Spellbinders Snow Notes for Paper Players Challenge #763

Happy Sunday,

I hope you are all having a fabulous fall weekend. It’s the very talented Antipodean Jan’s turn to host our Paper Players challenge this week and she has a wonderful color palette for us to play with. Initially I was going to make a fall card, but decided to push myself and use these colors on a Christmas card instead. BTW, I apologize to all of you for the ear worm you are about to receive! For my card I brought out the Spellbinders Snow Notes – again 🙂

Here’s a sneak peek:

Oh, those silly singing snowmen just make me smile!

Here’s Jan’s color palette for our challenge this week:

I decided NOT to use a white base for my card ‘cos my poor snowmen would have completely disappeared and become ghost-snow-men instead and, let’s face it, we are past Halloween 🙂

So, I chose Old Olive for the base and used the other colors for the elements on my snowmen, noses, scarves and book.

For the background, I die-cut the Musical Notes and Stave Pop-Up die and adhered it to the card base. I also used a Waffle Flower sentiment set called Cozy Holiday Sentiments and heat set that with white embossing powder. I wanted a sentiment that came from a song, and this seemed perfect. I mean, who can deny the luscious, chocolatey, sounds of Dean Martin crooning Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let it Snow. What a voice that man had.

Anyway, I digress, again! Music seems to have that effect on me! I die-cut my snowmen in Neenah Solar White 110# cardstock and added their elements before popping them up on the card base with foam dots. I hid them behind a snowbank and my card was complete.

Here’s my full card:

As always, the design team have some gorgeous inspiration for you:

LeAnne Pugliese

Claire Broadwater

Joanne James

Anne Marie Hile

Ann Schach

Jan Clothier

Stef Perry

Elizabeth Stewart 

Christy Stanford

On a personal note:

Well, we almost got our first snow today, but it held off. The temps were just not quite right. Sadly, all the gorgeous orange maple leaves from the tree across the cul de sac have dropped. I took a photo of them just a few days ago as the sun was setting. What a glorious color they are. We have a row of cedar trees in front of it, so I only get to see the top of it – but I must admit, I did spend a good few minutes just admiring it from my craft room window.

About three weeks ago we planted nearly 50 shrubs/trees in an area of the garden that had originally been a fire pit. It was made into a fire pit by the previous owners and was a complete eye sore. So, we decided to change things up a bit. It doesn’t look like much right now, but we are hoping that in the next couple of years it should grow in beautifully. Every plant/shrub/tree was chosen for it’s value to wildlife, spring colors, summer berries and fall foliage. In order to make a focal point, we installed a black metal moon gate and added a fabulous copper bird bath under the gate. We will also dress the gate for Christmas.

Here’s a quick look at it

Here is a closeup of the moon gate and the bird bath. The birds are loving both of these things. They love the position of the bath for drinking/bathing, and they use the 84″ moon gate as a resting place before going to the pole feeder. Some days it feels like O’Hare airport with them lined up for take off!

In the week since I took this photograph, the shrubs have turned to their fall colors. In the next couple of years all of them should fill in the area and cover a lot of the stones. The stones were left over from the firepit area, and we decided to leave them as a weed barrier, rather than paying to have them removed, and then having to replace them with mulch every year. Now, we just need them to survive winter! They almost didn’t survive the deer. It wasn’t an hour after the planting was finished that we saw the first deer having a go at the new salad bar! Deere repellent to the rescue and they haven’t been touched since 🙂

Of course, this time of the year is also the season for boxelder bugs and japanese ladybugs getting into the house. The boxelders are a favorite snack for little Miss Luna. Ugh, the sound they make when she smacks her newly hatched adult teeth of them is absolutely disgusting!

We have a single ladybug in the house and he/she keeps Chilli and Luna occupied for hours. Literally! I caught this shot of the two of them sitting on the arm of one of the couches in the living room. The ladybug had flown onto the light and they were enthralled by her! It’s a great shot because you can see how much bigger Chilli is than Luna. Hard to believe she will get to his size sometime in the next 18 months! Her tail is like a fox tail – it is so full and fluffy.

I’ll be back later in the week with another card. In the meantime, warm hugs and prayers for those of you who need a little lift tonight.

Card recipe:

• Dies: Snow Notes – Spellbinders. Musical Notes and Stave Pop-Up – Spellbinders