November 8, 2019

Gold and Green

Amy Jasper As You See It Challenge, Christmas 2019, As You See It, card, challenge, sketch, Stampin' Up, watercolor, watercolour, wreath 1 Comment

I’m thinking of the ice cream in the freezer. I should probably go get it and eat it while I write my blog. You don’t mind, do you?

. . .

Okay. I’m back with my coffee Haagen-Dazs. Yum. Though, honestly, I really shouldn’t be eating it after all of the Halloween candy I’ve been consuming. Maybe, I’m just getting ready to hibernate.

That’s a thing, right?

Once again, I have a card for you and once again it is inspired by the As You See It Challenge for which I am a designer.

Sketch challenges are pretty great because they provide some clear parameters, but still offer so much opportunity for your own creative spin. I decided to take this sketch and create a square card, rather than the more common 4-1/4″ x 5-1/2″ size.

I have seen some beautiful watercolour wreaths created from the All Around Wreath Dies from Stampin’ Up!, so I thought I should give it a try. I cut the wreath from a piece of Watercolor Paper and placed it onto one of the clear plates of my Stamparatus. I then used an Aqua Painter to saturate the Watercolor Paper with plain water. Next, I applied ink using the Aqua Painter and Ink Refills. I used Call Me Clover, Granny Apple Green, and Coastal Cabana. As I applied each colour, I enjoyed watching it spread quickly over the paper because of the water that already prepared the way. Once I was happy with the saturation of colour, I used my Heat Tool to speed up the drying time so I could carry on with the rest of my card.

The card base is Thick Whisper White, which I cut to 8-1/2″ x 4-1/4″ so that I could have a completed 4-1/4″ x 4-1/4″ square card. This is a good size for a square, because it will still fit in Stampin’ Up! envelopes. I used the Simply Scored Tool to create an embossed outline around the card base. I like how that simple step somehow instantly makes a card more elegant.

The next layer is a Whisper White square on which I stamped the line stamps from the Christmas Countdown Cling Stamp Set from Stampin’ Up!. I stamped these in Versamark ink and applied the Gold Embossing Powder, melting it to a beautiful shine with my Heat Tool. I wrapped the Gold 1/4″ Shimmer Ribbon (from the new and only available while supplies last, Christmastime is Here Suite!) around this piece and tied it in a bow. This was attached to the card base with Stampin’ Dimensionals.

The dry watercoloured wreath was attached to the front of the card with glue dots, but I had to cut it to be able to tuck it under the bow of my ribbon. Pretty sneaky, right!

The sentiment is from the Merry Moose stamp set and was stamped with Versamark ink on Whisper White cardstock. Once again, I applied the Embossing Powder and heat it with my Heat Tool, before cutting it in my die cutting machine with one of the circle dies from the Stitched Shapes Dies. This was applied to the card with Stampin’ Dimensionals.

The last few things to add were the gorgeous Gold Glitter Enamel Dots (from the Christmastime is Here Suite), and the Cherry Cobbler flower, which I die cut with my die cutting machine and the Detailed Deer Dies from Stampin’ Up!.

I followed the perimeters of the sketch challenge. I would say that I moved the location of my bow, but the basic sketch is still apparent, don’t you agree?

If you like the products I used on this card, you might want to go to my ONLINE STORE and see what else there is to get excited about! Have you seen the products in the Christmastime is Here Suite? Just beautiful! Definitely have a look.

… and don’t forget to try this sketch and play along with us at the As You See It Challenge Blog!

Okay, my ice cream is done. It was yummy.

October 25, 2019

Remember to Breathe

Amy Jasper As You See It Challenge, simple and cute 2019, As You See It, card, challenge, colorful seasons, feels like frost, quick and cute, speed, Stampin' Up 2 Comments

Today was a rough day. Lots of unplanned unpleasantness, resulting in a very frustrated, irritated, grumpy, and very spent, me. When I remembered that I hadn’t made my card for this challenge yet, I very reluctantly dragged myself into my messy and crowded craft room (I haven’t unpacked boxes from my last event yet and they’re all over the floor and completely in the way). I started to consider the card I would make and I realized that this card was going to be for me today. I reminded myself to breathe. The worst of the day is done. I got through it.

