Zing! As You See It Challenge #010

Pa-chow! Zing! Did you hear that? Another week has FLOWN by and it's time for Challenge #010 at As You See It Challenge!

I'm having sooo much fun doing these weekly challenges. Sometimes I'm amazed at what I come up with. Like this week. I was having a really hard time and stuck in a rut. I really wanted to use washi tape and I struggled and struggled. Then I just ditched the washi tape and went another direction and I.seriously.love.it!

Here's the sketch before I get too far ahead of myself:

                                     

And here is my baby:

Once I got going, it came together pretty quick! I did have to reference the sketch about a bazillion times, but I'm really pleased with the outcome. 

I took a ton of pictures so bear with me...(side note, I think it's funny when people write "bare with me". I'm like, um, no, I'm not going to be bare with you...) Get back on track!

Here are some alternate views:

 That little strip holding the pearls? Yep, arrow of death. It was like getting a bad haircut. A little here, a little there. That's too long, not that side looks funny. It started out about 5 inches and now it's only 2.5. Sigh.

 Frosted Finishes are gorgeous!  Typically I would hoard these precious gems but HOARD NO MORE! We used them at my last technique night and this was the last one in the container! Gotta order more!

And, before we move on, I have to give a shout out to the Champagne Glitter Paper! That MAKES this card to me. 

 Also digging the Positively  Chevron background stamp. I inked it in Sahara Sand and stamped off once before stamping it on the Whisper White Panel. The Joyful Tidings is from Christmas Messages. It's stamped in Cherry Cobbler.

  There was still a lot of white space on the panel, so I decided to put the normally "inside" greeting on the outside. I lurve it. A lot. 

Put it all together and you have one stunning Christmas Card! Here's one last look so you don't get RSI (repetitive scrolling injury). 

Don't forget to join the fun at As You See It Challenge!

'Til L8tr (remember when people did that? Ugh!)

~Tamara

AYSI Challenge #007 - A Little Vintage..

I love vintage style cards, but I find them overwhelming at times. This week's AYSI Challenge sketch really helped me to break it down.   

Here's the sketch:

Here's what I've designed:

I hope I've captured a vintage look. These little images are from a hostess set and I love how fancy they are. The chair with it's ornate legs, the old style hot air balloon, and especially the parasol. Cute and vintage.  I punched them out with the Postage Stamp punch and then lightly sponged the edges with Early Espresso ink. I also dabbed the sponge on the panel to distress it a little. I found the Very Vanilla was just too stark without it.

The pretty DSP is from Soho Subway designer series paper.  I also sponged these edges with Early Espresso classic ink.  

I'm really loving the shape of the Artisan punch. It's feminine and a little flirty.  I thought the pearls added a bit of whimsy. I also tend to be pretty stingy with my pearl usage so I kind of broke out of that with this card and used a few extra more that I've ever used before! It was fun! It doesn't hurt that Basic Pearls are one of the Weekly Deals this week! Check out the daily deals here. 

Here's one last look so you don't have to scroll back up! (Thoughtful, aren't I?)

 Enjoy your weekend and don't forget to play along with us at As You See It Challenge!

~Tamara

En Francais

I had some fun with bleach recently as I shared a bit in my last post. It's a bit smelly so be sure you are in a well ventilated area and also wear clothes that aren't extremely important, just in case the bleach decides to misbehave :)

This card came about as I was trying to come up with some make & takes for my team meeting. I had wanted to showcase the bleaching technique.  I didn't end up doing this for the meeting, but I had fun making this card and it's definitely a technique I will do again! (Maybe even at an upcoming class!!)

I love how the bleach spread a little bit after I had stamped En Francais. It's an instant antique! The bird cage image is from Nature Walk. It just looks old, which is good. I was going for that look. 

The image is punched out with the Extra-large Oval Punch. I also punched out an oval from Poetry Prints DSP (the little paper stack in the Spring Mini Catalogue). Some light sponging creates some depth. 3 pearls created a subtle frame for the focal image. 

