View Askew

Hey y'all, how's it going?  I think we're adjusting okay to having Ryan in school, though he does NOT like getting up so early in the morning : )  He's been big smiles when he got off the bus for the first two days, so far so good.  I've been spending time in my craft room this week but man, yesterday I had the TOUGHEST time settling in to make anything!  I wasted at least 3 hours just trying to figure out what to do and then finally got my act together when I only had about two hours until getting Ryan off the bus.  But I made a card for my dog-loving friend Krissy's birthday at last!

Couldn't help it, I had to use Ruff Day again (she also got the last card I made with this stamp set!).  And I used up some of my Fresh Prints scraps for this, I just love that paper.  I still have at least one more pack that hasn't even been opened yet but I'm parsimonious about using even my scraps.  (Unabashed paper hoarder here.)

Thank you to the Retro Rubber Challenge for giving me the jump start yesterday to actually make something!

Ruff Day is quite retro at 15 years old.  This card reminded me once again that we do not have Coastal Cabana Stampin' Blends and really, the Bermuda Bay ones are not that great of a substitute.  We need Blends in alllllll of the colors, SU!  The tag die I used is from last year's Sweet Little Stockings bundle, it was just the right size for my retro stamps.

I'm also entering this at the Shopping Our Stash challenge where the theme is Animal Antics.  My first time playing along there!

We've got workmen here at the house today who are replacing our heating system.  That means I have to stay at the house all day until they're done...guess I'll just have to go back in my craft room ; )  Hopefully my creativity will be a bit more cooperative today.  Cheers, y'all!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Ruff Day
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Coastal Cabana, Stampin' Blends in Crumb Cake, Basic Black, Real Red, Bermuda Bay
Paper:  Coastal Cabana, Real Red, Thick Basic White, Fresh Prints DSP Stack
Accessories:  Stockings dies, red rhinestone, Dimensionals

SUO Challenges: To Die For

 Hey hey hey!  Ready for a new challenge from SUO Challenges?

This one's super easy:  die cutting!  There are lots of fabulous dies in the Stampin' Up! catalog and there will be a few new sets of dies available for the month of September too.  Here's my die-tastic card:

I admit, I didn't give Trees for Sale in the holiday catalog a second glance, but when they came out with the coordinating Tree Lot dies in the Sale-a-Bration catalog, I had to have them both : )  Hope you got these dies while they were available, they sold out a few weeks ago.  I picked out the snowy tree pattern from the Storybook Gnomes DSP and used it as a jumping off point for my colors.  Looks like a cozy little trailer, doesn't it?

Your turn!  Crank up your die cutting machine and post your own die-tastic card at the SUO Challenges blog.  Have fun!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Sit Stay Relax
Ink:  Night of Navy, Mint Macaron, Smoky Slate, and Basic Black Stampin' Blends
Paper:  Mint Macaron, Balmy Blue, Petal Pink, Thick Basic White, Silver foil, Storybook Gnomes DSP
Accessories:  Tree Lot dies, Dimensionals

Vicki

Scrappy Monday!  But first off, it's a big day today....

Ryan officially started kindergarten this morning!  The hubs and I dropped him off for his first day.  A week ago when we were at the dino park, we found another family whose little girl is in Ryan's class, so they played together at the dino park for several hours and glommed on to each other this morning.  They were holding hands when they joined their class's line to go in the building, so I think it helped both of them to know one other kid in the class right from the start.  Here's hoping their first day goes well!  No tears for Ryan (or me, haha!) though there was one kid who had a meltdown and was full-up hitting and kicking and trying to run away.  Glad that Ryan was much calmer about it than that.

Anyway, I've got to keep myself busy until it's time to meet Ryan's school bus this afternoon.  So let's get on with Scrappy Monday!

One of my more recent page finishes, this is when I met my friend Vicki in London one afternoon.  We started out as online friends and the first time we planned to meet up in person, our British neighbor was all like "You can't do that!  She's probably an elderly male axe murderer!" so after that I always refer to Vicki as "my online friend the axe murderer".  So of course I had to put that story in my scrapbooks, and there's a picture of the cross stitch I made for her too.

