October Stamp Club

Last night was my monthly stamp club with my totally amazing group of ladies.  There's always so much fun and laughter and I love that they enjoy our meetings so much!   I thought I'd share our cards and a few other pictures today.  

This first one we did using my favorite set, French Foliage, and the new Core'dinations card stock from the Holiday Catalog.  I just LOVE that background!

For our second project we used the Naturals Composition paper from the main catalog.  I just love the look of it brayered with color.  We did change up the card a little and add more leaves to the image panel.  I did two panels to show a few choices and they all liked the other option better.  Of course that's the one I forgot to snap a picture of.   Looks like I was in a More Mustard and Early Espresso mood, huh?  :)

 Here's everyone with their beautiful masterpieces!  (Notice my Not Quite Navy, Baja Breeze, Cherry Cobbler kitchen in the background.)

Last night was our last meeting of this round of club so I wanted to make them up a special gift.  I found this fun idea on Pinterest and made them this gift-in-a-jar.  Jason was a huge help with these or I think it would have taken me forever!  

LOL  Is this not THE best "caption this" photo ever?!  I love it!    

FM78: Gently Falling Leaves

So here is the "Mashup" Challenge:

1. Make a "Fall Leaves" themed project.
2. Or Make a project with "Twine".
3. Or "Mash it Up" and create a "Fall Leaves Themed project using Twine". 

Isn't this an awesome challenge?   I LOVE Fall and am so happy that it's here.   Well, not really in Texas but I can pretend, right? :)   Lisa, who likes to tease me about their MUCH cooler weather, has presented this fun fall challenge at The Friday Mashup to use fall leaves and/or twine on our cards.   Awesome, right?!  They are two of my favorite things to use on cards so I just loved this challenge!

What do you think?   I have to say, I sort of love it.   The Natural Composition DSP sponged with Early Espresso is my favorite part of the card for sure.  (and just FYI, if you sponge this particular sheet with Cajun Craze, it looks like bacon.   I'll try to post a picture of that fun mistake for you on a another post)  I love the leaves and the button tied with twine too.  Just a fun card and one I really enjoyed making.  I think Gently Falling is one of the best Stampin' Up! sets ever.   

Stamps:  Gently Falling, Day of Gratitude, French Foliage

Ink: Early Espresso, More Mustard, Cajun Craze, Crumb Cake

Paper:  Early Espresso, More Mustard, Cajun Craze, Very Vanilla, Natural Composition DSP, Autumn Spice DSP (retired)

Tools/Accessories:  Corner Rounder punch, Regals buttons, Early Espresso Baker's Twine, paper snips, sponges

And speaking of Fall, you know what that means...

Halloween costumes!  This was one of Laila's pictures from her 3 month photo shoot.  Can you believe she turned  3 months yesterday???  Time is just flying by....

Retro Gratitude

I really loved the sketch at retro sketches this week and wanted to make a card with it even though I knew I wouldn't make the deadline to submit it.   I've been having some serious creativity issues lately so just getting a card completed has been a huge challenge for me.   Eli's birthday was yesterday and Laila has been super fussy for over a week, so I think I'm just mentally exhausted.  It's hard to stamp when your brain is tired and overloaded with other stuff.  :(  But anyway... I DID make something!   I don't know why I wanted to play with fall colors, but that's what I grabbed.   Maybe the hot weather just has me wishing for cooler weather and leaves and all that good stuff.   :)   Fall is by far my favorite season of the year!

I pulled out some of my favorite retired designer paper, Autumn Spice, and the stamp set I got at my first Stampin' Up! event, Day of Gratitude.   It's been ages since I played with this one and I thought it deserved some love.   I love the colors and love the layers.  At first I just had a flat, one color image but decided it needed a little something to make it POP.  I think bringing in the other colors added much more interest and made me like it a bit more.  :)

Stamps:  Day of Gratitude

Ink: More Mustard, Cajun Craze, Early Espresso

Paper:  Cajun Craze, More Mustard, Early Espresso, Very Vanilla, Autumn Spice DSP (retired)

Tools/Accessories:  1 3/4 circle punch, Boho Blossoms punch, Brights brads, Regals buttons, Linen Thread

And as always, Miss Laila:

We had her picture taken with Eli's crab and picture.  It was a bit heartbreaking, but I want her to grow up knowing him and continuing the fight to find a cure for SMA.   August is SMA Awareness Month, so if you don't know anything about it, please take a minute to get informed.  

