Friday Flashback: Sincere Salutations

Thank goodness it's Friday, kids.  Not my best week ever.  I will neither confirm nor deny that I ate brownie batter for breakfast today.  Is it weird that I like brownie batter better than actual brownies?  Don't answer that.  Also, I laugh in the face of salmonella.

But anyway, I bring you today's slightly late Friday Flashback.  Today's retired stamp set of choice is Sincere Salutations, and I remember how excited we stampers were when it first came out--eight sentiments in a pretty classy mixed-font format, what's not to love?  So again, this flashback would take a week if I put up every single project I ever made with this stamp set.  Let's just select a few, shall we?

Also features Baroque Motifs

And right off the bat this one might be my favorite of the bunch.  I like the color combination :)  And of course Baroque Motifs can do no wrong.

Also features Natural Beauty

My long-ago SU! upline used to do that thing like on this card where a smaller-than-A2 card is folded and then backed up with a piece of colored cardstock; not really my thing but it did let me do a nice bow on the side of this card.

Also features Pretty Peony

Some pretty purple peonies for a birthday...

Also features Roses in Winter

And Christmas roses.  Yeah, Sincere Salutations has got you covered for most events.

Also features Stippled Stencils, Weathered

The sentiment showed up better IRL on this card than in the scan (and this was so long ago that it was a scan rather than a photo)--it's embossed in gold.

Also features Wonderful Wings, Filigree

One last card featuring one of the gorgeous butterflies from Wonderful Wings, and also last week's Friday Flashback set of Filigree.  And now for this week's new creation:

I'm pretty pleased with it.  I used the color challenge from ColourQ:

And apparently I was influenced by the picture in the challenge graphic too, because I think that's what made me reach for Medallion.  I also used this week's Retro Rubber Challenge sketch:

In the spirit of the challenge, I've had Sincere Salutations for I suppose 11 years because I think I got it when it came out; Medallion dates from 2011 so five years, and True Friend I've had for 9 years.  Yeah, I think I got the "retro" part of the challenge covered this time ;)

Well, hubs just got home and he's taking me out to dinner so that's it for me.  Cheers, y'all!

Supplies, last card only:
Stamps:  Sincere Salutations, Medallion, True Friend
Ink:  Marina Mist, Pear Pizzazz, Tangerine Tango, Night of Navy
Paper:  Marina Mist, Night of Navy, Whisper White
Accessories:  Circle punches, Regals Candy Dot, Tangerine Tango ribbon from Sale-a-Bration a couple of years ago

Drive Me to Abstraction

Sometimes an idea works out better in my head than on cardstock.

So this is my SIL's first year as a mom (because she just had her first baby like two weeks ago) and she's done up the nursery in ladybugs, so I thought I'd go with that for a theme for her Mother's Day card.  But I don't have any current ladybug stamps, so I did a more abstract ladybug.  (I am mortally certain my SIL does not visit this blog.  Or my other one, for that matter.)

As it happens, ladybugs are also the challenge at Cupcake Inspirations:

I paired it with this week's Freshly Made Sketch:

And it's just never going to be my favorite card, and that's not the fault of the sketch or the theme challenges. 

This Eeyore is going to go wander off under her own personal raincloud now.  Cheers, y'all.

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Teeny Tiny Wishes
Ink:  Real Red
Paper:  Pear Pizzazz, Real Red, Basic Black, Whisper White, Basic Black DSP
Accessories:  Word Window punch (retiring), Modern Label punch (already retired), Itty Bitty Punch Pack heart (retiring), Dimensionals

Floral Wishes

How are you this rainy Wednesday morning?  I'd better bust a move if I want to get to my 11:00 gym class, so I'm gonna make this fast.

I was perusing my retiring stamps this morning looking for something to go with the color challenge I'd picked out, and I came across Choose Happiness which I haven't used very much and voila!  This card was born.  Petite Pairs is retiring too, but luckily our beloved Hardwood is sticking around for another year.

All of the cardstock (except the mat on the main image) is Thick Whisper White; I just scribbled some marker on acrylic blocks, misted with water, and stamped it for the Calypso Coral and Night of Navy panels, which gave me lovely pastel versions of the colors.  Added bonus:  the water made some stripes appear on the paper, which is a happy accident.

Here's this week's Global Design Project color combo:

I do like these colors together, I saw a lady wearing this combination the other day.  (I'd totally wear an outfit in this palette too.)  I also used this week's Paper Players sketch:

And I'd better fly out the door.  Cheers, y'all!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Choose Happiness, Petite Pairs, Hardwood
Ink:  Night of Navy, Calypso Coral, Sahara Sand
Paper:  Thick Whisper White, Sahara Sand
Accessories:  Circles Framelits, 2 1/2" circle punch, Dimensionals

Dressy Thanks

Here it is past 2:00 in the afternoon and I don't have a card for today.  I spent the morning at the dentist having fillings done, and I just haven't felt up to working in my craft room today.  So instead here's a card I made quite a while ago with some retired stamps.

