Thinking Stamping

Friday, 16 June 2023

Season of Chic for AYSI 301

Love it or hate, after each theme challenge we have our SPEED STAMPING challenge. For those who think stamping is a calm, relaxing hobby - almost akin to meditation or yoga - then clearly, they haven't ever participated in the speed challenge. Your mission, should you decide to accept it, is to create a project from scratch on the theme of 'seashells' in ten minutes or less!

Before you panic, your ten minutes does not include mental planning, setting up of equipment or clean up time. It's just the physical crafting of the item. So you can have your idea in your head, you can have your stamp sets blocked up, your dies on the bench, your embellishments ready to hand etc. BUT the moment you actually begin - you cut the card stock, you ink the stamp, you run a folder through the machine - THEN the timer starts. It's amazing how that ticking timer gets the heart rate moving!

If you regularly participate in the speed challenge, then you'll have developed some tricks to get maximum impact from the least time. Pretty paper and big die cuts are two of mine and both are on show here.

When buying stamps and bundles there are some I get knowing they're only in my collection for a while. Others are keepers and are part of the permanent collection. The Seashells dies and embossing folder are in this category. I just love the dies, especially when embossed on Pearlescent paper. It's sadly retired now but I'm sure most of us stocked up on it before it went. So pretty!

Another item from the retired collection was this lovely DSP from the Waves of the Ocean collection as it made a perfect backdrop for the seashells. It's another keeper in my book too.

Not everything was retired. That's the fun of a permanent collection - you can mix and match it with new things. So the sentiment is from Season of Chic, the label from Something Fancy dies and the gorgeous Natural Wavy Trim is from the 2023-4 Annual Catalogue. The embellishments are Iridescent Rhinestones.

How long did this take?

Be sure to pop over the the As You See It Challenge page so you can see what the rest of the team have done with their ten minutes and to link up your own entry.

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 by clicking here, or on any of the products below.

Product List

Items from my Permanent Collection (retired): Seashells dies and embossing folder, Waves of the Ocean DSP, Pearlescent paper.

Season Of Chic Photopolymer Stamp Set (English)

[158810]

$57.00

Something Fancy Dies

[160424]

$59.00

Petal Pink A4 Cardstock

[147009]

$21.00

Crumb Cake Classic Stampin' Pad

[147116]

$19.00

Baker's Twine Essentials Pack

[155475]

$23.25

Natural 1/4" (6.4 Mm) Wavy Trim

[161517]

$14.75

Iridescent Rhinestones Basic Jewels

[158130]

$15.75

Wednesday, 14 June 2023

Just My Type for Colour INKspiration 145

Welcome to the latest challenge at Colour INKspiration! This sweet confection of a palette was chosen for us by Crew Member Cheryll Miller. Beautiful and bright, isn't it?

If you haven't played with us before, we are a group of Stampin' Up Demonstrators from the South Pacific. Challenges are shown and entered via our Facebook Group page. If you don't belong, and would like to, click here. Don't forget to answer the three easy questions you'll be asked when you ask to join the group.

Each challenge, Top Picks and a winner are chosen by the crew and the winner offered a chance to Guest Design with us for a future challenge. We welcome our guest designer this challenge, Vicki Allanson.

If you don't have an exact challenge colour, feel free to replace it with whatever you have that's closest, for example Parakeet Party for Lemon Lime Twist. Black, White, Very Vanilla, Crumb Cake, Sahara Sand and metallics are free colours, as are flesh toned Stampin' Blends.

I loved these bright colours and thought they'd go well with my latest addition to the craft room, Just My Type.

I paired it up with the lovely Rays of Light background stamp. Don't you just love the sense of fun and movement it gives?

If you'd like to see how I made this card and have a go yourself, then here's a tutorial to show you.

We'd love to have you join in the challenge with us. Visit the Colour INKspiration page to check out the album of Crew Cards for inspiration. You can also add your entry there. We all enjoy seeing what you do with our colour palettes, so join in!

You can shop with me from anywhere in New Zealand by clicking here, or on any of the products below.

Product List

Just My Type Photopolymer Stamp Set (English)

[161614]

$51.00

Rays Of Light Cling Stamp Set

[158925]

$38.00

Blueberry Bushel A4 Cardstock

[146991]

$21.00

Lemon Lime Twist A4 Cardstock

[144250]

$21.00

Basic White A4 Cardstock

[159228]

$22.25

Blueberry Bushel Classic Stampin' Pad

[147138]

$19.00

Lemon Lime Twist Classic Stampin' Pad

[147145]

$19.00

Tahitian Tide Classic Stampin' Pad

[159210]

$19.00

Tahitian Tide 1/8'' (3.2 Mm) Metallic Woven Ribbon

[159197]

$19.00

2022 2024 In Color Matte Decorative Dots

[159186]

$17.00

Stampin' Dimensionals

[104430]

$9.00

Tuesday, 13 June 2023

Earthen Textures for Stampin' Fancy Friday

Hi everyone,

Just a quick post to share with you my latest project for Stampin' Fancy Friday, the Instagram Inspiration brought to you by a group of past and current Stampin' Up! Artisan team members.

Our challenge this month was to use spots or stripes. Every day, there's a new inspiration for you so if you haven't already, make sure to follow @stampinfancyfriday yet, then you should!

I'm a spots over stripes person all the way, so here it is.....

I do love the new Earthen Textures bundle, so it was a go-to for this challenge. Also a new favourite is the torn edge sentiment label from Gorgeously Made.

But for dots, it's hard to go past the Dots & Spots die and the gorgeous polka dots in the family stacks of 6" x 6" DSP.

And of course, those gorgeous 2023-2025 In Color embellishments! Not a dot or spot but don't you just love that cross-hatched embossing folder? It's one of the 3 pack of Basic Folders from the On Line Exclusives.

Don't forget to hit Instagram @stampinfancyfriday to see the inspiration from the rest of the team.

You can shop with me from anywhere in New Zealand by clicking here, or on any of the products below.

Product List

Earthen Textures Bundle (English)

[161514]

$116.00

Pebbled Path A4 Cardstock

[161731]

$21.00

Wild Wheat A4 Cardstock

[161734]

$21.00

Copper Clay A4 Cardstock

[161730]

$21.00

Basic White A4 Cardstock

[159228]

$22.25

Copper Clay Classic Stampin' Pad

[161647]

$19.00

2023–2025 In Color 6" X 6" (15.2 X 15.2 Cm) Designer Series Paper

[161646]

$26.25

2023–2025 In Color™ Dots

[161620]

$17.00

Dots & Spots Die

[163098]

$68.00

Stylish Shapes Dies

[159183]

$63.00

Gorgeously Made Dies

[161202]

$68.00

Basics 3 D Embossing Folders

[161598]

$63.00

Sunday, 4 June 2023

Enjoy the Rhythm for Just Add Ink 655

I have a new stamp set. I've had it a while now and I've been looking for a reason to crack it open. This week's challenge at Just Add Ink gave me just the reason!

I love music sets so I bought Enjoy the Rhythm just because it was there. I'm sorry I left it for so long. Now I've opened it, I feel a few more cards coming on....

For this card, I created a sponged and spritzed background using Lemon-Lime Twist, Azure Afternoon and Starry Sky, then stamped on various images from Enjoy the Rhythm.

It turns out that the sentiments in the set (at least the ones I used) marry perfectly with the Something Fancy dies, so I used them to build up this cluster.