September 25, 2015

Happy Winter Scene

Amy Jasper As You See It Challenge, Christmas, Techniques 12 Comments

I haven’t had my coffee yet. Hang on …

…

Ah … first sip is always the best.

It’s 6:30am on Friday morning. Usually I do my Friday post on Thursday, but hubby and I hunkered down for a couple episodes of “Chuck” on Netflix with a bucket of Chocolate Peanut Butter Häagen-Dazs Ice Cream instead. Seriously, how could I resist that?!

September is almost over. The kids are settling well into their school routine and I’m almost settled into my fall routine as well. The days are getting cooler and it’s getting close to the last time I’ll need to mow the lawn for the season. This time of year I start thinking ahead to winter. I think it’s because, as a crafter, I have to start planning my Christmas projects so they can all be ready before December 1st.

Ok, I don’t actually get everything done by December 1st, but I will tell myself that every year until I get it right! I need my December to relax with family and enjoy some Bailey’s in my coffee and have fun at Christmas parties. I need to be done by December!

My card today features Tip Top Taupe, Pool Party, and Night of Navy, all wrapped up with a splash of Cherry Cobbler. But first, here’s the sketch from As You See It Challenge #105.

Have you been to the challenge site lately? We are so excited to have a few new designers added to our design team, giving you more samples of the challenges each month!

I haven’t pulled out my Craft Whisper White ink for a while, nor have I used my Watercolour wash background stamp, so I thought I’d use them together! I stamped the background on an angle for the sketch. I think I might use it on an angle more often!!

The Season of Cheer Designer Series paper, combined with the neutral, but warm, Tip Top Taupe cardstock offers a calm and peaceful look. I used the Happy Scenes photopolymer stamp set for the tree image, stamped with Tuxedo Black Momento ink on Pool Party cardstock. I used my Chalk Marker to highlight the snow on the trees and stamped the snow falling with my trusty Whisper White craft ink. I then stamped a second image on Whisper White cardstock and fussy cut along the line of the hill so that the trees were cut right off. This I attached over the Pool Party cardstock to created the white snowy ground. “happy winter” was stamped with Cherry Cobbler ink.

Then came the fun part.

I wanted to attach the Reindeer Paperclip, but was having trouble getting it to hold in the lower right hand corner at the angle I wanted it to be in. After looking a bit online for how other people attach those adorable clips, I came across an image of some packaging (completely unrelated to Stampin’ Up), that showed paperclips stored in slits on their storage sheet! Brilliant! Out came the craft knife! I cut a small slit, slipped that paper clip through it and tied a bow with my Cherry Cobbler Baker’s Twine to finish it off.

Final touches on the card include the Gold Metallic thread in large loops in behind the winter scene which is popped up on Stampin’ Dimensionals, and the Night of Navy Candy Dots.

And there you have it folks! This is a great card for my to do with my Monthly Stampers group. If you’re in my area and are interested in joining my group, this is a great time to check us out.

I’d better go and make my kids school lunches as it’s now 7:30 and everyone else is awake, getting ready for the day.

Be sure to try this sketch and share it on the As You See It blog!

September 18, 2015

Winter Wonderland Sleigh Ride

Amy Jasper As You See It Challenge, Christmas As You See It, assortment challenge, challenge, Sleigh ride edgelits, Stampin' Up, window sheets, winter wonderland 14 Comments

Busy busy busy.

That’s my little life in September every year and EVERY year I forget that I shouldn’t plan any extra activities. With the kids back in school, there’s plenty of tasks to do that keep me hopping. I don’t need to add more… yet that’s what I do every year, lol!

Being busy is a good feeling. Feeling stressed and overwhelmed is NOT. It can be difficult to find a balance. So, last week I didn’t do the As You See It Challenge and didn’t post to my blog. What I did instead was continue planning for the fundraising event for which I have volunteered to sponsor and teach a class. This is a new experience for me and is very unfortunate to be occurring in September when life is already so busy. My hope is that it will be a rewarding experience and that I will come away from it ready to plan for the next one! As long as I can get through the next couple weeks!

The As You See It Challenge blog has an assortment challenge this week.

With my current level of stress, I’m not surprised that I chose this colour scheme, these images, and this sentiment. I’d be able to handle things being a bit calmer and a bit brighter. Who wouldn’t!?

I’m not sure if I captured the true meaning of “negative space” in this project. I looked it up to make sure I understood it, but I think it’s a pretty abstract concept that is open to interpretation anyway. So I’m using the cutout circle AND the silhouette of the sleigh for my negative space.

I used a brayer to create the ombre effect in the background with Pool Party ink over Whisper White cardstock. A piece of Window Sheet has been stamped in White Stazon ink with the tree image from the Winter Wonderland stamp set and covers the circle cutout. The lovely Sleigh Ride Edgelits create this winter scene with the houses in the background and the sleigh in the foreground.

One of my favourite colour combinations for the winter is Pool Party and Real Red. It somehow portrays the peaceful coziness of those frosted days.

What colours make you think happy thoughts of winter?

Amy.

September 4, 2015

Endless Birthday Cake

Amy Jasper As You See It Challenge 2 Comments

Yesterday my youngest daughter turned seven!! I can hardly believe it!

The card I want to show you today is the one I gave her for her birthday. I even made a matching gift bag!

Because I’m one of the designers for the As You See It challenge blog each week, my paper projects are inspired by the sketches, colours or themes that are assigned. Here’s the sketch for this week:

I choose to work with colours that my daughter thinks are pretty – Pink Pirouette and Perfect Plum. I used the circles mask and a bit of Perfect Plum ink mixed with water in my spritzer bottle and sprayed the paper to create the circles on the pink cardstock.

The cake and sentiment are from the Endless Wishes Stamp set. I just love the font. I stamped the cake age with Jet Black Stazon ink and used my Blender Pens with my Pink Pirouette, Perfect Plum, and Marina Mist inks to colour it. I used a punch to create the tag. The Black Bakers Twine and Blushing Bride Sequin Trim add just the right amount of texture to make this card fun!

I also created this simple bag using the Gift Bag Punch Board and some cotton ribbon.

I hope you’ll be inspired by this sketch to make a card or a scrapbook page. Be sure to share it with us at the As You See It blog!