My mom the shopaholic (HI MOM!!) sent me a box last summer with three brand-new dresses in it, so I made this to send to her.  One dress was blue, one was green, and one was yellow, hence the color combination.

I stamped the "thank you" part before I watercolored the dresses, and I thought it was funny when I squished the ink pad lid down that I got this reverse thank you on the lid.

Cheers, peeps.  Back with something new tomorrow.

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Simply Sweet, Express Yourself (both retired)
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Pacific Point, Cucumber Crush, Daffodil Delight
Paper:  Pacific Point, Whisper White, Cucumber Crush & Daffodil Delight DSP
Accessories:  Decorative Label punch, Dimensionals

Our Village

Scrappy Monday, y'all!  As promised, I'm back this week with the second layout of my Feltwell flowers.

The page base is Bashful Blue, sometimes the colors don't turn out in the photos I take of my layouts.

Thought I'd go super-simple and just hand-write the title with a little butterfly accent.

And there's my other butterfly, which is stamped above and again below the journaling.

Today's springy color combo:  Bashful Blue, Garden Green, Crushed Curry, and Real Red (in the photos).  In fact, if you scroll back up you'll see that I intentionally arranged the photos so the red forms a visual triangle.  Helps move your eye through the layout, there's a little design tip for you ;)

Cheers, y'all!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Flores Suaves (large butterfly), Flower Garden (small butterfly)
Ink:  Bashful Blue, Garden Green marker
Paper:  Bashful Blue, Crushed Curry DSP
Accessories:  Curly Label punch

A-Team Baby Book: April

Happy Saturday, y'all!  Time for another baby book layout.

April showers bring May flowers, so Noah's Ark seemed like a particularly appropriate theme for April's pages.

And this is the maiden voyage for Two by Two, which I got just before it retired a couple years ago.  It had a sentiment too (congratulations I think?) but I cut that apart from the image so I could use the ark by itself.

Some sweet brollies from Weather or Not.

Today's springy color palette:  So Saffron, Marina Mist, Lavender Lace, Smoky Slate, Close to Cocoa, and Whisper White.  Generally I think that gray and brown don't go together at all, but there's not much else you can do when the image has a wooden boat and an elephant :)

Have a great weekend, y'all!

Supplies:
Stamps:  Two by Two, Rain or Shine, Weather or Not
Ink:  Basic Black, Marina Mist, Lavender Lace, Smoky Slate
Paper:  So Saffron, Marina Mist, Lavender Lace, Smoky Slate, PTI White, Watercolor Wonder DSP
Accessories:  Sizzix alphabet, Prismacolor Pencils, Circles Framelits

Friday Flashback: Filigree

Happy Friday!  This week's Friday Flashback stamp set is Filigree, which was one of my favorite background stamps for a very long time...oh who are we kidding, I still love me some Filigree.  But I don't want you to spend all weekend trying to make it through the entire Flashback, so I just picked out a few favorite older projects with Filigree.

Oh wow, I just saw in the Splitcoast gallery that Filigree retired in 2005!

Also features Roses in Winter, Hugs & Wishes

Wow, way back in the archives for this one:  that's Vintage Violet!

Also features Best of Brides & Babies

Here's a wedding card with one of the "Best of" sets they did a couple years ago.  Filigree is stamped with Versamark and embossed with clear EP; it also looks pretty fabulous done in metallic EP or Iridescent Ice.  Which is on the retiring list, to my great surprise.  I love that stuff!

Also features Land That I Love

Here's a patriotic eagle card.  Oy, back in the day when all I had was cheap big box store ribbon.  I don't have much current SU! ribbon, but I do have a laundry basket full of retired stuff :)

Also features Petal Prints, Happy Everything

Aww, this one's sweet.  I miss Regal Rose sometimes.

Also features Coast to Coast, Sincere Saluations

You know what?  I think a lighthouse makes for good symbolism on a thinking of you or sympathy card.

Also features Print Pattern, Wonderful Wings, Sincere Salutations

Okay, one last one with the kissing technique and a fabulous butterfly.  Of course you recently saw a Filigree-kissed sun on my Here Comes the Sun layout this Monday.

So that's all I'm sharing from the archives today, otherwise you'd be here until next Friday.  Here is today's new creation:

Today's colo(u)r combo is from ColourQ:

It's been a really long time since I busted out the Cool Caribbean, I still have quite a stash of 8.5x11 cardstock which makes me happy.  Sadly, the year that Cool Caribbean was an In Color I wasn't scrapbooking much at all so I never got any 12x12 in the In Colors.

