February 26, 2016

Bloomin’ Heart Double Embossed

Amy Jasper As You See It Challenge, Techniques As You See It, bloomin heart, double emboss, Stampin' Up, timeless elegance 6 Comments

I have taken a bit of a break, but I missed you too much! I thought I would share a card that I created using one of my favourite sentiments and the Bloomin’ Heart die.

Of course, it starts with the challenge:

This week’s As You See It Challenge is to share your favourite sentiment. I don’t think I have a favourite, really. The sentiment on this card is one that I love because it is universal, kind, and happy.

I am really pleased with how the Bloomin’ Heart die on this card turned out. I die cut it from a 5.5″ x 4.25″ piece of Whisper White cardstock, then sponged colour on it with daubers. I used Blushing Bride and Old Olive ink, then used my Basic Black Stampin’ Up Marker to accent the fronds in the heart die. Once I completed the colouring, I inked the entire surface with Versamark ink, then used clear embossing powder and heat set the heart. Then, to get that smooth, glossy finish, I repeated those two steps again: cover the entire surface with Versamark ink, then heat set with another layer of clear embossing powder. Double embossing creates a beautiful, smooth, enamel-like finish and makes all of the colours appear richer and brighter. It’s just beautiful.

The final steps of this card involve using the Bloomin’ Heart die to cut out the five flowers. I sponged around the edges of the flowers with Blushing Bride ink, then gently shaped the petals with my bone folder before double embossing the flowers and attaching them to the die-cut heart. To these, I added the Basic Pearls.

The sentiment is from the Timeless Love stamp set from Stampin’ Up. I stamped it with Watermelon Wonder Ink. Then I tied the Basic Black stitched satin ribbon in a single not before adhering it to the front layer of my card. This layer was attached using Stampin’ Dimensionals, then the die-cut heart was inserted into the vacant die cut area and attached with Dimensionals as well. I love the resulting filagree look!

January 29, 2016

Hello (from the other side?)

Amy Jasper As You See It Challenge As You See It, birthday, card, challenge, embossing, fringe scissors, Gorgeous Grunge, hello, Stampin' Up 3 Comments

I can’t get Adele’s song out of my head!! Every time I see this “hello” stamp, that song starts playing inside my mind- then, I start singing it out loud. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a beautiful song, it’s just that I only know the one line “Hello, from the other side”. It plays over and over and over and over and over … yeesh!

But I do love that stamp set. You’ll see it on my card today.

Here’s the As You See It Challenge sketch that I started with:

And here’s my Hello (from the other side?) birthday card:

Is the song stuck in your head, yet?

My colour combination was inspired when I received an order of the packages of cardstock that I happened to run out of all at the same time. I pulled them all together out of the box and thought, “Boy, these are really fun and pretty colours together!” I tried really hard to include Chocolate Chip as it was in the bunch AND I hadn’t used it in such a long time, but I couldn’t make it work. My colours include Blushing Bride, Bermuda Bay, Cucumber Crush, and Daffodil Delight.

I started with a Blushing Bride cardstock base, then a thin matte of Bermuda Bay. The striped Cucumber Crush layer is from the package of 2015-2017 In Color Envelope Paper. It’s not only great for making envelopes or envelope liners, but also works well as a layer on your cards.

I used one of the splotches from the Gorgeous Grunge stamp set, once with Cucumber Crush ink and once with Bermuda Bay ink where I was planning to put my “hello” sentiment. Then I used my trusty Embossing Buddy over the paper and stamped my “hello” (from the Hello Stamp Set only available until February 15th) with Versamark ink. I sprinkled White Embossing Powder over the image, dusted off the excess, and heat set it with my Heat Tool. Once that was completed, I used my Embossing Buddy again so I could do the same process with the “birthday girl” sentiment from the same stamp set and Gold Embossing powder.

(I let out an audible “phew” when I saw how straight it was! … stripy paper is not very forgiving if you stamp crooked)

I was quite excited to use my Stampin’ Up Fringe Scissors. I don’t use them enough! I love how they easily add texture to any paper project. I found that my layers were too perfect for my liking, so I grabbed my Paper Snips and carefully hand cut curved on three of the four fringed layers.

Ah, yes, that’s what it needed.

The 1/8th inch Gold Ribbon was the final touch. I struggled with this. I tried a few different ribbons before deciding on this one.

I didn’t adhere the Bermuda Bay layer to the base with my Stampin’ Up Dimensionals until all the layers were complete.

It didn’t turn out quite how I had it in my head, but I’m happy with the cheerful colours, the stripes (I do very much like stripes), and the way my embossed “hello” turned out. I still wish I could have used Chocolate Chip somewhere. Perhaps that will be my next challenge – use Chocolate Chip. It’s been sadly neglected in my craft room for quite sometime.

Have you done an As You See It Challenge, yet? You should give it a try! It’s a great way to get your creative juices flowing!

January 22, 2016

Hogs and Kisses, Baby!

Amy Jasper As You See It Challenge As You See It, barnyard babies, confetti hearts punch, Valentine's Day 7 Comments

Valentine’s Day is coming.

I’ve never bothered myself much with a day that dictates I should tell someone I love them. However, this year it feels right to brighten up the February drearies with a bit of colour. It’s been looking very grey and brown outside our house as the snow has melted a bit (but not enough to show the green lawn) and the sanding truck has left its mark. How about adding a spark of life in the home? I haven’t seen any Primrose plants in the grocery store yet, but I might grab a couple to put on my windowsill when they are available. The promise of spring.

What colours would spark some life in your house right now? Pinks and reds seem to be the traditional shades of love, but don’t let that stop you from showing off your own flair for colour with some fancy hearts of purple and teal. I just might add some of those myself. My project today is more on the traditional side. I don’t like pink much, so I’ve used the bright of white for my design base today with a flash of shining red.

I’m a designer for the As You See It Challenge Blog, but thought I would design a card that would also work with a couple other challenges that I’d like to play along with.

Just “spreading the love” – fitting, don’t you think?

I am playing along with the Global Design Project and their “love” theme. I’m also playing along with the Paper Players and their “clean and simple challenge”.

Here are the images for the As You See It Blog sketch and the challenges that I started with:

I used the adorable and surprisingly versatile Barnyard Babies stamp set from Stampin’ Up for my clean and simple, love-themed card.

Can you see the shiny!!?

I started with the Thick Whisper White cardstock for my card base (I’m SO glad Stampin’ Up has this cardstock now! It’s awesome!) I used the Red Foil paper to matte another layer of regular Whisper White cardsock, then added the three stamped pieces with Stampin’ Up Dimensionals to pop them up off the page.

I had to stamp them first of course. For that, I used my trusty and very loved Stazon Jet Black ink with the Barnyard Babies stamp set. After stamping the images, I used Stampin’ Up Blender Pens with Blushing Bride classic ink to colour my three wee piggies.

I wanted to create a visual of the kisses that go along with my hogs.

Hogs and Kisses, Baby! That’s what it’s all about!

I used the Confetti Hearts Punch with more Red Foil paper and some Red Glimmer paper to punch out some pretty little kisses (hearts represent kisses, of course). The Fine-Tip Glue Pen from Stampin’ Up was just the ticket to glue these little sweet bits of love onto my card.

I hope you like it. I look forward to making a couple more and giving them to my co-workers with a yummy chocolate to let them know I care. But maybe I will give it to them before Valentine’s Day – just to be clear that I don’t need a designated day to show my appreciation.

Ha!

I encourage you to try the As You See It Challenge, but check out the others also, they have some great designers with fabulous ideas!

I’d love to hear how you get through the February drearies. Leave me a comment and share your wisdom!