Friendly Croc

Mornin' y'all!  I had yesterday off and I spent a good portion of it working on my cross stitch project because I wanted to finish a page in the pattern.  I did still get in my craft room long enough to make two cards, so here is the maiden voyage for yet another new stamp set that I got months ago!

I haven't seen much done with Oh Snap, but isn't that crocodile the CUTEST?  There's lots of fun sentiments in this stamp set too, and it's perfect for little boy projects.  I'm sure I'll be using it again.  For this card, I used the Paper Players sketch:

 
I tried to keep it true to the sketch, but my "any shape" crocodile is kinda large and in charge over most of the card front ;)

I'd better get ready for work.  My boss said we're going to be busy today--someone is bringing in a whole stack of things to get framed, so I'll be spending a lot of time running back and forth around the framing counter.  On Friday, a lady brought in ten pieces of art for framing, and I think it took about three hours from when we started choosing mats and frames to when I finished typing all the paperwork, and I never had time to eat lunch.  Today we're expecting at least 20 pieces so yep, busy!  But I enjoy helping people pick frames and mats, for some reason I find that really fun.  Cheers, y'all!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Oh Snap
Ink:  Pear Pizzazz, Versamark
Paper:  Thick Basic White, Mango Melody, Playing with Patterns DSP Stack
Accessories:  White EP, Layering Circles dies, Dimensionals

 

 

SUO Challenges: Catty CASE

 Hey hey hey stampy friends!  Are you ready for a new challenge at SUO Challenges?

This time we want you to CASE the catty!  Pick a photo from either the annual catalog or the occasions catty and use it for your inspiration.

I chose page 37 in the occasions catalog, which features these three samples:

I chose the one on the right and busted out the Handmade For You stamp set, which includes angel stamps if you want to sell your Stampin' Up! creations.  I bought it on a whim because I liked the dressmaker's dummy and that Craft Queen sentiment--I'll be sending this to the OG Craft Queen, my mom :D  I do stamping, scrapbooking, and cross stitching; she's done papercrafting, cross stitching, sewing, crochet, and probably other things too.  For my CASE, I kept the layout very similar, but instead of tone-on-tone stamping for the background I chose an extra-large pattern from the Ice Cream Corner DSP.  Pro tip:  just because Designer Series Paper is designed to coordinate with a specific stamp set or suite, that doesn't mean you can't use it with other stamps :)

Time to get your CASE on!  Share your creation on the SUO Challenges blog.  Cheers, peeps!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Handmade For You
Ink:  Blackberry Bliss
Paper:  Purple Posy, Petal Pink, Basic White, Ice Cream Corner DSP
Accessories:  Stitched So Sweetly dies, Stitched Shapes dies, Dimensionals, retired adhesive sequins

Aunt Jill

Scrappy Monday, y'all!  The weather on Saturday was pretty terrible, all cold and rainy, but yesterday was GORGEOUS so we went out hiking and Ryan fell in a creek :) He's okay though and it was nice to get outside.  I also did a yoga workout and worked more on going through all our photos.  So yeah, Sunday was great!

Most of the trees here are still pretty bare, although a few smaller plants are starting to show signs of spring.  The layout I picked to share today definitely has a springtime vibe and also pictures of Ryan when he was super tiny and adorable!

That top left picture, where Ryan is yelling at his aunt Jill, makes me laugh every time I see it, mostly because it was usually me on the receiving end of "I am UNHAPPY with the service in this establishment!" yelling from Ryan.  Thanks to Jill's purple shirt, I had an excuse to break out the purple for this layout, which makes me happy--I love purple but for some reason I don't seem to use it much on layouts.

Today's color palette:  Pale Plum, Eggplant Envy, Certainly Celery, and Very Vanilla, all of which are retired except the Vanilla.  I only have teeny scraps of Eggplant Envy left; not long after I started stamping, SU! replaced it with the darker Elegant Eggplant and I accidentally used what I had left on swap cards instead of Eggplant Envy.  So I'm hoarding what I have left.  Not much left of that patterned paper either, so I am stretching it as far as I can!

