A Spooky Sweet Cupcake

Mornin' y'all!  Happy LAST DAY of September...tomorrow starts the best month of the entire year!  I'm so excited, I absolutely love October--fall colors, cooler weather, comfy sweaters, pumpkin everything.  And lots more Halloween cards on the way but of course I started early and I have another one to share today.

New schtuff alert!  I first discovered this Simon Says Stamp set called Spooky Sweets back when I was looking for eyeballs for Mystery of the Glowing Eye and I finally added it to my Halloween stamp hoard last week.  I had to make a pastel candy-colored cupcake card for the Inspired By... Challenge:

I used Pretty in Pink, Highland Heather, and Peach Pie for my colors and I think I should have gotten an extra pack of that Unbounded Beauty DSP, who knew it would be so good for pastel Halloween cards?  Maybe I should have used Fresh Freesia for my purple but I still like it with Highland Heather.  Anyway, I've already made another card with this stamp set which you will be seeing soon, and I have a couple more cupcakes to ink up too.

Supplies:
Stamps:  Spooky Sweets by Simon Says Stamp
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Highland Heather, Stampin' Blends in Highland Heather, Peach Pie, Pretty in Pink, Ivory
Paper:  Highland Heather, Peach Pie, Pretty in Pink, Basic White, Unbounded Beauty DSP, Peach Pie DSP
Accessories:  Spooky Sweets dies by Simon Says Stamp, Layering Circles dies, Dimensionals, Cute Stars Sequins

It's Wednesday, so how about a Work In Progress (WIP Wednesday) update on my stitching project?  Here it is:

I've been a little bit obsessed with working on this because I think the pattern is SO cute and I finished the first block last night (there will be twelve blocks total).  This pattern was released by Shannon Christine Designs as a Stitch-Along (SAL) where one part was released each month over the course of a year; I also have her Spooky Houses SAL and I bought the floss for that already.  I'm going to go through SO MUCH black floss, but that's okay because I bought a cone of it several years ago and that should cover both of these Halloween projects.  Anyway, I finished off this square last night and started a little bit of the curlicues around the Frankenstein bucket that will go to the left, but I took this picture before I moved my stitching frame so you could see the jack o' lantern in all his glory.

And here's my stitching buddy last night, I don't know how she could breathe laying like that.  It's a rainy day today so she was staring morosely out the window because she knows I won't take her for a walk if it's actively precipitating; now she's facing the opposite direction because she's mad at the weather.  I will take her later if the rain lets up, we go if it's just wet outside but not if it's still falling from the sky.  Anyway, Daphne likes to hang out with me while I'm stitching, we've been rotating between episodes of Smallville, Pushing Daisies, and Scooby-Doo while I work.  She's the best couch companion.

A Sketch to Fall For at SUO Challenges

Mornin' y'all!  I'm running late with my blog post this morning, Ryan asked me to drive him to school and that threw off my morning schedule.  I've gotten used to him riding his bike instead : ) Then I had to do the grocery shopping and put everything up and Daphne is now giving me the hairy eyeball wanting to know when we can go for our daily perambulation.  But I told her I have to write this blog post first and it's time for a new challenge from SUO Challenges!

I always love a good sketch and here's what I made with this one:

I didn't look at Tammy's card when I was working on mine and yet we ended up with the same DSP and stamp set so we are on the same creative wavelength.  I do like that plaid pattern in the Autumn Opulence DSP and this was the first card I made with Elegant Leaves, I just happened to make it a few weeks ago (I try to work ahead on my design team commitments).  It's a simple little card but I still managed to use three different sets of dies for it!

