A Pair of Vixens

Mornin' y'all!  I just finished putting all the things back in our china hutch and I even got out all my kokeshi dolls and put them out too.  They haven't been on display for the past couple of houses so it was fun to look at them all again : )  I might spread them out around the house but for now they're all in and on the china hutch.

I have two foxy cards to share today and actually they both went out in the mail yesterday.

I chose the sentiment from Nuts About Squirrels because a.) foxes have bushy tails too and b.) the crud is going around so this sentiment is seasonally appropriate.  I love this week's Inspired By... challenge:

I love that hot chocolate set, it's darling.  I did a reverse image search on Google but I can't find anywhere that it's for sale, sadly.  Not that I need, it but it sure is cute!  I couldn't decide which of my fox images I wanted to use for my card today, so I made two because why not.

I seem to have this week's Freshly Made Sketch on the brain:

And even with the sketch sitting right in front of me on my phone screen, I still can't help playing around with the proportions of the three background strips.

It's time to take Daphne for her daily walk and then I'm sure there's something else I need to be doing around the house.  I already did the dishes though so maybe I'll be able to get some crafty time this afternoon.  Cheers, y'all!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Fox & Friends, Foxy Friends, Nuts About Squirrels
Ink:  Poppy Parade, Basic Gray, Memento Tuxedo Black
Paper:  Gray Granite, Basic Gray, Thick Basic White, Lily Pond Lane DSP Stack
Accessories:  Circle & scalloped circle punches, Poppy Parade baker's twine, Dimensionals

Nutty Squirrels

Mornin' y'all!  How's your Wednesday going?  Ryan has STEM club after school today so that means I get an extra hour kid-free.  Well, not entirely, since I have Daphne : )  She did pretty well on our walk yesterday; we've been a little worried that she goes bonkers when she sees or hears other dogs but she did better with that yesterday.

Anyway, I figured that one Tahitian Tide card deserved another so here we are:

And here's the Retro Rubber challenge that I started with:

I used Bubble Bath, Fresh Freesia, Highland Heather, Orchid Oasis, and Tahitian Tide for my colors.  Nuts About Squirrels is 3 years old and I was inspired to use it for today's card by the As You See It challenge:

One of the squirrels has an acorn, and I found another one in an old My Paper Pumpkin set to add a few more to my card front.  These squirrels always remind me of The Sword in the Stone when Merlin turns Wart and himself into squirrels as a teaching exercise.  Also I watched both this movie and Robin Hood over the past couple of days : )

That's it for me today, kids.  I'm going to go play with Daphne until it's time to get Ryan off to school.  Cheers!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Nuts About Squirrels, My Paper Pumpkin
Ink:  Bubble Bath, Fresh Freesia, Highland Heather, Orchid Oasis, Tahitian Tide, Pecan Pie
Paper:  Tahitian Tide, Thick Basic White, DSP in Tahitian Tide, Highland Heather, Orchid Oasis
Accessories:  Stylish Shapes dies, Dimensionals

The Birthday Squirrel

Someone please tell me how I could go to bed at 9:30 last night and still feel so tired!  I did get up and do my workout this morning but all I want to do is crawl back in bed.  But I have things I need to do instead, so might as well get after it.

Anyway!  I have a fun card to share today.

Okay yeah I'm a little bit obsessed with that last Paper Players sketch and I had to use it again.  And I love the squirrels in Nuts About You!  It's on the retirement list, so best snatch it now or you'll be sad and squirrelless.  I've stamped these squirrels in might-be-found-in-nature neutral colors and also several times in technicolor and I loves them.  Anyway!  (Did I say that already?)  I'm entering this at Festive Friday, just under the wire:

From the list, I used twine, fur (that squirrel looks furry to me), spots, and a birthday sentiment.  It took me several tries to figure out how I wanted to do the twine, but I ended up with two strands and a simple bow.  I added a few Calypso Coral gems for accents and called it done.

I have to pick Ryan up early from school for a doctor's appointment, so I'd better get started on what I want to get done this morning.  Cheers!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Nuts About Squirrels
Ink:  Starry Sky, Calypso Coral
Paper:  Crushed Curry, Starry Sky, Thick Basic White, Butterfly Kisses DSP Stack
Accessories:  Stylish Shapes dies, Dimensionals, Calypso Coral twine, Fine Sparkle Gems

Squirrel Girl Greetings

Hey y'all!  I didn't get quite as much done in my craft room yesterday as I wanted to (I will forever have more things that I want to do in there, I will never run out of projects) but I did get a few cards made and I did six loads of laundry, so I did get some things done.  Even put up all the laundry and made the bed!

So, card for today!

I just love this squirrelly stamp set : )  Kinda wish it had dies but it's not that hard to fussy cut, either.  I was hunting through my embellishments for something to put on a different card and I found the champagne rhinestones, which I thought were perfect for this card.  Yay!

I used this week's Freshly Made Sketch:

I really like this one.  Simple, but lots of scope for imagination as Anne Shirley would say.  As per usual, I paired it with the Color Throwdown:

I think that pretty inspiration pic left me with acorns on the brain because I just couldn't do anything other than the acorn-holding squirrel for my card.  I busted out some long-retired colors here:  Not Quite Navy, More Mustard, and still-current Soft Suede.  The square behind the squirrel is white cardstock and I used a blending brush to brush on a bit of More Mustard ink so the white bits on the squirrel would stand out better.

Hope you have a great day, peeps!  I will be busy at work today by the time you read this.

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Nuts About Squirrels
Ink:  More Mustard, Soft Suede, Crumb Cake, VersaMark
Paper:  More Mustard, Soft Suede, Thick Basic White, Not Quite Navy DSP
Accessories:  white EP, Stylish Shapes dies, Dimensionals, Champagne Rhinestones

SUO Challenges: Hello Fall!

Hello stampy friends!  I know I missed Scrappy Monday yesterday, but we got back late Sunday afternoon from our Norwegian fjords cruise and I'm so TIRED and I think I'm getting sick.  I tested negative for Covid yesterday but went in this morning for a strep throat screening, so that's fun.  Okay not really so let's get to something that IS fun, a new challenge from SUO Challenges!

This time our theme is autumn and fall and I AM HERE FOR IT.  So much, in fact, that I made two cards for the challenge today.  So let's go!

I had forgotten about that leaf pattern in the Celebrate Everything stack from the holiday catalog until I saw Heather's card for the last challenge, so thanks for the jumping off point, Heather! : )  I started with the leaf pattern and used it to dictate my colors for the rest of the card.  One of my honorary nieces has a birthday in November so I think this might be her birthday card!

Next up, how about something a bit more CAS?

I actually made this one first and it was so quick and easy that I just had to go make a not-CAS card for the challenge today too.  Nothing but a Very Vanilla card base and several ink colors to make this one!

Hope you'll have a good time with this challenge too.  It's definitely getting a bit cooler in the mornings and I'll take any indication that fall is on its way!  Don't forget to upload your fall card to the SUO Challenges blog.  Have fun!

Supplies, first card:
Stamps:  Nuts About Squirrels
Ink:  Versamark, Early Espresso, Crushed Curry
Paper:  Crushed Curry, Granny Apple Green, Thick Basic White, Celebrate Everything DSP
Accessories:  Stylish Shapes dies, Stitched Rectangles dies, white EP, retired glitter enamel dots, Dimensionals

Supplies, CAS card:
Stamps:  Nuts About Squirrels
Ink:  Early Espresso, Cinnamon Cider, Pumpkin Pie, Sweet Sorbet, Crushed Curry
Paper:  Thick Very Vanilla
Accessories:  None

Bright Eyes & Bushy Tail

Mornin' y'all!  I got back in my craft room the other day and managed to make a card before I had to go take another nap : p 

Wish *I* was feeling bright-eyed and bushy-tailed...just still so tired and brain foggy.  Blecch.  Anyway, I made this for the Retro Rubber challenge:

Nuts About Squirrels is a year old, so just qualifies as retro.  Honestly I wasn't at all sure what to make when I sat down in my craft room the other day; I ended up CASEing a card from the holiday catalog.  Check out the card on the right:

The layout of the card caught my eye, so I grabbed the Butterfly Kisses DSP stack and started from there.  Had fun making this and it got me started in the stamping groove again.

Have a great day, kids.

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Nuts About Squirrels
Ink:  Starry Sky, Crushed Curry, Parakeet Party, Versamark
Paper:  Fresh Freesia, Starry Sky, Thick Basic White, Butterfly Kisses DSP
Accessories:  Stylish Shapes dies, White EP, Dimensionals

Two Technicolor Squirrels

Happy Twos-Day on a Tuesday, y'all!  Late post today as I just barely squeaked out this card in the morning before I left for work and didn't have time to write my blog post.

Technicolor squirrels!  Love these little guys :) Especially in fun, bright colors!

First up is the Just Add Ink sketch:

Pretty sure I've got the Global Design Project theme down:

And happily for me, that overlapped with the current Festive Friday challenge:

I used nuts (acorns are nuts, right?), brown (Cinnamon Cider and Early Espresso inks), twine, and circles on my card.  May have to have another go at this challenge and go for the baked goods ; )  I started by choosing my polka-dot paper and let it dictate the colors for the squirrels and everything else.  If I'd had more time, I might have added enamel dots too, but I'm just amazed and happy I managed to complete a card before work today!

Time for Taco Tuesday.  Adios, amigos!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Nuts About Squirrels
Ink:  Early Espresso, Bermuda Bay, Cinnamon Cider, Mango Melody, Magenta Madness
Paper:  Mango Melody, Pool Party, Thick Basic White, Sunshine & Rainbows DSP Stack
Accessories:  Rectangles Stitched dies, Stitched Shapes dies, Dimensionals

SUO Challenges: Holiday Catty

Mornin' stampy friends! It is time once again for a new challenge from SUO Challenges!  How is it the last Tuesday in October already?!  I need like a whole 'nother month of October, please.

Our challenge is so fun this time:  use your favorite stuff from the holiday catalog!  Easy peasy, right?  When I first saw the catalog, my #1 very favorite thing in it was the Blackberry Beauty DSP, and my #1 favorite stamp set was Nuts About Squirrels.  So for today's card I combined the two!

The paper is fancy (especially with the gold) and the squirrel is sassy (so PINK) but I think they work together??  I'm super excited I finally did a brightly colored squirrel with this stamp set, too.  All the Sword in the Stone vibes!  (I need to do a blue squirrel for Merlin!  Though the Nuts About Squirrels stamps aren't grumpy like he is.)

Make your own SUO holiday catty creation and share it on the SUO Challenges blog.  Have fun!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Nuts About Squirrels
Ink:  Blackberry Bliss, Cinnamon Cider, Polished Pink, Cinnamon Cider Stampin' Blends
Paper:  Blackberry Bliss, Polished Pink, Thick Basic White, Blackberry Beauty DSP
Accessories:  circle punches (may be retired?), Dimensionals

Squirrel Salutations

Mornin' folks and happy Friday!  Hope you've had a good week.  Looks like it's going to be nice weather this afternoon (and a little bit cool, YAY FALL!) so I'll probably take Ryan out to the playground.  In the meantime, I carved out a few minutes in my craft room to make a card.

Nuts About Squirrels was the #1 stamp set on my wish list when I first saw the holiday catalog :) And yet I've only used it one other time.  I'll have to find a balance between playing with retired stamps and enjoying the newer schtuff too.  (....yeah I just got another retired stamp set in the mail yesterday that I ordered on Ebay!)  Anyway, this squirrel seemed like the perfect choice for this week's Color Throwdown:

I used Lost Lagoon, Crumb Cake, Chocolate Chip, and Basic White as my colors.  So even though the stamps and all the dies (three different sets) are current, I still used some retired DSP and retired colors.  Next time I stamp these squirrels I'll have to do some brighter fall colors--some of the native squirrels here (southern Germany) are a gorgeous bright chestnut red color, though I've seen a black squirrel too.  These stamps still remind me of the Disney movie The Sword in the Stone, so maybe I'll have to do a blue squirrel sometime.

In the meantime, I'm going to go spend some time with Ryan.  I think we're finally going to make that homemade applesauce this morning...cheers!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Nuts About Squirrels
Ink:  Crumb Cake, Chocolate Chip
Paper:  Crumb Cake, Chocolate Chip, Thick Basic White, All Abloom DSP Stack
Accessories:  Nature's Thoughts dies, Peach dies, Stitched So Sweetly dies, mini Dimensionals

My New Squirrel Buddy

Mornin' y'all!  How's your week going?  After two days of spending hours in my craft room, I have to go to work today :p  That's okay though, for the most part I enjoy my job.  And in the meantime I have a new card to show off!  I mentioned yesterday that I just got a boatload of new patterned paper (TEN packs!!!); I also got one new stamp set from the upcoming holiday mini catalog.  Behold my new friend:

Isn't he just totally ridiculously ADORABLE?!  There's another squirrel in this stamp set too but I only used one today.  I also used the Beauty of the Earth DSP, one of my new acquisitions thanks to the DSP sale going on now.  I used the Inspire. Create. sketch:

This is such a classic sketch, I love it.  The Hippo & Friends dies were sitting out next to my Big Shot and lo and behold, I found one that was the perfect size for my new amigo.  I used one of the sentiments from the set on the inside of the card, and it says, "Hope you're feeling bright-eyed and bushy-tailed!"  (I just neglected to take a picture of the inside of the card.)

Better get my bright eyes and bushy tail ready to go to work.  Cheers, pals!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Nuts About Squirrels
Ink:  Early Espresso, Cinnamon Cider, Soft Suede
Paper:  Bumblebee, Thick Basic White, Beauty of the Earth DSP
Accessories:  Hippo & Friends dies, Dimensionals