Friday Flashback: Floral

Time for the Friday Flashback again already!  This week's randomly chosen retired stamp set is just one stamp, the background Floral.  Back in the day before I had tons of patterned paper and embossing folders and such to play with, I used background stamps a LOT so today's Flashback is longer than like the last three put together (no wait, four flashbacks, I looked), and I didn't even post all my previous cards with Floral : )  So let's flash back with a visit to the archives, shall we?

This one features an old favorite, Roses in Winter, plus It's Your Birthday for the sentiment.

One of my favorite color combinations ever!  Baja Breeze, Pink Pirouette, and neutrals.  Main images on this one are from Eastern Influences (another favorite of mine).

 Flower and definition stamp on this one are from Bloomin' Beautiful.

A nice springy card with the morning glories from Morning Soft and sentiment from Warm Words.

Main image from Perfect Petals, "wish" from Small Script.

Here's a more autumnal take with a hummingbird from Spring Song and a second background stamp, Sanded.  I like this card but I wish I could move that sentiment up onto the main image panel--it would have fit just fine underneath the bird!

And here's something a bit different, I stamped the floral pattern with a contrasting color on light cardstock instead of doing tone-on-tone like I did with everything else.  So that's it for the flashback part, here's my new card:

This time I wanted the Floral stamp to take center stage, so I stamped it with Versamark and embossed with Early Espresso powder, then colored with an Aquapainter.  You can't tell from the picture, but the white bit with the sentiment is popped up from the card base, and then the butterfly is popped up again from there so it's multidimensional.

I used the colors from Dynamic Duos' Triple Threat Week:

So there you have it!  I've done nothing but flowery cards (and even a floral scrapbook layout) for over a week now, so I promise that next week I'll have at least two non-floral projects to share.  In the meantime, have a great weekend!

Supplies, last card only:
Stamps:  Floral, Best of Butterflies, Fancy Flexible Phrases
Ink:  Versamark, Melon Mambo, Tangerine Tango, Wild Wasabi, Elegant Eggplant (because pansies have to be purple!)
Paper:  Melon Mambo, Whisper White, retired Wild Wasabi DSP
Accessories:  Early Espresso EP, Circles Framelits, Artisan Label punch, Dimensionals, random ribbon from my stash that's probably not SU

Sending Good Thoughts

I think we'll just continue on with Flower Week because it sounds like fun and we've had some lovely, sunny, and dare I say springlike weather here in England of late (though it rained this morning).  So here's a floral card I made a while back:

I'm really glad that Strawberry Slush, Pistachio Pudding, and Baked Brown Sugar will be around for another year, they're beautiful colors.  (That's not to say I won't miss some of the colors that will retire this summer, like Gumball Green and Raspberry Ripple...I like the other three soon-to-retire In Colors too.)

My computer is being ridiculously slow so I'mma cut this short.  Thanks for stopping by today! 

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Too Kind, En Francais
Ink:  Strawberry Slush, Pistachio Pudding, Baked Brown Sugar
Paper:  Strawberry Slush, Pistachio Pudding, Baked Brown Sugar, Whisper White, Venetian Romance DSP
Accessories:  Fancy Fan EF, Dimensionals

Daffodil Festival

This is turning out to be day 3 of an unexpected flower bonanza here on Snapdragon Stamps...maybe this will make spring hurry up and get here already?  Regardless, here's a scrapbook layout for your viewing pleasure.

Pics are from the daffodil festival I went to last March with Karyn and Karen.  Naturally, I had to use Daffodil Delight cardstock for my daffodil layout : )  I also used Wild Wasabi, Marina Mist, and the journaling is done in the retired Handsome Hunter because I like to use all kinds of dark colors for journaling rather than just limiting myself to black.

This might be the last bit of scrapping I'll get to do for the next month, though...I'm going to be one busy little bee between studying for the exam (at least only half the exam this time) and working on preparations for the Mad Hatter tea party.  Life is never boring, fo sho.

Thanks for stopping by today!  And by the way, the daffs are already coming up here this year...mid-March last year, most of them hadn't bloomed yet, but when I was out yesterday I saw a few overachievers already in bloom and it's still February, ha!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Papillon Potpourri, You're Lovely
Ink:  Daffodil Delight, Marina Mist, Handsome Hunter marker
Paper:  Daffodil Delight, Marina Mist, Wild Wasabi, Whisper White, retired Marina Mist & Wild Wasabi DSP
Accessories:  Artisan Label, Elegant Butterfly, & Bitty Butterfly punches

Live Happy with the Nachos

Happy Tuesday!  Are you ready for another spec-fabulous Nacho Average Color Challenge?  Here it is!

