Guest Designer: Retro Rubber

Surprise double post!  I'm a guest designer this week for Retro Rubber Challenges.  This time it's a tic-tac-toe challenge!

How's that for a fun board?  I kinda went bananas and hit all of the squares except for ribbon/twine and slimline, so here's my card:

I've had Amazing Silhouettes (the butterfly stamp is part of it) for over a year but I've only used it once before now (oops).  But that large sentiment square on the tic-tac-toe board made me think of the coordinating Amazing Thanks dies, which was the start of my card.  So I've got die cuts for the large sentiment, lots of layers, stars, three different patterned papers, and some squares on there.  Not to mention polka dots and chevrons and lots of Fresh Freesia.  And today is the last day to snag that amazing Dandy Designs DSP stack, so hop to it if you haven't already :)

Hope you'll take the time to join the Retro Rubber challenge.  Thanks for having me as a guest designer, ladies!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Amazing Silhouettes, Adorable Owls
Ink:  Fresh Freesia
Paper:  Fresh Freesia, Petal Pink, Thick Basic White, Dandy Designs DSP
Accessories:  Amazing Thanks dies, Wink of Stella, Dimensionals

SUO Challenges: Going Green!

 It's time for a new challenge at SU Only Challenges!

This time around, our theme is GO GREEN!  So make a card using shades of green and/or make a St. Patrick's Day card.  I did both...twice!  Here's my first card:

We're reaching way back in my SU archives for the set Pinch Proof, which I've had for fifteen years now.  I stamped the leprechaun in Shaded Spruce and fussy cut him, and then the sentiment is stamped 3 or 4 times in Granny Apple Green so it's kinda in between the Parakeet Party plaid pattern and the darker Shaded Spruce.  I added some gold rhinestones from a past Paper Pumpkin kit because a leprechaun has to have some gold coins, right?

Next up I used the Country Bouquet stamp set and punch to make an XL four-leaf clover.  The "stem" is from Trees for Sale, you could easily draw a line or use a stem from any stamp set with large floral images.  This one is just Parakeet Party and Shaded Spruce, with a matte dot in the center of the clover for a bit more interest.

Hope you'll take the time to go green and share a card with us at the SUO Challenges blog.  Have fun!

Supplies, leprechaun card:
Stamps:  Pinch Proof
Ink:  Shaded Spruce, Granny Apple Green
Paper:  Shaded Spruce, Thick Basic White, Parakeet Party DSP
Accessories:  Mini Dimensionals, gold rhinestones

Supplies, clover card:
Stamps:  Country Bouquet, Nature's Prints
Ink:  Shaded Spruce
Paper:  Parakeet Party, Thick Basic White, Parakeet Party & Shaded Spruce DSP scraps
Accessories:  Natural Prints dies, Dimensionals, Matte Dots

British Invasion

Scrappy Monday, y'all!  Ugh, this cold just will NOT leave me alone!  When I pick Ryan up this afternoon, we have to go to the store for more Kleenex.  Here's hoping I'll finally kick it to the curb this week.

In the meantime, here's another layout I finished recently:

Okay, so the Invasion started with us meeting up with everyone else (aka The Invaders) in Paris, then we went back to the hubs and my house for a few days (laundry break) before heading to London.  So here I am working on this layout and I very nearly missed the opportunity to title it British Invasion.  For real, I started stamping Invasion Intermission before my brain finally kicked in and started working!  So I'm happy with how this turned out.  I chose Regal Rose (that nice medium pink) because my SIL helpfully wore that pink shirt (and my other sister and I were wearing paler pink in the other pictures), and So Saffron because of my mom's yellow floral shirt.  Good excuse to use the long-retired Georgia Peach DSP!

