Key to my Heart

Hi All,

Happy Saturday!  I, for one, am glad the weekend is here.  I'm enjoying my Saturday morning tradition: coffee, Project Runway and Blogging.  Usually I'm surfing, but I'm lucky enough to have another card for you guys this week.  I had made it for Valentine's Day, but I just haven't gotten it posted yet.   

My design was inspired by this card from Jenn Sannes.  I love the simplicity of it and the fact that you could sit down and make this with any paper patterns or colors.

The focal point squares are all punched from the Postage Stamp Punch--Easy Peesy!  For the prints I used some Love Letter & First Edition DSP.  Peeking out behind these are some embossed horizontal lines that were created with the Simply Scored Scoring Tool.  It was finished off with some seam binding.

I had leftover pieces from my workshop, so I also made some extras of this card and added a Birthday sentiment.  Just as cute!

My must have item on this card would be the Postage Stamp Punch.  It's so quick and easy to use and I love the look that it gives.  If you'd like to add this or any other goodies to your collection, pop me an email or click on the Order Online button in the top right-hand corner.

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Stamps: You're A Gem
Paper: Crumb Cake and Very Vanilla Cardstock; Love Letter & First Edition DSP
Ink: Basic Black Classic Pad
Accessories: Simply Scored Scoring Tool, Postage Stamp Punch, Small Heart Punch, Cherry Cobbler Seam Binding and Dimensionals/Pop Dots

Mojo Monday 263: A Nontraditional Thanksgiving

Hi All!

Happy, Happy Thanksgiving! Finally, our visions of sharing turkey and stuffing with family and friends have come to fruition.  It's my favorite meal of the year, by far.  We usually have family over to our house for the big dinner, but this year we are going non-traditional and heading out. We decided to give it a try.  We'll see how much we miss all of those home-made fixins, but,  I definitely don't miss the 24 hours of preparation :)

Since we're going non-traditional at home, I have a non-traditional Thanksgiving card to share with you today.  The colors were inspired by this card over at Pickled Paper Designs.  She paired up orange and blue and green perfectly. The sketch, I borrowed from a Mojo Monday Challenge. This was the perfect sketch, as it let me play with all of these colors.  Here's what I came up with:

The colors and the DSP are really the stars of the show.  The pop of blue comes from the World Spectacular DSP and the green panel is from the retired Spice Cake DSP.  They really are so unexpected and fabulous together.

Making it a quick post today, so I am off to clean up the house.  Hope you all enjoy a very special Thanksgiving Day! Thanks so much for stopping by.

**The World Spectacular , card stock and most accessories are available to purchase.  Just email me or click on the icon in the top right hand corner to get these added to your collection.

Stamps: Falling Leaves, Always  Thankful
Paper: Pumpkin Pie, Island Indigo and Whisper White Cardstock: World Spectacular, Spice Cake & Love Letter DSP
Ink: Chocolate Chip Classic Ink
Accessories: Curly Label Punch, Petal Cone Bigz L Die, Circle Nestabilities, Brights Designer Buttons, Linen Thread, Glue Dots and Pop Dots/Dimensionals

Happy Birthday to an Amazing Kid!

Hi All,

I hope your week is going well so far. Mine has been crazy busy at work...I think it may have something to do with the full moon! I'm glad it's almost over.

The card I have for you today is my son's birthday card. Once again, it's a CASE of a card designed by Nichole Heady.


I would have never thought to put Basic Gray and Riding Hood Red together, but they are fabulous. There's lots of color...but it's still very subtle. I also love the design. It seems like there's so much going on, but it all works so perfectly together.

On a more girlie note, I ordered up the new Heart Framelits, so I'll be playing this weekend. Be on the look out for some heart-themed projects in the near future. Thanks so much for stopping by!

Stamps: Boy Basics & My Hero, My Dad
Paper: Basic Gray and Crumb Cake Cardstock; Love Letter DSP
Ink: Basic Gray, Riding Hood Red, Crumb Cake and Basic Black Classic Pads
Accessories: Corner Rounder and Pop Dots/Dimensionals

PP65: Happy Hoot-y Halloween!

Hi Everybody! This week at the Paper Players, we have a fun sketch to play with: three panels and a focal image. The sky's the limit. You can use any DSP, mix DSP, add in some layers, you pick.


So simple right? Not so much for me this week. I couldn't find inspiration in anything...especially all of my packs of DSP as I sat and went through them. I then thought about all of the owls you guys have been using over the past couple of weeks and I decided to go with a Halloween theme.



For this card, I started with my owl and worked backwards. Once he was built, I knew I wanted to perch him right on top of a medallion. I hadn't made one in some time and I was surprised how easily it went together. I remember times when I had to wrestle with the medallions to get them to stay put. Have any of those moments????

I saved the panels till last. It actually took some time to decide which colors/prints should go where. I think having the grid design on the base really ties everything together.

Are you lovin' this sketch? If so, hop on over to the Paper Players and see what the other girls have cooked up for you...or better yet, to upload your very own project. We'd love to see it! Thanks so much for stopping by!

The Paper Players Design Team

Ann Schach

Ann Marie Hile

Jaydee

LeAnne Pugliese

Lesley Croghan

Tara Bilbao

Sandie Conner (September GD)

Rita Wright (Sassy Substitute this Week)

Stamps: All Holidays
Paper: Old Olive & Perfect Plum Cardstock; Love Letter & Cast-A-Spell DSP
Ink: Basic Black Classic Ink
Accessories: Owl Punch, Scallop Edge Punch, Modern Label Punch, Circle Nestabilities, Lots of Tags Die, Green Brads, Black Rik-Rak, Sponge, Pop Dots/Dimensionals and Large Glue Dots

Packed with Polka Dots

What girl doesn't love some polka dots? I sure do and when I saw this cute little ensemble, I knew I had to recreate it.

I was talking to a girlfriend last night and she's considering buying some basic supplies to get started with card making. It got me thinking, what are the necessities?

I made a few teacher thank you cards last year with a friend who had grabbed what she had and headed over: cardstock, ribbon and flowers. She had gotten all of these for free at a Bazzill warehouse clearance and didn't know what to do with them. We put together a simple design similar to this one and they were a hit. All she really needed from me was a little guidance and a stamp.

If you are considering card making, look around your crafty space and you may already have some of these basic supplies. You may just need that go-to stamp set. SU! has plenty of those and I'd love to help you pick one out. Feel free to email me if you need a creative director. I'm your girl! Thanks for stopping by.

Stamps: Afterthoughts
Paper: Basic Black & Very Vanilla Cardstock; Love Letter DSP
Ink: Basic Black Classic Ink & Vintage Photo Distress Ink
Accessories: Petal Cone Die, Fun Flowers Die, Scallop Border Punch, Black Satin Ribbon, Linen Thread, Fabric Flowers, Clear Rhinestone Brad, Red Button, Sponge and Glue Dots

Monkey 52: I Like it a Latte

There's a new kid on the block: A La Card Monkey. Shirley and Terry just kicked off a new Challenge Blog at the beginning of April and they are off to a great start. You should definitely pop on over to check them out for some inspiration!

I was more than happy to help out when they asked me to be a Guest Designer. It has been quite some time since I've been creative in my craft room, so it was time to get back in the saddle.

The challenge was a coffee or tea card with this sketch. Since I only have one coffee set, it was easy to get started. I had seen a card some time ago by Laurie Schmidlin that used microbeads on the coffee cup. That's what I did here. The cup is stamped in Black Stazon, smeared with 2-Way Glue and dusted with Clear Microbeads. I love the effect that it gives and how it works perfectly with this DSP.

I think this will make the perfect Thank You card and I can't wait to send it. Thanks for stopping by!

Stamps: Like it a Latte (Retired) & Tiny Tags (118091 or 118592)
Paper: Basic Black (121045) & Very Vanilla (101650) Cardstock; Love Letter DSP (117162)
Ink: Jet Black Stazon (101406) & Vintage Photo Distress Ink
Accessories: Jewelry Tag Medium Punch (117190), 2-Way Glue (100425), 5/8" Black Satin Ribbon (117285), Basic Black Brads (119736), Sponges (101610) and Clear Microbeads

Got Love?

I've made a few of these Mini Milk Cartons, but this one is by far my favorite. Could it possibly be the Love Letter paper and the Rik Rak I used? You bet. How fun are they together?

The Mini Milk Carton is a die cut that you can get through Stampin' Up!. It cuts and scores all the lines for this little guy. All you have to do is fold the lines and adhere together. So easy...and so cute.

The stamp on the tag is from the Got Treats stamp set. That wonderfully glittery heart was stamped and cut out of the new Glimmer Paper. It's a must have!

I made a couple of these and plan to fill with some sweet treats and give to a few of my teacher friends. It's a little something to brighten up their desks.

Stamps: Got Treats
Paper: Basic Black Cardstock; Glimmer Paper; Love Letter DSP
Ink: Basic Black Classic Stamp Pad
Accessories: Mini Milk Carton Die Cut, Mini Library Clips, Rik Rak Ribbon, Tombo Multipurpose Glue, Pop Dots/Dimensionals and Sticky Strip Tape

You're in My Thoughts, You're in My Heart

What an adventure trying to get this picture. Winter just makes it difficult to get good sunlight, but add in cloud cover and it's next to impossible. I took about 25 pics today in two different locations to get this one shot. A sneak peek into the secret life of Bloggers ;)

This card covers two challenges: Mojo Monday 171 and the Friday Mashup #25 Sweet on Hearts.
The Mojo Challenge was perfect for this card because I just got this DSP from the 'Man in Brown' and it let me play with a few different papers in the pack. This sentiment and the hearts for the Mashup Challenge were the perfect finish.

If you don't have this paper yet, it's a must have. Not sure why I waited so long to get it ;)

Stamps: I {Heart} Hearts & Word Play
Paper: Cherry Cobbler, Basic Black and Very Vanilla Cardstock; Love Letter DSP
Ink: Jet Black Stazon & Tea Dye Distress Ink
Accessories: Paper Piercer & Mat Pack, Black Satin Ribbon and Linen Thread