Floral Tea

Mornin' y'all.  We had a whole lot of rain yesterday and it was super windy, so I hope the cards I put out in the mailbox yesterday didn't end up getting wet before the USPS picked them up.  In fact, this was one of the cards that went out yesterday:

I had to dust off the Cup of Tea bundle when I saw this challenge from If You Give a Crafter a Cookie:

Yeah yeah I know those cookies are coffee cups, but I don't like coffee and I do love tea.  I liked the blue - purple - kraft color combo on here and also I've been watching the challenge for a while but I think this is my first time to participate in it.

Check out last week's Try a Sketch on Tuesday:

I currently have not one but two mugs of tea on the computer desk :)  I have a tin of tea samples that I'm trying to drink through, so I make a regular-size mug of one of those (since I don't know if I'll like it or not) and then my usual XL mug of a different type of tea.  I'm pretty well hydrated, ha.  Anyway, after a rather slow start this year, I did spend time up in my craft room yesterday and finished up a couple of scrapbook layouts and got started on a new card.  The plan today is to do more of the same.

Cheers, y'all.

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Cup of Tea
Ink:  Boho Blue, Soft Sea Foam, Fresh Freesia
Paper:  Crumb Cake, Thick Basic White, Flight & Airy DSP
Accessories:  Teacup dies, Stylish Shapes dies, Dimensionals, Fresh Freesia Tinsel Gems

A Cozy Cuppa

Mornin' y'all, and guess what?  Today is my TWENTIETH wedding anniversary!  Unfortunately the hubs can't be here to celebrate together, so I'm going to take Ryan out to dinner tonight and we're looking forward to having the hubs here for a hot minute at Thanksgiving.

In the meantime, it's time for tea.  And a card.

I made three cards yesterday, and I'm only really happy with one of them.  The other two (this being one of those) are oookay, but just not quite...I don't know.  Maybe it's just me?  Anyway, I do like the color challenge from As You See It:

And the sketch from Sunday Stamps:

I might just have to have another go at those two challenges and see if I can make something I'm a bit more excited about.  I am planning to spend a chunk of time in my craft room today : )  Cheers, y'all!  I'm going to go make that cup of tea before I head upstairs.

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Cup of Tea
Ink:  Copper Clay
Paper:  Misty Moonlight, Copper Clay, Flowers for All Seasons DSP Stack, vellum
Accessories:  Teacup dies, Stitched Rectangles dies, Dimensionals, white baker's twine

SUO Challenges: A Feast on Scraps

Hey hey, stampy friends!  It's time for a new challenge from SUO Challenges!

The challenge this time is to make a card using scraps.  We all have them, right?  Little pieces of patterned paper, extra stamped images, pieces of cardstock left over from other projects...okay so this challenge might be a little self-serving because I came up with it and I always have a ton of scraps.  I'm a leeeetle bit of a hoarder when it comes to craft supplies (haha), and every time I get a new pack of DSP, I make up one of these:

It's a regular sheet protector and I put on a label with the name of the DSP and the colors featured in it.  I put in a sheet of cardstock and for the 12x12 DSPs I'll put scraps in the back that are still 12" long and thus usable for borders on scrapbook pages, everything shorter than that goes in front of the cardstock.  So for this challenge, I decided to focus on the Tea Boutique DSP stack because I had a bunch of scraps from it (and also I just like it).  And then I made three cards!  Every single bit of paper on these cards (except the card bases) started out as a scrap left over from something else.  Take a look:

So here's the first card I made:

Those three strips of patterned paper were already all the same size; two of the teapots were already fussy cut from another piece of paper.  A quick stamped sentiment on a little scrap of Fresh Freesia and a run through the die cut machine and voila, my first card.

Here's card #2:

I noticed those two Crushed Curry patterns and thought they'd go nicely with that one floral.  I cut down one scrap of the floral pattern to fit my card front (this is kind of CASEd from a previous challenge), and then I flipped the other piece of that scrap over and cut the three circles from it to go behind the Sweet Sorbet teapot.  The scrap wasn't big enough to make a big circle to go around the teapot, so that's why I did three smaller ones, and I think it works.

