March 12, 2016

Pedal Pusher Reflection

Amy Jasper As You See It Challenge, Techniques As You See It, card, challenge, embossing, markers, masking, photopolymer, SAB2016, Stampin' Up, technique 5 Comments

Life is full of re-evaluations, reflection, and adaptation. I am smack dab in the middle of all of that as I try to figure out the priorities and values in my life. Sometimes, my stamping has to take the back burner while my family or other adventures take over. I want to learn how to play the guitar, I want to sew more, I want to be more active – these things will take some of my time, but I still want to stamp. I’ve been less consistent on my blog because of my ventures in life and I can’t be sure how each week will look for me on my blog. However, today, I do have a card to share with you!

I started with these beautiful bright happy and inspiring colours from the As You See It Challenge blog.

I love all of the Sale-a-bration free products from Stampin Up! The stamp set that I used for this card is one of the more recent stamp sets you can now get for free with a $60 purchase. It’s adorable and perfect for this happy spring colour challenge!

Don’t you just love these colours!! I was so excited to learn that the Stampin Up Silicone Craft Mat can also be used as a surface to transfer a reflected image on a project. All I had to do was stamp the image on the silicone mat with Jet Black Momento ink, then huff on the stamped image, turn the Silicone Craft Mat over, line it up with my original image on my page, then press the Silicone Craft Mat on the cardstock to transfer the image! It worked like a charm! It’s important to use a water-based ink like the Momento Black so that it won’t dry too fast before you can position it AND so it will not leave a permanent image on your Silicone Mat.

I coloured my original image (it was stamped with Archival Black ink) using my Stampin’ Write Markers. As I often do, I used Smoky Slate to do an outling of my image as it adds a shading that makes the image pop a bit on the page – it doesn’t look so flat that way. The reflection image was coloured using a Blender Pen and the same colours on the main image so that the colours would be faded in the reflection in the sand.

I chose this small “thinking of you” sentiment from the Teeny Tiny Wishes stamp set from Stampin’ Up for two reasons: first, because I wanted something small and simple so it wouldn’t take away from the rest of the card; second, because I was commissioned to create some “thinking of you” cards for my husband’s co-worker. A bicycle for two represents teamwork, so if you don’t have one of the cyclists, it would be harder to pedal. I think it’s a great analogy to working together, don’t you?

The sentiment is stamped with Versamark ink and embossed with White Embossing powder and my Heat Tool. The twine is from the Baker’s Twine Combo pack. I just separated the black strands from the Melon Mambo strands and voila! A whole new look!

Some of you might be wondering where the Cucumber Crush diagonal stripes came from. Well, I actually was a bit wasteful with my paper and took the horizontal striped paper from the 2015-2017 In Color Envelope Paper and cut out what I needed on a diagonal. I love the look! I’m sure I can get use out of the scraps, anyway!

I know I didn’t touch on all of the elements of this card, but I think I covered a lot. If you have any questions, feel free to ask! I’m happy to tell you more!

If you love this stamp set as much as I do, just click on my SHOP button on this page and order product that you know you want anyway, so you can choose this stamp set for FREE! Just $60 and this set or any other Sale-a-bration set can be yours! Who doesn’t love free stuff!

November 20, 2015

Christmas Fantasy Box – Part 1

Amy Jasper As You See It Challenge, Christmas, Home Décor As You See It, box, challenge, Christmas, edgelits, gift, Itty Bitty Accents, photopolymer, pompom trim, Season of Cheer, thinlits, topper 4 Comments

My preparations for the bi-annual Fly the Coop Mini Retreat are slowly coming together. I love that this retreat takes place in my home, limiting the number of participants to only six people. With the small numbers, we can enjoy the cozy, intimate setting of my home without the interruptions or obligations of our everyday lives getting in the way of the good times we have! Then we can stamp away, finishing all the projects that we brought along to complete!

Things are coming along slowly because I am a very good procrastinator, doing things that shouldn’t really be given that much time when there are other tasks that should take priority. But … because of my amazing procrastination abilities, I have a great project to share with you (when I should have done a much simpler and quicker project instead, lol!)

However, all is not lost, as I will likely use this project (or a very close version of this project) for the Monthly Stampers Group appreciation night and Christmas party that is coming up in December. I get to spoil my monthly group members with special discounts, a free project (this one, whoop whoop!), and Stampin’ Up! door prizes. The members of this group are part of my stamping family and the appreciation night is my opportunity to say “thank you” for their support and loyalty.

