Poinsettia Swag for The Flower Challenge

Hello friends!  I'm back with my reminder card for The Flower Challenge.  This month we're adding sparkle to our floral cards.

TFC 98R

 

Time for one more poinsettia card for the season!

I started by stamping the Simon Says Stamp Poinsettia Swag image on offsetting corners, then colored them with Olo markers. The bracts are in red, leaves in an aqua color and then I used a silver gel pen for the berries and the interior cyathium.  I did use Google to find the name of the poinsettia parts and found out that the flowers are actually on the inside of that small cyathiums on the poinsettia interior.  Such a fascinating and beautiful plant!

The panel was trimmed down and matted on a panel of dark aqua that had been die cut with the Pinkfresh Studio Folk Edge rectangle die.  The SSS Fancy Holidays die was cut from Altenew Milky Way Glitter cardstock, adhered to the vellum shadow then added to the card and that finished things off.  I toyed with the idea of adding gems but opted to leave them off. 

If you haven't had a chance to join us this month, I hope you can find a few spare minutes to get some crafting in and share your sparkly floral card with us! The challenge will be open until the 25th then the team is taking a break for the month of January, returning to start our 2025 challenges in February. 

Before you head off, I encourage you to use the link above to see the beautiful inspiration created by my oh so talented teammates!

Thanks for visiting, I hope you have a wonderful time during the holidays and I'll be back on January 1st with my DT card for Color Hues.

Take care!

Stef

 

Merry & Bright for The Paper Players

Hello friends!  I'm back with my card for The Paper Players' new challenge.  The lovely Ann is hosting our monthly Color Challenge and has chosen the luscious combination of Cherry Cobbler, Pretty Peacock and Gold, along with any neutral of your choice.

The Paper Players

I actually ended up making three different cards for this challenge but decided this was the best of the bunch.

Not too long ago I'd purchased this leafy die set and loved how it filled an entire A2 card.  I started by die cutting the large die from both peacock and white cardstocks, then layered them up for a small bit of dimension.  The berries were cut from red glitter cardstock and adhered to the larger image.

A panel of white was then lightly ink blended with a color very similar to the peacock cardstock.  When the ink dried, the big leafy image was added to the panel, which was then glued to the card base.  The sentiment was die cut from matte gold metallic cardstock and then adhered to the vellum shadow die.  I'd used double sided adhesive on the back of the vellum before die cutting, which isn't visible from the front and made it a snap to adhere to the card front.  The last step was to add some gold pearls.

It would be wonderful to have you join us this week!  The challenge will remain open until 3pm ET Friday 12/13.  I do hope you'll be able to carve out a bit of crafty time for yourself this busy holiday season and play along with us, but before you do I encourage you to use the link above to see the fabulous cards by talented teammates have created for your inspiration!

This will be the final challenge of the year for The Paper Players and we can't tell you how much we appreciate your participation this year!  I hope you have a joyous holiday season and come back to see us on January 12th for our first 2025 challenge!

Thanks for visiting.  Happy holidays and take care!

Stef

• Simon Says Stamp Abundant Leaf Background and Merry & Bright dies
• Concord & 9th Peacock, Altenew Brillian Red Glitter and SSS Matte Gold cardstocks
• Honey Bee Stamps mixed pearls
• Altenew Teal Tempest ink

Merry Christmas for The Flower Challenge

Hello friends!  How are your Christmas plans shaping up?  My house is decorated and now it's time to send cards and presents, and probably make a few more Christmas cards lol!  

Are you ready to play over at The Flower Challenge?  This month our theme is to Add Sparkle to your floral images.  Perfect for the holidays or anytime really if you love sparkle.  

The Flower Challenge

 

For this card, I used a die set that I've had since September or October and have been itching to create with, and this was the perfect opportunity.

I think this might be my favorite card that I've created for Christmas this year.  It was hard to narrow down my color choices but, in the end, went with white-ish flowers, turquoise leaves and branches, and red berries.

After the flowers were die cut from white cardstock, the poinsettias were lightly inked with a light tan in the centers.  The smaller flowers were inked with a light pink.  The centers were cut from some champagne Luxe Glitter paper to go along with the Matte Champagne metallic paper used for the background and sentiment.

The leaves and branches were die cut from C&9 card stocks along with some gorgeous turquoise glitter paper.  I kept the berry branches white and added red glitter berries.  Putting this together was so much easier than I imagined as the base has an imprint of where all the die cuts should go.  The sentiment was red heat embossed on the same Matte Champagne metallic cardstock then die cut and added with some foam tape.  