I really wanted to use purples on this layout because it's Vicki's favorite color, so today's color palette starts with Concord Crush and Lovely Lilac, with some Taken with Teal, Rose Red, Old Olive, and Whisper White to round out the colors.

And happy birthday to Vicki, her birthday is tomorrow!

Supplies:
Stamps:  Kimono (fan stamp, old SU! set), Coffee House Alphabet from Inkadinkado, Kokeshi Dolls from unknown manufacturer
Ink:  Versamark, Concord Crush
Paper:  Concord Crush, Lovely Lilac, Taken with Teal, Rose Red, Thick Basic White, Bali Breeze DSP
Accessories:  Ovals Collection Framelits, Layering Ovals dies, black EP

Gnome Wishes for the Paper Players

Happy Sunday and hooray for a new Paper Players challenge!  This week Anne Marie has a fantastic sketch for us:

It's fun, right?  And there's so many stamps out there now that have coordinating dies, it's super easy to find something for that great "any shape" element.  So I had to give my Storybook Gnomes suite a spin for today's card!

I decided to die cut the gnome and his feet are crooked and I'm going to go with I MEANT to do that ; )  The pattern on the central strip in the back is from the coordinating Storybook Gnomes DSP but then I went riffling through my DSP for some single-color patterns to coordinate.  The Crushed Curry strip is from the Tea Boutique stack; the polka dots is from some retired Brights DSP, and the gnome's hat is the In Color DSP that retired this past summer.  Four papers, four different sources, but I think they work together.

Hope you'll have fun with this sketch too!  Upload your sketchtastic creation to the Paper Players blog and have fun being creative!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Kindest Gnomes
Ink:  Evening Evergreen
Paper:  Crushed Curry, Evening Evergreen, Petal Pink, Soft Suede, Thick Basic White, Storybook Gnomes DSP, Tea Boutique DSP Stack, Poppy Parade DSP, Evening Evergreen DSP
Accessories:  Gnomes dies, Dimensionals

The Paper Players Design Team

Jaydee

LeAnne Pugliese

Claire Broadwater

Joanne James

Laurie Schmidt

Anne Marie Hile

Ann Schach

Cindy Beach

Christy Stanford <-- You are here : )

Jennie Maier

Another Pirate Ship

Hey y'all!  As expected, I haven't gotten to spend any time in my craft room this week, but I did get to play Avengers Monopoly and several other games with Ryan yesterday.

Remember I said I had another card that I'd made for the Paper Players challenge this week?

Here is my first attempt:

I loved having more of the DSP showing, but I thought it didn't have enough "white space" to really count as CAS, so I made the other one.  Obviously I still liked the concept since the other card is quite similar, just a smaller piece of the patterned paper.

Cheers, y'all!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Beware Pirates
Ink:  Versamark, Night of Navy
Paper:  Tip Top Taupe, Night of Navy, Basic White, Waves of the Ocean DSP
Accessories:  Clear EP, matte dots, Dimensionals

Lavenham

Scrappy Monday, y'all!  I've got Ryan at home with me all week and then he starts school next Monday.  I may not get much stamping done this week unless he wants to stamp with me, we'll see.

Lavenham is a little town in England that was used in the Harry Potter movies for parts of Harry's hometown, Godric's Hollow.  You can see my original pictures here.  I kept the layout super simple because sometimes that's all you need!  We have a 5x7 print of the picture of the church hanging up in our living room, how do you like that sky in the photo?

Today's color palette:  Certainly Celery, Crisp Cantaloupe, Calypso Coral, and Dapper Denim.  Had to go with the Cantaloupe and Coral to match some of the crooked houses.

Have a great day, peeps.