My color palette comes straight from the DSP, and I thought it coordinated well with the photos:  Regal Rose, So Saffron, Certainly Celery, and a bit of Whisper White.  Nice and springy, though the pictures were taken in July.  Told you I've been doing a lot of pinks and reds lately...actually the layout on my desk right now is a Poppy Parade base.  Better get some laundry started so I can work in my craft room today...if my head will oblige me by not spinning too much.  Urgh.  Stay healthy, friends!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Calendar Alphabet & Numbers, Polka Dots & Petals
Ink:  Pretty in Pink, Regal Rose, Soft Suede
Paper:  Regal Rose, Certainly Celery, So Saffron, Thick Basic White, Georgia Peach DSP
Accessories:  1" and 1 1/4" circle punches

Floral Cake Thanks

Hey y'all, happy Friday.  We made it!  I think this weekend is going to have to involve some deep cleaning on our house, not to mention disinfecting everything so maybe we can break the cycle of sickness we've got going on here.

But for right now, a card:

Scenic Garden is the host stamp set in the Sale-a-Bration catalog, otherwise I probably wouldn't have picked it up on my own.  But it seemed like the right answer for this week's Color Throwdown:

I used So Saffron, Bermuda Bay, Night of Navy, and Sweet Sorbet for my colors.  For some reason my Bermuda Bay Blends come out looking more green than aqua, but that works for this card.  I promise it really IS Bermuda Bay.

I paired that with this week's new sketch from Try Stampin' on Tuesday:

Pretty straightforward today.  I'm going to go continue trying not to cough any more than absolutely necessary...stay healthy, friends!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Scenic Garden, Peaceful Moments
Ink:  Night of Navy, Stampin' Blends in So Saffron, Bermuda Bay, Sweet Sorbet
Paper:  So Saffron, Night of Navy, Thick Basic White, Country Gingham DSP Stack
Accessories:  Deckled Rectangles dies, Harvest dies, Dimensionals, In Color Matte Dots

Rainy Day Double Feature

Hey y'all, hope your day is going well.  I thought I was starting to get better yesterday afternoon, but man, last night was tough!  I did start taking some medication prescribed to me yesterday, which is finally ameliorating the symptoms somewhat, but I am moving like a sloth on the movie Zootopia.

I have animals for today's cards, too.  Yep, two.  Here's the first one:

Playing in the Rain is another bundle I recently got, and I enjoyed playing with it so much this morning that I made two cards.  For this one I didn't use the coordinating dies though, because it cuts the bunny out but not the puddle and I wanted the puddle.  So I snipped him out with scissors.

This card is for the Freshly Made Sketch this week:

The diagonal stripes immediately made me think of the Dandy Designs DSP, and happily for me Balmy Blue is one of the colors in the color challenge from Cupcake Inspirations:

I used Real Red, Flirty Flamingo, and Balmy Blue for my colors.  Red is my son Ryan's favorite color, and he has at least two red jackets as well as multiple fleeces, so I think I'll hold onto this card for him.

And here's my second card for the day:

Is it just me, or does that turtle look just slightly anxious?  I managed to get several shades out of just two Stampin' Blends markers; I used the dark Old Olive for his shell, and the lighter one for everything else.  The spots on his shell are just the lighter color; his head, arms, and legs are two layers of the lighter color, and for the bottom part of his shell (belly) I used the color lifter to get a lighter shade.

I used the CAS Colours & Sketches challenge:

And the Hand-Stamped Sentiments color challenge:

Just a coincidence that it shares two colors with the Cupcake Inspirations challenge, but it's what made me want to make two cards.  I mean come on, of course the turtle has to be Old Olive!  I used the same patterned paper on both cards too, the stripes are on one side and the dots are on the other side.

That's it for me today, I only have an hour before I go to pick Ryan up.  Cheers!

Supplies, all SU!, rabbit card:
Stamps:  Playing in the Rain
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Balmy Blue, Stampin' Blends in Smoky Slate, Flirty Flamingo, Real Red, Balmy Blue
Paper:  Balmy Blue, Thick Basic White, Dandy Designs DSP
Accessories:  Wink of Stella, Dimensionals, Seasonal Sequins

Supplies, all SU!, turtle card:
Stamps:  Playing in the Rain
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Flirty Flamingo, Stampin' Blends in Old Olive, Flirty Flamingo, Balmy Blue
Paper:  Thick Basic White, Dandy Designs DSP
Accessories:  Playing in the Rain dies, white baker's twine, Dimensionals

Christmas Lute

Hey y'all, I'm finally starting to feel like I'm on the mend from whatever demon cold virus hit me last week, and I just barely squeaked in enough time to make a quick card to share today.

