October 9, 2020

The Beauty of Friendship

Amy Jasper As You See It Challenge, simple and cute, Video 2020, butterflies, heat embossing, Speed challenge 0 Comments

I love speed challenges! They get my creative mojo flowing AND I get a card completed lickety-split!

This card came together in my mind really easily. Let me tell you, these used to be REALLY hard for me! The more I do them, the easier they seem to be. It’s such a great creative exercise. I highly recommend you give a speed challenge a try. If you don’t know how it works, you basically think about the card you want to make. Once you have a plan, you can gather your supplies together, but you CANNOT pre-cut any of your paper or ribbon before you start the clock. When you DO start the clock, you move with confidence until your card is complete. Stop the clock and record your time!

Sometimes, the finished product is a little bit lacking, but you will ALWAYS find that your creative brain has jumped into high gear and something about the card you made has inspired you to try it another way. I love how a speed challenge gets my creative mojo flowing freely!

The As You See It Challenge this time, is a Speed Stamping Challenge with a butterfly theme! You can check out what other people created for this challenge and also share your own design with us over at the As You See It Challenge blog.

I borrowed the Beauty Abounds stamp set from a friend for this challenge because I don’t have ANY butterfly stamps! Can you believe it!!?

I stamped the sentiment on the Whisper White cardstock with Tuxedo Black Momento ink, then stamped the bokeh circles with Balmy Blue ink and Granny Apple Green ink. The butterfly images were stamped with Versamark Ink, Gold Embossing Powder was applied and heat set with my Heat Tool.

I added a second layer of Whisper White behind this piece, partly to create a stiffer layer, but also to give a subtle layered look with the white on white edges.

Linen Thread was wrapped around the white layers and tied in a bow before attaching it to the Artistry Blooms Designer Series Paper and Crumb Cake cardstock card base with Stampin’ Dimensionals.

You can check out the video of this card that only took 9 minutes and 3 seconds to make. In our busy world, even 9 minutes can feel like a long time, so I sped the video up for you! LOL! You’re welcome!

September 25, 2020

Stitched Plaid

Amy Jasper As You See It Challenge 2020, autumn, beautiful autumn, challenge, plaid tidings, sewing, thank you, theme 2 Comments

I am LOVIN’ the Plaid Tidings Designer Series Paper lately! I’ve been using it a lot and just keep getting ideas to use it even more! Maybe it’s because the weather is getting cooler and I’m inspired by the autumn air.

Over at the As You See It Challenge Blog, we have a theme challenge for you today!

You could use stamps or die cuts that feature sewing, use die-cuts that have a stitched edge, maybe even put some fabric on your card or lay out paper in a quilting pattern. So many options!

What came immediately to my mind when I saw the theme, though, was doing some actual sewing on my card. I love the look of dies with the stitched edges, but nothing looks quite as cool as real, live, 3D stitching with thread. I don’t do it often because it’s not always convenient to pull out my sewing machine, bu-uut … it just so happened that I’d been doing a bit of sewing lately and my machine was already out!

I used a Crumb Cake card base with a strip of one of the plaid patterns from the Plaid Tidings Designer Series Paper glued on the bottom. The rounded corners were created using the Detailed Trio Punch. I cut a rectangle from a different pattern of plaid paper and stitched with white thread around the edges with my sewing machine. Then I distressed the edges of that piece, stamped the thank you sentiment from the Beautiful Autumn stamp set on the bottom right corner in Rich Razzleberry Classic Ink and adhered it to my card base.

The Beautiful Autumn stamp set is available in the Beautiful Autumn Bundle with the Autumn Punch Pack. Buying them together saves you 10%, so of course I chose to save money by getting the bundle! I used one of the leaf punches and punched three leaves from different cardstock colours: Rich Razzleberry, Bumblebee, and Cajun Craze. Each leaf was adhered to a 1″ square of Sahara Sand cardstock and was stitched through the center with my sewing machine. A bit finicky to do with such a small square of paper, but definitely do-able!

Those little squares were then glued, a bit askew, to some 1-1/4″ Whisper White cardstock squares and adhered to the card with Mini Stampin’ Dimensionals.

The final touch was to add some Artistry Blooms Sequins.

I officially LOVE this card and, since my sewing machine is all ready to go, will make a few more!

September 11, 2020

Butterflies and Plaid

Amy Jasper As You See It Challenge 2 Comments

Butterflies and plaid are not images you often see together, but I thought I’d just go with it for today’s As You See It Challenge card.

I have to admit, my heart just wasn’t in it this time. I’ve been finding it difficult to get in my craft room lately – I’m fairly certain I’m experiencing the effects of stress. Having my 3 kids and my husband home all the time for the past six months has clouded my introverted brain and chipped away at what little executive functioning I had in the first place. There have been endless unknowns and uncertainties with the kids starting school this week and I’m trying so desperately to adapt to our new normals with the pandemic. But these “new normals” don’t FEEL normal and it just isn’t working for me.

I’m struggling, folks.

Once the kids are established in their new school routine, I’m hoping things will get easier. I’m not giving up, but I will be loosening my hold on the reins a bit and allowing life to run more wild. What that really means is that I have to be okay with not being okay. I have to be okay with missing deadlines or letting people down.

At least for now.

Who knows. Maybe I’ll feel differently tomorrow! That’s what it’s been like for me through all this. One day I’m ready to take it all on, the next day all I can do is binge-watch Gilmore Girls.

Feel free to ask me about my card in the comments. I’m happy to tell you more about the spritzing and sponging and masking I did to create the background effect (which didn’t quite turn out how I imagined it.)

I’m in love with the Plaid Tidings Designer Series Paper and was surprised that the Rococo Rose cardstock coordinated so prettily with that particular plaid pattern. I might try this card idea again and pull in more pinks and white.

Be sure to play along with this challenge by going to our As You See It Challenge page and sharing your amazing design with us. We love to see your beautiful creations!