SUO Challenges: School Days

Who's ready for a new challenge from SUO Challenges?  Because that's what we have today!

If the stores are anything to judge by, kids will be going back to school soon...so our theme this time around is school days!  I didn't have any current stamps that really fit that theme, but I do have a retired stamp set that I had never played with before (oops).  So this challenge gave me a great excuse to finally ink up Check You Out!  In fact, I had so much fun I made three things.

My coworker Faith is going to school for a degree in nutrition science, and she had some finals last week so I made this card for her.  I know her favorite color is orange, which is why I chose Tangelo Twist (also retired) for the card base, and I added Call Me Clover and Chocolate Chip just because I liked them together.

For this one, I was inspired by the color combination of a scrapbook layout I shared recently (which also partially inspired my first card, but I didn't have anywhere to put Daffodil Delight on that one).  This time around I used Call Me Clover for the main color and let Tangelo Twist and Daffodil Delight be supporting colors.  And I managed to use up some small scraps of DSP!

Last up is this bookworm-y bookmark, how cute is he?  I knew I wanted the bookworm to be Granny Apple Green, so I just chose other Brights colors for his stack o' books:  Magenta Madness (okay it's an In Color but it is definitely bright), Gorgeous Grape, and Pacific Point.  And now I have a one-of-a-kind bookmark :D

Hope you'll join us for our new challenge at the SUO Challenges blog.  Don't forget to check out the rest of the design team's cards, they're so creative and cute!

Supplies, first card:
Stamps:  Check You Out, So Happy For You
Ink:  Tangelo Twist, Chocolate Chip, Call Me Clover, Versamark
Paper:  Tangelo Twist, Call Me Clover, Thick Basic White
Accessories:  Stitched Shapes dies, Rectangles Stitched dies, white EP, Dimensionals

Supplies, second card:
Stamps:  Check You Out
Ink:  Chocolate Chip, Call Me Clover, Daffodil Delight, Tangelo Twist
Paper:  Call Me Clover, Daffodil Delight, Tangelo Twist, Thick Basic White, Daffodil Delight & Tangelo Twist DSP scraps
Accessories:  Circle punches, Dimensionals

Supplies, bookmark:
Stamps:  Check You Out
Ink:  Granny Apple Green, Pacific Point, Gorgeous Grape, Magenta Madness
Paper:  Magenta Madness, Thick Basic White
Accessories:  retired double rectangle punch, retired Lemon Lime Twist ribbon

Baby Luke: March

Happy weekend, everyone!  And today's layout is seasonally appropriate, if a few days late...

I love that clover-themed paper from the Happiness Blooms DSP, so I built this layout around it.  Pinch Proof is a very, very old stamp set--SU! hasn't had very many stamp sets that are only St. Paddy's Day themed, so I'm glad I've got a couple of the old ones from way back when I started stamping.

We had snow again yesterday (really?!) though it was too warm for anything to stick.  Today looks like a very nice day, though still cold, so I think I'll be taking Ryan out to the playground later so the hubs can have some time to play in his craft room.  Cheers, y'all!

Supplies:
Stamps:  Pinch Proof, So Happy For You
Ink:  Call Me Clover, Blueberry Bushel, Calypso Coral, Versamark, Petal Pink & Pineapple Punch markers
Paper:  Call Me Clover, Blueberry Bushel, Calypso Coral, Thick Whisper White, Happiness Blooms DSP
Accessories:  Sizzix letters, Layering Circles dies, clear embossing powder

Thanks, Teach

Friday morning already, y'all.  I'm starting off today with a headache, but I'm hoping my morning cuppa tea and some pumpkin baked oatmeal will help with that.  Though if Ryan has his way, he'll get 2/3 of my oatmeal.  How can he fit that much oatmeal in his wee little tummy?  Piggy baby.  Sure is cute, though.

So I made a card yesterday while Ryan was entertaining his dada.

