Lovely as an Evergreen {PP174}

Hiya friends!  To all my friends in the US, I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving!  I am excited to bring you a card for this week's challenge at The Paper Players.  LeAnne is our hostess with a fun theme challenge:

Using our evergreen theme as a trigger, I thought of two things...1)  Lovely as a Tree stamp set and 2) the color Always Artichoke.  With these in mind, I found this great sketch over at Create with Connie and Mary:

 and happily put them all together to make a card for today:

The color combination of Always Artichoke, Cherry Cobbler and Crumb Cake is a favorite for more traditional holiday cards.  On this card, I used white accents in the embossing powder and sponging to keep the traditional colors fresh.  The tree was embossed in white on Always Artichoke and sponged over with Whisper White craft ink.  Wiping the ink off the embossed tree with a baby wipe, created a glow around the tree that looks like fallen snow. 

I sponged over the embossed images on the Natural Composition Specialty DSP with more Whisper White craft ink.  I layered this piece onto some Always Artichoke CS that was embossed with the Woodgrain embossing folder and wrapped with Cherry Cobbler seam binding ribbon.  The Crumb Cake card base was stamped in Sahara Sand with the Netting background stamp.

I am certain that the rest of the Design Team has some gorgeous inspiration for you so be sure to stop by and check it out.  I hope you'll consider playing along with us before the challenge ends on Friday, December 6th at Noon (PDT).  Thanks for stopping by today, friends!

The Paper Players Design Team

Ann Schach

Anne Marie Hile

Jaydee

LeAnne Pugliese

Nance Leedy

Sandy Mathis

Supplies
Stamps: Lovely as a Tree; Netting; Magical Season; Greetings of the Season
Ink: Cheery Cobbler, Versamark, Always Artichoke; Whisper White craft ink
Paper: Crumb Cake; Always Artichoke; Whisper White; Natural Composition Specialty DSP 
Xtras: Cherry Cobbler seam binding ribbon; large oval punch; sponges; corner rounder punch; white embossing powder

{PP126} CAS Snowflakes

Hiya everyone!  It's our last challenge of 2012 over at The Paper Players.  It's also our last with the current crew of Guest Designers.  It's been a pleasure working with Dawn, Helen, Amy and Jen.  I would like to wish them well and thank them for all their hard work these last 6 months--thank you ladies!  It's also an exciting time because we welcome our new group of designers...what fun!  Be sure to stop by and hear the news!  In the meantime, you're here for a card!   It's Clean-and-Simple week and Ann asked us to use Snowflakes on our projects.

And here's what I created:

This card is so simple to make--the hardest part was figuring out what colors I wanted to use!  I rarely use Elegant Eggplant but I love it for a holiday card.  It pairs so nicely with Wisteria Wonder which was run through the Big Shot with the Northern Flurry embossing folder--still a favorite!

You might notice that I sponged some Frost White Shimmer Paint over the embossed areas and edges to give it a shiny lustre.  Shimmer paint elevates it from ho-hum to YUM in no time!

You might also be wondering about the smaller snowflake and why it looks darker?  Well, that's because I used a sponge dauber and colored the Silver Glimmer paper with Elegant Eggplant ink.  I think the color would be stronger if I used a re-inker bottle but the subtle difference is lovely too.  Both the idea for coloring Glimmer paper as well as the layout for this card were seen in Stampin' Success--our magazine for demonstrators.  It's always full of great ideas!

Be sure to check out the rest of the Paper Players Design Team for some fabulous inspiration.  Because of the holidays, we're leaving this challenge open for two weeks!  It will close on Friday, December 28th at Noon (PST).  

Finally, a big shout-out and welcome to our new team of Guest Designers!  Amy, Brian, Justin, Jen & Sandy, I am delighted to welcome you to the team and look forward to working with you!

