Desert Fiesta

Hey y'all!  I had a beachy card yesterday, and today it's a desert theme with a cactus...

I got Birthday Fiesta because I love Lloyd the Llama (I assume he is a llama and not an alpaca?) and then I only used the stamp set once, which is a crime because it's SO cute.  So today the cactus got to come out and play, along with the coordinating paper.  This was fun to make.

I started with the Paper Players sketch:

I did move my sentiment up to the smallest panel but otherwise stayed true to the sketch.

Add in the Retro Rubber challenge:

I did the top row, with patterned paper, green, and heat embossing, which gave me a great excuse to try out the new sparkly embossing powder.  I got both black and white, and tried them both; the black was actually easier to read but I felt like if I did the sentiment in black then I'd have to add black mats to the card and I just didn't wanna, so I went with the white.  Anyway, Birthday Fiesta is at least two years old.

Finally, here's the Cupcake Inspiration Challenge:

I think that might be the only cactus stamp I own, but I could be mistaken.  As my husband would tell you, my stamp collection is quite vast :p

Fiesta like there's no manana, peeps!  Today is Harry Potter's birthday, if you need an excuse to celebrate.

Supplies, all SU! (some retired)
Stamps:  Birthday Fiesta
Ink:  Emerald Envy, Versamark
Paper:  Emerald Envy, Melon Mambo, Crushed Curry, Thick Whisper White, Festive Birthday DSP
Accessories:  Fiesta Time Framelits, Shimmer White EP, Dimensionals, Wink of Stella (on the cactus)

Beachy Thanks

Hey y'all!  I finally got into my craft room yesterday and dusted things off :) and I made a card to share today!

I got the In Color 6x6 DSP stack in my last SU! order, so I had to work it into today's card.  I started with the CASE the Designer challenge from Global Design Project:

And when we got back from Texas and Oklahoma last week, I found out my retirement card had been picked as a GDP winner, so that's pretty cool!  Thanks, y'all!  Okay, so for this challenge, I kept a similar layout, three image stamps and the same sentiment (but a different stamp) and some sequin accents and linen thread.  I was inspired to go with the Seaside Notions images because of two challenges, The Library Challenge:

I did sponge some Sahara Sand ink around the bottom of the main image panel for a bit of an ombre effect to mimic the cover of the book, but it doesn't show up as well in the photo as it does in real life.  The other challenge is As You See It:

Now I just need to send this baby out in the mail!  I always need thank you cards :)

Hope y'all are having a great week!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Seaside Notions, Tres Chic
Ink:  Sahara Sand, Seaside Spray, Grapefruit Grove, Terracotta Tile, Versamark
Paper:  Sahara Sand, Thick Whisper White, Seaside Spray DSP
Accessories:  clear EP, Basics Adhesive Sequins, Mini Dimensionals, linen thread

Germany, Part 2: Partnach Gorge

Scrappy Monday, y'all!  I haven't been in my craft room in like a week.  We went out to Texas and Oklahoma on the 16th, and over that trip is when we told our families that we're moving to Germany next year...and it's also when my brother and sister-in-law announced that they're expecting Baby #2!  And the due date is Ryan's third birthday, ha.

So!  Today I have Germany layout #2 to share:

See the photos close up here and here.  The gorge wasn't far away from where we were staying and it was a beautiful hike (says the girl who doesn't do hiking as a rule).  And it's also very LOUD in the gorge with all the rushing water :)

Today's color palette includes Pear Pizzazz, Garden Green, Bermuda Bay, Night of Navy (I promise it's not black), and Whisper White.  I'm going to have to get like a bazillion extra packs of the Garden Lane DSP, I love it.  Lots of different shades of green and you can add lots of other colors to it for a different look.

Okay kids, we're off to the Y.  Have a great day!

Supplies:

Stamps:  Rooted In Nature, Tim Holtz Christmas Alphabet
Ink:  Garden Green, Bermuda Bay, Night of Navy marker
Paper:  Pear Pizzazz, Garden Green, Bermuda Bay, Night of Navy, Thick Whisper White, Garden Lane DSP
Accessories:  Nature's Roots Framelits

SUO Challenges: New Catty Favorites

Mornin, friends!  It's time for another challenge at SUO Challenges!

