HAPPY SUMMER

Our creative Claire has the floor this week in our Paper Players Theme Challenge #PP652 "Hot Fun in the Summertime". This is her photo inspiration board:

The Paper Players: PP652 - A Theme Challenge from Claire

I have an older stamp set with rows of watermelons, flip-flops, ice cream cones, and pineapples, and I decided on the pineapples. I've been fooling around this week with a rubber Unity Stamps "Bubbles Border" and had some left-over scraps that I didn't use, so I die cut a small rectangle from one of the experimental scraps I had created on polka-dot paper (you'll probably see more of this at a later date, since I still have scraps left). 

The scraps have the bubble border white heat embossed with some PTI "Ocean Tides" sponged at the bottom. I mounted the small rectangle to a white panel and then glued this to the card base that I had background stamped with pale blue ink and black sentiment. I stamped and colored the pineapples on white cardstock, fussy cut them, and glued them on the face. One of the pineapples was then given black embossed shades and a bow and glued over the top with dimensional foam. She ended up with a bit of attitude, which had been my intention!

Well, your turn! But first, go over and see what the rest of our talented designers has offered up as their "hot fun".

On a personal note: The front yard landscape project is finally completed until next spring! Here's what we started with:

This was all lawn that we have hand-watered for many years. When we started this whole thing, we had no idea it would be a full year to get the first phase in. This was last year when we had just had most of the old plants removed and the lawn scraped and turned.

Here we are today:

The light beige color in the back toward the patio area is decomposed granite and there will be mostly grasses and rocks put in there in the spring. The mulched area around the red bud tree will have native plants, grasses, and rocks in the spring. It feels really good to now have an irrigation system of lawn sprinklers and drip lines for the full area. I'm creating some steppingstones in the decomposed granite area using recycled metal hoops from old wine half-barrels, bricks, and rocks from the yard. Three down and three to go!

 

TWO OLD BATS HALLOWEEN CHALLENGE - AUGUST

Time for the August Two Old Bats Halloween Challenge! We have a great inspiration board, but you're free to share "anything Halloween". I chose the top left quadrant.

Two Old Bats Halloween Challenge: August Anything Halloween

I started this card with a scrap of yellow card stock (left over from the menus at my son's wedding in September 2008!). I die cut a circle from a piece of paper and sponged on Hero Arts "Unicorn" pigment ink. Then I sponged on orange, red, and sepia inks, as well as sepia tree branches at the bottom edges. Using an ancient clear stamp that I had never used, I overprinted the raven/gate image - then I immediately threw it away because I couldn't get a solid black image. I had to go back in with black markers to fill in the ravens. The "two old bats" at the top right are from Tim Holtz. Once the yellow/orange work was complete, I die cut the yellow cardstock with a deckle edge die and matted it with a larger black deckle edge rectangle. Finally, I attached a tag with a white heat-embossed sentiment, using yellow and white baker's twine. 

Remember that you can enter our challenge more than once, and our Design Team has some great inspirational ideas for you! 

SEA YOU SOON

I'm playing with two challenges this morning - Freshly Made Sketches #596 "Bottom half left clean" and Less is More #488 "Under the Sea".

Starting with a very pale aqua card scrap, I stamped a Lost Coast Designs "Bubble Border" with PTI "Ocean Tides" ink and then over-stamped a Lavinia Stamps fish in black and colored her with a gray Copic marker. Then I added some undersea greenery with some Indigo Blue "Laurel Leaves" and a school of fish and sponged some additional Ocean Tides ink to the bottom of the scrap. Finally, I inked the bubble border a second time and heat embossed it with white embossing powder. The final step was over-printing the sentiment in black and trimming the panel to fit a stitched rectangle that I mounted to a white card base.

 

I'm sliding this in under the wire to:

Freshly Made Sketches: Freshly Made Sketches #596 - A Sketch by Judy

"Less is More": Challenge #488 - Theme (simplylessismoore.blogspot.com)

SPRING CHICKEN

Welcome Sunday and the new Paper Players challenge! Our very creative Design Team member Joanne is challenging us this week with a sketch:

The Paper Players: PP650 - A Sketch Challenge from Joanne

Here's my take on her sketch. I've been playing with a new stamp set that I bought a couple of weeks ago that caught my fancy - Simon Hurley/Ranger "Spring Chicken" #HUR83351. I love all of the chicken images on this set, and I'm sure there will be many more that will pop up on my cards from this point forward!

