AAA 4th BIrthday Bash

AAA Card Challenge is celebrating its 4th Birthday. Congratulations! This challenge has gone from strength to strength and I remember playing with them right back in their first year, even if I've not played much lately. They've got lots happening over there - not just the challenge but lots of extra things too, so go over and have a look.

For this challenge, I used a technique I've not used in a while. I smooshed the background using watery ink and a piece of acetate. I was looking for a fireworks kind of effect. For this, I tried out two of the new colours in the Stampin' Up family of colours: Poppy Parade and Mango Melody. Both are part of the revamped Brights range of colours. I think I'm going to like them a lot!

This is a simple card. Once the background was done I added in the stamps from the retired Saleabration set, Amazing You. The Celebrate You die is now available from the new annual catalogue. I've cut it in copper foil and there are a couple of Poppy Parade layers underneath to give it some depth.

The sentiment seemed to suit the 4th Birthday Challenge - Happy Birthday AAA. Here's to many more!

Product List

Brights A4 Card Stock

[131282]

$17.00

Copper Foil Sheets

[142020]

$8.50

Watercolor Paper

[122959]

$10.75

Poppy Parade Classic Stampin' Pad

[147050]

$15.75

Mango Melody Classic Stampin' Pad

[147093]

$15.75

Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad

[132708]

$12.00

Celebrate You Thinlit Dies

[146840]

$0.00

Colour Inkspiration 28

Once again, the team at Colour Inkspiration have come up with an irresistible colour combination: tempting but tough!

I'm continuing my love affair with the Sale-a-bration duo Amazing You stamps and Celebrate You thinlits in this challenge.

I started by sponging an area of Lemon-Lime Twist then stencilling over it with Bermuda Bay and Sweet Sugarplum.

The 'amazing' has two layers of Soft Suede underneath it and although I've not intentionally offset them to give a definite shadow, the layering has produced a very subtle hint of Soft Suede anyway.

The gorgeous branch die cut is from Petals & More, part of the Petal Palette suite. Isn't it wonderful? And so very versatile!

If you live anywhere in New Zealand and don't have a Stampin' Up demonstrator, I'd love to help you with ideas and Stampin' Up products. Sale-a-bration is on and there's a new Special Occasion Catalogue out. Please message me through my Facebook page, linked in the sidebar of this blog or leave a comment below. 

If you live in New Zealand and you would like to join my Stampin' Up team, message me for a chat. And, of course, you can shop with me from anywhere in New Zealand by clicking the SHOP NOW icon in the sidebar or from my Facebook page.

Ingredients - all products Stampin' Up

Card: Bermuda Bay, Whisper White, Sweet Sugarplum, Soft Suede

Stamps: Amazing You

Inks: Lemon-Lime Twist, Sweet Sugarplum, Bermuda Bay, Soft Suede

Other: Celebrate You thinlits, Petals&More thinlits, Pattern Party decorative mask, sponges, Enamel shapes, dimensionals.

Freshly Made Sketches 322

Today's card is for the sketch at Freshly Made Sketches.

It uses items from Stampin' Up's Sale-a-bration promotion. The Amazing You stamp set and Celebrate You thinlits can only be earned as gifts with each qualifying purchase of $110.

The centre panel was created by using a kind of reverse resist embossing, where only the clear-embossed areas are left exposed. 

The sentiment is completed on the inside of the card.

If you live anywhere in New Zealand and don't have a Stampin' Up demonstrator, I'd love to help you with ideas and Stampin' Up products. If you would like a copy of the new Special Occasions Catalogue or the Sale-a-bration brochure and don't have a demonstrator, then contact me. You can message me through my Facebook page, linked in the sidebar of this blog or leave a comment below. 