Hope you'll join the challenge!  Don't forget to keep your card to Stampin' Up! products only, that's the whole point of our challenge.  Well, that and to have fun of course.  Byeee!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Elegant Leaves
Ink:  Cajun Craze, Lost Lagoon, Blackberry Bliss
Paper:  Cajun Craze, Blackberry Bliss, Very Vanilla, Autumn Opulence DSP
Accessories:  Elegant Leaves dies, Perennial Postage dies, Tile Garden dies, Dimensionals, Earthy Matte Dots

Hide 'n Seek

Mornin' y'all.  I am tired this morning, I kept waking up last night but I can't remember now what I was dreaming about.  At any rate, I hope you had a good weekend, ours was pretty low-key.  I made some cards, I worked on my stitching, and I finished season 6 of Smallville : )  Plus watched a few episodes of Scooby-Doo.

So here's today's card:

I think these three friends are playing hide 'n seek in a spooky forest, what do you think?  I was going to do fall leaves or something when I saw the Sunday Stamps sketch:

But then I remembered the tree die cut in the Oh My Fright bundle so that's what I had to do.  I let the die cut and the Frightfully Fun DSP do the heavy lifting on my card--the three friends are cut out of one piece of the DSP and the moon and tree background is a different piece, with a scrap of stars and swirls for the horizontal band on the sketch.  I did move that band down from where it is on the original sketch just to work better with the shape of the tree.

Time to get Ryan off to school and then Daphne has an appointment to get some vaccinations.  Cheers, y'all!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Oh My Fright
Ink:  Granny Apple Green
Paper:  Granny Apple Green, Basic Black, Basic White, Frightfully Fun DSP
Accessories:  Oh My Fright dies, Textured Notes dies, Dimensionals, Glitter Enamel Dots

Gomez & Morticia for The Paper Players

Happy Sunday, y'all!  Thanks to everyone who played along with my bear challenge for The Paper Players last week, I loved seeing all the bear cards!  I said something about Fat Bear Week to Ryan and he didn't believe me that that's a real thing (the nerve!) so I showed him a video introducing some of this year's fat bear contenders and now he believes me.  Anyway, it's time for a new Paper Players challenge and this time the wonderful Jaydee has a great sketch for us:

I had an idea in my head for what I wanted to do, but then I was looking through my Halloween paper stash and I got distracted (typical) and this is where I ended up:

The Monster Bash DSP is some of my very favorite Halloween paper, I got a second pack on a Facebook BST group this year so I can hoard that and have all the funs with my first pack.  There's a whole page of spooky character portraits so I chose this Gomez and Morticia couple for my card--I wish the coordinating stamp set had more of the characters!  It only has a vampire and a mummy, there's a whole bunch of different characters on the DSP which is why I tend to fussy cut them instead of stamping, though I do use the great greetings in this stamp set on the regular, and the greeting is the only stamping done on this card.  Anyway, I had to highlight a really fun pattern for the large panel on the sketch, and finished off with a few black rhinestones.

Check out the other design team creations on the Paper Players blog, and you can hop through their individual blogs to leave some comments too:

The Paper Players Design Team

Jaydee

LeAnne Pugliese

Claire Broadwater

Joanne James

Ann Schach

Jan Clothier

Stef Perry

you are here --> Christy Stanford

And then upload your card at the Paper Players blog!  Keep in mind a few simple rules:
1.  Create a new paper project
2.  Upload your creation to your blog with a link back to us and provide a direct link to the post featuring your challenge submission
3.  Please link your card to no more than four challenges, TOTAL
4.  Have fun!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Spooktacular Bash
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black
Paper:  Pumpkin Pie, Basic Black, Basic White, Monster Bash DSP
Accessories:  Ornate Frames dies, Dimensionals, black rhinestones

The Sinister Omen

Happy Saturday, y'all, and welcome to the Nancy Drew Challenge!  Today's book is #67, The Sinister Omen:

We have three wildly different covers this time.  I don't particularly care for the arch cover on the left, I just think it's boring; the middle cover is bonkers with Nancy's artistically ripped jumpsuit and the downed plane; and the one on the right wins the prize for the silliest Nancy Drew cover in the history of Nancy Drew books.  Okay the middle one is silly too but in a fun way, not in a roll-my-eyes way.  The middle one is definitely my favorite.

Case file:  Nancy is back in Florida and things always seem extra bonkers when she's in Florida.  Nancy flies Bess and George down to Fort Lauderdale in a seaplane (because of course she does), where they're supposed to meet up with the road trippin' boy half of the Drew Crew and help Carson with a case involving...a cartel of bad guys who steal valuable stamps.  Postage stamps, not my paper crafting stamps.  I bet you wouldn't have guessed that from looking at *any* of the book covers.

So here's my card for the first cover:

When the girls arrive in Fort Lauderdale, they find out that Carson has been kidnapped, but with Nancy on the case he doesn't stay that way for long.  She finds a clue and stupidly goes by herself to an abandoned hotel and has a run-in with a colony of rats before she rescues Carson single-handedly (because of course she does).

Yikes, the colors look off in this picture, the card is a better match to the book cover IRL I promise.  Happily for me, I have a suitably creepy-looking rat in my Halloween stamp stash.  Side note:  how many buildings in Fort Lauderdale have basements?  Because that seemed extremely unbelievable to me.  Anyway, I used Gray Granite, Boho Blue, and Secret Sea for my card colors.  I decided to forego the red on the book cover or else my card would have resembled a crime scene.

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Piece of Poison, Spooktacular Bash, Ghoulish Grunge
Ink:  Gray Granite, Boho Blue, Secret Sea, Versamark
Paper:  Gray Granite, Boho Blue, Secret Sea
Accessories:  Everyday Arches dies, Smoky Slate embossing powder, Neutrals Candy Dots, Dimensionals

On to the middle cover:

So the bad guys call their little club the Brotherhood of the Vulture (bunch of drama kings), but the only vulture stamp I have is in Animal Alphabet and just didn't work for what I wanted.  And actually this is my second hack at a card for this book cover, the first one was awful so I decided to go with a raven for a different avian harbinger and ended up with a sorta-Halloween looking card that I like.

I only bought this book last year and I paid probably too much money to import it from Canada but I was just so excited to add this cover to my collection even though Nancy does not crash the plane.  I used Peach Parfait, Kiwi Kiss, and Basic Beige for my colors and for once the greenish cast to Basic Beige ink worked in my favor.

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  The Raven
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Basic Beige, Peach Parfait
Paper:  Peach Parfait, Kiwi Kiss, Basic Beige, Well Suited DSP
Accessories:  Deckled Circles dies, Dimensionals, Clear Epoxy Shapes

And now for the third one:

The B mystery in this book involves a very old lady who was a friend of Carson's grandparents I think, but sadly my stamp collection is lacking in old lady stamps so I decided to go with the spring break angle instead.  The Drew Crew does manage to fit in trips to the beach and taking out a yacht or two in between solving the mysteries, and this was a good excuse to use the water mask I bought at the end of summer.  Hopefully I won't forget that I have it next summer.

Nancy has a nightmare at the beginning of the book that involves a vulture, and that's even before the Brotherhood of the Vulture even gets involved, which is where this silly cover originates but I still think it's stupid.  None of the SU! blues is a really accurate match for this cover, but in the end I went with Pacific Point, Summer Splash, Poppy Parade, Flirty Flamingo, and Basic Gray/Smoky Slate for my colors.  And I finally used the camera stamp in Summer Happiness along with my favorite sunglasses and some teeny flip-flops.  Is it weird that I wish the images in this stamp set were drawn on the same scale?  Otherwise the sunglasses and flip-flops must be made for a Funko Pop.

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Summer Happiness
Ink:  Pacific Point, Basic Gray, Stampin' Blends in Poppy Parade, Smoky Slate, Flirty Flamingo
Paper:  Pacific Point, Basic White, Summer Splash DSP
Accessories:  Summer Happiness dies, Textured Notes dies, Water Decorative Mask, Mini Dimensionals, Wonderful Gems

