As You See It Beautiful

I live in a beautiful part of the world.  USA Today just named the Okanagan Valley the second best wine region in the world to visit.  To quote the article, "Drop. Dead. Gorgeous."  When we first moved here 22 years ago, I would marvel at my surroundings every time I went outside, or looked through my livingroom window.  But over the years, I have begun to take the beauty for granted. I need to look again through a pair of grateful eyes, I think.  Here is what I can be thankful for every day:

When I started working on my Design Team project for As You See It Challenges #048, I totally pictured a landscape of torn paper, with a polaroid frame over top.

I think this card might even work for Freshly Made Sketches Challenge #148.

                                                    
Here's the way it turned out:

• Checking all the elements of the challenge:  arrow - check; frame - check; ripped edge - check, many of them; Tangelo Twist - check, the sun and one of the sunset layers; and finally, thread - zigzag around the edge of the panel!
• The polaroid frame from the On Film Framelits is great, but regular cardstock sometimes doesn't  do it justice. When I used it on the Gold Foil sheets, however, all the texture of the framelit showed up beautifully.
• The little arrow is also from the On Film Framelits set and I stamped the sentiment in StazOn ink on some of the gold foil left over from the polaroid frame.  The sentiment is from a new set that I earned from Stampin' Up called Good Greetings and it will be part of a new hostess promotion coming up soon.  Watch for it!

Every part of the world has its beauty.  You just have to look for it and be thankful!  Leave me a comment about the beauty in your world!  Have a great weekend!  See you Monday!

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

Good Greetings Wood-Mount Stamp Set [135014]	Good Greetings Clear-Mount Stamp Set [135017]	Gold Foil Sheets [132622]	Very Vanilla 8-1/2X11 Card Stock [101650]	Lost Lagoon 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock [133679]
Hello Honey 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock [133678]	Pumpkin Pie 8-1/2X11 Card Stock [105117]	Tangelo Twist 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock [133677]	Night Of Navy 8-1/2X11 Card Stock [100867]	Blackberry Bliss 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock [133675]
Jet Black StazOn Pad [101406]	On Film Framelits Dies [132969]	1 Inch Circle Punch [119868]

On Film Framelits for As You See It Challenges

Time again for another As You See It Challenge!  This week, Amanda has come up with a theme challenge and the theme is:

I dug out my On Film Framelits and played around and had some fun!  Here's the result:

• Film made me think of Hollywood, and I picture Hollywood in black, white and gold, with a little Coastal Cabana thrown in!
• I used the Hostess Stamp set from the Occasions Catalogue called Making a Point, for the glamour sunglasses in the Polaroid frame.  I stamped the image in VersaMark ink and embossed it using Gold Stampin' Emboss Powder.  Hostess sets are only available as Hostess rewards.  They are priced lower so that your Hostess dollars go further.  If you would like the opportunity to spend some Hostess dollars, contact me about hosting a workshop or joining my Stamp Clubs, on-line or local.

• The background uses the film strip die over gold embossed Gorgeous Grunge.  I'm really liking the glitz of the gold.
• The polaroid fame itself was just too big for the card front.  I liked it much better when I cut off about 1/4" from the bottom.  It's hard to see in this photo, but the bottom of the frame is dry embossed with diagonal stripes.
• To use these framelits, take advantage of this one trick to make your life easier:  put a piece of wax paper between the cardstock and the framelit before you run it through the Big Shot.  The cardstock will pop out of the framelit as slick as a whistle, and save you from having to pry it out with a craft knife or paper piercer.

• It's a little hard to see here but the polaroid frame is popped up on dimensionals for some vertical variety!
• A little In Colour Boutique Detail in Coastal Cabana draws your eye toward the middle and creates a focal point.                      

I hope you enjoyed this sample and that you will get out your On Film Framelits, or better yet, your Polaroid camera, and have some fun with this theme this week!  Go to As You See It Challenges to enter.

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

133056	133059	132969	130514
130517	121045	100730	131297
102283	109129	129053	131260
130938	113439

Experimenting with Peachy Keen and the On Film Framelits

I love movies!  My favourite activity besides stamping is watching videos with my hubby.  So I was really excited to see the On Film Framelits, bundled with the Peachy Keen Stamp Set in the new Occasions catalogue.  I've tried before to make a film strip and it was difficult.  Now we have a framelit to do that for us, and it looks so much better!  And there are other great framelit shapes in the set as well.

I set out to experiment last night with some of the new products and this is the result:

• I found out a lot about these products in my explorations.  First, the Gold Fancy Foil Designer Vellum.  Beautiful product!  Those embossed gold dots not only look great, but they serve a very useful purpose - they hide the adhesive, whether it be a glue dot or snail or a Dimensional. So no worries about how to adhere the vellum without exposing the adhesive!
• The tag was made from Basic Black cardstock using the new Scalloped Tag Topper Punch. This punch is used a bit differently from other punches. Be sure to read the instructions.  You should know that you are restricted to a tag that is two inches in width or it won't fit into the punch. Otherwise, very easy to use.
• The filmstrip framelit needs to have some waxed paper between the Brushed Gold cardstock and the framelit to make it easier to remove from the framelit after running it through the Big Shot.  Then it works like a dream.  Just make sure to remove the layer of waxed paper from the framelit each time, otherwise it will build up and eventually cause the framelit to be unable to cut because the built up layers of wax paper become too thick.

• The camera framelit.... well, it is backwards to the stamp, unless I am using it wrong.  I think you would have to use it on it's own. This framelit is very unique because it embosses as well as cuts, but the camera is not symmetrical and so, if you try to die cut the stamped camera image, It doesn't line up properly.  You would have to do it from the back of the paper, and you wouldn't get to see all the embossing.  That's also rather difficult to line up.  Too bad, because it's an awesome die.
• The gold sequin trim gives a great flashy accent when used like ribbon.  It is easy to separate the individual sequins as well and those would make great accents on their own.  I found that the best way to adhere it was to press glue dots to the spots where you wanted the sequin trim to be and then press the sequins onto the glue dots.  Trim the thread well and you can even add a glue dot to the underside of a stray sequin and affix it over the leftover thread to hide it.
• I think Peachy Keen is a very versatile stamp set and I'm looking forward to using the other images soon.

Hope you enjoyed that Sneak Peek!  I have one more entry tomorrow and then I will be taking a week off to spend with my family over Christmas.  I will still have posts for you, but I will be highlighting my favourite designs of the past year.  I will return with fresh material on Sunday, Dec. 29th, just in time to say good-bye to the Holiday Catalogue.  There are some products from the Holiday Catalogue that will be carried over and still available after Jan. 2 until June 1.  You can see the Carry Over List here.

Thanks for allowing me to share with you.

• Crisp Cantaloupe 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock
• Crisp Cantaloupe Classic Stampin' Pad
• Brushed Gold 8-1/2X11 Card Stock
• Jet Black StazOn Pad
• Basic Black 8-1/2X11 Card Stock
• Whisper White 8-1/2X11 Card Stock
• Gorgeous Grunge Wood-mount Stamp Set
• Gorgeous Grunge Clear-mount Stamp Set
• Crumb Cake Classic Stampin' Pad
• Peachy Keen Stamp Set *
• On Film Framelits*
• Gold Fancy Foil Designer Vellum*
• Gold Sequin Trim *

*From the Occasions Catalogue, available for purchase Jan. 3