December 1, 2017

Floral Retirement

Amy Jasper As You See It Challenge, Mini Album, Techniques 2017, accordion binding, As You See It, card, challenge, colour challenge, Detailed Floral Thinlits, framelits, Stampin' Up, technique 4 Comments

It’s time for ….

AN UBER CARD!!

Every now and then my husband asks me to design a card for staff at the university who are moving on to bigger and better things – like retirement! This is when I get to design what I call a book card; that is a larger card (usually 5″x7″, like the one today) with multiple pages inside for a large group of people to sign. I like to do the accordion binding, but sometimes I do different bindings with stitching, o-rings, or flip designs. The card I have to show you today has an accordion binding with three pages.

I chose to use the As You See It Challenge colour combination as a starting point for the design as my husband didn’t have much to give me to go on. I like to customize the card to the person, if possible.

I really struggle with blue and pink colour combos, but I think it worked out with the Whisper White and Sahara Sand neutrals that I chose to add to the mix on my Uber Card.

It is a 5″x7″ card with a 1/4″ depth (basically, it has a 1/4″ spine, like a book). The card base is created with Stampin’ Up’s Thick Whisper White Cardstock. I used Pacific Point cardstock as a very thin mat layer under the layer of Whisper White Floral Thinlit die cut. Peeking out from under the die cut, you can see the sponging of the three challenge colours, Pacific Point, Pool Party, and Flirty Flamingo that I did on Stampin’ Up’s beautiful Glossy White cardstock! I love how well the colour blends on this glossy paper!

The Flirty Flamingo scalloped circle and the Whisper White circle are cut using the Layering Circle Framelit Dies. The images from the Wild About Flowers stamp set were stamped on the Whisper White circle using Sahara Sand and Flirty Flamingo ink. The circles were attached together with Tombo Multipurpose Liquid Glue and adhered over the 5/8″ Burlap Ribbon and the Foil Frenzy Specialty Designer Paper banner with Stampin’ Up Dimensionals. Behind the circles, you can also see the Silver Metallic Thread in swooshy loops (such a pretty addition to almost any card).

The Happy Retirement sentiment is from the Teeny Tiny Wishes stamp set and was stamped on the Sahara Sand banner with Tuxedo Black Momento Ink. The ends of both paper banners were perfectly cut using the Triple Banner Punch (Thank you, Stampin’ Up!). Whisper White Baker’s Twine was just the right touch to wrap and tie on the Sahara Sand banner before attaching it to the circle with Stampin’ Dimensionals.

The sweet little Silver Foil bee was die cut with the Detailed Dragonfly Thinlit Dies and also attached with Stampin’ Dimensionals.

The inside of this Uber Card, is created with an accordion fold binding technique. This is done by scoring the cardstock of choice at half inch intervals, then gluing them together with your pages caught between every second fold. I keep meaning to do a tutorial video of this technique! If you bug me with comments on this, I just might get around to it more quickly (just sayin’, lol!)

For a secure binding, I left a section of the accordion folded cardstock free of scoring so it could be used as a full back page. The little bee from the Dragonfly Dreams stamp set was stamped in Sahara Sand ink with the You’ll be Missed sentiment from the Wild about Flowers over it with black ink.

I really struggled with mucking up my paper with ink repeatedly! So frustrating!! The pretty little Detailed Floral die above the bee is covering up one of those smudges. I also added extra stamped bees on my inside pages to cover up annoying smudges. Even the front of the card ended up with a blasted smudge of Sahara Sand ink on the Whisper White cardstock!!! All I could do there was dab it with my White Chalk Marker, letting it dry, then repeating until the smudge was mostly hidden unless the light caught it just so. I have had to use that Chalk Marker technique a few times for small smudge repairs. It’s definitely better than redoing the entire card and most people won’t notice the tiny flaw that remains. If they do, they chalk it up (pun intended, lol!) as a unique flaw in a hand made product.

If you’re interested in a video tutorial on how to make an accordion fold binding like I used in this card, write it in the comments on this blog post.

Also, if you have any tips on hiding ink smudges (or avoiding them), please add it to the comments on this post as well. I would love to hear any wisdom that you have to share!

November 3, 2017

Sequin and Burlap

Amy Jasper As You See It Challenge, Christmas 2017, As You See It, card, challenge, Christmas, framelits, thinlits 1 Comment

It’s time for another As You See It Challenge design!

