October 1, 2021

Send Holiday Love with this Peaceful Christmas Card

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The weather is getting cooler and the leaves are changing colour. For me, that means it’s time to cozy up and prepare for winter. This is the season to wrap yourself in your most comfy knitted sweater, make a cup of tea, slip your feet into those slippers and do some holiday crafting.

The only thing that would make my holiday crafting even better is a gas fireplace in my craft room! That would be glorious! It’s not a realistic goal, by any means, but I do wonder if I could make room for a small electric fireplace. My crafting studio is in the basement, so it gets chilly. The ambience and warmth of a fireplace would be so delightful, don’t you think!

As You See It Challenge

As a part of the As You See It Design Team, I get to share another card inspired by today’s As You See It Challenge blog.

It begins with a sketch!

Events & Classes

For the past couple weeks, I’ve been having fun creating with the Peaceful Place Specialty paper. I showed my September technique class how to make a very special fancy fold card using this patterned paper along with the coordinating Cabin Dies. My technique cards and tutorials are exclusively available to those who purchased the class. That means they get VIP Access to the tutorials for two months. After that, I get to share the projects with you! So keep watch for that fancy fold card to show up here on my blog in November!

To find out more about my virtual classes (only available in Canada) or about purchasing VIP Early Access to the technique class tutorials, go to my Events & Classes page.

You can also find lots of tutorials on my YouTube Channel.

Peaceful Christmas Card

Since I’ve had the Peaceful Place patterned paper on my mind AND on my desk, it made its way into this design.

I LOVE this paper!

The Cork Specialty Paper and the Knit Together cling stamp have been waiting so patiently for me to bring them into a project. They both offer such a warm and cozy texture. Stamping tone-on-tone with Gray Granite ink on the Gray Granite cardstock works beautifully with that stamp.

I wasn’t sure what colour of cardstock to use for this design. Many of the neutral colours that I considered were too drab, while some colour options seemed too loud. Finally, I tried the Evening Evergreen.

It was perfect! Neutral enough to feel calm, but rich enough to feel cozy and inviting.

Also on this design, you can see the soft layer of Vellum, the white embossed sentiment from the Snowman Season stamp set, and the red stitched ribbon from the Playful Pets Trim Combo Pack.

Give this sketch a try and share your final take on the As You See It Challenge blog. We love to see what you design with that creative brain of yours!

September 29, 2021

Video: An easy card with a sweet sentiment

Amy Jasper simple and cute, Video 2021, expressions in ink, in your words, Sale-a-bration, Sale-a-bration 2021, video 0 Comments

There’s nothing easy about losing a loved one.

It can be difficult to know what to say when someone has experienced that kind of loss. That’s why I think the sentiment on this card is so sweet. It is a warmhearted and whimsical way to say that their loved one will always be near.

About the sentiment

Apparently, the saying is an Inuit Proverb. The Inuit people are from the indigenous communities in the arctic regions of Canada, the United States, and Greenland. I have always admired the spiritual connection to nature among the indigenous culture. It feels familiar, and pure.

Have you ever stood, silent and alone, beneath the birch trees on the edge of a forest?

It’s been a while for me and I feel a longing for it as I write this. I would stand among the strong white giants, quiet my breathing and close my eyes. With my face turned up to the treetops, I’d hear the wind dancing its way through the branches above. The leaves seemed to whisper and giggle in delight as the wind charmed them into joining her performance. I can still feel the warmth of the sun peeking through the branches from the clear blue autumn sky above. In moments like that, nothing else matters and it’s wonderful.

Sharing a card with this Inuit saying seems very fitting this week as tomorrow is Canada’s National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. It’s a day to honour the lost children and survivors of residential schools, their families, and communities. We have a dark history of oppression, racism, and horrific acts against the indigenous peoples in our country. Sadly, we have a very long way to go to fully illuminate the truth, not only of our past, but what is still happening to this day.

