Tropical Hello

Mornin' y'all!  We had a much quieter morning here today and Ryan got ready for school in time to ride his bike, so he's happy.  I've already taken Daphne for her walk and I've got a load of dishes in the dishwasher, so after I eat breakfast I can go out and run some errands and hopefully by the time I get back my new fall SU! goodies will be here : )

In the meantime, I have a tropical card: 

For reals, y'all, I am posting lots of FALL stuff starting tomorrow, bring on the warm colors and the fall leaves and the pumpkins and apples and Halloween everything, I am READY.  Anyway, I had to go tropical for the new challenge from Retro Rubber:

As soon as I saw it, Artfully Layered and the coordinating Artfully Composed DSP (both four years old) popped in my head and I had to use them for a card.  The dark strip on the right and the Pale Papaya script pattern were both scraps, but this is the first time I cut into the leafy pattern on the left and I am working on my goal to Just Use The Paper.  I like this week's sketch from Atlantic Hearts:

Once I had chosen that leafy pattern, I had to decide how to use the three green shades.  I chose Just Jade for my card base and main image just because I love that color, Pear Pizzazz is the only one that I had ribbon for so that choice was easy, and then I used Evening Evergreen for the greeting, background die cut, and gems.  All of the greetings in Artfully Layered are pretty large, so I found a teeny-tiny hello in All Year Cheer I and used that.  I think I got all three All Year Cheer stamp sets in the first year I was stamping so they're about 20 years old, how's that for retro!

That's it for now, peeps.  After I finish my tea it's time to start running errands and hopefully that won't wipe me out so bad that I can't work in my craft room afterwards.  Cheers!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Artfully Layered, All Year Cheer I
Ink:  Just Jade, Evening Evergreen, VersaMark
Paper:  Just Jade, Evening Evergreen, Basic White, Artfully Composed DSP
Accessories:  Artfully Layered dies, Pear Pizzazz taffeta ribbon, clear EP, Dimensionals, In Color Gems

Ocean Mosaic

Mornin' y'all!  We survived our random snow day yesterday and there's just a few tiny patches of it left in our backyard right now.  And I managed to make a card to share today!

I used this week's Freshly Made Sketch:

I'll be honest, I did NOT like this sketch when I first saw it and I thought no way I could do anything with it.  Then I was looking through some other challenges and my brain joined the chat (hello brain, always nice to have you here) and ideas started percolating and I came up with a card that I think I like.  And that's why I do challenges, they help push my creativity.

Anyway, here's one of the challenges that helped with that, courtesy of Festive Friday:

I have blue (Coastal Cabana), brown (Crumb Cake), pearls, a fish, one shell, and some seaweed so I think I did pretty well with this list.  What crystallized my card idea was the TGIF color challenge:

I thought they went perfectly with the ocean theme of the Festive Friday challenge.  I punched out a bunch of squares of Coastal Cabana cardstock to start with, stamped my seaweed on them, and then sponged some ink around the edges of the squares before I adhered them to the Crumb Cake card base.  I did start out with a seahorse for the main image (I love the seahorse from Ocean Commotion), but he looks to the left and with where the greeting was supposed to go, I needed a sea creature facing to the right.  So fish it is!  He looks kinda red in the picture, but I assure you he's Melon Mambo.

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Ocean Commotion, All-Year Cheer I
Ink:  Crumb Cake, Coastal Cabana, Melon Mambo
Paper:  Crumb Cake, Melon Mambo, Basic White
Accessories:  1 1/4" square punch, Dimensionals, pearls

And here's what our backyard looked like as of six o'clock last night, almost all the snow gone.  It'll be in the 60s today so that was just a weird "And another thing!" left over from winter, all the weirder because we got so little snow over the actual winter this year.  Time to get Ryan off to school...cheers, y'all!

