Majestic Wolf

Mornin', y'all.  We had a big storm roll through last night around midnight, LOTS of lightning and I think it hailed too, so that definitely woke me up.  Then I woke up at five this morning but managed to go back to sleep for a little while, until Daphne made me get up.

Anyway, I did some rearranging of things in my craft room (again) yesterday and finally sat down to actually make some stuff late in the afternoon.  So here's one of the cards I made:

When my brother and his fam were here last week, we went to the Colorado Wolf & Wildlife Center, so I thought I'd make a wolf card to send them to say hey thanks for visiting.  The beginning of the tour was quite depressing (spoiler alert:  invading Europeans killed the vast majority of the wolf populations on this continent, and some people are still intent on eradicating them despite decades of scientific proof regarding how wolf populations improve the ecosystem of Yellowstone), but then we walked around with a guide and saw about a dozen wolves in different enclosures.  And also some coyotes.  At the end of the tour, the guide had us all do a big howl, and then the wolves howled back at us, which was pretty cool.

Anyway, my wolf card is for three challenges, starting with Just Add Ink:

I used Basic Gray, Smoky Slate, and Hydrangea Hue for my colors, and I kept the animal theme though I upsized from the kitten.  Next up is the sketch from Sunday Stamps:

Love this one and I'm glad I could squeak in my card before the deadline.  Last up is the Inspire. Create. theme:

I had this card planned out in my head for daaayyyyssss while we painted so I'm glad I finally got it out on paper.  And now I can mail it off, too.

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Wolf, Sanded
Ink:  Basic Gray, Smoky Slate, Hydrangea Hue
Paper:  Basic Gray, Hydrangea Hue, Basic White, Simply Marbleous DSP Stack
Accessories:  Deckled Rectangles dies, Dimensionals

And here's Daphne insisting that I get up this morning:

"Mahm, gets up NOWWW!"  She is not shy about shoving her cold wet nose at whatever bare skin she can find because she knows that's hard to ignore.  She's lucky she's cute!  I kid, even with her making me get out of bed when I'd rather be lazy I love my darling girl.  It was a very long 4 1/2 dogless years.  That's it for me today,  y'all, cheers!

Embossanova

Hey y'all, happy Friday!  Last night after kiddo went to bed, I had an idea for a card that I just HAD to get out on paper so I locked myself in my craft room for a bit and made this:

ALL THE COLORED EMBOSSING POWDER!!!  Stampin' Up! used to have a bunch of different colors of embossing powder.  I bought a lot of them and I'm pretty sure that before now I hadn't used Tempting Turquoise or Melon Mambo.  But I'm pretty tickled with how this turned out!

I had to have another go at this week's Color Throwdown:

The inspiration photo made me think of the shoes in Epic Celebrations, and like I said last time these colors just scream eighties to me so I leaned into that with my card.  Anyone else grow up in the '80s and have those weird background in your school photos that looked like lasers or something?  Just me?  Okay.  I wonder if I could dig that picture up...anyway, I used the Sanded background stamp with Tempting Turquoise EP to kinda mimic that feel and the bottom half of the ice cream punch gave me a great triangle shape for behind my sentiment stamp.

I used this week's Freshly Made Sketch:

It was fun once again doing a deep dive in my retired products for this one.  And of course I can't think of the '80s without thinking of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, because my brother got the original movie on VHS for his birthday one year and watched it at least once a day over the entire Christmas break and I still have a lot of the dialog memorized.  I was trying to think of a title for this blog post last night and "Embossanova" popped in my head and really made me laugh so I have to share my word silliness with you :)

Have a great Friday!

Supplies, all SU! (some retired)
Stamps:  Epic Celebrations, Really Retro, Sanded
Ink:  Versamark
Paper:  Basic Black, Melon Mambo, Tempting Turquoise
Accessories:  Melon Mambo EP, Tempting Turquoise EP, White EP, Window Frames dies, Word Window punch, Ice Cream punch, Dimensionals

Friday Flashback: The Free & the Brave

Happy Friday, folks!  And if you're a government employee, happy three-day weekend.  Today's Flashback stamp set is The Free & the Brave, which might seem an odd choice for November but today is Veterans Day so it makes sense.

The main image and the words are from today's stamp set, paired with Sanded on the background and I noticed as I set this up that I seem to ALWAYS use Sanded with this stamp set.

See?  This eagle is my favorite stamp in the set.

Here's a scrapbook layout that was posted not all that long ago with my favorite eagle.

And when the set first came out, I used that eagle for swaps.  With Sanded.

So for today's new projects, I've got some scrapbook pages:

The pics are from November 2005, my first visit to DC.  Unfortunately this was before I started my other blog, so I'm left with what I can remember from the trip...and I've slept since then :p I might have just written on the journaling what I could tell from the photos (okay I totally did that).

The words again, I like it.

There's the second layout since I couldn't fit all the pics on one spread.  You can't tell from the photos, but the stars are lightly stamped with Sanded in Smoky Slate and then sponged a bit on the edges to kind of grunge them up a bit to match everything else.  I used Gorgeous Grunge on the Smoky Slate textured cardstock borders because it seemed to jive really well with the grays in the photos.

There's the regal eagle again, stamped tone-on-tone with Cherry Cobbler.

Today's super patriotic color combination includes Cherry Cobbler, Night of Navy, Smoky Slate, and Whisper White.  And because it's Veterans Day, please please pretty please express your thanks to any veterans you know.  They work so hard to protect our freedom.

Supplies, scrapbook pages:
Stamps:  The Free & the Brave, Sanded, Larger Than Life Alphabet, Gorgeous Grunge
Ink:  Night of Navy, Cherry Cobbler, Smoky Slate, Basic Gray marker
Paper:  Night of Navy, Cherry Cobbler, Smoky Slate textured, Thick Whisper White
Accessories:  retired star punch

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: Express Yourself

Happy Friday, peeps!  This week's Friday Flashback stamp set is Express Yourself, a collection of sentiment stamps that was a hostess set in the 2013-14 catalog.  A lot of times I don't use hostess sets a whole lot, but I do love this one so let's go!

Also features Hello Lovely

Something CAS to start off with; I think that Eastern Elegance DSP was one of my all-time faves.

Also features Falling Leaves

This was for one of the crazier Splitcoast sketches; I haven't done one of their challenges in a long time actually.

Oops, I chose the pic that doesn't have the entire card front on it but you get the idea.  Made this for the hubs for our 10th anniversary a couple years ago.

Also features Hearts a Flutter

Another CAS creation...

Also features Best of Autumn

And here's another fall card.  I like that leaf, it's a pretty image.

Also features Serene Silhouettes

I loved how the color wash looks on the silhouette image panel, and then right when I was finishing up this card I got a smudge on it.  Oops.

Also features Lovely as a Tree

Are you seeing a trend with the sentiment stamp yet?  The other sentiments are perfectly good too but I seem to be drawn to that "always thinking of you one".  And for my next trick:

Yup, I used the same sentiment on today's new card.  I do love how this one turned out though, I used the color challenge from Colour Q:

Those colors just screamed FALL to me so I went with it (though I do have some flower stamps that look like the images on that phone case).  Fall is my favorite time of year; I'm looking forward to cooler temperatures, sweaters and scarves without being absolutely frozen solid, and of course fall baking.  Because Thanksgiving.  And I just love baking.  Washing the dishes afterwards, not so much :p

I based my card layout off of this older Sketch Frenzy Friday sketch, but the linky is closed for it.

That's it for me this week, have a great weekend.  Cheers, peeps!

Supplies, last card only:
Stamps:  Express Yourself, Gently Falling, Sanded
Ink:  Early Espresso, Pumpkin Pie, Taken with Teal, Rich Razzleberry, Sahara Sand
Paper:  Early Espresso, Rich Razzleberry, Whisper White, Autumn Meadows DSP
Accessories:  Wide oval punch, Dimensionals

Friday Flashback: Sweet Serendipity

Happy Friday, stampers!  It is time once more for a Friday Flashback, and today's stamp set is Sweet Serendipity, a set of six cool sentiment stamps plus a few little images.  Let's go!

Also features Bronc Buster and Flannel Plaid

 I'd say riding a bucking bronco would be an adventure, wouldn't you?

The Sweet Serendipity stamp I used on this layout says "Live each day with laughter/enthusiasm" which seemed perfect with the picture of my friend Sarah on a carousel in Florence.

Also features Pretty Amazing and Pretty Petals

You saw this one earlier this year in the Pretty Amazing Friday Flashback.

