Yikes! Timed Stamping Challenge with As You See It Challenges!

Let me start by saying I hate anything to do with timed tests of any kind!  As a kid, I would always fall apart anytime we had to do a times table test that had a time limit.  It took until I was an adult and a teacher, to learn how to handle timed assignments:  put your emotions in the background; take data in, spit answers out! No feelings allowed!  But this week's challenge from As You See It Challenges brought all those anxious emotions back to remembrance again!  It is a Speed Stamping Challenge - you have to complete a card in 10 minutes!

I also wanted to enter The Paper Player's Tic Tac Toe Challenge #189 :

I did the diagonal line, Birthday, Patterned Paper and Any Shade of Blue.

And I promise I didn't cheat!  Here's what I came up with in 10 minutes:

• Before I started the clock, I had the card planned out in my mind and I knew I wanted to do an ombre design of some sort with the "Shades of Blue" part of the As You See It Challenge.  I originally thought I would do fringes, but thought maybe it would take too long to get it looking nice.  Then I decided to stamp and immediately thought of Gorgeous Grunge.  I could picture the "splotch" stamp in my mind in a range of blues.
• I had to use Patterned Paper for the Tic Tac Toe challenge and knew I could find some Coastal Cabana polka dots in the Afternoon Tea DSP.
• We were allowed to gather our materials before starting, but as soon as the cutting blade hit the paper, the timer started!  I had inks, paper, stamps, stamp cleaner ready to go.

• The inks I used were Midnight Muse, Island Indigo, Bermuda Bay, Tempting Turquoise, Coastal Cabana and Pool Party, going from darkest at the bottom to lightest at the top.  I stamped some off first to give some depth to the design.
• The sentiment is from Bring on the Cake.  I had originally intended to use Stampin' Write Markers to fill in the letters if I had time.  I didn't and I'm glad now.  I think the outline letters create a good contrast to the solid splotches.

• As I worked on this, everything was going fine until I was ready to glue the last two panels on to the base.  Then I realized that the patterned DSP was incredibly crooked and I couldn't move it!  Yikes! Things started to go south, until I remembered the advice I gave my students:  "No feelings!  Data in! Solutions out! "  I took a deep breath, cut another piece of DSP, ripped off the crooked one and glued the new piece down.  Phew. Crisis averted!
• It was done but needed something.  I glanced at my watch. 59 seconds remaining.  I ran to my embellishment drawer and grabbed some Coastal Cabana In Colour Boutique Details and some Midnight Muse Dahlias.  The Boutique Details were too big and wouldn't fit anywhere.  I experimented with the dahlias, but finally used just one and glue-dotted it down with split seconds remaining!  DONE!
• If I had had more time, I think some linen thread or Baker's twine might have added some interest to break up the vertical a bit, but I'm pretty happy to at least have a feasible card done in 10 minutes.

Try this challenge yourself!  It's a bit nerve-wracking, but lots of fun!  I wouldn't want to always have to have time limits, but it's amazing what you can do when you push yourself a bit!

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

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John Deere Greetings

I have a brother-in-law, a retired pilot, who is a rancher now and loves all things country.  He is a tractor aficionado as long as the make is John Deere!  No other will do.  He even has a vintage John Deere tractor as yard decor! 

I'm actually not sure how many other men would relate, but I know that my little grandson, Parker, loves tractors already and he's only two!

Any how, I was designing a variety of birthday cards for my Birthday Stamper's Dozen and I wanted a masculine card, and decided a tractor image would work:

• It features the Hardwood Stamp on the Crumb Cake background stamped in Soft Suede ink.  The Natural Chevron Ribbon goes around it and the panel is mounted on the Always Artichoke card base.
• The tractor is from the set Harvest Blessings and it is stamped in Always Artichoke ink on Very Vanilla and die cut with the Circles Collection Framelits as is the Always Artichoke matte, one bigger framelit than the tractor.
• The sentiment is from Bring on the Cake stamp set and it, too is stamped in Always Artichoke ink on Very Vanilla and the little flags cut on each end.

• The tractor image and it's matte is mounted on dimensionsals to pop it up.

And there you have it, with very little mess and fuss, sure to please the farmer or rancher in your man!

Time for another round of Weekly Deals:

    

2012-2014 IN COLOR DESIGNER SERIES PAPER STACK Price: $26.95 $20.21	ADORNING ACCENTS TEXTURED IMPRESSIONS EMBOSSING FOLDERS Price: $10.95 $8.21	BETSY'S BLOOMS STAMPIN' AROUND STANDARD WHEEL Price: $7.95 $5.96	COASTAL CABANA 3/8" RUFFLE STRETCH TRIM Price: $12.50 $9.38
EVERYTHING EASTER ENSEMBLE - DIGITAL DOWNLOAD Price: $16.50 $9.90	LARGE RHINESTONE BASIC JEWELS Price: $6.50 $4.88	MIDNIGHT MUSE 3/8" STITCHED SATIN RIBBON Price: $12.25 $9.19	STRAWBERRY SLUSH 3/8" RUFFLE STRETCH TRIM Price: $12.50 $9.38

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

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Just a Minion, Happy Birthday!

I just recently held a Birthday Stamper's Dozen class where my customers create twelve cards, three each of four designs.  I like to have a variety of card types at my classes, including some for children, but I wanted a child's design that would be good for both genders and a large age range.  With some help from several designs that I saw on Pinterest, I designed a Minion card.  For those who don't know, the minions are the little yellow creatures that work for the main character Gru on the  Despicable Me movies.

Here's the way the card turned out:

• I used a 2 1/2" wide piece of Daffodil Delight cardstock for the minion's body and rounded the top by inserting the cardstock through one of the circle framelits and under the top cutting edge, then running it through the Big Shot only halfway then out again.  I did this to avoid the embossed line from the bottom of the framelit on my minion's body.

• I used the Circle Framelits again to make his goggles (or are goggles for a one-eyed creature just goggle?)  I positioned the second and third smallest framelits with the smaller one centered inside the larger one on a scrap piece of Basic Gray cardstock and ran that through the Big Shot.

• The eye was created using a series of colours and punches:  Whisper White with the 1" Circle Punch, Pool Party with the 3/4" Circle Punch and Basic Black with the 1/2" Circle Punch.
• A rectangular piece of Night of Navy cardstock creates the bib of his overalls with 1/4" wide strips for the straps.  1/4" strips of Basic Black form the band of the goggles.

• To make the mouth, you punch out a 1" circle from Basic Black, then punch the edge of the hole again with the 1" punch to get a sliver of black.  The hair is just hand cut slivers of black glued to the back of his head.
• The sentiment, stamped in Night of Navy is from Bring on the Cake, a great birthday greeting set!
• A couple of designer buttons on the overalls finish the look.  

We all agreed that the Minion card would work not only for kids but for some adults as well.  Have fun and give it a try.  Add your own touch to it.  And if you haven't watched Despicable Me yet, you'll enjoy it!

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

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