I Love Leaves

Mornin' y'all!  Ryan got off to a rocky start this morning but hopefully he'll turn his attitude around by the time he gets out of school, he was a grumpy Gus this morning.  Anyway, I had a nice relaxing weekend and got to work on several cards which makes me happy.  I decided to get out the Gathering Together DSP from two years ago along with the coordinating stamp set Gathering Moments to make a couple of cards for today.

I started out with the inspo pic from Inkspirational:

I love this pic and I really want to make a different card for every single cupcake but I don't think I'm going to be able to do that before the challenge ends.  For today's cards, I was looking particularly at the two cupcakes with leaves on them, very first one on the top row and third one on the bottom row, and I chose my DSP because it has the shiny metallic elements like the pic.  I paired that challenge with last week's Freshly Made Sketch:

I couldn't decide between the leafy patterns to use for the larger panel so that's why I made two, might as well use up multiple scraps while I'm at it.

I'm on my second cuppa this morning and as soon as I finish that, I'm off to take Daphne for a walk (the weather is not Octobery today, it's back up in the high 70s for a high but it should be pleasant to walk in) and then work on some laundry and send out this week's cards.  Cheers, y'all!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Gathering Moments, Elegant Leaves
Ink:  Early Espresso, Cajun Craze, Crushed Curry
Paper:  Early Espresso, Basic Beige, Basic White, Gathering Together Specialty DSP
Accessories:  Gathering Moments dies, Perennial Postage dies, Dimensionals, Wonderful Gems, gold cord

Toadstool Appreciation

Mornin' y'all!  Ryan isn't feeling so great this morning, poor kid, but I dropped him off at school for just a one-hour assessment today and then he can change back into jams and rot on the couch for the rest of the day if he wants to.  We got dinner from a food truck last night because we were at an event at Ryan's school, so maybe his burger didn't agree with him.

Anyway, I do have a card to share today and that's what you're here for, so here it is:

Yep, once again I am using Words of Beauty that Joanne made me get : )  This time I used one of the Stylish Shapes dies and paired it with the retired Gathering Moments because it's my stamp room and I can do what I want.  Check out the Just Add Ink sketch:

I had to ponder this one for a few days, but I was looking through my stamps for something to go with the Creative Colour Challenge for this week:

And I came across Gathering Moments and thought it would be perfect for the three smaller circles on the sketch.  I actually had to make this card twice because the first time I used Lemon Lime Twist instead of Soft Sea Foam...I really like LLT with Blackberry Bliss, so I grabbed it even though I had written down the correct color.

Not much time now before I have to go pick Ryan up, hope he's feeling better soon.  I think he'll be vegging on the couch and watching Miraculous:  The Tales of Ladybug and Cat Noir, which is a pretty fantastic cartoon set in Paris and it's on Disney Plus.  Maybe I'll watch with him.  Cheers, y'all!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Gathering Moments, Words of Beauty
Ink:  Blackberry Bliss, Soft Sea Foam, Calypso Coral
Paper:  Blackberry Bliss, Soft Sea Foam, Thick Basic White, Regal Winter DSP
Accessories:  Gathering Moments dies, Stylish Shapes dies, Layering Circles dies, Pearls of Beauty, Dimensionals

Thankful For Color Throwdown

Mornin' y'all!  Well, I was able to make two different desserts yesterday, get Ryan to school on time, take Daphne for a walk, and get the desserts delivered to the hubs at his work before 11:15 yesterday.  Pretty successful morning if you ask me : )  This morning I'm struggling to get Ryan to put on his clothes and brush his teeth, we need to leave in under five minutes and he'd rather make loads of noise than get ready.

Here's my card for today:

I'm a little sad because this card is for the last challenge of one of my longtime favorite challenge blogs, Color Throwdown:

I used Crushed Curry, Timid Tiger, and Garden Green for my colors, and one last time I had to pair this challenge with Freshly Made Sketches:

So, to the team at Color Throwdown, thank you for so many years of great color challenges.  I will miss playing along with the fun color palettes.

Okay, I need to hustle the kid out the door.  Cheers!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Gathering Moments
Ink:  Crushed Curry, Pecan Pie
Paper:  Crushed Curry, Thick Basic White, Nests of Winter DSP, Timid Tiger DSP
Accessories:  Gathering Moments dies, Textured Notes dies, Perennial Postage dies, Mini Dimensionals, Delightful Decorative Dots

Foresty Thanks

Mornin' y'all!  I actually did sleep last night, hallelujah, but my left hip and knee are really hurting this morning for no reason that I know of.  Don't know what that's about, but Daphne will insist on going for her usual walk so maybe that will help work the kinks out if I just slept on it wrong?  Here's hoping.

Anyway, here's my card for this morning:

I like the TGIF Challenges color palette this round:

I did add some Early Espresso because I needed a dark neutral to ground the other colors.  Paired that with the Atlantic Hearts sketch this week:

I thought the explosion of leaves, mushrooms, and acorns from the Gathering Moments stamp set worked well for this sketch.  I added a few of the new Pearls of Beauty in Crumb Cake for accents, I would love these in lots more colors.

That's it for now, I'm going to go take Daphne and hope that my hip and knee will cooperate.  Cheers!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Gathering Moments
Ink:  Early Espresso, Crumb Cake, Calypso Coral, Old Olive
Paper:  Old Olive, Crumb Cake, Thick Basic White, Gathering Together DSP
Accessories:  Gathering Moments dies, Textured Notes dies, Dimensionals, Pearls of Beauty

Thankful for the Paper Players!

It's Sunday and that means it's time for a new challenge from the Paper Players!  This week we have a fantastic theme from the lovely LeAnne!

Since it's now November (how did that happen?) I wanted to go with some fall colors and I decided to let the Designer Series Paper do the heavy lifting for me.  Here's my card:

I had a large scrap of that foxy pattern from Autumn Toile so I started with that, trimming it down a bit and choosing other papers from the pack to coordinate.  I really did build the entire card around that one scrap of paper and found a good place for my sentiment to go without covering up any of the foxes...the fox pattern is 100% the reason I bought this DSP pack in the first place : )

Head over to the Paper Players blog to see what my teamies have dreamed up for this theme, there's quite a variety of cards to ogle!  Then make sure to upload your own card there too.  Here's a quick recap of our challenge 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!

The Paper Players Design Team

Jaydee

LeAnne Pugliese

Claire Broadwater

Joanne James

Anne Marie Hile

Ann Schach

Jan Clothier

Stef Perry

Eliz Stewart

you are here --> Christy Stanford

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Gathering Moments
Ink:  Early Espresso
Paper:  Cajun Craze, Early Espresso, Thick Basic White, Autumn Toile DSP
Accessories:  Textured Notes dies, Dimensionals, Cajun Craze & Gold Dots

Variations on a Theme

Hey y'all, how's your week going?  We have been go-go-go the past few days doing staycation things:  a ghost town/wild west museum on Monday; the Manitou Springs cliff dwellings and Cave of the Winds on Tuesday; and the Royal Gorge train yesterday, among other things.  For something totally different today, I got my annual mammogram this morning (go get those done, ladies!) and we got flu shots.  Now Daphne and I are enjoying a quiet afternoon while Ryan and the hubs are out bowling with Ryan's girlfriend and her dad.  (Remember, Ryan is 8 years old.)

Anyway, I mentioned in Sunday's Paper Players post that I had made several other cards for the current Paper Players challenge:

So I have those cards to share today, which you will see are pretty much variations on a theme of what I posted on Sunday.  This was my first runner-up:

I masked off the edge of my Very Vanilla cardstock and used blending brushes to add ink colors, then stamped and die cut some leaves to go on top and of course I had to use that October sentiment because I love it and no matter what Ryan says, October definitely counts as a color.  But even this card was the third one I made, here are the first two:

I wasn't entirely happy with how the stamped leaves looked on the background bit on these two cards, which is why I started making the other ones.  These cards did not go to waste though, all four of my "October is my favorite color" cards went out in the mail this past Monday.

That's it for now, peeps.  I've got a pot roast in the crock pot and an adorable doggo sleeping in the chair next to me, but I think I should take this opportunity to go upstairs and see how things are in my craft room since I haven't gotten to do anything in there all week other than getting the cards ready to go in the mail on Monday.  Cheers, y'all!

Supplies, single card:
Stamps:  Gorgeous Leaves, Riley & Company greeting
Ink:  Cajun Craze, Crushed Curry, Old Olive, Early Espresso, Versamark
Paper:  Cajun Craze, Very Vanilla
Accessories:  Intricate Leaves dies, Dimensionals, Clear EP

Supplies, two cards:
Stamps:  Gathering Moments, Riley & Company Greeting
Ink:  Cajun Craze, Crushed Curry, Old Olive, Early Espresso, Pecan Pie
Paper:  Cajun Craze, Crushed Curry, Very Vanilla
Accessories:  Gathering Moments dies, Dimensionals

A Spooky (or Not) Sketch for SUO Challenges

Gooood morning stampy friends!  I had to miss the last challenge at SUO Challenges because of my drama queen appendix going nuclear (I am recovering...very slowly), but I am ready for today's new challenge!

And it is...a sketch!

My teamie Tammy beat me to making a Halloween card using this sketch, and since I've been posting all the Hex-Travaganza cards this month (which I luckily have been making for almost a year so I had *something* to post while I recover) I thought I'd pivot and do something NOT spooky.  Here's my card:

I adore the Floral Charm DSP so I decided to feature it on today's card.  I chose the floral rose pattern and the Night of Navy pattern is on the flip side of the roses, so I cut a piece to the size I needed for the card front, then cut it into my four pieces and flipped over two of them so we see both patterns.  Then I took the scrap and fussy cut some more flowers to adorn the sentiment circle, and I also put some of those on the inside of the card (which I forgot to take a picture of).  So the only stamping is the greeting, which is a great one from Gathering Moments.  I thought about making another card with the Gathering Together DSP but then I had to take a nap instead.  Stupid appendix drama.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy this sketch too and don't forget to upload your card at the SUO Challenges blog.  Whether you choose to make a Halloween card, something autumnal, or something else entirely, we'd love to see!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Gathering Moments
Ink:  Night of Navy
Paper:  Berry Burst, Pretty Peacock, Bubble Bath, Floral Charm DSP
Accessories:  Stylish Shapes dies, Charming Shimmer Faceted Dots

Leaf Lineup

Gooooood afternoon, stampy friends!  I forgot to do a Scrappy Monday post this morning, and instead I had a post-op meeting with my surgeon who broke up with me (he says I'm recovering fine and don't need to see him anymore), then I ran by the store (why do I *always* need something from the store), and then I came home and ate yogurt for breakfast (not my favorite but it's part of the recovery stuff) and took Daph-Daph out for her walk.  And then I got *really* extracurricular and did a good clean on the kitchen and put some chicken taco soup in the crockpot.  Except I didn't clean the oven or the microwave, let's not get too crazy here.

Anyway, after consuming a truly concerning amount of Doritos, I made a card to share today!

The trees here are on board with me manifesting fall and finally the temperatures are starting to get into the spirit too, our high today is in the 50s and I am Here For It.  This card came together in 15 minutes or less thanks to the Sunday Stamps sketch:

Paired with the Color Hues challenge:

I used Cajun Craze and Crushed Curry, with Very Vanilla as my neutral.  Love these colors together.  And finally the As You See It challenge:

When I first saw this challenge, I debated a bit about what my very favorite thing about fall (my favorite season) is.  Pumpkin recipes?  (We had pumpkin coffee cake for breakfast yesterday!)  More excuses to drink tea and wear comfy sweaters?  (I do love tea and comfy clothes!)  But when I took Daphne out for our walk today, I decided that you just cannot beat fall colors.

LOVE.  We currently live in COLORado (see what I did there) and the maples in the neighborhood are putting on a show and we are planning to buy one to replace the very dead tree in our front yard.  I also saw this goth tree:

Seriously this one has purpley-black leaves and I was previously unaware of the goth subculture in the tree community.  Hubs and I both grew up in Texas, the land that autumn forgot because everything turns brown in the space of about a week and falls off immediately after, there is no such thing as fall colors where we grew up unless you put on a rust-colored shirt and pretend real hard.  An actual autumn season and having mountains nearby are my two favorite things about living here.

Thank you for coming to my TED Talk about why autumn is the best season ever : )  I'm going to go finish my tea, hopefully before it gets cold, and snuggle my girl Daphne while wearing my fleece Halloween pajama pants.  Maybe watch Hocus Pocus again because I fell asleep last time.  Bliss!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Gathering Moments
Ink:  Crushed Curry, Cajun Craze
Paper:  Crushed Curry, Very Vanilla, Gathering Together DSP
Accessories:  Gathering Moments dies, Perennial Postage dies, Dimensionals, Cajun Craze & Gold Dots

Hello October!

Mornin' y'all!  I am continuing to recover from my appendectomy last week but I'm happy to report that I'm feeling better, though I still sleep a lot.  Hopefully I'll be able to get back in my craft room very soon, but in the meantime, I have a card that I made last week and didn't get to share with all the craziness.  Here it is:

Hello October!  I had to use the Gathering Together DSP for the Addicted to CAS challenge:

Which I paired with the sketch from CAS on Friday:

I couldn't resist adding a couple of stamped leaves and an acorn above my greeting but I think it's still CAS.

Didja see the first Halloween Hex-Travaganza card I posted at midnight?  I'll be doing spooky sweet cards for the entire month of October because it makes my little goblin heart happy : )  I've been planning for that all year and I'm tickled to finally get it started.

Anyway, time to get the kiddo off to school.  Cheers!
Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Gathering Moments, Everyday Arches
Ink:  Cajun Craze, Early Espresso
Paper:  Basic Beige, Gathering Together DSP
Accessories:  Dimensionals, Gold Cord

Fall in the Forest

Mornin' y'all.  Did not get much sleep last night and I have a lot to do today so we'll see how that goes, wish me luck.  And I only got one card made yesterday, I just could not settle in my craft room and it's so frustrating when that happens.  Anyway, here's what I've got:

Let's start with the Color Throwdown:

I used Terracotta Tile, Night of Navy, and Boho Blue for the colors, with Very Vanilla as my neutral of choice.  Next up is the Festive Friday challenge:

I used blue (more than one, actually), ribbon, patterned paper, and a thinking of you sentiment.  I still had Winterly Tree Tops on my mind from yesterday and there is a lovely thinking of you in that set, so that was nice.  Last up is the Atlantic Hearts sketch:

I wanted to pair this sketch with the Festive Friday challenge because it automatically ticks off the ribbon element on the list.  Kinda wish I had some Terracotta Tile ribbon to match the leaf, but I don't...I don't buy ribbon very often because I don't use it a whole lot.  I tried making the card base Terracotta Tile and just didn't like the way it looked, so I ended up with mostly blue.

Okay, I've got to go chivvy Ryan up the stairs to get ready for school.  He keeps dilly-dallying every morning so we're skating in to school just before the bell rings and I don't like that.  Being late is a personal pet peeve : p unfortunately one Ryan does NOT share, so we need to work on that.  Cheers!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Gathering Moments, Winterly Tree Tops
Ink:  Terracotta Tile, Boho Blue, Night of Navy
Paper:  Night of Navy, Very Vanilla, Timeless Plaid DSP
Accessories:  Gathering Moments dies, Textured Notes dies, Dimensionals, Night of Navy ribbon, In Color Opaque Sparkle Dots, Wink of Stella

Autumn Trio

Mornin' y'all.  Apparently our house was the chosen spot for a bird of prey to eat a late-night snack last night; we kept hearing noises from the chimney (we have a fireplace in our bedroom) and there's a lot of feathers in the yard this morning.  Between that and Daphne getting me up twice last night to go outside, I didn't sleep too much...but Ryan has STEM club after school today so maybe I have time for a nap!

It is supposed to get up to 81 degrees today which is just unsatisfactory for September and I am manifesting fall as hard as my little autumnal goblin heart will go.  And I finally busted out my Rustic Centerpieces stamp set, take a look:

The three images in Rustic Centerpieces are LORGE so I hope this still counts as a CAS card to enter at CAS on Fridays.  I thought it would lean more towards CAS if I stamped the outline image and didn't color it in at all, and I just added a simple greeting.  Plus that made it super fast to make two cards.

I was inspired by the Four Seasons Challenge which is new to me but LOOK HOW GORGEOUS:

I saw someone else link to this challenge but thanks to sleep deprivation I don't remember who it was and none of the cards in the gallery is jogging my memory either.  I must need more tea.

Anyway, I wasn't ready to be done with that beautiful inspiration challenge yet so I made a third card:

I finally cut into my Autumn Toile DSP and I love those foxes!  The stripes on the edge are the reverse of the fox pattern.  I slightly edited the Sunday Stamps Challenge sketch:

I didn't want to cover up the foxes so I switched the directions for the greenery behind my sentiment circle.  I used last year's Autumn Expressions because I love it and it has several extra-large greeting stamps that would be perfect for a sketch like this.

Daphne is pestering me to take her for a walk and who am I to tell her no?  Cheers, y'all!

Supplies, top two cards:
Stamps:  Rustic Centerpieces, Gathering Moments
Ink:  Crushed Curry, Cajun Craze
Paper:  Cajun Craze, Crushed Curry, Very Vanilla
Accessories:  Textured Notes dies

Supplies, bottom card:
Stamps:  Autumn Expressions
Ink:  Cajun Craze
Paper:  Early Espresso, Very Vanilla, Crushed Curry, Autumn Toile DSP
Accessories:  Autumn Expressions dies, Stylish Shapes dies, Dimensionals, Cajun Craze & Gold Dots

Leaves, Double Time

Mornin' y'all!  Today is the day that Ryan has extracurriculars after school so I get extra crafty (and laundry) time.  But first, I have a couple of cards to share today!

I love the new Gathering Together Specialty DSP and it's perfect for the speed stamping challenge at As You See It:

I planned out what I wanted to do and gathered up my supplies before I started my timer, and I ended up at:

Comfortably within the 10-minute time limit : )  I used the Sunday Stamps sketch:

I was starting to clear off my craft table from that card when I looked at the other paper scraps I have from that DSP and I looked at the jumbo leaf dies in the Gathering Moments bundle and wouldn't you know it, another card happened:

This one was even quicker:

Then I was side-eyeing the negative from the giant die-cut leaf but...I haven't made a third card yet : )

Guess it's time to take my naughty girl Daphne out for a walk.  While I was doing my workout this morning, she got into the craft room trash can and grabbed a piece of foam and rubber and ran back downstairs with it.  I knew she'd been trash surfing because she had a Dimensional backing piece stuck to her nose, and then she thought it would be superfun to play keep-away and not let me take the rubber away and she ate it.  So she's in trouble, but the weather is so beautiful today that it would be a punishment for ME to not go walk in it.  Grr.  That's it for now, peeps.  Cheers!

Supplies, first card:
Stamps:  Gathering Moments
Ink:  Early Espresso, Cajun Craze
Paper:  Early Espresso, Basic Beige, Gathering Together Specialty DSP
Accessories:  Gathering Moments dies, Dimensionals, Cajun Craze & Gold Dots

Supplies, second card:
Stamps:  Gathering Moments
Ink:  Early Espresso
Paper:  Crushed Curry, Basic Beige, Gathering Together Specialty DSP
Accessories:  Gathering Moments dies, Stylish Shapes dies, Dimensionals, Cajun Craze & Gold Dots

Leaf Thanks

Mornin' y'all and happy Friday!  I got some good time in my craft room yesterday, but the hubs took today off of work so we're going to paint while Ryan is at school.  But after today the downstairs will be totally DONE!  Then it will be time to start on the bedrooms and laundry room upstairs.

Anyway, here's my card for today:

I don't make square cards too often but this week's Freshly Made Sketch insisted:

Which I paired with this week's Color Throwdown:

I used Lost Lagoon, Real Red, and threw in some Basic Beige and Early Espresso.

That's it for now, peeps, have a great Friday!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Gathering Moments
Ink:  Early Espresso, Lost Lagoon, Real Red
Paper:  Lost Lagoon, Early Espresso, Thick Basic White, Gathering Together DSP
Accessories:  Stitched Shapes dies, Dimensionals, Adhesive-Backed Sparkle Gems

Gathering Some New Stamps

Mornin' y'all!  I am happy to report that new stamps DID help make me a happy crafter yesterday and look what I made!

I used the new Gathering Moments bundle (stamps and dies) and some of the coordinating Gathering Together DPS, which is gorgeous and has gold accents.  I dug out some long-retired gold baker's twine for an accent but pretty much everything else on here is new (other than the Stylish Shapes dies).  I had to have a go at the color challenge from The Paper Players:

The background square may look black in the photo, but it's actually Blackberry Bliss cardstock and I stamped the greeting in Blackberry Bliss ink, too.  And finally I get to play along with this week's CASE-ing Tuesday Challenge:

For one reason or another I have missed playing along with them for several weeks recently, so I'm glad the inspiration struck for this one.

That's it for now, peeps.  Ryan has a cooking class after school today so I get EXTRA crafty time, woohoo!  Cheers!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Gathering Moments
Ink:  Basic Beige, Blackberry Bliss, Cherry Cobbler, Old Olive, Pumpkin Pie
Paper:  Basic Beige, Blackberry Bliss, Very Vanilla, Gathering Together Specialty DSP
Accessories:  Gathering Moments dies, Stylish Shapes dies, Dimensionals, Low Profile Dots, gold baker's twine