Pals Paper Arts Under the Wire

Good Monday Morning!  I spent yesterday, after getting home from church, trying to get my Design 101 class together.  It's a bit trickier to plan because, rather than have everyone duplicate a card, I am giving them some variable options, so figuring out what to cut and how many of each is definitely challenging.  We will be learning how to use a layout sketch tonight and so I've taken sketches from some of the sketch challenges I've completed over the year and gradually offered them more and more choices, from colour and card orientation, to stamp sets to use and embellishments.  Each of the 3 projects gets more and more input from each of the participants.

It was late when I finished, but I still needed a blog post for today, so I decided to do the Pals Paper Arts Challenge #170 for last week, and I posted late Sunday night instead of early Monday morning, so I just squeaked in under the wire!  Phew!

I found the colour challenge palette a bit odd.  I don't think I would have ever come up with this on my own.  Here it is:

I was partly inspired for this card by a Pinterest card in black and white with a rosette and flourishes.

I don't know whose design it is because the link just led me back to the Splitcoast Stampers Home page.  If you know, please leave me a comment so I can give the proper recognition.  Anyway, I loved it at first sight and you can see how it influenced my design.

• I used A Round Array stamp set to create the circlet for the top of the rosette, which is made from Eastern Elegance DSP in Crushed Curry. I punched it out using the coordinating 7/8" Scallop Circle Punch and several other Scallop Circle punches for the other layers.  The one that might stump you is the Early Espresso layer.  That was actually the result of a mistake.  Let me fill you in:
• I found the greatest Stamp Set for this card, one that I had rarely, if ever used before:  Sent with Love.  Only after I had everything together, did I remember that it had been retired last year.  I thought I had cleaned out all my retired stamp sets.  I guess not!!  The Early Espresso layer is stamped with one of those images, but I liked it so much, I kept it and just put another image over top.

• I inked up Flowering Flourishes with Midnight Muse ink for the flourish you see on the Whisper White and added some Pearl Basic Jewels.
• Where you see the flag with one of the sentiments from Banner Greetings in Early Espresso, was actually a sentiment from Sent with Love, that I had to cover up.
• Anyway, I'm happy with the results, and maybe the colour combo isn't as weird as I thought!

Just a reminder that you still have time to play the "As You See It Challenge" for this week.  I hope you will give it a try!  Check out the rest of the Design Team's samples!  I know you're going to love them.

Stamps:  Flowering Flourishes (w131998; c126367); A Round Array (w129087; c129090); Banner Greetings (w129711; c129714); Sent with Love (retired)

Paper:  Eastern Elegance DSP (130131); Early Espresso (119686), Midnight Muse (126843), Crushed Curry (131199) and Whisper White (100730) cardstock

Ink:  Classic Stampin' Pads in Midnight Muse (126860) and Early Espresso (126974)

Accessories:  Pearl Basic Jewels (119247)

Tools:  Designer Rosette Bigz XL die (125594) *; 7/8" Scallop Circle Punch (129404); 1 1/4" Circle Punch (119861); 1 3/4" Scallop Circle Punch (119854) and the 2 3/8" Scallop Circle Punch (118874); Sticky Strip (104294); Big Shot (113439)

*needs Extended Premium Crease Pad (117630) and Extended Cutting Pad (113478)

A Round Array Stamp Set

Banner Greetings Stamp Set

Designer Rosettes Bigz XL Die

Eastern Elegance DSP

Flowering Flourishes Stamp Set

Pearl Basic Jewels

Roomie Gifts from Convention 2013

The other thing I meant to share with you from Stampin' Up Convention 2013 is a little tradition we have of making our roomates a gift.  It's almost more fun coming up with something cool to give our roomies and to hear them exclaim over them, than it is to receive the gifts, even though it is plenty of fun to get roomie gifts, too!

I showed you the sewing kit I made for all my roomies before, but here is a reminder:

Here's me and my roomie, Holly Finney!  We had a great time this year!

 I wanted to share with you what Holly did for me and all the others in our group:

She filled a paper lunch bag with a huge assortment of amazing snacks and decorated the bag beautifully!

Here's a close-up:  (All images are © Stampin Up)

Holly used a doily as a background and some Soho Subway DSP.  There is also some Pistachio Pudding cardstock and This and That Designer washi tape along with one of the cute clips and some 7/16" Natural Trim! (Love that stuff!)  She used the Banner Greetings Stamp Set and the Mosaic Madness Stamp set and Mosaic punch to create more embellishments!  Oh, and I spot some little Candy Dots as well!

At the top is an image from Wonderfall and she used the This and That Rotary Stamp to stamp the date of Convention!   I think she did an amazing job on this package!!  Won't you leave a message to tell her what a great job she did?  Keep in mind that this goodie bag got me through 3 long days of convention and a long trip home in my suitcase, so we received these in much more pristine condition!!

Hope you have a great weekend!

Blog Candy Winner

It was another beautiful Okanagan summer day today.  We went for a walk down by the lake at about 8 pm and the wind was blowing but it was balmy and warm, the perfect time for a walk really.  I should have taken some photos but didn't think to do it.  I will next time.

When we got back, it was time to draw for the winner of the Blog Candy I advertised on Monday.

The winner receives a pack of discontinued DSP - Beyond the Garden, a Big Shot die - Beautiful Butterflies, a wonderful discontinued stamp set called Full of Life - never used, a complete roll of Pretty in Pink Stitched Grosgrain ribbon, a partial roll of Two Tone Ribbon and a package of Designer Silver Basics Buttons.

Here's my hubby doing the draw:

And the winner is:

Karen Bridden

I will contact Karen to arrange to deliver her prize to her.  Congratulations, Karen!

