Petal Path Birthday for the Paper Players #785

Hello friends!  Today at the Paper Players we have our monthly color challenge. The delightful Claire is hosting and she chose a gorgeous color challenge.

Paper Players

I decided to try out a new die set using these colors, so I'll be sharing over at Darnell's Never Before Used Schtuff monthly challenge.

NBUS

I just love this color combination!

 

The Concord & 9th Petal Path die was used to create this card. The die cuts all the pieces in one pass, so I ran it through the die cut machine with each cardstock color and white.  When deciding on the cardstock to use, I was pleased to find I still had a couple of pieces of Stampin' Up Gorgeous Grape.  For the green I used Simon Says Stamp Granny Apple and substituted C&9 Aqua Sky for Coastal Cabana.

Before inlaying all the die cut pieces, I put the aqua panel into my Misti and stamped one of the sentiments from the coordinating stamp set in Aqua Sky ink.  This panel was layered on the white die cut panel for a little dimension then adhered to the card base.  I used two layers for the tulips and some of the flowers.  

For the second layer of the tulips, I first adhered just the stem then added a small piece of foam tape under the leafs. The tulips were glued just at the base then popped up with foam tape.  

I was going to add gems but it seemed to fussy with this playful design, so I added a bit of sparkle on all the flowers with a shimmer pen and called it done.

How will you use these colors?  Before you head off to your crafty space, take a moment to visit the challenge blog where the other DT members have some gorgeous inspiration for you.  The challenge will remain open until Friday, May 17th at 3pm EDT.  I hope you'll join us!

Thanks for stopping by!

Stef

Wildflower Silhouettes Birthday Card

Hello friends!  Today I'm sharing a card made for the current challenge at Time Out Challenges.  It's a photo challenge and the picture is simply amazing!

TOC 312

It took me a couple of tries to get the colors I wanted that would come close to the colors of the sky.  My colors aren't an exact duplicate but I was happy how the inks looked blended together.

I recently invested in the A7 version of the Waffle Flower Postage Collage dies and stencil.  I thought the colors from the photo challenge would create a pretty setting for the stamped wildflowers, butterflies and dragonflies. 

I laid down the block stencil and blended the sky with SSS Heather, Guava, Shell and Galaxy inks.  Next I used the Wildflower Flower Silhouette Stamps along with one stamp from the Wild Butterflies Silhouette Stamps to create my little scene, then cut the panel with the A7 PC die.

The sentiment was stamped using the WF Sweet Birthday Sentiment Stamp and Die set.  The collage piece was matted with a piece of light purple cardstock.  The last step was to place a few gems around the sentiment.

Here's my second card.  The wildflower images are pretty much in the same place as the first card, but I altered where the butterflies and dragonflies were stamped.  I also used the PC A7 Block die with the same light purple paper to create the frame around the images.

I like both versions, how about you?  Do you like it with the postage edge or with the block die cut?

Thanks so much for stopping by!  

Stef

• WF Postage Collage A7 die, blocks die and blocks stencil
• PC Wild Butterflies stamp
• PC Wildflowers stamps
• WF Sweet Birthday Sentiment stamp and die
• SSS Galaxy, Shell Guava and Heather inks
• Honey Bee Stamps Gingerbread gems

Handpicked Birthday

Hello friends!  Today I'm sharing a birthday card over at Seize the Birthday, where my dear friend, Nancy is hosting the current challenge.  She chose a "toppings" theme I couldn't resist.  Pink?  Yes, please!

STB 325

I also wanted to try out a new die set and create a fun-fold card with it.

The floral die set is from Concord & 9th, and what drew me to it is that there are dies for the florals along with dies to create a pinpoint impression for arranging without cutting into the panel, one to cut out the entire arrangement and two dies to cut either side of the florals, allowing a shaped card front as my card does or to the other direction.

I began by cutting my white card base with one of the edge dies along with the impression die.  After cutting out and adhering all the flowers, leaves and stems with various C&9 cardstocks, a panel of pink was cut at 5.5" x 4.50" and scored to create an A2 panel with a quarter inch on the right to be adhered to the back of the white card base, allowing the pink panel to swing open on the right side of the card after lifting the die cut edge. I hope that makes sense!

