Thankful Sunflowers

Hi friends! It's Sunday and that means time for a new challenge at The Paper Players! This week the amazing Jaydee is our hostess with an Autumnal color challenge.

Not surprisingly, the colors made me think of flowers :) Sunflowers, in particular, and I chose this digital stamp set from Power Poppy. I didn't have just the right Copic markers to match the Cajun Craze color in the challenge, but a quick run to Hobby Lobby solved that. I am SO excited that they opened up a new store just a few miles from my house. I'd printed this image out on white card stock, but added a Vanilla shadow around the entire bouquet, which you can see a little better in the close up. 

I'm also playing along with the Power and Spark Challenge at Power Poppy, which is to celebrate the season of your birthday month. It just so happens that my birthday is this month, and sunflowers certainly are in season right now. At The Card Concept, the challenge this month is Sunflowers.

Stamp Sets: Sunshine of my Life (Power Poppy), Thankful (Ellen Hutson)
Card Stock: Solar White (Neenah)
Patterned Paper: Thankful (Authentique)
Ink Pads: Tuxedo Black (Memento)
Markers: Copic
Tools: Big Shot, Stitched Rectangle Dies (Lawn Fawn)
Accessories: Enamel Dots (Simple Stories)

Thanks so much for stopping by! Please leave a comment, and then head over to visit the rest of the Design Team at The Paper Players. We hope you'll play along with our challenge this week, too! 

Inky hugs :)

Wilderness Birthday

Hi everyone! It's time for a new challenge at Seize the Birthday. This time around there are no "Toppings", so it's "Anything Goes Birthday". As long as you make a birthday card, you are good to go! 

There are a lot of men in my family, so when it's Anything Goes at STB, I usually steer towards a masculine card. This time around was no exception, and this card is going to one of my sons who lives in the Ozark Mountains. 

I've never used this particular image before, but was inspired by a few examples I saw on Pinterest. First, I created a background with some masking and sponging. Then I stamped the elk image. This is not a silhouette stamp; I colored it in with black marker after stamping. I will admit that this is nothing fancy, but it's always fun to try to try a new technique and stretch your supplies. 

Stamp Sets: The Wilderness Awaits, Teeny Tiny Wishes 

Card Stock: Whisper White, Basic Black, Crumb Cake

Pattered Paper: Quilted Christmas

Ink Pads: Pool Party, Pacific Point, Daffodil Delight, Wild Wasabi; Tuxedo Black (Memento): Versamark

Markers: Tuxedo Black (Memento)

Tools: Circle Punch, Heat Tool, Sponges

Accessories: White EP 

(all SU unless otherwise indicated)

I'm so glad you paid me a visit today! If you have a moment please leave a comment, then visit the rest of the wonderful Design Team at Seize the Birthday. We'd love for you to play along, too!

Inky hugs :)

Leaves of Sympathy

Hi friends! I recently attended a crafty garage sale, which consisted of 17 (I think) different sellers. It was huge, and boy was it fun! Needless to say, I was a bad girl... One of my purchases was this vintage stamp set from Stampin' Up. I was attracted to the pretty fern leaf. My original plan was to watercolor it, but I ended up just doing a watercolor wash for the background for a more abstract look. Since I was using such an old set, I was inspired to use up some other SU oldie-but-goodies.

My inspiration was this week's challenge at Just Us Girls, Sympathy. Thankfully I don't need this card just yet, but it's one of those cards that's good to have on hand.

Stamp Sets: Growing Green, Teeny Tiny Wishes (Stampin' Up)

Card Stock: Very Vanilla, Early Espresso

Patterned Paper: Spice Cake

Ink Pads: Old Olive, Early Espresso

Tools: Aqua Painter, Corner Punch

Accessories: Neutrals Candy Dots

(All Stampin' Up)

Thanks for visiting! 

Autumn Leaves & Berries

Hi friends! It's Sunday and that means time for a new challenge at The Paper Players! This week I have the pleasure and honor of being your hostess with a theme challenge: Leaves and Trees. Any kind of leaf or tree is welcome! 

I wanted to create some autumnal leaves, and chose this Berry Kissed stamp from Penny Black. I bought a few of their "brushstroke" style stamps about a year ago, but this is the first time any of them is seeing ink. It was definitely a learning curve for me, and the first two tries wound up in the trash. The third time and a few Youtube videos later, I decided I needed to me more patient and not so eager to use the trash pail. 

To create it, I put the stamp in my Misti and repeatedly inked the leaves with Memento markers. I did the berries first to be sure of their placement (my first mistake). A few times I spritzed the stamp with water, alowing the paper to dry between stampings. Sometimes I used a water brush directly on the paper, and other times I stamped dry. After I was satisfied with the colors, I stamped the last layer with Versamark ink and heat embossed with clear embossing powder. This gave the leaves a nice shine, and allowed me to watercolor the background without the leaf image bleeding. So as you can see this all took some time, but I'm really happy with the end result. 

I thought my card would also work well for the challenge at CAS Watercolor: Orange, Green and Brown. Though my process wasn't exactly simple, I think it's clean enough as it is a one layer card. At Uniko there is a lovely inspiration photo, with the optional twist of Thanks. This isn't a Uniko stamp, but maybe I'll win one! 

