July 3, 2020

Hello Adventure

Amy Jasper As You See It Challenge 2020, paper pumpkin, theme challenge, watercolor, watercolour, woodland folder 0 Comments

The concept of a vacation is different for everyone. Some people think of vacations as travelling over-seas. Those are definitely very special and memorable vacations. My family vacations usually have camping and adventure involved. Vacations don’t have to be anything fancy, though. I recently enjoyed a mini vacation on my front porch; just me and an entire bucket of Häagen-Dazs ice cream. My family had no idea where I was and didn’t come looking for me for at least an hour. It was glorious!!

Why am I talking about vacations, you ask? Well, that is the theme for the challenge from the As You See It Challenge Blog today.

My card design represents vacationing with my family on our camping adventures. I was so excited to try die-cutting my sentiment using the new Foam Adhesive Sheets from Stampin’ Up! I love how the foam pops up this die-cut word from the Sweet Silhouette dies.

I also used the new Water Painters to paint the colour wash background with Mango Melody, Magenta Madness, Misty Moonlight, and Tuxedo Black Momento ink.

Some elements on this card are from the June 2020 Box of Sunshine Paper Pumpkin kit. Can you spot them? If you already are a Paper Pumpkin subscriber, then you’ll recognize them right away. If you aren’t a Paper Pumpkin subscriber, why aren’t you!? Go and subscribe right now so you don’t miss anymore kits! I get so excited when my box arrives at my door each month. It’s a little creative boost and a mini escape.

Hmm… kind of like a mini … vacation!

(See what I did there? I very cleverly pulled Paper Pumpkin into the vacation theme. Yes, I am clever sometimes. Yes, I know I’m being a bit sassy right now, just groan and roll your eyes and move on. I love making people groan at my bad jokes. It makes me feel whole, LOL!)

Where was I?

Oh yes … Here’s another photo.

You can see the very cool Foam Adhesive under the die-cut word in this photo. Seriously, having this stuff for die-cutting makes me really happy! I just peel off the backing of one side of the sheet and apply my paper of choice to that sticky surface (in this case, I used one of the wood patterns from the In Good Taste designer series paper) and run it through my die cutting machine just like I normally would.

What are you most excited about in the 2020-2021 Annual Stampin’ Up! catalogue? I want to know what’s on your wish list!

If you don’t have a copy of the Canadian catalogue, you can view a digital copy by accessing the menu at the top of this blog.

I’d also love to see your take on this theme challenge. Give it a try and share it with us at the As You See It Challenge Blog! We are inspired by your creativity!

April 10, 2020

In This Together

Amy Jasper As You See It Challenge 2020, card, challenge, colour challenge, paper pumpkin 0 Comments

My family has been staying home since March 17th to help reduce the spread of COVID-19 here in BC, Canada. That’s over three weeks of having my family all in the same space, 24 hours a day. I am the elected adult to go out and get groceries once per week and I deliver stamping orders to my customers, maintaining the 2 metres distance from others and being diligent to not touch anything, especially my face! I even go as far as to wipe down everything in my car that I touched (though, I’ve gotten better with hand sanitizer now, so less wiping required) and I wipe down all the packaging before I put my groceries away.

We’re blessed to have a household income that allows my husband to work from home. The kids are doing school online now, which is hard on my youngest, but we’re working it out. I’m grateful that my family has settled into this new pattern that we find ourselves in. We have had a couple breakdowns, me included, but we’re riding out the storm and hoping it doesn’t get worse. We hope our efforts will make a difference. We’re riding out this storm and we’re in this together.

Not everyone has it easy. There are families who don’t have an income because of the pandemic. There are those who live alone and are socially isolated all by themselves. What about the essential service workers who go to work everyday to keep our society from falling apart? Some have even chosen to isolate themselves away from their family and are not able to hug their spouse or snuggle their small kids. People have family members who are sick and they can’t visit them. There are others who are still getting cancer treatments and are among those most at risk. People are scared, stressed, and feeling uneasy. My family has settled into our new routine, but not everyone can say the same. My heart goes out to you.

These are strange times. We can only do the best with what we have and look for opportunities to help where we can – even if that just means sending out a word of encouragement.

Today’s card has been designed with all of this in mind. It began with the theme from the As You See It Challenge blog – rainbows.

I love what rainbows represent. The end of a storm. The promises of God. Acceptance and love. Diversity. Joy.

