CAS Colours and Sketches 267

Just a quick post to squeak in under the wire at CAS Colours and Sketches. Here's their great little sketch, which is delightfully open to interpretation.

This is a quick, simple and masculine card. Masculine cards are something that I, like many crafters, struggle with. The bold sentiment is art deco in style and works well with the Swirly Frames set that I got as a prize at On Stage last week. Watch out for it in the forthcoming annual catalogue on June 1.

Black embossing on the frame and the sentiment add a bit of gloss that ties in nicely with the glimmery stars.

The glimmer stars were cut from two framelit sets: Mini-Treat Bag and Circle Flip Card (retired). They're not the obvious place to find stars but both sets have great dies for embellishments of different sizes and shapes.

Product List

Big On Birthdays Photopolymer Stamp Set

[142877]

$57.00

Basic Black A4 Card Stock

[121688]

$17.00

Whisper White A4 Card Stock

[106549]

$19.25

Lemon Lime Twist A4 Cardstock

[144250]

$17.00

Silver Glimmer Paper

[135314]

$10.75

Versamark Pad

[102283]

$18.25

Black Stampin' Emboss Powder

[109133]

$10.75

Ticket Tear Border Punch

[143718]

$34.00

Mini Treat Bag Thinlits Dies

[137547]

$79.00

Circle Card Thinlits Die

[133480]

$65.00

Retro Rubber 83 - Design Team Card

This week at Retro Rubber Challenge, we have an always popular challenge: Anything Goes As Long As You Use Stamps Older Than A Year. Also, don't forget to tell us how old your stamp is (approximate age is fine),

For this challenge, I thought I'd pay some respect to my first ever stamp set, Flower Shop. In my first order ever was this set plus one that is now retired, By The Seashore. I can still remember the excitement of receiving my first order, although to be honest, I always feel a little excitement when the courier comes up the driveway! Anyway, Flower Shop first appeared in the 2014-14 Annual Catalogue and is still current. I wonder if it will make the cut into the new catalogue?

I started by stamping one of the floral images from Flower Shop in black on white, then cut a square from it. I also gold embossed one of the same image, which is popped up on a dimensional over one of the black images.

The gold embossed sentiment is from Big On Birthdays, which also just qualifies as an aged stamp as it first appeared in January 2017. The black layer is embossed with the Pinewood Planks textured impressions folder.

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 drawing to a close but you can still earn free items with qualifying orders. Please message me through my Facebook page, linked in the sidebar of this blog or leave a comment below if you'd like to know more.

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.

Inspiration for the layout came from Fab Friday's latest challenge and you can still play with them until March 29.

Product List

Flower Shop Clear Stamp Set

[130942]

$40.00

Big On Birthdays Photopolymer Stamp Set

[142877]

$57.00

Layering Squares Framelits Dies

[141708]

$69.00

Pinewood Planks Dynamic Textured Impressions Embossing Folder

[143708]

$20.00

Pansy Punch

[130698]

$34.00

Basic Black A4 Card Stock

[121688]

$17.00

Whisper White A4 Card Stock

[106549]

$19.25

Gold Foil Sheets

[132622]

$8.50

Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad

[132708]

$12.00

Versamark Pad

[102283]

$18.25

Gold Stampin' Emboss Powder

[109129]

$10.75

Gold Faceted Gems

[144141]

$10.75

Stampin' Dimensionals

[104430]

$7.25

SIP 133 and ATSAM 275

I have a son who is a musician and so when his birthday rolls around I like to make something a bit special and with a music theme. I've played around before with the idea of using acetate as a card base and this is what I've done here. There is a panel for writing on at the back of the card.

I like the way that the front of the card seems to float over the background when it's folded.

It was difficult to photograph the card sitting open as it reflected background things like a mirror from many angles!

The inspiration from this card come from the sketch at Stamp, Ink, Paper and the photo inspiration at Addicted to Stamps and More, where I was struck by the bold black and white against gold and the stripes, which were a bit like lines of music from distance.

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

Further Update: Delighted to be an Honourable Addict at Addicted to Stamps and More.

Ingredients - Stampin' Up unless otherwise noted

Card: Acetate, Whisper White, Basic Black, Gold foil, unknown music paper

Stamps: Sheet Music, Big on Birthdays

Inks: versamark, Smoky Slate

Other: Layering circle framelits, Stitched Shape framelits, Music Clef die (Darice), gold embossing powder.

Colour Inkspiration 24

This week is insanely busy but the gorgeous colours on offer at Colour Inkspiration called to be played with.

Despite the Christmas vibe of the inspiration photo, I'm just over Christmas cards so turned to Oh So Eclectic instead. A supply of birthday cards is always good to have.

I really love the distressed leaf stamp that's part of this set all by itself but for this card, I stamped it with Pool Party, then lightly daubed the bottom edges and centre with Tranquil Tide for more variation.

The main flower and the sentiment are popped up on dimensionals.

This is a lovely colour combination and I like the calm, restful feel they create when put together.

Update: Delighted to be the winner at Colour Inkspiration with this card.

Ingredients - all products Stampin' Up

Card: Pool Party, Whisper White, Cherry Cobbler, Tranquil Tide

Stamps: Oh So Eclectic, Big on Birthdays

Inks: Pool Party, Tranquil Tide, Blushing Bride, Cherry Cobbler

Other: Eclectic layers thinlits, dimensionals, clear faceted gem, Tranquil Tide Stamp'n'Write marker.

CAS Colours and Sketches 251

Today's card was inspired by the sketch at CAS Colours and Sketches.

The centre panel is sponged gently in Tranquil Tide, Lemon-Lime Twist and Berry Burst then I've given it a very light bokeh effect layer with a circular mask and white pigment ink.

After inking the sentiment in Tuxedo Black, I re-stamped it with versamark, added powder and removed it from the spots I wanted to leave black. The final touch was to add in some gold glimmer stars die cut from the mini-treat bag framelit set. The centre panel is popped up on dimensionals.

Ingredients - all products Stampin' Up

Card: Tranquil Tide, Lemon-Lime Twist, Whisper White

Stamps: Big on Birthdays

Inks: Tranquil Tide, Berry Burst, Lemon-Lime Twist, white pigment ink, Tuxedo Black, Versamark

Other: sponges, circle masks cut into window sheet, gold embossing powder, dimensionals.

The Paper Players 364 - DT card

There were so many beautiful cards in last week's gallery at The Paper Players that came from Nance's versatile and pretty sketch. Big congratulations to the Headliner and Cuts Above! I think you'll be excited by this week's theme challenge from Sandy too.

Because I got Oh So Eclectic at the same time as my Christmas pre-orders, I feel I've neglected it, so it was today's choice of set to use. I did sneak in a couple of bits and bobs from Beautiful Bouquet and Bouquet Bunch framelits too.

The distressed leaf stamp is one of my favourites. On two them, I rolled the edges of the stamp through Cajun Craze after inking with Old Olive first to get the two-toned leaves. I used some of the Year of Cheer washi tape from the Holiday Catalogue because of the lovely copper tones and then added in a touch of copper metallic thread and gave the main flower a copper foil centre too.

We would love to have you join us at The Paper Players this week, for our Autumn Floral theme challenge.

Here's a reminder of the few rules we have:

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. Entries linked to more than 4 challenges, including ours, will be deleted without notification.
5. Have fun!

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.

We'd love to see what you do with this challenge this week, so please play along with us.

Ingredients

Card: Cajun Craze, Whisper White, Crushed Curry, scrap of Copper Foil

Stamps: Oh So Eclectic, Beautiful Bouquet, Big on Birthdays

Inks: Cajun Craze, Crushed Curry, Old Olive

Other: Eclectic Layers dies, Bouquet Bunch dies, Year of Cheer specialty washi tape, dimensionals, Copper metallic thread

CAS Colours and Sketches 228

It's colours week at CAS Colours and Sketches and this delightful combination enticed me out of my sick bed and into my craft room this afternoon.

I like the contrast of the very plain sentiment against the ornate background. It's lifted up using the new mini-dimensionals. 

I cut the medallion out of Dapper Denim and backed it with a circle of Peekaboo Peach. I copper embossed some details on the medallion before mounting it on the white card, matted with copper, onto the Dapper Denim base.

Update: Delighted to be a Weekly Winner at CAS Colours and Sketches!

Ingredients

Card: Dapper Denim, Copper foil, Peekaboo Peach, Whisper White

Stamps: Eastern Beauty, Big on Birthdays

Inks: Versamark, Dapper Denim

Other: Eastern Medallions thinlits, Copper embossing powder, Layered Circle dies, mini-dimensionals

As You See It 152 - DT Card

Welcome back to another challenge at As You See It. We loved all the entries in out Banner Day sketch and look forward to seeing what everyone makes of this one!

For me, the key things in this sketch were the circular focal point, the sentiment bisecting it and the 'frilly' bit around the outside. Here's how I saw them...

In this card, you see a rarity for me. I've used a large quantity of designer paper! 

To get the 'frilly bit' I've cut a scallop-edged circle from the paper, exposing a scallopy circle of the Fresh Fig card base. To get the inner and outer circle effect of the sketch, I've sponged Fresh Fig ink over the outer part of the medallion, which is cut directly into the card base, forming almost a rose window.

Such an ornate die-cut and showy DSP needed to be balanced by a fairly plain sentiment. I like the strong, simple lines of this sentiment from Big on Birthdays but couldn't resist some ombre stamping using Sweet Sugarplum and Fresh Fig. That was a sweet little idea that I discovered on one of the Artisan Team's blogs a couple of months ago.

In order to bisect the circular element more cleanly, I've used two snips of ribbon: one of finely woven Fresh Fig and one of the beautiful vanilla and gold Natural Trim.

You have two weeks to join us in this challenge and we'd love to see you in the gallery.

Ingredients

Card: Fresh Fig, Very Vanilla, DSP from Eastern Palace Specialty DSP

Stamps: Eastern Beauty, Big on Birthdays

Inks: Fresh Fig, Sweet Sugarplum

Other: Eastern Medallions dies, sponge dauber, dimensionals, Natural Trim (gold) ribbon, finely woven Fresh Fig ribbon, layering circle framelits.