And here's what I made:

I figured it's been too long since my last Stippled Blossoms creation.  I added a Candy Dot on the corner (Rose Red, not Primrose Petals, but close enough to work I think) because the card just seemed to need a little something more.  The only thing that took a bit of time was cutting out the flower and the leaves.  Other than that, easy peasy!

Check out what the other Nachos have made, and then show us your own Smoky Primrose Pizzazz!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Stippled Blossoms, You're Lovely
Ink:  Primrose Petals, Pear Pizzazz, Smoky Slate
Paper:  Pear Pizzazz, Whisper White, Watercolor Wonder DSP
Accessories:  Regals Candy Dots, Windows Collection Framelits

Spring Watercolor

My mom said last week that she wanted to see more springy-looking stuff, and I aim to please, so...

I think it's springy.  Do you?

I used the Banners Framelits for the Hardwood piece, but the original Framelit wasn't tall enough for what I wanted on my card, so I cut cardstock to about the width of the die and then just ran the flagged end through the Big Shot so I could have my banner as tall as I wanted it.  For the flower, you can't tell but it's cut out and popped up on Dimensionals, and I "colored" it with the watercolor swooshy stamp in the stamp set.  Easy peasy.

I used last week's SCS color challenge and a recent Sketch Frenzy Friday sketch:

And now I have to start studying again.  I have to retake half of that stupid comprehensive exam towards the end of March, and I'm working on that tea party too, so it's going to be a busy six weeks.  Bleargh.

Thanks for stopping by today.  Cheers!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Happy Watercolor, Hardwood
Ink:  Daffodil Delight, Strawberry Slush, Wild Wasabi, Soft Suede
Paper:  Daffodil Delight, Wild Wasabi, Whisper White, Quatrefancy DSP
Accessories:  Circles, Deco Labels, and Banners Framelits, Rhinestones, Dimensionals

Friday Flashback: Apple Blossoms

Welcome to another Friday Flashback!  Today's randomly chosen retired stamp set is Apple Blossoms, which was a hostess set a couple years ago (2010-2011, according to SCS...I didn't think it was that long ago!).  I really liked it in the catalog, but didn't get it until right before it retired...and then I wasn't sure what to do with it, so it's been gathering dust since then.  Does that ever happen to anyone else?

Anyway, since I drew this stamp set for today's Flashback, I had to make something with it.  Apparently I'm still stuck on reds and pinks from Valentine's Day...

I thought those bold flowers needed some bold colors, so I went with RED.  And isn't that a fun greeting for a card?  I think my Gumball Green ink pad needs refreshing though.  I rounded one corner of the Blushing Bride layer just because it seemed to need a little something extra.

I also used this week's sketch from Freshly Made Sketches:

I do love a triptych sketch.

Thanks for stopping by today, and have a great weekend!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Apple Blossoms
Ink:  Real Red, Blushing Bride, Gumball Green
Paper:  Real Red, Blushing Bride, Gumball Green, Whisper White
Accessories:  Gumball Green stitched satin ribbon, corner rounder punch

Cantaloupe Petite Posies

Hubs and I were out of town part of last week, so I scheduled posts to go up here while I was out.  Now I'm just kinda getting back into the swing of stamping (and hopefully later today, scrapbooking as well).  Sometimes I think that there's just too MANY challenges out there and I have trouble focusing, does anyone else have that problem?

This one is courtesy of Unscripted Sketches.  I saw the circle elements on the sketch and I thought heyyy, teeny flowers!  Seriously, this card took under 10 minutes.  Not too bad for what I thought was just going to be a warm-up card.  Here's the sketch:

While we were gone, I seem to have picked up some weird kind of bug that has done some weird stuff to my voice, though other than that I feel completely fine.  I just sound like a musical saw when I try to sing along with my iPod : )

Beware the Polish laryngitis and thanks for stopping by today!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Petite Petals, Sweet Essentials
Ink:  Crisp Cantaloupe, Crumb Cake
Paper:  Pistachio Pudding, Whisper White, Sweet Sorbet DSP
Accessories:  Petite Petals Punch, Whisper White taffeta, Subtles Candy Dots, Dimensional

Sale-a-Brate Your Birthday

Seems like I always need more birthday cards and thank you cards in my stash, and today I used some SAB goodies to make this birthday card:

I don't know why it took me so long to get the Chalk Talk Framelits, love that shape.  Haven't used the matching stamp set yet though ;)  I used three free SAB goodies on this card--the stamp set, the twine, and the embossing folder.  I could have used the Sweet Sorbet DSP but I wanted something different, so I picked a pattern from the Epic Day DSP instead.

