Happy Halloween!

Mornin' y'all!  I sent Ryan off to school this morning wearing his Iron Man costume and lugging our contributions to his class ice cream party.  This afternoon he's going to help me get Daphne dressed up in a costume and take a few pictures : )  We let her sniff the costumes this morning and I am 100% sure she is NOT going to cooperate for dressing up.

Since it IS Halloween today, I couldn't resist just one more Halloween card this year, especially since I hadn't used one of my favorite Halloween stamp sets yet--not sure how that's possible given how many Halloween cards I made this year!  But here it is:

Carved & Candlelit is one of my earliest stamp set acquisitions and I will never get rid of it : )  I had to pull it out for this week's Inspired By... challenge:

Which I paired with the CAS Colours & Sketches sketch:

But wait, there's more!  I really liked this sketch so I had to make another card with it:

Plus I couldn't pass up the Creative Colour Challenge this week:

The leaf stamps are from Lovely Leaves, another longtime member of my stamp collection and one I won't let go of, and the "hello" is from Love of Leaves because I was looking for a small hello and it was conveniently close to Lovely Leaves on my stamp shelves.

That's it for me today, peeps.  Daphne wants to go on her daily tour of the neighborhood : )  Hope you have a wonderful Halloween!  I get to debut my new Maleficent costume tonight!

Cheers!

Supplies, pumpkin card:
Stamps:  Carved & Candlelit, Spooky Cat
Ink:  Pumpkin Pie, Pecan Pie, Memento Tuxedo Black
Paper:  Basic Black, Thick Basic White, Shaded Spruce DSP
Accessories:  Stylish Shapes dies, Dimensionals, Sunny Day Iridescent Dots

Supplies, leaf card:
Stamps:  Lovely Leaves, Love of Leaves
Ink:  Daffodil Delight, Cajun Craze
Paper:  Mossy Meadow, Thick Basic White, Cajun Craze DSP
Accessories:  Banners Collection Framelits, Dimensionals, Faux Glass Dot

Spooktacular Pumpkins

Hey y'all, happy Sunday.  Per Ryan's request (it was his turn to pick), I made orange scones for breakfast this morning.  : )  I think next weekend it's time for a pumpkin coffee cake.

And today it's time for a pumpkin card!

We're kickin' it old skool today to go with the Retro Rubber Challenge:

I used Elegant Eggplant, Highland Heather, Crushed Curry, Peach Parfait (I think?  We've had three colors with peach in the name and I get them mixed up, I just know it wasn't Peach Pie I used this time), and Tangerine Tango.  Carved & Candlelit was one of the first few Stampin' Up! stamp sets I ever bought and it's been in my collection for 18 years!  Spooktacular Bash (which I used for the greeting) is less retro at only five years old.  Even my embellishments are retro on this card.

I also used the sketch from As You See It:

And I'm quite chuffed to share that my Perfectly Preserved card was the winner of their last challenge : )  See, it's FUN to play with older stamps!  Thanks to the AYSI team for choosing my card, I enjoy playing along with the challenges.

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Carved & Candlelit, Spooktacular Bash
Ink:  Tangerine Tango, Peach Parfait, Highland Heather, Elegant Eggplant
Paper:  Crushed Curry, Elegant Eggplant, Thick Basic White, Elegant Eggplant & Highland Heather DSP
Accessories:  1 1/2" and 1 3/4" circle punches, Candy Dots, Sycamore Street ribbon, Dimensionals

When I'm not stamping or scrapping...or reading...my other other hobby is cross stitching, and last week I finished up two projects:

These are patterns by Satsuma Street in the Pretty Little Cities line.  The designer hasn't released any new Pretty Little Cities in a few years though, so I think I'll have to design my own for Texas and Colorado.  They're *called* Pretty Little Cities but sometimes it's not a city, it's a state or a country--I've also made Pretty Little Hawaii and Pretty Little Italy.  Plus more than a dozen other ones.  I've already started a new project that's making my little autumn-loving heart happy, it's a quilt-inspired design in some fabulous fall colors.  The hubs wonders how I can be at the house all day without going stir crazy but I am very, very good at entertaining myself--I always have multiple projects going, either paper or stitching.  I never get bored!

Gourd Dogs

Scrappy Monday, y'all!  I'm taking a brief pause from the Maine layouts to share a Halloweenie layout today with the punniest title ever.

 
Think about it--gourd = pumpkin, but also gourd dogs ~ guard dogs ~ good dogs.  This was the last scrapbook layout I finished in Germany and I had to let it stew for probably a week before I came up with that title.  After all, I'd already used Pupkins, but as in that case, when I finally came up with the punny title I cackled gleefully.  Out loud.  A lot.  Anyway, today's pics are all from Halloween in 2014, I miss my sweet babies.  We are looking forward to adopting a dog or two (or three, if you ask Ryan, though I don't think he'll win that argument with my hubs) next year after we get settled in Colorado.

Today's color palette is taken straight from the Cast-a-Spell DSP:  Old Olive, Pumpkin Pie, Perfect Plum, and Basic Black.  Um, I just accidentally typed Perfect BUM instead of plum, ha!