Fall Blog Hop with The Paper Players

Greetings!   Welcome to The Paper Players Fall Blog Hop!   The entire team, along with the fall guest designers, has created some beautiful creations to wow and inspire you.   Some of the Players even have blog candy to share, so be sure to make your way through the entire hop!

Here's the list of participants with clickable links:
Ann Schach

Anne Marie Hile

Cindy Hall

Jaydee

Julie Marshall

LeAnne Pugliese

Lesley Croghan 

Nance Leedy

Rita Wright (You are here)

Tara Bilbao

I have 2 projects to share with you, so let's get started!    

When I hear fall this year, I automatically think SPICE CAKE!   :o)  This is my absolute favorite paper ever and I can't stop using.  Now there seems to be a bit of debate about Pool Party being a fall color, but it coordinates so well with the others that I think they've welcomed it into their mix.  One of the best ways to show off any gorgeous designer paper is to make a quilt card, so that's what I did.  Isn't it pretty?!   I added some embossing and sponging to really bring out the beauty and add some texture to the card.   

I thought my card could use a matching treat box, so I pulled out my Fancy Favor die and made this cute box.  I decorated the front some some gorgeous leaves from Day of Gratitude and added some sponging to them as well.   I had to use my Spice Cake here too of course, so I added a little belly band of the More Mustard pattern.   The box holds some yummy Godiva chocolates in a cellophane bag that has been stuffed with a bit of homemade confetti and tied with Pool Party ribbon.  

I hope you enjoyed my projects.  Before you head over to Tara's blog, take a minute to sign up to follow my blog and leave me a comment.   I'll be picking a random winner from all the comments to send this lovely card to next Saturday (November 5th).   

Be sure to visit The Paper Players challenge blog tomorrow for a new challenge!   

Prepping for Club!

This week I have the pleasure of stamping with my two clubs and I'm so excited!   There is nothing better than getting together with a group of ladies who share your love of paper crafts.   I have been working on some ideas and here are the first two projects that we'll be making.   Aren't they pretty?!   I wanted to make the little sour cream containers and after seeing how darling they were, I had to make a matching card.  

Now I'm no expert, but I think this just might qualify as a vintage card.  I love when the idea I have in my head turns out even better than I thought it would.   :)   I'm going to stand by my statement that you can't make an ugly card with the Spice Cake designer paper.  I'm ordering a second (and maybe even a third) pack of it on my next order!   If you don't have it yet, I'm serious when I say GET IT NOW!    :)    

Stamps:  Day of Gratitude

Ink:  Soft Suede, Pool Party

Paper:  Soft Suede, Pool Party, Spice Cake, Very Vanilla

Tools/Accessories:  Big Shot, Vintage Wallpaper and Perfect Polka Dots embossing folders, Top Note die, Lots of Tags sizzlit dies, XL oval punch, Early Espresso Baker's Twine, sponges

As a demonstrator, I get an awesome magazine from Stampin' Up! each month called Stampin' Success.  In the September edition, one of the articles featured these adorable sour cream containers.   Sour cream?   There's none in there, but they are shaped like the containers you'd get in some restaurants.   :)    You can add some fun treats or candy and use them as a favor or gift.   Did you see the fabric?!   I bought some AND I used it!   I'm terrified of anything related to sewing, but these were easy and no sewing was required.  

Stamps:  Falling Leaves
Ink:  Soft Suede
Paper:  Soft Suede, Pool Party, Very Vanilla
Tools/Accessories:  Big Shot, Square Lattice and Stripes embossing folders, tag punch, Spice Cake fabric, Early Espresso Baker's Twine

Tomorrow's Fall Class

I am so excited about my class tomorrow!  We are going to make some fun projects for Halloween and Thanksgiving.  What a fun way to celebrate World Card Making Day!

