The World's Biggest Klutz Tries to Speed Stamp!

It's As You See It Challenge Friday today, and we have an unusual challenge for you this week! It's a Speed Stamping Challenge. Now, there are two things you need to know about me - 1) I'm the World's Biggest Klutz [well, maybe not, but close!] and 2) anytime I have to be timed to do something, my stress level skyrockets! So you can image my trepidation when I had to make my Design Team sample card for this week's As You See It Challenge #160!

Take a look at the challenge banner first and then I'll tell you the rest of my sorry tale:

So for this challenge, you can conceptualize your card ahead of time (in your head or in a sketch on paper) and you can gather your materials ahead of time, but once you start working on it, you have 10 minutes only to complete your project! You also must use only shades of orange and neutrals in your card.

I had my ideas all ready. I decided to go with Freshly Made Sketches Challenge #307 sketch for my layout:

I had a premade element from another project - some pumpkins stamped in Tangerine Tango and Pumpkin Pie and hand cut - that I decided to use for this one! I had decided on my sentiment, my banner in the back, my ring and what the card base and front panel would look like! I was set....or so I thought! Take a look at the final result before I tell you the rest of the epic story:

• My premade element, left over from another project, the pumpkins, are from the Gourd Goodness stamp set and 2 step stamped in Tangerine Tango and Pumpkin Pie! The stems are Soft Suede and Crumb Cake. If I had had to 2 step stamp and fussy cut them today I probably wouldn't have finished in time.
• The front Very Vanilla panel is embossed with the Layered Leaves Dynamic Embossing Folder.
• What took the longest was the sentiment and the ring. I stamped the sentiment from the Painted Harvest stamp set in Tangerine Tango, then I had to die cut the flag twice, once in Very Vanilla with the sentiment and once in Peekaboo Peach so I could get the border to go around it. I held the two pieces together with mini dimensionals, which was all I could find in my panic. Regular dimensionals would have been better.

• The ring is made by using the largest Layering Circles die to cut out a circle and then putting in the next largest die and centering it within the larger circle to die cut the narrow frame.
• A piece of Burlap Ribbon forms the banner behind the pumpkins. I wasted some time stamping one using the long texture stamp from Timeless Textures, but I cut myself on the Stamping Trimmer (first time ever) trying to whittle it down to size, and with no time to get a band-aid, I then also had the worry of getting shades of red on my project!

Also during this ten minute time period, my phone, which had remained silent for most of the day, rang twice. I ignored it the first time, but it was insistent the second time, and it turned out to be my hubby, who didn't get the response he was quite expecting!!

So all in all, it was a highly stressful experience, and when I get stressed I get extra-klutzy - hence the cut finger, and all thumbs as I tried to assemble my project. That being said, it turned out not half bad for a 10 min project that I completed, I think, in just under 10 minutes at 9m56s, when all the interruptions were accounted for! 

So why not put yourself through the wringer, and see if you can do a card in 10 minutes. I would recommend keeping it simpler than mine though with fewer layers perhaps!

A reminder of all the promotions going on right now that you don't want to miss out on:

This promotion ends soon! Get 15% off Notecards and Envelopes and selected stamp sets to celebrate World Card Making Day!  The Fast Fuse that was part of this promotion has been sold out!! In fact, two years worth of applicators and a decade's worth of refills sold out in just 5 days! It's just a reminder to act quickly when you see a good deal!

Have you been waiting for this sale to get your Designer Series Paper for the year? You have until the end of October to stock up - buy three selected packages and get one free!

Book a party of some kind with me and earn this amazing stamp set on top of all your regular rewards this month! My time is booking up, so contact me soon!

Make sure you are subscribed to Paper Pumpkin by October 10 so you can get in on these back-to-back October-November Paper Pumpkin kits that will have coordinating Christmas projects, one each month, designed to help you with your holiday preparations! Practical, but fun and creative!

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

Gourd Goodness Photopolymer Stamp Set [144785]	Painted Harvest Photopolymer Stamp Set [144783]	Very Vanilla 8-1/2" X 11" Thick Cardstock [144237]	Very Vanilla 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [101650]	Tangerine Tango 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [111349]
Peekaboo Peach 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock [141417]	Tangerine Tango Classic Stampin' Pad [126946]	Pumpkin Pie Classic Stampin' Pad [126945]	Soft Suede Classic Stampin' Pad [126978]	Crumb Cake Classic Stampin' Pad [126975]
5/8" (1.6 Cm) Burlap Ribbon [141487]	Layered Leaves Dynamic Textured Impressions Embossing Folder [143704]	Layering Circle Framelits Dies [141705]	Bunch Of Banners Framelits Dies [141488]	Big Shot [143263]
SNAIL Permanent Adhesive [104332]	Mini Stampin' Dimensionals [144108]

September's Paper Pumpkin and Something Glorious Coming Soon!