Today's sketch is brought to you by Sketch Frenzy Friday:

And that's all she wrote today!  I'm off to take my doglets for a walk.  Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  See Ya Later (SAB exclusive!)
Ink:  Midnight Muse, Crisp Cantaloupe, Calyspo Coral, Summer Starfruit
Paper:  Crisp Cantaloupe, Whisper White, Epic Day This & That DSP
Accessories:  Decorative Dots EF (SAB exclusive!), Chalk Talk Framelits, Summer Starfruit twine from the Sweet Sorbet Accessory Pack (SAB exclusive!)

Nachos: Fresh Prints (of Bel Air) Birthday

*singsong voice* It's time for a Nacho sketch challenge!  Behold:

I thought this would be a great sketch for using up some smallish scraps of patterned paper, and lucky for me, when I opened up my box o' DSP scraps, I found lots of Fresh Prints (of Bel Air) bits just waiting to be made into a card.  I knew I was saving all those long skinny scraps for something!

Please ignore the dog hair stuck on the middle of the card.  How the heck did that even get on there?!  I'll tell you how, it's like the sign my friend Tiana made for me--home is where the dog hair sticks to everything but the dog!  Good grief.

Anywha, the starburst accent is only on there because I managed to smudge the white embossing powder on the bottom edge of the H while it was still warm, so I used the bitty starburst to cover it up.  I'm sure you've noticed by now that I rotated the sketch, but to save you any undue neck strain, here's the challenge graphic rotated:

I was an overachiever and did six banners on my card, but I only did one horizontal bit so let's say the second horizontal bit succumbed to gravity and turned into a banner instead.  You know what?  I shouldn't be writing blog posts this late at night.

Go check out what the other Nachos have done with this sketch, and then try it out for yourself!  As I said before, it's a great way to use up some scraps.

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Perfectly Penned, Starburst Sayings
Ink:  Versamark, Coastal Cabana
Paper:  Real Red, Whisper White, Fresh Prints of Bel Air (I just can't help myself)
Accessories:  Starburst Framelits, Brights Candy Dots, white EP, Dimensional

Oscars Night 2

Finally getting around to posting the sequel to A Night at the Oscars...I made it a while ago but I've been busy enough to keep up with card challenges in the meantime : )

So after all the usual cake cutting and champagne toasting, there was karaoke (it was much more entertaining and fun than you might think, given that a good chunk of the attendees were musical theater types) and dancing.  We had a blast dancing to "Thriller" even though we only remember a teeny bit of the choreography, and we also got to take pictures with cardboard cutouts of famous movie stars.  Then at the very end of the night, we were instructed to gather 'round in a circle for the "friendship song", which turned out to be a singalong to Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody".

It was awesome fun, you shoulda been there.

Cheers, peeps!  Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Christmas Star
Ink:  Crushed Curry, Basic Black marker
Paper:  Basic Black, Real Red, Crushed Curry, Bermuda Bay, Whisper White, Bermuda Bay DSP & Christmas Cocoa Specialty DSP (both retired)
Accessories:  Large & small star punches

Friday Flashback: Valentine Defined

Usually, the retired stamp set for Friday Flashback is randomly drawn out of a hat but since today is Valentine's Day, I had to have an appropriately Valentiney stamp set.  So today's not-randomly-chosen featured stamp set is Valentine Defined.  This was another one of those stamp sets that I bought on a whim right before it retired and then....never used it till now.  Oops.

I did manage to use 4 out of 7 stamps in this stamp set on one card.  I think I got this stamp set mostly because I loved the flamingos.  Flamingoes?  Nope, flamingos, according to that little red line that magically appeared when I typed the E.  Anywha, I'm not 100% sure I love this card, though I just got the Chalk Talk Framelits and I've been having fun with them.  And I like the patterned paper mat behind the main image.  Well, whatevs, not every card can be your favorite.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Valentine Defined
Ink:  Blushing Bride, Primrose Petals, Whisper White Craft
Paper:  Blushing Bride, Wild Wasabi, Whisper White, Primrose Petals DSP
Accessories:  Chalk Talk & Labels Framelits, small heart punch, Dimensionals

Happy Valentine's Birthday!

I think it's fun to create cards for people whose birthdays happen to fall on holidays.  And guess what?  My hubs' birthday is on Valentine's Day.

I used mostly MAN colors (Midnight Muse and Baked Brown Sugar, a.k.a. navy blue and brown) with a pop of red because c'mon, Valentine's Day.  It took a while and a lot of Stamp-a-ma-jigging to stamp all those hearts so I wouldn't want to mass produce this, but it wasn't bad for a one-off card.  So happy birthday, hubs!

