PPA57 - Happy Anniversary Watercolor

Today's card is an Anniversary card using the sketch from this week's Pals Paper Arts challenge.  It's my first real attempt at watercoloring and I'm pretty happy with how it turned out!  Practice will make perfect... hopefully!  The colors from the Woodland Walk DSP are just beautiful together - it really makes the card!

For some added detail, I cut two strips of Chocolate Chip card stock with the Dotted Scallop Ribbon Border Punch and placed them behind the Designer Series Paper.  And don't you just love the sentiment?  I love the font of the "A Word for You" stamp set.  This set will definitely be a go-to set for my cards.

Stamp Sets	Growing Green, A Word for You
Ink	Basic Brown (retired), Chocolate Chip, Wild Wasabi, Garden Green
Paper	Crumb Cake, Watercolor Paper, Very Vanilla, Chocolate Chip, Woodland Walk DSP
Accessories	Dotted Scallop Ribbon Border Punch, Aqua Painter, Neutrals 5/16" Brads, Paper Piercer, Mat Pack, Stampin' Dimensionals

Masculine Sympathy

Today's card is a clean and simple masculine sympathy card.  This is for a dear family member of mine who lost his wife of 69 years - she was such a special person.  Such a wonderful love story - this bench seat just reminded me of togetherness and love.  I can just picture the two of them sharing this seat together.

For the background, I used the Woodgrain background stamp in Early Espresso.  The ribbon detail is Kraft taffeta ribbon layered on top of Early Espresso grosgrain ribbon.  I stamped the bench and realized I didn't have much room for a sentiment, but the "Thinking of You" stamp from the Silhouette Sentiments hostess set fit perfectly.  I added brads to all four corners for added dimension and then popped the piece up on dimensionals.

Stamp Sets	Have a Seat, Silhouette Sentiments (Hostess Level 1), Woodgrain
Ink	Early Espresso
Paper	Crumb Cake, Early Espresso
Accessories	Metallic Brads, Stampin Dimensionals, Paper Piercer, Mat Pack, Early Espresso 5/8" Grosgrain Ribbon, Kraft 3/8" Taffeta Ribbon (retired)

Happy Birthday - PPA56

This week's Pals Paper Arts Challenge is an inspiration challenge.  The inspiration for the card above came from the fabric draped over the table of beautiful things.  I also wanted to try my had at a satin ribbon flower.  I followed the wonderful tutorial here on Carole'Anne Sluchinski's blog.

For the background on the card stock base, I stamped the En Francais background stamp in Basic Black.  For the Elements of Style stamp, I colored in the image (stamped in Basic Black) with my Stampin' Write Markers for a bold color effect.  Next, I distressed the 3 card stock layers and also tore the lower corner.  The satin ribbon flower is attached to the card with one of the beautiful vintage brads.  What do you think?

Stamp Sets	Elements of Style, Watercolor Trio, En Francais
Ink	Basic Black, Rose Red, Old Olive, More Mustard
Paper	Perfect Plum, Rose Red, Old Olive, Whisper White
Accessories	Basic Black 5/8" Satin Ribbon, Vintage Brads, Paper Snips (for distressing), 1-3/4" Circle Punch, Heat Tool, Sticky Strip, Paper Piercer

Happy Birthday - cQc46

Today's card is for this week's ColourQ challenge.  I love these colors together: Cherry Cobbler, Daffodil Delight, Wild Wasabi, and Baja Breeze - with Very Vanilla for the neutral.

This is the first time I've used both of these stamp sets - and they are adorable!  For the Happy Birthday sentiment, I used my Stampin' Write Marker to just color the "Happy Birthday" part of the stamp - it also says "with a cherry on top".  I used the Daffodil Delight brads for the flower centers and popped the butterfly up on dimensionals.

To bow or not to bow? - I decided not to add a bow to this card and instead used the ribbon as part of a border.  I love your comments, so keep them coming :)!

Stamp Sets	A Word For You, For Everything
Ink	Cherry Cobbler, Daffodil Delight, Baja Breeze, Wild Wasabi
Paper	Cherry Cobbler, Daffodil Delight, Baja Breeze, Wild Wasabi, Very Vanilla
Accessories	Brights Brads, Daffodil Delight 1/8" Taffeta Ribbon, Dotted Scallop Ribbon Border Punch, Stampin' Dimensionals

The World Should Go On...

My sample for today uses a color scheme directly from the Color Coach (can't live without this thing).  The Fast & Fabulous set is a 2-step set, but I chose to only stamp the outline and color it in using my Stampin' Write markers for a different look.  I love it!  It really makes detail on the flowers stand out a little more.  And a little trick I like to use - I like to put a glue dot on the back of the bow knot so it stays right where I want it to on the card.  Thanks for visiting The Paper Pixie today!

