Kinda Eclectic Celebration

Today I want to congratulate one of my favourite challenge sites, The Paper Players, who are celebrating their 300th challenge this week. That is quite an accomplishment! It takes perseverance and dedication to keep a challenge going that long! It's not as easy as it may seem. Naturally the theme of their challenge this week is Celebrate!

When I thought of a celebration, the first thing that came to mind was fireworks! I guess I'm thinking about Canada Day and the Fourth of July for my American friends, too! What is a great celebration without great fireworks, I ask you?

But then, I had to figure out how to make them with the stamps I have, none of which are fireworks stamps. I had an ah-ha! moment when I remembered my Kinda Eclectic stamp set, which has a great stylized sun image! Perfect!  Here's where I went with that:

• I stamped the sun image from Kinda Eclectic in Melon Mambo, Bermuda Bay and Daffodil Delight. After stamping each colour, I very quickly added some Clear Stampin' Emboss Powder and heat set it, before going on to the next colour. It's important to act quickly with the embossing powder because you want to add it before the ink dries, and our Classic Stampin' Pad ink dries much faster than Versamark. 
• Once all the fireworks were stamped, I added the Celebrate sentiment from Celebrate Today, also in Melon Mambo with Clear Embossin' Powder added quickly and heat set with the Heat Tool.
• I then sponged Night of Navy Ink all over that panel, and, as you can see, the clear embossing resists the ink and lets the images shine through. It represents the darkness of night, when fireworks can be seen the best. It took many applications of Night of Navy ink to get it as dark and consistent as I wanted. After, I used a paper towel and rubbed the navy ink off the embossed images completely.
• I LOVE the new Enamel Shapes in all the colour families. They are so effective here as bright points of light in the fireworks! I like the way they reflect light and bring your images alive!

Go on over to The Paper Players and help them celebrate this week!

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

Kinda Eclectic Clear-Mount Stamp Set [135350]	Kinda Eclectic Wood-Mount Stamp Set [135347]	Celebrate Today Photopolymer Stamp Set [137138]	Bermuda Bay 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [131197]	Melon Mambo 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [115320]
Whisper White 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [100730]	Bermuda Bay Classic Stampin' Pad [131171]	Melon Mambo Classic Stampin' Pad [126948]	Daffodil Delight Classic Stampin' Pad [126944]	Night Of Navy Classic Stampin' Pad [126970]
Stamping Sponges [141337]	Embossing Buddy [103083]	Clear Stampin' Emboss Powder [109130]	Heat Tool [129053]	Brights Enamel Shapes [141680]
Liquid Multipurpose Glue [110755]	Fast Fuse Adhesive [129026]

Celebrate Today for As You See It Challenges

Wow! Talk about challenging challenges! Amanda had an Assortment Challenge for us this week, but I found it quite difficult at first to figure out how to fit everything on there into one card. Check it out and see what you think: 

As You See It Challenge #104

Daunted at first, I persevered and came up with this different-looking card for you:

• Although this looks simple, it actually took a lot of finagling to complete it. Since Pool Party was the colour we were to include, I decided that my Ombre effect should be shades of blue. I used Pool Party, Tempting Turquoise, Bermuda Bay, Island Indigo and Pacific Point cardstock cut in decreasing widths, glued on top of each other to create the ombre look.
• For the negative space, I used the Little Letters Thinlits to die cut the word Happy through 3 layers of the cardstock. Since thinlits typically are able to cut 2 layers of cardstock, I had to cut everything twice and embed the thinlits in the already cut letters to get that last layer cut. They were not happy about doing that and we had a bit of a fight on our hands! But finally it was accomplished and the sunny yellow of Crushed Curry showed through!
• For the circle, I wanted to use the balloon stamps and matching framelits from Celebrate Today, but they were too big to fit on the page below the die cut word. I stamped one anyway, in Crushed Curry, with the birthday sentiment stamped in Bermuda Bay. I die cut it with the Balloon Framelit, then I took a smaller Circle Framelit and make it smaller so it would fit the card. I positioned the little ballon opening over top of the framelit so it wouldn't be cut off.
• The knot is one I tied in a double piece of Bermuda Bay Baker's Twine and adhered to the balloon with a Glue Dot. Using tiny dots of Liquid Multipurpose Glue, I fastened the string of the balloon to the page.
• Where the centers of the Ps and the A should have been, I used Island Indigo Candy Dots, adding some interest to the letters!

