Paper Players are Sew Suite: PP40

Happy Sunday everyone!  I can't believe a week has gone by since my last post but it's been a whirlwind...more on that in a minute.  Today, I am delighted to share with you a sketch I designed for this week's Paper Players Sketch Challenge {PP40}!  Here's the sketch:

and here is my card:

I liked it so much I made a second one with a Baja Breeze base and Pear Pizzazz/Greenhouse Gala designer series paper:

The details on this one are pretty straightforward but I do want to show you some close ups...I love, love, love cutting out these dress forms.  I know you might be thinking "oh I hate to cut things out" but this little mannequin is so easy once stamped on Greenhouse Gala designer series paper with Early Espresso ink--all my lines are right there ready for cutting!

Isn't she "sew" sweet?!  That's a bitty flower from the Itty Bitty Punch Pack in Baja Breeze with a big basic pearl in the middle.  Once the pearl was attached, I just scrunched the paper up around the pearl to distress it a little.

Can't you just see giving a card with this sentiment, from Bold Blossoms, to your best girl friend?  I stamped it in Early Espresso and then used the small ornate blossom from Friends Never Fade stamped off once in Pear Pizzazz behind the sentiment.  And because the top left corner seemed a little neglected...

I added a little snip of Pumpkin Pie 1 1/4" striped grosgrain ribbon.  I literally stapled this one in place...I scrunched up a little 2" piece of ribbon, stapled the bottom together and tucked it under my oval with a glue dot.  Doesn't it look a bit like a jaunty scarf?!

Just a simple inside...a piece of whisper white stamped with an all-time favorite sentiment from Great Friend in Early Espresso, another Pear Pizzazz dress form and the final touch is an itty bitty flower from Cheep Talk to mimic the flower on the front.

So, if you're still with me...I just have to share some incredible news with you.  In addition to our Paper Players challenge this week, I took this card to swap at our Regional Training event in Orlando, FL this weekend.  It was a fabulous all-day event full of stamping, swapping and demonstrations all hosted by our company's incredibly gracious and sweet president, Shelli Gardner.  OK, I'll cut to the chase here....all the swap cards were posted on boards around the room and entered into a Creativity Challenge where Shelli selected her favorites.  Well, guess what?  Can you guess?  OMG, yes...are you with me?  OK, get ready for some shouting going on here....SHELLI CHOSE MY CARD!!!!!   OMG, can you imagine?!  It was awesome to have her hold my card up on the big screen for all to see--what a thrill!  Oh, and as if that wasn't enough...I also won a $50 SU shopping spree!!  I know, right?!

And let me just say that she is as gracious and kind in person as you would want and expect her to be!  It was a such an honor!

OK, thanks for indulging me for a moment.... :-).  I hope you will play along with our sketch challenge this week. Be sure to pop on over to The Paper Players blog, check out all the other DT inspiration then load up your creation by midnight (PST) Friday April 1st.  We can't wait to come visit you!  Have a great day my friends!

the goods:

stamps: sew suite, friends never fade, great friend, cheep talk

ink: pear pizzazz, baja breeze, early espresso

paper: baja breeze, pear pizzazz, pumpkin pie, whisper white, naturals white CS; greenhouse gala DSP

xtras: scallop border punch, itty bitty punch pack, 1 1/4" wide striped grosgrain ribbon, scallop oval frame die, basic pearls

Funky Paper Players {PP39}

Happy Paper Players Sunday everyone!  It's a new week and a brand-new category of challenge for us at The Paper Players.  If you've played along with us you might have noticed that each week is a different type of challenge: theme, color, sketch, etc.  So this week we would like to introduce a Clean-and-Simple challenge with a sketch:

Lots of ways to go with this one designed by our very own Jaydee!  Here's my interpretation of Jaydee's sketch:

 

I stayed pretty true to the sketch but you can use the layout and elements as suggestions and go wherever your creativity takes you!  I started with a base of Night of Navy and stamped it with the Woodgrain background in the same color ink.

If you're a Canopy follower, you know how much I love woodgrain, lol!  For my focal piece, I stamped the little stems from Funky Four in Night of Navy, Old Olive, Marina Mist and Daffodil Delight.  My stamp-a-ma-jig got a workout here!

