Woodgrain Flourishing Leaves PP317

So, I have a thing about leaves...the colors, the textures, the patterns, the amazing symmetry of nature.  This week I am hostess at The Paper Players and we are celebrating Leaves with a Clean-and-Simple challenge:

It seems as though Clean-and-Simple is all I've got time for lately so this challenge was perfect for another busy week.  Here's my creation:

The hardest part about making this card was deciding the colors and the spacing of the squares!  The card is small notecard sized--just 3.5" x  5"--so the squares needed to be proportional.  I used the 1.25" square punch to pop out squares of Island Indigo, Cajun Craze, Crushed Curry and Always Artichoke.  When I ran them through the Big Shot with the Woodgrain embossing folder, I laid them out as I wanted them on the card.  This allowed the embossed lines to continue seamlessly across the 4 panels.  The leaf stem was cut from Copper Foil paper with a Flourish Thinlit and some Copper Thread wound behind it.  The only stamping is the Early Espresso sentiment from the coordinating Flourishing Phrases stamp set.

I have a bit more stamping to show you, albeit not really clean-and-simple but does feature leaves:

You might remember the Halloween candles I shared with you in this post.  This time I made a fall version that I gave to a friend as a hostess gift for the SU party she booked with me.   I heat embossed some images from the Vintage Leaves set onto vellum cardstock using copper embossing powder and clear embossing powder with Cajun Craze, Old Olive and Rich Razzleberry inks.

Here's a view of the vellum before I wrapped it around the candle.  After all the leaves were stamped and embossed, I stamped the back with the [retired] Dictionary stamp in Crumb Cake.  I am really pleased with how it turned out and my hostess loved it!  I'll have to make a few more in other fall colors, starting to get a little addicted to making them!

So there you have it....two leaf projects...one clean-and-simple and the other, well...not!  Do go check out the inspiration from my friends on the design team at The Paper Players.  We hope you will join us before the challenge closes on Friday, October 21st at Non (PST).  Thanks for stopping by!

The Paper Players Design Team

Claire Broadwater

Jaydee

Joanne James

Laurie Schmidt

LeAnne Pugliese

Nance Leedy

Sandy Mathis

Linda Callahan

Hannelie Bester

Colleen Begley

Vintage Copper Leaves PP312

Hi friends and happy Sunday!  Welcome to another week with The Paper Players where the lovely LeAnne has a seasonal and pretty color challenge for us:

 

The calendar may say September (BTW, how did THAT happen?!) but it's nowhere near fall temperatures here in Florida!  So, I was glad for the opportunity to pretend with LeAnne's pretty fall palette. 

 

I knew that I wanted to use my all-time favorite leaf stamp...Vintage Leaves...and I couldn't wait to see them embossed in copper.  The delicate detail of the embossing really shows up on the colored leaves. 

 I stamped the leaves on Cajun Craze, Crushed Curry and Pear Pizzazz, heat embossed with copper ep and cut them out with the coordinating Leaflit Thinlits.  So pretty!  I tried the leaves on several different background neutrals and really liked the way they popped on Basic Black [retired] DSP.  

A little swirl of new black metallic thread helps pull together the DSP and the sentiment.  I think this card will go for a male colleague with an October birthday.  MAYBE by then it will feel like fall around here!

Be sure to go check out the rest of the Paper Players Design Team for their awesome inspirations.  We hope you will join in the fun before our challenge closes on Friday, September 16 at Noon (PST).  Thanks for stopping by!

The Paper Players Design Team

Claire Broadwater

Jaydee

Joanne James

Laurie Schmidt

LeAnne Pugliese

Nance Leedy

Sandy Mathis

Linda Callahan

Hannelie Bester

Colleen Begley

 

 

Tip Top Vintage Leaves PP305

It's another week at The Paper Players and the lovely LeAnne has an awesome sketch challenge for us.  Sketch challenges are my favorite as I always find the layout of the card the most difficult part of the design process.  With a sketch challenge, it's already done for you!  Here's LeAnne's sketch:

It's a fun one, right?!  Lots of different options for it.  I've been feeling a little mojo-less so despite the great sketch I was struggling.  I think it's because I [still] haven't ordered any new SU goodies--I know gasp--and am feeling less than inspired.  I went looking for some inspiration and found these pretty colors at Create with Connie & Mary:

 

I also saw a prety card in the SU catalog that used the Vintage Leaves set (still a favorite) and suddenly I had an idea!  So this card was born:

I will never tire of this stamp set.  First, because the leaves are gorgeously detailed but secondly, because it is photopolymer (totally clear) and I love those!  I also like experiementing with the leaves in unexpected colors like these. 

 

The Dapper Denim base was stamped with two different leaves from the set in the same color ink.  I love this kind of tone-on-tone stamping.  It adds so much interest to the background without the bulk of  layers or embossing.  There's some added speckles in Tip Top Taupe from the Timeless Textures stamp set--a must for great backgrounds and accents!

