May 22, 2020

Social Undistancing

Amy Jasper As You See It Challenge 2020, sharesunshine, spackle, watercolour 0 Comments

Imagine that you’re really excited to get into a hot tub. You’re foot is hovering in the steam above the surface, but you don’t dare dip it into the water yet, because you have a feeling that the water is way too hot! It might even be hot enough to burn!

That’s pretty much how I plan to ease into normalcy as our government moves us through each phase of our restart plan. Here in BC, Canada, certain businesses are allowed to re-open with strict protective measures in place. I could make an appointment to have my hair trimmed, if I want to, but is my vanity worth the risk? Nah, I’m okay with my locks being a bit more disheveled than usual for a little while yet. I’m even okay without my dental checkup for another couple months. I’m pretty nervous about getting out there again and I’m expecting some peer pressure as the government starts releasing us from the current limitations. Friends are going to want to get together, but I’m not keen to open my bubble too soon. I’m eager to get back to normalcy and I can’t wait to social un-distance, but I’m not ready to jump in quite yet. I think I’m going to wait this out and see how it looks a month from now.

In the meantime, I need to get myself a face mask for when I go to the grocery store. It’s getting far too peopley out there, making it harder to keep that 2 metre distance. I know it won’t protect me as much, but it will protect those around me if I’m sick and don’t know it yet. Plus, if I make a mask, I can make it out of some of Stampin’ Up!’s retired fabric! Or I can use some iron-on vinyl and die-cut some letters to iron onto my mask and make it fun. Something like, “If you can read this, then you’re too close!” or, “It’s so peopley out today”.

The As You See It Challenge that inspires my card design today is this crazy colour combination! I was a little worried, as these are not colours that I usually put together.

However, once I got started, I realized that these colours are quite cheerful together! Here’s the card design that I landed on, using the Share Sunshine digital stamp set from Stampin’ Up! with the Artfully Aware stamp set (which is retiring AND at a discounted price as I’m writing this!).

I chose to watercolour the image using the colours in the challenge. The watercolour paper is die cut using one of the Rectangle Stitched Dies from Stampin’ Up! I layered that on some Soft Suede Cardstock and attached that to the Lovely Lipstick layers, the top of which was embossed using the Tin Tile embossing folder and my die cutting and embossing machine. This is all on the clean Whisper White card base.

The sentiment is from the Share Sunshine digital stamp set, which is a COVID-19 giveback global fundraising initiative as part of Stampin’ Up!’s Making a Difference program. 100% of the proceeds of the sale of this 15 page PDF stamp set will to to the COVID-19 efforts of The World Health Organization’s COVID-Solidarity Response Fund and/or the United Way Worldwide’s COVID-19 Community Response and Recovery Fund. You can find out more about this set by clicking HERE. I have been finding this set to be so much fun to use!

I printed the PDF on Whisper White cardstock and cut out the sentiment from the page. I sponged the cardstock with Daffodil Delight ink and trimmed it down to size, flagging the end using the Banner Triple Punch. This was applied to the front of my card with more Stampin’ Dimensionals, but I also added a swirl of the Silver Metallic Thread (retiring), which I actually took the time to “tarnish” by colouring it with the Soft Suede Stampin’ Blends Marker. It’s a subtle difference, but it works!

Now, there is an embellishment on here that I haven’t mentioned yet. Those three little metal photo corners are not available to customers until the new catalogue goes live in June. I attached these antiqued corners from the Antiqued Corners and Slides embellishment pack using Multipurpose Liquid Glue. I love them!

The final touch on my card was to add some Soft Suede spatter. I used the Soft Suede Stampin’ Blends Marker and flicked the brush tip on the lid to cause the ink to spatter across my paper. This might not be a look that everyone loves, but it’s a look that I definitely love!

Did you know that two of these colours are retiring? Lovely Lipstick and Call Me Clover will be leaving us forever to make room for new colours. It’s a bitter sweet time, but I have to say that my excitement for the new products always overshadows the disappointment of what will be left behind!

Head on over to my online store to find all of these products and take advantage of some of the discounted prices on the Last-Chance Products and the Clearance Rack.

Stay safe and craft on!

May 8, 2020

Robin Hello

Amy Jasper As You See It Challenge 2020, birds, blends markers, challenge, cut-out, sketch 2 Comments

I don’t know why this particular sketch was so difficult for me, but I just couldn’t get started and was struggling for ideas. Nothing seemed to be working and all I wanted to do was eat ice cream and binge watch The Office (again). However, I did finally find my stride and am happy with how my card turned out.

Here’s the sketch from the As You See It Challenge Blog that I followed to design my card.

My final design brought me to using a Basic Black cardbase with a Stitched Rectangle die cut center on the front. I stamped the leaves from the Bird Ballad stamp set on the card base with Whisper White Craft Ink.

