Appley Sweet

Mornin' y'all!  Quiet morning here as both my boys are feeling a little under the weather, so I think we'll be taking it easy today.

I dusted off a retired stamp set for today's card:

A sweet, simple card for the Inspired By... challenge:

Mint Macaron might have been a closer color to the scale in the photo, but for some reason I still wanted to play with Soft Sea Foam so I went with that.  It looks a little more Sahara Sand in the photo than it does in real life; I took several pics on different days and I don't know why it won't show up as green but it is.  Next up is the Festive Friday challenge:

I used pink, ribbon, and words of kindness.  The apples are a blend of Real Red and Pretty in Pink (because Pink Lady apples are my favorite, I made apple crumble muffins this morning even) and I found some Pretty in Pink taffeta ribbon in my stash.  I found some retired Soft Sea Foam DSP and the patterns are both sides of the same sheet of paper.  A few Opal Rounds finished it off.

I think I'm going to enjoy the quiet for a bit if Daphne will let me, and then I'll most likely take her for a walk in a little bit.  It's a pretty day outside so that will be lovely.  Have a great day, peeps!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Apple Harvest
Ink:  Early Espresso, Stampin' Blends in Pretty in Pink, Real Red, Pecan Pie, Old Olive, Ivory
Paper:  Soft Sea Foam, Basic White, Soft Sea Foam DSP
Accessories:  Apple Blooms dies, Perennial Postage dies, Pretty in Pink taffeta, Dimensionals, Opal Rounds

Yellow Floral

Mornin' y'all.  One of the hubs' coworkers has a son who's almost exactly the same age as Ryan, so we gave their kiddo a birthday present and last night the hubs came home with one from the other family.  It's an RC tank that's pretty cool, it emits "smoke" (steam) and can shoot projectiles and best of all it makes SO MUCH NOISE.  And then the projectiles are all over the place and we have to keep telling him not to chase Daphne with the tank or let her eat the projectiles.

Sigh.  BOYS.

You know what's more my speed?  A sweet little floral card.  Oh hey look, I made one.

The Sunday Stamps spring colors challenge seemed like the perfect opportunity to play with the Thankful Garden bundle again, take a look:

I used all of the colors, which I interpreted as Pool Party (the sponged background behind the flowers), Soft Sea Foam (I hardly ever use this color), Lemon Lolly, Peach Pie, and Pecan Pie.  I used the stencils to sponge the colors on in layers, then die cut the flowers and added to the card base along with a few Opal Rounds just because.  The flower images in this set are so large that I feel like you kinda have to keep the card layout simple.  Plus I'm more focused on practicing with the stencils.

That's it for now, peeps.  As soon as I finish my tea, I'm going to take Daphne out for a walk so we can escape the sounds of warfare for a while.  At least until we go see the new Captain America movie this afternoon ; )  Cheers!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Thankful Garden
Ink:  Pool Party, Soft Sea Foam, Lemon Lolly, Peach Pie, Pecan Pie
Paper:  Soft Sea Foam, Thick Basic White
Accessories:  Thankful Garden dies & stencils, Nested Essentials dies (used as a mask), Dimensionals, Opal Rounds

Sunny Coral Butterfly

Mornin' y'all!  Ryan has a two-hour delay today (again) so we're off schedule here.  But I have a sunny day type of card to share anyway!

I made a different card with this sketch and the same colors but I disliked it so much it ended up in the round file; this one is much better.  So let's do the challenges in reverse alphabetical order because apparently Blogger just likes going backwards.  Up first is Just Add Ink:

I used Daffodil Delight and Calypso Coral Blends to color in the butterfly and used the Thinking of You greeting from the same stamp set.  Check!  Next up is Color Hues:

As I said, I used Calypso Coral and Daffodil Delight.  The Rainbow Dot next to the greeting is supposedly Flirty Flamingo, but I thought it matched the stripes pretty well so I went with it.  And now for the Atlantic Hearts Sketch:

I used a different (smaller) round decor item to make my curved shape today and decided to use some small die cut butterflies for the three circles on the left of the sketch.  I skipped the stitched element because I thought it would make the card too busy with the two background patterns I used.

Alas, my tea is gone and it's time to get Ryan ready for school.  Cheers, y'all!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Sketched Butterflies
Ink:  Early Espresso, Stampin' Blends in Daffodil Delight & Calypso Coral
Paper:  Calypso Coral, Thick Basic White, Bloom Impressions DSP, Calypso Coral DSP
Accessories:  Sketched Butterflies dies, Nested Essentials dies, Wink of Stella, Rainbow Dots, Dots for Days, Dimensionals

Snapdragon Trio

Back again already!  I took Daphne out for her walk and I really need to remember to wear a hat when it's below freezing outside, the cold makes my ears hurt.  But we're back now and I have an XXL mug of chestnut tea : )

So here's another card for today:

I was thinking about Inspiring Snapdragons when I posted my lavender card yesterday, so it made a natural choice for this week's Freshly Made Sketch:

I didn't have any dies that I liked for the curved element, so I grabbed a decorative bowl that's in my craft room and traced the rim of it.  Old tricks are the best tricks, right?  The sentiment is from the upcoming online exclusive Motherhood Mottos, which has some pretty funny greetings in it : )

Check out this week's Color Throwdown:

I used Pretty Peacock, Pretty in Pink, and Lemon Lime Twist for my colors, though Pretty in Pink is a bit lighter than the color splat.  It's in the Lily Pond Lane DSP Stack with Pretty Peacock and that's why I chose it for my pink shade.

Okay, that's it for now, peeps.  I'm going to go enjoy the rest of my tea and work on something else in my craft room.  Cheers!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Inspiring Snapdragons, Motherhood Mottos
Ink:  Pretty in Pink, Lemon Lime Twist, Pretty Peacock
Paper:  Lemon Lime Twist, Thick Basic White, Lily Pond Lane DSP Stack
Accessories:  Inspiring Snapdragons dies, Thoughtful Expressions dies, Tinsel Gems, Dimensionals

Two for the Boys

Mornin' y'all!  I feel like I've been having a Very Productive Week in the craft room and it's making me happy : )  I have lots of challenges to enter this week so I've got a two-card post coming at you right now.

First up is a card for the hubs:

He's a pilot and I can't believe I haven't used Adventurous Sky more since I got it last year.  It's a perfect stamp set for the Paper Players challenge:

I paired that with the sketch from AAA Cards:

While I was perusing stamp sets for my first card, I had another idea and just had to make it too:

Here's one for my duck-loving child!  And I think this is the first time I've stamped any of the ducks from Charming Duck Pond, gasp!  I stamped the greeting in Lemon Lolly bit it didn't show up super well, so I stamped over it slightly offset in Copper Clay (and it's slightly crooked because that's how you know it's handmade).  I had to stamp my duck family in the colors from Creative Colour Challenges:

I used Early Espresso for the outline stamps; Mama Duck is filled in with Pecan Pie and the babies are Copper Clay.  Then Mama's beak and feets are colored with the darker Lemon Lolly Blend and the babies' with the lighter one, though it didn't show up well in the photo.  I lightly sponged some Pecan Pie ink along the bottom of the Very Vanilla panel to give the ducks something to walk on.

I'm not going to say for sure that that's it for me today, peeps.  I've got quite a few cards to share and I might double up blog posts...we'll see!  Cheers!

Supplies, all SU!, plane card:
Stamps:  Adventurous Sky
Ink:  Smoky Slate, Memento Tuxedo Black, Calypso Coral & Smoky Slate Blends
Paper:  Boho Blue, Thick Basic White
Accessories:  Adventurous Sky dies, Mini Dimensionals

Supplies, all SU!, duck card:
Stamps:  Charming Duck Pond
Ink:  Early Espresso, Copper Clay, Pecan Pie, Lemon Lolly Blends
Paper:  Copper Clay, Very Vanilla
Accessories:  Charming Duck Pond dies, Mini Dimensionals

Lavender Hello

Mornin' y'all, I'm running a little slow this morning but happily I was able to get Ryan off to school with much less drama than yesterday, *and* he has STEM club after school so I get an extra hour of crafty time today : )  So I'm going to type up this post, take Daphers for her tour of the neighborhood, and go get my stamp on.  So here is today's card:

Can't help it, whenever I see purple on a challenge I immediately think of Painted Lavender.  Here's the Inkspirational mood board:

I wonder if I have a hyacinth stamp anywhere in my collection...I don't think there's a stamp set that focuses on hyacinths, not like the ones for lavender and roses and even snapdragons : )  Oh, maybe I should use the snapdragon stamp set with this challenge too!  Anyway, I also had a go at the 500th challenge for CASE-ing Tuesday Sketches:

And here's the original card from the cover of the mini catalog:

I don't have that pocket die and really it's the only thing out of that suite that I might want, so I substituted one of the Everyday Arches dies instead and that made me happy.  The greeting is from the Everyday Arches stamp set and I recently inked up my Gorgeous Grape ink pad and it's a little extra juicy lately.  Maybe I'll attack it with a plastic spoon later today.

I finished my tea and Daphne is giving me side-eye because she knows it and she wants to go, no matter how cold it is outside.  Cheers, y'all!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Painted Lavender, Everyday Arches
Ink:  Highland Heather, Gorgeous Grape, Pretty Peacock
Paper:  Pretty Peacock, Thick Basic White, Perennial Lavender DSP
Accessories:  Painted Lavender dies, Everyday Arches dies, linen thread, Tinsel Gems, Dimensionals, Wink of Stella

SUO Challenges Spring CASE

Mornin' y'all!  We spent the weekend in Breckenridge and just got home yesterday : )  The hubs and Ryan went skiing; I enjoyed wandering through all the shops and napping with Daphne.  Yep, she had her first road trip...and it turns out she gets carsick.  Poor pupper!

Anyway, today it's time for a new challenge from SUO Challenges!

This time around, we are CASE-ing the catalog:

I chose the card on the top right corner and this is what I made:

I switched out pastels for deeper purples and I discovered that I am down to teeny scraps of the gold foil paper so I need to put that on my next order.  This is the first time I've cut into the Bloom Impressions DSP that is a Sale-a-Bration option, I love all the colors in that paper and I'm looking forward to playing with it some more.

Anyway, there are lots of options for cards to CASE and I hope you'll join us!  Don't forget to upload your creation at the SUO Challenges blog.  Have fun!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Sketched Butterflies
Ink:  Blackberry Bliss, Versamark, Pretty in Pink & Petunia Pop Stampin' Blends
Paper:  Thick Basic White, Petunia Pop, Blackberry Bliss, Bloom Impressions DSP, gold foil
Accessories:  Sketched Butterflies dies, Inspiring Snapdragons dies, Everyday Arches dies, white EP, Purple Shimmer Gems, Dimensionals

Katzweiler

Scrappy Monday, y'all!  I was scrolling Facebook last week (as you do) and I saw a post from Bonanza Ranch, which was about two blocks away from where we lived in Germany for a few years and so I thought I'd share a Germany layout today.

The top left picture was actually taken at the fence in our yard, the neighbors behind us occasionally turned out their horses in the small yard that adjoined ours which I loved.  The other horse pics were taken at Bonanza Ranch, and the top two on the right page were both taken close to the parkplatz that we could see from our front door, which is where they would do festivals several times a year.  Handy for us since we could walk over there easily.

The pics were all taken in the fall, so my autumnal color palette is Wild Wheat, Moody Mauve, Misty Moonlight, Copper Clay, and Very Vanilla.  I actually found a way to use Wild Wheat on a scrapbook layout!  Will wonders never cease.

Have a great week, peeps!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Make a Difference, Bareback, Wanted
Ink:  Moody Mauve, Wild Wheat, Early Espresso marker
Paper:  Wild Wheat, Copper Clay, Misty Moonlight, Thick Very Vanilla, Earthen Elegance DSP
Accessories:  None

Existential Toadstool

Mornin' y'all!  Are you ready for another Terrific Toadstools card?

This time I tried fussy cutting the stamped images without leaving a white border and you know what, I think I like the white borders better.  I used the sketch from Just Add Ink:

The SOS Challenge this week is to use three or more patterned papers, and I figured those three squares would be just the way to incorporate three different patterns.  So I grabbed some scraps and cut out squares with the Stylish Shapes dies.  I used the "glad you exist" sentiment from Saying Hey just because I think it's funny and it fit that banner die perfectly.

That's it for me today, y'all.  Cheers!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Terrific Toadstools, Saying Hey
Ink:  Melon Mambo, Pretty in Pink, Fresh Freesia, Granny Apple Green (it looks extra dark because I just re-inked my ink pad)
Paper:  Fresh Freesia, Thick Basic White, Toadstool Gardens DSP Stack
Accessories:  Stylish Shapes dies, Dimensionals, Glossy Dots

Peking Duck

Hey y'all!  Today is Ryan's birthday and I made him a birthday card featuring his favorite stuffie friend, Peking Duck!

Yeah I 100% got Easter Friends for that duckling image.  I used the sketch from Retro Rubber Challenges:

Easter Friends is 3 years old; the birthday greeting is from Charming Duck Pond which I think is a year old now.  Ryan's favorite color is yellow so I made sure to use lots of that on the card too.  I also followed the recipe from As You See It:

Birthday celebration, white embossed greeting, ribbon for my die-cut tag, and a trio of pastel colors.  The tag die cut I used (from Merriest Trees) isn't long enough to accommodate the circle I put on top of it, so I spliced together two tags to make it longer and hid the seam with the circle.  One of my favorite tricks.

