October 9, 2015

Glade Jul

Amy Jasper As You See It Challenge, Christmas As You See It, challenge, Christmas, embossing, Stampin' Up, star framelits 8 Comments

I used to work at a care home for people with brain injuries and dementia, primarily elderly men and women who were at risk of wandering and getting lost or of being confused to the point that they could become aggressive. I was a student nurse at the time, so was often asked to simply visit with the residents and help maintain a calm environment. Sometimes, I would walk around the hall with a very very VERY tall, elderly Norwegian man and he would correct me on what little Norwegian I knew. I would count to ten with him “en, to, tre …” or sing with him.

My favourite thing would be to walk arm in arm with him and sing “Silent Night” in Norwegian. “Glade jul, hellige jul …”. Silent Night is one of my most loved Christmas carols. I think fondly of that time with that lovely man.

I never did see him act out in violence when I was there. Probably a good thing, since he was so very very tall.

My card for you today is inspired first by this sketch from the As You See It Challenge Blog and second by my favourite Christmas carol, “Silent Night”.

I just love the patterned paper with the notes on it in the Home for Christmas Designer Series Paper from Stampin’ Up! I wish we could by sheets and sheets of that one pattern for this time of year!

Tip Top Taupe cardstock was used for this card base with a bit of light sponging in Tip Top Taupe ink around the edges of the cardstock. I also sponged some Tip Top Taupe ink around the edges of the sheet music patterned paper from the Home for Christmas Designer Series Paper. This was adhered along side the strip of Black Glimmer paper (not just for Halloween!!) to the card base.

But my favourite elements on this card are all in the middle with that star! I stamped the tree image from the Wonderland Stamp Set in Versamark ink and heat embossed it with Black Embossing powder. All this on the Happy Haunting piece of Designer Series Paper. WHAT! Yes, folks, I used Halloween paper on a Christmas card! The vanilla stars on the black background represent a beautiful ‘silent night’. I sponged some Tuxedo Black Momento ink around the edges of the star and adhered it to the card with some Stampin’ Dimensionals so it could be raised off the page a wee bit.

My friend, Stacey, was working with me in my craft room while I was designing this one and it was her suggestion to use the Window Sheet for the banner element. It was the perfect way to add a banner as per the sketch, without taking away from the image on the star.

I stamped the notes from the Jingle All the Way stamp set with Versamark ink onto the clear acetate Window Sheet, then heat set it with Gold Embossing powder. This was die cut using my Big Shot and the Bitty Banner framelit before very carefully wrapping the Gold Metallic Thread around the end and tying it into a bow. A Mini Glue Dot hides behind this cluster of gold thread to adhere the Window Sheet banner to the star.

For the final touch, the three Gold Sequin pieces were added to the card using my Fine-Tipped Glue Pen.

Glad you could check out my blog today. You can purchase stamping supplies online by clicking the “shop now” button on this page. Or you can contact me by email to order or ask questions.

Don’t forget to also check out the creations from other designers on the As You See It Challenge blog. They have some lovely versions of this very same sketch.

Here are some beautiful Norwegian voices singing ‘Silent Night’ for you. Enjoy:

October 2, 2015

Jingle Jingle Little Star

Amy Jasper As You See It Challenge, Christmas, Events As You See It, card, challenge, Christmas, home for christmas, jingle all the way, Stampin' Up, star framelits 0 Comments

My title makes me chuckle. Not that clever of a title, really, but I chuckle just the same.

It’s been a CRAAAAZY week. My family has hardly seen me. When they have, they find me completely distracted and disengaged from reality. I’ve been working on my preparations for the BC Crop for Kids event which takes place in Abbotsford this weekend. I am sponsoring a class and hosting my own vendor table on Saturday. I haven’t participated in this particular event, making it all new to me. I also don’t do vendor shows often – maybe once per year, so it takes a lot to get organized. The class I’ve chosen to do has a TONNE of prep, but I have been incredibly blessed with friends who gave their time to cut the gazillions of pieces of paper, ribbons, and dies to help me. Not only that, but many of them also donated supplies toward the class in honour of the BC Children’s Hospital foundation, for which the event is raising funds.

So, I want to give a shout out and a HUGE THANK YOU to all of those gals who spend hours at my house cutting and embossing!

Part of my prep involved having a make and take project at my vendor table for 40-50 ladies to enjoy. The As You See It Challenge this week seemed like a good opportunity to hit two birds with one stone. Here’s the challenge sketch:

My make and take card will be very similar to this one, but the patterned paper will vary, of course.

I used Crumb Cake cardstock for my card base, then a Very Vanilla mat under another layer of Crumb Cake cardstock. The next two layers are Cherry Cobbler and a strip of Home for Christmas Designer Series Paper.

I used some Gold Foil paper with my Star Framelits and embellished it with a triple swirl of Metallic Gold Thread. I used Stampin’ Dimensionals to pop it up off the page a bit.

In the image above, you can see how the Very Vanilla banner is curled a bit. I did this by sliding the banner between a bone folder and my thumb until the paper curved to my satisfaction. I tacked down the ends of the banner to the paper with Tombo Multipurpose Liquid Glue.

The stamped images are from the Jingle All the Way stamp set. I used Real Red ink for the sentiment and Crumb Cake ink for the musical notes.

The final step was to add the Gold sequin with my Fine Tipped Glue Pen.

I think that’s the fastest post I’ve ever written! Back to prepping and planning. I have to be ready to go by one o’clock today. EEK!

September 18, 2015

Winter Wonderland Sleigh Ride

Amy Jasper As You See It Challenge, Christmas As You See It, assortment challenge, challenge, Sleigh ride edgelits, Stampin' Up, window sheets, winter wonderland 14 Comments

Busy busy busy.

That’s my little life in September every year and EVERY year I forget that I shouldn’t plan any extra activities. With the kids back in school, there’s plenty of tasks to do that keep me hopping. I don’t need to add more… yet that’s what I do every year, lol!

Being busy is a good feeling. Feeling stressed and overwhelmed is NOT. It can be difficult to find a balance. So, last week I didn’t do the As You See It Challenge and didn’t post to my blog. What I did instead was continue planning for the fundraising event for which I have volunteered to sponsor and teach a class. This is a new experience for me and is very unfortunate to be occurring in September when life is already so busy. My hope is that it will be a rewarding experience and that I will come away from it ready to plan for the next one! As long as I can get through the next couple weeks!

The As You See It Challenge blog has an assortment challenge this week.

With my current level of stress, I’m not surprised that I chose this colour scheme, these images, and this sentiment. I’d be able to handle things being a bit calmer and a bit brighter. Who wouldn’t!?

I’m not sure if I captured the true meaning of “negative space” in this project. I looked it up to make sure I understood it, but I think it’s a pretty abstract concept that is open to interpretation anyway. So I’m using the cutout circle AND the silhouette of the sleigh for my negative space.

I used a brayer to create the ombre effect in the background with Pool Party ink over Whisper White cardstock. A piece of Window Sheet has been stamped in White Stazon ink with the tree image from the Winter Wonderland stamp set and covers the circle cutout. The lovely Sleigh Ride Edgelits create this winter scene with the houses in the background and the sleigh in the foreground.

One of my favourite colour combinations for the winter is Pool Party and Real Red. It somehow portrays the peaceful coziness of those frosted days.

What colours make you think happy thoughts of winter?

Amy.