Affectionately Yours in Copper for As You See It Challenges

Have I told you how excited I am about the new metallic copper products in the 2016-17 Annual Catalogue? I love the warm look of copper, but it's also great for Steampunk design which, if you've been following my blog for any time, you'll know that I love. I would like to be able to do more of it. The only product I've been able to get so far is the Affectionately Yours Specialty Designer Series Paper*, but I do have some contraband copper embossing powder, which I am using until I can get my hands on the Copper Stampin' Emboss Powder*, Stampin' Up!'s product, which I already know is far superior to the contraband stuff, having experienced them both.

*New Products, available June 1st from the 2016-17 Annual Catalogue

Here's some examples of Steampunk design:

Aren't these interesting designs? You can see why I have the need for copper embossing powder though.










The As You See It Challenge for the next two weeks is a sketch challenge:

The card I made for this challenge seems simple, but actually took me quite a while to get all the elements the way I wanted them:

• As usual, it was hard to get a photo that showed the shine of the copper embossed pieces, but the design paper, the diagonal stripes on vellum, the sentiment, the rose, and the little heart all gleam with a warm copper light. Because my contraband copper is really dark and grainy (not at all like the lighter, finer version that I will get when I can order the Copper Stampin' Emboss Powder from Stampin' Up!), I added some Gold Stampin' Emboss powder to it. This lightened it and took care of some of the grainy texture problems.
• I created the embossed stripes on the vellum panel using the retiring Stylish Stripes Embossing Folder. I inked up the inside of the embossing folder on the side with the raised narrow stripes with Versamark Ink. I placed the vellum inside and closed the folder, then rubbed it with my hand to be sure the ink was properly transferred to the vellum. I should mention that before I did this I rubbed the vellum with an Embossing Buddy, to ensure that the embossing powder stayed only on the parts to which I had applied the Versamark Ink. I poured the embossing powder over it and lightly tapped off the excess, then heat set it with the Heat Tool.
• The sentiment and image are from the Picture Perfect stamp set stamped on Sahara Sand cardstock. For the 3 step stamping rose, I stamped the first of the three parts of the image in Cajun Craze, stamped off once before stamping it on my paper. The second part of image was in full strength Cajun Craze. The third part of the image, I actually stamped first in Early Espresso. This dark image was so much easier to see to line up the other two properly. At the end, I stamped this part of the image again, after making sure the other inks were dry, using Versamark and added my homemade concoction of Copper Embossing Powder, and heat set it to get the image you see on the card. It had to be fussy cut, but it's a very easy shape to do that. You can see it a little better in the photo below.

Thanks for dropping by today, and I hope you'll head over to As You See It Challenges this weekend and get a little crafting in, with all your busy plans. You have two weeks to do the challenge.

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

Picture Perfect Photopolymer Stamp Set [140520]	Vellum 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [101856]	Cajun Craze 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [119684]	Early Espresso 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [119686]	Sahara Sand 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [121043]
Versamark Pad [102283]	Cajun Craze Classic Stampin' Pad [126965]	Early Espresso Classic Stampin' Pad [126974]	Gold Stampin' Emboss Powder [109129]	Gold 5/8" Satin Ribbon [134547]
Rhinestone Basic Jewels Embellishments [119246]	Embossing Buddy [103083]	Heat Tool [129053]	Stylish Stripes Textured Impressions Embossing Folder [132174]	Banner Triple Punch [138292]
Bitty Banners Big Shot Die Framelits [129267]	Paper Snips Scissors [103579]	Liquid Multipurpose Glue [110755]	Fast Fuse Adhesive [129026]	Glue Dots [103683]
Stampin' Dimensionals [104430]

*New Products, available June 1st from the 2016-17 Annual Catalogue:

Affectionately Yours Specialty Designer Series Paper*, Copper Stampin' Emboss Powder*

Walk in the Wild Adventure Bound

Well, the workshop for which I am prepping is going to be pretty large, so all my designs have to be based on whether or not I have enough materials to make them. My hostess loves the Adventure Bound Designer Series Paper Stack and wanted a card made using that series, but it takes quite a few of the stacks to have enough paper for a large workshop. By using smaller pieces I was able to make this design work and I paired it with the Walk in the Wild Stamp Set and some embossing with Early Espresso Stampin' Emboss Powder!

• I just love the Birch Bark design. It looks so three dimensional, it almost feels like I could grab an edge and peel some off! Mounted just over the woodpile design, gives it a nice, rugged look perfect for a masculine card.
• I looked through the Guy Greetings stamp set for a masculine image that would work with the paper, but nothing looked right, so I got out my favourite moose stamp from Walk in the Wild and stamped him in Early Espresso Ink. He is die cut using the Labels Collection Framelit Dies and I die cut another the same size from Early Espresso cardstock, cut it in half horizontally and mounted them a little offset, behind the moose. When you do that, you might have to trim the sides close to the Whisper White so you can't see the gap. The edges of the moose label are also sponged with Early Espresso ink and the word Husband from Guy Greetings is embossed with Early Espresso Stampin' Emboss Powder.
• The background panel is dry embossed with the Woodgrain Embossing Folder and the two brads at the top are the Candy Dot Bases. I used the Stampin' Pierce Mat and Paper Piercing Tool to pierce the paper for the brads.

I love making masculine cards, and I hope you'll try this design for the guys in your life. Guy Greetings has words you can use instead of Husband, such as Uncle, Grandpa, Dad, Father and Brother, so you have a whole range of family for whom you could make this card.

There is one more piece of news from Stampin' Up! that I need to share with you and it is particularly for those of you who use our digital design program, My Digital Studio. This program has not developed as Stampin' Up! had hoped and will be discontinued as of May 31, 2015. There will no longer be support for this platform after that date and you will no longer be able to purchase any digital content. There will not be any print services available as well. You may continue to use the program as before, and have it printed elsewhere, but if there are any digital images you wish to download, you need to purchase and download them before May 31 of this year. This is sad news for many, but I wanted you to know so that you could get anything you needed before it was too late.

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

Walk In The Wild Wood Stamp Set [130354]	Walk In The Wild Clear Stamp Set [130357]	Guy Greetings Clear Stamp Set [138828]	Guy Greetings Wood Stamp Set [138825]	Guy Greetings Photopolymer Stamp Set [137178]
Adventure Bound Designer Series Paper Stack [137780]	Early Espresso 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [119686]	Sahara Sand 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [121043]	Whisper White 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [100730]	Versamark Pad [102283]
Early Espresso Classic Stampin' Pad [126974]	Candy Dots Brad Bases [132293]	Stamping Sponges [101610]	Stampin' Pierce Mat [126199]	Paper-Piercing Tool [126189]
Labels Collection Framelits Die [125598]	Woodgrain Textured Impressions Embossing Folder [127821]	Big Shot [113439]	Stampin' Dimensionals [104430]	Liquid Multipurpose Glue [110755]