The Paper Players #484: Joanne's Tic Tac Toe Challenge

Five weeks in March so we are treated with The Paper Players' Tic Tac Toe Challenge hosted by Joanne:

The elements I chose are on the 2nd row across:  Die-Cut, Spring, & Birthday.  

On an embossed card base (The Paper Studio), I layered a MFT Wonky Rectangle with a birthday wish (SU So Sentimental) and added stamped and die cut flowers and foliage from Stampin' Up's Positive Thoughts and Nature Thoughts.  I added some Moonstone Confetti sequins for added bling.

Thanks for stopping by ~ Stay well!

Hugs,
Annie

Tic Tac Toe Challenge #057

Hello friends!  Thanks for stopping by today!  I made a card to play along with the latest Tic Tac Toe Challenge:

I went back and forth with what to use because there were so many great choices.  I finally went with the first row down: Pastel Colors, Die Cuts, & Colored Card Base.

The card base is black (Hero Arts) and I stamped the Concord & 9th Fine Line Florals with pastel ink colors from Catherine Pooler.  The hello die cut (Stamps of Life) was cut 3 times and glued together, adding a sentiment strip from Simon Says Stamp underneath.

Hope everyone is well!

Hugs,
Annie

The Paper Players #483: Claire's Sketch Challenge

Hello! Back again with another card for the latest challenge over at The Paper Players:

Such an easy sketch for any occasion!  I went with a monochrome look for a friendship card:

I don't know why, but I just love the Calypso Coral color from Stampin' Up.  I used both the cardstock and ink for this card.  The SU Country Floral Embossing Folder was perfect for a very textured layer.  I inked the embossed layer with white pigment ink for highlights and fussy cut one of the roses out of the center for a little embellishment.  The stitched rectangles and ric rac are from MFT.  The sentiment is from SU's So Sentimental stamp set and layered on SU's Stitched So Sweetly die cuts.  A little bit of SU Polka Dot Tulle Ribbon and tiny white pearls finished the card. 

Thanks for stopping by ~ Stay well!

Hugs,

Annie 

Tic Tac Toe Challenge #056

Hi Friends! Today I'm posting a card I made yesterday for the latest Tic Tac Toe Challenge designed by the lovely LeAnne:

I selected on the diagonal with Yellow, Umbrella, and Bow.

What a perfect sentiment for the time but crafting definitely helps my stress.  Turn off the news and make a card - that's what is helping me!  This card includes a stenciled background using Gina K.'s Water Droplets and Hero Arts Soft Granite ink.  The umbrella stamp/die cut and sentiment are from an old Stamps of Life collection stamped with Catherine Pooler's Limoncello ink.  I added a little black/white polka dot bow to match the DSP scrap from MFT.  Queen & Co. bling in the shape of raindrops finished off the card.

Thanks for stopping by ~ Stay well!

Hugs,
Annie

Freshly Made Sketches #427

Hi Friends! Waiting for the sun to come out so I can get out of the house and work in the yard, I put together a card for the latest sketch challenge over at Freshly Made Sketches:

I pulled out my beachy-themed stamps for this card with a sentiment for a special friend having a difficult time:

I stamped the card base with Hero Arts Bubbles background stamp in DI Tumbled Glass.  The 'water' strip is from an alcohol background I made in my stash.  The fish and grass are from MFT's Adorned Ocean Friends and the sentiment from MFT's Ocean Fun stamp set.  I added sparkle to the sea grass and a few 'clear' bubbles to finish the card.

Thanks for stopping by ~ stay well and send a paper hug to a friend that may need it!

Hugs,

Annie  

One Year Older

Hi Friends!  I hope you all are well.  I have a bit of cabin fever but that is much better than the alternative.  Besides baking cupcakes and taste testing too many, I put together a card for a couple of fun challenges:

Seize the Birthday #185: Touch of Green

Shopping Our Stash #416: Happy Birthday

Here's my card:

The stenciled oval includes Distress Oxide inks using Gina K.'s Thick Brush Stencil for my 'Touch of Green.'  The little Toucan (Catherine Pooler) was colored with Jane Davenport pencils, die cut, and popped up.  The MFT sentiment (Anything but Basic B'day Wishes) was white heat embossed and popped up also.  A few sequins were added to finish the card. 

Thanks for stopping by ~ Stay well!

Hugs,

Annie 

The Paper Players #482: Joanne's CAS Challenge

Happy Monday! Today I'm playing along with Joanne's CAS Challenge over at The Paper Players:

On a Neenah Solar White card base, I used Ellen Hutson's 'In The Weeds' stamp set and colored the flowers with Jane Davenport's colored pencils.  I die cut a mask for the flowers and stenciled some of Tim Holtz's 'Bubbles' hoping they looked a bit like water to go with the sentiment (from the same stamp set).  That's it...that's all.

Looking forward to the beginning of Spring and this was the perfect challenge for that. Thanks for stopping by and I hope everyone is well!

Hugs,

Annie

Tic Tac Toe Challenge #055

Hi Friends! I'm playing along over at the Tic Tac Toe Challenge today!  It's being hosted by the lovely Claire and the choices will make you feel that spring is on its way! If you haven't played along over at TTTC yet, check them out. You can create your own "challenge" with their fun boards.

My card today was to work on finishing up my Easter cards.  I still had Gina K.'s Wreath Builder stencil in my Misti, so I just had to use it again this week.  I'm playing along with the first row down: Polka Dots, Pink, Die Cuts.

I used Darice's Easter Egg embossing folder on the pink card base.  Then I created a Peep Wreath and sentiment with SSS's My Kind of Peep stamp set.  I popped the wreath up on a circle die cut of Memory Box's Pastel Glitter cardstock.  I used a Nuvo Glitter Gloss pen to give a "sugary" look to the peeps.  I wasn't too happy that it moved some of the ink around but oh well!  As a finishing touch, I also added a little bow knot of SU's Swiss Dot ribbon.  BTW - I ate pink peeps while I was working on this card 😂 (strictly for research, of course).

Hoping you had a great weekend ~ Thanks for stopping by!

Hugs,
Annie

The Paper Players #481: Laurie's Color Challenge

Hello Friends!  Today I'm posting for the latest challenge over at The Paper Players.  It's a Color Challenge with great colors that remind me of summer!

I've been in a Gina K. wreath-building mood lately and was totally inspired by Jaydee on the DT when I saw her shells.  So why not a beachy wreath?

This is a square 5 x 5 card base. Using the Gina K. Wreath Builder stencil and a little beach ball and starfish from an older Hero Arts stamp set, I built my beachy wreath.  I actually had all three of the Stampin' Up ink pads for this which made me happy. I added some Nuvo Iridescent Drops to finish off the card...love them - they look like pearls.

Thanks for stopping by ~ Have a great weekend!

Hugs,
Annie  

Shopping Our Stash #415: Is It Summer Yet?

Back again with the last card for today.  Over at Shopping Our Stash they are getting a little tired of winter and longing for a bit of summer.  The SOS Challenge #415 asks Is It Summer Yet?

Well, no summer in sight here but I can dream of a little sunshine and sharing nice cold popsicles with my grandson!

Those layering Perfect Popsicle stamps from Sunny Studio definitely make me think of summer.  I used Catherine Pooler's inks for this sweet treat, a sentiment from Stamps of Life, and Neat & Tangled's Ink Splash before I popped up the popsicle.  A pretty simple but refreshing card!!

Thanks for visiting ~ I hope you had a great weekend!

