Rustic snowflake...

Hi there,

This week I'm sad to say is my last week as a part of the Paper Players design team. I've had so much fun playing along with the fabulously talented DT and their fun challenges each week - I'm really gonna miss them! Thanks so much to Lesley for the opportunity to be a designer on this team - it's been a blast! There's another great group of designers starting in January though so I'm looking forward to seeing the wonderful inspiration they provide!

Anyways, this week Ann has got a CAS challenge for us...

I had the idea floating around in my head for this one for a while so I was pleased when the finished result looked somewhat like what I had imagined!

I started by embossing a piece of Crumb cake card with the Northern Flurry embossing folder and sponging over the raised snowflakes with whisper white ink. I then die-cut a snowflake from vellum cardstock using the Snow Flurry bigz die and embossed the pieces using the dots embossing folder, then layered them together with an antique brad in the centre. I couldn't resist adding some pearls (in honour of our fabulous challenge hostess Ann - the queen of pearls!), both on the snowflake as well as on the Crumb Cake panel (ok... I got a bit carried away lol!). The sentiment was stamped with Midnight Muse on a banner created with Crumb Cake card (I sponged around the edges with whisper white ink).

Make sure you stop by the rest of the team to see their fabulous creations...

Ann Schach

Anne Marie Hile

Jaydee

LeAnne Pugliese

Nance Leedy

Dawn Easton

Helen Heil

Jen Arkfeld

Thanks for stopping by!

x Amy x

Dynamic Golden Engagement..

Hiya,

This week's challenge at Dynamic Duos is an elegant one...

I'm continuing to make cards for my sister's long list and one that I didn't have any of was engagement cards...

When I saw the colour combo I immediately thought of embossing the heart image from You are Loved with gold EP so that's where I started. I trimmed it out by hand and layered onto some retired dsp that featured music notation. The background is some brushed gold card that I embossed with the lacy brocade folder (this is such a pretty and delicate pattern - love it!). I stamped 'Congratulations' from Love & Laughter in the gap on the sheet music then stamped the engagement sentiment (from the same set) on Very Vanilla and die-cut with one of the Itty Bitty Banner dies. I added some pearls to finish things off. I used the Freshly Made Sketch this week for my layout...

The rest of the team have some fabulous inspiration for you this week - make sure you check out what they've created!

Thanks for stopping by...

x Amy x

Simple Sympathy...

Hello,

Ths week at the Friday Mashup, we are getting clean and simple..

So here is the "Mashup" Challenge:

1. Make a project using" Heat Embossing".
2. Or Make a project that has a "Clean And Simple Layout".
3. Or "Mash it Up" and create a "CAS project using Heat Embossing".

 

I've been asked to make a bunch of cards by my sister, and on the list is sympathy cards, which I don't have very many of in my stash, so I thought I would try to make a CAS version (well, in proportion to the rest of my cards it's CAS...!)

 I used a colour combination from SU's Colour Coach: Bravo Burgundy, River Rock and Baja Breeze, which is a lovely soft combination. I embossed the flourish (from Creative Elements) on the River Rock background with clear EP, and also embossed the main image (from Just Believe) with clear Ep as well, afte stamping with Bravo Burgundy ink (the new ink pads are so juicy that if you're fast enough, you can emboss with them!). I added a butterfly stamped with Baja Breeze as well as some Baja Breeze seam binding ribbon. I used this sketch from Unscripted Sketches for my layout:

Make sure you stop by the Friday Mashup and check out what the rest of the designers have created to inspire you!

Thanks for stopping by...

x Amy x

Vintage Postal Birthday...

Hi there,

This week at the Paper Players, Nance has a great colour challenge for us...

I really wanted to use the Postage Due set that I got recently, so that was my starting point for this one...

Once again, I'm not 100% happy with the photo, because once again, my busy week and weekend meant I finished this on Saturday eve and had to photograph it without natural light... oh well! This is the last busy weekend of the year so I'm looking forward to a bit more time to play! I combined the colours with this week's Mojo Monday sketch:

The Crumb Cake background was stamped with the large collage image from Postage Due using Crumb Cake ink, and I added a strip of Pool Party die-cut with the large scallop border edgelit and embossed with one of the delicate designs embossing folders. The greeting is an a la carte stamp on Very Vanilla, stamped with Cherry Cobbler and then overstamped with script and watermarks from French Foliage using Crumb Cake ink. I added a postage stamp image from the Postage Due set, punched with the postage stamp punch, as well as another postage image (from the Fan Fair dsp) also punched out. The third element in the cluster is a buttefly from Papillion Potpourri, stamped with Pool Party and cut out - I added a couple of button brads to the body. I added some lace trim, Soft Suede ribbon, a little safety pin and an antique brad as well (I do love my vintage embellishments lol!).

