Six Sided Tic-Tac-Toe {PP152}

Happy Sunday, friends! This week lovely LeAnne is hosting our bonus 5th week Tic-Tac-Toe challenge over at The Paper Players:

Just choose any three items across, down or diagonally and have fun with it.  I had the Six-Sided Sampler stamp set (say that 5 times fast!) in mind when I picked Embossing, Friendship and Ribbon to make this sweet little card:

I started with the Epic Day designer paper and stamped a bunch of the hexagons from Six-Sided Sampler in the DSP colors: Calypso Coral, Pool Party, Daffodil Delight and Gumball Green.  Once the hexagons were punch out with the coordinating Hexagon Punch (love!), I played around until I found a pattern I liked using this week's Freshly Made Sketch(es) as my inspiration.

The other thing I love about the Six-Sided Sampler set is the wonderful sentiments that come with it!  I featured one on today's card--it's just perfect for the "friendship" element of LeAnne's Tic-Tac-Toe board!  I also used some new Candy Dots and the Alphabet Press embossing folder.

I had several punched hexagons left over so I added them to the inside along with a sentiment from Four You--soon to be a much-loved set in my craft room. 

I hope you like my Six-Sided Tic-Tac-Toe card today...be sure to check out the rest of my amazing teammates over at The Paper Players.  Maybe you'll join us this week?  There are lots of possibilites with Tic-Tac-Toe!  Just make sure to link up at The Paper Players before our challenge ends on Friday, July 5th at Noon (PDT).  Thanks for stopping by!

The Paper Players Design Team

Ann Schach

Anne Marie Hile

Jaydee

LeAnne Pugliese

Nance Leedy

A Flower Shop Sketch {PP151}

Happy Sunday, everyone! It's another week with my friends over at The Paper Players where I am hosting a sketch challenge:

I haven't had much time in my craft room this week so I was delighted for an excuse to break into some more new goodies.  This time I used a different flower from the Flower Shop stamp set and the coordinating Pansy Punch as well as some new DSP, Birthday Basics.

The colors in this DSP are so pretty--soft and muted but still fresh and happy.  I took my color inspiration from this polka dot pattern pulling out Crisp Cantaloupe, Raspberry Ripple, Bermuda Bay, Gumball Green and a touch of Summer Starfruit.  Wow, that's a lot!  You can see that I embossed a Bermuda Bay panel with the Tulip Framed embossing folder then layered some DSP and my sentiment label.  

It was simple to incorporate the coordinating shades of Crisp Cantaloupe and Raspberry Ripple by inking the flowers in the darker shade (raspberry) and stamping onto lighter cardstock (cantaloupe).  The technique adds extra dimension to the flower by giving it a two-step look.  More so than if I had stamped on white cardstock.

I liked these colors so much that I made a second card but changed the accent color and the flower color to Raspberry Ripple.  I think this one might be more suited to an autumn birthday with the deeper colors.  What do you think?  Which do you like better?

I left off a sentiment on the inside so I can stamp just the right one when I need it.  But, I did have fun adding some more colorful flowers.

And I hope that you will have fun with my sketch this week over at The Paper Players!  Be sure to stop by and check out the lovely work of my fellow Design Team members.  If you can join the fun, just make sure to do so before the challenge closes on Friday, June 28th at Noon (PDT).  Thanks for stopping by!
 

The Paper Players Design Team

Ann Schach

Anne Marie Hile

Jaydee

LeAnne Pugliese

Nance Leedy

Amy O'Neill

Brian King

Justin Krieger

Sandy Mathis

 Supplies
Stamps: Flower Shop; Secret Garden; A Dozen Thoughts
Ink: Bermuda Bay, Raspberry Ripple, Crisp Cantaloupe, Gumball Green, Summer Starfruit
Paper: Bermuda Bay, Raspberry Ripple, Crisp Cantaloupe, Gumball Green, Summer Starfruit, Very Vanilla; Birthday Basics DSP
Xtras: Boho Blossoms punch; Pansy punch; Itty Bitty Shapes punch pack; Basic Pearls; Labels Framelits; Summer Starfruit stitched satin ribbon; Secret Garden Framelits