This first project is an little pumpkin that would be gorgeous on the Thanksgiving table.  You could make them in many sizes and patterns and have quite the display!    I love the Spice Cake designer paper; I might need a whole pack just to make pumpkins!   

Halloween is just around the corner, so be sure to get those projects going soon!   Isn't this little pillow box adorable!   My friend Anne Marie did an adorable card where she put the witches hat on the owl and I HAD to make one!   These little boxes are perfect for your office mates or your child's Halloween party!     

Because it IS World Card Making day tomorrow, we have to make a few cards, right?   I wanted to do some fall cards, but not really in typical fall colors.   I used the Color Coach for the combinations and I like the way the colors look together.   High five, Color Coach; you rock as usual!  The card above is Soft Suede, Baja Breeze, and Cherry Cobbler.    The card below is More Mustard, Cajun Craze, and Night of Navy.  I kept them pretty simple so that they could be mailed with a regular postage stamp.  

I ran out of sunlight before I could take pictures of the other treats, so stay tuned for more tomorrow! 

HSSC83 CAS

The designers at Hand Stamped Sentiments challenged us to keep it simple this week and make a clean and simple card.    I don't know why we call it simple...   I think these type of cards are by far the hardest to design.   I never know at what point I cross the "simple" line and end up on the wrong side of the tracks.   Clean I can do with my eyes closed, but simple?    Much harder.    I'm not sure if this card is too simple, but I do like it.   Don't tell my Woodland Walk paper, but I think Spice Cake might be my new favorite designer paper.  It is so yummy!    I finally used my I-MUST-HAVE-THEM-OR-I-MIGHT-DIE tags die for this one.   We won't talk about how many times I've used them since I had to buy them.  :)  

Stamps:  Day of Gratitude

Ink:  Soft Suede, Pool Party

Paper:  Soft Suede, Pool Party, Spice Cake DSP, Very Vanilla

Accessories:  Linen Thread, Regals buttons

Tools:  Big Shot, Lots of Tags, oval punch

Bandit always seems to be the photogenic cat in the house, but here's one of his sister, Bella.   She's my shadow.  If I go, she goes.  If I am on the couch, she is on the couch.   I think I could pet her until her fur all fell out and she'd be perfectly happy to be bald because the petting was so good.  

It's time!

It's here!   The fun new sketch challenge starts TODAY!   Are you are excited as I am?   I hope so!   Lesley started us off with an awesome first sketch.  Doesn't it look fun?!   I had a blast creating my card and I bet you will too if you'll play along with us!    Be sure to check out the blog and see what the other design team members came up with!

Now here is my take on the sketch.   I LOVE the new Spice Cake designer paper from the Holiday Mini!  Because my husband and I are following the South Beach Diet, real cake is a no-no for me.   I don't even care though!   This spice cake paper is yummy, calorie-free, and makes pretty cards.  Much better, right?    :)   We are going to say it is anyway.  I wanted to do some cards for fall, so I used my Day of Gratitude set for the beautiful sentiment and leaves.   Every card can use a bit of texture and embossing folders are a great way to add that while keeping your card clean.

I hope you'll join us and I can't wait to see what you create.

Stamps:  Day of Gratitude
Ink:  Pool Party, More Mustard, Soft Suede
Paper:  Soft Suede, More Mustard, Pool Party Spice Cake DSP, Whisper White
Accessories:   Regals brads
Tools:  Big Shot, Square Lattice and Houndstooth embossing folders, paper snips

Longing for fall...

One of the big things I miss about living further north is fall and all the beautiful colors it brings.   It is still hot and humid here in Texas, but this paper gives me a little taste of what I'm missing.   I used this tutorial and made this adorable bag as a door prize for an upcoming workshop.    I'm not sure if I want to fill it with candy or some craft supplies, but one lucky person will find out soon what I decide.  

Stamps:  Day of Gratitude
Paper:  Autumn Spice DSP, Cajun Craze, Mustard, Very Vanilla
Ink:  Cajun Craze, Early Espresso, More Mustard
Tools:   Scallop Border Punch, Decorative Label Punch