Toucan Hello PP398

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 clean and simple challenge: Birds.

Toucan Party is currently my favorite bird set. I love these colorful creatures, and they are so much fun to color. I wouldn't normally use patterned paper for a CAS card, but in very small doses I hope its ok, and I tried to balance it out with plenty of white space. The simple little greeting is from a set by Technique Tuesday.

I haven't been able to color every single day for the 30 Day Coloring Challenge, but I'm trying. Some nights I just can't get up off the couch.... I'm sure you all can relate!

Stamp Sets: Toucan Party (Newtons Nook), Rhododendron (Technique Tuesday)
Card Stock: Solar White (Neenah)
Patterned Paper: Summer Fun (Echo Park)
Ink Pads: Tuxedo Black (Memento), Tumbled Glass Distress Ink (Ranger)
Markers: Copic
Tools: Big Shot, Toucan Party Dies (Newtons Nook)

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 :)

Like You More

Greetings! My wedding anniversary was yesterday, and this is the card I made for hubby. As soon as I'd seen this stamp set with this slightly snarky message, I knew it was perfect. My DH has a sarcastic sense of humor, and he did get a kick out of it. I wanted the focus to be on the sentiment, so I kept the rest of the card simple. I sponged my ombre background with a stencil, then popped up part of it for a little added interest.

The theme at the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge is Wedding/ Anniversary; how convenient! I'm also playing along with the 30 Day Coloring Challenge, and my "coloring" today was done with the stencil and a sponge dauber, a fun way to color! 

Stamp Sets: Playful Messages (Simon Says Stamp)

Card Stock: Solar White (Neenah), Lost Lagoon (Stampin' Up)

Ink Pads: Evergreen Bough Distress Ink (Ranger), Versamark

Tools: Big Shot, Heat Tool, Stitched Rectangle Dies (Simon Says Stamp), Nesting Rectangle Dies (Hero Arts), Bold Paisley Stencil (My Favorite Things)

Accessories: Enamel Dots (Simple Stories), White Embossing Powder (Simon Says Stamp)

Thanks for visiting! 

Fun in the Sun Beachy Birthday

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

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

For someone who has lived on an island her whole life and loves the beach, I have a serious lack of anything beach related when it comes to stamps. As a matter of fact, this challenge sent me on a shopping trip. It was a necessary purchase though, don't you think? Left to my own devices, all my stamps would be flowers :) I stamped and colored my little PI girl with Copic's. As the set doesn't come with a birthday sentiment, I pieced together my own using a few different sets. 

It's day 5 of the 30 Day Coloring Challenge, and I'm still a-coloring! 

Stamp Sets: Fun in the Sun (My Favorite Things)

Card Stock: Solar White (Neenah), Surf Blue (Simon Says Stamp)

Patterned Paper: Sunkissed (Doodlebug)

Ink Pads: Tuxedo Black (Memento)

Markers: Copic

Tools: Big Shot, Fun in the Sun Dies (My Favorite Things), Circle Dies (Sizzix)

Accessories: Enamel Dots (Simple Stories)

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 :)

Beautiful Inside & Out

Hi, friends! I've got a bit of a photo heavy post today. The card I have to share was inspired by two challenges, and a new set of watercolors. I used the Hello Lovely stamp set from Concord & 9th, and heat embossed the floral images onto watercolor paper. 

For Mother's Day, my son gifted me with this gorgeous set of Kuretake Gansai Tambi watercolors. Actually, it was supposed to be a Christmas gift but apparently they took quite a while to ship from Japan! Even the box is gorgeous, with a green linen finish and gold embossing. 

Here's what they look like inside, clean and untouched, but I'm about to fix that! I love that the pans are removable. 

The inside of the lid is designed with a place to sample each color and see what they look like on paper. The colors are so rich and highly pigmented that you need very little. 

Back to the card - I used some clear blocks for my palette, and had fun trying out my watercolors for the first time to make a card. I built the colors up gradually, which is something I love about watercoloring. I have a lot to learn though, and I see a lot of YouTube videos in my future! 

