Masculine Mosaic {PP165}

Hiya friends and happy Sunday.  I hope you're having a great weekend.  Me, I'm working this weekend but found some time to make a  card for Ann's awesome Tic-Tac-Toe challenge this week at The Paper Players:

I'm so pleased with this card because I actually managed to complete 5 squares making this an "X marks the spot" card:

And if 5 squares wasn't enough, I think I succeeded at making a masculine card too!  Perfect for a male co-worker's birthday.  So, have you figured out which squares I used?  Birthday, embossing, buttons, ribbon and banners...oh my!  I sanded a piece of Early Espresso Core'dinations paper that was embossed with the Modern Mosaic embossing folder.    I layered some retired Cajun Craze DSP with a Crushed Curry Window Frames Collection Framelit that was stamped with Off the Grid in Crushed Curry ink.  I like how the gird pattern is repeated in the stamp and the DSP.

The focal point is a piece of Naturals Ivory cut with the Chalk Talk Framelits and stamped with a border image from Mosaic Madness.  The images from Mosaic Madness where stamped in Midnight Muse, Crushed Curry and Cajun Craze and punched with the coordinating Mosaic punch.  Though they are small, those little brads from Vintage Trinkets qualify as buttons in my book!  I hope Ann agrees.  :-)

The inside is very simply to allow room for many people to sign but I really like how the Off the Grid stamp works when stamped Off the Grid Edge!

I hope you like it, and the rest of my card, too!  Be sure to stop by my Design Team mates and give them some comment love!  This great group of ladies inspires me all the time!  Then, come back and play along with us at The Paper Players before Ann's challenge closes on Friday, October 4th at Noon (PDT). Thanks for stopping by today!

Supplies
Stamps: Mosaic Madness; Off the Grid; Remembering Your Birthday
Paper: Crushed Curry, Naturals Ivory, Early Espresso, Crumb Cake, Early Espresso Core'dination CS; Well Worn DSP [retired]
Ink: Cajun Craze, Crushed Curry, Midnight Muse, Crumb Cake
Xtras: Vintage Trinkets; Mosaic Punch; Modern Mosaic embossing folder; Burlap Ribbon; Chalk Talk & Window Frame Collection Framelits

Wonderful Wreath for {PP164}

Happy Sunday, friends!  Sorry to be late with my post for this week's challenge at The Paper Players.  Working a weekend and hosting two stamp clubs this week really ate up my crafting time!  Better late than never, though, and the always fabulous Sandy has a great sketch for us this week:

I was itching to use some more new products from the Seasonal Catalog so I pulled together some of them to create a fall anniversary card for my SIL & BIL:

 

I love it when the designer paper helps me pick out my color palette.  This sheet of Sweater Weather DSP combines Chocolate Chip, Crushed Curry, Sahara Sand and Soft Sky.  Because I wanted to emboss the Wonderful Wreath stamp, I substituted for Chocolate Chip with Early Espresso EP.  I backed it with a circle cut from This and That Epic Day DSP (Pool Party--woops!) that I stamped with Off the Grid in Sahara Sand. 

The real show stopper is the Gold Foil sentiment cut with the Expressions Thinlits Dies.  I am amazed at how well the die-cut pops out when I layered a piece of wax paper between the die and the paper--it popped right out!

To decorate the inside, I stamped Wonderful Wreath again in Sahara Sand and added two sentiments from Best of Greetings and Teeny Tiny Wishes in Chocolate Chip. 

Be sure to check out all the Design Team inspiration over at The Paper Players!  Stop by and give the DT some love and then come back to play along with us before Sandy's sketch challenge ends on Friday, September 27th at Noon (PDT).  Thanks for stopping by today, friends!


