Salty Kisses for The Paper Players

Hello friends, welcome back and  I hope you're doing well.  It's time for a new challenge at The Paper Players!  The lovely Laurie is hosting our theme challenge, wedding or anniversary.

PP 502

I decided to go with the wedding theme.  I have had a cute Waffle Flower stamp set for two or three years but have never used some of the images, which are perfect for a rather untraditional wedding card.

See what I mean?  It would definitely work best if the bride and groom are dog owners/lovers, so I'm not sure how practical this card is but I think it's pretty sweet for the right couple.

The entire card was colored with Copic markers.  I started with the "bride and groom" and the wedding arch (I think that's what it's called??).  I wanted the fabric to remain white, so I just added a bit of subtle shading with light gray markers.  After the coloring was complete, companion dies were used to die cut the images.

Then, onto the background.  I kept the coloring very simple using light brown with dots of darker browns for the sand, two-three colors of blue for the ocean and the two lightest blues for the sky. A white gel pen was used to trace along the ocean waves. After the panel was die cut with a stitched rectangle die, it was adhered to the card base.  When the arbor/arch was added, it partially hid the little sail boat, but of course the newlyweds would be be able to see it. 😊 The last bits were to add some Bridal Mix jewels (of course!) and use a shimmer pen to add sparkle to the flowers and flowing fabric.

Thanks for visiting, I always appreciate it so much!  Be sure to head over to the PP blog to check out all the beautiful cards by the other DT members and hopefully be inspired to join us this week!

Stef


Stamps:  Salty Kisses (Waffle Flower)
Paper:  Neenah Solar White
Ink:  Gina K Obsidian Amalgam, Versafine Clair Nocturne (sentiments)
Other:  Salty Kisses matching dies, Stitched Rectangle die (Simon Says Stamp), Tonic Nuvo Aqua Shimmer pen, Bridal Mix jewels (Lucy's Cards Little Things)
Copics:  B24, 12, 00, 000, 0000, E47, 44, 42, 39, 37, 35, 33, 30; G28, YG45, 41, RV34, 32, Y08, 04, T4, 2, 0

Framed Birthday for the Tic Tac Toe Challenge

Hello friends and welcome back!  It's time for a new Tic Tac Toe Challenge!  The lovely Claire is our host this week and has given us a fun board to play with that is resplendent with ideas for summer!

tttc #075

For my card, I went easy for me because I was under a bit of time pressure, so I went straight across the middle (blue, square, flower).

I used a lovely hellebore image to color with Copic markers in kind of a dusky pink.  I used to have a hellebore plant in my garden back in Oregon.  It was one that starting blooming in very early spring and had dark purple petals.  But I wanted to do something a bit brighter.  A online search revealed a large variety of colors, so I chose a light pink.  After the coloring was complete, I used a square die to cut out the image.

To add blue to my card a frame was die cut from light blue card, adhered to my square card base, then the flower panel was added with fun foam.  The sentiment was stamped and die cut then added with foam squares.  And that finished of my very CAS birthday card!  The final size of the card ended up being 4.25" square, so I will be able to mail it in a standard envelope.

Thanks for visiting, I appreciate it so much!  I hope you're inspired by this new Tic Tac Toe challenge and will join us this week.  Be sure to use the link above and check out the fabulous cards from the rest of the DT!

Stef


Stamps:  Cling Small Hellebore (Stampendous), Mini Everyday Messages (Mama Elephant)
Paper:  Neenah Solar White, Sea Glass (Simon Says Stamp)
Ink:  Gina K Obsidian Amalgam, Versafine Clair Nocturne (sentiment)
Other:  Nested Circle Infinity die (Hero Arts), Essential Squares dies (Ellen Hutson)
Copics:  RV11, R85, 83, YG67, 25, 23, 17, 03, 01

Christmas Joy for the SCS Color Challenge

Hello friends and welcome back!  It's time for a new Color Challenge at Splitcoaststampers!  I'm hosting this week and have chosen the Shaded Spruce, Just Jade and Magenta Madness with our continued dessert option of Christmas in July.  My colors are definitely untraditional but I find it fun to change things up!

