Can't Wait for School {PP58}

Happy Paper Players Sunday, friends!  This week Ann is our hostess for a fun theme challenge and it's back-to-school time! 

No matter how much you love school everyone loves recess, right?  So I knew right away which stamp set I would be using from the Summer Mini Catalog--Recess!

Most of the kids I know are still young enough to love school so the expression on this little boy's face captures the enthusiasm of that first big day.  In fact, this card will be heading to a sweet little friend who starts his first day of kindergarten this month!

I stamped the little boy in jet black Stazon on Whisper White and colored the image with a blender pen and ink pads: Riding Hood Red, Daffodil Delight ad Crumb Cake.  The playground tree is from the Trendy Trees set with a few clouds from Up, Up & Away.

I stamped the hopscotch pattern, also from the Recess set, repeatedly on Basic Black cardstock with Whisper White craft ink.  The craft ink gives the perfect chalk effect for a sidewalk game!  The Daffodil Delight background was distressed with the 7-sided tool (love that thing!) and edged with the Spiral Border punch.

My new Pennant Parade stamp set and coordinating Petite Pennant punch went to work here as well.  I stamped the faux stitched border onto polka dot patterned paper from the Designer Paper Patterns Stack in brights (Old Olive & Daffodil Delight), neutrals (Crumb Cake) and regals (Riding Hood Red).  Love these pattern stacks--they're a great value!  The Petite Pennants punch popped out the sweet little pennants which I adhered to some 1/8" Old Olive taffeta ribbon with sticky strip.  The Daffodil Delight stars and sentiment are all from Pennant Parade too! 

So whether you have children of your own in school or not, I'll bet you know somebody who is starting a new school year soon.  Wouldn't they love to receive a card from you to kick the year off right?  I know they would...and we would love to see it over at The Paper Players.  Be sure to link up your creation before Friday, August 12th at midnight (PST).  We have a new Guest Designer joining us this month, the Artistic Avenger herself, Carrie Gaskin!    Check out all the fabulous inspiration from Carrie and the rest of our design team---have I mentioned how great these ladies are?!

The Paper Players Design Team

Ann Schach

Anne Marie Hile

Jaydee

Lauri Ingram

LeAnne Pugliese

Lesley Croghan

Nance Leedy

Sandra Azzopardi

Carrie Gaskin (GD)

supplies:

stamps: recess, trendy trees, up up & away

ink: basic black, old olive, crumb cake, riding hood red, whisper white craft, jet black stazon

paper: crumb cake, basic black, daffodil delight, whisper white

xtras: 2.5", 1/2", & 3/4" circle punches, petite pennants punch, 1/8" old olive taffeta ribbon, spiral border punch [retired], blender pen

my first sketch challenge!

I've probably looked at hundreds and lurked on my Google Reader everyday looking at all the wonderful creations out there but I've never made and posted my own entry to a sketch challenge...until today. Yay! This is actually for two challenges: Kelly Jo's Color Chef Challenge #13 and the card sketch challenge, CPS123, over at Card Positioning Systems. I really liked the layout of the CPS challenge but it was Kelly Jo's inspiration bag in the Color Chef Challenge that hooked me! The colors are great--a classic Talbot's type color combination--but with a modern pattern. I was struggling a bit to figure out what stamps I would use as the focal point and I tried several. Then the moment happened! I looked up with a big sigh thinking "I can't do this" and saw a card I made with SU's Trendy Trees. Wow!! The leaf burst pattern of this tree looked very close the pattern on the inspiration bag. I tried it and I'm pretty happy with the results. What do you think? All supplies are Stampin' Up--except the gingham ribbon (michael's) and the cuttlebug embossing folder. I started with a base of basic black cardstock and embossed it with the CB swiss dot folder. A piece of summer sun patterned paper from good morning sunshine designer paper (retired) finished off the bottom. The ticket corner punch gave a little emphasis to the multi-layered main panel.
Next I cut a fabulous flower with the flower burst embosslit--I love those things. Isn't it cool how the flower burst pattern matches the pattern from the tree? The center of the flower is stamped with Happy Thoughts in basic black and summer sun all topped off with a little bling from the smallest clear circle rhinestone brad. A whisper white panel stamped with more trendy trees gives a writing surface for the inside. This was a fun challenge. Thanks so much for looking and, please, let me know what you think with a comment! Edit 7/16/09: I'm so excited, thanks to Karen Giron's tutorial post today I finally got the watermarks she created for me to work! Thanks Karen! If you need a watermark, check out her blog--her work is fantastic!