Peonies and Paper Chains

The Latest Pals Paper Arts Color Challenge

This week, Pals Paper Arts has a fresh, fun color combo (PPA258) to get your creative juices flowing! It combines two new In Colors (Watermelon Wonder and Cucumber Crush) with the tried and true hue of Night of Navy:

 

As I said, it is fresh and fun. I am confident that so many of you will adore creating with these colors!  The green and pink-ish red are bright and cheerful while the blue brings in a nice balancing tone.  It's actually quite the "preppy" color combo (and I mean that in the best way) and really wonderful for summer.

However, I must admit, I really struggled with this one...

I do not have ink in Cucumber Crush or Watermelon Wonder and that was part of the quandary. When faced with a challenge to use a color combo, a "go to" technique for many crafters is lots of white space with just a few splashes of color. That was not a possibility for this one!

So, using lots of another neutral (Smoky Slate), a couple pops of color from Cucumber Crush and Watermelon Wonder card stock, a little stamping with the Words of Truth and Writing Notes stamp sets and my Night of Navy ink, I have this inspiration for you:

Oh, did I mention I pulled out my brayer too?  The Night of Navy background is courtesy of my brayer and ink! This is truly becoming my fave "fast and fabulous" technique!

Here is the full collection of new In Colors:

Of the new colors, which ones are you "crushing" on? For me, it is Mint Macaron and Tip Top Taupe...love them! Be sure to leave a comment with your faves!

And, do come play along with us at Pals Paper Arts! The PPA258 Challenge closes on July 7 at 12 noon Eastern!

 

Enjoy a little creativity today!

 
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Berry Baskets for Pals Paper Arts!

You may have caught a glimpse of my project for the new Pals Paper Arts color challenge on Instagram earlier this week. My Instagram account is the go to spot for peeks at my projects...and a little of everyday life around here.

I loved used this week's color to put together today's design team project. I find the PPA 246  color combo to be quite spring like and dreamy:

I knew instantly that I wanted to make a couple little baskets using the Berry Baskets Bigz L die. They are so quick and easy to make and so very adorable! 

 

The basket bases were made using the 12 x 12 Kraft paper and embossed with the Woodgrain Textured Impressions Embossing Folder. This combo of paper and embossing creates a very natural looking basket. The edges done in Crisp Cantaloupe and Pistachio Pudding provide for a pretty contrast against the Kraft paper.

 

 

The embellishing of my Berry Baskets was kept clean and simple --

• initials stamped using the Larger Than Life Alphabet & Numbers stamp set and cut out with my 2-1/2" circle punch
• names added using the Alphabet Rotary stamp
• little paper ribbons/flags
• wooden clothespins to hold everything in place

As you may have noticed in the image above, Brooklyn's name was popped up with Stampin' Dimensionals and the edge of piece of card stock colored in Crumb Cake -- these details take just moments to do!

 

 

Hope that you are feeling inspired to pull out your Crisp Cantaloupe, Pistachio Pudding, and Kraft! To see the inspiration from all of the design team members, click here!

And, please be sure to play along with us at Pals Paper Arts this week! The challenge closes at noon on Tuesday! 

 
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P.S. I was out of Pistachio Pudding card stock to use for this project. However, thanks to my Pistachio Pudding ink pad,  my brayer, and a strip Naturals White card stock, my dilemma was solved! 

 

Five on Friday Stampin' Up! Color Combo: no. 12 in 2015

 

Happy Friday, friends!

It's time for a brand new color combo to help get your creative juices flowing! Use all five or just a few...whatever you do, have fun with them!

Enjoy a little creativity today!

 
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Five on Friday...A Sleek New Stampin' Up! Color Combo!

 

Happy Friday, friends!

You love new color combos and I love putting them together for you. I've not yet had a chance to create with this one, however, I am excited to do so. This combo feels so sleek and sophisticated to me. What about you?

Stay tuned for a creation in the next few days!

And, hope you enjoy a little creative time today!

 
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Simply Sweet Five Color Combo!

 

Happy Friday, friends!

Fingers crossed that you'll agree that today's Five on Friday color combo is pure sweetness! These colors come almost exclusively from the Best Year Ever Designer Series Paper and you can see the colors in action on this wreath that I posted a couple weeks ago:

The colors are truly divine and I'm so happy each time I see the wreath in my dining room...it is truly an all time favorite project.

