Hello There! - Pals Paper Arts #226

Hello there! It's Thursday and time for another awesome challenge from the Pals Paper Arts Design Team!

What do you think of the colors?? Aren't they AMAZING?? I love them so much and was inspired to create this...

Hello There! - Pals Paper Arts #226

What do you think?? I don't usually add so much STUFF to my cards, and I have no idea where this card came from, but sometimes ya just gotta let the creativity flow and see where it takes you!

I used Mossy Meadow as my main color with my secondary color being Soft Suede and used Cajun Craze just as an accent. As always, lots of white space, or in this case, Very Vanilla space :)

Hello There! - Pals Paper Arts #226

I used LOTS of punches on this card, some framelits, and some paper piercing! I haven't done any paper piercing in awhile...I sure like how it came out, it really adds so much to the card! I also did some sponging, which again, I haven't done in awhile, but I needed to add some variation when layering the same color. I sponged a lot on my green circle, adding a Very Vintage Designer Button tied off with some embroidery floss I happened to have stashed away. I used to cross-stitch and saved all my left overs so I think I have floss in every color imaginable!

Hello There! - Pals Paper Arts #226

At the end of the day I walked away from the card and when I came back the next morning, I decided it needed some more embellishments so I added some pearl flourishes. I think they are my favorite part!

I hope you have enjoyed today's post and will pop on over to see what the rest of the Pals Paper Arts Design Team has dreamed up for you!

Thanks for stopping by!

A Thousand Thanks - Pals Paper Arts #225

A Thousand Thanks

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.

A Thousand Thanks

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.

A Thousand Thanks

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

Hello Fall! - PPA219 and FMS153

Hello Fall! - PPA219 and FMS153

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!

Hello Fall! - PPA219 and FMS153

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.

Hello Fall! - PPA219 and FMS153

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 :)

Autumn Wondrous Wreath - PPA218

Greetings! It's hard to believe that it's September already! Time to take down the summer wreath from the door and put up fall decorations. I'm starting with this card I created for the Pals Paper Arts Color Challenge:

Autumn Wondrous Wreath - PPA218

Here is the fun color combination that inspired my card:

I used the Wondrous Wreath Stamp Set and Wonderful Wreath Framelit Dies to create my fall wreath. The set is actually designed to be used for a Christmas Wreath, and I will use it for that, but I like to see how much usage I can get from my stamp sets, so this one is doing double duty! I can see it changed out for many different occasions.

This set is a builder set and has three images that stamp right on top of on another to create the finished effect. They are easy to line up as the stamps are clear AND they have a neat tab at the top so you always know which way is up! Very important! And the coordinating Wonderful Wreath Framelit Dies have tabs at the top as well!! EZ Peasy!

Autumn Wondrous Wreath - PPA218

Autumn Wondrous Wreath - PPA218

Isn't the stamped and die cut bow adorable?? I added some sparkle to the berries in my wreath with Dazzling Diamonds. They don't photograph well so you'll have to trust me...they sparkle!

I'm excited to see what you create with this color combination! Please pop on over to the Pals Paper Arts Challenge Blog for more inspiration for some very talented designers!

Thanks for stopping by!