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Sunday, July 29, 2012

Tic-Tac-Toe & the Players {PP106}

Hiya friends! It's another Paper Players Sunday and that means it's been a week since I last posted...yikes!  Hopefully, this week I'll be a little more active in my stamp room.  Nothing like a big box of new toys for some motivation!  We've also had a new addition to the family that's kept me busier than usual but more on that later...  Today, the lovely Lesley has a Tic-Tac-Toe challenge for us.  Choose any 3 elements from the board: vertical, horizontal or diagonal:
I couldn't wait to use my Floral Frames Framelits and matching Daydream Medallions stamp set.  I found this great sketch over at Create with Connie & Mary and am delighted to play along with my friends over there--Hi gals! 
I combined the sketch with the center column of the Tic-Tac-Toe board: Birthday, Dry Embossing & Ribbon to create this:
The color combination is directly from the Color Coach and I love it: Basic Gray, Primrose Petals and Summer Starfruit!    The background paper is actually new Halloween paper called Howlstooth & Scaringbone from the upcoming Holiday mini.  Love those gray polka dots!  The center panel is 2 3/4" wide and stamped with the largest image from Daydream Medallions in Summer Starfruit.  I trimmed it with more Summer Starfruit cut with the Adorning Accents edgelit and matching embossing folder.
Here's a close-up of the flower--don't you just love a coordinating stamp set and Framelit?  I used 3 different ribbons: Chantilly crochet trim (ret.), Summer Starfruit stitched satin and some new Basic Gray striped satin ribbon.  All the ribbons are held together with our cool new Ribbon Slides (Holiday mini).  I knew right away that they would be perfect for pulling together a riot of ribbons and I was right!  (love it when that happens, lol!)  It's a great way to make a big impact with a small amount of ribbon.
Of course, you know I had to finish the inside!  More stamping of the medallions in the background as well as the center panel and the perfect sentiment from Bring on the Cake.  
Please be sure to visit the rest of the design team for some amazing inspiration! I'm so happy that almost all of the senior design team is back in action this week.  Between vacations and SU convention, we've all been scattered!  Now we just need our fearless leader!  I hope you'll play along with Lesley's Tic-Tac-Toe challenge...you have until Friday, August 3rd at noon (PST) so go get your craft on!

Now, if you would like to stay tuned for some personal stuff....first a couple pix of a different kind of craft:
These gorgeous platters are handmade by a group of women living near Royal Natal National Park.  Each coil is made from reeds, wound together with thread and coiled into a platter.  The colors are added with different colored threads and string--often recycled from purchased products.
Their smiles are genuine and the creativity astounding.  We actually saw them harvesting the reeds by the side of the road.  Our daughter couldn't wait to have her picture taken with them!

OK, lastly...if you're still with me...we took the plunge this week and added a new member to our family.  Our last kitty passed on a few months ago and the house had been too quiet ever since.  So, we visited the rescue center run by our vet and well....let's just say there's no such thing as "let's go have a look", ha!  May I present....Miss Sadie Leedy:
She is a 3 year old mix of Jack Russell terrier / Italian Greyhound and all kinds of uber-cuteness! 
We are all in LOVE...and I think she is too.  :-)  She's become quite attached to me in a short period of time--follows me everywhere, even to the bathroom, ha!  Nothing like a dog for dedication!  If you've made it this far, thanks for indulging my need to share and thanks for stopping by.  Have a great week!

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Supplies 
Stamps: Daydream Medallions,Bring on the Cake, Blooming with Kindness
Ink: Summer Starfruit, Basic Gray, Primrose Petals
Paper: Summer Starfruit, Basic Gray, Primrose Petals, Very Vanilla CS; First Edition Specialty DSP; Howlstooth & Scaringbone DSP
Extras: Floral Frames Framelits; Adorning Accents Edgelit & Embossing Folder; Ribbon Slides (Holiday mini, avail Aug 1st); Basic Gray Striped Satin Ribbon (Holiday mini, avail Aug 1st); Large Basic Pearls; Chantilly crochet trim (ret.); Summer Starfruit stitched satin ribbon; Basic Pearls.

Sunday, July 22, 2012

A Welcome Sketch {PP105}

Hi everyone!  Wow, I'll bet you were wondering if I was ever coming back, right?  My family and I just returned from 3 weeks touring the beautiful country of South Africa!  We had an amazing time--traveling by car from one end to the other--we went on game drives, saw incredible wild animals, hiked the Drakensburg Mountains (snow!), sampled the vineyards of the Western Cape, ate fabulous food and had a wonderful time!  If you're interested, I'll share some pics with you over the coming days.  In the meantime....I apologize that it will take me awhile to catch up with all my blogging buddies but it sure is good to be stamping again with my pals over at The Paper Players!  We have some uber-talented guest designers that I am so excited to work with too--hi gals!  This week Jaydee has a fantastic sketch for us:
Lovely sketch, eh?  Dress it up or down, anyway you like it.  I eased into a return to stamping with some of my favorite papers and colors from the Comfort Cafe DSP: Soft Suede, Summer Starfruit, Midnight Muse and Pool Party:
That gorgeous flower takes center stage from the Blooming with Kindness stamp set.  I stamped my Soft Suede card base with the Distressed Dots background stamp and added a couple flagged banners of DSP to the bottom of the main panel.  Love the new Naturals Designer Buttons to which I added an Itty Bitty Banner sentiment, cut with the coordinating Framelit and secured with Linen Thread.
You might not be able to tell, but I stamped the flower again, fussy-cut the middle and popped it up for extra dimension.
The flower is so pretty that I had to stamp it again a few more times on the inside.  This time in Summer Starfruit and Pool Party--such a great color combination! 
Finally, coz I just gotta share...here we are on a hike in Royal Natal National Park.  That huge mountain behind us is part of the Drakensburg range and this particular part is known as the "amphitheater".  Just stunning.

I hope you will play along with us this week at The Paper Players!  Jaydee's sketch challenge will run until Friday, July 27th at Noon (PST).  Be sure to check out what the rest of the design team has created!  Thanks so much for stopping by! 


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