Click to download the FREE wreath tutorial (PDF) ...and then, get creating with this color combo!

Enjoy a little creativity today!

 
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Rich, Bold Stampin' Up! Color!

 

Happy Friday, friends!

Stampin' Up! really does color so well! Today's combo to get you creating is a mix of rich bold, bold colors! Use all five colors or a mix of two or three...it is up to you!

I can't wait to get creating with it...how about you?

Have a creative day!

 
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Double the Color!

Happy Friday friends!

After sharing last week's Pals Paper Arts project, I went on an unplanned, unannounced mini blog break and now I'm back! It means that I missed sharing last week's Five on Friday color combo so today you get double the color!

 

First up, in honor of Valentine's Day, I've got a fun twist on the traditional V-day hues for last minutes cards or treats you may choose (or need) to make...

 

And, a combo with a mix of neutral tones and cool winter hues...

 

Which combo has you fired up to get creating today? I'd love to know! Be sure to leave a comment and let me know which you'll be putting use!

I've got a really special post for you Sunday...see you then!

 
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Five for Five!

Happy Friday, friends! Today is the 5th Friday of 2015 and I'm sharing the fifth Stampin' Up! five color combo with you. We're off to a good start!

Now before I share the latest color inspiration with you, I wanted to share a little about some emails I received lately. I've had a few loyal blog readers (thank you!) reach out and ask if I'll be sharing any three color combos or if the combos will work if only 3 of the colors are used.

To the first question, the answer is no and the reason is two-fold...

1. Five color combos push us stretch our creative muscles - two and three color combos may get us trying new colors together, but five sometimes makes us really work for it (me included).

2. I love the alliterative quality of "Five on Friday" -- "Three on Friday" is just not the same. As I sit here typing this I realize I can get the same alliterative quality with "Four on Friday", however I am thinking I will still stick to "Five on Friday". When I first launched the Five on Friday series a year and half or so ago, I missed things up...five was to use ribbon, my five favorite Stampin' Up! tools, five mini card sketches. It was the color combos though that resonated most with people and that's why I chose to simply focus on those.

Wow...that was long-winded!

And the answer to the second question is "yes, absolutely"...pick any three colors from the combo and they should work together!

By now you must really want to get to the new combo! Here goes...

Honestly as I sit here looking at this now, it has such a summery feel to me! Frankly, that is kind of nice given that we got 33" of snow earlier this week! Here's an image of my sweet boy Brinkley (a Brittany) out in the path we had to clear!

 

Brinkley took a lap around the dog track! #brittany #snowdog #blizzardof2015

A photo posted by Kerry Willard Bray (@kerrywillardbray) on Jan 27, 2015 at 12:22pm PST

 Hope this week's color combo (or the photo) inspire you to get creating this weekend!

 
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New Five on Friday Stampin' Up! Color Combo!

Happy Friday, friends! I've got a fun new combo to get your creative juices flowing this weekend...

This combo feels sweet and dreamy to me...what do you think?

And, lest you think I forgot about creating something with last week's Five on Friday color combo, I promise that I did not! In fact,  I paired it with this week's Mojo Monday sketch challenge and came up with the following:

Love this sentiment! This stamp comes on its own as a single clear mount stamp and I had fun inking it up with my Stampin' Write Markers!

Hope you are able to carve out a little time for creating this weekend! I'd love to see what you create with either this week or last week's color combo and I invite you to share your creation over on the Peonies and Paper Chains Facebook page!

Have a fabulous day!

 
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New Stampin' Up! Five Color Combo

Happy Friday, friends! Hope you are ready to get creating because I have a brand new Stampin' Up! five color combo for you:

I'm not quite sure how I would precisely describe this combo, however, the mix of rich earthy tones, soothing blues, and the pop of Crushed Curry really appeals to me!

This weekend I'll be creating with this color combo and I hope you will too! I might even combine these colors with the Pals Paper Arts sketch that designed and shared with you yesterday.

I'd love to see what you create and invite you to share it over on the Peonies and Paper Chains Facebook page! 

Enjoy a lil' creativity today!

 

 
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