Thinking Stamping: CAS cards

Jan Clothier - You are here

You can stamp with me, and shop with me, from anywhere in New Zealand. Click here.

Sunday, 19 April 2026

A Blast from the Past for The Paper Players 782

Thank you to everyone who played along with my colour challenge last week. It seems lots of people enjoyed the bold colours because there were wonderful cards in the gallery and choosing my Headliner was difficult.

Christy has a Clean and Simple theme for us this week at The Paper Players. It's a double challenge: create something with a Baby Animal theme AND create in a Clean and Simple Style.

At The Paper Players, by Clean and Simple we mean minimal layering, minimal use of embellishments and lots of open space.

As soon as I saw Christy's theme, I knew exactly which (retired) set I wanted to use. Little Elephant was such a favourite of mine, especially for baby cards. Maybe it was my need for a baby card that brought the set to mind but once I'd thought of it, I couldn't see my way to using anything else. I'm sure a few of you will have it sitting in your stamping library too. 😀

Anyway, I also thought it was a good chance to try out some of the new In-Colors that will be available 5 May. When I first saw them, I thought they'd make good baby cards so I gave four of the five a run.

In each of the cards, the sponged grass line is in Peaceful Pine, which is a really useful green unlike any of our current greens.

Then I went for a boy card, a girl card and a gender neutral card using Hydrangea Hue, Barely Blush and Golden Glow. Note the new ink pad design, which at the moment is only available for the new In Colors but will coming to other colours over time.

The little hearts in each card are in Barely Blush, and I used coordinating embellishments for each colour.

Originally, I'd planned on just using the elephant scene and sentiment on a coloured base but I let myself be persuaded to add a strip of In Color Painted Patterns DSP to each one as well. CAS or not-CAS? What do you think? I think I'm on the CAS side of the cusp. 😀

The team are all looking forward to seeing what you do with the baby animal theme and in a CAS style. You can see what the rest of the team have done and link up your own entry at The Paper Players.

Here's a quick recap of our challenge rules:

Create a new paper-craft project specifically for this challenge.
Upload your creation to your blog with a link back to us.
Please provide a direct link to the post featuring your challenge entry.
Please link your card to no more than four challenges, TOTAL, including ours
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.

Anne Marie Hile (on leave)

Jan Clothier - You are here

You can stamp with me, and shop with me, from anywhere in New Zealand. Click here.

Thursday, 16 April 2026

Rolling Waves for CAS Colours & Sketches 583

I was taken by Deborah's sketch over at CAS Colour & Sketches this week, so made a bit of time to have a play with it.

I liked the clean look of the sketch and the endless possibilities for the horizontal trio of elements. Since I'm still having an early acquisition romance with the Rolling Waves bundle (Online Exclusive) it seemed natural to go to that.

I've played quite a lot with the sea shell dies and the wave building stamps and dies but had yet to really try out the beach umbrellas. Here's where that ended up....

I stamped the water with Pool Party ink, daubed with some bits of Coastal Cabana. Then I sponged very lightly along the waterline with some Pecan Pie ink to suggest the sand. I stamped the sentiment in Basic Gray, saving the 'Happy Birthday' for the inside of the card.

The bit I enjoyed the most was die-cutting and assembling a trio of sun umbrellas from Flirty Flamingo, Pool Party and Daffodil Delight. There's a trio of rhinestones atop the umbrellas to simulate the end of the support pole and a tiny starfish as embellishment.

In the bottom photo, if you squint your eyes just right, you might be able to detect the 'seafoam' on the wave - a band of Wink of Stella. Clear in real life, less so in the photo! Isn't that always the way?

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.

Sunday, 22 March 2026

Shell Collecting for CAS Colours and Sketches 581

Joanne had a sketch at CAS Colours & Sketches that really intrigued me, so I played along with it this afternoon.

It turned out to be a little trickier than I'd thought, mainly because the inset image needs to be small enough to not crowd the space but not so small as to be lost. I decided on using Shell Collecting, since I'm trying to hang on to the last vestiges of summer even as the cool mornings and turning leaves are telling a different story! Plus, who doesn't love shells?