Hugs,

Annie 

Tic Tac Toe Challenge 054

Hi again!  This time around I'm posting a card for the latest challenge over at Tic Tac Toe hosted by the uber-talented Joanne:

I was all over the place with this card but finally settled on the diagonal: Insects, Flower, Gingham.  I say all over the place because I started with pastels and butterflies and was going to try a punch but I had forgotten I had donated nearly all of my punches!  So, here is Plan B: 

A friend just received a pretty devasting diagnosis, so I wanted to make a card to check in on her.  I used MFT's Gingham background stamp and Catherine Pooler It's a Girl ink to create a partially stamped background on the card base.  The sentiments are from SSS Healing Hugs stamp set.  The Copic-colored flower was from Concord & 9th's Meadow Blossoms stamps and dies.  The little bee from SU's Honey Bee stamps and dies was also colored with Copics and popped up.  To finish the card I added a dashed flight line, white gel dots on the flower, and Nuvo Glitter Gloss on the bee's wings. I hope it brightens her day.

Thanks for stopping by!  See you next time...

Hugs,
Annie

Freshly Made Sketches #425

Hi Friends!  I made a few cards today while waiting for it to warm up outside.  The first one was for Freshly Made Sketches #425:

This card came together pretty quickly.  I had already made up quite a few of the Pleasant Pansy die cuts from Altenew a few days ago.  I stamped Birch Press Hex Fades in the background and added splatters using Catherine Pooler's Stone Blue ink.  The sentiment is from MFT's Heap of Hellos. I like how it turned out but I think I went a little overboard with the splatters!  I think less would have been more.

Thanks for stopping by ~ I hope you had a wonderful weekend!

Hugs,

Annie

The Paper Players #480: Theme Challenge from Anne Marie

Hi Friends!  Today I played along over at The Paper Players where Anne Marie's theme is 'Turn Up the Heat.'  It's all about heat embossing which is one of my favorite things to do!

I ended up making two projects with two different embossing techniques.  The first card was an emboss resist where I white heat embossed various "thank you" sentiments (SOL) and then blended rainbow Distress Oxide inks onto the watercolor card.  I used a white gel pen to add various dots and doodads. 😉

The second card used clear heat embossing on the large sentiment die cut (MFT) for an enamel look.  I added clear heat embossing 4 times to the sentiment.  It was Coral cardstock (SU) and all that heat almost made it look red!  

Thanks for stopping by ~ Have a great weekend!

Hugs,

Annie

Tic Tac Toe Challenge #53

Hi there! Back again with a card for the latest Tic Tac Toe Challenge.  I made it this weekend and just remembered I forgot to post!  I'm glad the Challenge is still open for a few hours 😊.

Tenia came up with some fun elements for this one.  I decided to go on the diagonal: Watercolor, Flowers, & Big Sentiment.

Most of the products for this project came from Simon Says Stamp's 'Stronger Together' card kit.  The daisies (Suzy Plantamura Watercolor Card) were watercolored with Darice watercolor pencils that were included in the kit. The DSP (ModaScrap Spring Flowers) which has a soft watercolor look was used as the base layer on the card base.  Finally the Hooray die from Neat and Tangled was die cut twice and layered on the watercolored flowers along with a birthday sentiment strip from SSS. 

Thanks for stopping by ~ I hope you're having a good week!

Hugs,

Annie 

Seize the Birthday #184: Sentiment as Focal Image

Hi Friends! I can't believe it's March already but happy dancin' because March is my birthday MONTH.  Yep, I celebrate all month long!  Today I'm celebrating by playing along over at Seize the Birthday where every challenge is birthday-themed but you can add a featured topping if you'd like:

With a topping of using the "Sentiment as Focal Image," I played around with the eclipse technique on a star stenciled background. 

The "Wish" die is from MFT that I also die cut out of fun foam.  I highlighted the candle with gold glitter paper and added some gold sequins.  The inside sentiment is "Happy Birthday - May all your wishes come true" (also from MFT).

Thanks for stopping by ~ I hope you're having a good week!

Hugs,
Annie