A Drink In Each Hand

Mornin' y'all!  Once again as I type this, I am waiting for Ryan to get dressed and brush his teeth before we leave for camp.  We'll see if we get out the door on time today : p  We did make it yesterday but it was close and I haaaaaate being late!

Anyway, I said that I had spent part of the weekend fussy cutting a whole bunch of drinks from the Celebratory Sips DSP and I made another card with the pieces:

They both look delicious.  Once again, I used the "cheers" from Scenic Adventure, though I am leaning towards maybe possibly getting the Cheers & Sips bundle sometime.  We'll see how my impulse control is doing.  Anyway, say hello to the sketch from Hand-Stamped Sentiments:

I like this sketch.  I got to use a couple of other patterns from the Celebratory Sips DSP, I do like this whole pack.  It's fun!

That's it for now, peeps.  I'm off to chauffeur Ryan to camp.  Cheers!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Scenic Adventure
Ink:  Strawberry Slush
Paper:  Timid Tiger, Strawberry Slush, Celebratory Sips DSP, Pretty in Pink DSP
Accessories:  Textured Notes dies, Strawberry Slush baker's twine, Strawberry Slush gems, Dimensionals

Trummelbach Falls

Scrappy Monday, y'all!  Wish me luck getting Ryan out the door on time today, he is being super slow this morning.  So aggravating, I swear he's going slower on purpose because he knows how much I hate being late and he has STEAM camp today.  Arrrrgh.

Anyway, I have another Switzerland layout to share today:

Trummelbach Falls is a series of waterfalls inside the mountain near where we stayed in Lauterbrunnen.  It's all glacier water and it was amazing to me that as we walked along the trail, we turned a corner to where the water was and the air temperature dropped significantly because the water was so cold.  It moves FAST too so we kept a firm grip on Ryan to make sure he didn't do anything crazy.

Today's color palette started with inspiration from Ryan's fox sweater and if they had that in adult sizes I would totally buy it, just sayin'.  Colors are Baked Brown Sugar, Tangerine Tango, Blueberry Bushel, Coastal Cabana, and Very Vanilla.

Gotta get out the door.  Cheers!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Calendar Alphabet & Numbers, Taffy Alphabet
Ink:  Baked Brown Sugar, Coastal Cabana, Blueberry Bushel marker
Paper:  Baked Brown Sugar, Blueberry Bushel, Tangerine Tango, Coastal Cabana, Very Vanilla, Retro Fresh DSP
Accessories:  1 1/4" and 1 1/2" circle punches

Cheers to Missy!

Mornin' y'all!  I've gotta type fast, I have orange scones in the oven : )  Happy birfday to my friend Missy!  Here's the card I made for her:

Ryan and I had dinner with Missy and her family last night (the hubs was volunteering at the rodeo so he missed out, but he did get hit on by an older cowgirl so he had that going for him).  Yesterday afternoon I decided to take the Celebratory Sips DSP sheet with the larger drinks on it and cut them all out, then chose three to use for this card.  I don't know that I would put Timid Tiger, Blackberry Bliss, and Cloud Cover together on my own but I hope I made it work here??  And now I have a stack o' drinks to use on other cards too.

I used the Atlantic Hearts sketch:

I didn't buy the Cheers & Sips stamp bundle, but I built my own greeting using Scenic Adventure.  I took "cheers to" from "cheers to another" and the "you" is part of "you're amazing".  Cutting out that "you" was more difficult than all the drinks on that entire 12x12 sheet of paper : p

That's it for now, y'all.  Orange scones are calling.  Cheers to you!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Scenic Adventure
Ink:  Blackberry Biss
Paper:  Blackberry Bliss, Cloud Cover, Basic White, Celebratory Sips DSP
Accessories:  Textured Notes dies, Blackberry Bliss stitched satin ribbon (retired), Dimensionals

Password to Larkspur Lane

Happy Saturday and welcome to the TENTH Nancy Drew challenge!  Today's book is Password to Larkspur Lane:

There's the OT on the left and RT on the right, and again a slight change in titles.  Also, we're back to the trend of the OT covers being to be brighter than the RT versions, but I like them both for this book.  

