Paper Players Tic Tac Toe

Jaydee has a fun Tic Tac Toe chart for our challenge this week at The Paper Players! I went with the first vertical row with fall, orange and leaves as elements on my card. 

I started by white embossing the pumpkin image (Ornate Leaves set by Simon Says Stamp) on white cardstock, then brushed on Carved Pumpkin distress oxide ink and fussy cut it. The watercolored leaves - Falling Leaves by My Favorite Things - were leftovers from a previous project.

I smooshed Fossilized Amber and Peeled Paint distress oxide inks on the background. After it dried, I die cut with the Crimped Frame die by The Greetery. It's hard to see, but the vertical Early Espresso strip was run through the crimper. The kraft frame is an old die by Verve.

For more inspiration from the rest of the talented design team, please check out their creations HERE.  Hope to see you in the gallery!                                                         ~Wanda

CAS(E) This Sketch

I used the fun Cozy Cup stamps and dies from The Greetery for this card for the CAS(E) This Sketch challenge. While it looks busy with all the patterned paper, it really has very few elements. The layered stamping that is the signature to Betsy's stamps at The Greetery really add so much dimension with very little effort! P.S. Not sure why the sketch was flipped to the side on the CTS website. I didn't try to correct it through Photo Shop so that tells you I'm on the tired side today - lol!

STAMPS: Cozy Cup (The Greetery).
PAPER: Perfectly Plaid Fall (Lawn Fawn); White (Papertrey Ink).
INK: Crumb Cake, Soft Suede, Early Espresso (SU); Fairy Dust, Silver Lining, Siron Song (WPlus9); Mustard Seed, Spiced Marmalade distress oxide inks (Ranger).
DIES: Cozy Cup (The Greetery); Pierced Feature Frame (Papertrey Ink).

So while out on a short retail therapy trip this afternoon, I stopped

at Target and always breeze through their dollar bin area! Check this out! They had several 6x6" paper pads ($3.00 for each) and I couldn't resist this one that had several plaids!

Have a great weekend! It's Fri-yay!                ~Wanda

Fleur Impressions

This card was created for the Freshly Made Sketches and The Card Concept challenges. I was inspired by the striped pitcher and the yellow glow in the photo. 

I stenciled the striped background using Altenew's Watercolor Stripes stencil and Blueprint Sketch distress oxide ink by Ranger.  The sentiment is from Taylored Expressions' Simple Strips Friends stamp set and was white embossed on black CS.

The florals are from the Fleur Impressions stamp set by The Greetery. The crimped frame die is also by that company.

INK: Queen Bee, Lime Light by WPlus9; Daffodil Delight and Crushed Curry by SU.

So that's it for today. Stamping was done last evening but didn't get to post it until tonight. Thanks so much for stopping by and commenting!   ~Wanda

                

MFT Wednesday Sketch Challenge

This was a quick one for the My Favorite Things Wednesday Sketch Challenge this week. I already had the leftover leaves from a previous watercoloring session, so I only cut new circles and the background papers. The sentiment was stamped twice using my MISTI with Memento Tuxedo Black ink and is from the Ornate Leaves stamp set by Simon Says Stamp.

Color Throwdown #562

Another Wednesday means another Color Throwdown challenge is happening! Barbara Anders is our host this week and is asking us to use light blue, dark blue, gray and black.  I already had this Yupo panel of alcohol inks in blues, so it seemed like the perfect starting point. The swatch photo inspired me to ink up Bottled Up set and filled them with images from Budding Beauties stamp set - both by The Greetery.

STAMPS: Bottled Up, Budding Beauties Autumn (The Greetery).
PAPER: Yupo; White, True Black (PTI); Stationer's Desk by Prima.
INK: Memento Tuxedo Black; Pacific Point (SU); Fairy Dust, Silver Lining (WPlus9).
DIES: Cozy Cup Coaster, Macra Made Fillers, Budding Beauties Autumn, Bottled Up (The Greetery); Stitched Square and Stitched Rectangle STAX Die-Namics by My Favorite Things. 

Be sure to stop by the blogs of the other team members to see what they've come up with:

Amy Rohl 

 Amy Rysavy
Barbara Anders 

 Broni Holcombe  

Jodi Collins 

 Lisa Henke  

Lori Tecler 

Lynn Put  

Vickie Zimmer 

 Wanda Cullen (you are here)

Hope to see you in the gallery!          ~Wanda

JUGS & Sketch Saturday

I threw this card together very quickly for the Sketch Saturday challenge and the Just Us Girls challenge where it's color week - mint green, gray and white. Once again, I reached for this awesome collaboration set - Wonderful You - put together by Reverse Confetti and Simon Says Stamp for their STAMPtember celebration. I just checked their website and sadly, this set is no longer in stock and it won't be replenished. Once the collaboration sets are gone, they are gone! :-(

I used Pistachio Pudding (SU), Mint Macaron (SU), Silver Lining

(WPlus9), and Memento Tuxedo Black inks to stamp the leafy sprig images. The sentiment was white embossed with Versamark ink and Pure White EP by Altenew. A SU button with white thread was the only embellishment. 