Final card:

For this last card, I used a couple of the larger scraps.  I cut about 3/4" off the Fresh Freesia scrap and left the other one as it already was, then put together a quick sentiment panel with another fussy cut teapot.  I know the color in this pack is Parakeet Party, not Pear Pizzazz, but Parakeet Party felt too bright for this card so I switched it out for the tamer green.

So in the end, I used up quite a few of my Tea Boutique scraps, but not all--I think I still have three more teapots awaiting cards.  This was a fun exercise for me; besides using up scraps, it made me think creatively about how to use the pieces I had without cutting out anything extra.  So I hope you'll give our scrap-tastic challenge a shot and post your card(s) over on the SUO Challenges blog.  Have fun!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Cup of Tea
Ink:  Starry Sky, Garden Green
Paper:  Thick Basic White, Fresh Freesia, Petal Pink, Pear Pizzazz, Tea Boutique DSP Stack
Accessories:  Teacup dies, Stylish Shapes dies, In Color Matte Dots, In Color baker's twine, Dimensionals

Dandy Spring Tea Party

Mornin' y'all!  I spent hours yesterday happy as a clam working in my craft room...got one scrapbook layout done and the next just lacks journaling.  Plus I started picking colors for the next two layouts : D Glad my scrappy groove is back on!

But for today I have a card to share and I busted out some of the new Sale-a-Bration papers.  Take a look!

Dandy Designs is a mega stack of papers, so my main problem was narrowing down what patterns to use.  I was pondering this week's Paper Players challenge and it occurred to me that the Cup of Tea set has some tags.  Yay!  I attached the tag to the teacup with baker's twine and just let it swing freely, it's not adhered to the card front.  I thought that made it a little more fun : )

I paired that with the sketch from Try Stampin' on Tuesday:

That sketch gave me multiple layers for different patterns.  I suppose I could have used different patterns for the two background rectangles, but I thought that might make the design too busy.  Fun fact:  I used the same rectangle die for all three rectangles on my card.  I suppose the central rectangle should have been bigger to match the sketch, but I didn't want to cover up all those polka dots : )

I'm back at work today but I might be able to squeeze in just a bit of craft room time before I have to leave.  I still have so many scrapbook ideas swirling in my brain.  Have a great day, peeps!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Cup of Tea
Ink:  Granny Apple Green, Fresh Freesia
Paper:  Coastal Cabana, Granny Apple Green, Thick Basic White, Dandy Designs DSP
Accessories:  Teacup dies, Stitched Rectangles dies, In Color twine, Dimensionals

Festive Teacups

Hey y'all, Scrappy Monday will be on Tuesday this week because I want to enter my card in a couple of challenges so I have to post it today :) I actually meant to post it on Saturday but it completely slipped my mind and we were out for most of the day at another Christmas market.  So here we are!

Christmas teacups!  I heat embossed both teacup stamps from Cup of Tea, one on Real Red and the other on Granny Apple Green, then added some holly from Christmas Season and a gold-embossed sentiment from Sweet Candy Canes.  I used the Color Throwdown colors:

And the latest Freshly Made Sketch:

And there you have it!  I've got to run, I need to wrap some presents and I work today and also I need to do my French lesson.  No rest for the festive ; )  Cheers!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Cup of Tea, Christmas Season, Sweet Candy Canes
Ink:  Versamark, Real Red, Granny Apple Green, Memento Tuxedo Black
Paper:  Real Red, Granny Apple Green, Thick Basic White
Accessories:  Teacup dies, Seasonal Labels dies, Stitched Rectangles dies, white EP, gold EP, Seasonal Sequins

Take Care Leaf

Happy Friday and Happy Veterans Day.  Enjoy the long weekend but do pause to think about *why* we have a holiday.

I've got a card to share today:

This card has already gone in the mail to a friend who I think needs to be reminded to take time to take care of herself.  I used this week's Freshly Made Sketch:

And I paired it with the Color Throwdown:

I used Real Red, Smoky Slate, Bumblebee, and Tangerine Tango for my colors.  I had tea on the brain when I started this, and I actually stamped a teacup from Cup of Tea and watercolored it, but in the end I decided these colors demanded a fall leaf.

