Paper Players Friends {PP34}

Happy Paper Players day everyone!  Thank you to all who showed us some love last week with all your LOVEly creations.  With so many fabulous entries, you're making it more and more difficult each week to choose our winners!  Our friend and Paper Player Jaydee is our hostess this week for a color challenge:

and she is challenging us with Cherry Cobbler, Crumb Cake, Cajun Craze and Whisper White!  Now, I cannot tell a lite...these colors were challenging for me but that's what it's all about, right?  That's how we grow by stepping outside of our comfortable box every once in awhile!

Yesterday, I mentioned that I've been trying to create more mat stacks--love the way they look and it's a fun way to incorporate several colors.  This card actually started with the "Friends" stamp from Friends Never Fade which I stamped in Cajun Craze and a second time in CC to cut out the flower and pop it up:

 A few Basic Pearls added to the center added even more dimension.

The Tags til Christmas set has a great stamp that fits the Decorative Label punch perfectly.  I inked it in Crumb Cake and stamped on the same cardstock, cut it in half and used each piece to frame my center panel.

The Two Tags die makes a fun focal point for my little mat stack.  I cut out a piece of Cajun Craze and stamped it with the Dot, Dot, Dot stamped inked in more Cajun Craze.  

My Crumb Cake card base needed a little something so I stitched a piece of woodgrain designer paper from Woodland Walk DSP onto the base.  I really need to do more stitching--it adds such a subtle accent.  Next, I made a border of Whisper White with the Framed Tulip embossing folder and placed it behind the mat stack and behind the Two Tags.

The other fun thing about using a tag as a mat is that it already has a hole ready for your ribbon!  I added some yummy Cherry Cobbler seam binding ribbon and a basic glimmer brad to hold it there in style!

Lastly, a retired set Best Blossoms, has this lovely sentiment that is perfect for any friend.  I inked a flower from Friends Never Fade in Crumb Cake and overstamped with my Cherry Cobbler sentiment.

I hope you enjoyed my card today and that it has inspired you to give this unique color combo a try!  Pop on over to The Paper Players to see what the rest of the design team has cooked up for you!  Then link up your creation on our blog by midnight (MST) Friday February 18th to be in the running for A Cut Above and Headliner! Have a great week my friends!

supplies:

stamps: friends never fade, tags til christmas, dot dot dot, best blossoms

ink: cajun craze, crumb cake

paper: crumb cake, cajun craze, whisper white CS; woodland walk DSP

xtras: two tags die; framed tulips embossing folder; cherry cobbler seam binding ribbon; glimmer brad; basic pearls; decorative label punch

Vintage Cameo {PPA80} & {MFW}

Happy Saturday, everyone!  I hope it's a good one so far.  Have you seen the vintage challenge over at Pals Paper Arts this week?!  Oh my word, the photo is absolutely gorgeous! 

Stunning, right?  Oh the colors, the yards and yards of fabric, the black satin--yum!  I really think I was born in the wrong era, lol!  Anyway, I know this challenge isn't a photo inspiration one but it's the photo that hooked me.  I thought the PPA vintage theme was a perfect partner with The Appearance of Cameos Challenge in the Moxie Fab World to create something that's been kicking around in my head for awhile:

I used the Easter Blossoms set to create a cameo from the little girl silhouette.  Isn't she sweet?!  I inked her first in River Rock, then Versamark, stamped onto Very Vanilla and heat set with clear embossing powder.  The Large Oval punch was used to crop out just the top portion and the Scallop Oval punch made a lovely mat in Brushed Gold cardstock.

 

I always admire the mat stacks my friend Christina creates so I tried my hand at it here.  I made another mat from Basic Black cardstock with the Decorative Label punch and decorated the ends with a few Basic Pearls.

I wanted to emulate the gorgeous fabric of the skirt and the closest color I found is Rose Red.  The Rose Red designer paper is from Springtime Vintage DSP which I overstamped with the French Filigree background stamp in River Rock.  I matted it in Rose Red and placed atop a River Rock card base.  I like how the flourishes mimic the voluminous fabric of the skirt.

I love the play of black against the rose and decided to give the wide striped grosgrain ribbon an aged look by snipping the bottom and pulling loose some threads.  Looks a bit like a Victorian area rug!  I just received Fabulous Phrases in a recent order and I love all the sentiments to mix and match!  In the end "happiness" best seemed to describe the feeling I get from the little girl cameo and the soothing colors.

A bit of leftover Rose Red DSP on Very Vanilla adds some interest to the inside and one French Filigree flourish inked with my River Rock marker pulls it all together.  I'm not sure if it's possible to create clean-and-simple vintage card but I think that's what I ended up with!  I would love to hear what you think of today's creation!  Thanks for stopping by and be sure to check back tomorrow for the next challenge from The Paper Players!

supplies:

stamps: fabulous phrases, french filigree, easter blossoms

ink: river rock, versamark, jet black stazon

paper: river rock, rose red, very vanilla & brushed gold CS; springtime vintage DSP

xtras: large oval, scallop oval & decorative label punches; basic pearls; black 1 1/4" wide striped grosgrain ribbon; clear stampin' emboss powder

  

It's Curtain Call Baby! {68}

Hiya friends!  Just a quick post tonight to share a card I made with the scrump-dilly-icious colors from Stacey's Curtain Call Color Challenge {68}:

 

Aren't they gorgeous?  I think I say that about all the colors Stacey picks!   I'm not sure I'm in love with this card but it's growing on me...I think.

I was itching to use the Fun Flowers die that I've had since December but not yet used once!  Ack!  The flowers are cut from Pink Pirouette CS and then stamped in Melon Mambo with the En Francais background stamp.  I also sponged more Melon Mambo on the edges to define each layer.