Check out the fabulous creations of the rest of the Design Team:

Ann Schach

Anne Marie Hile

Jaydee

LeAnne Pugliese

Nance Leedy

Dawn Easton

Helen Heil

Jen Arkfeld

Thanks for stopping by...

x Amy x

Pretty Rose Flowers...

Hello!

Sorry my post is a bit late today - I was at Cadbury World for an educational visit with my Year 6 booster club and no matter how I tried, I could not find the time to write and schedule my post before I left! Anyways, here are the Dynamic Duos colours for this week...

When I saw the two tones of pink I knew I wanted to use the Field Flowers set so that's what I started with...

I used this week's Tuesday Morning Sketch for my layout...

To get the frame-like effect, I scored a line from each corner using the diagonal plate on my Simply Scored tool then sponged around the edges with Crumb Cake ink. I added a layer of First Edition dsp under the main image (love this paper!). The central panel was stamped with the stems using Crumb Cake then layered with the flowers (which I stamped in Pretty in Pink first then Rose Red and cut out). The sentiment is from Kindness Matters, stamped with black and cut out with one of the Itty Bitty Banner dies and trimmed to fit. I added some lace trim, Rose Red seam binding, antique brad and pearls to finish.

Make sure you check out the gorgeous creations from the rest of the design team!

Thanks for stopping by...

x Amy x

Reindeer Mashup!

Hiya,

I'm popping in very quickly to share my Friday Mashup project with you (busy week and very busy weekend coming up!). Erica's got a sketch for us...

So here is the "Mashup" Challenge:

1. Make a project using the "Sketch".
2. Or Make a project with some "Bling".
3. Or "Mash it Up" and create a "project with the Sketch showing some Bling".

This one had me scratching my head for while... until I thought about the Snow Festival tags, then this came together pretty quickly!

 The bling element includes the buttons, silver glimmer paper and some vanilla smooch!

Make sure you check out the rest of the DT's creations!

Thanks for stopping by...

x Amy x

Snow much fun!

Hiya,

It's time for another fun Paper Players challenge brought to us by Ann...

I pulled out Snow Much Fun (which features quite a lot in the DT's cards this week lol!) for this one...

{Sorry the photo's not great - I finished this last night and so had to rely on artificial light}

I needed inspiration BIG time for this so combined the theme with the Colour Q and Sweet Stop sketch challenge...

Once I had colours and layout sorted this came together pretty quickly (don't you love challenges?!). I coloured the snowman image with a blender pen and ink pads, then stamped some snowflakes and swirls (from Delightful Decorations) in Versamark and embossed with irridescent ice EP. The dsp is a combination of Comfort Cafe and Regal Rose patterns, each layered on Real Red card. I added a whisper white doily die cut, some Pool Party seam binding ribbon and some rhinestones for a bit of bling.

Check out the rest of the design team's 'snow people' inspiration...

The Paper Players Design Team

Ann Schach

Anne Marie Hile

Jaydee

LeAnne Pugliese

Nance Leedy

Dawn Easton

Helen Heil

Jen Arkfeld

Thanks for stopping by!

x Amy x

I spy Dynamic Presents....

Hello!

Sorry I'm a bit late posting my Dynamic Duos creation - I've had an all-day class on today teaching my lovely friends how to make handmade Christmas gifts. It was lots of fun but it's been a hectic week and I feel like I'm chasing my tail a bit! Anyways, we've got a very versatile colour combo this week....

I'm on a bit of a roll making Christmas cards at the moment so a red and green combo was begging to be used on a Christmas card! I pulled out a set I was given recently (thanks Jane!!) together with the gorgeous flocked acetate from the Candlelight Christmas dsp and came up with this...