DIES: Stitched Fishtail Flags STAX Die-Namics by My Favorite Things; Wonderful You by Reverse Confetti and Simon Says Stamp.

It's a beautiful fall day with temps in the mid 70's here in VA! My kind of day!

CAS(E) This Sketch

I raided my leftover pile for these autumn elements for this CAS(E) This Sketch challenge card. The only "new" piece was the sentiment - Bountiful Wreath by The Greetery - stamped with Early Espresso ink on Vintage Cream cardstock. Leaves were watercolored and the pumpkin was sponged with distress oxide inks. Name of embossing folder is unknown.

DIES: Bountiful Wreath (The Greetery); Stitched Pumpkins, Stitched Maple Trio, Maple Leaf Corner (Simon Says Stamp); Pierced Feature Frame (Papertrey Ink).

Pretty Peonies

I will miss using summer colors and flowers in my card creations, though who says you can't use them year round?! I haven't used this Pretty Peonies set from The Stamp Market in a long time and thought they would work well for a tall skinny card which is what Claire is asking us to create for the new Paper Players challenge. I don't know why I don't use this size more often, because I really love the look! Thanks for the push, Claire!

Here is what I used...
STAMPS: Pretty Peonies (The Stamp Market).
PAPER: Black and White Basics 6x6 pad (My Favorite Things); True Black and White by Papertrey Ink.
INK: Lime Light, Shell Pink, Little Piggy, Sweet Gelato (dye inks by WPlus9); Versamark.
DIES: Pretty Peonies (The Stamp Market); Stitched Circle and Fishtail Flags STAX Die-Namics (MFT).

For more inspiration from the rest of the talented design team, please check out their creations HERE.  Hope to see you in the gallery!                                                         ~Wanda

Freshly Made Sketches

What a fun card for someone to give to their favorite mummy - lol! This was a quick and easy card to put together for the Freshly Made Sketches challenge. It was also perfect to use up some wee scraps of patterned paper from Reverse Confetti's Fright Night 6x6" pad. The mummy - colored with Copics - and sentiment are from the Best Witches stamp set by Reverse Confetti. I added some background texture by using Liquitex light modeling paste with RC's Pointed Out stencil. Some wooden veneer stars topped it all off!

 

I'm watching a couple of the grands this morning then will run some errands this afternoon. The Downton Abbey movie is coming out today but am guessing I might have to wait until later to see it. I loved the PBS series and the movie is bound to be good based on previews! Have a great Friday everyone!

Tag, You're It Guest Designer

What a great piece of happy email when you find out one of your cards is a challenge winner! I recently played with the Tag, You're It challenge and won a future guest designer spot! Today, I'm guesting with them and the theme is buttons! How fun to bring out this older Papertrey Ink stamp set  - Baby Button Bits - which was so perfect! I felt a bit guilty for only using one button, but thought this bee would be perfect to add a baby card to my stash!

I used a small blending brush with a TCW Mini

Hexagons stencil and So Saffron ink by SU for the background. I then layered a Hexagon Element die by Simon Says Stamp over it...leaving an occasional solid hexagon intact. A strip of black cardstock and some washi tape were added for a horizontal element. The tag die is the Traditional Tags STAX Die-Namics by My Favorite Things.  I colored the wings with Copics - Y32 and YR21. The white base was die cut with the Crimped Frame die by The Greetery.  

So let me hear some buzz - haha! Hope your day is a great one!           ~Wanda

Fusion Card Challenge

This was a particularly fun challenge for me as I chose to use both the sketch and the inspiration photo for the new Fusion Card Challenge! I totally love the new Cozy Cup stamp/die set from The Greetery and loved layering up the stamps that give so much dimension to the images! I always love pairing up this mini stencil (set of 3) by Tim Holtz that adds some coffee "stains" to the background. 

I love this heavier than normal weight textured paper called ancestry.com from K and Company. It made it easier to tear the edges. I ran a strip of kraft CS through my crimper to add even more texture. 

STAMPS: Cozy Cup (The Greetery).
INK: Sahara Sand, Crumb Cake, Baked Brown Sugar, Soft Suede, Pool Party, Bermuda Bay - dye inks by SU; Lime Light, Last Leaf, Fairy Dust, Silver Lining dye inks by WPlus9.
DIES: Cozy Cup (The Greetery).