Before adhering the pink panel, I used my Misti to position the sentiment so it would be visible beside the florals with the left side of the card closed. After assembling the entire card, both the left and right sides swing open to the interior of the card, where I'll add a personal greeting.  I apologize for not including a photo of that.

I finished things off by adding a few tiny white flowers from another C&9 die set on the pink panel, then using sparkly gems for all the flower centers. 

Thanks for visiting, I appreciate it!  And if you have another moment, take a peek at my Paper Players DT card for our new challenge that went live earlier today.

Take care!

Stef

• C&9 Handpicked dies and Briar & Bloom dies
• Waffle Flower Sweet Birthday Sentiments Stamps

With Thanks for the Paper Players

Hello friends!  It's the first Sunday of the month of May (wow are the weeks rolling by!) and the lovely Jaydee is hosting our theme challenge to create a feminine card.  

Paper Players

For my card, I used some components of the Simon Says Stamp March card kit. Take a look!

While flowers don't necessarily have to be used solely on feminine cards, that's the way it usually ends up on my cards.  I also used a paper doily to "wrap" the flowers and a scallop border die to trim the background panel for lots of feminine detail.  

The flowers, doily, twine and sentiment strip were all from the kit and those things are still available separately at SSS.  I normally use a stamp positioner for stamping but for the technique I used for the flowers, leaves and dies, I pulled out some acrylic blocks.  The stamps were inked up, then I used a sprayer to add a mist of water before stamping on watercolor paper.  I found I had to aim carefully to use just one spray, because more than that caused the images to be blurry, and that wasn't the look I was going for. 

After drying, the stamped images were cut out with the coordinating dies. After adhering them together in the design I wanted, they were tucked into the doily, which was then glued shut and added to the pink background panel.  Next came the sentiment strip and a jute twine bow, with the final touch being the addition of a few sparkling gems.

Thanks for stopping by!  I hope you'll take a moment to visit the challenge blog, where my talented teammates have some gorgeous inspiration for you!  The challenge will remain open until Friday, May 7th at 3pm.  We'd love to have you join us this week!

Stef

• Simon Says Stamp Watercolor Bouquet Stamps and Dies
• SSS Eyelet Layer Frame Die
• SSS XL EZ Strips sentiment and banner die
• Honey Bee Stamps Aurora Borealis gems

Cheers to You for Color Hues

Hello friends!  We have a new challenge for you over at Color Hues and this time I am hosting!  I've chosen one of my favorite color combinations for the challenge.

Color Hues

As a reminder, you may use any hue of the two challenge colors, so lighter, darker, whatever tone, as long as it's a yellow and a blue.  Neutrals are also welcome (black, white, gray, ivory, brown, kraft and metallics).  So sorry, but green is not a neutral lol!

I'm also sharing over at Seize the Birthday for their Anything Goes portion of the challenge.

STB #325

Okay, let's get to my card! 

For a long time I knew precisely what I was going to create for this challenge, but then...Spellbinders released their Just A Cake Birthday Card Kit and I went in a completely different direction.  Take a look!

As I am always in need of masculine birthday cards, I chose to use the Birthday Brew die set from the kit, Confetti Drop embossing folder and the Just Add Cake stamps and dies.  In addition, I used the Essential Arches and the Color Block Accent Arches, which are not part of the kit.

I love that color block look in yellow and blue!  For the beer mug itself, it was die cut from both light blue and vellum.  Between those two layers a piece of acetate was added to give the look of glass with the beer behind it.  

The watch was easy to put together, once I decided on the colors of metallics to be used.  Sandwiched between the face and band of the watch is a die cut circle of gray to make the watch hands visible.  

The background arch was cut from white, embossed with the Confetti Drop folder, then a yellow ink pad was swiped across the raised elements so they would be more visible, plus give more contrast between it and the beer "foam". I used partial die cutting to create a top-folding arched shaped card base.  The final step, after everything was assembled, was to add a few small clear dew drops for an effervescent look.  

Thanks for stopping by!  Please take a moment to visit the challenge blog for more inspiration by my incredibly talented teammates and guest designer Greta.  The challenge will remain open until Thursday, May 14th at 9:00 am EDT.  I hope you'll join us, I'd love to see your card in the gallery!

