Country Birdhouse for As You See It Challenge #327

I love Colour Challenges, but this one, As You See It Challenge #327, Primary Intensity, devised by our team member, Joanne, took a little thinking because all three colours are very vivid primary colours. I did what I often do for any challenge; I went looking for an appropriate stamp set to use. Right off the bat, Country Birdhouse caught my eye, because I could picture a whimsical blue,  green and yellow birdhouse with a couple of blue and yellow birds perched on it. Oh, here's the challenge banner:

Here's how it turned out:

• On a Blueberry Bushel card base, I added a layer of Granny Apple Green, 5 3/8" x 4 1/8", and then a Basic White layer 5 1/4" x 4". I debated over embossing or stamping something on the white layer, but finally opted to keep it plain so as not to compete with those intense colours.
• Using the Country Birdhouse stamp set, I stamped 2 of the birds and one of the little flower bouquets on some Basic White cardstock in Memento Tuxedo Black ink and coloured the images using the Blueberry Bushel, Daffodil Delight and Granny Apple Green Stampin' Blends Combos.
• I die cut those stamped and coloured images with the coordinating Country Birdhouse dies.
• Continuing with the Country Birdhouse dies, I cut the birdhouse the 3 roof pieces, the ledge, the perch, the stand, and various flowers and leaves. For these I used Daffodil Delight, Blueberry Bushel, Granny Apple Green and Basic White cardstock as shown in the photo above.
• I assembled all the pieces using glue, glue dots and dimensionals.

Bonus Days Are On!!

Right now, we're in the earn phase! For every $60 you order, you'll get a $6 coupon to redeem in August! Reward yourself with a summer treat and get another treat in August!!

If you live in Canada, and don't have a Stampin' Up! demonstrator, I'd love to be yours. I can help you with ideas, get you catalogues and provide you with Stampin' Up products. You can leave a message in the comments or contact me using any of the methods listed in the right side bar at the top of the page. You can shop with me from anywhere in Canada by clicking on the SHOP NOW button in the top menu or clicking on any of products below from my Online Store.

Product List

Country Birdhouse Photopolymer Stamp Set (English) [163395]	Country Birdhouse Bundle (English) [163401]	Basic White 8 1/2" X 11" Cardstock [159276]	Blueberry Bushel 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock [146968]	Granny Apple Green 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock [146990]
Daffodil Delight 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock [119683]	Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad [132708]	Blueberry Bushel Stampin’ Blends Combo Pack [161679]	Granny Apple Green Stampin' Blends Combo Pack [154885]	Daffodil Delight Stampin' Blends Combo Pack [154883]
Country Birdhouse Dies [163400]	Stampin' Cut & Emboss Machine [149653]	Multipurpose Liquid Glue [110755]	Mini Glue Dots [103683]	Stampin' Dimensionals [104430]
Mini Stampin' Dimensionals [144108]	Stampin' Seal [152813]

Paper Florist Dies for As You See It Challenge #303

This week is a colour challenge at As You See It Challenges, and it's called Bright 'n Basic and is created by Team Member Heather H. The colours are so vivid but tamed by the neutrals so I'm really happy with it and delighted to get out a new set of dies called the Paper Florist Dies, to try out for the first time.

Here's the Challenge Banner:

Even though it's a bit of an unusual combination of colours, it's a pretty generic one and there are so many different things you can do with it, as you'll see when you view the range of examples from the Design Team. So I hope you'll have fun with it! I thought it would look good with red and blue florals with the neutrals creating interesting backgrounds and foliage and just toning down the brightness a bit. Here's how it turned out:

• Using the Paper Florist dies takes a bit of experimentation. When you open them up at first, they are a bit mysterious looking, but as you try them out you can easily see how they work and how each die can be mixed with the others. 
• The one that might stump you at first is the one that looks like this:

        This creates a roll up center for a flower like the ones on the two flowers on 

        the upper right of my card.

• I used the Poppy Parade and Tahitian Tide for the petals and some of the centers. I saved the Crumb Cake for centers and foliage.
• I used the Gray Granite for the sentiment layer, die cut with the largest Stylish Shapes square and embossed in white with a sentiment from the Biggest Wish stamp set. I chose that because everything in this design is scaled in a larger scale, from the flowers to the embossed design so a large, bold sentiment is fitting.
• Speaking of embossing, on the thick Basic White card base, I added another 4" x 5 1/4" layer of thick Basic White embossed using one of the Basics 3D embossing folders with the large polka dots on it.
• Finally I added a multiloop bow using the  1/8" Metallic Woven Ribbon in Tahitian Tide. Using a multiloop bow is one option of getting this bow to be noticed due to its narrow width. You can widen the mesh, but it's hard to keep it wide and any tension on it narrows it back down again.

I recommend this die set for many reasons! It's versatile, useful for home decor and good all year round, and just a lot of fun to play with! It's a little hard to find in the catalogue and you might not have noticed it, since it's not connected to a stamp set, but it's well worth having.

  

You can now subscribe to August's Paper Pumpkin kit. It's a floral design and you get a free DistINKtive stamp set, so it's really beautiful! The theme is loyalty and encouragement, something we all could use! To subscribe before Aug. 11, click HERE.

If you live in Canada, and don't have a Stampin' Up! demonstrator, I'd love to be yours. I can help you with ideas, get you catalogues and provide you with Stampin' Up products. You can leave a message in the comments or contact me using any of the methods listed in the right side bar at the top of the page. You can shop with me from anywhere in Canada by clicking on the SHOP NOW button in the top menu or clicking on any of products below from my Online Store.

Product List

Biggest Wish Photopolymer Stamp Set (English) [155052] $24.00	Basic White 8 1/2" X 11" Thick Cardstock [159229] $12.25	Crumb Cake 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock [120953] $13.75	Gray Granite 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock [146983] $13.75	Poppy Parade 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock [119793] $13.75
Tahitian Tide 8 1/2" X 11" Cardstock [159261] $13.75	Versamark Pad [102283] $13.00	Basics Embossing Powders [155554] $25.00	Crumb Cake Classic Stampin' Pad [147116] $12.25	Poppy Parade Classic Stampin' Pad [147050] $12.25
Tahitian Tide Classic Stampin' Pad [159210] $12.25	Small Blending Brushes [160518] $16.50	Tahitian Tide 1/8'' (3.2 Mm) Metallic Woven Ribbon [159197] $12.25	Basics 3 D Embossing Folders [161598] $41.00	Heat Tool (Us And Canada) [129053] $43.00
Paper Florist Dies [161284] $51.00	Stylish Shapes Dies [159183] $41.00	Stampin' Cut & Emboss Machine [149653] $175.00	Mini Glue Dots [103683] $8.00	Multipurpose Liquid Glue [110755] $7.50