Blossom Birthday

Mornin' y'all, hope your week is off to a good start.  Ryan informed me this morning that he thought I should get a tattoo so that I would "look tough and people would respect you more, like Daphne."  I presume he means Daphne would respect me more with a tattoo, not that she has a respect-garnering tattoo of her own (if she does, it's well hidden in her fur).  I politely declined, more emphatically when he said I should get the tattoo on my face.  Where he comes up with these ideas.

Anyway, I have a birthday card to share today:

And I used the fun sketch from As You See It:

Which dovetailed nicely with the Inspire. Create. challenge:

I have lots of scraps of the Lovely Blossoms DSP so it was just a matter of choosing which scraps to use.  Even the flowers are cut out of a partial sheet of the paper...in fact, every bit of paper on this card started as a scrap except for the card base.  Joanne mentioned on her post for this challenge that she'd thought of using the Sending Smiles bundle before changing her mind and using something else, so I took her idea and ran with it.  After all, it's her fault that I have that DSP pack so it's only fitting : )

Time to get the spawn ready for school and then take Daphne for a walk.  I'll ask her about the tattoo.  Cheers!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Sending Smiles
Ink:  Secret Sea
Paper:  Cloud Cover, Basic White, Petal Pink, Secret Sea, Lovely Blossoms DSP
Accessories:  Sending Smiles dies, Mini Dimensionals, Low-Profile Dots

Our Daphne likes to lay down with her head at a 90-degree angle to the rest of her.  Spinal alignment?  Never heard of her.

(Yet Another) Variation on a Theme

Mornin' y'all, how's your Thursday going?  Ryan is currently "singing", by which I mean he's making all kinds of sustained random noises while also eating breakfast and theoretically reading a book.  Kids.

Anyway, apparently I am stuck on a theme lately and that is the long-retired Hues of Happiness DSP with big word dies because here's another one:

It was the first thing to pop in my head when I saw this week's Freshly Made Sketch and since I already had more of the flowers cut out...

And Shopping Our Stash wants us to focus on a word so out came my Sending Smiles bundle again because it worked so well for Monday's cards.  And I used the tic-tac-toe challenge from Retro Rubber:

I already had flowers on the brain so I knew I was going to start there, so I decided to go along the right side with die cut (my greeting) - butterfly (brass butterfly embellishments) - flowers (fussy cut from DSP).  Sending Smiles is four years old and I thought it was older than that?  The current Words of Beauty is a bit similar in that it has a big bold "just because" but I don't think the "because" fits on a vertically oriented card.  Anyway, I really have a ridiculous amount of DSP in my stash and I am officially out of space for more paper but I also want to buy like five new packs of what's on preorder right now because I am a paper dragon, so this card is good to use a bit more of the gorgeous Hues of Happiness DSP.  I just need to make approximately six thousand more cards before I order more DSP.  Seems doable.

Okay, I've got to take Daphne for a walk before it gets too stinkin' hot and then I need to run to the grocery store, and this afternoon we have Meet the Teacher at Ryan's school so I'd better get moving if I want any craft time.  Cheers!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Sending Smiles
Ink:  Flirty Flamingo, Granny Apple Green
Paper:  Flirty Flamingo, Granny Apple Green, Basic White, Hues of Happiness DSP
Accessories:  Sending dies, Mini Dimensionals, Brushed Brass Butterflies

More Is Better

Mornin' y'all, and I am dragging today.  I woke up around 3am and couldn't get back to sleep for a long time and then Daphne decided she wanted to go outside at 5:30, not long after I had finally gotten back to sleep.  Argh!  I may have to take a nap today before my doctor's appointment...which is about the extreme fatigue I've had all summer.  I will be playing the part of Exhibit A.

