Paper Players 242

Hi everyone!  It’s Sunday, and that means another challenge from the Paper Players!  This week Ann is our lovely hostess and she has an awesome sketch for us!  This is pretty close to my favorite layout, so I had lots of fun with this one!

Last week I seemed to be stuck on vintage images, so I opted for a bright, funky and fun card for today, using the soon-to-be-retired Yippee Skippee along with the cool photopolymer set, Epic Alphabet:

If you haven’t had enough coffee today, this one will wake you up for sure!  I am trying to use up my stash of DSP too…this one happens to be from the Sweet Taffy line, along with Park Lane and Maritime for the banners.  I stamped and cut out some elements from the Epic Alphabet for a little extra ooomph and decorated them with some Candy Dots as well.  The upper portion of my Tempting Turquoise card was embossed with the Zig Zag EF:

And I almost forgot the sentiment at the bottom….this one’s from A Dozen Thoughts to finish it off! 

And since I needed another thank you card, I made another one (told you I liked this sketch!)….this one used Chalk Talk and an isolated word from Good Greetings along with some Lullaby DSP, Gold Satin ribbon and a few scraps:

I hope you’ll play along with the Players this week!  I always enjoy seeing what you stampy, crafty folks out there come up with!  Here’s what the DT did as well:

• Ann
• Anne Marie
• Claire
• Debbie
• Jaydee
• Joanne
• Karren
• Laurie
• Nance
• Sandy
• Shannon

John has a terrible cold and was gargling in the bathroom; Cassidy was quite intrigued and wanted him to teach her how to do it:

She just about got it, too!

Enjoy your day!

Stampin’ Royalty 240

Happy Wednesday, everyone!  Hope you’re having a great week so far!  The sweet gals at Stampin’ Royalty asked me if I would be a guest designer this month, and I was honored to accept!  Their challenge this week is “Stamped Backgrounds”….no problem!  I had a zillion ideas in mind!  In the end, though I thought I would combine a couple of sets for my background….here you go:

I used Chalk Lines and the new hostess set Good Greetings (what an awesome set!), stamping them in Island Indigo on Very Vanilla, alternating the direction of the stamps.  I then added some embellishments from Amazing Birthday (another great set!) in Pumpkin Pie and Soft Sky.  I diecut a Chalk Talk panel, embossed it and cut it apart to make it a wee bit longer to fit behind my cake image:

I then added some banners and stars (Pictogram Punches) to embellish it.  I also added a Tangelo Twist ribbon….it’s a little darker than Pumpkin Pie, but they definitely complement each other!

Finally, on the inside, I stamped the sunburst from Kinda Eclectic and a sentiment from Chalk Talk and stapled on a bit of ribbon:

It’s cool to have a little surprise like that on the inside, don’t you think?

And since I couldn’t stop at just one, I did a collage-style birthday card in monochromatic browns…..I like the images, I just didn’t like the subdued colors after I finished, but I will keep it and send it to some guy who has a “subdued” personality, LOL!!!

It has a lot of sponging and distressing, and I love the font on the sentiment on the inside:

It’s from the new pholopolymer set called Holiday Invitation….a fun set with lots of seasonal designs and sentiments!

I hope you’ll pop over to the Stampin’ Royalty blog to see what the others have come up with….you’ll be inspired to do some background stamping of your own!

Cassidy & Grampy, drawing together!

Have a blessed day!

Paper Players 202

Happy Sunday, peeps!  What a glorious weekend it is turning out to be in PA!  I am not sure if Mother Nature is rewarding us for having to suffer through such a difficult winter, but I am taking it gladly!!!  Sandy is our hostess today for the Paper Players, and she has a Tic-Tac-Toe challenge for us all:

I needed a thank you card, so I chose the middle horizontal line….but then I realized I didn’t have much green patterned paper!  Yikes, how can that be?  I searched some of my retired DP and found some SAB paper from a couple years ago, and went to work:

This is definitely a combo of old and new!  The Baja Breeze elements are all retired, as is the little heart charm (some of these might still be available on the Clearance Rack!), but the stamps are all current:  Everything Eleanor, Chalk Talk and Blooming with Kindness.  I did a little sponging to mimic the colors on the DP, and shabbied up some of the seam binding for a vintage look!

So what tic-tac-toe series will tempt you to create something this week?  Be sure to check out all the designers’ samples here:

• Ann
• Anne Marie
• Jaydee
• Nance
• Sandy

and share yours with us as well!  We can’t wait to see what you come up with!

Have you EVER seen raspberries this big?  Humongous!

DD93

Hey, peeps, another post today….I wanted to get this card in for the Dynamic Duos challenge:

I felt like I was the only one who hadn’t seen this stylish card created with the Scalloped Tag Topper punch, so I googled it, found this great tutorial and set to work making a card for my niece’s birthday:

I changed the front panel about 3 times, and finally decided on a plain piece of Blushing Bride, run through the Elegant Lines EF.  I added elements from Chalk Talk and A Fitting Occasion, as well as an embossed and diecut border:

I finished it with an elegant bow in Very Vanilla seam binding!  Hope she likes it!

I am glad I am not the only one who reads cookbooks just for fun:

Enjoy your day!

