Birdie Hello for the Paper Players

Hello friends! I have a fun little card to share with you for the new challenge at the Paper Players.  This time, the lovely LeAnne is hosting our CAS challenge with the theme of using things with wheels.  Pretty fun, huh?

Paper Players

As I was combing through potential stamp and die sets, I remembered a favorite Stampin' Up cling rubber stamp set that retired years ago.  It has a fun little scene that includes wheels.  Take a look!

I stamped the image without its accompanying sentiment (in fact, I used my oldie but goodie red rubber scissors to trim it off) on a small panel of white cardstock.  Before coloring, I used a cloud stencil and also added a bit of blue around the sides.  I used a light hand so it's a bit hard to see in the photo.  After the coloring was done, the panel was cut with a square postage die.

I found some cardstock that was close in color to the wagon and used a cover die that added a tulip piercing pattern and die cut little hearts.  It was then cut with a postage rectangle die and added to the card base.  A sentiment was stamped on the image square before mounting it on the card using foam tape.  I thought a little enamel heart would look cute, carrying on the theme from the background, and found a wee yellow one that I added to the upper right corner.  

There are so many possibilities with this theme, I hope you'll play along this week.  Just remember to keep it clean and simple.  My talented teammates have a variety of amazing examples, so I encourage you to use the link above and check it out.  The challenge will remain open until 3pm EDT Friday 7/25.

Thanks for stopping by!

Stef

• Stampin' Up For the Birds stamp (retired)
• Altenew Happy Eight mini stamp (sentiment)
• Pinkfresh Studio Tulip Love Coverplate die
• MFT Mini Cloud stencil
• Simon Says Stamp Postage Edge dies
• Altenew Eastern Sky ink, Ultramarine cardstock and Citrus Punch enamel heart
• Copics - B28, 26, 24, 23,21, C9, 7. 5, 3, 1, 0, W3, 1, 0, Black 100, Y15, 11, RV 06, 02 YR 09, 04, YG17, 05

The Joy is in the Journey

Hello friends!  Today I'm sharing a birthday card that I made for my nephew and am playing along with Ann's challenge to create a masculine card at The Paper Players.

PP643

The Paper Players always has great challenges, I have found myself not having time (making time?) to play along, so this week I made sure to do so.

I used Altenew's Spectacular Adventures stamp and die set.  I think the idea of the reflection in glasses is so clever and there are three different scenes to choose from - obviously I chose the mountain scene.  The glasses were stamped in black, then I used Gina K's Warm Glow Amalgam ink to stamp the scene.  It's a light ink to use for that "no-line" stamping look.  Copic markers were used to color the scene, then the piece was die cut.

I used one of my favorite plaid prints from the retired Stampin' Up Plaid Tidings DSP - I hoard this paper pack lol!  The panel was trimmed down and layered on a white card base.  The sentiments were stamped on a white strip, layered on a slightly larger one of Garden Green cardstock, the adhered to the card.  Lastly the glasses were added with foam tape for a bit of dimension.

Thanks for talking time to stop by.  I hope you're having a great week!

Take care!

Stef

Stamps:  Altenew Spectacular Adventures, PTI Stylish Sentiments: Birthday

Paper:  Neenah Solar White, Garden Green, Plaid Tidings dsp

Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Versafine Clair Nocturne, Gina K Warm Glow Amalgam

Die:  Spectacular Adventures

Copics:  G46, 43, W1, 0, BG000, 0000

Old Friends for Sunday Stamps

Hello friends! It's time for a new challenge at Sunday Stamps and this week we have fabulous sketch created by the talented Annette!

Sunday Stamps

  

I decided to use some newer products I hadn't yet used to create my card and to use a rectangular frame rather than a circle.

I started by using the Stampin' Up Timeless Tiles background stamp.  I've had this for months and it needed to be inked up!  I used a light green and purposely die not try to get complete coverage.  When that was done, the panel was trimmed down and adhered to a white card base. I did use a sponge dauber to add some ink for a tiny bit of antiquing, but it's very hard to see in photos because I intentionally left it very light.  

Next the flowers were stamped, colored with Copics and die cut with matching dies.  I also die cut the frame four times, three out of white and the last out of silver, then adhered them together.  The sentiment is from the same stamp set as the flowers and was stamped with a darker green ink.

The cross pieces were trimmed down from white cardstock, then I used the direct to paper method with the same green used to stamp the background.  When dry, they were added onto the card front, then topped with the frame and flowers, along with the sentiment, and that finished it off.  No embellies this time.

Thanks for visiting, I appreciate it.  Be sure to use the link above to see the beautiful cards by the other DT members and hopefully be inspired to play along with us!

Take care!

