Retro Red Rose

July means I need lots of birthday cards for my friends and family, so I gotta get crackin' this week!  First up is my mom's birthday on July 2, so here's her card:

She loves all things red, white, and blue, and the current Fusion challenge was perfect for her birthday card:

I love it when I see a challenge and immediately think "I have the perfect stamps for that!"  The inspo pic made me think of Stippled Blossoms right away, which was released before Stampin' Up! had dies for so many of their sets, so I fussy-cut the flower and leaves.  I rather enjoy a bit of fussy-cutting every now and again.  I used Sweet Sorbet and Cherry Cobbler for the flower, and busted out some retired shades for the leaves, namely Baja Breeze (still my favorite) and Not Quite Navy.  The sentiment is stamped in Midnight Muse for the darkest shade on the color palette.

My SU! order *finally* arrived yesterday so I need to go unpack it all and get to work on some scrapbook pages.  Woohoo!  Fun day ahead for me, hope your Tuesday is fun too!

Supplies, all SU! (many retired)
Stamps:  Stippled Blossoms, Perfectly Penned
Ink:  Sweet Sorbet, Cherry Cobbler, Baja Breeze, Not Quite Navy, Midnight Muse
Paper:  Not Quite Navy, Baja Breeze, Thick Basic White, Walk in the Park DSP
Accessories:  Circles Collection Framelits, Dimensionals, In Color Matte Dots

Friday Flashback: Perfectly Penned

Hey kids.  My Friday started off with a bang--my little boy dog Vader injured himself again.  He was trying so hard to run up the stairs to get breakfast faster and he's busted his left knee this time.  So I'm stressed out and feeling bad that he's hurt and he's stuck up on the middle floor of the house until the hubs can get home and carry him downstairs.  Hope he doesn't have to tinkle...

Anyway, here I am with today's Friday Flashback, and I'm going to have to be quick because I need to be out of the house in under 10 minutes.  So here we go!

Also features Perfectly Preserved

I think I have at least three stamp sets with apples in them.  No wait, four.  I must like apples :)

Also features By the Seashore

Perfectly Penned is one of my favorite sentiment stamps ever ever ever, so I just picked out some favorites for today's post or else we'd be here until next Friday.  And I started to notice something...

By the Seashore again :)

I also really like By the Seashore, and...

Also features Stippled Blossoms

A lot of my favorite cards are in fall colors.

Also features Gently Falling

Also features French Foliage

See what I mean?  Ooh, I love the copper brads on this one.  I still have quite a stash of those.

one more time for By the Seashore

Haha, more seashells, which I had so much trouble typing the word "seashells" you'd think I was trying to stumble through saying "She sells seashells by the seashore" six times fast.

Also features the All Dressed Up Framelits which were pretty cool

One last happy yellow card and I would totally wear that if it were a real dress.  Now for today's new card:

My friend Missy (a.k.a. Baylor bear extraordinaire) had a birthday earlier this week and I musta been sticking my head in the sand because I DIDN'T SEND HER A CARD and I'm very distraught about this, so I made a Baylor bear card.  But I do feel a bit guilty because this one came together really fast so maybe I should spend some more time in my craft room tomorrow and really make her a masterpiece.

Anyway, I revisited this week's Freshly Made Sketch:

I switched the main image panel to the left side so the bear would be looking into the card rather than off the side, I think about these things (comes up even more in scrapbooking).  And to add a bit of glam, I painted the balloon with clear Wink of Stella.

Okay, I've got two minutes to get out the door.  Cheers, peeps!

Supplies, last card only:
Stamps:  Perfectly Penned, Thankful Forest Friends, My Paper Pumpkin (balloon)
Ink:  Basic Black, Garden Green, Daffodil Delight, Smoky Slate
Paper:  Daffodil Delight, Garden Green, Thick Whisper White, Garden Green DSP
Accessories:  Lots of Labels Framelits, black taffeta (retired), Dimensionals, clear Wink of Stella

Friday Flashback: Filigree

Happy Friday!  This week's Friday Flashback stamp set is Filigree, which was one of my favorite background stamps for a very long time...oh who are we kidding, I still love me some Filigree.  But I don't want you to spend all weekend trying to make it through the entire Flashback, so I just picked out a few favorite older projects with Filigree.

Oh wow, I just saw in the Splitcoast gallery that Filigree retired in 2005!

Also features Roses in Winter, Hugs & Wishes

Wow, way back in the archives for this one:  that's Vintage Violet!

Also features Best of Brides & Babies

Here's a wedding card with one of the "Best of" sets they did a couple years ago.  Filigree is stamped with Versamark and embossed with clear EP; it also looks pretty fabulous done in metallic EP or Iridescent Ice.  Which is on the retiring list, to my great surprise.  I love that stuff!

Also features Land That I Love

Here's a patriotic eagle card.  Oy, back in the day when all I had was cheap big box store ribbon.  I don't have much current SU! ribbon, but I do have a laundry basket full of retired stuff :)

Also features Petal Prints, Happy Everything

Aww, this one's sweet.  I miss Regal Rose sometimes.

