Rita's Baby Blog Hop! {FMS37}

Surprise!!  Hi everyone and welcome to a special Baby Blog Hop where the design teams of Freshly Made Sketches and The Paper Players teamed up to celebrate...and surprise...Rita Wright!  If you're following the hop, you've arrived here from the fabulous Linda Callahan's blog where I am sure she had an adorable project for Rita!  This week Rita is the hostess at Freshly Made Sketches and all of us secretly made a baby themed card with Rita's sketch!  What a great idea, Lesley! 

Didn't Rita design a great sketch?  Love it!  So, aside from the sketch, I knew two things I wanted to incorporate for my friend.  One of her favorite stamp sets, Fox & Friends and one of her favorite color palettes of Basic Gray, So Saffron and Crumb Cake. So here is what I made for you, Rita!

Oh, I had fun stamping these little guys!  I think my favorite is the So Saffron owl peeking out from the corners:

And that little jumping monkey is so cute isn't she?  I know it's a girl because for one, Rita's baby is a girl (!) and two, she has a little bow in her hair:

I fell in love with the flower Rita added to the girl fox in this post and just had to CASE the idea for her special card!

And it is my opinion that Rita and her husband are going to be the best parents little baby Laila could ever hope for!  My heartfelt wishes to you both for a healthy, beautiful baby girl and many joys in the years ahead.  Come on Baby Laila, we can't wait to meet you!!

To continue on the hop, you're headed "down under" for a visit with the terrifically talented Tui Nathan!  Thanks for hopping by and be sure to hop on over to Rita's Creations and leave her some baby love and to play along with her sketch at Freshly Made Sketches!

Rita's Baby Blog Hop

Anne Marie Hile
Ann Schach 
Cindy Hall
Erna Logtenberg 
Jen Mitchell
Jennifer Timko 
Kathy Tanner 
LeAnne Pugliese
Lesley Croghan 
Linda Callahan

>>>Nance Leedy (you're here)<<<

NEXT: Tui Nathan

Tara Murphy Bourgoin

 

Supplies 

Stamps: Fox & Friends; A Word for You; Occasional Quotes (retired)

Ink: So Saffron, Basic Gray, Crumb Cake, Basic Black

Paper: So Saffron, Basic Gray, Whisper White CS; Designer Series Paper--Patterns Stack (Subtles)

Xtras: Crumb Cake Taffeta Ribbon; Glimmer Brads (Neutrals); Scallop Ribbon Border Punch; Basic Rhinestones; Itty Bitty Punch Pack; 2 1/2" Circle Punch; Perfect Pennants Bigx L die  

Happy Birthday to me! {PP97}

Hi there friends, I hope you're having a great Sunday!  I sure am...as you read this the family and I are hitting the beaches of Florida for a little R&R because...well, yes it really is my birthday this weekend!  What better way to spend it then crafting up a creation using this fantastic sketch from the lovely and talented LeAnne who just happens to be our hostess at The Paper Players this week:

It's a great one, right?  I finally busted into some of my sneak peek goodies to make a birthday card:

This card really represents my style so I decided it will be my own birthday card, LOL!  Really, the colors, the patterns, the bird (!) are all some of my favorites.  When you work with colors and designs you like, it's easy to pull something together, right?!  Lots of sneak peek goodies here, starting with the stamp set and that gorgeous bloom.  It's from a new set called Betsy's Blossoms and I've stamped it on a 3" circle of very vanilla in one of the brand-new In Colors, Summer Starfruit...love it!  It is an intense shade that I think some people are having intense reactions to, LOL, but I love it.  On it's own it might be a little strong but I think it's a great "mixer" color that pairs well with so many others in the SU color families!

The pretty little bird is also part of Betsy's Blossoms and I stamped her in another new In Color, Midnight Muse.  Sounds a bit like a romance novel title doesn't it?!  ;-)  Notice how even the ink coverage is, particularly on the bird.  Did you guess why?  Yep, that's the work of SU's new Firm Foam ink pads...WOW, love 'em!

A few more little blooms stamped in the background of the sentiment tag that I tied onto some Not Quite Navy taffeta ribbon.  It's a pretty good companion to Midnight Muse.  Notice the designer paper?  Yep, that's a new one too--Comfort Cafe.  I just love the chevron pattern!

