A Birthday at High Tide - PP355

Hi there, friends!  Isn't it amazing how fast we roll back around to Sunday?!  The good thing about that though is it's the start of another week with The Paper Players!  This time, our wonderful Joanne is hostess for a Tic-Tac-Toe challenge...take a look:

I continue to work my way through my newest SU stamp sets with a new-to-me set...High Tide.  I'm not a huge fan of the nautical look but I love all the creative elements in this stamp set.  The shoreline that fits right under the lighthouse, the swaying beach grasses, the gorgeous sentiments and those birds!  Oh my, what's not to love?  Oh yeah, and it's photopolymer (clear) too...bonus!  For the Tic-Tac-Toe board I worked diagonally with blue, enamel dots, and birthday.

I've seen a lot of cards made with this stamp set that feature a sandy shoreline for the lighthouse.  Since this card is destined for my FIL, I needed to give it a grassy base...just like the Cana Island Lighthouse they see from their front window on the shores of Lake Michigan.  I've stamped the lighthouse to look like the Cana Island one too which is all white.  The Smoky Slate color is similar--it could be a white lighthouse shaded with the setting sun.   The lighthouse is a two-step stamp and I used Smoky Slate for both layers.

You might remember a tip I shared in this post about using the backside of our photopolymer stamps for a solid image.  I used that technique again here to stamp the background of the water in Marina Mist ink and the ripples of water in a darker Dapper Denim.  It adds a fabulous depth and dimension to the water.

On the inside, I stamped a setting sun over the water.  The water is stamped again in Marina Mist--this time using the "right side" of the stamp.  The sun and sun rays are also part of this set and stamped here in Crushed Curry.  Love that this triangle stamp can be used either as a beam of light (as on the front of the card) or for a ray of sunshine!  The birthday sentiment is from another stamp set--Best Birds--in my stash.

I made a second card with a Very Vanilla base (love that new thick vanilla cardstock!) and changed the inside for a different purpose.  The sentiments in this set really are wonderful--with a trendy look of mixed fonts and heartfelt thoughts.

I hope you've enjoyed today's card.  We would love for you to play along with us at The Paper Players.  Be sure to check out all the other inspiration from my teammates and then play along before our challenge ends on Friday, August 3rd at Noon (EST).

The Paper Players Design Team 

Claire Broadwater

 Jaydee

Joanne James

Laurie Schmidt

LeAnne Pugliese

Nance Leedy 

Sandy Mathis 

Deanne 

Annie Abrahamson 

Jan Clothier 

A Floral Statements Sketch - PP354

Happy Sunday, friends!  The awesome Jaydee is our hostess this week at The Paper Players and she has a fantastic sketch for our inspiration:

As soon as I saw the sketch, I knew exactly which stamp set I was going to use and I couldn't wait to play with it... Floral Statements:

It's another one that I couldn't wait to order from the new catalog and it didn't disappoint...so pretty!  I like the combination of the vintage looking flowers with the bold crisp letters.  It's a combo that feels modern and fresh.  To keep that crisp look to the letters, I stamped it with Archival Black ink and used my MISTI to re-ink and stamp in the same spot three times for a good solid black on the letters....worked like a charm!

I used a lot of water in my Aqua Painter to wash the background with Pool Party ink.  The flowers were also painted with the Aqua Painter and a blend of Powder Pink and Berry Burst inks.  Yummy Lemon Lime Twist colored the leaves and centers--what a fun color!  Here's a tip I learned from my teammie, Jaydee...unlike cold press watercolor paper, hot press watercolor paper is perfect for solid stamped images like this one as it has no texture.  I never knew the difference between the two until Jaydee mentioned it on her blog one day.  I bought some that very day and have been using it ever since--thanks Jaydee!

There's not much else to this card--it's all about the watercolor!   Be sure to pop over to The Paper Players and check out the rest of the eye candy from my teammates.  Maybe you will even join us before the challenge closes on Friday, July 28th at Noon (PST).  Thanks for stopping by!

The Paper Players Design Team 

Claire Broadwater

 Jaydee

Joanne James

Laurie Schmidt

LeAnne Pugliese

Nance Leedy 

Sandy Mathis 

Deanne 

Annie Abrahamson 

Jan Clothier 

Tomorrows as Happy as Today - PP353

Hi friends, and welcome to another week with The Paper Players!  My sweet friend, Claire, is our hostess with the mostess this week for a Clean-and-Simple challenge:

Summer fun in the water, woohoo!  That's actually where I am this weekend--spending time with family at the beach.  I never really enjoyed the beach growing up but 24 years living in Florida has turned me into a beach-lovin' gal!  

My card represents my favorite thing to do at the beach....sit.  LOL.  As a busy mom, I don't really sit much.  Even at work, I'm constantly up and walking around.  Beach time means sitting in a sling chair just like this one from the Colorful Seasons stamp set and relaxing.  The only thing that's missing is a book--my second favorite thing to do at the beach--but I didn't have a small enough book stamp!

Since this is a Clean-and-Simple challenge, there isn't much to explain.  Just some simple watercoloring and stamping.  My beach scene is painted with a blend of many, many colors including Crumb Cake, Soft Suede, Pool Party, Island Indigo, Coastal Cabana, So Saffron, Daffodil Delight, Peekaboo Peach and Calypso Coral.  Early Espresso was used for the chair base and sentiment.  The only tricky thing is the chair itself....I stamped it in Calypso Coral on thick Whisper White and fussy-cut it out so it would be a solid color over the watercolor background.

I'm keeping it short today--gotta get back outside!  Wherever you are, I hope you're finding a little fun in the sun this weekend!  Be sure to check out the rest of the design team inspiration over at The Paper Players.  Maybe you will be inspired to play along with us before the challenge closes on Friday, July 21st at Noon.  Thanks for stopping by!

The Paper Players Design Team 

Claire Broadwater

 Jaydee

Joanne James

Laurie Schmidt

LeAnne Pugliese

Nance Leedy 

Sandy Mathis 

Deanne 

Annie Abrahamson 

Jan Clothier 

Climbing Berry Orchids - PP352

Hi friends!  I took a short unplanned break while family was in town for my hubby's 50th birthday!  I'm back today at The Paper Players with a pretty monochromatic color challenge from lovely LeAnne:

 I combined it with the awesome sketch this week at the Global Design Project:

Todays colors seemed like the perfect opportunity to play with my new stamp set, Climbing Orchids. I couldn't wait to get my hands on this set.  Not only is there nothing else like it in my collection but it's also photopolymer (love) and has coordinating dies (double love)!

The monochromatic color palette provides the perfect combination of colors for shading--each one slightly darker than the next.  I used the lightest shade, Sweet Sugarplum, for the base color of the orchid bloom.  Berry Burst was used to stamp the flower petals and Rich Razzleberry shades the tiny centers of the blossoms.  Not wanting to bring in another color, I also thought the dark Rich Razzleberry made the perfect stem for the flowers. It's actually a die from another set called, Seasonal Layers Thinlits.

I thought the plain white background set off these colors nicely but it also needed a little something....I washed the card base (Thick Whisper White cardstock) with Wink of Stella and the effect is gorgeous IRL.  Difficult to capture in a photo but it gives a soft shimmer to the background and just a little bit of interest.  Another tip, the retired gold stripe vellum was attached to a scrap piece of white cardstock and then popped up on dimensionals.  Attaching it to the cardstock gives it weight so it doesn't sag when popped up and also hides any adhesive which would otherwise show through the vellum.

Another cool tip....extend the use of your photopolymer stamps by using the solid back of the stamp! For the inside of the card, I needed a solid base of Sweet Sugarplum.  I flipped over the stamp and attached it to my clear block with the wrong side facing up.  I stamped first in Sweet Sugarplum then, took the stamp off the block and reattached it to the block right-side up.  Next, stamped the details of the image in the darker shade of Berry Burst for a full color orchid.  Here's a couple photos to illustrate:
Although they started last week, this is my first week playing alongside our two new Guest Designers, Annie & Jan!  Along with returning GD, Deanne, I am so happy to be crafting with all of you!  Check out all of our team's amazing works over at The Paper Players.  Maybe you will be inspired to play along before the challenge closes on Friday, July 14th at Noon (PST).  Thanks for visiting!

Edited 7/11/17: So excited that my card was chosen as a #GDPwinner at The Global Design Project--wow!  Many thanks to the team for selecting my card.  There are always so many gorgeous entries, it's an honor to be selected!

The Paper Players Design Team 

Claire Broadwater

 Jaydee

Joanne James

Laurie Schmidt

LeAnne Pugliese

Nance Leedy 

Sandy Mathis 

Deanne 

Annie Abrahamson 

Jan Clothier