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Lovely Letters Alphabet, Secret Garden, Simple Stems
Ink:  Dapper Denim, Crisp Cantaloupe, Whisper White
Paper:  Certainly Celery, Dapper Denim, Calypso Coral, Crisp Cantaloupe, Sweet Sorbet DSP
Accessories:  Secret Garden dies

Come Sail Away with the Paper Players

Happy Sunday and welcome to a new Paper Players challenge!  This week's challenge is brought to you by Laurie:

At first I was planning to bust out The Open Sea for this challenge since it's got the old sailing vessel and other nautical images, but then I remembered that I also have Beware Pirates so pirate ship it is!

I bought the Waves of the Ocean DSP when it was on special and I hadn't cut into it before, but this seemed like the perfect opportunity to start using it!  I inked up the stamp with Versamark and then Night of Navy ink, stamped it directly on the patterned paper, and then heat embossed with clear embossing powder.  Since I popped it up on Dimensionals, I die cut another of the Stylish Shapes from white cardstock to make it a bit more sturdy.  Some matte dots to accent and that's it!

Hope you'll have fun with this challenge too.  Later this week I'll share the first card I made for this challenge; I thought it wasn't quite CAS enough so I made this one.  Ya know what, that happens to be pretty frequently with CAS challenges, it's like I have to do one more complicated card and then I can do something that's more CAS.  Guess that's just how my brain works!  Don't forget to upload your nautical card at the Paper Players challenge blog.

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Beware Pirates
Ink:  Versamark, Night of Navy
Paper:  Tip Top Taupe, Night of Navy, Waves of the Ocean DSP
Accessories:  Stylish Shapes dies, clear EP, matte dots, Dimensionals

The Paper Players Design Team

Jaydee

LeAnne Pugliese

Claire Broadwater

Joanne James

Laurie Schmidt

Anne Marie Hile

Ann Schach

Cindy Beach

Christy Stanford <-- You are here : )

Jennie Maier

Get Yeti, Get Set...

Hey y'all, happy Friday!  Big day here, this afternoon we're going to Ryan's new school to meet his teacher.  He's starting KINDERGARTEN at the end of the month!  I don't think he's quite as excited as I am ; )

Know what else I'm excited about?  New stamps and new dies to go with!

I got Yeti to Party a while back but then I delayed actually inking it up until I could get the new Yeti dies (available starting September 1 if you're not a demonstrator).  And I just had to play with my new Deckled Rectangle dies too!

Check out this week's Freshly Made Sketch:

And the Color Throwdown:

I used Tahitian Tide, Parakeet Party, and white for my colors.  Wish I could have gotten a better picture but nope, it's either direct sunlight (so harsh shadows) or the best I can do for indirect light in this house.  This card should have been super quick to put together too but I had to do the stamping and die cutting twice on everything I've done this morning!  Ugh.  But I got there in the end.

Have a great Friday, peeps.  I gotta go get yeti to party...

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Yeti to Party
Ink:  Tahitian Tide, Versamark
Paper:  Tahitian Tide, Thick Basic White, Parakeet Party DSP
Accessories:  Yeti dies, Deckled Rectangle dies, Dimensionals, white EP

The Coolest Moose

Mornin' y'all!  Today's card is a bit unusual for me...I did NOT make it for any challenges!  Last week I decided to just play around with some of my new stamp sets, just for funsies, and this is one of the cards I made.

Funny story:  I bought this stamp set in part because I think this moose looks like my brother.  Exhibit A:

I showed this card to my mom on a video chat and she agreed with me!  Hubs thinks that's mean but seriously this moose is adorable.  I chose a super-colorful pattern from the Celebrate Everything DSP in the holiday catalog and just went to town with ALLLLL the wild colors and gave him a Doctor Who-inspired scarf.  I had fun just playing with the stamp set and not worrying about making this for a challenge : )

Have a great day, peeps!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  All Bundled Up
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Versamark, Stampin' Blends in Cinnamon Cider, Ivory, Pool Party, Granny Apple Green, Shaded Spruce, Polished Pink, Poppy Parade, So Saffron, Pacific Point marker because it doesn't have any Blends and WHY, SU?!
Paper:  Pool Party, Granny Apple Green, Crushed Curry, Polished Pink, Poppy Parade, Thick Basic White, Celebrate Everything DSP
Accessories:  Stylish Shapes dies, white EP, Dimensionals

