Country Birdhouse for AYS 342

I'd like to give a big thanks to everyone who played along with my Recipe Challenge last week. It was a pleasure to see what everyone cooked up! 

This week, it's theme week and Jane has given us 'BIRDS' to work with. 

I got out the Country Birdhouse bundle because I like the wee bird that's part of the set. I started by mirror stamping him in Tuxedo Black so that I could have a bird facing each way. I coloured them with Stampin' Blends in Crumb Cake, Pool Party and a touch of Daffodil Delight. 

I used the Stylish Shapes dies to cut a circle out of Basic Beige. I used the same die set to cut the banner for the sentiment. I've used this 'happy birthday' so much! It's the most used part of the whole bundle. 

Using the Country Birdhouse dies, I cut various flowers in Pool Party, Flirty Flamingo and Petal Pink as well as some leaves in Lost Lagoon. I also cut the bow from Petal Pink. 

I stamped the chain to hang the hoop in Tuxedo Black before embossing the card front with the Exposed Brick 3D embossing folder. 

Once all that was done, it was a simple matter to arrange the birds and flowers then attach them. Some are on dimensionals to give more depth to the scene. The sentiment is popped up too. 

I added small Basic Rhinestones to the flower centres and used some Petal Pink Foiled Gems as embellishment. 

The team and I would love to see what wonderful bird creations you make. 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 March 6, 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.

 

Creativity Abounds February 2025

This month the international team at Creativity Abounds has a great theme for our bundle and hop: Fun Folds. This hop - and the associated tutorial bundle - is always popular and will give you a lot of examples for fancy folds 

Even if you don't have the exact sets, you'll find inspiration in the different folds each of us have used.  If you get the tutorial bundle, you'll have step-by-step instructions for thirteen projects, all of which you'll see as you go around the hop.

You can earn the Tutorial Bundle as a free gift from me with a purchase of $100 or more (excluding P&P) or by being a member of my team. You can shop with me, and join my team, from anywhere in New Zealand.

There are two parts to this post: a bonus project and a sneak peek at my tutorial project.

1. Bonus Project Teepee Fold

The fold I'm showcasing is one I haven't used for some years, the TeePee Fold. Once I got it out and started playing with it, I don't know why I haven't been using it more! It was an excellent chance to explore the Darling Dinos bundle, a current favourite of mine. 

The triangular shaped card stands by itself and can be made so that it folds neatly into a standard envelope. It has three faces that can be decorated, or you can - as I have - leave one relatively blank to write a message on. 

Here's a look at each of the three faces.

2. Tutorial Project Teepee Fold

Here's a glimpse at the card I've created for the tutorial bundle. Same fold, different bundle. I've used the Beautiful Butterflies bundle for this one. Step-by-step instructions are in the tutorial package, along with 12 other projects from the rest of the Creativity Abounds team.

Here's a glimpse at the other twelve projects in the tutorial package. Take the hop around the rest of the team and you'll see exactly which Fancy Folds are being showcased.

If you live in New Zealand, you can get this tutorial bundle free with a qualifying purchase from me. If you live somewhere else, you can get the bundle from a team member in your country. 

Here's who we all are and where we're from.

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. 

Textured Notes for CAS Colours & Sketches 554

Well, it turns out that I'm actually very good at procrastination. My to-do list is so long that I can't even see the end of it. I've got classes, stamp camps, design team projects, family business and approaching trips away all swirling around. 

So.... this afternoon while legitimately working my way through the list, my eyes fell on the just arrived preorder and the so gorgeous Textured Notes bundle and DSP. Next thing, I'm just having a little play and before I know it, I've done something for the latest challenge at CAS Colours & Sketches!

I'll justify it by saying that it was quick to make - so really it was in place of a coffee break. Second justification - my crafting resolution for this year was to do more playing for fun.  Plus - you've just got to try out new stuff! 😀

The card base is Mossy Meadow. I cut a card front from the Woven Textures DSP. The Basic White rectangle is cut with the second largest Textured Notes die. 