I don't know, this card looked better in my head.  It just feels a little lackluster to me?  I don't know.  Anyway, I started with the Paper Players sketch:

And of course the Retro Rubber theme challenge:

My card today isn't *quite* as obviously school-related, but I thought it would work nicely as a teacher thank you card.  Why do we associate apples with teachers?  Things that make you go hmm.  Oh yeah, stamp ages...I've had Apple of My Eye for just a year and a half, and So Happy For You is 6 years old.

Anyway, one last challenge, I used the Color Throwdown colors:

I used Real Red, Crushed Curry, and Wild Wasabi, which are great back-to-school colors.

Well, Ryan is trying to get my attention...either he wants my oatmeal, or he needs a diaper change.  Ha!  Cheers, y'all!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Apple of My Eye, So Happy For You
Ink:  Real Red, Wild Wasabi, Chocolate Chip
Paper:  Wild Wasabi, Thick Whisper White, Color Theory DSP
Accessories:  Dimensionals, dinner plate traced for the curve

Friday Flashback: Sketch an Event

Hey y'all, happy Friday.  I finally rustled up a card for today's Friday Flashback, which is in celebration of Sketch an Event.  So let's check it out...

When we lived in Okinawa, I made up some baby shower invites for a friend who didn't know at the time if she was having a boy or a girl (it was a boy) and I think this is the one we went with.  Even though it's green and blue she still liked it for a boy or a girl.

I also tried a Real Red version because Sarah likes her some bright, saturated colors.  And that is the end of the Flashback, because I've had this stamp set for a long time and I'm absolutely sure I made more cards with it but they musta been before I got a digital camera.  So y'know, ancient.

Here's the new card:

I stamped the flowers in Bermuda Bay and carefully watercolored with Cucumber Crush, trying not to blur the lines too much.  And then I got the bright idea to add Dazzling Details glitter glue to the wings and I should have used Wink of Stella instead because the Dazzling Details mostly blew bubbles everywhere and I'm not sure much actual glitter got on the card front but I didn't want to redo it.

I used the sketch from CAS(E) This Sketch:

Granted I added the patterned paper on the left, and I only did three butterflies because they were too tall to do four and have room for a sentiment.

I also used the Retro Rubber color challenge:

I've had Sketch an Event since at least 2006, when it retired, and So Happy for You (the sentiment) was from 2011's Sale-a-Bration so both are quite retro ;)  I'll have to see if I can work this stamp set in on some scrapbook pages or something, it's pretty cute and it's sad that I haven't used it more.  Or that I don't have photographic proof that I used it more often, anyway.

Happy weekend, y'all!

Supplies, last card only:
Stamps:  Sketch an Event, So Happy for You
Ink:  Bermuda Bay, Cucumber Crush, Chocolate Chip, Crumb Cake
Paper:  Cucumber Crush, Thick Whisper White, Bermuda Bay DSP
Accessories:  Dazzling Details glitter glue

Friday Flashback: Gifts from the Orient

Happy Friday, y'all!  Already time once again for a Friday Flashback, and this week's featured stamp set is Gifts from the Orient.  Let's take a trip back through the stampy archives...

Also features Rough Type, Dream Gardens

Here's a scrapbook layout from my parents' visit to Okinawa in 2008.  Wow that was nearly 8 years ago, crazy.  Anyway, the origami crane above the title is from today's stamp set.

Also features Petite Patterns, Warm Words

And here's a card from the same time period, I made this for my parents when they visited and gave them a kokeshi doll too.  So I pulled these two out of the archives and I was absolutely SURE I had made at least one more card with this stamp set, I remembered it quite vividly so I just spent 15 minutes looking for the picture of it in my Splitcoast gallery only to find out that for the card in question, I used a different Asian-themed stamp set.  *sheepish grin*  So that's it for the flashback part, let's see some new stuff!

