A Hybrid Halloween {PP160}

Hi everyone!  I hope you're having a great weekend.  Our daughter is already back in school so we're off to the races again in our house.  :-)  Today's card features the sketch I designed for this week's sketch challenge over at The Paper Players:

Fun, eh?!  I knew that I wanted to use some Witches' Brew Washi Tape for the diagonal elements so I went looking for some Halloween papers and stamps:

Turns out that I don't have any current Halloween DSP or stamps so I decided to make my own in My Digital Studio (MDS)!  To make the background paper I started with a 4" x 5.25" design that I filled with Smoky Slate.  I added the Happy Halloween sentiment from All Holidays Stamp Brush Set, colored it in Basic Gray (made it slightly lighter) and repeated it all over the background.  This isn't as difficult as it sounds because in MDS you can use copy and paste to quickly cover a broad area.   I added a spider web from Spooky Bingo Bits Stamp Brush Set and some Ink Splatters.

The sweet Halloween kitty is also from Spooky Bingo Bits Stamp Brush Set.  I gave him a 100% drop shadow in Whisper White to achieve the moon glow look.   I printed both the cat and background paper on Whisper White and cut and punched to size.  I just added the Washi Tape, Natural Ribbon and some punched chevrons to my digital "paper" to complete this hybrid card.

Not to let the inside go unfinished, I inked a sentiment from Seasonal Sayings with markers and added more Washi Tape and some Smoky Slate spots from Gorgeous Grunge. 

Be sure to stop by and visit the rest of the Design Team for some spectacular inspiration!  Then come back and join us at The Paper Players before the challenge closes on Friday, August 30th at Noon (PDT).  Thanks for stopping by!

The Paper Players Design Team

Ann Schach

Anne Marie Hile

Jaydee

LeAnne Pugliese

Nance Leedy

Sandy Mathis

Freshly Made Sketches is 100!!

Hi, everyone.  Today I am delighted to help my friends over at Freshly Made Sketches celebrate their 100th sketch--woohoo!!  The fabulous gals on the DT invited previous Guest Designers to the party and we were asked to play along with this sketch which happens to be the first-ever sketch--what fun!

 

So, if you follow my blog you may know that tilted panels always throw me for a loop-do-loop!  This time, I thought it would be fun to do a mix of designer papers from the current Seasonal Catalog along with some other new seasonal toys I hadn't played with yet.  With that in mind, I was able to embrace the tilt, lol!

I had the idea to try heat embossing on the new Silver Foil Sheets and WOW did it ever turn out lovely!  I stamped the Festive Flurry snowflakes in Versamark directly on the Silver Foil sheets, sprinkled with Pool Party embossing powder and heat set for a beautiful SHINY finish!  This embellishment didn't need much more than a Neutral Glimmer Brad and some Silver 1/8" ribbon to finish it off.  

Did I mention that the snowflakes have coordinating Festive Flurry Framelit Dies that make cutting these snowflakes easy as one, two, three!  Bundle the stamps and dies for a 15% savings! 

Have you seen the sentiments in the Christmas Messages set?  So many great ones!  We've needed an update to our holiday sentiments and I love that this one includes sentiments appropriate for the inside too!  What a great set.

I'd like to give a big shout-out to the Freshly Made Sketches gals who provide us with fabulous inspiration and sketches each week.  Not only are they incredibly talented but loads of fun too!  Congratulations, DT--here's to 100 more!  Be sure to hop over to the Freshly Made Sketches blog for a list of all the participating designers as well as prizes that challenge participants can win.  You do love eye candy AND prizes, right?  Sure you do!  :-) 


Supplies
Stamps: Christmas Messages, Festive Flurry, That's the Ticket
Ink: Pool Party, Smoky Slate, Bermuda Bay, Versamark
Paper: Smoky Slate, Whisper White, Pool Party CS; Winter Frost DSP stack
Extras: Festive Flurry Framelit dies; Silver 1/8" Ribbon; Neutral Glimmer Brads; Ticket Duo Punch; Basic Rhinestones

One-Layer Wetlands {PP159}

Hello friends!  It feels great to be back home and playing along with my friends at The Paper Players.  I managed to get my DT posts scheduled while we were on vacation but I've been remiss in commenting and visiting so I've got some catching up to do!  We just returned from an amazing 10-day safari in Tanzania to celebrate my MIL & FIL's 50th wedding anniversary--wow!  More on that later and I've got a project to show you from the trip too!  Today, however, the lovely and talented Ann has a Clean-and-Simple challenge for us:

I know I've been using it alot but I couldn't help pulling out the Wetlands set again--it seemed perfect for a one-layer card!

