Just One More Pumpkin Card

Mornin', y'all!  Can you believe that today is the last day of November??? I feel like I just got used to writing 2023 and pretty soon it'll be 2024 already.  Which is good, really, because January first means we'll be halfway through the hubs' deployment.

Anyway, I mightily resist doing Christmas cards before Thanksgiving, and since today is the last day of November I just had to do one more pumpkin card.

Meet this week's Freshly Made Sketch:

And FMS's usual dance partner (for me at least), the Color Throwdown:

I decided to go with all retired colors today and used my all-time fave Baja Breeze with Mellow Moss and Peekaboo Peach, which honestly came out a bit darker than I expected so maybe I should have used Petal Pink instead.  Anyway, I had scraps of patterned paper in both Mellow Moss and Baja Breeze, so I punched out a bunch of circles and stuck them down higgledy-piggledy before adding the pumpkins and leaves on top.  And now I suppose it's time to transition from fall cards to winter and Christmas *slightly grumpy* I do have several Christmas stamp sets that I'm looking forward to playing with though.

Have a great day, y'all!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Pick of the Patch
Ink:  Peekaboo Peach, Pebbled Path, Mellow Moss
Paper:  Baja Breeze, Mellow Moss, Thick Basic White, Baja Breeze & Mellow Moss DSP
Accessories:  circle punches (1/2", 3/4", 1", 1 1/4"), Pick of the Patch punch, white sequins, Dimensionals

Glittery Wreath

Mornin' y'all!  How's your week going so far?  I picked Ryan up from school yesterday and he proceeded to argue with me for 10 minutes that the word "pizza" is pronounced PISA (soft z sound, like the town) and not PEETSA like everyone actually says it.  He doesn't even EAT pizza so he's a pod person :p  And I've been craving pizza ever since that conversation, so my dad agreed to change our lunch plans today to include pizza instead of Chinese food.  Ha!

Anyway, I broke out a new stamp set and dies yesterday!

I love the Wishes All Around bundle and I know lots of other stampers have made zillions of pretty cards with it but hey, I like to concentrate on fall projects until at least Thanksgiving so I'm just now slowly working into making Christmas things.  Check out the color combination courtesy of Cupcake Inspirations:

I dug out some glimmer paper from a couple of years ago (the package has gold, white, and Evening Evergreen and I'd never used any of it!) and used that for the wreath, then embossed the sentiment in white on my navy card base.  I added a couple of white glitter sequins just in case the wreath wasn't glittery enough on its own.  I used the Hand Stamped Sentiments sketch:

And one more for good measure, the Less Is More CAS challenge:

Okay kids, that's it for me today.  I've got a class at the Y and then pizza for lunch with my dad :)  Cheers!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Wishes All Around
Ink:  Versamark
Paper:  Night of Navy, Gold Glimmer
Accessories:  Wishes All Around dies, white EP, Adhesive-Backed Glitter Sequins

Miss You Bear

Mornin', y'all!  Ryan has been watching a lot of Bluey lately, so last night he wanted to play doctor like they do in one of the shows.  I was the patient and Ryan performed surgery on me, using a blunt wooden sword and a couple of Nerf missiles as his surgical instruments.  I ended up with toilet paper bandages on one leg, across my belly, and all around my throat, and he is still insisting that I call him Doctor this morning.  So that's fun.

Anyway, I got into my craft room yesterday for the first time in almost a week.  I started with a pretty simple card:

I bought Vertical Blooms in that one-day stamp sale a few months ago specifically for this miss you sentiment.  Let's start with the Festive Friday challenge:

I used natural twine, an animal, and stripes.  Does "miss you" count as a supportive sentiment?  Next up is the Paper Players sketch challenge:

And here is the Sunday Stamps color challenge to round things off:

I used Evening Evergreen, Pebbled Path, and Basic Black from the color palette.  I wanted to work in some Real Red, but once I got the card started, I couldn't figure out a place to use it, so I kept it to just green and neutrals.  I really like Evening Evergreen.

