By the Bay Masculine Valentine

I love the images in the By the Bay stamp set which is one of the Sale-A-Bration rewards from the Sale-A-Bration Brochure, but it's one of those sets which doesn't give you a ton of options for using because it needs to be coloured in some way to be really effective. You could use your Stamparatus and your Stampin' Write markers to colour in different parts of your stamp and repeatedly stamp it as one option, or Stampin' Blends, but I decided to watercolour mine and use it as a masculine Valentine card with the addition of an I Love You from the Flourishing Phrases stamp set.

• I taped a piece of Shimmery White cardstock to a spare Stamparatus plate (which is perfect for the purpose because it's so easy to clean  up after, it has a grid on it to help you tape evenly for a border, and it's perfectly smooth and flat.) I had already stamped the two images from the By the Bay stamp set and the sentiment from the Flourishing Phrases stamp set in our retired Basic Black Archival ink, which I have always loved and will continue to use until I run out. It's a permanent non-water based ink so it works well for watercolouring.
• I used Sahara Sand, Soft Suede, Mint Macaron and Mossy Meadow for the landscape and the same colours for the house, with the addition of a pop of Poppy Parade for the windows and doors. In retrospect, I wish I had just left those a neutral, because it's very hard to get those accurate using an Aqua Painter, but I wanted a weathered beach house that someone had tried to brighten up a bit with some red paint!
• I loved painting the background the best. With a tape to separate the horizon, I started with Mango Melody layered with Flirty Flamingo, Pool Party and a little Highland Heather for the sunrise sky. The ocean bay waters started with Pacific Point at the Horizon and progressed to Bermuda Bay, Coastal Cabana and a little Pool Party at the bottom.
• I used the Braided Linen Trim to tie a Sailor's Knot and add it to the picture between the cottage scene and the sentiment and the gulls on the beach below it.

Announcing: 2 Day Craft Crop to Aid Refugees

March 8 & 9, 2019

The Refugee Care Collective at Emmanuel Church in West Kelowna is hosting a Two Day Crafting Retreat /Crop in our bright, spacious lobby from Friday, March 8 at 9 am to Saturday, March 9 at 5 pm. The $90 fee will get you 2 lunches and 1 dinner prepared in our kitchen, lots of natural light, room for your equipment, a goody bag, door prizes, make and takes, challenges, and use of my equipment and stamp collection. All proceeds after costs, and all profits from any orders taken through Stampin' Up! will be donated to the Refugee Resettlement Fund at Emmanuel Church, as we raise the money to support a Syrian Refugee family consisting of a widowed mom with six kids.  Come out and have a great time crafting, but also support a wonderful cause and do something to help relieve some of the suffering in our world.

All meals will have vegetarian and gluten free options and will be nut-free. Let us know if you have any other actual anaphylaxis reactions. There is no planned accommodation but the Holiday Inn is right next door.

The registration deadline will be Saturday, February 23, and registration forms will be send via facebook message to anyone who indicates they are coming. They can also be sent via email to anyone who is not on facebook as long as I have the email address. Payment options are included on the form. Registration will not be considered final until payment is received. You can complete the form online and click on "Submit" and I will receive your registration.

There will be a $75 option for those who, due to work, will miss the lunch on Friday.

Here's the link for the Facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/events/253309368897110/

I hope you can attend if you live near the area.

