July 17, 2020

Adulting is Hard

Amy Jasper As You See It Challenge, simple and cute 2020, nothings better than, Speed challenge, Stamparatus, stitched so sweetly 0 Comments

We all know that adulting is hard and that there are a variety of ways to cope with the stress of our adult responsibilities. Reaching for cocktails, coffee, cookies and chocolate (or Haagen-Dazs ice cream) may not be the healthiest strategies, but all these things make the stress just a little bit easier to bear. Don’t you agree?

My card design for today’s post is inspired by the As You See It Challenge blog for which I am a designer. I have the privilege of sharing my take on each challenge when it’s first posted so that those who choose to participate in the challenges have some ideas and inspiration to get them started.

Speed challenges are one of my favourites!! They’re so much fun and such a great creative exercise for me. I can easily spend hours making a card as I try to make it “perfect”, but the speed challenge don’t afford me that luxury. This forces me to plan my design idea in my head, then create the card with lightening speed so that I can complete it in ten minutes or less. I can mount my stamps on blocks and pull out my cardstock, ink, ribbon, and dies that I want to use, but for this challenge, you can’t cut or stamp anything until you start the timer!

I made this card in 8 minutes and 23 seconds! I even had to tie the bow a few times before I got it how I wanted it!

The theme for this speed challenge is “elements of three”. Do you think three cocktails is enough? LOL!

These stamps from the Nothing’s Better Than stamp set make me want to dust off my cocktail shaker and make some fancy drinks! This pink drink reminds me of the watermelon mojitos that I made a while back. So good!

The Stamparatus is what made it possible to make this card so fast. I used the hinge-technique to stamp the glass three times in a row with Tuxedo Black Momento Ink on the die cut Sahara Sand cardstock (cut with the Stitched So Sweetly dies), then did that same technique again to stamp the contents of the glass using Flirty Flamingo ink. I used my Stampin’ Write Markers to colour in the umbrellas and the limes.

I broke a few of my speed challenge rules when I made this card. I usually try to avoid die-cutting, colouring and tying bows because they can add a lot of time. I’m still kind of surprised at how quick this was to make!

You can get any of these supplies at my online store. Just click on the SHOP button on my page and it will take you where you need to go. Shop now and save in August with BONUS DAYS!

Give this challenge a try and don’t forget to share it with us over at the As You See It Challenge Blog. We love to see where you’re creativity takes you!

July 3, 2020

Hello Adventure

Amy Jasper As You See It Challenge 2020, paper pumpkin, theme challenge, watercolor, watercolour, woodland folder 0 Comments

The concept of a vacation is different for everyone. Some people think of vacations as travelling over-seas. Those are definitely very special and memorable vacations. My family vacations usually have camping and adventure involved. Vacations don’t have to be anything fancy, though. I recently enjoyed a mini vacation on my front porch; just me and an entire bucket of Häagen-Dazs ice cream. My family had no idea where I was and didn’t come looking for me for at least an hour. It was glorious!!

Why am I talking about vacations, you ask? Well, that is the theme for the challenge from the As You See It Challenge Blog today.

My card design represents vacationing with my family on our camping adventures. I was so excited to try die-cutting my sentiment using the new Foam Adhesive Sheets from Stampin’ Up! I love how the foam pops up this die-cut word from the Sweet Silhouette dies.

I also used the new Water Painters to paint the colour wash background with Mango Melody, Magenta Madness, Misty Moonlight, and Tuxedo Black Momento ink.

Some elements on this card are from the June 2020 Box of Sunshine Paper Pumpkin kit. Can you spot them? If you already are a Paper Pumpkin subscriber, then you’ll recognize them right away. If you aren’t a Paper Pumpkin subscriber, why aren’t you!? Go and subscribe right now so you don’t miss anymore kits! I get so excited when my box arrives at my door each month. It’s a little creative boost and a mini escape.

Hmm… kind of like a mini … vacation!

(See what I did there? I very cleverly pulled Paper Pumpkin into the vacation theme. Yes, I am clever sometimes. Yes, I know I’m being a bit sassy right now, just groan and roll your eyes and move on. I love making people groan at my bad jokes. It makes me feel whole, LOL!)

Where was I?

Oh yes … Here’s another photo.