That then brought me to what the larger piece would be. My natural self was shouting for an embossed panel because I'm always going to choose texture over pattern but.... it just wasn't working out for me. So I have broken out the DSP which is something I seldom do in cards. To me the obvious partner for sea shells is the wonderful Country Woods. But which pattern? And should I buy another whole packet of it in case it retires?

Anyway, this is where I came to....

Product details for this one include: Image and sentiment stamped in Early Espresso, Colouring with Petal Pink Stampin' Blends, Sentiment from Sweet Jar, Sentiment label from Textured Notes, Embellishments Rhinestones coloured with Misty Moonlight Stampin' Blend, Wink of Stella on the shell, Stylish Shapes to cut the circular notch, dimensionals for the sentiment and shell, Misty Moonlight card base.

I enjoyed the making of this card so much - and had changed my mind on it so many times - that I made another two to create a small gift set.

You can stamp with me, and shop with me, from anywhere in New Zealand. Click here.

Sunday, 15 March 2026

Simply Zinnia for The Paper Players 777

This week at the Paper Players, JayDee is our hostess. She's got a fabulous double challenge for us: it's not only a floral theme but it's also to be done in a CAS (Clean and Simple style). We had wonderful entries last week in Joanne's Rainbow Colours challenge and I look forward to seeing what everyone does with this one!

By Clean and Simple, we mean that your creation should have lots of open white space, minimal layers and minimal embellishments. It's a time for paring back, and not adding lots of extras.

I've been having a craft room clean up and sort out - confession, it's been going on for some months now - but it's reminded me of the wonderful library of stamps and dies that I've built up over the years. Many of them haven't seen love because there's always something new coming in the door. But it's been both liberating and enjoyable to use retired things - especially when they can be married up with new things.

One of my favourite florals is the retired Simply Zinnia and I enjoyed getting it out to play with for this challenge. I stamped the image in Tuxedo Black and coloured in with Stampin' Blends: Strawberry Slush, Pretty in Pink, Granny Apple Green, Daffodil Delight and Crumb Cake. Doing the colouring in was both relaxing and therapeutic. Then I die cut the image out so it could be popped up on dimensionals.

I stamped the sentiment in Tuxedo Black on the Basic White card front, then did a partial emboss with the Damask Designs embossing folder.

The finishing touch was a trio of pink gems.

What will you make for JayDee's challenge? Don't forget that it must both be floral AND CAS. 😀

Here's a quick recap of our challenge rules:

Create a new paper-craft project specifically for this challenge.
Upload your creation to your blog with a link back to us.
Please provide a direct link to the post featuring your challenge entry.
Please link your card to no more than four challenges, TOTAL, including ours
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.

Anne Marie Hile (on leave)

Jan Clothier - You are here

You can stamp with me, and shop with me, from anywhere in New Zealand. Click here.

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Sunday, 15 February 2026

Wildflower Birthday for Paper Players 773

Welcome to a new challenge at The Paper Players! Our hostess this week is the wonderful Stef and she has a clean and simple challenge for us: Balloons and Birthdays.

Many thanks to all of you who played along with Ann's dreamy colour challenge - the gallery was gorgeous!

I did have to remind myself that this is not only a birthday and balloons challenge but also a Clean-and-Simple challenge, so there had to be lots of white space and minimal embellishment in the design. Fortunately, I like a clean and simple design. More challenging was to find some balloons in my stash! You wouldn't think it would be that hard... but turned out it was.

To the rescue came the Wildflower Celebrations DSP, which came with two sheets of punch out ephemera. I used the balloon and a separate one of tiny flowers to create the focal point and worked from there. I used two scraps of the paper to create steps for the balloon to rest on. Sadly, this paper seems to be retired.

I used the Beautiful Pattern embossing folder to give the card front some interest. After attaching the paper steps, I added the balloon but popped it up on dimensionals for some lift.

The sentiment, stamped in Blueberry Bushel to match the DSP, is from Sweet Jar. It's cut with my favourite banner from Stylish Shapes. It's finished off with a trio of pink gems.

What will you do with this Clean and Simple Theme? You can see what the rest of the team have done, and link up your entry, at The Paper Players page.

Here's a quick recap of our challenge rules:

Create a new paper-craft project specifically for this challenge.
Upload your creation to your blog with a link back to us.
Please provide a direct link to the post featuring your challenge entry.
Please link your card to no more than four challenges, TOTAL, including ours
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.