Case file:  A wounded carrier pigeon falls in Nancy's yard with a weird message, and a doctor friend of the Drews is abducted to care for a woman at a huge estate and afterwards told to forget the whole incident.  Nancy uncovers a criminal group who trick rich old ladies into moving to their fake sanatorium and then they coerce the women into signing all their money over to them.  Nancy busts the criminals and frees all the little old ladies.  Hooray!

So here's my card for the OT version, The Password to Larkspur Lane:

I wanted to work in the pink of Nancy's top on this card, and I kept the main color Balmy Blue to go with the larkspur, sky, and the old lady's cardigan.

I'm not sure if Nancy's wearing a shirt and skirt combo or if it's a color block dress situation, but I want it.  She looks so cute but for this cover that hair had to come out of a dye bottle.  You may have noticed that the color of Nancy's hair is inconsistent to say the least, not just on the book covers but in how it's described in the text--sometimes she's blonde, sometimes she's "titian" or strawberry blonde, and sometimes she's a redhead.

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Soft Spring, Sweet Strawberry
Ink:  Night of Navy, Balmy Blue, Garden Green
Paper:  Balmy Blue, Night of Navy, Thick Basic White, Balmy Blue & Pretty in Pink DSP
Accessories:  Dimensionals, Matte Decorative Dots

Next up is the darker, moodier RT Password to Larkspur Lane:

Case file:  The RT version still has the elder abuse story line from the OT version, and adds a subplot where Helen Corning's grandparents keep seeing a ring of blue fire outside their lake house and it's creeping them out.  Nancy finds out that the Cornings' houseman (I wonder how that's different from a butler) had been affiliated with criminals in the past but had gotten out of the criminal life.  His old gang is trying to coerce him into stealing from the Cornings, and coincidentally it's the same group running the fake sanatorium.  Two very different versions of theft going on.

So here is my card for the RT version, Password to Larkspur Lane:

I made this card before I got the OT version of the book and I had to use Wisteria Wishes for my larkspur this time.  I used some Darling Duckling DSP to match Nancy's yellow dress on the cover.

I like her pink-and-navy outfit on the OT better, but this dress is pretty too and I'd love to have Nancy's wardrobe even though I almost never wear anything but T-shirts, jeans, and workout clothes.

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Wisteria Wishes
Ink:  Orchid Oasis, Starry Sky, Garden Green
Paper:  Orchid Oasis, Thick Basic White, Orchid Oasis & Darling Duckling DSP
Accessories:  Stitched Rectangles dies, Stylish Shapes dies, Dimensionals, In Color Pearls

If you'd like to participate in the challenge, leave a comment below with a link to your creation, I'd love to see!  Next week I'll be looking into The Clue of the Broken Locket.  

Also, if you'd like a more in-depth discussion of the books, I did what I threatened I would and started another blog.  Visit Hey, Nancy Drew here.  New posts on Tuesday (Drews-day).  Cheers!

Lovely Yellow Flowers

Mornin' y'all.  I just had a minor mishap and I'm not sure how it happened, but my water bottle got knocked over across the computer desk.  Luckily for me it seems to have spilled in the open space between the computer base and the keyboard; the bottom of the keyboard was a bit wet but I don't think any water actually got IN it.  I have a pile of wet kitchen towels sitting next to me but the keyboard works, and the mouse was completely out of the puddle.  Glad it wasn't my tea that spilled!

Anyway, here's my card for today:

I just had to try the Thankful Garden flower masks *without* stamping the outline, what do you think?  This took me a couple of tries...take my word for it and put some scratch paper down on the sides of the masks because I kept ending up with ink where I didn't want it.  I had one image panel done but I flubbed the stamping (the "you're" is a piece of a larger stamp) so I had to do it over.  The advantage to that is that the third try I ended up with no ink where I didn't want it and I got the one single word stamp done right.  Sometimes it just takes extra tries to make it work.

Anyway, I used this week's Freshly Made Sketch:

And the colors are from Cupcake Inspiration:

I used both Lemon Lolly and Daffodil Delight for yellows, with Pecan Pie for brown.

That's it for now, peeps.  The hubs will be here in a little bit and we're going to a picnic thing his work is doing, and tonight we're going to the rodeo.  I went to a rodeo once when I was a kid so now I'm looking forward to telling anyone I can, "This ain't my first rodeo!"  I am easily amused, it's true.  Think I might use the next hour or so to work on my stitching.  Cheers!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Sweet Blooms
Ink:  Lemon Lolly, Daffodil Delight, Pecan Pie
Paper:  Daffodil Delight, Pecan Pie, Lemon Lolly, Thick Basic White, Floral Delight DSP
Accessories:  Thankful Garden masks, Sweet Blooms dies, Textured Notes dies, Faceted Gems

Think Threes

Mornin' y'all!  I took Daphne out for a walk at 6:15 this morning and I think that's going to be our new routine until the weather cools off some.  Today I even managed to get a workout done and get cleaned up well in advance of when Ryan needs to leave for camp, so it's 8am and I feel like I've accomplished something today.  Woo!

I have a triple challenge card to share today.

Let's start with the Paper Players challenge:

I knew from the jump that I would be starting with that Cloud Cover circle pattern, and then I saw the Sunday Stamps sketch:

And I think those two challenges were just made to go with the Inkspirational challenge:

I fussy cut three flowers and three leaves to go on three die-cut circles and accented with three Flat Pearls and if you want to get really pedantic the sentiment has three words on each line.  Think that's enough for the three challenges : )

It's about time to get Ryan out the door for his last day of robotics camp.  Next week it's STEAM camp at a mining museum, which he's looking forward to as he is obsessed with gold.  Not sure why that is, just call him Scrooge McDuck.  Cheers!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Year of Flowers
Ink:  Secret Sea
Paper:  Petunia Pop, Floral Impressions DSP
Accessories:  Stylish Shapes dies, In Color Flat Pearls

Stars & Stripes Birthday

Mornin' y'all!  I tried doing things in a different order this morning and I think it will work for the rest of the summer.  It's getting toasty enough outside that I walked Daph early this morning before Ryan got up and before the hubs left for work, and I still got my workout done before I took Ryan to camp.  I think that will be good to keep Daphne from getting too hot walking later in the day when the sun's all the way up.

Anyway, I made three cards in my crafting palace yesterday, so here's the one I'm sharing today:

This was the only stars and stripes cards before the 4th this year, and I'm holding onto it for next year's July birthdays since I already sent out cards this year, so here's another one for next year.  The paper strip behind the star is gold foil and I added some gold Low Profile Dots to draw the eye to the greeting in the corner and coordinate with the gold paper.

I like the Just Add Ink sketch:

Though I only realized after the fact that I left off the bow, oops.  The sketch did inspire my card though, promise.

I'm also entering this at Color Dare:

I used Real Red and Azure Afternoon for the colors, plus the gold.  I'll have to make more 4th of July cards next year, they're fun.

Okay, I've got about 30 minutes left before I have to go back to Ryan's camp for their parent showcase day (it's a robotics camp this week).  Better make the most of it...and finish my cuppa tea!  Cheers!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Be the Star, Painted Stripes, Teeny Tiny Wishes
Ink:  Versamark, Real Red, Azure Afternoon
Paper:  Azure Afternoon, Basic White, gold foil
Accessories:  Stars Framelits, white EP, Dimensionals, Low Profile Dots

SUO Challenges: I'm on the CASE!

 Mornin' y'all!  Get ready for a new challenge from SUO Challenges...

Because here it is!

So for this challenge, you pick anything from my blog and CASE it using only Stampin' Up! supplies.  I just looked at the number of posts and today happens to be my THREE THOUSANDTH published post!!! Can't even believe that.  Well, I know I tend to get lost when I have too much to choose from, so I rifled through my box of more recent card creations and came across this one:

You can see more about it on my original blog post here.  So I picked that one to CASE and decided to stay pretty close to the original card, but with updated supplies.  Here's what I made:

I used the Florals in Bloom and Floral Impressions DSP, which I think just go together, a lot of the colors overlap and I keep combining them.  For this card, I wanted to stick with the idea of using DSP flowers for the main image, so I fussy cut a bouquet of purple blooms from the Florals in Bloom DSP to start with, and then chose a mix of patterns from both packs for the other layers of the card.  I even found some Garden Green twine (I think it's retired) and chose a different friendship sentiment, this one from Year of Flowers.  Here are the two cards together:

I'd love to see what you create, so don't forget to share over on the SUO Challenges blog.  Have fun!

Supplies, purple card:
Stamps:  Year of Flowers
Ink:  Garden Green
Paper:  Petunia Pop, Florals in Bloom DSP, Floral Impressions DSP
Accessories:  Textured Notes dies, Garden Green twine, Petunia Pop Shimmer Gems, Dimensionals

The Schilthorn

Mornin' y'all!  Here we are in July and I'm sharing a scrapbook layout with snow on it, but that's what happens when you go up in the mountains even in the summertime, so here it is:

Continuing our Swiss adventure, we took four gondolas up to the top of the Schilthorn, which has a restaurant that was featured in the James Bond movie On Her Majesty's Secret Service.  We went up there twice and the first time it was so cloudy that we were playing peekaboo with the surrounding mountains, though it was pretty funny to watch a gondola go down and just disappear into the clouds.

Today's snowy palette:  Blueberry Bushel, Coastal Cabana, Taken with Teal (that looks very, very off in the palette photo), and white.  All the blues : )

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Taffy Alphabet, Frosted Gingerbread
Ink:  Pebbled Path, Blueberry Bushel, Basic Gray marker
Paper:  Blueberry Bushel, Coastal Cabana, Taken with Teal, Basic White, Best Year Ever DSP
Accessories:  Gingerbread dies

In other news, the hubs put together the two new bookshelves this weekend, so on Saturday I had to reorganize all my books.

That's not all of them and this is after several big book purges.

There's the finished job in the downstairs bookshelves.  I left some open spaces on the left because I've already preordered three hardback books that will be released later this year, and the top left shelf has extra space for my growing Hardy Boys collection.  The right shelf, meanwhile, is all my Nancy Drews, finally spread out where I can see all of them instead of being double-stacked.  Makes my little book dragon heart happy : )

And here's the upstairs shelves, which aren't organized as well and are also still double-stacked but that's what I've got for now.  I need to clear out a few more books for sale but not right now, I was stupid when I was moving books around and hurt my back.  It's getting better but still not great.

Gotta take Ryan to camp.  Cheers!

Tiger Stripes

Mornin' y'all!  How's your Sunday going?  I have a fun card to share today:

I got Along These Lines a while back and this is the first time I've used it.  I had a dear friend who loved tigers so I tend to buy stamps (and cross stitch patterns) with tigers in memory of her.  I used this week's Freshly Made Sketch:

And the Color Throwdown:

I went with Crumb Cake, Magenta Madness, and Pumpkin Pie for the colors, with a healthy shot of Basic Black to ground the bright shades.  I wasn't too sure about combining these two challenges this time but I am loving that tiger.

Anyway, I need to go scramble some eggs.  Cheers!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Along These Lines, Terrific Toadstools
Ink:  Versamark, Magenta Madness
Paper:  Basic Black, Pumpkin Pie, Magenta Madness, Crumb Cake DSP
Accessories:  Stitched Shapes dies, black EP, white EP, Dimensionals, Black Rhinestones

The Sign of the Twisted Candles

Happy Saturday and welcome to a new Nancy Drew Challenge!  Today I'm featuring one of my childhood favorites, number 9, The Sign of the Twisted Candles.

There's the OT version on the left and the RT version on the right, and for once the revised version has a brighter cover than the OT.  I've always loved that cover with the huge candle.

Case file:  Nancy, Bess, and George visit a roadside inn and meet the 100-year-old owner Asa Sidney, who turns out to be related to Bess and George and whose extended family is involved in a family feud.  When Asa dies shortly thereafter, right after Mr. Drew helped him make a new will, Nancy has to figure out why he left the bulk of his fortune to an orphan waitress at the inn and help the feuding family make nice, while also proving that the orphan's foster parents had been stealing from Asa for years.

Here's my card for the OT version:

You may think that this should have been the card for the RT version since it has Asa in all his bearded glory on the cover, but it's in the OT version that Nancy muses how Asa looks like a wizard so I couldn't resist this.  Plus the Magical & Mystical stamp set has a candle image and I had to use that!

I kept to the green colors featured on Nancy's outfit and DANG she looks super thin on this cover.  And also very '40s with that hair and eyebrow going on.

