Paper Players #75 - Holiday Hoopla

Hi there and Happy Sunday to you! Sorry my post is running late today. I had internet problems this morning, which almost sent me into a tizzy. (Gasp!) I'm back online and ready to share my card for this week's challenge over at The Paper Players. The super-sweet, Nance Leedy is our "hostess with the most-est" for a fabulous theme challenge: Holiday Hoopla! This was a whole lot of fun, as the objective was to create a Christmas card using non-holiday stamps and non-traditional holiday colors. 

I decided to make a Christmas card for my Mom, who lives in Florida. (Mom, here is a "sneak peek" of what will be in your mailbox really soon!) I used a retired set, Tropical Party which was previously un-inked. I HAD to have it when it came out and just never found the motivation to use it. Has that ever happened to you? 

I created a little beach scene by sponging the sky with Pool Party ink and then tearing some Crumb Cake card stock to make "sand". Then I sponged the paper with Soft Suede ink and used the color Spritzer Tool to create little speckles. I felt like it needed a little sparkle (...shocking, I KNOW!) so I dressed up the edges with Dazzling Details. 

I colored different sizes of pearls with a marker to create the little ornaments. I decided, in the end, to only decorate one of the palm trees because both of them seemed like fa-la-la-la-over-kill. I'm not going to even talk about that triple twine bow. It took me entirely TOO long to get that thing situated and I'm still a wee bit bitter about it. I dressed up the button with a Glimmer Brad and right now, will probably never recreate that look again...unless I find myself with an extra hour and a half to kill. Lol! 

Here is the inside of the card, with a simple sentiment:

Thanks for stopping by today! I sure hope you get a chance to play along in all the Holiday Hoopla this week at The Paper Players. The challenge goes through Friday, December 9, 2011 at midnight PST. We can't wait to see what YOU create!  Also, please stop by and visit the rest of the lovely ladies on the Design Team to see what they whipped up. The sassy Rita Wright is joining us in December as a Guest Designer, too. (Hi Rita!)

The Paper Players Design Team

Ann Schach

Anne Marie Hile

Jaydee

Julie Marshall

LeAnne Pugliese

Lesley Croghan

Nance Leedy

Tara Bilbao
  Rita Wright (December GD)

Have a very HAPPY day today! We have been busy decorating the house for Christmas. So far we have the 4 "little" trees up (including my PINK tree). We still have the "big" tree and the outside lights to go this week. I DID have to pluck a Maine Coon cat from the tree in our bedroom today, so I fear this is going to be an interesting holiday. :) 

Stampin' Up! Supply List: 
Stamps: Tropical Party (ret.), Holiday happiness (sentiment) and Bright Hopes (inside sentiment)
Paper: Sweet Stitches DSP (ret.), Melon Mambo, Wild Wasabi, Crumb Cake and Whisper White card stock
Ink: Soft Suede, Crumb Cake, Wild Wasabi, Pool Party and Melon Mambo Classic ink
Punches: Large Oval and Scalloped Oval
Accessories: Subtles Buttons, Wild Wasabi Glimmer brads, Hemp Twine, Dazzling Details, Color Spritzer tool, Wild Wasabi, Crumb Cake, Soft Suede, Melon Mambo, Pretty in Pink and Chocolate Chip Stampin' Write Markers, Stamping Sponges, Basic Pearls and Stampin' Dimensionals