Wee Project Details
Stamps	Chalk Talk, A Fitting Occasion
Card stock & Papers	Sahara Sand, Blushing Bride, Very Vanilla, Sahara Sand Patterns DP (ret)
Ink	Sahara Sand, Blushing Bride
Accessories	Very Vanilla Seam Binding
Tools	Big Shot, Elegant Lines EF(ret), Needlepoint Border EF, Finishing Touches Edgelit, Chalk Talk Dies, Scallop Tag Topper Punch, 1" Circle Punch, 1 1/4" Scallop Circle Punch, Dimensionals

LIM159 & MIM159

Hi peeps…ah, it’s Wednesday, half-way through the week.  This is a really crazy week for me….sometimes on the life-train, I just want to say “STOP!  I want to get off for a while!”  LOL!  Not much stamping time, but I did have a little time to make a CAS masculine card for two challenges:  The Kraft Journal’s Make It Monday (to use a diecut) and Less Is More’s masculine challenge.  So here we go:

I used a Crumb Cake base and some Authentique papers; the Chalk Talk image is stamped in Midnight Muse, although it looks black on these papers!  I used the Chalk Talk die as well as a cowboy hat die from My Favorite Things:

and some denim ribbon and a couple of candy dot brads to tie it all together!  I thought it looked a little bare, so I added some jean-style stitching:

Done!  Have an awesome day!

Cassidy: “Look, Grammy, I’m juggling!” 

LOL…I think she needs a wee bit more practice!

FMS119 Anniversary

Hi everyone!  Today is my anniversary, and I made John a card!  I used the Freshly Made Sketches  sketch 119:

and  pulled out some neglected products to create it:

I had almost forgotten about this Modern Medley paper until I made my “love” banner last week, so I dug it out again and paired it with Pear Pizzazz, a color that again, I rarely use.  I embossed the card base with the Alphabet Press embossing folder, which I think is really cool with this newsprint DP.   I only hope he doesn’t think the Chalk Talk flourish is too feminine, but I’ll reassure him that it’s not!!  It’s the sentiment that’s important!

Miss Cassidy still loves to play in the sink:

and is quick to tell me that she is making “tea” for her tea party!!!

Enjoy your day!

Mojo Monday 318

Happy Thursday, peeps!  Wow, what a beautiful day we had here yesterday---made up for that cold beginning of the week!  Cassidy & I were able to play outside a little bit!  Today’s card uses the Mojo Monday sketch 318:

I needed an extra-special birthday card, so I pulled out all the stops:  big honkin’ bow, a faceted button, some rhinestones and even a glimmer brad and some glimmer hearts:

I had this piece of Daffodil Delight DP sitting on my desk, along with the ribbon, which came on a gift, so I decided to use ‘em up!  I stuck pretty close to the sketch, using the Chalk Talk stamp set and die for my tag, and another piece of Polka Dot Parade DP for my banner.  I added a row of bling to the top of the banner, and glue-dotted a glimmer brad to the center of my button:

I just love the blackboard-effect of this stamp set!



Cassidy discovered a box under my desk that had some styrofoam peanuts in it….oh, what a mess:

                                           

It was like staticky snow!  And you can see I was trying to encourage her to clean it up with a dustpan & broom…..which she did, eventually.  And then…..

Out like a light!  Enjoy your day!

Wee Project Details
Stamps	Chalk Talk
Card stock & Papers	Whisper White, Polka Dot Parade DP, Silver Glimmer Paper
Ink	Stazon Black
Accessories	Rhinestones, Marina Mist Chevron Ribbon, Faceted Designer Button, Silver Glimmer Brad
Tools	Big Shot, Chalk Talk Dies, Circle Card Thinlit Die

CCCB164 & MIM

Happy Wednesday, peeps!  I love going away for a few days, but it really messes up one’s routine….I still feel like I am behind!  But it was nice to see my dad for Father’s Day.

My project today is for City Crafter Challenge blog, which is “Clean and Neutral”, based on this photo:

as well as The Kraft Journal’s Make it Monday, which is to use felt, twine or burlap.  I just received my new SU goodies, and these Tag a Bag gift bags were in there!  I used my new Chalk Talk stamp set and framelit to make a gift bag and tag, and I added some “felt” leaves cut with the Autumn Accents Bigz die:

The felt is actually a remnant piece of that vintage-y “warm” quilt batting (can’t remember the actual name of it) that I have been pushing around my craft room for a while!  I’ve tied the leaves with linen thread.  Now, remember this is to be clean and simple, so there’s not a lot of fuss to this project, but I did do a wee bit of stamping….can you see the tree line from Lovely as a Tree stamped along the bottom of the bag?

I also love that there are little “hole” dies to use to cut out, well, holes, in the top of the Chalk Talk tag….and in this case, the bag too.  I did find that they sort of jump around on my new magnetic plate (which is pretty awesome).  Apparently the plate is not a solid magnet, but pieces of magnet.  So the little itty bitty hole piece “jumps” until it is on top of a magnet.  It’s a little challenging, but I finally got it to stay still long enough to run it through the Big Shot!!!  I used the Natural burlap trim to tie the bag together:

I can’t wait to play around with this Chalk Talk set some more!

Here’s a pic of my dad and me:

He really does smile sometimes!!!!  And a sweet little photo of Miss Cassidy as well: