Super Quick Tulip

Mornin' y'all!  I said last week that I was having a bit of a tough time focusing in my craft room and getting things done, but on Friday something clicked and I made a bunch of cards.  I think it's because I convinced the hubs to hold off on painting the bathroom ; )  Here's the card that kicked off my streak:

And it all started because of the speed challenge at As You See It:

As soon as I saw tulips + speed challenge, I thought I HAVE PAPER FOR THAT and here's how long it took me:

I would have been even quicker but I hemmed for a bit about whether to put another Mossy Meadow mat around the polka dot layer, and then when I went to stop the timer I accidentally paused my music instead of the timer so really I was under six minutes which is pretty dang speedy.  The latest Freshly Made Sketch also helped speed things along:

A classic sketch that made my card a cinch to put together.  And for just one more challenge, I have Just Add Ink:

There are lots of pretty patterns in the Flowering Fields DSP pack, so I was going through them prior to starting the timer to plan out my card and when I found the Poppy Parade polka dot pattern that really solidified my choices.  A few die cuts, one stamped greeting, and then some embellishments to finish it off all well below the 10-minute time limit.

The only thing that might have slowed me down was Daphne, who was SURE that I should be paying attention to her rather than my card making:

So I played with her for several minutes before I started the timer because I loves her.  We've had her for a year and a half and I am still SO HAPPY she's here, I really missed having a dog in the house.  Even if she sometimes surfs the counters or dumpster dives the trash can looking for food she's not supposed to have, she's a champion snuggler and a great companion.

That's it for now, peeps.  Cheers!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Flowering Tulips
Ink:  Mossy Meadow
Paper:  Pool Party, Mossy Meadow, Thick Basic White, Flowering Fields DSP
Accessories:  Rectangles Stitched dies, Dimensionals, Pearlized Faceted Circles

Guest Designer: Retro Tulips

Surprise bonus post for today!  I'm a guest designer for Retro Rubber :)  I've guested there a couple of times and it's always fun!  So here's the new challenge for today:

I made my card before the retiring lists came out and wouldn't you know, Flowering Tulips is on the list.  Here's what made:

Flowering Tulips is just one year old but it counts for the Retro Challenge.  Seems like I used the sentiments from this set more than the flowers themselves, and when I did use the flowers I always used the long stem stamps too, so this time I thought I'd do a little flower arranging with the flowers and leaves and no stems.  The tulips have started blooming in the blumen feld near our house (that's a pick-your-own-flowers field that's just down the road from us, they have different kinds of flowers all spring and summer) so we'll have to go get some fresh-cut tulips soon!

After I finished my first card, I still had some flowers and leaves left over so I made another card:

and I colored some plain rhinestones with my Poppy Parade Blends to match my tulip on here.

So there's both cards, and I didn't even know when I made them that So Saffron would be retiring.  I am really looking forward to seeing Lemon Lolly in person though, it looks like it'll be a clearer shade of pale yellow rather than dusty like So Saffron.  I love getting to see new colors : )

Anywha, don't forget to upload a springtastic card on the Retro Rubber blog.  Have fun!

Supplies, love card:
Stamps:  Flowering Tulips
Ink:  So Saffron, Poppy Parade, Soft Succulent, Memento Tuxedo Black
Paper:  Poppy Parade, So Saffron, Thick Basic White, So Saffron DSP
Accessories:  Tulips dies, Timeless Labels dies, Dimensionals, white sequins

Supplies, birthday card:
Stamps:  Flowering Tulips
Ink:  So Saffron, Poppy Parade, Soft Succulent, Night of Navy, Poppy Parade Blends
Paper:  So Saffron, Thick Basic White, So Saffron DSP
Accessories:  Tulips dies, Stylish Shapes dies, Dimensionals, rhinestones

Tulip Trio

Hey y'all, how's it going?  I got some work done in my craft room yesterday (hooray!) so I have a card to share today.

I was inspired by the Inspired By... challenge (funny how that works).

In particular, I was intrigued by the combination of colors, so I made my card with Pale Papaya, Sweet Sorbet, Gorgeous Grape, and Garden Green (because green is nature's neutral, you heard it here first).  I don't think I would have ever put those three colors together without this inspiration pic, so there you go.  I now have a set of pictures on my table awaiting the scrapbook treatment, and Gorgeous Grape will feature on those pages : )

I'm also entering this at Retro Rubber:

Flowering Tulips is one year old, so not quite as retro as I frequently do for this challenge but it counts!  Wonder when we'll see the tulips coming up around here?  I saw a few wee daffodils yesterday.