Stamp Sets	Fast & Fabulous, Occasional Quotes (Hostess Level 3)
Ink	Early Espresso, Blushing Bride, Pear Pizzazz
Paper	Early Espresso, Blushing Bride, Pear Pizzazz, Very Vanilla
Accessories	Eyelet Border Punch, Basic Pearls, Scallop Rectangle Clearlits Die, Blushing Bride 1/2" Stitched-Poly Ribbon, Stampin' Dimensionals

Happy Birthday

Today's sample is a birthday card using Crumb Cake as the main color of the card - one of my favorites.  I've seen a few samples with either Whisper White or Very Vanilla craft ink stamped onto Crumb Cake and I love the effect.  I spiced it up with a little pink, some crochet trim, a couple of buttons, and some adorable jewelry tags.  The textured card base finishes it off.  What do you think?

Stamp Sets	Apple Blossoms (Hostess Level 2), Occasional Quotes (Hostess Level 3), Vintage Labels (retired)
Ink	Very Vanilla, Melon Mambo, Regal Rose
Paper	Crumb Cake, Regal Rose, Very Vanilla
Accessories	Perfect Polka Dots Embossing Folder, Pinking Hearts Border Punch, Jewelry Tag Punch, Subtles Designer Buttons, Linen Thread, Victoria 5/8" Crochet Trim, Glue Dots, Stampin' Dimensionals

Happy Anniversary!

Three years ago today, I married the man of my dreams!  Happy Anniversary, honey!!!  Thank you for loving me unconditionally - even with my stamping addiction... errr... I mean... hobby! ;).

Stamp Sets	Just Believe, Occasional Quotes (Hostess Level 3)
Ink	Crumb Cake, Marina Mist Stampin' Write Markers
Paper	Crumb Cake, Very Vanilla, Marina Mist
Accessories	Paper Snips (edge distressing), Crop-A-Dile (hole for stay put bow), Basic Pearls, Stampin' Dimensionals, Marina Mist 1/8" Taffeta Ribbon

Wicked Cool Halloween

Here's a Halloween card using the Wicked Cool stamp set - what a great set!  I absolutely love the witch boots and stockings stamp.  I've seen a few samples with a pumpkin made out of the oval punches, so I thought I'd give it a whirl.  What do you think of the witch hiding in the pumpkin?

I stamped the bats stamp in Rich Razzleberry around the edges of the cardstock base.  I sponged the edges of the ovals for the pumpkin with Pumpkin Pie for some added shadowing to make it look more like a pumpkin.  The witch hat is cut out using the paper snips and popped up on dimensionals.  I used my Stampin' Write markers to color the witch boots in Basic Black and the stockings in Rich Razzleberry.

Stamp Sets	Wicked Cool
Ink	Rich Razzleberry, Pumpkin Pie, Basic Black
Paper	Rich Razzleberry, Basic Black, Whisper White, Pumpkin Pie
Accessories	2" x 1-3/8" Oval Punch, Neutrals Brads, Paper Piercer, Mat Pack, Stampin' Dimensionals, Stamping Sponges, Paper Snips

Happy New Babies

If only I had a stamp set that said, "Happy New Babies!"  A former co-worker of mine is having twins and we had a little office baby shower for her this past Friday.

The color scheme for this card came directly from the Idea Book & Catalog on page 78 - Chocolate Chip, Pear Pizzazz, Regal Rose, and So Saffron.  For the stamp, I stamped the image in Basic Brown (retired) and colored in the baby carriage with my Stampin' Write markers in So Saffron and Pretty In Pink.  I couldn't resist 3 of the So Saffron buttons as well as smooching the entire card with a little Smooch Spritz in Vanilla Shimmer!

Stamp Sets	Fun & Fast Notes
Ink	Basic Brown (retired), Stampin' Write Markers - So Saffron and Pretty In Pink
Paper	Whisper White, Chocolate Chip, So Saffron, Regal Rose, Pretty In Pink
Accessories	Scallop Edge Border Punch, Pinking Hearts Border Punch, Pear Pizzazz 1/2" Stitched-Poly Ribbon, Subtles Designer Buttons, Glue Dots, Stampin' Dimensionals, Vanilla Shimmer Smooch Spritz

Happy Birthday - Lap of Luxury

I know, I know... I've been a bad blogger lately!  Stay tuned, I have 5 cards to share with you this week - this being the first of them!  I've been stamping, just not blogging - life got in the way!

This card is an elegant birthday card for my cousin, Rayne.  I hope she feels like a little princess when she gets this card!

I LOVE the colors that coordinate with the Lap of Luxury Designer Series Paper - and the stamp set, Style Beautiful, that coordinates perfectly!  It's difficult to see in the picture, but I stamped a background behind the "Birthday Wishes" sentiment from the Style Beautiful stamp set in Pretty In Pink ink.

Thanks for visiting today - and more samples to come this week!

Stamp Sets	Watercolor Trio, Style Beautiful
Ink	Concord Crush, Pretty In Pink
Paper	Concord Crush, Pretty In Pink, Very Vanilla, Lap of Luxury DSP
Accessories	Basic Gray 3/8" Taffeta Ribbon (retired), 2-3/8" Scallop Circle Punch, 1-3/4" Circle Punch, Paper Piercer, Mat Pack, Rhinestones, Stampin' Dimensionals

Another Masculine Happy Birthday

Today's sample is yet another masculine birthday card.  This one was fun to make!  I LOVE the Trendy Trees stamp set - just perfect for trendy, masculine cards.  The colors came from the Color Coach - a "creative combination" of Garden Green, More Mustard, and Chocolate Chip combined with a "dynamic duo" of Wild Wasabi (Garden Green's sidekick).  I threaded linen thread in a criss-cross pattern through the holes in the Dotted Scallop Border punch for some texture and also ran the Garden Green card stock through my Big Shot using a non-SU! herringbone embossing folder.  What do you think?

Stamp Sets	Trendy Trees, Occasional Quotes (Hostess Level 3)
Ink	Garden Green, Wild Wasabi, More Mustard, Chocolate Chip
Paper	Garden Green, Wild Wasabi, More Mustard, Chocolate Chip, Very Vanilla
Accessories	Dotted Scallop Ribbon Border, Linen Thread, Herringbone Embossing Folder (Non-SU!), Neutrals Brads

Masculine Happy Birthday - cQc44 & PPA54

For this card, I'm combining the PPA challenge (a masculine KISS card) and the ColourQ challenge (using Poppy Parade, So Saffron, Bashful Blue, Basic Black, and Whisper White).

For the dots, I used the hostess set Apple Blossoms and colored the stamp with my Stampin' Write Markers first.  After stamping, I colored in the circles with the markers.  The little jagged black border is from the Pinking Hearts Border punch, I just hid the hearts slightly so they don't look like hearts.  I also distressed the edges of the Whisper White card stock using my paper snips.

For the ribbon, I cut the ribbon the length of wrapping the ribbon all the way around the card.  I concealed the ends of the ribbon behind the button, which I adhered using a couple of glue dots.  Clever, huh?  That way, you don't see where the ends meet :).

Stamp Sets	Apple Blossoms (Hostess Level 2), Fabulous Phrases
Ink	Bashful Blue, Basic Black, Poppy Parade, So Saffron
Paper	Bashful Blue Basic Black, Whisper White
Accessories	Pinking Hearts Border Punch, Poppy Parade 1/2" Stitched-Poly Ribbon, Neutrals Designer Buttons, Stampin' Dimensionals, Sticky Strip

Happy Birthday CASE

When I saw this card on Jan Tink's blog - I knew I had to CASE it.  She is just so clever and I love her humor!!!  This card is perfect for my youngest cousin's birthday.  I hope he gets a big chuckle out of it.

I don't have the Calendar Alphabet & Numbers stamp set that Jan used, so I just wrote the letters out by hand after I punched out all the circles.  I adhered the sentiment to the ribbon using glue dots and the owls were assembled with the multipurpose liquid glue.

Thanks, Jan, for such great inspiration!  If you're not a follower of Jan's blog (Stamps, Paper, Scissors), you should be!

Stamp Sets	None :)
Ink	Soft Suede Stampin' Write Marker
Paper	Pear Pizzazz, Soft Suede, Peach Parfait, Baja Breeze
Accessories	Two-Step Owl Punch, Two-Step Bird Punch, Modern Label Punch, Itty Bitty Shapes Punch Pack, Paper Piercer, Mat Pack, Peach Parfait 1/2" Stitched-Poly Ribbon, Subtles Brads

Vintage Birthday - PPA53

Here's my take on this week's Pals Paper Arts Challenge.  This weeks challenge was a monochromatic color challenge using purple!

For my purples, I chose Perfect Plum, Elegant Eggplant, and Rich Razzleberry.  For some texture, I used the new Elegant Lines embossing folder on the card base.  On the Very Vanilla piece, I stamped the the new Elizabeth single stamp in Perfect Plum and the Birthday Wishes sentiment in Concord Crush.  I distressed the edges using the edge of my Paper Snips and sponged a little Perfect Plum around the edges.  I popped that piece up on dimensionals and layered it with Rich Razzleberry and Elegant Eggplant.  The final touches were a few Pearls and the Victoria Crochet Trim.

Stamp Sets	Elizabeth, Watercolor Trio
Ink	Perfect Plum, Concord Crush
Paper	Perfect Plum, Elegant Eggplant, Rich Razzleberry, Very Vanilla
Accessories	Elegant Lines Embossing Folder, Victoria 5/8" Crochet Trim, Basic Pearls, Paper Snips, Ticket Corner Punch, Stampin' Dimensionals