Apparently we're doing Christmas cards in February ; )  But this is what wanted to get made when I saw the Festive Friday challenge:

From the inspo list, I have (lots of) musical notes, one musical instrument, the words on the black strip are the lyrics to Christmas carols (in English, French, and German, no less), I have a couple of stripes, mostly neutral colors, and I used a blending brush to add some brown ink to the background paper and make the central strip and the lute pop more on white.  At least I think it's a lute.  I also used the current Retro Rubber sketch:

Congrats to the Retro Rubber team for making it to two hundred challenges, what a milestone!  My stamp set for today is Musical Season and apparently I'd never used it before (oops), but some Googling informs me that maybe it retired in 2017 (probably with that year's holiday catalog), so it's just over five years old.  I know for sure I'd used the coordinating dies before because there's a lovely treble clef die.  Thanks to both challenges for giving me an excuse to finally ink up this stamp set!

That's it for me today, I'm off to watch more Ladybug and Cat Noir with the kiddo.  Cheers!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Musical Season
Ink:  Cinnamon Cider, Cherry Cobbler
Paper:  Basic Black, Thick Basic White, Merry Music Specialty DSP
Accessories:  Musical Instruments dies, In Color Opal Rounds, Dimensionals

Healing Thoughts

Mornin' y'all.  We got back from our Austrian sledding adventure yesterday and...I was sick the whole time.  Actually all three of us are under the weather to one degree or another; at night in our hotel room we were a veritable three-part symphony of coughing, sneezing, and sniffling.  So I feel like I should be mailing today's card to my own house.

Here is the Paper Players' very timely challenge:

And this week's sketch from Global Design Project:

To keep it CAS, I used the Layering Circles dies to cut masks out of some scratch paper, and then used my blending brushes to make the three circles without adding any layers to my card.  I took my colors from the Sunday Stamps challenge:

I read the top three colors as Balmy Blue, Lost Lagoon, and Soft Sea Foam, so that's what I went with for my card.  And apparently Lost Lagoon is making a comeback starting in March.

Ryan is off school today but so far he's been content to play with some Legos he got for his birthday, so here's hoping I get to take it easy today.  Think it's time for another Ricola cough drop...

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Inspired Thoughts
Ink:  Balmy Blue, Soft Sea Foam, Lost Lagoon
Paper:  Balmy Blue, Soft Sea Foam, Thick Basic White
Accessories:  Layering Circles dies, Ornate Frames dies, sequins, Dimensionals

Paris (Invasion)

Scrappy Monday, y'all!  I have two layouts to share today, from back in 2013.  Hubs and I were living in England at the time, and my whole side of the family came out to visit, so we spent time in Paris, at our house in England, and then London, and I jokingly called that "the Invasion" and it stuck.  So here's the first Invasion layout:

You see that big flower that kinda looks like a dot on the I in Paris?  It's actually covering up a giant ink smudge that I got on there after I had finished doing all the stamping and most of the coloring on the image.  I just really didn't want to redo the whole thing, so that was my fix to cover it up.

If you're wondering about the pics on the bottom of the right page, my mom's name is Nina so she liked that restaurant's name, and my dad's name is Richard, so they had to take a picture of the saucer at breakfast one day.  And there's also a picture of my dad arguing over a map with the hubs and my other brother (actually my brother's best friend but at this point they're part of the family) because for some reason I find pictures of people arguing over maps to be very, very funny.

And here is layout number two.  I've done quite a few page bases lately that are red or pink, sometimes I go through color phases when I'm scrapping.  I really like that pink paisley print from the Raspberry Tart DSP from ages ago.  I paired it with a pattern from the current Flowers & More DSP, which I've used on several layouts lately.  And it's layouts like this that necessitated the purchase of more Starry Sky paper, I flew through a pack of it using it on scrapbook pages like this.