I am privileged to be a guest on the traditional and unceded lands of the Syilx Okanagan People. It is a place of revered beauty.

Summer Sale-a-bration ends tomorrow

The sentiment on this super quick and easy card is from the In Your Words stamp set, which is only available until tomorrow! You can only acquire it with a workshop or single order over $375 CAD during Sale-a-bration. There’s still time to call up a couple friends and invite them to put together a workshop online order with you as the organizer. That way, you can earn that free stamp set and they can enjoy the free Sale-a-bration items with each of their orders over $60 CAD. It’s a win-win all around, really!

Other products used on this card include: Cute Stars Adhesive-backed Sequins, Expressions in Ink Specialty paper, Glittered Organdy Ribbon, Thick Basic White cardstock, Tasteful Labels Dies, Soft Suede ink, and Flirty Flamingo Blends Markers.

You can order any of these supplies from me here in Canada by going to my online store or contacting me directly.

Watch the video

I presented this card in a Facebook Live on Monday. Watch below or on YouTube to see just how quick this card it to make!

Thanks for stopping by!

September 17, 2021

On the Brighter Side: A quick & fun get-well card

Amy Jasper As You See It Challenge, simple and cute 2021, animals, Bunches of Fun, get well, quick and cute, Sale-a-bration 2021, Speed challenge 0 Comments

I have a few personal rules that I follow when I have to make a card in a hurry:

No colouring
Do not emboss
Avoid die-cutting
Bows are out
Fussy-cutting? No way!

If I choose to break ONE of those personal rules, I can usually create a great card in less than 10 minutes, no problem.

Today’s card was created for the As You See It Speed Challenge and my rules got thrown out the window!

10 minutes or less!

I was frantically searching for my Glue Dots to attach my bow when I looked at my stopwatch. At 9 minutes and 48 seconds, I had to call it quits in order to meet the requirements of this challenge! Ack!!

My bow-less card is still pretty cute, though. I used the Bunches of Fun stamp set to achieve the playful comedic approach required for this challenge. This dog looks so embarrassed, don’t you think! He has exactly the same expression that my dog had when he had to wear the cone. LOL!

Step it up!

Even though this card turned out pretty cute, it just didn’t feel done. I decided to do another one, without the time limit, so that I could step-it up.

I didn’t change much, but you can see how switching the card base from Basic White to Crumb Cake makes a big difference. Also, I DID add that bow along with a few of the clear Elegant Faceted Gems. That’s all it needed for me to be satisfied that it was complete.

I gave this self-conscious canine his brown fur with a combination of my Stampin’ Blends Markers. Dark and Light Soft Suede Stampin’ Blends Markers were used, then coloured over with the Light Crumb Cake. His black spots are accented with Dark Smoky Slate and Light Basic Black. For the cone, I used the Light Soft Seafoam. Finally, to give this pitiful pooch a bit more dimension on the Basic White background, I carefully outlined the image with the Light Smoky Slate Stampin’ Blends Marker.

After colouring, Rover was given his circular frame with the Cut & Emboss Machine and one of the Layering Circles Dies. I attached him to patterned paper layers with Stampin’ Dimensionals.

There are a couple different pieces of patterned paper used on this design. First, the pink stripes paper is from the Pattern Party host exclusive paper pack. Second, the black polka-dot paper is from the Beautifully Penned paper pack, only available as a FREE item this month during Sale-a-bration.

Of course, you can see that I used White Embossing on the Basic Black cardstock for the sentiment.

Side by side comparison

**Card on the left**: 9 minutes 48 seconds **Card on the right**: Same design, but took my time and made some changes.

Are you up for the challenge?

As a designer for the As You See It Challenge blog, I have the privilege of creating samples to give some inspiration to our players. If you feel inspired to try this speed challenge, be sure to share your finished card with us over at the blog. Remember to use a stopwatch so you can tell us your time!

In Canada? You can order from me anytime at my online store and register for any of my virtual classes.