Ingredients

Card: Whisper White, Shimmery cardstock, Old Olive

Stamps: Amazing You

Inks: Tuxedo Black. Old Olive, Daffodil Delight, Melon Mambo, versamark

Other: Celebrate You thinlits, Garden Trellis embossing folder, clear embossing powder, sponges

Paper Craft Crew 278

It's been ages since I've played with the Paper Craft Crew, even though I always look. This week however, I not only have more time, but I needed inspiration for a 21st birthday card. This week's sketch was perfect.

Thank you, Paper Craft Crew, for a great design to work with.

Ingredients - all products Stampin' Up

Card: Whisper White, Petal Passion DSP, silver glimmer paper

Stamps: Amazing You, Perennial Birthday

Inks: Powder Pink, Tuxedo Black, Stampin' Blends: Rich Razzleberry

Other: Large Number framelits, Bouquet Bunch thinlits, clear faceted gems, rhinestones, white gel pen, dimensionals

Stamp, Ink, Paper 134

Today was our third scorching hot day in a row and in the end, I was driven from my craft room into the swimming pool. Once the heat of the day passed from extreme to bearable, I got back in to finish this card for Stamp, Ink, Paper's interesting colour challenge.

Interesting because they're similar colours which, to me, was a bit scary. I decided to play around with some ombre effects, so I've blended the three colours together over some white embossed images from Amazing You, a Sale-a-bration item that I can't get enough of. I just love those flowers!

Then I've used two inks on the sentiment. I left other embellishments out to let the colours do all the work.

I'm happy at how smoothly the colours blended together to show off the white-on-white embossing and the warm colours certainly reflected the temperature today!

Update: Delighted to be a Top Pick at Stamp, Ink, Paper this week.

Ingredients - all products Stampin' Up

Card: Calypso Coral, Whisper White

Stamps: Amazing You, Perennial Birthday

Inks: Blushing Bride, Calypso Coral, Berry Burst, versamark

Other: White embossing powder, sponges.

Inkspire Me 333

I am delighted to be able to play with Inkspire Me because I loved the idea of being able to add my own colour to the neutrals.

I chose a colour that I seldom ever use - Pumpkin Pie. I found myself colouring in the flowers from Amazing You, a Sale-a-bration set, in the bright orange almost against my will!

I started with a sponged stencilled background in Smoky Slate. I stamped the flower from Amazing You in Tuxedo Black and stamped extra leaves around it. The spray is built up with Pumpkin Pie blooms, and die cuts in Smoky Slate and vellum from Bouquet Bunch framelits.

The sentiment is from Perennial Birthday, a new set from the Occasions catalogue. The Pumpkin Pie sequins are also from the Occasions catalogue and I've added a small rhinestone in the centre of them and one in the flower centre to make three.

If you live anywhere in New Zealand and don't have a Stampin' Up demonstrator, I'd love to help you with ideas and Stampin' Up products. Sale-a-bration is on and there's a new Special Occasion Catalogue out. Please message me through my Facebook page, linked in the sidebar of this blog or leave a comment below. 

And, of course, you can shop with me from anywhere in New Zealand.

Update: Utterly delighted to be the Top Pick at Inkspire Me!

Ingredients

Card: Basic Black, Whisper White, scraps of Smoky Slate and vellum

Stamps: Perennial Birthday, Amazing You

Inks: Smoky Slate, Tuxedo Black

Other: Stampin' Blends in Pumpkin Pie, Bouquet Bunch framelits, dimensionals, Pattern Party decorative mask, sponges, Tutti-Frutti adhesive backed sequins, rhinestones.

Hand Stamped Sentiments 280

One of the many lovely things about the summer holidays is more craft time. The first challenge of the year from Hand Stamped Sentiments is this sketch.

I'm continuing my experiments with the Amazing You stamp set from the Sale-a-bration catalogue, along with Stampin' Blends.

The flower was stamped twice in Tuxedo Black and coloured with Stampin' Blends - Daffodil Delight with a touch of Pumpkin Pie. The centre petals were fussy cut out of one flower and popped up on a dimensional on the other. The flower is in a soft pool of Smoky Slate, again created with Stampin' Blends.

