Signs of Winter with the Paper Players

Good morning stampy friends!  And it IS a good morning, because it's time for a new challenge from The Paper Players!  Check out the theme this week courtesy of the lovely Joanne:

So when you hear the word winter, what do you think of?  Evergreen trees?  Skiing?  Snowflakes or snowmen?  All valid answers and all on the challenge graphic, but you know what I think winter is for?  Tea and books!  And a snuggley blanket!

Yep, while the hubs and the kiddo were out skiing last weekend, I was snug in our house with a cuppa tea and a good book (and also icing my hand after I fell down, I can't imagine how I would injure myself if I tried skiing).  For my card, I combined a teacup image from the long-retired Take a Sip (a wheel that I unmounted and turned into stamps, it lives in the stamp case with the coordinating Morning Cup stamp set) and a stack of books from last year's For the Books.  I found my winter greeting in Delicate Pines, and I took my colors mostly from the Penguin Playmates DSP, though the pattern I used is monochromatic Fresh Freesia--I chose the snowflake pattern to support the winter theme of my card.  I had fun coloring in my stack of books, added a few Two-Toned Sparkle Gems even though this is a CAS design, and done.  The color on the sparkle gems doesn't show up too well in my picture but it does coordinate well with my card IRL.

Do you like to read?  My kiddo does not, which I find inconceivable.  Last week I was reading The Lord of the Rings:  The Return of the King, and now I am reading the third book in the Anne of Green Gables series.  I read every single day and can't imagine going any length of time without reading something.  I've been a bit fixated on Middle Earth of late, which is funny because the first time I read the books I thought they were an absolute slog, but I enjoyed them much more this time around.  Next Saturday the hubs and I are going to see the extended edition of The Two Towers on the big screen for my birthday.  I have the movies in our library, but there's no telling how long it would take me to get through an almost 4-hour movie when I'm getting interrupted by Ryan or Daphne or bedtime or laundry or what have you, so I will enjoy going to see it all in one go in theaters.  Going to the movies is also a fun winter activity : )

I digress.  I hope you'll check out the Paper Players blog to see what my teamies think of when winter is upon us, and upload your own creation there.  You can also hop through all the blogs:

The Paper Players Design Team

Jaydee

LeAnne Pugliese

Claire Broadwater

Joanne James

Anne Marie Hile

Ann Schach

Jan Clothier

Stef Perry

you are here --> Christy Stanford

And then upload your card at the Paper Players blog!  Keep in mind a few simple rules:
1.  Create a new paper project
2.  Upload your creation to your blog with a link back to us and provide a direct link to the post featuring your challenge submission
3.  Please link your card to no more than four challenges, TOTAL
4.  Have fun!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Take a Sip, For the Books, Delicate Pines
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Stampin' Blends in Balmy Blue, Fresh Freesia, Just Jade, Pretty in Pink, Soft Sea Foam, Ivory, Bronze
Paper:  Balmy Blue, Thick Basic White, Penguin Playmates DSP
Accessories:  Nested Essentials dies, Dimensionals, Two-Toned Sparkle Gems

Tea-Riffic

Happy Friday, y'all!  I couldn't resist making one more tea-related project this week.

All the stamps I used are retired; the sentiment is from A Nice Cuppa and the teacups are from the Take a Sip wheel, which I unmounted and turned into I think eight individual stamps.  It coordinates with the Morning Cup stamp set and in my house the Take a Sip stamps live in the same stamp case as Morning Cup.

Let's start with a color challenge from Inkspire Me:

You know I am here for anything involving Tranquil Tide, and I thought this worked pretty well with my teacups.

Here is this week's Freshly Made Sketch:

And of course the irresistible theme challenge from the Paper Players:

At first when I was working on this card, I had planned to stamp the card base as well but I decided it was just too busy:

The tea rings and splats are from Timeless Textures, but again, it was just too busy for my card and took away the focus from the teacups.  Luckily I hadn't stuck down the main image panel when I made that decision, so I just had to redo my card base.

