Mediterranean Blooms for AYSI 331

You might have noticed that the challenges at As You See It rotate through six different styles meaning that every twelve weeks, you'll get a repeat style. Well, this week it's back to the one you either love or hate: the SPEED challenge.

That's right, a speed challenge. All we're asking you to do is to create something with a fruit theme in TEN MINUTES OR LESS.

Before you spill your coffee or fall off your chair at the thought, here's how it works. 

Before the clock starts you can:

• Plan what you're going to make
• Get out your supplies (e.g. put the inks and embellishments on the table)
• Set up things (e.g. block the stamps and set up the correct sandwich in the die cutting machine.)

But once you cut anything or ink anything then the clock has to start. 

You'll also be pleased to know that clean-up time is not included either since this type of adrenalin inducing crafting usually leads to a bigger mess than normal!

If you speed stamp often, you'll work out a few tricks that help you. For me, it's one of the times I'm likely to use DSP since you can get high impact with little effort.

I had some of the lovely Mediterranean Blooms DSP left over from a class. I thought I'd try out the Rip and Flip technique I'd seen the wonderful Jacque Williams use. 

Now this is a variation on something I've done before. Since Stampin' Up's DSP is double sided, I've quite often cut the paper and turned over one panel then added a sentiment and some embellishments for a quick card. The difference here is that you rip the panel, flip over one side and see what happens.

I really like the result, but maybe that's just because the fruity side of the paper looks so jolly good against the tiled side!

I don't actually have the Citrus Blooms bundle that coordinates with this paper, so I used Something Fancy stamps and dies for my sentiments.

The card base is Night of Navy and the tag is shadowed with Boho Blue. The embellishments are Basic Rhinestones, coloured with a Night of Navy Stampin' Blend.

And the time taken for this ripping and flipping? 

I enjoyed doing it so much, that I made a companion for it.

The team and I would love to see your speedy creations. 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 September 11, 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.

Mediterranean Blooms for Paper Players 703

 Hello and welcome to the newest challenge at The Paper Players. Thank you to everyone who joined in last week for my colour challenge. I feel more confident now that I've had my first turn at being the hostess. I really enjoyed seeing the different ways people used the colours I'd chosen. 

This week, Claire has a Clean and Simple challenge for you with the theme of FRUIT. Who doesn't love fruit?

The trick this week is to remember that not only does the theme have to be fruit-related but it also has to be done in a clean and simple style.

What does Clean and Simple mean? Well, it means that you should:

• Keep layers to a minimum
• Keep lots of clear, open space
• Keep embellishments to a minimum.

I almost went wrong with this step, even though I favour a relatively clean and simple style. I launched into making my card then realised it had turned into something multi-layered and complex. Nice card, but not right for this challenge!

So, back to the drawing board.  I went and came up with this....

I started by fussy cutting a bunch of lemons from the ever-so-pretty Mediterranean Blooms DSP along with some extra flowers. 

I cut a circle using the Spotlight on Nature dies, then stamped the sentiment in the lower right quadrant.

The background panel is embossed using the Cute Crochet embossing folder. 

After assembling adding the circle to the front, I added in the fussy cut lemons then added in some extra flowers popped up on dimensionals. Because really, you've got to have a little bling, I added in some Basic Rhinestone Jewels as centres.

You can pop over to The Paper Players page to see what the rest of the design team have done and to add in your own entry. We'd love to see what you do with these colours!

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

Ann Schach

Jan Clothier - You are here

Stef Perry

Eliz Stewart

Cynthia Stevenson

Jolanda Johnstone

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.