It’s Thursday and time to play at Pals Paper Arts!  This week we are featuring a terrific trio of colors: Elegant Eggplant, Lucky Limeade, and Pumpkin Pie.  To me, these colors screamed Halloween! I hope you enjoy this little Greeting Card Kids cutie patootie witch, perched upon her paper-pieced and rhinestone studded pumpkin!

This finished card measures 4-1/4″ wide by 5-1/2″ long.

• Paper piecing! This little witch is stylin’ with her Lucky Limeade paper pieced dress and socks.  Her pumpkin perch was also paper pieced and then blinged using Basic Rhinestones.  What do you think of the Spider Web embossed scallop circle behind her?
  

• Banners!  Three banners, one in each of the challenge colors, form the perfect backdrop for the focal image! Textured Very Vanilla card stock allows the colors to “pop”!

• Bow! A double bow, fashioned from gorgeous striped satin ribbon adds subtle sheen and texture!

This little cutie doesn’t have a home yet.  Maybe I will just tuck it into Brady’s Halloween goody box, along with some cookies, candy, nuts and popcorn. Nothing beats a goody box from home!

The house seems so quiet without little Lexi.  She will be spending the next month with her handler in Nebraska getting ready to hit the show circuit in October.  Actually, she is staying a little longer than originally planned, since I will be in Hilton Head for the Stampin’ Up! Getaway at the end of this month.  At this age, she is very impressionable, and I needed her to be with someone she knew and trusted.  Now the Twins are another story…they can stay with anyone and be perfectly fine.  Anybody want a pair of guests for a few days???

As always, your comments are important to me, and I do read each and every one of them.  In fact, I can’t wait to catch up from my dog show weekend.  And of course, I am always more than willing to answer any questions about the cards I make and the techniques I use.  Remember, I am only an email away!  Until next time…

Stamp Sets:  Greeting Card Kids, Delightful Dozen; Inks:  Elegant Eggplant; Stampin’ Write Markers: Blush Blossom, Soft Suede, Pretty in Pink, Daffodil Delight, More Mustard, Lucky Limeade, Pumpkin Pie; Designer Series Paper:  Orchard Harvest, Polka Dot Parade, Brights Paper Stack, Regals Paper Stack, 2011 – 2012 In Color Paper Stack;  Card Stock:  Very Vanilla, Elegant Eggplant, Watercolor Paper;  Tools:  Big Shot, Spider Web Textured Impressions Embossing Folder, Square Lattice Textured Impressions Embossing Folder, 2-3/8″ Scallop Circle Punch, 2-1/2″ Circle Punch, Blender Pens, Sponge Dauber;  Glitz and Glam:  Basic Rhinestones, 1/2″ Striped Satin Ribbon;

It’s time for another fabulous Freshly Made Sketches challenge.  For today’s classic sketch, designed by the talented Cindy Hall, I used one of my favorite new stamp sets, Postage Due.  Enjoy the “Adventure”!

The finished card measures 4-1/4″ x 5-1/2″.

• Color me wild! It’s all about color with this card! An Island Indigo textured panel is adhered to a Riding Hood Red card base.  A textured More Mustard mat anchors the stamped images, while Cajun Craze card stock is used to create a Dotted Scallop Ribbon Border.  Oh…that More Mustard ric-rac?  It is from the Bandstand Simply Scrappin’ Kit!

• Feeling adventurous? To coordinate with the Travel theme of this card, I wanted to use the word “adventure”.  I used an Early Espresso Stampin’ Write Marker and inked only the word “adventure” in the sentiment from the Daring Adventure stamp set.  I then stamped it onto Naturals Ivory card stock.

• The “pearl-fect” touch! A quintet of Basic Pearls add interest to a corner, while a single one graces the front wheel of the bicycle.

