A Perfect Blend for Freshly Made Sketches

I had a very busy weekend which ended in an 11 hour drive north to visit my daughter. I have to say that I lost some sleep along the way, with so many last minute preparations in order to be able to leave for a week. So... if I was a coffee drinker, I would have been consuming gallons of the stuff. Living in the region just north of the Pacific Northwest, the home of Starbucks, I really liked the Perfect Blend Stamp Set and I'm sad to see it retire June 2. It's a replica of a Starbucks' take out cup minus the logo. So I had to give it once last salute in a card to be entered in Freshly Made Sketches Challenge #185!  Here's the sketch:

I went with rainforest, Starbuck's and coffee colours in my palette: Mossy Meadow, Whisper White and Early Espresso.

• I stamped the coffee cup three times so I could do a little paper piecing. I stamped it in Early Espresso ink on Whisper White cardstock and again on some Mossy Meadow polka dotted paper from the 2014 - 16 In Colour Designer Series Paper Stack and finally, in Mossy Meadow in on Whisper White. I cut out the sleeve from the green polka dotted paper and glued it on the main image and I cut out the lid from the Mossy Meadow stamped image and pieced it on the lid of the main image. I snipped the main image with my Paper Snips and popped it up on Stampin' Dimensionals on the sentiment panel.
• The background DSP is from Painted Blooms Designer Series Paper. I was going for the rainforest look here. Painted Blooms DSP retires June 2.
• The banners are cut from Early Espresso cardstock and another Mossy Meadow pattern from the 2014 - 16 In Colour Designer Series Paper Stack. All the Designer Series Paper Stacks are retiring June 2, but not to worry - they are being replaced with the same thing but some awesome new designs.
• Don't you love how the sentiment "shakes" from all the caffeine? If you love this stamp set, too, but haven't sprung for it yet, now would be a good time before it disappears forever!

Stamping for Nepal

I just wanted to update you on my fundraising event to help the relief effort in Nepal. Through the Silent Auction of card collections and home decor, I was able to raise $110 for Nepal. I hope some other crafters were able to do something as well, but I'm glad I made the effort. I have already donated the proceeds to The Red Cross Nepal fund and this is the receipt:

Thanks to everyone who participated!  #StampingforNepal

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 Stampin' Up! products used to make this card today!

Product List

*Perfect Blend Wood Stamp Set [130745]	*Perfect Blend Clear Stamp Set [131392]	*Painted Blooms Designer Series Paper [137784]	*2014-2016 In Color Backgrounds Designer Series Paper Stack [133705]	Mossy Meadow 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock [133676]
Early Espresso 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [119686]	Whisper White 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [100730]	Early Espresso Classic Stampin' Pad [126974]	Mossy Meadow Classic Stampin' Pad [133645]	Paper Snips Scissors [103579]
Stampin' Trimmer [126889]	Liquid Multipurpose Glue [110755]	Stampin' Dimensionals [104430]

*Retiring product June 2, 2015

Silent Auction to Aid Victims in Nepal

Nepal is an incredibly beautiful country, but also one of the world's poorest. Last Saturday, it was hit with a series of devastating earthquakes, which have resulted in at least 6,000 dead and thousands injured and homeless. Many of the country's priceless landmarks have been destroyed and in a few weeks the monsoon season starts, with so many lacking shelter.

The world is responding with aid to Nepal and I wanted to use my papercrafting skills to raise some money to donate to the victims of the earthquake. I have also challenged other papercrafters to do the same. Use your skills to raise some money, donate it to the Red Cross or any other reputable aid organization, and post what you did and how much you donated on your facebook status, using the hashtag #StampingforNepal.

I decided to do kind of a silent auction. I have some cards, card collections and home decor items that I will show you here, but will post in an album on my Facebook Page, Nepal Earthquake Relief Fundraiser to facilitate the silent auction bidding.  The bidding will start Sunday morning, May 3 at 7:00 am and will end Thursday evening, May 7 at 10 pm. The highest bidder for each item will be sent a PayPal Invoice in Canadian dollars. As soon as I receive payment, I will ship each item to the winners of the bidding. When you bid, make sure you do it on the Facebook Album and not here! It is much easier to see and keep track of the bids.  All proceeds will be donated to the Red Cross Nepal Region Earthquake Fund.

Here are the items I am auctioning off.  (Remember: DO NOT BID HERE. Go to the Facebook Album to place your bids.) These would make great Mother's Day Gifts!

 Item A:This is a mix of masculine  and more feminine cards, collected in this great nautical themed card holder. There are six top quality hand stamped and crafted greeting cards. Starting bid: $10

Item B: This is an eclectic mix of greeting cards in a bright and cheery envelope box. This would make a great Mother's Day gift. There are six top quality hand stamped and crafted greeting cards.
Starting Bid: $10

Item C: This is a softer, neutral and pastel mix of cards for both men and women. Again this would make a lovely Mother's Day gift. The lovely card holder contains six top quality hand stamped and crafted greeting cards. Starting Bid $10.