Stef

Beautiful Day for the Paper Players

Hello friends!  It's the fourth Sunday of the month and that means a sketch challenge over at the Paper Players.  I'm hosting this week and I've created a sketch that should give you lots of options for your card.

Paper Players

I'm also sharing my card over at the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge where they are looking for feminine cards.

I really love wreaths and thought the wide-open space on the right side of the sketch would work well for one.

The wreath is from Concord & 9th's Briar & Blooms die set and the banner sentiment is from the matching stamp set.  The wreath, along with the layering leaves and flowers, was die cut from colored cardstock, then I did some ink blending to give them more depth and dimension.

I took my color inspiration from the strip of plaid paper, which was part of an old paper pack from MFT.  The light purple paper was embossed with a floral design, then both pieces were adhered to the card base, with a strip of white to cover the seam.

I had to chuckle because this is my sketch and I almost forgot the shape at the lower right.  I wanted something small, which I found in an older Mama Elephant sentiment set.  The smallest die from a Hexagon die set worked beautifully to die cut the sentiment.  

After gluing the wreath to the card front, a bit of foam tape was added beneath the large purple flowers and also the center of the banner.  The happy birthday was also popped up with foam tape. Then, to finish things off, tiny little gems were added to the tiny little flowers for some pretty sparkle.

Thanks so much for stopping by!  Be sure to take a moment to visit the challenge blog for some wonderful inspiration by my talented teammates!  The challenge will remain open until Friday, May 1st at 3pm EDT.  I hope you'll join us this week!

Stef

• Concord & 9th Briar & Blooms stamp and die sets
• Mama Elephant Mini Everyday Messages stamp set
• Simon Says Stamp Tiny Flora embossing folder
• SSS Strips die
• Pinkfresh Studio Nested Hexagon die
• MFT Plaid Patterns Paper Pack
• Spellbinders Fairy Tale, Lavender, Beeswax and Saffron cardstock
• C&9 Sprout and Parsley cardstock
• Inks - SSS Honey and Iris; Altenew Fresh Leaf and Mountain Pine; Versafine Clair Mountain Mist

Little Things for the Paper Players

Hello friends! It's time for a new CAS challenge at the Paper Players and this time the amazing Christy is hosting.  She's chosen a fun theme for our CAS cards.

Paper Players

I don't have many baby animal stamps or dies, but I found one in my stash that is so sweet, I'm glad I remembered it.

I have a number of Anita Jeram stamps from Colorado Craft Company but hadn't used this particular image before.  The little bunnies are just toooooo cute in this scene and the sentiment says it all.

To color the image and create a background, I went back to my roots and used Distress inks to watercolor.  The soft colors are wonderful and perfect for this family of bunnies out for a little jaunt on a Spring day.

When the watercoloring was dry, the panel was trimmed down with an Eyelet Layer frame die.  It was adhered to a panel of light blue then added to the card base with foam tape.  

We would love to have you share your baby animal card with us this week!  I encourage you to head over to the challenge blog where my talented teammates have some wonderful inspiration for you.  The challenge will remain open until Friday, April 24th at 3pm EDT.  Hope to see you there!

Stef

• CCC/AJ Happy Days Stamp set
• SSS Eyelet Layer Frame die
• Lost Shadow, Hickory Smoke, Broken China, Mowed Lawn, Worn Lipstick and Mustard Seed Distress inks

Charmed Birthday for Color Hues

Hello friends!  Today the lovely Sheri is hosting our new challenge at Color Hues.  She has chosen some wonderful spring colors.

Color Hues

Remember that you can use any hues of these colors and you'll see that with the gorgeous cards by the other design team members, as well as mine.

I've always found coral to be a bit tricky to create with using inks or alcohol markers.  But then Jennifer McGuire came to my rescue in a video earlier this year, using three shades of Altenew inks (listed below).  So that's what was used to ink blend all the die cut petals on the flower. (If anybody that has suggestions for coral Copic marker combos that don't look too red, I'd appreciate knowing!)

After the ink blending of both the leaves and flower petals was complete, the flower was assembled, all six layers (!) plus the center pieces.  I didn't care for the shape of the top flower center die that was part of the die set so I substituted one from another set.

