Three, Two, One....Happy New Year!

Hiya friends!  Just wanted to pop in with a little New Year's Eve sneak peek.  I'm sure by now, you've seen new products from the upcoming Occasions catalog all over blogland so I'm throwing my effort into the mix!  Here's a little card I made earlier this month for DD's 10th birthday.  

Such a milestone birthday--double digits, Mama!--deserved a plethora of new goodies!  New designer paper, two new Framelits, new stamp set, new washi tape, new twine...oh my!  Love the colors in the Retro Fresh designer paper--So Saffron, Tangerine Tango and Pool Party mixed with Soft Suede.  The word bubble Framelits coordinate with the Just Sayin' stamp set and the film strip is courtesy of the On Film Framelits which also have a coordinating stamp set.  How 'bout a closer look?

Isn't the new Gold Baker's Twine yummy?  Love the gold thread running through.  I've gone a bit over the top with the layers but DD is an over-the-top kind of girl!  I'm sure you know one or two girls like that, lol!  ;-)  My inspiration came from a previous sketch by the fabulously-creative Chupa at Sketchbook Saturday:

Whether you're headed out tonight or staying in, I hope you have some fun planned to ring in the new year.  Thanks for checking out my little corner of blogland and all your support throughout the year.  Your comments and friendship mean a great deal to me!  Here's to you in 2014....ready?

Supplies
Stamps: Memorable Moments, Off the Grid, Gorgeous Grunge, Just Sayin'*
Ink: Pool Party, So Saffron, Soft Suede
Paper: Naturals White, So Saffron, Tangerine Tango, Soft Suede CS; Retro Fresh DSP*
Extras: Retro Fresh Washi Tape*; Gold Baker's Twine*; On Film Framelit dies*; Word Bubbles Framelit dies*;Gold Sequin Trim*
*from the upcoming Occasions Catalog

A Festive Flurry of WOW {PP176}

Hiya peeps!  Sorry to be late with my post for The Paper Players.  We ran a two-day statewide cyclocross (bike racing) event this weekend and that occupied all my time!!  Today, the fabulous Sandy has a GORGEOUS challenge for us:

So gorgeous, in fact, that we’re calling it WOW, that is, White-on-White.  I always admire WOW cards and I was excited for the chance to make one.  I knew that I wanted to emboss on vellum and beyond that I just let it happen!

I embossed the Festive Flurry snowflakes on vellum with Whisper White embossing powder, layered them and embellished with 1/8" Silver Ribbon, Vintage Faceted Buttons and Basic Rhinestones.  

Next, I wanted to try the Dryer Sheet technique with Dazzling Diamonds.  I cut a dryer sheet to size covered it with spray glue, attached to the same sized piece of Whisper White CS and liberally sprinkled with Dazzling Diamonds.  This is such a cool effect and used as a background here, looks like homemade white glimmer paper!  Check out the link for the tutorial--it's so easy!  Lastly, I just had to use my new Banners Framelit dies*** to make a Whisper White banner (***available January 3, 2014 from the Occasions catalog).

 I had a few left-over vellum snowflakes and put them to use on the inside.  The sentiment is embossed with silver embossing powder.  It's so difficult to capture the right color and shine of the snowflakes and the sentiment that this picture really doesn't do it justice!

I hope you will grab some crafty time to yourself during this busy week to do justice to Sandy's gorgeous WOW challenge before it closes this Friday, December 20th at Noon (PDT).

The Paper Players Design Team

Ann Schach

Anne Marie Hile

Jaydee

LeAnne Pugliese

Nance Leedy

Sandy Mathis

This is the last Paper Players challenge of 2013 after which we will take a brief holiday break and start up again in 2014. I'm sure my posting will be much less frequent during the holiday season as I wind down the year with family and friends.  I'll still have a few posts with sneak peeks from the 2014 Occasions catalog but in the meantime...I'd like to wish all my readers a very, merry holiday season! 

Supplies
Stamps: Festive Flurry, Christmas Messages
Ink: Versamark
Paper: Whisper White, Vellum CS
Xtras: Festive Flurry Framelit dies; white stampin' emboss powder; silver stampin' emboss powder; Ovals framelit dies; Banner Framelit dies; 1/8" silver ribbon; vintage faceted buttons; basic rhinestones

A Snowboarder's Cabana

Hi everyone--happy mid-week!  We're in the mad dash here in our house--DD birthday is today so there's lot of preparations! One of our nephews also has a December birthday and I was inspired by the fantastic work over at CAS(E) this Sketch and Fab Friday:

What a unique sketch, right?!  Combined with these fabulous holiday/winter colors, I had the perfect inspiration for my sports-lovin' nephew's card:

 

You might  be surprised to know that there is absolutely no stamping on this card--none. at. all!  It was all made with My Digital Studio!!  Once I printed out the design onto Whisper White cardstock, I just matted it with black and added it to a Coastal Cabana card base.  I love the flexibility of designing cards in MDS.  I can resize, color and modify to my heart's content! If you're interested, a full list of the MDS files I used is at the end of this post.

