Thanks A Latte

Hello all,

I hope you're having a great weekend so far. Today is Sunday, and that means it's time for a new Paper Players challenge. Laurie is our hostess and this week we are playing Tic-Tac-Toe. I think these are some of my favorite challenges to do.

For this one, I decided on the right side, down option of masculine-red-diecut.

I used a sketch from Sunday Stamps Weekly from a few weeks ago. The coffee stamps and dies are from Reverse Confetti. The patterned papers are Lawn Fawn, and I found these enamel stars in my stash from Doodlebug which I thought made great embellishments to go along with the stars in the patterned papers. The curved banner is the new SU punch.

The large cup is die cut from white card stock. Then I stamped the tall coffee cup onto the red patterned paper and fussy cut it for paper piecing. The "coffee" was stamped on white and fussy cut and placed into the top of the cup.

Here is look at the inside with more stamps and dies from Reverse Confetti. The cup and coffee are paper pieced here as well.

It's funny that I don't drink coffee but I love all of the coffee related paper crafting creativity we see around blog land lately. Go figure!

Stop by the rest of the DT's blogs for more awesome Tic-Tac-Toe inspiration. You'll find them here:

The Paper Players Design Team

Claire Broadwater

Jaydee

Joanne James

Laurie Schmidt

LeAnne Pugliese

Nance Leedy

Sandy Mathis

Linda Callahan

Hannelie Bester

I know you will all have loads of fun with this challenge and I can't wait to see what everyone creates. 

On a personal note, our East coast vacation is coming to an end. We fly back home to San Diego on Tuesday.We've had a fabulous time!

Thanks for stopping by,

Colleen

Supplies

Stamps: Be A Barista and Caffeinated Cups sets by Reverse Confetti

Paper: Taylored Expressions textured red card stock, X-Press It Blending card stock, Lawn Fawn patterned papers

Ink: Memento tuxedo black, SU Riding Hood Red, Hero Arts Cup O Joe and Soft Brown

Other: Reverse Confetti dies, Die-namics large banner die and Fishtail Flags Stax dies, 

SU Banner punch, Doodlebug enamel stars and dots, the Big Shot and dimensionals

A Great Sketch for the Paper Players

Hello from "Down the Cape!"

We are vacationing on Cape Cod this week. We've traded our beach on the "left coast" for a beach on the "right coast," LOL.

It's Sunday and that means it's Paper Players day here on my blog. My friend and our hostess, LeAnne, has an awesome sketch for week #305.

I liked this layout so much that I made two cards. First up is this one:

I started with the Mama Elephant set called Up and Away. The bunny and umbrella are stamped with Memento tuxedo black and colored with Copics. I made a mask for the bunny's hand so that I could stamp the umbrella's handle so he's holding onto it. The image was die cut with a Die-namics circle die and layered onto a Spellbinders Scalloped circle die. The layering card stock is Baja Breeze. The cloud dies are used for the banner elements in LeAnne's sketch.

Here is the inside of card one. The balloon stamp is part of the ME set. The sentiment stamp is from SU's Endless Birthday Wishes set.

Now for the second card that I made.

Using my Mini Misti tool, I stamped the flower and leaf images from the WPlus9 set called Happy Wishes. The ink colors are SU Calypso Coral, Pool Party and Smoky Slate. I used the "A Little Foxy" card stock pack colors on pg 174 of the SU catalog for my inspiration. The greeting is from the Avery Elle Floral Frame set and it's cut out with Pierced Circle Die-namics. The vellum and banners are Die-namics Fishtail Flag dies.

Here is the inside of this card. The stamps are from the WPlus9 set as well.

You will find more awesome inspiration when you visit the DT blogs here:

The Paper Players Design Team

Claire Broadwater

Jaydee

Joanne James

Laurie Schmidt

LeAnne Pugliese

Nance Leedy

Sandy Mathis

Linda Callahan

Hannelie Bester

I can't wait to see how you use LeAnne's sketch this week. I know we will see some great cards in our gallery.

As always, thanks for stopping in. Have a great week. I know I will since I'm on vacation "down the Cape."

Hugs,

Colleen

Supplies for Card #1

Stamps: Up and Away set by Mama Elephant and Endless Birthday Wishes set by Stampin' Up

Paper: X-Press It Blending and SU Baja Breeze card stocks, Hello Summer by Echo Park patterned papers

Ink: Memento tuxedo black,Copics and SU Baja Breeze

Other: Die-namics Zig-zag stitched Circle Die, Spellbinder Scalloped Nested die, Taylored Expressions Cloud dies, Die-namics Rounded corner rectangle die, the Big Shot, TE blue sequin, white gel pen, dimensionals

Supplies for Card #2

Stamps: Happy Wishes set by WPlus9 and Floral Frame set by Avery Elle

Paper: X-Press It Blending and SU Pool Party card stocks

Ink: SU Calypso Coral, Pool Party, Smoky Slate, Memento tuxedo black and VersaMark pads

Other: SU Whisper White EP, heat tool, Die-namics pierced circle die, Die-namics Fishtail Flags dies (pierced for the vellum element and basic for the banner elements), SU pearls, the Big Shot, dimensionals, Fiskers corner punch

Life Is Meant To Be Enjoyed

Hi all,

As you read this post, I'm probably making like this little PI sunbather and doing some sunbathing myself. I'm currently "Down the Cape" as the New Englanders say and vacationing in South Dennis, MA. This is our 7th year of vacationing on Cape Cod with friends who live in MA. We rent a house for a week and just veg! It's an awesome time!

A few weeks ago I was lucky and was chosen to be the Featured Stamper at Color Throwdown's 400th challenge. Imagine my surprise when I saw I'd won by random.org on their blog. How fun to be featured with the ladies at Color Throwdown! Here's a look at this week's colors for challenge #402. They are lime green, orange, aqua and orchid. Super bright and summery, although I did think "retro" too when I first saw them.

My very good friend Ellie, with whom I'm vacationing with this week, had a birthday last week. In honor of our beach vacation I used this week's colors and this new PI stamp set to make her birthday card.

The image is stamped in Memento tuxedo black and colored with Copics to match this week's colors. All of the dies are from MFT as well. It's a pretty simple design, and I like the way it worked out.

I hope you have a chance to play along with these fun colors. I'm looking forward to seeing what everyone creates.

Thanks for looking in,
Colleen

Supplies
Stamps: Pure Innocence "Fun In the Sun" set by My Favorite Things
Paper: SU Pool Party, Pumpkin Pie, and Crumb Cake card stock, X-Press It Blending card stock
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black and Copics
Other: Die-namics Sun, Hill Border and Wonky Stitched rectangle dies, the Big Shot, enamel dots and star, dimensionals, Wink of Stella

For You

Hello all,

We are having a glorious weekend weather wise here in So Cal. Yesterday was my birthday and I celebrated by having an afternoon filled with stamping, reading and relaxing and I couldn't think of a better way to celebrate after the very busy work week!


It 's time for a new Paper Players Challenge. This Sunday, Jaydee is our hostess with a fun theme challenge. Create a Clean and Simple water color project.

It seems like I've been doing a lot of water coloring lately so I was happy to see Jaydee's challenge this week. I pulled out this old tea cups stamp, which I think was a "stamp of the month" from a local stamp store way back in the day when that was a thing. My "Personal Chef's "SIL has a birthday later this month, and I made this card for him to mail to her. I know she appreciates the handmade cards because I get an e mail every year from her thanking me for the card he sends, LOL.

Keeping with the CAS theme, I stamped the image in SU Archival black and used Distress Inks picked up with my aqua painter to quickly and loosely water color it. The paper is SU water color card stock and the pink striped paper is SU DSP. The little round tag is a Lawn Fawn die cut from Blushing Bride card stock. I used SU linen thread for the wrap and bow and some pink enamel dots for the embellishments.

Don't forget to swing by the rest of the DT's blogs for more awesome watercolored inspiration. You find their blogs with the links below:

The Paper Players Design Team

Claire Broadwater

Jaydee

Joanne James

Laurie Schmidt

LeAnne Pugliese

Nance Leedy

Sandy Mathis

Linda Callahan

Hannelie Bester

Have a great rest of your weekend. I'm happy because I only have Monday and Tuesday to work then I'm on vacay for 2 weeks. Personal chef and I are headed to our annual Cape Cod vacation on Wednesday. I do have my PP cards all ready to go for the next two weekly challenges, too. 

As always, thanks for looking in,

Colleen

Supplies

Stamps: Stacked Teacups by Stampendous Stamps and For You greeting by SU

Paper: SU watercolor, SU Blushing Bride, and Whisper White card stock and SU Tea For Two DSP

Ink: SU Archival Black and Tim Holtz Distress Ink pads

Other: Lawn Fawn round tag die, SU linen thread, enamel dots, aqua painter

Happy Day

Hi again,

Last evening I was home alone as the Personal Chef was out helping a friend cater a house warming party. I enjoyed some crafty time while watching (listening to) baseball.

Earlier in the day, I had seen the sketch over at the Pals Paper Arts blog by Ann, so I decided to play along. I got most of the card made last night, but couldn't decide on the focal element so I left it alone until this morning.

