Thinking Stamping

Wednesday, 14 December 2022

Dainty Delight for Colour INKspiration 135

Welcome to our final challenge of 2022. This gorgeous palette was chosen for us by crew member Lou Kitzelman.

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 Jane Martin as our Guest Designer for this challenge.

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

You might see this lovely combination as an unorthodox Christmas combo or as something else. I saw it as floral. On of the advantages of being a demonstrator is the chance to go to On Stage and being able to participate in a limited Pre-Preorder from the January 2023 Mini Catalogue. From that, I got the Dainty Delight bundle. This is a gorgeous bundle containing floral outline images and sentiments, along with dies for all the images and coordinating extra flowers and leaves.

I started by water colouring 3 small of Fluid100 Watercolour. One I coloured with Coastal Cabana and Bermuda Bay, one with Pale Papaya and Calypso Coral and one with Daffodil Delight and Calypso Coral.

From these, I cut the flowers and leaves.

For the base, I embossed a piece of Coastal Cabana with the Painted Texture embossing folder then cut out a circle where the flowers would be. From the Basic White, I cut a corresponding hole using the Stylish Shapes dies.

After stamping the sentiment, it was then a matter of assembly. It was fun arranging the flowers into a bouquet that burst from the frame. A few of the Brushed Brass Butterfly embellishments finished off the garden nicely!

We'd love to have you join in the challenge with us. Visit the Colour INKspiration site 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!

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 on the SHOP NOW button in the sidebar or on any of the products below.

Product List

Note: The Dainty Delight Bundle will be available early January 2023

Card Stock A4 Bermuda Bay

[131286]

$19.50

Card Stock A4 Coastal Cabana

[131302]

$19.50

Basic White A4 Cardstock

[159228]

$21.75

Fluid 100 Watercolor Paper

[149612]

$19.00

Bermuda Bay Classic Stampin' Pad

[147096]

$17.00

Coastal Cabana Classic Stampin' Pad

[147097]

$17.00

Pale Papaya Classic Stampin' Pad

[155670]

$17.00

Calypso Coral Classic Stampin' Pad

[147101]

$17.00

Daffodil Delight Classic Stampin' Pad

[147094]

$17.00

Water Painters

[151298]

$28.00

Brushed Brass Butterflies

[158136]

$21.00

Stylish Shapes Dies

[159183]

$63.00

Rhinestone Basic Jewels

[144220]

$12.75

Tuesday, 13 December 2022

Merriest Moments for Paper Players 621

Well, all my Christmas cards are in the mail and I thought my festive card making was over for the year, But no, the team at The Paper Players got to me by having one of my all-time favourite Christmas combinations as their challenge colours this week!

So I had to then get out one of my all-time favourite bundles: Merriest Moments. If you're quick, you might still catch this one in the Last Chance Sale.

I resisted the temptation of the gorgeous hybrid embossing folder and went for the smaller stamped images. I started with stamping one small Cherry Cobbler poinsettia, masking it then adding in some foliage in Evening Evergreen.

Then I stamped and die cut some more poinsettias so they could be layered up on top of the foliage but before doing that, I added in some gold embossed splatters... because I adore splatter stamps. They're such a great way to add in extra touches of colour.

The sentiment was a deviation from my original plan. I took the 'JOY' stamp from the set and stamped it in Cherry Cobbler. Then cut it out using one of the dies from Painted Labels then cut it down using one of the Stitched Rectangle dies so the top edge would blend in with the stitched detailing.

I used the lighter gold foil from the Brushed Metallic Cardstock pack and Brushed Metallic adhesive backed dots for the embellishment and flower centres.

I'm sorry this set is retiring but delighted to give it such an opulent send-off.

Don't forget to check out both the Last Chance Sale items and the refreshed Clearance Rack at my online store.