Just breathe.

Today is a speed challenge on the As You See It Challenge blog. Not the best activity to take on at the end of the day when you’ve already been stressed and rushing around, but no problem. I didn’t rush. I knew what I wanted to do. I had a plan. I took it slow. (well, not too slow!)

Even with taking it easy, I made this card in 8 minutes and 10 seconds. Attaching any kind of ribbon always adds a significant amount of time for me, but I think it was worth it.

I made a card with a similar layout just the other day, so the basic measurements were fresh in my mind, even though it was different paper, stamps, and embellishments.

The Feels Like Frost Designer Series Paper makes anything look amazing, don’t you think! It feels like cheating! I cut mine to 3-7/8″ x 4″, then cut it on a diagonal so I could split it over the piece of 4″ x 5-1/4″ Whisper White cardstock. I laid the lower portion of the split dsp on the Whisper White cardstock so that I could use it as a guide to position my stamped words from the Colorful Seasons Photopolymer Stamp Set, which I stamped in Night of Navy ink.

Before attaching the Feels Like Frost pieces with Dimensionals, I laid the length of Linen Thread down the left side of the Whisper White cardstock so I could tie it after the dsp was adhered.

The Whisper White is layered on a Night of Navy cardstock base. Clean and fresh. Breathe in. Breathe out.

The finishing touch was to add the three Rhinestone Basic Jewels to the Feels Like Frost Designer Series Paper.

And the very last thing was to actually do what the card says, just breathe. Ahhhh. Feels good.

My day is behind me now and tomorrow will be better.

As always, you can order the products featured in my post, by going to SHOP in the menu at the top of the page, or click on the SHOP circle on the sidebar if you’re on your computer.

Now, go and try this speed challenge and share it with us at the As You See It Challenge blog. We want to see your creations!

September 27, 2019

Woven Threads and Botanical Tags

Amy Jasper As You See It Challenge 2019, As You See It, aysi, botanical tags, card, challenge, Darling Label Punch Box, markers, Stampin' Blends Markers, Stampin' Up, woven threads 4 Comments

I have not used my Botanical Tags dies nearly enough. They are so beautiful!

The card I have to share with you today is inspired by the latest As You See It Challenge:

I love how this type of challenge is so open to your imagination. As long as your design includes all of the elements listed on the challenge, you are good to go! I knew that the Botanical Tags Dies would be part of this one because the die I used covers 3 of the elements required right away! It’s a tag. It’s a die cut. It has leaves! Whaaa!

I cut the tag out of Whisper White Cardstock and coloured it using the Stampin’ Blends. I ended up colouring the entire lower portion with my Black Stampin’ Blends! A bit colour happy, perhaps? LOL!

The Triple Banner Punch was used to cut the bottom of both the botanical tag die and the Pool Party banner. The branch/vine was cut using another of the dies from the Botanical Tags Dies and was also coloured with my Blends Markers.

The sentiment is from the stamp set in the Darling Label Punch Box by Stampin’ Up!. The Darling Label Punch was also used on this card as part of the layers on the tag. The sentiment was stamped on Sahara Sand cardstock using Pretty Peacock ink, then punched out with a circle punch to layer over the punched out Pool Party Scallop circle. I used yet another punch, the Leaf Punch, to cut the leaves that are tucked under the left side of the tag. The little Rhinestone Basic Jewel and the Whisper White Solid Baker’s Twine were just the right embellishments to complete the look I wanted for my tags.

All this is layered over the Woven Threads Designer Series Paper, matted with Whisper White cardstock. Stampin’ Dimensionals hold that onto the Pretty Peacock coloured Woven Threads Designer Series Paper layer on the Pretty Peacock cardstock base of the card.

Did you know that the Woven Threads Designer Series Paper is part of the BUY 3 GET 1 FREE DESIGNER SERIES PAPER SALE!?! Click on the link to go to my online store to see all the papers that are included in this deal!

Now it’s your turn. Give the challenge a try and share it with us at the As You See It Challenge Blog!