This time around we're using new catty favorites!  The very first thing on my first new catty order was the Dino Days bundle, I just love it.  Add in the Dinoroar DSP and it's pretty much perfect.

I hadn't used any of these particular stamps from the set yet, so this was a great excuse to get them inky.

Head on over to the SUO Challenges blog and share your creation!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Dino Days
Ink:  Pineapple Punch, Mango Melody, Flirty Flamingo, Lovely Lipstick, Pretty Peacock
Paper:  Pool Party, Mango Melody, Pretty Peacock, Thick Whisper White, Dinoroar DSP
Accessories:  Dino dies, Tailored Tag punch, Stitched Shapes dies, Dimensionals

Germany, Part 1: Garmisch

Scrappy Monday, y'all!

See the pics up close here and here.  I recently made five layouts from our first trip to Germany, all of them using the same alphabet stamps for page titles and the fabulous Garden Lane DSP, so stay tuned for more Germany pages in the next few weeks.

Today's color palette includes Balmy Blue, Garden Green, Pear Pizzazz, Night of Navy, and Whisper White.  And today's layout also comes with a special announcement...if all goes according to plan,

WE'RE MOVING TO GERMANY NEXT YEAR!!!!

Supplies:
Stamps:  Painted Harvest, Tim Holtz Christmas Alphabet
Ink:  Night of Navy, Garden Green, Pear Pizzazz
Paper:  Balmy Blue, Night of Navy, Thick Whisper White, Garden Lane DSP
Accessories:  Leaf punch, circle punch

Enjoy Your Retirement

Hey kids!  How's your week going so far?  Ryan is doing swim lessons, and for some reason it feels just SO MUCH busier with that 30-minute lesson added into our day.  At least it was just for last week and this week...I'd prefer one or two lessons a week for several weeks rather than 4 lessons in 4 days.  Oy!

Anyway, I got in my craft room yesterday and I was feeling the vintage vibe pretty hard, so here's what I made:

Oh, we're pulling out all the retired stuff for this one!  Retired stamps, retired paper, retired ink.  Here's my inspiration pic:

This is the current challenge at the new-to-me Library Challenge.  I must admit I've never read any Jules Verne; I saw an image floating around Facebook last week that was a comparison of the tallest structures in the world, and "Books I intend to read" was like twice as tall as everything else ;)  Definitely related to that one!  Anyway, since I've never read the book, I took inspiration from the image on the front cover.  Even though my card doesn't *say* anything about retiring on it, I think this would be a great "congratulations on your retirement" card.  I bet a lot of people want to travel when they retire, though probably not by hot air balloon ;) and I liked the idea of a bunch of postage stamps for that reason.

This idea sprang forth fully formed Athena-style when I saw the sketch from Global Design Project:

Fun.  I like it when an idea for a card actually works out on paper more or less the way it looks in my head.

Well, we've got lots to do today, so peace out, friends.  Enjoy your day!

Supplies, all SU! (lots retired)
Stamps:  Postage Collection, Suite Sentiments
Ink:  Midnight Muse, Primrose Petals, Delightful Dijon, Soft Suede
Paper:  Primrose Petals, Soft Suede, Very Vanilla, Print Poetry DSP
Accessories:  postage stamp punch, Dimensionals, linen thread

Nashville & Gatlinburg

Scrappy Monday, y'all!  I was hoping to get a lot done this weekend, but instead I spent over four hours yesterday looking for a specific photo.  I did eventually find it, but of course by then I had used up almost all my scrappy time :p  At least now I have everything I need to get started on the next layout.

But for today, we are once again going way back to 2004.  This one will come up right after last week's layout in my albums:

Pics are from the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville and the Guinness World Record Museum in Gatlinburg.  My page base is non-SU cardstock; my brain insisted that I needed a specific shade of greenish blue, which I found in my small stash of cardstock left over from when I worked in a local scrapbook store while in college (back in the day when local scrapbook stores were a thing).

For the color palette, I put Tranquil Tide in there because it was the closest SU color to what I actually used.  The other colors are Almost Amethyst (which I chose because of the color of Patsy Cline's dress), So Saffron, Mint Macaron, and Whisper White.  I'm pleased I had a reason to use one of the Musical Instruments Framelits, that treble clef is pretty great.