I'm off to celebrate with Ryan (and Peking).  Cheers!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Easter Friends, Charming Duck Pond
Ink:  Pecan Pie, Versamark, Stampin' Blends in Lemon Lolly, Peach Pie, Pool Party
Paper:  Lemon Lolly, Peach Pie, Thick Basic White, Lighter than Air DSP
Accessories:  Stitched Shapes dies, Merriest Trees dies, white taffeta ribbon, white EP, Rainbow Dots, Dimensionals

Stenciled Hydrangeas

Hey y'all, happy Valentine's Day!  Hope you get to spend the day with people you love : )  Today is also the hubs' birthday though he likes to ignore that part and I won't let him.

I also love...playing with new stamps!

I got the Thankful Garden bundle from the preorder for the latest batch of online exclusives; I want a hydrangea accent to use in my wedding album that I keep saying I'm going to finish and this is the first time I've ever played with decorative masks.  I think I need to practice a bit for the wedding album.

Anyway, the hydrangea sprig ended up being a larger element than is drawn on this week's Freshly Made Sketch but I hope it works anyway:

And I paired it with the Inspire. Create. color challenge:

I went with what the color splats look like to me:  Lemon Lolly, Melon Mambo, and Lost Lagoon.  And I found a nice Lost Lagoon pattern in the Timeless Plaid DSP Stack, I've made one other card with that stack but you haven't seen it yet.  It's fun, I want to try out more of the patterns.

Anyway, that's it for me today.  Cheers, peeps!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Thankful Garden
Ink:  Night of Navy, Lemon Lolly, Melon Mambo, Lost Lagoon
Paper:  Thick Basic White, Timeless Plaid DSP Stack
Accessories:  Thankful Garden dies, Thankful Garden Decorative Masks, Spotlight on Nature dies, Dimensionals, Riverside Irregular Pearls

Undersea Friends

Mornin' y'all!  Ryan is on a two-hour delay for school today so he's got about another half hour before we have to get ready to go.  Tomorrow is a 3-hour early release and at this point I think I could count on the fingers of one hand the number of times this school year that he's gone to school five full days in a row, Monday through Friday in a single week.  Ugh.

Anyway, I have some undersea critters to share today.

I finally used the Ocean Friends stamps!  I got some (probably dog) hair on the stamp, you can see on the lobster's claw, but I kinda liked the effect on there, I thought it gave him some personality.  Check out the colors at CAS Colours & Sketches:

Now, I don't like Poppy Parade and Melon Mambo together so to be honest I was going to skip this challenge until I saw Amanda Mertz's card where she used Ocean Friends with these colors.  So thanks for the idea, Amanda!

I'm also using this week's CASE-ing Tuesday Sketch:

I left my card base plain since the color challenge is also CAS.  And then I was left with a scrap of the Melon Mambo patterned paper with a circle cut out of it and I couldn't just toss it, so...

I made a crabby card too!  Same colors, just switching up the layout since I was using the negative of the circle die cut.  And this card gives more separation between the Melon Mambo and Poppy Parade, which is good.

So two undersea friend cards that came together pretty quickly.  Gotta love that.

I'm going to enjoy my morning cuppa before I wrangle Ryan off to school.  Cheers!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Ocean Friends
Ink:  Poppy Parade, Summer Splash
Paper:  Summer Splash, Thick Basic White, Friends of the Ocean DSP
Accessories:  Ocean Friends dies, Spotlight on Nature dies, Dimensionals

Hey, Gull Friend

Mornin' y'all!  Well, it snowed steadily all day yesterday and our high temp for today is 12 degrees, so Ryan has "distance learning" today.  Which just means he'll log on to a website and say hi to his teacher and that counts as school today.  Seems legit.  *rolls eyes*

Anyway, I have *finally* inked up a Sale-a-Bration stamp set and what took me so long?!

A clean and simple card for the Addicted to CAS challenge:

I love how the seagull looks like she's screaming : D

Okay, Ryan's login time is coming up so that's it for me today.  Cheers, y'all!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Friendly Seagulls
Ink:  Basic Gray, Versamark, Stampin' Blends in Smoky Slate, Peach Pie, Crumb Cake
Paper:  Balmy Blue, Smoky Slate, Thick Basic White
Accessories:  Nested Essentials dies, Stylish Shapes dies, white EP, Dimensionals

We All Live In A Yellow Submarine

Mornin' y'all!  It is snowing here this morning (again!), so I spent about 20 minutes sweeping off the driveway and back porch.  I've discovered that if it's fresh snow that's super fluffy, like this morning, that using the big push broom is actually a lot more effective than a snow shovel.  I've learned a lot more about shoveling snow in the last few months than I ever knew before : p

Anyway, today's card has nothing to do with snow.  Here it is:

Here's the fun color challenge from the Paper Players:

I almost did another dinosaur card, but decided on a yellow submarine instead for the Atlantic Hearts sketch:

It was the snorkeling crab that sealed the deal, plus I hadn't played with Submarine Life for a while and it's so fun.  And I love the song Yellow Submarine, it was one that was guaranteed to calm Ryan down if he got upset about something when he was a baby.  (He also liked the Beach Boys' Good Vibrations.)

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

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Submarine Life
Ink:  Summer Splash, Daffodil Delight, Flirty Flamingo, Smoky Slate, Crumb Cake
Paper:  Summer Splash, Basic White, Summer Splash & Daffodil Delight DSP
Accessories:  Submarine punch, Opal Rounds, Dimensionals

Happy Birthday Ryan (4)

Scrappy Monday!  Ugh, it feels like a long time since I last got to scrap, I want to get back to it.  I finished stitching Ryan's duckling yesterday so I need to get it washed, pressed, and put in a hoop before the weekend since his birthday is on Saturday.  And I have a Ryan birthday layout to share today!

Ryan's favorite color was red (he changed it to yellow last year), so I used that for the page base and pulled the other colors from the Merry Bold & Bright DSP.  Yeah, that was a Christmas paper pack, but lots of the patterns are good for other stuff too as you can see here.

Today's celebratory color palette:  Poppy Parade, Crushed Curry, Shaded Spruce, Lemon Lime Twist, Blueberry Bushel, Pool Party, and white.

I'm off to do laundry and take Daph for her walk.  Cheers!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Retro Alphabet Upper, Party Wishes, Celebrate Today
Ink:  Lemon Lime Twist, Blueberry Bushel, Crushed Curry, Shaded Spruce, Pool Party
Paper:  Poppy Parade, Crushed Curry, Granny Apple Green, Pool Party, Thick Basic White, Merry Bold & Bright DSP
Accessories:  Balloon Dies

Watermelon Hey

Surprise double post today because I want to enter this quick little card in a challenge : )

The Just Add Ink inspiration challenge reminded me that I hadn't played much with the Fruit Salad DSP Stack from Sale-a-Bration.  Here's the inspo pic:

I had a somewhat different idea in mind before I got to crafting, but those two watermelon patterns are both sides of a single sheet of paper and I had to rethink my original plan because of the orientation of the stripes and the seeds to each other or else cut up another piece.  Which I could have, but I am a paper dragon and I will generally choose to cut one piece rather than two if given the choice.  So I knew the patterns I wanted to work with, I just needed a big, bold greeting and Saying Hey fit the bill.  I don't particularly need a thank you card right now but it just seemed like a fun addition so there it went.

Okay, I'm off to stitch on Ryan's duckling, still trying to finish that for next weekend.  Cheers!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Saying Hey
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Garden Green
Paper:  Pool Party, Thick Basic White, Fruit Salad DSP Stack
Accessories:  Nested Essentials dies, Dimensionals, Glossy Dots

Blue-Gray Valentine

Hey y'all, happy Sunday.  Ryan got to choose breakfast for this morning and of course he chose pumpkin coffee cake, it's his favorite : )

I have a bit of a nontraditional Valentine today.

I started with the AAA Cards Challenge colors:

I translated that to Evening Evergreen, Buckaroo Blue, Soft Succulent, and Bordering Blue, all of which are retired (and some for a very long time).  The card base looks totally gray in the picture but I promise it's a blue-gray.  So I had those colors in mind when I saw the CAS on Fridays challenge to make a Valentine and thought I'd try to combine them.  How'd I do?  I chose the ruffle-edged die because it makes me think of traditional Victorian Valentines; the banner behind it is actually two banners stacked on top of each other so that it's as tall as I wanted it.  The main image panel hides the join between the two.

Ta-ta for now, peeps.

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Stamped with Love
Ink:  Evening Evergreen, Buckaroo Blue, Soft Succulent, Bordering Blue
Paper:  Bordering Blue, Thick Basic White, Soft Succulent DSP
Accessories:  Stitched So Sweetly dies, Dimensionals
Paper: