It's a Beauty - Stampin' Up! Beauty of Friendship - Paper Players 538

 The Paper Players are back with a new challenge today!  It's time for a sketch!  Claire has given us a classic center panel layout to play with this week!  

    I got right to work using one of my new annual catalog pre-order sets; Beauty of Friendship.  Since my go to nature set is retiring (Rooted in Nature) I thought this classic tree set with the fun layering possibilities would fill the hole in my collection.

  I stuck right with the layout except for maybe having my sentiment up a bit higher.  My card starts with a Misty Moonlight base and then a layer of SAB Paper Blooms DSP which has this nice blue pattern that I never cut into.  I stamped the sentiment from another new set, Inspired Thoughts, in Misty Moonlight on a piece of Seaside Spray (retiring). Next, I used the retiring Old World Paper embossing folder on the panel.

  Digging through my ribbon scraps I found a piece of wide burlap and trimmed it to fit across the card and added a piece of Misty Moonlight twill ribbon because why not?

  The tree trunk is stamped twice, once on the Whisper White oval and once on scrap with Cinnamon Cider ink.  I then stamped the leaves twice on the oval to give the tree a bit more width.  Then again on the scrap so I could die cut it to line up on the oval tree trunk and pop with dimensionals.

  The final details are the two Misty Moonlight birds and the linen thread bow on the tree trunk.

  I can't wait to see your take on the sketch!  For more inspiration for the challenge and for all week long check out the Paper Players Design team: 

 Jaydee
 LeAnne
Claire
Joanne
Laurie
Anne Marie
Ann
Nancy
Debbie 

 Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Beauty of Friendship, Inspired Thoughts 

Ink: Cinnamon Cider, Misty Moonlight, Old Olive, Mossy Meadow

Paper: Misty Moonlight, Whisper White, Seaside Spray, Paper Blooms DSP (retired SAB)

Accessories: Oval dies, Old World Paper embossing folder, Beautiful Trees dies, burlap ribbon, Misty Moonlight twill ribbon, dimensionals, linen thread

Hand-Penned Birthday - Stampin' Up! Hand-Penned Petals - Fab Friday 212

 TGIF everyone!  It looks like we might have a wet weekend so lots of time to stamp right?  The team at Fab Friday Challenge has a new challenge to start your weekend stamping!  It's a fun set of colors and we can't wait to see what you create with them.

  I think these colors are perfect for spring flowers but I'm always amazed at the creative ways stampers will use our colors.

  Getting some ink on a new stamp set was a priority and I had Hand-Penned Petals just sitting there waiting with all of my preorder items.

   This card starts with a Soft Sea Foam base, then a layer of Ice Cream Corner DSP that was perfect for the Old Olive and Soft Sea Foam requirement.  Then a Stitched So Sweetly scalloped rectangle was cut from Soft Sea Foam and stamped with the same color of ink using the other large outline flower stamp in the set.  I then backed the panel with Whisper White.

  The flowers were first stamped in Memento black and then I filled them in with Terracotta Tile, Flirty Flamingo and Soft Sea Foam using the 'fill' stamps.  They do not line up exactly so don't get yourself in a tizzy trying for perfect alignment.  This way gives it a more artist, watercolored look.  I ended up adding a little Old Olive light Blends to leaves so they didn't blend into the background so much.

  The sentiment from Many Messages is stamped in Old Olive and I layered it with dimensionals over a length of retired ribbon and added some sequins and pearls.

  Have fun with the colors and don't forget to share your creation over at Fab Friday!

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Hand-Penned Petals, Many Messages

Ink: Soft Sea Foam, Old Olive, Terracotta Tile, Flirty Flamingo, Memento Black

Blends: Old Olive light

Paper: Soft Sea Foam, Whisper White, Ice Cream Corner DSP

Accessories: Stitched So Sweetly dies, Penned Flowers dies, dimensionals, sequins, pearls, ribbon

Tie Dye Treat - Stampin' Up! Spiral Dye

   I am finally getting into a routine with the puppy and finding time to get to the stamp room.  I was able to pull out all of the retiring items yesterday and see what I was left with (not much by the way!).  It's always a bit depressing seeing so many products go all at the same time but also exciting to have new things to play with.  My sentiments took a hit and I only have 2 that are carrying over so I think that will be a priority once we can order from the full catalog!

  For today I've got the card that I had made when I was thinking that the current Paper Players challenge was just birthday and not CAS birthday.  As you can see this one is certainly not CAS!  To see the one I ended up making click HERE.

  I had fun pairing up some new In Colors with the new Spiral Dye background stamp along with the still current Sweet Ice Cream stamp set.  How's this for fun?