Also features Happiness Always

And this one was in last week's Happiness Always Friday Flashback.

Also features Fabulous Flowers, Sanded, Paisley

 Oh hey, Fabulous Flowers had a Friday Flashback already too.  This is still one of my favorite cards.

Also features Snow Burst and Paisley

The sentiment says sparkle, and this card delivered!  The whole top panel is covered in Iridescent Ice EP, which is hard to photograph but looks awesome and sparkly in real life.

Also features Pretty Peony and Sanded

This was the first card on the Pretty Peony Friday Flashback, and it's another of my old favorites.  I love that Sanded background stamp.   That's it for the flashback part of today's post (and the flashback to prior flashbacks, if you followed all the links), it's time to see what's new!

I had Sheltering Tree out on my table for a different project so I thought I'd use it for today's post too.  I used the Fall-To Layout #22 from Clean & Simple Stamping:

And the softer color combination from Colour Me...!

But since I was on a roll in my craft room, and there was a whole 'nother color challenge on there, I had to try the bold combination as well:

I added a bit of Sahara Sand to both color combinations, I couldn't help it :)  For this one, I also used the sketch from the Paper Players:

Hope you enjoyed today's extra-long Friday Flashback.  Have a great weekend, peeps, we're painting again!

Supplies, Sheltering Tree card:
Stamps:  Sweet Serendipity, Sheltering Tree
Ink:  Tip Top Taupe, Blushing Bride, Wisteria Wonder, Sahara Sand
Paper:  Tip Top Taupe, Blushing Bride, Wisteria Wonder, Whisper White, Wisteria Wonder DSP
Accessories:  Oval & Scalloped Oval punches, Dimensionals

Supplies, Secret Garden card:
Stamps:  Sweet Serendipity, Secret Garden
Ink:  Night of Navy, Whisper White
Paper:  Calypso Coral, Night of Navy, Sahara Sand, Whisper White
Accessories:  Secret Garden Framelits, Spring Flowers EF, ticket corner punch, Dimensionals

Friday Flashback: Ancient Asia

It's time for the Friday Flashback!  If you've been here for a while (or if you've perused my other blog), you know that I used to live in Japan and I love stamps with an Oriental flair.  Today's Friday Flashback is for the superfantastic Ancient Asia!

Also features Bamboo II and Happy Birthday Frame

I sent this to my dad for his birthday a few years ago.  I still miss the retired blue colors like Ballet Blue and Brocade Blue.

Also features Bamboo II, Natural Beauty, and Itty Bitty Backgrounds

I made this card before I ever knew there was a band called Imagine Dragons :)

Also features Sanded and Birthday Whimsy

And there's the other dragon in the set.

Also features Whimsical Alphabet

The first layout in my Okinawa scrapbook--I used the tiny dragon in a line across the top of the pages.  So that was the Flashback part, and because I've been having SUCH a good time in my craft room this week I have two new cards to share!

My friend Misty recently had a wedding anniversary, and when she got married I made her a wedding sampler with Chinese characters on it so I was thinking of her when I made this card.  I used the colors from the Color Throwdown:

Such a pretty photo on there, I want to go wherever that was taken.  And you might recognize this week's Nacho sketch too:

But I didn't stop there, I made one more card today:

Kind of different for me, it's all neutrals (and you know I like color, and lots of it).  That Whisper White layer is actually sponged with Sahara Sand and Basic Gray ink, but the flash kinda whited that out.  I used this week's Mojo Monday sketch on this one:

So there you have it!  I've got some pictures picked out for a scrapbook layout to work on next week, and I think Ancient Asia will be making another appearance in my scrapbooks.  Hope y'all have a great weekend, and cheers, peeps!

Supplies, dragon anniversary card:
Stamps:  Ancient Asia, Best of Love, Teeny Tiny Wishes
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Riding Hood Red
Paper:  Basic Black, Riding Hood Red, Whisper White, Night & Day DSP (I used up a scrap!)
Accessories:  Riding Hood Red taffeta

Supplies, horse card:
Stamps:  Ancient Asia, Weathered
Ink:  Sahara Sand, Basic Gray, Whisper White
Paper:  Sahara Sand, Basic Gray, Whisper White, Sahara Sand DSP
Accessories:  Whisper White baker's twine, Neutrals Candy Dots, Dimensionals