Freshly Made Sketches #393

Happy Summer!  I played a bit this morning to make a card for the latest Freshly Made Sketches challenge:

I was cleaning out older rubber stamps for a donation and found one that I don't remember ever using! It's called 'Ranunculus Field' by Stampendous and I LOVE it.  Rather than going in the donation box, I inked it up in black and heat embossed.  Instead of coloring with Copics or watercolors, I inked up the solid circles from Lawn Fawn's 'Let's Bokeh' stamp set to loosely add color to the flowers.  I used Catherine Pooler inks in Coral Cabana, Samba, and Tutti Frutti.  I also used the Tutti Frutti ink pad direct to paper for matching cardstock. The black/white strip is a MFT DSP scrap and the white heat embossed sentiment is from MFT's 'Greetings & Salutations' stamp set.  I'm definitely keeping that rubber stamp!

Thanks for stopping by ~ I hope you're having a great first weekend of the summer!

Hugs,
Annie

The Paper Players #394: A CAS Challenge from Laurie

Greetings Paper Players!  Our Paper Players Challenge this Sunday is hosted by the lovely Laurie and it is a Clean and Simple (CAS) one featuring "Blooms":

I've had this Dahlia line art stamp from Impress for quite a while and thought it would be perfect for this challenge.  I stamped it with Catherine Pooler's Party Dress ink and debated about coloring it completely.  I decided to leave well enough alone because the line art is so pretty on it's own.  I did add some Copic shading around the petals' edges.  I used Nuvo drops for the center.  The sentiment die cut is from Concord & 9th's Painted Rose set, cut in black cardstock.  Finally, I added some Pretty Pink Posh Jewels for a little bling.

Please check out what's blooming on the other DT members' blogs for some awesome 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).

Thank so much for visiting, have fun, keep it CAS, and enjoy your week!

The Paper Players #364: Theme Challenge from Sandy

Hello Paper Players and welcome back for another fun challenge!  This week, Super Star Sandy has come up with an Autumn Floral theme for us to play with:

I made a card base from embossed woodgrain cardstock (Ellen Hutson) and then swiped some Memento Desert Sand ink on the front to give it a bit of a worn look.  The wreath is wrapped postal twine with some gold metallic thread woven in.  The foliage was die cut (Lawn Fawn Stitched Leaves & Memory Box Chloe Stem) from metallic copper cardstock.  The flowers were paper stickers from Martha Stewart that I colored with Copic markers and dotted the centers with Nuvo Golden Sunset Glitter Drops. The sentiment from Sunny Studio's Autumn Greetings was stamped on kraft and heat embossed with Ranger gold EP.  To finish it off, I sprinkled some Pretty Pink Posh metallic gold confetti around the wreath. 

For more inspiration, please check out the beautiful Autumn creations from the rest of the DT and leave them some love:

The Paper Players Design Team

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

We can't wait to see what you link up!  Have a great week and hopefully you'll have some crafty time to play along!

The Paper Players #357: Sandy's Color Challenge

Happy Sunday and welcome back for another Paper Players Challenge!  This week is our Color Challenge week and Sandy has picked a trio of colors that are absolutely beautiful together:

I'm usually not much of a flower girl in my cardmaking.  But, when I saw this gorgeous color combo, I knew that's what I wanted to do:

I started with the "vase" which is actually a very old clay pot die from Spellbinders.  I stamped it with Indigo Blu's Crackleglaze background stamp, inked up the edges, and added a Stamps of Life tiny tag with white satin twine. 

The flowers are from SU's Bunch of Blossoms stamp set, which I stamped off once for the first layer and then stamped full strength for the second layer.  The petals were punched out with the coordinating punch and I built the flowers on die cut circles.  Memory Box leaf dies and enamel dots completed the bouquet.

Before filling the vase, I splattered some ink and sponged a shadow base.  The flowers were popped up with foam tape and the stitched rectangle was mounted on a Bermuda Bay card base.

We hope you'll play along and can't wait to see your colorful projects.  For awesome inspiration, please visit the DT's blogs and leave them some love :)

The Paper Players Design Team

• Claire Broadwater
• Joanne James 
• Jaydee
• Laurie Schmidt
• LeAnne Pugliese
• Nance Leedy
• Sandy Mathis 
• Deanne K
• Jan Clothier

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 ~ Have a wonderful week!  

I Wish...

