Paper Players: For the Guys

Hey y'all, happy Sunday!  Looks like Joanne's Tic-Tac-Toe challenge for the Paper Players last week was a big hit, judging from the size of the gallery : )  Today we're back and Stef has a great theme for us:

Need a card for Father's Day?  Know some guys with summer birthdays?  Now's your chance to make a card for them : )  So I'm still thinking Yellowstone (see here and here), but I thought I'd make a card featuring the animal we were most excited to see during our trip:

A grizzly bear!  (If you want to see lots of black bears, rent a cabin near Smoky Mountains National Park, we saw lots of black bears there!)  The bear and the trees are stamped directly on a pattern from the Nature Walk DSP (been a while since I had used it), and the big, bold greeting from Weekend Adventures is stamped on Basic Beige and popped up on Dimensionals.  I think Weekend Adventures was marketed as a scrapbooking stamp set (like I've ever had a problem using any and all stamps on my scrapbook pages) because it has a lot of large and in charge word stamps, but I've used it on a couple of cards instead.  I added a few Natural Matte Dots to finish it off.

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Wildlife Wonder, Weekend Adventures, Outdoor Adventure
Ink:  Pecan Pie, Mossy Meadow, Secret Sea
Paper:  Mossy Meadow, Basic Beige, Nature Walk DSP
Accessories:  Dimensionals, Natural Matte Dots

Check out the other design team creations on the Paper Players blog, and you can hop through their individual blogs to leave some comments too:

The Paper Players Design Team

Jaydee

LeAnne Pugliese

Claire Broadwater

Joanne James

Anne Marie Hile

Ann Schach

Jan Clothier

Stef Perry

you are here --> Christy Stanford

And then upload your card at the Paper Players blog!  Keep in mind a few simple 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!

Just Use The Paper

Mornin' y'all!  I hope today is less misadventurous than yesterday (I just made up a word).  Early yesterday morning, the hubs hurt his back and couldn't hardly move, but after he went to the doc and got some muscle relaxers he decided that it was the perfect time to replace the motor in the dishwasher because he can't just rest like a normal person.  Our dishwasher went on the fritz right after we got back from Wyoming...I've always been amused by the phrase "on the fritz", I think probably because my middle school principal was Mrs. Fritz.  Anyway, he enlisted Ryan for help and they got it all put back together and he started a cycle...and 30 minutes later the dishwasher was spewing water all over half our kitchen.  So then he had to take it apart again and fix an electrical short and he says now it's working again, but I won't lie, I'm a bit nervous to run a load of dishes today.

So yeah, let's hope today is a bit more boring.  Anyway, I saw this week's Freshly Made Sketch:

And I thought it was a good opportunity to show off some patterned paper, and one of my goals this year is to Just Use The Paper.  So I went through my stack of recent(ish) DSP and found with two packs that I couldn't decide between, so I ended up with two cards, one for the gals and one for the guys.  Or outdoorsy gals.  So here's the super girly one:

I had only used the Lovely Garden DSP I think one time before judging from the lack of scraps I have, and I thought the three heads of hydrangeas would be good for the circular elements on the sketch so let's use up some DSP!  I fussy cut all three flower bunches, adhered them on a Garden Green pattern from the same stack, and added a fun greeting from Flowing Flowers which retired a few years ago.  Some Starburst Sequins and I have a flat, easily mailable card.

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Flowing Flowers
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black
Paper:  Fresh Freesia, Lovely Garden DSP
Accessories:  Starburst Sequins

And here's one for those people who like being outside:

Yeah I think I'm still channeling our Yellowstone trip (more pics at the bottom of the post if you're interested).  This one started with the Weekend Adventures DSP, which I had never cut into before but I am wanting to get back to scrapbooking and I think I should print off the Yellowstone pics to start with and this paper will be *perfect* for that.  Not to mention that wonderful greeting from Exploring Nature.  So anyway, to make this more "manly", I tore the background DSP and used the Deckled Circles dies for the circular elements of the sketch.  I played around with which patterns I wanted to use where, and then I decided to add the deer for a bit more interest.  Some Earthy Matte Dots finish it off.

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Exploring Nature, Outdoor Adventure
Ink:  Pecan Pie
Paper:  Old Olive, Basic Beige, Weekend Adventures DSP
Accessories:  Outdoor Adventure dies, Deckled Circles dies, Dimensionals, Earthy Matte Dots

So here's both cards together:

Whaddya think, guys and gals?

As promised, I have more Yellowstone pics.  We got up early on Thursday morning and drove out towards Old Faithful, but on the way we saw...

A small herd of buffalo (with babies!) right next to the road.  We stopped on the side of the road and took some pictures from inside the car before we drove slowly past them because we respect the wildlife.

And here's Old Faithful!  This is what it looked like when we got there, I think it's always venting something in between eruptions.