The presents were stamped with Certainly Celery and punched out with the 2 1/2" circle punch and pierced using one of the SU piercing templates. I stamped the presents again in Real Red and cut out the centre one out and layered it over the circle panel. I used Real Red and Basic Grey markers to trace of the the 'ribon' parts of the presents to make them pop a little more, and I added some extra details on the presents with lines and dots. The sentiment (from More Merry Messages) was stamped under the presents using Real Red ink.

The flocked acetate was layered on Whisper White, then on Real Red. The Certainly Celery panel in the background was stamped with the Jolly Jingles wheel and Certainly Celery ink then sponged around the edge with the same ink. I added a strip of Real Red cut with the large scallop die and pierced along the scallops, then tied some white organza ribbon around and added a vintage faceted button over the bow.

I used the sketch from iSpy sketches for my layout:

Make sure you stop by the rest of the Dynamic Duos team to see their wonderful inspiration!

Thanks for stopping by...

x Amy x

Snowflake Gifts Mashup...

Hiya,

I'm trying to stay organised this week and post on time so I'm popping in quickly to share my Friday Mashup creations with you..

So here is the "Mashup" Challenge:

1. Make a project using "the inspiration photo".
2. Or Make a "Gift project".
3. Or "Mash it Up" and create a "project for a gift using the inspiration photo above".

I actually made a card for this challenge and forgot about the Mashup part of it being a gift project, but then I remembered that I did have a project to hand that I demonstrated recently so I'll share that with you too! First up, the card...

The snowman was stamped with stazon on white, then masked and spritzed the panel with Silver Smooch. I coloured the snowman in with a blender pen, inks and markers, then layered on another white framelit shape. I die cut a snowflake from silver glimmer paper and added a tempting turqouise brad to the centre. The banner panel is some Snow Festival dsp layered on whisper white card and then onto Midnight Muse cardstock which I sponged with matching ink around the edges. The sentiment (from More Merry Messages) was embossed with silver EP. I added some white organza ribbon to finish things off. This card was based on this week's Retro Sketch...

And now for my gift project, I made a mini pizza box containing some decorated tea lights...

I used the smallest snowflake from Snowflake Soiree with Baja Breeze on two of the tea lights, and the smallest doily from Delicate Doilies with Primrose Petals on the other two. These are really simple to make: just stamp image on tissue paper, punch out with a circle punch, poke a hole in the middle, thread the wick through then heat with a heat gun until the wax melts and the tissue paper sets into it. Lots of fun and make a great gift!

Make sure you check out what the rest of the Mashup team have created this week!

Thanks for stopping by...

x Amy x

Non-traditional Mashup...

Hi there,

{If you're looking for my Paper Players post, please scroll down or click here.}

I'm popping in to quickly share my Friday Mashup post (so sorry its so late!)

 So here is the "Mashup" Challenge:

1. Make a holiday project using "Non-Holiday Image(s)".
2. Or Make a project with a "Messy Technique", such as spritzing, smooching, shimmer painting, or splattering with an aquapainter.
3. Or "Mash it Up" and create a "Holiday Project from Non-Holiday Stamps and a Messy Technique".  

I scratched my head for a while over this one but then had an idea to use the globe from Open Sea to make an ornament... and 'Joy to the World' came to mind!

The sentiment is from the Jolly Jingles wheel, which I selectively inked with Early Espresso, punching out with the ornament punch and sponging around the edge with Old Olive ink. I stamped the wheel again in Real Red and cut out the letters and stocking, layering them over the ornament to create a shadow effect. The globe was stamped with Always Artichoke on Old Olive card and die-cut with one of the ornaments framelits. The papers are from Candlelight Christmas dsp and I added some early espresso ribbon and a scalloped layer embossed with one of the Delicate Designs embossing folders.

I used the layout from Freshly Made Sketches...

Make sure you stop by the Friday Mashup and check out the inspiration from the rest of the design team!

Thanks for stopping by!

x Amy x

Fan Fair Birthday...

Hiya,

I'm running a bit late with my posts this week (I'll be back later with my Mashup post...!!) - my sister is visiting and we've been cooking and lost track of time... Anyways, this week Jaydee has a great sketch for us at the Paper Players:

I was working against the clock on this one so I decided to use some pretty patterned paper for the main panel...

