July 3, 2015

Beautiful Friend

Amy Jasper As You See It Challenge, Techniques alphabet rotary stamp, As You See It, Awesomely artistic, card, challenge, collage, dyed ribbon, embossing, masking, Stampin' Up, technique 0 Comments

Welcome to my blog where I have the joy of sharing my love of designing with paper and ink using my beloved supplies from Stampin’ Up! Today’s design shows off the new Awesomely Artistic stamp set and begins with an As You See It colour challenge.

I love the whimsical beauty that a dragonfly image automatically adds to artwork, whether it’s a photograph, a painting, a scrapbook layout, or a card design.

This colour combination calls for Not Quite Navy, which is a colour that has retired from Stampin’ Up’s colour collections. It was a favourite of mine. However, since it isn’t available, I chose the next best thing: Night of Navy. It’s a lovely rich navy blue, that when a bit of the same colour of ink is sponged around the edges, it makes it even more rich and gorgeously deep!

I wanted to add some ribbon to my card, but didn’t have anything that worked. Since necessity is the mother of invention, I chose to dye some satin ribbon to match my project!

Tips:

Use gloves. I am pretty good at keeping my hands and my workspace clean, but dying ribbon is a messy process. Gloves will be a member of my craft studio from now on.
Use a small container. A small container allows you to be frugal with your ink refill. A small ziplock baggie works great and gives you freedom to squish your ink and ribbon around, ensuring total coverage. I chose to use an empty embellishment container and coiled my ribbon inside. It was very cool to watch the colour wick up the ribbon until it was saturated.
More ink gives a darker colour. I started with 12 drops of ink refill and a couple teaspoons of water and my ribbon came out a lovely steel blue, but it wasn’t quite as dark as I wanted. I added 20 more drops of ink to the same container and placed my coiled ribbon in it again. This gave me the desired colour.
Dry the ribbon. If your ribbon is wet, it will colour anything it touches. You can lay your ribbon on a paper towel and let it dry overnight. If you’re impatient (like me), you can dab it on a paper towel until most of the wet comes off, then hold in in your (un-gloved) hand and use your heat tool over it like a blow dryer (not too close). Holding it in your hand will prevent you from melting your ribbon (because you will feel the heat on your hand). If your ribbon isn’t dry, you will see marks of ink on your project as you add your ribbon. Also, it will not adhere well if you use glue dots or other adhesive to attach a bow.
Different ribbon give varied results. Satin ribbon takes colour beautifully. Others will take colour differently, so test it out and see how it goes. Some ribbons are treated with sizing, which make them repel water, so they require extra work to get them to absorb the colour. You can wash them ahead of time in the sink or just take the time to massage in the colour (plastic bag technique would be the best container choice in this case).
Not always true to colour. Some inks won’t give true colour on your ribbon. Sometimes it’s the ribbon, but sometimes it’s as though the ink separates. For example, I have seen Chocolate Chip ink end up a dusty rose pink colour when used on ribbon!

I ruched the ribbon using a length of Tear Tape to adhere it as I ruffled and attached, ruffled and attached. The photo above also shows the piece of Daffodil Delight cardstock, which I textured by running it between my bone folder and my thumb multiple times until the fibres in the paper began softening. I actually softened it enough that I could separate it into two layers which makes a sort of suede-like finish (can’t really see it in the photo). This process makes the paper really pliable for a nice distressed look. I stamped it with the textured image from the Awesomely Artistic stamp set for an added amount of colour and texture.

And I’m quite pleased with the use of the black Candy Dot in the Candy Dot brad! I can’t remember the last time I used one of these brads with the Candy Dots! It looks great!

The sentiment is a combination of the Greeting Thinlits “hello”, which I created using Daffodil Delight cardstock with that same texture stamp image over it; the “beautiful” is created using the Rotary Alphabet stamp; and the “friend” image from the Awesomely Artistic stamp set.

I was very pleased with my circle section of this card. I started by rubbing my Embossing Buddy over the paper and stamping the floral image from the Awesomely Artistic stamp set by first inking the stamp with Versamark ink, then inking over that with Daffodil Delight ink. This allows the ink to stay “wet” longer so I could cover it with Clear Embossing powder and heat-set it with my Heat Tool. Once set, I added Night of Navy ink over it with a sponge and circular motions. Torn pieces of sticky note paper were applied as a mask to create the vacant area on the circle.

After sponging to my heart’s content, I used my Embossing Buddy again and stamped my dragonfly with Jet Black Stazon. Then I applied Black Embossing Powder and used my Heat Tool. I applied the Night of Navy splatter with the splatter image stamp from the same stamp set.

The thin mat of Daffodil Delight cardstock was a great finish to the overall card. It looked so plain before adding that splash of light. That Daffodil Delight mat is on Stampin’ Dimensionals, as is the circle of Whisper White cardstock with the dragonfly image.

I had the pleasure of stamping with a friend while creating this card. I think that’s why the sentiment says “hello beautiful friend” – because I was thinking of her. She was my muse for the day. Thanks Gwen!