I layered some strips of the Bird Ballad Designer Series Paper (retiring) and Basic Black cardstock and attached it over the cut out. On this, I tied a piece of Linen thread with a trinket from the Bird Ballad Trinkets (retiring) and added the leaf that was punched out of Mossy Meadow cardstock with the Leaf Punch (sold out, sorry!)

I stamped the bird from the Bird Ballad stamp set with Momento Tuxedo Black on Whisper White cardstock and coloured the image with Stampin’ Blends Markers. Then I cut the image out with one of the smaller dies from the Stitched Rectangle dies. This was layered on a piece of Basic Black cardstock with Stampin’ Dimensionals.

The sentiment is also from the Bird Ballad stamp set, and was stamped with Coastal Cabana ink through the opening in the front of the card, onto the Whisper White cardstock that lined the inside of the card.

I’m really sad that the Leaf Punch is no longer available for you to purchase. It was on the retiring list, but appears to have sold out and is no longer available. I would suggest trying the Sprig Punch as an alternate to the Leaf Punch. It would be my second choice for this purpose.

Some of the products I’ve featured on this card are discounted on the Last Chance Products List. Head on over to my ONLINE STORE and have a look at what else Stampin’ Up! has for you.

April 24, 2020

Speedy Spring Flowers

Amy Jasper As You See It Challenge, simple and cute 2020, As You See It, host stamp set, quick and cute, speed, sweet and simple 2 Comments

“Behold, my friends, the spring is come;

the earth has gladly received the embraces of the sun,

and we shall soon see the results of their love”

~ Sitting Bull

I know that spring has officially arrived when the crocuses in my front yard begin to bloom. I love when the grass gets greener and the street sweepers clean all the sand and grit from the neighborhood streets. You start to hear the red-winged blackbirds and the robins whistling their cheerful tunes. And the kids actually WANT to go outside.

Spring is a sign that the worst is over. Winter can’t throw much more at us. We can look forward to warmer days, barbecues on the patio, and longer hours of daylight. The earth wakes from it’s sleep and we, in turn, feel more alive! It’s a beautiful thing.

The theme for the speed stamping challenge today, is flowers. As in every speed challenge from the As You See It Challenge Blog, you have to make a card in 10 minutes or less. You can gather your supplies and have a plan, but you cannot pre-cut anything. I put my stamps on their blocks, I pull out the paper and inks that I want to use, and I start the clock!

I always seem to push it to the limit of my time. I usually know to avoid colouring, sponging, tying ribbon, or even die-cutting and embossing, as they just take too much time. I didn’t quite avoid all those things this time. Have a look at what I was able to create in 9 minutes an 50 seconds! Oh man! I just squeaked through, didn’t I?!!

This card has a Merry Merlot Cardstock base, to which I added a layer of my favorite Pressed Petals Specialty Designer Series Paper. So pretty! The stamped layer is Whisper White Cardstock, on which I stamped the flower image from the host stamp set, Soft Spring. This is such a pretty stamp set with multi-step stamping. I stamped the outline of the flower image four time using Momento Tuxedo Black ink. Then I stamped the leaf filler using Old Olive ink. Finally, I added the Merry Merlot flower filler to complete the image. At first, I though these flowers were lupins, but I realize that the leaves are completely wrong. I spent some time trying to figure out what kind of flowers they are, but nothing I found looks right. Either the flowers are wrong, or the leaves are wrong, or the stems are too tall. Whatever flowers these images are supposed to be, they’re very pretty.

After stamping all the parts of the flowers, I used Crumb Cake ink and sponged aroung all the edges to give a bit more of a warmth to the image. I used a small circle punch on both sides of this stamped cardstock to make notches for the Braided Linen Trim. I wrapped the trim around the cardstock and tied it in a bow, then attached the cardstock to my card with Stampin’ Dimensionals.

This is where I should have stopped and called it done, but I wanted to add a sentiment. I chose words from the Peaceful Moments Stamp set and stamped it on a strip of Whisper White cardstock with Old Olive ink. I flagged the end and realized I was RUNNING OUT OF TIME!!

I SLAPPED on a couple of Mini Glue Dots and POPPED it on my card, STOPPING the clock with only

10 SECONDS TO SPARE!

Phew!! DONE!

That was close! I think I’m getting pretty good at making quick cards, though. I feel like I’ve come a long way! Practice practice practice!

Oh my gosh! There’s dog hair in my picture! Can you see it? LOL! I can’t escape it. It’s everywhere! If you have a dog or a cat, then I know you understand. If not, then all you have to know is that I’m an imperfect person and you just have to take me as I am or go enjoy someone else’s dog-hair-free, perfect pictures! HA!

Thanks for stopping by, my stamping friends. I hope you try this speed challenge. It really is a great creative exercise to get your blood pumping and your creative juices flowing. Do share it with us at the As You See It Challenge blog. We love to see your creations!