The Paper Players Design Team
Ann Schach
Anne Marie Hile
Jaydee
LeAnne Pugliese
Nance Leedy
Amy White
Dawn Easton
Helen Heil
Jen Arkfeld

 

A Single Christmas Tree {PP122}

Happy Sunday, friends!  It's another week at The Paper Players and LeAnne is our hostess-with-the-mostest-toastest and a fabulous Clean-and-Simple challenge for us:

Clean and Simple featuring Silver or Gold...how pretty and festive is that?!  When I saw this challenge, I knew that I would use my brand-new Christmas Lodge Tree stamp.  I love that Stampin' Up is offering single images from select stamp sets!  I've always loved the tree from Christmas Lodge--who am I kidding, I love all trees(!)--so I was delighted when SU offered it as a single stamp.  I kept the design very clean-and-simple:

I told you it was CAS!  ;-)  I think the whole card took me about 10 minutes!  Both the tree and the sentiment were stamped in Versamark and heat embossed with Gold EP on Very Vanilla cardstock.  To really amp up the glitz, the Very Vanilla panel is mounted on a card base of Brushed Gold cardstock.  I also adorned the tree with a few basic pearls because what goes better with gold than pearls?!

Inside, I stamped the tree in Crumb Cake ink and heat embossed the sentiment, from Delightful Dozen, with more Gold EP.  You can't have enough gold right?!  You also can't have enough sparkle:

So, I sponged some Champagne Mist oops, I realized I used Frost White Shimmer paint directly over the embossed tree working outward.  Gives the tree a lovely glow, doesn't it?  Of course, it's difficult to capture in the photo but it's quite lovely in person.  And, I am confident that the rest of The Paper Players Design Team has created some lovely projects to inspire you:

The Paper Players Design Team

Ann Schach

Anne Marie Hile

Jaydee

LeAnne Pugliese

Nance Leedy
Amy White

Dawn Easton

Helen Heil
Jen Arkfeld

 

Be sure to pop over to The Paper Players for all the gorgeous DT projects as well as a surprise announcement!  We hope you can play along--Just remember, our challenge closes on Friday, November 23rd at Noon (PT).  For those in the US, you'll have plenty of time after eating all that turkey to come craft with us! :-)  And speaking of Thanksgiving, let me take the time now to express my thanks and gratitude to all of you for following me on this crafting journey.  If you celebrate Thanksgiving this week or not, may your blessings be many!
  
Supplies 
Stamps: Christmas Lodge Tree; Delightful Dozen; Greetings of the Season
Paper: Very Vanilla & Brushed Gold CS
Ink: Versamark, Crumb Cake
Xtras: Gold Stampin' Emboss Powder; Basic Pearls; Champagne Mist Frost White Shimmer Paint; stampin' sponges

Did somebody say bling? {PP115}

Happy Paper Players Sunday, friends!  Anne Marie has a fun Tic-Tac-Toe challenge for us this week.  Just pick any three options up, down or diagonally to create your project:

You might be able to tell from the title of this post that I went with the top row: Christmas, Sparkle/Bling and Ribbon.

 

And there's a lot of bling on this one!  I love silver and gold for the Holidays and with this simple color palette and the aid of the Ornament Keepsakes Bundle stamp and coordinating Framelits, this card came together super quick!  The Crumb Cake base is a subtle match to the gold and I topped it with some embossed Very Vanilla (I wish SU didn't retire this folder!)and a flagged banner of Silver Glimmer paper.  More sparkle, anyone?  :-)

These ornaments are so pretty and simple to make with the coordinating Framelits.  I love how the extra little center piece nestles in there and gives it a vintage look.  A small piece of Very Vanilla 1/4" grosgrain ribbon becomes an ornament holder and I added a little knot with a glue dot.

I hope you will join us this week for Anne Marie's fun challenge at The Paper Players before Friday, October 5th at Noon (PST).  Be sure to check out the fabulous projects from the rest of the Design Team ladies, they hit it out of the park!