Supplies
Stamps: Wonderful Wreath, Best of Greetings, Teeny Tiny Wishes, Off the Grid, Mosaic Madness
Ink: Sahara Sand, Pool Party, Crushed Curry, Versamark
Paper: Sahara Sand, Chocolate Chip, Very Vanilla CS; Sweather Weather & Epic Day DSP; Gold Foil Sheets
Xtras: Expressions Thinlits Dies; Circle Framelits; Linen Thread; Candy Dots; Early Espresso EP;

Book Buddies in MDS {PP163}

Hiya peeps!  One of these days I will get around to posting more than once a week--geesh!  Sunday sure rolls around fast.  This week the always amazing Anne Marie has a fun Clean-and-Simple challenge for us over at The Paper Players:

 Awww...something for the kiddos!  I put my thinking cap on and....well...didn't come up with much. LOL. So...I went looking in the My Digital Studio downloads and found the sweetest set of images called Book Buddies.  I knew I was on to something...

{Squeal} That's exactly what my daughter did when she saw them for the first time!  Oh my goodness, these little critters are so cute.  I used the digital template to print them onto Whisper White cardstock.  I sized them down a little bit (approx. 2x6) and matted them onto coordinating cardstock: Not Quite Navy, Pool Party, Melon Mambo and Cajun Craze.  The digital template is easy as pie because it's already designed with the image, background and sentiment!  All I did was resize and print--how easy is that?!  The Chalk Talk Framelits provided the perfect sized label to place behind the center panel and decorate with ribbon accents.

To create the home-made hole reinforcements, I first punched a hole in some scrap cardstock with the largest hole on my Crop-o-Dile.  I then used the largest circle on the Owl punch to cut around the hole I made with the Crop-o-Dile.  I ended up with a circle with a hole centered in the middle! 

Lastly, I printed each image a second time so I could fussy-cut the head and pop it up for some dimension.  Each one got a coordinating flower in her "hair" too so she could read in style.  :-)  I think of all four, the sweet little fox is my favorite.  DD loves the monkey and her Nana's favorite is the ellie.  How 'bout you?  Which one do you like best?  I just know you will love all the inspiration to be found over with my friends at The Paper Players!  Stop by and give them some love and then come back to play along with us before Anne Marie's CAS challenge ends on Friday, September 20th at Noon (PDT).  Thanks for stopping by today, friends!

Supplies
MDS: Book Buddies Designer Template
Paper: Not Quite Navy, Pool Party, Melon Mambo, Cajun Craze, Smoky Slate, So Saffron, Early Espresso, Blushing Bride, Island Indigo & Crushed Curry Cardstock
Xtras: Blushing Bride stitched grosgrain ribbon; Gumball Green stitched satin ribbon; Summer Starfruit stitched satin ribbon; Island Indigo satin ribbon (retired 2013 SAB); Crop-o-Dile; Owl punch (for small circles)

A Flower Shop Flip {PP162}

Hiya, friends!   I'm back with another week at The Paper Players where the talented LeAnne has a lovely color combination for us to work with:

Rich Razzleberry is one of those colors that when I use it, I wonder why I don't use it more often!  So pretty and...well...RICH!  I just received an order with the Circle Card Thinlit Die and wanted to give it a try.  

I used the die to cut my card base from Basic Black cardstock and layered some Modern Medley DSP and retired Pool Party paper on the two panels of the base.  To get the sizing right, I measured each panel, cut the paper to size and then from the back side traced the circle and hand cut the window. 

Before I SNAIL'ed down the DSP, I wrapped some Very Vanilla Seam Binding ribbon around each panel, lining them up so they appeared as one.  Of course, this isn't just Very Vanilla seam binding!  I really wanted to use Rich Razzleberry ribbon but the only one I had was too narrow.  So, I stamped the border pattern from Summer Silhouettes directly on the ribbon in Rich Razzleberry ink.  The ink bled a little and I rather like the effect--a bit like the Ikat pattern that is so trendy right now. 

