Susan R. Opel
Hello, friends! Mid-September has already arrived and for many of you that might mean a lot of football games!
Perhaps you faithfully sit in the stands as your son plays or your daughter cheers or one of your kids performs in the halftime show. Or maybe watching your alma mater play in a college rivalry game is more your style. Then again, maybe you’re more of a Sunday football girl cheering on your regional favorite!
I like to play Sporty Spice. I would be remiss in leading you to believe that I’m sporty myself (though I did play softball, volleyball, and basketball in my youth – we won’t go into that!), but I come from a long, long line of Detroit Tigers fans. They’re in first place right now BTW. *huge grin* And (super cute) pitcher Justin Verlander is making a case for the American League MVP. But I digress…
My Tiger FANatic family and a picture I snapped of Justin Verlander in 2007
So how does this all relate to paper crafting, especially if you’re really not so into sports? Whether it’s a team you root for or your school colors or the team that occupies your husband’s weekends, there’s inspiration to be found in team colors!
It’s no mistake that the jerseys and uniforms you see on the field or the diamond or the court are a feast for the eyes. And those eye-catching logos are deliberate as well. They want fans to be proud to wear their colors!
I decided to take a cue from two of my favorite teams – the Detroit Tigers and the Michigan Wolverines – and I created two cards to show you what I mean.
For my Detroit Tigers inspired card, I dipped into my scrap stash again (ala this post by Betsy Veldman and this post) and looked for navy and orange strips. Imagine my giddiness when I found the orange tiger-striped piece! Awesome! There’s nothing more iconic than the Old English D on a Detroit ball cap (ala Magnum P.I.), so I searched online for the perfect font to represent the D – English Towne (you can download it here for free!).
My Michigan card is all about the maize and blue. I will admit that the block M strip was not a scrap, but I couldn’t resist. Otherwise, this was scrap heaven! Being inspired by your team may just get you looking at your scraps in a whole new light. I also found this font online for free. It’s called Team MT and would work well for lots of sporty situations! You can download it here.
Based on the many teams that I support, it looks like I could be inspired for a very long time. It must be the cheerleader (and cheer coach) in me. There was this one time that Paper Crafts Go-to Gal Julie Campbell caught me in action doing the Paper Crafts Cheer!
My teams clockwise from top left: U of M, Detroit Tigers (with my mom), Indianapolis Colts, Syracuse Orange, at Seattle Seahawks game with former Paper Crafts Go-to Gal Maren Benedict and her family, Michigan State (with my sister), varsity cheerleader Valley Lutheran High, Detroit Red Wings.
I want to know, who do you root for? Now get out there and make the most of your teams’ colors!
Go, team, GO!
Susan
P.S. It’s time to announce the winner of Kerri’s The Circus is Back in Town post!
Mailee Lor (Sept. 14, 1:05 a.m.)
Congrats, Mailee! Kelly will be contacting you shortly to discuss your prizes and get your mailing address. Thanks to all who left comments!
You’re going to hate me now, Susan, but I’m a Yankees fan by marriage. I’m also a Husker fan by birth. I graduated from the University of Nebraska at Lincoln, so there is no turning back
GO BIG RED!
Awesome post this morning! Go Tigers! Go Red Wings! The Tigers are playing so good! My 14 year old is a huge UofM fan, and LOVES your card. Such a pleasure to know there is a Michigander on the Papercrafts team!
Of course, I love this and seeing my family together in our Tiger shirts makes my heart go thump-thump. We love our teams in Michigan and support them with enthusiasm. Great job, Susan!
UW Wisconsin all the way, not to mention the Packers and we can’t forget the Brewers!!! It is Wisconsin’s year for sports!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
We have that cutie pie Aaron Rogers for our Quarter Back, not bad!
This is so great, I have been dreaming up a card based on my favorite team! Which by the way is the NC State Wolfpack, my alma mater. That’s my only team, but my marriage I have to add the Yankees & the NY Giants into the mix I suppose.
Oh Susan, I love this blog and your cards but my favorite has to be all the photos. How I wish I could have seen those double sided gloves in person.
Go Utes this weekend (that’s for you, P.K.)!
My niece played college volleyball in Jamestown, North Dakota (Jamestown JImmies) for four years so they would definitely be my favorite U.S. team. However, in Canada, our province just “got back” our NHL (National Hockey League) team – The Winnipeg Jets…so they are now my Canadian team! Great cards!
So cute…love your cheerleading picture…thanks for sharing..
I’m a big Chicago fan: Da Bears, the Cubs, the Bulls and the Stanley Champs the Blackhawks. Then of course there is Illinois! Love my sports!
UGA—Go dawgs!
Atlanta Braves
Pittsburgh Steelers
but I’m the biggest fan of whatever Team my son is playing for
right now it’s the
COMMERCE TIGERS!
Nice Job. I am inspired to try my own cards, but with Florida, GO Gators. We live in Ohio, but hubby is a UM fan as long as he can remember. Little joke in our family, UM has his heart, he had his second heart transplant there.
Fun post, Susan! Love your team-inspired cards! Great pictures, too!
I was born, raised, educated, and on the cheer squad for the University of Montana Griz. When I married my husband, I also adopted the Auburn Tigers as my team. He was born in Opelika, AL…very close to Auburn, and his entire family is Auburn fans.
Some close friends of ours needed to get a baby card for a couple they know who are also Auburn Tigers fans. So- I made them an Auburn inspired card!
http://leascupcakesandsunshine.blogspot.com/2011/02/pti-make-it-monday-3-glitter-strips.html
Go GREEN!! My daughter is a senior at Michigan State, so we are huge STATE fans!! Never have I loved college football so much!!!
We are also White Sox, Bears and Bulls fans.
I have been making her State cards since she went away for college.. love the idea!!
You already know this, but MAIZE and BLUE all the way!! Did you see the end of that last game…holy cow, what a game!!!
Way to show your team spirit! I’m a Hoosier girl, through and through, so I still root for Indiana basketball. But being a transplant to the Boston area, hubby has me following the Celtics and Bruins, too!
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I am with Cassie – I am a Husker fan, born and raised! Go Big Red!
What, no Concordia Cardinals?
You could root for, um, the…soccer team??
You might not believe this, but I root for the Tigers and Red Wings, too. Shocking, isn’t it?? We clearly have nothing at all in common.
Is that Valley Lutheran as in Saginaw? I didn’t know you were even from Michigan! I’m from the Saginaw area, and LOVE the Red Wings! Hockey is my go to sport. (My son plays Junior hockey in Canada). But I also support the Tigers, U of M, and yes, even the Lions
Awesome card ideas!
That’s so cool to hear you are a Michigan girl!!! I live in Ann Arbor, so we of course LOVE our Tigers!!!! We’re going to a game on the 26th of this month, it will be my 4 year old daughter’s first time at Comerica Park!!!!!! GO TIGERS!!!!!!!!!!
I grew up in Chicago –Go Cubbies– cheering for– Da Bears– but I now live in New England and I gotta say that the Patriots are pretty fun to watch too. However, my family teases me because I tend to root for the team with the best “costume.” So your idea of making cards based on team color combos is right up my alley! (BTW what do you think of the U. of Maryland’s new unis? I think they are wild and wonderful!)
ps
2-4-6-8 Paper Crafts is really great!!!!
pps
I guess you might say that papercrafters are really good sports!
Love your pics and the cheerleading picture is so great! (um…go Bucks!)
Omg! I won the Circus is back in town giveaway! Thank you! You guys are awesome! I’m not much into pro sports teams, but I love watching my daughter play on her high school teams. Thanks again!
You are a kindred spirit! My daughter is a junior at Michigan in Ann Arbor so you know that my blood runs BLUE! And since I live in a suburb of Detroit I love the “D” as in Tigers.
And don’t forget about the Red Wings, Pistons and Lions. ;D
I haven’t lived in Michigan for over 35 years and have lost track of what’s happening in baseball, but it was neat to hear the Tigers are #1. I remember classes being cancelled in high school and everyone going to the auditorium to watch them win the World Series back in the late 60′s. And my husband cheers, “Go Blue!” no matter what teams or sports he is watching!
“Such a pleasure to know there is a Michigander on the Papercrafts team!” (Claudia) Agreed!!! And thank you for not saying Michiganian.
I’m from the Grand Rapids area! Anyways, my Dad’s family is a bunch of Tigers fans, with the exception of my Uncle Doug, who loves the White Sox (boo!) and for a weekend each summer, the whole family takes a trip to the D to see the Tigers play the White Sox. Your cards have given me so many ideas to incorporate the Tigers into some cards of my own. I’m thinking Uncle Doug’s birthday card would look great in navy and orange! Haha