Guest DT: Retro Rubber Loves the 80s

Surprise double post today!  Awhile back, the Retro Rubber team chose my card as the winner for a challenge, so I was invited to be a guest designer for the new challenge going live today : ) Here's a look at the challenge:

I am a child of the 80s so I remember this color palette well!  The house I grew up in had PEACH curtains and it makes me giggle to watch the original Ghostbusters because Dana's apartment is *SO* 80s.  So here's what I made:

Country Home joined my stamp collection 4 years ago.  It's retired now, but I don't let that stop me from pulling out my older stamp sets now and then : )  From the challenge graphic, I chose blue, pink, grey, and tan, using mostly Stampin' Blends to color my image, which I then fussy cut.  (I used a regular Blushing Bride marker for some bits on the image since there aren't any Blushing Bride Stampin' Blends.)  I flagged the ends of a couple of scraps of patterned paper, added a few embellishments and done.  Simple, but I like it!

Hope you'll join in the fun at the Retro Rubber Challenge blog.  Enjoy!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Country Home
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Blushing Bride marker, Stampin' Blends in Petal Pink, Seaside Spray, Misty Moonlight, Gray Granite
Paper:  Sahara Sand, Thick Basic White, Blushing Bride DSP, Misty Moonlight DSP
Accessories:  Dimensionals, Polished Dots

Thanks, Teach for SUO Challenges

Good morning and welcome to a new challenge from SUO Challenges!

Our theme this time around is back to school and/or teacher cards.  And my kiddo will be starting kindergarten later this month, so I'd better start making some school cards for his teachers, right?  Here's what I made for today's challenge:

Like many people, I associate apples with back-to-school stuff, but I didn't have the new Apple Harvest stamp set yet when I made my card.  So I reached for a retired host stamp set, Hand Delivered, which has the lady's legs and skirt and you can mix-and-match what she's holding.  Happily for me, there's this stack of books with the apple on top.  I reached for the awesome Butterfly Kisses DSP stack for the background and used the colors from the DSP to color in my lady and her stack of books.  A couple of die-cut rectangles and a few sequins and my card was finished!

Hope you'll join in the fun and upload your own card at the SUO Challenges blog.  Cheers!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Hand Delivered
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Stampin' Blends in Fresh Freesia, Starry Sky, Petal Pink, So Saffron, Calypso Coral, Parakeet Party
Paper:  Fresh Freesia, Parakeet Party, Thick Basic White, Butterfly Kisses DSP Stack
Accessories:  Stitched Rectangles dies, Artistry Blooms Adhesive-Backed Sequins, Dimensionals

Adam's Commissioning

Scrappy Monday, y'all!  I was just searching through my draft blog posts for scrapbook pages to share today, and since my brother messaged me yesterday he was on my mind and now he's on my scrapbook pages.  I actually made these FIVE YEARS AGO and I'm just now getting them posted on here.  (I have a lot of draft posts just waiting for the perfect moment to see the light of day.)  So here's when my brother was commissioned into the Air Force.

Like 99% of what I do for scrapbooking is with Stampin' Up! products, but they haven't done much patriotic stuff lately (I do have several old, old stamp sets that are patriotic though).  But I do have a small collection of patriotic/military scrapbook supplies so that's what I used on here.  I really like that flag die cut.

And I love that dark blue pattern, I bought like 50 sheets of it years and years ago and it's come in handy.  The words on this page are cut out of another sheet of paper that I bought back when scrapbooking was in its heyday and you could find stuff for pretty much any theme.  I think now most people just share their digital photos on social media and don't print them out anymore.  I'm old school.

Today's color palette:  Smoky Slate, Night of Navy, Real Red, and Whisper White.  Have a great week, y'all!

Supplies:
Stamps:  None
Ink:  Night of Navy marker
Paper:  Smoky Slate textured, Real Red, Thick Whisper White, DSP by Karen Foster Designs & Creative Imaginations
Accessories:  flag die by Stamping Station, stickers by Creative Imaginations

The Cutest Boo for the Paper Players

Mornin' stampy friends!  It's already time for another challenge from the Paper Players, and Anne Marie has a fun one for us this week.  Take a look:

Black and white with a pop of red is an absolute classic; or try yellow and bees for another goodie, but I wanted to do something different.  Finally I settled on ORANGE and made this:

I used last year's Halloween goodies because I am (im)patiently waiting for an order to get here with new Halloween schtuff.  The Cute Halloween DSP stack has lots of black and white patterns to choose from, and I managed to find three scraps big enough to accommodate a variation on a Freshly Made Sketch from last month.  Stamped and punched my ghost and pumpkin, easy peasy, and die-cut the sentiment, and then I added a bit of Wink of Stella (ghost's eyes, pumpkin's eyes and mouth, the letters) for a bit of shiny. 

So yep, I made a Halloween card in August and it's already gone out in the mail!  My friend Sarah who visited last week *loves* Halloween, it's her favorite holiday and that was even before her daughter was born on Halloween.  So after she flew back to the States, I mailed her this card to say how much we enjoyed having her here.  Yay for more cards in the mail!

Your turn next!  Pick your pop of color and share your creation at the Paper Players blog.  Most important, have fun!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Cutest Halloween
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Pumpkin Pie
Paper:  Basic Black, Thick Basic White, Cutest Halloween DSP Stack
Accessories:  Stitched Rectangles dies, Stylish Shapes dies, Halloween punch, Dimensionals, Wink of Stella

The Paper Players Design Team

Jaydee

LeAnne Pugliese

Claire Broadwater

Joanne James

Laurie Schmidt

Anne Marie Hile

Ann Schach

Cindy Beach

Christy Stanford <-- You are here : )

Jennie Maier

You're So Hip

Surprise Saturday post!  There are a couple of challenges that I just had to participate in this week : )  While Sarah was here, I had blog posts scheduled, but I got to do some stuff in my craft room on Thursday and Friday.  So here's my bonus card this week.

This is going to a friend who has just started treatment for breast cancer; like my mom (who completed her treatment last year) my friend likes hippos.  The color challenge from Cupcake Inspirations was perfect for a hippo card:

And I puffy heart love the sketch from CAS Colours & Sketches:

Such a classic, I could make a hundred cards with this sketch!  I thought about adding some flower embellishments but since this is a CAS challenge, I kept it simple.  This card went out in the mail yesterday.  I've actually done pretty well about mailing things out this year!

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

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Hippest Hippos
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Stampin' Blends in Gray Granite, Polished Pink
Paper:  Polished Pink, Thick Basic White, Polished Pink DSP
Accessories:  Stitched Rectangles dies, Stylish Shapes dies, Hippo dies, Dimensionals

Sending Poppies

Happy Friday, y'all!  I'm enjoying my first cuppa tea in probably over three weeks--it's just been too hot to enjoy hot tea lately and dang I've missed it.  But anyway!  I have a card to share today.

TBH this card feels like a bit of a cheat because the patterned paper is doing ALL the work here.  I started with this week's Freshly Made Sketch:

Coincidentally it's very similar to the Fusion sketch I used for yesterday's card, just an extra layer.  I paired that with the Color Throwdown:

I used Rich Razzleberry, Poppy Parade, and Old Olive for the colors, all of which are in that Peaceful Poppies DSP that we had a few years ago.  Trying to make myself cut into some older papers instead of just hoarding : )

That's it for me today.  Cheers, peeps!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Sending Smiles
Ink:  Rich Razzleberry, Old Olive
Paper:  Poppy Parade, Thick Basic White, Peaceful Poppies DSP
Accessories:  Sending dies, Dimensionals, Brushed Brass Butterflies

Fungi Fusion

Hey y'all!  Man, I'm tired this afternoon.  My delightful friend Sarah flew in on Monday and we ran all over the place with my other delightful friend Krissy for two and a half days, and I got up early to take Sarah back to the airport this morning.  I had a fabulous time, but I'm pooped!  Still, I did make a card today in an effort to stave off taking a nap...because if I nap now I know I won't sleep tonight.

