January 31, 2020

Honeybee in Browns

Amy Jasper As You See It Challenge 20 Comments

I wasted a whole bunch of time today fussing with designing a new watermark for my photos. Now it’s after midnight and technically Friday morning – the morning that this very post is going to publish at 6am.

Needless to say, my post will be brief today! I need to go to bed!

The card I’m sharing with you today is inspired by another As You See It Challenge:

I could use some of that creamy coffee goodness right about now – well, except that I want to go to sleep soon, so … scratch that thought. I will enjoy some of that creamy wake up juice in about 7 hours instead. mmmm. It’s nice to have something to look forward to in the morning.

This challenge is meant for speed and my card design barely made it. This one took 10 minutes on the dot!! Those darn bows always take extra time!

I attached the flower images and the sentiment from the Honeybee stamp set from Stampin’ Up!® all on one acrylic block so I could get them arranged the way I wanted. No time for mis-stamps in a speed challenge! They were stamped on Crumb Cake cardstock with Tuxedo Black Momento Ink. After stamping, I used my Basic Black Stampin’ Blends Marker to create the spackle background by flicking the brush tip off the lid so that the ink spatters onto the cardstock. The tip will likely get damaged eventually using this technique, but I intend to buy another black Blends Marker so I can continue using this one for this technique. It works so well!

That wasn’t the only fancy technique I used – because you should always push the boundaries of your time limits, right! (Gosh no! Don’t do it!!)

I used the blade of my Paper Snips and roughed up the edges of that Crumb Cake cardstock, then I tore the bottom of the paper and rolled my corners a bit. The bumble bee image from the same stamp set was stamped on another piece of Crumb Cake cardstock and die-cut using the coordinating Detailed Bee dies. Before popping that sweetheart onto my cardstock with Stampin’ Dimensionals, I coloured its little body with the Crumb Cake Stampin’ Blends Marker.

Linen Thread is wrapped around the decorated Crumb Cake cardstock layer twice and tied in a big loopy bow before adhering it to the other layers on the card.

Those layers were a bit quicker (if you don’t emboss the wrong one during a timed challenge, that is – face palm, sheesh!). The card base is Crumb Cake cardstock, over which is the burlap patterned paper from the Pressed Petals Specialty Designer Series Paper pack. I added a bit more texture by rolling up the bottom right corner of the patterned paper. Lastly, the mid-layer of the card is the Soft Suede piece that is embossed using the Parisian Flourish 3D Embossing folder in my die-cutting machine.

And it is done!

… and hey, thanks for taking the time to visit me here on my blog. I never know that you visited unless you “sign my guest book” by leaving a comment. Feel free to say, “hey” and let me know where you’re from and if you ever get hyper-focused on the wrong thing and end up staying up until after midnight because you now have to do the thing that you actually should have been doing instead of that other thing.

Ya. It’s now 1:00 am. I’m off to dream land.

Z-Z-z-z-z-z-

(but my new watermark does look pretty cool)

January 17, 2020

Music Amour

Amy Jasper As You See It Challenge 2 Comments

I have to admit that I did this card in my true “on the fly” fashion. I had card pieces left over from my class last night and grabbed them to create the card for today’s challenge.

I made the card while my friend was over for an unplanned birthday celebration. She and my husband were chatting and I listened and worked at the same time.

Bordering on the side of rude?

Maybe, if it were with a different visitor, but this friend is also a stamper and a close, long time friend, so I knew that she’d be okay with me sneaking in a few minutes of card-making on the side for my scheduled blog post.

This card shows off the Music From the Heart stamp set, the Tin tile embossing folder, and the Parisian dies.

The Champagne Foil really is gorgeous for die-cut words and colouring the Basic Rhinestones with the Highland Heather Stampin’ Blends Marker makes those rhinestones coordinate so beautifully!

The Rose Metallic Thread isn’t a perfect match with the Purple Posy cardstock and Highland Heather ink, but it works well in the mix and adds just a touch of subtle texture.

I say, “hooray for card scraps!” and give myself a little nod and a congratulatory pat on the back for pulling it together on the fly once again.

January 10, 2020

Like a Gift

Amy Jasper As You See It Challenge, simple and cute 0 Comments

Before I discovered card making, I didn’t understand why people bought cards to put with a gift. I didn’t even really understand the point of cards at ALL! Why not just say, “Hey, this gift is from me to you! Happy (insert occasion here)!” And hand them the gift?

But now that I make cards, giving them with a gift (or alone as THE gift) is completely logical. Every card I make has a little bit of me put into it. My hands, my time, and my care and attention are part of that card! A hand made card is like a gift all on it’s own!

I have a quick post today to share this sweet and simple card design for you that uses the Parisian Beauty stamp set. This card looks a bit like a parcel, don’t you think!

The Eiffel Tower and vintage postage images are stamped on Sahara Sand cardstock with Tuxedo Black Momento Ink and Lovely Lipstick ink. I then matted the Sahara Sand piece with Lovely Lipstick Cardstock.

I wrapped the Linen Thread around these two layers vertically and horizontally and adhered it on the back. The sentiment from the Strong and Beautiful stamp set is stamped with Sahara Sand ink on Very Vanilla cardstock. Using a die from the Ornate Frames dies and my die cutting machine, I created the tag.