Beach, Please with The Paper Players

Happy Sunday, y'all!  It's time for a new challenge from The Paper Players, and the lovely LeAnne has a fun theme for us!

My hubs and kiddo are both total water babies, so I do tend to buy stamps that have to do with the ocean, pools, the beach, etc.  So here's what I made:

My card base is Barely Blush, though it's a little hard to tell from the photo since it's such a pale color.  I haven't had good luck with the ink color but I do like the cardstock for this color.  I am 100% CASEing Jan's Paper Players card from a couple challenges back for my card today!  I turned my card vertical rather than horizontal and used a watery stamp from Rolling Waves for my horizontal element instead of the die, and then I layered on a net from the long-retired Sea of Textures and a pretty shell from By the Tide.  One antique pearl (because this is a CAS card) and done.  I actually made this card first:

Well, actually, I made it fourth but we'll get to that in a minute.  I thought this card ended up being a little too similar to Jan's new card for this week so I made the vertical one instead, but this one took some experimentation to find the right blue for my wave.  I ended up with Baja Breeze, but not before I tried three other colors:

Sorry for the shadow, but that's the best I could do in my house.  That's Hydrangea Hue, Balmy Blue (my ink pad is extra juicy right now so it turned out so dark), and Pool Party (also extra juicy).  Even though the Barely Blush card base is super pale, it still altered the ink colors of the blue enough that it did take some experimentation to find the right blue for the look I wanted.  But now I have some beachy cards to send out next week and that's no bad thing.

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:  By the Tide, Rolling Waves, Sea of Textures
Ink:  Crisp Cantaloupe, Crumb Cake, Baja Breeze, Night of Navy
Paper:  Barely Blush, Whisper White
Accessories:  Dimensionals, Antique Pearls
Paper:  Barely Blush, 

Shello

Mornin' y'all!  We got some snow last night, about an inch or two, and Ryan was disappointed that he didn't get at least a two-hour delay today : )  But he's safely at school and he has STEM club today so extra crafty time for me!

So here's my card for today:

Lots of layers today!  I was inspired to go beachy by the Just Add Ink challenge:

I read the colors as Cajun Craze, Crushed Curry (I think it's closer to Darling Duckling or the retired So Saffron, but the patterned paper I wanted to use has Crushed Curry so that's what I went with), Crumb Cake, Pool Party, and Lost Lagoon.  And I got all my layers from the Atlantic Hearts sketch:

I have TEN layers on my card since each panel has a mat around it.  I'll have to weigh it before I mail it out to make sure it doesn't require extra postage.

Daphne is napping adorably in her chair instead of poking me with her nose, so I think I'm going to make a second cuppa tea for myself before I take her for a walk in the snow.  She'll be excited about that, our little Colorado doggo loves playing in the snow.  Cheers!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  By the Tide, Four You
Ink:  Cajun Craze, Lost Lagoon
Paper:  Pool Party, Lost Lagoon, Thick Basic White, Inked Botanicals DSP Stack, Crumb Cake DSP
Accessories:  Dimensionals, Faux Glass Dots

Thinking of Shells

Mornin' y'all!  Last night I made the Very Smart Choice* to stay up until eleven o'clock working on my stitching project and then I woke up at 5:15 this morning when the hubs opened the garage (he has a cold, so I've been sleeping in the guest room which is just over the garage).  Yep, gonna be tired today!

*Spoiler alert:  this was not a very smart choice.  Even Daphne was looking at me like I'd lost my marbles when I made her get up to go upstairs with me at 11.

I had some fun time in my craft room yesterday though, take a look:

After I pulled out all my Bright & Beautiful DSP Stack scraps for yesterday's card, I couldn't resist using the same DSP for today's card too.  The big background piece I had to cut, but the Pretty Peacock piece was a scrap.  I think this is the closest I've ever come to using up an entire pack of DSP; good thing I already bought a second one ; )

Check out the Retro Rubber Challenge:

I used three sea-riffic stamp sets and they're all retro!  The shells are from By the Seashore which is 13 years old; the coral is from By the Tide which is 12 years old, and the sentiment is from Seaside Notions which clocks in at 6 years old.