Both the Betterpress sentiment and the flower center were inked using Altenew Antique Gold pigment ink.  Texture was added to the green background with a cover plate die, then a die cut lattice became the landing spot for the peony.  Other than fussing with the flower center, this card came together very quickly!

The challenge will remain open until Wednesday April 29th at 3:00 pm EDT.  For more inspiration, I encourage you to visit the challenge blog to see all those gorgeous cards created by my amazing teammates and our guest designer Kelly. I hope you'll join us!

Thanks for stopping by!

Stef

• Altenew Coral Charm Peony dies
• Spellbinders Woven Lattice Texture die
• Pinkfresh Studio Stitched Diamonds Cover die
• Spellbinders A Little Message Sentiments Press Plate and die
• Altenew Pink Pearl, Coral Bliss and Coral Red inks
• SSS Lime, Limelicicous and Pearfection inks

Buttercup Bunch for the Paper Players

Hello friends!  Today the Paper Players is back with our monthly color challenge.  This time, the lovely Jan is hosting and has chosen a great color combination.

Paper Players

I really love black and yellow together but I have to admit the gray threw me for a bit, but after some trial and error, a satisfactory card emerged lol!

I knew I was going to use my Altenew Buttercup Bunch die set, because, well, buttercups are yellow lol!  It's a rather modern style so I tried different graphic designs for the background, but nothing worked.  Then I realized I was using too dark of a gray so I went searching around and found the stenciled background I ended up using.  It was in with some Stampin' Up neutral scraps and was one of my last pieces of Smoky Slate (which I didn't even know I still had!).  

The panel was stenciled using Versamark ink. I trimmed it down to have a white border on each side, then added the black strip.  The flowers were arranged with the stems glued down and the flowers popped up using thin foam squares.  The stacked sentiment was adhered, then a few Onyx gems finished things off.

What are you inspired to create with this color trio?  I think it would work equally well for a more "masculine" card. The rest of the design team has fabulous inspiration with a variety of designs over at the challenge blog, so I encourage you to head over and take a peek.  The challenge will remain open until Friday April 17th at 3pm EDT.  I hope to see you there!

Thanks for stopping by!

Stef

• Altenew Buttercup Bunch Layering die set
• Simon Says Stamp Hibiscus Bloom sentiment stamp and die
• Tim Holtz Bubble stencil
• Spellbinders Onyx gems

Showers of Love for the Paper Players

Hello friends!  The Paper Players is back with a new challenge.  This week, the lovely LeAnne is hosting and has chosen a timely theme of Spring Showers. 

Paper Players

Lots of cute ideas in that image board!  I used my favorite stamp and die set for this theme.  It's a retired MFT set but the images still remain cute as ever. 

The cute little girl and her duck friend, along with the clouds, sun and sentiment are all part of the MFT Rain or Shine stamp and die set.  They were all colored with Copic markers and then die cut.  I added some white gel pen highlights and polka dots to her coat, just for fun.

I saw a few cards on Pinterest with the rain to sunshine design for the background, so I thought I'd try that too.  A panel of white was ink blended with two colors of blue, then I used a Copic Mulitliner to create the "raindrops" and colored them in with the white gel pen.  The panel was trimmed down and before adhering to the card base, the cobblestone path was colored then added.  The sun and clouds were all glued to the card front.  Everything else was added with foam tape and the card was done.

This is a fun theme and I hope you'll find time to play along.  For more inspiration, please head over to the challenge blog where my talented teammates have some amazing cards.  The challenge will remain open until Friday, April 10th at 3pm EDT.  I hope to see your card in the gallery!

Thanks for stopping by!

Stef

•  MFT Birdie Brown Rain or Shine stamps and dies
• Simon Says Stamp On the Ground stamp
• SSS Galaxy and Twilight inks
• Copics - YG09, 07, 05, 01, B39, 37, 34,  YR24, 23, Y15, 11, 00, E29, 37, 33, 04, 21, 000, R21

Chompster Devours It!

Hello friends!  I have a fun card to share with you today using the new Just Add Cake card kit from Spellbinders.  I was so excited to get it because I knew all of the dies would work beautifully for many of the upcoming birthdays of friends and family members.  

Of course, I had to start with the cute little monster and because he's devouring a cupcake, I'm joining the current Sweet Treats challenge at Time Out Challenges.

