New Blooms!

Hey y'all!  I had a nice, quiet day at work yesterday, which was nice since I started off the day by accidentally dumping half a bottle of water in my backpack (I thought the lid was closed...it was not).  How's your week starting off?

On Saturday, at long long long last, I got my new catalog preorder!  Ya know, for the catalog that goes live TODAY :p  This box, dude.  I hadn't gotten any shipping updates in two solid weeks, it just said it was "en route to the next facility", so finally on Thursday I gave up and called Stampin' Up! to say that it hadn't arrived yet.  They started looking into it but I finally got the notice from our post office that it had arrived on Friday, so I guess it was just waiting for me to call SU!  Then of course I couldn't pick it up on Friday because of our little jaunt to the ER for Ryan.

Anywha, I got a teensy bit of time in my craft room on Sunday and I couldn't resist busting out a new stamp set and some new colors!

I love, love, love the inspiration pic from Just Add Ink.

 
I was going to mask off the card front and sponge an ombre effect, but why reinvent the wheel when I have ombre DSP?  So the stripe is So Saffron from the retired Color Theory DSP stack (lookit me using up a bit of stash) and the flowers are stamped in three NEW In Colors--Evening Evergreen for the outline (I am going to looooooooooove this deep, dark green!), Pale Papaya for the flowers, and Soft Succulent (dear SU!, I am sure there are other adjectives that start with S, we already had Soft Suede and Soft Sea Foam and Soft Sky for Pete's sake) for the leaves and the sentiment, which is from the newly retired Butterfly Gala.  I added some Wink of Stella to the flowers but of course it doesn't show up much in the photo.

Hope your day goes smoothly, peeps!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Hand-Penned Petals, Butterfly Gala
Ink:  Evening Evergreen, Pale Papaya, Soft Succulent
Paper:  Thick Basic White, Color Theory DSP
Accessories:  Penned Flowers dies, Dimensionals, Wink of Stella

Fluttering By

Mornin' y'all!  Yesterday the new SU! catty went live, and I placed a big fat order...that will be the last one I do before we move, so I got most of my must-haves right up front.  For the past couple of years I've limited myself to one or two stamp sets when the new catalog debuts, and I liked that because it let me focus on just a couple of stamp sets and have some fun with them.  Sometimes if I order a whole bunch of sets at one time, it takes me forever to work my way around to all of them.  (Uhh, I have a few newly-retired sets that I haven't inked up yet and I got them last month.)

But for today, I pulled out a stamp set I've had for a while and got to work on a summery card:

I started with the sketch from Freshly Made Sketches:

I subbed in the Stitched Nested Labels dies for the diamond since SU I don't think has done diamond dies yet.

I was inspired by the Retro Rubber Challenge, they're what made me pull out an "older" stamp set:

Butterfly Gala has been in my collection for over a year, so it counts as retro.  I figure being outside and watching for butterflies is a perfect summer activity provided it's not eleventy-billion degrees outside with a zillion percent humidity.  Happily, choosing summery colors was a snap thanks to the Color Throwdown:

I used Granny Apple Green, Pumpkin Pie, and Real Red for my colors, with a healthy pop of Basic Black for contrast.

Hope you have a great day, y'all!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Butterfly Gala, Thoughtful Blooms (retired SAB)
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Granny Apple Green, Pumpkin Pie, Real Red
Paper:  Thick Whisper White, Granny Apple Green, Basic Black
Accessories:  Stitched Nested Labels dies, Butterfly Duo punch, Dimensionals

Hello Rose

Okay, as promised, I have something a bit more cheerful today.  Here it is:

I used the color challenge from Hand Stamped Sentiments:

I didn't realize how often I stamp this rose with Rococo Rose ink until I looked back at all my other To A Wild Rose projects, haha.  I guess my brain is literal.  I added some Crumb Cake and Early Espresso to the challenge colors.  And rhinestones, because rhinestones seemed like a good idea.

It seems that my electric kettle is going to the Small Appliance Graveyard In the Sky, so I've got to get a new one.  I drink too much tea to go without an electric kettle ;)  Cheers, y'all.

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  To A Wild Rose, Butterfly Gala
Ink:  Rococo Rose, Mint Macaron, Early Espresso
Paper:  Crumb Cake, Early Espresso, Thick Whisper White
Accessories:  Wild Rose dies, Stitched Nested Labels dies, Dimensionals, Rhinestones

Dallas vs. Corpus

Scrappy Monday, y'all!  Wow, already through January...I know everyone else thinks January lasts forever, but it's my birth month so I like it :D  I feel like I got a lot done in January too--I've got 32 scrapbook pages done!! Need to take photos of them all still.  I also read 6 books, I did work on organizing photos (and printed out a big stack of recent ones), stitched every single day, and I'm still working toward that chatturanga.

So!  On to Scrappy Monday.  My friend Beth got married on Valentine's Day in 2004, so Mom and I flew from Dallas to Corpus Christi for the wedding.  We got a snowstorm in Dallas the night before we left, and of course Corpus Christi was all sunny and warm, so it was quite the contrast!

All wintry on the left, summery on the right.  I used Regal Rose (pink) on both pages to tie them together a bit, and as it happens both pieces of patterned paper are from the same DSP set, a really old one called Four Seasons.  It's from the first year SU! had In Colors!

Today's color palette is almost all retired:  Tip Top Taupe, Regal Rose, Night of Navy, Marigold Morning, Tangelo Twist, and Whisper White.  As it happens I'm working on two layouts now with a Tip Top Taupe page base and those layouts are also beachy.  Should finish them today or tomorrow and then I'll be on to something else.

Cheers, y'all!  Have a great week!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Letters for You, Festive Flurry, Butterfly Gala
Ink:  Night of Navy, Regal Rose, Marigold Morning, Tangelo Twist, Whisper White
Paper:  Tip Top Taupe, Night of Navy, Tangelo Twist, Regal Rose, Thick Whisper White, Four Seasons DSP
Accessories:  Large Letters Framelits, Festive Flurry Framelits, Butterfly Duet punch

SUO Challenges: Summer Colors

Happy Tuesday, y'all!  I had intended to post a scrapbook layout yesterday, but I just didn't get around to it.  The hubs and I took the small child out to Asheville over the weekend and spent most of Sunday driving back, after which I was just so wiped out.  So here we are and it's time for another SUO Challenge!

 

And this time it's a color combination!  Check it out:

I think this is the last hurrah for summery colors and now that it's September, I can officially dive in to all things fall (which is my favorite season!) even though it's still eleventy billion degrees outside.  So one last summer butterfly:

It was after dark when I took this picture so it's not great, sorry.  I used Pool Party as my base and the other bright colors are used in small, measured doses on the image panel ;) I used sponge daubers to apply Mango Melody and Lovely Lipstick on a scrap of white cardstock, then stamped the butterfly in black and punched it out.  A couple of Granny Apple Green leaves courtesy of the Tropical dies, and boom!  All challenge colors accounted for.  The white square is a bit crooked on the card base, but I'm going to call that handmade charm ;)

Mosey on over to the SUO Challenges blog and link up your own summer color creation.  Cheers!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Butterfly Gala, A Big Thank You
Ink:  Pool Party, Mango Melody, Lovely Lipstick, Memento Tuxedo Black
Paper:  Pool Party, Granny Apple Green, Thick Whisper White
Accessories:  Butterfly Duet punch, Tropical dies, Stitched Shapes dies, Dimensionals

Hello, Beautiful Butterflies

Mornin' y'all!  Ready for a bright springy card?

I've had a lot of fun playing with Butterfly Gala since I bought it, so when I saw this week's What Will You Stamp? challenge of course I had to join in.

I combined that with the CASE the Designer challenge from Global Design Project:

I kept the same layout with the rectangles and the pattern behind the main image panel (though I stamped mine rather than using DSP), and I kept my card springy but with different colors.  Speaking of colors, check out the fun palette from As You See It:

I added a bit of black and white but otherwise only used those three colors.  I stamped off every other butterfly so there are light and dark pink ones, but they're all Lovely Lipstick.

Well, I've got a very busy day ahead so I'm going to hop to it.  Cheers, y'all!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Butterfly Gala, Post Script
Ink:  Pineapple Punch, Lovely Lipstick, Memento Tuxedo Black
Paper:  Thick Whisper White, Pineapple Punch, Powder Pink, Basic Black
Accessories:  Rectangle Stitched Framelits, Butterfly Duet Punch

Butterfly in the Skyyyyy

Happy Friday, y'all!  Ryan wasn't feeling quite up to scratch yesterday, so I'm hoping he feels better today.  In the meantime, I worked on a card while he was sleeping :)

I do love these butterflies, and I can't believe I waited so long to get the Share What You Love DSP...had to use those leaves again since they were still sitting out where I could see them.

Today I started with the CASE the Designer challenge from Global Design Project:

I kept the butterfly theme (I even used the same stamp set!), but I used a different sentiment from the set, and at long last I figured out how to use one of those pearlized doilies I got right before the end of Sale-a-Bration.

I used the Sunday Stamps sketch:

I swear I planned three or four different cards in my head with this sketch, so I'm glad I finally got one of them down on paper.