 Lots of stamping one this one!  The key to my design was a mask I created from cardstock cut to the same size as the front of the card (4.25" x 5.5") and cut with an Oval Framelit.  I attached the mask to my card front with removable snail which gave me an oval window through which I sponged and stamped!  So Saffron, Pool Party and Crumb Cake were sponged to create the sky, water and sand. 

For me, the tricky part to a one-layer card is creating dimension without adding layers!  The Gorgeous Grunge set helped add waves to the water, with Bermuda Bay ink (stamped off once), and texture to the sand, with Crumb Cake ink.  Piercing around the oval with the Occasions Paper Piercing Pack helped add even more texture. 

I switched things up a bit on the inside by using Pool Party cardstock instead of the usual white or vanilla.  Elements and stamps from the front were repeated on the inside and a sentiment from Blooming with Kindness coordinated perfectly.  

Oh my gosh--have you used the new Envelope Liner Framelits?!  I just got a chance to play around with them and they are fantastic!  So easy to make a coordinating envelope--love!
Before I go, I just have to share a couple photos with you...there will be more to come! 

This was on a game drive in Serengeti National Park and, yes, the giraffe was this close!!  He was right by the side of the road!  Lovely creatures, they are.  Can you see those little paths on the ground in the picture?  Those are wildlife "trails" criss crossed all over the park.  While it may seem to us that the animals walk all over the place, they actually follow an elaborate network of trails throughout their roaming areas.

Perhaps the highlight of the trip, was a hot air balloon safari over the Serengeti on the morning of my in-law's actual anniversary.  It was a breathtaking experience.  Once back on the ground, we were treated to a champagne breakfast in the bush!  Some amazing moments that we will never forget!

So after all that, I hope you won't forget to check out the work of my mates on the Design Team and then play along with us before Ann's challenge ends on Friday, August 23rd at Noon (PDT).  Take care, friends!

The Paper Players Design Team

Ann Schach

Anne Marie Hile

Jaydee

LeAnne Pugliese

Nance Leedy

Sandy Mathis

 
Supplies
Stamps: Wetlands, Gorgeous Grunge, Blooming with Kindness
Ink: So Saffron, Pool Party, Crumb Cake, Early Espresso and Bermuda Bay
Paper: Naturals White and Pool Party CS
Extras: Occasions Paper Piercing Pack, Paper Piercer, Ovals Framelits, Stamp-a-ma-Jig, Envelope Liner Framelits

Birthday Blossoms {PP158}

Hi all!  Just popping in with a scheduled post for Sandy's first time hosting at The Paper Players!  She's chosen some beautiful colors for us to play with:

These colors seemed so pretty and feminine that I had to pull out the Stippled Blossoms set:

I used the faux letterpress technique of sponging directly on the embossing folder before running it through.  Makes for such lovely depth and dimension:

Sorry for the short post, friends!  Please do check out the fabulous work of my friends on The Paper Players and then join in the challenge fun before it closes on Friday, August 16th at Noon (PDT)!

The Paper Players Design Team

Ann Schach

Anne Marie Hile

Jaydee

LeAnne Pugliese

Nance Leedy

Sandy Mathis

Truly Grateful for Fall {PP157}

Hiya friends!  What a wonderful week at The Paper Players....this week we welcome a new 6th member of our Design Team....please welcome Sandy Mathis! This week Anne Marie is out hostess for a Fall Themed ABC challenge....anything BUT a card!

The new Tag-a-Bag gift bags made quick work of this challenge!  Combined with the Truly Grateful stamp set, I've got a fun table favor for the Thanksgiving table!

I decorated the gift bag with a tag made from various sizes of Window Framelits and stamped images in Crushed Curry, Early Espresso and Pool Party. 

The Chalk Talk Framelits include three sizes of dies for cutting tag openings so I used one to make my tag and thread through some Natural Ribbon and Ruffled Pool Party Ribbon.

The base of the tag is embossed with the Woodgrain embossing folder and sanded.  I attached another Window Framelit stamped with another sentiment from Truly Grateful:

Wouldn't it be fun to have each person at the dinner table write down what they're most thankful for and share it with another family member?  Hope I can remember to do it when Thanksgiving rolls around!  I hope you'll remember to play along with us at The Paper Players before the challenge ends on Friday, August 9th at Noon (PDT).  I'll be taking a little bit of a blog break for the next couple weeks but I'll still pop in each Sunday for The Paper Players....until then...take care, friends.

The Paper Players Design Team

Ann Schach

Anne Marie Hile

Jaydee

LeAnne Pugliese

Nance Leedy

Sandy Mathis

Supplies 
Stamps: Truly Grateful
Ink: Crushed Curry, Early Espresso, Pool Party
Paper: Very Vanilla CS, Early Espresso Core'dinations CS; Epic Day DSP
Xtras: Window Frame Framelits; Linen Thread; Chalk Talk Framelits; Woodgrain embossing folder; Witches' Brew designer washi tape; Naturals buttons