A Wedding Invitation for the PPA


Thursday is one of my favorite days of the week because it is Pals Paper Arts Challenge Day! This week our challenge is “Weddings”. We love weddings at Pals Paper Arts and we hope you do, too! Weddings are magical and inspirational…and nothing tastes better than wedding cake! My card today is a concept card created for a wonderful young woman who is anticipating an October wedding. Although she has already selected commercially designed invitations, she wanted 24 hand made cards for relatives and special friends, as well as programs covers. The Elegant Lines embossing folder and the sophisticated color combination of Crumb Cake and Early Espresso are right up her alley. Plus, she adored the little bouquet from the Wedding Sweet set, which has been embossed in gold. The inside will contain a vellum insert with the specifics and a gold-embossed Sweet Swirls border . Of course, I will be on pins and needles waiting for her to return from vacation so she can see it in person. This will be a starting point, and I am anticipating that we will make some changes. Luckily I will have Convention to keep my mind occupied while awaiting her response!!! Whether your creation has something old, something new, something borrowed or something blue as your inspiration…whether it is an invitation, congratulatory card, or a shower card, I am anxious to see what fabulous projects you have to share!

The Stampin’ Schach Design Tips:

  • Do you have a buddy? An Embossing Buddy that is! Running this little powder-filled “pillow” across your paper prior to heat embossing removes static, and leaves your embossed image free of those annoying little speckles.
  • Formal or casual? When designing a formal card, select specific design elements to imply a more formal tone. Square corners, multilayer mats incorporating Brushed Gold card stock and gold embossing will help you achieve an air of formality.
  • So many colors…so many decisions! Neutral and Regal color palettes are always good choices for elegance. Pearls, as well as satin or taffeta ribbon, are the perfect embellishments!
  • Less is more! The Elegant Lines Textured Impressions Embossing Folder has such wonderful detail. Lots of extra embellishments are unnecessary!
Weddings are so special! I am thrilled to have the honor of designing cards for two brides this fall. The second wedding will be next summer, leaving me with more time to develop my concept card. I think that I am just as excited as the brides!
I hope that you enjoyed today’s card. Remember, I appreciate your comments. If you have a question about this card or any of the techniques that I use, don’t hesitate to email me. I love answering questions! Now skedaddle on over to the PPA site and take a look at the beautiful inspiration cards created by our Design Team. I will be awaiting your creations! Until next time…

Click Here for List of Retired Stamps for Sale (Prices Reduced)

Stamp Set: Wedding Sweet (115466); Ink: VersaMark (102283); Card Stock: Brushed Gold (102935), Very Vanilla (101650), Early Espresso (119686), Crumb Cake (120953); Tools: Big Shot (113439), Elegant Lines Textured Impressions Embossing Folder (119277), Heat Tool (100005), Gold Stampin’ Emboss Powder (109129), Embossing Buddy (103083); Glitz and Glam: Early Espresso 5/8″ Satin Ribbon (119753), Basic Pearls (119247)

Happy Retirement and Peek-a-PPA-Boo


I have been so busy since my last post on Thursday. Over the weekend I attended the Creating Keepsake Scrapbooking Convention in Des Moines, where I learned a few new techniques which I will be pleased to share with you in the upcoming weeks. And I also put the finishing touches on my Dirty Dozen cards for this month, which goes live Thursday…the same day as our latest Pals Paper Arts challenge. My six cards for this month showcase several new Stampin‘ Up! sets, including Uncharted Territory, Wicked Cool, Fur-Ever Friends and Greeting Card Kids. So in case you have been wondering where all of my latest cards are, they will be right there waiting for you in the Splitcoaststampers Fan Club. (You can learn more about the Fan Club by clicking Here.) As for my PPA card, it is loaded with texture! I just love the new Elegant Lines Textured Impressions Embossing Folder. Plus, the new Basic Pearls are wonderful! Remember that challenges are great tools for helping us grow artistically. I hope that you will play @ the PPA this week. Who knows…you may be selected as a Pals Paper Artists Pick, just like the latest talented recipients of the PPA badge!

As I finish up today’s post, I would like to share another card from my first Dirty Dozen gallery, “All Creatures Great and Small”. How appropriate that this retirement card features the newly retired Close to Cocoa card stock! For an updated look, I would substitute Soft Suede or Crumb Cake. Either would look beautiful with More Mustard and Always Artichoke, which form the accent colors.

The Stampin‘ Schach Design Tips:

  • Have a plan! Mine was to simulate the look of a barn. To do this, I inked up the Woodgrain background stamp with Basic Brown and stamped it onto Close to Cocoa. Looking through the oval at the farm animals was to simulate looking through the knot-hole of the barn siding.

  • Bring out the texture! After dampening with a spritz of water, More Mustard card stock was zipped through the Big Shot with the “Distressed” Texturz Plate from Kit #4. (Dampening the paper slightly provides a crisper image.) Bring out the texture even more with a little Chocolate Chip ink!

  • Layer your labels! Both the Modern Label and Designer Label Punches were layered for interest.

