HaPEA

Hey hey, who else is still in a food coma today?  Getting the turkey prepped yesterday morning was a 4-person job (Ryan, the hubs, my mom, and me) and although it got a bit black on top it turned out pretty well for only my second or third attempt.  We also had ham from the Honey-Baked Ham Company, sweet potato casserole, mashed potatoes, turkey gravy and brown gravy, stuffing, green beans (I heartily dislike green bean casserole so I don't make it), corn casserole, homemade cranberry sauce, homemade rolls, salad & veggies and I feel like I'm missing some things but I can't think what.  Then a few hours later we had Dutch apple pie with chai spice, pumpkin praline pie, creamy lemon pie, pecan pie, cherry cobblestone cake, and pumpkin coffee cake.  My dad gave me my grandmother's recipe for pecan pie and he said she would be proud of how I made it.  (I haven't tried it; pecan pie is Dad's favorite but he's the only one who really likes it out of our family.  He's talking about getting a cooler so he can take any leftovers back to Texas.)  So I'd say the food coma was well-earned...and then I slept in until 6:45 this morning : )

Okay, enough chitchat, here's my card for today:

This is my weekly combination of the Freshly Made Sketches and Color Throwdown challenges, but I had a tough time with this combination.  I got another card halfway done before deciding that it didn't work at all and then I landed on the peas.  Here's the Freshly Made Sketch:

And the Color Throwdown:

I used Crushed Curry, Shy Shamrock, and Azure Afternoon.  I like the sketch, I like the colors, I just had trouble combining them.

Anyway, that's it for me today.  We cleared out a space in the living room and might be putting up the Christmas tree later today.  Cheers, y'all!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Sweet Peas
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Azure Afternoon, Blends in Shy Shamrock, Daffodil Delight, Azure Afternoon
Paper:  Shy Shamrock, Crushed Curry, Thick Basic White, DSP in Crushed Curry, Shy Shamrock, Azure Afternoon
Accessories:  Countryside Corners dies, Stylish Shapes dies, Dimensionals, Dots for Days

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving!  And if you're not American, then happy Thursday! : )  I prepped as much stuff as I could for the last two days and then we started work on the turkey this morning.  I snapped a picture of the hubs, the kid, and my mom all helping to prep the turkey.  It's in the oven now so we've got a chance to chill out for a while while it roasts, then it's time to make mashed potatoes, gravy, and stuffing...and then get stuffed!

Anyway, I took a break yesterday and made a card:

Had to do one more autumn card and the Cupcake Inspirations colors were perfect:

I used Copper Clay, Crushed Curry, and Real Red.  The Crushed Curry pattern is from last year's Inked Botanicals DSP Stack and the Copper Clay pattern is from Take to the Sky which is still current.

I rotated the Atlantic Hearts sketch 90 degrees to the left to accommodate my extra-large sentiment:

And that's it for me, peeps.  Have a great day!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Autumn Expressions
Ink:  Copper Clay, Crushed Curry, Real Red
Paper:  Copper Clay, Thick Basic Vanilla, Inked Botanicals DSP Stack, Take to the Sky DSP
Accessories:  Autumn Expressions dies, Dimensionals, Speckled Dots, Wink of Stella

Green & Gold

Mornin' y'all!  We got more snow overnight and it's still coming down pretty good right now, so I hope I have everything I need for today's Thanksgiving prep.  I made three pies and a cake yesterday but I did have to make a trip out to the store for another can of sweetened condensed milk.  And then we had to take Daphne to the vet, poor little girl has a UTI.  Kudos to the hubs for realizing that was what was bothering her though.

Anyway, I have a card to share today and I'm hoping I might sneak in some craft time today.  So here's my green and gold creation:

I started with the Paper Players sketch, which I rotated 90 degrees to the right:

And I added the Sunday Stamps colors:

I interpreted that as gold, silver, Soft Sea Foam, Shaded Spruce, and Evening Evergreen, and I used gold, Soft Sea Foam, and Evening Evergreen for my card.  And it's a second take on the Festive Friday challenge:

This time I've got green, gold, glimmer, embossing, a tree, and a Christmas sentiment.  I had to stamp the tree three times before I got what I was looking for.  I tried it in Shaded Spruce first and it just didn't look right, then I did Evening Evergreen but the embossing powder stuck to the entire tree image, and the third time I stamped it, ended up letting it sit for a few hours because I had to do something else, and this time the embossing powder mostly stayed where it was supposed to be on the tree.  Then I went over the tree with an AquaPainter filled with water, which softened the stamped image a little bit and spread out the ink coverage a little better.