I also used this week's Mojo Monday sketch:

I had a Goldilocks moment with the gold circle element--I wanted to use one of the gold doilies I have, but the smaller size was too small and the larger size was too big, so in the end I just die-cut a plain circle and it was juuuust right.

Hope y'all have a wonderful weekend, peeps.  I think we're supposed to get thunderstorms today and tomorrow, so that means it's a good opportunity to stay home and work in my craft cave!

Supplies, last card only:
Stamps:  Filigree, Stippled Blossoms, Thank You Kindly
Ink:  Cool Caribbean, Calypso Coral, Smoky Slate, Basic Gray, Memento Tuxedo Black
Paper:  Cool Caribbean, Basic Black, Thick Whisper White, Gold Foil
Accessories:  Circles Framelits, Hexagon punch, Dimensionals

Bye-Bye By the Tide & A Dozen Thoughts

Mornin' y'all!  How's your day going?  I've only got a little bit of time before I have to get ready to go to my kickboxing class.  Hubs likes to pretend that he's nervous that I go to kickboxing classes.  And then I laugh at him which is what he was trying to get me to do anyway.

So...how about a card!

This card was a bit of a bugger to make.  I started out with the colorwash background--I scribbled on my largest acrylic block with a Mossy Meadow marker and spritzed it with water, then stamped it on Shimmery White cardstock.  Well, I spritzed too much, it was practically a puddle so I ran it upstairs (trying not to drip green water on the carpet) and sprinkled some salt on it.  Parts of it turned kinda brown but it was neat-looking so I abandoned my first plan for this card (flowers) and decided to use By the Tide since it's retiring.  So then I stamped my main image panel and after the background was dry, I brushed off the salt and went to stamp the coral...and I stamped it in the WRONG COLOR.  I know, I know, it's my card, no one says what color it has to be, but I'd already done the shell and I wanted ORANGE coral, not PINK.  So I had to toss that one and make another one, and this time I just didn't want to run up the stairs again to get the salt because I didn't bring it down with me the first time.  But in the end I got this card made.

I used this week's Freshly Made Sketch:

And this week's Color Throwdown:

Now you see why I had to have orange on there :p  I used Tangerine Tango, Melon Mambo, and Mossy Meadow for my colors.

Okay kids, it's off to kickboxing I go.  Cheers!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  By the Tide, A Dozen Thoughts, Timeless Textures
Ink:  Melon Mambo, Mossy Meadow, Tangerine Tango
Paper:  Melon Mambo, Shimmery White, Mossy Meadow DSP
Accessories:  Dimensionals

Celebrate Good Times, Come On!

Ya know what, if you didn't get the April My Paper Pumpkin kit then I'm a little sad you missed out on the All About Everything stamp set, because it's awesome.  (The stamps for the April MPP project are cute too, but in my opinion it's all about All About Everything.)  Anyway, since I busted out one of the AAE sentiments for yesterday's card, I thought I'd showcase some of the other stamps in the set today.

I might have a zillion flower sets, but I puffy heart love the style of these flowers.  The sentiment is two different stamps; the set is designed so you can mix and match bits and pieces to make your own sentiments and they're my favorite mixed font.  Except this one is all the same font, but yesterday's was mixed font.

Anywha, I used this week's Retro Sketch:

No color challenge this time, I just picked some bright colors that made me happy (and won't Missy be happy too that the two main colors are Baylor green and gold!).  Since I did the sentiment in black ink, I decided the ribbon element needed to be black too, but I have almost no current ribbon and nothing that's black so I dug up some retired black taffeta and I still miss the taffeta ribbon because it was awesome and how long do you think I can keep this sentence going :D  Anyway, I kept the knot a little bit loose so when this card goes in an envelope, it won't be a big bump right there to anger the postal sorting machines.  So who's going to get it?  I suppose the next person I know that has a reason to celebrate!

Well, time for me to get ready to go to the gym so I can work off the lasagna I had for dinner last night (even if I was on the treadmill for hours, it would STILL be worth it!).  Have a peachy keen day, jellybeans!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  All About Everything
Ink:  Tempting Turquoise, Daffodil Delight, Garden Green, Basic Black
Paper:  Daffodil Delight, Thick Whisper White, Garden Green DSP
Accessories:  retired black taffeta ribbon

Spring Swallowtail

Mornin', y'all!  How's it going?  I was up wayyyy too late last night because just as I was going to bed I remembered that the Stampin' Up! retirement list would be posted, as well as the sneak peek at the new catalog just for us demonstrator types.  So yeah, it was midnight when I finally crawled into bed :)  I haven't even really taken a good look at the retirement list yet, just scanned it, but there is a certain butterfly that is retiring...

