Sail Away with Dapper Denim PP298

Hi friends, I'm back after a little bloggy break to celebrate my birthday last weekend.  Big thank you to my Paper Players teammies who showered me with birthday cards--you gals are the best!  Today, our very own Crafty Claire has a perfect theme challenge for this time of year!

With this challenge, it means that I actually have a father's day card done EARLY--wow!  Since making this card, I've kinda been hooked on watercoloring and wanted to do another one for today's card.  

This is a long ago retired stamp called Sail Away that I still love.  I knew it would be perfect not only for my water color background but also for my father-in-law who makes his home on the shores of Lake Michigan.  The background was created with several colors to help achieve depth in the coloring.  I started with lighter shades of Soft Sky and Daffodil Delight for the water and sky.  From there I layered in additional shades of blue to give depth and a wavy look.  I brushed on Marina Mist, Pool Party and my new In Color love, Dapper Denim.

In the sky I layered on Crushed Curry, Peekaboo Peach and lastly a light wash of Blushing Bride.  The sentiment is from the new set, Thoughtful Banners which has nearly every conceivable combination of words you would want on a card...and it's photopolymer (clear)....and it has a coordinating punch!

When I had the main panel completed and I went to attach it to the Dapper Denim base, I thought the base looked too plain.  I didn't want a lot of layers so I did some stampin instead.  I used a stamp from Timeless Textures in Dapper Denim all the way around the edge of the front.  I thought it gave some interest to the card and almost looks like splashing water.

That's it for my card today--I hope you like it!  Be sure to pop over to The Paper Players and check out the rest of the Design Team inspiration.  We hope you will join in the fun before our challenge closes on Friday, June 10th at Noon (PST).  Thanks for stopping by!

The Paper Players Design Team

Claire Broadwater

Jaydee

Joanne James

Laurie Schmidt

LeAnne Pugliese

Nance Leedy

Sandy Mathis

Linda Callahan

Hannelie Bester

Colleen Begley

Paper Players Challenge Extension

So did you survive the big Blogger crash?  Whether you have your own blog or follow others it was a rough stretch for a few days in blogland.  I was lucky and didn't lose posts or info but I'm still glad they got everything working again!  One good thing that came out of the Blogger troubles is an extension to The Paper Players Colour Challenge!!  You have one more week to play along with these yummy colors:

I just received the Nautical Expedition designer paper as well as The Open Sea stamp set and couldn't wait to use both of them so I made another card with our color combo!  

Yes, it looks alot like this card from a couple days ago!  Sometimes I want to create something but don't have the mental energy to put forth, you know?  Yesterday was one of those days so I CASED myself!  This time I stamped the sailboat from Sail Away in timber brown Stazon on SU watercolor paper and brushed on some Not Quite Navy ink with my aqua painter.  I used a Cherry Cobbler base with the manifest stamp from The Open Sea as my background:

Some Early Espresso Nautical Expedition paper was crumpled and sponged with Early Espresso ink.  The Tasteful Trims die got a workout again:

but this time I wrapped it with some Cherry Cobbler baker's twine--doesn't it look oh-so-nautical?  I can't take the credit for the idea--my good friend Elizabeth came up with that fantastic idea (hi, E!).   And here's a quick peek at the inside too:

I hope you've enjoyed my sample for round 2 of our Color Challenge at The Paper Players.  I'd love to know what you think of today's card.  If you would like to play along, you have until Friday, May 20th at midnight (PST) to link up your creation at The Paper Players blog.  We hope you'll play along with us!

supplies:

stamps: sail away, the open sea, word play

paper: cherry cobbler, very vanilla CS; nautical expedition & first edition DSP; watercolor paper

ink: timber brown stazon; early espresso, not quite navy, cherry cobbler

xtras: sprial edge punch; tasteful trims die; cherry cobbler baker's twine; star designer brad [retired]

Breezy Cajun Sails {CCMC149}

Hiya friends!  Today's card started with this great sketch over at Create with Connie & Mary--those gals always have the best challenges!

I'm not sure I stuck with the sketch exactly.  :-)  It's still in there and hopefully you can recognize it although it's been flipped up and simplified a bit.  I wanted to pair with with my favorite stamp of the moment...Sail Away.  I can't put it down!  I love the line art and the movement of it--can't you just feel the Baja Breezes filling those sails?

I sure can!  The sailboat was inked first in Versamark, then Crumb Cake, stamped onto watercolor paper, sprinkled with clear stampin' emboss powder and heat set.  I lightly colored the sea and sky with my Aqua Painter and Marina Mist ink and a touch of Cajun Craze for the flag.  

The Marina Mist turned out so light that it looked better paired with Baja Breeze so I crumpled and distressed a piece of Elegant Soiree DSP, edged it with the Spiral border punch and sponged all the edges with Crumb Cake. 

