As You See It 168 - Design Team Card

I was excited to see Amanda's sketch for the team at As You See It this week because it really got me thinking about how to play it.

I'd had Sunshine Sayings out to make a card for another design team and it was still on my desk. I got to thinking that the flower die in Sunshine Wishes would work well in this sketch.

The Powder Pink flower is the shadow image. The Melon Mambo one is layered onto a black one which is peeping out as a shadow, giving it more depth. There is clear Wink of Stella inside the petals of the blooms.

You have until Wednesday 7 February, 11.55 p.m. PST to join us at As You See It and we'd love to see how you see it.

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. Sale-a-bration is on and there's a new Special Occasion Catalogue out. 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.

Ingredients

Card: Basic Black, Melon Mambo, Powder Pink, Whisper White, Fresh Florals DSP

Stamps: Sunshine Sayings

Inks: Tuxedo Black

Other: Sunshine Wishes thinlits, Enamel dots, dimensionals, Pick a Pattern washi tape, clear Wink of Stella

Stamp, Ink, Paper 134

Today was our third scorching hot day in a row and in the end, I was driven from my craft room into the swimming pool. Once the heat of the day passed from extreme to bearable, I got back in to finish this card for Stamp, Ink, Paper's interesting colour challenge.

Interesting because they're similar colours which, to me, was a bit scary. I decided to play around with some ombre effects, so I've blended the three colours together over some white embossed images from Amazing You, a Sale-a-bration item that I can't get enough of. I just love those flowers!

Then I've used two inks on the sentiment. I left other embellishments out to let the colours do all the work.

I'm happy at how smoothly the colours blended together to show off the white-on-white embossing and the warm colours certainly reflected the temperature today!

Update: Delighted to be a Top Pick at Stamp, Ink, Paper this week.

Ingredients - all products Stampin' Up

Card: Calypso Coral, Whisper White

Stamps: Amazing You, Perennial Birthday

Inks: Blushing Bride, Calypso Coral, Berry Burst, versamark

Other: White embossing powder, sponges.

Cas(e) This Sketch 255 JAI 392

I was happy to use the sketch at CAS(E) This Sketch as inspiration for today's card.

I am continuing my exploration of Petal Palette, a gorgeous set that I bought from the new Occasions catalogue. This card uses not only the stamps but also the co-ordinating dies (Petals and More) and embossing folder (Petal Pair).

This card is a rarity for me, made as it is from a single sheet of Heavy Whisper White card, with no extra layers or inserts. I have embossed straight onto the card front then picked out the design by softly (and carefully) sponging on Blushing Bride and Pear Pizzazz. This sponging was a technique I was shown by my upline's upline - so I guess my Stampin' Up grandmother - Pauline.

The embossing folder is just the right size to emboss the back flap of the envelope perfectly.

Since I'm playing with my new stamps, dies and - newest of all - embossing folder, I'm going to also enter at Just Add Ink's Challenge too.

Update: Delighted to get an Honourable Mention at Just Add Ink this week!

Ingredients - all products Stampin' Up

Card: Heavy Whisper White, gold foil, Whisper white

Stamps: Petal Palette

Inks: Versamark, Blushing Bride, Pear Pizzazz

Other: gold embossing powder, Petals and More framelits, Petal Pair embossing folder, dimensionals, metallic shapes, sponges.

The Paper Players 377 - Design Team Card

There were lots of great cards in the colour challenge last week at The Paper Players. This week, as normal, we have a Clean and Simple Challenge for you and Joanne has chosen 'Love Notes'.

Recently, I had a friend come round and we had a 'play-date' with our respective new SU gear. We'd both got an order on the same day, so got together to play with it all. Interestingly, despite both of us having big orders, we had only one item - a Sale-a-bration set - in common.

So the stamps, Heart Happiness, and the heart framelits that cut them, do not belong to me ... yet.

The card base is from Tutti-Frutti Cards and Envelopes, a Sale-a-bration item: one item with each $110 in an order. What I particularly like about them is the co-ordinating envelopes that come already lined.

We'd love to have you join us at The Paper Players this week. Here's a reminder of the rules of the challenge.

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!

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. Sale-a-bration is on and there's a new Special Occasion Catalogue out. 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.