What would you do with this colour combination? Try it and share it with the As You See It Challenge blog! We love to see what you create!

Amy

June 26, 2015

Celebrate it!

Amy Jasper As You See It Challenge As You See It, card, challenge, embossing, masking, motivation, Stampin' Up, timeless elegance 1 Comment

Welcome to my blog where I have the privilege to share my love of designing with Stampin’ Up products. Check out the beautiful Timeless Elegance designer series paper on this inspiring card for today’s project.

This card began with As You See It Challenge #093:

This card is to celebrate achievement that comes from hard work and perseverance, but also from turning your dreams into plans.

While designing it, I was thinking of goal-setting and the chaos of a summer schedule now that the kids are out of school. I’m not great with goals, but I REALLY want to be. Goals have the potential to give me the focus I need to accomplish things that are important to me, my family, my business, and my day job. The crazy summer months with scheduling child care, juggling my work schedule so that either my husband or I are home with the kids as much as possible, getting as much camping in as possible, and keeping my stamping friends creating even through their own busy summers, all makes goal-setting even more of a priority.

My husband refers to this sort of planning as “sharpening your axe”. Apparently it was Abraham Lincoln who used this phrase:

We need to take the time to reflect on habits in our past and determine where improvement needs to take place. This can be prioritizing, goal-setting, planning, scheduling, reflecting, learning, gathering supplies, and even just taking a break to refresh ourselves. It can be hard to take the time for these things when our lives are busy, but this is when it is even more essential. Without “sharpening your axe”, you are likely to be less efficient, less effective, less productive, and more likely to burn out or become overwhelmed.

So one of my goals this summer is to start each week with some quiet time where I can sit down and sharpen my axe. It will start with a basic to do list, then prioritizing, planning and scheduling. With a flexible plan (you always need to allow wiggle room to foster relationships), I can have a great summer and start some new habits. And, feel successful in my accomplishments.I hope to be able to read this statement at the end of the summer and glow a little bit, knowing that it applies to me!

As for the details on this one:

Basic Black, Very Vanilla and Blushing Bride cardstock were used for the colour combination. I love the Timeless Elegance Designer paper – soo pretty. The strip of Blushing Bride Cardstock across the front of the card is embossed using the Boho Embossing folder and the Big Shot machine. I sponged Blushing Bride ink around the edges of the piece so that the embossing would “pop” that much more. The Venetian Crochet Trim is just peeking out under that strip of embossed cardstock for an added touch. I chose Basic Black, Blushing Bride, and a small piece from the Typeset Specialty Designer paper to create the little 5/8″ wide little banners. The Banner Punch comes in handy to snip perfect little banner ends.

The sentiment is one of my favourites from the Feel Good stamp set. I stamped it using Jet Black Stazon ink on the Very Vanilla cardstock. It was cut into a circle using the Big Shot and Circle Framelits. To add a light sponging of Blushing Bride ink, I left the framelit in place and used a Sponge Dauber in gentle circular motions. This leaves a subtle, but effective, thin outline on your die cut shape.

Of course, most of my cards are not complete without using Stampin’ Dimensionals somewhere! I used them to raise up the Blushing Bride mat on the Basic Black card base. I also used them under the circle shape with the sentiment.

What do you think? Is this a card that I can give you at the end of the summer? How will you sharpen your axe so you can reach your goals?

Amy

June 19, 2015

11 Year Old Birthday

Amy Jasper As You See It Challenge As You See It, card, challenge, embossing, markers, masculine, Stampin' Up 0 Comments

The Big News stamp set from Stampin’ Up! is a great choice for an 11 year old boy. My son has a TONNE of birthday parties scheduled for these last days of the school year and that means I have boys on the brain!!

Here’s the As You See It Challenge sketch this week:

And the card I designed:

I used my new Whisper White thick cardstock for the base of this card and let me tell you – it is AWESOME!! This paper holds it’s shape so beautifully for a very professional finish. I’m so glad that Stampin’ Up! decided to offer it.

I heat set the Gold Embossing powder for the sentiment on this card. Cherry on Top Designer Series Paper was used as the colour inspiration as I pulled out the Cucumber Crush, Bermuda Bay and the yellow (but instead of Crushed Curry, I wanted to use the brighter Daffodil Delight for my candles).

I REALLY wanted to put a ribbon somewhere, but as my intent was to create a more masculine card design, I withheld!

My favourite part about this design is the candles. I stamped them very close together in Jet Black Stazon ink in groups of four so I could cross the fifth one over them (fussy cut and on pieces of Stampin’ Dimensionals) to complete the counting in groups of fives. They are coloured with Stampin’ Write Markers in Bermuda Bay and Cucumber Crush with Daffodil Delight for the stars. I also used a Sponge Dauber with Daffodil Delight ink to create the glow around each star.

I like glowing. Glowing is good.

I also like to hear about you. What are your tricks to creating a masculine card? Ribbon? Colours? Styles?

Leave a comment in my “reply” section and tell me what you know!

Amy