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!

April 10, 2020

In This Together

Amy Jasper As You See It Challenge 2020, card, challenge, colour challenge, paper pumpkin 0 Comments

My family has been staying home since March 17th to help reduce the spread of COVID-19 here in BC, Canada. That’s over three weeks of having my family all in the same space, 24 hours a day. I am the elected adult to go out and get groceries once per week and I deliver stamping orders to my customers, maintaining the 2 metres distance from others and being diligent to not touch anything, especially my face! I even go as far as to wipe down everything in my car that I touched (though, I’ve gotten better with hand sanitizer now, so less wiping required) and I wipe down all the packaging before I put my groceries away.

We’re blessed to have a household income that allows my husband to work from home. The kids are doing school online now, which is hard on my youngest, but we’re working it out. I’m grateful that my family has settled into this new pattern that we find ourselves in. We have had a couple breakdowns, me included, but we’re riding out the storm and hoping it doesn’t get worse. We hope our efforts will make a difference. We’re riding out this storm and we’re in this together.

Not everyone has it easy. There are families who don’t have an income because of the pandemic. There are those who live alone and are socially isolated all by themselves. What about the essential service workers who go to work everyday to keep our society from falling apart? Some have even chosen to isolate themselves away from their family and are not able to hug their spouse or snuggle their small kids. People have family members who are sick and they can’t visit them. There are others who are still getting cancer treatments and are among those most at risk. People are scared, stressed, and feeling uneasy. My family has settled into our new routine, but not everyone can say the same. My heart goes out to you.

These are strange times. We can only do the best with what we have and look for opportunities to help where we can – even if that just means sending out a word of encouragement.

Today’s card has been designed with all of this in mind. It began with the theme from the As You See It Challenge blog – rainbows.

I love what rainbows represent. The end of a storm. The promises of God. Acceptance and love. Diversity. Joy.

Today is Good Friday. It’s often an emotional day for me. My emotions are on edge these days as it is, and now I’m also pausing to think of what was done for me and why. When He declares it to be finished, he knows that a promise has been fulfilled. The storm is coming to an end. At the time, it wouldn’t have felt that way, but we know what happens next. What follows is a gift of unconditional acceptance and love. His death is a promise, like a rainbow.

Strips of cardstock create the rainbow on this card. I used Poppy Parade, Mango Melody, Pineapple Punch, Granny Apple Green, Bermuda Bay, Pacific Point, and Gorgeous Grape. I also used Gray Granite cardstock that I embossed with the Parisian Flourish 3D Embossing Folder from Stampin’ Up!. I used the stamps that were in the March Paper Pumpkin kit. The boots and the grass are from the bonus stamp set. I cut them out and coloured them with my Blends Markers – Dark Daffodil Delight and Dark Mango Melody.

Can you see the little clear enamel heart on the one boot? It’s so subtle, but looks like a heart-shaped water droplet. So cute! I think the loopy double bow of Whisper White 1/4″ Crinkled Seam Binding Ribbon really finishes the card off well. What do you think?

The sentiment, of course, is very fitting to our current circumstances. We’re in this together.

Think of ways that you can help others during this storm. Send a card to make someone smile. Let them know you’re thinking of them and send them happy thoughts. You could give a card to your grocery clerk to thank them for their service. Donate to your local food bank. Pick up groceries for someone who shouldn’t be risking their health. Call someone or do a video chat – your voice and smile will make all the difference.

Maybe you could be a rainbow.

As always, if you like any of the products you see on my blog, you can go to my online store to purchase or browse. I am donating 20% of all customer orders in April to my local food bank. Thank you in advance for supporting my donation.

March 27, 2020

Heirlooms and Blooms

Amy Jasper As You See It Challenge 2020, card, challenge, leaf punch, pressed petals, Sale-a-bration, small bloom punch, sprig punch, Stampin' Up, woven heirlooms 0 Comments

During this Covid-19 crisis and the challenge of social distancing (aka physical distancing), we need our creativity more than ever! I am a better person because of it. I am a calmer person doing it. I can bring smiles to others through it.

Schedule some creative time for yourself, put on some music if you want, and use the time to get busy with your hands and de-stress. Creating is therapeutic for the mind and the soul.

If you need something to get you started, try today’s As You See It Challenge. You can create a card, a scrapbook page, a 3D item, a decor item or anything else you can imagine. The challenge is to use all of the elements listed.

I was inspired to use the Flowering Foils Designer Series Paper that’s available for FREE from Stampin’ Up! with any $60 order. Actually, my card design also uses two other Sale-a-bration items: the Small Bloom Punch (free with a $120 order) and the coordinating Thoughtful Blooms photopolymer stamp set (also available in french).

I stamped three flower images each on Blushing Bride, Rococo Rose, and Merry Merlot cardstock in their coordinating colours of ink. The center of each flower was stamped with one shade darker of those same colours (center of the Merry Merlot flower was stamped in Tuxedo Black Momento Ink). I used the Small Bloom Punch to punch out each flower and adhere them over the Flowering Foils Designer Series Paper and Pressed Petals Specialty Designer Series paper. A couple of the flowers are raised up on Stampin’ Dimensionals.

You can see the shiny copper foiling on the patterned paper in the above photo. It’s so pretty!

The Leaf Punch and the Sprig Punch from Stampin’ Up! create the Mossy Meadow and Basic Black leaf elements on the card. I didn’t use the entire Sprig Punch shape, but actually separated the two parts of the sprig to attach them to the card.

The strip of Gray Granite cardstock was stamped with the large textured image from the Woven Heirlooms Stamp set. I used Gray Granite ink, but stamped off first for a softer colour. I think it ended up looking a bit like woodgrain, which suits me quite nicely! I rubbed my Embossing Buddy over this stamped strip of cardstock to make sure my next steps would give me a nice clean look.

I stamped the sentiment from the Woven Heirlooms Stamp Set (also available in french) with Versamark Ink, covered it with White Embossing Powder, and tapped off the excess. This is when I realised that I overestimated the power of the Embossing Buddy and underestimated the drying time of my ink, because my embossing powder decided to stick where it didn’t belong. I was in a “that’s good enough” mood, though, so I simply brushed off some to the excess with a dry paint brush and heated the rest with my Heat Tool. I attached the completed strip of Gray Granite to my card with Stampin’ Dimensionals and tied a Linen Thread bow around the leaf stems.

I used to be satisfied with just a Whisper White or Very Vanilla insert as a writing surface in my cards, but lately I’ve been more into some simple additions to the inside of my cards. I chose to use some more Rococo Rose flowers and some leaves for the inside of the card. I also added a matte of Soft Suede cardstock behind the Whisper White writing surface. That same matte of Soft Suede cardstock is also on the front of the card, framing the patterned paper, and adhered to the Grey Granite card base.

As always, if you like any of the Stampin’ Up! products used on my blog, you can purchase them from me on my ONLINE STORE. During Sale-a-bration is a great time to stock up on supplies because you can choose a free item with every $60 or $120 of purchased product. Sale-a-bration ends March 31st, so act fast to avoid disappointment. Some of the items have already sold out!

Stampin’ Up! just added a third release of Sale-a-bration products for you to choose from. You can see all the Sale-a-bration items by clicking HERE.

Thanks for taking some time out of your busy day.

Wash your hands and stay healthy!

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