This card is pretty straightforward with the many layers, numbered in order of layers:

                        1. Started with a kraft wood textured card base

                        2. Die cut stitched rectangular panel

                        3. Die cut stitched rectangular frame from wood textured cardstock

                        4. Overlapped matted rectangular patterned paper

                        5. Stamped and colored chicken and die cut with a circle die

                        6. White heat embossed sentiment

On a personal note: What a crazy week - we finally have a new lawn! Early in the week, we had to have an electrician mend and re-wire the connection to a light post. The light post will be replaced at some point, but probably not until the spring. The sod arrived early Friday morning and was rolled out for an instant lawn. The sprinklers and drip lines were all started up, and everything is looking so much better! What a process this has been - a full year of living with a large dirt patch for a yard. In a couple of weeks, once the area has been watered regularly, we'll be adding a couple of inches of bark mulch and calling it quits until the spring, when we complete the plantings. When everything gets cleaned up and the bark mulch is in place, I'll post some before and after photos.
 

CHICKEN LITTLE

When I saw the challenge at Time Out Challenges #242 - "Inspired by Words" I knew I wanted to participate and to use a new stamp set I just received from Simon Hurley/Ranger "Spring Chicken" #HUR83351. I didn't know where I wanted to start so I used the latest sketch at Freshly Made Sketches as inspiration - but, bummer, by the time I got my card finished and photographed, the challenge at FMS was closed! 

The Time Out Challenge is to use a fairy tale or fable, or something read to us from our childhood as inspiration. I chose the folk tale of Chicken Little, who when hit in the head by an acorn, ran around yelling, "The sky is falling! The sky is falling!" It seems a pretty relevant story in today's world. 

I started this card with a white stitched rectangular panel that I stamped a cloud directly on from Hero Arts #CM357 set. Then I masked it and blended a light blue circle around it. I then stamped Chicken Little, colored her, and die cut her with an oval die. I blended some green ink on the bottom of the oval and then added a blended green circle below the blue one and over-stamped it with a Tim Holtz splatter and attached the oval to the face of the front panel and, using a black thin marker, dashed a curved line from the cloud to Chicken Little's head and beyond and attached a fussy cut acorn stamped from a very old Thanksgiving stamp set. I stamped another set of clouds from the same Hero Arts set with the small cloud, fussy cut it, and mounted it to the face of the oval. The final step was to glue the panel with all of the circles and oval to the face of the white card base and add a sentiment that I computer generated.

 

TIME OUT Challenges: Challenge 242 - Inspired By Words

Added 7/27/23:

PURRFECT HALLOWEEN

Mid July and time for our Two Old Bats Halloween Challenge mid-month reminder! I started out with good intentions to use the current July mood board for inspiration. I thought to use the lower right quadrant - black cat with red, white & blue ruff (Doesn't 'ruff' sound like a canine word?)! 

Two Old Bats Halloween Challenge: July 2023 Mid Month Reminder

But after over-working my idea about using the Tim Holtz Halloween cats stamp and trying to apply collars and bowties, I finally just gave up and opted for "cute".

I stamped the three cats with black ink on gray cardstock and decided to die cut them into a tag. I wanted their eyes to show up, so I hand cut the openings and backed the tag with a scrap of sparkly green paper. The green sparkle doesn't show up in my photo. I white heat embossed the sentiment over the black cats and attached the gray tag to a second tag cut from green and black cat paper. I attached them with a bright green satin ribbon and glued them to a card I had prepared with a couple of mats in black, gray, and white printed papers. 

So, that's my "Anything Halloween" card for mid-July. You still have about 2 weeks to finish up your cards and share them with us.  

And speaking of purrfect: Earlier this week I received a package of used wine barrel hoops from Etsy that I had ordered to augment my existing 3 hoops (my plan is to use all of them as steppingstones in my garden) and they arrived in a box with kraft packing paper. I decided to leave the box and packing material for the cats to play with and the first one in was this cutie, Tiger.

 

BON APPETIT!

Anne Marie is in charge this week at The Paper Players' CAS Challenge, and she's come up with a fun theme - "Bon Appetit! - Things you can eat". As usual, I have a hole in my card supplies when it comes to food, which is strange for a foodie! I do have an old summer stamp set that features rows of pineapples, watermelons, and ice cream cones, and I started out to work with it. Then I threw out my idea and decided to make my own watermelon slices with a series of circle dies and some green and red cardstocks.

Once I started playing with the idea of a couple of slices of watermelon, my mind started wandering to the idea of picnics and bugs, and voila, this is what I came up with. I started with a die cut stitched rectangle in white cardstock that I stamped this little Katzelkraft bug onto and colored him with some Copic markers, along with a small sentiment from Hero Arts #CM351. Then I trimmed a scrap of red and white checked PTI paper and glued it over him and added the watermelon slices I had made - a bug's picnic banquet! 

The Paper Players: PP649 - A Clean-and-Simple Challenge from Anne Marie

I'm looking forward to seeing what all of you come up with for Anne Marie's celebration of food! But, remember to keep it CAS!