We walked down to the village for breakfast first. The weather is amazingly gorgeous this time of year. Sunny with soft ocean breezes so its so nice to be out and about. When we got home I returned to my card and finished it in no time.

For this card I actually started with my color palette. This year the SU catalog has card stock packs that go with DSPs starting on page 172. It's usually three recommended colors and I like to look there to get ideas. This color palette is Blushing Bride, Sweet Sugarplum and Very Vanilla and it matches the Playful Palette paper pack.

I used two SU sets, "What I Love" from Sale-a-bration and "Perfectly Wrapped" from the catalog for the stamped images.

Have a great Sunday afternoon and evening. Tomorrow I have to work out in the Palm Springs area. It will be a scorcher, that's for sure!

Thanks,

Colleen

Supplies

Stamps: SU sets What I Love and Perfectly Wrapped

Paper: SU Sweet Sugarplum and Very Vanilla card stock, SU Playful Palette DSP pack

Ink: SU Sweet Sugarplum, Blushing Bride, Emerald Envy classic ink pads and Memento tuxedo black

Other: Die-namics dies, rhinestones, the Big Shot, dimensionals

You Can't Buy Happiness. . .

Hello and welcome to another Paper Players Challenge,

This week we are up to challenge number 303, and our hostess is Nance who has a cool color challenge.

I was in the mood to do some water coloring this week so I pulled out some water color paper and went to work on this cute Mama Elephant set called Carnival Cupcakes.

Using SU Archival black ink, I stamped the little bunny on water color paper. I made a mask for the bunny and stamped the cupcake top so she's sitting on it. Finally, I masked the cupcake top and stamped the cupcake bottom. Using the SU ink pads and my aqua painter I water colored the image in the challenge colors and cut it out using a Die-namics Stitched circle die.  I washed a very light coat of Sweet Sugarplum in the back ground, but it's hard to see in the photo. The Sweet Sugarplum frame is made with another Die-namics die.

The patterned paper is from SU in Mint Macaron and it's layered onto a panel of Island Indigo. As usual, I added embellishments. ( I love embellishing!) For this card some white, clear and pink sequin.

I didn't photograph the inside. I kept it simple just using the other part of the sentiment, which is "but you can buy cupcakes, and that's kind of the same thing," (so true) and another cupcake image.

Be sure to stop by the rest of the DT's blogs for more awesome color inspiration.

The Paper Players Design Team

Claire Broadwater

Jaydee

Joanne James

Laurie Schmidt

LeAnne Pugliese

Nance Leedy

Sandy Mathis

Linda Callahan

Hannelie Bester

I'm looking forward to seeing all of the creative and colorful cards in the gallery this week.

Have a wonderful and relaxing Sunday. 

Thanks for stopping by,

Colleen

Supplies

Stamps: Carnival Cupcakes and Carnival Toppers sets by Mama Elephant

Paper: SU Sweet Sugarplum, Island Indigo and Whisper White card stock, water color paper, SU envelope paper

Ink: SU Archival black, Sweet Sugarplum, Island Indigo and Mint Macaron classic ink pads

Other: aqua painter, Die-namics stitched circle and Scalloped border dies, sequin, the Big Shot, dimensionals

Birthday Wishes

Yay, it's Friday!

It's the first week of the month which means it's contest time over at Mojo Monday. I haven't played along in a while and I thought it was about time. Plus, I really like this week's sketch from Julie. I pulled out one of those old single wood mounted stamps and colored it up with my Copics and then found some fun, bohemian patterned papers to go with it.

Thanks for looking in,
Colleen

Supplies
Stamps: Sunflower Square by Stampassions and Endless Birthday Wishes set by Stampin' Up
Paper: X-Press It Blending, SU Peach Parfait and TE green card stock; Farmhouse by Crate Paper patterned papers
Ink: Memento tuxedo black and Copics
Other: Stitched Curved Rectangle, Stitched Square, Pinking Edge Circle, and large Banner Die-namics dies, SU white ribbon, enamel shapes, the Big Shot, dimensional tape

Have a Cool Day

Hello,

I don't know about you all, but I'm loving this short work week! It's Thursday afternoon already, so only one more day to go until the weekend.

Last night while looking through blog-land, I saw the colors for this week's Color Throwdown #400, and thought of Christmas. Since our current Paper Players Challenge is all about Christmas in July, I decided to make another card. This one turned out to be rather quick, which was great too. The layout is this week's Freshly Made Sketch by Jen T, and a super fun one it is.