Hope your week is of to a good start, y'all.  Germany did its "spring forward" for Daylight Savings Time (seriously, can we get rid of that?) this weekend, *and* I have to be at work an hour early for mandatory training, so double whammy.  Better get my caffeine on...cheers!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Lovely Letters Alphabet, Sweet Shoppe Alphabet Lower
Ink:  Eggplant Envy, Certainly Celery, Chocolate Chip marker
Paper:  Pale Plum, Eggplant Envy, Certainly Celery, Enchante DSP
Accessories:  None

Baby Luke: April

Uuuurrrrrggghhhh.  Lately Ryan has been having bad dreams and waking us up a lot in the middle of the night and the hubs and I are SO. TIRED. today but of course Ryan is all bright-eyed and bushy-tailed and hyperactive.  Anybody know how to find a kid's off switch?

Buuut it's time for another layout from Baby Luke's baby book, so here it is:

My sister-in-law attended Texas Christian University, so this is my nod to the school colors and mascot.  I don't have any horned frog stamps (I did search online, and no luck) so I went with regular frogs from a past Sale-a-Bration stamp set, So Hoppy Together.  Paired with a favorite cloud pattern from an old pack of DSP and this layout came together pretty quick.

Cheers, y'all.  Send caffeine.

Supplies:
Stamps:  So Hoppy Together, Cauldron Bubble
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Stampin' Blends in Granny Apple Green, Highland Heather, Flirty Flamingo, Pool Party
Paper:  Pacific Point, Granny Apple Green, Highland Heather, Thick Whisper White, Gorgeous Grape DSP, Sunshine & Sprinkles DSP
Accessories:  Sizzix letters, Stitched Shapes dies

Spring Bouquet

Howdy, y'all!  Had to run some errands yesterday morning (my car is all shiny clean now!) but I did get some work done in my craft room--my five layouts are all done except for journaling, and I made a card to share today.

Not quite sure how much I like it though.  I picked the sketch and color challenges I wanted to use and then I couldn't figure out what I wanted to stamp!  Eventually I inked up another new stamp set (Wrapped Bouquet) and paired it with a sentiment from Well Said, which is on the retiring list.  Kinda digging that newsprint layer on the bottom though.

Anywha, here's the Freshly Made Sketch:

Okay so my card is a bit more in the spirit of the sketch this time rather than exactly reproducing it, but I think it's recognizable.  Here's the color challenge from Color Throwdown:

I loved these colors together and I don't know why it was so hard for me to come up with an idea for them.  Maybe it was throwing me to work with four colors since usually I stick to three for cards?  But then I added Gray Granite to the mix so I had five *shrug*  I used Flirty Flamingo, Daffodil Delight, Highland Heather, and Coastal Cabana for the colors.

Okay, I'd better get my workout on so I can be ready to go to work on time today.  Ryan and his daycare peeps are going to a wildlife park today so I'm surprised he's not already up and chattering about it!  Cheers, y'all!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Wrapped Bouquet, Well Said
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Gray Granite, Stampin' Blends in Flirty Flamingo, Daffodil Delight, Highland Heather
Paper:  Coastal Cabana, Flirty Flamingo, Thick Basic White
Accessories:  Wrapped Flowers dies, Ornate Frames dies, Dimensionals, white baker's twine

Shrek's Bestie

Hey there, friend!  Sale-a-Bration is over but just this week I finally inked up one of the cutest stamp sets from that...

Aww, isn't he just the sweetest?!  I am definitely enjoying that I have more time in my craft room since Ryan is in daycare 5 days a week and I work 3 days a week ;)  Most definitely a boon to my mental health.  So my card is very CAS but it's a quadruple challenge card!  First up is the Less is More challenge:

CAS layout with a max of half the card inked up, CHECK.  Next up is Inkspirational:

Donkeys have fur, CHECK.  And now a related theme from the Paper Players:

CAS card, CHECK, donkeys are animals, DOUBLE CHECK!  And finally the color challenge from Sunday Stamps:

Y'all know how much I love green so I loved this. I used all of the colors--Cinnamon Cider, Shaded Spruce, Granny Apple Green, Daffodil Delight, and I used both Whisper White and a bit of Smoky Slate for the last color.  Color challenge, CHECK!  Four challenges done and I have a cute little card ready to go in the mail.

