October 9, 2020

The Beauty of Friendship

Amy Jasper As You See It Challenge, simple and cute, Video 2020, butterflies, heat embossing, Speed challenge 0 Comments

I love speed challenges! They get my creative mojo flowing AND I get a card completed lickety-split!

This card came together in my mind really easily. Let me tell you, these used to be REALLY hard for me! The more I do them, the easier they seem to be. It’s such a great creative exercise. I highly recommend you give a speed challenge a try. If you don’t know how it works, you basically think about the card you want to make. Once you have a plan, you can gather your supplies together, but you CANNOT pre-cut any of your paper or ribbon before you start the clock. When you DO start the clock, you move with confidence until your card is complete. Stop the clock and record your time!

Sometimes, the finished product is a little bit lacking, but you will ALWAYS find that your creative brain has jumped into high gear and something about the card you made has inspired you to try it another way. I love how a speed challenge gets my creative mojo flowing freely!

The As You See It Challenge this time, is a Speed Stamping Challenge with a butterfly theme! You can check out what other people created for this challenge and also share your own design with us over at the As You See It Challenge blog.

I borrowed the Beauty Abounds stamp set from a friend for this challenge because I don’t have ANY butterfly stamps! Can you believe it!!?

I stamped the sentiment on the Whisper White cardstock with Tuxedo Black Momento ink, then stamped the bokeh circles with Balmy Blue ink and Granny Apple Green ink. The butterfly images were stamped with Versamark Ink, Gold Embossing Powder was applied and heat set with my Heat Tool.

I added a second layer of Whisper White behind this piece, partly to create a stiffer layer, but also to give a subtle layered look with the white on white edges.

Linen Thread was wrapped around the white layers and tied in a bow before attaching it to the Artistry Blooms Designer Series Paper and Crumb Cake cardstock card base with Stampin’ Dimensionals.

You can check out the video of this card that only took 9 minutes and 3 seconds to make. In our busy world, even 9 minutes can feel like a long time, so I sped the video up for you! LOL! You’re welcome!

July 17, 2020

Adulting is Hard

Amy Jasper As You See It Challenge, simple and cute 2020, nothings better than, Speed challenge, Stamparatus, stitched so sweetly 0 Comments

We all know that adulting is hard and that there are a variety of ways to cope with the stress of our adult responsibilities. Reaching for cocktails, coffee, cookies and chocolate (or Haagen-Dazs ice cream) may not be the healthiest strategies, but all these things make the stress just a little bit easier to bear. Don’t you agree?

My card design for today’s post is inspired by the As You See It Challenge blog for which I am a designer. I have the privilege of sharing my take on each challenge when it’s first posted so that those who choose to participate in the challenges have some ideas and inspiration to get them started.

Speed challenges are one of my favourites!! They’re so much fun and such a great creative exercise for me. I can easily spend hours making a card as I try to make it “perfect”, but the speed challenge don’t afford me that luxury. This forces me to plan my design idea in my head, then create the card with lightening speed so that I can complete it in ten minutes or less. I can mount my stamps on blocks and pull out my cardstock, ink, ribbon, and dies that I want to use, but for this challenge, you can’t cut or stamp anything until you start the timer!

I made this card in 8 minutes and 23 seconds! I even had to tie the bow a few times before I got it how I wanted it!

The theme for this speed challenge is “elements of three”. Do you think three cocktails is enough? LOL!

These stamps from the Nothing’s Better Than stamp set make me want to dust off my cocktail shaker and make some fancy drinks! This pink drink reminds me of the watermelon mojitos that I made a while back. So good!

The Stamparatus is what made it possible to make this card so fast. I used the hinge-technique to stamp the glass three times in a row with Tuxedo Black Momento Ink on the die cut Sahara Sand cardstock (cut with the Stitched So Sweetly dies), then did that same technique again to stamp the contents of the glass using Flirty Flamingo ink. I used my Stampin’ Write Markers to colour in the umbrellas and the limes.

I broke a few of my speed challenge rules when I made this card. I usually try to avoid die-cutting, colouring and tying bows because they can add a lot of time. I’m still kind of surprised at how quick this was to make!

You can get any of these supplies at my online store. Just click on the SHOP button on my page and it will take you where you need to go. Shop now and save in August with BONUS DAYS!

Give this challenge a try and don’t forget to share it with us over at the As You See It Challenge Blog. We love to see where you’re creativity takes you!

August 2, 2019

Purple Wonder

Amy Jasper As You See It Challenge, simple and cute 2019, New wonders, quick and cute, speed, Speed challenge 3 Comments

Purple is a tough colour for me to work with, so when I saw that the As You See It challenge this time was a speed challenge with shades of purple, I wasn’t very excited.

But then I remembered the piece of Designer series paper from the Woven Threads paper that was purple! Not just any purple, but the new In Color from Stampin’ Up! called, Purple Posy. The rest of my idea for my card pulled together easily after that and I was able to create a sweet and whimsical card.

After coming up with my plan, I started the stopwatch with the aim to complete my card in less than ten minutes. I know from past experience that to keep within the time frame, I should avoid ribbon, die cutting, and colouring, because they can steal time from me and catch me up. You can clearly see that I managed to avoid all but one of those things. I just had to colour the sweet image from the New Wonders hostess stamp set from Stampin’ Up!.

I stamped the fairy image on Whisper White cardstock using Momento Tuxedo Black ink, then used an assortment of Blends markers to colour the image: Ivory, BlackBerry Bliss, Highland Heather, Pool Party, Crumb Cake, Bronze, and Smoky Slate. Isn’t she sweet!?

I stamped the thank you sentiment with Blackberry Bliss ink and added a few small Clear Epoxy Hearts around the images.

Then I assembled. The card base is Basic Grey cardstock, then there is a matte of Whisper White behind the Woven Threads Designer Series paper. The stamped piece of Whisper White was adhered with Stampin’ Dimensionals to finish the card.

No ribbon. No die cuts. Just some basic stamping and some Stampin’ Blends Markers. Definitely a sweet and simple card.

I’m pretty happy with myself. It only took me 8 minutes and 10 seconds to finish and I actually like it!

The New Wonders stamp set can only be purchased by those who either purchase $200 of Stampin’ Up! product or who host a workshop where the total product purchased by all the guests reaches a minimum of $200. So if you like this stamp set, contact me to find out how we can make that happen! You can also order at my online store by clicking on the menu on my page and accessing the SHOP button.