Well, kiddo and I will be off to the Y soon to get our week started.  Cheers, y'all!

Supplies:
Stamps:  Labeler Alphabet
Ink:  Basic Gray
Paper:  Non-SU blue-green, Mint Macaron, Almost Amethyst, So Saffron, Thick Whisper White, Tea Party DSP
Accessories:  Musical Instruments Framelits

Sorta Happy Hydrangea

Happy Saturday, y'all!

Okay, I admit, the card in my head came out nicer than the one that I got on paper, but I tried?

Those circles are rhinestones, which almost never photograph well.  All these stamps are in the new set Beautiful Friendship, which I love, and I must play with it more and make a card I like better.  To be fair though, this card definitely looks worse in the photo than it does IRL.

Check out this week's Color Throwdown:

I used Petal Pink, gold embossing powder, and Memento Tuxedo Black.  Yeah, the leaves are actually GOLD, not brown.  Does embossing powder expire?  'Cause I think mine is super old.

I also used this week's sketch from CAS(E) This Sketch:

So yep, there you have it.  Maybe next time I get in my craft room I'll make something that makes me a bit happier...cheers y'all!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Beautiful Friendship
Ink:  Petal Pink, Versamark, Memento Tuxedo Black
Paper:  Thick Whisper White
Accessories:  Gold EP, rhinestones

Blooming Happiness

Happy Friday, stampers!  As I said on Tuesday, I've been a wee bit totally obsessed with working on my cross stitch project lately, so stamping has taken a temporary back seat while I work on that.  But yesterday I made two cards while Ryan was napping, so I have something to share today and tomorrow!

As it happens, I went with CAS and florals for both my cards.  I used Vibrant Vases for the image on this one, and the sentiment is from the coordinating Varied Vases.

Check out this week's Freshly Made Sketch:

I scored the lines on my cardstock to mimic the strips shown on the sketch; some are a little hard to see, but I promise I scored two parallel lines on each side of the card front.

I also used this week's color combo from Global Design Project:

Two new In Colors in there!  I used Seaside Spray on some scrapbook pages, but this is the first time I've worked with Terracotta Tile and I love it.

Hope y'all have a great weekend.  Cheers, peeps!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Varied Vases, Vibrant Vases
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Terracotta Tile, Seaside Spray, Pear Pizzazz, Crumb Cake
Paper:  Thick Whisper White
Accessories:  bone folder?

SUO Challenges: CASE

Good morning, stampers!  It is time once more for a new challenge at SUO Challenges!

This time, we're CASE-ing a card from the catalog!  Did this cute dino card on page 98 catch your eye like it did mine?

I love it.  I love the Dino Days stamp set and the coordinating DSP, but for my card I decided to use a different suite that I love:  Free as a Bird!  I used the stamp set, the coordinating Stitched Nested Labels Dies, and the Bird Ballad DSP to make this:

I wasn't quite sure how I wanted to color in my birdies, so I took some inspiration from another sheet of the Bird Ballad DSP and by following that as a template it looks like I actually knew what I was doing when I colored in my birds!  Amazing ;)  I used almost all Stampin' Blends; I don't have Old Olive and Calypso Coral (YET) but my collection is growing.

We hope you'll play along with this new challenge!  If you're curious, I made my paper strips for the background 3/4" tall and 5" wide, so there's a 1/4" border between each strip and on the edges of the card.  My main image panel is I think 2 1/2" wide by 4 1/4" tall.  Just in case the measurements help :)  Don't forget to upload your new card to the SUO Challenges blog!

Cheers, y'all!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Free as a Bird
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Old Olive, Calypso Coral, Stampin' Blends in Crumb Cake, Daffodil Delight, Petal Pink, Smoky Slate, and Pool Party
Paper:  Petal Pink, Pool Party, Thick Whisper White, Bird Ballad DSP
Accessories:  Nested Stitched Labels dies, Dimensionals, Basics Self-Adhesive Sequins

Tennessee Sightseeing

Scrappy Monday, y'all!  Didja have a good holiday?  While Ryan was taking naps over the past several days, I got some good progress made on both my stitching and my scrapbook pages.  I'm at 94 pages for the year now :)

And for today I have another layout of older pictures, these from 2004:

When we moved to North Carolina the first time, we took the scenic route through Tennessee and just stopped whenever something looked interesting, so on the left are pictures from Memphis and on the right are pictures from the Casey Jones museum.  I busted out an old, old pack of patterned paper called Western Star, love it.