Also features Coast to Coast, Sincere Saluations

You know what?  I think a lighthouse makes for good symbolism on a thinking of you or sympathy card.

Also features Print Pattern, Wonderful Wings, Sincere Salutations

Okay, one last one with the kissing technique and a fabulous butterfly.  Of course you recently saw a Filigree-kissed sun on my Here Comes the Sun layout this Monday.

So that's all I'm sharing from the archives today, otherwise you'd be here until next Friday.  Here is today's new creation:

Today's colo(u)r combo is from ColourQ:

It's been a really long time since I busted out the Cool Caribbean, I still have quite a stash of 8.5x11 cardstock which makes me happy.  Sadly, the year that Cool Caribbean was an In Color I wasn't scrapbooking much at all so I never got any 12x12 in the In Colors.

I also used this week's Mojo Monday sketch:

I had a Goldilocks moment with the gold circle element--I wanted to use one of the gold doilies I have, but the smaller size was too small and the larger size was too big, so in the end I just die-cut a plain circle and it was juuuust right.

Hope y'all have a wonderful weekend, peeps.  I think we're supposed to get thunderstorms today and tomorrow, so that means it's a good opportunity to stay home and work in my craft cave!

Supplies, last card only:
Stamps:  Filigree, Stippled Blossoms, Thank You Kindly
Ink:  Cool Caribbean, Calypso Coral, Smoky Slate, Basic Gray, Memento Tuxedo Black
Paper:  Cool Caribbean, Basic Black, Thick Whisper White, Gold Foil
Accessories:  Circles Framelits, Hexagon punch, Dimensionals

2015 Showcase, Part 1

Since it's the last week of December (already!), it's time for the 2015 showcase here at Snapdragon Stamps.  So I went back through my blog posts for this year and picked out one card and one scrapbook layout for each month (okay, sometimes there were ties) just to share my favorites one more time.  So let's start off with Part 1 of the card showcase.

January's pick:  I love this happy card.  That "oh, happy day" stamp just makes me smile.

February's pick has Valentine-y colors and some pretty lotus blossoms.  I like how it turned out to do the first layer of the flower stamping with white ink.

March's pick:  By the Seashore has long been a fave stamp set, and I just love that patterned paper from last year's Sale-a-Bration.

April's pick is this giant Swallowtail paired with some stamps from Tea Party.  I love the watercolor background for the butterfly and those are my colors.  Spoiler alert:  new tea-related goodness is coming up in the Occasions Mini next week!

May's pick is this coral rose card.  It's an advertisement for why I don't get rid of my retired stamp sets:  I love that rose and the sentiments.  Plus, if I sold off all my retired stuff, how would I do Friday Flashbacks?

And for the last one of the day, June's pick is this bouquet card I CASEd from the catalog.

Retiring Rose

Mornin', peeps!  I'm still getting my mojo back together after almost a week of not being crafty, but I think I'm getting there.  This morning, I made this card:

I am continuing to love on my retiring stamps and accessories a bit--I used two retiring stamp sets, a retiring embossing folder, retiring Framelits, retiring patterned paper, and retiring ink.  That's a lot of retirement :) The white panel is popped up from the card base, and the rose is popped up from the white panel, so this card is extra-dimensional.  Just thought I'd let you know since you can't see it in the photo.

I used the color challenge from Colour Me...!

Usually I am not over fond of color challenges that feature one color and neutrals, but for some reason I am totally in love with Crisp Cantaloupe (or Calypso Coral for that matter) and Sahara Sand.  So I had to play along with this one.  I hope the challenge hostesses over there won't give me demerits for using some Calypso Coral ink on the rose...it's a Dynamic Duo with Crisp Cantaloupe, so really it's like the same color but a darker shade.  And I needed some darker shade for my rose :)

I also used this week's fantastic Freshly Made Sketch:

I think I play along over there almost every single week.  And this week I stuck VERY close to the sketch, lemme pat myself on the back for that :D

Well, since my Skype date bailed on me today (I still love you, Missy) guess that means I can go right back into the crafting cave and make something else.  Cheers, peeps!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Stippled Blossoms, Too Kind
Ink:  Crisp Cantaloupe, Calypso Coral, Sahara Sand, Chocolate Chip
Paper:  Sahara Sand, Chocolate Chip, Whisper White, Crisp Cantaloupe DSP
Accessories:  Fancy Fan EF, Labels Framelits, Dimensionals, hexagon punch

Sunshine Rose

Sounds like a hippie baby name, doesn't it?  But what else would you call a card that looks like this:

I started out with the rose and smaller flowers using the color combo from Colour Me...! and then the sunshine sentiment just seemed like a natural fit.

I also used the sketch from the Paper Players:

As it happens, I *just* got the Confetti Celebrations DSP today, so yay for new stuff!  I also got three stamp sets and my new firm foam ink pads, but those haven't been opened up yet since I'd already done all the stamping for this card by the time Mr. Brown showed up.  We get UPS deliveries after 5:00 here, why can't we have 'em at 9:00 a.m.?