Have a great weekend, y'all!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Gather Together, Cup of Tea
Ink:  Versamark, Real Red, Bumblebee, Tangerine Tango, Smoky Slate
Paper:  Smoky Slate, Thick Basic White, Plaid Tidings DSP
Accessories:  Clear EP, Gathered Leaves dies, Stitched So Sweetly dies, Matte Decorative Dots, Dimensionals

Tea With Lemon

The sun is going down here but I do have a card to share today!  And yeah this is pretty much the only sunshine we saw today.

May have been a gloomy day here but I can still make my own sunshine in my craft room.  I used this week's Freshly Made Sketch:

I realize I'm in the minority, but I don't *like* making square cards, so I made a standard A2.  As usual, I paired this challenge with the Color Throwdown:

I used Daffodil Delight, Polished Pink, and Mossy Meadow for my colors.  Actually I started with Crushed Curry (and that's what I used to stamp the lemon slice), but the papers seemed too dark so I switched out for Daffodil Delight.  And Polished Pink is a bit more intense than the challenge graphic, that was just my faulty memory : )

I'm going to go drag Ryan off his video game for some Avengers Monopoly.  Even though I always come in last place in that game...even behind the stuffies.  I have no idea how, but it happens every time...

Cheers!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Cup of Tea
Ink:  Polished Pink, Crushed Curry, Mossy Meadow
Paper:  Thick Basic White, Polished Pink, Daffodil Delight DSP
Accessories:  Teacup dies, Layering Circles dies, Dimensionals, In Color Gems

Time for Tea

No Scrappy Monday today because I want to get a card in for a challenge before it closes later today.  And it's time for tea!

Here's the awesome sketch from CAS Colours & Sketches:

I decided to use the teacup image first, then chose a pattern from the Tea Boutique DSP Stack and let it dictate the colors for all the elements.  This came together in about the length of time it would take to brew a cup of tea...which I think I'll do right now.  So glad that it's finally cool enough to make drinking hot tea enjoyable again!  I missed it over the summer.

Cheers, y'all!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Cup of Tea
Ink:  Orchid Oasis, Fresh Freesia, Fresh Freesia Stampin' Blend
Paper:  Fresh Freesia, Thick Basic White, Tea Boutique DSP Stack
Accessories:  Stitched Rectangles dies, Teacup dies, white baker's twine, Dimensionals

A Cuppa Tea with the Paper Players

Good morning stampy friends!  Are you ready for another fabulous challenge from the amazing Paper Players?  Get ready, 'cause here it is!

A fun sketch from LeAnne!  Here's what I made with it:

It's been super-hot in Germany this last week, and we don't have AC, but that hasn't stopped me from having a morning cuppa almost every day : )  I usually drink my tea with some unsweetened vanilla almond milk and Truvia, but I couldn't resist this lemon pattern for today's card.  And this card has already been sent out, too.

Hope you'll make time to play along and post your card at the Paper Players blog.  Have fun!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Cup of Tea
Ink:  Tahitian Tide
Paper:  Daffodil Delight, Garden Green, Thick Basic White, Tea Boutique DSP Stack
Accessories:  Teacup dies, Stylish Shapes dies, Dimensionals

The Paper Players Design Team

Jaydee

LeAnne Pugliese

Claire Broadwater

Joanne James

Laurie Schmidt

Anne Marie Hile

Ann Schach

Cindy Beach

Christy Stanford <-- You are here : )

Jennie Maier

Cocktail Hour

Mornin' y'all.  Looks like I'll be staying home today with a kid who's feeling kinda puny so I'm going to get my blog post done now and then go do some serious couch time with him.  Hopefully I can talk him into watching something we'll both like.

In the meantime, new card for today:

Couple of cocktails!  Amusingly enough, I found the perfect sentiment for my card in the Cup of Tea stamp set.  I generally don't drink alcohol (I just don't care for it), but two cheery cocktails seemed like the perfect fit for this week's Color Throwdown:

I used Tahitian Tide, Daffodil Delight, Gorgeous Grape, and Calypso Coral for my colors.  That sure is a fun inspo pic too!