Ingredients - all products Stampin' Up

Card: Tutti-Frutti Card and Envelope, Crumb Cake, Whisper White

Stamps: Heart Happiness, Petal Palette (sentiment)

Inks: Pool Party, Crumb Cake

Other: Pool Party and Crumb Cake markers, Pool Party enamel shape, dimensionals.

SIP 133 and ATSAM 275

I have a son who is a musician and so when his birthday rolls around I like to make something a bit special and with a music theme. I've played around before with the idea of using acetate as a card base and this is what I've done here. There is a panel for writing on at the back of the card.

I like the way that the front of the card seems to float over the background when it's folded.

It was difficult to photograph the card sitting open as it reflected background things like a mirror from many angles!

The inspiration from this card come from the sketch at Stamp, Ink, Paper and the photo inspiration at Addicted to Stamps and More, where I was struck by the bold black and white against gold and the stripes, which were a bit like lines of music from distance.

Update: Delighted to be a Top Pick at Stamp, Ink, Paper this week.

Further Update: Delighted to be an Honourable Addict at Addicted to Stamps and More.

Ingredients - Stampin' Up unless otherwise noted

Card: Acetate, Whisper White, Basic Black, Gold foil, unknown music paper

Stamps: Sheet Music, Big on Birthdays

Inks: versamark, Smoky Slate

Other: Layering circle framelits, Stitched Shape framelits, Music Clef die (Darice), gold embossing powder.

Retro Rubber 78 - Design Team Card

Jane has some wonderful challenges for us this year and our first challenge of the year is a fantastic one: white on white with one neutral colour allowed.

The only rules for our challenges are simple: use at least one stamp that's older than a year, give us the approximate age of that stamp and don't link up to more than ten challenges.

In fact, the dies and all the stamps in this card are older than a year. Floral Phrases came out in the Annual Catalogue in 2016. Bloomin' Love stamps and dies came out in the Occasion Catalogue in 2016. I've gone for a simple but romantic occasion card.

Here's a closer view...

You can join us up until 26 January, so get out your old stamps and show them some love. We'd love to see what you do!

I'm going to enter this card at Inspire.Create Challenge where the order of the day is a love theme.

Update: Delighted to be a Runner Up at Inspire. Create this week.

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. If you would like a copy of the new Special Occasions Catalogue or the Sale-a-bration brochure and don't have a demonstrator, then contact me. You can message me through my Facebook page, linked in the sidebar of this blog or leave a comment below. 

Ingredients - All products Stampin' Up

Card: Whisper White

Stamps: Floral Phrases, Bloomin' Love

Ink: Versamark

Other: Bloomin' Heart thinlits, gold embossing powder, dimensionals

The Paper Players 376 - Design Team Card

After last week's Punny Valentine Challenge at The Paper Players, we have an exciting colour challenge for you: three core colours plus one other of your choice.

I had a bit of trouble including a fourth colour but went for using some touches of copper to help accent the sentiment.

I enjoyed using a new set from the Occasions catalogue, Perennial Birthday. Apart from a number of great birthday sentiments,  the other stamps in the set are floral bits and bobs to let you build up a garden or bouquet, so I was pleased to see that it could also create a more masculine offering.

After repeat stamping HAPPY BIRTHDAY in the three colours on the background, I made a cluster for the second part of the wording. The sentiment is in Dapper Denim. There's a scalloped circle in Tranquil Tide on a copper foil circle. That's popped up on dimensionals over a pair of Everyday Labels in Eastern Palace DSP. Then there's a bit of copper metallic thread tucked in behind.

At The Paper Players, we'd love to see what you do with these colours. Here's a reminder of the few 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!

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. Sale-a-bration is on and there's a new Special Occasion Catalogue out. Please message me through my Facebook page, linked in the sidebar of this blog or leave a comment below. 

If you live in New Zealand and you would like to join my Stampin' Up team, message me for a chat. And, of course, you can shop with me from anywhere in New Zealand.

Ingredients - all products Stampin' Up

Card: Dapper Denim, Very Vanilla, Copper foil, Tranquil Tide, Eastern Palace DSP

Stamps: Perennial Birthday

Ink: Dapper Denim, Tranquil Tide, Lemon-Lime Twist

Other: Layering circles framelits, Everyday Labels punch, dimensionals, Dapper Denim enamel shape (retired), Copper metallic thread