I stamped the woven mat stamp in Crumb Cake and added the sentiment in Early Espresso. 

For the second element of the sketch, I stamped one of the foliage stamps twice in Mossy Meadow: once full strength then again without re-inking.

Finally, I added in three of the Neutral Matte Dots.

The bundle, DSP and matte dots will all be available in March as part of the new Online Exclusives drop.

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 stamp with me, and shop with me, from anywhere in New Zealand. Click here.

Darling Dinos for Paper Players 725

Welcome to a new week at The Paper Players. We had such a great week last week with LeAnne's bright colour challenge. I really hope you enjoy this week's challenge because I'm the hostess this week. 

There are two things to think about for this challenge: firstly, it's a masculine card and secondly it's a CLEAN AND SIMPLE challenge. 

By clean and simple, we mean there are minimal layers, lots of clean white space and few embellishments.

When I started out to create for this challenge, I was going to use Trusty Tools stamps and dies (which are a Sale-a-Bration reward this month). Before I could get to them though, my eyes fell upon the Darling Dinos bundle. Cute as that bundle is, I thought it could go masculine. So here it is....

Although it's a bit of a cliche, I went for blues as a base for my masculine colour scheme. I used Azure Afternoon for the card base and some of the sentiment and colouring. My sort-of-T-Rex is coloured with Stampin' Blends in Azure Afternoon, Balmy Blue, Smoky Slate and Lemon-Lime Twist. I also gave him some glasses and a top hat.

After stamping and colouring him, I masked him to add in some sponged Granny Apple Green and some stamped grass.

It took considerable strength of will to stamp the sentiment directly on the card base and not a shaped label, in order to reduce the layers and keep things more CAS! Not to mention brave because there's no second chances when you stamp directly onto the card front!

We'd all love to see what you do with this CLEAN AND SIMPLE MASCULINE challenge. You can see what the rest of the design team have done, and link up your entry, at The Paper Players page.

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

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 stamp with me, and shop with me, from anywhere in New Zealand. Click here.

Delightful Wishes for Stampin' Fancy Friday February

This month, the theme at Stampin' Fancy Friday is a Red or Pink Amour Challenge. We were challenged to showcase red or pink - whatever we loved the most.

The team at Stampin' Fancy Friday don't blog but we do a daily inspiration post on Instagram. The team at Stampin' Fancy Friday are all current or past members of Stampin' Up!'s Artisan Design Team, so it really is a great place to pick up ideas or recharge your creative mojo. 

Follow @stampinfancyfriday if you don't already. 😀

Well, I'm a pink girl through and through. Red comes out at Christmas but not that often for the rest of the year! 

I've enjoyed playing with the Delightful Wishes bundle a lot but what I really enjoyed about this card was moving into a colourway I'm much more at home with. 

I've used three pinks: Pretty in Pink, Flirty Flamingo and Melon Mambo and some Soft Sea Foam for the foliage.

All of the die cut flower pieces were cut from Basic White then had colour applied with blending brushes in various depths with either Pretty in Pink or Flirty Flamingo to get plenty of variation. The centres were stamped in Melon Mambo. The leaves were stamped in Soft Sea Foam.

I hope you can see in the closer shot the subtle shimmer of Wink of Stella on the flower bases. 

The background is embossed with the Forever Plaid 3D embossing folder. The Pretty in Pink gems are from the In Color Shimmer Gems pack and the white twine from the Baker's Twine Basic Essentials pack.

Don't forget to follow @stampinfancyfriday on Instagram, or Stampin' Fancy Friday on Facebook, for more daily ideas.

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. 

Seaside Wishes for Around the World on Wednesday February

 

Welcome to the second hop of the new year at Around the World on Wednesday!