This card was the combination of three different challenges, starting with the latest from CAS(E) This Sketch:

I turned the sketch on its side, but I kept my card CAS because it's only two layers of white cardstock and the strips behind the oval are stamped red lanterns.  Speaking of red, the Retro Rubber Challenge this week is a color combination:

So for Retro Rubber-ness, I've had Gifts from the Orient since 2008, and I got Rough Type when it was first released in 2010.  Both well over a year old, though that alphabet never has time to get dusty in my house ;)

Anyway, just one more challenge, the theme at the Male Room:

Yep, I used pink on a dude card.  Granted, not a lot of pink, but I did use pink :)  I'm sending this card to my dad because it's punny and he appreciates a good pun.  "Hai" sounds like "hi" but means yes in Japanese (or if you want to get more nit-picky, it's more like "I acknowledge what you're saying" rather than "I agree with you") but it just made me giggle a bit when I thought of it and yep, Dad will like it.

After I finished my hai card, I just wasn't quite ready to stop for the day so I made one more:

When I do the Friday Flashback posts, I almost never look at the older project pictures first so it's just coincidence that I used the same two stamps from the set on my two new projects.  That, and those are my favorite stamps in the set.  Anyway, this one is for the challenge at Fusion:

I went with the sketch more than the paper hearts picture, though I think I could do some thing with green, orange and purple.  Maybe another time.  Anyway, this good luck card I think also counts for the Male Room challenge again.

So that's it for me today.  Hope you have a great weekend, y'all!  I think we might go see Kung Fu Panda 3...

Supplies, Hai card:
Stamps:  Gifts from the Orient, Rough Type
Ink:  Basic Black, Real Red, Pink Pirouette, Crumb Cake, Smoky Slate, Mint Macaron, Blendabilities
Paper:  Thick Whisper White
Accessories:  Ovals Framelits, Neutrals Candy Dots

Supplies, Good Luck card:
Stamps:  Gifts from the Orient, So Happy for You
Ink:  Real Red, Bermuda Bay, Basic Black
Paper:  Real Red, Thick Whisper White, Confetti Celebrations & Perfectly Artistic DSP
Accessories:  Circles Framelits

Friday Flashback: So Happy For You

Happy Friday everyone!  Today's Friday Flashback stamp set is So Happy For You, and I admit when I pulled that stamp set name I thought "uhh...what?"  Obviously not one that has gotten a lot of use at my house, but it was a Sale-a-Bration stamp set in 2011 so at least it was free?  Today's Flashback actually has no flashback part as this is its maiden voyage...

Sorry the colors in my photos are a bit off today; not sure what the deal is but I took a pic of another project using Pumpkin Pie cardstock and it came off looking like Real Red on crack.  So on this one, the stripey pattern is Melon Mambo, not some eye-searing shocking pink monstrosity.  It looked better IRL than it does in that picture, and I still wasn't thrilled with it; I thought I should have switched out the Crumb Cake and Basic Black layers.

So I did some card surgery.

Well, it's a little better, but I still think this Flashback is a bit of a dud.  It happens sometimes, and not every card can be as awesome as yesterday's (I really like yesterday's card, so anything else was bound to pale in comparison).  I think the *idea* for today's card was okay, but my execution is off.  To change the card, I peeled off the black polka dots and stamped the chevron pattern on Whisper White and stuck it on there, though the proportion of the black piece was a little better.  Instead of trying to peel apart the layers under my main image, I colored the Crumb Cake cardstock with a black marker.

At any rate, I'm gonna shake this one off and go try to work on something else.  Have a great weekend, peeps!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  So Happy For You, Bodacious Bouquet, My Paper Pumpkin (the chevron stamp was from a couple kits ago, forget which month)
Ink:  Melon Mambo, Crumb Cake, Basic Black
Paper:  Whisper White, Crumb Cake, retired Melon Mambo & Basic Black DSP
Accessories:  Deco Label Framelits, Circles Collection Framelits, Dimensionals, Rhinestone