Pals Paper Arts

PPA Best Dressed 2011

 

 

 

 

Move over  Mr. Blackwell - here comes Pals Paper Arts Best Dressed List for 2011! 

 

As the year draws to a close, we wanted to take a moment and reflect on this past year at Pals Paper Arts.  We are so thankful for all of the participants who played with us over the past year!!  Each design team member selected a favorite design out of the PPA Picks for each month.  Winners will be given a badge to put on their blog.  Enjoy the Best of the Best for 2011!

 

January-Giovana Smith

 

 

Chosen by PPA Design Team Member Ann Schach: Clean and elegant are two words that come to mind when I look at this gorgeous card by Giovana.  My eyes are immediately drawn to the sentiment, with its beautiful ribbon treatment.  I love how she snipped out the heart, and popped it up on dimensionals.  The rhinestones, which follow the curvature of the image, are the perfect accents.  Giovana, your card is a timeless classic.  Congratulations on being my choice for the Best Dressed Winner for January.

 

  

February-Lynn Put 

 

 

Chosen by PPA Design Team Member Patti MacLeith: Here, Lynn does a great job of giving her card the vintage look. Her card stock edges are distressed and colored and her background of texture goes well with her stamp set choice, also very vintage. I love her flower and leaves the best. I remembered after I chose this as "best" for February that I CASEd this card! Thank you Lynn, for playing at PPA and for your inspiration! 

 

 

March-Meg McGarry 

 

 

Chosen by PPA Design Team Member Debbie Pierce: I love a 3D project, and this offering from Meg McGarry is a perfect example of why I love them.  This adorable tea holder is loaded with details, from the gorgeous flower on the top to the lovely pearls on the side.  And her fun, creative use of the challenge colors on a fun and creative project just might inspire me to start drinking tea (and I'm a die-hard Starbucks coffee girl!!)  

 

April-Nance Leedy 

  

 

 

Chosen by PPA Design Team Member Linda Callahan:  Nance Leedy entered this beauty in a punch challenge at Pals Paper Arts!  The monochromatic color scheme is subtle but so effective!  Her card has beautiful texture and design.  The sweet blossoms on the lantern are also used as a soft accent in the background.  The overall effect is absolutely lovely!  Congrats Nance on making PPA's Best dressed list for 2011! 

 

 

May-Jen Mitchell 

 

   

Chosen by PPA Design Team Member Margaret Moody: My favorite card for May was created by Jen Mitchell.  It's easy to see why this simple yet elegant card was chosen as a Pals Pick for the PPA92 Color Challenge featuring Pear Pizzazz, Peach Parfait, and Poppy Parade!  I love the mix of two-toned flowers created with two-step stamping!  The flowers really pop against the Pear Pizzazz background!  I love Jen's clean and simple style!
 

 

June-Jen Mitchell 

 

   

Chosen by PPA Design Team Member Mary Fish: Jen Mitchell's card hit all my buttons for paper crafting perfection.  The flower and stems seem to float above the pretty patterned paper.  She used plenty of white to allow the colors and elements to make a bold statement and produce a style that's both sophisticated and modern.

 

 

July-Leena Girsa

   

 

Chosen by PPA Design Team Member Mike Funke: My pick for the month of July is Leena Girsa for her interpretation of the paper piercing challenge.  She incorporated her paper piercing technique into several different areas of the card,  Over all her creation was dramatic while maintaining a monchoromatic, clean & simple design. 

 

 

August: Diane Oliver

 

   

Chosen by PPA Design Team Member Nina Dee: I chose Diane's card because I love all the little details that that make this card so fabulous - the bright colors, the paper piercing, the distressed leaves, the scalloped edge on the rosette, the fun Designer Printed brad, and the unexpected mix of Designer Series Paper and Fabric. Plus, the inside of the card is really cute too!

 

 

 September-Leena Girsa

 

 

Chosen by PPA Design Team Member Patti MacLeith: My Best Dressed Pick for the month of September was this one from Leena Girsa for PPA 109 Celebrity Color Challenge. The colors were Calypso Coral, Riding Hood Red and Basic Gray. As I remember, I loved creating with these colors! This card has a lot going on, but the thing that makes the colors pop out for me is the texture and the designer paper she chose to use. The ribbon is rich and completes the look so nicely. Leena's card is a double-fold, which is not an everyday choice. Thank you, Leena, for playing at Pals Paper Arts!

