner. The sentiment is from Beautiful Motifs, the companion set to Gallery Blooms. 

To finish, I added a trio of Purple Fine Shimmer Gems to pick out the Highland Heather.

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.

Textured Notes for Paper Players 750

Welcome to a new week at The Paper Players. I enjoyed seeing the many ways people interpreted Stef's 'By the Water' theme last week. I'm glad I wasn't choosing headliner! Thank you for all the wonderful entries.

This week, Claire is our hostess and she has a bright colour challenge for us. 

The colours seemed quite autumnal to me, so I reached for Textured Notes - specifically the lovely foliage stamp. 

I went for an old, tried-and-true technique for this one: Baby Wipe. I got out a wet wipe, folded it in half and put it on a large acrylic block. Using re-inkers, I dotted some Blackberry Bliss, Cherry Cobbler and Pumpkin Pie ink on it and let the drops run into each other. Then I used this as my temporary inkpad to stamp randomly over a piece of Basic White card. I love the variegated effect achieved with this technique!

After cutting the panel to size,  I added some Old Olive  around the edges with a blending brush.

 

The sentiment, from Textured Notes, was inked in Blackberry Bliss and cut with a die from Nested Essentials. The border is Old Olive and the card base is Blackberry Bliss. 

The finishing touch was a trio of deep Purple Fine Shimmer Gems.

What will you do with these colours? You can see what the rest of the team have done and link up your entry on 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 (on leave)

Ann Schach

Jan Clothier - You are here

Stef Perry

Eliz Stewart

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.

Impressions Abloom for As You See It 354

The new theme for this week's challenge at As You See It almost had me stumped. I don't have a single stamp or piece of DSP that's in any way related to picnics. Clearly some creative thinking was going to be needed for this one

Creative thinking was involved in this card but alas, most of it was not mine. Tammy Wilson from Stamp, Paper, Scissors is the inspiration for this card. I first encountered her work when we were both on the 2020 Artisan Design Team and I've followed her ever since. She posted this fabulous card where she made watermelons using the dies from Impressions Abloom. 

Since no picnic is complete without some sliced watermelon, the card was born!

I chose Forever Plaid to emboss the background, since it's reminiscent of the generic checked picnic blanket. 

To create the watermelon, I used the large oval label die from Impressions Abloom to cut an oval from Strawberry Slush cardstock. I cut it in half and sponged Strawberry Slush ink in the centre, using a blending brush. 

To create the rind, I used the stitched edge label die to cut an oval edging in Shy Shamrock cardstock. I cut it and added it to the outer edge of the Strawberry Slush slices. (A little fudging around is required.)

Following Tammy's lead, I cut the pips using the small leaf die from the Birthday Celebration dies. These can still be found in the Last Chance section, if you don't already have them. 

The sentiment is from the Sweet Jar stamp set, and I've cut is using one of the Spotlight on Nature dies. The Shy Shamrock circle underneath the sentiment was cut using my old favourite set, Stylish Shapes. 

To finish off, I added in some flowers - which were also cut using the Impressions Abloom dies - to create the feel of wildflowers in the meadow. The very final thing was to add some Strawberry Slush gems for a touch of bling. 

I hope your path to a picnic themed card is easier than mine was! I look forward to seeing your creation in the As You See It gallery. You can also see the rest of the team's inspirations 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 stamp with me, and shop with me, from anywhere in New Zealand. Click here.