Stef

Stamps:  Timeless Tiles (SU), Focus on You (Altenew)

Paper:  Neenah Solar White, Matte Silver (Simon Says Stamp)

Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black; Aspen and Pine (SSS); Antique Linen Distress

Other:  New Day Card Kit Frame (Altenew), Focus on You dies

Sketchmarkers:  V61, 62, 54

Copics:  G29, 21, YG45, YR23, Y17

Hello for Sunday Stamps

Hello friends!  It's time for a new challenge at Sunday Stamps and this week it's a color challenge, with a lovely array of choices to design with!  I ended up using blue, poppy and yellowish green.

Sunday Stamps

We are also introducing our newest Design Team member, Deb Horst of Sendable Sentiments!  Deb has been a long-time crafter and particiant at Sunday Stamps and we are thrilled to have her join us.  Be sure to use the link above to check out Deb's card along with those of the other DT members and hopefully be inspired to join us for this challenge!

With these colors I thought about using poppies for the flowers, but then I saw my new Nature's Harvest stamp set, begging to be used, so that's the route I took!  They were colored with Copic markers, then die cut with the coordinating dies.  

I loved the blue table top in the photo, so I decided to go with a woodgrain background.  A panel of white watercolor paper was embossed with a 3D embossing folder, then I pulled a blue ink pad up and down the panel to get color just on the raised part of the panel.  While that dried, I die cut the sentiment 3 times from white cardstock, layered them up then decided to color the top one with one of the Copic markers used for the flowers to make it pop against the background.  

After the embossed panel was dry, I trimmed it down and adhered the flowers to the bottom, using a bit of thin foam tape just under some of the flower heads, the rest was adhered with glue.  The panel was wrapped with hemp twine that was tied in a bow, then the sentiment adhered above.  At the last minute, I decided to top the sentiment with Glossy Accents, which seemed to make the color lighter?  I love the shine, I wish the color was a bit darker to better match the flowers.

Thanks for stopping by today, I appreciate it!  Be sure to pop over and check out the beautiful cards by the other DT members and hopefully play along with our color challenge!

Take care!

Stef

Stamps:  Nature's Harvest (SU)

Paper:  Neenah Solar White, Tim Holtz Distress Watercolor

Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Tumbled Glass Distress Ink

Other:  Nature's Harvest die, Plank 3D embossing folder (Tim Holtz), Bold Hello die (Simon Says Stamp), Hemp Twine (Lawn Fawn)

Copics:  RV23, R59, 46, 24, 05, YG99, 97, 95, 93, 00, E29, 37, 34

Let's Connect

Hello friends, I hope you're doing well!  Today I have a fun card to share that I made using the colors from the current Color Hues challenge.

tch #23

When I first spied this challenge I was all set to do my normal, e.g. color some sort of floral image (lord knows, I have enough of those stamp sets lol!).  However, I decided to go a bit outside the box for me and use this absolutely cute die that needed some love. Well, actually three dies that did....

When I landed on the idea of creating this phone, it had to be yellow, just like that one from my youth, although ours was a wall phone.  Still, having grown up with a dial phone, this die set stole my heart!  I started by die cutting the phone handle and base once from yellow and two more times from white for some dimension.  Before adhering the layers, I used a bit of Fossilized Amber Distress ink around all the edges of the top layer to give it a bit of roundness to the pieces.  The dial was cut once from white cardstock.  

Next, the sentiments were all die cut from Polished Pink cardstock, which is one of the new In Colors from Stampin' Up.  The "let's connect" die was used two more times to cut from white cardstock and layered up for dimension.

Before putting the card together I created a background using a light yellow cardstock stenciled with white pigment ink dots.  I let that dry, trimmed it down and adhered directly to the white card base.  Then I positioned all the pieces for spacing, adhering them all down with liquid glue.  Using the hello die for the cord is not an original idea, I saw Daniel West use it on his card here, plus I've seen others on Pinterest and other places.  But I had to do it because I think it's so clever!  With everything adhered, my card was finished.  It will be going to a special friend back in Portland of a "similar" age who will get a kick out of it.

Thanks for visiting, I really appreciate it!  

My post for the Tic Tac Toe challenge went live today at noon, so if you're interested you can check it out here.

Take care and have a great weekend!

Stef

Stamps:  none

Paper:  Neenah Solar White, Daffodil Delight and Polished Pink (SU), Lemon Chiffon (Simon Says Stamp)

Ink:  Fossilized Amber Distress, Sharktooth White Pigment (Ink on 3)

Other:  Dial Phone, Let's Connect and Hello Beautiful Gorgeous dies (SSS), Wonky Dots Stencil (MFT)

Yay, It's Your Birthday for The Paper Players!

Hello, friends!  Welcome back!  Can you believe it's almost the end of June???  The weeks seem to just fly by, although I wish it was because we were vacationing somewhere instead hanging around the homestead!

