Polar Bear Pal for PP804

Hello friends!  Sunday has rolled around again, bringing a new challenge at the Paper Players.  This week, the amazing Christy is hosting our CAS challenge, and she wants us to include a bear or bears on our cards.  Just remember to keep it clean, with minimal layers and embellishments.

Paper Players

I went looking through my stamp and die sets and found a few potentials for a bear card.  I finally landed on a cute one from MFT.  While they're out of business, I have a good amount of product from them that I will never part with, and the stamp set I used for today's card is one of them.

He's so cute, isn't he?  I went with a teal and purple color scheme, a combo on the cool end of the color spectrum, which seemed apropos for a polar bear.  I stamped and colored him with Copic and Olo markers. I left the stamp in the stamp positioner, so I could restamp him in black pigment ink, remove that stamp and line up the sentiment beneath him.

I wanted to use something more playful than a normal rectangle and my old MFT Modern Rectangle stax came to the rescue.  The larger panel was cut from Simon's Peacock cardstock, which tends to be more on the green than blue side of teal and matched the teal markers I used on his scarf.  Unfortunately, photos using my phone camera tend to give everything more of a blue hue.  The teal panel was die cut then I use a large background stamp to add tone on tone little twinkles and dots for just a bit of interest.  After it was added to the card base, the main image was mounted with foam tape. No embellishments this time.

Thanks for stopping by, I appreciate it.  I encourage you to head over to the challenge blog to see the fabulous cards from the rest of the design team.  The challenge will remain open until Friday September 25th at 3pm EDT.  I hope you'll join us this week!

Stef

• MFT Polar Bear Pals stamp set
• SSS Twinkling Stars background stamp
• MFT Stitched Modern Rectangle Stax dies
• SSS Aegan ink
• Olos - V2.6, 2.4, 2.3, 1.1, BG 2.7, 2.5, 2.4, 2.1
• Copics - C3, 1, 0, BG 000, 0000

Potentially Cursed for Color Hues

Hello friends!  It's time for a new challenge at Color Hues and this time the lovely Sheri chose this wonderful combination of colors.

Color Hues

I was quite tempted to create a floral with this duo of colors, but my love of Halloween took me in a "hauntingly" different direction, bwwwhhhaaa!

I had so much fun making this card.  Spellbinders recently came out with the new Color Block Rectangle dies, which I had to have after loving the arched version that came out earlier this year.  Anyway, while I was shopping, I found this cute Halloween cat and she had to come home to me along with the rectangle dies.

I knew the basic layout I wanted but messed around with the background and finally decided to use a panel of C&9 Avacado cardstock and darken it by ink blending SSS Artichoke ink and Black Soot Distress ink over the entire thing, keeping it lighter in the middle.

The cat was easy to assemble, although the eyes were a bit tricky.  If you don't get them placed correctly, the eyes can appear crossed or wandering in opposite directions lol! Before adding our witchy cat to the panel, I stamped it with a spider web from another set.  Once I had her in place, the two die cut bats were added, along with the sentiment, which makes me giggle every time I see it!  To me the sentiment looks a bit crooked, but I checked it three times with my T-square ruler and the word are straight.  I may still fiddle around with it.

After assembling the card, I decided to add one last thing.  Using my white gel pen, I gave her some magic sparkles around her head.  

What are you inspired to create with these colors?  For more ideas, please head over to the challenge blog where my amazing teammates and our wonderful guest designer Amanda have some fabulous cards to inspire you.  The challenge will remain open until Tuesday, September 29th at 9 am EDT.  I hope you'll join us!

Stef

• Spellbinders/Simon Hurley Bewitched die set
• Spellbinders Trick or Snark Aug26 Clear Stamp and Die OTM
• Spellbinders Color Block Rectangle dies
• Stampers Anonymous/Tim Holtz Stamp and Stencil Halloween Collection (spider web)
• Sixxix/Tim Holtz Big Frights dies (bats)

Rustic Thanks for PP803

Hello friends!  Here we are, the second Sunday of the month and that means we have a new color challenge for you at the Paper Players!  This time the lovely LeAnne is hosting and has chosen a trio of pretty colors that I find perfect for fall.

Paper Players

 

Because these colors remind me of fall, I created a pretty bouquet with the challenge colors along with neutrals in ivory, a metallic champagne plus light and dark browns.

The bouquet definitely has a lot of layers and dimension.  I probably got a little carried away (a little???) but I love how it turned out.