I started by cutting the bear's images with the corresponding Die-namics dies from water color paper, then stamped them with SU black Archival ink. Using an aqua painter and Distress Inks, I quickly watercolored the images.

I found this nice red plaid pp in my stash and added the Stitched Oval Border die and small Fishtail Flag die per the sketch. Three SU green enamel dots for embellishment finishes it off.

There's still time to play with our Paper Players "Christmas In July" challenge. I see lots of awesome cards in the gallery so far.

Have yourself a great Thursday afternoon and evening.
As always, thanks for stopping in,
Colleen

Supplies
Stamps: Cool Day set by My Favorite Things
Paper: Water color paper, SU Real Red, Old Olive and Whisper White card stock, American Crafts Holiday pp
Ink: SU Archival Black and Tim Holtz Distress mini ink pads
Other: Cool Day, Stitched Oval Border, and Fishtail Flags Die-namics dies, SU enamel dots, the Big Shot, dimensional tape, Wink of Stella over the coffee cup

Happy Birthday, U.S.A.!

Happy July 4th everyone!

It's a day for family and friends, having fun, and relaxing, and good eats! We are doing all of those things and wrapping up with a great view of the San Diego County Fair fireworks tonight.

For my 4th of July card, I started out with inspiration from two challenges. The layout comes from this week's CAS(E) this Sketch, and the colors come from the current Curtain Call Inspiration Challenge. (I love the photo they have this week!)

All of the images are stamped in Distress inks. The background is made using the SU woodgrain background stamp and I've used many dies and a SU punch for the rest of the wreath elements.

Here's the inside:

Unfortunately, it's back to work tomorrow, but at least it will be a short work week.
Again, Happy 4th of July, and as always, thanks for looking in.

Colleen

Supplies

Stamps: July Fourth set by Stampin' Up and MFT Let's Celebrate stamp on the inside

Paper: SU Pool Party and X-Press It Blending card stocks

Ink: Tim Holtz Distress Inks in Barn Door, Fired Brick, and Peacock Feathers

Other: SU Star punch, SU Swirly Scribbles Thinlets die, Avery Elle banner die, Die-Namics circle and banner dies, SU twine, enamel heart, rhinestones, dimensional tape, the Big Shot

Have A Sweet Christmas

Hello,

I arrived home Friday morning, very early, from my two week work trip and, boy, is it nice to sleep in my own bed! The ride across the country was "Mr Toad's Wild Ride," for those who can remember that old children's ride at Disney in LA. It was so bumpy that the captain had the flight attendants sit pretty much the whole way. I connected to San Diego in Las Vegas where they had severe thunder storms in the late afternoon that had many flights cancelled. The ones not cancelled were very delayed. I was lucky that mine was one of the delayed, but I was about 4 hours late, hence the very early Friday morning arrival into San Diego. Poor Personal Chef had to stay up to come get me.

It's Sunday and time for a new Paper Players challenge. Sandy is our hostess and this week she has a theme challenge for us. We are celebrating Christmas in July!

We all know it's never too early to start those holiday cards. I'm guilty of not starting mine early this year, so Sandy's challenge is a great jumpstart for me. I have many, many Christmas stamps, but for some reason this little Lawn Fawn set was "whispering" to me yesterday when I sat down to make my card. "Pick me, pick me!" So here we go with a Christmas card made from a non-Christmas stamp set.

The layout is this week's Freshly Made Sketches sketch. The images are stamped in Memento tuxedo black and colored with Copics. I used the co-ordinating Lawn Fawn dies to cut them out and used dimensional tape to pop up the center rectangle element and then the gum ball machine. I used Wink of Stella over the gray to help make it look more metallic.

The inside is super simple. I love the little faces that come in this set to personalize the gum balls. (Especially that one winking at us, LOL.)

As always, you'll find awesome inspiration when you visit the other DT's blogs listed below:

The Paper Players Design Team

Claire Broadwater

Jaydee

Joanne James

Laurie Schmidt

LeAnne Pugliese

Nance Leedy

Sandy Mathis

Linda Callahan

Hannelie Bester

I know we'll see some awesome cards in the gallery this week. 

Happy 4th of July to my fellow U.S. players. I hope you're spending the holiday with family and friends. 

Thanks for stoping by today,

Colleen

Supplies

Stamps: Sweet Smiles set by Lawn Fawn

Paper: SU Real Red and Whisper White card stock, X-Press Blending card stock, Lawn Fawn Holiday pattern papers

Ink: Memento tuxedo black and Copics

Other: Lawn Fawn Sweet Smiles dies, Die-namics Inside and Out Stitched Rectangle STAX, Mama Elephant Scalloped border die, Wink of Stella, the Big Shot, dimensional tape