I actually had a pretty good day energy-wise yesterday and apparently I was in the mood for fussy cutting and making more cards with All The Things piled on, like my kitchen sink card from last week.  I got out the Hues of Happiness DSP again (I had been a good little housekeeper and put it away after I made the card last week) and made these two cards:

I still have a bunch more pieces that I cut out yesterday and haven't used yet, but all these cutouts seemed like a great way to use the new Atlantic Hearts sketch:

And I didn't shy away from using the busier patterns for the background in my cards, either.  The one on the left fits in with the As You See It Challenge again too:

I love how the design team cards are all mostly yellow, maybe a bit of green, and my cards are every color all at once but also there's still multiple shades of yellow on there (the cut-out flowers are Daffodil Delight and so is the main part of the greeting, but the sparkle dots are Darling Duckling so that counts as multiple shades).  Guess my brain is a riot of color right now?  Hues of Happiness retired probably like five or six years ago (I know I was in Germany when it came out) but it's gorgeous and I enjoyed using it for these challenges.  And I still have a lot of it left.

Ryan isn't up yet, but Daphne continues to make an absolute pest of herself wanting to go for a walk, so I think I'll go ahead and take her before it gets too warm outside.  Cheers, y'all, and wish me luck at my appointment this afternoon, it's causing me some anxiety.

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Sending Smiles
Ink:  Daffodil Delight, Mossy Meadow
Paper:  Coastal Cabana, Granny Apple Green, Whisper White, Hues of Happiness DSP
Accessories:  Sending Smiles dies, Mini Dimensionals, Low Profile Sparkle Dots

Sunshine Lemon

Mornin' y'all!  The hubs has had to work some odd hours lately so he wasn't home for dinner yesterday, and so Ryan and I went on a date to Texas Roadhouse : )  That child put away four rolls, ate all his dinner, and *then* begged for ice cream.  He says he has two stomachs and I believe him.  We're gonna have to start saving up now to feed him when he's a teenager.

Anyway, I shared a lemon card yesterday and guess what, I have another one today.  Check it out:

As soon as I saw the Inspired By... challenge, I knew I would be using the Mediterranean Blooms DSP that recently went on the Last Chance List.

It's got lemons and a bunch of patterns in blues, so perfect.  I paired that with the peekaboo sketch from Freshly Made Sketches:

It was kind of an interesting brain exercise to figure out how to cut the papers so the lemons peeked out where I wanted them, but I like the result.  I think I'll send this one to my parents as it reminds me of the vintage fruit crate labels from where they grew up in California.

Gotta hustle Ryan out the door.  Cheers!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Sending Smiles
Ink:  Daffodil Delight, Old Olive
Paper:  Lemon Lolly, Thick Basic White, Mediterranean Blooms DSP
Accessories:  Sending dies, Thoughtful Expressions dies, Mini Dimensionals, Glossy Dots

Balloon Fiesta

Mornin' y'all!  I didn't get much craft room time yesterday as I had someone come over to repair the furniture that was damaged in the move last year...he did a great job on everything but it kinda took up most of my available time during the day.  Here's hoping that things don't get damaged in the *next* move...which will be this summer.

But I did squeak in enough time for one card, and this is it:

I was inspired by the Global Design Project challenge to cut into that balloon pattern:

And it just so happens that balloons are on the inspo list for Festive Friday this time around too:

I used bright colors (Lemon Lolly and Azure Afternoon read as bright to me, plus some Sweet Sorbet accents), twine (I did order the twine that goes along with this DSP, but it doesn't get here until tomorrow), outdoors, large sentiment (Sending Smiles was the largest one I could find in my current stamps), and balloons.  Sweet Sorbet is not listed in the colors on this DSP, but there is a darker pinky color that I figured worked well enough with the Sweet Sorbet twine and heart accents.  Calypso Coral would work too I think, and it's not on the color list either.  Anyway, I went with a very simple card layout so I could use a big piece of that fun balloon pattern.  It's cute!