How are you inspired to add sparkle to your floral card?  I do hope you'll be able to sneak in some crafty "you" time during this busy season and join us this month!  The challenge will remain open until the 25th and we'll be back with reminder cards on the 15th.  My amazingly talented teammates have created some gorgeous cards for this challenge, so I encourage you to use the link above and take a look!

Thanks for visiting and take care!

Stef

• C&9 Festive Blooms dies
• C&9 Aqua Sky and Oceanside cardstock
• Tonic Turquoise Lake glitter paper
• SSS Matte Champagne cardstock, Champagne Luxe Glitter and Crimson Red Glitter papers
• SSS Latte, Surf and Raindrop inks
• Altenew Pink Diamond ink

Sending Peace for Color Hues

Hello friends!  The year has passed quite swiftly and here we are at the beginning of December, where it's time for a new Color Hues Challenge.  The amazing Nancy is our host this time and has chosen the beautiful combination of blue and purple to close out the year.  Yes, the challenge will be open until December 29th.

Color Hues

We've reached a milestone at Color Hues because it happens to be our 100th challenge, Woohooo... so there will be a fabulous prize offered to one of our winners. You can read all the details over on the Color Hues blog linked above.

I really dithered on this challenge, not because I had trouble with the color combination but because I made a card, decided it wasn't "enough" so I went a different direction.  But ultimately I decided to use my first card.  I'll share my second card at the bottom of the post.  Let me know which one you would have chosen.

These colors reminded me of a beautiful late afternoon winter sky, so I tried to emulate that.  I started by stamping the row of trees on a panel of Bristol paper in black pigment ink.  When that dried, I began ink blending with the darker shades of the two colors at the top and bottom of the panel, then ended up blending the two lighter shades in the middle. I created snowflakes by splattering white acrylic paint across the panel.

While that dried, the frame and peace sentiment were die cut from purple glitter cardstock and "sending" was stamped and die cut with the matching die.  I added a second layer to the frame before adhering to the now dry panel, then added the sentiments.  I decided nothing more was needed.  I think the sentiment was very appropriate as the scene has me envisioning myself in a wooded area made quiet by the falling snow.

Here's the second card I created, going a completely different direction. Either way, I ended up with another card to send!  Side note - did you know there is a purple poinsettia?  It's called Plum Pudding and I believe it's a relatively new varietal and not common.

What are you inspired to create with these colors?  Although this is a busy time of year, I hope you'll find a way to carve out some crafty time and share your card with us.  Don't forget there's a prize to be won!  The challenge will close at 9 am EST on Sunday the 29th.  I hope to see your card in the gallery!

Thanks for visiting and happy holidays!

Stef

Card #1 (all products from Simon Says Stamp except where noted)

• Peaceful Trees stamps and die
• Simple Peace die
• A2 Nesting Frames
• Winter Glitter 6x6 paper pack
• Altenew Sea Breeze, Tidal Blue, Wisteria and Hydrangea inks
• Dina Wakely White Glossy Acrylic Spray
• Hero Arts White Iridescent Shimmer Mist

Card #2

• Penny Black Scarlet Stamp
• SSS Elegantly Modern Christmas Stamp and Die
• MFT Elegant Rectangle Stax die
• SSS Silver embossing powder
• Altenew Caribbean Sky ink
• Copic and Olo markers

Merry and Bright for The Paper Players

Hello friends!  Here we are on December 1st!  I don't know about you, but this year has literally flown by.  But the first Sunday of the month brings a new theme challenge to The Paper Players.  The lovely LeAnne is hosting and is asking everyone to use a deer on your card.

Of course, you needn't make a holiday card, but that is the direction I took with my card because I had some fun little stamps I've been waiting to use.

These cute images and the sentiment are all from the Tim Holtz Stamptember stamp and die set for Simon Says Stamp.  There are like 20 small stamps of different iconic holiday images plus a number of sentiments and two sizes of postage stamp dies.  I'm using the largest of the two here and my bonus card below uses the smaller postage die.  

I started by stamping images on four half sheets of cardstock then coloring them all with Copic and Olo markers, plus I used a gold gel pen for the Christmas tree star and garland. The images were all die cut with coordinating dies along with the postage stamp shapes out of white.  

I then put the postage stamp die cuts on a stick mat and puzzle pieced the die over them so I could ink blend them yet leave a white edge.  After using a white gel pen to add "snow", Rudolph, Santa and the Christmas tree were all added with thin foam squares.

Next a panel of red was cut with a postage edge rectangle die and the sentiment was white heat embossed.  White pigment ink was blended around the edges before mounting on the white card base.  The postage stamp images were added with thin foam squares and lastly I tied some red baker's twine around the top.

The bonus card is arranged just a bit differently.

Oh, so much fun and I have loads of images to make more cards!  Do you have a favorite?

What are you inspired to create using a deer?  It could be a holiday/winter card or it could be one for any time of year as long as a deer is present.  We look forward to seeing to your card in the gallery, the challenge remains open until 3pm EST on Friday December 6th.  For more inspiration, be sure to see what my talented teammates have created - the blog is linked above.

Thanks for visiting and take care!

Stef

PS Check back later to catch my Color Hues DT post!

• Tim Holtz/SSS Stamptember 2024 stamp and die set
• Spellbinders Postage Edge Rectangle die
• Hero Arts Unicorn White and Salvaged Patina Distress inks
• Copic and Olo markers
• Altenew Gold and Silver gel pens

  

Season's Greetings for The Paper Players

Hello friends!  It's time for a new challenge at The Paper Players and it's sketch week, which I am hosting.  I hope you're inspired by my sketch and play along us this week!

The Paper Players

 

I'm also joining my friends over at Just Us Girls, where the sweet Carol Mc has chosen a great mood board for this time of year.  I don't have anything specific to tie my card to other than they are both wintery and Christmasy.

JUGS #754

I created this sketch prior to deciding on what I was going to use and it worked out best for me to flip the sketch to a portrait layout, so feel free to do the same if you join us, which I hope you will!

When I received the Simon Says Stamp November card kit, I knew I had to use something from it with this layout and I ended up using this adorable deer.  I was definitely inspired by the card made by Nina Marie Trapini here, especially since I already had the scalloped dies she used.

I started by choosing a piece of patterned paper from the kit, then matched up Copic markers for coloring the banner, leaves, berries and the deer's bow, which were then die cut with matching dies.  

Next the rectangle dies were used to cut the patterned paper as well and a panel of vellum.  I glued together the stamped images then added them as one piece to the vellum piece, using foam squares, then used glue on the backside just where the images were to adhere the vellum panel to the background paper.  A strip of gorgeous turquoise glitter paper was adhered to the card base, then the main image adhered over it.  The final touch was to use Stardust Stickles to add glitter to the bow and the berries.  I love how this turned out.

What are you inspired to create with this sketch?  I hope you'll join us this week, the challenge remains open until 3 pm EST on Friday November 29th. For even more inspiration, take a moment to visit the challenge blog (linked above) to see all the beautiful cards my talented teammates created with this sketch.

Thanks for visiting and to those celebrating Thanksgiving this week, I hope you have a joyous day with family and friends!

Stef

• SSS Christmas Cheer Stamp and Die set
• Memory Box Fringed Scalloped Frame dies
• Prima Candy Cane Lane Patterned Paper
• Tonic Turquoise Lake Glitter cardstock
• Copics - E37, 35, 33, 31, 30, R39, 37, 35, BG78, 75, 72, 70

Noel Birds for The Paper Players

Hello friends!  I keep plugging away at making Christmas cards and have another one to share that I made for our current challenge at The Paper Players.  This week, the amazing Jaydee is hosting our CAS challenge with a fun theme that can help YOU work on your supply of holiday cards as well!

The Paper Players

I always love quirky characters so when I saw the Stamptember set in collaboration with Simon Says Stamp and AALL & Create, I had to have it, especially for these funny birds.

Aren't they so funny?  Love them!  Anyway, before I started coloring the images, I went online and looked up trending colors for Christmas 2024 and saw this color palette of purple, pink, aqua and lime.  Perfect!  Of course I used my Copics to color the birds and the sentiment blocks, then used the matching dies to cut them out.

Since the birds were all decked out in their winter apparel, I thought an embossed snowflake background would be perfect.  It was a little busy behind the birds, so I used an arch die to cut a piece of white and then add a bit of aqua ink blending to create a background for the birds.  After the card was complete, I added a bit of Glossy Accents to their eye glasses - it looks great IRL.

So, while I did use layers, I kept a lot of "white" space around the image to maintain the CAS look.

I know many are still making holiday cards, so come share your CAS creation with us this week!  The challenge remains open until 3pm EST Friday November 22. And don't forget to check out the design team cards here for more inspiration. 

Thanks for visiting and take care!

Stef

• Simon Says Stamp/AALL & Create Winter Bells stamps and dies
• SSS Nested Domed Arches
• SSS Snowflake Visions embossing folder
• Altenew Aqualicious ink
• Copics - E59, 57, 55, 47, 44,43, 29, 37, 33, YR24, 23, 21, 12, Y21, V09, 06, 04, 01, RV14, 13, 11, YG09, 07, 05, 01, BG49, 45, 01

Christmas Joy

Hello friends!  I'm back with another card today, this time for the challenge at Just Us Girls, where it is word week and Sue has chosen a most appropriate work for this time of year.

JUGs #753

 

If you dropped by looking for my Color Hues DT card, you can find it here.

When I received the Simon Says Stamp November card kit, it had in it some darling decoupage images from Craft Consortium.  I'd never used them before, typically preferring to stamp and color myself, but these are soooo cute, I couldn't resist.  

There are five scenes included in the pack, and you pop out the images and layer them up with foam squares.  Each one was four or five layers, which I thought was too thick to mail, so I sorted the images for this particular scene so that I could make two cards from it.  In the photo above you can see the layers from the front snowman and the lantern.

I found the perfect patterned paper for the background.  It was die cut to fit on the largest of SSS's Chunky Scallop rectangle, then the snow people were added.  Isn't that the cutest little scene?  I especially love the birds.  Before adhering the panel to the scallop rectangle, the large joy sentiment was die cut from red metallic paper, added to the panel, then the sub-sentiment stamped in black.  I decided to go ahead and make this a shaped card using the scallop rectangle die.  This was a fun and quick way to create some holiday cards.

Thanks for taking time to stop by. Take care!

Stef

• Craft Consortium Christmas Market Decoupage papers
• SSS Christmas Cheer Stamp set (sentiment)
• SSS Fanciful Joy die
• Whimsy Stamps Flurry Blurry patterned paper
• SSS Chunky Scallop Rectangle die

Snowflake Stripes for Color Hues

Hello friends!  How are your plans for Thanksgiving shaping up?  It is certainly getting close as we hit mid-month, which brings a new challenge over at Color Hues!  This time the lovely Marcia is hosting and has chosen two beautiful colors for her combo.

Color Hues

The Color Hues DT is also excited to announce an addition to our team!  The very talented Bonnie Klass has agreed to join us and I know she will inspire you with her beautiful creations.

I'm also sharing my card over at the Tic Tac Toe challenge, which works for both the left column (ink blending, CAS, Die Cut) and bottom row (Die Cut, Metallic Element, Festive Sentiment).

TTTC260

I used three hues of pink along with aqua to create two modern style Christmas cards with these non-traditional colors.

The Snowflake Stripes stencil set has 3 stencils, two that create the stripes and the snowflake image and a third that could be used to color in the snowflake.  I opted to just use the first two and after completing my ink blending, I sprayed both panels with a shimmer spray for some subtle sparkle.

Next I used two different sentiments from the Simon Says Stamp Elegantly Modern Christmas sentiment set that were gold heat embossed then cut out with the matching dies.  When the panels dried, I trimmed one down for the landscape version, matting on some gold cardstock, then adhered to the white card base.  I kept the other panel A2 sized, adhered to a card base, then added a gold strip down the side.  After adding the sentiments to the cards, I used some gold glitter gems from my stash to finish things off.  These were really fast and fun to make - I know I will be making more with a variety of colors.

  

I hope these colors inspire you, whether for the holidays or beyond.  Whatever you're inspired to make I sure hope you'll join us!  The challenge remains open until 9 a.m. EST, Friday November 29th. In the meantime, be sure to visit the challenge blog (linked above) to check out all the beautiful cards my super talented teammates and our guest designer Teresa created!

Thanks for visiting!  Take care and if you're celebrating Thanksgiving later this month, I hope you have a lovely time with family and/or friends.

Take care!

Stef

• SSS Snowflake Stripes Stencils
• SSS Elegantly Modern Christmas Stamps & Dies
• Altenew Baby Pink, Fuchsia, Magenta and Aqualicious inks
• Hero Arts White Iridescent Shimmer Spray