 

October-Marlene Peters  

 

   

Chosen by PPA Design Team Member Ann Schach: "Wow" was the first word out of my mouth when I spied this unique creation by Marlene Peters.   From the spiders suspended inside the "carved" pumpkin, to the curled card stock tendrils, to the adorable tiny "boo" tag held in place by a mini library clip, this card exudes cleverness from all angles!  And the inside is just as cute as the outside, too!  Congratulations on being my choice for the Best Dressed Winner for October, Marlene! 

 

  

 November: Sandie Conner  

 

 

Chosen by PPA Design Team Member LInda Callahan: Sandie Connor designed this sweet turkey for a Pals Paper Arts ribbon challenge.  What's not to love about this adorable little gobbler?  The colors are perfect for the season against that sweet polka dot background!  Her creative use of ribbons for the tail feathers is simply wonderful!  Congrats Sandie on making PPA's Best Dressed list for 2011! 

 

 

December: Susie Wittwer  

 

 

Chosen by PPA Design Team Member Debbie Pierce: This card by Susie Whittwer has done what few things (or people) have managed to accomplish: it's left me speechless!!  I just can't get enough of the design, the gorgeous details, and the fun sparkliness!! I love the simplicity of the colors that are so incredibly lovely together, and the complexity of the details that have com bine to put this card at the top of my CASE list!!  GORGEOUS!!

Pals Paper Arts Artist Pick Winners - PPA125

It's time to announce the winners of our latest challenge. This week's challenge was a element of design - the TAG! Tags can be the project themselves or they can merely be a component of the project.  Our resident Design Team membersdid both and created some tag-a-licious projects for the holidays, and other trag worthy events.  And although we ALL were playing tag, there were three who were IT!! 

Congratulations to the following participants for being the Pals Paper Arts Artist Picks for PPA125:

Laurel

 

Tricia

 

Debbie Henderson

Each week we will announce the Artist Picks from the prior weekly challenge.  Winners will receive a special badge to let everyone know they are a Pals Paper Arts Artist Pick!

 

 
 

Thank you for playing at PPA! 

 

Pals Paper Arts is Dressing Up!!

 

 

We're putting on our fancy clothes and getting ready to reveal this year's Best Dressed List!!  We'll post our choices for the Best Dressed of 2011 tomorrow, in lieu of a challenge.  We hope you'll join us to celebrate our Best Dressed of 2011, and we're looking forward to having you join us for our 2012 challenges.

 

Take a Photo of Those Tags!

 

Have you seen the cards and tags that the Pals Papers Arts Design Team created for the Tags Challenge?  Wow!  If you need some last minute inspiration for gift tags or cards, you're going to want to see them. 

 

 

And, before you give away your fabulous handmade tags on gifts, make sure you take photos of them so you can upload them for this week's challenge.  The challenge doesn't close until Tuesday, so you'll have time after Christmas to enter.  Just make sure you get photos of them before they're gone!  To see this week's inspiring creations by the Design Team and the rules of playing along, CLICK HERE. 

PPA125-Tag, You're It!!

 

Since Christmas is only 3 days away (yes, that says "3", not "33"!!) we thought it would be fun to have a challenge that included tags.  That's not to say that you have to make a Christmas tag.  And it doesn't even have to be a "traditional" tag.  It can be whatever you count as a tag, whether it's on its own or part of a card or another project.  We're looking forward to tagging along to see what you create!! 

 

    

 

 

                                Rules for the Runway:

• We invite you to use ANY brand of products to create your card or papercraft project.
• Please use keyword PPA125 when uploading to public galleries. 
• Incorrect links are not eligible for Pals Picks, and may be deleted.
• Inlinkz will close at Noon (CST) Tuesday December 27th.  We'll announce our Pals Paper Artist Picks Wednesday December 28th. 

