2015 Showcase, Part 2

Part 2 of the card showcase, so July through December.

July's pick features the fantastically-named stamp set Awesomely Artistic, which I need to use a whole lot more in 2016.  Sometimes having so many stamps is a problem ;)

July's other pick is this ax murderer card, which is quite possibly one of my favorite cards in the history of ever because of a joke I share with a friend, whom I have referred to for years as "my online friend, the ax murderer".  She thinks it's funny too.

My pick for August is this little stellar card, I love the bright colors and all the white space just seems to make it work.

September's pick is the faboolous Stella, who got sent to my friend Sarah who loves all things Halloween and even managed to have her daughter on her favorite holiday.

October's pick is this jellyfish card, just because I think it's funny.

November's pick is this beary thankful card, because I just couldn't get through an entire showcase without that Thankful Forest Friends bear.

November's other pick is this Star Wars birthday card, which I somehow neglected to sign when I gave it to my brother.  Oops.  But I was pretty proud of how Artoo turned out...maybe I should give BB-8 a try?

And to finish up the showcase, December's pick is this sparkly blue poinsettia card, which I sent to my mom because she loves sparkly and blue and all things Christmas.

Happy New Year, peeps!

2015 Showcase, Part 1

Since it's the last week of December (already!), it's time for the 2015 showcase here at Snapdragon Stamps.  So I went back through my blog posts for this year and picked out one card and one scrapbook layout for each month (okay, sometimes there were ties) just to share my favorites one more time.  So let's start off with Part 1 of the card showcase.

January's pick:  I love this happy card.  That "oh, happy day" stamp just makes me smile.

February's pick has Valentine-y colors and some pretty lotus blossoms.  I like how it turned out to do the first layer of the flower stamping with white ink.

March's pick:  By the Seashore has long been a fave stamp set, and I just love that patterned paper from last year's Sale-a-Bration.

April's pick is this giant Swallowtail paired with some stamps from Tea Party.  I love the watercolor background for the butterfly and those are my colors.  Spoiler alert:  new tea-related goodness is coming up in the Occasions Mini next week!

May's pick is this coral rose card.  It's an advertisement for why I don't get rid of my retired stamp sets:  I love that rose and the sentiments.  Plus, if I sold off all my retired stuff, how would I do Friday Flashbacks?

And for the last one of the day, June's pick is this bouquet card I CASEd from the catalog.

The Last Nacho

Well children, are you ready for the last Nacho Average Color Challenge?  Because it's here.

After this week's challenge, the Nachos will be going to a monthly blog hop instead of a weekly challenge.  I'm going to miss the Nacho challenges though, so I just wanted to say...

Thanks.  It's been fun being on the Nacho design team.  But we'll still be back for blog hops!

Anyway, about this card.  I wanted to do something simple but still oomphy, so glimmer paper to the rescue.  I cut out the "thanks" Thinlit three times, once in silver glimmer paper and twice in Night of Navy cardstock, and then I stacked the three together to give it some dimension.  Couple of snowflakes and a rhinestone, and my card was done.

Hope you'll try your hand at this color challenge and post it over on the Nacho blog.  Cheers, peeps!

Uh, I just got done watching two episodes of Doctor Who, so is it weird if I tell you I wrote this whole post with a British accent?

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Flurry of Wishes
Ink:  Night of Navy
Paper:  Night of Navy, Soft Sky, Silver Glimmer
Accessories:  Hello You Thinlits, rhinestone

St. Nicholas, Feltwell

Hey kids, it's the last Scrappy Monday of 2015.  And I'm ready to be done with all the Christmas color block layouts, so instead, I bring you this:

St. Nicholas is the church that was about a half a block up the street from our house in England.  Super tiny, first built in the 7th century (yes, 7th, not 17th), with a collapsed bell tower on one side and a graveyard surrounding it.  Hubs thinks I'm weird for wandering around graveyards, but I don't know, I think they're peaceful.  And I love looking at all the old names.

There's my usual mixed-font title, using the Spencerian Alphabet for the name of the church and the Rough Edges alphabet for the village name.

I had quite a time trying to figure out photo placement for this layout, so this was another option I considered before I changed my mind.