That's it for me today.  Cheers, peeps!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Sending Smiles
Ink:  Azure Afternoon
Paper:  Balmy Blue, Lemon Lolly, Azure Afternoon, Thick Basic White, Lighter than Air DSP Stack
Accessories:  Sending dies, Sweet Sorbet baker's twine, Adhesive-Backed Hearts & Flowers, Dimensionals

Fluffy Cotton Balls

Mornin' y'all!  I've been a busy little bee today.  Got up early, did my workout, got Ryan up for school, and then I went to THREE different stores for Thanksgiving prep.  Umm does nobody have frozen cranberries in the US??  (I ended up buying a couple bags of fresh cranberries, it's fine.)  I've got a lineup of cookie recipes on my dining room table and as soon as I finish this, I'll be starting on cookie dough.  I'm planning to give everyone who comes here for Thanksgiving a goodie bag of cookies to kick off Christmas cookie season.  Also I'm ambitious and probably crazy.

Anyway!  Here's my card for today:

I used this week's Freshly Made Sketch:

I thought Christmas trees, but since Karren did that already I had to be different : )  And here's this week's Color Throwdown:

I used Blushing Bride, Smoky Slate (and Basic Gray), and Shaded Spruce.  The Tinsel Gems claim that they're Pretty Peacock, but I think they look a lot more green and it worked with the teensy tiny bit of green on my stamped image.  Green is my all-time favorite color so how did I end up with a card that's almost all pink and gray?

Okay, I'm off to make several batches of cookie dough.  They all have to be refrigerated for at least a couple of hours, so I'm just making lots of dough today and then I'll bake the cookies later.  Maybe this weekend so Ryan can help roll things in sugar.  Cheers!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Softly Sketched, Sending Smiles
Ink:  Basic Gray, Smoky Slate, Stampin' Blends in Smoky Slate and Shaded Spruce
Paper:  Blushing Bride, Basic Gray, Thick Basic White, Blushing Bride & Smoky Slate DSP
Accessories:  Tinsel Gems, Sending dies, Dimensionals

SUO Challenges: Back to School Blues and Bird

Happy Tuesday and hope you've got your backpack and books, 'cause it's time for a new challenge from SUO Challenges!

Yep, we're doing back to school cards for this challenge!  And my kiddo starts school tomorrow, woohoo!  There are actually several great choices for this theme in the current catalog and of course you could use retired SU! stamps too.  Here's what I made:

One of my besties is starting a new teaching job this school year, after being a SAHM for several years and then substitute teaching for a while.  So this card is for her to wish her luck with her new 4th grade class!  I love that Apple Harvest has carried over from last year, I don't know why they didn't make the coordinating dies a permanent thing.  The dies were on the clearance rack for quite a while, don't know if they still are.

And I have a bonus card for today!  As luck would have it, my last SU! order before leaving Germany arrived right before I had to start packing up my craft room, and I made time to make one more card for this challenge because I fell in love with the Bird's Eye View stamp set.  Here it is:

The sentiment is from Rhino Ready, and the papers are from the Inked Botanicals DSP Stack.  In the same order, I got the Nested Essentials dies, so I had to give those a try too (the die around the bookish bird).  So glad I got to make this before everything got packed up.

So let's see your back to school cards!  Post 'em over on the SUO Challenges blog.  And have fun, this is art class : )

Supplies, all SU!, apple card:
Stamps:  Apple Harvest, Sending Smiles
Ink:  Night of Navy, Stampin' Blends in Sweet Sorbet & Soft Sea Foam
Paper:  Boho Blue, Thick Basic White, Countryside Inn DSP
Accessories:  Apple Blossoms dies, Sending dies, Dimensionals

Supplies, all SU!, bird card:
Stamps:  Bird's Eye View, Rhino Ready
Ink:  Night of Navy, Stampin' Blends in Petal Pink, Calypso Coral, Daffodil Delight, Pool Party, Lost Lagoon
Paper:  Petal Pink, Night of Navy, Pool Party, Thick Basic White, Inked Botanicals DSP
Accessories:  Nested Essentials dies, Stylish Shapes dies, Dimensionals, Milky Dots

