Burning Leaves for the Paper Players


Welcome to The Paper Players “Anything Goes” challenge! With this challenge you can post any new project that you create during the week. You can create a card, a scrapbook page, a three dimensional project…the sky’s the limit! Plus, you can combine this challenge with any other challenge! How great is that! For my card, I used one of the Holiday Mini sets, French Foliage, and combined it with the faux burning technique. I hope that you enjoy “Burning Leaves”!

The Stampin’ Schach Design Tips:

  • A vision with vellum! A variety of leaves from French Foliage was randomly stamped with Always Artichoke, Cajun Craze, and More Mustard onto Very Vanilla. I layered vellum over the top, thus creating a dreamy film.
  • Layer your labels! The wonderful sentiment from Just Believe was inked with Early Espresso and stamped onto a More Mustard selection from Autumn Spice Specialty Designer Series Paper. This was then punched out with the fabulous Decorative Label Punch and layered onto a second label punched in Cajun Craze.
  • It’s all in the details! The Dotted Scallop Ribbon Border was punched out twice in Cajun Craze, and laced together with Linen Thread. Two Basic Pearls were added for a touch of the unexpected.
  • Come on baby light my fire! Faux Burning is a “hot” trend right now, and it is so easy! Simply rip the edge of your paper and use a Sponge Dauber and Early Espresso ink to darken the edges. I then curl the edges up slightly using my fingernail.
I was tempted to spritz it up a little, but I exercised some self-control and left my Color Spritzer Tool in the drawer. But I just had to use my Square Lattice Textured Impressions Embossing Folder to add a little more texture!
I hope that you will join us at The Paper Players! Remember, it can be anything (yes anything) that you create this week! I will be anxious to see what wonderful projects you make this week. So, please leave me a comment and let me know what you think about my first card made with French Foliage. And remember, if you have any questions about the cards that I create or the techniques that I use, I would love to answer them. Just email me! Until next time…


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Stamp Sets: Just Believe (W 116948; C 120453), French Foliage (W 120845; C 121166—Available September 1); Inks: Early Espresso (119670), Soft Suede (115657), Cajun Craze (119671), Always Artichoke (105219), More Mustard (103162); Designer Series Paper: Autumn Spice (120808—Available September 1); Card Stock: Early Espresso (119686), Very Vanilla (101650), Cajun Craze (119684), White Vellum Paper (101839); Tools: Big Shot (113439), Square Lattice Textured Impressions Embossing Folder (119976), Sponge Dauber (102892), Decorative Label Punch (120907—Available September 1), Dotted Scallop Ribbon Border Punch (119275); Glitz and Glam: Linen Thread (104199), Basic Pearls (119247)

A Sneak Peek for the Paper Players


Woo hoo! I have been asked to stay on as a member of the Design Team at The Paper Players challenge for another month! I am certainly flattered to be a part of this talented group. Today I have a little peek of my card for this week’s challenge, which will go live on Sunday. I hope that you will join me!

Also on Sunday I will be traveling to Grinnell, Iowa to participate in a brayering class being taught by the insanely talented Michelle Zindorf. I can hardly wait to share what I learn! I am always blown away by her cards. It will be interesting to see if I can get the hang of this technique!

Join the Schach Pack

With the Holiday Mini going live in just a few days, how would you like to become the newest member of the Schach Pack and receive more bang for your buck? I would love to discuss the benefits of becoming an independent Stampin’ Up! demonstrator. Please email me today with your questions. Here is what Schach Pack member, Amy, has to say:

“Ann is a wonderful friend and mentor. She is very helpful at keeping me up-to-date on Stampin’ Up! changes. She encourages me and supports me to help my business be the best it can be. Because she is also very creative and talented in her own career, she is an inspiration for me to do my best.”

Already convinced that Stampin’ Up! is for you? Click Here. My recruiting password is “stampinschach”.

