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.

Retro Rubber 71 - DT card

Welcome to Retro Rubber's newest challenge. It's everyone's favourite, Anything Goes.

It's not quite anything goes though. Since it's Retro Rubber, you do still have to use at least one stamp older than a year, tell us approximately how old it is and not enter more than ten challenges in total.

I always enjoy using this set, Birthday Blooms, which was first available from the 2016 Occasions mini-catalogue. Timeless Textures first appeared in the same catalogue. I like how it looks with the bright colours from this year's In-Colours: Berry Burst, Tranquil Tide and some touches of Lemon-Lime Twist. The sentiment is from Big on Birthdays, from the January this year.

I stamped the bloom on watercolour paper, then coloured it using diluted ink, fussy cut it and popped it up on dimensionals. The background I created using various elements from Timeless Textures. Then finally, I added in a few of the lovely glitter enamel shapes in Berry Burst.

We'd love to have you join us for this challenge, so dust off some of those old stamps, show them a bit of love and show us what you've done. You have until September 22 to link up at Retro Rubber.

Don't forget: at least one stamp over a year old, tell us the approximate age and don't link up to more than ten challenges in total.

Ingredients

Card: Berry Burst, Whisper White, watercolour paper

Stamps: Birthday Blooms, Big on Birthdays, Timeless Textures

Inks: Black Stazon, Berry Burst, Tranquil Tide, Lemon-Lime Twist

Other: Glitter enamel dots, dimensionals

All products are Stampin' Up

The Paper Players 361 - DT Card

This week's challenge at The Paper Players is a very pretty colour combination. by Jaydee. It made me think of Spring - as did the bunch of freesias that a friend gave me this morning.

Pink Pirouette is a colour I don't use much. I'm not sure why. Perhaps it's because Blushing Bride has always been my 'go to' pink. I hunted around and found that I did have a Pink Pirouette marker from when I bought a Subtles set and a couple of sheets of card from a mixed Subtles pack.

All the cards I've made using Oh, So Eclectic have been bright, so today I thought I'd try subtle.

The flowers were silver-embossed then coloured. I do love the leaves from Oh, So Eclectic! I adore that distressed look. The little silver glimmer stems are from the Eclectic Layers dies. You can see the vellum circle in behind, which I cut with the stitched circle framelit die. It's easier to see in real life because it contrasts the shiny surface of the foil acetate.

If you're thinking of joining us, there are just a few rules to remember.

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!

We'd love to have you join us at The Paper Players.

This card was also inspired by the sketch challenge at Freshly Made Sketches this week.

If you hurry, you'll be able to join them too!

Update: Delighted to have this card chosen as Queen of Clean at Freshly Made Sketches.

If you live anywhere in New Zealand and don't have a Stampin' Up Demonstrator, you can contact me for ideas and Stampin' Up products. You can leave a message in a comment or through my Facebook page, linked in the sidebar of this blog.

Ingredients

Card: Pink Pirouette, Whisper White, Silver glimmer paper, vellum, foil acetate

Stamps: Oh, So Eclectic, Big on Birthdays

Inks: Pear Pizzazz, Tuxedo Black, versamark, Pink Pirouette and Pear Pizzazz markers

Other: Eclectic Layers thinlits, Stitched shapes framelits, dimensionals, Silver embossing powder, clear faceted gem

Global Design Project 103

This is a quick post for a card I realised I needed quickly: a card for a new baby boy. So it's definitely a 'for him' card, which is this week's challenge at Global Design Project.

I've never used this little die-cut from Birds and Blooms before, although the rest of the set has had plenty of work-outs. He's so cute and I inlaid his wings with some silver and gave him a tiny pearl eye. There's some sponging in Soft Sky around the edge of the Brush Strokes background and the stitched oval.

Ingredients

Card: Soft Sky, Whisper White, Silver foil

Stamps: Best Birds, Brush Strokes

Ink: Soft Sky, versamark

Other: Birds and Blooms thinlits, Layering Oval framelits, Stitched Shapes framelits, silver embossing powder, Silver metallic thread, pearls, enamel shapes, sponges

As You See It 158 - DT card

This week, at As You See It Challenge, we've a very pretty sketch for you to play with.

I'm still in Christmas mode,  although this card uses hardly anything that is explicitly a Christmas set, except for the sentiment which is from Hearts Come Home. This set and the silver snowflake doily are in the newly released in the Holiday Catalogue.

