The Peeps Are Coming!

Happy Monday!  I was surprised with a package of Peeps yesterday morning from a friend.  Sadly, they are a weakness I have around Easter (plus Canterbury eggs, of course)!  Not only were they delicious but inspiring!  

I'm not sure if it was the sugar high, but I felt a little mojo and made another Easter card...LOL!

With my Misti and the fun SSS 'My Kind of Peep' stamp set, I put together this one layer card using Catherine Pooler Tiara ink.  I'll be linking this card up to the Live Love Card Community Challenge for March and hopefully can squeak in to the Shopping Our Stash #346 Easter Challenge.  

Thanks for stopping by ~ have a great week!

The Paper Players #386: A Sketch Challenge from Claire

Welcome back, Paper Players!  It's the last challenge for March and it's a wonderful sketch from our creative hostess, Claire.

Sketches are always a great way to get your mojo going, and this one is no different.  I used it for one of my Easter cards:

I started with a white card base and layered embossed pink cardstock using Lifestyle Crafts basket weave embossing folder.  I added a super glittery pink strip of American Crafts glitter paper.  The bunny and basket are from Cheery Lynn Designs called Spring Basket 1.  I stuffed that adorable basket with small die cut eggs out of various pastel scraps and nestled the bunny right in the middle.  I also added some sprigs of "grass" and pretty pink bows with pearls.  The sentiment was part of an Echo Park Easter epherma pack from a discount bin.

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!

We hope you'll play along this week ~ Thanks for stopping by!

  

Oh Happy Day!

Well, this doesn't happen very often!  I made a masculine birthday card for a dear friend and noticed that it fit perfectly for the newest Tic-Tac-Toe Challenge!

I used the Top Row, Across: Twine, Bold Sentiment, and Red

The background was stamped with Memento London Fog ink, using MFT's Watercolor Stripe background stamp.  I splattered some red watercolor and added the Oh Happy Day sentiment die cut from Die-Versions.  I changed out the dot on the exclamation point for a red heart with Glossy Accents and tied the red/white twine at the top.  An easy one-layer card!

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you enjoy the first "Spring" weekend!

Cards in Envy: No Patterned Paper

Hi CIE friends!  Let's make our own designer paper and play along with Cards in Envy's newest challenge using NO patterned paper (solid cardstock is ok).  Break out your stamps, stencils, sprays, watercolors, distress inks, or whatever you have and create your own unique patterned paper for your card...just make sure the card is not too lumpy or bumpy for an envy.

The background on this card was created with an Echo Park balloon stencil and a rainbow of Distress Inks and Perfect Pearls.  They are very shimmery IRL!  The white heat embossed sentiment is from Catherine Pooler.

We can't wait to see what you come up with!  Thanks so much for visiting today!  

The Paper Players #385: Nance's CAS Challenge

Hello Paper Players!  I hope you had fun celebrating St. Patrick's Day yesterday!  I didn't find a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow BUT we do have rainbows kicking off a CAS (Clean & Simple) Challenge hosted by our wonderful Nance today:

Since the theme is Clean And Simple this week, I kept to one main focal point, very minimal layers (1) and embellishments (0) and lots of open ("white") space.  I stamped the row of presents from Concord & 9th's Birthday Stacks and colored them in rainbow colors with Copics.  I then grounded the Lawn Fawn Happy Birthday border die cut over the presents. The white stitched rectangle (MFT) was mounted on a white card base. That's it...CAS and done!

Don't forget to check out the other DT members' blogs for a rainbow of inspiration:

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 playing along and making this blog challenge so much fun to be a part of.  I hope you have an awesome week and thank you for visiting!  Hugs, Annie

Pre-Spring Cleaning!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!  I thought I'd do some pre-spring cleaning of the craft desk this morning before the parade.  I also challenged myself to only use what I found on my desk to play along with a few challenges before putting things away!  

The first card is for Freshly Made Sketches:

On a Kraft card base, I layered the Distress Watercolor piece that had been embossed with a Prima Wave Stencil, watercolored with Distress Oxides, and die cut with a Wonky Rectangle (MFT).  The Adirondack chair die cut was from Stampin' Up's Seasonal Framelits in my die cuts "to be used sometime" stash.

The second card was for the current Tic-Tac-Toe Challenge:

I went with the Middle Row, Across - Watercolor, any Type of Accents, & Monogrammed.  I layered the Concord & 9th 'H' monogram stamp & die cut onto a Neenah Solar White card base that had been splattered with Distress Ink watercolor in Squeezed Lemonade. Die cut florals and enamel dots were added as accents.  H is for...Happy Easter!

The last card today was for the CASology challenge:

I saw my first bumble bee of the season yesterday, so I had to go with it!  The bumble bee is from Stampin' Up's Dragonfly dreams and I added the sentiment with my old label maker.  This will be another lunchbox note for my DGS! 

Thanks for stopping by!  I hope you're having a wonderful weekend...with or without green beer!  Happy St. Patrick's Day!!   

Beachy Birthday

Wowzer!  Was it a beautiful day at the beach today so I was totally inspired to create a beachy birthday card for Freshly Made Sketches:

I don't have a lot of Stampin' Up stamp sets, but this is absolutely one of my favorites.  I just love the sketchy, happy look and thought she was perfect for today.  I created the background with masking fluid for the white sea foam to separate the water from the sand.  I used Distress Oxide Broken China for the water and then dabbed it with a wet cloth for some variation.  The sand is Distress Oxide Vintage Photo with some beach pebbles stamped in for good measure.  I sprayed the entire card front with MFT Sheer Shimmer Spray and added some clear water droplets (Pretty Pink Posh, I think).  