Speaking of changing things up, this is my last post as host of the SCS Color Challenge.  It has been my immense pleasure to serve on this team for nearly three years but the time has come for changes in priorities artistically and personally.  I've worked with amazing team members during this time and will always be grateful to Mary, Karen and Barbara as my wonderful creative partners over the three years along with Jeanne and Chris over the last year or so.


I went with cute characters again this week using a different Avery Elle stamp set.  I figured if your going to have critters dressed in winter garb, you might as well use them with non-traditional colors!

I started by stamping and coloring the critters with Copic markers, then die cut them with the coordinating dies.  For the background, Picked Raspberry Distress Oxide ink was blended on a panel of Bristol, then splattered with water, then "snow" using Copic White, which is a thick waterbased pigment paint.  I also added a bit of white splatter to the critters as they would be getting snowed on too if there's snow in the background.

Once the panel was dry it was mounted on the white card base with fun foam and the critters were adhered, the two smaller ones popped up on foam tape.  The sentiment was die cut from glitter paper and adhered to a piece of fun foam also cut with the sentiment die, then adding to the card front to finish things off.

Thanks so much for visiting, I really appreciate it!  Be sure to use the link above to check out the SCS Color challenge and hopefully play along this week!

Stef


Stamps:  A Merry Little Christmas (Avery Elle)
Paper:  Neenah Solar White, Strathmore Bristol, White Glitter (SSS)
Ink:  Gina K Obsidian Amalgam, Picked Raspberry DOX
Other:  A Merry Little Christmas coordinating dies, Holiday Words (Ellen Hutson), Gansi Tambi Starry Colors metallic paint, Copic White
Copics:  Magenta-RV09, 06, 04, 02; Jade-G17, BG34, 11; Spruce-G28, 17, 03; Bear-T8, 6, 4, 2, YR18, 27, 24; Hedgie-E37, 35, 33, 31; Penguin-BV29, 25

Lavish Lilies for Sunday Stamps

Hello friends!  I'm very excited to share that I am the new Design Team member at Sunday Stamps!  I love this challenge and have played along numerous times.  I am thrilled to have the priviledge to work with the terrific women on this team!

This week we have a great sketch to spark your creativity!

SSC 236

I decided to use the Lavish Lilies from MFT.  I love flowers of all kinds and we had a lovely surprise in our first spring in this house, with oodles of different kinds of lilies.  So I was definitely inspired to use this floral image.

While many of the lilies in our yard have much brighter color combinations, I decided to go with something a bit more soothing, kind of a light peach color.  The image was colored with Copic markers then I used a Terra Cotta colored pencil to darken the shadow areas on the flower petals a wee bit.

To put the card together, both the colored image and a panel of white card were die cut with stitched rectangle dies.  I decided to use some long retired burlap ribbon for the vertical part of the sketch, adhering directly to the white panel, then adding the panel to the white card base.  A small piece of Grapefruit Grove card was trimmed down and adhered to the back of the colored panel, then added to the card front with foam tape. I love the sentiment...with all that is going on in the world right now, sometimes we just need to take a moment, breathe and think of only the good things.  Finally, a bit of shimmer was added to the ends of the stamen and a few jewels added for a bit of bling.

Thank you so much for visiting, I really appreciate it!  Be sure to use the link above to check out the beautiful creations of the other DT members and hopefully join us for this challenge!

Stef


Stamps:  Lavish Lilies (MFT)
Paper:  Neenah Solar White, Grapefruit Grove (SU), Sentiment Strips 2 (SSS)
Ink:  Gina K Obsidian Amalgam
Other:  A2 Stitched Rectangle Stax Set 1 dies (MFT), Burlap ribbon (SU), Bridal Mix Jewels (Lucy's Cards Little Things), Tonic Nuvo Aqua Shimmer pen, Terra Cotta Prismacolor Colored pencil
Copics:  YR18, 02, 01, 00, E97, YG67, 17, 03, BG000, 0000

Balloon Birthday for The Paper Players

It's time for a new challenge at The Paper Players!  The lovely Anne Marie is hosting our sketch challenge this week and has given us a great one with which to spark our creativity!