Leapin' Leprechaun

Mornin' y'all, how's your Monday?  The hubs and I both feel like we're coming down with something again, all I really want to do is take a nap but I think Daphne is going to insist I take her for a walk first.  But she has to wait so I can share a card today, and here it is:

I used a new-to-me technique here and I can't wait to play with it some more!  A while back I saw this post on Mary Fish's blog about using painter's tape to apply ink to cardstock and I finally got to try it.  I've already bought some narrower tape to play around with more, hopefully sometime this week : )

Let's talk challenges, starting with Retro Rubber:

Allllll of my stamps today are retro, very VERY retro.  I've had both Pinch Me and Pinch Proof since 2008, so 18 years, and All-Year Cheer since 2006, which is I think the year I started stamping other than the occasional thing for scrapbook pages.  No, wait, I think I started stamping in 2005, but that's over twenty years!  I'm old now ; )

Next up is the latest Freshly Made Sketch:

It was the irregular shape behind the leaves that made me *finally* try the painter's tape technique.  I did three tries and experimented with doing more than one piece, but since all I had at the moment was the wide tape I decided that one strip worked better.  Then I fussy-cut my leprechaun, popped him up, and added some itty-bitty clovers and the greeting.  Simples!

Last up is the Festive Friday Challenge:

I have lots of green, a leprechaun, and the aforementioned teeny-tiny clovers.  And of course this also fits with my challenge at The Paper Players:

That's it for now, I'm either going to take Daphne for a walk or else we're going to take a nap.  Cheers!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Pinch Me, Pinch Proof, All-Year Cheer III
Ink:  Parakeet Party, Garden Green
Paper:  Parakeet Party, Whisper White
Accessories:  Textured Notes dies, Dimensionals

Tulip Time

Mornin' y'all!  I am happy to report that I have been working on my goal to spend less time staring mindlessly at social media and more time on the things I really want to accomplish.  When I sat down at my craft table yesterday, I was having trouble focusing and figuring out what I wanted to make, how to combine challenges, what stamps to use, etc. and instead of hopping on Facebook for a while and hoping my brain would eventually cooperate, I listened to a short meditation on focus.  Then instead of turning on a podcast, I put on some instrumental music and began to concentrate on what I wanted to make and guess what?  It worked!

I felt like at first my brain was trying to go in several directions at once to figure out how to combine two challenges, but when I was finally able to get it to focus I really liked where I ended up.  And once I got started I was able to turn the podcast back on without losing my focus, which was nice.  I'm a little bit addicted to The Soundtrack Show with David W. Collins right now and yesterday I was listening to a deep dive on the music of Jurassic Park, highly recommend the podcast if you're interested in movie soundtracks.

Anyway, my first challenge of today is the Festive Friday Challenge:

Thanks to my super colorful DSP, I have red (...debatable, it might be classified as dark pink), yellow, orange, and tulips, and I added a stamped windmill.  I thought about making it a birthday card but I send a lot more hello/friendship/thinking of you type cards so I went with that.

Next up is the Atlantic Hearts Sketch:

The sketch clicked into place for me when I decided to add the windmill on top of the square piece instead of behind and above it, a small adjustment that made the design work for my card I think but you can still see the sketch I started with.

After I finished this, I even started on unmounting a bunch of stamp sets that have been languishing in my craft room for MONTHS, so after I take Daphne for our daily walk, I will be finishing that up and then I probably will have to buy a few more stamp cases.  But hooray for getting started on projects that I've been putting off for far too long : )  And hooray for figuring out how to work through temporary creative blocks to make something when my time is limited, love that.

Have a great day, peeps!  Daphne is ready to go for our walk.

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Tulip Fields, All-Year Cheer I
Ink:  Early Espresso, Mango Melody, Petal Pink, Stampin' Blends in Pecan Pie, Mossy Meadow, Petal Pink
Paper:  Mango Melody, Mossy Meadow, Thick Basic White, Flowering Fields DSP
Accessories:  Windmill Fields dies, Stylish Shapes dies, Dimensionals, Milky Dots

Polar Wishes

Mornin' y'all!  Well, for the next 8 minutes, anyway.  I might have slept in late this morning ; )  Did some yoga, all that stuff, and I just finished my morning cuppa.  Time to share today's card!

I pulled out a couple of long-retired stamp sets for two challenges today, starting with the Four Seasons Challenge:

Cold-Weather friends has this cute polar bear as well as a seal and an arctic fox; I stamped all three and then ended up only using the polar bear.  Next up is the Colorful Options challenge:

Love the inspo pics on this one, I used Balmy Blue, Basic White, and Pebbled Path for my card.  I tried embossing the animal images in white EP at first and that turned out kinda creepy looking, so I embossed with Pebbled Path ink + Versamark + clear EP, then watercolored around the polar bear cub with Whisper White and Balmy Blue ink.

I should probably ask Daph if she wants to go out for her daily tour of the neighborhood, and then I need to run up to the UPS store because I sold some Nancy Drew books : )  Doesn't offset the craft supplies I bought over the last few days but don't tell my hubs that, ha!  Have a great day, y'all.

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Cold-Weather Friends, All-Year Cheer I
Ink:  Versamark, Pebbled Path, Balmy Blue, Whisper White
Paper:  Balmy Blue, A Walk Through the Forest DSP
Accessories:  Nested Essentials dies, white & clear EP, Milky Dots, Dimensionals

Shells on a Shelf

Mornin' y'all!  Daphne dragged me out of bed at 5:30 this morning but I did (eventually) get to go to sleep for a while before she made me get up AGAIN, this time aided by Ryan who wanted me to get him breakfast.  How old does he have to be before he can get cereal for himself?  But we have a lazy day ahead of us except for Ryan's baseball game tonight.

For the past couple of days I haven't been super thrilled with what I've been making in my craft room, I just seem to be having a block when I sit down to stamp, but here's one of the things I made:

I got Earthen Textures (the vase on the right) when it hit the retirement list last year I think; Stippled Shells and All-Year Cheer have been in my collection since pretty close to the beginning of my stamping career.  I put them together for the challenge at The Card Concept:

This is the first time I've used Earthen Textures and I'm just not sure I'm pleased with it.  I wish I had put the "shelf" lower or...something.  I don't know.  Anyway, I think my card falls into the clean and layered category which is mostly where I live.

Instead of trying to force things to happen in my stamp room yesterday, I brought out a cross stitch work in progress and stitched on that for a while; maybe if I stitch for a few days my stampy mojo will reappear.  Worth a shot anyway.

Gotta go let Daphne outside for at least the tenth time this morning.  Cheers!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Earthen Textures, Stippled Shells, All-Year Cheer I
Ink:  Pecan Pie, Night of Navy, Wild Wheat, Boho Blue
Paper:  Pecan Pie, Very Vanilla, Timeless Plaid DSP Stack
Accessories:  Earthen Textures dies, Stylish Shapes dies

Winter Roses

Double post today!  It seems like every once in a while, the challenges I follow kinda converge and do a whole bunch of sketches in one week and y'all know sketches are my favorite, so extra posts so I can do All The Sketches : )  So here's a retro card for today:

Showing my age as an SU! demonstrator here since I still own Roses in Winter, which was the It Stamp Set for a long time when I was a wee baby stamper.  It was the first stamp set that popped in my head when I saw this week's sketch from Atlantic Hearts:

And the colors from AAA Cards Challenge seemed like the perfect palette for my roses:

But then I thought that my card wasn't really super CAS since the roses are so large, so I made this one too while I had everything out on my craft table:

More CAS : )  I used Lemon Lime Twist for both of the green colors (lighter stamped off once, darker full strength), Bubble Bath, and Berry Burst.  I have two friends that I send cards to on a weekly basis, and they're good friends with each other too so a lot of times I send them cards that kinda coordinate with each other, so they'll probably get both of these too.

That's it for me, y'all.  Time to make tacos for Taco Tuesday, we take that seriously around here.  Cheers!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Roses in Winter, AYC I
Ink:  Bubble Bath, Berry Burst, Lemon Lime Twist
Paper:  Bubble Bath, Thick Basic White
Accessories:  None

L'Automne en France

It's French Friday!  : )  That's not really a thing, I just made it up because I used two stamp sets on today's card that have "French" in the name.  Also I took French classes for something like 7 years and used to be at least minimally functional in the language, but I haven't practiced much except for when we visited France.  And Belgium.  Anyway, card!

So I've been stamping for nearly 20 years and I almost never get rid of any stamps or supplies which is why my craft room is trying to take over the entire house and also why I occasionally like to take a trip down Memory Lane with some long-retired stamps.  This time I paired said stamps with some new DSP and accessories because it's fun to see how they play together. 

For challenges, first up is the Hand Stamped Sentiments challenge:

I loved that!  I zoned in on French Foliage for my leafy stamps right away but what seemed to take forever was choosing patterned paper.  I kept coming back to Thoughtful Journey, though.  I'm also entering this at Shopping Our Stash, where the theme is leaves.  Last up is the CASE the Designer challenge at Inspire. Create.:

I kept the basic layout but switched where the sentiment and the images go, and I stamped my French Script over the dark DSP on the left side of my card.

That's it for me today, y'all.  Ryan is off school, we have the hubs' first post-op appointment this afternoon and then we're going to see the new Transformers movie.  But first I have to go clean bathrooms : p Cheers!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  French Foliage, French Script, All-Year Cheer I
Ink:  Cajun Craze, Early Espresso, Pretty Peacock, Versamark
Paper:  Cajun Craze, Thoughtful Journey DSP Stack
Accessories:  Stylish Shapes dies, Stitched Rectangles dies, Basic Borders dies, White EP, Dimensionals, Faux Glass Dots

Challenge Redux

Okay, most of the time I don't go back and re-do challenges because there's so many out there and I want to play along in most of them, but I had such a good time making my Silver Fox card that I just had to have another go at those two challenges.  So here it is:

I pulled out some retired stamps for this one.  First up is the Inkspirational mood board:

And then the Cupcake Inspirations challenge:

The combination of orange and deep pink plus the idea of plaid made me think of the Plaid Tidings stack so I just had to do another card with it.  I loved that paper so much I bought an extra stack, I do love me a good plaid!  I stamped two large leaves from Wonderfall and cut them out, and then found a wee sentiment from the very, very old All Year Cheer I and there's another card done.

Okay, I'm off to wash Ryan's taekwondo uniform, he managed to get Taco Bell all over himself on Tuesday and you know what doesn't come out of WHITE pants?  Wish me luck.  Cheers!

Supplies, all SU! (some retired)
Stamps:  Wonderfall, All Year Cheer I
Ink:  Mango Melody, Melon Mambo, Rich Razzleberry
Paper:  Seaside Spray, Rich Razzleberry, Thick Basic White, Plaid Tidings DSP
Accessories:  Deckled Rectangles dies, Dimensionals, Milky Dots

Happy Little Sea Creatures

Mornin', y'all!  Man, yesterday afternoon was a little crazy trying to get home.  They started working on the road in two different places so I had a detour in between where I work and where Ryan goes to daycare, so I ended up getting there later than usual thanks to traffic.  Ryan and I did a bit of grocery shopping and then started to head home, only to find *another* detour!  It usually takes about 15 minutes to get home, but last night took us more like 35 to 40 because the second detour was longer and crazier and also it was pouring down rain.  Wonder what it's going to be like going in this morning...

Anyway, I have a new card to share with some old stamps!

I didn't get Fishy Friends when it first came out, and I kicked myself for that for years afterward, and then I finally found it (I think on Etsy, actually) and bought it for my Virginia Beach scrapbook pages, along with the coordinating Silly Sealife (click the label on the bottom of the post to see other Fishy Friends projects).  Gotta say, I love coloring in these old images with Stampin' Blends!  Super easy and quick.

Check out the awesome sketch from Inkspirational:

And the theme challenge from Less Is More:

I checked the rules over there, white space doesn't have to be white so woohoo Pacific Point white space! :D  Usually you can't really combine theme challenges unless they happen to both be exactly the same thing, but I think sea creatures dovetails with the Paper Players theme as well:

I chose the bright primary colors to make this card appropriate for a little boy.  Since my 4-year-old boy loves Finding Nemo, I think he'd like this card :)

Better go get ready for the day.  Oh, the funny part of yesterday--I got sent over to the Printing & Graphics shop to make license plates for a couple hours.  Hubs said that's good practice for if I ever go to prison, haha!

Have a great day, y'all!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Fishy Friends, All-Year Cheer II
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Versamark, Stampin' Blends in Daffodil Delight, Balmy Blue, Real Red, Calypso Coral, and Pumpkin Pie; Pacific Point marker
Paper:  Pacific Point, Thick Basic White
Accessories:  White EP

Friday Flashback: Linen

Happy Friday, y'all!  Today's Friday Flashback stamp set is Linen--yep, we're shining the light on a background stamp today.  Let's check it out!

Also features Baby Talk, Petite Patterns

One thing I noticed going through my archives is that I've used Linen quite a few times, but it's hard to see in the pictures because the texture is so fine on the stamp.  So click on the photos to enlarge, and check out the card base on this one.

Also features Heartfelt Thanks, Warm Words, French Script

Or the Almost Amethyst layer on this one.

Also features Fall Whimsy, Print Pattern, AYC3

Pumpkin Pie layer on this one...

Also features Touch of Nature, Print Pattern, Weathered, AYC3

The card base on this one...

Also features Steppin' Style, Print Pattern

And finally, the blue layer on this one.  Uh, Linen is a hard stamp to photograph I guess?  Well, here's my new card:

I think you can see it a little better here; I stamped Linen with Dapper Denim ink on Dapper Denim cardstock and IRL it looks like blue jeans which makes me happy.  I'm entering this at Just Add Ink, where the challenge is to just add "B"--I made a birthday card with a blue jeans background, using the color Blushing Bride and the stamp set Bodacious Bouquet for my blooms, to which I added a bit of bling in the form of rhinestones, and I used my Big Shot to cut out the Lots of Labels die for my sentiment.  How's that for Bs?

This also counts for Retro Rubber's challenge to use flowers:

I've had Linen for 10 years (!!!), Bodacious Bouquet for 9, and Perfectly Penned for 5, so they're all nice and retro for that challenge.

I also incorporated the colors from The Color Throwdown:

I used Dapper Denim, Blushing Bride, and Watermelon Wonder for my colors, and I think they'll forgive me for adding a smidge of Pear Pizzazz because I just needed some leaves for my flowers.

This afternoon, hubs and I are going to see the new X-Men movie (hubs is off work today!) and then we're going out to dinner.  Maybe I can talk him into going to Chuy's for some Mexican food...adios for now!

Supplies, last card only:
Stamps:  Linen, Bodacious Bouquet, Perfectly Penned
Ink:  Dapper Denim, Blushing Bride, Watermelon Wonder
Paper:  Dapper Denim, Blushing Bride, thick Whisper White
Accessories:  Lots of Labels Framelits, rhinestones

Friday Flashback: Sassy Stems

Happy Friday, y'all!  Welcome to the Friday Flashback.  This week's featured stamp set is one of my favorites, Sassy Stems.  There are just three stamps in the set but it's pretty awesome.  Let's take a trip back in time, shall we?

Also features Short & Sweet, Kindness jumbo wheel

I still miss Barely Banana sometimes.  It was a little brighter than So Saffron.

Also features Paisley, Warmest Regards

I used the old, old Color Coach (when it was an actual color wheel) for this color combination--Certainly Celery, Tempting Turquoise, and Cameo Coral.  And I put Iridescent Ice EP all over the main image panel so it sparkled.

Here's a more fall-ish take on Sassy Stems, and lots o' layers.

Also features Paisley

I made this one for a swap not long after they introduced Watercolor Wonder Crayons.  I shoulda made more of the watercolored background visible but oh well.  And also eyelets!  So glad I got rid of most of my eyelets, I never use them anymore.

Also features All-Year Cheer II

Huh, looks like this is the only time I used markers to color the stamp rather than stamping in black.  Anyway, it's time now to unveil the new card on the block:

Ta-daaaah!  The card base and the main image panel are Shimmery White cardstock, so the whole card has a bit of sparkle to it.  I am looking forward to getting my backordered Wink of Stella glitter pen, lemme tell you.  Anyway, I pulled out two retired In Colors, Coastal Cabana and Strawberry Slush, and paired them with the current In Color Cucumber Crush.  I like them as a combination.  I also used this week's Retro Sketch:

Obviously I used stamping for the long thin panel in the background, but I just really liked the idea of butterflies to go with my sassy flowers.

Well kids, that's all she wrote today.  We're going out to dinner tonight for Mexican food, woohoo!  See you back here tomorrow for a baby book layout.  Cheers, peeps, and happy Easter!

Supplies, last card only:
Stamps:  Sassy Stems, Beyond the Basics, Really Retro
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Coastal Cabana, Strawberry Slush, Cucumber Crush
Paper:  Shimmery White, Strawberry Slush, Cucumber Crush DSP
Accessories:  Dimensionals, rhinestones, hexagon punch to flag the ends of the banner