June 29, 2018

The Great Cycle Challenge

Amy Jasper Personal gcccanada, great cycle challenge, sick kids foundation 0 Comments

I don’t have a card for you today. It has been a busy month, with the end of the school year for my kids, it has meant extra things to occupy our time.

My daughter did an epic Book Review project for a presentation at school that involved making a spinner to display some of the different characters in the story. She worked really hard on it with the help of her grandpa (Papa) and me. My husband had his convocation ceremony for his Masters of Nursing Degree! My youngest daughter learned to ride a bike!! We had music performances to attend and my son’s Presentation of Learning for Grade 8.

Wow, it HAS been a busy month!

But the thing that has really made June busy, is something called the Great Cycle Challenge. This is a fundraising event that takes place during the entire month of June to raise awareness and donations for Sick Kids Foundation. The donations provide funding for research to help kids and their families fight childhood cancer. It kills me to think what these kids are going through – what these families are going through! I want to imagine a world where there is a cure and I want to live in a world where there is hope!

I initially pledged to ride 200km through the month of June and hoped to raise $200 for the kids. My first three donations were from my very own Stampin’ Up! customers! I was overwhelmed as donations increased beyond my goal, so I decided to raise my riding goal to 300km and my fundraising goal to $1000. I wanted to be able to ride farther than I thought I could, to honour those who were donating. I wanted to try to match their generosity with my hard work.

Now you need to also understand that I don’t own a bicycle. I borrow my Dad’s old mountain bike when I join my friend’s for a cycling weekend wine tour or the occasional scheduled bike ride on the rail trail. I borrowed his bike last year for this same Great Cycle Challenge and rode 100km in June 2017 and raise absolutely zero dollars for sick kids! (I didn’t really advertise last year). What I’m trying to say, is that I’m not a cyclist by any means.

I’m not totally out of shape, though – I had been jogging through the spring and managed to be able to run 4km without walking before this cycling challenge started (and took over!).In the first couple days of June, I was honoured to earn the Great Cycle Challenge jersey, awarded to anyone who reached a $500 fundraising goal. I wear that jersey for almost every single ride so I can be a walking (riding) advertisement for the cause. As I was getting my bike out of my vehicle in the parking lot one day, preparing for a 20km bike ride, I was stopped by a woman who did a loop around the parking lot before she stopped where I was putting on my helmet. I thought she was lost. This woman rolled down her window to talk to me. She said, “Thank you”. She told me about her daughter who was now 18 years old, who had leukemia when she was 10. She saw my Great Cycle Challenge jersey and wanted to thank me for riding – for raising awareness – for supporting sick kids. I was overwhelmed. What a privilege to be able to ride for people like her and her daughter. And what a joy to know that the medical knowledge we already have makes a difference – just imagine how much MORE we could do if scientists have a chance to make new discoveries!My ride that day was spent nearly in tears as I thought of that girl at 10 years old. I thought about her struggling through treatments with all the terrible side effects. I thought about her mom and her family as they fought along side her – as they worried, as they cried, as they feared the worst, as they one day were able to cheer when she was finally in remission – then when they were able to receive the best news – that she won! That she was well. That she would be able to graduate from high-school!

What a thought! What a blessing! What joy!Half way into my month of riding, I realized, I was doing better than I ever thought I could do. I was feeling overwhelmed by the verbal support and the donations offered to cheer me on in my quest. I made the decision to increase my riding goal to 500km because the donations far surpassed my initial goal, I wanted to be able to far surpass my riding goal.There are only 2 days left in June – today and tomorrow. I only have 30km left to ride to meet my goal of 500km. I am exhausted. My legs ache. I would much rather rest or stamp or eat (riding makes me hungry!). But I will keep on riding. I am riding for the kids – Your kids. My kids. I pass by children during my rides and I think, “Hey, little one, I’m doing this for you!”

If you have a heart for kids and you want to make a difference in their future, maybe you would consider donating. You can donate today or tomorrow to support my ride by going to this link:

https://greatcyclechallenge.ca/riders/amyjasper

If you are reading this after June is done, you can donate to the Sick Kids Foundation anytime. We can help kids and their families to fight their battle.

Science is the sword – your donations are what wield it!!

June 15, 2018

Watercolor Watermelon

Amy Jasper As You See It Challenge, simple and cute 2018, As You See It, challenge, quick and cute, Stampin' Up, watercolour 0 Comments

The background for this card is a total and utter CASE (Copy and Share Everything) from Kreativformat on Instagram. I loved the stripes, and the fresh vibrant colours. It was the perfect fit for today’s As You See It Challenge!Themes are so fun and completely open to interpretation. I feel like the colours on my card are bright and fresh, but the watermelon is also juicy fresh fruit.

I used an Aqua Painter to paint with my Stampin’ Up inks: Flirty Flamingo, Call Me Clover, and a wee bit of So Saffron. I drew in the watermelon seeds by hand using my journaling pen after the ink was completely dry, then I stamped the cheerful sentiment “happy life” from the Tabs for Everything stamp set with Tuxedo Black Momento ink.I die cut the watermelon image with a Stitched Shapes framelit circle, then matted it with the Cool Caribbean scallop circle , die cut with a Layered Circle scallop. The tag is created with the Scallop Tag Punch and a piece of the Share What You Love Designer Series paper. The background was created using a piece of Whisper White cardstock and 1/2″ strips of Gray Granite, Mint Macaron, Soft Seafoam, So Saffron, Petal Pink, and Flirty Flamingo cardstock.I loved the look so much that I tried it with another image as well.

Which card do you like best?

June 1, 2018

Be Parquet

Amy Jasper As You See It Challenge, Techniques, tutorial 2018, As You See It, card, challenge, Stampin' Up, technique, tutorial 0 Comments

When I was nine years old, we moved into a new home – well, new to us. The yard was full of tall yellow wild grass and grasshoppers. So many grasshoppers! The house was built in the 80s, I think. It was a two story, white stucco house with a nice layout where the staircase was at the center. When you walked in through the front door, you were welcomed with a large foyer that was as tall as the two floors of the whole house! The large entry way was a great spot for happy hellos and long, lingering good-byes.

I remember skipping with my jump rope on that open foyer space. I played board games on that floor. I remember the comforting “click click” sound of dog nails on the floor as our small honey-coloured maltese/cocker spaniel made her way through the house. We raced around the staircase and would watch the floor flash past as it changed under our feet – beige carpet in the living room, linoleum in the kitchen, beige carpet in the TV room, parquet flooring in the foyer – carpet, lino, carpet, parquet, carpet, lino, carpet, parquet.

The parquet pattern was in squares. It has since been updated and now there is laminate wood flooring throughout the foyer, TV room and kitchen. My own kids have raced around the house when we visit my parents for Sunday dinner – lately it’s during a rubber band war.

Good times. Good memories.

My card design today reminds me of that parquet flooring. Instead of squares, I tried a herringbone pattern. Of course, it all begins with some prompting to get that creative mojo going. Here’s the assortment challenge from the As You See it Challenge blog:

I get pretty excited when I find a fun way to use paper scraps, especially with paper that I LOVE! The Wood Textures Designer Series paper is on the top of my list, so you you can imagine how satisfying it was to turn my scraps into something awesome!

The herringbone pattern is created using short, narrow strips of patterned paper and adhering them to a piece of cardstock. I used my Multipurpose Liquid Glue to adhere the strips (remember, less is more – nobody wants a sticky oozy mess!).

I started by scoring a line in the center of the paper and laying my first five strips down without adhesive first, so that I could use the line as a guide for straight placement. Then I was able to pick up and adhere one piece at a time until my piece of cardstock was full. Once full, I trimmed the paper to size and carried on with the rest of the card.

I trimmed my herringbone parquet into a square and then thought about something crazy – what if I used my Stitched Shapes Framelits to add a decorative stitched edge to this large square!?

I know – CRAZY!!

But it worked! And it wasn’t even that hard!!

I used the largest square from the Stitched Shapes Framelits and placed it, blade up, on my Big Shot clear plate so that I could see the cutting edges clearly. I placed my parquet piece right side facing down, so that the paper lined up in the corner of the framelit.

(Oh my goodness, I need to give you photos of this process! SERIOUSLY! … I’ll try to add them later)

I put my top plate over the corner that I wanted to cut (and ONLY over that corner) and ran it through the Big Shot. The Big Shot cuts when there is pressure, so where the top plate didn’t make contact with the die, cutting did not occur. I repeated this process three more times to make a border around my entire 3-3/4″ parquet.

So cool!!

The rest is detail.

I sponged Crumb Cake ink all around the edges of a layer of Crumb Cake cardstock, then adhered it to my Early Espresso card base.

It’s not super noticeable in the photos, but there is a piece of Night of Navy cardstock matting the upper left corner of my parquet square, which is adhered to the Crumb Cake layer with Mini Stampin’ Dimensionals. The tree image from the new Rooted in Nature stamp set, is stamped on Crumb Cake cardstock with Blueberry Bushel ink (new ink! new ink!), then die cut with the coordinating framelit. To make it pop a bit more on the card, I sponged the edges of the tree with more Crumb Cake ink.

The sentiment is also from the Rooted in Nature Stamp Set. I stamped it on Whisper White Cardstock with Early Espresso ink, then cut it out by hand to use the pieces individually. I adhered the tree and the sentiment with Mini Dimensionals, cut in half so they would fit.

The Copper Metallic Thread was looped and stuck on one of those Dimensionals before that tree was planted on my card.The final step was to add a few copper sequin from the Metallics Sequin Assortment to the card front using Mini Glue Dots.

And there you have it! It has a tree. It has a square. It has woodgrain. It has blue. AND it is masculine! It has it all, Folks!

I think I like it!

What will you do with this assortment challenge? Give it a try and share it on the As You See it Challenge blog!