WISH BIG - THE PAPER PLAYERS

Hello, Sunday morning! It's that time again for a new challenge at The Paper Players. This week we have a color challenge from our talented Ann:

The Paper Players: PP648 - A Color Challenge from Ann

I have a new die set that I wanted to play with for this challenge - Simon Says Stamp! "Fancy Cake Set" #S731.

I leaned heavily on the black to set off the colors of the cake. The background is from PTI's "Balloon Bash" series. I die cut it with black cardstock and attached it to a white card base. Then with my markers I colored in some of the openings. The white heat embossed sentiment is also from PTI - "Stylish Sentiments: Birthday". I cut the cake, candles, and cake stand from scraps in my stash and added a white offset second layer to the cake stand to dress it up a bit. The die cut flowers and leaf are from a Spellbinders "Christmas Blooms" set. Finally, I added several sequins near the sentiment.

Your turn! Check out what the talented team has come up with and join in the fun!

On a personal note: The work in our front yard continues. On Thursday the landscape supply yard delivered 25 yards of topsoil/compost. It's been a race against time to get plants into the ground in triple-digit heat, but fortunately that was accomplished yesterday. All of the new plants are water-wise, but I'll still have to be diligent through this first season and into fall. This week the sprinkler heads and control box will be installed for the irrigation system, and we'll be ready for our much smaller new lawn area.

AT THE BEACH

Wow, here we are already at the month of July and my thoughts are fondly going to the Southern Oregon coast, although my body is staying here in Medford. It's theme week at The Paper Players and our beloved LeAnne has selected "At the Beach", which feels way appropriate for the first week of July!

I started my card this week by getting a layout inspiration from CAS Colors and Sketches Challenge #514. 

I prepared a side-folded white card base and a stitched edge rectangular panel that I die cut a square from. Using my Hero Arts Color Layering "Waves" and "Sea & Sky" stamp sets, I stamped the waves in two colors of blue-gray and blended the sky with a pale blue. I over-stamped a couple of gulls and the sentiment in black and inserted the image behind the top panel. I added a couple of layers of cardstock behind the front panel for some dimension. After stamping the Adirondack chair and ball, I fussy cut them, and overlapped them on the opening. While LeAnne's photos are bright and cheery, I chose the more subtle colors I would see any morning on an Oregon beach before the fog has fully lifted, and then added a couple of brightly colored objects.

LeAnne has put together a great montage for inspiration, with many images and bright summer colors to get you thinking about a summer beach holiday. Check in with the rest of the designers and look at their great "At the Beach" cards!

The Paper Players: PP647 - A Theme Challenge from LeAnne

This is the CC&S sketch that inspired me:

CAS Colours & Sketches: Challenge #514 - Sketch (cascoloursandsketches.blogspot.com)

Added July 8, 2023:

STAR-SPANGLED SKELETON - WITH A BANNER!

Our July Two Old Bats Halloween Challenge features red, white and blue! Look at that row of bony characters in the top right picture of our mood board. That's where I went.

Two Old Bats Halloween Challenge: July Anything Halloween

I must admit to not being too excited about a red, white & blue Halloween card, but I relaxed into it and thoroughly enjoyed the fun!

This card started with an idea - "Red White & Boo" and trying to figure out how to implement it. I have this old rubber stamp from Stampendous that I've used quite a few times over the years, most recently here . I stamped the image twice with Memento Tuxedo Black - the first time on a gray cardstock and the second time on white cardstock. I distressed the gray background piece after trimming it down and then fussy cut the white skeleton out and adhered him over the face of the gray stamped panel. I matted it with red iridescent stock and set it aside until I prepared a black top-folded card base and attached a gray stitched rectangular panel. To make the sentiment, I messed with a PTI 4th of July stamp by stamping it with VersaMark watermark ink (on black cardstock) and masking the top line and heat embossing the middle and bottom line with white embossing powder. I then masked the bottom lines and red heat embossed the top one. The final step was to white heat emboss the word "Boom" on blue stock from the same PTI set and trim it down to make "BOO" and glue that over the top of the final word of the sentiment. I added a blue panel to the face of the card, layered the sentiment strip over, and added Mr. Bones and his panel over these other layers. The final step was to add some red, white, and blue streamers through his hands. Do you suppose he's dancing to The Star-Spangled Banner? 

Check out the great cards my fellow Design Team members came up with - very creative! You have the full month to create your own and there will be a prize drawing if we can get up to 25 cards submitted. Remember, you can submit more than one card and your cards don't have to be inspired by the mood board - submit anything Halloween themed. Mostly, have fun!

THE PAPER PLAYERS SKETCH CHALLENGE

Claire has presented us with a sketch challenge this week and the timing was perfect for me to send a graduation card to my nephew's oldest son. 

I turned the sketch on its ear for a horizontal card that would allow me to include an envelope to insert a gift card.