Okay, I'd better get started today, beginning with dishes.  Those are never-ending at this time of year : p  Then it's time to make apple pie, pumpkin cake, cranberry sauce, and sweet potato casserole.  And then do more dishes.  Cheers!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Merriest Trees
Ink:  Early Evergreen, Versamark
Paper:  Soft Sea Foam, Evening Evergreen, Evening Evergreen DSP, Gold Glimmer Paper
Accessories:  Merriest Trees dies, Potted Succulents dies, gold EP, Dimensionals, Gold Glimmer Dots

Cheerful Reindeer

Mornin' y'all!  I'm squeezing in a quick blog post before I get in the kitchen and start the whirlwind of Thanksgiving prep.  On the menu today are pumpkin praline pie, pecan pie, creamy lemon pie, and cherry pie filling.  Maybe something else, I'm not looking at my list right now : )

But first, a quick card!

Check out the speed stamping challenge from As You See It:

I chose a pattern from the Reindeer Days DSP with trees on it and planned out my card from there.  The main reindeer is from another print and didn't cut out quite straight but I was in a hurry.  Here's my final time:

Add in the TGIF Challenges technique:

I was thinking of these two cards I made earlier this month since they both featured tearing for an Atlantic Hearts sketch and that's a quick thing to add to a card.  And I managed to hit quite a few elements in the Festive Friday challenge:

I got red, green, gold, embossing, trees, and Christmas sentiment--pretty good for under 10 minutes!  Of course, here's what my table looked like in the craftermath:

Might have taken me longer to clean up my table than it did to make the card : )

Okay, we have a plumber on the way to look at the pipes leading up to the shower so I'm going to take Daphne for a walk while he's here (the hubs can deal with the plumber).  Then it's pie prep time!  Cheers, y'all!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Reindeer Fun
Ink:  Versamark, Pool Party
Paper:  Garden Green, Real Red, Pool Party, Reindeer Days DSP
Accessories:  Reindeer Fun dies, Stylish Shapes dies, Gold EP, Dimensionals, Gold Twirl Accents

Gather Together (Thanksgiving 2019)

Scrappy Monday, y'all!  Tomorrow will kick off Thanksgiving prep in earnest; all I have to do today is make the pie crust.  So today I think we're taking my parents out to Manitou Springs to have a look around.

On to the scrapbook pages!  These are from Thanksgiving in 2019, which we spent in Alabama with the hubs' side of the family.

I made these pages and then I couldn't decide which way they should go, I think it works either way:

Yeah I still don't know.  Here's the very fall palette for today:

The long-retired More Mustard, the not-quite-as-long-retired Merry Merlot, Cajun Craze, and Very Vanilla.  Simple pages with a few stamped leaf accents and done.

That's it for me today, y'all.  I'm going to eat breakfast, take Daphne out for a walk, and then have a cup of tea because it's currently 25 degrees out there.  Cheers!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Gather Together
Ink:  More Mustard, Merry Merlot, Cajun Craze, Early Espresso, Versamark
Paper:  More Mustard, Merry Merlot, Cajun Craze, Thick Very Vanilla, Come to Gather DSP
Accessories:  Gathered Leaves dies, Stitched So Sweetly dies, clear EP

Winterberry

Mornin' y'all!  We had demo day yesterday on the shower and Daphne was Not A Fan.  She barked and barked at the guys every time they came down the stairs and then had to spend most of the day in doggy jail.  And in the end, we found out that we need a plumber to come in and fix the stuff the first two yahoos messed up AGAIN.  What a mess.

Anyway, I do have a card to share today and unfortunately I need a sympathy card.  My friend's dad passed away last weekend so I made this for him:

The hubs gave it the thumbs up so I'm entering this at SOS Challenges for their masculine challenge.  I thought the colors from the Inspired By... challenge would work well for a sympathy card:

I used Misty Moonlight and Crumb Cake, plus a bit of Pecan Pie to have some darker browns for parts of the bird image.  I like the sketch from AAA Cards:

I know I added a layer with the bird image but I really wanted to use it on there.  I'd love to revisit this sketch and make a card closer to the sketch with the way the snowflakes are done but I don't know if I'll get to in the next few days since my parents will arrive in a few hours.

That's it for me, peeps.  Gotta go walk Daphne and do one or two other things before company arrives.  Cheers!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Winterly Tree Tops, Lovely & Sweet
Ink:  Early Espresso, Stampin' Blends in Crumb Cake, Pecan Pie, Misty Moonlight
Paper:  Misty Moonlight, Thick Basic White, One Horse Open Sleigh DSP Stack
Accessories:  Winterly Tree Tops dies, Stylish Shapes dies, Dimensionals, Wink of Stella

Going for a Swim

Happy Friday, y'all!  I got 99% of my Thanksgiving shopping done yesterday so now I just need to write out my game plan of what gets made each day next week.  Today I'll be cleaning up the downstairs of the house since my parents get here tomorrow, and we have a contractor coming to do demolition on our shower (yes, you read that right, we *still* only have one functional shower).  So no use cleaning upstairs today with dust flying everywhere.

Anyway, I got an awesome suite of stuff last time online exclusives were released and I'm just now getting around to playing with some otters:

I couldn't resist fussy cutting these otters out of the Otterly Adorable DSP when I saw this sketch from CAS Colours & Sketches:

The Balmy Blue watery pattern is the reverse side of the otters I cut out.  I stamped the sentiment in Pretty Peacock, which I wouldn't put with Balmy Blue on my own, but they're both colors in the DSP and I actually like how it looks.  Had to add a few Pretty Peacock Foiled Gems to balance the design.

Okay, time to get Ryan off to school for the last day before he gets the ENTIRE WEEK off next week.  Man, when I was a kid, we only got Thursday and Friday.  Well, Ryan, Daphne, and the grandparents can entertain each other while I cook, ha!  Cheers, y'all!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Otterly Amazing
Ink:  Pretty Peacock
Paper:  Balmy Blue, Otterly Adorable DSP
Accessories:  Pretty Peacock Foiled Gems

Brighten Up Autumn Butterfly

Mornin' y'all!  It was definitely a busy day yesterday, I made cherry cobblestone cake, cranberry crumble pie bars, and pumpkin white chip macadamia nut bars (I usually make these as cookies, but bars were quicker) for the hubs to take in to the potluck today, and last night we prepped the stuff for Hawaiian chicken with pineapple and crock pot rice.  Hope they enjoy that at lunch today.

Yesterday I also got a Stampin' Up! order because I couldn't resist getting a couple of bundles and some cardstock from last week's seasonal sale, and I immediately inked up my new Sketched Butterflies set to make this:

I used this week's Freshly Made Sketch:

I made my card a standard A2 size because I don't like making square cards.  Once again I may be a minority of one but I don't care, I just prefer the standard size.

As usual, I paired that with the Color Throwdown:

I used Peach Pie, Cajun Craze, and Pecan Pie for my challenge colors, plus Early Espresso because I felt like I needed a nice, dark neutral in there.  At first I was going to go with either Crushed Curry or the retired Bumblebee for the first color, but I just got that In Color Glimmer Paper and couldn't resist using it for my card.  There's also some Wink of Stella along the edges of the butterfly's wings, but of course that doesn't show up in the picture.  I was going to do fall leaves with these pretty colors, but I'm happy with my fall butterfly instead.

Daphne is poking me in the elbow so I'm going to take her for a walk.  Cheers, y'all!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Sketched Butterflies
Ink:  Early Espresso, Versamark, Stampin' Blends in Peach Pie, Cajun Craze, Pecan Pie
Paper:  Early Espresso, Pecan Pie, Thick Basic White, Cajun Craze DSP, Peach Pie Glimmer Paper
Accessories:  Sketched Butterflies dies, Stylish Shapes dies, Iridescent Foil Gems, Dimensionals, Wink of Stella

Santa's List

Hey y'all, how's it going?  The hubs asked me yesterday to make things for his potluck at work tomorrow, and it's Hawaiian-themed, so after I get Ryan off to school I will be heading to the store to buy ingredients.  He's taking crock pots of teriyaki chicken and rice, and I'm going to make a couple of desserts.  Then I'll do my big Thanksgiving shop on Friday and we'll really get cookin'!