  I started with a Fresh Freesia card base, then a layer of Whisper White cut with a Stitched Rectangle die.  Next I stamped the Spiral Dye using the new In Color Polished Pink; flipped the cardstock 180 degrees and stamped again in Mango Melody.  I really like how you get another color where the 2 lighter ones overlap.  It's a fun look and will come in handy for some more lighthearted cards this year.  

  Next, I used the 3 colors to stamp the ice cream, adding some sprinkles to the Fresh Freesia one and then popped them on a Cinnamon Cider cone after the punching.

  The sentiment is embossed in black and fussy cut and then popped with dimensionals.  The sentiment banner is stamped and trimmed and also popped with dimensionals.  A little baker's twine bow accents the cone as I couldn't find the In Color jewels that I had ordered.  I did find them after cleaning up a bit so you'll get a look at those soon!

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Sweet Ice Cream, Spiral Dye

Ink: Fresh Freesia, Polished Pink, Mango Melody, Versamark, Cinnamon Cider, Memento Black

Paper: Fresh Freesia, Whisper White, Cinnamon Cider

Accessories: Ice Cream punch, Stitched Rectangle dies, black embossing powder, dimensionals, baker's twine

Red Birthday Balloon - Stampin' Up! Many Messages - Paper Players 537

   Happy Sunday everyone!  I hope you've been having a relaxing weekend so far.  I've not been stamping much lately as the new puppy keeps me on the go most days with not much time left for sitting down and creating.  He's a very good boy but hasn't yet been approved as a stamp room dog.  Fingers crossed that that happens sooner rather than later!

  I definitely made time to stamp for the new Paper Players challenge this week.  Laurie has given us a fun Clean and Simple Birthday challenge!  As we all know CAS cards can be tricky.  It's a fine line between boring and CAS (but still well designed!).  I can't wait to see your creations in the gallery!

  Stamping confession time:  I actually had a whole other card made and ready to photograph when I decided to double check the challenge 'just in case'.  I was glad I did because my first card was a birthday card but it was not by any means Clean and Simple!  Uh oh!  Back to the drawing board for something completely different!

  This card is a mix of brand new, retiring and carrying over Stampin' Up! products.  I started with the retiring In Color Seaside Spray for the card base.  Next I used the new Basic Borders dies that will be available in the upcoming annual catalog to make the cloud edges.  I used Whisper White and cut 2 layers and popped the smaller layer up with dimensionals.

  Next, I used some more Whisper White and just colored in a spot with my dark Poppy Parade blends marker and punched it out with the retiring Balloon Bouquet punch.  I used the color lifter to make the little highlight then tied some black baker's twine for the string.  The balloon is also popped with dimensionals.

  The sentiment from Many Messages in the Jan.-June mini catalog which is carrying into the new annual catalog was stamped in black and then the end was flagged.  I popped it again with dimensionals and added a Seaside Spray faceted gem to finish off my clean and simple birthday card.

  To see the rest of the Design Team samples head over to The Paper Players or go to their individual blogs:

 Jaydee
 LeAnne
Claire
Joanne
Laurie
Anne Marie
Ann
Nancy
Debbie 

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Many Messages

Ink: Memento Black

Blends: Poppy Parade dark, Color Lifter

Paper: Seaside Spray, Whisper White

Accessories: Basic Borders dies, Balloon Bouquet punch, dimensionals, black baker's twine, faceted gem

Natural Birthday - Stampin' Up! Rooted in Nature - The Paper Players 536

   It's always a good day when there's a new Paper Players Challenge to share!  This week LeAnne has given us some colors to work with!  Misty Moonlight, Merry Merlot and Crumb Cake!  

  At first I was thinking that these would be good colors for Christmas but after looking at my Christmas stamps I just wasn't feeling it so I switched to a masculine card.  I always need them and never have a stash to pull from plus my mother-in-law has requested a set of birthday cards for later in the year and it's never too early to get a start on those!

  Rooted in Nature is on the retiring list so if you've always loved it but never ordered it now is the time! This set has been a staple in my stamp set collection for a long time and it never fails to turn out a nice card!

 Nothing really crazy or technique heavy on this card but I'll just point out a few things; the strips of Merry Merlot are embossed with the Old World Paper embossing folder for just a bit of texture against the woodgrain pattern of the In Color DSP.  Since you can't glam up guy cards with too much sparkle a great way to add interest is with texture!

  The ribbon treatment is just two lengths of Misty moonlight twill ribbon tied with linen thread and an old retired vintage trinket safety pin goes through the knot.  I was looking through my embellishments for something "guy" and I really don't have anything that is current.  I had some old metallic brads that I was going to pop on somewhere but then found the little container of vintage trinkets and thought the safety pin would be just the things.  Maybe with this upcoming catalog I'll invest in some guy embellishments!

  I hope to see you card in the challenge gallery!  Check out what the rest of the Paper Players Design Team has done with these colors!

 Jaydee
 LeAnne
Claire
Joanne
Laurie
Anne Marie
Ann
Nancy
Debbie 

 Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Rooted in Nature, Here's a Card

Ink: Crumb Cake, Misty Moonlight

Paper: Crumb Cake, Merry Merlot, Whisper White, In Color DSP

Accessories: Nature's Roots dies, Stitched Nested Label dies, Old World Paper embossing folder, twill ribbon, linen thread, vintage trinkets (retired), dimensionals

Blended Butterfly Thanks - Stampin' Up! Brilliant Wings Dies - Fab Friday 211

 TGIF stampers!  The crew at Fab Friday is back with a new challenge to make your Friday even better!  We can't wait to see what you create with this fun sketch!

  I needed to make a set of thank you cards so I put the Brilliant Wings dies to work.  That center oval looked like a perfect place for a butterfly!

  To make multiple cards using the die cuts I started out first by blending 4 colors of ink onto a piece of Whisper White.  I used Melon Mambo, Mango Melody, Coastal Cabana and Highland Heather and with the blending brushes just made splotches of color blending in the edges until all the white was covered.  Then I used the large butterfly shape die where they are all connected and cut out all of the butterflies from the single sheet of colored paper.  Each one came out different depending on what colors they fell on.

   Next I cut out the basic Black overlays and added them to the colored piece with dimensionals on the body.  The sentiment is from Friends Are Like Seashells and is stamped in black and popped on dimensionals.  A few small rhinestones decorate the sides.

   I added the butterfly to the card front over the top of some crinkled seam binding ribbon which is over the top of a piece of Butterfly Bijou DSP which I'm sorry to say sold out so fast customers barely had a chance to get it.

  The DSP is over the top of a piece of Whisper White embossed with the Greenery embossing folder.  The card base is Whisper White thick with opposite corners rounded for a bit of interest.

  So not much stamping but a lot of ink use!  I think I did 5 different panels so I have a whole stack of butterflies to put onto cards!

  Head over to Fab Friday to see the rest of the fabulous Design Team samples!

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Friends Are Like Seashells

Ink: Memento black, Melon Mambo, Mango Melody, Coastal Cabana, Highland Heather

Paper: Whisper White thick, Whisper White, Basic Black, Butterfly Bijou DSP (retired)

Accessories: Brilliant Wings dies, Greenery embossing folder, blending brushes, dimensionals, rhinestones, crinkled seam binding ribbon

Strawberry Blossoms for Spring - Stampin' Up! Sweet Strawberry - The Paper Players 535

  Has spring sprung where you live yet? Or are you still waiting for those first spring flowers to pop out?  Either way you can have some spring flowers if you play along with the new Paper Players challenge!  Jaydee has given us the fun theme of Springtime Flowers this week!

  For some of you it might be tough to narrow down which floral stamp set you plan to use!  I didn't have nearly as many choices as I thought I did once I sat down to stamp.  But one set was the clear winner for my card; Sweet Strawberry!  You can't have late spring/early summer strawberries without getting some strawberry blossoms first!

  I had fun putting this card together and it ended up far different than what I had envisioned when I started.  

  This one starts with a Whisper White thick card base then a layer of the retired Gingham Gala DSP in Daffodil Delight.  Then I cut a stitched rectangle in Whisper White and embossed it with the Tasteful Textile embossing folder.

  On a strip of Whisper White I stamped the strawberry vine and blossoms alternating the direction to fill in most of the space.  Then I got to work with my Blends to color it in - colors listed below.  It almost looks like real DSP!  Before adhering the whole panel down on the card front I tied a length of polka dot tulle ribbon across this panel.

  The sentiment is embossed in black on Seaside Spray and then punched with the Tailored Tag punch.

  Next, I stamped, colored and punched out the larger blossoms and leaves and arranged them around the sentiment with everything popped on dimensionals.   The final touch is a few faceted gems in Seaside Spray in on corner.

  I hope you'll check out the The Paper Players Design Team samples for this challenge and then play along with us!

 Jaydee
 LeAnne
Claire
Joanne
Laurie
Anne Marie
Ann
Nancy
Debbie 

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Sweet Strawberry

Ink: Memento Black, Versamark

Blends: Seaside Spray light, Daffodil Delight light, Mango Melody dark, Pumpkin Pie light, Granny Apple Green light & dark

Paper: Whisper White thick, Whisper White,  Seaside Spray, Gingham Gala (retired)

Accessories: Tasteful Textile embossing folder, Stitched Rectangle dies, Tailored Tag punch, Strawberry punch, Small Bloom punch, black embossing powder, dimensionals, polka dot tulle ribbon, faceted gems