Paper Sweeties November 2015 Inspiration Challenge

I hope everyone had a scary-fun Halloween yesterday! Now, it's time to gear up for Thanksgiving, and what better way to get started than with an Autumn/Thanksgiving Inspiration Challenge from Paper Sweeties! Whatever theme you decide to go with, the warm color palette is sure to inspire you to create something fabulous! I hope you'll play along with us.

I colored sweet Abigail and dressed her in an Indian maiden costume from the Give Thanks stamp set, for a Thanksgiving card. I paper pieced her dress from a scrap that reminded me of leather and dressed it up a bit by stamping the headband design as a belt, which I colored with Spica pens. The pumpkin image and sentiment are both from the same stamp set. And, since every card needs a little sparkle, I added a few Paper Sweeties Black Cherry sequins and filled each of them with Lime Green Stickles. 

Whenever I add patterned or embossed paper to a sentiment panel, I like to adhere it to the white cardstock before die cutting. I like the look of the embossed edge extending over the entire piece. I only had a tiny bit of the dotted paper left, so I slipped it just under the edge of the sentiment layer die cut to add some color and to give the front and the inside more cohesion. 

I've already taken a peek at some of the cards from the DT, and they are beautiful. You won't want to miss a single one:

Angel Johns 
Annette Witherspoon

Cheryl Lea - That's Me!

Debbie Marcinkiewicz – Paper Sweeties

 Emily Frasier

Jill Norwood

Julie Tucker-Wolek

Kathy Schweinfurth

Larissa Heskett

Mackie Robertson

Maria Patrick

Michelle Bala
Mynnette Kitchen

Nancy Penir

November Guest Designer:  Michele Henderson

Thanks for stopping by, and have a blessed week!

I'm entering this card in the following challenges:
Simon Says Stamp Monday: Throwback (I chose the July 2015 We're Going Dotty challenge)
Simon Says Wednesday Challenge: Anything Goes
The Shabby Tea Room #262: Colors and Patterns
613 Avenue Create #148: Anything Goes
Sugar Pea Designs SPD21: Anything Goes
The Corrosive Challenge #236: Autumn Splendor
Oddball Art Stamps Challenge: Halloween (or Harvest)
TCP Tuesday 302 (TCPTUES302): Anything Goes
4 Crafty Chicks 4CC #270: Anything Goes (Crazy Egg Challenge)

~Hugs,

Supplies Used:

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Paper Sweeties October 2015 Inspiration Challenge

It's Inspiration Challenge time at Paper Sweeties, and I love the color palette for this one. Being October, there are always so many orange/green/purple/black challenges out there, but Debbie has given us a more subdued palette to work with, and I just loved using it to create a cute monochromatic Halloween card.

This was a super simple card to put together, but the stamping and masking for the Halloween scene took a bit of effort. And, it was totally worth it! To create this scene, I first stamped all the images I wanted to use (from 4 different sets, all listed in my card recipe at the end of the post) onto a piece of scrap copy paper, and fussy cut each one of them. Then, I mapped out the scene to determine how to layer the masks. When you have layered images, especially this many images, you have to keep perspective in mind, and the images have to be stamped and masked in order from the "closest" image all the way to the last image in the background. For example, this scene required that I stamp the images in this order: hat, puppy, pumpkin, dog bowl and bones, dog house, broom, weather vane, ground, and tree. After each stamp, I put repositionable tape on the back of it's mask and masked the image. It can get a little tricky once you have several masks because all the images are fully stamped, so the masks start looking like a jumbled mess, but when you are finished and remove all the masks, and the final complete scene is revealed, it is fascinating to see! 

I colored the image with Copics in several shades of brown and gray, then added white highlights with a paint pen. You might notice a lot of highlights on the dog bowl. My pen blobbed and, since I can't remove white paint from a colored image without totally messing it up, I tried to correct it by incorporating it into the scene. Not a great job there, but I can live with it. ;) I added a few Paper Sweeties Gold flower sequins for shine and filled them with a black Pearl Pen dot.

On the inside of the card, I used scraps from the black flag that is on the front for a couple of small flags, as well as the same embossed design for the background. The punny sentiment and broom are both from the Best Witches stamp set.

