2016 Showcase, Part 2

Time for Part 2 of my favorite projects from 2016.  Let's dive right in, shall we?

Love this bright and cheery card for May.

June's pick is this Millennium Falcon card, might not be the prettiest thing ever but I'm rather proud of it given that I don't do much punch art.  And I watched The Empire Strikes Back last night in honor of Carrie Fisher.

For July I chose this flamingo card, love the bright colors and I need to break out that stamp set again soon.

And the last card for today is August's jellyfish.  I admit the main image is a little indistinct with the clear EP, but I loved the idea of it and how the "sand" on the background turned out.

Part 3 coming tomorrow!

Jellyfish Note

Well, somehow I've managed *another* quadruple challenge for today's card, and they're four completely different challenges from yesterday.  So here it is:

Hubs and I went to the National Aquarium in Baltimore a few weeks ago, and I love watching jellyfish in the tanks where there's no way they can sting me.  It's just fascinating to watch how they move.  So there was one inspiration for this card, on to the challenges.

First up is Color Throwdown:

I used Crumb Cake, Tempting Turquoise, and Shimmery White, though I think Coastal Cabana might have been a closer color match to the swatch (and I do dearly miss my Coastal Cabana).

Next is the Global Design Project theme challenge:

And then the Mojo Monday sketch:

I left off the little flower element because I thought the card had enough going on...well, maybe I traded it for the enamel dots which no matter what I do always photograph weird.

And finally (because alphabetically it came last) is the Paper Players tic-tac-toe challenge:

I did the left column of enamel dots, beach, and texture.  For the texture-y background, I started with a 4x8.5" piece of Crumb Cake cardstock, tore it in strips and sponged the edges, and then overlapped them and glued them back together.  So even though the piece I started with was 8.5" tall I ended up with a piece that was just over 5 inches tall.  Then I just cut the strips apart until I liked the widths and adhered that to the card base.  It just makes me think of tide lines on the sand at the beach.

In other news, HI MISSY'S MOM!!! Thanks for reading the blog and leaving me comments, that was very sweet of you! :)

Okay kids, I'm off to the gym.  Cheers!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  From Land to Sea, Picture Perfect
Ink:  Versamark, Crumb Cake, Tempting Turquoise
Paper:  Shimmery White, Crumb Cake, Tempting Turquoise
Accessories:  Clear EP, Metallic Enamel Dots

Dapper Hummingbird

Howdy, kids!  As predicted yesterday, we had a series of pretty good thunderstorms roll through which was awesome because I didn't have to be out in the rain so I could just enjoy the thunder from home.  It cleared up while the hubs was on his way home and then rained again after he got here, so that was good timing :)  I do love a good thunderstorm.

Anyway, the current challenge at SUO Challenges is to use your favorite new paper, so today I took a deep breath and cut into my new Moroccan DSP:

I let the patterned paper inspire the colors for my hummingbird:  Emerald Envy, Dapper Denim, and a bit of Cajun Craze (though the pattern I used doesn't have any Cajun Craze in it, I still liked the accent of dark orange with all the blue and green).  I chose to do a hummingbird today because of the challenge from What Will You Stamp:

I have been enjoying the new Layering Circles Framelits, which so far are the only ones of the four new layering collections that I've gotten.  I'm a little bummed that the circles are smaller than the retired circles Framelits, but having the scalloped circles and better sizes for matting is nice.

Well, I need to skedaddle to the post office to pick up a box to mail a birthday present to a friend whose birthday was yesterday.  Oops.  Catch you later, y'all!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Picture Perfect
Ink:  Emerald Envy, Dapper Denim, Cajun Craze
Paper:  Dapper Denim, Cajun Craze, Very Vanilla, Moroccan DSP
Accessories:  Layering Circles Framelits, Dimensionals, Emerald Envy ruched ribbon

Greetings from the Starfish

Happy Thursday, y'all.  And it *is* happy because my card today is much better than yesterday's train wreck.

I don't know what was up yesterday but at least whatever it was is gone now.  So for today's card, I started out with this color combo from Fab Friday:

I probably wouldn't have put Soft Sky together with Lost Lagoon, but then again I'm still kinda mad at Soft Sky for taking Baja Breeze's place in the color lineup.  But anyway, I thought those colors would make for a nice beachy sort of card.

I also used this week's Freshly Made Sketch:

In retrospect I could have made my main panel a little smaller to more closely follow the sketch, but I was using a card base I'd started for something else and had some stamped words on it that I had to cover up.  Waste not!

And because I didn't mention it yesterday...

MAY THE FOURTH BE WITH YOU.  And also happy Cinco de Mayo, let's go eat tacos.  Ole!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Picture Perfect, Timeless Textures
Ink:  Soft Sky, Lost Lagoon, Crumb Cake, Hello Honey
Paper:  Soft Sky, Lost Lagoon, Very Vanilla
Accessories:  Pearl

Nacho Blog Hop: All About the Birthdays

ACK!  What with all the excitement over my niece's arrival yesterday (HELLO CLARA NICOLE!!)  I almost forgot to write up my Nacho post!  So yep, today's Friday Flashback is being preempted by the April Nacho blog hop, which is all about birthdays!  And who doesn't love birthday cards?

Just to give myself a bit of an extra challenge. I made three birthday cards but used the same color combination for all of them:  Melon Mambo, Cucumber Crush, Daffodil Delight, and Bermuda Bay.  Love me some bold, bright colors.

First up is this kinda CAS star card.  The Cucumber Crush star is die cut and popped up on Dimensionals, and it's also sparkly:

OooooOOOOooohhh.  Iridescent Ice FTW.  Woohoo!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Be the Star, Party Wishes
Ink:  Daffodil Delight, Melon Mambo, Cucumber Crush, Bermuda Bay, Versamark
Paper:  Thick Whisper White
Accessories:  Stars Framelits, Dimensionals, Brights Candy Dot, Iridescent Ice EP

Next up, we can't have a birthday party without CAKE!  Wanna know how I got the texture effect on the cake?  I inked up the stamp with Melon Mambo, and then used a blender pen to swipe off some of the ink, then stamped the image.  However I got left with a TON of Melon Mambo ink on my blender pen, so I might try it with a Q-Tip instead next time.

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Party Wishes, Something to Say
Ink:  Melon Mambo, Daffodil Delight, Cucumber Crush, Bermuda Bay
Paper:  Daffodil Delight, Bermuda Bay, Thick Whisper White, Brights DSP (Daffodil Delight and Melon Mambo)
Accessories:  Lots of Labels Framelits, Oval & Scalloped Oval punches, Brights Candy Dots, Dimensionals

And finally, here's a card that's a little fancier...well, the stamped images are fancier, the layout is super simple to keep focus on the hummingbird.  That's right, I *finally* used the hummingbird stamps in Picture Perfect!!!  This card is 5.5" square.  The birthday greeting is from the freshly retired Sale-a-Bration set Sky is the Limit, but it was the perfect size and the perfect font for my card so I had to use it.

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:   Picture Perfect, Sky is the Limit
Ink:  Cucumber Crush, Bermuda Bay, Melon Mambo, Daffodil Delight
Paper:  Cucumber Crush, Thick Whisper White, Cherry on Top DSP Stack
Accessories:  Circles Framelits, Dimensionals

Jazz Hands!

Hey, y'all.  Sharing is caring, but NOT when you have a cold.  Not sure if it was my mom or my hubs that shared with me, but I'm ready to get rid of it.  All I wanna do is sleep, but yesterday I was pretty productive in the ol' craft cave so I do have a card to share today which is really what you're here for and not me whining about my cold.

Let's take a minute to talk about this card.  I bought Picture Perfect because of the beautiful hummingbird and what have I NOT used yet from that set?  Uh-huh.  But that starfish.  I feel like I could draw a face on the top arm and this is an interpretive dancing starfish.  Jazz hands!  It just seems to have Attitude to me.  Maybe it's the cold meds talking.

Anyway, I used this week's Global Design Project sketch:

I had originally planned to put the seahorse from By the Tide in the lower right corner, but it just didn't look right so Candy Dots to the rescue (how do I love Candy Dots, let me count the ways!).  The color combination is from The Colour Tree:

I stamped the starfish with Crushed Curry (stamped off once) and Hello Honey on top, though really I think those two are practically the same color anyway.  I also added some Smoky Slate because for some reason I am really drawn to blue-yellow-gray color combinations lately.

Well, now I have to decide if I want to go back to sleep for a bit or work on the scrapbook layout I started yesterday.  Which will also be blue-yellow-gray, because if it ain't broke...well, you know.  Peace out, peeps!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Picture Perfect, Hello
Ink:  Crushed Curry, Hello Honey, Night of Navy, Smoky Slate
Paper:  Night of Navy, Smoky Slate, Whisper White, Hello Honey DSP
Accessories:  Regals Candy Dots

Hello, My Friend

I'm up early this Thursday morning to take my car into the dealership, so it's still dark as I type this.  However, it's supposed to be sunny today, just colder than...something...really cold.  I had no idea where that sentence was going when I started it.  Oh, I've got it:  it's supposed to be colder than Hoth!  Actually no wait, I asked my phone and the high today is 48.  On *Monday* it will be colder than Hoth because the temperature isn't supposed to get above freezing, which was how it happened yesterday.

You know what?  I'm bored of talking about weather.  Let's go for a nice sunshiney card.

Yeah, I got some new stuff yesterday :D  The advantage of ordering a bunch of cardstock and stuff for this baby shower is that since it's Sale-a-Bration, I'm getting lots freebies.  The patterned paper and the sentiment stamp set on this card?  Both free, which is pretty awesome.

Even with new goodies to play with, I was feeling a little stumped until I remembered this week's Freshly Made Sketch:

And I just loved the Color Throwdown:

I used Garden Green, Tangerine Tango, Crushed Curry, and Smoky Slate for my interpretation of the colors here.  And my card turned out kind of Baylor-y so I think I know who's going to get it ;)

Anyway, it's just about time for me to leave for the car dealership.  Have a great day, peeps!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Hello, Picture Perfect
Ink:  Garden Green, Cucumber Crush, Tangerine Tango, Crushed Curry, Smoky Slate
Paper:  Garden Green, Tangerine Tango, Thick Whisper White, Perfectly Artistic DSP
Accessories:  Dimensionals