Product List

Merriest Moments Photopolymer Stamp Set (English)

[156353]

$47.00

Merriest Frames Hybrid Embossing Folder

[156385]

$82.00

Very Vanilla A4 Thick Cardstock

[144238]

$18.50

Very Vanilla A4 Card Stock

[106550]

$21.75

Brushed Metallic Cardstock

[153524]

$32.00

Cherry Cobbler Classic Stampin' Pad

[147083]

$17.00

Evening Evergreen Classic Stampin' Pad

[155576]

$17.00

Versamark Pad

[102283]

$20.00

Metallics Embossing Powders

[155555]

$38.00

Painted Labels Dies

[151605]

$74.00

Stitched Rectangles Dies

[151820]

$74.00

Brushed Metallic Adhesive Backed Dots

[156506]

$19.00

Heat Tool

[129056]

$63.00

Stampin' Dimensionals

[104430]

$9.00

Friday, 2 December 2022

Brightest Glow for AYSI 289

Well, it's almost the end of the Challenge year and we're going out with one of our famous - and feared - Speed Challenges.

The challenge, should you choose to accept it, is to create something new using Christmas Baubles in TEN MINUTES OR LESS.

Now, if you've never done one of these before, it's not quite as scary as it seems. The ten minutes does not include getting out your equipment: things like blocking up the stamps, getting out the dies, putting the embellishments to hand - that kind of thing. Nor does it include thinking time, so you can know what you're doing to do before you start the clock. However, once you take a cut or ink a stamp, then the timer must begin. Mercifully, the ten minutes definitely does NOT include clean up either! 😀

For this challenge, I had to dig around my box of retired Christmas stamps for something that was bauble enough for my idea. Ornamental Envelopes fitted the bill as all the baubles are on one stamp. I stamped it in Tuxedo Black, then added my favourite sentiment from this year's Brightest Glow, also in Tuxedo Black. (If it wasn't a speed challenge, I'd have gold embossed but ink stamping is quicker.)

For me, the fastest way to colour is with Stampin' Blends, so I used Cherry Cobbler and Mango Melody. Again, without the speed challenge I might have used more colours and more intricate colour patterns but it's effective as it is.

I mounted the stamped panel onto Cherry Cobbler then attached it to a Thick Basic White base. I stamped the baubles on the inside but did not colour them.

With a speed challenge, I always have something that I'll add if there's time. I was pleasantly surprised that I had time up my sleeve so got to add my 'extra', which was to cover the baubles with Wink of Stella to give them a shine. You can see it clearly in the above picture. Then I quickly added a few Basic Rhinestones as centres and to lead the eye down to the sentiment.

And then.... it was time to stop the clock.

We'd love to see what you do with this theme. You can visit the As You See It page to see what the rest of the team have done and to link up your entry.

If you want to see more of As You See It, don't forget to follow us on Facebook or Instagram @asyouseeitchallenge

Product List

Note: Ornamental Envelopes is a retired set

Brightest Glow Cling Stamp Set (English)

[159542]

$53.00

Basic White A4 Cardstock

[159228]

$21.75

Basic White A4 Thick Cardstock

[159230]

$18.50

Cherry Cobbler A4 Card Stock

[121681]

$19.50

Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad

[132708]

$12.75

Cherry Cobbler Stampin' Blends Combo Pack

[154880]

$19.00

Mango Melody Stampin' Blends Combo Pack

[154888]

$19.00

Clear Wink Of Stella Glitter Brush

[141897]

$17.00

Rhinestone Basic Jewels

[144220]

$12.75

Thursday, 24 November 2022

Merriest Moments for The Paper Players 618

I was happy to play along with The Paper Players this week. I'm still in Christmas mode and do gravitate towards clean and simple, so the challenge was just what I needed to wake up my mojo.

I do love Merriest Moments. Although the dies and hybrid embossing folder let you make all kinds of stunning cards very easily, I really like that the stamps themselves let you do all sorts as well. I feel a little sorry for them, as the less showy elements of the set!

Although this appears to be a very layered card (and I did sneak in a Garden Green matte) it's really only a one layer card at heart.

I used masking paper so I could layer the poinsettia flowers and foliage, then used a second mask to create the faux border at the corners.

If you are interested in learning more about the faux border technique I've used, there's a video tutorial for it in this post in this post using Positive Thoughts.

Product List

Merriest Moments Photopolymer Stamp Set (English)

[156353]

$47.00

Cherry Cobbler A4 Card Stock

[121681]

$19.50