As usual, I paired the Color Throwdown with this week's Freshly Made Sketch:

Love this one.  Okay, I'm off to be Dr. Mom for my kiddo.  Cheers!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Nothing's Better Than, Cup of Tea
Ink:  Tahitian Tide, Daffodil Delight, Gorgeous Grape, Calypso Coral, Versamark
Paper:  Daffodil Delight, Gorgeous Grape, Thick Basic White, Tahitian Tide & Calypso Coral DSP
Accessories:  Love You More Than dies, Stitched Rectangles dies, Wink of Stella, mini Dimensionals, White EP

Sketchy Series for the Paper Players

Hey stampy friends!  Ready for a wonderful new sketch from the Paper Players?  I hope so, because it's coming at you right now!

Isn't that a great sketch?  Here's what I made:

Yep, still obsessed with Artfully Layered, the coordinating dies and papers.  Better hurry up and grab 'em before they retire on July 1!  I thought this sketch was a great way to showcase a couple of  patterned papers together, and after I made this card I just couldn't resist trying out the sketch with some other papers.  I, uh, made several more cards with the sketch :)

Here's the Butterfly Kisses DSP stack in action, sentiment courtesy of Simply Fabulous (don't you love that font?!).  My biggest problem was narrowing down which butterfly to cut out and what papers to use for the layers of the sketch.

Next up, I used the He's the Man specialty paper to make this one, no stamps required.  The hubs and I have talked about getting an RV or something and spending a year or two traveling around the US after he retires.  Don't know if we'll do that if gas prices continue to be so astronomical, though.

You know I wouldn't leave out Cup of Tea and the coordinating Tea Boutique DSP stack!

Finally, I was able to squeak out just one more quick card with the Design a Daydream DSP that's a host option.  I don't like this card quite as well as the other ones, but by the time I got to this one I was in a rush and didn't have time to add a stamped image or some embellishments.  I do like the giant floral pattern though.

If y'all like this sketch even half as much as I did, then the Paper Players gallery is going to be full of beautiful cards this week!  Have fun and get inky!

The Paper Players Design Team

Jaydee

LeAnne Pugliese

Claire Broadwater

Joanne James

Laurie Schmidt

Anne Marie Hile

Ann Schach

Cindy Beach

Christy Stanford <-- You are here : )

Jennie Maier

Supplies, Artfully Composed card:
Stamps:  Artfully Layered
Ink:  Calypso Coral, Just Jade
Paper:  Just Jade, Thick Basic White, Artfully Composed DSP
Accessories:  Tropical Layers dies, Stylish Shapes dies, Dimensionals, sequins from a past Paper Pumpkin kit

Supplies, Butterfly Kisses card:
Stamps:  Simply Fabulous
Ink:  Starry Sky
Paper:  Fresh Freesia, Thick Basic White, Butterfly Kisses DSP
Accessories:  Potted Succulents dies, Dimensionals

Supplies, He's the Man card:
Stamps:  None
Ink:  None
Paper:  Sahara Sand, He's the Man DSP
Accessories:  He's the Man die cut shapes, Dimensionals

Supplies, Tea Boutique card:
Stamps:  Cup of Tea
Ink:  Starry Sky, Stampin' Blends in Fresh Freesia & Parakeet Party
Paper:  Fresh Freesia, Thick Basic White, Tea Boutique DSP Stack
Accessories:  Teacup dies, Stylish Shapes dies, Dimensionals

Supplies, Design a Daydream card:
Stamps:  Flowing Flowers
Ink:  Blackberry Bliss
Paper:  Petal Pink, Thick Basic White, Design a Daydream DSP
Accessories:  Stylish Shapes dies, Dimensionals

The Importance of Self-Care

Confession:  I have tea on the brain this week.  *sips tea from mug*

I wasn't *planning* on making another tea card this week, but I saw this week's sketch at CAS Colours & Sketches and I just couldn't help it!  And today I *did* use the pink :)  There's one sheet in the Tea Boutique DSP stack that has a bunch of teapots on a white background, just begging to be cut out, so I cut apart all the teapots and picked one for today's card.  The patterned strip is the back side of the sheet with all the teapots on it, that was the "extra" at the sides that had teapots going off the edge of the paper, but I managed to use even that little strip, woohoo!  The floral background is a scrap from the piece I used for yesterday's card.  The only stamp is the sentiment; I added a couple of matte dots and it was done.