Anyway, Ryan and I are going trick-or-treating with his cousins tomorrow night and I just bought my costume this morning.  Ryan says I need to have a costume because he thinks people would make fun of me if I don't, so here comes the No Drama Llama Mama.  Aww man, I need to get some heart-shaped sunglasses!  Cheers, y'all.

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Carved & Candlelit, Headline Alphabet
Ink:  Pumpkin Pie, Old Olive, Memento Tuxedo Black, Basic Black marker
Paper:  Old Olive, Perfect Plum, Basic Black, Thick Basic White, Cast-A-Spell DSP
Accessories:  None

Scrappy Showcase, Part 3

Mornin, kids!  While everyone else is New Years resolution-ing, I made scones for breakfast.  With a sugary glaze on top because of course.  I'm 8 months pregnant and I want to bake ALL THE THINGS.

But now that I've made (and eaten) the scones, it's time to get some things done today.  Aside from the giant pile o' dishes I washed this morning and the load of baby laundry in the washer (ooh, I should go switch that out).  But right now we're talking the last of the 2016 Scrappy Showcase!

I actually made this layout more like at least two years ago but it only showed up on the blog last October.  This was from Halloween in 2004 and was the first time hubs and I carved pumpkins.  Then we didn't do it again until last year ;)  Anyway, I love this layout and I still miss my little Chewie and he's been gone for over 10 years now.

Next up is this Tokyo Disney Sea layout, which I dearly love and maybe I should buy more of that patterned paper before it retires.  (Or maybe not, I have a giant stash of paper.)

And here's a fun Thanksgiving layout for you, I love the contrast of the dark blue page base with all the warm colors in the patterned paper.

And my last layout for the 2016 Scrappy Showcase is this simple one from the Great Wall Marfon.  Partially because I'm just tickled that I got the words "marfon" and "chompuns" immortalized in my scrapbooks since hubs and I still say them (and so do Missy and Bennet, for that matter).

So there you have it!  The 2016 Scrappy Showcase is now concluded.  And I need to get in my craft room today and see what new goodness I can whip up.  Cheers, y'all!

Carving Pumpkins

Happy Halloween!  Most years, hubs and I don't really do much for Halloween (next year, when we have the baby to dress up, it's ON like DONKEY KONG) but I do have a Halloween layout for you today!  I think these pictures are from October of 2004?

Click to embiggen and sorry for the glare on the photo.  I was already into Stampin' Up! by this time, if you notice that the pumpkin I carved matches one of the stamped faces pretty well :)  The smallest pumpkin is a pup-kin with a dog face for Chewie, my sweet furbaby that I had before I got married.  I actually made this layout last year but never posted it to the blog (I have several layouts that haven't been shared yet, whee!).  I have NO idea what made me think of this color combo, but I think it works:

Long-retired Gable Green along with still-current Tempting Turquoise, Pumpkin Pie, and of course Basic Black.  I only did one strip of Pumpkin Pie DSP across the layout because I figured that I had enough orange in the pictures with all the pumpkins to get the Halloween point across.

Have a spooktacular day, y'all!

Supplies, mostly SU!
Stamps:  Carved & Candlelit
Ink:  Gable Green, Basic Black
Paper:  Gable Green, Basic Black, Tempting Turquoise, Ghostly Greetings DSP
Accessories:  Sizzix alphabet

Friday Flashback: Carved & Candlelit

Happy Friday, y'all!  I have an appropriately October-ish stamp set for today's Friday Flashback:  Carved & Candlelit.  Love it!  So let's get to the fun part :)

Also features Rough Edges Alphabet

It's hard to tell from this photo, but the jack o' lanterns' faces are embossed with Iridescent Ice so they're all sparkly.

Also features Cool Cat, Background Basics, All-Year Cheer III

What's more Halloweeny than a cool black cat?

Also features Background Basics, Petite Patterns, All-Year Cheer II

I happen to know a couple of people whose birthdays are ON Halloween, and quite a few more with October birthdays who also love pumpkins.

Ok, so this one is really old:  it's a layout from the first set of baby books I did way, way back.

Also features Bright Blessings (unmounted wheel)

So Carved & Candlelit is a simple little set with a couple of pumpkins and a few faces, but clearly I love it.

Also features Grateful Greetings

Again with the Iridescent Ice EP faces.

Also features Priceless, Falling Leaves

You've seen this layout on here quite recently but I couldn't leave it out.  And that's the Flashback part of today's post, so here's the new creations:

Yep, I made two!  My brother-in-law and his son have birthdays one week apart so I figured I'd make cards for both of them.  And between the two cards, I used every stamp in the set one time.

First up is the grown-up card; I had quite a time trying to get this card to work.  This is actually the FOURTH background panel!  I don't know why but I was just having trouble getting things to gel yesterday when I worked on it.

I used the color combination from The Color Throwdown:

And the sketch from Freshly Made Sketches:

And I think this one counts for the Male Room challenge to make an autumn card for a guy:

So next up, the card for the 6-year-old.