My color palette:  Perfect Plum, Cajun Craze,  Garden Green, Early Espresso, and Very Vanilla.  I must thank my Color Coach for this palette; I knew I wanted to use Cajun Craze but I was having trouble figuring out what to pair it with.  The Color Coach gave me Perfect Plum and Always Artichoke, but I swapped out the Artichoke for Garden Green because it went with the pictures better.  That Perfect Plum turned out to be just what I was looking for to do the page base.  Wish they hadn't retired the Color Coach.

Cheers, peeps!  Tomorrow is Nacho Day, and then it's time for the annual showcase.

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Spencerian Alphabet Upper & Lower, Rough Edges Alphabet, Angelic
Ink:  Early Espresso, Garden Green
Paper:  Perfect Plum, Garden Green, Early Espresso, Very Vanilla, Cajun Craze DSP
Accessories:  None

Friday Flashback: Best of Christmas

Merry Christmas, y'all.  Time for another Friday Flashback...this week's stamp set is Best of Christmas.  The Splitcoast gallery for it is tiny, and it turns out I haven't done much with it either.

Also features Spencerian Alphabet, Rough Edges Alphabet

See the reindeer with the fancy antlers?  That's the stamp from Best of Christmas.  I never got the single stamp Dasher that everyone was mad for so that's kinda why I got this stamp set.  And then I only used it once...oops.

So here's something new:  gift tags.

I was trying to get Christmas presents in the mail last week and I could not find the sticker gift tag labels I KNEW I had somewhere, so I decided it would be faster to just make my own tags than figure out what happened to the stickers.  And really, I made 7 of these in about 15 minutes.  The white tag is just connected to the red tag with the twine, so I wrote recipients' names on the red tag behind the Santa and DONE.

Hope you have a great Christmas!  This year we got a WET one as opposed to a white one.

Supplies, tags only:
Stamps:  Best of Christmas
Ink:  Real Red
Paper:  Real Red, Whisper White
Accessories:  Gold baker's twine, hole punch, Tags & Labels Framelits

2009 Christmas Color Block

I've decided to give myself a Christmas present:  not worrying about making new cards for today or tomorrow.  So here's yet another Christmas card color block layout, this time from 2009.

Have a good holiday, y'all.

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  None
Ink:  Cherry Cobbler marker
Paper:  Old Olive, Very Vanilla, Jolly Holiday DSP
Accessories:  Labels Sizzlets, ornament punch

Ready for Snow

I woke up this morning with a headache and the song "Let It Go" stuck in my head.  No comment on whether those two things are related to each other.  In other news, since my Disney movie binge fest on Sunday, I've watched The Little Mermaid, Robin Hood, Brave, Sleeping Beauty, and Mulan.  I told my hubs when he was talking over Robin Hood that I was missing important plot points, and he just gave me eye mail considering he knows perfectly well that I have the dialog to that movie pretty much memorized.  And also lots of other movies.  I think about 87% of my brain is taken up with song lyrics and movie quotes.

So I was having some trouble in my craft room yesterday.  Ever have those days when things just don't seem to want to work out how you want them to?

This card is...okay, I guess...but not my favoritest card ever.  Which is a shame, because the Global Design Project challenge to CASE the designer is beautiful:

Perhaps I'll have another go at it for tomorrow's card.  I just had a giant piece of pumpkin coffee cake and the world's largest cup of tea, so I might just be ready to conquer the universe here in the next hour or so.  Cheers, peeps!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Christmas Cuties
Ink:  Basic black, Soft Sky, Night of Navy, Pink Pirouette, Real Red, Soft Suede, Mossy Meadow, Skintone Blendabilities
Paper:  Thick Whisper White, Soft Sky, Season of Cheer DSP
Accessories:  2 1/2" circle punch, Banners Framelits

Christmas Blessings from the Nachos

Happy Tuesday, peeps!  Can ya believe that tomorrow is Christmas Adam?  Ya know, the day before Christmas Eve ;)  Anyway, it's time for another Nacho Average Sketch Challenge.  And here it is!

I think I've got just one or two more Christmas cards to make, so here's one of them:

I love the Christmas Cuties set, I'm a little sad it's retiring.  Doesn't mean it's leaving my craft cave though :)  I stamped lil miss angel with Versamark and Night of Navy, then clear embossed so that I could watercolor her without the ink smearing.  The colors on her clothes are a little washed out, but she's wearing a Pool Party dress and a Wisteria Wonder sash.  Can't take another picture because this one got sent out in the mail already.