Actually I started this card last week and didn't finish it until today.  I haven't used embossing folders in *years* and I don't think I had the right sandwich to do a hybrid embossing folder with my trusty ol' Big Shot; I thought for sure I was going to break it trying to crank it through.  And now the embossing folder is warped and I'm not likely to try using it again anytime soon : p  I should look up what I did wrong though.  Anyway, I was frustrated by that last week, which is why I just finished this.  I made this for the Fusion challenge:

When I gave up, I pretty much only had the tree ring and woodgrain strip cut out of patterned paper, so I decided I'd go with the colors from the Sunday Stamps challenge:

I used Poppy Parade, Blushing Bride (I think?  I'm tired so I guess it could be Petal Pink?), Soft Suede, and Early Espresso, so I just skipped the mustard color and the one right under it in the palette.

Okay, I've got about a half hour before I have to go pick up my kiddo.  Maybe there's time for that nap after all....cheers!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Ringed with Nature
Ink:  Poppy Parade, Stampin' Blends in Poppy Parade & Ivory
Paper:  Blushing Bride, Thick Basic White, Rings of Love DSP, Early Espresso DSP
Accessories:  Tree Rings Hybrid Embossing Folder, Dimensionals, Wink of Stella

Bone-Jour!

Hey stampy friends!  I'm chuffed to be playing along with the Festive Friday challenge today.

I was sad to have missed playing in the previous challenge for International Owl Awareness Day, I have some cool owl stamps that would have been perfect for it.  So I can't let International Dog Day pass me by!  I dug out a very old stamp set for this one:

Meet one of the pups from Ruff Day!  I've had this stamp set in my stash since 2007.  I paired it with the Playful Pets DSP, which coordinates with the Pampered Pets stamp set but I had somehow never cut into it after I bought it.  Anyway, from the Festive Friday challenge, I incorporated a dog, bones, paw prints, spots, and neutral colors (with a bit of Real Red thrown in).

And there's the inside of the card, you know I love a silly pun!  This one is already in the mail to my friend Krissy, who just might be even more dog-crazy than I am.  I didn't think that was possible until I met her ; )  We took a weekend trip to Paris together in March and it was almost a contest to see who could point out the most dogs everywhere we went.

I'm also entering this at the Retro Rubber challenge:

As I said, my stamp set is FIFTEEN years old, so very retro ; )  I'm always willing to ink up an old stamp set!

Cheers, y'all!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Ruff Day
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Stampin' Blends in Cinnamon Cider, Ivory, Real Red, Gray Granite
Paper:  Cinnamon Cider, Real Red, Thick Basic White, Playful Pets DSP
Accessories:  Stylish Shapes dies, Dimensionals

More Gummy Bears

Hey y'all!  When I was working on my design team card for the current Paper Players challenge, I actually made two cards, so I thought I'd share the other one today.

I actually made this card first, but I decided to tweak my design a bit and that's how I ended up with Emma's card.  So here is the prototype:

I used another jar cutout from the DSP and this time I used the label and coordinating die from Sweetest Thing.  I kept the same background patterns from this one on Emma's card though, and now I have an extra birthday card in my stash.  Never a bad thing : )

Have a great day, peeps!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Sweetest Thing
Ink:  Gorgeous Grape, Melon Mambo
Paper:  Coastal Cabana, Melon Mambo, Thick Basic White, How Sweet It Is DSP
Accessories:  Jar of Sweets dies, Stylish Shapes dies, Dimensionals, Glitter Enamel Dots

Stonehenge (Again)

Scrappy Monday, y'all!  Most of the time, I don't scrap chronologically; I prefer to jump around as inspiration takes me.  Since Ryan came along though, I've been scrapping everything from his birth chronologically, but I alternate between those pages and older ones that I hadn't gotten to yet.  So here's some older pics that just got scrapped this summer:

See the original pics here.  Not gonna lie, I'm ready for some cooler weather here.  I haven't even had any tea for over a week because it's been so hot!