Bring on the Bling {PP150}

Happy Sunday, friends, and Happy Father's Day to all the fathers out there! Today is a very special Father's Day because my husband just arrived home after 4 weeks in South Africa!!  Our daughter and I are very glad to have him home.  There's been just a little too much estrogen in the house, lol!  But, I digress...on to the challenge today.  Over at The Paper Players, the always awesome Anne Marie has a bling-tastic Clean-and-Simple challenge for us this week:

I was a little pressed for time so a CAS challenge was just perfect.  With my box of goodies from the new catalog, I had a clean and simple card in no time!

This may be a CAS card but it features three new stamp sets!  Who ever said CAS had to be easy, right?!  First, those snazzy striped banners are courtesy of the Gorgeous Grunge set--one of the first sets from the new catalog to go into my shopping cart.  I stamped them in Blushing Bride, Smoky Slate and Pistachio Pudding.  The line art flower is just one of the fabulous flowers from the Flower Shop set.  Even though I didn't use it here, this set has a matching punch which can be purchased as a bundle with the stamp set for 15% off!  The flower was stamped in Midnight Muse and the stem is from Everything Eleanor.  Lastly, the sweet little sentiment is a great one from A Dozen Thoughts--another new set that I am sure will see lots of ink in my craft room.  Finally, the BLING!  Gotta love the Large Rhinestones for your basic pop of dazzle!  Just like a classic solitaire diamond, it finishes off the flower perfectly.

And the other wonderful thing about the new catalog isn't even something you buy!  It's the pictures themselves.  All the background colors in the catalog pictures are named and coordinated to provide color inspiration to your crafting!  The color combination for today's card came from pages 30-31  of the catalog--although I substituted Pistachio Pudding for a lighter shade of green.  Isn't that great?  Color inspiration right from the SU designers and graphic artists!  Love it!

I hope you loved today's card too!  It's an easy-peasy design that could be mass produced in a variety of colors for multiple occasions.  Be sure to pop over to The Paper Players and check out all the other sparkle-icious creations from the rest of the DT.  We hope you'll consider joining us before our challenge closes on Friday, June 21st at Noon (PDT).

The Paper Players Design Team

Ann Schach

Anne Marie Hile

Jaydee

LeAnne Pugliese

Nance Leedy

Amy O'Neill

Brian King

Jen Nelson

Justin Krieger

Sandy Mathis

Supplies
Stamps: Gorgeous Grunge; Flower Shop; A Dozen Thoughts; Everything Eleanor
Ink: Blushing Bride, Smoky Slate, Pistachio Pudding, Midnight Muse
Paper: Smoky Slate & Whisper White CS
Xtras: Large Rhinestones; Corner Rounder punch

By the Colorful Tide {PP149}

Happy Sunday, friends, and welcome to another week with The Paper Players! This week, the incomparable Ann has brought us a wonderful color challenge:

Aren't these colors pretty together?  All that coral and pools made me think of oceans so I turned to my By the Tide set and got to work.  I sure am glad this set continued into the new catalog so I could use it some more!

The saying goes, the devil is in the details, right?  Well, that was true of this card!  I started with the basic elements: Pool Party base, So Saffron layer die-cut with an Oval Framelit.  Then, I filled in with some smaller elements: stamped the fan coral in Calypso Coral on Naturals White cardstock and added the text stamp from By The Tide to the So Saffron layer.  After I stamped the sentiment from Bring on the Cake to the banner, I needed to pull in some more Early Espresso so I used my retired color spritzer to sprinkle some on the So Saffron cardstock with an Early Espresso stampin' write marker.

A Naturals Designer Button and some Early Espresso Baker's Twine finished off the sentiment.  To adorn my seascape, I stamped the seahorse and shell in Calypso Coral and Pool Party inks and fussy-cut.  Pearls and some Dazzling Diamonds add just the right amount of shimmer and sparkle.

I hope you like today's card for The Paper Players.  Be sure to check out the rest of the design team and their amazing projects.  We would love for you to join us before the challenge closes on Friday, June 14th at Noon (PDT).  Thanks for stopping by today!

The Paper Players Design Team

Ann Schach

Anne Marie Hile

Jaydee

LeAnne Pugliese

Nance Leedy

Amy O'Neill

Brian King

Jen Nelson

Justin Krieger

Sandy Mathis

Supplies
Stamps: By the Tide; Bring on the Cake; Sanded (retired)
Ink: So Saffron, Pool Party, Calpyso Coral & Early Espresso
Paper: So Saffron, Pool Party, Early Espresso & Naturals White CS
Xtras: Naturals designer buttons; Early Espresso Baker's Twine; Basic Pearls; Dazzling Diamonds; Color Spritzer (retired); Oval Framelits; 1.25" square punch; Dotted Scallop Ribbon border punch

Sail Away with the Paper Players

Hiya friends!  Sorry I'm late with my card for The Paper Players.  This time of year brings lots of excitement and LOTS of activities as we close out the school year for my daughter.  All those activities kept me away from my craft studio but in my mind I was sketching, designing and working on my card!  Jaydee's fabulous theme challenge, PP148, is perfect for this time of year:

I also really liked the FMS88 sketch over our sister site, Freshly Made Sketches:

Now, summer holidays in North Florida usually involve trying to stay as cool as possible.  This means staying inside because it's hot and HUMID, I mean really HUMID outside.  So, I thought back to more pleasant summer weather when I was a kid in Michigan.  Summer vacations meant swimming and boating at the lake--any one of them!  I have fond memories on the shores of Lake Huron with my Mom and Dad--especially trying to catch minnows with my Dad.  Isn't that a favorite childhood pasttime? Trying to catch those sly silver fish--they're too fast!  My summer holiday card quickly turned into a Father's Day card:

My Dad passed away 17 years ago but this card is still for him in memory of leisurely summer holidays by the lake.  I was thrilled to see that the Sail Away stamp is available as a digital stamp in MDS (for .95 cents!!) so I sized it down, colored it in Early Espresso "ink" to fit the 2.5" porthole of my card. 

I added some clouds and a sun from the Sunshine & Sprinkles ensemble kit and then printed my image onto Whisper White cardstock.  I cut a porthole in the Early Espresso cardstock with a 2.5" circle punch and embossed it with the Woodgrain textured impressions folder.  

The striped Marina Mist designer paper looked a little plain so I stamped some waves from the Oh, Whale set in Crumb Cake ink to add some dimension.  I used Crumb Cake ink to coordinate with the sentiment tab.

The inside was large enough to stamp the full-sized Sail Away stamp in Crumb Cake ink.  Although the stamp is retired, it will never leave my studio; it's such a gorgeous stamp!  I added a few more waves to bring in the Marina Mist color.  I have found so many uses for the sentiments in Blooming with Kindness.  The gorgeous flower may be the star of that set but the sentiments really make it a stand-out.  You can't go wrong with that set!

Be sure to stop by the rest of the Design Team to see their fresh and fun projects celebrating Summer Holidays!  We hope you'll join us before our challenge ends on Friday, June 7th at Noon (PDT).  Thanks for stopping by today!

The Paper Players Design Team

Ann Schach

Anne Marie Hile

Jaydee

LeAnne Pugliese

Nance Leedy

Amy O'Neill

Brian King

Jen Nelson

Justin Krieger

Sandy Mathis

Supplies 
Stamps: Sail Away, Blooming with Kindness, Teeny Tiny  Wishes, Oh Whale, The Open Sea
Ink: Early Espresso, Marina Mist, Crumb Cake
Paper:  Early Espresso, Marina Mist, Crumb Cake, Whisper White; Designer Series Patterns Stack (subtles)
Xtras: 2.5" circle punch; Designer Label punch; Woodgrain textured impressions folder; Sunshine & Sprinkles digital ensemble; Sail Away digital stamp brush.