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Hearts a Flutter, Four You
Ink:  Midnight Muse, Real Red
Paper:  Midnight Muse, Whisper White, Baked Brown Sugar DSP
Accessories:  Hearts a Flutter Framelits, retired Real Red satin ribbon, rhinestone

Oh, Happy Day!

Get out your sunglasses, because today's card is bright!

 Nice antidote to the gray weather we've been having here lately.  No snow, just off-and-on rain and general dampness.  And then that one night that the power was out for almost two hours, that was fun.  Anyway, I think I'm in love with this Retro Fresh DSP, not to mention this is the maiden voyage for Starburst Sayings and I love that too :)  This card is heavy on the Big Shot--I used the Starburst Framelits (LOVE) for the main image and then all three of the banners are cut with the Banners Framelits (also LOVE).  I thought about doing a textured background but decided that four passes through the Big Shot was enough for one card : )

I got the sketch from Create with Connie and Mary:

And I noticed on the linky that someone else made a card with the exact same stamps and DSP that I used!  That's okay though.  It was kind of a no-brainer with this sketch ;)

Have a happy day!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Starburst Sayings
Ink:  Tangerine Tango (I had to re-ink my Tango inkpad, made a big difference!)
Paper:  Tangerine Tango, So Saffron, Very Vanilla, Retro Fresh DSP
Accessories:  Starburst & Banners Framelits, Coastal Cabana stretch ribbon trim, Dimensionals

A Bridal Nacho Card

Happy Tuesday and get ready for another Nacho Average Color Challenge!  Here it is:

I decided to take the challenge literally and make a card featuring a bride, here it is:

I don't know anyone that's getting married in the near future but maybe it can also work as an anniversary card?  I do have some friends whose anniversary is on Valentine's Day so maybe I should send this to them!

I added a layer of Sahara Sand stamped with the long-retired (but still much loved in my house) Filigree background stamp and clear embossed, and then stamped a few of the wedding bells down the side of the card base.  (I really only stamped the three that you can see, because why bother stamping a whole line if most of them are going to be covered up by another layer?)

So now it's your turn!  Check out what the other Nachos have done with this color combo and then give it a whirl yourself.  Have fun, get stampy!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Best of Brides & Babies, Filigree
Ink:  StazOn Black, Versamark, Smoky Slate, Blushing Bride, Strawberry Slush, Pistachio Pudding, Marina Mist, Chocolate Chip, Baked Brown Sugar (who knew it would take so many colors for an image that's mostly not colored in?!)
Paper:  Blushing Bride, Sahara Sand, Very Vanilla
Accessories:  Deco Labels Framelits, clear EP, Basic Black taffeta (retired), Dimensionals, small heart punch

Sale-a-Bration Smile

Somewhere, I once saw a sign that said "Start the day with a smile and get it over with"--maybe it was in one of my teachers' classrooms growing up?  Well, let's just start this Monday off with a smile and get it over with.

I broke open my pack of Sale-a-Bration exclusive Sweet Sorbet DSP for this one--who knew that Pistachio Pudding, Summer Starfruit, and Crisp Cantaloupe would work so well together?  Ya know, that kinda sounds like a fruitarian lunch right there.  Anyhow, I used the totally awesome sketch from Freshly Made Sketches:

Quick and cute.  The part that took the longest was waiting for the Basic Black ink to dry--I just re-inked the ink pad and I didn't want black smears all over everything, so I let it dry overnight before I die cut the shape and stamped the flower over the top.  But it was worth it to have a nice, crisp, saturated black for the greeting stamp : )

Thanks for stopping by today!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Petal Parade, Happy Day
Ink:  Basic Black, Crisp Cantaloupe
Paper:  Pistachio Pudding, Whisper White, Sweet Sorbet DSP
Accessories:  Deco Labels Framelits, Dimensionals

Friday Flashback: Watercolor Trio

Friday again and time for another Friday Flashback!  This week it's another short Flashback, this time with the stamp set Watercolor Trio which is beautiful and deserves more love.  Here's my one older card which doesn't really do these stamps justice:

Yeah, I don't think this one is my best work.  I think the sketch is kind of fun, but there's something about this one I just don't like.  Oh, if you squint and tilt your head to the right, you might be able to see the Bella Toile background stamped on the card base...not that I think that's what's wrong with the card, just sayin' it's there.  I hope that today's all-new card is better:

Yesterday I ran out to a lunch date for a friend's birthday and totally *forgot* to grab a birthday card before I went, so I made this one when I got home and will be giving it to the birthday girl a teensy bit late.  I kinda wonder if I should have gone for some Chocolate Chip ribbon instead of the Real Red, but too late now.  The colors are from the Color Throwdown:

They'd make a good Valentine, but I needed that birthday card :)

Thanks for stopping by today, have a lovely weekend!