Luckily we only had to wait about a half hour before we saw an eruption, and we were there early enough in the day that it wasn't crowded and we had front row seats.  You can see a bit of the water on the right side; there was so much steam, it was hard to see the water.

Then we drove up to the Grand Prismatic Pool; we got out to hike to the boardwalk that overlooks the pool, and then we hiked what felt like 37 miles to Fairy Falls.

And on the way we saw a marmot!  I think it's a marmot.

Ryan at Fairy Falls.

After a late lunch, we drove back to some overlooks of the Yellowstone River and saw a bigger waterfall, this I think is the Lower Falls.

And here we all are and apparently we need a V-8 because we're all leaning?

Okay now I have a bunch of scenery shots because it was just SO GORGEOUS here.  I read a sign that said this canyon was formed by the river because it's V-shaped; if it's U-shaped, it was made by a glacier.  Interesting.  We did see a (labeled) glacial boulder, too.

We're both wearing Hulk shirts : ) And this time he's not holding his nose because it didn't smell like sulfur.

And just one more beauty shot of the Yellowstone River.  Daphne is staring at me because she wants to tour the neighborhood, and it's a gorgeous day so I'm going to accede to her wishes.  Cheers!

The Scenic Route

Mornin' y'all!  Ryan had a GREAT morning at farm camp yesterday, he got to hold a baby duckling and chicks and a bunny and also they made pickles.  It's overcast and misty today but I'm sure they'll still do fun stuff.

I got some crafty time yesterday and I just really really really like today's card:

I will admit, I was inspired by our trip to Yellowstone as much as I was the Inspired By... Challenge (more Yellowstone pics at the bottom of this post if you're interested), but here's what I started with:

I used Very Vanilla, Soft Succulent, and Cinnamon Cider for my colors, with some Early Espresso for the greeting.  I flipped through all my newish stamp sets in the packaging that I haaaaaate and I came across Outdoor Adventure and Weekend Adventures and I quickly put this card together, I love it.  We did not see any foxes in Yellowstone, but I bet they were pretty close to us, they're just better at hide 'n seek.

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Outdoor Adventure, Weekend Adventures
Ink:  Soft Succulent, Cinnamon Cider, Early Espresso
Paper:  Cinnamon Cider, Very Vanilla
Accessories:  Deckled Rectangles dies, Outdoor Adventure dies, Dimensionals

Okay, so here's some pics from day 2 at Yellowstone!

We started out the day in the Norris Geyser Basin where we saw lots of (you guessed it) geysers, as well as steam vents, fumaroles, steam vents, and mud pots.  Pretty much looked like an alien landscape, and here we are in front of Steamboat Geyser.

What a difference a wooden boardwalk makes?

Then we drove up to the north to the Mammoth Hot Springs area.  Ryan got a good education last week in what sulfur smells like.

See, it looks like you're on another planet.

Daveeey, Davy Crockett, king of the wild frontier!

We drove west through Lamar Valley and isn't it beautiful?  Also Peking got to come and Ryan got a cardboard bus with his lunch, which he named...Bus.

More sulfur!

This buffalo was just chilling like 10 feet away from the boardwalk which made stupid tourists think they could go right up to the end of the boardwalk, as if a rickety little fence is going to even slow him down if he takes offense to the tourists right near him.  I felt like *I* was too close and I was at least 25 yards away.  Luckily he seemed disinclined to bestir himself to teach any lessons in respecting wildlife.

Ryan and I joked that this pic would go on this year's Christmas cards.

And the Yellowstone gift shops have a book to help you identify what creature left its mark in the park : )

Something Beautiful

Mornin' y'all!  It is a snow day here in Colorado and I think that Winter has been saving up all the snow for this snowstorm because we'd had almost nothing all winter and them BAM.  For reals, we had absolutely nothing on the ground when it started snowing yesterday morning, and when Ryan, Daphne, and I went out this morning, there were some places with drifts up to my KNEES!!

They were having the time of their lives, they both love it.  I should have taken pictures once we got to the big open green space, they both had so much fun running around.

I took this pic yesterday afternoon and we have far more snow today than we did then.  I think I shall be content to stay indoors with a lovely giant cuppa tea (more likely several in succession), the kids can enjoy the snow without me!

Anyway, I do have a card to share today:

Okay I told you I love that new Nature Walk DSP, I already ordered a second pack of it so I can have one pack to hoard and one pack to make pretty things with.  The deer and the trees are from the new Outdoor Adventure (I haven't seen other stampers do much with this yet, but I love it), and I chose a greeting from the long-retired Beautiful Thistle because it seemed right on this card.  The deer and trees are both stamped directly on DSP, the deer is on a different piece that has a bit of a grid pattern on it in a more Crumb Cake color, and then I did the greeting on Very Vanilla sponged with Pecan Pie.

I used this week's Freshly Made Sketch:

Lots of wide-open space for creativity with that sketch, love it.

Okay, now I really need that cuppa tea.  The hubs is out shoveling the driveway (I did it yesterday before he got home, but this morning it looked like I never even touched it), or at least that's what he was doing when Ryan, Daphne, and I came back from our walk through the snowdrifts.  I think Ryan is trying to sled down one side of the driveway.  Cheers!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Outdoor Adventure, Beautiful Thistle
Ink:  Early Espresso, Pecan Pie
Paper:  Pecan Pie, Very Vanilla, Nature Walk DSP
Accessories:  Outdoor Adventure dies, Deckled Rectangles dies, Faux Glass Dots

Another Adventure

Happy New Year, y'all!  I hope your 2026 is off to a good start.  I heard somewhere that you should do all the things on New Year's Day that you want to do all year, so just like last year I am making sure today is full of puppy snuggles, tea, books, crafting time, and telling my fam that I love them.  And I have a card to share, of course!

I bought a few stamp sets what seems like a long time ago that I hadn't inked up yet with December being...well, December.  So meet Outdoor Adventure and the ridiculously beautiful Nature Walk DSP.  That DSP is speaking my love language in colors, it's all gorgeous greens and blues and I think I need another pack (or three).  Anyway, no challenges for today's card, just me playing with some new stamps and papers for funsies.

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Outdoor Adventure, Scenic Adventure
Ink:  Secret Sea, Garden Green, Pecan Pie
Paper:  Garden Green, Secret Sea, Basic Beige, Nature Walk DSP
Accessories:  Outdoor Adventure dies, Deckled Rectangle dies, Dimensionals, In Color Flat Pearls

As I usually do on this day, I looked back at the goals I set for last year.  Last year's word was FOCUS and I don't know that I did that well with it, but this year's word is going to be CHERISH.  I want to cherish the time we have with Ryan while he's still a kid who loves Legos and believes in Santa Claus and loves his newly yellow-painted bedroom.  I want to cherish spending time with the hubs and making each other laugh and taking walks with Daphne.  I want to cherish the time I spend reading good books or creating things, whether it's cards, scrapbook pages, stitching projects, or even just dinner.  We are so blessed and I want to mindfully acknowledge that this year and spend less time doom-scrolling or worrying about things instead of focusing on what I'm doing in the moment.  I started work on that with my yoga practice this morning, I had to remind myself at least a half-dozen times to focus on and enjoy the yoga and not think about what else I want to get done today, I want to be present in the moment of whatever I am doing.  This is a mindset shift that probably won't be easy, but I think will be worth it in the long run.

So, maybe I didn't get very many scrapbook pages done last year (36).  I made a lot of cards and sent a lot of sunshine through the mail.  I was invited to join the Paper Players design team and I had a ball creating cards inspired by Nancy Drew books and making more Halloween cards than ever before.  So in 2026, I just want to create things and enjoy the process and not worry about the metrics.  Maybe I'll finally finish that wedding album, we'll see.  If not, that's okay too.

My TBR pile continues to grow nearly as fast as Ryan; I had just hit 1,000 books in my Unread collection on my Kindle and now that collection has 1,261 books in it, and I read 193 books last year.  Many many many of those were rereads as I am going through the Nancy Drew series and that's okay, I can honestly say that I heartily enjoyed the vast majority of the books I read in 2025.  I like to start off the year with rereading an old favorite, and this year's book is Anne of Green Gables, which is like a warm hug from your favorite friend in book form.  I sent the boxed set to my niece for Christmas and I still have the boxed set my aunt gave me when I was about the age my niece is now, though I am currently reading it on my Kindle.  Anne and I have been kindred spirits for decades and it is so wonderful to spend time with her again.  (I may have started that reread a couple of days early, I just couldn't wait!)

As for my health (other than that whole appendix thing), I did manage to go to the dentist in 2025, though I still haven't found an eye doctor so that is a goal for this year that I just cannot put off any longer.  And I am renewing my commitment to working out and eating healthy foods; December was...well, December ; )  I'm ready to start feeling healthier again and not eat cookies for breakfast.

As for stitching, I did finish Ryan's duckling, the shooting star quilt pattern, and my witch, plus a cute otter pattern for a friend's kiddo.  I currently am still working on an art nouveau tiger pattern in honor of my friend Neelu and I love it.  I have several other patterns that I am eyeing to start in 2026 (and I might possibly have bought a new one this morning).  I think I want to stitch something Christmassy this year.

So that's how I am starting 2026.  Contemplating my many blessings and mindfully enjoying the small moments every day.  Savoring my second cuppa tea before I take Daphne out for our daily walk, when I can appreciate the beautiful mountains that I can see halfway through our circuit.  Happy New Year, y'all.