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

By The Bay Cling Stamp Set [149739] $0.00	Flourishing Phrases Wood-Mount Stamp Set [141531] $67.00	Flourishing Phrases Clear-Mount Stamp Set [141534] $50.00	Shimmery White 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [101910] $12.25	Bermuda Bay 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [131197] $11.50
Sahara Sand 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [121043] $11.50	Basic Black 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [121045] $11.50	Basic Black Archival Stampin’ Pad [140931] $9.25	Stamparatus® Plates [149693] $20.00	Aqua Painters [103954] $23.00
Sahara Sand Classic Stampin' Pad [147117] $10.25	Soft Suede Classic Stampin' Pad [147115] $10.25	Poppy Parade Classic Stampin' Pad [147050] $10.25	Mint Macaron Classic Stampin' Pad [147106] $10.25	Mossy Meadow Classic Stampin' Pad [147111] $10.25
Mango Melody Classic Stampin' Pad [147093] $10.25	Flirty Flamingo Classic Stampin' Pad [147052] $10.25	Pool Party Classic Stampin' Pad [147107] $10.25	Highland Heather Classic Stampin' Pad [147103] $10.25	Pacific Point Classic Stampin' Pad [147098] $10.25
Bermuda Bay Classic Stampin' Pad [147096] $10.25	Coastal Cabana Classic Stampin' Pad [147097] $10.25	3/16" (1 Cm) Braided Linen Trim [147808] $9.50	SNAIL Permanent Adhesive [104332] $9.50	Liquid Multipurpose Glue [110755] $5.50
Glue Dots [103683] $7.25

Eclectic Hello Cupcake for As You See It Challenge #193

One of my favourite types of stamping challenges are collection or assortment challenges, where you are given an assortment of different elements and you have to include all of them in your card design. It's challenging but fun and so much fun to see what everyone comes up with, because they are always so different in spite of having to use the same elements.

This week, for As You See It Challenge's #193 Challenge, we have just such an assortment challenge going on and we're calling it Eclectic Style. Here's the Challenge Banner:

So the rules are that we have to include ALL the things on the banner in our design, but we have a free hand otherwise. With the Poppy Parade as the dominant colour, I decided that the Hello Cupcake stamp set would work well, especially around Valentine's Day. Here's how it turned out:

• I just love the rich, yet bright red of Poppy Parade. It's such a satisfying colour for some reason. I used it for the card base and for the next layer which I embossed using the Oh My Stars embossing folder.
• The stripes element are from the Botanical Butterfly Designer Series Paper, which, like the Hello Cupcake stamp set, is a Sale-A-Bration reward. The Designer paper behind the cupcake is in Coastal Cabana and is from the How Sweet It Is Designer Series Paper.
• The cupcake is stamped in 5 steps including the sprinkles and the little heart. The best way to do this is to set it all up on the Stamparatus. The cupcake paper and the sprinkles are in Early Espresso. The cupcake sliver you can actually see is in Soft Suede ink. The icing and the little heart are Poppy Parade ink. Once stamped, the cupcake is fussy cut out as per one of the elements of the Collection. It's added to the card with Stampin' Dimensionals.
• The ribbon is Mini Striped Ribbon in Bermuda Bay, which is not far off the Coastal Cabana in the paper. The bow fills one of the criteria of the challenge and it's a little fork bow, added using a glue dot.
• The sentiment is also from the Hello Cupcake stamp set, stamped in Poppy Parade and die cut using the Rectangle Stitched Framelits.
• The embellishments are Clear Faceted Gems.

Why don't you give our Collection Challenge a try here? Have some fun with it!

Have a great weekend and keep warm out there in the Polar Vortex!! Snuggle up in your craft room and create!

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

Hello Cupcake Photopolymer Stamp Set [149714] $0.00	Botanical Butterfly Designer Series Paper [149622] $0.00	How Sweet It Is 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 Cm) Designer Series Paper [148568] $15.00	Poppy Parade 8-1/2" x 11"" Card Stock" [119793] $11.50	Whisper White 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [100730] $13.25
Early Espresso Classic Stampin' Pad [147114] $10.25	Soft Suede Classic Stampin' Pad [147115] $10.25	Poppy Parade Classic Stampin' Pad [147050] $10.25	Bermuda Bay 1/4" (6.4 Mm) Mini Striped Ribbon [146939] $11.00	Clear Faceted Gems [144142] $6.75
Oh My Stars Textured Impressions Embossing Folder [143710] $10.25	Rectangle Stitched Framelits Dies [148551] $48.00	Big Shot [143263] $150.00	Big Shot Magnetic Platform [130658] $54.00	Liquid Multipurpose Glue [110755] $5.50
Glue Dots [103683] $7.25	Stampin' Dimensionals [104430] $5.50	Mini Stampin' Dimensionals [144108] $5.50