I'd also like to enter the Shopping Our Stash Challenge # 344 - National Dress Day featuring a dress.  

Thanks so much for stopping by...I hope you have a great week!  

The Paper Players #384: Joanne's Color Challenge

Welcome back, Paper Players!  Spring really sprung last week!  There were so many beautiful entries and it made us all long for warmer and sunnier days.  Our wonderful hostess this week for the Color Challenge is Joanne and she wants us all to think Pink:

For me, it was perfect timing. A friend had asked me to make invites for her DIL's baby shower in April and the big reveal told us it was going to be a girl.  It was also a little bit of a first for me, making multiples of the same card which I usually do not do very often!  Once I figured out the "assembly line" technique, it was a lot of fun!

I had leftover DSP after the 30 invitations, so I made banners, raindrops for the shower "cloud," candy wrappers, water bottle wrappers, and baby rattles too!  To keep the construction a bit easier, I used the darling Ella the Elephant digi image from Pink Gem Designs and a pretty simple layout.

Please check out the other team members' blogs for some awesome "pinkness:"

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 and I hope you have a wonderful week of crafting!  Daylight Savings Time starts here today.  Although we lose an hour, that extra hour of daylight and Vitamin D at the end of the day just makes me happy!

Thank You Home Depot!

Happy Friday!  It was cold today but the sun was out and it's lookin' good for the weekend too.  I spent some time in "The Dog House" this morning hoping to play with some challenges and make an anniversary card for my son and DIL.  Their wedding was beautiful and GREEN!  Perfect for a March wedding and a few of the challenges out there this week.

I'd like to play along with:

Tic Tac Toe #38 (On Diagonal: Green, Sparkle, Happy)

The Card Concept #88 (Monochromatic Green)

And here's my card:

Special thanks to Home Depot for the Green Paint Sample Swatch that I used as the background 😊  I heat embossed the sentiment (Stamps of Life) in Ranger Gold EP on the swatch.  I die cut the Memory Box Blushing Bouquet and used a Ranger Embossing Pen on the flower centers so I could heat emboss them in gold also.  I added sparkly gold metallic thread on the bouquet and layered onto a Neenah Solar White card base.  I added sparkly gold glitter cardstock strips along each side to finish it off.  

I always make the kids a green anniversary card.  You only have to see one of my favorite pics from their wedding to know why!

Thanks for stopping by!  I hope you have a wonderful weekend and if you are looking for more GREEN fun, the Cards in Envy Challenge is still going strong.  Come play!

Tic Tac Toe Challenge #37

Happy Monday! Today I'm playing along with Tic Tac Toe Challenge #37.  I've missed the last couple and really wanted to make the deadline this time!

I went with Floral, Gold or Silver, & Sequins on the diagonal:

This card was fun to make and could have gone several different ways.  I used PTI's Mighty Bloom Die and die cut the white layer.  Then I used Distress Oxides (Picked Raspberry, Abandoned Coral, & Wild Honey on the second layer.  I also made a mask so I could use VersaMark on random petals and heat emboss with Ranger Gold EP.  After layering the negative die cut over the distressed piece, I mounted it on an Avery Elle Raspberry card base.  I popped up the gold embossed sentiment from a Ranger Letter It! stamp set and added some gold sequins.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you have a great week! 

Cards in Envy: Green Things

Hi CIE friends!  It's the first Monday in March and time for a new challenge over at Cards in Envy.  Our theme this time is Green Things.  Create any size card, any occasion, with lots of green as your main color.  Just make sure it's not too lumpy or bumpy and will fit comfortably in an envy 😊  

For my DT card, I went with a group of green monsters for a card for my DGS:

I just love these little monsters from My Favorite Things!  I used various green inks from Catherine Pooler and the MFT coordinating dies to cut them out.  The sky was stenciled with MFT's cloud stencil and Tumbled Glass Distress Ink.  The sentiment (also from MFT) was white heat embossed on a black cardstock scrap.  I added a glossy red heart and some details with a white gel pen to finish the card.  

We hope you'll play along and show us your green!  The challenge will end on Sunday, March 18th.  Thanks so much for stopping by!  

CASology #289: Fit

Hello!  A quick card for the CASology Challenge:

When I thought of FIT for the cue, my mind went to clothes.  And if you're an Easter Bunny, I guess it goes to tails??

This stamp set (Taylored Expressions "If Bunnies Could Talk") made me laugh out loud in the craft store this weekend, so of course, I had to get it!  Thanks for stopping by and I hope you have a great week!

The Paper Players #383: A Theme Challenge from Jaydee

Welcome back, Paper Players!  It's March and Spring is coming!  Our talented Jaydee has the perfect theme to get you in the mood too!

At first I thought about just flowers but then my mind quickly went to Easter too - another fun holiday I love making cards for!

The cute bunny peeking out of the flower basket is a digi from Dee Dee's Digis that I found on my computer but don't ever remember using it.  I colored it first with Tombow Markers and then added shading with Prismacolor Pencils.  My poor eyes have a little bit of trouble with teeny tiny areas to color, so pencils with sharp points help me out there.  The card base was embossed with a Cuttlebug plaid embossing folder and the DSP was in my scrap bin.  The sentiment on the front is from The Stamps of Life.  ✓Check - one Easter card done!

For some wonderful springtime inspiration, check out the 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 visiting today ~ Have a wonderful week!