Hope you have a great day, peeps!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Darling Donkeys
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Granny Apple Green, Shaded Spruce, Stampin' Blends in Cinnamon Cider, Smoky Slate, Shaded Spruce, Daffodil Delight, Petal Pink
Paper:  Thick Basic White
Accessories:  Stampin' Dimensionals

Lovely Peacock Bloom

Oh wow, did I get some work done in my craft room yesterday!  It was pretty awesome.  I made three cards and worked more on my current set of scrapbook pages (I'm working on five layouts at the same time because...well sometimes I just do that).  Maybe I'll actually get some of those pages done tomorrow, which is my next day off work.  In the meantime I'm going to share one of the cards I made yesterday.

In today's edition of Inspiration is Everywhere, I loved the outfit my kid picked to wear yesterday and after I dropped him off at daycare I made a card in the colors of his clothes:  Pretty Peacock, Mint Macaron, and Crumb Cake.  My other inspiration was the CASE the Designer challenge from Global Design Project:

I kept the layout of my card similar to the inspiration pic and of course Crumb Cake is a major color on my card too.  I didn't add as many layers to the collage because that is just not my style--I struggle with too many pieces on a collage so I kept mine to just three elements and the rhinestones.

Anyway, I'd better get moving so we'll be ready to go on time today.  Cheers, y'all!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Art Gallery
Ink:  Pretty Peacock, Mint Macaron
Paper:  Mint Macaron, Pretty Peacock, Thick Basic White, Neutrals DSP Stack
Accessories:  Floral Gallery dies, Fabulous Floral dies, Dimensionals, Noble Peacock rhinestones (retired), Wink of Stella

March 2018

Scrappy Monday, y'all!  Didja have a good weekend?  I got to sleep in on Saturday and then took Ryan to the playground for a few hours that afternoon, and yesterday I made pumpkin coffee cake for breakfast so yep, we had a good weekend :)  Ready to get this week started, so let's take a look at today's scrapbook layout!

Ryan's baby book covers February 2017 to February 2018, and after that I started doing monthly recap layouts because I always have a bunch of random pictures on my phone and this is a good way to share those that don't have anything tying them together other than the fact that they were all taken in March.  So here's Ryan with his best buddy Peking Duck, Ryan leaning on Vader (how I miss our dogs), pulling all the DVDs off the shelf for, like, the thousandth time, fun with Daddy, and Ryan with a quilt that was made for him by a friend of my parents.  I made this layout two years ago and now I'm not sure why I didn't have the patterned paper just go all the way across both pages...maybe I only had a scrap to work with, I can't remember.  It's a little different layout for me but I think it's okay.

Sometimes it's a challenge coming up with a color palette since the colors in the pictures are all different, so a lot of times I'll try to go with something seasonal.  Today's springtime color palette is Certainly Celery, Bashful Blue, So Saffron, Crumb Cake, and Whisper White.

It's off to work I go here in a little bit.  On Friday I learned how to do some things in the frame shop, so I may be framing more stuff for the post office today.  Or maybe I'll be learning how to take passport pictures.  Have a great day, y'all!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Full Calendar, Tall Tales Numbers, Baby Bundle
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Bashful Blue, Garden Green, Pumpkin Pie, So Saffron Stampin' Blends
Paper:  Certainly Celery, Bashful Blue, Thick Whisper White, Delicate Dots DSP
Accessories:  Layering Circles Dies

Baby Luke: March

Happy weekend, everyone!  And today's layout is seasonally appropriate, if a few days late...

I love that clover-themed paper from the Happiness Blooms DSP, so I built this layout around it.  Pinch Proof is a very, very old stamp set--SU! hasn't had very many stamp sets that are only St. Paddy's Day themed, so I'm glad I've got a couple of the old ones from way back when I started stamping.

We had snow again yesterday (really?!) though it was too warm for anything to stick.  Today looks like a very nice day, though still cold, so I think I'll be taking Ryan out to the playground later so the hubs can have some time to play in his craft room.  Cheers, y'all!

Supplies:
Stamps:  Pinch Proof, So Happy For You
Ink:  Call Me Clover, Blueberry Bushel, Calypso Coral, Versamark, Petal Pink & Pineapple Punch markers
Paper:  Call Me Clover, Blueberry Bushel, Calypso Coral, Thick Whisper White, Happiness Blooms DSP
Accessories:  Sizzix letters, Layering Circles dies, clear embossing powder

Hydrangea Happiness

Hey y'all!  Yesterday I managed to spend a good chunk of the day in my craft room, which is always nice.  Mostly I'm working on a series of scrapbook layouts from a trip to Texas and Oklahoma in 2019, but I did take the time to make a card too.

I love hydrangeas--they were the main flower in my wedding bouquet--so of course I was tickled to see the Hydrangea Hill suite in the Occasions catalog.  This is the first time I've gotten to play with it but how GORGEOUS is that paper?!  And marvel with me, friends--if you look closely you can kinda see the Wink of Stella I put on the stamped flower on the left of the sentiment strip.

How about a couple challenges?  First up is Inspire.Create:

Yeah, I can do anything goes :)  The Paper Players color challenge was taken straight from the Hydrangea Hill DSP, which was part of why I chose this suite to play with for today's card:

And I liked both of the sketches from Sunday Stamps:

I chose the sketch on the right but I do like both of them.  Technically my sentiment strip should have been a leetle bit longer to exactly match the sketch but I cut it too close.  Oh well.

I still have a rather large stack o' stamps that I haven't gotten to play with yet--I did a pretty big order during Sale-a-Bration and then didn't get to play with any of it because Ryan seems to think he requires constant entertainment *insert eyeroll here* It's so NICE having him in daycare every day, whether I'm at work or working on projects at home.  Getting to play with paper and ink again has definitely had a positive impact on my mental health.

Anyway, hope y'all have a great Friday!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Hydrangea Haven
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Highland Heather, Old Olive
Paper:  Seaside Spray, Old Olive, Thick Basic White, Hydrangea Hill DSP
Accessories:  Hydrangea dies, Dimensionals, Wink of Stella

Leafy Greens

Mornin' y'all!  Yesterday I decided to take the day off from working around the house and I dug into a brand new book from my favorite author and drank copious amounts of tea and okay, I also did five loads of laundry because I can't ignore that for long ;) Once I finished the book, I had enough time to make a quick card in my craft room!

Saint Patrick's Day might have been yesterday but I approve of green any day because it's my favorite color.  The card base on this is Granny Apple Green, the square is gold foil and I had trouble getting a good picture of it because it was so rainy and dark out yesterday (which made it an even BETTER day to stay in and read!).

There you can see the gold a bit better.  I could not resist the supergreen challenge from Color Throwdown (and you get a million bonus points if you know what movie "supergreen" is from):

I used Garden Green, Granny Apple Green, and my trusty gold foil to go with the white.  I quite enjoyed this sketch from Fab Friday:

And I'm entering this card over at Retro Rubber as well:

Neither Love of Leaves nor Art Gallery count as retro as they are under a year old, but I broke out Post Script, which is one of my favorite-ever background stamps and I acquired it in 2017.  I hadn't decided on a sentiment to use when I pulled out Post Script, but something about that stamp makes me want to make "I miss you" cards, so I did.

I'm hoping to get some scrapping done today, and then tomorrow I'm working at the arts & crafts center again.  Cheers, y'all!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Love of Leaves, Art Gallery, Post Script
Ink:  Garden Green, Versamark
Paper:  Granny Apple Green, Garden Green, gold foil, Thick Basic White
Accessories:  Stitched Leaves dies, Floral Gallery dies, Stitched Shapes dies, Dimensionals

SUO Challenges: Hey Sweet Thing

Good mornin' y'all!  Man, I was so tired last night that I had a dream that I was super, super tired and I had to do grocery shopping so I just laid down on the ground in front of the store to take a nap first and then my husband came to find me in my dream and he was like "It's one o'clock in the morning, what are you doing?!"  I mean, you know you're tired when you dream about being super tired, right?  Haha!

Anyway, there's a good reason to be awake, alive, alert, and enthusiastic today--a new challenge from SUO Challenges!

It's a theme today--anything to do with food or drink!  I actually had trouble narrowing down what stamps I wanted to use, even once I made the executive decision to use something I hadn't inked up yet--which meant either Sweet Ice Cream or Sweet Strawberry.  In the end, I chose...

