FINAL PAPER PLAYERS CHALLENGE FOR 2023

It's hard to come to terms with it being almost the end of 2023, but here we are in the last challenge of the year at The Paper Players. This week's hostess is the lovely and talented Claire, and she is challenging us with four colors:  

The Paper Players: PP670 - A Color Challenge from Claire

I have to admit to struggling a bit with this set of colors, mainly because I just couldn't settle into an idea - I had so many of them floating around my head. I knew I wanted to continue with filling in my Christmas card needs, but I don't have any printed papers in my Christmas stash with these colors so I knew I would have to create something from my stamp supplies. I finally settled on working with this string of Christmas lights from Papertrey Ink that I haven't used for a long time. This stamp set ("Holiday Lights") came with four different lights and my favorite one is long-gone - probably chewed up by a dog or cat or the garbage disposal in the sink where I wash all of my stamps! For nostalgic purposes I settled on this traditional shape that looks like the lights we always had on our Christmas tree in my youth. Does anyone here remember the hours it took to string up the lights and add the tinsel so that it didn't look like the tree had been just slapped together?

I started with a white stitched panel for the main image and stamped a couple of light strings with Memento "Tuxedo Black". This was followed by lights in Memento "Bahama Blue" and "Lady Bug" and PTI "Hibiscus Burst" and added an old sentiment in red. I matted this with blue and black card stocks and sat on it for a couple of days because it was looking a bit bare. I finally opted for a red eyelet and some blue satin ribbon. I glued all of this to the face of a white card base and once again sat on it for a couple of days. It was still looking a bit bare, so just before photographing it I decided on a bit of sparkle with a VersaMarker and Kaleidoscope transparent embossing powder. It's pretty subtle, but adds a bit of shine.

Postscript: This is my last week as one of the three Guest Designers at The Paper Players for 2023. 😢 I'm not sure that I really understood what I was getting myself into by a card a week, posting comments, and selecting my favorites for an entire year. I had some tech challenges with Blogger and missed a couple of deadlines, but BOY, did I learn a lot! Being able to work alongside eight such talented card makers has been a real joy. The volume of high quality work these ladies put out week after week, year after year is staggering and it astounds me - especially when I take into account that they also have busy lives and families and other interests!  My hat's off to Jaydee, LeAnne, Ann, Anne Marie, Joanne, and Claire - thank you, my mentors this year!! And thanks also to Suzy and Tara for joining in this adventure. Also, I would be remiss if I didn't mention Nance the blog Administrator! So much work goes on behind the scenes to keep a challenge blog up and running.

I'm planning to stick around and continue to participate in 2024 (although I doubt it will be every week), and I hope my followers will as well. See you in January!

Best wishes for a wonderful Holiday Season 

surrounded by the people you love!

Fran Wing