I stamped the flowers in Rich Razzleberry with the Flower Shop set and coordinating Pansy punch.  Lots of other products used there too: Secret Garden Framelits for the Pool Party leaves, Boho Blossom punch for the center of the flowers, Candy Dots, and finally a sentiment from the Banner Greetings hostess set!  I made sure to place the flowers well inside the circle so they do not interfere with the flipping action of the center circle--I promise you they don't!

I found that the 2.5" circle punch makes the perfect size circle to fit on the back of the focal point.  It was the perfect size to feature this fun sentiment from the Remembering Your Birthday set.  

I hope you'll remember to check out the fabulous inspiration from the rest of the Design Team and then consider palying along with us before the challenge ends on Friday, September 13th (gasp!) at Noon (PDT).

 The Paper Players Design Team

Ann Schach

Anne Marie Hile

Jaydee

LeAnne Pugliese

Nance Leedy

Sandy Mathis

  
For those who are interested...here's a few more pix from our recent trip.  We ended our dusty safari trip with 3 days on the island of Zanzibar where we relaxed, snorkeled and washed the dust off in the Indian Ocean.  Here's an entirely different view of Africa:

Thanks for stopping by today, friends!  Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Supplies
Stamps: Flower Shop, Remembering Your Birthday, Banner Greetings
Ink: Pool Party, Rich Razzleberry
Paper: Basic Black, Very Vanilla, Pool Party CS; Modern Medley DSP; 2012-2014 In Color Pattern Stack (retired)
Xtras: Circle Card Thinlit die; Secret Garden Framelit die; Very Vanilla seam binding ribbon; Pansy punch; 2.5" circle punch; Boho Blossom punch; Neutrals Candy Dots

Falling for Thanksgiving {PP161}

Hiya friends!  So glad you've checked in with me for another week with The Paper Players.  This week, Sandy is filling in for Jaydee with our Theme Challenge:

For today's card, I was inspired by the colors in this month's FREE digital download from My Digital studio...here's a peek:

Old School September Wallpaper is available for FREE as a digital download...check out my website for more details!  Inspired by these colors and our Fall theme, here's what I made:

I started with a Baked Brown Sugar base to which I added the Dictionary background stamp in matching ink.  The main panel is a 3.75" x 5" base of Whisper White cardstock adhered with 1.25" strips of Cajun Craze, Sahara Sand, Island Indigo and Summer Starfruit cardstock.

I stamped leaves from an old favorite, Gently Falling, in Versamark ink and heat set with gold embossing powder.  The sentiment is stamped in Early Espresso ink on Sahara Sand CS with the Tags 4 You stamp and matching Label Bracket Punch--available as a bundle.  The sentiment is backed with some gorgeous Gold Foil Sheets.

I've been liking something other than white or vanilla for the inside of my cards and thought Sahara Sand was a good substitute.  Repeating elements on the inside of the card continues the design and creates an extra bonus "card" for the recipient! 

I hope you've enjoyed my Falling for Thanksgiving card today.  Please be sure to stop by the rest of the Design Team for more fabulous inspiration.  We hope you'll join us at The Paper Players before our challenge ends on Friday, September 6th at Noon (PDT).

Before I let you go, some of you asked to see more pictures from our trip to Tanzania...so...here you go...enjoy!   

 

Thanks for stopping by today...to my friends in the US, enjoy the rest of Labor Day weekend!

The Paper Players Design Team

Ann Schach

Anne Marie Hile

Jaydee

LeAnne Pugliese

Nance Leedy

Sandy Mathis

Supplies
Stamps: Gently Falling, Dictionary, Tags 4 You, Seasonal Sentiments [retired]
Ink: Cajun Craze, Summer Starfruit, Island Indigo, Baked Brown Sugar, Early Espresso, Sahara Sand, Versamark
Paper: Cajun Craze, Summer Starfruit, Island Indigo, Baked Brown Sugar, Sahara Sand & Whisper White CS; Gold Foil Sheets
Xtras: Gold embossing powder; Linen thread; Bracket Label punch; 2" circle punch (non SU); Neutral Candy Dots