I'm off to go feed the kiddo his morning Cheerios.  Have a great day, peeps!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Take a Sip, A Nice Cuppa
Ink:  Soft Sky, Tranquil Tide, Soft Suede, Sahara Sand
Paper:  Soft Sky, Tranquil Tide, Thick Whisper White
Accessories:  Dimensionals, Tranquil Tide ribbon

Friday Flashback: Morning Cup

Happy Friday, peeps!  My computer is running slow this morning (so am I, actually) so I had to restart it before I could get this post written.  But I think we're in business now :)  Today's Friday Flashback stamp set is Morning Cup, which I got completely by accident:  it was included in an order I received even though I didn't order it, and Stampin' Up! told me to keep it.  Isn't that nice of them?  So let's flash back!

Also features Heard from the Heart

I'm sure this was for a combination SCS sketch/color challenge.  I think the main image panel and the stripey strip should be larger to balance out the polka dot panel.  But those stacked teacups are my favorite Morning Cup image...'cause I'm a tea drinker, not a coffee person.

I did make this for a friend who does drink coffee every morning, though :)

Also features Curly Cute, Take a Sip wheel

There was also a coordinating wheel of teacup images called Take a Sip, so I bought that and cut up the wheel to make individual stamps, which I used on here.  The tea bag background is from Morning Cup.

Also features Warm Words

I made these for my family when they came to visit us in England, the colors match the teapots I bought them.  And that's it for the flash back part, here is today's new creation:

Had I looked through my archives before I made this, I *might* have chosen a different image to play with, but I just love those stacked teacups so I went with that.  The colors are from the Color Throwdown:

I used Blushing Bride, Poppy Parade, Pear Pizzazz, and So Saffron for my colors.  I also used last week's Sketch Frenzy Friday sketch:

And that's all she wrote this week!  Hope you have a great weekend, peeps!

Supplies, last card only:
Stamps:  Morning Cup
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Blushing Bride, Poppy Parade, Pear Pizzazz, So Saffron
Paper:  So Saffron, Poppy Parade, Pear Pizzazz, Whisper White, Blushing Bride DSP
Accessories:  Chalk Talk Framelits, wide oval punch, scalloped border punch, Subtles Candy Dots, Dimensionals

Favorites Showcase 2012, Part 2

2013 may have started already, but I've still got to do the last 6 months of the 2012 retrospective.  So let's go!

I live in England and I have grown really fond of tea this last year.  I made this birthday card for a friend because we sent him a whole lotta tea for his birthday!  I used Morning Cup, the Take a Sip wheel (I cut it up into individual stamps), and Curly Cute.

I think By the Seashore and Perfectly Penned are two of my favorite stamp sets, and I really like the look of the shells thumped with markers.

I couldn't pick just one card for August, so here's an Artistic Etchings/Pursuit of Happiness card.  Generally I hate those "color" challenges that involve only neutrals and no colors, but I really liked how this card turned out.  (And I'm proud of myself for using Artistic Etchings but *not* the Eiffel Tower!)

This French Foliage card was for a September combo color/sketch challenge at SCS and I lurve those fall colors!  Had some good times with my leafy stamps this year...and we had a gorgeous autumn in this part of England, too.

Here's a pink birthday card for October using Papillon Potpourri, Perfectly Penned, and Elements of Style.  Sometimes it's fun to stamp on patterned paper.

More fall colors for November; this was a Friday Flashback card for Lovely Leaves.  Still really like that layout sketch too, I should re-use that soon!

I had a LOT of Christmas cards to choose from for December, but I thought I'd go with this sweet Scentsational Seasons gingerbread man instead of our personal tea-riffic Christmas cards.  Sentiment is of course from More Merry Messages, which got quite a workout this year!

I'll be back tomorrow with something all-new.  Hope your 2013 is off to a great start!