Flowers & Flourishes – The Paper Players #236

by Shannon Jaramillo // March 15, 2015 // 11 Comments

Welcome to another new challenge from The Paper Players! Last week was a fun week with a delightfully spring-y color combination, the week before that was Spring Theme and this week it’s….(drum roll please)…

Yup!! Definitely a trend going on here…seems like everyone is looking forward to spring!! And I am no exception, though I may be just a tad less enthusiastic than my friends in the east. As I write this post it is 88 degrees with a projected high tomorrow of 91 degrees. I had to break down and turn the air on!! I’m a bit afraid that this heat so early in the season is a harbinger of a long, very HOT summer to come! So…enough of that gloom and doom…spring is here and I can’t wait to see your clean and simple floral creations!!

I had the most fun picking this color combination out! I chose my envelope liner paper and then built from there. The colors are Simply Chartreuse, Hibiscus Burst, Hawaiian Shores, Orange Zest, and Summer Sunrise from Papertrey Inks…L-O-V-E!! I think that Simply Chartreuse might be my favorite color ever!!

The stamp and die set is called Flowers & Flourishes by Clearly Besotted Stamps. Because I don’t have enough flowers already, lol. I had the most fun arranging these. Do you see how I carried the stem of the flourish down onto the card base? And then, to balance it out, I let my pink die cut blooms burst over the edge of the top layer on the left hand side.

I played with my enamel dots for a long time, trying out colors and positions on my card, but I think I finally found a winning combination! And of course, I have applied liberal amounts of Wink of Stella to my flowers!!

Won’t you pop on over to see what the design team has cooked up for you today? I hope you will be inspired to play along with us…I can’t wait to see what you create!!

The Paper Players Design Team

Wishing you joy and blessings!

Products Used:

Cardstock: Vintage Cream and Simply Chartreuse by Papertrey Ink

Pattern Paper: Lost and Found: Breeze by My Mind’s Eye

Ink: Hawaiian Shores, Hibiscus Burst, Orange Zest, Simply Chartreuse, and Summer Sunrise by Papertrey Ink

Stamps: Flowers & Flourishes by Clearly Besotted Stamps

Dies: Flowers & Flourishes by Clearly Besotted Stamps and Envelope Liner Die by Stampin’ Up!

Tools: MISTI by My Sweet Petunia

Embellishments: Blue Jean, Cupcake and Tangerine Sprinkles by Doodlebug Designs and Wink of Stella

Special Delivery – MFTWSC219 & SSS Wednesday Challenge

by Shannon Jaramillo // March 14, 2015 // 3 Comments

I know I’m a bit late with today’s post, but I haven’t been able to stamp for the past few days and this card has been percolating in my head since Wednesday night…it needed to get onto paper, lol!

The inspiration for this project was actually two challenges, the My Favorite Things Wednesday Sketch Challenge:

and the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge which this week is Things That Fly.

How fun is that?!? When I started through my stamps for something that flies, I came across this set, Special Delivery by Clearly Besotted Stamps, almost immediately and thought it was a cute variation on the theme, yes, it’s a bird, but it’s a stork, we don’t see that one everyday!!

I have oodles and oodles of paper, but finding the right one for this card was tough. My mind set was baby theme, but I tend to shy away from the typical blue and pink, I wanted something a bit different. I fell in love with this subtle pattern paper but had a devil of a time deciding which color to pair it with! I finally settled on Pistachio Pudding ink color and I think it works very well here.

I added in a bit of blue with my enamel dots and then was beyond tickled to find a pattern paper for my envelope liner that is JUST the right shade of blue to compliment the card and the dots…so fun!!

Thank you for stopping by today, I will be back tomorrow with a new challenge from The Paper Players!

Wishing you joy and blessings!

Products Used:

Cardstock: Rustic White by Papertrey Ink

Pattern Paper: Blink of an Eye My Mind’s Eye

Ink: Pistachio Pudding by Stampin’ Up! and Tuxedo Black by Memento Ink

Stamps: Special Delivery by Clearly Besotted Stamps

Dies: Special Delivery by Clearly Besotted Stamps, Blueprints 14 by MFT Stamps and Envelope Liner Die by Stampin’ Up!