As well as the strip of Fan Fair dsp I added some leaves from French Foliage as well as a lace bow with an antique brad. The border along the edges of the dsp is die-cut from Very Vanilla using the finishing touches edgelits die. I added a sentiment from Curly Cute with a punched strip of Summer Starfruit underneath.

Make sure you check out what the rest of the team have created for you:

The Paper Players Design Team

Ann Schach

Anne Marie Hile

Jaydee

LeAnne Pugliese

Nance Leedy

Dawn Easton

Helen Heil

Jen Arkfeld

Thanks for stopping by!

x Amy x

Sparkly Midnight Trees

Hello!

This week has been a bit hectic for me so my card for this week's Dynamic Duos chalenge was made in super quick time!!

I had an idea to make some sparkly white trees against a Midnight Muse background so that's what I whipped up...

I stamped the tree from Scentsational Season on white card with Versamark and embossed with Irridescent Ice EP and die-cut with the matching die. The silver glimmer 'snow' layer was cut with one of the edgelits dies and layered over the Midnight Muse panel (that I had stamped with Snowflake Soiree using white ink). The greeting was stamped with Midnight Muse and frames with one of the silver decorative frames in the Autumn/Winter catty. I added some Midnight Muse ribbon to finish. I used the sketch from Fab Friday for my layout...

Make sure you check out the fabulous creations of the rest of the design team at Dynamic Duos!

Thanks for stopping by...

x Amy x

Retro Aviary Baby...

Hiya,

Just popping in quickly to share a card I made combining two challenges...

      

I was asked for some baby cards last week and realised that I didn't have any boy ones so I put that on my mental list of cards to make. I was thinking about what I could do with these colours and I came up with this...

Here's the recipe:
Stamps: Aviary, Itty Bitty Banners
Paper: Orchard Harvest dsp, Cajun Craze, Tempting Turqouise, Very Vanilla
Ink: Soft Suede, Cajun Craze, Tempting Turqouise
Tools: Argyle embossing folder, banner framelits
Accessories: Very Vanilla grosgrain ribbon (ret), vintage trinkets

I'm keeping things short and sweet today...

Thanks for stopping by!

x Amy x

Silver Sparkle Snowflakes...

Hi there,

This week at the Paper Players is CAS week and LeAnne is bringing us this fun challenge:

I wanted to use the fab silver glimmer paper and some embossed silver snowflakes so after playing around for a bit, ended up with this...

It's probably not the 'CASiest' (is that a word??) card ever but I thought seeing as it's got lots of white, it may qualify... lol! I started with the sketch from Create with Connie & Mary this week:

When I saw the sketch I thought it would work well with lots of white so I cut a white card base with the largest Labels framelit die so that the fold was under the point (giving it a hinge) - I also trimmed the point off the bottom so it will stand up properly. Then I cut another piece of the same size label from Shimmer White card and glued over the top to hide the hinge and trimmed base. The next layer was the second largest framelit from the same set, again cut from Shimmer White card, then embossed with the Lacy Brocade EF. I added a strip of silver glimmer paper to this piece and tied some white organza ribbon around in a bow. The ornaments were made by stamping two of the snowflakes from Snowflake Soiree on Whisper White and embossing with silver EP, then cutting them out with the ornaments framelits. I added some silver dazzling details to the tops of the ornaments as well. The sentiment (from More Merry Messages) was embossed with silver EP, cut into a banner and layered over a strip of silver glimmer paper. I wish I could show this one to you IRL cos the photo just doesn't show all the shimmer and sparkle... I'm loving how this one turned out!

The rest of the Paper Players team have some fabulous inspiration for you this week...

The Paper Players Design Team

Ann Schach

Anne Marie Hile

Dawn Easton

Helen Heil

Jaydee

Jen Arkfeld

LeAnne Pugliese

Nance Leedy

Thanks for stopping by!

x Amy x

Dynamic Snowman...

Hello!

I'm enjoying a relaxing Saturday (much needed I must say!) and its time to share my card for this week's Dynamic Duos challenge...

I recently added the cute Snow Much Fun set to my collection so I thought I'd use one of the snowmen for this challenge...

