It’s Sunday and time for another Paper Players challenge, and as you can see, it’s a Theme Challenge: Snowmen! Yippee skippee! I love snowmen! Unfortunately, I do not have a lot of snowmen stamps. So…I once again reached for the “Vintage Snowman” stamp from the Jolly Old Saint Nick stamp set and decided to make a snowman in a snowglobe, with the help of the Sweet Snowglobe stamp. Well, actually I had planned on making this really cute card which was going to be a parade of vintage snowmen…but a certain Boxer Boy stole most of the snowmen I had stamped, watercolored and snipped out. Right off the dining room table, he did! With a deadline looming, I switched designs! Hmmmm! I wonder what little Boxer Boy that was. Could it be…Brody?

The Stampin’ Schach Design Tips:

• “Pop” it up! Give your snowglobe depth, by popping the Snowman up on Stampin’ Dimensionals!
• Northern Frost! Lacy Snowflakes, made with the Northern Frost Decorative Strip and the Big Shot, create a frosty scene, which is further enhanced with Vanilla Shimmer Smooch Spritz. An unexpected dash of color is supplied with Real Red Glimmer Brads.
• Pearls! Basic Pearls add interest to the Scallop Oval label and the base of the snowglobe.
• Ribbon delight! I started with a snippet of Real Red 5/8″ Satin Ribbon, but decided that a little more pizzazz was in order. Three strips of Real Red 1/8″ Taffeta Ribbon did the trick!
• You can never “smooch” too much! “Wishing you a season of sweetness” from the Merry Crittermas set seemed like the perfect sentiment for this card. A liberal spritzing of Vanilla Shimmer Smooch Spritz adds to the sweetness!

I hope that you will join us this week for our “Snowman Challenge”. And maybe, just maybe, Brody will let me create the card I originally planned on making sometime in the future! Here is a picture of the masked bandit trying to look innocent. With a face like this, it is hard to stay angry!
It is hard to believe that the Boxer Twins will be 13 weeks old Monday. They just grow up too quickly…not! Brody will start his show career in February, depending upon how he has matured. He is so proud that his handler, Michelle Cramblett, qualified one of the Boxers she has been showing for the Eukanuba National Dog Show.
As for little Muffy, she is having a wee problem with potty training…make that a wee-wee problem. Depending on how her head matures, she may also start her show career in February. And yes, she is sleeping on Mom’s lap with her tongue just peeking out! Of course, Mom will have to sell a lot of Stampin’ Up! in order to keep these two in the show ring. But ever since I was a little girl, I always wanted a show dog. Why not fulfill that dream in my old age…providing I can survive their puppyhood. Arghh! What was I thinking…really!

Well, the puppies are telling me that I have blogged enough. They are so demanding! Let me know what you think of today’s card. As I stated earlier, this was not the card I set out to create, but Brody had other plans! And remember, I am always available to answer any questions that you might have about the cards that I create or the techniques that I use. I am only an email away! Until next time…

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In a matter of minutes, you can create a fabulous baby card using Stampin’ Up!’s Baby Bundle stamp set. The colors can easily be changed to other suitable baby hues, such as Certainly Celery, Baja Breeze, Bashful Blue and So Saffron!

The Stampin’ Schach Design Tips:

• Blender Pens and Inks! My preferred method for watercoloring involves using Blender Pens and inks! I stamped the image onto Stampin’ Up!’s Watercolor Paper with Basic Gray ink, and used Pretty in Pink for the carriage. Need a refresher on this technique? View this tutorial which I featured in an earlier post.
• Texture! The Perfect Polka Dot Textured Impressions Embossing Folder was zipped through the Big Shot with Very Vanilla card stock.
• The perfect punch! The Pinking Hearts Border Punch is the perfect choice for adding a touch of interest behind the image mat.
• Glitz and Glam! Basic Pearls adorn the carriage, while a Pretty in Pink satin bow provides the “wow” factor. If you missed my Bow Video Tutorial, here it is again!

It’s time for the Pals Paper Arts Celebrity Color Challenge. This week our guest designer is none other than the talented Silke Ledlow! If you could not tell from my card, this week’s colors are Daffodil Delight, Basic Gray, and Poppy Parade. Daffodil Delight and Poppy Parade are two colors that I equate more with summer than fall, yet I was pleasantly surprised at how well they worked with my favorite fall set from the Holiday Mini….French Foliage. Don’t have these exact three colors in your arsenal? Don’t fret! Feel free to substitute with any colors of similar hue. The important thing is to have fun playing along with the Pals!

The Stampin’ Schach Design Tips:

• In a pickle about how to combine brights and neutrals? Try using the neutral as your card base and as an accent! With this card, I used a Basic Gray card base, while the “Aspen Leaf” from French Foliage image was inked and stamped in Basic Gray.
• Want to add interest to a simple layout? Try texture! After randomly stamping the leaves from French Foliage onto Very Vanilla card stock, I zipped it through the Big Shot along with the Square Lattice Textured Impressions Embossing Folder.
• Tired of ho-hum sentiments? Layer the labels! The sentiment from Plant Hope was inked in Basic Gray, stamped onto Very Vanilla, and punched out with the Decorative Label Punch. A second Decorative Label was punched from Poppy Parade. After cutting it horizontally, it was adhered to the back of the sentiment. Quick and easy!
• It don’t mean a thing if it ain’t got that bling! Three Poppy Parade Glimmer Brads in the lower right corner helps to anchor the card, and adds just the right amount of bling.

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