Two months ago, I was asked if I would be a Guest Designer for The Paper Players, an up and coming challenge blog. Impressed by the talented designers on this team and their amazing work, I agreed. A few weeks ago, Lesley Croghan, the team “leader”, asked if I would like to become a permanent member of this team, beginning this month. I happily said “Yes”. So what you have today is a peek at my first card as a bona fide member of The Paper Players Design Team. I hope that you will join us tomorrow for the reveal. Plus, you can still upload a card for this week’s challenge until 6:00 PST today!

If you are up to another challenge, you have until Tuesday at Noon CST to participate in the Pals Paper Arts Clean and Simple Button Challenge. Once again, as a member of this design team, I find myself surrounded by another amazing group of talented stampers. I am so lucky to have found myself on both of these design teams!

Questions and Answers

• What original length of ribbon should I use to make my bow? I am a miser…so I usually use about 12″. But I have found that with wider ribbon it is easier to have it a little longer. Usually I wrap the ribbon around the template and then add an additional 5 – 6 inches. It won’t take long until you find a length which is best for you!

I know that this is a stamping blog, and I really should not stray too far off topic, but so many of you asked this question, so here it is:

• When does Muffy get to come home? Muffy will be able to leave the breeder’s for her “forever home” on October 12th. However, my husband works during the week and he cannot get the day off. I am trying to convince him that I am a big girl and can drive by myself…with Muffy tucked safely into a carrier! You can bet that there will be plenty of pictures of her homecoming, as she will be a very important member of our family.

Blog Candy Winner

A big “thank-you” goes out to all of you that left comments this past week. I appreciated learning about the styles of cards that you like, as well as tutorials which would interest you. As determined by Random. org, the winner of the Blog Candy is:

#139 Colleen Dietrich

Your blog is lovely, Ann, and thanks for the bow tutorial video!

Colleen, please email your address to me by midnight, Sunday, and I will send out your yummy blog candy Monday! And if your were not a winner this time, I promise there will be more Blog Candy, just as delicious and calorie free later this month!

Hurry…time is running out on the special Greenhouse Gala Tote offer! Sign up to become a Stampin’ Up! demonstrator by October 18th, and this delightful tote can be yours FREE! I would love to share with you all of the details about being a demonstrator and what it means to me. It has become my dream job since my retirement from teaching. I am able to set my own hours, and work as little as I want or as much as I want. And yes…I originally joined because I wanted the discount. But as I started teaching classes and conducting workshops, I found that I loved the interaction with fellow stampers who are as passionate about card making and scrapbooking as I am. If you would like to hear more about the business opportunities or the hobby benefits, as well as the other perks associated with being a Stampin’ Up! demonstrator, please email me to set up a time when we can chat.

Now booking October and November Workshops …Email me to set up yours today! I am also available for customized technique classes.

And remember, if you ever have any questions about the cards that I create or if you have questions about ordering the right Stampin’ Up! product for the job, please email me. Until next time…

Please Click Here to Order Stampin’ Up! 24/7!

Have you ever made a card and then decided that you didn’t like it, so you try to fix it? Well, that happened to me with this card. I wanted to create a card that was fairly Clean and Simple…and those of you who are regular readers know that I have a difficult time with Clean and Simple cards. I am so envious of those that are masters of this style. I also wanted to use this yummy color combination. But I “overly distressed” my card base, and I appeared to be “spatially challenged” in my ornament arrangement. But instead of pitching this card, I decided to try and save it. Enter Attempt #2!

I raised the ornaments and added a sentiment to fill up the “empty space”. I layered my labels, and added Basic Pearls. But now, the edges of the ornaments seemed a little too stark…and the Very Vanilla card base still looked like it had been attacked by a possessed Sponge Dauber. Plus, I really did not like the two Early Espresso bows at the tops of the ornaments. But by now, I had too much time invested to start from scratch. Enter Attempt #3:

I switched out the Very Vanilla card base with Cherry Cobbler…and I liked it better. I switched out the Early Espresso bows with Chantilly Crochet Lace Trim, and now I am not so sure that I didn’t like the two little Early Espresso bows better. I distressed the edges of the ornaments with Soft Suede and a Sponge Dauber…but once again that dauber had a mind of its own, and I over-distressed. I probably should have used Crumb Cake instead of Soft Suede for a softer touch. Now I wish that I would have left the ornaments the way they appeared in attempt #1. Enter my 4th and final attempt:

I removed the ornaments, and trimmed off the overly sponged borders with Paper Snips. I punched out two more ornaments with the Ornament Punch from Very Vanilla, and layered the Cherry Cobbler ones on top. The lace bows were replaced with new Early Espresso bows. And my “Not So Clean and Simple card was finally finished…I think!

Final Day for Blog Candy Giveaway

Just in case you missed my previous posts, I am giving away blog candy this week! It is delicious…and calorie-free! I have assembled a collection of this and that, and with the exception of the lace, it is all Stampin’ Up! Here is what you will be receiving:

This week’s Pals Paper Arts challenge is to use buttons. Keep it Clean and Simple and use a button or buttons in your design! Of course, I always find it difficult to stay Clean and Simple, but at least I have no problem using buttons! I hope that you will join us this week…I love seeing what you create! You are all inspirations to me!

The Stampin’ Schach Design Tips:

• It’s hip to be square! Since all of the patterns in the Deck the Halls Designer Series Paper collection are beautiful, I could not decide on just one! So…I selected four, cut into 1-3/4″ squares!
• Lovely layers! Brushed Gold card stock adds understated “bling”. Here it is paired with Always Artichoke, while Cherry Cobbler gives a “pop” of color!
• Elegant embossing! The sentiment from Welcome Christmas was stamped in Early Espresso onto Crumb Cake and then embossed with Clear Stampin’ Emboss Powder. The sentiment was then stamped a second time in VersaMark onto River Rock card stock and embossed with Gold Stampin’ Emboss Powder. I then snipped “Season’s Greetings” from the River Rock card stock and popped it onto the Crumb Cake base with Stampin’ Dimensionals. (Tip: Since I did not have any Early Espresso Craft Ink for embossing, I inked the stamp with VersaMark, followed by Early Espresso Classic Ink…going from the VersaMark pad straight to the Early Espresso pad. It worked great!)
• Who’s got the button? Stampin’ Up! does! Three styles of Designer Buttons in Cherry Cobbler, Early Espresso and Crumb Cake were dressed up with a snippet of Linen Thread.

The result is a card which is both elegant and country!

A few day’s ago, I promised a video to show how I make the bows that I use for cards like these:

I am using a cardboard template that my mother shared with me many years ago. I am sure that this video will help you make quick and easy bows!

Thanks for joining me today! If you have questions about the cards that I make, or the techniques that I use, don’t hesitate to email me. And please, won’t you leave me a comment to let me know what you think of today’s card? Until next time…

Click Here to Order Stampin’ Up! 24/7

Stamp Set: Welcome Christmas (W 118736; C 120597); Inks: VersaMark (102283), Early Espresso (119670); Designer Series Paper: Deck the Halls (120810—Holiday Mini); Card Stock: Crumb Cake (120953), Brushed Gold (102935), Always Artichoke (105119), Cherry Cobbler (119685); Tools: Heat Tool (100005), Embossing Buddy (103083); Glitz and Glam: Early Espresso 5/8″ Satin Ribbon (119753), Chantilly 1/2″ Crocheted Lace Trim (118480), Linen Thread (104199), Regals Designer Buttons (119744), Neutrals Designer Buttons (119743), Clear Stampin’ Emboss Powder (109130), Gold Stampin’ Emboss Powder (109129)