TOC #310

And because I created a birthday card, I'm sharing with Seize the Birthday's Anything Goes challenge.

STB #323

This card was so fun to make!

I like the combination of orange and blue because I think it's gender neutral.  I created Chompster from two shades of orange cardstock and used the darker orange for the card base and his party hat.

The monster dies are super easy to put together and I was smiling the entire time because he's so cute!  The background arch panel was embossed with the Confetti Drop folder that comes with the kit.  

The card base was created using arch dies and one of the Spellbinders Color Block Accent Arch dies.  I think that's just the coolest look and I hope in the future they come out with rectangles with the same checkerboard design.  The sentiment is from the Just Add Cake stamp and die set in the kit.  

After creating the card base doing partial die cutting with the large arch die, the layers were added.  The only thing popped up with foam tape is the sentiment.  The final touches were to add the pompom on his hat and some Sparkle Texture Paste to the cupcake frosting.  I was hoping it would have a bit more opacity, but it still looks sparkly IRL.

Thanks for taking time to stop by!  Have a great weekend!

Stef

Sweetheart Daisies for Color Hues

Hello friends!  I'm here with my card for the new challenge at Color Hues. This time the amazing Nancy is hosting and has chosen a gorgeous color combination.

Color Hues

 

I have to say, I love this pair of colors so much!  I should have titled this post "Oldies but Goodies" because much of what is used to create this are things I've had for years.  And I'm so happy I pulled out the Sweetheart Daisies stamp from Kitchen Sink Stamps (sadly closed in 2024), because it is a stunner.

The stamp is a layering stamp, which was one of the big things Kitchen Sink Stamps was known for.  I have always found layering stamps rather intimidating, so I only have two of the KSS stamp sets in my collection. I bought this stamp in 2021, used it once in 2022 here and it's just been waiting for this occasion.

The Altenew trio of Magenta, Fuchsia and Baby Pink was used to color the flower, along with Tanzanite for the navy color.  It almost looks like a photo IRL.  Once the stamping was done, the panel was cut with an arch die.

I found one sole piece of Navy patterned paper from a 2017 Simon Says Stamp card kit in my stash.  It was just 3" x 5.5", so I trimmed off a small amount on the side, then added a strip of matte gold cardstock on each side to finish it off nicely on the card front.

The search for a sentiment to fit the space at the bottom of the heart yielded another older product, this time a SSS thanks die from 2017. It was cut once from gold and layered on a second die cut in white, then adhered to the arch panel.  The panel was then added to the card front with foam tape and a few gold sequins finished things off.

How do these colors inspire you?  For more ideas, please take a couple of minutes to visit the challenge blog to see the gorgeous cards created by my talented teammates! The challenge will remain open until Tuesday April 14th at 9am EDT.  I hope you'll join us!

Thanks for stopping by!

Stef

• Kitchen Sink Stamps Sweetheart Daisies layering stamps
• SSS A2 Arches die
• SSS Strips die
• SSS Script Thanks die
• Altenew Magenta, Fuchsia, Baby Pink and Tanzanite inks
• SSS Stay Gold confetti sequins

Flourish for the Paper Players

Hello friends!  It's time for a new challenge at the Paper Players and since it's the fifth Sunday of the month, that means Tic-Tac-Toe.  The amazing Ann is hosting and has given us a great board from which to draw inspiration.  

Paper Players

 

For my card, I went diagonal from top left to bottom right - die cut, flowers, layers.

I'm also joining in at Just Us Girls for their Anything Goes Stencil Week challenge.

JUGS #816

This card was pretty quick and easy to create because I used stenciling for both the floral image and the background. 

 

The pinks are from the Altenew Blushberry Bliss quad - Strawberry, Dusty Pink, Blush Rose and Raspberry Sunset.  The flowers were colored with Strawberry, Blush Rose and Rasberry, and then I used a light application of Dusty Pink on the stenciled background panel.  

The floral image was die cut then layered on two additional die cuts. It was added to the stenciled panel after it had been cut with a diagonal stitch rectangle die.  I trimmed off the overhanging parts of the floral image after adhering it to the panel, which was then added to the card front.  The sentiment is from the same stamp set.  The final touch was to add several sequins.  

