The Open Sea Meets Hello Sailor for the Paper Players

Ahoy, matey!  In search of inspiration for masculine birthday cards, I dug out The Open Sea stamp set and decided to pair it up with the new High Tide DSP and the Hello, Sailor stamp set from the Occasions Catalogue.  Is it weird that I like nautical themes so much, even though I suffer from sea-sickness.  I've never gone on a cruise and though I like the whole concept, I am reluctant to try it because of my motion sickness and all the nasty reports of epidemics, fires and sinking cruise ships lately.  I'm sure it would be fine, but I'm just a nervous traveller!

The Paper Players Challenge #180 is a very interesting one and one that fit nicely with my nautical theme:

This is my take on it:

• I love the mix of blues and greys here.  Soft Sky is the base, with some Smoky Slate DSP from High Tide.  Pacific Point is the darker blue.
• The images on the front panel are all from The Open Sea and Express Yourself for the sentiment.  The ledger background is stamped in Smoky Slate (stamped off once) and the faint world map is inked up in Soft Sky, but hard to see in the photo.  The ship and the sentiment are stamped in Pacific Point.
• Notice the two types of ribbon used here. One is the new Striped Grosgrain ribbon in Pacific Point from the Occasions Catalogue and one is Stitched Grosgrain from the Annual Catalogue.

• I made the tag using a 2" wide piece of Smoky Slate and punching it with the Scallop Tag Topper Punch.  I added some images from Hello, Sailor to a smaller piece of Whisper White, sponged the edges (as I did, by the way, on the front panel) and added the ribbon pull.
• I topped the whole thing off with some Pacific Point Candy Dots.
• The front panel and it's Pacific Point matte are mounted with Dimensionals around the edge, keeping the side clear for the tag to fit into.

In other news, Stampin' Up!  has reintroduced a new tool called the Texture Boutique. 

It was introduced at one point last year and quickly sold out.  It will find a permanent home in the new 2014/15 Annual Catalogue, but until then, there's a limited supply, so if you want one now, best order right away.  You know how fast they disappear.  It's a baby Big Shot, but it only embosses, it doesn't die cut.  So you can use it only with the Textured Impressions Embossing Folders.

Here's Brian Pilling from the Head Office to tell you all about it:

          

If you want the Texture Boutique Embossing Machine, just click on the link which will take you directly to my On-Line Store for shopping 24/7.  You can also call or email me.

Don't forget that Sale-A-Bration has started and you can earn free stamp sets and other products from the Sale-A-Bration brochure for every $60 you spend, and for every Sale-A-Bration item you earn, you also earn 2 Papercraft Cat customer loyalty points to put towards a $50 gift certificate once you earn 20 points.  So you win, win, win! in so many ways!

• The Open Sea
• The Open Sea - Clear-Mount Stamp
• Hello, Sailor [wood]
• Hello, Sailor [clear]
• Express Yourself Wood-mount Stamp Set
• Express Yourself Clear-mount Stamp Set
• High Tide Designer Series Paper
• Soft Sky 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock
• Smoky Slate 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock
• Pacific Point 8-1/2X11 Card Stock
• Whisper White 8-1/2X11 Card Stock
• Pacific Point Classic Stampin' Pad
• Smoky Slate Classic Stampin' Pad
• Soft Sky Classic Stampin' Pad
• Pacific Point 1-1/4" Striped Grosgrain Ribbon
• Pacific Point 1/4" Stitched Grosgrain Ribbon
• Scalloped Tag Topper Punch
• Brights Candy Dots
• Stamping Sponges