P.S.  This is what my craft room currently looks like:

And this is the loft area next door to the craft room, where the *rest* of my stuff currently is:

Okay, not quite all of it is craft room stuff, but a lot of it is.  So these two areas are my next area to tackle in the house; I've got the downstairs about 80% unpacked and organized (including the garage, even!), and I need to work on these two places next before I can figure out where I'm storing certain things from downstairs.  I'm hoping that my craft room might be workable by the end of the week.  With Ryan starting school tomorrow, I think I can do it.  Wish me luck!

SUO Challenges: Floral Fantasy

Hey hey y'all, it's time for another challenge from SUO Challenges!

If you're a longtime Stampin' Up! fan, this challenge will likely be eeeeeeeeeasy for you:  flowers!  I  know I have many many many flower stamps to choose from, so here's what I made:

Playing around with Azure Afternoon, Berry Burst, and Lemon Lime Twist...I am quite happy to have LLT back in the SU! color lineup.  Actually I sneaked in just a smidge of Bubble Bath for the flower centers too.

Make your own floral fantasy card and don't forget to share with us at the SUO Challenges blog.  Have fun!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Sending Smiles
Ink:  Berry Burst, Lemon Lime Twist, Azure Afternoon, Bubble Bath
Paper:  Thick Basic White, Bright & Beautiful DSP
Accessories:  Sending dies, mini Dimensionals, Matte Decorative Dots

Timmy the Timid Turtle

Okay so this week is just not going to spec so far...I got Ryan off to school yesterday and then got a call at nine o'clock to come and get him because he wasn't feeling well.  Thankfully he seems like he's doing better today and was happy to get on the bus this morning, so fingers crossed that I can get some things done today!

While Ryan was couch-bound yesterday and watching cartoons, I finished up a quick card to share today.  Here's Timmy the Timid Turtle.

He just looks like he's a bit worried about something, don't you think?  I used the Paper Players color challenge for this week:

I used Bubble Bath for my pink (though admittedly it kinda rides the line between pink and purple), Soft Sea Foam, Smoky Slate, and just a bit of black for the turtle.  Oh, for the spots on Timmy's shell, I colored them in with the light Old Olive Blend, then went over it with a Soft Sea Foam Blend, which gave me an interesting color I think.  Just experimenting.

I like the sketch from Just Add Ink this week too:

My sentiment strip doesn't go across the card as far as on the sketch, but I think I kept to the spirit of the thing anyway.  Sending Smiles is my go-to for sentiments that fit a long thin spot on a sketch.

Okay, I'm off to be productive.  I've got a bunch of things to box up to mail today and my SU! order somehow miraculously made it here early : ) So I get to pick that up when the post office opens.  But I only get to play with the new stuff if I can get some other things done first.  Cheers!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Playing in the Rain, Sending Smiles
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Bubble Bath, Soft Sea Foam, Smoky Slate, Stampin' Blends in Bubble Bath, Soft Sea Foam, Old Olive, Smoky Slate
Paper:  Soft Sea Foam, Thick Basic White, Bold & Beautiful DSP Stack
Accessories:  Playing in the Rain dies, Sending dies, Stylish Shapes dies, Mini Dimensionals, Milky Dots

Sending Pinecones

Hey hey!  I'm working today but I've still got a card to share.

I bought Christmas Season when it debuted last year and then...I never used it!  But it was *perfect* for the Inspired By challenge this week:

I used the inspiration pic and the sketch this time:

I used some scrap paper to mask off the strip that I stamped, though I guess I could have cut a two-inch strip, stamped it, and then adhered it to my card.  I also broke out the long-retired ticket corner punch for the corners of my card front, I liked how it mimicked the corners on the die I used for the second part of the sentiment.  Man, I remember when that ticket corner punch was used on *everything*!