Let’s get to the As You See It Challenge for this week. Check it out:

Today, I have a very cool box to show you. I made one only once before, but thought it would be a fun project to do with my Monthly Stampers group. I haven’t completed the inside of this special box yet, so stay tuned for when I share that part with you on Saturday!

I adore how this box turned out! It’s called a Fantasy Box and has a special surprise with the inside design. No scary pop-ups, though. Just something really cool. You’ll have to come back on Saturday morning to see more!

A lot of different Stampin’ Up! supplies were used for this Christmas Fantasy Box. You will find them all listed at the bottom of the page. My favourite part about the way the box looks, is the lid and topper. The Sleigh Ride Edgelits helped me create the sloping lid design.

I’m in love with this box topper. The pine cone was created by layers of paper punched little Gold Glimmer hearts. I adhered them to a mini cone-shape of paper, then wrapped the top with Gold Sequin Trim, finally topping all that with the Gold Satin Ribbon bow.

Can you see the white doily under all those leaves? It is a Spiderweb Doily from Stampin’ Up!! I simply trimmed away some of the edges and used the white side of the doily instead of the black side.

I love that I can use a challenge sketch for projects that aren’t cards. I try to think … outside the box when I design for the As You See It Challenge blog.

Come back on Saturday and check out the inside of this cool Fantasy Box. In the mean time, what will you do with today’s sketch? Don’t forget to link it up with the As You See it page, so we can see what you came up with!

Happy Stamping!

Amy.

Supplies: Coaster Board (not visible), Season of Cheer Designer Series Paper, Red Envelope Paper (not visible), Bitty Banner Framelit, Happy Scenes photopolymer stamp set, Tuxedo Black Momento ink pad, Whisper White cardstock, Real Red Cardstock, Spiderweb Doily, Red Pompom Trim, Gold Sequin Trim, Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder (sorry, it’s a retired product), Lighthearted Leaves photopolymer stamp set, Leaflets Framelits, Mossy Meadow ink, Old Olive ink, Old Olive cardstock, Sponges, Gold Satin Ribbon, Glue Dots, Tear and Tape, Fine-Tip Glue pen, Tombow Multipurpose Liquid Glue, Hot Glue, Big Shot, Stampin’ Trimmer, and Craft Scissors.

November 13, 2015

Deck the Halls

Amy Jasper As You See It Challenge, Christmas, Home Décor, Techniques As You See It, Brick Wall, challenge, Christmas, Happy Scenes, photopolymer, Season of Cheer, sketch challenge, Stampin' Up, technique 2 Comments

Sometimes you need to add to your home decor. Here’s a 5×7″ piece of holiday artwork you can create using Stampin’ Up products.

Of course, I started with this sketch challenge from the As You See It Challenge Blog. Then I decided to go with a circular background instead of a rectangle. Always trying to see things a little differently. Here’s my framed holiday artwork that I ended up with:

I used the Season of Cheer designer series paper to create the layered poinsettia flower. Just a lot of fussy cutting using four flowers that were identical from a sheet of the patterned paper. I adhered the layers together with Stampin’ Dimensionals. Some Cherry Cobbler Dazzling Details glue was painted on the petals to add a little shimmer.

Circle Framelits were used with my Big Shot to create the wreath look with more patterned paper and some Gold Glimmer paper. I even curled the 1/8″ Gold Taffeta ribbon just like you would curl paper ribbon with your scissors. This adds a festive texture to the artwork.

But the beauty of this project is really the brick background.

I started with Kraft paper. It comes in a 12×12 pack and is a different texture than Stampin’ Up’s other cardstock. I ran a 4×6″ piece through the Big Shot with my Brick Wall embossing folder, then sponged it. I sponged it a lot! I used relatively random placements of inks: Crumb Cake and Cajun Craze first, then Whisper White craft ink to soften the orange of the Cajun Craze. Finally, Soft Suede to sort of even it all out. I love how it turned out and will likely share it with my technique class in the new year.

I’m not great at home decor, but I thought you might like to see it on the wall, in my hallway. I thought I should deck my hall with this piece of art. (I know … groan)

Okay, that’s all I’m going to write today. My son and I are heading to Abbotsford, British Columbia, less than four hours from here, for a youth event. Whoop Whoop! Should be high-energy fun!

Have a great weekend and be sure to try this sketch for yourself. You can share it with us at the As You See It Challenge Blog! Hope you do!