Next up is the Atlantic Hearts sketch:

I was mulling over card ideas while Daphne and I were out walking yesterday and the shells from By the Seashore popped into my head and I got started making it right after we got back home.

Last up is the color challenge from Creative Colour Challenges:

I had seen that Pretty Peacock scrap a couple of days ago and built the card around that.  Happily, Bubble Bath is also in that DSP so this came together very easily and the shells are pretty easy to fussy cut.  I finally got to use the Two-Tone Sparkle Gems too, they're technically Balmy Blue and Bubble Bath but I still think they're perfect for my card.

I've finished my breakfast so it's time to take little Daph-Daph out.  Cheers, y'all!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  By the Seashore, Seaside Notions, By the Tide
Ink:  Crumb Cake, Pretty Peacock, Bubble Bath
Paper:  Crumb Cake, Pretty Peacock, Very Vanilla, Bright & Beautiful DSP Stack
Accessories:  Two-Tone Shimmer Gems, Dimensionals

Maine: Cape Elizabeth

Scrappy Monday, y'all.  I am honing in on the last few layouts for my Maine album (which isn't an album yet, I haven't assembled it yet) so here we go!

Who knew I'd be needing that lobster stamp from By the Tide : )  We visited the lighthouse here and then went to a nearby park and got lunch from a food truck.  Most of the adults got lobster rolls (hence the lobster on my page), but I don't like seafood so I had a grilled cheese sandwich.  Not even joking, that was the tastiest grilled cheese I've ever had!  Ryan only ate like two bites of his so I snarfed his down too : )

Today's color palette:  Wild Wasabi, Garden Green, Really Rust, Sahara Sand, Early Espresso, and white.  I really miss Wild Wasabi, I used it a lot for scrapbook pages.  It's a great grass color.

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

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Make a Difference, By the Tide
Ink:  Wild Wasabi, Really Rust, Sahara Sand, Early Espresso
Paper:  Wild Wasabi, Garden Green, Sahara Sand, Thick Basic White, Fall Flowers DSP
Accessories:  None

On Fridays We Do CAS

Hey y'all, how's your Friday going?  We got back just a bit ago from picking up my car at the dealership because it had some work done, and other than that I have had a very scrappy day.  Got one layout totally done and another that just lacks the journaling.  And I made a quick card for today.

I was thinking a bit about the very first card I ever posted on this blog while I made this one, but for today's card I used the double challenge from CAS Colours & Sketches:

It's a bit of a liberal take on the sketch since I plopped my shell right in the middle of the text, but I did *start* with the sketch in mind.  And now I have a nice anytime card to send out whenever I need one.  Most of the time I send out 3 to 5 cards per week, so I'm sure this will go out sometime soon.

After I posted my Paper Players card this week with the fantastic Enjoy the Journey DSP, Stampin' Up! announced that that paper is now an option for a Sale-a-Bration freebie.  So guess who just got several more packs to hoard *makes happy dragon noises*  And I used some of the paper on one of the scrapbook layouts today.  Hooray!

Have a great Friday, peeps.

Supplies, all SU! (many retired)
Stamps:  By the Tide
Ink:  Rose Red, Pretty in Pink, Barely Banana
Paper:  Thick Very Vanilla
Accessories:  Dimensionals, Wink of Stella

2016 Showcase, Part 1

Mornin', y'all.  I have entered the phase of pregnancy when I'm tired all the time but CANNOT SLEEP more than 3 hours a night.  I swear this kid kicked me around 4:30 this morning so hard that I heard a noise when he did it.  Not even exaggerating.

Happily for me, it's time to do the annual look back at favorite projects from the year.  Most challenges are on hiatus until January and I haven't spent much time in my craft room so this is a great time to not worry about making something new :)  So today let's take a look back at cards from January through April.

This card was for my SIL's baby shower in January; my niece's nursery is decorated with ladybugs but I did this card with the colors we used for her Cinderella baby shower.

I loved this card from February, I don't use big bold sentiments like that too terribly often and this one just speaks to me.

