November 20, 2015

Christmas Fantasy Box – Part 1

Amy Jasper As You See It Challenge, Christmas, Home Décor As You See It, box, challenge, Christmas, edgelits, gift, Itty Bitty Accents, photopolymer, pompom trim, Season of Cheer, thinlits, topper 4 Comments

My preparations for the bi-annual Fly the Coop Mini Retreat are slowly coming together. I love that this retreat takes place in my home, limiting the number of participants to only six people. With the small numbers, we can enjoy the cozy, intimate setting of my home without the interruptions or obligations of our everyday lives getting in the way of the good times we have! Then we can stamp away, finishing all the projects that we brought along to complete!

Things are coming along slowly because I am a very good procrastinator, doing things that shouldn’t really be given that much time when there are other tasks that should take priority. But … because of my amazing procrastination abilities, I have a great project to share with you (when I should have done a much simpler and quicker project instead, lol!)

However, all is not lost, as I will likely use this project (or a very close version of this project) for the Monthly Stampers Group appreciation night and Christmas party that is coming up in December. I get to spoil my monthly group members with special discounts, a free project (this one, whoop whoop!), and Stampin’ Up! door prizes. The members of this group are part of my stamping family and the appreciation night is my opportunity to say “thank you” for their support and loyalty.

Let’s get to the As You See It Challenge for this week. Check it out:

Today, I have a very cool box to show you. I made one only once before, but thought it would be a fun project to do with my Monthly Stampers group. I haven’t completed the inside of this special box yet, so stay tuned for when I share that part with you on Saturday!

I adore how this box turned out! It’s called a Fantasy Box and has a special surprise with the inside design. No scary pop-ups, though. Just something really cool. You’ll have to come back on Saturday morning to see more!

A lot of different Stampin’ Up! supplies were used for this Christmas Fantasy Box. You will find them all listed at the bottom of the page. My favourite part about the way the box looks, is the lid and topper. The Sleigh Ride Edgelits helped me create the sloping lid design.

I’m in love with this box topper. The pine cone was created by layers of paper punched little Gold Glimmer hearts. I adhered them to a mini cone-shape of paper, then wrapped the top with Gold Sequin Trim, finally topping all that with the Gold Satin Ribbon bow.

Can you see the white doily under all those leaves? It is a Spiderweb Doily from Stampin’ Up!! I simply trimmed away some of the edges and used the white side of the doily instead of the black side.

I love that I can use a challenge sketch for projects that aren’t cards. I try to think … outside the box when I design for the As You See It Challenge blog.

Come back on Saturday and check out the inside of this cool Fantasy Box. In the mean time, what will you do with today’s sketch? Don’t forget to link it up with the As You See it page, so we can see what you came up with!

Happy Stamping!

Amy.

Supplies: Coaster Board (not visible), Season of Cheer Designer Series Paper, Red Envelope Paper (not visible), Bitty Banner Framelit, Happy Scenes photopolymer stamp set, Tuxedo Black Momento ink pad, Whisper White cardstock, Real Red Cardstock, Spiderweb Doily, Red Pompom Trim, Gold Sequin Trim, Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder (sorry, it’s a retired product), Lighthearted Leaves photopolymer stamp set, Leaflets Framelits, Mossy Meadow ink, Old Olive ink, Old Olive cardstock, Sponges, Gold Satin Ribbon, Glue Dots, Tear and Tape, Fine-Tip Glue pen, Tombow Multipurpose Liquid Glue, Hot Glue, Big Shot, Stampin’ Trimmer, and Craft Scissors.

November 13, 2015

Deck the Halls

Amy Jasper As You See It Challenge, Christmas, Home Décor, Techniques As You See It, Brick Wall, challenge, Christmas, Happy Scenes, photopolymer, Season of Cheer, sketch challenge, Stampin' Up, technique 2 Comments

Sometimes you need to add to your home decor. Here’s a 5×7″ piece of holiday artwork you can create using Stampin’ Up products.