Tools: MISTI by My Sweet Petunia

Embellishments: Limeade and Swimming Pool by Doodlebug Designs

Sending a Little Sunshine – The Paper Players #235

by Shannon Jaramillo // March 8, 2015 // 21 Comments

Congratulations to all who participated in last week’s Spring Theme challenge…so many beautiful cards!! Y’all rocked the challenge 🙂 This week Ann Marie has a bright and spring-y color challenge for you!

Was I right? Bright and Spring-y! This color combination screamed ‘flowers’ to me so I went with my gut:

Gerbera Daisies. Nothing in the world is as cheerful as a daisy (in my opinion, of course). They are my favorite flower and never fail to make me smile. It was just coincidental that my new Gerbera Daisy Dies from My Favorite Things had just come in the mail…perfect timing, I would say!! But do Gerbera daisies come in this week’s challenge colors??? I turned to Google for the answer and it did not disappoint. May I present my direct inspiration for today’s card:

In looking at the picture again, I probably should have added a ruff of small petals in Crisp Cantaloupe as well, oh well, next time!! I’m still thrilled with how easy the flower was to create and how beautiful it is!!

I wanted the flower to pop so I chose Crumb Cake for the background and inked up my Moroccan Background Stamp from Simon Says Stamp in Versamark Ink. I didn’t emboss at all, just gave the ink a chance to set up before working with it. I love the neutral backdrop it provides the daisy. I die cut a leafy accent from the Leafy Accents Die by Clearly Besotted Stamps and then trimmed the leaves to fit my flower. I thought everything was a bit too plain so I inked up all the edges in coordinating ink. I love the subtle texture it provides! I also used retired Stampin’ Up! Co-ordinations cardstock to add even more texture. I LOVE textured cardstock!! (and the co-ordinations cardstock is still on the clearance rack if you want to add some to your stash for a great price!)

I wrapped it all up (literally!) with lots of loopy linen thread. Yum. And I resisted the temptation to glitter it all up with Wink of Stella…I decided I like this country, rustic-y look! A simple sentiment stamped in Tuxedo Black and a fun rustic-y pattern paper to line the envelope finishes it all off.

I hope you like my spring-y card and that spring is around the corner wherever you are!! For me, this week will zoom up in to the mid to high 80’s!! It’s early for us, even here, but I’m ready with my freshly manicured toes and I’m pulling out the flip-flops!!

Please take a few minutes to be inspired by The Paper Players very talented design team:

Wishing you joy and blessing!

The Paper Players Design Team

Products Used:

Cardstock: Crisp Cantaloupe, Crumb Cake, So Saffron and Wild Wasabi by Stampin’ Up!

Pattern Paper: The Sweetest Thing-Tangerine by My Mind’s Eye

Ink: Tuxedo Back by Memento; Crisp Cantaloupe, Crumb Cake, So Saffron and Wild Wasabi by Stampin’ Up!

Stamps: Morrocan Background Stamp by Simon Says Stamp; Strictly Sentiments 2 by Wplus9

Dies: Gerbera Daisy Die-namics by My Favorite Things; Leafy Accents by Clearly Besotted and Envelope Liner Die by Stampin’ Up!

Tools: MISTI by My Sweet Petunia

Embellishments: Jute Twine by May Arts

Some Bunny Loves You – Freshly Made Sketches 174

by Shannon Jaramillo // February 20, 2015 // 8 Comments

Hello there friends! I’m so happy to be stamping again! I saw Cindy’s sketch over at Freshly Made Sketches and I was immediately inspired to pull out this darling bunny…

I know it’s a bit early for Easter but I have so many fun sets that if I don’t start now, I’ll never use them all! That’s what happened for Valentine’s Day…so many sets will have to wait a whole year now…so sad 🙁

This darling stamp, die and sentiment are from Clearly Besotted Stamps Hoppy Easter set (Yes, I bought it last year…). I’m not a very confident colorer (is that a word?) so I love that there are two bunnies in the set, one in outline so you can color him, and one stamped image for the rest of us (wink).