That's it for me today, peeps.  Have a good 'un!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Christmas Season, Sending Smiles
Ink:  Cinnamon Cider, Early Espresso
Paper:  Thick Basic White
Accessories:  Ticket corner punch, Sending dies, mini Dimensionals

Sending Fall Flowers

Waahhhh, no more Halloween cards for this year!  I think next year I might do a 31 Days of Halloween series just so I can have more fun with my Halloween stamps.  I have more than enough Halloween sets to use a different stamp set every day for the entire month.  Do I *need* 31 Halloween cards?  Nope, but it'll be fun anyway!

Well, if I can't do Halloween cards (I mean, I could, but I'm not going to), how about a fall card for today?

I was intrigued by the color combination at Sunday Stamps:

Been a while since I got to play along over there.  Anyway, I read the colors as Soft Suede, Crushed Curry, Cajun Craze, the long-retired Bordering Blue, and Basic Gray (which is the only one I didn't use).  The main color looks gray in my photo but IRL it's more bluish.  I CASEd a card on page 166 of the annual catalog; I don't even like the sample card but somehow I like my version better.

That's it for me today, y'all.  I'm hoping to finish a layout I started working on yesterday.  Cheers!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Sending Smiles
Ink:  Bordering Blue, Cajun Craze, Crushed Curry, Soft Suede
Paper:  Bordering Blue, Cajun Craze, Crushed Curry, Thick Basic White, Crushed Curry DSP
Accessories:  Sending dies, Stitched Greenery die, Stylish Shapes dies, Mini Dimensionals, Polished Dots

Sending Poppies

Happy Friday, y'all!  I'm enjoying my first cuppa tea in probably over three weeks--it's just been too hot to enjoy hot tea lately and dang I've missed it.  But anyway!  I have a card to share today.

TBH this card feels like a bit of a cheat because the patterned paper is doing ALL the work here.  I started with this week's Freshly Made Sketch:

Coincidentally it's very similar to the Fusion sketch I used for yesterday's card, just an extra layer.  I paired that with the Color Throwdown:

I used Rich Razzleberry, Poppy Parade, and Old Olive for the colors, all of which are in that Peaceful Poppies DSP that we had a few years ago.  Trying to make myself cut into some older papers instead of just hoarding : )

That's it for me today.  Cheers, peeps!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Sending Smiles
Ink:  Rich Razzleberry, Old Olive
Paper:  Poppy Parade, Thick Basic White, Peaceful Poppies DSP
Accessories:  Sending dies, Dimensionals, Brushed Brass Butterflies

Sending a Sunflower

Mornin' y'all.  We got back late Tuesday from a trip to the Côte d'Azur (Nice, Monaco, and Provence) and yesterday I was just too tired to work on a blog post.  But I did get a couple of things done in my craft room so I have a card to share today.

This is the maiden voyage for both Celebrate Sunflowers and Sending Smiles.  I got Celebrate Sunflowers a few months ago when it was one of the bundles on sale for a short time, and I got Sending Smiles on my most recent order after seeing so many pretty cards made by the Paper Players design team.  The Hardwood background stamp is older and retired : )

For this card, I started with the Global Design Project sketch:

And I paired it with the Color Throwdown:

I used Blends to color in my sunflower with dark So Saffron (to look like Crushed Curry), light and dark Pumpkin Pie, and light and dark Crumb Cake, with Early Espresso to ink up the image.  The sunflower popped into my head as soon as I saw these colors and I thought the GDP sketch was perfect to showcase it.  Love it when things come together!

I'm off to do laundry and other fun stuff.  Cheers!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Celebrate Sunflowers, Sending Smiles, Hardwood
Ink:  Early Espresso, Crumb Cake, Stampin' Blends in So Saffron, Crushed Curry, Crumb Cake, Old Olive
Paper:  Crumb Cake, Early Espresso, Thick Basic White
Accessories:  Sunflower dies, Sending dies, Mini Dimensionals, retired Glitter Enamel Dots