Decorative Trees for AYSI 337

 Hi fellow stampers! It's time for a new challenge at As You See It. It's week 6 of the roster, so it's time for the love it or hate it SPEED STAMPING CHALLENGE.

For a speed challenge, you need to create on the given theme in ten minutes or less. 

Sound impossible? Well, you'll be relieved to know that it is possible and these are the rules around it:

• Thinking time is not counted in the ten minutes, so you can have planned out what you're going to make.
• Gathering supplies is not counted. So get out the set you want to use, block the stamps, put the embossing folder and dies by the machine, get the embellishments out of the drawer. 

• Clean up time is not included.

BUT...

Once you start crafting - eg cut some cardstock, ink a stamp, emboss or die cut anything then the timer has to start. 

SO....

Your challenge, should you wish to accept it, is to create something on the theme of Trees in ten minutes or less.

Don't forget to tell us your time in the post.

Since Christmas is nearing, I decided to go with using the Decorative Trees bundle. To keep things simple, I went for asimple colour scheme: Basic White + Shy Shamrock. 

I started with a Basic White thick cardbase and a panel of Basic White, embossed with the Forever Plaid 3D Embossing Folder.

I cut a Shy Shamrock tree shape, then used Shy Shamrock Glimmer paper to cut the decorative overlay and stars. Using double sided adhesive sheet on the glimmer paper made removing the pieces quick - they peeled off with the backing.

I popped the tree up on dimensionals and  added three glimmer paper stars. The sentiment is stamped in in Shy Shamrock then popped up on dimensionals. 

As there was still time on the clock, I added in three Shy Shamrock shimmer gems. 

Time taken:

There's nothing quite like having the clock running while you craft to turn this into an adrenalin hobby!

The team and I would love to see what you can do in ten minutes or less. Visit the As You See It page to see what the rest of the team have done and to link up your entry. You can join in the challenge until Wednesday December 5, 11.59pm PST.

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.

The Paper Players 413 - Design Team Card

This week at The Paper Players, Sandy has given us a theme challenge: trees and leaves. Such a good theme for this time of the year, with autumn in some parts of the world, spring in others and Christmas just around the corner.

Shimmer paint is a new product on offer in the Stampin' Up! Holiday catalogue and seems to have a myriad of uses. There are four colours to choose from: Vegas Gold, Bright Copper, Frost White and Champagne Mist. I'm having a class in a couple of weeks on using shimmer paint and so I used Sandy's challenge to come up with a card that shows off the gold paint.

I've used a sponge dauber to add some touches of gold to the inked stamps before I stamped them, I've used it to create a spray to add some shimmer to the corrugated panel and I can use it to paint the edge of the mat layer.

I think my people will enjoy this card and the other two cards we're making that use other colours in other ways. I also really like that this card uses a non-Christmas set to make a Christmas card. These sweet trees are from Rooted in Nature.

So, what kind of trees and leaves are you going to show us at The Paper Players? We'd love to see.

If you're going to join us, there's a couple of simple rules to keep in mind.

1. Create a new paper project.
2. Upload your project to your blog with a link back to The Paper Players.
3. Provide a direct link to your blog post for your challenge entry.
4. Please link your card to no more than FOUR challenges (including ours).

Please take note of these few rules as entries that do not comply will be deleted from the gallery. 

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. 

And, of course, you can shop with me from anywhere in New Zealand by clicking any of the products pictured below or the SHOP NOW button in the sidebar of this blog or you can message me.

Product List

Rooted In Nature Clear-Mount Bundle

[148353]

$153.00

Peaceful Noel Photopolymer Stamp Set

[147694]

$36.00

Old Olive A4 Card Stock

[106576]

$17.75

Very Vanilla A4 Card Stock

[106550]

$20.50

Old Olive Classic Stampin' Pad

[147090]

$15.75

Vegas Gold Shimmer Paint

[146886]

$16.75

Corrugated Dynamic Textured Impressions Embossing Folder

[148026]

$20.00

Gold Metallic Thread

[138401]

$7.25

Sponge Daubers

[133773]

$11.00

Stampin' Spritzer

[126185]

$6.00

Match the Sketch 194

Today, I've used the sketch at Match The Sketch for inspiration.

I've seen a lot of cards using watercolour wash backgrounds but I am particularly indebted to Natalie Lappako, aka the Stamp Witch, who recently did a lovely card using watercolour wash and Beachy Little Christmas and so I guess I've cased her! Check out her blog as it is wonderful, full of lovely cards and ideas.

I've used Pool Party, Calypso Coral and a touch of Crushed Curry for the background. I've reduced the size of the three elements around the sentiment strip but retained the idea of having one tucked under the sentiment.

Ingredients

Card: Crumb Cake, Pool Party, Whisper White, watercolour paper

Stamps: Beachy Little Christmas

Inks: versamark, Crumb Cake

Other: white embossing powder, dimensionals.

All products Stampin' Up.

Paper Players 322 CCMC 434

Today's card is inspired by the Clean and Simple challenge at The Paper Players and the colour challenge at Create with Connie and Mary.

This card turned out to be an exercise in enforced restraint. I was aiming for simple and almost home-spun so fought a constant battle with myself to NOT do things. So, I've considered and discarded several techniques, embellishments and bits: gold emboss the sentiment, sponge a Dijon background for the trees, layering the panel, colouring the hills, adding a curlicue to the sentiment.... Each and every one I talked myself out of doing  - and I'm pleased I did. I like the cleanness of the result which lets the homespun warmth of the paper carry the weight and warmth of the greeting.

I could have hand cut the trees but to make sure they all had the same angle I punched a normal sized tree, then punched the cut tree to make a smaller version. Then I trimmed the trunks to match the hill lines.

Update: Delighted to be a winner to Create with Connie and Mary this week.

Ingredients

Card: Delightful Dijon, Whisper White, DSP from Warmth and Cheer stack

Stamps: Oh What Fun!, Thoughtful Branches

Ink: Cherry Cobbler, Crumb Cake

Other: Tree punch, Gold metallic shapes.

Merry Monday Christmas 218

An all year round site entirely devoted to Christmas Cards! That's the Merry Monday challenge, a site I've not played at before. This week's challenge is...

So, I had this idea of some tartan Christmas trees against a sponged background and some hills. Since Christmas for us is a summer event, I just couldn't do snowy hills so we've got a summery scene instead.

The front layer of hills is popped up on dimensionals. The hills were created with Simon Says Stamp Stitched Hills and Slopes dies, which are pretty much NBUS even though I've had them a while. I think I'll use them more, now.

The trees are varying numbers of layers thick in order to create more sense of depth.

Ingredients

Card: Garden Green, Whisper White, DSP from Warmth and Cheer stack and Trim this Christmas stack (retired)

Stamps: Oh What Fun!

Inks: Garden Green, Delightful Dijon, Crumb Cake

Other: Tree punch (retired), Simon Says Stamp Stitched Hills and Slopes dies, Metallics enamel shapes, dimensionals, sponges