I attached a black stitched rectangle that was matted with gold cardstock. To this I layered iridescent red and gold vellum strips after gold heat embossing the sentiment. I die cut a strip of gold stars from an old die from I don't know who. I wanted to add a graduation cap and tassel so went to Pinterest for some ideas - great source! I cut a couple of small squares and attached a little tassel I made from red thread and mounted it with a gold brad. I glued white panels inside the card and die cut a small envelope from red iridescent vellum and attached some gold vellum stars to the top flap. That's it.

The other designers have prepared some wonderful examples of Claire's sketch - so have some fun with it! 

The Paper Players: PP646 - A Sketch Challenge from Claire

Cat News: A couple of nights ago my husband and I were relaxing on the patio catching up with each other's days and suddenly 4 small black and white kittens came through the fence! We had just the night before discussed that our little Chenin (named after a bottle of Chenin Blanc wine we were drinking one evening when we decided she needed a name instead of just Mama Kitty) had probably lost her kittens, since it had been at least 8 weeks since she was trapped and spayed. So, to suddenly have these 4 little cuties appearing was a bit of a surprise - the first words out of hubby's mouth were, "We're totally screwed!" Now begins the problems of what to do with these 4 new babes that were born feral. No way do we want 10 outside cats. Their mom has done a great job of keeping them safe and hidden from view.

But who is the mom? The other female that we thought had given birth was one we call Lady Jane Grey - white with lots of dark gray areas and spots. When we had her spayed at the same time as Chenin, we were surprised to get the message that only Chenin was lactating, because we were sure that both of them had been pregnant and given birth. Each time that the new kittens have arrived in the patio they've been accompanied by Lady Jane and last night she was engaging them all in play on the side lawn in the way that we have seen mama cats do. This morning they were all with her outside the gate and she was keeping her eyes on them, while Chenin was not really paying attention to them. So, it appears that Lady Jane is their mother, which is quite a surprise!

THE BEACH LIFE

I kind of waited until the last minute to make my "One Layer Wonder" CAS card for this week's The Paper Players #PP645, so when it wasn't really meeting my expectations, it was too late to turn back! I think one-layer cards are harder than most because once you commit your ink to the paper you can't save it by die cutting and layering. It's one shot!

I started this card with a row of flip-flops from Lawn Fawn's "Simply Summer" stamp set, inked with Memento "Tuxedo Black" and colored them with Copic markers. Then I tore a piece of paper and masked off a rectangle and masked the flip-flops and blended Altenew "Rocky Shores" ink and overprinted stipples with the same ink and an Alexandra Renke "Accentuation - Areas" stamp. I overprinted the sentiment from Hero Arts #CM317 "Color Layering Sea & Sky". Then I folded the card at the top and realized it just didn't look finished. I had set the image too far up on the card and the sentiment didn't quite look right so I added a shell and embossed a couple of lines from the back of the card to balance things out. 

Jaydee's challenge deserved more than this, but I'll leave it to all of you to fill in for me, and next week I'll start a little earlier. Go see the wonderful inspirational cards from my fellow design teamers! 

The Paper Players: PP645 - A Clean-and-Simple Challenge from Jaydee

FRIGHT NIGHT

Mid-June and time for a mid-month reminder to get your Halloween cards in for the June Two Old Bats Halloween Challenge! Only 19-1/2 weeks until the Magic Witching Hour! If you have been following along with us, you're over half-way to having all of your Halloween cards finished and ready to send out.

I had originally intended to pursue my idea about a layered cake for this card, but I really ran short of time this week and opted for a design inspired by a couple of other challenges. I've had this "hound of hell" die from Whimsy Stamps ("Monster Parade Die Set #WSD488) that I've looked for an opportunity to use. I started with the current sketch challenge from Freshly Made Sketches #590 with three horizontal bands bleeding off on the right side of the card. After preparing a white card base by stamping a Tim Holtz cobweb on it with PTI "Soft Stone" and then stamping it a second time on a die-cut stitched rectangular panel. I then layered three scraps of printed papers over the front panel, attached it to the card base with dimensional foam, and slipped the banded papers under the top panel to continue to the right edge. The final step was my hound die cut from black card stock.

While I didn't follow the June mood board, you're welcome to come up with your interpretation, or anything Halloween. It's a fun challenge!

 Two Old Bats Halloween Challenge: June Anything Halloween

This was my jumping-off point for my card this time around:

Freshly Made Sketches: Freshly Made Sketches #590 - A Sketch by Kim

And for good measure, I'm also entering my card in the Inkspirational Challenge #291 - "Seasonal":

Inkspirational: Inkspirational Challenge #291 - SEASONAL (inkspirationalchallenges.blogspot.com)

Added June 24, 2023: