Alnwick Castle

Scrappy Monday, y'all!  How was your weekend?  Hubs and I went to the National Aquarium on Saturday, and then yesterday I worked on several scrapbook layouts from when we went to the Harry Potter studio tour near London.  And today's layout is kinda-sorta related to Harry Potter too:

See the original pictures here.  Alnwick Castle was used for some of the exterior shots in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (like when Oliver Wood teaches Harry about Quidditch) and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.  The big wide courtyard was also in the movie Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves.

I used a Sizzlits alpahbet to cut out the title; I like Framelits SO much better than Sizzlits because they do much cleaner cuts, but I just needed this alphabet for today's layout.  I picked up that owl and books stamp at a big box store because doesn't it just scream Harry Potter to you?

Today's color palette:  Lovely Lilac, Smoky Slate, Basic Gray, More Mustard, So Saffron that I forgot to put in the picture, and Whisper White.  To me, purple is the most magical color so it's what I always think of first for doing any HP-related scrappin'.  So yep, the layouts I'm working on now are all purple.

Cheers, peeps!

Supplies, mostly SU!
Stamps:  Priceless, Teeny Tinies, non-SU owl
Ink:  Basic Black, Lovely Lilac, Basic Gray marker
Paper:  Lovely Lilac, Smoky Slate, More Mustard, So Saffron, Thick Whisper White, Afternoon Daydream DSP
Accessories:  Sizzix alphabet

A-Team Baby Book: January

Mornin, y'all!  Hubs and I are about to head out to the National Aquarium but I thought I'd get this post up real quick before we leave.

I miss the old Color Coach.  I never would have put Baja Breeze (sadly retired, I'm still mad) and Island Indigo together without it--and the third color on that combination was Rich Razzleberry which really does make for a great combination.

I wouldn't mind having a new stamp set with some swirls like we had in Priceless.  Love those things.

Snowman!

And of course mittens.

So here are today's colors:  Baja Breeze, Island Indigo, Rich Razzleberry, and Whisper White.  I think this might have been the fastest layout I made for this entire book, and I like it!

Okay, we're off to look at the fishies.  Have a great day!

Supplies:
Stamps:  Festive Flurry, Priceless, Weather or Not, Priority Mail
Ink:  Island Indigo, Rich Razzleberry
Paper:  Baja Breeze, Island Indigo, Rich Razzleberry, Whisper White, Snow Festival DSP
Accessories:  Festive Flurry Framelits, circle & scalloped circle punches, Sizzix alphabet

Friday Flashback: True Friend

Happy Friday, peeps.  For this week's Friday Flashback, our retired stamp set is True Friend which came out in the 2007 holiday mini catalog so this one's quite the oldie.  Grab your cuppa tea and let's Flashback!

Also features Hugs & Wishes

Starting off with a cute and simple set of cards that you could do in any color.  I like 'em.  (Mom, something like this might be good for your Christmas card project...)

Also features Priceless, Polka Dot

A fun and bright birthday card...

Also features Happy Everything & Boho Friend Wheel

And one more for good measure.  Can ya tell I like that big flower.

And here's a few of the other stamps in the set.  I do like the "true friend" sentiment but I haven't used it much.

Also features Wonderful Favorites, Flannel Plaid, Itty Bitty Backgrounds

Not my favorite card, it was for a combination SCS sketch and color challenge and this sketch just didn't do anything for me.

Also features Paisley, Warm Words

And the last card of the Flashback has lots o' layers.  I miss the ticket corner punch.

So for today's new project, I bring you a scrapbook layout:

Yay me getting more pages done.  This is the first layout I've made with pictures from this year; these were taken last spring in Alabama.  I wish I'd gotten the spacing a bit better on the stamped part of the title, and really the purple letters show up better IRL than they do in the picture (it was very overcast and kinda dark when I took the photo).  I do love the color combination I used:

Kiwi Kiss, Rose Red, Pink Pirouette, and Lavender Lace.  This layout came together pretty fast once I'd picked the patterned papers I wanted to use.

And that's all she wrote this week, peeps.  Have a great weekend!

Supplies, Spring layout only:
Stamps:  True Friend, Sweet Shoppe Alphabet
Ink:  Rose Red, Chocolate Chip marker
Paper:  Kiwi Kiss, Pink Pirouette, Lavender Lace, Bali Breeze DSP, Pink Pirouette DSP
Accessories:  non-SU lettering template

Strawberry the Cat

Hey peeps, how's your Thursday going?  I'm tired.  Since my little boy dog can't go up and down stairs due to his leg injury, the hubs and I have been sleeping on an air mattress in the basement because we're the special kind of dog parents who do things like that.  We have a nice air mattress, but it's still an air mattress, and I don't think the hubs is sleeping any better than I am.  Sigh.

But anyway, you're here to see some stampy artwork, not hear about the trials and tribulations of injured dog care.

Meet Strawberry, who is Stella and Stefan's cat.  Why'd they name a black cat Strawberry?  Who knows why a witch and a vampire (even cute ones) do anything.  Yes, I'm slightly obsessed with this stamp set.  I haven't used the pumpkin stamp yet...

Meet this week's Color Throwdown:

I used Old Olive, Daffodil Delight, Whisper White, and Basic Black.  Sure, it woulda been Halloweenier if I'd used orange, but I was going with the challenge colors here.

And I used this week's Retro Sketch, it's been a while since I played along over there:

Can I just say how much I love those Hello You Thinlits dies?  They're pretty spec-fabulous.  There are some other word dies in the holiday catalog that I like but I haven't ordered, so for now I shall continue to use the Hello You ones and talk about how much I love them.

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Haunt Ya Later
Ink:  Basic Black, Pink Pirouette, Smoky Slate & Old Olive Blendabilities (I know they're retired, I just don't care)
Paper: Basic Black, Thick Whisper White, Old Olive, Daffodil Delight
Accessories:  Circles Framelits, Hello You Thinlits, Dimensionals

Special added bonus today!  I finished the birthday party invitations for my friend Sarah over the weekend and mailed them off Monday.  I slightly tweaked the design before I made the whole set, so here is the final product:

I like it.  I inked up my Pale Plum ink pad because it was a bit dried out, and I added in the little flowers on the background and then some Rich Razzleberry sponging around the white panel.  I think it was just the extra touch these cards needed.

That's it for me today, peeps.  See you tomorrow for the Friday Flashback.

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Fall Fest, Priceless, A Dozen Thoughts
Ink:  Tangelo Twist, Old Olive, Rich Razzleberry, Pale Plum, Basic Black
Paper:  Rich Razzleberry, Pear Pizzazz, Basic Black, Whisper White, Old Olive DSP
Accessories:  Fall Fun Framelits, Dimensionals

Pumpkins, Two Ways

The day after I finished the baby books, a friend of mine asked if I would make invitations for her daughter's birthday party...and said lil girl is a Halloween baby.  She requested purple and pumpkins, so here's what I came up with first:

Halloween colors, and a pumpkin, but still girly with the swirls in the background.  I used this week's new Global Design Project sketch:

Buuut that wasn't exactly what Sarah was looking for so here's my second try:

Sarah really liked the pumpkins I did on her daughter's baby book, so she wanted something similar to that.  I think this needs some sponging around the white panel though...I did sponge on some Pale Plum ink but it's too pale :)  Anyway, baby book.

And a closeup of the pumpkins and swirls:

The space is much smaller on a card front, and I used the pumpkins from last year's Fall Fest instead of my old favorite Carved & Candlelit because of the matching Framelits.  But anyway, there isn't room on a card front to do the swirls the exact same way so I just did them on the entire panel, and we'll see if that meets with her approval.

Anywha, for the second card I used the new Freshly Made Sketch:

So that's your two-fer today, and now I'm craving pumpkin coffee cake.  Cheers, peeps!

Supplies, first card:
Stamps:  Fall Fest, A Dozen Thoughts, Soft Swirls
Ink:  Pumpkin Pie, Rich Razzleberry, Old Olive, Whisper White
Paper:  Rich Razzleberry, Basic Black, Pale Plum, Whisper White, Cottage Garden DSP
Accessories:  Circles & Fall Fest Framelits, Dimensionals

Supplies, second card:
Stamps:  Fall Fest, A Dozen Thoughts, Priceless
Ink:  Tangelo Twist, Old Olive, Rich Razzleberry, Memento Tuxedo Black
Paper:  Rich Razzleberry, Basic Black, Pear Pizzazz, Whisper White, Old Olive DSP
Accessories:  Fall Fest Framelits, Dimensionals

Friday Flashback: Fall Whimsy

Happy Friday, peeps, and welcome to this week's Friday Flashback!  I am SO ready for the cooler temperatures and pretty colors of fall, and today's stamp set goes right along with that theme:  Fall Whimsy.  This was one of the first stamp sets I ever bought!

Also features Something to Celebrate

This was a baby shower invite for a friend; she named her daughter Autumn and she looooves fall leaves so there you have it.

Also features Priceless, Nursery Necessities

 And here's a baby announcement for a different friend who had her daughter ON Halloween!

Also features Tiny Talk, Print Pattern

Let's talk turkey...isn't this cute?  The turkey uses most of the stamps in Fall Whimsy; he's not hard to put together, just time-consuming to cut out.

Also features Sincere Salutations

 Seems like we have a lot of friends and family with birthdays in October.

Also features Print Pattern, Linen, All Year Cheer III

Oh, I like this one, it's a technique called crayon resist, a.k.a. finally a use for the white crayon.  You need glossy white paper (or photo paper now, since SU! doesn't sell it anymore) and you stamp your leaves in black or whatever color you want, draw in some highlights with the crayon, and then sponge on color.  The crayon resists the ink and you have white highlights.  Pretty cool, right?

So that's the flashback, and here's the brand new card for today:

This one took me a while to wrap my brain around.  I love the sketch I used, and the color combo, but I was just having trouble making it all work together.  I think the purple was messing with my fall leaves idea a little bit.  I do like how it turned out in the end though and I continue to be in love with my Sanded background stamp.

