A Peek at the Players and Free Paper

It’s Saturday and time to take a little peek at my Paper Players card.  The talented Nance Leedy has a fun challenge in store for us tomorrow.  If you are in the mood for something a little more Clean and Simple in style, I hope you will join me for the reveal!  There is no spritzing, no daubing, no distressing, no curling! But one question remains:  Are there pearls???

A Chance for Free Paper


Those of you who know me, know that I LOVE to embellish anything and everything with pearls…even Boxer behinds!  Let me know in your comment today whether you think this card has pearls.  Please leave your comment before 3:00 AM CST Sunday.  I will randomly select one winner from those with the correct answer to receive fifty 6″ x 6″ sheets of retired Stampin’ Up! Designer Series Paper.  Good Luck!  Until next time…

The Perfect Tree for the Pals

It’s time to play with the Pals at Pals Paper Arts!  This week we have one of my favorite color combinations, Cherry Cobbler, Always Artichoke and Very Vanilla, taking center stage in a fabulous color challenge! So grab your stamps, inks and paper, and join along!

 
The Stampin’ Schach Design Tips: The Perfect Tree
The finished dimensions of this card are 5-1/4″ x 5-1/4″.
  • Perfect Texture! Randomly stamped Always Artichoke Pines, from Lovely As a Tree, received a healthy dose of texture courtesy of the Big Shot and the Square Lattice Textured Impressions Embossing Folder.  Likewise, Crumb Cake Pines and Baja Breeze Snowflakes, from Serene Snowflakes, receive the same lovely texture and form the panel behind the focal image.  The Waterspots are courtesy of the French Foliage set.

  • Perfect Bling! The Tree from Christmas Lodge was sprinkled with Dazzling Diamonds and adorned with Basic Pearls, which had been tinted using red and brown permanent markers.  Mica Flakes are adhered to the base of the tree using Tombow Adhesive.
  • Perfect Ribbon! Very Vanilla Seam Binding is shirred and adhered upon a strip of Cherry Cobbler card stock embossed using the Vintage Wallpaper Textured Impressions Embossing Folder.  The strip is further adorned with edgings punched using the Dotted Scallop Ribbon Border Punch and the Scallop Trim Border Punch.
  • Perfect Sentiment!  The Merry Christmas sentiment from Bright Hopes was inked in Early Espresso and stamped onto Very Vanilla card stock.  One end was flagged, and the strip was then curled to add interest.  A Northern Frost Sizzlit Die Snowflake takes on a different look when adorned with a Cherry Cobbler Seam Binding rosette!

The inspiration for this card was gleaned from my childhood, when my mother and I would scour the timber on the family farm in search of the “Perfect Tree”!  My father would come along with us, ax in hand, ready to chop down our choice.  Some years, the tree would be adorned with bird nests and pine cones, as Mother Nature helped us decorate. Bare spots were placed facing the wall, while the full glory of the tree was positioned for people to admire.  As I thought back to those Christmases over half a century ago, it brought back so many wonderful memories of loved ones who have long since passed, but who forever live in my heart.

I so hope that you enjoyed today’s card, and that you will let me know in today’s comment.  Your comments are important to me and I read each and every one of them.  Of course, if you ever have any questions about the cards that I create or the techniques that I use, I am only an email away.  Until next time…

Stamp Sets:  Lovely As a Tree, Christmas Lodge, Bright Hopes, French Foliage;  Inks:  Always Artichoke, Crumb Cake, Soft Suede, Baja Breeze, Soft Suede Stampin’ Write Marker;  Card Stock:  Always Artichoke, Brushed Gold, Cherry Cobbler, Very Vanilla;  Tools:  Big Shot, Square Lattice Textured Impressions Embossing Folder, Vintage Wallpaper Textured Impressions Embossing Folder, Northern Frost Sizzlit Decorative Strip Die, Color Spritzer Tool, Paper Snips, Dotted Scallop Ribbon Border punch, Scallop Trim Border Punch;  Glitz and Glam: Basic Pearls, Mica Flakes, Dazzling Diamonds Stampin’ Glitter, Cherry Cobbler Seam Binding, Always Artichoke Seam Binding, Very Vanilla Seam Binding

A Peek at the Pals and The Twins

It’s time for a quick peek at my Pals Paper Arts inspiration card.  It’s a style that for lack of a better name, I will call “Sparkly Grunge”! I hope that you will join me Thursday for the reveal!  In the meantime, check out this week’s Pals Artist Picks!

Online Extravaganza Ends Today



You have until 11:50 PM MT to place your Online Extravaganza order. To see a list of everything on sale, click HERE.  Click HERE to order.

Waiting for Santa

The Twins love it when I sing to them. Sometimes Muffy will even join along.  I think she is an alto.  As we were cleaning house Tuesday afternoon, I was singing holiday songs, changing the words slightly to be more “puppy-friendly”.  There were no problems with “Bark the Herald Angels Sing”.  But the moment I broke into “Here comes Santa Dog! Here comes Santa Dog…”  off to the window they flew, expecting him to be coming right down Santa Dog Lane.  It took me several minutes to convince them that there really wasn’t anybody coming to visit.  Luckily I had my camera so that I could capture the moment. Arghh!  Puppies!!!  Until next time…