Sweet Strawberry!  I never inked up the coordinating berry set from Sale-a-Bration either but this strawberry was calling my name.  I stamped the strawberry, leaf, and bitty flowers, and used the coordinating Strawberry Builder Punch to punch them all out.  Gotta love super fast and easy, right?  Actually I didn't originally plan to add the flowers to the top and bottom of the card, but I got a smudge of ink on the top of my patterned paper panel and I used a flower to cover it up.   : ) The large panel is from my lovely Butterfly Bijou DSP, and the thin strip is from the Flowering Cactus DSP stack.  Nothing to stop you from mixing and matching papers from different packs!  This card was inspired by a sketch from a few weeks back on Freshly Made Sketches, so it came together super fast.  Now I just need to ink up the ice cream and berry stamps...and I'm off work until Friday so this could be a pretty sweet week! ;)

Don't forget to upload your yummy card creation on the SUO Challenges blog.  Cheers!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Sweet Strawberry
Ink:  Calypso Coral, Cherry Cobbler, Pear Pizzazz, Mossy Meadow, So Saffron
Paper:  Calypso Coral, Thick Basic White, Butterfly Bijou DSP stack, Flowering Cactus DSP stack
Accessories:  Strawberry builder punch, Dimensionals, Wink of Stella

Disney Cruise: Towel Art

It was rainy most of the weekend so here we are, minding our own business and messing around in the house when the hubs asks me to come upstairs because he thinks he smells gas.  So he called the landlord and luckily we have very nice neighbors who let us go hang out at their house while we waited for someone from the gas company (I think?) to come take a look--yep, big honkin' gas leak on the top floor where the water heater is.  Someone is supposed to come fix it sometime today but in the meantime we have no hot water and no heat--the radiators are all run by gas.  I'm really missing my shower this morning!

Anyway, on to this week's scrapbook layout--the last of the Disney cruise.

I always love the towel creatures they leave in the cabin when they come to tidy up every day, so I just collected all the pictures for one layout here.  The cruise ended on a very sad note though--as soon as we got into port in Miami and had cell service again, we found out that our dog Vader had died while we were on the cruise.  He had been sick before we left, but I think we were in denial about how sick he was, so it was a big shock.  I miss him and our Sadie, we lost her last year.

Anyway, here's the color palette for today--Creamy Caramel (which has been retired for a very long time), Cherry Cobbler, Night of Navy, Buckaroo Blue (one of the very early In Colors) and Whisper White.  This layout was a great excuse to use up some of the Nautical Expedition DSP I still have ;)  Never know when a particular bit of patterned paper will come in handy, right?

Cheers, y'all!

Supplies:
Stamps:  Taffy Alphabet
Ink:  Cherry Cobbler, Night of Navy marker
Paper:  Creamy Caramel, Night of Navy, Buckaroo Blue, Thick Whisper White, Nautical Expedition DSP
Accessories:  Mickey punch

Baby Luke: February

Hey y'all, happy Saturday!  Ready for another baby book layout?

I think that teeny heart pattern might be my all-time favorite Valentine DSP from Stampin' Up!  It's always a fun challenge to do a Valentine layout for a baby boy that isn't really super girly.  Yes I have the heart paper, and several shades of pink and red, but then there's the cute doggo and accessories to make it more boyish.  Looking at this now I kinda wish I'd done a slightly bigger circle for the dog stamp to give him a bit more room to "breathe".

'Nother rainy day here, how's your weekend going?  Cheers, y'all!

Supplies:
Stamps:  Happy Tails, And Everything Nice, Bow Wow, dog from Whipper Snapper
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Crumb Cake, Stampin' Blends in Smoky Slate, Crumb Cake, Soft Suede, Balmy Blue
Paper:  Flirty Flamingo, Lovely Lipstick, Balmy Blue, Crumb Cake, Thick Whisper White, All My Love DSP
Accessories:  Sizzix letters, Layering Circles dies, circle punches

Springtime Serenity

Hey y'all!  I had a day off yesterday so I got my hair cut for the first time in over four months and I'm SO HAPPY about that.  I ran around and did some errands and then spent two hours in my craft room, so I'm also happy about that!  Here is one of the things I worked on yesterday:

It was a raw, blustery day yesterday but in my cozy craft room it was all about soft spring colors.  I started with Soft Sea Foam and Purple Posy and then I had to add in a bit of pink, so I pulled out some retired Powder Pink because Petal Pink is too peachy for this card.  Don't recognize that heart die?  It retired a while back, it's in the Sunshine Wishes Thinlits.  I wanted something to go behind my sentiment block, and I cut out some of the flowers with the Wild Rose dies but one wasn't enough and two or more just felt like they were taking over the card and then I found this heart already cut out and was like yep, that's exactly what I needed here.  I managed to use three different sets of dies on this card, and a corner rounder punch.