So now let's see your take on the sketch!  Upload your creation at the Nacho blog.  Ta-ta for now, peeps!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Christmas Cuties
Ink:  Versamark, Night of Navy, Pool Party, Wisteria Wonder, Soft Suede, Smoky Slate, skin tone Blendabilities
Paper:  Pool Party, Wisteria Wonder, Night of Navy, Thick Whisper White, Season of Cheer DSP
Accessories:  Clear EP, rhinestones, Dimensionals

Christmas 2013

How was your weekend, peeps?  Yesterday, I decided it was a good day for a Disney movie marathon, so I watched no fewer than five movies back to back (to back to back to back).  I started off with Tangled, then Frozen, Princess and the Frog, The Lion King (hadn't watched that in years!!), and finished up with Aladdin.  Think I might watch another one (or two) tonight...I haven't even gotten to any of my particular favorites, like Sleeping Beauty, Mulan, and Robin Hood.

Anyway, I thought I'd take a break from color blocked Christmas card layouts (though I still have a few more of those I haven't shared yet) and post a scrapbook layout from our last Christmas in England.

I had a photo collage printed so I could get several of the photos smaller and fit everything I wanted on one layout.  Had to include some photos of my favorite ornaments that I got in the past few years:  angels from around the world (Ireland, England, and Germany I think) plus of course the Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man.  Because nothing says Christmas like a 100-foot-tall marshmallow man.

Sadie looks like she's contemplating committing violence against the person who put the antlers on her....maybe I won't show her that picture this year.  Anyway, the Santa stamp is not SU but he was just SO pretty I had to get him anyway.

And there's my very seasonally appropriate color palette:  Chocolate Chip, Ruby Red, Old Olive, and Whisper White.

Supplies, mostly SU!
Stamps:  Santa from Stampendous
Ink:  Chocolate Chip
Paper:  Chocolate Chip, Whisper White, Holiday Treasures DSP
Accessories:  None

Friday Flashback: Holidays & Wishes

Happy Friday, friends!  So the hubs and I saw Star Wars: The Force Awakens last night, and despite my best efforts I had to blink at least a half a dozen times during the movie so we're going back tonight so I can catch anything I missed the first time around ;)  But you're here for the Friday Flashback!  Right?  Right!  Today's retired stamp set is Holidays & Wishes, so here we go!

Also features Lovely as a Tree, Bella Toile

I love greens and blues together, I think they make a nice sympathy card when you use more subdued tones.

Also features Heartfelt Thanks, Paisley

Playing with Heartfelt Thanks and inchies.  Also, I miss Almost Amethyst and all the other purples :(

Also features Snow Burst

This was before I learned how to tie pretty knots, but otherwise I like this one.  It's shimmery white cardstock for a bit of shine.

Also features Simply Said, Kindness jumbo wheel

And there's a pink and purple Valentine...

Also features Scandinavian Season

And a Scandinavian Christmas tree.

Also features Lovely as a Tree, French Script

One more sympathy card, and now it's time for today's new creation!  Spoiler alert, it has blue and green on it, but it's not subdued for a sympathy card and it might be one of my favorite cards this year.  Take a look:

I just had to use Joyful Christmas again because that flower is so pretty.  And I was inspired by these colorful poinsettias at my local grocery store:

They have glitter on them in addition to being a wonderful shade of royal blue.  Aren't they pretty?

I also used this week's Pals Paper Arts sketch:

And this week's Color Throwdown is a free-for-all Christmas challenge:

I used Garden Green, Pacific Point, and Blackberry Bliss, and I think I love that combination.  The poinsettia was inked with Versamark, then Blackberry Bliss, and I used Iridescent Ice embossing powder plus it's stamped on shimmery white cardstock.  For the leaves, I just stamped them in Garden Green, so they ran a little bit when I watercolored them.  I waited until the water dried and then used the fine tip of my Garden Green marker to go over the lines again, and I like how that worked out for me.

Anyway, I've got to get moving.  Have a great weekend, peeps, and if you haven't seen the new Star Wars movie yet I won't spoil any plot points for you.  May the Force be with you!

Supplies, last card only:
Stamps:  Holidays & Wishes, Joyful Christmas
Ink:  Versamark, Pacific Point, Garden Green, Blackberry Bliss, Crushed Curry
Paper:  Pacific Point, Garden Green, Blackberry Bliss, Shimmery White
Accessories:  Iridescent Ice EP, rhinestones, Decorative Label punch, Ovals Framelits, Dimensionals

It's Not Magic, It's the Force!