The outer edges of the flower have layer of clear Wink of Stella to give some sparkle. The stamen area has been stippled with a black marker and a white gel pen to add some definition to them and the centre completed with a clear faceted gem.

This stamp set is a Sale-a-bration product, available for free with any qualifying order of $110. 

If you live anywhere in New Zealand and don't have a Stampin' Up demonstrator, I'd love to help you with ideas and Stampin' Up products. If you would like a copy of the new Special Occasions Catalogue or the Sale-a-bration brochure and don't have a demonstrator, then contact me. You can message me through my Facebook page, linked in the sidebar of this blog or leave a comment below. 

Update: Delighted to be a Top Artist Pick at Hand Stamped Sentiments.

Ingredients

Card: Basic Black, Daffodil Delight, Whisper White, Smoky Slate,DSP from Petal Passion

Stamp: Amazing You

Inks: Tuxedo Black, Stampin' Blends in Daffodil Delight (light and dark), Pumpkin Pie and Smoky Slate

Other: Layering Square framelits, Faceted gems, rhinestones, dimensionals, clear Wink of Stella, black Stamp'n'write marker, white gel pen.

SIP 131

Today is the beginning of Stampin' Up's Saleabration and the launch of the new Occasions catalogue.  I was playing around with one of my pre-earnt Saleabration items this morning when I saw the challenge at Stamp, Ink, Paper.

Who doesn't love embossing?! As it happened, I'd seen on-line a wonderful card by Gail Davidson which inspired me to try out this card today, using the Amazing You stamp set and Celebrate You thinlit dies - both Saleabration items.

The flower stamp is gold embossed onto black, then coloured with Real Red watercolour pencil. This is on a gold foil mat, then adhered to a Basic Black cardbase. The gold foil 'Celebrate' is stacked on three black cuts of the same die to give it some dimension.  The 'lets' is black embossed to add some more shine.

If you live anywhere in New Zealand and don't have a Stampin' Up demonstrator, I'd love to help you with ideas and Stampin' Up products. If you would like a copy of the new Special Occasions Catalogue and don't have a demonstrator, then contact me. You can message me through my Facebook page, linked in the sidebar of this blog or leave a comment below. 

Ingredients

Card: Basic Black, Gold Foil, scrap of Whisper White

Stamps: Amazing You

Inks: versamark

Other: gold and black embossing powder, Celebrate You thinlit dies, metallic enamel shapes, Real Red watercolour pencil, double-sided adhesive sheet.

All products are Stampin' Up.

As You See It 166 - Design Team Card

Welcome to the final challenge of the year at As You See It. We finish up on a theme challenge, with lots of possibilities: Sparkle.

My 'sparkle' is in the glimmer paper and in the hope a sparkle in the eye of the recipient.

The stars of the show in this card are the amazing Celebrate You thinlits from Stampin' Up's Saleabration catalogue. The Amazing You stamp set is a standard Saleabration item, available free with any $110 spent. The gorgeous thinits are a special item - available free with any $220 purchase - and even better, they will be available for purchase in the next Annual Catalogue. The 'You' and 'amazing' are part of the set - there's also 'celebrate' in another font. The double sided adhesive sheets make adhering the die cut words so easy.

You have until Wednesday 10 January, 11.55 p.m. PST to join us. We'd love to see how you see this challenge!

If you live anywhere in New Zealand and don't have a Stampin' Up demonstrator, I'd love to help you with ideas and Stampin' Up products. Please message me through my Facebook page, linked in the sidebar of this blog or leave a comment below. 

Ingredients - all items Stampin' Up

Card: Dapper Denim, Whisper White, Silver glimmer paper, Color Theory DSP stack

Stamps: Amazing You

Ink: Tuxedo Black

Other: Celebrate You thinlits, multipurpose adhesive sheets