I started by cutting the five layers of each flower from Stampin' Up Pumpkin Pie and Crushed Curry.  The foliage was die cut from ivory, dark and light brown along with PP and CC. The two ivory leafy branches were then ink blended with bright yellow and Real Red inks. The layers of the flowers were ink blended with darker shades of orange and yellow then white pigment ink was dabbed onto the ends.

The background panel was stamped with the Cracked Background stamp from Simon Says Stamp using a light brown ink.  A strip of wood embossed brown cardstock was layered at the bottom for the "table", then the doily and watering can with the Thanks sentiment were added.  The flowers were layered on with varying levels of foam tape then all the foliage was tucked in behind them.  I decided there was enough going on so embellishments weren't necessary. 

So what are you inspired to make with this trio of colors?  To see the fabulous designs by the other DT members, use the link here to visit the challenge blog.  The challenge will remain open until 3pm EDT on Friday, September 18th.  I hope to see your card in the gallery!

Stef

• Concord & 9th Rustic Bouquet die and stamp set
• SSS Cracked Background stamp
• Tim Holtz Lumber embossing folder
• SU Real Red, Pumpkin Pie and Crushed Curry cardstock
• SSS Dark Chocolate cs
• Altenew Espresso cs
• C&9 Sand cs

You Are Spell-tacular!

Hello friends!  I had some crafty fun this weekend and made a card for the current challenge at Time Out Challenges, which is The Movies.

TOC 321

 

When I first saw the theme, I didn't think I had anything that would work, but then the proverbial light bulb came on, and I remembered a set from Stamping Bella that I bought last year that I thought would work great for this challenge.

These are the Tiny Townie Witch and Wizards in Training stamps.  I became a huge fan of Harry Potter thanks to my grandchildren, and I've read all the books and seen all the movies (multiple times), so I was quite pleased to see Stamping Bella come out with this trio of stamps.

There are no dies for these images, so after the Copic coloring was complete, they were fussy cut.  There is a backdrop stamp by SB that accompanies these three, which I have, but I was running short of the time it would take to color the whole scene, so I opted to put them in front of the Forbidden Forest lol!

I created the background panel by ink blending a dark sky and full moon, then adding a bit of white splatter for "stars".  I then die cut the "forest" using the Simon Says Stamp Arched Forest Die and embossing folder with dark brown card stock.  After embossing, I went over it with both Black Soot and Scorched Timber Distress inks to darken the appearance.  

With those two layers adhered together I added our wizards and witch with layers of thin and thick foam squares.  The sentiment is from the Wicked Words SB set and was white heat embossed and die cut with a small rectangle die.

I hope you like my fun card about one of all-time favorite movies series. I had a blast making this and it even prompted me to open up the first book and start reading it again. 

Thanks for taking time to visit!

Stef

Birthday Wishes for PP802

Hello friends! I'm back with a card for our new challenge at the Paper Players.  This week we have a great theme from the amazing Joanne.

Paper Players

This is a really flexible theme.  As you can see by the prompt, candles for any occasion (or decor) will work.  I chose to make a birthday card this time because I can always use more plus I have a stamp and die set that hadn't been brought out to play yet, so this was the perfect opportunity.  And because I made a birthday card with it and this is its first outing, I'll be linking up to the Anything Goes challenge at Seize the Birthday and to Darnell's NBUS challenge.  I'm also sharing with the current Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge where they're looking for stamped images (no digi).

STB #333

NBUS

I went with some bright colors for this birthday card.  

Aren't those fun and festive images?  The set is one stamp that adds all the images, then there are two dies - one that cuts the 3 small designs in a row and the two larger together, all with the postage collage look.  I decided to cut them all apart so I could create this look with each one at a tilt except the small one in the middle at top.

Before cutting apart, everything was colored with Copic and Olo markers.  The frames were open too, so one could use any color, but because I had a variety of bright colors, I thought black worked best.  And I think it really makes them pop.

Once cut apart, they were added with thin foam squares to a teal panel cut with a postage edge rectangle.  I found the sentiment already stamped and die cut so I place that at the bottom of the panel, then arranged all the cute images above.  The last thing was to add Glossy Accents to the balloons and use a shimmer pen to add sparkle to the ribbon on the package, the confetti, hat and cupcake.  

Thanks for taking time to visit!  The team has some wonderful cards with candles over on the challenge blog, so head on over there for more inspiration.  The challenge will remain open until 3pm Friday September 11th.  I hope you'll join us!

Stef

• Simon Says Stamp Birthday Mail stamp and die
• Taylored Expressions Mini Strips-Sending stamp and die
• SSS A2 Postage Rectangle die
• Copics - BG49, 13, 11, YR24, Y15, 13, Black 100
• OLOs - V2.6, 2.4, 2.3, RV 1.7, 1.5, 1.3, 1.1
• Tonic Nuvo Aqua Shimmer pen

Winter Cheers for CH140

Hello friends!  It's hard to believe but today is the first of September!  Wow!  While the year seems to be rushing by, the good news is that we have a new challenge at Color Hues.  This time the lovely and amazing Nancy is hosting and she's chosen a really nice, subtle color pairing.

Color Hues

When I saw this color combo, immediately my mind went to a die set that I'd purchased on sale last winter but never had a chance to use.  As such, I'll be sharing with Darnell's NBUS challenge.  

NBUS

It's kind of fun, when it's the last, hot dregs of summer, to think of cooler days to come, which my card reflects.  

I used three different dusty blues from Spellbinders for the sweater and cocoa cup, although my camera made the colors a bit more vibrant than they are IRL.  I wanted to use white for the gloves, so I went with a tan background and a very light gray for the "steam" coming off the cup.

I did some ink blending on all the die cut pieces for a bit of dimension before assembling.  The background was embossed then I went over the raised areas with a white pigment ink pad so all the pretty snowflakes could stand out more and to break up the solid brown.  

The greeting is from the coordinating sentiment set.  It was stamped and die cut, then added to the blue layer.  After everything was adhered, I used Stardust Stickles in the centers of all the snowflakes, including the one on the cup of cocoa.  You may be able to see it a bit better in the photo below.  It just adds a little bit of a sparkling finish to the card.

Thanks for stopping by.  I encourage you to head over to the challenge blog to see the beautiful cards created by the other DT members and our amazing guest designer, Michele Ferguson.  The challenge will remain open until Monday, September 14th at 3pm EDT.  I hope you'll join us!

Stef

• Spellbinders Mugs & Mittens dies
• SB Stay Snuggly sentiment stamp set
• Simon Says Stamp Snowflake Visions embossing folder
• Altenew Featured Sentiments dies
• Stardust Stickles
• Altenew Icy Water and Winter Lakes inks
• SSS Flannel ink

Birthday Dragon for PP801

Hello friends!  I hope you were able to join our fun celebration last week for our 800th challenge at the Paper Players!  We had a great turnout and are so appreciative of everyone who chooses to join our challenges every week.  

Since it's the 5th Sunday of the month, the amazing Jaydee is hosting out Tic-Tac-Toe challenge, and she's created a fabulous board!

Paper Players

I'm also sharing my card over at Seize the Birthday, where the prompt no stamping* dies only. (*stamped and die cut sentiment is the exception).

STB #333

For my card, I went down the center column - things that fly, free and texture.  I used a super cute little dragon die to create a fun shaped children's birthday card.

I am so smitten with this wee little flying dragon! The die set is made with the option of having the body swing back and forth but I chose not to for this card.  She was die cut from three colors of green cardstock and then the gift and her glasses were cut from the same colors as the background layers.  I'm enjoying adding eyeglasses to my critters and last week's Santa.  I think it's a fun and unexpected detail.

I used the Spellbinders Make A Wish Arch Labels dies to create the shaped card and add the wonderful texture around the edges.  After putting the layers on the card base, I added the sentiment then the dragon with foam tape.  The little clouds were die cut and tucked in behind here and the last steps were to add some sparkly gems and use a shimmer pen on the dragon wings, glasses and the gift bow.  

Thanks for visiting and I hope you'll take a moment to visit the challenge blog to see what TTT choices my amazing teammates used.  The challenge will remain open until Friday September 4th at 3pm EDT.  I hope to see your card in the gallery!

Stef

• Spellbinders Dancin' Birthday Dragon dies
• SB Essential Arches and Make a Wish Arch Labels dies
• SB Smart Glasses die
• SB Jump for Joy Sentiments Stamp
• Altenew Featured Sentiments die 
• MFT Petite Clouds dies
• Simon Says Stamp Taffy Dazzling Gems
• SB Mulberry, Orchid, Fairytale, Peridot, Rainforest and Fern cardstock
• Tonic Shimmer pen