Watercolor Wings Gate Fold {PP252}

Hey there friends, I hope you're having a great weekend.  Our family has been off work and summer camp since Thursday so we've been having a good time!  Oh how I wish the work week was 32 hours instead of 40.....sigh.  Anyway....this week at The Paper Players it's all about The Great Outdoors.  The amazing Ann is our host for this month's theme challenge:

From the first time I saw the Watercolor Wings stamp set, I've had the idea for a card with this type of fold in my head.  I was also inspired by this fantastic card from Stef Perry and the idea was born:

I wanted the butterfly to look like it landed on a fence or a barn door and thought the gate fold would be perfect!.  I used some retired Adventure Bound DSP for the "gate" but it could also be stamped with the Hardwood background stamp.  How many of you still have the Inspired by Nature stamp set with this big beautiful grass image?  I'll never sell mine and in Cucumber Crush, it made the perfect grassy border.  Although I didn't use any on my card, I took my color cue from the Cherry On Top DSP stack using Pool Party, Bermuda Bay, and Island Indigo for the butterfly with accents of Crushed Curry and Watermelon Wonder.

With all the elements in the center and the background stamping, it was difficult to figure out where a sentiment would go.  I debated whether I needed one but was able to make the sweet little Greetings Thinlits fit over the butterfly and open nicely from the center.  I was really pleased how well it cut and popped out from the new THICK Whisper White cardstock--no wax paper, no dryer sheets needed.  It worked like a charm!

The gate fold opens up to reveal the inside panel with another butterfly and this fabulous sentiment from last month's Paper Pumpkin kit.  I added some Watermelon Wonder dots to the sides to mimic the banner on the front of the card.  

This butterfly stamp set is sooo pretty.  At first I thought, do I really need another butterfly stamp?  But oh, this one is not like the others.  It's photopolymer so lining up each layer is easy-peasy.  There are three layers to the butterfly and each one is a separate stamp so you can create many color combinations.  I can't wait to experiment with some more colors!  One tip: I found it much easier to stamp the center body of the butterfly AFTER cutting it out with the coordinating Bold Butterfly Framelit.  It's easy to line up because it is completely clear and I found that I cut off part of the head or body if I stamped it before cutting.  

I am sure that the rest of The Paper Players design team have some amazing projects inspired by the great outdoors for you.  Be sure to pop over and check 'em out.  I hope you will join in the fun before our challenge closes on Friday, July 10th at Noon (PST).  Thanks for stopping by today!

The Paper Players Design Team

Ann Schach

Anne Marie Hile (on leave) 

Claire Broadwater
 Jaydee
Joanne James
Laurie Schmidt   
LeAnne Pugliese 
Nance Leedy
Sandy Mathis

Amy Koenders
Jodi McKinney 
Lisa Elton

Love & Irises {CCMC197}

Happy Thursday, friends, and welcome to another week at Create with Connie & Mary! It's a color challenge this week and the colors are gorgeous together...take a look:

I combined the colors with this fantastic sketch from the gals over at Card Patterns--love their sketches! 

 

Blues and greens are probably two of my favorite colors but I rarely use purple and Concord Crush even less, lol!  It's a very intense color so for my card, I lightened it up a bit:

The set Love & Sympathy is so pretty with two heartfelt sentiments and this gorgeous, grassy flower.  To me it looks a bit like an iris so Concord Crush was a perfect color choice.  I inked the flower with a Concord Crush marker and after stamping off once, inked the grass with a Certainly Celery marker and stamped the whole image onto some Very Vanilla cardstock cut with the Labels Framelit die.  I repeated another flower, for a field effect, and added the lovely sentiment in Maria Mist. To the background I stamped the grass from Inspired by Nature in Certainly Celery to compliment the grass of the flower.

So, are you wondering where the Concord Crush DSP came from?  Curious?  Well, you can probably guess...that's right...My Digital Studio!  I realized that I didn't have any Concord Crush DSP and I actually didn't have one in MDS that I liked either...shocking, I know!   So...I made my own.  I used a digital stamp called Fancy Fan (it matches a letterpress plate by the same name) and colored the "stamp" in Concord Crush.  Because I wanted it a little lighter, I used the "opacity" command in MDS to reduce the intensity of the color.  So not only did I make my own DSP, I also made my own color, lol!  Concord Crush "lite"!

I mentioned that this set has two pretty sentiments--you saw the first one already and the second one is perfect for the inside.  Stamped here in full strength Concord Crush and this time with a Marina Mist flower.  I hope you've enjoyed today's card and feel inspired to play along with these gorgeous colors.  Be sure to check out the rest of the amazing design team over at Create with Connie & Mary.  If you decide to play along, you have until Wednesday, April 18th at Noon (EST).  I hope you'll join us!

Supplies 

Stamps: Love & Sympathy; Inspired by Nature

Paper: Certainly Celery, Very Vanilla CS; MDS hybrid designer paper

Ink: Certainly Celery, Concord Crush, Marina Mist classic ink

Xtras: Marina Mist 1 1/4" Striped Grosgrain Ribbon; Linen Thread; Labels Framelits; Basic Pearls; Stampin' Write Markers (Certainly Celery, Concord Crush, Marina Mist)

Hello Poppy! {PP55}

Happy Paper Players Sunday, friends!  As you read this I am on a Mommy & Me camp-out with my daughter's Girl Scout troop!  Lesley is our Color Challenge hostess with the mostess this week and she has selected a sophisticated and modern color palette:

I will be the first one to say that I am NOT a fan of Poppy Parade but I do LOVE it combined with these colors.  Basic Gray, Cumb Cake and Baja Breeze all on one card?  Be still my heart!  Poppy is just perfect for a little pop of color which is what I do when I'm stumped by a color!