I stamped the sentiment from Apple Blossoms in Night of Navy and rounded the opposite corners for a retro look.  A Daffodil Delight mat, some sweet 1/8" taffeta ribbon in Old Olive and a single rhinestone wrapped it all up!  I find the tiny taffeta ribbon difficult to tie so I wrapped one piece around the front securing it to the back with some SNAIL tape and added the knot separately with a glue dot.  Much easier to tie and it saves on ribbon too!  Since this is just a little note, I left the inside plain except for a row of dots and another little stem.

I loved this sketch and hope you'll let me know what you think of my take on it.  I hope, too, that you will play along with us this week!  If you do, please use PP39 on your post and leave a direct link to your post on The Paper Players blog.  You have until midnight (PST) on Friday, March 25th to load your creation.  The design team will choose a Headliner and A Cut Above to feature on Saturday!  I hope you'll join us!

I just had to take a few pix of our beautiful white azaleas to share with you:

and the little friends that were visiting them this morning:

That's it from me...have a great week my friends!

the goods:

stamps: funky four, woodgrain, apple blossoms

ink: night of navy, old olive, marina mist, daffodil delight

paper: night of navy, daffodil delight, whisper white CS

xtras: corner rounder punch; old olive 1/8" taffeta ribbon; basic rhinestone

Easter Wishes for the Paper Players {PP38}

Happy Sunday friends and welcome to another week with The Paper Players.  Ann has chosen a soft color combination for our Color Challenge:

Aren't these colors beautiful together?  Despite a week off for Spring Break last week, I didn't have a lot of time for stamping so I kept today's project clean-and-simple:

I just love these cherry blossoms from the Easter Blossoms stamp set--so soft and pretty!  Here, I stamped the blossoms in Early Espresso directly on some Blushing Bride designer paper from the Level 1 hostess pack.  Love how the blossoms on the paper are reminiscent of the cherry blossoms.

I added two rows of a scallop border punched from Early Espresso cardstock.  Since the rest of the card is pretty simple, I needed some dimension here so I distressed the cardstock with a bone folder to curl up the edges and separate the layers a little bit.  I wrapped the whole panel with some yummy Baja Breeze seam binding ribbon under which I tucked a strip of Baja Breeze cardstock so the patterned paper would not show through.

Finally, I scattered some basic pearls among the cherry blossoms for a little shimmer and dimension.  Ahhh, love those pearls!

Thanks for stopping by my little blog corner today!  I hope you'll check out the rest of the design team's creations and play along with us this week!  Just be sure to link up your creation to The Paper Players blog by midnight (PST) Friday, March 18th to be considered for the design team's choice as Headliner or A Cut Above!  Have a great week my friends!

the goods:

stamps: easter blossoms

ink: early espresso

paper: very vanilla, baja breeze, early espresso CS; blushing bride DSP

xtras: baja breeze seam binding ribbon; basic pearls; scallop border punch

Just Believe in Thanks

Happy almost-the-weekend friends!  Just a quick post to share a thank you card I made recently for a friend.  I liked this one so much I made two and sent it to yet another friend!  It all started with a past sketch from the operators at Stamping 411:

I was really intrigued by the sideways sentiment and wanted to give it a try.  So here is what I came up with:

I started with a piece of glossy white cardstock on which I sponged Champagne Mist shimmer paint then overstamped the flowers from Just Believe in Jet Black Stazon.  Here's a closer view:

A few Basic Pearls added to the shimmer factor!  I matted the main image in Basic Black and rounded two corners.  With the help of my trusty Stamp-a-ma-jig, I stamped the flower frame from the same set in Crumb Cake off the side of the main panel:

Here you can see the lovely fleck in the Naturals White cardstock.  The sentiment is also from Just Believe and stamped in Jet Black Stazon.  I added some Basic Black designer paper [Urban Oasis-retired], a Crumb Cake scallop ribbon border...

...and wrapped the main panel in Crumb Cake seam binding ribbon with a little piece of Chantilly crochet trim.  And here's a little peek at the inside:

That's all today folks, I hope you like it!  Thanks for stopping by and for all your encouraging comments.  Hugs to you!

the goods:

stamps: just believe, punched posies  [retired]

ink: jet black stazon, crumb cake

paper: naturals white, basic black, crumb cake CS; urban oasis DSP [retired]

xtras: crumb cake seam binding ribbon; chantilly crochet trim; champagne mist shimmer paint; basic pearls; stamp-a-ma-jig; corner rounder punch

Color Dare Goodbye {CD99}

Happy Wednesday friends!  The design team got a week reprieve on our final card for the Color Dare card so I can share this lovely color combination with you again!  