For the inside, I really busted out the stamps in Betsy's Blossoms--using almost all of them in the set.  Again, inking with Summer Starfruit, Midnight Muse, Pool Party and Soft Suede...ahhh {happy sigh}! 

I hope you'll think about joining The Paper Players this week with LeAnne's fabulous sketch!  Be sure to check out the rest of the Design Team inspiration.  This week is the last challenge with our Guest Designers: Jenn, Heidi and Narelle.  I'm going to miss stamping and chatting with them.  They've done such amazing work for us these past weeks...thanks gals!  Be sure to stop by and give them some comment love--as well as the rest of the DT:

The Paper Players Design Team

Ann Schach

Anne Marie Hile

LeAnne Pugliese

Lesley Croghan

Nance Leedy
Jenn Picard
Heidi Boos

Narelle Farrugia (May GD)

 LeAnne's challenge will close on Friday, June 1st at Noon (PST).  Now go get stamping!
 

Supplies 

Stamps: Betsy's Blossoms, Petite Pairs, On Your Birthday 

Ink: Summer Starfruit & Midnight Muse (available June 1st), Pool Party, Soft Suede

Paper: Comfort Cafe DSP, Summer Starfruit CS (available June 1st), Pool Party, Soft Suede, Very Vanilla CS

Xtras: 3" circle die; Not Quite Navy Taffeta Ribbon; Linen Thread; 1 1/4" Circle Punch; Basic Pearls;

Polka Dot Parade {PP96}

Hey there, friends, happy Paper Players Sunday! Sweet Anne Marie is our hostess this week for a fun Clean-and-Simple challenge featuring....Polka Dots!  

Happy and fun, large or small, polka dots are the perfect pattern.  Today, I used these fabulous colors from Arielle and the DT over at the ColourQ:

I love, love these colors together--anything with Basic Gray is a winner in my book.  I liked them so much that I made two cards!  For the first one, I took a very clean-and-simple approach letting the designer paper do the work:

Not much 'splaining needed here--just some circle punches, dry embossing and Lucky Limeade Baker's Twine!  The sentiment is peeking through the negative space of the circle although it is difficult to see in the photo.  I wasn't totally in love with this card so I made a second one:

This one I like a little bit better although I wouldn't call it clean-and-simple!  The Flower Fest flowers were all embossed with white embossing powder three times each on Wisteria Wonder and Tempting Turquoise cardstock then fussy-cut.  I'm going to keep this one short today....but I would love to know what you think of today's cards.  Which one do you prefer?  For even more inspiration, check out my amazing teammates on the Design Team.  I know they will inspire you to play along with Anne Marie's Polka Dot Parade challenge!  Just make sure to do so before Friday, May 25th at Noon (PST) when the challenge closes.  I hope to see you in the gallery!

The Paper Players Design Team

Ann Schach

Anne Marie Hile

LeAnne Pugliese

Lesley Croghan

Nance Leedy
Jenn Picard
Heidi Boos

Narelle Farrugia (May GD)

 

Supplies Card #1

Stamps: You're a Gem

Ink: Basic Gray

Paper: Basic Gray, Whisper White, Designer Series Patterns Stack (In Colors), Island Floral DSP (retired)

Xtras: Luck Limeade Baker's Twine, Basic Rhinestones

Supplies Card #1

Stamps: Flower Fest; Petite Pairs; Build a Blossom

Ink: Lucky Limeade; Versamark

Paper: Basic Gray, Whisper White, Tempting Turquoise, Wisteria Wonder CS; Designer Series Patterns Stack (neutrals)

Xtras: Scalloped Oval Punch; Large Oval Punch; Basic Rhinestones; Ruffled Ribbon in color; Stampin Emboss Powder (white)

Happy Day to You {PP95}

Hiya, friends and welcome to another week with The Paper Players.  Happy Mother's Day to all the mamas, grandmas, sisters, aunts and friends out there!  I hope you all are enjoying a relaxing day full of family, friends and whatever makes you happy!  Color makes me happy and this week our ever-talented hostess, Ann, has challenged us with this Schach-a-licous beauty:

It's too bad that it's taken me two years to warm up to Poppy Parade since it retires at the end of the month!  Oh well, I'll still keep my ink pad for the occasional bird or flower that just needs a pop of color.   Today it is a flower that needed a little zing and I love how this color looks with the Fabulous Florets stamp set:

Can you tell I've been trying to use up my enormous stash of designer paper?  It's really amazing how it starts to accumulate!  I layered 3/4" strips of paper in the challenge colors on top of some whisper white cardstock embossed with the Polka Dot impressions folder.  The ends were flagged with a 1 1/4" square punch and attached with SNAIL adhesive.

