Vellum Orchids for a Sketch PP386

Hi there friends!  Thanks for stopping by for another week with my teammies at The Paper Players.  This week, the fabulously Crafty Claire has an awesome sketch challenge for us:

I'm not really sure where the inspiration for this came from except that I wanted to use a stamp set that had not been inked in awhile and I wanted to think a little outside the sketch.  Instead of using the circle in the sketch as the focal point for a stamp set, I used it as a landing spot for my focal image.  I really like elements that "fall off" the edge--the edge of a die cut or the edge of an image.  So here, my Climbing Orchid falls off the edge of the Stitched Shape element.

There are three orchid pieces to this flower, each one inked in Versamark on cardstock vellum, heat embossed in gold, and cut with the coordinating Thinlits.  Usually vellum shows any adhesives but here I was able to hide both glue dots and dimensionals with each layer of the flower.  It was only after I glued everything down that I realized I was supposed to have ribbon element around the top of the card front...d'oh!  I hope Claire will forgive me!

With a specific placement for a sentiment, the sketch gives us freedom put it anywhere--love that!  I had a lot of elements going on here and didn't want to add another element for the sentiment.  With that in mind, I did some tone-on-tone stamping with Berry Burst ink on the same color cardstock stitched circle.  It's a subtle way to incorporated the sentiment without extra bulk!

Was anybody else excited to see THICK Very Vanilla cardstock in the latest catalog?  I was so happy--love it!  I didn't need to add an extra panel to the inside because the base is thick enough but with all the layers on the front, it still felt a little whimpy on the inside.  So, I cut a 4 x 5.25" panel and inked up my design for the inside.  Since I used the Seasonal Layers thinlit to cut the branch on the front of the card, I used this fabulous sentiment from that coordinating Colorful Seasons set on the inside.  Such a great sentiment and useful for so many occasions!  

Thanks for stopping by today! Be sure to check out the rest of the inspiration over at The Paper Players where my teammates also had fun with Claire's sketch.  Perhaps you'll be inspired to play along with us before the challenge closes on Friday, March 30th at Noon (PST).  Have a great week!

The Paper Players Design Team 

Claire Broadwater

 Jaydee

Joanne James

Laurie Schmidt

LeAnne Pugliese

Nance Leedy 

Sandy Mathis 

Annie Abrahamson 

Jan Clothier 

Elizabeth Stewart 

Sunshine & Rainbows for your Birthday PP385

 Hey there friends!  Welcome to another week with The Paper Players....coming to you on day three of the Disney Volleyball Showcase in Orlando, Florida.  Our daughter's team is 6-0 headed into gold bracket play today, so wish them luck! :-)  This week I am tickled pink to be the Clean-and-Simple challenge hostess with a bright and colorful challenge...

Rainbow!!  Anything with a rainbow, rainbow element, or rainbow colors.  I went very literal with my take on the challenge:

 The Sunshine & Rainbows stamp set and coordinating dies made quick work of this clean-and-simple card.  A thick Whisper White card base and a few white die-cuts from the Rainbow Builder Framelits.  Once I made a straight cut on the main panel of clouds, it was the perfect place for this sweet sentiment.

 I played around with some cardstock colors to get just the right combination of ROYGBIV.  The Rainbow Builder Framelits nest perfectly with each other.  Here I used Real Red, Pumpkin Pie, Daffodil Delight, Pear Pizzazz, Tempting Turquoise, Island Indigo, and Rich Razzleberry.  TIP: After cutting place the rainbow arches face down on a piece of Press-n-Seal wrap and then tape them together with your favorite tear tape.  You can peel the whole rainbow off the press and seal wrap and position it on your project.

 Here's to wishing you a sunny day from Orlando!  Do go check out all the the fabulous inspiration from my teammates at The Paper Players.....I hope you're inspired to play along with us before the challenge ends on Friday, March 22nd 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 

Annie Abrahamson 

Jan Clothier 

Elizabeth Stewart 

Purple Mountain Majesty for CTD Featured Stamper

Wow, it's a special occasion around here with an extremely rare mid-week post.  Certainly special because I am thrilled to be this week's Featured Stamper at Color Throwdown! The gals at Color Throwdown are among our industry's finest and to be selected by them, for this card, is a true honor.  Color me humbled!

With St. Patrick's Day right around the corner, the CTD gals are smilin' with Irish eyes this week...take a look at the color palette we got to work with:

Green and eggplant....hmmmm....I thought about it for awhile and decided to play some more with my beloved Waterfront stamp set and create a "purple mountains majesty" card!

To create the mountains I used a lighter shade of eggplant--Wisteria Wonder--and stamped in from each side at full strength and after stamping off once.  I made a base for the treeline by using just the edge of one of the line stamps in Tranquil Tide ink.  The trees were also stamped in Tranquil Tide.  I used one of the abstract stamp images to create the grassy meadows beneath the mountains by stamping off twice with Tranquil Tide ink.  I have a set of hillside border dies--not sure which company they are from--that I used to create the slightly torn edge.  I just held the die on my cardstock and tore off the edge to reveal the sentiment stamped in Elegant Eggplant ink.  The flock of birds flying over the mountains are from the High Tide stamp set and are stamped in Elegant Eggplant to coordinate with the sentiment.

Thank you for stopping by today.  Be sure to check out the gorgeous samples at Color Throwdown--these ladies always delight with their creativity!  Big thanks to the team for choosing my tulip card and inviting me aboard this week.   Enjoy the rest of your week, friends!

Just Be YOU PP384

Hi friends, and welcome to another week with The Paper Players!  Our sweet friend across the pond, Joanne, has a lovely color challenge for us this week:

I have to admit, I was a little daunted by this color....PINK!  It's not a shade I use very often so I was a little flummoxed until I remembered this awesome set I've only used a couple times...Fabulous Flamingo...and my card was born:

I started with the idea of a row of flamingos--all in the same shade to as a way to demonstrate their conformity.  THe last flamingo is strutting her stuff all decked out with all three steps of stamps in this set!  The base flamingo is Powder Pink, the second layer--the shading--is what else--Flirty Flamingo, of course!  The accent lines are obviously stamped in Black Memento ink. 

I didn't want to introduce another color--staying true to the "any shade of pink" challenge--so I used a base of Smoky Slate and stamped a few palm fronds in the same color ink to frame the focal point.

The sentiment had to be just right--something that emphasized the individuality of the recipient--I really wanted to use the die-cut YOU from the SAB Amazing You set.  Once that was die-cut in black, I went searching through my stash for just the right companion sentiment.  I found it in "Just Be" from the retired Crazy For You stamp set--perfect! 

I'm not sure when I will have occasion for this card so I left the inside sentiment free but stamped another flamingo framed with palm fronds.  This really is such a cool set--love that shading on the flamingo!

Be sure to check out the rest of the design team inspiration over at The Paper Players.  I hope you will be inspired to join us before our challenge closes on Friday, March 16th 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 

Annie Abrahamson 

Jan Clothier 

Elizabeth Stewart 

Tulip Time! PP383 & CTD482

Hi friends!  The fabulously talented Jaydee is our hostess with the mostess this week at The Paper Players and she's got a Theme Challenge that is spot-on for the weather in Florida this week:

Tulips do not grow here in FL but they were a perennial sign of spring during my childhood in Michigan.  I love that our florists and markets here can import tulips from all over so I still get to embrace them even if they aren't native here.  They are among my favorite flowers so I they were my go-to for this challenge!

Despite being a favorite flower of mine, I only have one stamp set featuring tulips.  So, I asked my auxiliary stamp coordinator--my mom--for any of her favorites.  A true devotee of PTI stamps, she shared the Tulip Time set and coordinating dies and oh how pretty they are!  I tried many color combinations and couldn't settle on anything until I saw these gorgeous colors at The Color Throwdown:

The Smoky Slate center panel was run through, first, with the Wonky Stitched Rectangle dies from My Favorite Things.  I wanted a little interest and texture on the main panel but not bulk so I used Post-it tape to mask off a border and stamped the Burlap background stamp in the center.  The tulips are a three step stamp--the solid base of the flower is Powder Pink followed by Blushing Bride and finally Crumb Cake at the base to match the two-step Crumb Cake stems--whew! That's a lot of stamping!

Once I got the hang of all those stamped parts, I had fun carrying them to the inside panel.  I thought the happy birthday sentiment coordinated well with the "A Time for New Beginnings" sentiment not just for spring but a birthday is always a time for a fresh start, right?  And speaking of a fresh start, the azaleas are in full swing here and spring has definitively sprung!

I hope you enjoyed my card today...be sure to pop over and check out my teammates and their fabulous spring creations at The Paper Players!  Join us before our challenge ends on Friday, March 9th 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 

Annie Abrahamson 

Jan Clothier 

Elizabeth Stewart