I started with the sketch from Global Design Project:

As soon as I saw the sketch, the Well Written dies popped in my head and I hadn't used them in a while so I decided to go with that notion.  I combined that with the Paper Players theme challenge:

You don't have to use fall colors with leaf stamps, ya know!  I picked Soft Sea Foam because it's the softest SU green, and then stamped three leaves from Love of Leaves for the biggest panel on my sketch.  This card came together pretty quickly and I figure it's a good multipurpose card.  Could be just a thinking of you but can also work for sympathy.

I've got my third day at work today.  Wednesday was day #2 and my bosses kinda left me minding the shop by myself for a good chunk of the day.  Good thing I'm a fast learner, and I knew where to find them when something came up that I needed to ask a question (they were playing ping-pong!).  Ryan is enjoying daycare a lot and I'm enjoying the opportunity to be out of the house and interacting with other people, so yeah I think this is a success so far.  Hope y'all have a great Friday, peeps!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Love of Leaves, Well Said
Ink:  Soft Sea Foam, Highland Heather
Paper:  Purple Posy, Soft Sea Foam, Powder Pink, Pear Pizzazz, Thick Whisper White, Playing With Patterns DSP Stack
Accessories:  Sunshine Wishes Thinlits, Painted Labels dies, Well Written Framelits, corner rounder punch, Dimensionals, Wink of Stella

Disney Cruise: Beach Bums (Castaway Cay)

Scrappy Monday, y'all!  Quick post as I need to leave in about 10 minutes to get Ryan to the babysitter and then me to WORK!

The final port of our Disney cruise was Castaway Cay, Disney's private island in the Bahamas.  We spent the day on the beach--I even did a yoga class, which meant I got covered in sand :p and had a good barbecue lunch on the island.

Today's tropical color combination:  Blueberry Bushel, Calypso Coral, Cucumber Crush, Mango Melody, and Whisper White.  Cheers y'all, and wish us luck on our first day!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Taffy Alphabet, Seaside Shore
Ink:  Blueberry Bushel, Calypso Coral, Mango Melody
Paper:  Blueberry Bushel, Mango Melody, Cucumber Crush, Very Vanilla, By the Seashore DSP
Accessories:  None

Baby Luke: He's Here

Mornin' y'all!  It's a beautiful day here in Germany, but cold--we're still planning to go hiking this afternoon though.  I think I'll be wearing my battery-operated heated vest :)

Today I have another layout from Luke's baby book, and it's all about dinosaurs today!

Man, I haven't played with this stamp set in ages (well, I haven't gotten a lot of time to play with any stamps since we got to Germany, so...).  Dinosaurs are always a cute choice for baby books, no?  I love the Dinoroar DSP too, and there's some pink patterns if I ever need to make a baby book for a girl in the future.  I haven't made another one since this one and Luke just turned one though.

Anyway, I started with the patterned paper and built the color palette from there--Pineapple Punch (I do love this super-bright and cheery yellow), Mango Melody on the DSP, Pool Party, and Pretty Peacock, with a bit of Old Olive thrown in for an accent.

Have a great Saturday, y'all!

Supplies:
Stamps:  Dino Days
Ink:  Mango Melody, Pretty Peacock, Old Olive, Pool Party
Paper:  Pineapple Punch, Pool Party, Old Olive, Pretty Peacock, Thick Whisper White, Dinoroar DSP
Accessories:  Sizzix letters, Dino dies, Stitched Shapes dies

Butterfly Bijou Thanks

Mornin' y'all and happy Friday!!!  I just had a virtual meeting to do (yet more) paperwork for my new job and I start on Monday!  Good thing the babysitter is ready to take Ryan starting Monday, too.  I'm hoping that if we get Ryan in full-time care and I work part-time, I'll have a chance to work in my craft room some and also keep the house a bit cleaner.

So!  Today I have the rest of the butterfly cards I made last weekend.

These two are the butterflies stamped on patterned paper with Gorgeous Grape ink; the backgrounds on them are actually the same sheet of Butterfly Bijou DSP--it's much more Calypso Coral on one side of the pattern than the other.

