Random Cards

Happy Saturday, peeps! Hope all is going well for you this weekend!  I have a couple cards to share for random challenges!! The first one is for the Inspire.Create challenge:

Aren't these colors pretty? My Paper Players teammate Debbie made this card recently and it inspired me to do something similar with these colors.  So here we go:

I used the sketch from Fusion:

and papers from the True Love DSP line.  I fussy-cut a flower from one of the patterns and watercolored it with the three challenge colors, then adhered it to a layer of Thick White cardstock and fussy-cut it out:

The vertical banners were cut from snips of Sand & Sea DSP, and the sentiment, embossed in white on Basic Black cardstock, is from Bloom & Grow and diecut with the little banner die from Smooth Sailing.  I did color in some random flowers on the background with some Sahara Sand ink, but they are pretty subtle!  

The next card is a masculine one, using the mallard duck from Field Journal and a sentiment from Rustic Retreat:

It uses the sketch from Freshly Made Sketches:

My card base is Crumb Cake with layers of woodgrain In Good Taste DSP; I stamped Mr Mallard in Stazon ink, watercolored him and fussy-cut him out:

I did the same for the little wooden sign, adding some sponging on the edge for a vintage look:

I am also entering this at Watercooler Wednesday, where they are looking for masculine cards!

And I'll leave you with these pix of silly Eden....she's probably wishing she could go outside and play in the early morning snowfall:

but the next best thing is taking a nap....with her legs stuck straight out!  Who sleeps like that?  Silly pup!

Thanks for visiting today!  Be sure to come back tomorrow for a new Paper Players challenge too!  Enjoy your day and be blessed!

PP507 Mallard Birthday

Hi everyone!  I am back from vacation in beautiful (s)lower Delaware and although I think it rained a lot here in PA, it was beautiful there! The beach was lovely, and all the storms we had were at night!  Anyway, I am back with this week's Paper Players challenge, and Jaydee is our hostess with a much-needed challenge:

Boy, we all struggle with those masculine cards don't we?  Well, I pulled out Field Journal because the images are great for masculine cards and they are easy to color in; for my card today, I chose the mallard:

I stamped Mr Mallard on some Crumb Cake cardstock in Stazon Black and watercolored him with various inks, using some white craft ink for his neck.  After coloring him, I overstamped the whole image with a retired background stamp called Weathered, and added some sponging to the edges.  It's hard to see, but the circle is mounted on a stitched circle of Kraft paper as well:

I added a sentiment from Itty Bitty Greetings and diecut it with a retired Bitty Banners die; the background is from the Plaid Tidings DSP line, and the card base is Pretty Peacock.  I added another strip of the DSP on the inside, along with a sentiment from Happiest of Birthdays and a little pine sprig from Winter Woods:

And it qualifies for the Festive Friday challenge this week as well:

I used plaid, stitching, green and brown!

This was a pretty simple card to create....I rarely add a lot of layers or embellishments on my masculine cards for obvious reasons, although the guys in my family do tell me they enjoy getting my cards!  I hope you'll play along with our challenge this week!  The Design Team has some awesome creations!  Be sure to check them out the PP blog!  Can't wait to see what you create!

While we were on vacation, Cassidy started fifth grade!

Enjoy your day and be blessed!

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Field Journal, Happiest of Birthdays, Itty Bitty Greetings, Weathered (ret)
Card stock & Papers	Crumb Cake, Pretty Peacock, Kraft (Close to My Heart), Plaid Tidings DSP
Ink	Stazon Black, Crushed Curry, Pumpkin Pie, Soft Suede, Sahara Sand, Misty Midnight, Shaded Spruce
Accessories	Dimensionals
Tools	Big Shot, Circles Die (ret), Lil Inker Stitched Circles Dies (ret), Sponge Daubers, Aquapainters, Bitty Banners Dies (Ret)

Chipmunk Thanks

Happy Saturday, stampers!  I have a quick masculine card for you today! My birthday is coming up and my sweet step-father-in-law is always very generous, so I wanted to send him a special thank you card.  He's a no-frills kinda guy, so it's a no-frills kinda card, but I did manage to incorporate three challenges!  But first, my card:

TGIF Challenges wants us to use our paper scraps; Color Dare is featuring shades of brown; and Daring Cardmakers, a new one to me, wants us to use three of something!

You know how you always have those little strips of leftover DSP when you cut a mat for the front of a standard-sized card?  I took some of those woodgrained-pattern strips from the Neutrals 6x6 pad in Early Espresso, Crumb Cake, and Cajun Craze (that's my "three") and cut them with a cool little die from Ornate Layers....it's 4" x 7/8" and has stitching all around.  I placed them on an angle on my Very Vanilla card, butting the edges together, to create a little patchwork panel:

For my focal panel, I stamped the chipmunk in Early Espresso on a scrap of Very Vanilla, then used a square Stitched Shape die to cut it out. I took a B acrylic block, stuck it on a Crumb Cake ink pad, then "stamped" once on scrap paper and again directly on top of my critter.  The sentiment was stamped in Cajun Craze:

That's a fun way to add color and texture in a snap!  Now to get this out in the mail!

We do have a chipmunk that scoots around our patio and under our porch, but he is way too shy and quick for me to get a photo of him.  Last Sunday morning, however, we did "capture" this little guy:

He (or she!) has been a naughty little character, stealing whole blocks of suet from my feeders, and climbing up to the top of the seed feeders, helping himself to anything available!  This day, he helped himself to an apple inside of John's Have-a-Heart trap, and he was not a happy camper.  HOWEVER..... a few minutes after we discovered him, when John came to take him to the wooded area down the road and release him, he had ESCAPED!  Apparently the door to the trap has a tiny bit of play in it and he managed to squeeze himself under it!  SO....no more bird seed or suet until John fixes the trap!  You can't fool with Mother Nature....or brother raccoon!

Enjoy your day and be blessed!

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Field Journal
Card stock & Papers	Very Vanilla, Neutrals DSP
Ink	Crumb Cake, Cajun Craze, Early Espresso
Accessories	Dimensionals
Tools	Big Shot, Ornate Layers Dies, Stitched Shapes Dies, Acrylic Block B

Thank You For Being My Friend

Hi peeps, happy Tuesday! I have a sweet little card using a stamp set called Field Journal; I bought it because I thought the images would be great for masculine cards, but today, it's definitely feminine:

I am using the sketch from Fab Friday and the color palette from TGIF:

I thought I'd try the "no-line" technique for my berries; I stamped them in Crumb Cake ink second generation (stamped first on scrap, then again on cardstock without reinking), and I colored the leaves with Blends, and the berries with Markers:

I almost gave up, but I worked at it and finally achieved the look I was aiming for!  After fussy-cutting them out, I mounted them on an embossed Whisper White panel and added a sentiment stamped in Flirty Flamingo.  I added some scalloped layers and some Mango Melody DSP and it was done!  I think these colors are very happy and cheerful and summery!  Thanks for popping by!

Cassidy did some playing around with some Granny Apple Green cardstock herself last week, she wanted to create a card for her friend Logan (she wouldn't let me take a picture of HER):

Logan loves tractors, so she stamped the image and diecut it out, then added his name using the Little Letters die, and I had a few extra orange stars from my PP project, so she added them:

And on the inside, a Robox meme and a little acrostic:

Enjoy your day and be blessed!

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Field Journal, Here's A card
Card stock & Papers	Whisper White, Flirty Flamingo, Brights DSP
Ink	Flirty Flamingo
Accessories	Dimensionals
Tools	Big Shot, Stitched So Sweetly Dies, Tasteful Labels Dies,  Greenery EF, Blends, Markers

TGIF268 Field Journal Birthday

Happy Saturday, peeps!  My card today features a new stamp called Field Journal.  I loved the sketchy style of the artwork, I think the images are easy to color in and can stand alone on a card, which makes them great for masculine creations!  Our guys don't like a lot of fuss and layers, right?  And it is also for the TGIF Challenge, which is to have a trimmed-down front panel:

So here we go; these kinds of cards are a challenge to photograph, so I apologize for the poor picture:

I used two different DSPs in Cinnamon Cider, tearing my edges to give it a more rustic look; stamped the chipmunk in Stazon Black and watercolored him with the same ink, then diecut it with a Stitched Nested Label die:

I stamped a sentiment from Rustic Retreat on the outside and added some new Early Espresso Faux Suede ribbon, then added a sentiment from Many Mates on the inside:

This is already in the mail for a guy from church; it was a fun card to create!  Thanks for popping in today!

Our rickety old swing set (it started out as John's nephews' some 25 years ago!) got a good workout on Thursday....first Cassidy and her cousins just put the hose on it and slid down, then I suggested they get the plastic sheets we use for slip and slide and put underneath the slide.  What a riot! They have to have bruises on their bums, and my yard is a muddy mess, but they had a blast!