CD99

Marina Mist

Cherry Cobbler

Basic Gray

Last week, I made this card for you and luckily I had a reserve one to share this week.  I needed a masculine birthday card for a close family friend and these colors were perfect.

I used Clean-and-Simple FTL86 for the fun layout and a variety of circle punches with several different designer series paper.  I like how the letters in the sentiment from Bring on the Cake are bouncing around just like the circles.  I started to color in the sentiment with markers but decided that I liked the clean and simple look of all that white space.

 A clean and simple outside deserves a clean and simple inside don't you think?  I repeated some of the designer series paper and stamped two more sentiments from Bring on the Cake in Marina Mist for the final touch.  Today's card goes out to "Mr. Gino" from all of us under the canopy--Happy Birthday Gino!

I just know you're going to love working with these colors and hope that you'll play along with the Color Dare design team.  Check out their blogs below for more inspiration and share some comment love with them.  They are a talented group of crafters and I've enjoyed working with them each week.  Thanks for stopping by, friends!

• Riley - our leader
• Glenda - Papers, Scissors and Rocks
• Heather - Princess Scrapper Stamper
• Joan - JJ Creations
• Marisa - Rosemary Reflections
• Melissa - My Paper Obsession

the {simple} goods:

stamps: bring on the cake, sanded BG

ink: marina mist, jet black stazon

paper: whisper white, cherry cobbler, marina mist, basic gray CS; patterns designer series stack (subtles); jolly holiday & walk in the park dsp [retired]

xtras: 1 3/8",  1 1/4" and 1" circle punches; corner rounder punch; square lattice EF

New Blog Design

Hi everyone!  Surprise!  I've been playing around with My Digital Studio and created a new look for my blog.  I would love to hear your feedback!  Thanks for looking and I'll be back on Wednesday with my final card for The Color Dare design team. :-(

Spring has Sprung {PP37}

Happy Sunday, friends, and welcome to another week with The Paper Players where our Theme Challenge welcomes Spring!

I recognize that it might not be Spring yet in your part of the world but we're hoping that our collective projects will make it happen that much sooner!  Today's card features the Awash with Flowers stamp set and a springtime color combination of Old Olive, Pretty in Pink and Daffodil Delight:

The flowers are stamped onto Whisper White in Daffodil Delight and Pretty in Pink while the stems and leaves are inked in Old Olive.  Awash with Flowers is a great stamp for achieving a watercolor look without any water--perfect for my watercoloring challenged self!  The Old Olive card base was stamped in the same ink with the French Filigree background stamp and layered with some designer paper from the Subtles pattern pack.

The sentiment from Easter Blossoms was the perfect thought for this Springtime card and punched with the Large oval punch it mats nicely with a Pretty in Pink scallop oval.  I punched the sentiment slightly left of center so I could add a little Daffodil Delight flower, popped out with the Boho Blossoms punch, and centered with a basic pearl.

And speaking of pearls, I just had to add a few to the top of each Daffodil Delight flower for a little shimmer and shine!

Have I mentioned how much I {heart} our wide striped grosgrain ribbon?  Maybe just a few times!  Here I wrapped a piece around the whole card front and tied it off with some Linen Thread and a Daffodil Delight designer button.

In the interest of time, I've been neglecting the inside of my cards lately (shame on me!) so I had to pick up my slack on this one!  I stamped the French Filigree background in Old Olive again on the inside for a different look and topped it with Whisper White and some more designer paper to trim it out.  I've not stamped a background stamp on the inside before but I kind of like it!

Spring has definitely sprung in our neck of the woods so I thought I would share a few lovelies from our yard with you.  Not to tease you but to remind you that spring will come to your corner eventually!  :-)

Be sure to check out all the lovely design team spring creations at The Paper Players--featuring our new Guest Designer, Marian Garcia!  We would love for you to join us this week.  If you do, post your creation to The Paper Players blog before midnight (PST) Friday March 11th to be considered for A Cut Above or Headliner.  Have a great day my friends!

the goods:

stamps: awash with flowers, easter blossoms, french filigree

ink: old olive, pretty in pink, daffodil delight

paper: old olive, whisper white, daffodil delight CS; patterns dsp stack subtles

xtras: daffodil delight wide striped grosgrain ribbon; large oval, scallop oval, boho blossoms and scalloped ribbon border punches; basic pearls; linen thread, brights designer buttons.

Thankful for YOU {PPA83}

My big surprise today...are you ready?  OMG, I am so excited to tell you...this week I am the Featured Artist at Pals Paper Arts!!!  Did you hear my squeal?!  Words cannot express how excited, honored and THRILLED I am to join this super talented group of stampers.  And not only are they talented but the whole team is kind, supportive and so generous with their comments.  Here's the lovely color combo we're working with this week:

Baja Breeze, Soft Suede and Crumb Cake--beautiful aren't they?  I loved working with them to make this for you:

So when you're designing for the Pals, where to start?  Oh my gosh, talk about pressure! :-)  So, I looked in the PPA archives and found a fantastic sketch, PPA77, which was the perfect starting point.

 The single leaf stamp from Bold Blossom was inked in Soft Suede and stamped repeatedly onto Crumb Cake patterned paper following inspiration from a favorite handbag designer of mine, Orla Kiely--famous for her stem leaf prints.  Another patterned paper from the Neutrals Patterns designer paper stack, this time in Soft Suede polka dot provided the background on top of my Woodgrain stamped Baja Breeze card base.  The single Baja Breeze flower works well on its own with the coordinating sentiment also from Bold Blossom.  I wrapped the card base with Crumb Cake seam binding ribbon and secured the ends under the main panel.  A simple little bow was made with a loop of more seam binding ribbon tied in the middle with linen thread and secured with a glue dot.

I thought I was all finished but...well...it just needed a little something else and like the perfect pearl necklace, a scattering of small Basic Pearls on the leaf stems and the flower center was just the thing!

I hope you enjoy my PPA card as much as I enjoyed making it and savoring the moment when I received the invite to join this talented team.   A HUGE thank you to the whole team but especially Ann, Linda, Mary, Margaret and Debbie for their support and encouragement.  Please stop by Pals Paper Arts to enjoy the rest of the design team inspiration and play along this week--I can't wait to see what you make with these beautiful colors!  Enjoy the rest of your week, my friends.  :-)

the goodies:

stamps: bold blossom, woodgrain

ink: soft suede, baja breeze, crumb cake

paper: baja breeze, very vanilla, soft suede CS; neutrals patterns designer paper stack

xtras: crumb cake seam binding ribbon; linen thread; basic pearls; large oval, 3/3" circle and 1" circle punches

Go Dream: CD{99}

Happy Wednesday everyone!  It's another Color Dare week and we've got a fabulous color combination for you that I never would have picked on my own:

CD99

Marina Mist

Cherry Cobbler

Basic Gray

How cool is this combo--very fresh and sophisticated.  I used this great sketch from Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge:

I really like this layout and used it to combine a couple different designer paper in my stash:

 I started with a Basic Gray base stamped with a Basic Gray Sanded background and layered with some retired Jolly Holiday paper and the Patterns Designer Paper stack (Subtles).  My sentiment, from Word Play, was inked with Stampin' Write markers in the challenge colors and stamped onto Very Vanilla cardstock.  My 3" circle die was the perfect size for the large-scale sentiment.

 

The sketch called for three elements on the left and without any brads in the challenge colors, I made my own!  I ran some Marina Mist cardstock through the Square Lattice impressions folder and then punched them out with the circle punch from the Itty Bitty punch pack.  Instant brads!

Just a quick post tonight, friends!  Please let me know if you have any questions and be sure to check out the inspiration from the rest of the Color Dare design team below:

• Riley - our leader
• Glenda - Papers, Scissors and Rocks
• Heather - Princess Scrapper Stamper
• Joan - JJ Creations
• Marisa - Rosemary Reflections
• Melissa - My Paper Obsession

Please check back tomorrow when I have a very exciting announcement to share...here's a little sneek peek for you...until tomorrow friends!