We'd love to see how you are inspired by the new Fusion Card Challenge! Hope to see you in the gallery.        ~Wanda
                                                                    

Coral and Red Roses

I created this card for two different challenges: Make My Monday #105 which has a color option this week and also for Try Stampin' on Tuesday which is a sketch challenge.

I wanted to try using my new blending brushes on regular white cardstock after die cutting the layers for these flowers. It made it so easy to blend

colors...especially when adding 3 different colors to the leaves! 

It's been awhile since I used the Fantasy Floral Die set from Altenew, but that gorgeous group of florals in the photograph led me straight to these great dies which are easy to assemble! 

  
The sentiment is from Taylored Expressions Simple Strips Background set.  I accented the black panel with some olive green twine.

It's a perfect day here in VA...sunny but not hot and humid! Thanks so much for stopping by and commenting!              ~Wanda

Color Throwdown #561

These weeks are flying by and it's time again for a new Color Throwdown Challenge! Amy Rysavy is our host and has some gorgeous colors...so perfect to ink up this collaboration set between Reverse Confetti and Simon Says Stamp for the SSS Stamptember celebration! I'm totally in love with this set and you'll be seeing more of it in my future posts!  After I finished my card, I then noticed the graphic listed ivory and I had totally missed it and used white. I'm calling it "close" in color - lol!

I used die cut, colored branches so it would give more dimension than simply stamping on the white panel. It was more time consuming but worth it. I then splattered black paint from my Mijello Mission Gold palette using a small brush.
 
STAMPS: Wonderful You (Simon Says Stamp).
PAPER: White (PTI).
INK: Memento Tuxedo Black; Seedless Preserves, Cracked Pistachio, Lucky Clover distress oxide inks by Ranger.
DIES: Crimped Frames (The Greetery); Wonderful You (SSS).

Be sure to stop by the blogs of the other team members to see what they've come up with:

Amy Rohl 

 Amy Rysavy
Barbara Anders 

 Broni Holcombe  

Jodi Collins 

 Lisa Henke  

Lori Tecler 

Lynn Put  

Vickie Zimmer 

 Wanda Cullen (you are here)

Hope to see you in the gallery!          ~Wanda

{PIN}spirational Challenge

It's an overcast day and after I threw some laundry into the washer, I headed to my craft room to see what I could find to inspire me! I found this lovely fall inspiration photo over on the {PIN}spirational Challenge blog. I loved the glass filled jar with the throw in the background and knew I wanted to use some new goodies from The Greetery to create my card.  I added more colors to my design, but the elements of the bouquet in a jar with a blanket as a backdrop will hopefully suffice.

Yesterday, I got some happy mail when my long awaited blender

brushes from Taylored Expressions arrived on my door step! I just had to initiate them by blending the card base with 3 distress oxide inks: Antique Linen, Scattered Straw and Fossilized Amber. The colors are very close so the variation is very subtle. These brushes were also used for the stenciled filler images in the bouquet. They are more lightweight and easier to hold than another brand I had been using! I'm VERY happy that I invested in these! It's a tool - like the MISTI - that I will not want to be without.  

For the mason jar, I stamped off once with Pacific Point (SU) ink for step 1, then used full Pacific Point ink for step 2. For step 3, I used Chipped Sapphire distress oxide ink. The string was stamped with Brushed Corduroy distress oxide ink. Fossilized Amber then Brushed Corduroy were used on the wheat image. Carved Pumpkin and Ripe Persimmon were used on the berries; leaves were Peeled Paint and the stems were Ground Espresso. The patterned paper "throw" is from Lawn Fawn's Perfectly Plaid Fall 6x6 pad.

STAMPS: Sentiment Suite: Thinking of You, Budding Beauties Autumn, Just Mason Around - all by The Greetery.
DIES: Just Mason Around, Budding Beauties Autumn, Sentiment Suite Basics, Cozy Cup Coaster - all by The Greetery.
OTHER: Mason Jar Fillers stencils by The Greetery. 

Hope your week is going well in your neck of the woods!
                                                                 ~Wanda

Freshly Made Sketches

I'm squeezing in under the wire to enter my card into the Freshly Made Sketches challenge! I couldn't pass this great layout up and created a Christmas card using this fun Triangle Trees set by Reverse Confetti. The kraft card base was embossed with RC's Diagonal Stitches Cover Panel. The sentiment was white embossed on Avocado CS and I embellished with the Holly die.

STAMPS: Triangle Trees (Reverse Confetti).
PAPER: Kraft (PTI); Lime Green, Avocado (Reverse Confetti); Craft It Vintage Glam (Recollections); Brushed Gold CS (SU).
INK: Versamark; Avocado (RC).
DIES: Triangle Trees, Holly, Diagonal Stitches Cover Panel (RC); Stitched Sentiment Strips Die-Namics (My Favorite Things). 
                                                                      ~Wanda