Dog Days

Mornin' y'all!  Ryan's first day of school was yesterday and so far he's done well with the routine.  I had to drive him to school yesterday because his bike had a flat, but the hubs fixed that last night so Ryan rode his bike to school today.  I'm not quite finished with my first cuppa but I'm already contemplating a second one since I have to get out and run some errands here shortly.

Anyway, it has been too long since I played with the Cutest Crew bundle so that's what I did today.

I made this for the current Inspired By... challenge:

I liked the colors, and I started going through my more-or-less current stamps (i.e. the ones in the new packaging since they're all in one handy container but I still don't like the new packaging so there nyeh) and I pulled out Cutest Crew immediately.  I figured it would work well with the colors (I used Coastal Cabana, Crisp Cantaloupe, Golden Glow, and Pecan Pie) and I thought a lot of horizontal elements would be a good callback to the inspo pic, so this is a good chance to play with a few of the dies that I hadn't messed with before.  I still need to use the birds and the kitties from this stamp set, but the pupperinos are just so cute!  I needed some kind of pattern on the Crisp Cantaloupe paper so I inked up the now-retired Painted Stripes and do not ask me how I got it to go all the way across the card front when it's not that wide, I have no idea how I got the stripes to match up as well as I did and I am sure I could not replicate it.

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Cutest Crew
Ink:  Early Espresso, Crisp Cantaloupe, Stampin' Blends in Pecan Pie, Golden Glow, Smoky Slate, Crisp Cantaloupe, Coastal Cabana (the Blendabilities and WHEN IS SU! GONNA GIVE US BLENDS IN THIS COLOR)
Paper:  Coastal Cabana, Crisp Cantaloupe, Golden Glow, Pecan Pie, Basic White, Fresh Prints (of Bel Air) DSP Stack
Accessories:  Cutest Crew dies, Nested Essentials dies, Dimensionals

I told Ryan I wanted a first day of school picture of him yesterday.  This is what I got:

I told him that I am keeping many many pictures like this because in a few years when he brings a girlfriend home I'm going to have LOTS of things to show her.  Thankfully Daphne was here for the cute:

BOOP.  I loves her.

Okay, I've got the kettle on for my next cuppa, and as soon as that's gone I'll have to go run some errands.  Cheers, y'all!

Have a Sprite (Or Two)

Mornin' y'all!  I actually got in my craft room yesterday, finally wrote out this week's cards (usually I send them out on Monday so I was running late this week), and then I got to make something, woohoo!  I am looking forward to Ryan having a longer camp next week, this week I have about an hour and a half at the house between when I drop him off and when I go pick him up, and sometimes it's hard to get things done when the day is broken up like that.  But I shall persevere!

In the meantime, here's my card:

Heyyy I used an image from Summer Happiness that is NOT the sunglasses, or the sun!  Yay!  After I made this card, I did wonder if I should have used more Lemon Lime Twist, so then I made this one:

What do you think, the Coastal Cabana DSP or Lemon Lime Twist?  Either way, this layout was great for using up some smaller scraps of DSP, and a couple of long skinny scraps of Basic Black cardstock so that's a win.  I used the sketch from CAS Colours & Sketches:

The images in Summer Happiness are the perfect size for this sketch in my opinion, so maybe I'll go back and make a few more cards.  I haven't used the cherries yet.  For today's duo, I love the color combination from TGIF Challenges:

I really want to make a black card with bright pops of the other two colors now.  Maybe I'll have time to get that done after I take Daphne for her walk and before I drop Ryan off at horse camp.

Aww man, I'm out of tea, so no matter what I have to get up now.  Have a great day, peeps!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Summer Happiness, Cutest Crew
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Coastal Cabana marker, Pool Party & Lemon Lime Twist Blends
Paper:  Coastal Cabana, Basic Black, Thick Basic White, Coastal Cabana or LLT DSP
Accessories:  Summer Happiness dies, Stylish Shapes dies, Dimensionals, Shimmering Dots

Playful Puppers

Mornin' y'all, and send caffeine.  I woke up at around two last night and couldn't get back to sleep, so I read a book on my Kindle until about 4:30 (yep, finished that book).  On the upside, I'm 8 books ahead of my Goodreads reading goal for 2026.  On the downside, I'm going to be tired and headachey today.

But let's have a cheerful card, shall we?

I know there are kittens and birds in this stamp set, but let's be real, I got it for the doggos : )  I used the latest color challenge from CAS Colours & Sketches:

I was very tempted to make a Halloween card, but I went with puppers instead.  The flowers are colored with both shades of Flirty Flamingo Blends, bandanas are the two shades of Pumpkin Pie, and the puppers are, from left to right, Crumb Cake, Smoky Slate, Pecan Pie, and one of the dark neutrals because he looks like a Labrador to me and I always wanted a chocolate Lab.  Not to say I don't adore my Supermutt, Daphne:

This was her yesterday asking me to throw the rubber chicken for her.  She can, will, and does destroy most toys before you can say "Destructo-Dog", but the rubber chicken and the rubber duck are holding up pretty well.  My living room is currently decorated with the eviscerated fluff from a toy I bought her on Monday; she is completely unrepentant.  She's lucky she's cute.

Anyway, I'm off to make my second cuppa tea and then take Ms. Destructo-Dog out for a tour of the neighborhood.  Cheers!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Cutest Crew
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Stampin' Blends in Lemon Lime Twist, Flirty Flamingo, Pumpkin Pie, Crumb Cake, Smoky Slate, Pecan Pie, neutrals
Paper:  Lemon Lime Twist, Thick Basic White, LLT DSP
Accessories:  Cutest Crew dies, Nested Essentials dies, Dimensonials, Array of Dots

Spring Inspo for SUO Challenges

Mornin' y'all!  Are you ready for a new challenge from SUO Challenges?  Because we have some excellent spring inspiration heading your way!  Check it out:

I was drawn to the butterflies and the rainbow of pastel colors, and here's what I made:

I remembered that little butterfly stamp in Cutest Crew and here I am making another hello card like I talked about yesterday.  I raided my paper scraps and cut five scraps into 1" wide, 3 3/4" tall strips for my rainbow background.  All of the patterned papers are retired but that's okay for SUO Challenges, and this was a good way for me to use up some long, skinny scraps.  And in an unusual move for me, I did not use a single die to make this card!

We hope you'll be inspired too and share your card creation (or scrapbook page or other paper craft project) at the SUO Challenges blog.  And just like it says on the tin, this is a Stampin' Up! only challenge.  Have fun!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Cutest Crew
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Stampin' Blends in Pretty in Pink, Peach Pie, Lemon Lolly, Highland Heather
Paper:  Balmy Blue, Basic White, Refreshed Beauty DSP, Pretty in Pink DSP, Lemon Lolly DSP, Highland Heather DSP
Accessories:  White bakers twine, Neutral Matte Dots, Dimensionals

Best Day = Dogs

Mornin' y'all!  My car is still in the shop so I still have to walk or ride bikes to take Ryan to his film camp this week, and today Ryan wanted to ride bikes *and* bring Daphne with us which is a level of chaos I will not attempt again.  I mean, we all survived, but it's hard for me to keep track of Ryan and Daphne and ride a bike at the same time.

Anyway, I have exciting news:  I FINALLY inked up one of the new stamp sets I've had hanging around since...January?  Maybe February?  A while, anyway.  Here's my card:

The Cutest Crew bundle has puppers, kitties, and birbs and this doggo card will be going to my dog-loving pal Krissy.  I got my bright color combo from Creative Colour Challenges:

Since I colored all the doggos in with various shades of brown and ivory, I could go really wild with the other colors.  I did use Parakeet Party bakers twine and the faceted gems are supposedly Night of Navy, but I thought that the embellishments matched the challenge colors closely enough to work.

I also used this week's Atlantic Hearts sketch:

I do still have several brand new uninked stamp sets though...we'll see how long it takes to get around to those ; )  Have a great day, peeps!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Cutest Crew
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Stampin' Blends in Timid Tiger, Lemon Lime Twist, Blueberry Bushel, Ivory, Pecan Pie, neutrals
Paper:  Lemon Lime Twist, Timid Tiger, Thick Basic White, Blueberry Bushel & Timid Tiger DSP
Accessories:  Cutest Crew dies, Parakeet Party bakers twine, Solid Faceted Gems, Dimensionals