The Paper Players Design Team

Jen Arkfeld
Dawn Easton
Helen Heil 
Nance Leedy

Anne Marie Hile

LeAnne Pugliese

Ann Schach

Amy White

 
Supplies 
Stamps: Ornament Keepsakes; Greetings of the Season; Beautiful Season (inside sentiment) 
Ink: Crumb Cake, Versamark, Basic Gray
Paper: Crumb Cake, Very Vanilla, Silver Glimmer Paper
Extras: Holiday Ornament Framelits; Very Vanilla 1/4" grosgrain ribbon; Basic Rhinestones; Extra Large Oval Punch; Snowburst embossing folder [retired] 

Evergreen Breeze {PP112}

Hiya, friends, and welcome to another week with The Paper Players. It's color challenge week and Lesley has some gorgeous colors for us.  Take a look:

Yummy!  When I saw these colors, I knew right away that I wanted to make a Christmas card with the Evergreen set.  Taking an advance peek at my team mates' projects, I see I wasn't the only one!  I paired the colors with Cindy's great design at Freshly Made Sketches:

 And, here's what I made for you:

 

 Had to laugh at myself...last week I had blue leaves and this week it's the whole tree!  Love this two-step Evergreen stamp and the way the solid tree looks in Baja Breeze.  The outline stamp was inked in Versamark and heat embossed in silver...pretty!

I did even more embossing on the background to really make the texture pop. First I inked one side of the Lacy Brocade embossing folder with a Versamark pad--just smeared it directly on the folder.  Then, I ran it through the Big Shot with a piece of textured Basic Gray cardstock.  Next, I sprinkled it with clear embossing powder and set it with the heat gun.  Voila!  Glossy embossed cardstock!  Trimmed it out with a little silver glimmer paper and we've got sparkle AND shine!

I struggled with whether to add a sentiment on the front and opted to go without.  However, the inside is the perfect size for a yuletide sentiment from Greetings of the Season.  And, of course, one more [blue] tree!

I hope that my blue holiday tree has inspired you to look at your stamps in a new way and come out to play!  We would love to see you in the gallery at The Paper Players.  Just make sure to load your crafty goodness before the challenge closes on Friday, September 14th at Noon (PST).   

The Paper Players Design Team

Jen Arkfeld
Dawn Easton
Jaydee
Nance Leedy

Anne Marie Hile

LeAnne Pugliese

Ann Schach

Amy White

 
Supplies 
Stamps: Evergreen; Greetings of the Season; Woodgrain
Ink: Baja Breeze, Basic Gray, Basic Black, Versamark
Paper:  Baja Breeze, Basic Gray, Basic Black, Whisper White, Vellum CS; Silver Glimmer Paper
Xtras: Scalloped Border punch; Basic Gray Striped Ribbon; Silver stampin' emboss powder; Clear stampin' emboss powder; Apothecary Accents framelits; Lacy Brocade embossing folder; Oval nestabilities

Triple Treat for Club

Hey there, friends!  Just poppin' in for a quick post to show you a holiday card we made this month at my monthly stamp clubs.  The triple stamping technique is a natural for this gorgeous Watercolor Winter stamp set from the Holiday Mini:

This is such a pretty technique and soooo easy.   I used a retro inspired color palette of Regal Rose, Cherry Cobbler, Always Artichoke and a little bit of Crumb Cake for the background flourish.

I wanted to do something a little different with the triple matting.  At the same time, I wanted to add some glitz but without a lot of bulk sooo...enter Champage Glimmer Paper!  The champagne hue of the mat really sets off the colors in the center panel.

Greetings of the Season provided the perfect sentiments for both the front and inside of the card.  I hope you've enjoyed my Triple Stamping card today--I would love to hear what you think.  Thanks for stopping by!

 

Supplies 

Stamps: Watercolor Winter; Greetings of the Season; Creative Elements

Ink: Regal Rose, Cherry Cobbler, Crumb Cake

Paper: Always Artichoke, Very Vanilla CS; Champagne Glimmer Paper