On the second Wednesday of each month, the team put together a thematic hop to give you some inspiration for your own crafting. We love it when you try out something new or CAS(E) one of our projects. The team is truly international, with members from each time zone of the world that Stampin' Up! operates. You're with me, in New Zealand - the first place in the Stampin' Up! world to change the date. 😀

Our task this month is to interpret this sketch. I do love a sketch challenge - and I also love seeing all the different ways the same sketch turns out in the hands of different creators. 

Perhaps it was the prospect of an upcoming beach holiday, but I've been playing with the Seaside Wishes bundle a bit lately. It seemed a perfect choice for this sketch.

I started with a Misty Moonlight card base. The Basic White card front was embossed with the Seaside Wishes hybrid embossing folder, but used as a straight embossing folder. I stamped a the bubble/sand stamp in Pool Party around the centre section.

For the circular element of the sketch, I embossed and cut one of the large sand dollars using the hybrid embossing folder (which lets you cut and emboss at the same time) from Crumb Cake. I sponged around the edges to highlight the texture and too make the shape appear more three-dimensional.

I built up a cluster of sea life by die-cutting the skeleton shell shape in two sizes. The largest is in Misty Moonlight, while the smaller is cut in white and has Misty Moonlight ink added to it. Then I stamped a large and small starfish on Petal Pink, in Petal Pink and die cut them. 

To finish the cluster, I added a Linen Thread bow in the position suggested in the sketch.

For the horizontal elements of the sketch, I cut three narrow strips of DSP from the Country Woods collection.

The sentiment, stamped in Misty Moonlight, is from Country Birdhouse. 

I added in three blue tinsel gems to finish off. 

Keep on hopping to see what the rest of the team have done with this great little sketch. Next up is the wonderful Leonie Stuart from Australia. I'm sure she has a treat to share with us!

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.

In case you get lost, or want to revisit a page, here is the blog roll for this hop.

Jan Clothier - NZ - You are here

Leonie Stuart - AU

Rochelle Laird-Smith - AU

Danielle Kassing - NL

Aurélie Fabre - FR

Annette Ball - CA

Angie McKenzie - US

Kelly Taranto - US

Tricia Butts - US

Theresa McEntee - US

Bree Renwick - US

Lori Willcox - CA

Teri West - US

Cheryl Hamilton - US

Seaside Wishes for Colour INKspiration 181

 

Welcome to the 181st challenge at Colour INKspiration. It's the second challenge of 2025 and will run for two weeks until Monday 24 February.

Today's colour palette was chosen for us by Crew Member Lou Kitzelman. Isn't it beautiful? So summery!

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. 

If you don't have an exact challenge colour, feel free to replace it with whatever you have that's closest, for example Misty Moonlight for Azure Afternoon. Black, White, Very Vanilla, Crumb Cake, Basic Beige and metallics are free colours, as are flesh toned Stampin' Blends.

Since I'm currently on a beach holiday with the family, a set like Seaside Wishes was easy to reach for. I love both the stamped images and the die cuts. The hybrid embossing folder is part of the bundle, but I've not used it in this project.

I also turned to a favourite technique, faux torn paper: any excuse to play around with ink blending!

After creating my torn paper masks and attaching them to the Basic White card front, I sponged on Pool Party, Coastal Cabana and Azure Afternoon, using a blending brush and working out from the centre to each edge from lightest to darkest. Blending brushes make it easy to get smooth transitions of colour. 

Then, without removing the masks, I stamped in large starfish using Azure afternoon, small starfish using Summer Splash and bubbles with Coastal Cabana. 

The white lacy die cut was sponged with Azure Afternoon. The small die cut starfish is Summer Splash on Summer Splash. I added three Summer Splash shimmer gems and stamped the sentiment in Azure Afternoon.

We'd love to see what you do with the challenge colours. You can join the group in the following link, if you aren't already a member. Don't forget to answer the questions when you ask to join. 

You can see what the rest of the Design Team have done with these colours in the Crew Inspiration Album on the Colour INKspiration Challenge Facebook page.

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 stamp with me, and shop with me, from anywhere in New Zealand. Click here.