And here's the Color Throwdown palette:

I used Pear Pizzazz and Old Olive for the two greens (handy that they're both in that leafy pattern), Pool Party for the card base and sentiment panel, and Melon Mambo for my butterflies.  And some black because that always helps.  Oh darn, I had planned to add some Wink of Stella to my butterflies but I forgot to do it before I took the picture.  Oh well!

Have a great weekend, y'all.  I'm hoping to work on Ryan's baby book during his naptime today...maybe I'll have it done by the time he turns three!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Butterfly Gala
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Melon Mambo
Paper:  Pool Party, Thick Whisper White, Share What You Love DSP
Accessories:  Rectangle Stitched Framelits, Stitched Shapes Framelits, Butterfly Duet punch, pearlized doily, Dimensionals

Stained Glass Butterfly

Hey y'all!  I finally got in my craft room on Sunday afternoon and made a card to share today because it's SUO Challenges day!

This week's challenge was all about coloring.  Well, it had been long enough since I last stamped that for a while I just sat in my chair and stared at everything, wondering what on earth to make.  Then I thought of the Stampin' Blends markers and pretty soon I was humming along and I made this:

I only used one ink pad (Memento Tuxedo Black) for this card, and both the light and dark Blends in Shaded Spruce, Mango Melody, Blackberry Bliss, and Flirty Flamingo.  I colored each section of the butterfly with the light marker, went around the edges of the area with the dark one, and then used the color lifter on the middle and this is what I got.  I fussy-cut the butterfly, popped up the wings (the center of the butterfly is glued to the card front), and then I went over the black outlines with some Wink of Stella because why not.

Hope you'll hop on over to the SUO Challenges blog to see what the rest of the design team has made, and then take on the challenge yourself.  Have fun!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Beautiful Day, Butterfly Gala
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Stampin' Blends in Shaded Spruce, Mango Melody, Blackberry Bliss, and Flirty Flamingo, Color Lifter
Paper:  Flirty Flamingo, Mango Melody, Thick Whisper White, Tropical Escape DSP
Accessories:  Dimensionals, Wink of Stella

Tropical Gala Thanks

Hey y'all.  I'm supposed to be packing, and it's for a trip I really do want to go on, but I *hate* packing so I'm procrastinating ;)  And guess what!!!

WINNER WINNER CHICKEN DINNER!!!  Global Design Project liked my Messy Inspiration card from last week.  So that was the best thing that happened to me yesterday, when I saw that.

So here's my card for this week's challenge!

Played with Butterfly Gala again, and I thought it would go well with the leaves from Tropical Chic so that's what I did.  Here's the GDP graphic:

My card base is Shimmery White, and the largest butterfly is popped up on Dimensionals.  It's an almost one-layer take on the sketch from Freshly Made Sketches:

I'm counting the Granny Apple Green sponging/stamping as the teal layer on the bottom of the sketch.  I sponged some Coastal Cabana on the top for the sky, and left a bit of white in the middle just because.

Well.....I gotta go pack.  Y'all have a great day!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Butterfly Gala, Tropical Chic
Ink:  Melon Mambo, Calypso Coral, Granny Apple Green, Memento Tuxedo Black
Paper:  Shimmery White
Accessories:  Butterfly Duo Punch, Dimensionals

Opportunities for Embellishment

Mornin' y'all!  I was hoping to post this card yesterday, but thanks to the glossy white paper I used the ink was wet and I decided to let it sit overnight before I finished it up so here it is today instead!

The background is sort of watercolored on the glossy paper--I smeared some Crushed Curry ink on a plastic placemat, then sprayed water on it to water it down and smooshed the paper in it.  I dried it with my heat tool and that's how I got the drippy look.  I stamped the greeting on there and WHOOPS it was still wet when I tried to get a little bit of fuzz off the card front--it smeared.  And now you know why that little butterfly is right there touching the sentiment ;)

Anyway, I used the Color Throwdown colors:

I used Crushed Curry, Pumpkin Pie, and Real Red for my colors.  I also used this week's Freshly Made Sketch:

And my card fits the theme at Global Design Project as well:

Glad I took the opportunity to play with the new Butterfly Gala stamp set; I haven't even scratched the surface of what I could make with those stamps, I need to play a lot more.  Lately I've been obsessed with a cross stitch project before we go on our Disney cruise (Disney Princess bookmarks!), so when we get back from that, I'll definitely be spending more time in the ol' craft cave.  In the meantime, cheers peeps!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Butterfly Gala, Touches of Texture
Ink:  Crushed Curry, Pumpkin Pie, Real Red, Memento Tuxedo Black
Paper:  Crushed Curry, Glossy White, Thick Whisper White
Accessories:  Butterfly Duet punch, Dimensionals