Here's another card designed for my workshop on Wednesday morning:  

• I used the stamp set, Giggle Greetings, again because they are so humorous!  And the palette of colours comes from the DSP (Design Series Paper) Birthday Basics - Bermuda Bay, Crisp Cantaloupe, Raspberry Ripple and Very Vanilla.
• The Crisp Cantaloupe panel is actually Core'dinations Cardstock, with a lighter core colour.  I embossed it with the Stripes embossing folder and sanded it with the Stampin' Sanding Block to reveal more of the inner core.
• I stamped the cheesy image in Bermuda Bay and die cut a circle around it using the Circles Collection Framelits.  Then I backed it with Coastal Cabana Stretch Ruffle Trim.  Because it stretches and is ruffled, it is so easy to adhere it around the perimeter of the circle, which is why I love it so much!

• The sentiment is from Banner Greetings stamped in Raspberry Ripple and fussy cut by hand. A little bow made from 1/8" Taffeta Ribbon in Bermuda Bay adorns the corner of it.
• The Bermuda Bay backing for the candles paper was edged with the Scallop Trim Border punch.

See you tomorrow with a guest stamper and a peek at all the goodies I got at convention!

Stamps:  Giggle Greetings (w131062; c131065); Banner Greetings (w129711; c129714)

Paper:  Core'dinations Cardstock in Crisp Cantaloupe (129958)*; Birthday Basics DSP (130145), Bermuda Bay (131197) and Very Vanilla (101650) cardstock

Ink:  Classic Stampin' Pads in Bermuda Bay (131171) and Raspberry Ripple (126859)

Accessories:  1/8" Taffeta Ribbon in Bermuda Bay (131206); 3/8" Ruffle Stretch Trim in Coastal Cabana (130024)

Tools:  Big Shot (113439); Stripes embossing folder (123128); Circles Collection Framelits (130911); Scallop Trim Border punch (118402); Stampin' Sanding Block (129367)

*Part of the 2013-15 In Colour Collection of Core'dinations Cardstock                                                                                          

Giggle Greetings Stamp Set

Birthday Basics DSP

Banner Greetings Stamp Set

Big Shot

Coastal Cabana 3/8" Ruffle Stretch Trim

Scallop Trim Border Punch

California Quail

I think my very favourite birds are the California Quail that we see all over the Okanagan Valley, in our gardens, our hedges and running across our roads.  I like them so much because they are the quaintest little things, with their top knot feather bobbing as they walk.

They are always trying to cross busy roads and when a car approaches their little legs switch into overdrive, their little heads lean forward and they run for it!  It makes me laugh!



So when I saw the latest challenge from The Paper Players, a tic-tac-toe challenge, I immediately saw the top row where the elements to use are "Birds, Blue and Birthday"!  I was dying to use a new stamp set called Walk in the Wild which has a beautiful stamp of a California Quail, along with a pheasant and a moose!











At the same time, MOJO Monday is celebrating it's 300th Challenge with a sketch, so I was able to combine the two.

• This one would work as either a masculine or a feminine birthday card and that little quail, stamped in Basic Gray, looks like it's going to hop right off that page any minute and make a mad dash for the road!
• The colour scheme of Whisper White, Island Indigo and Basic Gray was the combination of colours in our house when we first moved in.  The Real Red just adds a nice pop to it.
• The gingham paper is from the Designer Series Gingham Garden, and I'm so happy to finally have some gingham to play with!  
• I embossed the Whisper White panel with the Argyle Embossing Folder and the Real Red circle with the Honeycomb Embossing Folder.                                                                                                                   

• The sentiment is from a new stamp set also, called Banner Greetings.  I stamped it in Real Red, hand-trimmed it and mounted it on Basic Gray.  
• I added a new Neutrals Designer Button in Smoky Slate, with some Linen Thread tied through it for the finishing touch.

One for One Card Swap??

I'm interested to know if there are any Canadian readers interested in a one-for-one card swap.  You would make a card following some general criteria, mail it to me with a self-addressed stamped envelope and I would randomly select a card someone else has sent and mail it to you.  I would feature all the cards in my blog!  Please let me know with a comment below.

On-Line Stamp Club???

Also, I am wondering if there is any interest in an on-line Stamp Club.  My "Real-Life" Stamp Club is running so well and each month one of the members gets great hostess rewards from Stampin' Up from the combined orders of all the members.  I envision some card kits mailed out each month to the members with an on-line tutorial of step-by-step instructions for assembling the projects.  It would feature one stamp set per month, which the members could order along with the fee for the card kit.  There would be a commitment of a $20 order each month for a year, due on a certain date each month.  Let me know if you are interested in the comment section below.  

Do you have any favourite birds?  Tell me about them in a comment!  I love to read comments because it helps me get to know my readers a little better!

Stamps:  Walk in the Wild (w130354; c130357); Banner Greetings (w129711; c129714)

Paper:  Gingham Garden DSP (129310); Island Indigo (122923), Whisper White (100730), Basic Gray (121044) and Real Red (102482) cardstock

Ink:  Classic Stampin' Pad in Real Red (126949) and Basic Gray (126981)

Accessories:  Neutrals Collection Designer Buttons (130031); Linen Thread (104199)

Tools:  Paper Snips (103579); Argyle Embossing Folder (127750); Honeycomb Embossing Folder (129378);  2 1/2" Circle Punch (120906)

Walk in the Wild Stamp Set

2 1/2" Circle Punch

Argyle Embossing Folder

Linen Thread

Gingham Garden DSP

Honeycomb Embossing Folder

Banner Greetings