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

Celebrate Today Photopolymer Stamp Set [137138]	Celebrate Today Photopolymer Bundle [138869]	Crushed Curry 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [131199]	Whisper White 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [100730]	Pool Party 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [122924]
Tempting Turquoise 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [102067]	Bermuda Bay 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [131197]	Island Indigo 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [122923]	Pacific Point 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [111350]	Crushed Curry Classic Stampin' Pad [131173]
Bermuda Bay Classic Stampin' Pad [131171]	Regals Candy Dots [130932]	Bermuda Bay Baker's Twine [134575]	Little Letters Thinlits Die [133730]	Balloon Framelits Dies [137362]
Circles Collection Framelits Die [130911]	Big Shot [113439]	Liquid Multipurpose Glue [110755]	Glue Dots [103683]	Fuse Fast Adhesive [129026]

Quick and Cute Birthday Card with a Cherry On Top

Just a quick post today with a quick and cute birthday card that would be great for a child. It features two of the new In Colours and a new Designer Series Paper Stack called Cherry On Top. It's also a gate fold card with some fancy die cutting happening using the Balloon Framelits.

I had an idyllic stamping day yesterday! Picture this if you will:  A cloudless sky, temperatures in the mid 20s (Celsius), a large, shady front deck overlooking a beautiful vineyard, countless hummingbirds visiting a myriad of feeders around the deck and a lively, fun-loving group of ladies all crafting together! Does that sound like heaven to you? Well, it was! It was my regular monthly card class in a little town about 40 minutes south of where I live and I always look forward to meeting with this group. That we could be outside in a vineyard today was just the "Cherry on Top!" Why, oh why didn't I take some pictures that I could share with you???

Back to the card of the day:

• I used the new Watermelon Wonder cardstock for the card base! It's such a happy colour! And so is Cucumber Crush which forms the banner at the bottom and the same colour ink is used for the sentiments, "I Think You're Great" from new stamp set of the same name, and Happy Birthday from Celebrate Today stamp set.
• The DSP on the front of the card is from the Cherry On Top Designer Series Paper Stack, a new stack that I got with my pre-order from the new 2015-16 Annual Catalogue from Stampin' Up! With it's primary colours, it has many cheerful designs perfect for children's cards.
• I used the Balloon Framelit to cut the balloon shape, half on each side of the gate fold fronts. I made a mark on both the top and bottom of the die, halfway across so I would know where to position the second one to form a perfectly round die cut. The trick was to line up the die exactly in the same place vertically. I used a pencil mark added using a ruler to make sure the negative space lined up on both sides. The pencil mark was cut out with the die cut so it doesn't show at all. I glued on the DSP pieces before doing the die cut.
• The green banner was notched using the new Triple Banner Punch. If it's any indication of the future, I have used that punch everyday this week already! I think it's going to be one of my most well-used tools.

Thanks for dropping by today. I'll be back tomorrow with a design for As You See It Challenges! Hope to see you then!

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!

Sneak Peek Products from the new 2015/16 Annual Catalogue, available June 2, 2015:

I Think You're Great Stamp Set, Cherry On Top Designer Series Paper Stack, Watermelon Wonder cardstock, Cucumber Crush cardstock, Watermelon Wonder Classic Stampin' Pad, Cucumber Crush Classic Stampin' Pad, Triple Banner Punch



Product List

Celebrate Today Photopolymer Stamp Set [137138]	Celebrate Today Photopolymer Bundle [138869]	Whisper White 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [100730]	Balloon Framelits Dies [137362]	2" Circle Punch [133782]
Big Shot [113439]	Liquid Multipurpose Glue [110755]	SNAIL Permanent Adhesive [104332]