And here are the two butterflies that were die cut from the DSP so already colorful and beautiful and I'm a little annoyed that the Butterfly Bijou paper isn't going to be in the next catalog because I love it and I might need to get more of it because I'm a paper hoarder.  Anyway, for these two I just picked some of the watercolor patterns I thought looked good with the butterflies.  Lots of great patterns in that stack.

If the weather is nice, we're planning to explore more castle ruins and go hiking again.  There's a TON of castle ruins around here, they're practically a dime a dozen ;)  But the hiking helps Ryan get some energy out and it's nice to be outside for a bit.  This part of Germany is beautiful and it's a region I bet most tourists don't venture into much.  Not that tourists get to go anywhere right now :p

Have a great weekend, peeps!

Supplies, first picture:
Stamps:  Butterfly Brilliance, Peaceful Moments
Ink:  Gorgeous Grape
Paper:  Bermuda Bay, Calypso Coral, Thick Basic White, Butterfly Bijou DSP Stack
Accessories:  Brilliant Wings dies, Dimensionals

Supplies, second picture:
Stamps:  Peaceful Wishes
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black
Paper:  Poppy Parade, Just Jade, Thick Basic White, Butterfly Bijou DSP Stack
Accessories:  Brilliant Wings dies, Dimensionals

Prickly Cactus

Mornin' y'all!  I'm taking a break from butterflies to bring you the *other* card I made on Sunday, and here it is!

AAAHHHHHH I love it!  A while back, SU! had a cactus stamp set and I liked it but I didn't buy it and then it retired and I was sad I hadn't bought it so when the Flowering Cactus product medley came out in the Occasions Catalog I jumped on it lickety-split but this is the first time I've gotten it inked up.  The product medley comes with stamps, dies, DSP, and accessories and I love it!

I also love the sketch from the Paper Players:
 

Given how many stamp sets have coordinating dies nowadays (not complaining), this sketch would be super easy to use with just about anything!

The Fab Friday color challenge was taken straight from the Flowering Cactus DSP which just cemented my decision to use it:

I used both greens on the heart-shaped cactus--I inked the stamp up with Mint Macaron, and then used a sponge dauber to apply Mossy Meadow ink around the outside of it, and then stamped.  Easy peasy!

Well, I'd better get my workout on while Ryan is watching PowerPuff Girls.  Cheers!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Flowering Cactus
Ink:  Mint Macaron, Mossy Meadow, Calypso Coral
Paper:  Mint Macaron, Thick Basic White, Flowering Cactus DSP Stack
Accessories:  Flowering Cactus dies, Rectangles Stitched dies, Hippo & Friends dies, Dimensionals, retired Happy Day Enamel Dots

Bevy of Butterflies

 Mornin', y'all!  Ready for Day 2 of Butterfly Brilliance?

The DSP butterflies are on the left, stamped on DSP butterflies on the right.  I tried using the blending brushes for a soft background and I think I need to hunt up some videos on using those--the backgrounds are okay, I guess, but I think I need more practice or a better technique.  I kept the cards super simple since I wanted to use multiple butterflies, so just the die cuts, the soft background, and a few of enamel dots.  Flat and easy to mail, bonus.

Anyway, the three kinds of cards I seem to use the most are thank you, birthday, and thinking of you--yesterday was thinking of you, today is birthday, so guess what kind of butterfly cards are in the future this week ;) I used Peaceful Moments for the sentiments on all the cards because I thought the fonts in that stamp set were a good stylistic match for these beautiful butterflies.

Don't forget to post your SKY HIGH creations on the SUO Challenges blog!

Supplies, left card:
Stamps:  Peaceful Moments
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, So Saffron
Paper:  Thick Basic White, Butterfly Bijou DSP Stack
Accessories:  Brilliant Wings dies, In Color Enamel Dots

Supplies, right card:
Stamps:  Butterfly Brilliance, Peaceful Moments
Ink:  Gorgeous Grape, Blushing Bride
Paper:  Thick Basic White, Butterfly Bijou DSP Stack
Accessories:  Brilliant Wings dies, Happy Days Enamel Dots (retired)

SUO Challenges: Sky High

 Good morning stampy friends!  It is time for a brand new challenge at SUO Challenges!

 
This time our theme is SKY HIGH, which is also the name of one of my favorite movies :)  So this is your chance to make a card featuring anything that flies!  As it happens, Stampin' Up! is releasing a brand-new butterfly bundle starting tomorrow that will be available in the next annual catalog.  I pre-ordered it as soon as I saw it and I love it and I had to use it for this challenge!

Aren't they pretty???  This new stamp set reminds me so much of Wonderful Wings, which I bought very early in my stamping career.  Okay, so the Butterfly Brilliance stamp set is just ONE stamp that has six butterflies, and the matching dies have one big die that cuts out all six butterflies at once.  AND the coordinating Butterfly Bijou 6x6 paper has a sheet that you can cut out with that same die.  I stamped the butterflies on a colorwash pattern (bottom card, the colorwash doesn't show up very well in the photo), then I die cut those and die cut the DSP ones too.  In like three minutes I had twelve butterflies to play with, which is why I have nine cards to share this week ;) (Eight are butterfly cards, one is something else!).  In addition to that one big die, the Brilliant Wings dies have some other lovely shapes to use on their own--I'm sure you'll be seeing LOTS of brilliant butterfly creations in the coming weeks, whether from me or someone else.  Still hoping I can get Ryan in childcare soon so I have some time in my craft room.

Anyway, since I had six stamped butterflies and the six pretty ones from the patterned paper, I decided to make pairs of cards with them--in this set, the top card is all patterned paper (well, other than the sentiment), and the bottom card is the butterfly I stamped with Gorgeous Grape ink.  I had some fun playing with several of the patterns in the Butterfly Bijou stack so you'll see those later this week.

In the meantime, make your own Sky High project and share it at the SUO Challenges blog.  Can't wait to see your beautiful creations, whether they're butterflies or birds...or superheroes ;)

Supplies, top card:
Stamps:  Peaceful Moments
Ink:  Just Jade
Paper:  Just Jade, Thick Basic White, Butterfly Bijou DSP Stack
Accessories:  Brilliant Wings dies, Sweet Shapes dies, Dimensionals, retired Iridescent Sequins

Supplies, bottom card:
Stamps:  Butterfly Brilliance, Peaceful Moments
Ink:  Gorgeous Grape, Calypso Coral
Paper:  Gorgeous Grape, Thick Basic White, Butterfly Bijou DSP Stack
Accessories:  Brilliant Wings dies, Sweet Shapes dies, Dimensionals, retired Iridescent Sequins

Disney Cruise: Splish Splash!

Scrappy Monday, y'all!  The hubs took Ryan for most of the day yesterday so I got to spend time in my craft room, YESSSSS!!!!  I really need that time with paper and ink to maintain my mental and emotional balance and I haven't been getting it much lately.  So I tried to use my time wisely yesterday and I made nine cards and finished up the two layouts that have been sitting on my table for weeks.  My favorite author has a new book coming out this month, so last week I started rereading some earlier books in the series and it makes me so happy to spend time with those characters again.  So all in all, I am starting this week off feeling pretty dang good!  I just finished my workout today too and in a bit I'll be eating the last piece of yesterday's coffee cake :)

So, today's layout!  Still doing Disney cruise pictures and this layout is happy too:

The page base is Pineapple Punch, a.k.a. the happiest shade of yellow EVER, it's even brighter in real life than it shows in the picture.  When we went on this cruise, Ryan had just turned two and wasn't potty trained yet, so he wasn't allowed in any of the pools even with a swim diaper on.  They had a small splash pad area with water jets and he LOVED it.  Like, this day we spent over two hours there and he still didn't want to leave when it was time to go back to our cabin for a rest.

Initially I stamped the page title in Balmy Blue with a few letters in Night of Navy, but when I put the whole layout together I decided that the title just needed a bit more oomph.  I stamped one S in red and fussy cut it, then just glued it on top of what I had already stamped.  I don't know why but my brain insisted I needed a bit more red up there.

Today's color palette is your basic Superman triadic color scheme with the addition of a bit of green.  Pineapple Punch for the page base, Night of Navy, Call Me Clover, Real Red, Balmy Blue, and Whisper White to round out the palette.

Hope your week is off to a good start too, peeps.  Cheers!

Supplies:
Stamps:  Taffy Alphabet
Ink:  Balmy Blue, Night of Navy, Real Red
Paper:  Pineapple Punch, Call Me Clover, Real Red, Thick Whisper White, Happiness Blooms DSP
Accessories:  Mickey punch, 1 3/8" circle punch, Layering Circles dies