Having just returned home last night from a late fall camping trip to visit my daughter on her birthday and have some fun times with my two little grandsons, I didn't have a lot of time to create for my blog post today, so it was a perfect time to get out my September Paper Pumpkin kit and see what I could do with it. It is such a gorgeous kit this time, with gobs of opportunities for alternatives, but I only got a couple of different ideas happening last night. I'll show you some more later. I think the quality of these Paper Pumpkin kits just keeps getting better all the time! What I really liked about this one was the embossed kraft cardstock that the card bases and the pillow boxes are made of. I loved the texture those created, and ended up cutting up a pillow box, since I probably won't be using it, and using it as a panel on a larger 5 1/2" x 4 1/4" card.

First, I'll share with you how they are supposed to go together, with the official video from Paper Pumpkin:


             


Here's a closer look at my projects now. Can you spot the differences?

• Instead of stamping my big leaf just in Cajun Craze ink, I also heat embossed some of them in Copper Stampin' Emboss Powder. That looks just stunning, especially against that kraft cardstock.

• I embossed some of the greetings in Copper Stampin' Emboss Powder as well and added an edge of copper around the circular tag.
• I cut up one of the pillow boxes to use as an embossed kraft panel on a larger standard sized card. The base is Crushed Curry with a panel of Painted Autumn Designer Series Paper backed with Cajun Craze cardstock.

• If you would like to subscribe to Paper Pumpkin, make sure that you go to PaperPumpkin.com and click on subscribe before October 10, because the October and November kits are coordinated holiday projects designed to help you with your gift and greeting card needs at this time of year. You can have fun creating and meet practical needs at the same time!

As always, it was a lot of fun to do, without a lot of planning and designing which takes a lot of time.

And I promised that I would share with you that something glorious is coming soon! While there is not a definite release date yet for customers, from Oct. 1 -15, demonstrators are going to be able to order Stampin' Up's newest release - Stampin' Blends - a collection of alcohol markers for perfect blends when you are colouring and shading! I'm so excited about this because I've been missing our Blendabilities so much since they were taken off the market. The problems surrounding them were remedied and the new offering has had extensive testing and has passed SU's rigorous requirements and now Stampin' Up! Demonstrators can buy them between the above dates.

But it won't be long before customers will be able to get them as well, and you will be among the first to know as soon as a release date has been given! Mine are already ordered and I will begin to use them for projects soon.

If you don't want to wait, I suggest that you sign up as a demonstrator and purchase the markers as part of your starter kit! It would be well worth it! If you want to do that, click on Join My Team in the top menu and follow the prompts. Let me know ahead of time and I can give you the catalogue number to use to order the markers as part of your kit.

Musical Season and Musical Instruments Framelits

The Musical Season Bundle caught my eye early on when I was first looking through the Holiday Catalogue. I have often wanted a musical themed set since so many of my family are musical and with that whole set of Merry Music Designer Series Paper plus a Sheet Music background stamp, it is really great to have some stamps and dies that will go along with them.

The card I want to show you today is another Quick & Cute sample. Easy to make and easy on the eyes. This would be a great idea for mass producing your Christmas cards this year - very few layers and cuts and the dies you use are all framelits, so you can die cut two at a time if you want to save time. If you don't like bows you can just tie tiny knots instead and it would be fast and easy to prepare and assemble this card.

• The colour scheme of Tempting Turquoise, Basic Black, White, Soft Sky and Silver is great for holiday cards without the traditional red & green!
• The Designer Series Paper is from the Merry Music set. I love that it comes in the black on white and white on black formats.
• I used the Layering Oval Framelits for the scallop oval in Silver Glimmer Paper and the smaller oval in Soft Sky and the Musical Intruments Framelits to die cut the little drummer boy from Basic Black cardstock. Isn't he the cutest thing??
• The sentiment is from the Musical Season stamp set and it's becoming one of my favourites from the catalogue as I've used it numerous times already.

How are you celebrating World Card Making Day on October 7th? Do you have the essentials you need to make a card? Stampin' Up! has got you covered. For the first 10 days in October, get 15% of selected stamp sets and note cards and envelopes! (See selection below) Did you notice that Colorful Seasons, Oh So Eclectic and Coffee Cafe are on the list? Those are some of my favourites!  As well, you can get two free refills when you purchase a Fast Fuse Adhesive! Two FREE refills! They are $9 each! That's major! I know I'm going to be stocking up!!

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

Musical Season Clear-Mount Stamp Set [144811]	Musical Season Wood-Mount Stamp Set [144814]	Musical Season Clear-Mount Bundle [146049]	Musical Season Wood-Mount Bundle [146048]	Silver Glimmer Paper [135314]
Merry Music Specialty Designer Series Paper [144623]	Tempting Turquoise 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [102067]	Soft Sky 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [131203]	Basic Black 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [121045]	Whisper White 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [100730]
Basic Black Archival Stampin’ Pad [140931]	Silver 1/8" Ribbon [132137]	Layering Ovals Framelits Dies [141706]	Musical Instruments Framelits Dies [144677]	Big Shot [143263]
Fast Fuse Adhesive [129026]	Liquid Multipurpose Glue [110755]	Glue Dots [103683]