Snowflake Blues

Hey y'all, how's it going?  It continues to be very difficult for me to get any time in my craft room...I'm not sure what it is, but I can't seem to get Ryan on a schedule and back to doing quiet time every day.  Yesterday I let him watch Paw Patrol for 15 minutes while I went upstairs to make a birthday card for hubs' coworker...yeah Ryan turned up all the floor heat controls as high as they would go on the entire bottom floor.  Heated floors are totally amazing, but when you turn them up to the max it really does heat up the house quickly.  Last time he did that, they were on overnight and basically I had a hot yoga class the next morning. *eye roll* I caught it quickly this time but it was still pretty toasty downstairs all evening.

Anyway, I did at least manage to make this card:

On Wednesday, I tried putting Ryan in quiet time for a while but all I got to do in my craft room was sit down and stare at my supplies for about 3 minutes before Ryan decided quiet time was over and came in there and started messing with my paper trimmer.  Sometimes it's just not your day.  Anyway, as luck would have it yesterday, I saw this card by Brian King and I loved the layout of it.  But since I had limited time with my ticking time bomb supposedly watching TV downstairs, I made mine a little simpler.  At least I got it done?

Have a good weekend, peeps.  Hope you get some crafty time for yourselves!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Itty Bitty Birthdays
Ink:  Night of Navy
Paper:  Thick Whisper White, Pacific Point, Pool Party, Snowflake Splendor DSP
Accessories:  Rectangles Stitched dies, So Many Snowflakes Dies, Dimensionals, rhinestone

Birthday Sunshine

Mornin' y'all!  It's funny to me that I have a sunny card to share and we're supposed to have thunderstorms all day today.  :D

I busted out the June Paper Pumpkin kit for the sun die-cut (it already had that beautiful watercolor and the gold on it!) and the "sunshine" stamp.  I still don't use nearly as much of the Paper Pumpkin kits as I should but at least I'm using some of them?

Anyway, I'm entering this card in a new-to-me challenge called Festive Friday:

I did a CAS design, single image (the sun), and a birthday theme.  I wish I'd been able to play along with the National Orange Blossom Day challenge, but I enjoyed this one too.

I chose the sun to fit in with the Global Design Project theme challenge: 

Although looking at the design team's cards, you'd think the theme was cocktails ;)

I also used the sketch from CAS(E) This Sketch:

For the rectangular layer, I scribbled on an acrylic block with a Coastal Cabana marker, spritzed with water, and stamped it on my card base.  Simple, easy, quick, and the result reminds me of a swimming pool.

Okay, kiddo wants me to go watch Brave with him.  I think his favorite character is Morddu, the demon bear.  Ha!  Cheers, y'all.

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Itty Bitty Birthdays, June 2020 Paper Pumpkin kit
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Poppy Parade, Coastal Cabana marker
Paper:  Thick Whisper White
Accessories:  Sun die cut from Paper Pumpkin, Gold Glitter Enamel Dots, Dimensionals

Stained Glass Birthday

Hey y'all, how's it going?  I've got a lot of stuff to do today...gotta do LOTS of laundry and dishes, and the hubs has requested baked spaghetti for dinner so that takes a while to make.  Better get my roller skates on.

Let's start off with a card and then I'll get to work ;)

Painted Glass is another stamp set on the retiring list.  It's beautiful and I haven't used it nearly as much as I thought I would...but it seemed like a good idea for the Global Design Project sketch:

I used the colors from Color Throwdown:

I used Blackberry Bliss, Berry Burst (retired), and Blushing Bride, so today's blog post is brought to you by the letter B.  The sketch made me think of the Color Theory DSP that we had a couple of years ago, and one of the colors was Berry Burst, so that's where the idea for my card started.

So that stained glass window image makes me think of a quote from The Princess Bride:  "I'd just as soon destroy a stained glass window as an artist like yourself.  However, since I can't have you following me either..." *The Man In Black knocks Inigo on the head*

Okay, sounds like the washer is done with the first load, and all the dirty dishes in the sink are ready to get washed, so I'd better get with it.  Have a great day, peeps!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Painted Glass, Itty Bitty Birthdays
Ink:  VersaMark, Blackberry Bliss, Berry Burst, Blushing Bride
Paper:  Blackberry Bliss, Berry Burst, Thick Whisper White, Color Theory DSP
Accessories:  Layering Circles dies, clear EP, Dimensionals, retired glitter enamel dots

Water Lily Wishes

Oyy, it's been tough to get time in my craft room this week, which I usually do when Ryan has quiet time in the afternoons.  Yesterday I snuck off into my craft room after the hubs got home and made this real quick while hubs and Ryan were playing together.

Gold embossing powder FTW!  I embossed the water lily image onto a pattern from the Lily Impressions DSP so it's got some texture to it and I didn't have to color it ;)  I used gold glitter enamel dots as embellishments, which might possibly be retired but I don't care.

Check out the Global Design Project sketch:

I was kicking around other ideas for this sketch, but when I saw the inspiration photo from Hand Stamped Sentiments, I couldn't resist the water lily.

The idea to do the sentiment on the lily pad die cut really sold me on it ;)  I think the Lily Impressions paper was made for this challenge.

And since I used embossing powder, I can enter this at the Paper Players too:

When we first moved back to the States from England, I embossed ALL THE THINGS for a while.  I *could* do heat embossing in England, but I had to go to a different room and plug the embossing gun into the transformer so it wasn't convenient.  Once I could just plug it in without leaving my craft room, I wanted to emboss everything :D

Well, we've got my in-laws arriving this afternoon so I need to get to work on a couple of things.  Cheers, y'all!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Lovely Lily Pad, Itty Bitty Birthdays
Ink:  Versamark, Garden Green
Paper:  Flirty Flamingo, Granny Apple Green, Lily Impressions DSP
Accessories:  Lily Pad Dies, Layering Circles Dies, Gold EP, Gold Glitter Enamel Dots, Dimensionals

Birthday Frost

Mornin' y'all!  How's your week going?  I am THISCLOSE to finishing Ryan's baby book...I have, like, under a half dozen layouts left to do, so I've been working on that as much as I can, but I still made a card to share today.

I used this week's Freshly Made Sketch:

And paired it with this particularly lovely color combination from Color Throwdown:

I used Rich Razzleberry, Mint Macaron, Tranquil Tide, and Very Vanilla for my colors, and the retired Frosted Floral Specialty DSP, which has a pearly sheen to it.  Tranquil Tide (retired) was the closest color I could think of for that third splat.  Love these colors together.

Hope you have a great day, peeps!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  First Frost, Itty Bitty Birthdays
Ink:  Rich Razzleberry, Tranquil Tide
Paper:  Mint Macaron, Tranquil Tide, Thick Very Vanilla, Frosted Floral Specialty DSP
Accessories:  Frosted Bouquet dies, Rectangle Stitched dies, Dimensionals

Halloween Birthday Cat

Hey, y'all.  Well, it's official:  I have succumbed to whatever virus my kiddo and my husband have had.  I'm kinda miserable.  But I gotta keep moving forward!

My friend Sarah's daughter was born on Halloween, and Sarah *loves* Halloween. Sometimes they ask me to make birthday party invites for Leora (I'd be invited, but ever since we all left Japan, it seems like we've been living on different continents!).  So Sarah messaged me yesterday and said Leora wants something with spooky cats.  Here's my first try:

You can't tell from the picture, but the cat is embossed with Shimmer Black embossing powder (it looks really cool IRL).  I used this sketch from CAS(E) This Sketch:

And Sarah sent me a picture of what Leora's cake is going to look like:

I may do some tweaks or go in a different direction depending on what the birthday girl wants (she was already asleep by the time I made my first mock-up for her).  Hopefully I can kick this virus quickly so my creative mojo comes back!

Cheers, y'all.

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Wonderfully Wicked, Itty Bitty Birthdays, Birthday Backgrounds
Ink:  Versamark, Granny Apple Green, Memento Tuxedo Black
Paper:  Pumpkin Pie, Granny Apple Green, Highland Heather, Thick Whisper White
Accessories:  Shimmer Black EP, Stitched Shapes dies, Dimensionals, black crocheted trim (retired), Word Window punch (also retired)

Classic Car for Dad

Happy Saturday, y'all!  I don't usually post on Saturdays, but I missed yesterday and I just could NOT let the Color Throwdown color challenge pass me by.  My dad's birthday is coming up later in July, so I made him a card:

And here's the Color Throwdown that I couldn't pass up:

I used Blueberry Bushel, Pumpkin Pie, and both Smoky Slate and Basic Gray for my colors.  My dad's favorite color is blue, and most of his wardrobe is orange because he's an Oklahoma State grad (and rabid fan), so these colors together were perfect.  He also loves cars, so yeah, this was easy to put together!

Here's the inside of my card:

I'd love it if SU! came out with MORE car sets like this since my dad, brother, and 2-year-old son are all obsessed with cars.  The Cars movies are on pretty constant rotation in our house thanks to kiddo, who can name almost every single character if they say his name during the movies.

So there's my little Saturday card.  As soon as my tea finishes steeping, I'm going to go in my craft room and work on some scrapbook pages!  Woo!  I was thinking about my next layout when I went running this morning.  I like to plan paper crafts while I run because I'm a weirdo and I don't want to think about running :p

Have a great weekend, peeps!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Geared Up Garage, Itty Bitty Birthdays
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Blueberry Bushel, Smoky Slate, Basic Gray, Pumpkin Pie
Paper:  Smoky Slate, Blueberry Bushel, Thick Whisper White, Classic Garage DSP Stack
Accessories:  Garage Gears dies, Dimensionals, Tailored Tag punch

Garden Birthday Wishes

Mornin', y'all!  My first new catty Stampin' Up! order got here yesterday...I checked the tracking online and it said delivered, but I didn't see it anywhere around my house.  Well, Mr. Brown delivered it to my next-door neighbor!  I just went and grabbed it off their porch, hoping no one in the house was like "Why is she STEALING from us?!"  But I promise, the box was addressed to me :D

Buuuuuuut I had an idea in my head for the card I'm sharing now before I knew that my SU! order would get here, so no new stamps.

However, I did just get the Happiness Blooms enamel dots yesterday, so I went ahead and used some on here!  They're Night of Navy, which matches the sentiment and the thin border--it's not black, I promise.  I chose Grapefruit Grove for the flowers because it seemed cheerful and I hadn't played with that color in a while.

I used the Global Design Project sketch:

I did move the greeting down, but I made that choice because I was working with a scrap of the Garden Lane DSP and it was already two inches wide, so I had room underneath the flowers and I just went for it :)

I'm also entering this at the theme challenge at Inkspirational:

Good thing this is a stampy garden, and not a reflection of what my real-life garden would look like if I had one--full of weeds!  I am not much for gardening.  Or yard work.  But I can have pretty paper flowers in my stamp room so it's all good.

Hope you have a great day, y'all!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Beautiful Bouquet, Itty Bitty Birthdays
Ink:  Grapefruit Grove, Night of Navy
Paper:  Mint Macaron, Soft Sea Foam, Night of Navy, Thick Whisper White, Garden Lane DSP
Accessories:  Bouquet Bunch Dies, Happiness Blooms enamel dots

Ambivalent Cheers

Hey y'all!  After my paper trimmer bit me on Monday, I decided to take yesterday off from my craft room...luckily before I hurt myself on Monday I actually made two cards.  So here's the second one:

I bought Bloom By Bloom even though it's not carrying over to the new catalog because I just really liked the bold flowers.  The Tropical Escape DSP stack is one of my favorites.  And still...I'm not sure I really like this card much.  I don't know why, but it's not jiving with me.  Oh well, not every card can be your favorite.

I loosely based my card on the Global Design Project sketch:

I don't really care for square cards, so I made mine A2 size.  I also used the colors from the Just Us Girls inspiration photo:

I used Granny Apple Green, Daffodil Delight, Melon Mambo, and a smidge of Shaded Spruce.  I was going to use some Highland Heather to bring in the purple but it didn't work on my card.

That's it for me today, y'all.  I'll have to get back in my craft room this afternoon and hope my paper trimmer hasn't developed a taste for my fingers ;)  At least I made some really great progress on my giant stitching project yesterday!  Yeah, I skipped the paper trimmer in my craft room in favor of hanging out with dozens of needles and some sharp scissors.  But I didn't get injured with my stitching...

Cheers, y'all!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Bloom By Bloom, Itty Bitty Birthdays
Ink:  Granny Apple Green, Daffodil Delight, Melon Mambo, Shaded Spruce
Paper:  Granny Apple Green, Thick Whisper White, Tropical Escape DSP Stack
Accessories:  Rectangle Stitched Framelits, Mini Dimensionals

Hot Wheels Birthday

Mornin' folks!  Hope you're having a good week.

I inked up another new stamp set!

I needed a birthday card for a 4-year-old boy who's obsessed with Matchbox cars, so Geared Up Garage to the rescue!  Love the coordinating Classic Garage DSP too; I used three prints for this card.

And here's the inside, with a simple greeting from Itty Bitty Birthdays.

I used the sketch from Fusion:

I love the inspiration picture too, but butterflies wouldn't work so well for the card I needed :)  I'm also entering this at Just Us Girls:

Cars move, and little boys never stop moving, so I think I'm covered on this one :)

Have a great day y'all!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Geared Up Garage, Itty Bitty Birthdays
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Real Red, Stampin' Blends in Real Red, Smoky Slate, and Pool Party
Paper:  Real Red, Thick Whisper White, Classic Garage DSP
Accessories:  Garage Gears Thinlits, Stitched Shapes Framelits, Dimensionals