Stampin' With Michelle Pepper

It's Master JP's birthday in 2 days' time so I thought I'll try and make him a card based on this week's CASE Study Challenge. My initial idea didn't actually come together. I wonder if there are many entries like mine, where the initial idea met a few bumps along the way so that the end result wasn't really what you first had in mind at all! I have used one of the Epic Day This and That Designer Washi Tape from Stampin Up, this time I adhered to the Summer Starfruit card stock because I thought it will bring about some cohesiveness to the colour choices on the card. I had originally intended to only use the 2012-13 In Colours, which I did almost succeed, except in the end I had to bring in the Sycamore St DSP, and the washi tape. Oh, and the black embossed sentiment. The sentiment did not raise, however, like it's supposed to when you emboss, so I can only conclude that either I have a faulty emboss powder, or it is old and that's wh...

I have combined several challenges with this card. Firstly, the sketch is from Paper Players Challenge this week. The main colour Orange was influenced by StampNation's Summer Kick Off Party Day 2 challenge which was "Hot, hot, HOT!" H, being for Heat Embossing, O for Orange and T for Twine. Can you spot all the elements?  Oh, and did you notice the use of Washi tape on this card? That's a sneak peek of the new product offering in the 2013-14 catalogue which goes live on 2 July! Washi Tape TIP: adhere the washi tape on plain white coloured paper if you are going to place it over a busy background. This way, the design (in this case, the yellow gingham pattern) will be clearly visible.  When I had finished, I saw that the card also meets StampNation's Challenge #89 , which was to mix and match at least 3 different patterns on the card.  I learned from Noell Hyman a principle on mixing patterned papers. You can watch the video tutor...

This week, over at StampNation , we are celebrating a Summer Kick Off Party. Well, the northern hemisphere members are enjoying sunshine...whereas us Southern Hemisphere peeps are enjoying the thoughts and cheeriness of summer. The challenge for day 1 of the Summer Kick Off Party (on 21st June) was to make a card inspired by the colours you see in Summer. When I think of summer, I think of sun, sand and surf, and camping. So the summer colours for me are blue, yellow and green. I manage to incorporate the blue and yellow in my card, but the green didn't quite co-ordinate with the rest of the card. There's something about the simplicity of this card that just makes me smile each time I see it. I have even restrained myself from using any jewel rhinestone, and there are no pop up dimensionals either!

This was my entry in a recent Sage Kimble's card making contest which got a honourable mention - it got the most Likes on her Facebook! That coloured butterfly there, was my first attempt at the stained glass technique I mentioned here . Well, instead of making a card tonight, I have been on the internet. I worked on the Header... boy, was it a tedious process, going back and forth, testing each image. After many hours, this is the look I have decided upon, for now. My conclusion: since this blog will be image rather than writing driven, a clean Header (and indeed overall blog look) is actually quite good. That way your eyes will be immediately drawn to the image of the first post as you enter this site. (But it was still hard not to choose an image that would somewhat scream ME! Besides it's not much to show for 2 hours of work, lol.) In my internet rabbit trail tonight, I did come across Amy Lynn Andrews of Blogging with Amy fame. She was a "non techy" goog...

I am really starting this journey with a hiss and a roar...created 2 cards tonight! Freshly Made Sketches is a weekly challenge blog, with new sketches posted on Wednesdays. Below is the sketch for this week . Provided I don't change my mind, this card will be given to a happy couple for their wedding in August. Wow, I am super organised, for a change! The flowers are done using the Faux Stained Glass technique. Stamp the image in versamark on Vellum card stock, cover with White Emboss Powder, heat emboss then let dry. Turn the vellum over, and colour the back of the image. I tried two ways of colouring...the lighter flowers were coloured using a blender pen to pick up Calypso Coral from the inkpad. The darker flower was sponged with Calypso Coral. The blender pen way created a more subtle look, whereas the sponged way is a lot quicker! I didn't make a banner from the sketch as it didn't look quite right.  I had done the stained glass technique befo...

The colour inspiration is from ColourQ this week . What a fun colour combo. This definitely stretches me as I don't think I would have put those colours together. I am really enjoying the challenges. I had a play with the Secret Garden set I recently acquired. I love the co-ordinating Secret Garden Framelits which meant no fussy cutting! I picked up a little trick from who I cannot remember (apologies that I cannot give credit to that person...I will update this when I find it) to mark with permanent Sharpie on the framelits a point that is easily recognisable so you can match the framelit to the stamped image easily. It worked a treat. 

Often I get a stamp set out to play, only to then search google and pinterest for a card I'd then CASE (Copy And Share Everything). True to my nature, I often don't stick to the design in its entirety, but that's how I'd start off. I am now at the point where I think I am ready to develop further. I think participating in challenges might just be the thing to stretch me, and, to help me spend less time on the computer browsing to more time actually creating the cards I enjoy making and giving. So I spent some time one evening looking at many challenge blogs and websites, and have marked a few that I'd like to participate in on a regular basis. Today, I get to share with you my first card challenge. It feels good to start on this journey. Today's card is for this week's CASology challenge, with the cue word "Fish". I don't have any fish stamps, but I do have the Stampin' Up!'s Happy Whale Clearlits Die (#129403). With 4...

Just checking what it looks like when I post a photo. This is one of the Make and Take projects for my May classes. The card is inspired by Connie Stewart, a well known SU demonstrator in the US.

I had another craft blog (www.pepperpapercraft.blogspot.com) which I have neglected to update since July 2011...since then, I have a new email address, but for some reason, the old blog will not let me edit the email address. Being a bit techno challenged, I have decided to just start from scratch again.  Thus the birth of this new craft blog :-) This is my Hello World post where I will be experimenting with the settings and layout, as I try to feel my way around. It might be a slow start...and I'm ok with it :-)