Here’s the challenge sketch:

I decided to use the Lots of Labels Framelits for this one. Here’s my take on the challenge:

I wanted to use some of the Be Merry Designer Series Paper, but I find the Garden Green/Cherry Cobbler/Whisper White colour combo a bit dull on its own. That’s when I decided to add the Powder Pink, Crumb Cake and Sahara Sand into the mix. I think the iridescent pinky colouring of some of the Metallic Sequin Assortments is what makes the Powder Pink cardstock work quite well.

I don’t know if you can really see it in the photos, but the snowflake die from the Seasonal Layers Thinlits is cut from the Dazzling Diamonds Glimmer Paper and is so pretty and sparkly! I wanted it to be popped up off the page, but it’s too delicate to hide a Stampin’ Dimensional behind it, so I first adhered a 1/2″ Crumb Cake circle to the back of the snowflake with the Multipurpose Liquid Glue. After that, I could hide a Dimensional behind that circle without losing the delicate design of the snowflake.

The sentiment from the Teeny Tiny Wishes stamp set, was stamped on the Powder Pink cardstock using Early Espresso ink. Then, it was die cut with a banner die from the Bunch of Banners Framelits for that perfect flagged end (I cut the other end off – two perfectly flagged ends would have been more than this card could handle. lol!

September 8, 2017

Everything is Pumpkin Spice

Amy Jasper As You See It Challenge 2017, As You See It, cable knit, card, challenge, coffee, fall, Stampin' Up 1 Comment

BAAAHHHHH! IT’S SEPTEMBER!! Where did the summer go!?

I am sad that the warm days are coming to an end, but I admit that I love the fall. It is my most favourite season of the year. There’s just one thing that is a little bit annoying …. everything is pumpkin spice! Pumpkin spice lotion (no real surprise here), pumpkin spice oolong tea (yup, I can go with that), pumpkin spice Oreo cookies (okay… ), Instant Oatmeal (I’d probably give that a try), Hershey’s Kisses (um… I’ll pass), Pumpkin Spice Peeps (no thank you), pumpkin spice Cheerios (definitely not!), Pumpkin Spice Popcorn (it’s Boomchickapop popcorn, so it’s probably really good, actually!), and even Pumpkin Spice Pringles potato chips (yikes!)! It doesn’t really stop there, but I won’t go on. You can also find spoof photos for Pumpkin Spice cigarettes, rifle cartridges, mouth wash, feminine hygiene products, contraceptives, and weed killer!

I’m pretty sure it all started with Starbucks and their Pumpkin Spice Latte that is adored and sought after by so many of you latte junkies out there. I’m actually not a fan of having cinnamon or nutmeg in my lattes. If I choose flavouring at all, I order the cascara latte (my fave when it’s available) or the toffee nut latte.

As far as pumpkin spice goes – bring on the pumpkin pie!! That’s all I need.

… and maybe a scented candle.

… and those Boomchickapop popcorn (if you can get your hands on some, send them my way!)

Okay, enough about all things pumpkin spice! Here’s the As You See It Sketch Challenge.

I love my coffee stamps. This card uses the Merry Cafe stamp set and the Coffee Cafe stamp set with the Coffee Cups Framelits dies.

You can see the beautiful Cable Knit embossing folder in Soft Sky cardstock on the card base. I love the large gingham/plaid patterned paper from the Merry Little Christmas Designer Series Paper Stack! I used patterned paper from the Color Theory paper stack for the coffee cup and the lid. The sleeve for the coffee cup is stamped on a piece of patterned paper from the Coffee Break designer series paper.

A little bit of sponging with Crushed Curry ink on the base of the coffee cup and on the edge of the lid adds some depth to the colours. Linen Thread is the perfect fall touch to wrap behind the coffee cup over the Old Olive and Basic Black layers. The Pear Pizzazz Enamel Shapes are just a fun pop of playfulness. And I love the stitched edge on the Basic Black circle that was die cut using the Big Shot and the Stitched Shapes Framelits. The stitching marks make a boring black circle much more interesting, don’t you think?

Stampin’ Up Dimensionals really make things pop on a card. Flat cards are a rare thing for me. I love my Dimensionals, particularly the new Mini Dimensionals that Stampin’ Up put out. The smaller size allows for much more functionality and for a longer lasting package (without cutting them in half!!)

If you like doing sketch challenges, make sure you try this sketch and share it with us at the As You See It Challenge blog. We love seeing what you’ve created. So be sure to post a picture of your creation on a public social media site and link it to the As You See It blog!

Happy Stamping!

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