Of course, I started with this sketch challenge from the As You See It Challenge Blog. Then I decided to go with a circular background instead of a rectangle. Always trying to see things a little differently. Here’s my framed holiday artwork that I ended up with:

I used the Season of Cheer designer series paper to create the layered poinsettia flower. Just a lot of fussy cutting using four flowers that were identical from a sheet of the patterned paper. I adhered the layers together with Stampin’ Dimensionals. Some Cherry Cobbler Dazzling Details glue was painted on the petals to add a little shimmer.

Circle Framelits were used with my Big Shot to create the wreath look with more patterned paper and some Gold Glimmer paper. I even curled the 1/8″ Gold Taffeta ribbon just like you would curl paper ribbon with your scissors. This adds a festive texture to the artwork.

But the beauty of this project is really the brick background.

I started with Kraft paper. It comes in a 12×12 pack and is a different texture than Stampin’ Up’s other cardstock. I ran a 4×6″ piece through the Big Shot with my Brick Wall embossing folder, then sponged it. I sponged it a lot! I used relatively random placements of inks: Crumb Cake and Cajun Craze first, then Whisper White craft ink to soften the orange of the Cajun Craze. Finally, Soft Suede to sort of even it all out. I love how it turned out and will likely share it with my technique class in the new year.

I’m not great at home decor, but I thought you might like to see it on the wall, in my hallway. I thought I should deck my hall with this piece of art. (I know … groan)

Okay, that’s all I’m going to write today. My son and I are heading to Abbotsford, British Columbia, less than four hours from here, for a youth event. Whoop Whoop! Should be high-energy fun!

Have a great weekend and be sure to try this sketch for yourself. You can share it with us at the As You See It Challenge Blog! Hope you do!

November 6, 2015

Fleece Navidad

Amy Jasper As You See It Challenge, Christmas As You See It, barnyard babies, card, challenge, sketch, Stampin' Up 0 Comments

I took a break last week. Basically, I ran out of time. I made a card for last week’s challenge, but … well … I did the wrong challenge. I suppose I should have posted it anyway, but the wind was knocked out of my sails and my time was waning.

I might show it to you later.

Not much is different this week with the whole being short on time thing (when am I not?), but I did do the right challenge and I am posting it for you today. Phew!

Today, we have a sketch, whoohoo! Check out this fine design idea from the As You See It Challenge blog.

Being short on time, I grabbed the first piece of pretty patterned paper in reach – the Season of Cheer Designer Series paper with the lovely painted poinsettias on it. Next to that, was the shiny and festive Real Red Foil paper. And so it began …

I saw the CUTEST card designed with the Barnyard Babies stamp set (see card here). Of course, I had to buy this set for myself so I could make it, too. I was inspired!

With said stamp set now in my possession, I combined the little lamb stamp with the antlers from the Wonderland stamp set to create this holiday sheep. I’m not sure what I think about his Soft Suede ears, but he’s cute, none-the-less.

The card base is a sturdy Thick Whisper White cardstock, then you have the Red Foil matted under the Season of Cheer designer series paper. The diagonal striped patterned paper is also from the Season of Cheer paper package.

Can you see the tiny wave detail on the Red Foil piece across the card front? I finally used my Tiny Wave cutting blade for the rotary trimmer attachment on my Stampin’ Up Paper Trimmer! Yay me!

My “reinsheep” has a little red nose that was drawn in Real Red marker, then made to sparkle and shine with a dob of Cherry Cobbler Dazzling Details. I used my Sahara Sand marker to very thinly outline my reinsheep so he

(though, he could be a she as reindeer girls have antlers, too – bet you didn’t know that little tidbit of trivia!)

could have a little bit of depth. The Soft Sky marker was used around the inside of his body so he/she wouldn’t have boring, flat, white fleece.

And there you have it! How cute it THAT!!

Don’t forget to try this sketch for yourself. It’s a great way to get your creative mojo flowing and you can load it up and share it with us at the As You See It Challenge Blog, too!