I couldn't find a suitable sentiment to coordinate with a "daring adventure" so I just used MDS, again, to type up my own.  I added a few more elements and printed it along with the front of the card.  I hope our nephew likes it!  As I am just getting this in under the wire, I'm going to keep this post short 'n' sweet!  Have a great day, friends!

Supplies
Paper: Coastal Cabana, Basic Black & Whisper White CS
MDS stamp Brush Sets: Extreme Snowboard, Daring Adventure, Woodgrain, Chevron Designer Kit, Ink Splatter 6
 

Joyful Paper Player Wishes {PP175}

Hiya friends!  Can you believe it's the second week of December--oh my gosh!  So much left to do.....yikes!  But I'm not thinking about it today because our friend Anne Marie has a lovely color challenge for us over at The Paper Players:

Old Olive and Raspberry Ripple are lovely together for the holidays but add Pink Pirouette and you have a wonderful twist on a holiday classic. 

After a few false starts, I used my go-to technique of stamping a dark color on light cardstock this time with the gorgeous poinsettia from Joyful Christmas.  Stamping on some textured Pink Pirouette cardstock [from my stash] really gives a nice texture to the poinsettia.  I stamped it twice and fussy-cut the smaller center of the flower to pop up for dimension.

I wanted some pearls in the center but since they were too bright, I sponged them with a little Champagne Mist shimmer paint [retired but still love the stuff!].  The color is a nice match to the the strip of Champagne Glimmer paper.  

I was happy to find some Raspberry Ripple patterned paper in the Birthday Basics DSP.  It has a nice [almost] snowflake pattern to it that is perfect for my holiday card.  After embossing the Very Vanilla background with the Pretty Print embossing folder, I sponged on a little Champagne Mist glimmer paint as well as Gold metallic ink for some extra shine and sparkle.

I stamped another poinsettia on the inside in Raspberry Ripple ink--stamped off once--and then made a mask so the Old Olive leaves would just peek out on the sides.

Be sure to stop by The Paper Players and check out some gorgeous from the rest of the Design Team.  I hope you'll consider playing along with us before the challenge ends on Friday, December 13th 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:  Joyful Christmas
Ink: Raspberry Ripple, Old Olive
Paper: Raspberry Ripple, Old Olive, Very Vanilla CS; Textured Pink Pirouette CS [retired]; Birthday Basics DSP
Extras: Champagne Glimmer Paper; Print Poetry embossing folder; Basic Pearls; Champagne Mist glimmer paint [retired]

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

A Frosty Snowglobe {PP173}

Hiya, peeps!  It's another week week with The Paper Players and our fabulous hostess Jaydee has a twist on this month's sketch challenge....our sketch is a SHAPE!

For this challenge, all I had to do was make a card with any shape EXCEPT the traditional rectangle or square.  I surveyed my dies and framelits and decided on the shape of a snowglobe:

The basic shape of this card was easy to make with a circle framelit and some extra cardstock.  I started with a piece of Smoky Slate cardstock folded in half.  I ran the folded cardstock through the Big Shot with a circle Framelit making sure to place the fold just below the top of the die.  When cut, you are left with a folded circle! 

A small piece of cardstock attached to the bottom makes the perfect stand for my snowglobe.  I used the Word Window punch to add some detail to the bottom.  The "stand" need a little something else and the Adorning Accents embossing folder seemed perfect...especially after I added some rhinestones!

I love the look of embossing on Silver Foil sheets and with the coordinating Festive Flurry stamp set and Framelits, you have a beautiful centerpiece in no time! 

While  I had everything out, I decided to make a second snowglobe card with more paper from the  Winter Frost DSP stack.  This time using the colors of Smoky Slate and Pool Party.  Side by side they make a lovely pair don'tcha think?!

Wait until you see the inspiration from the rest of the Design Team--it's sure to knock your socks off!  Do check them out and then come on back to play along with us at The Paper Players before our challenge ends on Friday, November 29th at Noon (PST).

Supplies
Stamps: Festive Flurry, That's the Ticket, Magical Season
Ink: Island Indigo, Coastal Cabana, Smoky Slate & Versamark
Paper: Smoky Slate, Island Indigo, Pool Party & Whisper White CS; Silver Foil Sheets
Xtras: Festive Flurry Framelits;  Ticket punch; Word Window punch; Adorning Accents embossing folder; Basic Rhinestones; Silver 1/8" ribbon; Large Rhinestones

Holiday Sale--up to 50% off!

WOW!  It's the biggest sale of the season!  Starting November 20th and running through December 2, 2013 Stampin' Up is putting it on a sale of Holiday proportions!  

Select items are 20, 30, even 50% OFF!  Check out the flyer for all the sale items.  

Notice that the first three items are one-day only--Wednesday November 20th--so if you want 'em, jump on it!  One-day only sale items are:

• Stampin' Trimmer (126889) reg. $29.95, SALE $20.97
• Simply Scored Diagonal Plate (125586) reg. $11.95, SALE $8.36
• Many Marvelous Markers (131264) ref. $109.95, SALE $76.97

Shop online: http://www.stampinup.net/esuite/home/nanceleedy
Shop by email: nleedy@cox.net

Browse the Holiday Sale Flyer to see all the listings and...happy shopping!!

Gently Falling for Fall {PP172}

Hiya friends!  Sunday's post for The Paper Players sure snuck up on me!  I apologize for the late post today.  It's playoff time for my daughter's volleyball team and we've been busy!  Anywhoo...this week I am the hostess at The Paper Players and I couldn't resist one more [what I envisioned as a] fall challenge:

I had something else entirely in mind when I sat down to design my DT card but along the way, I got an idea and here are the results:

Obviously, I went very clean-and-simple with this one but I made three cards so that counts for somethin' right?!  :-)  To stamp the focal point, I cut a piece of copy paper to the size of my card front (4.25" x 5.5") and using my Ovals Collection Framelits cut an oval from the center to make a mask.  Copy paper is best for this because it is thin and doesn't give you a hard edge when you're stamping over the edge.  I attached the mask directly to the card front with removable tape and stamped just the leaf outline stamps from Gently Falling through the oval.  I used matching ink for a tone-on-tone look and the colors are Always Artichoke, Rich Razzleberry and Cajun Craze.

Before removing the mask, I used the Occasions Paper-Piercing Pack to pierce an outline for the oval.  I took the mask off for the first card I made but discovered because there isn't a hard line to the stamped images, it was difficult to line up the piercing template.  So, I put the mask back on and I was able to line up the edge of the mask with the template and pierce the oval perfectly.  The Expressions Thinlits Dies really glam it up when cut from some Champagne Glimmer Paper.  Such a great color and perfect for the season.  

Be sure to check out the rest of The Paper Players Design Team inspiration for some clever CAS with Leaves ideas.  I hope you'll consider playing along with us before the challenge ends on Friday, November 22nd at Noon (PST).  Until then...have a great week, peeps!

   

The Paper Players Design Team

Ann Schach

Anne Marie Hile

Jaydee

LeAnne Pugliese

Nance Leedy

Sandy Mathis

Supplies
Stamps: Gently Falling
Ink: Cajun Craze, Always Artichoke, Rich Razzleberry
Paper: Cajun Craze, Always Artichoke, Rich Razzleberry CS & Champagne Glimmer Paper
Xtras: Expressions Thinlits Dies; Ovals Collection Framelits; Occasions Paper-Piercing Pack; piercing mat; paper piercer; copy paper

Punch Art Pumpkins for {PP171}

Hiya, friends and welcome to another week with us at ThePaper Players!  I hope you’re having a fantastic weekend wherever you are.  It’s homecoming weekend here and in a crazy college town that means….a long weekend!  The schools are out the Friday before homecoming so that kids can go to the homecoming parade.  I think it’s kinda nutty that the kids get a day off of school—and by kids I mean college-age too—for homecoming but I’m not going to argue with a day off!  Anywhooo….the always-amazing-Ann has a beautiful fall color challenge for us this week:

Just perfect for the season!  I took the easy way out and grabbed some Sweather Weather DSP which features all these colors and put it to work with Linda’s fabulous sketch at Freshly Made Sketches:

 

I really love this sketch and thought it would look equally as fabulous flipped...and I think it does!  Now, I’m generally not a huge fan of punch art but I’ve always liked these punch art pumpkins.  They're so easy to make with some oval punches and sponges for sanding.  The background papers are all from Sweather Weather DSP which I trimmed out in Champagne Glimmer paper because a girl always needs sparkle with her plaid!

 

I used the large oval punch three times on Very Vanilla for the large pumpkin and the small oval punch for the little one.  I did add another neutral with some shading in Sahara Sand.  The stem is hand-cut and of course, the leaves where punched from Chocolate Chip and glimmer paper with the XL Bird punch.  For the curlicue, I cut a sliver of DSP, loosened it up by running the bone folder over it a few times, then wrapped it around my paper piercer.  When I pulled it off the piercer and stretched it out a bit, I got this fun curlicue! 

I really liked the banner element of Linda’s sketch and to create this look, I notched the end of some Burlap Ribbon and used the side I cut off to create the other portion of the banner.  I thought I was being pretty clever, LOL!

The Paper Players Design Team

Ann Schach

Anne Marie Hile

Jaydee

LeAnne Pugliese

Nance Leedy

Sandy Mathis

I know the rest of the design team has been clever with these colors so be sure to head over to The Paper Players and check them out!  Then come back and link up your lovely creation before our challenge ends on Friday, November 15th at Noon PST.  Until next time…have a great week, friends!

Supplies:

Stamps: Truly Grateful

Ink: Chocolate Chip, Sahara Sand

Paper: Chocolate Chip, Very Vanilla CS; Champagne Glimmer paper;  Sweather Weather DSP

Extras: Large Oval punch; Oval punch; XL Bird punch; paper piercer; Burlap Ribbon