When I saw the colours and dessert option I thought of stamping on Crumb Cake and colouring in with white pencil, so that's what I went with. I used SU watercolour pencils and was very happy to find that the light blue matched Marina Mist really well. I stamped him once on Crunb Cake and cut out with one of the Apothecary Accents dies then stamped again, coloured and trimmed around with my paper snips. I created some 'snow' by cutting some whisper white with the same accent die a couple of times and tearing three strips from the bottom, adding dazzling details and glueing the pieces to the bottom of the Crumb Cake panel. I then layered the cut out snowman over the top so it looks like he's standing in the snow.

The background is a top note die-cut in both black and Howlstooth & Scaringbone dsp (which I trimmed around the perforated lines and sanded). The Marina Mist panel was sprayed with Silver Smooch (you can't see in the pic but it has a lovely shimmer IRL). I couldn't resist adding a strip of silver shimmer paper cut with the large scallop die.

Make sure you stop by Dynamic Duos and check out the rest of the team's 'frosty' creations!

Thanks for stopping by...

x Amy x

Thankful leaves...

Hiya,

This week over at the Friday Mashup, Rita is bringing us a fun challenge...

So here is the "Mashup" Challenge:

1. Make a project with "Leaves".
2. Or Make a project saying "Thank You".
3. Or "Mash it Up" and create a "Thank You project with Leaves".

I held a class a few weeks ago using the Autumn Accents Bigz die and one of the cards was a thank you... so I thought it fit well with this challenge!

I went with lots of texture on this one, embossing the vanilla background with the woodgrain embossing folder, then using the same folder on the leaves (I folded them in half before putting them in the folder). The acorn tops were embossed with the square lattice EF. I layered the leaves over some strips of Early Espresso coredinations card that I tore to reveal the core. The greeting is from Itty Bitty Banners, die-cut with the matching framelit. I spritzed the whole card with Very Vanilla Smooch for some sparkle and shine.

Make sure you stop by the Friday Mashup to check out the rest of the team's fab creations!

Thanks for stopping by...

x Amy x

Field Flower Thanks...

Hello!

We have a great colour challenge this week at the Paper Players, brought to us by Anne Marie...

I really wanted to use a new set in my stash from the new catty - Field Flowers - and I thought these colours would work well so here's what I ended up with...

I'm really pleased with how this turned out, even if it did take me ages! The flowers were stamped firstly with the solid image in More Mustard, then the outline image over the top with second generation Bravo Burgundy ink. The centres were stamped separately with Bravo Burgundy and the stem/leaves with Old Olive. I cut all of the pieces out with my paper snips and layered over the punched circle that I pierced using the piercing template. This was layered on a Bravo Burgundy doily. The background layers are a combination of First Edition and Orchard Harvest dsp as well as a piece of Old Olive card stamped with the flourish from Elements of Style (I sponged some matching  ink around the edges of the Olive and Mustard panels). I added a little sentiment banner using a sentiment from Kindness Matters and I couldn't resist adding some Very Vanilla seam binding ribbon in a lovely big bow!

I used the Sweet Sunday sketch for my layout...

Make sure you check out the fabulous creations from the rest of the design team...

The Paper Players Design Team

Ann Schach

Anne Marie Hile

Dawn Easton

Helen Heil

Jaydee

Jen Arkfeld

LeAnne Pugliese

Nance Leedy

Thanks for stopping by!

x Amy x

Dynamic Poppies...

Hi there,

It's time for another Dynamic Duos challenge and this week we're playing with this lovely combo:

I thought this was the perfect opportunity to use the gorgeous Pleasant Poppies stamp, and very appropriate for Rememberance Day tomorrow...

I stamped the poppies on First Edition dsp in Versamark and embossed with black EP, punching out with a 2 1/2" circle punch. I stamped them again on watercolour card, embossed and cut out with my paper snips, colouring them with an aquabrush and ink. I popped the cut-out flowers over the circular image with dimensionals. The background is Sahara Sand card embossed with the Fancy Fan embossing folder and layered with a panel of Basic Grey (I love how with Dynamic Duos you have the option of adding a variety of neutrals to the colour duo!). The sentiment is from Curly Cute, stamped in Cherry Cobbler on Very Vanilla. I cut out a butterfly from a piece of first Edition dsp and added some pearls and some black taffeta ribbon to finish. I used this week's Freshly Made Sketch for my layout...

Make sure you stop by the Dynamic Duos challenge to check out what the other designers have created to inspire you!

Thanks for stopping by...

x Amy x