The Paper Players

For my card, I started by stamping the Balloon Bundle image on a sheet of white card.  It was actually small enough that I was able to stamp it twice on a single A2 panel, then trimmed it down for my main image on this card.

I decided on a color palette of purple, lime green and blue green.  This is one of my favorites and I think it can be used for either gender.  The balloons were colored with Copic markers and then I added crystal glaze to make them shiny.  What I forgot was that I had intended to die cut them and pop them up on an ink blended panel but oops!  Even after the glaze dried, I was worried it might get marred in the die cutting process so I went with a slightly different design option.

Next I used a stripe stencil to ink blend Twisted Citron Distress Oxide ink on a panel of Bristol, then trimmed it down to fit an A2 card at an angle.  I was rather dismayed when I edited my photos to find the bright green looks more like dull sand and I wasn't able to make adjustments to fix it without affecting the other colors (downside of using a free photo editing service - limited options).  But trust me, IRL it looks bright and cheery.  A panel of Peacock card was die cut with a fancy cover die, then sprayed with shimmer spray.  When dry all the layers were added to the card base, then I stamped a sentiment, added it to a green banner then popped it onto the balloon panel. 

Thanks so much for visiting, I really appreciate it!  Be sure to head over to the challenge to check out the fabulous creations by the other DT members and hopefully join us this week!

Stef


Stamps:  Balloon Bundle (MFT)
Paper:  Neenah Solar White, Peacock (SSS), Rich Razzleberry (SU), Koh-I-Noor Bristol
Ink:  Gina K Obsidian Amalgam, Versafine Clair Nocturne
Other:  Papel Picado Confetti cover die (HA), Sparkling Sheer Shimmer Craft Spray, Slimline Stencil (Trinity Stamps), Tonic Nuvo Crystal Glaze
Copics:  V09, 17, 15, 12, YG25, 23, 01, 00, BG78, 49, 15, 11

Woodland Christmas for the SCS Color Challenge

Hello friends and welcome back!  It's time for a new Color Challenge at Splitcoaststampers!  Karen is hosting this week and she has chosen Cherry Cobbler, Pretty Peacock and Bumblebee, with the dessert option of Christmas in July. 

For my card I used one of my favorite Christmas stamp sets with cute critters.  The images and sentiment were all stamped on white card, colored with Copic markers then die cut with coordinating dies. 

Next I worked on the background.  A panel of Bristol was ink blended with a couple of dark blue Distress Oxide inks, then splattered with water and white gouache (the critters were splattered with a bit of gouache too).  While that dried I hand cut snow drifts from another piece of white card. 

After adding the snow drifts to the Bristol panel, the birch tree trunks were adhered, trimmed down, then the panel added to the card base.  The critters and sentiment were all added with foam tape, then a glitter pen was used on all the berries and the little birdie's hat pompom.  The final step was to use a white gel pen to add more "snowflakes" in the sky and to darken some of those on the animals and tree that seemed to dry back considerably.

Thanks for visiting, I appreciate it so much!  Be sure to use the link to SCS above to check out the challenge and hopefully play along this week!

Stef


Stamps:  Winter Woodland Wonders (Avery Elle)
Paper:  Neenah Solar White, Strathmore Bristol
Ink:  Gina K Obsidian and Chocolate Truffle Amalgam, Versafine Clair Pinecone (sentiment), Chipped Sapphire and Blue Print Sketch Distress Oxide
Other:  WWW matching dies, Sentiment Labels die (Simon Says Stamp), Sakura White Gelly Roll pen, White Gouache, Tonic Nuvo Aqua Shimmer pen
Copics:  W3, 1, 0, E37, 35, 33, 31, 30, G99, 94, 82, BG78, 49, 15, R39, 37, 35, YR24, Y19, 17, 15

Celebrating Summer for The Paper Players

It's time for a new challenge at The Paper Players!  It's a rather special and notable one as it is our 500th challenge!  Wow! The lovely Jaydee is hosting our CAS week with a Celebration theme.