Hello friends!  The weather has been gorgeous here (with a capital G) and it's been super busy with family visits.   Everyone has returned home and I was able to play in The Doghouse for a bit this morning to join in a couple of challenges:

• CASology Week 257:  Wish

• Shopping our Stash Challenge #311:  CAS for Simplicity Day

The cue from CASology was perfect!  My sweet grandson spent the week here and our adventures included treasure hunting on the beach for wishing rocks.  He went home with 30 happy wishes!  I don't have a "rock" stamp and can't draw worth a darn, so I went with the fond memory of blowing spent dandelion flowers (aka puff balls) as a child and making wishes :)

The masked off background was inked with Distress Oxide Salty Ocean and Peacock Feathers on an Ultra Smooth White card base from Catherine Pooler.  I debated about the spritzing with water thing and decided not to being afraid the cardstock would warp!  I used an old Memory Box stamp of Meadow Flowers, masked off much of it, and stamped what I hope looks like those fluffy dandelion tops.  The dandelion seeds stamp that float off the puff ball is from Great Impressions.  Finally, the "wishing" sentiment is from Stampin' Up that I picked up at a garage sale many years ago.

Thanks so much for stopping by!  I hope you have a wonderful weekend...I'm going to go blow on a dandelion and wish that my grandson comes back for a visit very soon!   

Cards in Envy: Fantasy & Flowers

Welcome back, CIE friends, for a new challenge!  Can you believe its already April?  Over at Cards in Envy this time around we are looking for cards with lots of flowers and a fantasy character (fairies, unicorns, etc.).  Your card can be for any occasion, any size, but must be flat enough to fit in an envy.

Here's what I came up with for a little inspiration:

It's still raining like crazy around here so I had to go with it!  Here's the stuff I used:

Cardstock - Memory Box, Canson Watercolor

Stamps - Rubbernecker Wild Garden Border, Hero Arts sentiment

Inks - VersaMark, Distress (Wilted Violet, Salty Ocean, Lucky Clover)

Die - Poppystamps Dancing Faerie

Other - MFT Sheer Shimmer, Spectrum Noir Shimmer Pen, Ranger EP

Come play with us!  If you can, stop by to visit the other very talented DT members' blogs for more inspiration. You won't be disappointed!  Thanks for stopping by 😊 

Thorny Rose

Hello ~ thanks for stopping by!  My card today is for the latest Paper Players Challenge #328:

I've had the Thorny Rose stamp (Rubbernecker) in my stash for a while.  I had a lot of fun watercoloring the image with Distress Inks (on Distress WC cardstock), added the Freehand frame, some splatters & Doodlebug Sprinkles.  The sentiment is from WPlus9's Hand Lettered Thanks set.

Thanks again for visiting ~ I hope you're having a good week!

Words 2 Craft By: April Suns and April Shadows

This month, the W2CB Challenge theme is April Suns and April Shadows based on this quote:

Our spring has come at last with the soft laughter of April suns

and shadow of April showers.  

~ Byron Caldwell Smith

This describes our spring weather perfectly.  Last week we had 80 degree temperatures; this week the shadows are back!

For my I-Teamer card, I wanted to focus on the wonders of the season when the flowers are springing up and I get to replace my worn out gardening gloves to go play in the dirt. 

I used the gorgeous Bold Blooms die set by Julie Ebersole over at Ellen Hutson and die cut red and green colored acetate.  The sentiment is from The Stamps of Life and I added some clear Pretty Pink Posh Droplets for a little bit of "rain." 

We look forward to seeing your interpretation...please come play with us!  Thanks for stopping by :)

Cards in Envy - Flowers or Fantasy Challenge

Happy April!  The Cards in Envy Challenge this time around is to create a card (flat enough to mail in an envy) featuring flowers and/or fantasy characters.

I went with a black and white pallete so I added a little partial die cutting to the white embossed border with a matching die for a little more interest.  The white heat embossed flowers are from The Stamps of Life.  I finished it off with a little ribbon, enamel dots, and simple sentiment, also from The Stamps of Life.

Whether flowers or fantasy, we hope you'll play along with us!  Thanks for stopping by :)  

Shopping Our Stash #237: Dreaming of Something Warm

Last day to enter but I made it!  The latest SOS Challenge was to dream of something warm to help us forget the cold weather.  We haven't had much snow at all but yes, it's been very cold and wet.  I welcomed the chance to warm up a bit!

I went with an island theme with a happy sentiment and tropical flowers.  I'm hoping that an island vacay is sometime in my future :)

For now, I'm going to stand by the fireplace...thanks so much for stopping by!

Here's the stuff I used:

Cardstock:  Memory Box
Stamp(s):  Rubber Stamp Tapestry "Island Beauty", My Favorite Things "Encouraging Words"
Inks:  Memento Bahama Blue, Tangelo, Cantalope, Dandelion, Pear Tart and VersaFine Onyx Black
Other:  White Pearl Pen for small flower centers