For March, this punch art bear wins the prize for my favorite card of the month.  I actually just sent this one to my friend Missy a few weeks ago, how I managed to hold onto it for 9 months before I mailed it to her I really don't know!

And last up for today is this card from April, which was inspired by the color palette of a bathroom in Disneyland.  Inspiration is everywhere!

I'm off to the gym.  Hubs and I made sticky toffee pudding on Monday night and I feel like I need to live at the gym for a week to offset that.  Cheers, y'all!

Bye-Bye By the Tide & A Dozen Thoughts

Mornin' y'all!  How's your day going?  I've only got a little bit of time before I have to get ready to go to my kickboxing class.  Hubs likes to pretend that he's nervous that I go to kickboxing classes.  And then I laugh at him which is what he was trying to get me to do anyway.

So...how about a card!

This card was a bit of a bugger to make.  I started out with the colorwash background--I scribbled on my largest acrylic block with a Mossy Meadow marker and spritzed it with water, then stamped it on Shimmery White cardstock.  Well, I spritzed too much, it was practically a puddle so I ran it upstairs (trying not to drip green water on the carpet) and sprinkled some salt on it.  Parts of it turned kinda brown but it was neat-looking so I abandoned my first plan for this card (flowers) and decided to use By the Tide since it's retiring.  So then I stamped my main image panel and after the background was dry, I brushed off the salt and went to stamp the coral...and I stamped it in the WRONG COLOR.  I know, I know, it's my card, no one says what color it has to be, but I'd already done the shell and I wanted ORANGE coral, not PINK.  So I had to toss that one and make another one, and this time I just didn't want to run up the stairs again to get the salt because I didn't bring it down with me the first time.  But in the end I got this card made.

I used this week's Freshly Made Sketch:

And this week's Color Throwdown:

Now you see why I had to have orange on there :p  I used Tangerine Tango, Melon Mambo, and Mossy Meadow for my colors.

Okay kids, it's off to kickboxing I go.  Cheers!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  By the Tide, A Dozen Thoughts, Timeless Textures
Ink:  Melon Mambo, Mossy Meadow, Tangerine Tango
Paper:  Melon Mambo, Shimmery White, Mossy Meadow DSP
Accessories:  Dimensionals

Bathroom Inspiration

How's it going this afternoon?  I couldn't get my act together this morning and get down to the ol' craft cave, but I finally got something made to share today.  Before we get to that, though, let's talk about how inspiration can strike at the weirdest times.  So hubs and I were at Disneyland last week with friends, and on the last day I had to go to the bathroom (the one closest to the Haunted Mansion, they're all done in different colors and styles).  So I'm in there paying my water bill when I look at the floor tiles and think HEY, that's a fun color combination!  It was Lost Lagoon, Perfect Plum, So Saffron, and Very Vanilla (I did not take a picture while I was in there because that would have been weird).  And today I made a card with those colors, except I used Shimmery White instead of vanilla.

The whole background panel and the main image panel are Shimmery White, which sorta shows up on the top of the card.  I used this week's Global Design Project theme challenge:

And since I was gone last week and missed out on doing the sketch, I used that too:

I was also thinking of this week's Retro Rubber Challenge:

I'm not 100% sure my card qualifies though because two of the stamp sets I used I've had for under a year (All Boxed Up and Timeless Textures).  I've had Gorgeous Grunge for two or three years I think, and By the Tide since it debuted in 2013, so 3 years there.  Does that average out to a year for all four stamp sets?  Anyway, since shells originate in the ocean I thought that fit the water theme.  AND, to make the background, I scribbled on my biggest acrylic block with markers, spritzed it real good with water, and then stamped the color smoosh on my paper.  So that part was watery too.

Anyway, maybe I'll continue working downstairs and actually have tomorrow's card done on time...cheers, y'all!  And don't forget to look at the bathroom tiles next time you're in there.

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  By the Tide, Gorgeous Grunge, Timeless Textures, All Boxed Up
Ink:  Lost Lagoon, Perfect Plum, Sahara Sand
Paper:  Lost Lagoon, Perfect Plum, Shimmery White
Accessories:  Regals Candy Dots

Long Time...

Y'all know I love me a good pun, right?  Well, I had a sketch and a color combination in mind and then I saw the sea turtle stamp and I couldn't help it, I laughed out loud and made this.

OH THE PUNNINESS.  I inked up the sea turtle with Versamark before I did the Soft Suede, and then heat embossed with clear EP so the colors wouldn't run when I watercolored.  Only took a minute but he looks pretty good.  I'm squeaking in just under the wire for the Just Add Ink inspiration challenge:

Pink and green is always a winner in my book, and I had lots of different thoughts go through my brain before the sea turtle won.  I also used the new Pocket Sketch Challenge:

For my card, I moved the ribbon element up to the top strip because there just wasn't room for it the way I stamped the main image.  But this card is flat and easy to mail, so now I just need to decide who to send it to!  Who would enjoy a good maritime pun?

Thanks for checking in today, y'all.  Cheers!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  From Land to Sea, Alphabet Rotary, By the Tide, Gorgeous Grunge
Ink:  Soft Suede, Wild Wasabi, Blushing Bride, Watermelon Wonder, Versamark
Paper:  Wild Wasabi, Blushing Bride, Watermelon Wonder, Thick Whisper White
Accessories:  Clear EP, linen thread

Undersea Double Feature

Howdy, peeps!  Today is Thursday, a.k.a. the day before Friday, and that's why we like it.  And this week we like it so much that I made two cards :D

I was inspired to bust out By the Tide for the first time in a while because of this ridiculously cute set of cupcakes featured on Cupcake Inspirations:

I mean for reals, have you ever seen crabs so cute?  I used Crumb Cake, Calypso Coral, and Island Indigo for the colors, and I also used the newest Freshly Made Sketch:

*cue cheesy TV announcer voice* But wait, there's more!  I couldn't resist the color combination at The Color Throwdown:

So pretty, am I right?  And I had to dig up my much-loved starfish stamp from By the Seashore to make this:

It's totally a starfish conga line.  I used Tempting Turquoise, Pacific Point, and Tip Top Taupe as my colors and of course the same sketch as the first card.  And both of these cards are flat, which means they're easy to mail.  Which I should do.  Who doesn't like getting pretty mail?

Ok, that's it for me today.  I've got to go dream up what to do for tomorrow's Friday Flashback and maybe even work on baby books.  Cheers, peeps!

Supplies, By the Tide card:
Stamps:  By the Tide, Gorgeous Grunge, A Dozen Thoughts
Ink:  Versamark, Chocolate Chip, Crumb Cake, Blushing Bride
Paper:  Island Indigo, Crumb Cake, Whisper White
Accessories:  Calypso Coral EP (seriously, why did they discontinue all the fun colored embossing powder?!)

Supplies, starfish conga line card:
Stamps:  By the Seashore, Gorgeous Grunge, A Dozen Thoughts
Ink:  Tempting Turquoise, Pacific Point, Tip Top Taupe, Whisper White
Paper:  Whisper White, Pacific Point, Tempting Turquoise DSP
Accessories:  None, believe it or not

It's a Wonderful Life

With a title like that, you'd think that I'd be posting a Christmas card today, wouldn't you?  Nope.  Like Mary Mary, I like to be quite contrary, and today's card features one of those cockleshells Mary had in her garden.

But no silver bells.  When I was little, I don't know why, but I thought "cockleshells" was a bad word.  Anyway, I love that sentiment stamp from Perfect Pennants and I'm so glad I got Gorgeous Grunge, even if I waited about a year after everyone else bought it before I jumped on the stamp wagon.  I also love me some purple, so I was happy to see the palette provided by Colour Me...!

Not just one, but TWO purples, and Coastal Cabana to boot.  Be still my heart ;)  My coral stamp is inked in Perfect Plum and rock 'n' rolled in Elegant Eggplant, and I used Candy Dots in both colors too.  Because I love Candy Dots.  Man, this card is just full of things I love.

Speaking of that, here's one of my favorite sketch challenges, Freshly Made:

I think the thing that took the longest in making this card was fussy cutting the seashell.  Other than that, easy peasy!