Today is Good Friday. It’s often an emotional day for me. My emotions are on edge these days as it is, and now I’m also pausing to think of what was done for me and why. When He declares it to be finished, he knows that a promise has been fulfilled. The storm is coming to an end. At the time, it wouldn’t have felt that way, but we know what happens next. What follows is a gift of unconditional acceptance and love. His death is a promise, like a rainbow.

Strips of cardstock create the rainbow on this card. I used Poppy Parade, Mango Melody, Pineapple Punch, Granny Apple Green, Bermuda Bay, Pacific Point, and Gorgeous Grape. I also used Gray Granite cardstock that I embossed with the Parisian Flourish 3D Embossing Folder from Stampin’ Up!. I used the stamps that were in the March Paper Pumpkin kit. The boots and the grass are from the bonus stamp set. I cut them out and coloured them with my Blends Markers – Dark Daffodil Delight and Dark Mango Melody.

Can you see the little clear enamel heart on the one boot? It’s so subtle, but looks like a heart-shaped water droplet. So cute! I think the loopy double bow of Whisper White 1/4″ Crinkled Seam Binding Ribbon really finishes the card off well. What do you think?

The sentiment, of course, is very fitting to our current circumstances. We’re in this together.

Think of ways that you can help others during this storm. Send a card to make someone smile. Let them know you’re thinking of them and send them happy thoughts. You could give a card to your grocery clerk to thank them for their service. Donate to your local food bank. Pick up groceries for someone who shouldn’t be risking their health. Call someone or do a video chat – your voice and smile will make all the difference.

Maybe you could be a rainbow.

As always, if you like any of the products you see on my blog, you can go to my online store to purchase or browse. I am donating 20% of all customer orders in April to my local food bank. Thank you in advance for supporting my donation.

May 24, 2019

Bird Ballad and Paper Pumpkin

Amy Jasper As You See It Challenge 2019, As You See It, card, challenge, paper pumpkin, sketch challenge, Stampin' Up 0 Comments

I was so pleased to see that the bird images in the May Paper Pumpkin kit by Stampin’ Up! were a perfect match to the birds on the Bird Ballad Designer Series paper! (Available for purchase June 4th when the annual 2019-2020 catalogue sales period begins!). I figured this was too perfect to pass up! You can find out more about Paper Pumpkin by clicking HERE.

My card design today uses some elements and stamps left over from the May 2019 Paper Pumpkin kit, Hugs from Shelli.

But first, here’s the As You See It Challenge sketch that was my jumping off point for this card.

I started with a piece of Pool Party cardstock on which I already applied Embossing Paste with the cloud mask as part of one of my Facebook Live tutorial videos. If you’d like to see more about how you can use Embossing Paste, click HERE to see the Facebook video.

The strip of Bird Ballad Designer Series Paper was adhered to the card, then I die cut a piece of Whisper White cardstock using one of the circles from the Stitched Shapes Framelits Dies and ran it through the Big Shot die cutting machine. On the circle, I stamped one of the bird images from the Paper Pumpkin kit with Basic Gray Classic Ink.

See how it matches the patterned paper! So cool!

Adhered to the circle with Stampin’ Dimensionals, is one of the vellum feathers from the Hugs from Shelli May Paper Pumpkin Kit along with a strip of woodgrain patterned paper from Nature’s Poem Designer Series Paper. One of the sentiments from the Paper Pumpkin kit was stamped on the woodgrain paper strip. Linen thread tied in a bow around the strip of woodgrain patterned paper adds a bit of texture.

To complete the card, the cloud covered Pool Party Paper was adhered to a piece of Basic Gray cardstock. Finally, it was all attached to the Pool Party card base with Stampin’ Dimensionals.

The Hugs from Shelli May Paper Pumpkin Kit is beautiful. You can see it being unboxed and assembled in this VIDEO. Stampin’ Up! is putting out some gorgeous Paper Pumpkin kits lately. Subscribe to Paper Pumpkin so you can get these beautiful crafting kits delivered to your door each month. Click on this LINK to make it happen!!

Why not give this sketch a try for yourself. You can even share it with us by posting a photo of it online (your blog, Pinterest, public Facebook post, etc) then linking it to the As You See It Challenge Blog by following the prompts. I hope you do! We love seeing your beautiful creations!

(There’s a lot of links in this post, I hope you find your way.)