Celebrating Balloon Birthdays PP329

Hiya friends!  As you read this, we are in Daytona Beach for the start of volleyball tournament season.  It's a crazy season of practice and travel but we love to watch our girl and her teammates develop as athletes and take on the competition and oh boy, the competition is tough in Florida!  Anyway...today at The Paper Players my lovely friend, Joanne, has an awesome sketch for us:

So, there's lots of room for interpretation here as you will see from the Design Team's creations.  While thinking about and looking at the sketch, I looked at it sideways...

 

...and knew right away what I was going to do... 

See it?  Right?  Once I had it in my head, how could I not run with it?!  I covered the side of the card base with some [retired] Cherry on Top designer paper and pulled my other colors from there.  Although, I have to admit...the balloon (from Celebrate Today) is inked with [retired] Poppy Parade because I could not get a clear stamped image with my super wet Watermelon Wonder ink pad...grrrr.  Sometimes, the old style felt ones really are better!  

And, yes, I really did fussy-cut the triangle shaped balloon "string".  Stamped in Crushed Curry on Thick Whisper White (for stability) and then precariously Cut. Out. By. Hand.  It acually wasn't that difficult because it's all straight lines!

I've noticed quite a trend lately of background sentiment stamping--especially with the same color ink.  I really like the look--a lot of dimension without extra bulk.  So, this sentiment is from a retired hostess set called Happy Birthday, Everyone and was just the phrase I needed to accompany the birthday balloon.

Of course, the inside needed a little dressing up too with some simple stamping of images in the Celebrate Today set in Pool Party, Crushed Curry and Poppy Parade.   

I hope you like my take on Joanne's fun sketch...wait til you see what the rest of The Paper Players Design Team has created with it!  Maybe you'll be inspired to play along before our challenge closes on Friday, February 3rd at Noon (PST).  Thanks for stopping by, friends!

My friend, Joanne, told me about the fun balloon challenge at Less is More so I'm playing along with them too.  It's my first time there and I hope to be back!

The Paper Players Design Team 
Claire Broadwater 
 Jaydee 
Joanne James
Laurie Schmidt 
LeAnne Pugliese 
Nance Leedy
Sandy Mathis  
Crystal Komara
Valentyna Komisarenko
Deanne 

 

Love is Kindness for The Paper Players {PP227}

Hey there friends! Ann has a beautiful color combination for us over at The Paper Players: 

Isn't it pretty?!  Makes me think of spring.  Too bad it's still winter--even here in Florida!  I actually made two card with these colors and ended up liking the second one best.  

I also thought this one was more in line with Ann's style and since it is her challenge....well, I thought she might like it!  Although, I will admit, I tried to add pearls but couldn't make it work.  LOL.  Anyway, I really love this single stamp from the new Occasions catalog called Love is Kindness.  It's very versatile; I can see using it for Valentine's Day, Easter, spring or even just a special Thank You card as I've done here.  The image is stamped in Memento Ink and colored with a combination of Stampin' Write markers, Blender Pens and an Aqua Painter. 

There are some water spots courtesy of Gorgeous Grunge and I crumpled the Typeset DSP for a vintage look.  I thought you might want to see a close-up of the two different ribbons I used: Lost Lagoon satin and Venetian Crochet.  Ahhh.....pretty!

Here, I tried to capture the sparkle for you.  I thought the white on the background paper was a little too stark so I spritzed it with a homemade mix of rubbing alcohol and Champagne Mist shimmer paint.  The entire background is full of shimmer and shine!  The Tea Lace Doily was also quite white so I sponged on some shimmer paint and Sahara Sand ink for a nice, aged look.

The inside is pretty self-explanatory just stamped off to the side so as not to repeat the sentiment.  I sponged the edges with more Sahara Sand ink and added some more water spots.  

Now, here's the first card I made.  A total departure from the second one, right?  This one features the popular Bokeh Effect technique.  It's really very simple.  The Whisper White background piece is sponged with all three challenge colors.  Next, I cut a piece of window sheet to serve as a stencil.  In this piece of window sheet I die cut two circle shapes--about 1.25" and 3/4".  Using Whisper White craft ink, I sponged the circles all around the background varying the intensity of the ink with each one.  You want to achieve the look of soft focus lights in the background.  Final touches were a vellum balloon, silver baker's twine, Crisp Cantaloupe washi tape (Sweet Sadie) and a sentiment die cut with the Little Letters Thinlits.   

So, there you have it.  Two cards in one post!  Be sure to pop over to The Paper Players and check out all the inspiration from the rest of the Design Team.  Then, I hope you will play along with us before the challenge closes on Friday, January 16th at Noon (PST).  Thanks for stopping by today!

The Paper Players Design Team

Ann Schach

Anne Marie Hile
Claire Broadwater
 Jaydee
Joanne James
Laurie Schmidt

LeAnne Pugliese

Nance Leedy
Sandy Mathis 
Debbie Mageed
Karren Johnson
Shannon Jaramillo

edited 1/12/15: I was so excited to share that I totally forgot the layout for my first card was inspired by the great sketch over at The Challenge!  Duh.  It's a keeper too!

Table built using Product Table Builder by The Crafty Owl - Independent Stampin' Up! Demonstrator.

Celebrate Today for The Paper Players {PP226}

Welcome back to The Paper Players challenges! The Design Team had a nice little break during the holidays and we're ready to go with a new year of challenges for 2015.  We've got new designers on board--both guest and permanent--and I am so excited to be stamping with them.  We're also welcoming back fellow DT, Anne Marie!  Yay, so good to have you back AM.  :-)  Anne Marie has our first theme challenge of the year and it's a fun one:

I have a little box on my craft desk where I keep random bits of stuff I collect that I think I could recycle into a card design.  Tags, ribbons, swatches of canvas, cool paper...anything that catches my eye.  I was glad for an opportunity to use them.  Here's what I used on my card today:

I don't even remember where it came from but it's a cool piece of window sheet-like material with a printed design.  I thought the color was close to Crushed Curry and turned to some of my new Sale-a-Bration and Occasions Catalog goodies to make a balloon shaker card:

I used the Balloon Framelit dies to cut a piece of Best Year Ever designer paper (Sale-a-Bration) and assembled my shaker with the recycled window sheet and some In Color designer sequins and bits from the Gold Sequin Trim.  I stamped the piece of Whisper White under the shaker with a sentiment from the coordinating Celebrate Today set (available bundled with the Balloon Framelits) as well as the balloon tails and trim.  How 'bout that Calypso Coral pom-pom trim?  Cutest ever, right?!  

And speaking of cute...how about the new Bow Builder Punch I used here?  Oh my goodness is it sweet.  That's more Best Year Ever DSP to make the box and notice how well the Crushed Curry in the DSP coordinates with the recycled window sheet?  Looks like it came right from SU, doesn't it?!  

Not to be outdone by the front of the card, the inside got a little stamping too with more images from the Celebrate Today set.  Love how the sentiment creates the negative space on the "happy" balloon.
I hope you liked today's card using recycled items.  Why not look around your craft space and see what bits and bats you have lying around that could be recycled into a gorgeous design?  Take a look at all the inspring creations from the rest of the Design Team.  Consider joining in the fun before the challenge closes on Friday, January 9th at Noon (PST).  Thanks for stopping by today, friends!

The Paper Players Design Team

Ann Schach

Anne Marie Hile
Claire Broadwater
 Jaydee
Joanne James
Laurie Schmidt

LeAnne Pugliese

Nance Leedy
Sandy Mathis 
Debbie Mageed
Karren Johnson
Shannon Jaramillo