Well, I've got a laundry list of things to do today so I'd better get with it.  Cheers, peeps!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  By the Tide, Gorgeous Grunge, Perfect Pennants
Ink:  Coastal Cabana, Perfect Plum, Elegant Eggplant, Rose Red
Paper:  Coastal Cabana, Perfect Plum, Whisper White
Accessories:  Regals Candy Dots, white baker's twine, Dimensionals

Nachos: The Best Starfish

Hey Nacho fans!  Are you ready for another great color combo?  If you want something different than your typical fall palette, we've got something great for you:

Though I suppose you *could* use these colors to make a fall card!  I went a different direction:

I tend to use all dark colors as neutrals, so today Night of Navy counts as a neutral.  If you want to see more pretty cards with this color combination, check out the Nacho Average Challenges blog, and then let's see what you've got!

Cheers, peeps!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  By the Seashore, By the Tide, Feel Goods, Gorgeous Grunge
Ink:  Pistachio Pudding, Crisp Cantaloupe, Calypso Coral, Night of Navy
Paper:  Pistachio Pudding, Night of Navy, Very Vanilla
Accessories:  Top Note die, pearls, Dimensionals

Tidal Collage: I'm a Guest Designer!

So a couple of weeks ago, I entered a card in a color challenge at The Color Throwdown and I was chosen as that week's Featured Stamper :)  Lovely surprise, that!  So today I get to be a guest designer for this week's new challenge, and I think maybe they picked these colors just for me 'cause I love them!  Take a look:

Gorgeous, am I right?  I love them all.  Maybe it's weird to love Sahara Sand, but it's like a perfect light-colored neutral, and Strawberry Slush and Coastal Cabana are just awesome so ya know I think this one's a winner.  Actually, I even made two cards with these colors, but here's the one I'm sharing today:

It took me a while to settle on using By the Tide, but I like how this turned out.  Once again Gorgeous Grunge sneaks back onto my stamping table!  I like that spatter stamp for a nice sandy background, perfect for a beachy card.  And here it is cold and rainy outside where I am and it's almost June :p

Check out the Color Throwdown blog for more beautiful creations.  So glad I was asked to be a guest designer!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  By the Tide, Gorgeous Grunge, Four You
Ink:  Sahara Sand, Coastal Cabana, Strawberry Slush, Early Espresso
Paper:  Sahara Sand, Whisper White
Accessories:  Hexagon punch (for the end of my banner, honestly I rarely use it for hexagons), Dimensionals

Friday Flashback: A Word for You

Hello and welcome to today's very late Friday Flashback!  It was a crazy day today, we're trying to get our dogs' travel arrangements worked out since we're moving from England back to the States in a few months.  It's a mess.  But anyway, I have a long flashback today featuring the sentiment stamp set A Word for You.  So let's get started!

Here's a fun, bright anniversary card...

One for baby boy...

...and one for baby girl....

And another boy.  Of all the pregnant or recently pregnant ladies I know, and that's a LOT, there's only one girl in the bunch!  What's up with that?

Some nice fall leaves...

...and another anniversary, this time at the Eiffel Tower.

This card makes sense if you're a big Friends fan and know about Phoebe and the lobster theory.

And we'll finish up the flashback with yet another anniversary card, this one for the perfect pear.

So here's today's new card:

Ok, I cheated since I just used this punch art cupcake on Wednesday, but it was perfect with this sentiment stamp too!  I also used a very old Splitcoast color challenge on this (I have less than a dozen to do before I'm caught up!) and this week's Retro Sketch:

It's been a long day involving six hours in the car for a round trip to Heathrow Airport, so that's all she wrote today.  Have a good weekend, peeps!

Supplies, last card only:
Stamps:  A Word for You
Ink:  Chocolate Chip, Mellow Moss, Melon Mambo
Paper:  So Saffron, Mellow Moss, Chocolate Chip, Whisper White, retired DSP in So Saffron, Melon Mambo, and Chocolate Chip
Accessories:  Cupcake builder punch, hexagon punch (to do the flagged ends on the sentiment), Dimensionals