 The biggest leaf (I think it's a maple?) was stamped in Tip Top Taupe ink onto Mint Macaron cardstock and cut with the coordinating Leaflets dies.  I scored the leaf and folded it in mountain/valley for added dimension.  I wanted to pull in the Dapper Denim from the card base but didn't have any ribbon in that color.  So.....I dyed a piece of Linen Thread using a cotton ball and my Dapper Denim ink pad!  Just held the thread on the ink pad with a cotton ball and pulled it across the ink.  Do that a few times, let it sit while you make the rest of the card and voila!  Dyed-to-match Linen Thread!

The inside is color coordinated with more Tip Top Taupe leaves and Mint Macaron leaves.  See how gorgeous the lines of these leaves are?  If you don't already have this set and coordinating Leaflets, you really must get it!

And...you really must go check out the rest of the inspiration from our Paper Players Design Team.  Always so much eye candy on display!  We hope you'll play along with us before the challenge closes on Friday, July 29 at Noon (PST).  Thanks for stopping by today!

The Paper Players Design Team

Claire Broadwater

Jaydee

Joanne James

Laurie Schmidt

LeAnne Pugliese

Nance Leedy

Sandy Mathis

Linda Callahan

Hannelie Bester

Colleen Begley

 

Masked & Vintage Leaves: PP267

Hi all!  I am so excited to host our challenge over at The Paper Players this week.  It's Clean-and-Simple week and I've added one of my favorite things to it...Leaves!

I fussed around with a few ideas for this challenge but, in the end, settled on an all-time favorite technique of masking for my card:

You might recall that I featured this technique on this card a few weeks ago.  It's so much fun to do and with lots of white space and no frills, it definitely fits the Clean-and Simple bill.  My good friend Linda Callahan recently introduced me to Post-It Tape.  That's right, tape!  It comes on a roll and can be ripped off in whatever length you need.  It's the perfect tool for this project as you just lay it across your cardstock to create your masked area and then sponge, sponge, sponge!  I masked off the strip of the Very Vanilla base and sponged on (starting at the bottom) Tangerine Tango, Delightful Dijon and Lost Lagoon inks.  Once the colors were to my liking, I stamped some images from the Vintage Leaves set and finished it with a sentiment from One Big Meaning. 

I love how the Lost Lagoon and Delightful Dijon blended together to create a subtle shade of green where they meet.  And, aren't these leaves just the best?  I can't get over how detailed they are--especially for a photopolymer stamp set!  Just fabulous, right?!

And I happen to know that the rest of the Design Team have even more fabulous inspiration for you over at The Paper Players.  Be sure to check them out and consider playing along with us before the challenge closes on Friday, October 23rd at Noon (PST).  I would love to see you in the gallery!  Thanks for stopping by.

The Paper Players Design Team

Claire Broadwater
 Jaydee  Joanne James
Laurie Schmidt  LeAnne Pugliese 

Nance Leedy  Sandy Mathis  Amy Koenders  Jodi McKinney  Lisa Elton

Anne Marie Hile (on leave)

A Sketch for Vintage Leaves {PP255}

Hiya friends, and welcome to another week with The Paper Players!  This week the always fabulous Sandy has a great sketch challenge for us:

I told you it was a good one, right?!  Love it Sandy--thank you!  In addition to needing to design a card for this sketch, I also needed a card for stamp club that featured new stamps and product.  It may be a bit early for fall colors and themes but I just love the detail in the Vintage Leaves set:

Oh my word, these leaves are gorgeous!  And, you know what makes it even greater?  It's photopolymer--clear--AND there are matching framelits!  What more could we ask for?  Well how about some amazing detail:

Isn't that pretty?  To achieve the look of colored leaves without actual coloring, I stamped on cardstock slightly lighter than my ink color.  The smallest leaf was stamped in Delightful Dijon on So Saffron cardstock.  The medium leaf was stamped in Mossy Meadow on Old Olive CS and the largest one is Blackberry Bliss ink on Perfect Plum cardstock.  I crumpled and curled the leaves (with a bone folder) to give them a worn look. 

So, have you seen this new Corrugated Paper?  One word--fabulous.  No more using the sleeves from our Starbucks cups--this stuff is lighter weight and the ribs are smaller and closer together.  That makes it much more receptive to stamping as I've done here with the Watercolor Wash background and Gorgeous Grunge splatters stamps in Soft Suede.  Did I mention that the Corrugated Paper comes in a pack of Kraft AND Whisper White?  Lovely.

Just in case you had any doubts about the beautiful detail of these leaves, I'll show you the inside where they are featured more prominently on Very Vanilla cardstock.  And that sentiment?  One Big Meaning--yeah, you need it.  All the thank you sentiments you could ever need.  Yep, a must-have.

It's also a must-have to stop by and see all the fabulous creations from the rest of The Paper Players design team.  I'm so fortunate to work with this great group of gals!  I hope you will take up Sandy's sketch challenge; I can't wait to see what you create!  Just be sure to join us before the challenge ends on Friday, July 31st at Noon (PST).  Thanks for stopping by, friends!

The Paper Players Design Team

Ann Schach

 Anne Marie Hile (on leave)

 Claire Broadwater
 Jaydee
Joanne James
Laurie Schmidt    

LeAnne Pugliese

 Nance Leedy
Sandy Mathis

Amy Koenders 
Jodi McKinney  
Lisa Elton