 

  

Ready to be inspired?  Check out this week's paper arts creations by the PPA Design Team:

 

by: Linda Callahan	by: Ann Schach	by: Patti MacLeith
by: Mike Funke	by: Cindy Hall	by: Mary Fish
by: Nina Dee	by: Margaret Moody	by: Debbie Pierce

Pals Paper Arts Artist Pick Winners - PPA124

It's time to announce the winners of our latest challenge. This week's challenge was a sketch challenge by our own Margaret Moody!  These are always great jump starts for beautiful cards and we encourage you to use them in future projects.  Our resident Design Team members took the pattern and created some gorgeous inspiration pieces for you showing the versatility of the design and you all followed their fine example.  But 3 of you took the design to the couture level proving all you needed was the pattern and the rest was easy! 

Congratulations to the following participants for being the Pals Paper Arts Artist Picks for PPA124:

Sandra Connor

 

 

Rae in Reno

 

Amy White

Each week we will announce the Artist Picks from the prior weekly challenge.  Winners will receive a special badge to let everyone know they are a Pals Paper Arts Artist Pick!

 

 
 

Thank you for playing at PPA! 

 

A Sketch to Play With

 

Have you used the sketch that Margaret Moody created for you this week at Pals Paper Arts?  It's a great sketch, one that you'll want to use over and over again.

 

 

If you've used the sketch, be sure to join us and upload your photo for a chance to earn the honor of one of the PPA Top Picks.  If you haven't used it yet, give it a whirl and join us!  To see this week's inspiring creations by the Design Team and the rules of playing along, CLICK HERE. 

PPA124-A Sketch Challenge

 

 

A sketch is a great way to start a card, and what better way than with another fabulous sketch from Pals Paper Art's own Margaret Moody?  You can interpret it literally, or use it as a jumping off point.  We're looking forward to seeing where the sketch takes you!! 

    

 

 

                                Rules for the Runway:

• We invite you to use ANY brand of products to create your card or papercraft project.
• Please use keyword PPA124 when uploading to public galleries. 
• Incorrect links are not eligible for Pals Picks and may be deleted.
• Inlinkz will close at Noon (CST) Tuesday December 20th.  We'll announce our Pals Paper Artist Picks Wednesday, December 21st. 

 

  

Ready to be inspired?  Check out this week's paper arts creations by the PPA Design Team:

 

by: Nina Dee	by: Patti MacLeith	by: Mike Funke
by: Mary Fish	by: Linda Callahan	by: Ann Schach
by: Debbie Pierce	by: Margaret Moody	by: Cindy Hall

Pals Paper Arts Artist Pick & Blog Candy Winners - PPA123

First of all, let's kick off this edition of the Pals Paper Arts  Photo Inspiration Themed Challenge by announcing our blog candy winner!  And this wasn't any ordinary Blog Candy!  This was the motherlode - or would it be the "Pals"lode?  The lucky winner gets not one blog candy, but NINE - one from each of the Design Teram Members.  We used Random.org to produce the lucky winning number and the winner is...

59. Justin

 In the next 48 hours, please email Mike Funke (PPA Design Team Member) with your mailing address and he will make sure the Design Team gets their Blog Candy prize packages out to you!  Congratulations!

Now it's time to announce the winners of this week's challenge.  This week's challenge had a "Putting on the Ritz" theme.  Our featured artist Barb Furlong along with the Pals Paper Arts Design Team put on their top hat, white tie, and MOVED their tails to creat inspiration for you.  And you all faced the music and danced.  But three of you won the dance competition!

Congratulations to the following participants for being the Pals Paper Arts Artist Picks for PPA123:

 

Debbie Marcinkiewicz

 

Susie Wittwer

 

 

Diane from RI

 

Each week we will announce the Artist Picks from the prior weekly challenge.  Winners will receive a special badge to let everyone know they are a Pals Paper Arts Artist Pick!

 

 
 

Thank you for playing at PPA!

 

 

Have YOU entered to win the BLOG CANDY BLOWOUT?!

 

Wow!  This is just like Christmas!  Pals Paper Arts is "Puttin' on the Ritz" with a challenge this week, and all you have to do is play along and you'll be entered for a Mega Blog Candy Blowout!  The Design Team members are all contributing for a mystery prize package that will be given to ONE lucky random winner!

So come join the Design Team, along with Featured Artist Barb Furlong, and dress up your best card and play along for some really sweet candy.  CLICK HERE to see the details of the contest and upload your photo.