October 28, 2014

A Thousand Thanks - Pals Paper Arts #225

October 28, 2014/ Shannon Jaramillo

To be perfectly honest, at first glance I was not very impressed with the Color Me Autumn Designer Series Paper by Stampin' Up!. But as frequently happens when starting with a sketch in mind, these two papers jumped out at me and I KNEW they would be perfect together with this layout. I'm so glad I had them on hand! I loved being able to bring out the Soft Suede and Mossy Meadow in the pattern paper for a crisp color combination. The sentiment, from the Lots of Thanks stamp set, keeps with the crisp, minimalist tone of the card.

I love the juxtaposition of elegant and pretty masculine colors and patterns with a layered flower. I used the Flower Patch stamp set, along with the Flower Fair Framelits Dies, and kept with the color scheme, only this time pulling out the Cajun Craze and Crushed Curry.

I think the flower, instead of leaves, is a pleasant surprise addition to this card and keeps it fun and slightly whimsical.

And of course, the envelope liner is the icing on the cake. I just love the envelope liners, they add so much substance and beauty to the overall gift of the card. It really makes the card feel extra special:)

I was inspired by this delightful, delightful, delightful, (did I mention that it's delightful?) sketch from the Pals Paper Arts design team. They always have such fun challenges to play along with!

If you are so moved, you still have a bit of time to play along with the challenge, so please hop on over to see what the design team has created for you this week!

Thanks so much for stopping by!

EZ Peasy Stampin' Up! Supplies List:

Paper: Soft Suede Cardstock; Color Me Autumn Monsters Designer Series Paper

Stamps: Flower Patch, Lots of Thanks

Ink: Mossy Meadow, Cajun Craze, Crushed Curry, Soft Suede Classic Ink Pads

Tools: Big Shot, Flower Fair Framelit Dies, Envelope Liner Framelit Die

Accessories: Crushed Curry Baker's Twine, Regals Designer Buttons

September 13, 2014

Hello Fall! - PPA219 and FMS153

September 13, 2014/ Shannon Jaramillo

Hello there and Hello Fall!! Well, maybe Fall for y'all but not for us here in Southern California! It's supposed to get to 106 degrees this weekend! Yikes! We can pretend it's here though by decorating and tuning in to college football:)

Today's card was inspired by two challenges...the color challenge over at the Pals Paper Arts and the sketch over at Freshly Made Sketches:

I'm quite pleased with how this card turned out as I have been fussing to myself about this color combination all week. Fall colors just don't come easily to me. I just tried a few new techniques and found a way to make it all work for me!

I started with a Cajun Craze base and built from there. I knew I wanted to die cut my leaf from the Fun Fall Framlits Dies set three times so I eyeballed their placement and tacked the die down with Post-It tape so it wouldn't move. Sometimes even with the magnetic base, smaller dies need a bit of extra help!

Once I had the dies all cut out, I laid a piece of Very Vanilla cardstock underneath the die cut openings and tacked everything down again so I could stamp right through the openings onto the cardstock below. EZ Peasy!

I wanted an aged look to my leaves from the Fall Fest Stamp Set (this stamp set coordinates with the Fun Fall Framelits Dies and you can purchase them together and save 15%!!) so I tried a technique I learned about over at Wild West Paper Arts...my Adhesive Remover!

I inked up my stamp, stamped it directly onto the uneven surface of the Adhesive Remover (calling 'kissing') and then stamped it onto my card. Clean the stamp and the adhesive remover off and repeat! That's it! So easy and fun! Isn't the distressed look awesome?

I added layers of cardstock to set off the Very Vanilla card front, added some Linen Twine to continue the distressed look, and finished it off with a button in Cajun Craze. The ca-yoot sentiment is from the For All Things Stamp Set. So fun!

I used Stampin' Dimensionals to pop my card front layer off the card base and add dimension. I like to work in threes, so I had to add Candy Dots to my card to both balance out my layout as well as complete my sets of threes.

I had fun adding decoration to the inside of the card as well and finished the card off by adding a coordinated pattern paper from the Color Me Autumn Designer Series Paper as an envelope liner! What do you think??

I had a lot of fun with these challenges and just missed the deadline for adding it to the Paper Players Challenge this week which was a Fall card! I've not ever participated in three challenges at once...darn! I was so close! Oh well...next time!

Have a wonderful day and I will be back tomorrow with a new challenge from the Can You Case It Challenge Blog :)

August 15, 2014

Hello Autumn - Holiday Catalog Preview

August 15, 2014/ Shannon Jaramillo

Does it feel like Fall where you are? No? Certainly not here in Southern California, lol, it was 95 degrees today! But here the kids are back in school and to me that has always spelled the beginning of fall. So I start to getting itchy to break out the pumpkins, leaf garlands and scarecrows. In anticipation of that I bring you a preview of good things to come...

You can shop for wonderful new product coming with the Holiday Catalog beginning August 28, 2014. My project today features a delightful new stamp set called For All Things. It has this wonderful watercolor background stamp (for those of us who are terrified of water coloring!), this lovely bundle of leaves this cute sentiment as well as 5 other images! The sentiment actually says Hello FALL! but I didn't ink up the whole sentiment.

Did you see the darling new washi tape? It's from the upcoming Color Me Autumn Designer Washi Tape trio and it really makes card making quick and easy!

I have to admit, I did not design this card! Stampin' Up! sends all of its' demonstrators a quarterly magazine full of interesting articles and project ideas...this card is one featured in the latest issue. I really love this card because if you are like me and think that you don't need a fall stamp set, then this card is for you!

It has lovely fall colors but is really just a sweet hello, to be used throughout the season. I really enjoy taking the obvious and showing that it actually has a much broader usage. Do you see the lovely paper lining my envelope? Yep, it the Color Me Autumn Designer Series Paper, available on Aug 28th. On side it very specifically autumn themed while this side is much more neutral and versatile.

Here is a shot of the outside of the envelope: