Wrapping Up September

Wow!  It's September 30!  Seriously, where did that month go? I swear it just started yesterday. Time to update all of you on what's happening with Stampin' Up!

The really big news is that there is going to be a sale on basic supplies and a few select stamp sets from October 1 - 6 only!  15% off  selected paper, envelopes, adhesive and ink.  Check the details below:

And you have until the end of October to take advantage of this fabulous offer for those who book a party with a qualifying totals:

And here's a new offer as well for those who are ready to earn some good money doing what they love:

Earn a free pack of DSP every month for six months, just by signing up to become a Stampin' Up! Demonstrator. Take it from me, you won't regret your choice, even if you just want the 20% discount demonstrators get.  If you're ready to take it to the next step, you can earn much more than the 20% discount with this awesome business opportunity.  Contact me today for any of these offers.

.These are the deals for Sept, 30 - October 6.

Fun with Burlap for Freshly Made Sketches

Whew!  I just finished cutting 120 projects for my second Christmas Stamper's Dozen.  And after a week away in the Fort, it was all done within two days!  I don't mind saying that I'm beat!  So this will be a shorter than usual post.  I hope you don't mind.  I wanted another Fun with Burlap design for my Technique Nights later this week and so I used the Freshly Made Sketches Challenge for this week as well as the Colour Throwdown swatch for inspiration.

Freshly Made Sketches Challenge 155 is a fairly clean looking design.  I hope I didn't add too much, but I really like the card I came up with.

And here is the interesting colour palette from Colour Throwdown Challenge #311 this week:

I don't know if I would have ever come up with this combo on my own, but I like the combinations on my card.  I used Crumb Cake (and Burlap Ribbon), Old Olive, Pool Party, Smoky Slate and Basic Gray.

• Would you believe that this is the first time I can recall using my Chevron Border Punch as a border punch?  I wanted to add the burlap ribbon behind it for an interesting background trick.  I like the way it softens the rustic look of the burlap.
• I used the Scallop Tag Topper Punch for the Crumb Cake tag.  On it, I stamped the image from Chalk Talk Stamp set in Basic Gray.  I then used Old Olive ink to stamp the sentiment from Chalk Talk on Smoky Slate and punched it out with the Extra Large Oval punch.  Both the sentiment and the tag are mounted using Stampin' Dimensionals for some 3D variety.
• I added a Tea Lace Paper Doily underneath for a softer, more eclectic look, and the punched out chevrons for an accent, because I'm thrifty like that. (Waste not, want not, as my mother used to say!)  The button is Island Indigo, but it goes so well with the design as a darker shade of the aqua.
• I was trying to create burlap flowers with the burlap ribbon, but it is so thick and stiff that it is too hard to manipulate and die cut, so I'll stick with backgrounds and die cuts for now until I get some thinner burlap material.

Thanks for stopping by today.  Leave a comment if you have time!  I'd like to get to know you a little better and the comments are so encouraging!

Click on the links below to take you to my On-Line Store, where you can read about, look at, and purchase if you wish, the products used to make this card today!

Product List

Chalk Talk Wood-mount Stamp Set [130631]	Chalk Talk Clear-mount Stamp Set [130634]	Crumb Cake 8-1/2X11 Card Stock [120953]	Old Olive 8-1/2X11 Card Stock [100702]	Pool Party 8-1/2 X 11 Card Stock [122924]
Smoky Slate 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock [131202]	Basic Gray Classic Stampin' Pad [126981]	Old Olive Classic Stampin' Pad [126953]	Tea Lace Paper Doilies [129399]	Linen Thread [104199]
1-1/4" Burlap Ribbon [132140]	Brights Designer Buttons [130028]	Chevron Border Punch [132154]	Scalloped Tag Topper Punch [133324]	Extra-Large Oval Punch [119859]
Stampin' Dimensionals [104430]

Texture and Colour for As You See It Challenges

Welcome to the next As You See It Challenge Design.  This week, Amanda has us digging to find our own inspiration the way we see it ourselves.  For me that means texture and colour, and since I am designing Christmas cards this week, I went looking for festive holiday decor for ideas. Here is what I found:

Pine branches, deep purple and white - these elements of this Christmas wreath became my muses this time.  Here's how that looks in a Christmas card:

• The major colours for this card are Blackberry Bliss, Whisper White and Always Artichoke.  I did add a little Early Espresso for the evergreen branch and the ornament hook, but that is the extent of the colours used.
• The Ornamental Pine stamp set was perfect for this challenge with the large scale pine bough and the beautifully engraved Christmas bauble that looks amazing in Blackberry Bliss.  It even has the sentiment which is stamped here in Blackberry Bliss.
• I love Whisper White cardstock embossed with the Woodgrain Embossing folder.  The texture is so appealing in the white colour.  Make sure that you first cut out the oval in the center using the Ovals Collection Framelits before running it through the Big Shot in the Woodgrain Embossing Folder, otherwise you'll remove the texture you added when you die cut the oval.
• I stamped the ornament and hook separately and hand snipped them out separately using paper snips, before mounting them with Stampin' Dimensionals, so they pop!