Today's color palette: Pretty in Pink, Rose Red, Starry Sky, and Cucumber Crush (just a smidge).

Have a great day, y'all.

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Paris in the Spring, Bold Basics, Alphabet Antiques Upper
Ink:  Versamark, Starry Sky, Pretty in Pink, Rose Red, Cucumber Crush, Cinnamon Cider, Petal Pink, Basic Gray, Gray Granite, Crushed Curry
Paper:  Pretty in Pink textured, Starry Sky, Rose Red, Thick Basic White, Raspberry Tart DSP, Flowers & More DSP
Accessories:  Clear EP

Spring Wishes

Happy Friday, y'all!  We're about to head out on a trip for the weekend so I gotta type fast.  I was a very busy little bee in my craft room this week and finished TEN pages, which makes me very happy!  And I made a card to share today:

I hadn't played with Art Gallery in a long time, but it seemed like a good fit with the Color Throwdown:

Which I paired with this week's challenge from Freshly Made Sketches:

For the colors, I used So Saffron/Crushed Curry, Petal Pink, Very Vanilla, and Old Olive/Pear Pizzazz (the DSP is Old Olive, but I stamped the leaves with Pear Pizzazz, and my ink pad is so juicy that it looks like Old Olive anyway).  A few Milky Dots to finish it off and I've got a nice spring card to send out soon.

Better go grab the last couple of things and get out the door.  Cheers!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Art Gallery
Ink:  So Saffron, Crushed Curry, Pear Pizzazz
Paper:  Petal Pink, Thick Very Vanilla, Design a Daydream DSP
Accessories:  Floral Gallery dies, Milky Dots, Mini Dimensionals

Talk to Me, Goose

Hey y'all, how's your week going?  Ryan's birthday was yesterday, which in the evening involved tacos, yet more cake, and opening presents.  He was excited to get whoopie cushions (really?) and a Nerf gun.  To be honest I'll be excited when the cake is gone, I ate way too much last night!

Anyway, I have a cute little card to share today and it just makes me happy, take a look:

I hadn't *planned* on getting the Silly Goose stamp set, but somehow it came to my house anyway (I was just far too tempted after seeing so many cute cards that other people were making!).  So for my first goose card, I turned to the Paper Players color challenge:

At first, the only Crumb Cake was a bit of shading on the goose, so I added some Crumb Cake Enamel Dot Essentials to make it more obvious that I had included the color.  I paired that with the excellent triptych sketch from Hand Stamped Sentiments:

It's a looser interpretation, I'm counting the sentiment banner for the circle element in the sketch and the goose and his vellum circle are part of the sketch's center panel.  And the two patterns I chose for the panels happen to be both sides of the same double-sided sheet of paper, which just makes me happy for some reason.

That's it for me today, peeps.  I have been working hard on a series of scrapbook layouts this week, I've got three layouts done except for journaling, a fourth in process, and then one more to go for that particular series.  We'll see how far I can get today since we're going on a trip tomorrow.  Cheers!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Silly Goose
Ink:  Soft Suede,  Stampin' Blends in So Saffron, Petal Pink, Crumb Cake
Paper:  So Saffron, Thick Basic White, Vellum, Country Gingham DSP Stack
Accessories:  Stylish Shapes dies, Enamel Dot Essentials, Dimensionals

Bouquet of Countries

Hey y'all!  Didja get a lot of chocolate yesterday for Valentine's Day?  I was surprised at the Valentines that Ryan brought home from school.  We just made simple ones and taped a piece of candy to them, but some of the ones he got were like full-up goodie bags and stuff.  Guess we'll have to step up our game next year.  It was also the hubs' birthday, but he's coming down with a cold again (like, he hadn't fully recovered from the last one) so it was a very low-key evening involving pizza and cake.  We still have cake left over from Ryan's birthday too, this was a different cake.  So much cake.

Anyway, today's card is not cake-related and I busted out a new stamp!

I got an SU! order on Monday and let's not talk about how I hadn't used all the stamp sets yet from my previous SU order and move along here, hmm?  Anyway, Watercolor World is one of my new stamp sets (it's just a single stamp, does it still qualify as a stamp set?) and I'm afraid I over-inked it a bit (my Orchid Oasis ink pad is very, very juicy) but I didn't want to toss that piece of patterned paper so I'm just going with it.  Most of my cards get sent back to Texas, so I put rhinestones on the map for Germany and Texas.

I used a recent sketch from Try Stampin' on Tuesday:

I turned the sketch on its side for my card since the world map is a horizontal image.  I paired that with the colors from Just Add Ink:

This is such a fun combination and I'm glad I managed to make a card before the challenge deadline.  I've been using the newer In Colors a LOT on my scrapbook pages too, I had to buy another pack of Starry Sky cardstock.  In fact, I think I should just put a pack of it on every SU! order I do from now until it retires next year.  I'm definitely a paper hoarder.

Anyway, I've got just a bit of time before I have to go pick up cupcakes (more cake! but smaller!) to take to Ryan's school for his birthday.  We'll be having tacos for dinner tonight (his favorite) and probably cake.  Just a guess.  Cheers!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Watercolor World, Country Bouquet, Peekaboo Farm
Ink:  Orchid Oasis, Polished Pink
Paper:  Tahitian Tide, Orchid Oasis, Thick Basic White, Tea Boutique DSP Stack
Accessories:  Stitched Rectangles dies, Country Bouquet punch, In Color rhinestones, Dimensionals

Making a CASE with SUO Challenges

Hey y'all, happy Valentine's Day!  And welcome to a new challenge from SUO Challenges!

This time around, we're inviting you to bust out your Stampin' Up! supplies and CASE something on page 5 of the Sale-a-Bration catalog:

I chose that card on the right that has all the horizontal strips, and here's what I came up with:

I kept to lighter colors and a spring theme, but changed up the strips for some offset rectangles and finally inked up one of the Friendly Gnomes.  My picture looks a bit fluorescent but that's just how Parakeet Party was working for me today.  Actually this was the second version of this card, I tried it on white first:

I just thought he needed some spring green in there : )

Your turn!  I hope you'll join in the challenge on the SUO Challenges blog.  Have fun!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Friendly Gnomes
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Fresh Freesia, Stampin' Blends in Petal Pink, Calypso Coral, Fresh Freesia, Mango Melody, Parakeet Party, neutrals
Paper:  Parakeet Party, Fresh Freesia, Thick Basic White, Dandy Designs DSP
Accessories:  Gnomes dies, Stitched Rectangles dies, Stitched Shapes dies, Dimensionals, Milky Dots

February 2020

Scrappy Monday!  Man, what a weekend.  Last Thursday, Ryan woke up at one in the morning with a 101-degree fever so he stayed home with me Thursday and Friday.  On Friday, he comes up to me and says his eyes hurt, so I ended up taking him to the doc and he had pinkeye!  We got drops for his eyes (he's been a trooper with taking those) and based on the doc's advice, we moved his birthday party from Saturday to Sunday.  The other parents were very kind about the last-minute switch-up since we did it to keep anyone else from getting sick.  The kids had a great time running around an indoor playground and eating cake and ice cream yesterday, I think Ryan was worn out at the end of it but he was a happy kiddo.  Today, Ryan's eyes look back to normal, but he's still coughing and congested quite a bit, so maybe it's a good thing they're off school today.  Can you believe that the kids here get the day off after the Super Bowl??

Anyway, he's home with me so we'll be working on his Valentines for school (and the Valentines box too) and we're having lunch with Krissy, my dino-loving friend.  So here's a Scrappy Monday layout that gets two thumbs up from her!

Ryan was wearing dinosaur shirts in two of the pictures and that was enough for me to go with it for a theme on this layout; all the pics are snapshots from February of 2020.  Rather than doing a journaling block, I just added some quick captions by the photos, so this layout was pretty quick and easy to put together.  I think what took the longest was deciding which of the Dinoroar DSP prints to use : )  This was another of my very recent creations.  I only finished 8 pages last week, though I have another layout on my table that only requires journaling; we'll see how far I can get this week, though it's a short week with Ryan home today and off school Friday as well.  Speed scrappin' may be happenin'!