You can see the very cool Foam Adhesive under the die-cut word in this photo. Seriously, having this stuff for die-cutting makes me really happy! I just peel off the backing of one side of the sheet and apply my paper of choice to that sticky surface (in this case, I used one of the wood patterns from the In Good Taste designer series paper) and run it through my die cutting machine just like I normally would.

What are you most excited about in the 2020-2021 Annual Stampin’ Up! catalogue? I want to know what’s on your wish list!

If you don’t have a copy of the Canadian catalogue, you can view a digital copy by accessing the menu at the top of this blog.

I’d also love to see your take on this theme challenge. Give it a try and share it with us at the As You See It Challenge Blog! We are inspired by your creativity!

June 19, 2020

Wind in Her Hair

Amy Jasper As You See It Challenge, Techniques 2020, challenge, Silhouette, Stampin' Up 2 Comments

My daughter has loved the sensation of a swing since she was a baby. She would instantly calm down when she was being rocked and she loved her baby swing that moved her back and forth in a sideways motion (while I happily made cards at the dining room table). Eventually, her dad and grandpa built a swing set in our backyard. At 14, she still loves the feel of the wind in her hair as she soars as high as the swing will allow.

The card I made to share with you today is inspired by the As You See It Challenge Blog and by my daughter and her love for swings. 🙂

I don’t know what it was about the paper scraps element for this card, but it kept throwing me off. I had a plan with the repeat images element, but when I tried to add the idea of paper scraps, I got stuck. I think I was just trying too hard. In the end, my paper scraps ended up being some strips of paper that were still left in my scrap pile beside my paper trimmer. You can see the thin strips of Basic Black and the Magenta Madness patterned paper behind the front layers with the tree branch.

It took me a few tries before I was happy with my repeat images with the little girl on the swing. I wanted to use the repeat images to create movement, showing that she was swinging forward. Other times that I’ve used this technique, it was to indicate a linear left to right movement, but she’s on a swing, which required a bit of an angled movement. I found that if I started with the black image first, that the repeat images overlaying it seemed to effect the quality of the black image. I also had the challenge of parts of the pink images unintentionally peaking out to the right of the black image, no to mention the ropes of the swing and her arms were a bit too much going on.

My final copy was stamped with a bit more precision than is normally required with this sort of repeat image technique. I used my Stamparatus and decided where I wanted the final black silhouette image to be, placing the paper in the middle of the Stamparatus so that none of the sides of the paper were against the edges of the Stamparatus. Instead, I drew lines on the Stamparatus grid paper around my cardstock so I could return to that placement after stamping the pink images. Repeat images using the Stamparatus require you to move the paper instead of the stamp. This allows for more precise placement than if you were stamping using a block and just eye-balling it. In this case, I moved my paper slightly down and to the right on the grid paper from it’s original position and slightly turned the paper in a counter-clockwise motion after each image was stamped. I used Magenta Madness at full strength for the first image, covering the arms and ropes with masking tape so that they wouldn’t be stamped on my paper. I shifted the paper after stamping and didn’t re-ink for each image after that, so the colour would fade each time.

When all of my pink images were placed, I removed the masking tape and cleaned the stamp with my Simply Shammy, placed my paper back into the original position that I had marked on the Stamparatus grid paper, and placed the magnets to hold it steady. Then I could stamp the full image using the Tuxedo Black Momento ink and, in the fabulous Stamparatus fashion, was able to get a gorgeous solid image because I could re-ink my stamp and re-stamp it in exactly the same spot as many times as necessary.

I used a ruler to extend the ropes of the swing to go to the top of my Whisper White cardstock with the pen tip of my Basic Black Stampin’ Write Marker. The branch die is from the Sweet Silhouettes Dies. The sentiment is from the Well Said stamp set. The card base is Smokey Slate cardstock and the matte is Magenta Madness.

I used the Whisper White 1/4″ Crinkled Seam Binding ribbon for my bow as the finishing touch.

I’m so glad you stopped by to check out my card design today! I hope you will give the challenge a try and share it with us on the As You See It Challenge Blog.

As always, if you’re in Canada and don’t have a demonstrator, I would love to take care of your crafting needs. You can order all of these products at my online store. Just click on the shopping button on my blog and you can browse or shop. I’m also happy to answer any question and I love reading your comments and thoughts, so be sure to comment and say hello!