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Gratitude for Pals Paper Arts with Pictorial

There are so many things in my life for which I am grateful, so when I saw Margaret Moody’s sketch for this week’s Pals Paper Arts challenge, I knew that I wanted to use the Day of Gratitude stamp set. This set, from Stampin’ Up!’s Holiday Mini catalog, will be available for purchase September 1st. Like last week’s card, today’s card features the Faux Silk technique (view my pictorial Here). However, it also features a customized texture plate, which I made all by myself. Making your own embossing surface is not original to me, as there are several places on the web which offer tutorials. However, this is the first time in which I have used it, and it is so easy! I have added a very simple pictorial to today’s post to explain how I accomplished the look. Enjoy!


The Stampin’ Schach Design Tips:

  • How do you make a “busy” card work for you? Through continuity and repetition! Rich fall colors comprise each and every layer, while the “Leaves” image from Day of Gratitude are repeated on both the Faux Silk background and the image mat!
  • Spritzer Tool gone wild! I knew it would happen some day, and it did! I lost all self-control with my Color Spritzer Tool! The Faux Silk background was spritzed using Early Espresso, Cajun Craze, and Old Olive Stampin’ Write Markers.
  • Brayer a layer! The image mat began as Very Vanilla card stock. I simple brayered a light layer of More Mustard over the surface. The “Leaves” image was then inked in More Mustard and stamped onto the brayered card stock for a tone-on-tone look. Of course, a little spritzing, this time with Soft Suede, was added.
  • Give pearls a whirl! One of my favorite new products from Stampin’ Up! are Basic Pearls! With their self-adhesive backs, they are a snap to apply! They work perfectly on the new Decorative Label Punch, which is making its debut in the Holiday Mini!
  • Need a coordinating Texturz Plate? Make your own. Here’s how:
For this embossing plate, I used the Two-Step Bird Punch, cardboard that came with one of my Big Shot dies, and adhesive (not pictured).
I punched out several of the leaves and wings from a second piece of cardboard.

I then arranged the leaves and wings. After I had the pattern the way I wanted it, I adhered the pieces into position. (I outlined them in black so that you could see the pattern more easily.)

I then zipped my homemade Texturz Plate through the Big Shot using Tab 1, the Silicone Rubber Pad and the Impressions Pad. I did mist the Cajun Craze card stock lightly with water in order to receive a deeper embossed image. Don’t be surprised if you have to experiment with your “sandwich” as it will be dependent upon the thickness of your card board.
So there you have it…an embossing surface that mimics the “Leaves” stamp that I used. I could have stamped the exact same leaf image several times onto cardboard, and cut them out, but that would have been time consuming! So I selected a punch which would coordinate with this stamp set, and let the punch do the work! I lightly brayered a little Early Espresso ink over the surface to make the embossing “pop”. How cool is this!
I hope that you enjoy this week’s challenge! It is such a classy sketch, I know that I will be using it again and again! Remember, if you ever have any questions about the techniques that I use, don’t hesitate to Email Me! I am always ready to help. So before you head off to view the rest of the design team inspiration cards, won’t you please leave me a comment and let me know what you think of today’s card! Until next time…

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Stamp Sets: Day of Gratitude (available September 1); Inks: More Mustard (103162), Early Espresso (119670), Cajun Craze (119671), Old Olive (102277); Stampin’ Write Markers: Early Espresso (119680), Old Olive (100079), Cajun Craze (119678); Soft Suede (120973); Card Stock: Early Espresso (119686), Cajun Craze (119684), Crumb Cake…for Faux Silk (120953), Very Vanilla (101650), More Mustard (100946); Tools: Big Shot (113439), Silicone Rubber (114615), Impressions Pad (114615), Two Step Bird Punch (117191), Color Spritzer Tool (107066), Brayer (102395), Sponge Dauber (102892), Blender Pens (102845), SNAIL Adhesive (104332), Decorative Label Punch (available September 1); Glitz and Glam: Basic Pearls (119247); Other: Tissue Paper