This past weekend, Muffy and Lexi hit the show ring.  A big hug and a biscuit goes out to Muffy, who went Reserve Winner to a 5 Point Major.  The “Reserve Winner” means that she was the second place Boxer female.  The size of the show is rated from 1 to 5, with a 5 point major having the most dogs entered.  At this show, there were 65 Boxers entered.  Needless to say, we were all thrilled.  I will definitely post her show picture as soon as I receive it.

However, I do have pictures of little Lexi as she competed in the puppy fun match at 4-1/2 months of age.  It was super hot, so she had to wear a “cool coat”, which is a little coat cooled in ice water and then placed on them to keep them cool.  Isn’t she a cutie patootie in Muffy’s leopard spotted coat?  Here she is in her “first show”!

Wearin’ my big sister’s clothes!

Is it my turn yet?

Struttin’ my stuff!

Pick me please!

Little Lexi won her class, and was Best of Opposites to her brother Tyler, who won Best of Breed.  She should have beat her brother, but she didn’t perform as well.  Lexi prefers to do things her own way, like getting loose from her handler and running across the ring.

And as far as Brody is concerned, he was finally able to catch up on his sleep while his sisters were away!

So there you have it! I hope you enjoyed the puppy pictures. I couldn’t be prouder of my two beautiful ladies! And what do you think of today’s card? Won’t you let me know in today’s comment?  Your comments are important to me, and I do read each and every one of them.  Of course, if you have any questions about the cards I create, I am only an email away! Until next time…

Stamp Set:  Postage Due, Daring Adventure; Inks:  Island Indigo, Cajun Craze;  Stampin’ Write Markers:  Island Indigo, Early Espresso, Cajun Craze; Designer Series Paper:  Fan Fair, Bandstand Simply Scrappin’ Kit; Card Stock:  Riding Hood Red, Island Indigo, Cajun Craze, More Mustard, Naturals Ivory;  Tools:  Postage Stamp Punch, Dotted Scallop Ribbon Border Punch, Big Shot, Square Lattice Textured Impressions Embossing Folder, Labels Collection Framelits; Glitz and Glam:  Basic Pearls;

It’s Sunday, and time to play with The Paper Players! This week, Jaydee has a fun theme challenge for us: Leaves are Falling! You simply need to create a  project using either leaves or trees.  As for me, I grabbed my French Foliage stamp set and paper snips, and got busy!  I hope you enjoy today’s shabby card!

This card measures 5-1/4″ square.

• Leaves!  The leaves from French Foliage were stamped in Cajun Craze, Always Artichoke, and More Mustard.  They were then snipped and distressed with Crumb Cake ink to produce a fall bouquet of leaves focal point!

• Clip and Curl! The Thoughts of You sentiment, from the Loving Thoughts set, was inked in Soft Suede and stamped onto Naturals Ivory card stock.  A few snips transforms it into a banner which takes on even more personality when curled and distressed.

• Pearls!  Using the Diagonal Plate and my Simply Scored tool, the base was scored every inch on the diagonal, in both directions.  Pearls were then added at the intersections! 

It was fun getting down and dirty with all of this distressing! Yes, I know…there are tons of pearls on it.  But if you don’t want to use the pearls, the diagonal scoring provides an interesting touch!  And with just a switch of a sentiment, you would have a card which would be perfect for a fall wedding or birthday!  As always, your comments are important to me, so won’t you please let me know what you think of today’s card? And of course, never hesitate to email me if you ever have questions about the cards I create or the techniques I use.  Until next time…

Quick Note:  I will not have easy access to the Internet this weekend. I am accompanying Muffy and Lexi to a four-day dog show.  Brody and Dad are going to be having bonding time while the girls are away!  I’ll be back home Monday night.

Stamp Sets:  French Foliage, Loving Thoughts;  Inks:  Crumb Cake, Soft Suede, Early Espresso, Always Artichoke, Cajun Craze, More Mustard;  Card Stock:  Naturals Ivory; Tools:  Sponge Dauber, Paper Snips, Simply Scored with Diagonal Plate; Glitz and Glam:  Basic Pearls