It'll be fun to see which column or row everyone chooses to use.  For more inspiration, I encourage you to visit the challenge blog, where my wonderful teammates have some gorgeous inspiration for you.  The challenge will remain open until Friday, April 3rd at 3pm EDT.  I hope to see you there!

Thanks for stopping by!

Stef

• Altenew Scripted in Bloom stamps, stencils and dies
• Altenew Elegant Swirls Stencil
• Altenew Featured Sentiments die
• Pinkfresh Studio Diagonal Stitched Rectangle die
• SSS Moonlit Snow Embellishments
• Altenew inks other than the pinks - Redwood, Mossy Meadow and Reindeer Moss  

Rustic Layering Flower for the Paper Players

Hello friends!  It's the fourth Sunday of the month and that means it's time for a new sketch challenge at the Paper Players.  The lovely Claire is hosting and has created at good one with plenty of design options.

Paper Players

I was all set to use this sketch for a Christmas card to add to my stash, and I did make a card.  In fact, I made two but as I went to create my blog post I realized I forgot a very important part of the sketch - the vertical piece under the focal image.  Oops!  But that's okay, now I have 2 more holiday cards completed!

So back to square one and I shifted to spring because I was inspired by the challenge at Seize the Birthday, where the topping is to use primarily green on your card.

STB #322

And here's what I came up with...

I chose to use the Simon Says Stamp Rustic Layering Flower and thought a pop of yellow on my otherwise green card would look nice.  I used Copic and Olo markers to color it.

For the horizontal bar, I wanted scallops but don't have any edger dies like that.  However, I remembered I had a slimline die set with a die that would work perfectly. Happy dance!  

To go along with the scallop design, I used one of the scallop layers from the SSS Layered Scallop Tags dies and die cut it from white.  I did some partial die cutting so the length could be extended and I added a green hole tab at the top.  

The scallop strip was added to the panel that had been embossed by the Spellbinders Tiny Dots folder, then mounted the tag with foam tape and adhered the flower. I found the sentiment in with the MFT Stylish Sentiments stamp set and it was already stamped and die cut with the Altenew Featured Sentiment die, which was a happy discovery.  

The last element was the twine bow.  I put a foam square underneath the green hole tab, then secured the bow onto the foam square through the hole.  

All in all, I'm pleased with how this turned out after having to pivot and make a new card lol!  

So how are you inspired to use this sketch?  For more ideas, please head over to the challenge blog to see all the fabulous cards by my wonderful teammates.  The challenge will remain open until Friday, March 27th at 3pm EDT.  I hope you'll have a chance to join us!

Clematis Hello for Color Hues

Hello friends!  Here we are in the middle of March already and time for a new challenge at Color Hues.  This time the lovely Marcia is hosting and has chosen a beautiful color combination of purple and marigold.

Color Hues

According to my online search, marigold is described as yellow with an overlay of orange.  Having said that, please do not stress on getting a perfect match, simply something close in that hue will work just fine.

Please remember to use just purple and marigold, along with any neutrals (nope, not green!).

For my card, I used a couple of new products from Altenew, so I'll be sharing that over at Darnell's NBUS challenge.

NBUS #84

And here's my card...

I was tickled that my new Clematis dies would work so well with Marcia's color choices.  I die cut the petals and stamen from colored cardstock, then did some ink blending for shading.  I was a bit disappointed that the ink dried back as much as it did, but the flowers were already put together so I went with it as is.  

Because of the size of the flowers, my card ended up being A6 (4.5" x 6.25").  While I was trying to decide on the background, I had a lightbulb moment, remembering an old MFT Watercolor Wash paper pack, and the lighter purple worked great.  

The sentiment is from the new Creative Labels Stamps and Dies.  Love the flourished tale on the H!  The finishing touch was to add a few Opal gems.

Thank you for stopping by and I hope you'll take a moment to pop over to the challenge blog to see the incredible cards from the design team and our wonderful guest designer, Chris.  After seeing all that inspiration, I hope you'll decide to join us.  The challenge will remain open until Sunday 3/29 at 3pm EDT.  

Take care!

Stef

• Altenew Clematis Layering dies
• Altenew Creative Labels Stamps and Dies
• MFT Watercolor Wash patterned paper
• Simon Says Stamp Opal Dazzling Gems