The center is one of the Sweet Stitches fabric brads from the mini catalog.  Just love these!  I also embossed the card base with the Perfect Details texture plate.  I like how it gives a garden lattice look to the background.

And here's the inside...combined two sentiments here, Occasional Quotes & Short and Sweet, and I thought they worked well together.  I've only ever used the "Love begins in a moment..." sentiment for wedding or anniversary cards but when I gave it some thought, it really works for the birth of a baby too! Sorry for such a short post tonight...it's been a long work week but I'm off tomorrow and looking forward to a bit of quality time at my craft table.  Have a great Friday, friends!

supplies:

stamps: en francais, a word for you, charming, occasional quotes, short and sweet

ink: melon mambo, wild wasabi, pink pirouette

paper: whisper white, melon mambo, pink pirouette, wild wasabi CS

xtras: two tags die, fun flowers die, scallop border punch, polka dot impression folder, sweet stitches fabric brads, perfect details texture plate, wild wasabi striped grosgrain ribbon

Cogs-a-Million {CD96}

Happy hump day friends!  It's the middle of the week and that means it's time for another one of Riley's fabulous color combinations at The Color Dare!  This week she is challenging us with

CD96 

Garden Green 

Bashful Blue 

Peach Parfait

Fun colors, eh?  I've been making lots of cards with hearts and flowers so I decided these colors lent themselves to a masculine card--something I haven't made in awhile!  

I feel as if I cheated a little by using some retired DSP, Travel Journal, as it had all the challenge colors.  Love how our DSP coordinates with our ink and cardstock making it so easy to pull off a coordinated look.  Actually, this DSP uses Pumpkin Pie but on the piece I chose, it's faint enough that it works with my Peach Parfait gears!  First, I stamped the Sanded background stamp in Crumb Cake on my card base.  I used the Spiral Border punch to make a Garden Green border and bent it around a little for a distressed accent. Once I attached the paper to the card, I wrapped the whole thing with some Peapod baker's twine from The Twinery.  Love this stuff--it adds just the right amount of texture and isn't too girlie.

Then it was onto the gears!  Using the Cogs XL punch, I cut out some gears in Bashful Blue, Peach Parfait and Garden Green using both sizes on the gear punch.  Next, I had fun layering all my gears and arranging them in a pattern--this part always takes the longest for me.  Somehow "random" just doesn't work with my detail-obsessed brain!  Anyway, I like the end result and for a little pop of "chrome", I added these fun silver dots that came from my local craft store.  I like how they add to the feel of the gears.

The bold collection of sentiments in Word Play was the perfect Garden Green touch for this card.  I added some accents to the inside but left plenty of room for a handwritten note.

I hope you like it!  Now, pop on over to the rest of the design team to see their take on this week's colors.  Then stop by The Color Dare blog and link up your creation.  You've got until midnight next Tuesday, February 15th to show us your stuff!  Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!

• Riley - our leader
• Glenda - Papers, Scissors and Rocks
• Heather - Princess Scrapper Stamper
• Joan - JJ Creations
• Marisa - Rosemary Reflections
• Melissa - My Paper Obsession

Love is in the Air {PP33} & candy winner!

Happy Sunday everyone and welcome to another week at The Paper Players.  What a time we had last week with our first-ever Blog Hop.  I am so grateful for all those who stopped by during the Hop and became one of my followers.  I just love to see all your little smiling faces on my blog each day--it warms my heart to know you're out there! 

So first order of business is to announce the winner of the Blog Hop candy!!  I used Random.org to generate the winning comment and it selected #65...Michelle!!! 

Congratulations Michelle!  Please email your snail mail address to nleedy@cox.net and I will put your Polka Dot impressions folder AND my blog hop card in the mail to you right away!

Alright, now onto this week's challenge..it's February and that means Valentine's Day and all things LOVE-ly!   Please join us for our "Love is in the Air" challenge to create a romantic card of any style.

I like to try and find other uses for holiday stamps and so it was with that approach that I used Valentine Defined to make an anniversary card.

I started with a card base of Basic Gray and a piece of Bashful Blue run through the Elegant Lines impressions folder and matted with Rich Razzleberry.   To make the focal medallion I stamped the heart grass from Valentine Defined in Bashful Blue and overstamped the lovin' flamingos in Rich Razzleberry.

I punched the flamingos with a 1 3/4" circle punch, backed it with a 2" Brushed Silver circle and a 2 1/2" scalloped circle in Rich Razzleberry.  I punched a bitty heart with the two-step owl punch (really, this time!) and added some Crystal Effects.  It makes a sweet little puffy heart!

I needed a place for the sentiment but didn't want to interfere with the embossed background.  So I stamped a piece of cardstock Vellum with a Basic Gray sentiment from A Word for You, punched a scallop border and added some pearls.  Some Basic Gray taffeta ribbon hid the adhesive perfectly!

On the inside I added a strip of more embossed Bashful Blue cardstock, a scalloped border of Rich Razzleberry and a sentiment from Occasional Quotes in Basic Gray.


Be sure to check out all the inspiration from the rest of The Paper Players design team and then link up your love-inspired creation on the Paper Players blog by midnight (MST) on Friday February 11th.  The design team will each choose A Cut Above and a Headliner.  Have fun all my lovely friends!

supplies:

stamps: valentine defined, a word for you, occasional quotes

ink: basic gray, rich razzleberry, bashful blue

paper: basic gray, rich razzleberry, bashful blue, brushed silver, whisper white, vellum CS

xtras: basic gray taffeta ribbon; basic pearls; 1 3/4" circle and 2" circle punches; 2 1/2" scalloped circle punch; scalloped border punch; crystal effects; elegant lines impressions folder