SO EXCITED that we're going to see the new Star Wars movie tonight!  And again tomorrow night, 'cause that's how I roll.  I'm not going in costume, but my brother is so I hope I get to see pics.

But you're here for the card today, right?  Right.

It's not magic, it's the Force.  It surrounds us, it penetrates us, it binds the galaxy together.  Like duct tape, only cooler.

I'm such a nerd.

Srsly though, I do like how this card turned out.  I started with the color combo from Fab Friday:

Then I combined it with the sketch from Freshly Made and this card was done in about 10 minutes.  The only thing I wish I'd done differently is I wish I'd used shimmery white cardstock for a bit of sparkle.

I suppose since this card came together so fast that I could go back and make another one, but I'm too busy geeking out about the Star Wars premiere tonight.  May the Force be with you, peeps!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Cozy Christmas
Ink:  Pool Party, Mossy Meadow, Real Red
Paper:  Pool Party, Mossy Meadow, Early Espresso, Whisper White
Accessories:  Sleigh Ride Edgelits

Celebrating Fabulousness

I was going to say good morning, but it's just after noon where I am so afternoon, y'all!  I am starting to get very excited...only ONE MORE SLEEP until I get to see STAR WARS!!!  Woo!

And there's another celebration happening:  today is my friend Karyn's birthday.

I'm afraid this won't get to her in time...well I know it won't, I just made it this morning and it has to get to Germany!  But anyway, I try to make her a birthday card that isn't necessarily Christmasy.  This one is still wintry though, and I do admit the red stripes remind me of a candy cane.  Oh, and check out the fiber I used to top my tag--it's more red IRL than it looks in the picture and I've had it in my stash for no kidding FIFTEEN YEARS.  And I only used a little piece of what I have.  It's kinda shiny metallic red wound around black thread, but I thought it would work on my sparkly birthday card.

The colors on my card are from the current Cupcake Inspirations Challenge:

Such an adorable cupcake!  And I picked a stamp that specifically says "celebration" on it because that's the Global Design Project theme of the week:

But wait, there's more!  I used this week's Mojo Monday sketch:

Okay, kids.  Time for me to go put in some more work in the old craft cave...and probably clean the floor again because it rained Monday night.  Cheers, y'all!

Supplies, almost all SU!
Stamps:  Happy Happenings, Flurry of Wishes
Ink:  Pool Party, Real Red
Paper:  Thick Whisper White, Glimmer Paper, Cherry on Top DSP, Real Red DSP
Accessories:  Tags & Labels Framelits, Crop-a-Dile punch (which used to be SU!), Snow Flurry punch, rhinestone, Dimensionals, fiber from Magic Scraps

Going Polar with the Nachos

Mornin, peeps!  Are you ready for a Nacho Average Color Challenge?

Whabam.  Umm, this one was hard for me because I don't think Island Indigo and Marina Mist go well together (see also:  Melon Mambo and Real Red, or just about any gray and brown together, or navy blue and black, and I have a lot of nuh-uh color combos...).  But I did finally get a card made after some pondering:

I made the bear from Thankful Forest Friends into a POLAR bear!  I don't know if I'm the first to think of it, but I didn't see it anywhere else first.  And I have a friend who's obsessed with polar bears.  Anyway, the background is very lightly washed with Marina Mist ink, and then the little round snowflakes are stamped off twice in Island Indigo before I stamped on my card.  That color wash background was HARD to get though, this was actually attempt number five.

I was doing this by scribbling on my largest acrylic block with a marker, then spritzing with water and smooshing on my paper.  Attempt #1 didn't have enough water, #2 was darker than I wanted for this project (but it still looks kind of cool so I'm going to hold onto it for now), #3 started out fine, and I even put a sentiment on it but then I tried using the small splats from Awesomely Artistic and oh my gosh kill it with fire, and #4 was again not enough water.  So even though it came out paler than I wanted, by this point I was pretty much out of patience so I kept #5.

I also tried the polar bear on Smoky Slate and Sahara Sand, but the hubs picked Crumb Cake so that's what I went with.

Okay folks, now it's your turn to give it a shot.  Make something pretty and show me how to work this color combo by posting it on the Nacho blog.  Cheers, peeps!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Thankful Forest Friends, Christmas Cuties
Ink:  Versamark, Marina Mist, Island Indigo, Basic Black
Paper:  Thick Whisper White, Crumb Cake
Accessories:  Dimensionals, White EP