So easy to do, but really eye-catching because of the colours and textures!  Enjoy your weekend and thanks for dropping by.  Give this As You See It Challenge a try!  Really, anything goes!

Click on the links below to take you to my On-Line Store, where you can read about, look at, and purchase if you wish, the products used to make this card today! 

Product List

Ornamental Pine Wood-Mount Stamp Set [135104]	Ornamental Pine Clear-Mount Stamp Set [135107]	2014-2016 In Color Backgrounds Designer Series Paper Stack [133705]	Blackberry Bliss 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock [133675]	Whisper White 8-1/2X11 Card Stock [100730]
Blackberry Bliss Classic Stampin' Pad [133642]	Always Artichoke Classic Stampin' Pad [126972]	Early Espresso Classic Stampin' Pad [126974]	Ovals Collection Framelits Dies [129381]	Woodgrain Textured Impressions Embossing Folder [127821]
Big Shot Die-Cut Machine [113439]	Paper Snips [103579]	Stampin' Dimensionals [104430]

A Walk in the Wild for The Paper Players

Where I am staying right now, with my daughter up in central BC, which we consider to be north, due to cold, cold winters, it is a haven for wildlife.  Right now, bears abound in and around the town. The salmon run has not been very large this year because water levels in the rivers are low.  The summer was so dry that the berry crop was poor as well.  So, in order to survive this winter, the bears need to build up their fat stores and they are coming into the town to raid the fruit trees and garbage cans.  My daughter saw one on their street as she was walking home one day.

                                     

Another species that is abundant in the area is moose.  They pose a hazard on the highway, given their penchant for charging cars from out of nowhere.  At an average of 1000 pounds each, they can do major damage to both you and your car. What is interesting is that they are being endangered in this area by a very small species known as the winter tick. The winter tick infests the moose by the thousands and can actually drain the blood supply of a single moose.

When The Paper Players came out with their challenge this week, I knew the the moose from  Walk in the Wild would be the star of the show, on a masculine birthday card.  As I was also designing some cards using burlap for my next Technique Nights, I planned for a burlap background to add to the masculine appeal.

• It seems like I often go to monochromatic palettes in shades of browns when I do masculine cards.  I know it doesn't need to be that way, but I really like the somewhat vintage look myself, so it is the first thing I think of.  In this case I used Soft Suede.
• The burlap ribbon we have is only 1 1/4" wide, and I needed more of that to produce a backdrop for the main image.  I used three pieces of the ribbon 4 inches long and then I frayed the outside edges.  For the left ribbon, that meant fraying the left side of the ribbon as well as the bottom and top. For the right ribbon that meant fraying the right side of the ribbon as well as the bottom and the top.  For the middle ribbon, I only frayed the top and bottom.  Then they were adhered to the card side by side and it creates a pretty good facsimile of a frayed piece of burlap.
• The birthday sentiment is from Four You and I added an Antique Brad for balance.  I've been dying to use one of the sentiments from @SoSocial, so I chose @oneraddad and stamped it in Early Espresso ink on one of the Essentials Wooden Elements.

Thanks for popping by today, and join me tomorrow for a new As You See It Challenge card.

Click on the links below to take you to my On-Line Store, where you can read about, look at, and purchase if you wish, the products used to make this card today!

  Product List

Walk In The Wild Wood-mount Stamp Set [130354]	Walk In The Wild Clear-mount Stamp Set [130357]	Four You Wood-mount Stamp Set [130535]	Four You Clear-mount Stamp Set [130538]	(At)Sosocial Clear-Mount Stamp Set [134192]
(At)Sosocial Wood-Mount Stamp Set [134189]	Soft Suede 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [115318]	Very Vanilla 8-1/2X11 Card Stock [101650]	Soft Suede Classic Stampin' Pad [126978]	Early Espresso Classic Stampin' Pad [126974]
1-1/4" Burlap Ribbon [132140]	Antique Brads [117273]	Essentials Wooden Elements [132258]	Circles Collection Framelits Dies [130911]