Today's color palette was inspired by the sunset picture on the left page:  Purple Posy, Petal Pink, Pool Party, and Smoky Slate.  Haven't been able to scrap lately after being sick with Covid and I'm going to have Ryan home with me for the next couple of weeks.  Maybe when he starts school I'll be able to scrap more.

Cheers!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Letters for You, Number of Years
Ink:  Smoky Slate, Basic Gray marker
Paper:  Purple Posy, Smoky Slate, Perennial Essence DSP, Design a Daydream DSP
Accessories:  None

Paper Players Celebrates Birthdays

Hey y'all, happy Sunday and welcome to a new Paper Players challenge!

Love this one.  Everyone has a birthday so we all need more birthday cards in our stash, right?  The fun bright colors on the challenge graphic made me think of a retired stamp set with coordinating patterned paper, so here's what I made:

The stamp set is called Sweetest Thing, but I always try to call it Jar of Sweets, which is the name of the die set that goes with it.  The stamp set has three jars and a variety of things you can put in them, my favorite being the gummy bears.  HOWEVER, the How Sweet It Is DSP has a bunch of printed jars that coordinate with the dies as well (looks great and it's easy!), so the only stamping on my card is the sentiment.  I had fun picking and choosing which patterns to coordinate with my gummy bears, and this card has already reached its recipient.  I recently sent a giant box of German goodies (including quite a few varieties of gummy candies) to my honorary niece, just stuff that I can get here that they don't have in America.  So my gummy bear birthday card is extra appropriate for Emma's 13th birthday. 

Hope you'll join in the birthday fun and upload your card creation to the Paper Players blog.  And if you sneak a handful of gummy bears or a piece of birthday cake while you're crafting, I won't tell ; )  Enjoy!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Sweetest Thing
Ink:  Granny Apple Green
Paper:  Melon Mambo, Granny Apple Green, Thick Basic White, How Sweet It Is DSP
Accessories:  Layering Circles dies, Jar of Sweets dies, Stylish Shapes dies, Dimensionals, Glitter Enamel Dots

The Paper Players Design Team

Jaydee

LeAnne Pugliese

Claire Broadwater

Joanne James

Laurie Schmidt

Anne Marie Hile

Ann Schach

Cindy Beach

Christy Stanford <-- You are here : )

Jennie Maier

Sketchy Ducks

Mornin' y'all and happy Friday!  I'm finally starting to feel like I'm kicking the Covid crud...I was still super tired yesterday but I decided to ignore it and get stuff done anyway.  That sort of worked?  I did six and a half loads of laundry and put the clothes up, plus I managed not to take a nap, and I'm feeling better today.  So yeah, we'll call that a success.  I even spent some time in my craft room.

How about some manly ducks?  The duck image is from the Sale-a-Bration set Stylish Sketches and I really thought I'd use the fox first, but the ducks worked better for my two challenges today.  First up is this week's Freshly Made Sketch:

And next is the Color Throwdown, you know how I like to combine those two challenges:

I used Mossy Meadow, Early Espresso, Memento Tuxedo Black, and white, plus some Soft Suede because apparently there weren't enough neutrals for me : p  I stamped the image with Memento Tuxedo Black ink and then gave it a very quick watercolor with the other shades of ink, keeping it loose and quick to go with the style of the artwork.  This card came together very quickly and now I have a manly card, should I need it.  Always a good thing!

Got some work to do, so I'm off.  Cheers!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Stylish Sketches, Simply Succulents
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Mossy Meadow, Early Espresso, Soft Suede, Cajun Craze
Paper:  Mossy Meadow, Basic Black, Soft Suede, Thick Basic White, He's the Man DSP
Accessories:  Stylish Shapes dies, Potted Succulents dies, Dimensionals, Rustic Metallic adhesive dots