It just so happens that I had made this Swallowtail card before I saw the retirement list.  The sentiment stamps are from All About Everything, which was a special gift to Paper Pumpkin subscribers this month and it is ridiculously cute.

Today's colors are courtesy of Cupcake Inspirations:

I used Pear Pizzazz, Blushing Bride, and Rose Red for my SU! color version.

Next up is the Fab Friday sketch challenge:

And the CASE the Designer challenge from Global Design Project:

I thought the doily on the Fab Friday sketch went well with the inspiration card from GDP.  I also used the same stripey paper on my card.

Last but not least is the theme challenge from the Paper Players:

Sadly I missed the part where it said "CAS" on the challenge--I think my card qualifies as clean lines, but not really CAS.  But it was the Paper Players' fault that I broke out the butterfly so I'm putting it here anyway.

Well, I'd better get ready to go...have to take my car for an oil change today.  Cheers, y'all!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Swallowtail, All About Everything
Ink:  Blushing Bride, Pear Pizzazz, Rose Red
Paper:  Blushing Bride, Pear Pizzazz, Rose Red, Thick Whisper White, Birthday Bouquet DSP
Accessories:  Gold doily, Dimensionals, Hexagon punch, Rhinestones

Here Comes the Sun

Scrappy Monday, y'all!  How was your weekend?  I got a bit of work done on some scrapbook pages, but nothing ready to share here quite yet.  So today's layout is one I made before we left for Disneyland!

These pictures are from our last spring in England--I loved taking the doglets for walks around the village because we'd see tons of flowers all spring.  Snowdrops (top left corner) would appear in January, crocuses in February, and by March daffodils had sprung up all over everything--even smack in the middle of our lawn.  I also saw lilacs, lavender, wisteria, tulips, climbing roses, and more flowers that I don't know the names of.  So since I knew it was my last spring in England, I took my camera out several times to take pictures of the flowers with this specific layout in mind.

How do you like my sun?  The center part is kissed--ink up the solid circle stamp, then ink up the retired Filigree background and stamp the sun on the Filigree before stamping on cardstock.  Then it was just a matter of Stamp-a-ma-jigging all the rays on there and cutting it out.  Took some time but I like how it turned out.

The layout title is, of course, the title of my favoritest-ever Beatles song written by George Harrison.  (Strawberry Fields Forever is my favorite Beatles song written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney.)  So for the journaling, I used the lyrics to the song.  There's a second layout (which you'll see next Monday) with more pictures and journaling about the village and the flowers and such, but I liked this one with the song lyrics.

Today's color combination:  Whisper White, Garden Green, Daffodil Delight, Melon Mambo, Tempting Turquoise, and a wee bit of Delightful Dijon (where the sun got kissed).

Speaking of the sun, it took me several tries before I got one that I liked.  I tried kissing with a clean Filigree stamp, then with Crushed Curry (both too faint), then Melon Mambo (way too much!), then finally with Delightful Dijon, which finally worked for me.

Hope you have a great week.  Cheers, peeps!

Supplies:
Stamps:  Ray of Sunshine, Filigree
Ink:  Daffodil Delight, Delightful Dijon, Garden Green marker
Paper:  Whisper White, Garden Green, Daffodil Delight, Tempting Turquoise, Melon Mambo, Melon Mambo DSP
Accessories:  Butterflies Thinlits, Itty Bitty Punch Pack flower, hole punch, Sizzlets Alphabet

A-Team Baby Book: She's Here!

Happy Saturday, y'all!  Time for another baby book layout.

And she IS here!  Clara Nicole arrived on Thursday afternoon, weighing in at 8 pounds, 9 ounces.

She says hi, everybody!  Momma and baby are both doing great.  Daddy is over the moon.

There's a closeup of my bunny accent...I used the same Birthday Bouquet DSP as I did for the baby shower, but added some Rich Razzleberry to the color combination.  I just love that bunny stamp though, isn't it adorable?

I've had this little stamp in my stash for years and I've used it a couple of times on baby books, love it.

Today's color combination:  Blushing Bride, Pool Party, Watermelon Wonder, Rich Razzleberry, Daffodil Delight, Island Indigo, and Whisper White.

Have a great weekend, y'all!

Stamps:  bunny from Whipper Snapper, sentiment from Verve
Ink:  Basic Black, Rich Razzleberry
Paper:  Blushing Bride, Pool Party, Watermelon Wonder, Rich Razzleberry, PTI White, Birthday Bouquet DSP
Accessories:  Sizzix alphabet, Prismacolor Pencils, Ovals & Labels Framelits, paper piercing template