Today's color palette is lifted straight from the DSP:  Pool Party, Old Olive, Mango Melody, Pretty Peacock, just a smidgen of Pineapple Punch (the world's happiest yellow), and Whisper White.  Looks like there's some kind of color refresh on the horizon for SU!, so Pretty Peacock is coming back starting March 1.  If you ask me, they should never retire *any* colors, they should just add more!  #ColorDragon

I'm off to go get cleaned up after my workout and get started on Valentines.  Cheers!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Dino Days, Full Calendar
Ink:  Pretty Peacock, Mango Melody, Old Olive, Basic Gray marker
Paper:  Pool Party, Pretty Peacock, Thick Basic White, Dinoroar DSP
Accessories:  Dino dies, Stylish Shapes dies

Just Wanted to Say...

Mornin' folks!  Ryan is feeling better today, but since it's less than 24 hours since his fever broke we kept him home again today.  He's going through a lot of Kleenex but otherwise seems to be bouncing back just fine.  However, since he's home, it took me longer than I expected to make a card for today; in the end I made a deal with him that I could finish my card and then he and I would make one together.  So here's mine:

The inside says "I love you".  This is a variation on the first two cards I made for yesterday's post that didn't seem CAS enough for one of the challenges.  So here is this week's Freshly Made Sketch:

And the Color Throwdown:

I used Sweet Sorbet and Petal Pink, and even though it doesn't look like it in the picture of my card, I promise the sequins are gold.  It was a challenge to take pictures of cards today.

As soon as I finished that one, Ryan pounced and said we had to make a card for his dad whose birthday is coming up next week (and Ryan's is the day after).  So here's what we made:

He did most of the stamping (I just did the beaks on both birds and the foot on the Fresh Freesia penguin on the left) and chose all the colors, I helped him use the penguin punch and the heart punch, and he stuck everything down himself.

Working hard on his creation.

Ta-daaahh!  After I took this picture, he dictated the message for the inside and we both signed it.  And then he drew some fireworks on the front, too.  Now he's eating lunch and watching a cartoon so maybe I can run upstairs and make a card for next week's SUO Challenges...

Cheers!

Supplies, all SU! (first card)
Stamps:  Country Bouquet
Ink:  Sweet Sorbet, Petal Pink
Paper:  Thick Basic White, Country Floral Lane DSP, Country Gingham DSP Stack
Accessories:  Stylish Shapes dies, Basic Borders dies, Country Bouquet punch, Dimensionals, gold sequins

Supplies, all SU! (penguin card)
Stamps:  Penguin Place
Ink:  Pacific Point, Fresh Freesia, Sweet Sorbet, Mango Melody
Paper:  Pacific Point, Thick Basic White, Country Gingham DSP
Accessories:  Penguin punch, Sweetheart punch, Dimensionals

A Valentine Bouquet

I've got a sick kiddo home with me today, so probably not a lot of craft room time happening.  Poor kid has a fever and just general blahs, so I'll be Doctor Mama today.

But I do have a card to share that I made yesterday afternoon, take a look:

The CAS Colours & Sketches color challenge immediately made me think of the Country Bouquet suite since both of the DSPs in that suite have these colors:

It actually took me THREE tries to get this card, I tried at first to combine this with the Freshly Made Sketches challenge but it felt like too many elements to be considered really CAS, so this is where I ended up.  I like that larger heart, it's two different stamps for the flowers and the leaves and it came out so pretty with hardly any effort.

I'm also entering this at Cupcake Inspirations:

Valentine's Day is getting close but I hope to play with this suite a bit more soon.  And I hope Ryan is feeling better soon too.  I'd better get in there and watch cartoons with him.  Cheers!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Country Bouquet
Ink:  Sweet Sorbet, Mint Macaron, Balmy Blue, VersaMark
Paper:  Thick Basic White, Sweet Sorbet
Accessories:  Country Bouquet punch, Picture This dies, Dimensionals, retired blue rhinestones, Wink of Stella