As it is sometimes hard to stamp a crisp image onto watercolor paper, I used my Misti so I could stamp the sentiment twice. 

Here are the challenges that inspired me. At the 30 Day Coloring Challenge, the goal is to color something every day, even if its only for 10-15 minutes. I've played along with this challenge before, but this time I wanted to really make a commitment to do it every day and learn how to use my new set of watercolors. At The Flower Challenge, they'd like us to chose a previous challenge. I chose #10 - heat embossing. 

Stamp Sets: Hello Lovely, Beautiful Words (Concord & 9th)

Card Stock: Smooth Watercolor (Bristol), Gold Foil (Stampin' Up), Solar White (Neenah)

Ink Pads: Versamark, Tuxedo Black (Memento)

Watercolors: Gansai Tambi (Kuretake)

Tools: Mini Misti, Heat Tool, Big Shot, Beautiful Die (Concord & 9th)

Accessories: White Embossing Powder, Moonshine Sequins (Simon Says Stamp)

If you've made it to the end of this post, I thank you for hanging in there! Have an awesome day! 

PP396 Animal Antics

Hi friends! It's Sunday and that means time for a new challenge at The Paper Players! This week our sweet team member from across the pond, Joanne, is hostess with a theme challenge: Animal Antics.

My critters are up to some antics, I'd say! Fun ones though - a critter birthday party. No complicated techniques here. i just stamped my images, colored with markers, and lightly sponged a background using a new-to-me stamp set, Elphie Selfie. 

I'm adding my card to the gallery at The 30 Day Coloring Challenge, and at the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge it's Anything Goes. 

Stamp Sets: Elphie Selfie, So Much to Say, Happy Happy Happy (Lawn Fawn)

Card Stock: Solar White (Neenah)

Patterned Paper: Pint Sized Patterns (Lawn Fawn)

Ink Pads: Tuxedo Black (Memento), Tumbled Glass Distress Ink (Ranger)

Markers: Copic

Tools: Big Shot, Wonky Stitched Rectangle Dies (MFT), Elphie Selfie Dies, Happy Happy Happy Dies (Lawn Fawn)

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 :)

Birthday Coffee

Hello friends, and a Happy Memorial Day to you. I hope you all have a relaxing day in store, as I have planned. It rained all day yesterday, and that's all the excuse I need to make a card :) I'm on a patterned paper kick lately, and made this card using five different patterns. That's a lot even for me! Even the flower on the cup was cut from patterned paper, and the only thing stamped was my sentiment. This should have been a quick card to make, except it took me over an hour just to decide on a layout. I am the slowest crafter ever! 

 

My inspiration was the Spring & Summer Coffee Lovers Blog Hop. I'm also linking this up to our challenge at Seize the Birthday with the toppings option of Patterned Paper.

Stamp Sets: Be a Barista (Reverse Confetti)

Card Stock: Solar White (Neenah), Bashful Blue, Certainly Celery (Stampin' Up)

Patterned Paper: Sunny Days Ahead (Echo Park)

Ink Pads: Tuxedo Black (Memento)

Tools: Big Shot, Circle Dies (Sizzix), Cozy Coffee Die (Paper Smooches)

Accessories: Enamel Dots (Echo Park)

Thanks for visiting!

PP395 Sketch

Hi friends! It's Sunday and that means time for a new challenge at The Paper Players! This week the sweet and talented LeAnne is our hostess with an awesome sketch challenge.

Here's my interpretation of the sketch. I had this stack of patterned paper on my desk from the last card I created, and wasn't quite ready to put it away because I love it so much. This was a really simple card, thanks to coordinating paper, ephemera, and enamel dots. The only thing stamped was the sentiment. There's no rule that says we need to spend hours on every card, right? 

Stamp Sets: Beautiful Lady (Altenew)

Card Stock: Solar White (Neenah), Mossy Meadow (SU), Fog (Simon Says Stamp)

Patterned Paper: Welcome Home (Carta Bella)

Ink Pads: Tuxedo Black (Memento)

Accessories: Welcome Home Ephemera & Enamel Dots (Carta Bella)

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 :)