Anne Marie Hile (on leave)

Jan Clothier - You are here

You can stamp with me, and shop with me, from anywhere in New Zealand. Click here.

Sunday, 17 August 2025

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:

Create a new paper-craft project specifically for this challenge.
Upload your creation to your blog with a link back to us.
Please provide a direct link to the post featuring your challenge entry.
Please link your card to no more than four challenges, TOTAL, including ours
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.

Anne Marie Hile (on leave)

Jan Clothier - You are here

You can stamp with me, and shop with me, from anywhere in New Zealand. Click here.

Sunday, 20 July 2025

Fun on Wheels for PP747

I hope every one enjoyed Ann's pretty colour challenge. I certainly enjoyed looking at the creations! Thanks for playing along with us at The Paper Players.

This week, LeAnne has a double challenge for us: something with wheels AND in a clean and simple style. I suspect that for many of you, the hardest part will be keeping things clean and simple (CAS).

By CAS, we mean: minimal use of layers, minimal use of embellishments, lots of open white space.

Looking through my 'current set' shelf, I found not one thing with a wheel on it. So it was time to move to my 'retired' shelf aka 'my stamp library'. Fun on Wheels really was a fun set and I keep it because it's so good for teens with the scooter and skateboard, and the cyclists in the world with a couple of options on offer. Plus, I love the map stamp, which I've repeat stamped in Azure Afternoon.

I stamped the vintage cycle in Versamark and embossed it with WOW Black embossing powder before die cutting it and putting it over the maps. I love the way this image looks as if it's coming out of the page straight at you.

If I'd realised when I started how the design would evolve, I'd have embossed the cycle straight onto the card front: another option to get a similar result.😀

I black embossed the 'Happy Birthday' sentiment from The Right Words then cut it out with a banner die from Stylish Shapes. The embellishments are Basic Rhinestones coloured with Azure Afternoon Stampin' Blends.

What sort of wheels will you play with this week? 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:

Create a new paper-craft project specifically for this challenge.
Upload your creation to your blog with a link back to us.
Please provide a direct link to the post featuring your challenge entry.
Please link your card to no more than four challenges, TOTAL, including ours
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.

Anne Marie Hile (on leave)

Jan Clothier - You are here

You can stamp with me, and shop with me, from anywhere in New Zealand. Click here.

Sunday, 15 June 2025

Cheers & Sips for Paper Players 742

Hello everyone! Time for a new challenge at The Paper Players and our hostess this week is Claire. She has given us a two fold challenge this week. It's both a Clean and Simple Challenge and with the theme of Fresh and Fruity.

So, what does Clean and Simple mean? It means that your project should have a lot of clean, white space. There should be few layers or embellishments. The finished project should feel crisp and uncluttered.

I've been playing around a lot with the Celebratory Sips suite from Online Exclusives. and there are the sweetest little strawberries, citrus slices and mint leaves with which to embellish your drinks.

I used the dies to cut a tall and short class but did not stamp them first. They were cut from a piece of the Celebratory Sips DSP but not stamped with an outline, although I did stamp in some ice cubes. I ran the tall glass through the Cut and Emboss machine with the impression die to give the effect of cut glass.

I used the glass embossing folder from the Glass & Gardens embossing folder duo to give some texture to the background. Then I stamped some berries, citrus and mint and coloured them in with Stampin' Blends. The strawberries are coloured with Strawberry Slush and Lemon-Lime Twist. The lemons with Daffodil Delight and the limes with Granny Apple Green.

Once they were die cut - and some of the citrus split to fit the edge of the glass or cut into smaller segments - I had fun arranging them in and around the glasses.

I added in a sentiment from Cheers & Sips and some Holographic Resin Dots (perhaps pushing the boundary of CAS but I did it anyway)!

I can't wait to see all the Clean and Simple creations in this week's challenge!

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:

Create a new paper-craft project specifically for this challenge.
Upload your creation to your blog with a link back to us.
Please provide a direct link to the post featuring your challenge entry.
Please link your card to no more than four challenges, TOTAL, including ours
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.

Anne Marie Hile (on leave)

Jan Clothier - You are here