Onto the Whisper White Framelit Label, I stamped the stem/leaf image from Fabulous Florets in Baja Breeze and popped up a fussy-cut Poppy Parade flower from the same set.  I had to show you the crisp, clean sentiment I achieved with a sneak peek of the new firm foam ink pads coming out from Stampin' Up.  OMG, these are fabulous!  Great ink coverage with just a single tap on the ink pad.  I always struggled with Basic Black ink--it looked deep purple, never true black--until now.  The firm foam is great for a crisp image--thank you SU!

I did a little masking on the inside with a companion flower from Fabulous Florets--stamping in again in all the challenge colors.  The sentiment is from the soon-to-be-retired set, On Your Birthday, which will remain a go-to set even after it retires!

On a side note, a big thank you to everyone who left a supportive comment on my final card for the Connie & Mary design team.  I appreciate your kindness and support as I let go of some commitments (as hard as it is to do).  I will still post to my blog--at least weekly--and will work to bring you all the latest from SU!

So, I would love to know what you think of today's card.  Be sure to pop along to the rest of the Design Team for even more eye-candy.  If you can join us this week, please link up to The Paper Players by Friday, May 18th at Noon (PST).  I hope to see you in the gallery!  Thanks for taking the time to stop by today!

The Paper Players Design Team

Ann Schach

Anne Marie Hile

LeAnne Pugliese

Lesley Croghan

Nance Leedy
Jenn Picard
Heidi Boos

Narelle Farrugia (May GD)

 

Supplies

Stamps: Fabulous Florets; On Your Birthday; Friendly Phrases

Ink: Baja Breeze, Poppy Parade, Daffodil Delight; Basic Black (new firm foam!)

Paper: Whisper White, Baja Breeze CS; Flirtatious Specialty DSP; Greenhouse Gala DSP (retired); Hostess designer patterns stack (retired) 

Xtras: Whisper White organza ribbon; Labels Framelits; Basic Rhinestones; Polka Dot impressions folder; 1 1/4" square punch

Create Opportunities {CMC201}

Hi there friends! Today's post for Connie & Mary is bittersweet as it is my last post on the Design Team. I am sad to say goodbye but find it difficult to keep up with the team and everything else in our busy lives!  Ironically, my 3 year blogoversary was this week and when I reflect on these 3 years I am so thankful for the friends I've made and opportunities that opened through sharing what I love.  Opportunities like Create with Connie & Mary and all their fabulous challenges...so...wanna see what they have for us this week?

It's a sketch!  Isn't it a great one?!  So unique--love the banner and the repeated greeting.  My card is a thank you to Connie & Mary for all the hard work and inspiration they provide to us each week:

When I started this blog, I imagined that my Mom would be my only follower.  :-)  I never imagined that anyone else would find my cards inspiring.  I dreamed that someday I might be on a Design Team.  When the dream became reality, I found how inspiring it can be to share my creations with others.  Inspiring to make new crafting friends, learn from their

creativity and participate in challenges that stretch my imagination.  I find inspiration everywhere, truly, and yes, I even dream about cards!

So...thank you, to my fabulous friends on the Design Team for your support and encouragement.  Your comments brighten every week and bring a smile to my face!  Be sure to check out their work over at Create with Connie & Mary.  Most of all...thank you, Connie & Mary....for giving me an opportunity that 3 years ago I couldn't even imagine.  You believed in me when I wasn't even sure I believed in myself....
 

Supplies 

Stamps: Loving Thoughts, Creative Elements, French Foliage; Four Frames

Ink: Soft Suede, Island Indigo, More Mustard

Paper: Soft Suede, Island Indigo, More Mustard, Lucky Limeade; First Edition Specialty DP

Punches: Bird Builder; Decorative Label; Fancy Flower

Xtras: Soft Suede wide striped Grosgrain Ribbon; Linen Thread; Framed Tulips Embossing folder; In Color Designer Brads; Homemade shimmer spritz; Stampin' Sponges

In Celebration of Mothers {PP94}

Hi, friends! Oh, do we have a pretty challenge for you this week over at The Paper Players! I might be a little biased because I am this week's hostess, lol! It's a Theme Challenge with an inspiration photo from Pinterest. Take a look:

Isn't it lovely?  Birds, circles, flowers and woodgrain....ahh, happy sigh!  I took my inspiration from the photo quite literally and combined it with this great sketch from Retro Sketches.  I didn't have time to play along last week but this sketch is a keeper!  As are all their sketches, be sure to check 'em out!