These gorgeous snowflakes are from the Seasonal Layers dies, part of the Colour Theory suite. The crackly-patterned DSP is also from the Colour Theory suite.

We'd love to have you join us at As You See It. You have two weeks to play with us. Just link up by Wednesday 20 September and show us your creation.

If you live in New Zealand and don't have a demonstrator, please feel free to contact me. I'd love to help you out with ideas and Stampin' Up supplies. There's a link to my Facebook page in the sidebar if you'd like to message me.

Ingredients

Card: Dapper Denim, Colour Theory stack, Whisper White, Marina Mist, Vellum

Stamps: Hearts Come Home

Ink: Dapper Denim

Other: Seasonal Layers thinlits, silver Snowflake doily, Dapper Denim ruched ribbon (retired), narrow silver ribbon, faceted gems, rhinestones.

All products Stampin' Up.

Paper Players 360 - DT Card

After last week's gorgeous sketch challenge, this week at The Paper Players we have a theme challenge for you.

Back to school is the challenge this week. Of course, in my part of the world it isn't back to school. We still have a term and a half left of the school year and we're a month away from the next school holidays. Still, the start of the school year will come again and it doesn't have to be the beginning of the year to give an encouraging card or a thanks to a teacher either.

This challenge is interesting for me, as I am teacher-librarian at a local secondary school. Although the first instinct with a school theme is bright, primary colours and ABCs, or maybe apples and numbers, I started thinking about the teenagers I mix with every day at work. 

It's a common idea that reading is dead and teens are only interested in their phone or their gaming consoles. Some are but there are still plenty of readers out there. Some of them are even reading on their phones or i-pads because it's not the medium that matters but the story. I'm really lucky to be able to spend parts of my working day talking to them about what they've read, hearing them enthuse about their latest read, musing about when their favourite author's next book will be out and helping them with what they'd like to read next.

Now, I'm a Good Reads girl and keep track of my reading and want-to-reads on Good Reads but not everyone does. I've noticed students scribbling down book suggestions on bits of scrap paper or coming in with a tatty list, which is why my project is an altered notebook made to be a reading journal: a place to jot down titles, interesting quotes, questions and thoughts about your books. There's a matching book mark because no matter how many book marks you have, it's never enough and our print collection is still more heavily used than our e-book collection.

We'd love to have you join us at The Paper Players this week. If you do, there's a couple of simple rules to keep in mind.

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!

Any products are welcome but if you live in New Zealand and don't have a Stampin' Up Demonstrator to help you with ideas or provide you with wonderful SU products, then please message me on my Facebook Page (link in the sidebar of this blog) or leave a comment below. I'd love to help you craft.

Ingredients

Card: Whisper White, Basic Grey, Lemon-Lime Twist, Fresh Florals DSP, a notebook

Stamps: SU Butterfly Basics, SU Dictionary, Dark Room Door Bookworm

Inks: Lemon-Lime Twist, Basic Grey, Smoky Slate, Tuxedo Black

Other: Grace Taylor Washi Tape, American Thickers chipboard letters, sponge, Lemon-Lime Twist ribbon, White baker's twine, SU scallop-top tag punch.

SIP 114

I've been enjoying playing around with some of my new stuff from the Holiday Catalogue, including the Hearts Come Home bundle. I'd been thinking about how it could be used to update (and hopefully to improve) on a card I made a couple of years ago and the sketch at Stamp, Ink, Paper turned out to be the perfect chance to try it.

It feels a little bit cheaty, since I'm using the same set and same layout as LeAnne's design team card but I think that it shows the great versatility of the bundle that they do look so different with different choices.

All items in the Holiday catalogue are now available. If you live in New Zealand and don't have a demonstrator and would like a catalogue, please contact me. You can message me on my Facebook page, linked in the sidebar of this blog, or leave a comment below.

Ingredients

Card: Night of Navy, Whisper White, Silver glimmer paper

Stamps: Hearts Come Home, Oh What Fun (sentiment)

Inks: Night of Navy,  Marina Mist, Island Indigo, silver (non-SU product)

Other: Sparkle embossing folder, silver ribbon, dimsensionals, Hometown Greetings edgelit dies, Layering cirlce framelits, metallic shapes, sponges.

All items Stampin' Up, except the silver ink.