Anyway, it's almost time for me to get Doctor Ryan off to school.  Cheers!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Vertical Blooms
Ink:  Pebbled Path
Paper:  Evening Evergreen, Basic Black, Pebbled Path, Thick Basic Vanilla, Evening Evergreen DSP
Accessories:  Bear punch, linen thread, Rustic Metallic Dots, Dimensionals

Maine: Bar Harbor Head Lighthouse

Scrappy Monday, y'all!  I hope you had a good holiday last week if you celebrated Thanksgiving.  We were thrilled to have my hubs here for a couple of days, though it was super tough on Ryan when he had to leave again on Saturday.  Starting today, Ryan will be getting back into the school routine and I think that will help until we get to see the hubs again for Christmas.

In the meantime, I have another Maine layout today!

So the hubs and Bennet had gone to this lighthouse on a previous day to take pictures at dawn (see that layout here), and then we all six went out during the day to check it out.  We didn't go inside the lighthouse itself (I'm not sure they allowed people in at all?) but we did clamber around the rocks next to the lighthouse for a while, which Ryan enjoyed because he thinks he's indestructible.  I paired the still-current Nature's Prints stamp set with Seaside Notions, they seem to fit together pretty well style-wise.

Today's color palette:  Pretty Peacock, Night of Navy, Calypso Coral, Crumb Cake, and white.  I chose Pretty Peacock for this layout a while before we found out that it was rejoining the SU! color lineup, so now I don't have to hoard my Pretty Peacock 12x12 cardstock quite so much ; )

Almost time to get Ryan up to get ready for school...hope he's not too angry since he was going to bed late for all of last week.  Cheers!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Make a Difference, Rough Edges Alphabets, Seaside Notions, Nature's Prints
Ink:  Pretty Peacock, Night of Navy, Crumb Cake, Sweet Sorbet, Stampin' Blends in Pretty Peacock, Crumb Cake, and Petal Pink
Paper:  Pretty Peacock, Night of Navy, Crumb Cake, Thick Basic White, Pretty Prints DSP
Accessories:  Natural Prints dies

O Christmas Tree

Hey y'all, did you have a good Thanksgiving?  Ours was GREAT!  We had so much food that I totally forgot to get out the cranberry sauce that I made yesterday morning when we set everything out for the feast!  I also made way too many pies and we were all stuffed.  Very, very stuffed.  It was great.

And now that Thanksgiving is over, I will start looking towards Christmas...yeah I'm one of those people who doesn't want to do anything Christmasy before Thanksgiving because I love fall.  Wait your turn, Santa!  Okay, now I'm ready.

A simple card for today for the Paper Players CAS challenge this week:

And the maiden voyage for a new stamp set, Merriest Trees.  I still had all the bear-riffic papers out on my craft table from the cards for SUO Challenges, so I decided to use the tree pattern for this card.  Lucky me that the Merriest Trees dies include a tag shape, easy peasy!  I embossed my greeting in white on a scrap of Mossy Meadow, cut out my tree and tag bits, added the ribbon and enamel dots and done.  I like the twine bow wrapped around the ribbon, the linen thread gives it a more rustic look with the trees.

I had leftover sweet potato casserole for breakfast and I think it's going to feature in my lunch and dinner options as well.  Love it!  Have a great day, y'all.

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Merriest Trees
Ink:  Versamark
Paper:  Misty Moonlight, Mossy Meadow, A Walk in the Forest DSP
Accessories:  Merriest Trees dies, white EP, Tinsel Gems, Night of Navy Bordered Ribbon, linen thread

Festive Bears (and Friends)

Happy Thanksgiving, y'all!  I've got a house full of people all playing games : )  I've got a few minutes before I get started doing the last of the cooking for our Thanksgiving feast so I thought I'd sneak on the computer for a minute and post the other two cards I made when I was working on this week's SUO Challenge card.

I cut out a bunch of pieces from the edge of a piece of DSP, and I had the front part of a polar bear and part of another one's back, here's what I started with:

So I used the seal to cover up the join between the two pieces of the polar bear.  Waste not!

For this one, I had stamped the sentiment and die cut it for another project weeks ago and then decided not to use it, so when I had this last bit of DSP characters cut out I thought they'd work together well for a card.  Two quick cards done!

Okay, time for me to start on mashed potatoes and gravy.  Cheers!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Beary Cute
Ink:  Mossy Meadow, Real Red
Paper:  Real Red, Mossy meadow, Balmy Blue, Beary Christmas DSP, Beary Christmas Memories & More Cards
Accessories:  Stylish Shapes dies, Dimensionals, red rhinestones

Get Lit

Good morning party people!  And today is going to be a VERY good day, the hubs is getting in this morning to surprise our kiddo who thinks he's arriving tonight.  We're all very excited.

I have a quick card to share that I managed to squeeze in between making pecan pie and pumpkin pie last night (two apple pies and a lemon pie are on the list for today).

I didn't think I was going to be making another card but I saw the CAS Colours &Sketches challenge and thought I could make something fast with it.  And I did!

I paired it with the colors from Global Design Project:

I kept my card very CAS by not die-cutting any of the parts and pieces for the Christmas lights, they're all stamped directly on the card base.  It was super easy to snip out the sentiment bits since it's all straight lines.  There is something wrong with my Poppy Parade ink pad and this is at least my second one, the top of the ink pad looks weird and it stamped pretty blotchy.  I did order a new one in the recent sale which is supposed to get here on Friday.

Anyway, I've got to get to it so I'll be ready to go see the hubs on time.  Much excitement!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Merry & Bright
Ink:  Lemon Lime Twist, Poppy Parade, Pool Party
Paper:  Thick Basic White
Accessories:  Mini Dimensionals, Rhinestone Waves basic jewels

SUO Challenges: Pick Your Favorite

Hey y'all, what's up?  Today is when Thanksgiving prep really goes into afterburner...got a lot to do today!  I already went to the store and I have a list of things I'll be making today, starting with my favorite sweet potato casserole.  Speaking of favorites, the SUO Challenges team wants to know what your favorite thing is in the holiday catalog!

There's lots of good stuff in there to choose from and I decided to cheat just a little bit by choosing the entire Beary Christmas suite collection : )  That counts as one thing, right?  Ha!  Here's my card:

I used the Beary Cute stamp set, Beary Christmas DSP, Beary Christmas Memories & More Card Pack, and the adhesive-backed glitter sequins which are all part of the suite.  What can I say, I love bears!  I cut out three cute polar bears from the Beary Christmas DSP, two parents and a super cute baby bear (he's up on Dimensionals because he's the most important, just ask my kid).  I actually made a couple of other cards the same day I made this one, which is most likely what I'll be sharing over the next couple of days since I'm going to be making All The Things for Thanksgiving.  And my hubs is coming in tomorrow!!  We're very excited about that.

Okay, I'm off to work on sweet potato casserole and praline pumpkin pie.  If you've got a minute in the next two weeks, make a quick card with your favorite mini catalog product and share at the SUO Challenges blog.  I love that everyone on the design team had a different favorite!  And if you're in America, I hope that you have a most excellent holiday week!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Beary Cute
Ink:  Mossy Meadow
Paper:  Balmy Blue, Beary Christmas DSP, Beary Christmas Memories & More Card Pack
Accessories:  adhesive sequins, Dimensionals

Maine: Wonderland Trail

Scrappy Monday, y'all, and happy Thanksgiving week!  I baked two batches of cookies on Friday and burned two pans arguing with the ovens--yeah, I was all excited about having two ovens to use for Thanksgiving prep, but the temperature fluctuates wildly (I have oven thermometers so I can check).  After some experimentation, I've started setting the temperature in both ovens to 25 degrees hotter than the recipe calls for, and that gets close enough to bake correctly.  I baked four batches of cookies on Saturday and not only did I finish them all by two in the afternoon, I didn't burn any!  So now I have cookie gift bags ready for our Thanksgiving guests this week.  And a full schedule of things to make for the feast : )

But for now, it's Scrappy Monday and I have two layouts to share from our Maine adventures.

The Wonderland Trail is yet another part of Acadia National Park and this one was closer to the water.  Also I think that is the best picture of Missy ever, she looks beautiful : )

The beach is all rocks so of course all of the guys had to throw rocks into the water and also destroy someone else's rock tower before building their own.  Boys.

Today's water-inspired color palette:  Starry Sky, Orchid Oasis, Gray Granite, and Whisper White.  I'm glad that these In Colors were released before I did these pages because I am in LOVE with Starry Sky and Orchid Oasis with these pictures.  IN.  LOVE!  The 2022-2024 In Colors as a group are my favorite assortment that we've ever had; I've already started stockpiling cardstock and ink refills before they retire next summer.  In contrast, the 2023-2025 In Colors were my least favorite set on first look, but to my surprise I've been using them for some scrapbook pages lately.  Wild Wheat is still my least favorite, but I even managed to use it for a page base on a layout and liked it.

Anyway, I have to get the kiddo ready to go to his grandparents' house, he's staying with them until Wednesday so I can do Thanksgiving prep and not have to entertain him at the same time.  Cheers!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Make a Difference, Nature's Prints, Seaside Notions
Ink:  Starry Sky, Orchid Oasis, Gray Granite Stampin' Blends
Paper:  Starry Sky, Orchid Oasis, Gray Granite, Thick Basic White, Sun Prints DSP
Accessories:  Natural Prints dies

Friendly Pink Poinsettias

Mornin' y'all!  I got four batches of cookie dough made yesterday...they all had to chill for at least two hours so I didn't bake any cookies yet, but that will happen today.  And I'll be making pie crust this weekend and then REALLY getting going on Thanksgiving prep starting Monday!

In the meantime, I had just enough time after making all that cookie dough to make a card.

I really liked this sketch from Try Stampin' on Tuesday:

Which I paired with the colors from Just Add Ink:

I just missed the deadline to enter their Choose Two challenge so I'm getting my card in early this time ; ) I quickly realized that these colors are all in the Inked Botanicals DSP stack, which made me think of using Inked & Tiled, but I didn't like the looks of the flower from that set cut out so I stamped some poinsettias from Ringed with Nature and I liked that.  I'm sure the Christmas card juggernaut is coming soon, I usually try to delay as much as possible because I love fall and Thanksgiving so much : )

Okay, time to get the kiddo ready to go to school.  Cheers!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Inked & Tiled, Ringed with Nature
Ink:  Pool Party, Petal Pink, Calypso Coral
Paper:  Pool Party, Thick Basic White, Inked Botanicals DSP Stack
Accessories:  Nested Essentials dies, Dimensionals, Fine Sparkle Gems

Fluffy Cotton Balls

Mornin' y'all!  I've been a busy little bee today.  Got up early, did my workout, got Ryan up for school, and then I went to THREE different stores for Thanksgiving prep.  Umm does nobody have frozen cranberries in the US??  (I ended up buying a couple bags of fresh cranberries, it's fine.)  I've got a lineup of cookie recipes on my dining room table and as soon as I finish this, I'll be starting on cookie dough.  I'm planning to give everyone who comes here for Thanksgiving a goodie bag of cookies to kick off Christmas cookie season.  Also I'm ambitious and probably crazy.

Anyway!  Here's my card for today:

I used this week's Freshly Made Sketch:

I thought Christmas trees, but since Karren did that already I had to be different : )  And here's this week's Color Throwdown:

I used Blushing Bride, Smoky Slate (and Basic Gray), and Shaded Spruce.  The Tinsel Gems claim that they're Pretty Peacock, but I think they look a lot more green and it worked with the teensy tiny bit of green on my stamped image.  Green is my all-time favorite color so how did I end up with a card that's almost all pink and gray?

Okay, I'm off to make several batches of cookie dough.  They all have to be refrigerated for at least a couple of hours, so I'm just making lots of dough today and then I'll bake the cookies later.  Maybe this weekend so Ryan can help roll things in sugar.  Cheers!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Softly Sketched, Sending Smiles
Ink:  Basic Gray, Smoky Slate, Stampin' Blends in Smoky Slate and Shaded Spruce
Paper:  Blushing Bride, Basic Gray, Thick Basic White, Blushing Bride & Smoky Slate DSP
Accessories:  Tinsel Gems, Sending dies, Dimensionals

Friendly Foliage

Mornin' y'all!  Man, Ryan was SUPER angry this morning!  I don't know why but every once in a while he wakes up in a monster mood.  He was starting to come out of it by the time I got him to school but yeesh.  Usually he's pretty chipper by the time I get him back in the afternoons so I hope his day goes okay.

Anyway, I've got a card today that's a bit outside my normal stampy comfort zone but I liked how it turned out, here it is:

I don't do the collage look very often, I agonize over where to put every single piece, but I ended up pretty happy with this one.  And I hit no fewer than four challenges, starting with Festive Friday:

I used bright colors (does it count if it's just one bright color?), enamel dots, patterned paper, two of something (two stamp sets, two die sets), and a hello/hi sentiment.  I had this list simmering in the back of my mind when the other three challenges came up, so here's the Global Design Project:

So this challenge is why I decided to try my hand at the collage look, and did a mix of cardstock and stamped images, plus I did a wee bit of distressing on the edges of the DSP.  Next up is the Hand-Stamped Sentiments challenge:

I really liked this one, lots of possibilities and it would be fun to do something Christmasy with those colors.  I haven't played hardly at all with Pebbled Path so this was fun for me.  And finally, here's the Just Add Ink challenge:

Again, I have one bright, but this challenge led me to the foliage stamps from Nature's Prints, and happily for me Inked & Tiled has that "hello friend" sentiment stamp so with one stamp I was able to hit friend for this challenge and hello or hi for Festive Friday.  Strategy!

Okay, that's it for me today.  Tomorrow I'm going to start The Great Thanksgiving Prep because I had the brilliant idea to make cookies for everyone who's coming over, so I'll be doing that for a few days and start on pies next week when Ryan goes to his grandparents' house.  Gonna be busy so I'm going to try enjoy my stamping time today before the craziness starts to gain speed.  Cheers!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Nature's Prints, Inked & Tiled
Ink:  Berry Burst, Mossy Meadow, Pebbled Path
Paper:  Berry Burst, Mossy Meadow, Thick Basic White, Bright & Beautiful DSP Stack
Accessories:  Nature's Prints dies, Stylish Shapes dies, Dimensionals, Tinsel Gems

Sky Truck!

Mornin' y'all!  Hope your day is off to a good start.  I did get my Thanksgiving menu sorted out yesterday and I am going to be one busy baker next week!  It's ambitious, but I think I can do it.  So excited for PIE!

Anyway, I have a card to share today and I finally inked up a new stamp set I got weeks ago!  Take a look:

So, the hubs, kiddo, and I have ridden in gondolas like this in multiple countries, but the first one we ever went on was when Ryan was about two I think?  We were in Tennessee with our friends Bennet and Missy, I remember that.  So we were waiting in line to ride a big gondola up the mountain and Ryan was asking what it was, so I tried to explain it to him and eventually just said it's a sky truck (because he looooved trucks, his dad had a truck at the time, and I knew he'd understand that).  So then "sky truck" became the silly catchphrase of that trip and we still say it when we see a gondola like this!  So yeah, I tried to resist this stamp set but I just had to have it.  Also I really like the style of the trees in this set, just a fun artwork style.  And if we're moving to Colorado next year, I may be needing this for future scrapbook pages.  Or ones from being in the Alps over the last few years!

Anyway, I started with the Paper Players color combo:

I added Night of Navy as my extra color, and the Real Red and Shaded Spruce immediately made me think of the Wrapped in Plaid DSP and you know what?  I just discovered that it's Cherry Cobbler in the DSP, oops!  Well, I used Real Red for my gondola anyway.  I paired that with the awesomely layer-tastic sketch from Sunday Stamps:

That's actually my second attempt at this card, my first attempt was a little closer to the original sketch:

I just wasn't happy with the sentiment being bisected by the cables but I didn't really want to add a layer for it either.  I was thinking about it as I was trying to go to sleep last night and just decided to have another go at it this morning.  Plus I really like the adventure sentiment because in 20 years of marriage, the hubs and I have been on a lot of adventures!  Living in I think nine different houses over four states and three foreign countries and doing a lot of traveling.  I'm excited that my adventure buddy will be here for Thanksgiving next week!  He'll only be here for two days but we'll take it.

Anyway, I'm going to go get ready to get my hair cut.  Have a great day, peeps!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Above It All
Ink:  Real Red, Shaded Spruce, Night of Navy, Versamark
Paper:  Night of Navy, Thick Basic White, Wrapped in Plaid DSP
Accessories:  Above It All dies, Dimensionals, Gold EP

Maine: Ocean Trail

Scrappy Monday, y'all!  And today's layout is one I particularly liked from the Maine book, take a peek:

I think Baja Breeze might be my favorite ever SU! color, I was so bummed when they retired it.  The Ocean Trail was yet another area of Acadia National Park with some gorgeous views out over the water.  I think Missy used one of these pics for her Christmas cards that year.  I think the hubs and I have already picked a photo for this year's cards : )

Today's color palette might be a little less obviously fall-inspired, but I still love it:  Baja Breeze, Kiwi Kiss (I think I bought three packs of that Bella Rose DSP!), Elegant Eggplant, Riding Hood Red, More Mustard, and white.  All of the colors are retired except white...which I guess is technically retired too since we switched from Whisper White to Basic White.

Ryan is feeling good this morning so he's definitely going to school, which makes me happy after he missed two days last week.  My big plans for the day?  Plotting out my lineup of Thanksgiving recipes!  I know there will be at least four pies involved...cheers!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Make a Difference, Gorgeous Leaves
Ink:  Baja Breeze, Riding Hood Red, More Mustard, Concord Crush marker
Paper:  Baja Breeze, Elegant Eggplant, Riding Hood Red, More Mustard, Kiwi Kiss, Thick Basic White, Bella Rose DSP
Accessories:  Intricate Leaves dies

Crazy Quilt

Hey hey, y'all!  Ryan and I are going to a craft fair this morning at a local high school with my mom and SIL, and then he's got a birthday party to go to so it's going to be a busy day.  But I have a card to share before the crazy starts.

I started with the colors from CAS Colours & Sketches:

And happily for me, the Retro Rubber sketch is CAS, so I used that too:

I was considering the sketch in the back of my mind while scrolling through Facebook, and someone posted in a needlework group about her trip to the Texas Quilt Museum with some pictures:

The blue and red made me think of the CC&S challenge, and the pictures reminded me of the old retired Quilt Quips stamp set.  Retro Rubber wants to know the approximate age of the stamp set but for this one I just don't know, I've never used it before!  I'm pretty confident I got it before Ryan was born, so more than six years ago, possibly ten or more.  Heh.  Anyway, the two challenges swirling in my brain coalesced when I saw the quilt pictures and I finally inked up the set!  And that card went out in the mail two days ago : )

Off to the craft fair.  Cheers!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Quilt Quips
Ink:  Boho Blue, Memento Tuxedo Black, Stampin' Blends in Boho Blue, Real Red, Mossy Meadow Pecan Pie
Paper:  Thick Very Vanilla, Mossy Meadow & Real Red DSP
Accessories:  Stitched Shapes dies, Stitched Rectangles dies

Grateful Leaves

Hey y'all, happy Friday.  Ryan is once again staying home from school : ( and camping out on the couch today.  Poor kid.

I did some quality time in my craft room yesterday and made this card:

The layout was inspired by a card I saw on Facebook.  The Paper Players supplied the theme:

And The Card Concept supplied the colors:

I chose to go CAS this time and I used Wild Wheat, Rich Razzleberry, Sweet Sorbet, and Basic Black, which coincidentally is yet ANOTHER color combination that fits with the SUO! Challenges theme!  (Not the black, but the other colors, definitely!)

Don't forget to play along over there, obviously I've been having fun with the theme.  Well, guess I don't get to go to yoga this morning, but I'll go spend some quality couch time with the spawn while he doesn't feel good.  Have a good weekend, y'all.

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Gorgeous Leaves, For All Things
Ink:  Wild Wheat, Rich Razzleberry, Sweet Sorbet, Memento Tuxedo Black
Paper:  Thick Basic White, Rich Razzleberry
Accessories:  Intricate Leaves dies, Dimensionals, linen thread