Since the Sanded background stamp was sitting on my craft table from Sunday's card (yes, I hadn't cleaned up yet--shame on me!) I inked it up in Crumb Cake and stamped it on an angle on the card base.  I usually stamp it straight all over the front of the card but this card was turning out all wonky and distressed so angled seemed to fit!  My mom is laughing at this one (hi, Mom!) because she always angles everything and I always straighten out her angles!  So, this card broke all kinds of rules for me!

For the Crumb Cake trim down the side, I used the double scallop from the Tasteful Trims die.  See how both ends of the trim piece are rounded?  This die cuts a long piece of trim--about 12" actually.  So a short piece like this would have one end that was cut off.  That just wasn't acceptable!  So, I cut the cardstock a little bit longer than I actually wanted and ran it through the Big Shot to finish one edge.  Then I picked it up, turned it around so one scallop hung over the edge of the die and ran it through the Big Shot again.

 Which gave me a finished edge on both ends!  Pretty cool, huh?  

And here's the finished trim again.  I sponged the edges with Crumb Cake ink and finished it with a Vintage brad and some Early Espresso/Whisper White Baker's Twine.  You can also see that the sailboat image is matted on some colored Newsprint DSP.  It was actually a scrap, sponged with Baja Breeze, I had laying on my table from a previous effort that got put to good use here!

I made quick work of the inside with a piece of Very Vanilla cardstock, Sail Away stamped in Baja Breeze and another fabulous sentiment from Word Play overstamped in Crumb Cake ink.  You can't see it in this picture but I also stamped the Sanded background inside on the Cajun Craze base.  I can't put that one down either! :-)

So, I hope you've enjoyed the Baja Breezes of my Cajun sailboat today.  Please let me know if you have any questions and, as always, I would love to hear from you!  Have a great day, friends!

the goodies:

stamps: sail away, sanded, word play, you're a gem [retired]

paper: cajun craze, very vanilla, crumb cake CS; watercolor paper; elegant soiree & newsprint DSP

ink: baja breeze, crumb cake, early espresso classic ink; versamark

xtras: clear stampin emboss powder; early espresso baker's twine; vintage brad; tasteful trims die.

Paper Players Color Challenge {PP46}

Happy Sunday, friends, and Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers out there!  Today I rejoin the gals on The Paper Players DT and it's good to be back!  Ann is our color hostess this week and she has chosen a beautiful color palette of Cherry Cobbler, Not Quite Navy and Early Espresso plus a neutral of your choice.

I couldn't wait to use these colors with another new stamp from the summer Mini Catalog...Sail Away...which was perfect for a masculine card:

As my neutral base, I started with Naturals White cardstock stamped with the Sanded background stamp inked in Early Espresso and stamped off once.  Naturals White is a great weight for the card base--a little heavier than Whisper White--and the subtle flecks are perfect for this nautical card.  A piece of Not Quite Navy cardstock was cut with the Two Tags die, stamped with Sail Away in Versamark, sprinkled with white stampin' emboss powder and heat set.  I also sponged a little NQN ink to the water for more depth.  Next, I layered Cherry Cobbler patterned paper, Early Espresso cardstock edged with the Spiral Border punch and some retired Botanical Gazette DSP that I ran through the Big Shot with the Kit #4 Texture Plate.

I brayered the texture plate with Early Espresso ink before running it through the Big Shot and that really helps define the de-bossed areas and make the texture pop!  I created my own tag for the sentiment from Something to Celebrate with a rectangular piece of Naturals White CS and the Corner Rounder punch.

Were you just as excited as me to see Baker's Twine in the Summer mini catalog?!  Oh, yeah!  Here, I've wound some Cherry Cobbler/Whisper White Baker's Twine and Early Espresso 1/4" grosgrain ribbon around a [retired] silver circle designer brad. 

 

Lastly, even a masculine card deserves a finished inside--although maybe not one with all the frills and layers I normally do!  Here, I inked Sail Away in Early Espresso and stamped off once before stamping on the card.  A simple, but effective, sentiment from Word Play was inked in Not Quite Navy and overstamped on the sailboat. 

So, now it's over to you...will you join us this week?  I hope so!  Check out the DT inspiration over at The Paper Players and then link up your project by Friday May 13th at midnight (PST) to be in the running for A Cut Above or even, Headliner.  Before you go, I would love to hear what you think of today's card.  If you leave me a little note, please also leave your email or blog address so I can return my thanks!  Have a great day friends!

the goods:

stamps: sail away; word play, sanded BG

paper: naturals white, not quite navy, early espresso CS; botanical gazette [retired] DSP; patterns DSP stack (regals)

ink: early espresso, not quite navy classic ink; versamark

xtras: early espresso 1/4" grosgrain ribbon; cherry cobbler/whisper white baker's twine; two tags die; spiral border punch; corner rounder punch; white stampin' emboss powder; texture plates kit; circle designer brads.