  • Watercolor with Blender Pen and Inks! I just touch the tip of the Blender Pen directly to the corner of the selected stamp pad in order to load it with color. For these critters, I used Chocolate Chip, Creamy Caramel, Basic Gray, Whisper White, Not Quite Navy, More Mustard, Really Rust, Ruby Red, and Blush Blossom. Sahara Sand provides the shadowing.
This retirement card was especially made for a dear friend of mine, who also retired from teaching this year. Although the card has a distinct masculine feel, Joan grew up on a farm. I knew that she would appreciate the barn board siding and the farm animals, and her reaction when she received the card did not disappoint me. Happy retirement!
In closing today, don’t forget that your comments are important to me! I do read all of them, and respond to those I can. In fact, here are a few clarifications about my last card, Live with Passion for the PPA!: For Kim, who wanted to know if I cut down the oval sentiment by hand…I actually punched out two Basic Gray 2″ x 1-3/8″ Ovals, and adhered them behind the sentiment. For Terri, the edges of the snipped out flowers and leaves were distressed using Chocolate Chip ink and a Sponge Dauber. Remember, 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…


Click Here to View my Retired Stamps for Sale

Click Here to Order Stampin’ Up! 24/7
Stamp Sets: Farm Life, Teeny Tiny Wishes, Woodgrain ; Card Stock: Always Artichoke, Creamy Caramel, More Mustard, Very Vanilla
Inks: Basic Brown, Chocolate Chip, Creamy Caramel, Basic Gray, Whisper White, Not Quite Navy, More Mustard, Really Rust, Ruby Red, Blush Blossom, Sahara Sand; Tools: Designer Label Punch, Modern Label Punch, Big Shot, Texturz Plate Kit #4 “Distressed”, Linen Thread, Vintage Brads, Color Spritzer Tool, Chocolate Chip Stampin‘ Write Marker, Sponge Dauber; Nestabilities Oval Die

Live with Passion for PPA50

It’s Thursday and time for another Pals Paper Arts challenge! How about a color challenge this week? And challenge it is, with So Saffron, Chocolate Chip and Basic Gray! Now I can see So Saffron and Chocolate Chip together, and So Saffron and Basic Gray. But Chocolate Chip and Basic Gray…no way! But being the trooper that I am, I armed myself with inks, papers and stamps, and proceeded to create! And I am here to prove that it can be done…with just a touch of Always Artichoke for good luck. Enjoy “Inspired by Basic Saffron Chips with a Side Order of Artichoke”!

The Stampin’ Schach Design Tips:

  • Its hip to be square! When making square cards, remember that 5-1/4″ x 5-1/4″ tuck nicely into Stampin’ Up!’s square envelopes.

  • In distress? Send an SOS! Smooch Or Spritzer, that is! A Chocolate Chip Stampin’ Write Marker and the Color Spritzer Tool provides speckles to age our background instantly, while Log Cabin Smooch Spritz adds a beautiful bronze patina to the So Saffron buttons. Of course, Chocolate Chip ink, applied to the edges of the Very Vanilla image mat with a Sponge Dauber, enhances the vintage feel.

  • How can you add depth to an image? The Shadow knows! Stamping Basic Gray “shadows” sets up depth of field, which is further enhanced by placing the colored images in the foreground.

  • With a snip-snip here, and a snip-snip there! After inking the cone flowers with So Saffron, Chocolate Chip, and Always Artichoke, they were snipped out with paper snips and adhered onto the background.

  • Pierce with passion! Bring the sentiment to life with a simple row of piercing. Why does it look so perfect? The Piercing Template from the Mat Pack is the key!

  • It’s all about the details! Hemp Twine is threaded through the buttons, while two Basic Gray ovals, punched using the 2″ x 1-3/8″ Oval Punch, back the sentiment. A snippet of Chocolate Chip Satin Ribbon, which is still available in the Summer Mini, completes the look.
I hope that you are inspired by today’s card! What at first appeared to be a tricky trio of colors, ended up being a delightful combination. Is this a color combination that I would have selected on my own? I don’t think so. But is it a color combination that I might consider using again? Yep! And that is the beauty of a challenge. So please join us at PPA this week, and stretch your creativity! Remember I will be out of commission for a few days while attending the Scrapbook Convention in Des Moines, but I am sure that I will come back with wonderful ideas to share! So, please leave me a comment and let me know what you think of today’s card. And if you have questions about today’s cards or the techniques that I use, I am more than happy to answer them. Just drop me an email! Until next time…


Remember to check out my Retired Stamp Sale!

Click Here to Order Stampin’ Up! 24/7

Stamp Set: Inspired by Nature (111656); Inks: Basic Gray (109120), Chocolate Chip (100908); Stampin’ Write Markers: Chocolate Chip (100071), So Saffron (105114), Always Artichoke (105113); Card Stock: Basic Gray (121044), So Saffron (105118), Chocolate Chip (102128); Tools: Color Spritzer Tool (107066), Cutter Kit (106958), Sponge Daubers (102892), Paper Snips (103579), 2″ x 1-3/8″ Oval Punch (119859), Paper Piercer (116631), Mat Pack (105826); Glitz and Glam: Log Cabin Smooch Spritz (119921), Subtles Designer Buttons (119745), Hemp Twine (100982), Chocolate Chip Satin Ribbon (117287)