March 20, 2015

Happily Pretty Simple

Amy Jasper As You See It Challenge As You See It, Big News, blender pens, card, challenge, embossing, Gold Soiree, I Like You, note card, Stampin' Up 4 Comments

The As You See It Challenge Sketch #079 is bold and simple at the same time. This week I worked with heat embossing, Blender Pens, a note card project, and Envelope Liner Framelits.

Here’s the sketch challenge I started with for this project:

At first glance, I had NO idea what to do with this sketch. So, I started by looking at the largest sentiments that I had available, then carried on from there. I hadn’t even mounted my Big News stamp set yet and it was perfect for this layout!

In the end, my card became a note card size (3.5″ x 4.75″), but only because I changed my mind a few times as to what I wanted it to look like and eventually it had to be cut down to the size you see here.

I used Very Vanilla cardstock and stamped the sentiment in Jet Black Stazon ink. It looked too flat, so I applied Clear Embossing powder over the ink and heat set it to give a glossy finish (did you know you could do that with Stazon?!). I then stamped the flowers from the I Like You hostess stamp set with Versamark ink and heat set the Gold Embossing powder over that. Next, the flowers were coloured with Classic ink using a Blender Pen (pulling those out again now that the Blendabilities are discontinued…sniff…) I used Blushing Bride, Wild Wasabi, Hello Honey, and Wisteria Wonder ink for the flowers, then finished them off with a few blobs of Dazzling Details glitter glue which I spread all over the flowers and leaves with the tip of my finger. The wee flowers were topped off with small Basic Pearls.

You can see the glitter from the Dazzling Details glue a bit better in the above photo. Did you notice the envelope liner in this photo? I used the Gold Soiree Specialty Designer Series paper and my Envelope Liner framelits to create the elegant look to this Crumb Cake Note Card Envelope. It’s very handy to have paper that coordinates with the I Like You stamp set!

I used Blushing Bride cardstock for the base with a very thin border around the Very Vanilla layer. The bottom corners were all rounded with my Project Life corner rounder punch. I topped the front of the card with a piece of Gold 1/8″ ribbon.

Simple.

Pretty.

The outside of the envelope was stamped using the I Like You flower image as well, but with Gold ink.

And it all comes together! Whah whah!!

Now I’m ready for the next wedding (come on my single friends!! Bring it on!) when I will use this gift card to top off the amazingly expensive and perfect and fabulous wedding present that will go along with it.

Why don’t you give this sketch a go? Don’t forget to show it off at the As You See It Challenge blog. I know you will inspire me with whatever your take on the sketch may be. I can’t wait to see what you come up with!!

Amy

January 9, 2015

Birdie Soiree

Amy Jasper As You See It Challenge, Techniques An Open Heart, As You See It, card, challenge, envelope punch board, floral framelits, Gold Soiree, Stampin' Up, technique 1 Comment

I’ve got what I call an uber-card for you today. Every now and then I get to make something fancy. This one is a 5×7″ retirement card designed for many people to say their well-wishes and farewells to someone who has brought meaning and inspiration to their lives and has earned the title “Retired”. A time where you get to live off of your savings and live out your golden years. I used Gold Soiree Specialty Designer Series Paper and my beloved An Open Heart stamp set from Stampin’ Up!

I decided to use a challenge sketch to find some inspiration and creative mojo to get this card going. This is the sketch I used:

When I make cards with multiple writing pages inside, I like to create the card with a 1/8″ to 1/4″ spine to allow for the extra bulk of the pages. This one started with a 7″x10.25″ piece of Soft Suede cardstock which I scored at 5″ and 5.25″ to make two folds for the book-like shape of the card base.

Unfortunately, I realize that none of the pictures taken of this card allow you to see the spine, but you can see the same extra depth added to the envelope beside the card in the photo above. The spine of the card is narrower, but this gives you an idea of what the spine would look like.

I chose to add some layers on the card base to frame the Gold Soiree Specialty Designer Series paper (DSP). You have the base layer of Soft Suede, the second layer of Crisp Cantaloupe, another layer of Soft Suede, until the final matte of Whisper White cardstock to frame the geometric gold base of the artwork. This Gold Soiree Specialty DSP is very unique as it has a sheen and texture that is cool and smooth, a bit like plastic. It makes for a nice professional finish on your projects.

The bow was created using a fingertip double loop bow technique and the long tails were twisted into submission a bit at a time and strategically adhered with glue dots along the way.

Isn’t that bird from the An Open Heart stamp set cute? You can see that he was stamped twice, once in the center of the circle and again on a seperate piece of Whisper White cardstock from which he was carefully cut out with my Paper Snips (I didn’t cut out the legs, but relied on the legs from the first image). I coloured both birds, with more detail on the top layer, using my inks and blender pens. I chose Calypso Coral for the breast, Tangerine Tango for the beak and feet, and I carefully added a shadow outline with Sahara Sand and a blender pen. That little guy is raised up on Stampin’ Dimensionals.

To create the pages of this card, I cut two 6.75″x9.5″ pieces of Whisper White cardstock and scored and folded them to create two 6.75″x4.75″ inserts which were placed one inside the other and tied together at the “binding” with Whisper White bakers twine. I added a little bit of the 1/8″ gold ribbon for a simple embellishment. The back of the last page of this insert was adhered directly to the inside back of the card base, allowing it to be secure inside the card.

Due to the size of the card, a custom envelope was required. I used the matching Gold Soiree Specialty DSP and my Envelope Punch Board (which just so happens to be on sale this week!) to create a 3D envelope that is deep enough to fit the dimensions of my card. When I do custom envelope that are hand delivered rather than delivered by the postal service, I prefer to close the envelope with a belly band of paper rather than seal it with adhesive. It’s a bit of a prettier presentation, I think.

I hope you give the sketch this week a try and link your creations to As You See It Challenge #69. I love how your designs offer new inspirations each week!

Happy stamping!!

Amy