Have a great day, y'all.

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Flowering Tulips
Ink:  Pale Papaya, Sweet Sorbet, Gorgeous Grape, Garden Green
Paper:  Pale Papaya, Sweet Sorbet, Gorgeous Grape, Thick Basic White, Gorgeous Grape DSP
Accessories:  Tulips dies, Stitched Rectangles dies, Opaque Gems, Dimensionals

Color Me Intrigued

Mornin' y'all, how goes your week?  Today is my brother's birthday (I sent him a card already) and today I have a dental appointment, how's THAT for a celebration.  Heh.  I do have another birthday card to share today though.

I was quite intrigued when I saw the color combination from Just Add Ink, I had to try it out for myself:

I would not have put those colors together on my own in a million years but do you know I think they work!  I even managed to use only the challenge colors with the addition of white; my flowers are stamped in Blackberry Bliss.  There's a texture stamp in that same stamp set and I used it to stamp over and over on the Petal Pink panel for a one-of-a-kind-but-super-easy backdrop for the flowers.  I used the classic sketch from Try Stampin' on Tuesday:

My MIL's birthday is later this month so I think this will be going to her.  Well, I've got my dental appointment this morning and then hopefully I'll get to do some stamping and laundry in the afternoon before Ryan gets home from school.  Wish me luck!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Nature's Harvest, Flowering Tulips
Ink:  Blackberry Bliss, Petal Pink, VersaMark, Stampin' Blends in Blackberry Bliss, Petal Pink, Bermuda Bay
Paper:  Bermuda Bay, Blackberry Bliss, Petal Pink, Thick Basic White
Accessories:  White EP, Dimensionals, Wink of Stella, Rhinestone Waves Basic Jewels

Die-Cut Wreath

Hey y'all, how's your Thursday?  I got a slow start this morning, wasn't feeling too great so I took a nap this morning after Ryan got on the bus.  But I did get a card made for today.

When I saw this week's Freshly Made Sketch, I thought of this wreath die in the Natural Prints dies (coordinates with the Nature's Prints stamp set).  The flowers are from the Penned Flowers dies (coordinates with the Hand-Penned Flowers stamp set); I die cut three flowers, then adhered them to Basic White cardstock and fussy cut around them so they'd stand out a little better.

Here's the sketch:

And here's this week's Color Throwdown:

I used Fresh Fig (retired), Petal Pink, and Soft Succulent for my colors.  The "thinking of you" stamp from Flowering Tulips fit inside the wreath perfectly, and who doesn't need more thinking of you cards?

I've still got about two hours until Ryan gets home so I'm going back up to craft some more.  Cheers!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Flowering Tulips
Ink:  Fresh Fig
Paper:  Petal Pink, Soft Succulent, Fresh Fig, Basic White, Petal Pink DSP
Accessories:  Natural Prints dies, Penned Flowers dies, Dimensionals

Lovely Tulips

Hey y'all!  This week's Scrappy Monday post will actually be on Tuesday ; ) because I wanted to get my card submitted to Freshly Made Sketches before the challenge ended.  Take a looksie:

And here's the sketch:

We're well past tulip season here, but the idea popped into my head as soon as I saw the sketch so I had to make it anyway.  (Plus I needed an excuse to ink up Tulip Fields before it retires at the end of June...)  I colored the windmill with a mix of Crumb Cake and Soft Suede Blends, and then used the Color Lifter on the main part of the windmill which gave it a nice mottled look.  Also, Mossy Meadow isn't listed as one of the colors in the Flowering Fields DSP, but it sure matches up well to some of the patterns in my opinion.

Hope your week is off to a good start.  All our guests left yesterday so we're using today to relax and recuperate a bit before getting back to our regular routine tomorrow.  Cheers!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Flowering Tulips, Tulip Fields
Ink:  Soft Suede, Mossy Meadow, Stampin' Blends in Crumb Cake & Soft Suede
Paper:  So Saffron, Mossy Meadow,  Thick Basic White, Flowering Fields DSP
Accessories:  Stitched Rectangles dies, Stylish Shapes dies, Basic Borders dies, Windmill Fields dies, Dimensionals, brass butterflies

CAS Floral Triple Challenge

Happy Friday, y'all!  I unexpectedly have the day off so I plan to play in my craft room as much as I can. Wooo!

But first, a card for today.  And it's a triple challenge card!