Supplies, all SU, last card:
Stamps:  Watercolor Trio
Ink:  Pistachio Pudding, Pink Pirouette, Real Red, Crumb Cake, Chocolate Chip
Paper:  Pink Pirouette, Crumb Cake, Whisper White, Pistachio Pudding DSP
Accessories:  Labels Collection Framelits, Lacy Brocade EF, Dimensionals, Rhinestone, retired Real Red taffeta

You're Lovely

I had a dream the other night that I woke up in the morning and we had several inches of snow on the ground, and then I woke up for reals and there was no snow and I was kinda disappointed.  We had snow here two years in a row in January and this year nothin', even though we kept hearing about how it was supposed to be such a cold winter this year.  Hmph.

Anyway, for today's card I tackled this week's SCS sketch challenge, which was one of those overly-complicated ones:

I actually left off one layer.  This is the maiden voyage for the Sale-a-Bration set You're Lovely--I lov stamps that coordinate with Framelits.  I got my color combo from Dynamic Duos, with the addition of Baked Brown Sugar for a neutral.

And now I need to get going...dogs to walk, kitchen to mop, lunch date to celebrate a friend's birthday.  Oh, I'd better check my card stash for a birthday card...

Thanks for stopping by today!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  You're Lovely
Ink:  Island Indigo, Real Red, Pistachio Pudding (I *had* to make the leaves green, but they're only a little green!)
Paper:  Island Indigo, Baked Brown Sugar, Whisper White, Quatrefancy & Fresh Prints of Bel Air DSP
Accessories:  Deco Label Framelits, Neutrals Candy Dots, Mosaic EF, Dimensionals

A Night at the Oscars

I swear, this week is going faster than it should.  I keep thinking today is Tuesday!

On Saturday, I spent some time working on this scrapbook layout:

This was from my friend Chris's wedding reception in 2004.  The theme was A Night at the Oscars (because Chris is a big movie buff and also an actor) and it was ridiculously fun.  Each member of the wedding party was announced at the reception and walked the red carpet to the tune of his or her own movie theme song (I particularly remember the theme from Rocky for one of the bridesmaids); the guests were invited to line up along the velvet rope and play paparazzi and take pictures.  This layout is just the first half of my pictures, including the usual cutting the cake, champagne toast, first dance, and garter/bouquet tosses.  Stay tuned for the sequel which involves some slightly less usual activities for a wedding reception : )

In the meantime, thanks for stopping by!

Supplies, all SU:
Stamps:  None
Ink:  Basic Black marker
Paper:  Real Red, Basic Black, Bermuda Bay, Crushed Curry, Whisper White, Night & Day DSP
Accessories:  large & small star punches

Nachos: Make a Wish

Are you ready for another hot Nacho sketch challenge?  'Cause here it is!

I admit, I was stumped by this one for quite a while, but eventually I came up with this:

Weirdly, I think this one looks better IRL than it does on your computer screen.  It just looks kind of plain in the photo and I thought it was kinda cute when I was looking at the actual card, hmm. 

So c'mon and show me how it's done with this sketch, I wanna see what you can do with it!  Check out the other Nacho cards and then give it a shot yourself : )

Thanks for stopping by today!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Perfect Pennants, Simply Stars
Ink:  Versamark, Pacific Point, Coastal Cabana, Tangerine Tango
Paper:  Pacific Point, Tangerine Tango, Whisper White, Coastal Cabana DSP
Accessories:  Banners Framelits, White EP, Dimensionals

Kensington Gardens

Morning seemed to come really early this Monday...that's what happens when I get hold of a good book and can't put it down.  Anyway, today's scrapbook layout is the one I finished on Friday afternoon and that put me at my goal for January, take a looksie:

See the original photos here and here.  And so continue my habits of using nine photos per layout and either blue or green for the page base.  What can ya do?  I tried it on Crushed Curry and it didn't work for me.  However, I continue to love my color swatch book, it makes it so easy to pick out several colors to use together.

Thanks for stopping by today!  I'm off to take a walk with my doglets since it looks like a pretty day outside.

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Best of Butterflies, Notable Alphabet, Cottage Garden
Ink:  Island Indigo, Orchid Opulence, Basic Gray, Crushed Curry
Paper:  Island Indigo, Crushed Curry, Whisper White, Cottage Wall DSP
Accessories:  Artisan Label punch