But here's a fun way to spend your day - it's time for a new challenge at The Paper Players!  The lovely Claire is hosting our monthly sketch challenge with this terrific sketch:

The Paper Players

I'm also joining the current Anything Goes challenges at  SSS Wednesday Challenge  and Seize the Birthday.

STB #193

I have need of several masculine birthday cards (7 out of the 12 family birthdays in the next 2 months), so I decided to use this opportunity to make one.  I kept it pretty clean and simple, for me, and it came together very quickly.

I decided to use some of my "stash" of old patterned paper for this card.  In my early days of card making I became a "collector" of patterned paper but a few years ago I had to clear out a large portion of it (donated most of it) because I realized I probably would never use it.  However, I did keep some special designs that I loved and also a lot suitable for guy cards.

I chose a pattern from an old Basic Grey pad that I've probably had over 10 years but I still like the designs and colors.  The panel was die cut with a Wonky Stitched rectangle die, adhered to the card base, then the vertical strip, also from the same paper collection, was added.  The sentiment was stamped in brown pigment ink, trimmed down, layered on a piece of Seaside Spray card, then popped up on the card with foam tape.  The card looked a little tooooo plain, so I found a cute wood leaf embellishment for a little added interest.  Bingo, done!

Thanks so much for visiting, it's always greatly appreciated!  I hope you'll use the link above to check out the fabulous cards by the rest of the DT and find time to join us this week!

Stef


Stamps:  Stylish Sentiments: Birthdays (ret.PTI)
Paper:  Ivory (SSS), Neenah Desert Storm, Seaside Spray (SU), Archaic 6x6 paper pack (Basic Grey)
Ink:  Versafine Clair Pinecone
Other:  Wonky Stitched Rectangle die, Wood leaf (ret. SU)

Forest Collage Birthday for the SCS Color Challenge!

Hello friends, and welcome back!  It's time for a new Color Challenge at Splitcoaststampers!  Barbara is hosting this week and has chosen Berry Burst, Tranquil Tide, Terracotta Tile and So Saffron with a dessert option to use a stencil.  I am without dessert this week as it did not work with my card design.

I'm also joining the current challenge at Seize the Birthday with my "Anything Goes" entry.

STB 193

I have a number of birthdays coming up in the next two months, so I used this color challenge to create a birthday card for one of my BILs.  He enjoys the outdoors and I thought the colors lent themselves well to a sunrise (or sunset) scene.

It took me a while to decide what paper to use for the card front (e.g. there are now a couple of samples in my stash LOL!) but settled on this beautiful brown woodgrain cardstock.  It was die cut with the Far Away Forest Collage die.  Next came the background sunrise.  A piece of Bristol worked beautifully with Distress Inks.

Once the blending was complete, the die cut panel was adhered to the ink blended piece.  Before adding to the Desert Storm base, a piece of linen thread was wrapped around it, then it was popped up with thin foam adhesive pieces.  The last thing was to stamp the sentiment, trim it down, add flag ends and add to the card front with narrow foam tape.

Thanks so much for visiting, I appreciate it so much!  I hope you'll use the link above to check out the Color Challenge at SCS and hopefully join in the fun!

Stef


Stamps:  Big on Birthdays (ret. SU)
Paper:  Ivory (Simon Says Stamp), Woodgrain (Lawn Fawn), Strathmore Bristol, Neenah Desert Storm
Ink:  Versafine Clair Pinecone, Seedless Preservers, Rusty Hinge, Scattered Straw and Pine Needles Distress Ink
Other:  Far Away Forest Collage die (SSS), Linen Thread (SU)

For Pops

Hello friends, I'm back with a card for the current Sunday Stamps sketch challenge.  They always have great sketches and this one is no exception.

SSC#232

I've made a card for my 94 year old FIL, whom my husband calls Pops.  He's a WWII veteran, still alive and pretty healthy, except that he has Macular Degeneration, so he only has some peripheral vision.  But I must put in a plug for the VA because about four years ago they prescribed a device for him to use at home to magnify images to read or, in this case, see the card we're sending him.  Pretty cool!

Because his vision is limited, I always try to include elements of texture.  The Evergreen Circle die was cut from Forever Green patterned paper, die cut again with a square die around the perimeter, then layered on a panel with the sunrise background ink blended with a few Distress inks.The ink blended panel was splattered with water to give that wonderful texture then dried before the patterned paper was adhered.  I still felt it needed something to make it stand out more so I die cut a circle frame of green card stock using two circle dies.

Next I started building the card, layering an A2 sized panel of woodgrain cardstock onto a white card base, then adding a vertical piece of patterned paper from the same paper pack.  To create the smaller square just below and behind the main image, a third piece of the same patterned paper was die cut then adhered to a piece of card to give it stability, the added directly to the background.

