The Paper Players

Fiesta Like There’s No Mañana – The Paper Players 300

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Fiesta Like There's No Mañana - The Paper Players 300

300 challenges certainly sounds like a GREAT reason to party! And that’s what the gang over at The Paper Players is celebrating this week…Three Hundred Challenges! I’m thrilled to play along with this great group of very talented designers. THANK YOU to all of you for providing such great inspiration over the past (quick calculation) 5.76923077 years!

What better way to celebrate than to fiesta like there’s no mañana! Isn’t that just the cutest?!?

In the interest of full disclosure, I DID NOT like this bundle when I first saw it. Or the second time. Or the…well, you get the point. Nope, nada, no way.

Then I saw some samples and my interest meter wiggled. Just a little wiggle. And then I saw another. I finally sighed, caved, and ordered the darn thing.

And now I LOVE it 🙂 Yep, I’m easy that way.

Fiesta Like There's No Mañana - The Paper Players 300

Now I can really see lots of potential in it and I had a BLAST making these banners. There seriously is nothing easier. I just placed the banner die (it’s already curved for you) on some Thick Whisper White card stock and ran it through the Big Shot three times for three banners. I even used scrap pieces of card stock! I (might) tend to be a bit obsessive about having things lined up perfectly so I did worry a little about how I was going to use the banners and the MISTI together. Then I threw caution to the wind and put the banner stamp on a clear block and just started stamping (gasp). And I have to giggle at myself because the images turned out great and were SO very easy to do and difficult to mess up. Super fun time making banners!

I love how they turned out and kept it true to the challenge (clean and simple). A few details to note:

  • I snipped off small strips of DSP to line the side of my focal panel with and then intentionally DID NOT adhere them all the way to the edges of the card front. I really like the look of the clean white edge peeking out.
  • I added Wink of Stella directly (and all over) the beautiful DSP. Now it really sparkles like a party should!

Fiesta Like There's No Mañana - The Paper Players 300

…And the inside! Truly a versatile and fun bundle! Yes, Stampin’ Up! really put a LOT of bundles together this year and I have enjoyed every one so far!!

Thank you for stopping by and pop over to The Paper Players for so much more birthday inspiration!

 

Price: $110.00

Sweet Scandinavian Prints – PP 294 & FMS 235

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Hello friends! I hope you had a wonderful Mother’s Day and were able to celebrate however and with whomever you chose! My family made me feel very special today and as soon as the festivities of Mother’s Day were over, I headed to my studio full of creative juices! I browsed challenges for inspiration and as soon as I saw the color combination from Jaydee at The Paper Players I was in love! A quick search turned up Jen M.’s great sketch over at Freshly Made Sketches and I was off to the races:)

Sweet Scandinavian Prints - PP 294 & FMS 235

I recently discovered a new stamp company and HAD to immediately order several of their stamp sets. This set called Scandinavian Prints by Neat & Tangled is like a breath of fresh air and called to me to stamp with it. It has quite a few shapes which allow you to create many, many different looks so I just pulled stamps off the sheet and started putting ink to paper with no particular plan in mind. So relaxing to stamp that way!

I used slightly different shades of the challenge colors and I love how soft and sweet they are together 🙂

And the sketch that I used showed a large sentiment across the bottom third of the card but I chose to go long and narrow instead so I could use stamps from the same set. The font is so cute paired with the stamps!

Sweet Scandinavian Prints - PP 294 & FMS 235

Here’s a closer look at the images. I used Sweet Blush, Lemon Tart, and Spring Moss by Papertrey Ink; Soft Lilac by Altenew; and Smoky Slate by Stampin’ Up!. I also applied Wink of Stella to the flowers and the sparkle is beautiful!! I raised the focal panel (which has a subtle piercing detail around the edge) and matted it with Sweet Blush and Smoky Slate cardstock. I raised the sentiment banner as well and tucked two clear sequins in to provide just a teeny tiny bit more detail.

A card like this validates the purchase price of the MISTI every.single.time.

Here are the challenge banners I played along with today, and I think I’m sneaking in just under the wire with the FMS challenge!

Sweet Scandinavian Prints - PP 294 & FMS 235

Sweet Scandinavian Prints - PP 294 & FMS 235

Thank you for stopping by! Please let me know what you think of these stamps…aren’t they just the cutest?!?

Products Used:

Cardstock: Stamper’s Select White by Papertrey Ink

Pattern Paper: None

Ink: Sweet Blush, Lemon Tart, and Spring Moss by Papertrey Ink; Soft Lilac by Altenew; and Smoky Slate by Stampin’ Up!

Stamps:  Scandinavian Prints by Neat & Tangled

Dies: Pierced Rectangle STAX by MFT Stamps

Tools:  MISTI

Embellishments: Moonstone Sequins by Simon Says Stamp

Joyful Season – The Paper Players & Sweet Sunday Sketch

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Joyful Season - The Paper Players & Sweet Sunday SketchWhen I saw The Paper Players challenge this week, I knew I wanted to play along. I have been itching to ink this stamp set up and they gave me my motivation! A great sketch over at the Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge gave me my layout and the colors over at Colour Me…! gave me my colors!! This card pretty much jumped into my head complete, I just need to fuss with the details (love when that happens!).

Joyful Season - The Paper Players & Sweet Sunday SketchI was having technical difficulties with my ScanNCut…it refused to recognize the cardinal at all and only recognized PART of my branch 🙁  The branch is supposed to have more berries, but they were cut off. But I didn’t let that derail my enthusiasm, I went with what I had and fussy cut the cardinal out!

Lest you think I forgot part of the greeting…it’s on the inside!

Joyful Season - The Paper Players & Sweet Sunday SketchSpecial cards deserve pretty insides too 🙂

A shout out to my inspiration:

pp271 SSSC295CMCC Full Graphics-020Unfortunately, the Colour Me…! challenge closed 40 minutes before I finished my card so I wasn’t able to link up to the challenge but I wanted to give them a shout out for the inspiration!

I’m also entering my card into the Global Design Project as my project fits perfectly with the challenge this week:)

GDP-011

Thank you so much for stopping by!!

Products Used:

Cardstock: Thick Whisper White, Real Red and Old Olive by Stampin’ Up!

Pattern Paper: Season of Cheer and Merry Moments Designer Series Paper Stack by Stampin’ Up!

Ink: Real Red and Basic Black by Stampin’ Up!

Stamps:  Joyful Season by Stampin’ Up!

Dies: Envelope Liner Die by Stampin’ Up!; Stitched Mats: Rectangles by Lil ‘Inker.

Tools:  MISTI

Embellishments: Brights Candy Dots by Stampin’ Up!

Merry & Bright – The Paper Players 268

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Before jumping into today’s post, I wanted to share my excitement at having my card chosen as the headliner last week with The Paper Players!! Thank you so much Nance!!

Merry & Bright - The Paper Players 268I am really enjoying the Designer Series Paper this year from Stampin’ Up!. The pattern I used for today’s card is muted yet bold, and is the perfect backdrop for the drop dead gorgeous stamped images. And yes, I used Perfect Pines again because, well…they’re PERFECT!!

A simple circle provides a nice separation from the patterned paper and allows the focus to be on the tree and the sentiment. The cross stitch is an added bonus detail 🙂

Merry & Bright - The Paper Players 268The pretty poinsettias add a nice pop of red and help balance the card. Hint: I use the MISTI to double stamp the poinsettias, resulting in a vivd stamped image.

The Paper Players sketch this week was the inspiration for my card:

pp268I found the three panels to be a challenge, I just couldn’t make the math work so I eventually just cut the panels to 1 1/4″ wide each and then trimmed them down until the fit (and matched). I’m still not sure how that worked out, but I’m glad it did!! Thank you so much for stopping by!!

Wishing you joy and blessings!

Products Used:

Cardstock: Thick Whisper White by Stampin’ Up!

Pattern Paper: Merry Moments Designer Series Paper Pack

Ink: Cherry Cobbler and Mossy Meadow by Stampin’ Up!

Stamps:  Peaceful Pines, Lots of Joy, and Wondrous Wreath by Stampin’ Up!

Dies: Peaceful Pines, Seasonal Frame Thinlit Dies, and Envelope Liner Die by Stampin’ Up!; Stitched Mats: Ovals by Lil ‘Inker.

Tools:  MISTI

Embellishments: Unknown source for red sequins

I Love Pattern Paper – The Paper Players 259 & Stamp, Ink, Paper 11

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…and I cannot lie…lol, yes I do!!! And the sketch from The Paper Players has given me an excuse to play with some!

I Love Pattern Paper - The Paper Players 259 Well, how did I do?? I had a ton of fun with this one and sure do like how it turned out. I’m loving all the black with just a pop of color. I used Altenew’s Painted Butterflies stamp set and used Papertrey’s Blueberry Sky and Enchanted Evening for the pops of blue.

I Love Pattern Paper - The Paper Players 259 What do you think? Should I have lined my banner in black? I couldn’t decide so I left it alone, but in looking at it now, perhaps I should have…

I Love Pattern Paper - The Paper Players 259 I tried very hard to capture the sparkle on the butterfly’s wings. It’s so pretty!

Thank you very much to The Paper Players design team for always providing tons of inspiration!

pp259And I’m also playing along with the Stamp, Paper, Ink challenge this week…tic-tac-toe challenges are so much fun!! I chose butterflies, buttons and monochromatic (although I took some liberty with monochromatic with the pop of blue)

SIP-Any-Tic-Tac-Toe-11-791x1024

Wishing you joy and blessings!

Products Used:

Cardstock: Stamper’s Select White by Papertrey Ink; Basic Black by Stampin’ Up!

Pattern Paper: The Story of Us by Simple Stories & unknown toile paper

Ink: Memento Ink Tuxedo Black, Blueberry Sky and Enchanted Evening by Papertrey Ink

Stamps:   Painted Butterflies by Altenew

Dies: Pierced Circle STAX by MFT Stamps; Banner Framelits and Envelope Liner Die by Stampin’ Up!

Tools:  MISTI

Embellishments: Black Button by Making Memories & Black embroidery thread