The Paper Players #378: A Sketch Challenge from Nance

Welcome back for another fun challenge from The Paper Players!  Last week the gallery was filled to the brim with crafty goodness for our CAS challenge, so we hope you'll play along this week with our talented Nance's Sketch:

It's such a classic sketch and a great jumping off point for any card, any occasion.  I'm still playing with Valentines, so here you go:

It started with an old rubber sentiment stamp from Great Impressions and took off from there.  Once I saw the stamp, I knew I had to use MFT's "Meant to Bee" stamps and dies, along with their great Honeycomb background stamp.  I did simple Copic coloring on the images and layered everything on a Hero Arts black notecard (white inside).  I sparkled up the bees wings with Wink of Stella and it was ready to go.

Buzz by the other DT members' blogs and check out their wonderful projects:

The Paper Players Design Team

• Claire
• Joanne 
• Jaydee
• Laurie
• LeAnne
• Nance
• Sandy
• Elizabeth 
• Jan

And just a few rules:

1. Create a new paper project.
2. Upload your project to your blog with a link back to The Paper Players.
3. Provide a direct link to your blog post for your challenge entry.
4. Please link your card to no more than FOUR challenges (including ours).
5. HAVE FUN! 

Thanks for stopping by today ~ I hope you have a wonderful week and come play with us!

CASology and FMS #321

Hi there!  I have a couple of quick cards for two of my favorite challenges today.

The first one is for CASology:

I kept thinking about the tortoise and the hare when I saw the cue word "Late."  I found a very old turtle image that I had to use and paired it with a sentiment from The Stamps of Life.

I made a square notecard out of Strathmore watercolor card and did simple watercoloring with my Distress Inks.  Hopefully I won't miss anyone's birthday, but I'm ready if I do!

The second card is for Freshly Made Sketches #321 by Jen B.

And, yep, I'm still making Valentines!  I need about 10 more for the Assisted Living Facility that took such good care of my Dad and I'm almost there!

I stencilled a little checkerboard pattern with Spun Sugar Distress Ink, die cut some stitched hearts (Memory Box) out of Doodlebug Designs DSP, white heat embossed the Hero Arts sentiment, and finished it off with tiny enamel hearts (also Doodlebug Designs).  I like how it came out...a great sketch to play with!

Thanks for stopping by ~ I hope you're enjoying the weekend!  

Tic Tac Toe Challenge #32

Hi there!  Another Valentines card today that I'd like to link up to the following challenges:

Live Love Cards Community Challenge - Love

Tic Tac Toe Challenge #32 - Bottom row across: Sparkle (washi), Love (die cut), Free

I stamped the pink hearts down the left on white cardstock.  Then I stamped the dotted border and striped border and added a thin strip of silver glittery washi tape.  I die cut the 'love' die and finished it off with silver confetti sequins.  The white layer was added to a steel gray card base.  Here's a list of the products I used:

Cardstock - Neenah Solar White, MFT Steel Gray, Bazzill Licorice

Ink - Catherine Pooler Be Mine (pink) and Black Jack (dark gray)

Die - Catherine Pooler Love Die

Stamps - Impress Brushed Heart, Stampabilities Scribble Heart, Catherine Pooler borders

Other - Your Washi silver glitter tape, Pretty Pink Posh silver confetti

Thanks for stopping by today!  I hope you're having a great week!

I Need to See a Butterfly

Hi there!  One more card today to play along with Freshly Made Sketches latest challenge:

We have had serious stormy weather here on the coast and it's been so rainy and gray that I needed to see a butterfly...even if it's the middle of winter!

I used Distress Inks (Peacock Feathers and Salty Ocean) on Tim Holtz watercolor paper with lots of spritzing and splattering.  Then layered it onto a Neenah Solar White card base.  The butterfly was also watercolored with Distress Inks and then die cut (Paper Artist).  The die comes with a shadow that I die cut out of vellum.  The white heat embossed sentiment is from MFT's You Give Me Butterflies stamp set.  Now I'm happy...there's some color in the day!

Thanks for visiting ~ have a great week!

Seriously...Thanks!

Happy Sunday!  A quick card to play along over at Shopping Our Stash where they are getting sentimental and looking for sentiments to be the focal point.

On a Neenah Solar White card base I layered some grid paper that I stamped with an old great BIG wooden background stamp from Impress.  The sentiment from Concord & 9th was heat embossed with Ranger white detail EP.  I added a little binder clip (also Concord & 9th) and tied with black/white baker's twine.  I was going for a masculine thank you card so I hope he doesn't mind the twine bow too much!

Thanks for stopping by and there's still plenty of time to play along with Cards in Envy's Tuxedo Challenge...any theme will work for this black & white card challenge.  Have a great week!

The Paper Players #377: CAS Challenge from Joanne

Hello PP Friends!  It's Sunday and time for another Paper Players Challenge! 

Our awesome Joanne is the hostess this week and she's looking for a Clean and Simple project with a Love Notes theme.   Just in time for Valentine's Day!

  
For my DT card, I started by blending Distress Oxide Worn Lipstick on Neenah Solar White and spritzed with a little water.  I then stenciled sun rays (MFT) on the top third with Versmark and clear heat embossed.  I die cut a small vellum envelope (Savvy) and stamped it with XOXO's (Stampabilities).  Then I die cut a whole bunch of little red hearts (SSS Mini Heart Set) and sent them 'flying' out of the envelope for my Love Notes.

We hope you can find some crafty time to play along this week and show us some love.  For some "lovely" inspiration, please visit the other DT's blogs:

The Paper Players Design Team

• Claire
• Joanne 
• Jaydee
• Laurie
• LeAnne
• Nance
• Sandy
• Elizabeth 
• Jan

And just a few rules:

1. Create a new paper project.
2. Upload your project to your blog with a link back to The Paper Players.
3. Provide a direct link to your blog post for your challenge entry.
4. Please link your card to no more than FOUR challenges (including ours).
5. HAVE FUN! 

Thanks for stopping by today ~ I hope you have a wonderful week!

Heart Sprinkles

Hello!  Another big coastal storm is on its way, so before I lose power (fingers crossed that doesn't happen) I made a Valentines card for the latest Tic-Tac-Toe Challenge:

I went with the first row down: Pink, Doily, Sequins

Here are the products I used:
Cardstock - Neenah Solar White, Vellum, Bristol, American Crafts Silver Glitter Paper.
Ink(s) - Distress Oxide Picked Raspberry, VersaFine Black, VersaMark.
Stamps - MFT Donuts & Sprinkles (sentiment).
Die(s) - Mama Elephant Scalloped Rectangle, Lifestyle Crafts Dainty Doily, Concord & 9th Heart.
Other - Memory Box Heart Confetti Stencil, Ranger White Detail Embossing Powder, Imagine Crafts Sheer Shimmer Spritz, Silver Confetti Sequins, thin silver Washi Tape.

Thanks so much for stopping by ~ time to batten down the hatches! Here's what it looked like 2 days ago with the last storm.  Photo courtesy of Kathy Klee...I DID NOT go down there 😨 

Cards in Envy: Tuxedo

Happy Monday and welcome back for another Cards in Envy Challenge.  Sandy has come up with a Tuxedo theme and that means Black and White cards with no other colors.  Make sure your card is flat enough to fit in an envy and play along!

I went with a pretty simple card using the bird die from Concord & 9th.  Sadly, I did emboss the top white half with a cloud embossing folder but it's not showing up in this pic :(  I've already mailed the card so wasn't able to take another photo!  You'll just have to trust me!

We hope you'll play along and use any theme in black & white ~ birthday, hello, thank you, sympathy, etc.  Your choice!

Thanks so much for stopping by today! 

The Paper Players #376: A Color Challenge from Jaydee

Welcome back, PP Friends!  It's time for another fun challenge over at The Paper Players.  The punny valentines last week were amazing and we had so much fun checking them all out!  They all brought big smiles to my face!  

This week is our Color Challenge and Jaydee has picked a colorful combo:

I added light blue ink as my fourth color:

Using a Tranquil Tide card base, I layered a stamped panel with balloons from Altenew's Birthday Greetings and Winnie & Walter's Big Bang Confetti stamp sets.  The Celebrate die is one of my faves from MFT, die cut from Lemon Lime Twist cardstock.  I drew some balloon strings and added Nuvo Glitter Drops for a bit of sparkle.

We can't wait to see what you come up with using Jaydee's colorful palette!  For inspiration, make sure you check out the rest of the DT's creations:


The Paper Players Design Team

• Claire
• Joanne 
• Jaydee
• Laurie
• LeAnne
• Nance
• Sandy
• Elizabeth 
• Jan

And just a few rules:

1. Create a new paper project.
2. Upload your project to your blog with a link back to The Paper Players.
3. Provide a direct link to your blog post for your challenge entry.
4. Please link your card to no more than FOUR challenges (including ours).
5. HAVE FUN! 

Thanks for stopping by today ~ Have a wonderful week!!

H is for Hugs

Happy Friday!  A quick card today for the latest CASology challenge:

I was looking at a few of the new Monogram stamps from Concord & 9th that I had ordered to make some notecard sets for birthday presents.  The H stamp comes with the sentiment H is for Hello so I went hunting for 'hugs' and found one on an old Stamps of Life set.  You could also substitute Hope, Happy, or any number of words.  I wasn't even thinking of how versatile the monograms could be when I bought them...woo hoo!  

Thanks for stopping by ~ Have a wonderful weekend!

A Three-fer to start the New Year!

Hi! If you're looking for the new Paper Players Challenge, click <HERE>

Happy New Year!  The holidays are finally boxed up and I was itching to play along with some challenges.  It has been a couple of weeks away from the ink and paper.  Since there's three cards here, I'll try to make it a short post 😉.

First up is CASology's latest cue word - Encourage

I make school lunchbox notes for my DGS and this is one of my faves from Concord & 9th's Above Average stamp set.  He always gets 5 gold stars from Grandma!

The second card is for the Just Us Girls Challenge.  I hope to play a lot more this year!

LOVE is the word...this card reminds me of the wild and colorful 70's and I think that's all I'll say about that!  I do LOVE Stampin Up's Marbled Background stamp, Catherine Pooler's ink colors and all things Concord & 9th like these Love You So dies.

The third and last card for today was inspired by the latest challenge over at Tic-Tac-Toe:

I was inspired by the photo, especially the blue cups with hot cocoa and marshmallows, so I went with the diagonal - Stamping, Free, & Photo Inspiration.

My poor little fun foam marshmallows...there were three of them but one dropped on the floor and my Sydney (the Schnauzer) gobbled it up.  I'm sure it won't be the last time that happens!  The stamped sentiment and die cuts are from The Stamps of Life's "hotchocolate2stamp" set.  

Thanks for visiting today!  Here's hoping that 2018 is a very crafty year for all!

The Paper Players #375: A Theme Challenge from Sandy

Happy New Year, Paper Players!  I'm so excited to have been asked to stay on as a guest designer for another six months!  This is an awesome challenge blog with such kind and talented ladies...I'm honored and humbled.  I'd also like to welcome Elizabeth Stewart to the team as a new guest designer...so glad you're here!

So, today kicks off The Paper Players' first challenge of 2018 and Sandy, our hostess with the mostess, has chosen a punny theme for Valentine's Day:

For my card, I die cut the Hero Arts' Reef Border out of Neenah Solar White cardstock and layered it over a piece of watercolor paper that was blended with Distress Peacock Feathers and liberally splattered with water.  The cute octopus is from Lawn Fawn's "Octopi My Heart" stamp and die set that I colored with Copics and then tucked in a sparkly heart. A few dots from a white gel pen and clear Pretty Pink Posh drops finished off my Valentine card.

We hope you'll play along with our Punny Valentine theme this week!  Check out the rest of the DT for some inspiration that will make you smile:

The Paper Players Design Team

• Claire
• Joanne 
• Jaydee
• Laurie
• LeAnne
• Nance
• Sandy
• Elizabeth 
• Jan

And just a few rules:

1. Create a new paper project.
2. Upload your project to your blog with a link back to The Paper Players.
3. Provide a direct link to your blog post for your challenge entry.
4. Please link your card to no more than FOUR challenges (including ours).
5. HAVE FUN! 

Thanks for visiting today!  Cheers and Happy New Year!!

Cards in Envy: Winter Chills

Happy New Year, CIE Friends!  Over at Cards in Envy we're kicking off 2018 with a "Winter Chills" theme.  Make a card, any size, but flat enough to fit in an envy that has anything winter: snowflakes, snowmen, mittens, hats, scarves, snowbirds...you get the chilly picture!

My DT card is one of my holiday thank you cards:

The mitten from Stampin' Up's Smitten Mitten set is on an Action Wobbler so the mitten waves when it pops out of the envelope but lays flat for mailing.  I used various snowflake stamps and Catherine Pooler inks on a Neenah Solar White layer, die cut a stitched rectangle (MFT), and mounted on a SU Bermuda Bay card base.  I added some silver dots with a Sharpie Metallic Pen and a simple Thanks sentiment from The Stamps of Life.  I left the inside blank so I could write a personalized message.

We hope you'll play along with us!  This challenge will close on Sunday, January 14th.  

Wishing you health, happiness, and lots of crafty time in the new year!