Check out the Retro Rubber challenge:

I did the left column, watercolor + flowers + die cut.  I did a very fast watercolor wash on the card base (had to be super quick to get this done before I had to leave to pick Ryan up the other day) and added some splat stamps for a bit of extra texture.  I've had Art Gallery for over a year, Painted Poppies is two years old, and Flowering Tulips (the sentiment) isn't retro...yet.

Here's this week's Freshly Made Sketch:

And the Color Throwdown:

I used Mint Macaron, Sweet Sorbet, So Saffron, and Night of Navy, though the sentiment looks black in the photo I promise it's navy.  Kinda wish I'd used a different blue.  Also I really thought the second color here looked like Cajun Craze, but the challenge write-up said "strawberry", so I figured that was a good reason to use the new Sweet Sorbet.  It's very pretty and I also covered it in Wink of Stella because why not?

Hope you have a great Friday, peeps.  I'm going to go be productive!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Art Gallery, Painted Poppies, Flowering Tulips
Ink:  So Saffron, Mint Macaron, Sweet Sorbet, Night of Navy
Paper:  Thick Basic White
Accessories:  Floral Gallery dies, Dimensionals, rhinestones, Wink of Stella

Stamped Tulips

Happy Saint Patrick's Day, peeps!  Got your green on?  I mentioned yesterday that I made two cards for the Global Design Project sketch; I had to keep this one for today so it wouldn't get pinched:

I adore Just Jade, don't you?  It's retiring soon and I'm already sad about it.  Today's color combination is courtesy of the Inspire. Create challenge:

And here's the Global Design Project sketch once again:

Okay, now I've got to call someone on the phone and make an appointment for Ryan (I *haaaaate* calling people on the phone, and to add to the difficulty I don't speak German...) and then I'm going to go do something fun.  Cheers, y'all!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Flowering Tulips
Ink:  Just Jade, Misty Moonlight, Crushed Curry, Magenta Madness
Paper:  Just Jade, Thick Basic White, Misty Moonlight DSP
Accessories:  Tulips dies, Dimensionals

Paper Players: Happy Spring

Here we are at Sunday again already and that means a new Paper Players challenge!

It took me a while to decide what to make for today's challenge, there was so much to be inspired by with the challenge graphic!  In the end, I pulled colors from the two pics on the left, and chose to stamp a tulip because of the pic on the top right, and here's what I made:

The patterned paper was a scrap left over from a previous project, so I designed my card around it.  I decided to showcase just one grand purple tulip and must admit I've been a little obsessed with embossing my sentiments in white on colored cardstock of late :)  I love the crocuses in the inspiration pic and I just acquired a stamp which has crocuses on it, but I couldn't resist playing with this tulip suite for today.  The ribbon was a Sale-a-Bration offering a few years ago but I never get all the way through a roll of ribbon before it's retired.

Now it's your turn to make a spring-inspired card and upload it at the Paper Players blog.  Have fun!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Flowering Tulips
Ink:  Granny Apple Green, Mossy Meadow, Highland Heather, Gorgeous Grape, Mango Melody, Versamark
Paper:  Granny Apple Green, Gorgeous Grape, Thick Basic White, Flowering Fields DSP
Accessories:  Nature's Thoughts dies, Potted Succulents dies, Highland Heather ribbon, white EP

The Paper Players Design Team

Jaydee

LeAnne Pugliese

Claire Broadwater

Joanne James

Laurie Schmidt

Anne Marie Hile

Ann Schach

Cindy Beach

Christy Stanford

Jennie Maier

Starting Anew

Mornin', y'all!  We had a good time for Ryan's birthday yesterday.  He was SUPER excited that I got him balloons :) and he had opening his presents, though I'm pretty sure he thinks I got him too many books (no such thing as too many books, if you ask me).  Anyway, I'm back with the other card I made for the Paper Players color challenge:

And here it is:

It's that same Butterfly Bijou DSP as my other card, but this one just didn't feel...awesome enough for a Paper Players card?  I don't know, it just feels a bit lacking to me.  I do like that sentiment paired with butterflies but *shrug*  That's why I made the mermaid card!

Okay, I've got to get ready for work.  Cheers, y'all!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Flowering Tulips, Confetti
Ink:  Mint Macaron, Memento Tuxedo Black
Paper:  So Saffron, Bermuda Bay, Mint Macaron, Thick Basic White, Butterfly Bijou DSP Stack
Accessories:  Tasteful Labels dies, Dimensionals