It's a pretty simple design and [I think] doesn't need much explanation but just a few pictures to show you the details.

I stamped Upsy Daisy directly on the Baja Breeze patterned paper and then outlined the flowers with a Baja Breeze marker for added dimension.

The bold and beautiful sentiment from My Friend was inked in Versamark, then Basic Gray ink, sprinkled with clear embossing powder and heat set.  Love that shine, beginning to love that set!

The Crumb Cake border was punched with the Scallop Trim border punch and backed with some Poppy Parade circles made with the Itty Bitty Punch Pack.  These pint-sized circle sure do pack a poppy punch! ;-)

And so do those sweet little Poppy butterflies from the Beautiful Wings embosslit--so glad that made it to the new catalog!  Pop on over for some Paper Player fun and check out the rest of the Design Team inspiration:

The Paper Players Design Team

Ann Schach

Anne Marie Hile

Jaydee

Lauri Ingram

LeAnne Pugliese

Lesley Croghan

Nance Leedy

Sandra Azzopardi

Tui Nathan (GD)

We hope you can join us this week!  Because so many on our design team are headed to the SU Convention, our color challenge will stay open an extra week--until Friday, July 22nd at midnight (PST)!  Hope to see you there...thanks for stopping by today!

supplies:

stamps: my friend, upsy daisy, inspired by nature

paper: basic gray, crumb cake, poppy parade CS; subtles designer pattern stack

ink: baja breeze, versamark, basic gray

xtras: scallop trim border punch; itty bitty punch pack; beautiful wings embosslit; crumb cake 3/8" taffeta ribbon; clear embossing powder

Chocolate Pear Parade: Color Dare {80}

It's Color Dare time again and the Design Team has a gorgeous color combination to inspire you: 

CD 80

Chocolate Chip

Pear Pizzazz

Poppy Parade

Very Vanilla

Pretty simple card to share with you today using one of my all-time favorite stamp sets that returned for another year in the catalog...Inspired by Nature.  The beautiful flowers were inked with my Stampin Write markers in all 3 of this week's colors and stamped onto a Naturals Ivory cardstock Top Note.  I just trimmed off part of the Top Note to allow more room on the right side of the card.  I really like this layout.  Next, I stamped the grass from the Inspired by Nature in Chocolate Chip on a Chocolate Chip base.  The grass was stamped again in Pear Pizzazz on a strip of the same cardstock and then lined up with the grass image on the base card:

I inked the large flower again with my Stampin' Write markers and then fussy-cut the flower to pop it up for some added dimension.

I hope you've enjoyed my card today--be sure to check out the inspiring projects from the rest of the Color Dare Design Team.  Then try your hand at this week's colors.  If you don't have these exact colors, a similar match will do.  We can't wait to see what you create!

supplies:

stamps: inspired by nature; because i care

ink: chocolate chip, pear pizzazz

paper: chocolate chip, pear pizzazz, poppy parade, naturals ivory CS

xtras: antique brads; hemp twine; top note die

Summertime @ the PPA {47}

Growing up, summer meant the fragrance of fresh-cut grass, wildflowers growing by the creek and summer reading (yes, I was a library geek in the summer)!! This card highlights elements of all those memories and, for me, is the perfect interpretation of the summer theme challenge at Pals Paper Arts {47} this week.

For this card, I updated one of my earlier cards with new colors and new designer paper! I started with a base of Marina Mist (new core color) and stamped the grass from Inspired by Nature also in Marina Mist. While my stamp was inked, I also stamped once on the inside of the card (see below). I cut 1/4" off the one side and trimmed the front with a scalloped edge in Daffodil Delight. DD is another new core color and it is just the perfect shade of yellow that you're going to love! With the previous card, I made my own background paper by stamping all over a sheet of cardstock before punching the scalloped circles for my flower.

Here, all I needed is the fabulous new designer paper called Newsprint (available July 1st). Newsprint is full of wonderful vintage inspired paper that looks like it came from old books (there's my summer reading!), maps and newspapers. I punched 3 scalloped circles from the Newsprint dsp, crumpled them up a bit, snipped in on each scallop to form petals and layered them all together with a button and some linen thread.

This fun hostess level 2 set, Apple Blossoms, is another sneak peek. I love this sentiment. I've already used it on a number of cards--it just fits so many occasions. That sweet little blossom in the background is also from AB and I like how it looks layered behind the sentiment--just adds a little interest. The wide oval punch was the perfect shape here.

Sorry the colors are a bit washed out but the inside was finished as well with another tone-on-tone grass image and the perfect little birthday sentiment from On Your Birthday. That's it for today--hope you're off somewhere enjoying your own little bit of summer...cheers!

Simply Thanks

This sweet little single stamp makes a big statement on my handcrafted flower. I stamped Simply Thanks in basic black several times on very vanilla cardstock to make my own version of a background stamp. The scalloped circle punch was used to punch out 3 circles and each circle was folded a few times to break up the fibers and distress the paper a bit.

I used my paper snips to cut inward on each scallop and glued all three together staggering them as they were layered. A few "petals" were pulled up on each layer to add dimension and texture. The grass from Inspired by Nature was inked up in Versamark and stamped onto my bashful blue cardstock.
A little strip of old olive from my scrap bag made the perfect stem and a little old olive grosgrain ribbon as leaves for my flower. It's finished off with a ruby red button (retired) and some linen thread.
I repeated the grass on the inside as well as the full Simply Thanks sentiment since only part of it could be read on the flower!

Because I added the crushed curry scallop border edge, I had an empty edge on the inside of the card that just needed a little something! So, another strip of old olive finished it off nicely and echoed all the elements from the front. Just a few more to make and I will have all my birthday thank you cards made! Thanks for looking!