Fun fact:  I do think of tea as a self-care ritual.  The entire process of making tea necessitates that you take the time to boil the water, let the tea steep, and then let the tea cool a bit before drinking.  I like to take that time for a few minutes of quiet away from whatever else it is I need to do.

Anyway, here's the fun sketch I used:

I was productive in my craft room yesterday but I had trouble getting good pictures of the things I made.  I took pics of several scrapbook layouts and I'll have to take them all over again another day, they all turned out bluish or otherwise funky.  So, I took the best pic I could of the card for today.

Hope your week is going well!  If it needs improvement, perhaps take a few minutes out of your day for a nice cuppa tea?  Works for me.

Cheers!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Cup of Tea
Ink:  Starry Sky
Paper:  Petal Pink, Tea Boutique DSP Stack
Accessories:  Stylish Shapes dies, Dimensionals, Matte Dots

Teatime

Mornin' y'all!  Had a good day in my craft room yesterday--I am trucking along on scrapbook pages and just wish I could create faster because of all the ideas bubbling around my brain.  While I'm working on one layout I'm usually planning colors and papers for the next two or three.  But I also carved out some time to make a card!

Yep, this is my second Cup of Tea card this week :)  Couldn't resist using it when I saw the inspiration photo at Cupcake Inspirations:

There's lots of ladies that I would love to have a cup of tea with sometime soon.  At first I was trying to work in some Petal Pink since the inspiration photo has pink, but...I just like purple better.  And how great are Fresh Freesia and Parakeet Party together?

A friend of mine is moving and she gave us some storage cubes and shelves for Ryan's room, so today I'll be moving furniture around.  Hey, now I'll have room for all of Ryan's books on shelves, instead of having some of them on the floor!  :)  Have a great day, y'all!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Cup of Tea
Ink:  Starry Sky, Parakeet Party
Paper:  Parakeet Party, Fresh Freesia, Thick Basic White, Tea Boutique DSP Stack
Accessories:  Teacup dies, Stitched So Sweetly dies, Dimensionals, Wink of Stella

Paper Players: Floral Tea Blend

Happy Mother's Day!  Well, it's Mother's Day in America anyway.  The hubs and the spawn teamed up this morning to make orange scones for breakfast...Ryan very much wanted cinnamon chip muffins, but I had picked orange scones for breakfast days ago before I even knew that today was Mother's Day, so Ryan got overruled ;)  I'll make him muffins next time.  The hubs asked for help with part of the recipe but he just chased me back out of the kitchen, so let's take a look at the Paper Players challenge for this week!

This sweet color combo is from Joanne and I love it!  These three colors look so great together.  I couldn't resist inking up a brand new stamp set from the just-released Stampin' Up! catalog and I made this:

The Cup of Tea stamp set and matching dies are the very first bundle in the catalog, and you know that this tea-loving stamper bought it immediately :)  It took me DAYS to get a good picture of this card, not sure why that was so difficult.  The teacup might look black in the photo but I promise it is stamped on Night of Navy cardstock and embossed with white, and the rhinestones are dark blue too.  I didn't even realize when I made this card that the challenge was starting on Mother's Day, but the sentiment I chose is appropriate for that!

Hope you'll take some time to play along with the color challenge and share your card at the Paper Players blog.  I just heard the kitchen timer go off so it's time to see how the hubs and spawn did at making scones :D  Cheers!

The Paper Players Design Team

Jaydee

LeAnne Pugliese

Claire Broadwater

Joanne James

Laurie Schmidt

Anne Marie Hile

Ann Schach

Cindy Beach

Christy Stanford <-- You are here : )

Jennie Maier

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Cup of Tea
Ink:  Versamark, Granny Apple Green, Fresh Freesia
Paper:  Granny Apple Green, Night of Navy, Thick Basic White, Tea Boutique DSP Stack
Accessories:  Teacup dies, white EP, Waves of the Ocean rhinestones, Night of Navy baker's twine