PP458 Ann's Pretty Colors

Happy Sunday, peeps!  Hope your weekend is going well so far!  Time for another Paper Players challenge with the talented Ann as our hostess!  She has a pretty fall color challenge for us this week:

Some of these colors are in the new Come to Gather DSP, so I paired a few of the patterns with some Merry Merlot DSP to come up with this:

It follows the Fab Friday sketch:

and I used some strips to create the horizontal elements; I used the woodgrain paper for my background, and I cut an open circle from the Merry Merlot DSP, along with a MM leaf diecut, for a focal image.  I hand-cut a little tag from the same woodgrain paper and stamped a sentiment from Here's a Card, then added some sequins, a faceted element and a little twine bow!

As I do often, I created another card with a totally different feel using the same colors!  This one uses the sketch from FMS, the CAS on Sunday challenge to use a diecut sentiment, and the Festive Friday Inspo challenge;  I used stripes, a bird, and pearls:

And here we go!  For this card, I hand-painted some stripes in Pretty Peacock on a piece of diecut Whisper White, then  used my Stamparatus to ink flowers from Perennial Birthday in Merry Merlot and Versamark, then heat embossed them with clear embossing powder and watercolored them in.  They're not too hard to fussy-cut, so after doing that, I mounted them on a "wreath" from Sweetly Swirled, stamped in Cajun Craze:

I masked off part of another sentiment from Here's a Card and stamped it on the striped piece to go with my diecut sentiment and bird, which are both from the Well Written dies, and I added some speckles and pearls to finish it off:

Please be sure to stop by the Paper Players blog to see the fabulous creations the DT has made, then share yours with us as well!  Can't wait to see what you create!

Card One Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Here's a Card
Card stock & Papers	Naturals White (ret), Come to Gather DSP, Merry Merlot DSP, Merry Merlot
Ink	Pretty Peacock
Accessories	Dimensionals, Linen Twine, Faceted Embellishment, Sequins from my stash
Tools	Big Shot, Be Mine Dies, Seasonal Layers Dies

Card Two Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Perennial Birthday, Here's a Card, Sweetly Swirled
Card stock & Papers	Whisper White
Ink	Merry Merlot, Pretty Peacock, Cajun Craze, Versamark
Accessories	Pearls, Dimensionals
Tools	Big Shot, Heat Tool, Clear Embossing Powder, Aquapainter, Stitched Rectangle Dies, Well Written Dies, Stamparatus

Kickstart Fusion Christmas Snowman

Happy Friday, peeps!  LOL, that title is a mouthful, isn't it?!!  I have a Christmas card today for two challenges that I don't frequent too often...there are just SO many out there, right?  I wish I could give all of them some love!  Anyway, here are the challenges, Fusion Card and Christmas Kickstart:

I have always loved that little Kickstart snowman, and the Let It Snow Specialty DSP had the perfect colors:

I turned the Fusion sketch on its side to accommodate my pre-sparkled little snowperson (I hope it's okay that I chose a non-fall theme for my card, just used the sketch!), mounting it on a Call Me Clover mat and a stitched Whisper White panel I already had sitting on my desk:

I added a Call Me Clover bow, a vertical panel of the same DSP, the flip side, and a little sentiment from Itty Bitty Christmas to cover up another snowman's head, LOL!  I embossed a white mat with the Softly Falling embossing folder, then I mounted it all on a Bermuda Bay card, and added another strip and another IB Christmas sentiment on the inside:

Another Christmas card for my stash!  Thanks for popping in today!

Want a watermelon?  We had quite a harvest, considering how small our garden is!!

Enjoy your day and be blessed!

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Itty Bitty Christmas
Card stock & Papers	Whisper White, Real Red, Call Me Clover, Bermuda Bay, Let It Snow Specialty DSP
Ink	Coastal Cabana, Real Red
Accessories	Call Me Clover Grosgrain Ribbon, Dimensionals
Tools	Big Shot, Stitched Rectangle Dies, 1 1/4" Circle Punch, Layering Circles Dies, Softly Falling EF

IB88 Celebrate Fall

Happy Thursday, peeps!  It still feels like summer, but fall is definitely on everyone's mind!  Laurel has a wonderful fall image for our Inspired By challenge today...here's my take on it:

And here is her pretty prompt:

I used an older Close to My Heart stamp called Charmed Holidays; I placed the stamp in my Stamparatus and used sponge daubers to color in each portion of the image with Pumpkin Pie, Cajun Craze, Soft Suede, Old Olive:

I sponged the edges with Mango Melody, ran it through the Big Shot with the Subtle embossing folder, mounted it on some Authentique papers, then added some Mossy Meadow ribbon and a sentiment banner created from two stamp sets:  A Wreath for All Seasons by Papertrey ("FALL") and Itty Bitty Christmas by SU.  I just love fall and these warm autumn colors!  I hope you'll play along with our Inspired By challenge this week!  Be sure to check out what the DT created as well!  Thanks for popping in today!

