Pages

Sunday, January 31, 2016

A Nice Cuppa Challenge: PP280

Oh my goodness, friends.  This week just flew by, didn't it?!  It's the fabulous Jaydee's turn as hostess at The Paper Players and she has a fun bonus week challenge for us....Tic-Tac-Toe!
So, I had fun combining elements from the T3 board and went with: die cuts, pink, girly and just for fun threw in yellow and ribbon too!
The Nice Cuppa set and coordinating dies seemed just girly enough for the challenge...I haven't met a girl that doesn't like a cute teacup like this one!  I added a touch of lace doily for even more femininity....oh, yes and it's painted with a touch of Wink of Stella too.  The pink hearts from the Cups & Kettles Framelits were cut from Melon Mambo cardstock and, of course, painted with Wink of Stella!  I backed the main panel with a piece of DSP from the Have a Cuppa stack in Crushed Curry--my favorite shade of yellow.
Please do check out the rest of the Design Team inspiration over at The Paper Players and I hope you will join us before our challenge closes on  Friday, February 5th at Noon (PST)...thanks for stopping by!

The Paper Players Design Team
Photobucket

Sunday, January 24, 2016

Botanical Beauty of a Sketch PP279

Hi friends!  I am hostess this week at The Paper Players and am delighted to showcase a sketch I designed:
This is a go-to sketch for me--the banner elements and the circle may change depending on what papers, stamps, etc I wish to use but the layout is one that I use over and over again.  I hope you like it too.  I took an abstract approach to the vertical panel because I was itching to use the border die from Botanical Blooms:
There is hardly any stamping on this card because these beautiful dies did all the hard work!  And, I didn't have to  think about the colors either because the combination is straight from the Botanical Gardens DSP.  Mint Macaron, Cajun Craze, Hello Honey, Mossy Meadow and Basic Black...who knew?!  I guess the designers at Stampin' Up did!     
I never would have put these colors together on my onw but my...they sure are pretty together.  Love how it all pops on the basic black too.  Can you believe these gorgeous flowers?  The die cuts those layers so you can pop out the flower--so pretty!  I also love the mix and match sentiments from the Endless Birthdays photopolymer set I used here....endless combinations!
You can see here that there is more stamping on the inside than the outside of the card!  All the inside elements....the flowers, centers and line image are from the Botanical Blooms stamp set which I just stamped in the same colors as on the front along with this great sentiment from the Fabulous Four set....and it really is fabulous!

The Design Team also has some fabulous inspiration for you so pop over and check them out at The Paper Players.  I hope you will be inspired to play along wiht my sketch this week before our challenge closes on Friday, January 29th at Noon (PST)....thanks for stopping by!

The Paper Players Design Team

Photobucket

Sunday, January 17, 2016

Love You to......Jupiter? PP278

This week, the super creative Sandy is our hostess at The Paper Players with a challenge to create a Clean-and-Simple valentine--yay, Valentines!!
You know that excitement you get when you've made a card you love and just HAVE to share it with someone?  Right?  After I made today's card, I literally squealed because it came out just like I pictured it in my head.  I rushed to show it to our daughter--coz, ya know hubby just doesn't "get" it--and was delighted when she squealed too!  And then I said look how I painted the moon with Wink of Stella so it sparkles and she said......that's not the moon, Mama, that's Jupiter.  Talk about a buzz kill, ha!
Alright, I admit the swirly paper (Going Places DSP stack) does look a bit like the Jupiter's big red spot but I prefer to think of it as the swirling mists of a full moon.....especially with all the Wink of Stella I painted on it!  The background paper is also from the Going Places DSP stack and I used the Alphabet Rotary Stamp to create the sentiment (a favorite saying between DD and me).  I added some Gold Thread looped behind the moon (yeah, I know the moon doesn't have rings!) just because I thought it looked very galactic.  
I picked up the Hello Honey color from the DSP and used it on the inside with two images from the Going Global stamp set--love how the images coordinate with the Going Places DSP.  Oh, and if you're curious the card measures 5" square.  I don't often make square cards but this one seemed just the right size.  

We hope you will join us at The Paper Players this week for some Valentine fun!  Check out the rest of the design team for more inspiration and then join us before our challenge closes on Friday, January 22nd at Noon (PST).  Have a great day! 


The Paper Players Design Team


Photobucket

Sunday, January 10, 2016

Timeless Textures of Thanks: PP277

Hi friends-wow, that first full week back to work and school really went fast!  I guess that's a good thing, right?!  We're rolling on into the new year over at The Paper Players where the lovely and talented Claire is hosting a fun color challenge:
Bright, happy and fun!  I immediately thought of Valentine's Day but, since I'm still in need of thank you notes for holiday gifts, opted for a note of thanks instead:
The stamp set I used today, Timeless Textures, was the first thing I ordered from the new Occasions catalog!  If you're a fan of the Gorgeous Grunge set (waving my hand high, here) then you're going to LOVE Timeless Textures.  I used three of the stamps to make the background for my butterfly.  I love how the swirling circles (I think they look like coffee stains) end up looing like butterfly trails on this card.
It's so difficult to capture all the sparkle that comes from the Wink of Stella brush pen but trust me, this butterfly is COVERED in it!  I backed the butterfly with a piece of vellum just to make it stand out a little bit on the busy background. 
Equally as difficult to capture are my Wink of Stella splotches you can (sort of) see here.  There's a little stamp of random spots in this set and I inked it up with the Wink of Stella (WOS) pen and stamped them here.  That's right, I just brushed over the stamp with the WOS pen and stamped them right on the card. They catch the light nicely and add to the iridescence of the butterfly.  

Thanks for stopping by today.  Be sure to pop over to The Paper Players and check out all the inspiration from the rest of the Design Team.  We would love to see your creation in the gallery so join us before the challenge closes on Friday, January 15th at Noon (PST).

The Paper Players Design Team
Photobucket

Sunday, January 3, 2016

A Happy New Year: PP276

Happy New Year, friends! I hope you had a joyous and restful holiday season with family and friends.  We are kicking the year off at The Paper Players with our first challenge of 2016 and three new guest designers!  A big hello to Linda, Colleen & Hannelie--I am looking forward to working with you!  Our dear friend across the pond, Joanne, is hosting a fun theme challenge for us this week:
 Two thousand and sixteen sounds like a pretty good number, I think, and a perfect way to welcome the new year:
The new year feels shiny and bright so I used lots of gold accents with the Gold Vellum and Gold Foil paper.  The card base is a standard A2 out of heavy Whisper White cardstock which I completely covered with the vellum paper.  This striped pattern is convenient to hide the adhesive as I just ran the adhesive down the gold stripes so it doesn't show through.
I used a retired stamp set [Metro Type] for the numbers and the new-to-SU Wink of Stella pen in Clear to outline the numbers and bring some sparkle to the black ink.  The brush tip on the Wink of Stella pen makes it easy to outline small areas precisely.
I used 3 different circle punches--1 3/4", 1 3/8" and 1 1/4"--to achieve the random layout of circles.  I like the way they looked a bit like New Year's Eve champagne bubbles!  The layout is inspired by the awesome sketch from Retro Sketches last month. 
Check out the rest of The Paper Players design team for even more number inspiration and then link up with us before our challenge ends on Friday, January 8th at Noon (PST).  Thanks for stopping by!

The Paper Players Design Team
Photobucket