Stamp Sets: Berry Kissed (Penny Black), Sheltering Tree (Stampin' Up)
Card Stock: Multi Media (Blick)
Ink Pads: Versamark, Tumbled Glass Distress Ink (Ranger), Tuxedo Black (Memento)
Markers: Memento
Tools: Misti, Heat Tool, Paintbrushes 
Accessories: Clear Embossing Powder (Simon Says Stamp)

Thanks so much for stopping by! Please leave a comment, and then head over to visit the rest of the Design Team at The Paper Players. I hope you'll play along with my challenge this week, too! 

The Paper Players Design Team

Jaydee

LeAnne Pugliese

Sandy Mathis

Claire Broadwater

Joanne James

Laurie Schmidt

Anne Marie Hile

Ann Schach

Annie Abrahamson

Jan Clothier

Elizabeth Stewart

Inky hugs :)

Pumpkin Thanks

Hi friends! It's Sunday and that means time for a new challenge at The Paper Players. This  month there are five Sundays, and when that happens we have a Tic-Tac-Toe challenge. LeAnne is our hostess, and she came up with a good one! I went top to bottom on the middle row: Patterned Paper, Pumpkin, and Orange/ Rust.

I used a digital image from Power Poppy, and love this collection of pumpkins and gourds and in a wheelbarrow. It's so autumnal and country! I laid a base coat of color with Copic markers, and then added some detail with colored pencils. This is such a fun image to color. I thought I'd add to the country feel with some plaid paper and linen thread. 

I thought this card also worked well for the Creative Confetti Challenge at Power Poppy: Pumpkin Spice! 

Stamp Sets: Fall Haul Digi (Power Poppy), Good Greetings (Stampin' Up)
Card Stock: Very Vanilla, Baked Brown Sugar, Pumpkin Pie (Stampin' Up)
Patterned Paper: Perfectly Plaid Fall (Lawn Fawn)
Ink Pads: Tuxedo Black (Memento)
Markers: Copic
Accessories: Colored Pencils (Prismacolor), Linen Thread (Stampin' Up)

Thanks so much for stopping by! Please leave a comment, and then head over to visit the rest of the Design Team at The Paper Players. We hope you'll play along with our challenge this week, too! 

The Paper Players Design Team

Jaydee

LeAnne Pugliese

Sandy Mathis

Claire Broadwater

Joanne James

Laurie Schmidt

Anne Marie Hile

Ann Schach

Annie Abrahamson

Jan Clothier

Elizabeth Stewart

Inky hugs :)

Unforgettable Birthday

Hi everyone! It's time for a new challenge at Seize the Birthday! 

This time around the "Toppings" options is "Travel". However, you can also chose to do an Anything Goes birthday card, the choice is yours!

This was a fun challenge! If you haven't already, please check out the cards from my teamies. We've got trains, planes, automobiles and more! I had a couple of stamps that would have worked for this theme, but I was inspired to use this cute little car from Lawn Fawn. I visualized the guest of honor coming home from a party, with balloons and presents spilling from the car. That would be an unforgettable day, don't you think? My card is really simple, though originally I'd planned on a lot of other elements. Everything seemed to be detracting from the images, so I just kept removing things until I was left with a CAS card.

I'm also playing along with the Lawnfawnatics Challenge, which is Something Old- Something New. My older products are my Stitched Rectangle dies (use those things to death), and the little balloon from the So Much to Say stamp set. Though not brand new but new to me, is the sentiment from the Elphie Selfie stamp set. At the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge, it's Anything Goes! 

Stamp Sets: Home for the Holidays, Elphie Selfie, So Much to Say (Lawn Fawn)

Card Stock: Solar White (Neenah), Basic Black (Stampin' Up)

Ink Pads: Tuxedo Black (Memento)

Markers: Copic

Tools: Big Shot, Home for the Holidays Dies, Stitched Rectangle Dies, Stitched Hillside Border Dies (Lawn Fawn)

I'm so glad you paid me a visit today! If you have a moment please leave a comment, then visit the rest of the wonderful Design Team at Seize the Birthday. We'd love for you to play along, too!

Inky hugs :)

PP411 Jaydee's Sketch

Hi friends! It's Sunday and that means time for a new challenge at The Paper Players. This week the wonderful Jaydee is our hostess with a sketch challenge. I love the simple lines of her sketch; they leave so much room for interpretation.

I followed the sketch pretty closely, and took this opportunity to make a couple of masculine birthday cards which I was in need of. There are lots of birthdays in my family in September and October (one of them mine). I used some Stampin' Up oldie-but-goodies, and was inspired by this card by Sheri Gilson. I loved the contrast of the modern chevron paper with the organic stamped images. I continued the circle element with my sentiment and a few enamel dots. It's nothing fancy, but I think it all works well together for a guy-card. 

Stamp Sets: Wetlands, Uncharted Territory, Petite Pairs
Card Stock: Very Vanilla, Basic Black
Patterned Paper: Modern Medley
Ink Pads: Tuxedo Black (Memento), Versamark
Tools: Big Shot, Heat Tool, Circle Punch and Dies
Accessories: White Embossing Powder
(all Stampin' Up unless otherwise noted)

Thanks so much for stopping by! Please leave a comment, and then head over to visit the rest of the Design Team at The Paper Players. We hope you'll play along with our challenge this week, too! 

The Paper Players Design Team

Jaydee

LeAnne Pugliese

Sandy Mathis

Claire Broadwater

Joanne James

Laurie Schmidt

Anne Marie Hile

Ann Schach

Annie Abrahamson

Jan Clothier

Elizabeth Stewart

Inky hugs :)