This one didn't quite want to gel either, I don't know what is up with my craft cave lately.  But anyway I used the color combo from ColourQ:

And the sketch from Retro Sketches:

I think this might have worked better for me if I'd made my card more like 5 inches square instead of 4.25".  But I don't have envelopes that size, so what can ya do.

Well, I know what I'm going to do:  I'm going to go back down to my craft room and work on another project, and hope that this time my mojo cooperates a little better.  Cheers, peeps!

Supplies, next-to-last card:
Stamps:  Carved & Candlelit, Fall Fest, Birthday Wish, Work of Art
Ink:  Pumpkin Pie, Garden Green, Cherry Cobbler, Chocolate Chip
Paper:  Chocolate Chip, Whisper White
Accessories:  Dimensionals

Supplies, last card:
Stamps:  Carved & Candlelit, All-Year Cheer II
Ink:  Basic Black, Kiwi Kiss
Paper:  Basic Black, Kiwi Kiss, Riding Hood Red, Tangerine Tango, Daffodil Delight, Whisper White, Tangerine Tango DSP
Accessories:  circle punch, Dimensionals

Pumpkins, Two Ways

The day after I finished the baby books, a friend of mine asked if I would make invitations for her daughter's birthday party...and said lil girl is a Halloween baby.  She requested purple and pumpkins, so here's what I came up with first:

Halloween colors, and a pumpkin, but still girly with the swirls in the background.  I used this week's new Global Design Project sketch:

Buuut that wasn't exactly what Sarah was looking for so here's my second try:

Sarah really liked the pumpkins I did on her daughter's baby book, so she wanted something similar to that.  I think this needs some sponging around the white panel though...I did sponge on some Pale Plum ink but it's too pale :)  Anyway, baby book.

And a closeup of the pumpkins and swirls:

The space is much smaller on a card front, and I used the pumpkins from last year's Fall Fest instead of my old favorite Carved & Candlelit because of the matching Framelits.  But anyway, there isn't room on a card front to do the swirls the exact same way so I just did them on the entire panel, and we'll see if that meets with her approval.

Anywha, for the second card I used the new Freshly Made Sketch:

So that's your two-fer today, and now I'm craving pumpkin coffee cake.  Cheers, peeps!

Supplies, first card:
Stamps:  Fall Fest, A Dozen Thoughts, Soft Swirls
Ink:  Pumpkin Pie, Rich Razzleberry, Old Olive, Whisper White
Paper:  Rich Razzleberry, Basic Black, Pale Plum, Whisper White, Cottage Garden DSP
Accessories:  Circles & Fall Fest Framelits, Dimensionals

Supplies, second card:
Stamps:  Fall Fest, A Dozen Thoughts, Priceless
Ink:  Tangelo Twist, Old Olive, Rich Razzleberry, Memento Tuxedo Black
Paper:  Rich Razzleberry, Basic Black, Pear Pizzazz, Whisper White, Old Olive DSP
Accessories:  Fall Fest Framelits, Dimensionals

Friday Flashback: Grateful Greetings

Welcome to this week's Friday Flashback!  Today's randomly chosen featured stamp set is Grateful Greetings, which has lots of great sentiments for Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Valentine's Day.  Just so happens that I have cards for all four of those holidays today!

How do you like this Parisian Valentine?  (I still just like the word Parisian, it's fun to say.)

One of these was up on the blog last month when I did the Falling Leaves Friday Flashback, so I thought I'd show you the two different versions I'd made of this card.

These were the Christmas cards we sent out the last year that we lived in Japan.

And for today's brand-new card:

Toldja I'd do another Halloween card.  The only problem I had while making this was that I'd picked out a sketch to use, but my main image panel ended up being too large and in charge to work with the sketch, so I kinda just went with this layout based on some DSP scraps I had (yay for using up more scraps).  Weirdly, it's almost identical to the Parisian Valentine card, and I didn't even look at that one before I made this one.  Regardless, I rather like the layout, what do you think?  I think I know who to send this one to.

The jack-o-lanterns' faces are stamped in craft Basic Black and embossed with Iridescent Ice EP, which looks really fun IRL but is kinda hard to capture in a photo.  Well, you can kinda see the sparkle, but it's better in person.  This was the first time I'd used my craft ink pad in quite a while and it looked like the Exxon Valdes in there--I think I re-inked it last time and it's now really, really messy.  Oops.

Anywha, I used the brand new color challenge over at Fab Friday:

Great Halloween colors, don'tcha think.  I like a good purple in the mix for Halloween.  Thanks for stopping by for today's Friday Flashback, have a great weekend!

Supplies, last card only, all SU!
Stamps:  Carved & Candlelit, Grateful Greetings (both retired)
Ink:  Tangerine Tango, Rich Razzleberry, Old Olive, Basic Black craft
Paper:  Rich Razzleberry, Basic Black, Whisper White, scraps of Howlstooth & Scaringbone and Cast-a-Spell DSP (both retired)
Accessories:  Iridescent Ice EP