My Favorite Things Vertical Stitched Strips Dies just arrived in my mailbox yesterday so I pulled them out and put them to work! Now, they are supposed to be vertical stitched stripes but as you can see, they work horizontally just fine. I ran the pattern paper through the Big Shot with the die, then positioned my die cut on a slant on my card base and then cut off the overhanging sides with my guillotine paper trimmer from Stampin’ Up! It’s retired now, but will never retire from my stamp room (I have a replacement stashed in my closet so I should be good for a few years…lol)

The bunny and sentiment are stamped in Raspberry Fizz ink. I then applied Wink of Stella liberally to him.I think he looks velveteen!

I used a small die cut border in MFT Grape Jelly card stock to add a bit of separation between the pattern paper and the card base. A few adorably colored sprinkles are the perfect jewelry!

I appreciate your visit here to my blog today, I would love to hear any feedback you would care to share!

Wishing you joy and blessings! (And warmth if you are back east)

Products Used:

Cardstock: Stamper’s Select White by Papertrey Ink; Grape Jelly by My Favorite Things

Pattern Paper: Springtime by Doodlebug

Ink: Raspberry Fizz by Papertrey Ink

Stamps: Hoppy Easter by Clearly Besotted Stamps

Tools: MISTI

Dies: Hoppy Easter by Clearly Besotted Stamps; Vertical Stitched Strips by My Favorite Things, and Envelope Liner Die by Stampin’ Up!

Embellishments: Bubblegum, Blue Jean and Limeade Sprinkles by Doodlebug Designs

Lovebirds – The Paper Players #230

by Shannon Jaramillo // February 1, 2015 // 10 Comments

Good morning and welcome to another fun-filled challenge from The Paper Players this week!

Many of us have furry friends, or feathery friends, let’s make a valentine for them!

I have a confession to make. After a detailed search of ALL of my stamp collection…I have only three stamps of furry friends: Nothing, Nada, and Ziltch. Yep. It’s true. (Hangs head in shame) Apparently I will need to rectify this situation. But it got me to thinking that some people many not have furry friends, they may have feathery friends, or scaly friends, or slithery friends (eek). So, I decided to go with birds!

I don’t currently have any birds, but we did while I was growing up! And what better bird to feature as we get ready to celebrate Valentine’s Day than a love bird!

This bird might or might not have been in a bird cage, alas, the bird cage stamp has flown the coop! Ha! Seriously though, it’s a clear stamp and I cannot find it anywhere! I’m guessing it has adhered itself to the bottom of something but it is definitely missing in action and I had a card to finish!!

So instead of a bird cage, I used my new staggered hearts stencil from Simon Says Stamp and lightly stenciled hearts across my background. I stenciled them in Sweet Blush ink by Papertrey Ink to match the pattern paper, also from Papertrey Ink. I really like the contrast of the black and the pink so I added a layer of black to add some more pop.

Though you cannot see it in the picture, my little lovebird has been given a generous coating of Wink of Stella so he really sparkles! I also added Wink of Stella to a few of the stenciled hearts to add a bit more detail.

Isn’t the font on the sentiment darling?? Clearly Besotted Stamps has such a beautiful array of fonts on their sentiments, making them a joy to work with.

And while I may not have stamps of furry friends, I do indeed have a few furry friends. I would like to introduce Buster (orange and white in the back) and Buddy (all orange in the front):

Both of my babies were rescues. Buster wandered into my backyard as an eight week old kitten and Buddy was about the same age when I found him at my local bank ATM. Poor guys had both been dumped. Little Buddy was only 1.1 pounds when I rescued him, he’s sure a LOT more than that now!! lol

So I hope you have fun with this challenge, make sure to pop over to The Paper Players blog and see what adorable creations the other designers have for you this week! And I can’t wait to see YOUR creations!! Happy Stamping!!

The Paper Players Design Team