But for now, a card.

And it's the time of year when a lot of challenges are aligning, so let's get started with the Paper Players:

Joanne inspired me to get out Signs of Santa for my card : )  And as it happened, I had this Santa already stamped and die cut in the stamp case, so I just had to color him.  Easy!

Next up is the Atlantic Hearts sketch:

I used a Santa image for the belt buckle part instead of taking the sketch literally.  And my stripey layer doesn't reach the edges of the card front because I was using a scrap.  It's flocked paper, the white stripes are fuzzy.

We continue with Inspire. Create.:

Yep, easy!  And finally, Inkspirational:

This just clinched my decision to use Signs of Santa for my card today.  One CAS (...okay, maybe it's CAS plus?) card, four challenges.

My next challenge is getting Ryan off to school on time so I can go start shopping and cooking.  Cheers!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Signs of Santa
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Stampin' Blends in Poppy Parade, Petal Pink, Pretty in Pink, Crumb Cake, Gray Granite
Paper:  Coastal Cabana, Thick Basic White, Santa's Workshop Specialty DSP
Accessories:  Santa's Signpost dies, Dimensionals, Red & White Peppermints

SUO Challenges: Handmade Holidays

 Hey y'all, it's time for a new challenge from SUO Challenges!

And here is our theme:

This means anything that is handmade and holiday themed, so Thanksgiving and Christmas cards (though there are lots of other holidays too if you want to do something different) OR any other handmade project.  I stared blankly at all my Christmas stamps for a while, ate some chocolate, and then I made this:

Place cards for Thanksgiving dinner!

I made nine altogether with the Mini Alphabet dies and Sweet Days of Autumn DSP.  I didn't center up the names on all of the place cards; instead, I moved them around a bit to show off the animals on each one.  I cut an 8.5x11 piece of cardstock into quarters (so, card front size) and scored at 2 3/4" on the long side to make the place cards.  Easy peasey and you can dress them up however you want.

We also have some other handmade table decorations for Thanksgiving:

Way back in the day, Stampin' Up! had fabric for a hot minute, and I found a tutorial for making fabric pumpkins so that was a Thanksgiving Day craft one year when we lived in England, about 13 years ago I think.  The turkey is made from felt with an artificial flower for his tail feathers, and of course googley eyes.

Okay, I've got to get Ryan off to school and go get my car's oil changed.  Cheers!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  None
Ink:  None
Paper:  Cajun Craze, Crushed Curry, Old Olive, Early Espresso, Thick Basic White, Sweet Days of Autumn DSP
Accessories:  Mini Alphabet dies

November 2019

Scrappy Monday, y'all!  How was your weekend?  The hubs and I went out yesterday with our friends to see Trans-Siberian Orchestra perform.  I should have put in my earplugs, it was SO LOUD and also there was a lot of fire : )  We all had a good time and our boys had fun playing together under the supervision of a babysitter while we were out.  And Daphne did fine being in her crate for several hours, though she was very excited to see us when we got back home.

Anyway, I do have a layout to share today and here it is:

All pics are from November 2019 when Ryan was just 2 1/2, how do you like his self portrait on the left page?  And this is the month when I finished putting together Ryan's baby book, which is a total chonker and I'm pretty sure weighs more than he did when he was born.

Today's fall-ish color palette is Old Olive, Bumblebee, Starry Sky, Cinnamon Cider, and Very Vanilla.  I actually did work on a new scrapbook layout on Saturday and that one has Starry Sky photo mats too : )  I took a long break from scrapping and I'm ready to get back into it.

That's it for me today, peeps.  Have a great week!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Happier than Happy, My Paper Pumpkin
Ink:  Old Olive, Starry Sky, Cinnamon Cider, Soft Suede
Paper:  Old Olive, Starry Sky, Cinnamon Cider, Thick Very Vanilla, Sweet Symmetry DSP
Accessories:  Happy Forest dies, Stitched Rectangles dies

Crisp Autumn Breezes

Happy Sunday, y'all!  Per Ryan's request, I have a pumpkin coffee cake in the oven for breakfast this morning.  That has become his hands-down favorite Sunday breakfast : )

I still have lots of snow in my backyard but here I am making an autumn card.

This is a combination of two challenges, starting with The Card Concept:

I used the colors Copper Clay, Crushed Curry, Basic Black, and Very Vanilla, though I wish I had gone off piste a bit and done Early Espresso instead of black.  I also zeroed in on the metallic copper elements in the photo which is why I embossed the sentiment, and dug out some very old copper cord for an accent on my clean and layered card.

Next up is TGIF Challenges:

This made me think of the beautiful leaves in Autumn to Remember, so I tried to stamp them as if they're being blown by the wind in the background.

That pumpkin cake is about to come out of the oven so that's it for me today, y'all.  Have a great Sunday!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Autumn to Remember
Ink:  Versamark, Copper Clay, Crushed Curry
Paper:  Copper Clay, Very Vanilla, Basic Black
Accessories:  Copper EP, copper cord, Countryside Corners dies, Dimensionals

Penguin Love

 Happy Saturday, y'all!  The hubs and Ryan took Daphne out for a walk so I'm by myself in a quiet house...momentarily at least : )  I would have gone with them but I had just made a cup of tea and was sitting down to eat breakfast as they headed out the door.  So I shall enjoy my solitude for a few minutes.

I have a pretty CAS card today that's for multiple challenges *and* is the maiden voyage for a retired stamp set I bought at least three years ago?  Here it is:

This stamped penguin kind of looks like a crocheted penguin that Ryan got at a craft fair a while back.  The photo is a bit dark, but the scalloped circle behind the penguin is Cherry Cobbler; the lighting in my craft room next to the windows has been weird since we got all the snow.

So I hit two Just Add Ink challenges:

I used pens (markers) to color in the penguin's beak, feet, and heart, and of course there's some patterned paper on there too.  I couldn't resist using last week's sketch again too:

Love this one, it's a classic.  Next up is the Hand Stamped Sentiments color challenge:

I only used the teeniest bit of Pumpkin Pie for my penguin and otherwise I stuck strictly to the challenge colors.  And I chose my penguin thanks to the Cupcake Inspirations challenge:

I actually have several different penguin stamps from which to choose, but I went with the one from Cold & Cuddly just because I hadn't used the stamp set before.  Next up is the Addicted to CAS challenge:

I found some nice snowy patterned paper in the A Walk in the Forest pack and thought it looked great with my little patterned penguin.

That's it for me today, peeps!  Hope you have a great day.  Sounds like everyone else just got back home...

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Cold & Cuddly
Ink:  Pebbled Path, Cherry Cobbler, Pumpkin Pie
Paper:  Balmy Blue, Cherry Cobbler, Thick Basic White, A Walk In the Forest DSP
Accessories:  1 1/2" circle punch, scalloped circle punch, Wink of Stella, Dimensionals

Sassy Llama

Not too long ago, our friend B hit his head while working in his garage and managed to give himself a concussion.  He's fine now, but he did have to miss a couple of days of work.  And his birthday is coming up soon, so I made him a card yesterday.

Okay, fun llama and a punny greeting, but here's what I put on the inside...

I couldn't help it ; )  B joked with the hubs after hubs' brain surgery and really helped spread the Numbskull nickname at work (they work in the same building), much to hubs' dismay, so I think this is perfect.  And as karmic payback, I was helping Ryan to tie his snow boots yesterday and when I stood up I whacked the back of my head on the kitchen counter.  I, at least, did not concuss myself, but head trauma is apparently contagious.

Anyway, I used the new sketch from Atlantic Hearts:

I didn't make my card a slimline because I just don't like making slimline cards (I know, I'm a minority of one, but it's my craft room and I make the rules in there).  The Creative Colour Challenges palette this week is pretty firmly in the Man Rainbow so I used that:

The Man Rainbow is gray, black, navy blue, and khaki; we'll let Boho Blue slide in there as Man Rainbow adjacent.  And since I made a sassy llama card yesterday afternoon, in the evening I watched a sassy llama movie.  You know which one I'm talking about, right?

Daphne is asking me very politely but insistently to go on a walk, and who am I to tell her no.  So that's what we're going to do now.  Cheers, y'all!

Supplies:
Stamps:  Llama Drama from The Ink Road
Ink:  Basic Gray, Boho Blue
Paper:  Boho Blue, Basic Gray, Thick Basic White, Lily Pad Lane DSP Stack
Accessories:  Stitched Rectangles dies, In Color gems, Wink of Stella on the sunglasses