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Magical & Mystical
Ink:  Garden Green, Night of Navy
Paper:  Garden Green, Lemon Lime Twist, Artistry Blooms DSP, Stargazing DSP
Accessories:  Textured Notes dies, 1" and 1 1/8" circle punches, Dimensionals, Clear Gems

Now let's take a look at the RT version:

Once again the plots for the two versions are very similar, though there are a few humorous episodes in the first version that sadly were cut from the second version, like when Nancy has a farcical conversation with two men about the proper feminine form of chauffeur.  Anyway, I always loved this book because Nancy spends time hunting over the inn for secret compartments marked with the sign of the twisted candles.

So here's my card for The Sign of the Twisted Candles:

I knew I wanted to do a birthday card since the book starts off with Asa's 100th birthday, but it actually took me two tries to come up with a card I liked.  I had to use lots of green to echo the cover of the book, which is one of my favorites!  I also had to use some Mango Melody DSP to echo Nancy's hair.

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Piece of Cake
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Stampin' Blends in Mango Melody, Lemon Lolly, Shaded Spruce, Granny Apple Green
Paper:  Granny Apple Green, Thick Basic White, Celebrate Everything DSP, Regency Park DSP Stack
Accessories:  Stitched So Sweetly dies, Dimensionals, Glitter Dots

If you feel inspired to make a Nancy Drew card, please leave me a comment as I'd be super tickled to see what you make.  Next up is Password to Larkspur Lane!

Leftovers

Mornin' y'all and happy 4th of July!  Stay safe out there.

I have a couple of cards to share today that use leftovers from other projects.

The lemon paper was die cut for this card, where I used the blue and white side and the negative die shape, but the die cut lemons on this side were perfect for the Inspire. Create. challenge:

I decided on a thank you card because a.) I haven't made very many of those lately and b.) that's the Addicted to CAS challenge:

Then I just played with the lemon die cut and my die cut sentiment until I found something I liked.  I even added some clear gems for a very subtle embellishment.

And here's my second leftovers card:

I was working on another card and ended up with that floral scrap (again, on the other card I used the opposite side of the paper) and I just really liked how it happened to be framed on the two flowers.  Once more I die cut a simple thanks sentiment and this time I added a larger piece of patterned paper because it felt right.  A few Strawberry Slush gems and now I have another thank you card for my stash.

Daphne says it's time for her daily walk and I can't say no to that adorable face.  Might make some blueberry pie bars later today if I decide to go to the store...I thought I had everything to make them but I'm out of Greek yogurt.  We're going to grill burgers for dinner : )  Have a good holiday, y'all!  (Or, y'know, a good Friday if it's not a holiday for you.)  Cheers!

Supplies, lemon card:
Stamps:  Spotlight on Nature
Ink:  Garden Green
Paper:  Garden Green, Lemon Lolly, Mediterranean Blooms DSP
Accessories:  Thoughtful Expressions dies, Stylish Shapes dies, Dimensionals, clear gems

Supplies, floral card:
Stamps:  Spotlight on Nature
Ink:  Strawberry Slush
Paper:  Thick Basic White, Garden Green, Florals in Bloom DSP
Accessories:  Perennial Postage dies, Strawberry Slush gems, Dimensionals

Summer Toadstools

Mornin' y'all!  I'm up early today, I woke up at 5:00 and decided I wasn't getting back to sleep so here I am.  And I'm pleased to report that after a slow start in my craft room yesterday afternoon, I finally got in the groove and made a couple of things I like.  So here's my card for today:

The colors may be a little off in the photo, but I took the pic early this morning before the sun was up.  I went with the As You See It colors:

I will admit that when I see a color challenge like this that is perfect for a floral card, my contrary little brain wants to do anything BUT flowers.  After some thought, I landed on Terrific Toadstools...it's been a little bit since I used it so that was fun.  I modified this week's CASE-ing Tuesday Sketch:

I have all the same layers, but in different proportions than on the original sketch, and I had to move up the sentiment panel a bit so my toadstool would have room to grow.

That's it for now, it's time for me to start my workout.  Cheers!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Terrific Toadstools
Ink:  Versamark, Melon Mambo, Peach Pie, Garden Green
Paper:  Peach Pie, Melon Mambo, Garden Green, Thick Basic White, Peach Pie DSP, Toadstool Gardens DSP Stack
Accessories:  Textured Notes dies, white EP, Dimensionals, Glossy Dots