The Paper Players

What do we mean by Clean and Simple?

Minimal layers and embellishments

Plenty of open space, aka "white" space

Simple and uncluttered

I'm also linking up to the current challenge at Sunday Stamps where the colors are bold and vibrant!

SSC 235

For my card, I went uber CAS with a one layer (rare for me) in celebration of Summer!  We are definitely hitting our summer stride here in Idaho with temps in the high 90's and low 100's all week! Thank goodness for AC!

I recently acquired this darling stamp set with gnome buddies enjoying summer and thought this guy would be perfect for my one layer card.  He and the sentiment were stamped on a panel of white card and the gnome was colored with Copic markers.  I think that beach ball is so cute and I love his polka dot shorts!

For the sand I used a variety of browns, dotting the darkest two to create some texture, then came in with a warm gray to add more shadow beneath him.  With the coloring done, the panel was adhered directly onto a white card base.  Although you can't tell in the picture, I used some crystal glaze to go over the glasses and the beach ball, so they would be shiny. ;-) And that was it!  Like I said, uber CAS!  I'll probably end up sending this to my nephew and his wife just for a fun hello, I know they'll get a kick out of it as they are enjoying hot Summer weather where they live.

Thanks so much for visiting, I always appreciate it!  Be sure to use the link above to check out all the fab CAS cards by the other DT members and I hope you'll join our Celebration this week!

Stay safe and stay healthy, my friends!

Stef


Stamps:  Chillin' Gnomes (Simon Says Stamp)
Paper:  Neenah Solar White
Ink:  Gina K Obsidian Amalgam
Other:  Nuvo Crystal Glaze
Copics:  B16, 04, 02, YG17, 03, 01, R24, 14, Y26, 08, 04, YR07, 16, W3, 1, C7, 5, 3, E79, 77, 57, 55, 53, 51, 13, 11, 01

Big Birthday Wishes

Hi friends, welcome back! Today I'm sharing a fun card made for a grand niece and linking it up to the current challenge at Seize the Birthday, where the toppings option is to use a non-neutral card base.

STB 195

I love large sentiments and MFT's most recent release was all about birthdays, including a really cool sentiment die.  So, it came home to my craft room along with a few other goodies and with a couple of them I made this card.

To start with, I used a large balloon stencil for the background, ink blending it with Distress Inks on a panel of Bristol.  When done, it was die cut with the Big Birthday Wishes die.  Initially I was going to make a shaker card but I realized I didn't have enough sequins in the right colors, so I went with plan B and decided to pop up the die cut sentiment.

The ink blended panel sans die cut letters was adhered to the bright pink card base.  Next I die cut some Fun Foam with the same sentiment die and adhered the ink blended sentiment die cuts to the Fun Foam letters, then glued them to the card base.  It look pretty cool but then I had the bright idea to use a shimmer pen to add a glittery look.  Oops, big mistake as the shimmer pen is water based and thus reactivated the inks, smearing them.  I was beside myself for not thinking that through.  Then I realized I had some purple glitter paper that would work with the ink colors, so those die cut pieces were adhered on top.  Oh, yes, lots of dimension LOL!  But it worked out, saving my card.  The last thing was to add some sparkling clear sequins.  I'm sure I'll have to add extra postage when we mail this card!

Thanks so much for visiting, it's always appreciated!  Stay safe and healthy friends!

Stef


Stamps: None
Paper:  Strathmore Bristol, Doll Pink (Simon Says Stamp), 6x6 Glitter Assortment Paper Pack (SSS)
Ink:  Worn Lipstick, Picked Raspberry, Wilted Violet Distress Inks
Other:  Big Balloon stencil and Big Birthday Wishes die (MFT), Sparkling Clear sequins (PPP)