Mostly what I remember from reading this book as a kiddo is the old lady, who is quite acerbic but gives Bess a well-deserved confidence boost so I like her.  The postage stamp angle of the story reminds me of the movie Charade, one of my favorites, which stars Audrey Hepburn and Cary Grant and I shouldn't have to put a spoiler alert on a movie that's about 60 years old and if you haven't seen it, do yourself a favor and check it out.  Anyway, Nancy's Florida adventures always seem to have an extra bit of crazy and this one continues that trend.  The Drew Crew is rubbing elbows with the uber-rich and apparently stealing collectible stamps is super lucrative based on how much stuff the bad guys have.  There are some really bananas aspects to this book (a retired stunt man, a sinkhole, a suspicious butler and more) and you know I love me some bananas plot shenanigans so I'm giving this one four stars.  If you're inspired to make a card based on this book, leave me a comment!  I will be especially impressed if you choose that stupidly silly third cover with the vulture.  I'll see you next week when Nancy tracks down The Elusive Heiress.

Hello Fall

Afternoon, y'all!  I just had to come back this afternoon with another fall card because I am enjoying the beginnings of fall weather here.

I mixed and matched three stamp sets for this card and I have three challenges as well.  Let's start with the new Festive Friday challenge:

I have green, brown, woodgrain, and distressed technique for my card.  And this challenge works pretty nicely with the Retro Rubber Challenge:

I told you I was coming back with a fall card for this one!  This time I did a diagonal with die cuts - leaves - distressed edges.  I actually die cut the woodgrain panel with the Deckled Rectangles dies but then hit it with an old distressing tool that SU! had once upon a time, and then I added more ink around the edges.  This is the first time I've inked up Truly Grateful (the woodgrain) because it's a recent acquisition, but Gorgeous Leaves is five years old and For All Things (the greeting) is now twelve years old, so extra retro.  I love revisiting old favorites : )

And last up is Time Out Challenges:

I've been taking pictures during my daily walks with Daphne for daaayyysss thinking about this challenge and here's one from this morning:

We had to detour around a flock of Canada geese.  Mostly the grass is still green, though in other places I see a lot of yellow and dark orange on the grass specifically, so that dictated my color choices of Old Olive, Crushed Curry, and Cajun Craze.  I inked up the leaves with Crushed Curry and then applied a bit of Cajun Craze ink with a sponge before I stamped, which came out pretty subtle but I like it.

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Gorgeous Leaves, Truly Grateful, For All Things
Ink:  Crushed Curry, Cajun Craze, Pecan Pie
Paper:  Old Olive, Very Vanilla, Sweet Days of Autumn DSP
Accessories:  Intricate Leaves dies, Deckled Rectangles dies, Hello Honey ribbon (which is pretty much the same color as Crushed Curry), Earthy Matte Dot, Dimensionals

Speaking of Daphne...

I took her picture because I thought her teefers were so cute but then I saw what her ball says and it made me laugh.  She's a happy Bark Box subscriber and she just got a bear toy today (among other things), so even Daphne is celebrating Fat Bear Week.  Cheers!

Periwinkle Hydrangeas

Mornin' y'all.  Ryan doesn't have school today (no idea why) so we both lollygagged around and had a bit of a lie-in this morning.  Daphne knows I have finished my first cuppa so she's telling me it is Time To Go For A Walk NOWWW Mahm so I'd better type fast.

So here's my card for today:

I brought out last year's Thankful Garden for the current Atlantic Hearts sketch:

I think I went a little overboard with the die-cut leaves but it's all stuck down.  I chose Thankful Garden thanks to the Retro Rubber TTT challenge:

I plan to circle back to this one because I really want to make a fall card : )  This time I did the top row, with ribbon - stencil - die cuts, and I chose Thankful Garden because that's the only stencils I have other than this year's Painted Pumpkins.  Thankful Garden is a year old so it just counts as retro in stamp years, and that hydrangea stamp was perfect with this Color Dare duo:

I used Peaceful Pine and Hydrangea Hue for my colors and white for a neutral.  Now that I've gotten this card out of my system, I will be back to fall and Halloween cards for a while I think : )  They're my favorite to make.

Okay, Daph is making with the puppy dog eyes so I'm going to take her for a walk and I'll see you later, kids.  Cheers!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Thankful Garden
Ink:  Hydrangea Hue, Peaceful Pine
Paper:  Hydrangea Hue, Peaceful Pine, Basic White, Mosaic Garden DSP
Accessories:  Thankful Garden stencils & dies, Textured Notes dies, Peaceful Pine ribbon, Dimensionals, Clear Epoxy Drops

Must Be Magical

Mornin' y'all!  I'm getting an early start today because I have an appointment as soon as Ryan gets off to school, so let's get started!

There's a color challenge this week that I just couldn't wrap my head around and I had decided to skip it, but then I was in my craft room and I remembered what I wrote yesterday about the Painted Pumpkins bundle being my new go-to for when I'm not sure what to do with a color challenge.  So then I made this:

Sorry the photo isn't the best, I took pictures before the sun was up this morning and artificial light doesn't do great for card photos.  Here's the consternation-inducing (for me) color challenge from Creative Colour Challenges:

Now, I admit that I have some preconceived notions about what colors go together and what don't, and for this trio it's the Cherry Cobbler and Bubble Bath together that's throwing me.  So anyway I thought I'd give it a go, using blending brushes and the Painted Pumpkins stencils and keeping the Cherry Cobbler pretty light.  Imagine my surprise when I lifted up the stencil and somehow the Cherry Cobbler looked PINK on the pumpkins!  I stamped the outlines on top in Pretty Peacock (side note:  would you do the stenciling first, or the stamping first?  Because I seem to do the stenciling first) and then used the background stencil to do some leaves and vines on Pretty Peacock cardstock.  Um, I was not expecting this to work but I think it does!  These pumpkins must be magical is all I can say.

That's it for now, peeps.  Ryan has a fun run thing at school today (I never think running is fun) and I hope it doesn't get rained out.  Meanwhile I will be filling out paperwork at the orthodontist's office and then maybe I'll go wander around Target for a bit and see what they have in the way of fall and Halloween decorations.  Cheers, y'all!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Painted Pumpkins
Ink:  Bubble Bath, Cherry Cobbler, Pretty Peacock
Paper:  Bubble Bath, Pretty Peacock, Basic White
Accessories:  Painted Pumpkins dies & stencils, Textured Notes dies, Dimensionals, Array of Dots

Going in Circles

Mornin' y'all.  Urgh, I haven't been sleeping too well the past couple of nights but I am going to do my best NOT to take a nap today because then maybe I'll actually sleep tonight.  I have some projects I really want to work on today, including the new cross stitch project I started last night.

But for right now, I continue my quest to make the Painted Pumpkins stamps/stencils/dies in every color of the rainbow:

At this point I think Painted Pumpkins is my go-to stamp set for when I'm not sure what to do with a color challenge.  Check out this pretty spring palette from CAS Colours & Sketches:

I just didn't want to do a springy card, so pinky purple pumpkins it is!  Next up is the Addicted to CAS challenge, which was a good excuse to use my Spotlight on Nature dies:

I layered on a retired Stitched Shapes die because the circles in Stylish Shapes weren't the right size to nest in the Spotlight on Nature circle and even if the die is retired that doesn't mean I can't use it.

And since I was doing two CAS challenges anyway, that makes it real easy to enter at Inspire. Create. this round too:

I've been making my pumpkins in so many nonstandard pumpkin colors that I haven't used the coordinating DSP much, so I thought I might as well make a DSP-centric pumpkin card while I was at it yesterday:

Oh look, more circles!  I do need to play with that DSP some more, there are some very pretty patterns in it.  Apparently my keyboard didn't get enough sleep last night either; it keeps lagging behind what I'm typing and trying to add all kinds of weird accent marks or skipping letters entirely.  Weird.

Supplies, first card:
Stamps:  Painted Pumpkins
Ink:  Bubble Bath, Highland Heather, Peaceful Pine
Paper:  Bubble Bath, Highland Heather, Basic White
Accessories:  Painted Pumpkins dies & stencils, Spotlight on Nature dies, Stitched Shapes dies, Dimensionals

Supplies, second card:
Stamps:  Painted Pumpkins
Ink:  Secret Sea
Paper:  Petal Pink, Cajun Craze, Pool Party, Painted Patch DSP
Accessories:  Spotlight on Nature dies, Stitched Shapes dies, Stylish Shapes dies, Dimensionals, Painted Patch Dots

Yesterday I really really really wanted to start a new cross stitch project since I finished the Hocus Pocus one (I didn't really like how it turned out though).  I had picked out my next two projects, a pretty fall leaf pattern and a big Christmas pattern, but had to order some variegated thread for the leaf pattern and it wasn't due to get here until Friday (I just got a notification 10 minutes ago that it will be delivered today, but that's beside the point).  And I just couldn't make myself start a Christmas pattern on the first official day of fall, so I did the only logical thing...

I started a big Halloween pattern instead : )  This one has twelve different Halloween candy buckets and I started with the pumpkin on the top row.  So glad I did the eyeball on the first day so this design can stare at me the whole time I'm working on it : p  The fabric is a warm gray called Wolfsbane from Mystic Fabrics, I picked a medium gray so the white will pop on the fabric, especially when I get to the ghost bucket.  I hadn't been planning to make this pattern right now but I was so happy when I started it, so I think I'm going to work on this through October, start the leaf pattern in November, then start the Christmas pattern in December and then I can alternate projects if I feel like it.

Okay, I've got to walk Daphne and go do the grocery shopping so I can get to my fun projects.  Cheers!

In the Soup

HAPPY FALL, Y'ALL!  I mean, in my heart and home, fall started on September first, but now the equinox agrees with me.  The hubs and I had the following conversation last night:

Me:  You wanna put up the Halloween inflatable decorations this weekend?
Hubs:  It's September.
Me:  Yeah, and I decorated inside the house a month ago.  You're late.

Anyway, I have been a naughty girl of late and I have bought quite a slew of Halloween-related stamps and I inked up one of my new stamp sets yesterday!

This grumpy kitty made me laugh so hard, I broke a land speed record buying this stamp set.  It's from The Ink Road, but the owner currently works only by special drops so you have to be on the mailing list to know when things are coming.  I might have* bought four more Halloween sets in a big drop that hit on Sunday evening.

* I totally did.  Zero regrets.

Anyway, I had to try out the sketch from Hand Stamped Sentiments:

And I decided that Maleficent's red lip yesterday would disqualify her for the Color Hues Challenge, so I didn't enter her but I think Miss Kitty counts.  Here's the challenge in case you forgot:

Maybe I should have used Highland Heather instead of Orchid Oasis, but Miss Kitty told me she wanted her outfit to be Orchid Oasis and I never argue with a grumpy cat stirring a cauldron.

Anyway, that's it for now.  I'm going to finish my cuppa and the last pumpkin cream cheese muffin, and then take Daphne out for a walk and hope we don't get rained on.  It can rain all it wants when we get back.  Cheers!

Supplies:
Stamps:  Roadies 71 by The Ink Road
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Stampin' Blends in Orchid Oasis, Smoky Slate, Basic Black, Soft Succulent
Paper:  Orchid Oasis, Basic White, Soft Succulent DSP, Cutest Halloween DSP Stack
Accessories:  Layering Circles dies, Shimmering Stars Foam Stickers, Dimensionals

Mistress of All Evil

Mornin' y'all!  I have several things on my to-do list today so I am on my second cuppa and ready to get going on this blog post to start off with.  I made today's cards last week and I'm pretty pleased with it : )

It's Maleficent!  She is my favorite Disney villain because she can turn herself into a DRAGON and it doesn't get any more awesome than that!  And also she's not afraid to call people fools when that's what they are.  (My second favorite villain is Yzma, and third is Ursula.  My mom's favorite is Cruella but I can't get past the dog fur coat thing.)  Anyway, I made this for the Color Hues Challenge:

And I will be ticketed by the Challenge Police because Maleficent had to have a red lip (she insisted) and her staff's topper had to be a poisonous chartreuse.  Sorry, I just had to.  I broke out the PrismaColor colored pencils because there wasn't a grayish green that worked for Maleficent's skin tone in my Crayolas, it's been a long time since I got the Prismas out so that was fun.  And thanks to Stef whose Halloween kitty card convinced me that I should do something not floral with these colors, I had so much fun inking up Maleficent for the first time (and I've had that stamp set for at least a year, probably several!).

