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

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

Wishing you joy and blessings!

Products Used:

Cardstock: Stamper’s Select White by Papertrey

Pattern Paper: Happy Spots by Papertrey Ink

Ink: Sweet Blush by Papertrey Ink; Tuxedo Black by Memento

Stamps: Love Birds and All Occasion Sentiments by Clearly Besotted Stamps

Dies: Large Scallop Edgelit and Envelope Liner Die by Stampin’ Up!

Tools: MISTI by My Sweet Petunia

Embellishments: Baker’s Twine from Really Reasonable Ribbon; Wink of Stella

A Special Get Well Wish

by Shannon Jaramillo // January 23, 2015 // 3 Comments

A few days ago, a question was posed in a Facebook group I am in, asking what Stampin’ Up! ink color did we think we were? Most everyone chose one color, but I just couldn’t. I don’t think I AM just one color so I came up with several. I said Sahara Sand, with pops of Calypso Coral, Pear Pizzazz and So Saffron. Well, the whole thing led me to decide to make a CARD that represents me…so I did!

What do you think? I’m so happy with it I could just pop! We’ve got the Sahara Sand covered with the card base and the sentiment. Large pops of So Saffron and Pear Pizzazz, some Soft Sky for added softness, pops of the bright Calypso Coral and teeny tiny pops of Wisteria Wonder 🙂

I had a friend point out to me recently that I really like flowers, I had never noticed that before but she’s absolutely right!! I use them ALL the time!! I chose this particular set because it is soft and dainty and works perfectly with all of my soft colors. Now, the thing about this stamp is, it’s all one stamp. So how did I color it? With Stampin’ Markers? Nope. For me, Stampin’ Markers don’t work very well on photopolymer stamps. I can never seem to get the ink to spread evenly. So…how DID I do it?

With my favorite new tool, of course!! I positioned my stamp where I wanted it to be on my cardstock (which is Primitive White by the way, to keep the effect soft) and then pulled out my Post-It Notes and got busy masking!! Yes, I masked off for every color, stamped, cleaned it off, repositioned my masks and stamped again. Fast forward about 40 times to finish the card!! Have you ever tried something ridiculous just to prove you could do it? Lol, I am guilty of that here! But I wanted ALL of these colors on my stamp, what’s a girl to DO??? At the very least, it’s a great advertisement for the MISTI! I could never achieve this look without it!!

Once I had the large image stamped, I added bits and pieces from individual stamps to add a bit of color to the top left hand corner. It looked lonely up there ;).

And having stamped the outside, I proceeded to the inside…

These stamps at least are individual, so I just played around until I had a grouping I liked.

From there, I moved on to the envelope….

I know, that’s A LOT of stamping!! I sure was having fun making a ‘ME’ card…and it’s for a very special person. She deserves it and I KNOW she will appreciate it. Can’t say any more than that in case she, by some random fluke, actually reads my blog!

Well, that’s it, me laid out bare for you all to see. Please be gentle with your comments, I’m a delicate flower!! (I’m laughing at myself here because in reality I’m an introvert so unless I’m really working at it, you would never think I’m a delicate flower. Aloof maybe, but NOT delicate!)

I hope you’ve enjoyed my latest endeavor, it’s actually been sitting on my desk for awhile, I’m a bit nervous about sharing so much of me!!!

I hope you have a wonderful weekend! Today is my every-other-Friday off so I’ve got lots of plans to clean out closets and paint. I don’t know what it is about January that brings this out in me, but I won’t rest properly until it’s done!!

I will be back on Sunday morning with another fun Paper Players challenge!! Can’t wait to share!!

Wishing you joy and blessings!

Products Used:

Cardstock: Rustic White by Papertrey, Sahara Sand, Pear Pizzazz and So Saffron by Stampin’ Up!

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

Ink: Sahara Sand, Pear Pizzazz, Calypso Coral, Soft Sky and Wisteria Wonder by Stampin’ Up!

Stamps: Embroidered Bouquet by Wplus9, Rustic Wreath and Inside & Out: Healing Touch by Papertrey Ink, Envelope Sentiments by Simon Says Stamp

Dies: Femme Frames by Mama Elephant and Envelope Liner Die by Stampin’ Up!

Tools: MISTI by My Sweet Petunia

Embellishments: Pearl Basic Jewels by Stampin’ Up!