November 26, 2021

Make this Jolly Pets Holiday Card

Amy Jasper As You See It Challenge, Christmas 2021, animals, Christmas, theme challenge 4 Comments

I have a sweet Christmas design to share with you featuring the Sweet Stockings Designer Series Paper, the Snowy White Velvet Sheets, the Cabin Dies, and the Holly Jolly Wishes Stamp set from Stampin’ Up!®

A Fond Farewell to As You See It

My card for you today is the last card that I will be sharing as an As You See It Designer for the As You See It Challenge Blog. I’ve been doing cards with the blog for years and can hardly even remember when I WASN’T part of this awesome design team!

It has been an incredible honour and a pleasure to be among those fantastic creators. Not only have I enjoyed designing some of the challenges and sharing my sample cards for them, but it is also a privilege to vote on our winners. I have to say, most times it is VERY difficult to pick my favourites.

In addition to sharing my card designs for each challenge, I also created the current graphics for the blog. Developing the digital graphics was a labour of love (there were days when I forgot to eat … or pee!). Many hours were spent working on the different challenge banners, the digital badges, the blog header, and the bio images, and I loved every minute of it! My ADHD hyperfocus superpower kicked into high gear during the process; 8 hours could easily fly by and it felt like only half an hour had passed! I suppose, in a small way, my graphic designs allow me to continue to be part of the blog.

The Theme Challenge

My design begins, of course, with an As You See It Challenge.

As designers, we take turns coming up with ideas for the challenges. This theme challenge is my own idea: pets.

Because I designed the base graphics for all the theme banners, I was able to take this graphic a bit further and make it my own. I think the animals are super cute, peeking their heads into the frame! Special attention was spent adding the splash of water for the fish to jump into the scene and bringing the turtle into the foreground. Since this is my last challenge on the As You See It Design Team, it seems fitting to be finishing with my own challenge, don’t you think!

The Card

I don’t have a lot of stamps that would fit into this theme, but I did have the Sweet Stockings Designer Series Paper. This paper is adorable with the various pets in their holiday poses. I fussy-cut the two furry festive friends from the patterned paper for my card!

The card base is Thick Basic White cardstock with a layer of the Sweet Stockings Designer Series Paper layered on the front. Stampin’ Dimensionals were used to layer the Granny Apply Green cardstock to the card. It is on this layer that all the fun happens!

I stamped the sentiment from the Holly Jolly Wishes stamp set with Versamark Ink on the Basic White cardstock and heat set it with White Embossing Powder and my Heat Tool. Then I used a Blending Brush and Pool party Ink to apply the colour to be boldest in the centre and softening to the edges. After wiping the excess ink off of the embossed sentiment, I tapped some water droplets over the inked area to create the spatter in the background.

Next, the Cabin Dies were used to cut the Snowy White Velvet Sheets. These pieces were layered on the card with glue dots for some subtle dimension. Then, I added the crazy Christmas canines with Stampin’ Dimensionals.

The sequins are the perfect finishing touch to the wintery background!

I hope you like this card as much as I do! This is my last time to share a project as a designer for the As You See It Challenge Blog, so be sure to play along for this one!

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.

August 6, 2021

You’ll Love the Beautiful Effect of Layered Vellum

Amy Jasper As You See It Challenge, Techniques 2021, animals, challenge, Nature's Beauty, Peaceful Cabin, vellum 0 Comments

The As You See It Challenge Blog has us sharing our favourite animal as the starting point for our designs today. I don’t know about you, but I had to work within the limits of my supplies! There aren’t any images of moose among the current Stampin’ Up! products!

Since my favourite animal is under-represented at the moment, I chose to go with my close second favourite animal, instead. A deer!

The Layers

This card shows off a layering technique with vellum to create the feeling of distance on a misty morning.

I stamped the cabin first on a piece of Basic White cardstock with Tuxedo Black Momento ink. The cabin image is from a new stamp set called Peaceful Cabin that was just released along with the new Mini Catalogue! It’s so exciting to be able to play with new products! I used Soft Suede and Crumb Cake Blends Markers to colour the cabin, then coloured the area around the cabin with Old Olive and Balmy Blue to give a little bit to the earth and sky.

The next layer is vellum, on which I stamped the trees from the same stamp set. I used black ink again, then coloured behind it with an Old Olive Blends Marker. I also added some Smoky Slate with my Blends Marker to create a bit of a shadow under the trees.

Next, I stamped the deer from the Nature’s Beauty stamp set on a second piece of vellum, colouring it with my Soft Suede and Bronze Blends Markers (on the back of the vellum. I added the grass image at the deer’s feet, using the olive Blends Marker to accent the grass.

Each layer was adhered behind the Early Espresso frame, created with one of the Rectangle Stitched dies. I cut a narrow Basic White matte to go behind the frame and attached it to the Crumb Cake card base with Stampin’ Dimensionals.

Finishing the Card

With all my vellum layering complete, I then stamped the sentiment from the In Your Words stamp set on Pool Party cardstock with black ink. This stamp set is only available for FREE during Sale-a-bration to anyone who hosts a qualifying workshop or personal order over $375. I was surprised at how nicely the Soft Succulent paper works with the Pool Party.

The two paper strips were flagged on the ends with scissors and attached together before adhering them to the card with Stampin’ Dimensionals.

Finally, I added the Linen Thread bow and the adhesive-backed dots from the new Decorative Matt Dots embellishments.

If you made a card for this challenge, then what animal would you use? Why not share it with us at the As You See It Challenge Blog! We love to see your beautiful creations!