I hope you'll join us in this month's challenge! There is a Paper Sweeties' Boutique Gift Certificate up for grabs!!!

Before you get crafty, be sure to check out the rest of the Paper Sweeties' DT blogs, as well as the talented Lisa Bzibziak, our October Guest Designer. Their creations this month are UH-MA-ZING!!!

Angel Johns - COMING SOON!
Annette Witherspoon

Cheryl Lea - That's Me!

Debbie Marcinkiewicz – Paper Sweeties

 Emily Frasier

Jill Norwood

Julie Tucker-Wolek

Kathy Schweinfurth

Larissa Heskett

Mackie Robertson

Maria Patrick

Michelle Bala
Mynnette Kitchen

Nancy Penir
October Guest Designer:  Lisa Bzibziak

Thanks for stopping by!

I'm entering this card in the following challenges:

Viva la Verve September 2015 Week 3 Sketch Challenge
Simon Says Wednesday Challenge: Anything Goes
613 Avenue Create Challenge #143: Anything Goes
Corrosive Challenge #234: Halloween Bingo (Black/Free/Witch)
Freshly Brewed Challenge Sept 30-Oct 6: The Great Outdoors
Oddball Art Stamps Challenge: Fall is in the Air
Robyn's Fetish Challenge #283: Square of Rectangle Cards--Your Choice
Sugar Pea Designs Challenge SPD20: Falling for Fall

~Hugs,

Supplies Used:

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Paper Sweeties August Release Countdown!

I'm back with another Paper Sweeties sneak peek card. This one was super simple to make.

I used the new Let's Party and Wishing You stamp sets, and the coordinating Let's Party Sweet Cuts die set to create the gifts. I heat embossed them in white on watercolor paper, watercolored them, and added some white dots to the yellow package. The sentiment is embossed with white EP, and I used a white Sharpie marker to doodle around the edge of the card. Finally, I tied a Raspberry twine bow and sprinkled a few Tuti-Fruiti sequins around, filling the center of each one with a white Pearl Pen.

More sneak peeks await at each of my teamies' blogs:

Angel Johns 
Cheryl Lea - That's Me!

Debbie Marcinkiewicz – Paper Sweeties
Emily Frasier 
Jill Norwood 

Kathy Schweinfurth

Larissa Heskett
Mackie Robertson

Maria Patrick

Michelle Bala
Mynnette Kitchen

Nancy Penir

Paper Sweeties began with Sweeties Girl stamps, and my sneak peek for the Release Party tomorrow features Sweetie Girl Sophie in her newest party dress. See you then.

I'm entering this card in the following challenges:

613 Avenue Create #136: Anything Goes
Oddball Art Stamp Challenge: Die Cuts

~Hugs,

Supplies Used:

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Clip Heart

This was a fun card to make, and super simple, too! Who knew basic office supplies could look so pretty, right? 

To make the main portion of this card I used a handful of round paper clips and two jumbo paper clips. (I actually still call the double oval clips, "Gem clips," but usually no one knows what I'm talking about. What do you call them?) After making two heart shaped clips from a jumbo paper clip, I cut the excess wire off one heart for embossing, then laid out the round paperclips and the modified heart shaped clip on a die cutting plate, placed a piece of white cardstock over them, then topped that with an embossing pad and another cutting plate, and ran it through my Big Shot. I colored the paper by sponging several colors of Distress ink over the embossed areas, blending the colors in between. After die cutting the paper with a distressed edge die, I sponged more ink along the edges, then distressed further by spritzing water onto the paper. Finally, I sprinkled some chunky white embossing powder onto the paper and heated it from the back side (to keep from blowing the powder off before it had a chance to melt and stick to the paper). After assembling the card front, I attached the 2nd heart clip to the top of the card.

To tie in with the front of the card, I embossed just the modified heart clip in the corner of a white die cut, then sponged Distress ink over that, and also over the entire die cut, while it was still in the die.

See? Easy peasy! Have a great day!

I'm entering this card in the following challenges:
Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge: Red + Pink
Oddball Art Stamp: Add Some Sparkle Challenge
Robyn's Fetish Challenge #250: Valentine Cards
TCP Tuesday Challenge 283: Anything Goes

~Hugs,

Supplies Used:

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