Cassidy has been fighting what I call a "back to school" cold....after being here all summer long, she's been exposed to lots of nasty germs from all those kiddos at school....she has really been down and out!  Hopefully she'll be on the mend soon.  Here she is having lunch earlier last week with mommy and Wayne!

Enjoy your day and be blessed!

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Itty Bitty Christmas, Wreath for All Seasons (Papertrey), Charmed Holidays (Close to My Heart)
Card stock & Papers	Naturals White, Pleasant DSP (Authentique)
Ink	Pumpkin Pie, Cajun Craze, Mango Melody, Old Olive, Soft Suede
Accessories	Mossy Meadow Ribbon (ret)
Tools	Big Shot, Subtle Embossing Folder, Stitched Rectangle Dies

Cardinal Christmas Wishes

Happy Tuesday, peeps!  Doesn't it feel like Monday?  Labor Day always messes my schedule all up!  Anyway, my friend Michele has been making these amazing box cards using Shari Carroll's YouTube video (which you can see HERE, and you can see Michele's blog with her amazing creations HERE).  SO....I made up my mind to give one a shot and it was a lot of fun, and easier than you might think!  So here is my first attempt using Toile Christmas:

All images were stamped on Whisper White cardstock, colored with Blends and diecut with the Christmas Cardinal Dies.  I randomly stamped the branch on the Crumb Cake card with Sahara Sand ink and lined the inside with Shaded Spruce DSP.  Here's a side view so you can see the "box"; it folds flat to fit in a standard size envelope, too!

The pretty sentiment banner is part of the set too....even though the images in this set are large, they're easy to color and not intimidating at all!  And they'll be available tomorrow!! Woohoo!

Thanks for popping in today!

Sunday morning before it got hot, I was in the garden picking (more) green beans, and I heard a "whoosh" and looked up to see this:

Over the years, we've seen a couple of balloons fly over, but it's been several years since we've had any, so it was really fun to see!  And it was a perfect day for it!

Enjoy your day and be blessed!

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Toile Christmas
Card stock & Papers	Whisper White, Crumb Cake, Shaded Spruce DSP
Ink	Memento Black, Shaded Spruce, Sahara Sand
Accessories
Tools	Big Shot, Layering Ovals Dies, Christmas Cardinals Dies, Sticky Strip, Blends in Real Red, Cherry Cobbler, Shaded Spruce, Crumb Cake

FMS400 Simple Pumpkins

Happy Labor Day, everyone....at least if you're in the US!  It's dreary this morning but hopefully it will clear out by this afternoon for picnic time!  If you're in the south, we are praying for all of you..my sister is near Charleston, so we're hoping there's minimal damage there!

I am squeaking in this FMS challenge card at the last minute! They are still promoting their 400th celebration and that is something to celebrate!  Here's the sketch:

And here's my really simple, no-stamping card:

This new DSP, Come to Gather, has some pretty prints in it, but I wasn't quite sure what to do with this pale pumpkin one.  The reverse side has a pretty plaid, so I diecut a stitched square from the pumpkin side, flipped it around and used the plaid side for the background, then re-inserted the diecut square into the opening.  I popped up a Soft Sky strip, and topped it with a Pretty Peacock diecut from the Well Written dies, then added some swirly things in Pear Pizzazz from the same die.  Simple and easy!  This is going to go to my sister, who very kindly watered my flowers for me while we were on vacation!

And speaking of flowers, here are a few shots from my garden:

My little rose topiary is thriving, and I am so thrilled!

At the beginning of spring, this butterfly bush was about 2 ft tall and it looked like a stick; now it's over 5 ft tall and at any given time, there are at least 3 or 4 butterflies hanging around, as well as bees, goldfinches and an occasional hummer!

And while I was deadheading my marigolds, I found this little (well, not so little) guy, giving me the stink eye as if to say, "Don't you take my little flower!"....so I left him alone!

Thanks for popping in today...enjoy it and be blessed!

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps
Card stock & Papers	Whisper White, Pretty Peacock, Soft Sky (ret), Pear Pizzazz, Come to Gather DSP
Ink
Accessories	Dimensionals
Tools	Big Shot, Well Written Dies, Stitched Shapes Dies

PP457 Down on the Farm

Happy Sunday and happy September, peeps!  I am back from my bloggy vacation...we actually went ON vacation, rented a little apartment at the beach and John took me out for almost every meal....no cooking or cleanup, it was wonderful!  Unfortunately, I missed all my bloggy friend, the challenges, the comments....but it was good to take a little break!  But we are back, and I am the hostess at the Paper Players this week with a fun new challenge for you:

Some of you might know that I grew up on a dairy farm, and although my dad sold his cows when I was a senior in high school, I still have a fondness for farm animals and images!  So I thought I would pull out an older Papertrey set to make a punny birthday card:

I stamped the elements of the farm scene in Mango Melody, Granny Apple Green, So Saffron and Cajun Craze, then stamped the cow, checkerboard and sentiments in Memento Black:

Since the scene is a little busy, the only embellishment I added was a little gingham banner, and the stitching around the outside.  On the inside, I couldn't help adding a few more elements to the sentiments:

I am sure someone in my family will be receiving this, LOL!  Now, what will you create with our "Down on the Farm" theme this week?  Be sure to see the cute creations the DT came up with here at the Paper Players blog!!  Thanks for popping in today!

I am not much of a photographer when I am on vacation, and we really only had two days of sunshine, but here are a couple shots:

Besides being able to get away, it just happened that we finalized the sale of my dad's house on Friday, which is near where we were vacationing, so we didn't have to make an extra trip.  I have to admit there were a few tears more than once; my dad and mom had lived there since 1987, and my dad lived alone after my mom passed away in 2001, so most all the grandchildren remember that as their home.  As I said goodbye to the neighbors, it was tough!  But now a new family will be making memories in their new-to-them home, so I have to be thankful for that.  And no more cleaning out of tools, LOL!   Enjoy your day and be blessed!

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Text Style On the Farm and Barnyard Sentiments (Papertrey ink)
Card stock & Papers	Whisper White, Gingham DSP (ret)
Ink	Memento Black, Mango Melody, So Saffron, Granny Apple Green, Cajun Craze
Accessories	Dimensionals
Tools	Big Shot, Stitched Rectangle Dies

PP456 Poinsettia Tree

 

Hi peeps!  Time for another Paper Players challenge!  Laurie has a GREAT sketch for us this week...I even made two cards with it!  So here's the sketch:

And here's my card---a combination of new and old goodies!!!  I used a new set from the Holiday catalog called Shine Bright, and I stamped it in Mint Macaron ink, then used Light and Dark Mint Macaron Blends to color it in:

I used a gold Zig Painty pen to fill in the little berries, then added a Gold Foil scalloped mat, embellished it with a flower punched from the Triple Flower Punch and anchored with a gold brad.  For the lower panel, I used some Mint Macaron gingham DSP, stamping a partial sentiment (Christmas Pines) with the new Golden Glitz Delicata ink and mounted everything on a white card base that was embossed with the retired Petals A-Plenty embossing folder.  

For my second card, I pulled out some printed papers gifted to me by my friend Teri, stamped a cute little pup from a CTMH set, colored it with some Blends and added sentiments from Happy Tails and Picture Perfect Birthday:

This went to my nephew....he might think it's a little juvenile, but he always likes my cards, hopefully he'll like this one too!

Thanks for popping in today---I hope you'll play along with Laurie's wonderful sketch and share your creation with us at the Paper Players blog!  While you're there, check out what the DT created as well!

We have had a bumper crop of green and purple beans this year....our garden just keeps producing them and we couldn't eat them all, so I decided to freeze some earlier this past week.  Cassidy was itching to play a new game she got, so she actually pitched in and helped so that I could finish up and we could play!!

She was a good helper, and we had a lot of fun playing Sleeping Queens....I highly recommend it!

I am going to be taking a little bloggy vacation, spending time with hubby, so I will see you next Sunday, when I am the hostess at the Players!  Enjoy your week and be blessed!