I wanted to add more to the small square, so a long retired SU wood embellishment was adhered, it's elements keeping with the woodsy (is that a word?) theme  Along with the layered die cut and woodgrain background, it adds some more texture to the card for my FIL.  The last thing was to add the sentiment on a small strip of white card and hand trimmed for a little flag end.

Thanks for visiting, I appreciate it so much!  I hope you have a great weekend and continue to stay safe and healthy! ❤❤❤

Stef


Stamps:  Teeny Tiny Wishes (ret. SU)
Paper:  Neenah Solar White, Green Leaf (Simon Says Stamp), Strathmore Bristol, Forever Green Patterned Paper (Moda Scraps)
Ink:  Versafine Clair Nocturne, Squeezed Lemonade, Ripe Persimmon, Worn Lipstick and Seedless Preserves Distress Inks
Other:  Evergreen Circle die (SSS), Essential Square dies (Ellen Hutson), Nested Circle dies (Hero Arts), wood embellishment (ret. SU)

Wildflowers for Seize the Birthday!

Hello friends, I hope you're continuing to do well and remain healthy!  It's time for a new challenge at Seize the Birthday and I am happy to say I will be staying on as the Surprise Party Guest for the month of April too!  For the new challenge, the toppings option is "Spring Fling", so of course I had to color up some flowers for that!

  Seize the Birthday

For my card, I chose to use the beautiful Mondo Wildflowers stamp from Ellen Hutson.  I love the big, bold floral images that are a dream to color with Copic markers.

The image was stamped off the edge of my white card panel and when the coloring was complete, it was trimmed down and layered on a piece of black card.  I did fiddle around with different colors of card stock and patterned papers, but in the end felt the white base with the strip of black and white stripes worked best to let the main image be the star of the show, so to speak.

The sentiment is from a retired SU stamp set that I love because of all the different sizes and fonts of the birthday sentiments.  After stamping it was die cut with a sentiment label die, then I hand cut the fish tail end before adding to the card with foam tape.  A white gel pen was used to brighten up the ends of the flowers stamen, then the final touch was to add a few gorgeous jewels for sparkle.

Thanks for visiting, it's always so appreciated!  Be sure to use the link above to head over to the challenge and check out the beautiful cards by the DT and join us for the new challenge!

Stef


Stamps: Mondo Wildflowers (EH), Happy Birthday Gorgeous (sentiment, ret. SU)
Paper:  Neenah Solar White, Black, Black and White Basics 6x6 pad (MFT)
Ink:  Gina K Obsidian Amalgam, Versafine Clair Nocturne (sentiment)
Other:  Sakura White Gelly Roll pen, Bridal Mix jewels (Lucy's Cards Little Things), Sentiment Label die (Simon Says Stamp)
Copics:  R32, 20, 30, RV69, 17, 55, 52, BV02, 0000, B000, 0000, G99, 94, 82, YG67, 25, 13, 03, 01

Mondo Wildflowers

Welcome back, friends!  It's time for a new Color Challenge at Splitcoaststampers!  I'm the host this week and have chosen Melon Mambo, Grapefruit Grove and Blushing Bride with a dessert challenge of flowers, because, well, I love to color flowers, and it's Spring, and hopefully it will bring some cheer to your day!  You may also use any of the Stampin' Up neutrals.  I've used colors similar to Mossy Meadow and Crumb Cake this week.

For my card, I used a new-to-me stamp called Mondo Wildflowers from Ellen Hutson.  It is a dream to color these pretty images.

The flowers were stamped on white card with Copic friendly ink and colored up using colors similar to those for the challenge.  To help the flowers look a bit grounded, I used the lightest peachy pink marker and went around the edge of the entire bouquet, then added white gel pen to the ends of the stamen.

I decided to frame up the floral image, so I used a butterfly embossing folder on an A2 sized panel of white card, then die cut a large oval from the center.  I trimmed down the colored piece and then added the frame with foam tape.  After adhering to the white card base, I painted the flowers with a shimmer pen plus added a few jewels for lots of sparkle.  I opted to wait to add a sentiment until I send the card.

Thanks so much for visiting, I really appreciate it!  I hope you'll be able to join us for the Color Challenge this week!

Please take care and stay safe & healthy my friends!

Stef


Stamps:  Mondo Wildflowers
Paper:  Neenah Solar White
Ink:  Gina K Obsidian Amalgam
Other:  Oval Collection framelit (ret. SU), Fluttering embossing folder (ret. SU), Tonic Nuvo Shimmer pen, Bridal Mix Jewels (Lucy's Cards Little Things), Sakura White Gelly Roll pen
Copics:  RV09, 06, 02, R32, 20, 30, 00, 000, YR68, 01, E33, 31, 29, 27, 23, G99, 94, 82