Today's color palette is almost entirely retired, but still great for a red-white-blue layout:  Ruby Red, Not Quite Navy, Blue Bayou, River Rock, and Whisper White.

Have a great day, y'all!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Labeler Alphabet, Words of Courage
Ink:  Not Quite Navy
Paper:  Ruby Red, Blue Bayou, River Rock, Thick Whisper White, Western Star DSP
Accessories:  Apothecary Accents Framelits

Texas Yellow Roses & Goal Check-In

Hey, y'all!  Happy Wednesday.  How's your week going?  We're looking forward to the holiday weekend!

In the meantime I have a super summery card to share:

Having some more fun with To a Wild Rose and its coordinating dies.  And also plaid, because plaid is fun.  The scrapbook layouts I'm currently mid-process on also feature plaid :)  Back to the card!  I was inspired by the CASE the Designer challenge from Global Design Project:

I kept the idea of large flowers on a plaid background but tried to make it my own, ya know?  I used some retired plaid paper in Lemon Lime Twist because I refuse to believe LLT is actually retired ;)  The rose on the right is popped up to give the card some dimension.  I thought about adding some sequins, but in the end I decided that sequins would just be too much on here.

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  To a Wild Rose
Ink:  Daffodil Delight, Mango Melody, Lemon Lime Twist, Call Me Clover
Paper:  Daffodil Delight, Thick Whisper White, Gingham Gala DSP
Accessories:  Wild Rose dies, Dimensionals

Well, since we're halfway through the year, I thought it would be a good idea to check in on my annual goals (you can read about those here).

1.  Make 200 scrapbook pages.  I'm currently at 86, which at first made me a little discouraged, but really that's only 7 layouts away from being right on track.  I've made some great progress on Ryan's baby book, I've finished a LOT of older photos, and I'm having fun.  So pretty happy about this goal.

2.  Finish Ryan's baby book.  I'm up to October/November!  I have to get a few photos printed in different sizes but again, making good progress and some of these pages are SO. STINKING. CUTE.

3.  Organize photos.  Well, I got through all the ones for the last two years (a.k.a. Ryan pictures), but I haven't gone back to the older photos to weed out shots we don't need.  So half credit here.

4.  End the year with fewer unread books on my Kindle than when I started.  AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAA.  Yeah I have a feeling this is going to be the toughest one to do.  I'm trying to be better about just getting rid of books if I start them and don't enjoy them, rather than forcing myself to slog through something that isn't fun, so at least I'm holding steady at about +4 or +5 from where I started.  Needs improvement.

5.  Finish The Accolade.  Um, if I don't post as much this month, it's because I'm obsessively working on this!  I've got just over 5% left to do, and I'm so excited that the end is in sight.  This thing is looking pretty spectacular.

United States Capitol, Part 2

Scrappy Monday, y'all!  Man, it's July ALREADY!  As promised last week, today I've got more scrapbook pages from the US Capitol to share.  Perfect since we're so close to the 4th of July!

Ahh, Ryan was such a wee babe!  He was 4 months old when we did this.  After we toured the Capitol, we had more time so we ate lunch there in the underground cafeteria and then we walked to the Library of Congress (pics on the right).

I didn't have any more of the star paper I used for the first layout, but I did have a few pages of a similar star paper made by the same company.  It's a different color, more brown than yellow, but it worked well with the photos anyway.

My color palette photo is off, it should be Baked Brown Sugar instead of Tip Top Taupe.  Guess I wasn't paying enough attention while I was taking pictures of all those layouts :) And then yesterday I didn't get around to re-taking the picture of this palette.

Okay, time to get my kiddo up and get ready to go.  Cheers, y'all!

Supplies:
Stamps:  Land That I Love, Simply Stars
Ink:  Midnight Muse, Early Espresso marker
Paper:  Midnight Muse, Riding Hood Red, Baked Brown Sugar, Thick Whisper White, K & Company patterned paper
Accessories:  flag die cut by Li'l Davis Designs