Anyway, I was going to go with a Halloween card like Stef, but then I saw this challenge from AAA Cards Challenge:

And my brain yelled MALEFICENT so that's how my card was made.  My brain yells at me.  Anyway, I'm glad that I finally inked up these stamps, I know I got the greeting stamp last year when I was shopping for Halloween goodies and like I said I don't know if the villains stamps are a year old or even older.  Kindred Stamps are not really my artwork style, but they do have stamps in several subjects that no one else seems to so I have several of their sets (most of which have not seen ink yet, but someday...).

Anyway, I need to finish my tea and take the Daphinator for her walk and then get to work on the rest of my to-do list.  I have to make some phone calls today, ugh.  But on the plus side, I should be getting some new Halloween stamps in the mail today, so that will be fun.  Cheers, y'all!

Supplies:
Stamps:  Villains by Kindred Stamps, Desdemona by Sweet November
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Soft Succulent
Paper:  Lavender Lace, Soft Succulent, Basic White
Accessories:  Dimensionals, Wink of Stella on her staff

Fat Bear Week with The Paper Players

Gooooood mornin' y'all and happy Sunday, which means it's time for a new Paper Players challenge to drop!  We had a fun and fabulous color challenge from LeAnne last week, and now it's time for a CAS challenge from yours truly!  Check out our theme:

I'd be willing to bed that everyone has at least one or two bears in their crafting stash and I want to see them!  Your bear could be teddy, gummy, grizzly, polar, koala (technically not a bear, but is bear-shaped), panda, Silly Old, or Care, and that's just what I thought of off the top of my head.  I graduated from Baylor University (sic 'em!) so naturally I gravitate towards bear things and I have quite a few bears to choose from in my paper crafting hoard.  And as an added bonus, there's this:

Fat Bear Week starts on September 22, where we can all cheer on our favorite chonkers as they prepare for a long winter's nap, which is what social media is supposed to be for in my opinion.  I recommend a quick Google search if you're not familiar : )  I could not have timed this challenge if I tried but I love that it worked out this way.  Also, I recommend following the National Park Service on Facebook, their team deserves all the cookies for their fantastic posts.  Anyway, in honor of Fat Bear Week, I decided to use a grizzly bear for my card:

This bear is from a long-retired set called Yukon, which features some lovely art of various animals including Mr. Chonk here.  I stamped him in Early Espresso + Versamark, finished with clear embossing powder, and then watercolored.  I chose Peaceful Pine as my card base because it's such a lovely green and I feel like I haven't used it enough.

Check out the other design team creations on the Paper Players blog, and you can hop through their individual blogs to leave some comments too:

The Paper Players Design Team

Jaydee

LeAnne Pugliese

Claire Broadwater

Joanne James

Ann Schach

Jan Clothier

Stef Perry

you are here --> Christy Stanford

And then upload your card at the Paper Players blog!  Keep in mind a few simple rules:
1.  Create a new paper project
2.  Upload your creation to your blog with a link back to us and provide a direct link to the post featuring your challenge submission
3.  Please link your card to no more than four challenges, TOTAL
4.  Have fun!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Yukon, Elegant Leaves
Ink:  Versamark, Peaceful Pine, Elegant Espresso, Pecan Pie, Wild Wasabi, Crumb Cake, Balmy Blue
Paper:  Peaceful Pine, Crumb Cake, Very Vanilla
Accessories:  Everyday Arches dies, Stylish Shapes dies, clear EP, Dimensional

Race Against Time

Good mornin' y'all and welcome to the Nancy Drew Challenge!  Today's book is one of my favorites, #66, Race Against Time:

I think it's obvious which cover is my favorite if you've been around here for a bit : )  Okay we have some action scenes on the first and third one between the fire and the horse behaving badly, but that middle cover!  It's like a movie poster and I love it.

Case file:  This time Nancy is back on her home turf in River Heights, investigating the theft of a racehorse named Shooting Star from his home on Rainbow Ranch while also starring in Ned's film club movie despite the fact that a.) she doesn't go to the school the film club belongs to and b.) she's not part of the film club itself, she's just smooching the director (but only on the cheek because this is a kids' book).  The film club is shooting a vampire comedy at a rundown mansion in the area, but strange things keep happening there.  Nancy also finds time to befriend a small child, film several TV commercials, and deal with a jealous girl who wants her role in Ned's vampire movie.

Here's my first card:

Since the stolen racehorse is named Shooting Star, I had to break out some star stamps.  I did think about doing a rainbow for Rainbow Ranch, but I stuck to the cover colors and just did Marina Mist, Pumpkin Pie, and Lemon Lolly.

There's a small subplot with an opal that also belongs to the ranch owner, so I had to make sure to get some gems on my star card.

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Everyday Arches, Be the Star
Ink:  Early Espresso, Pumpkin Pie, Lemon Lolly
Paper:  Marina Mist, Pumpkin Pie, Lemon Lolly, Basic White, Marina Mist DSP
Accessories:  Everyday Arches dies, Textured Notes dies, Stars Collection Framelits, Dimensionals, Rhinestones

On to card #2:

You know I'm always super chuffed to use Vlad (or his pals Agnes and Frankie) from my very favorite Halloween stamp set ever, Best Fiends!  I had so much fun with this one : )

I used Brocade Blue, Fresh Freesia, Basic Black, Basic Beige, and just a bit of Golden Glow for my colors.  I stamped and embossed the bats on the black layer, that's the shiny bits behind Vlad and the sentiment.

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Best Fiends, Just Between Fiends
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Versamark, Stampin' Blends in Fresh Freesia, Golden Glow, Ivory, Basic Black, Smoky Slate
Paper:  Brocade Blue, Basic Black, Basic Beige, Toadstool Garden DSP Stack
Accessories:  Black EP, Nested Essentials dies, Black Rhinestones

I actually have two copies with this cover:

The one on the right is in better condition, but a previous owner of the one on the left (which I've had since at least high school, if not longer) drew vampire bite marks on Nancy's throat and that just makes me laugh so I can't get rid of it.  Also, Ned's vampire movie is a comedy, and this book was released in 1982 while Leslie Nielsen's movie Dracula:  Dead and Loving it was released in 1995 so I think they stole the movie idea from this book.

Anyway, on to card #3:

In this book, Nancy's horse Black Prince is mentioned and I think this is the only time that it's said that she owns her own horse.  She also rides several other horses over the course of the book.

I wish I could find a copy of this cover that doesn't have marks on it like this one, but the only one I've been able to find in the last year is a part of a lot of five books that are listed for almost $80 on eBay and that is just a bonkers price so no thank you.  Anyway, for this card I knew I wanted to use Pretty Peacock and Old Olive, and the new Mosaic Garden DSP has those colors as well as Crisp Cantaloupe which was a good match for Nancy's shirt.  I always love the horsey mysteries so this was fun to make.

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Bareback, Friendly Words
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Versamark, Old Olive, Hydrangea Hue
Paper:  Pretty Peacock, Basic White, Mosaic Garden DSP
Accessories:  Perennial Postage dies, Moody Palette Glossy Dots, Dimensionals

This book is one of my favorites because I always love the horsey books AND this one has the vampire film going for it, it's just an absolute romp and so much fun.  Five stars just for the plot of Ned's vampire movie, it sounds hilarious.  If you're inspired to make a card based on the book or any of the covers I've shared here, drop me a comment so I can see!  And I'll see you next week when Nancy takes on The Sinister Omen.