There's the color combo from ColourQ; I added just a bit of Soft Suede.

And there's the sketch from Pals Paper Arts.  I really like this one.

Well, I have a long list of things to do today so I'd better go get started.  Cheers, peeps!

Supplies, last card only:
Stamps:  Fall Whimsy, Sanded, Print Pattern, For All Things
Ink:  Tangerine Tango, So Saffron, Taken with Teal, Lovely Lilac, Soft Suede
Paper:  Tangerine Tango, So Saffron, Whisper White
Accessories:  just a pair of scissors :)

Friday Flashback: Crazy for Cupcakes

Howdy stampy friends!  It's time for another Friday Flashback, and today's featured stamp set is going to come in useful for me since I know so many people with October birthdays.  So let's take a look back at Crazy for Cupcakes!

Also features Priceless and Heard from the Heart

Kind of an interesting layout on this card...I like the colors though.  I think SU! needs more purples in its permanent lineup.  (Well, semi-permanent lineup since they keep changing them every few years!)

Also features Happiest Birthday Wishes

I've got some reverse masks that I made for that giant cupcake so I can use them to sponge color on each individual part of the image.

Also features the cupcake wheel, which I unmounted and put in the case with Crazy for Cupcakes

Oh yes, Crazy for Cupcakes has seen frequent use in baby books!

Also features Bitty Birthday and Sprinkles

Also features Birthday Bakery and Background Basics

Hey, I found an idea I liked so I stuck with it.  And that's it for the flashback part, here's today's brand new card!

I think that this stamp set just begs to be used with bright fun colors, and lucky for me the challenge at Colour Me this week is perfect!

I also used one of the older Nacho challenges that I missed in my unplanned unpack-the-house crafting hiatus:

That's it for me today, peeps.  Have a great weekend and thanks for stopping by!

Supplies, last card only:
Stamps:  Crazy for Cupcakes, Background Basics
Ink:  Whisper White, Basic Black, Smoky Slate, Bermuda Bay, Tangerine Tango, Daffodil Delight, Real Red
Paper:  Bermuda Bay, Daffodil Delight, Whisper White, Sycamore Street DSP (retired)
Accessories:  corner rounder, oval, & scalloped oval punches, Dimensionals

The Bangles

Ok, today's scrapbook layout makes me ridiculously happy.

I was a kid when the Bangles broke up, but they'd been my favorite band since I was six.  So when they reunited and happened to play in the Hard Rock Cafe in Dallas in December 2003, I was *all over* going to that concert :)  These pics are from before we even got a digital camera!

This was actually the very first thing I made with the new In Colors; I waited specifically to get the new In Color 12x12 cardstock so I could use Blackberry Bliss for the page base.

I paired the new colors with some old favorite stamp sets, like Grunge Rock, Wing It, and Priceless.  Glad I finally got these pictures scrapped :)

Thanks for stopping by today!

Supplies:
Stamps:  Grunge Rock, Extreme Elements, Priceless, Wing It
Ink:  Whisper White, Blackberry Bliss, Basic Gray marker
Paper:  Blackberry Bliss, Hello Honey, Lost Lagoon, Whisper White, Strawberry Slush DSP
Accessories:  Curly Label punch, non-SU Sizzlits alphabet

Friday Flashback: A Beautiful Thing

It's Friiiiiiiday!  And time for this week's Friday Flashback.  The retired stamp set du jour is A Beautiful Thing from back in 2008, so let's flash back.

That little sunburst kind of design between the flowers is neat, I kinda wish I'd focused on that for the new card this week but what can ya do.

Also features For Father

 This card was a one-hit wonder for the stamp set For Father.  One of these days it'll get its own (rather short) Friday Flashback.

Also features Priceless

When I made this card, I was (temporarily) caught up with all the Splitcoast sketch and color challenges.  I'm close to catching up again :)

Also features Weathered

Last card for the flashback part of today's post; I really wish Elegant Eggplant would show up in more color challenges.  And also Garden Green.  I love both those colors but I seem to be in the minority.  (Side note:  to my delight, there are a couple of new patterned paper packs in the upcoming catalog that feature Garden Green.  Still no love for Elegant Eggplant though.)

Anywha, here's this week's new creation:

That gold embossing powder on the flowers did NOT want to show up in the photo.   Trust me, it's there!  I'm contrary enough that I like to take your stereotypical Christmas colors and make something not-Christmasy with them.   One more color challenge closer to catching up on Splitcoast!  I also used last week's sketch from Sketch Frenzy Friday:

Have a great weekend!  We're going to see Godzilla tonight :D

Supplies, last card only:
Stamps:  A Beautiful Thing
Ink:  Cherry Cobbler, Versamark
Paper:  Crumb Cake, Cherry Cobbler, Very Vanilla, Gumball Green DSP
Accessories:  Gold brads, gold EP, Very Vanilla seam binding, Dimensionals