2019

Painted Petal Label

The As You See It Challenge has a very pretty and fresh colour challenge for us today! I thought I would try using the beautiful Petal Label Dies from Stampin’ Up! along with some watercolouring to create my design..

Here’s the colour combo that inspired the card in today’s blog post.

Isn’t it a precious image! The little swan makes me think of the Christmas ornaments my mom made out of felt one year. She never made a swan, but she did make a little dove. I get a lot of my creativity from her, of course. Thanks mom!

I used the Petal Labels Dies and the Stitched Retangle Dies to cut the Watercolor Paper for my card front. I don’t think the 2019-2020 Annual Stampin’ Up! Catalogue gives the Path of Petals Bundle enough air time. It really is a gorgeous bundle and is only part of the Pressed Petals Suite by Stampin’ Up!. The entire suite is so stunningly beautiful, but I feel like it has been lost in the shadows of the many show-stopping suites in the catalogue. I want to give this one a little more attention! The Petal Labels Dies are delicate and beautiful. The Path of Petals Photopolymer stamp set has the most beautiful fonts for the most eloquent sentiments.

I chose to use a Thick Whisper White card base for this card. Let’s be honest here, I use Thick Whisper White A LOT for my card bases. It is so easy to just add a layer to a white base. I don’t need to do anything fancy to the inside and it makes such a clean and crisp card every time! I struggle to use coloured cardstock for my card bases. I think I need to try to branch away from that a bit. Maybe, I’ll try Very Vanilla. LOL!

With an Aqua Painter and my three ink colours, Mango Melody, Grapefruit Grove, and Poppy Parade, I added colour to the floral edge of the oval die cut watercolour paper. I started with the lightest colour first, then worked up to the darkest colour. I was careful to colour only the floral shapes, trying to keep a clean edge so the oval area would remain defined.

To some of the fronds, I added black sequins from the Peaceful Poppies Sequins pack using Glue Dots to hold them in place.

On a separate piece of Whisper White cardstock, I stamped the beautiful sentiment from the Path of Petals Photopolymer stamp set using Tuxedo Black Momento Ink. I did stamp it a little bit crooked, but that’s why I did it on a separate piece rather than stamping it directly on the card base!! (I’m smart like that, LOL!). I adhered it (with the sentiment straight) to the water coloured, die cut layer using Stampin’ Dimensionals. I needed to do some trimming with my Paper Snips (since the Whisper White layer was now sticking out, crooked, under the die cut layer), then I was ready to attach those two layers to my card base using my trusty Multipurpose Liquid Glue.

Now it’s your turn. Get into your craft supplies and make a card using these colours (or colours as close to these as you can get). This is an opportunity for you to get creative and use this colour challenge as a jumping off point. Sometimes, you just don’t know where you might land!! Don’t forget to share your finished card on a public internet site (Pinterest, public Facebook Page, public Instagram page, Flicker, Splitcoast Stampers, your blog, etc), then share it with us on the As You See It Challenge Blog! We love to see what you’re creative brain does with the challenges.

As always, if you like any of these products, head on over to my Online Store and get them into your shopping cart! Stampin’ Up! makes it easy to create beautiful things!

If you’re outside of Canada, you can’t legally shop from me, but I hope you will continue to visit. Don’t forget to comment and let me know that you did!!

Christmas is Family

What brings you joy during the holidays? For me, it’s spending time with my family. I love the time together playing games, opening gifts, sitting by the fireplace, and just existing together.

My card today is inspired by the As You See It Challenge: it’s a fill in the blank!

At first, I wasn’t sure what I would do on a card for this one. How would I depict family on a holiday card?

Then I remembered a stamp set that I got in my pre-order for the upcoming Stampin’ Up! catalogues! “The Gang’s All Meer” stamp set will be available from the Sale-a-bration Brochure in January.

I realized that there are five people in my immediate family and this image has five meerkats!! I saw someone put Santa hats on the critters for a card, so I decided to give it a go!

I stamped the meer cat family on some Whisper White cardstock with Tuxedo Black Momento ink. I used my Stampin’ Blends to colour the image: Light and Dark Crumbcake for the cheerful crew, Dark Balmy Blue, Light Night if Navy, and Dark Night of Navy for the background, and Poppy Parade for the Santa hats.

The Santa hat image is from the Playful Penguins stamp set from Stampin’ Up! I stamped them on Whisper White cardstock, coloured them, then fussy cut them and adhered them to the little heads. The pompom on the end of the hat was cut separately, so I could attach it in different ways to the hats. That way, I could make the hats all a little bit different.

I used the Snowfall Accents Puff Paint to create the falling snow on the background, heat setting it to make that puff paint puff!!

Then I had another thought! Would the meerkats fit in the Stampin’ Up! Shaker Domes? YES, they do!!

Now, I was REALLY excited!!

I used the Snowglobe Scenes dies to cut the hole in the piece of the See a Sillhouette Designer Series Paper by Stampin’ Up!. I used about a teaspoon of pickling salt as snow in my dome and layered my pieces together over the Night of Navy card base and a matte of Gold Glimmer Paper.

The base of the shaker globe is created with Basic Black cardstock, cut with the same die set and my die cutting machine. I also used the Subtle embossing folder to give it some texture. I wrapped a piece of Linen Thread around the base of the globe and secured it on the backside before adhering the globe base to the card with Stampin’ Dimensionals. I tucked some leaves under the globe base that I punched out of Garden Green cardstock and a random scrap of Perennial Essence Designer Series Paper. You might also notice the pine bough on the left side, which is a sticker left over from my Christmas Countdown Calendar kit.

Finally, I stamped the sentiment from “The Gang’s All Meer” stamp set in Poppy Parade ink on Crumb Cake cardstock. I flagged the end and tied a Linen Thread bow on it and adhered it over a strip of Real Red cardstock, also flagged on the end.

If you like these products, you can click on the SHOP option in the top menu of this page and seek them out on my online store. If you are visiting my page from anywhere other than Canada, you won’t be able to shop with me, but you can look for demonstrators in your area. I know they would be happy to help you!

“The Gangs All Meer” stamp set is not yet available. Watch for it in January when the new catalogues come out!

Now get Stamping!

Gold and Green

I’m thinking of the ice cream in the freezer. I should probably go get it and eat it while I write my blog. You don’t mind, do you?

. . .

Okay. I’m back with my coffee Haagen-Dazs. Yum. Though, honestly, I really shouldn’t be eating it after all of the Halloween candy I’ve been consuming. Maybe, I’m just getting ready to hibernate.

That’s a thing, right?

Once again, I have a card for you and once again it is inspired by the As You See It Challenge for which I am a designer.

Sketch challenges are pretty great because they provide some clear parameters, but still offer so much opportunity for your own creative spin. I decided to take this sketch and create a square card, rather than the more common 4-1/4″ x 5-1/2″ size.

I have seen some beautiful watercolour wreaths created from the All Around Wreath Dies from Stampin’ Up!, so I thought I should give it a try. I cut the wreath from a piece of Watercolor Paper and placed it onto one of the clear plates of my Stamparatus. I then used an Aqua Painter to saturate the Watercolor Paper with plain water. Next, I applied ink using the Aqua Painter and Ink Refills. I used Call Me Clover, Granny Apple Green, and Coastal Cabana. As I applied each colour, I enjoyed watching it spread quickly over the paper because of the water that already prepared the way. Once I was happy with the saturation of colour, I used my Heat Tool to speed up the drying time so I could carry on with the rest of my card.

The card base is Thick Whisper White, which I cut to 8-1/2″ x 4-1/4″ so that I could have a completed 4-1/4″ x 4-1/4″ square card. This is a good size for a square, because it will still fit in Stampin’ Up! envelopes. I used the Simply Scored Tool to create an embossed outline around the card base. I like how that simple step somehow instantly makes a card more elegant.

The next layer is a Whisper White square on which I stamped the line stamps from the Christmas Countdown Cling Stamp Set from Stampin’ Up!. I stamped these in Versamark ink and applied the Gold Embossing Powder, melting it to a beautiful shine with my Heat Tool. I wrapped the Gold 1/4″ Shimmer Ribbon (from the new and only available while supplies last, Christmastime is Here Suite!) around this piece and tied it in a bow. This was attached to the card base with Stampin’ Dimensionals.

The dry watercoloured wreath was attached to the front of the card with glue dots, but I had to cut it to be able to tuck it under the bow of my ribbon. Pretty sneaky, right!

The sentiment is from the Merry Moose stamp set and was stamped with Versamark ink on Whisper White cardstock. Once again, I applied the Embossing Powder and heat it with my Heat Tool, before cutting it in my die cutting machine with one of the circle dies from the Stitched Shapes Dies. This was applied to the card with Stampin’ Dimensionals.

The last few things to add were the gorgeous Gold Glitter Enamel Dots (from the Christmastime is Here Suite), and the Cherry Cobbler flower, which I die cut with my die cutting machine and the Detailed Deer Dies from Stampin’ Up!.

I followed the perimeters of the sketch challenge. I would say that I moved the location of my bow, but the basic sketch is still apparent, don’t you agree?

If you like the products I used on this card, you might want to go to my ONLINE STORE and see what else there is to get excited about! Have you seen the products in the Christmastime is Here Suite? Just beautiful! Definitely have a look.

… and don’t forget to try this sketch and play along with us at the As You See It Challenge Blog!

Okay, my ice cream is done. It was yummy.