Vanilla Seam Binding Ribbon formed into a triple loop bow gives a bit of glam to the top, otherwise barren portion of the card. Mmm-mm! Love those antique brads!

I had fun putting this card together. I don't often just do my own thing, but I decided to give it a whirl! What are your thoughts? Do you think there is enough going on or is there too much vacant space? I'd welcome your suggestions or comments!

Until next time,

Tamara

Stampin' Supplies:
Stamp Sets: En Francais, Nature Walk
Card Stock: Basic Gray, Very Vanilla, Print Poetry Designer Series Paper (mini catalogue)
Ink: Basic Gray
Accessories/Tools: Antique brad, Very Vanilla Seam Binding Ribbon, XL Oval punch, Paper snips, Stampin' Dimensionals, Basic Pearls
Other: Bleach


 

Bleaching Out

Do you ever have a card that isn't really working for you, but you go with it anyway? That happened to me recently. I wanted to try a technique using bleach that I had seen in the most recent Stampin' Success (a magazine for Stampin' Up demonstrators). I started with Basic Gray card stock and the Sweet Floral background stamp. Now that I'm writing this post I realize I should have taken progress photos....

Here's the "after": 

The bleach took the colour out of the Basic Gray card stock and left me with a neutral yellow kind of colour. It wasn't quite Very Vanilla but it wasn't So Saffron either. I was having some issues coming up with something to go with it so I thought about colouring the bleached parts. So I did. I used an Aquapainter, Old Olive, and Primrose Petals classic inks to colour in the image. I didn't like it at first. Not at all. But, it's started to grow on my since then.

 

 It's very difficult to see, but I spritzed the image with shimmer paint in a stampin' spritzer mixed with 70% alcohol. It adds a pretty shimmer in person.

One of my favourite elements of this card are the butterflies. I inked Sweet Floral stamp with White Stazon solvent ink and then stamped it onto vellum. I let it dry for a minute or two and then punched out two sizes of butterfly. I like the look of the pearls for the body.

This card was a challenge. I admit that 100%! What do you think? Is this a technique you might try? Just ink your stamp with a bit of bleach and touch it to the paper. Wait for it to dry completely and then colour it in with ink and an aquapainter.

Hope you have had a great weekend so far!

Tamara
 

You are...

Does anyone else struggle with missing deadlines? I'm talking about papercrafting challenges here.  I've made a few cards for challenges but I can't seem to get the photos taken, edited, and uploaded in time. I guess that's the "challenge" part for me. 

Anyways, all that to say, I made this card for a sketch challenge but I didn't get it uploaded to the site on time so...ya. Missed it. To be honest, I can't even remember what site the challenge came from so maybe it's all for the best :)

Here's the card:

 It's pretty basic...not a lot to it but I'm so drawn to the colours. It's just Basic Gray, Wild Wasabi, and Baja Breeze with a Very Vanilla panel. I'm pretty sure the stamp set is called "You Are" and I believe it's a demonstrator only stamp set. I borrowed it while at the Papercrafter's Paradise Retreat. I think it would be a great start to use for downline cards or just encouragement cards in general.

I'll have to play with these colours some more. I love how it could be a masculine card or just a soft anybody card. 

 Even the little flowers are sponged! Great technique! Easy and effective! Did I mention cheap? It's only $4.50 for a package of 3 sponges. I cut each sponge into 8 wedges which means that you can have 24 different colours of sponges and they'll only cost 18 cents each!

Ready to order? Head over to my online store and don't forget to take advantage of Sale-a-bration! There's only a couple weeks left before it's gone for another year.

Let me know what's on your sale-a-bration wishlist!

Tamara

Stampin' Supplies:

Stamp Set: You Are, Morning Post Alphabet

Ink: Basic Gray, Baja Breeze, Wild Wasabi Classic Inks

Card Stock: Basic Gray, Baja Breeze, Wild Wasabi, Very Vanilla.

Tools: Itty Bitty punch pack, 1 3/4 circle punch, stampin' sponges.

Accessories: Basic pearls