Item D: This is a vintage collection of cards in neutrals and pastels featuring mostly birthday cards. A beautiful gift for someone special. The holder contains six quality greeting cards, hand stamped and hand crafted.  Starting bid: $10

Item E: This antique-looking frame holds a piece of home decor, with an encouraging saying, hand stamped and crafted. Starting bid: $5

Item F: Another cute frame hold the saying: "The best things in life aren't things"! Great home decor item. Can sit on a desk or be hung on a wall. Hand stamped and crafted. Starting bid: $4

Item G: The same as Item F, but with a black frame and different coloured flower. Starting Bid: $4

Item H: This is the same as the previous item, with a different background paper. All black and white. Starting Bid: $4

Item I: This greeting card has received 1400 repins on Pinterest. It is called the Four Seasons. Starting Bid: $5

Item J: This was a challenge winner on Pals Paper Arts. It features the retiring set Pleasant Poppies. Starting Bid: $4

Item K: This is a special Peek-a-Boo card as you can see below. Starting Bid: $3.

There you have it! I hope you will take an opportunity to participate in my fund raiser and help the relief effort in a devastated country, and in return, receiving some quality hand-crafted items.

Everyone who participated and submits a bid, whether it is the winning bid or not, will receive a downloadable photo tutorial for making this card:

                             

I hope to hear from you on my Facebook page.

BYOP for As You See It Challenges

I have to chuckle at the title of this post! I originally wrote BYOB! It's been that kind of week, and I actually thought that that was the name of the stamp set I used. In actuality, it is BYOP - Buy Your Own Present, a stamp set to use when you give a gift card, which is a very practical kind of gift these days! There are all sorts of situations when a gift card is the best solution, and I think they are all featured in this great set. One of them is Grad, and when I saw As You See It Challenges colour swatch this week (Thanks, Desireé!) I immediately  thought of a grad gown.

And it is that time of year, isn't it? Grads are walking across the stage everywhere to claim their diplomas wearing all sorts of cool regalia. Here's my version:

• This may look easy to achieve, but let me tell you, it isn't! To get the same shaped V in every colour of cardstock used here, but just a little offset from the others was not a piece of cake. To do it, I cut 4 colours of cardstock in equal sized 3 3/4" x 5" pieces. I then placed them together, aligned horizontally, but each offset about 1/4" from the next vertically. I found the middle of the top edge and cut a slit the length I wanted the V to go then made marks on the top edge equidistant from the center on either side. I cut from the marks on the edge to the bottom of the slit to make the Vs. The problem turned out to be that I couldn't cut through all four layers at once neatly. Once I had the marks, I had to separate the pieces and cut individually.  When I finally had each piece neatly cut, I put them all together but this time, I aligned them vertically as well and achieved the succession of Vs that you see in the picture. 
• After adhering all the pieces, I rounded the top corners using the Project Life Corner Rounder Punch. I used it as well to round the top of the tie, and I used the tip of the tiny star punch from the Itty Bitty Accents Punch Pack to create the indents below the knot of the tie.
• I used the Squares Collection Framelits for the Grad Cap and I made the tassel using the tassel from the Balloon Framelits. Again, I put three colours of cardstock together but offset about 1/8" from each other horizontally and used the framelit to die cut the tassel. It's attached to the cap with a glue dot.

• The sentiment, from BYOP Stamp Set, was also difficult to achieve neatly. I stamped the Congratulations first in Real Read ink, masking the Grad using tape. I cleaned the stamp well, masked the Congratulations using tape again, and stamped the Grad with Versamark ink. I was careful to use the Embossing Buddy well before stamping with Versamark to try and keep the Black Stampin' Emboss Powder to just the word "Grad". I heat set it and coloured it in with the Tempting Turquoise Stampin' Write Marker. It took me 3 tries to get this right!
• I die cut the sentiment using the Apothecary Accents Framelits, which are retiring June 2, and I cut out the same shape in Daffodil Delight cardstock and used it as a shadow for the sentiment.

There you have it. What could you create with those three colours? Why not play along if you have some crafting time this weekend?

#StampingforNepal

This weekend, I'm hoping to do some fundraising for aiding the relief effort in Nepal. On Sunday, I will post a special blog post with some projects I have put together just for this purpose. It may include individual cards, packets of cards and some home decor items. I will post them on my blog and I hope to get people to bid on them as for a silent auction. The  auction deadline will be Thursday evening at 11:00 pm. All the proceeds will be donated to the Red Cross for Nepal.

If you would like to help out, please submit a bid or two and you will not only get a nice papercrafting project, but all bidders will be emailed a free photo tutorial for this card:

Please check back on Sunday, to check out the projects you could bid on.  I don't know if this will catch on with other demonstrators, but even if it doesn't I want to go ahead with the effort, to do something.  If you are a papercrafter, see if you can come up with a fundraiser of your own, of any kind and post your fundraiser and the amount you are donating to the Nepal charity of your choice on Facebook using the hashtag, #StampingforNepal, and let's see what we can do!  Stamper's are awesome people!

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 Stampin' Up! products used to make this card today!

Product List

B.Y.O.P. Photopolymer Stamp Set [137159]	Basic Black 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [121045]	Daffodil Delight 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [119683]	Real Red 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [102482]	Tempting Turquoise 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [102067]
Whisper White 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [100730]	Versamark Pad [102283]	Real Red Classic Stampin' Pad [126949]	Brights Stampin' Write Markers [131259]	Embossing Buddy [103083]
Black Stampin' Emboss Powder [109133]	Heat Tool [129053]	Apothecary Accents Framelits Die [127003]	Squares Collection Framelits Die [130921]	Big Shot [113439]
Balloon Framelits Dies [137362]	Punch Corner Project Life [135346]	Itty Bitty Accents Punch Pack [133787]	Liquid Multipurpose Glue [110755]	Glue Dots [103683]
Stampin' Dimensionals [104430]	SNAIL Permanent Adhesive [104332]