I took a lot of cues from the inspiration photo, starting with the color palette of Crumb Cake, So Saffron, Blushing Bride with just a touch of Early Espresso.  To the first layer of Crumb Cake cardstock, I added the Woodgrain background stamp in Whisper White craft ink and sponged the edges with the same ink.  I added some Blushing Bride polka dot paper [retired] to echo the ceramic circle stands in the photo.  

I was saddened to see the Flower Burst embosslit on the Retired Accessories list--it's a favorite!  Before I ran the cardstock through the Big Shot with the embosslit, I sponged some coordinating ink directly onto the embosslit.  When run through the Big Shot the ink goes into the de-bossed areas and really makes the embossing POP!  For the Whisper White flower, I sponged Crumb Cake ink directly onto the embossed flower for a different look.  I completed the project with some Espresso Baker's Twine, Basic Pearls and a favorite sentiment from an oldie-but-goodie, Well Scripted [retired].

So, what do you think?  Wanna play along?  We would love to see your project in the gallery.  You have until Friday, May 11th at Noon (PST) to join us.  For even more inspiration, be sure to check out the rest of the Design Team...including our newest Guest Designer, Narelle.  Welcome, Narelle!

 

The Paper Players Design Team

Ann Schach

Anne Marie Hile

LeAnne Pugliese

Lesley Croghan

Nance Leedy
Jenn Picard
Heidi Boos

Narelle Farrugia (May GD)

Thanks for stopping by today...
 

Congratulations Connie & Mary!

WOW, what an honor to be part of the 100th challenge over at Create with Connie & Mary! That's right, Connie & Mary are celebrating 100 challenges today with an extra special challenge featuring blog candy! Be sure to check out all the details over at CCMC. Your challenge?  Make a project featuring:

1. A Celebration Theme AND
2. Your Favorite DSP from the main SU catalog AND
3. BONUS (if you want) use Banners or Pennants

Woohoo, a triple treat card!  I kept this fabulous sketch from a previous Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge just for today's project...it was perfect for incorporating the banner element!

With June just around the corner, I decided to use a Graduation celebration as my theme and turned to My Digital Studio for the hybrid elements of my card:

Of course I love Stampin' Up designer paper--all the patterns and colors are just fabulous.  But, I really love the Designer Series Paper Patterns Stack for their value and endless versatility.  Because they are available in each color family, it's a great way to ensure you've always got the color you need!  I used the Brights Collection for my trio of banners in Pacific Point, Real Red and Daffodil Delight.  The Neutrals stack provided the Basic Black striped paper that lends a formal look.    I printed the sentiment and the fun row of graduating feet in MDS using the Go Graduate set.  For the sentiment, I cut the paper down to 2 1/2" wide and put just the top half into my 2 1/2" circle punch to create the rounded top.  Love it for a different look! 

After I printed the graduates in their funny footwear, I realized that it made a perfect border across the front!  I colored their shoes, with a blender pen and ink, to match the designer paper.  Doesn't that ric-rack trim echo the banners nicely?  That was just a scrap in my Basic Black bag 'o'scraps!

I created the mortarboard out of a 1" square of Basic Black cardstock, a Daffodil Delight brad and some Whisper White Baker's Twine.  Cute?!

Lastly, I printed a sentiment and the flying mortarboards from the same Go Graduate set for the inside "coloring" the hats in Real Red, Pacific Point, and Daffodil Delight.

So, what do you think?  Let's Celebrate!  Come on over to Create with Connie & Mary to check out all the wonderful creations from the Design Team and find out how you can win BLOG CANDY!  Be sure to wish Connie & Mary success on another 100 challenges!  Thanks for stopping by today, friends.

Supplies 

Stamps: Go Graduate (MDS) 

Ink: None! 

Paper: Basic Black, Whisper White, Pacific Point CS; Designer Series Paper Patterns Stack (Brights & Neutrals)

Extras: Tasteful Trim die; Designer Brads (brights); White Baker's Twine; 2 1/2" Circle Punch; 1 1/4" Square punch (to flag the banner ends)