Anyway, this post almost didn't happen...had to take both the doglets to the vet this afternoon.  I took them out this morning for our usual walk, and Sadie was going really, really slow (which she never does), and after we got back she was limping pretty good.  We think it might possibly be arthritis in her shoulder, poor baby.  She wasn't a fan of the way the vet manipulated her leg and shoulder.  Vader was a good sport about everything, probably because he got treats and Sadie had the more disagreeable end of the deal.

So that's it for me today.  I'm going to go chill out with my doglets.  Cheers, peeps!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Stippled Blossoms, Ray of Sunshine
Ink:  Tangelo Twist, Daffodil Delight, Island Indigo, Rich Razzleberry
Paper:  Tangelo Twist, Daffodil Delight, Island Indigo, Whisper White, Confetti Celebrations DSP
Accessories:  Circles Framelits, Dimensionals

2014 Showcase, Part 2

Welcome back for Part 2 of the 2014 Showcase here at Snapdragon Stamps!  Let's go.

Eastern Influences

My pick for May is this scrapbook layout of the Golden Pavilion in Kyoto, Japan.  Some great pictures that I'm so glad are immortalized on a scrapbook layout, and a great excuse to use some of my favorite colors :)  However, I couldn't pick just one project for May, so here's a bonus:

Hello Lovely, Nacho card!

This card took under 5 minutes to make and I still love it.  That patterned paper is workin', y'all!  Proof that a really cute card doesn't have to take forever.

Wanderlust, World Map, The Open Sea, Nacho card!

June's pick is this travel-inspired card, which I immediately sent to a friend who travels so much that she makes me and the hubs look like shut-ins.  In three years, she and her hubs visited 50 countries!

Stippled Blossoms, Teeny Tiny Wishes, Nacho card!

My July pick is yet another Nacho card, this time anniversary roses.  I do love those roses.

Starburst Sayings, Alphabet Rotary, Gorgeous Grunge, Positively Chevron, Nacho card!

And finally, my August pick could be none other than this Princess Bride-inspired Inigo Montoya card.  I giggled like crazy the whole time I was making it and I know it gave my dad a chuckle when he opened it up, too.

One more part of the 2014 Showcase coming up, but first...ya know tomorrow is Nacho Average Challenges day :)

Autumn Rose

Good Monday mornin', folks!  Hope your week is off to a good start.  It took me a little while to get going in my craft room this morning, but I do have a card to share today:

It's been a while since I used the roses from Stippled Blossoms, and I need more fall birthday cards so this works!  I was also inspired by the challenge at Cupcake Inspirations:

Aren't those gorgeous?  I like the coppery/bronze baroque pattern that's on some of the cupcakes, so I incorporated that with an embossing folder and I used some pearls in the middle of my flowers.  And now I want a cupcake, but that's nothing new.

I also used the latest sketch from Sketch Frenzy Friday:

Hey, I followed the sketch pretty much exactly this time!  I've even got some pearls under my sentiment, hee.

Time for me to get going.  Cheers, peeps!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Stippled Blossoms, Four You
Ink:  Baked Brown Sugar, Early Espresso, Tangerine Tango
Paper:  Baked Brown Sugar, Early Espresso, Tangerine Tango, Very Vanilla
Accessories:  Beautifully Baroque EF, pearls, Dimensionals, ribbon from an old SAB pack (this year?  or last year's?)

A-Team Wedding 3

Well, the hubs and I have been in our new house for a week now and I just wonder when all our stuff will arrive here from England :)  Can't wait to set up the new craft room!

More photos from my brother's wedding...since I have several layouts from this day, I did the same (or very similar) colors on all of them, but just changed what colors went where.  But on each one I kept the border of patterned paper on the bottom with the cardstock mat, so they still look like they coordinate.

Can't beat Stippled Blossoms for wedding stuff.

I was not so smart on these little flowers...I hand-cut them, then decided to mat them.  Would have been so much faster and easier to just punch them out square in the first place but what can ya do :)

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Stippled Blossoms
Ink:  Brocade Blue (retired), Night of Navy, Pink Pirouette, Riding Hood Red (retired), Pear Pizzazz, Garden Green
Paper:  Whisper White, Pink Pirouette, Night of Navy, Bella Rose DSP (retired)
Accessories:  Square & Postage Stamp punches

Nachos: Anniversary Roses

Happy Tuesday, Nacho fans!  Are you ready for another stellar color combination from the Nacho Average Challenges team?  Here it is!

I had an idea of what I wanted to do as soon as I saw the colors, so here it is:

I know, I know, Stippled Blossoms *again*!  I guess I'm making up for waiting so long to buy it ;)  But it's perfect for an anniversary card...or a wedding card...or any kinda girly floral card.  But my parents' 40th anniversary was last month so I think they'll get this card.  It's more of a surprise when it's a month late, right?  ;)

Go check out the other Nachos' creations and then let's see what you can do with these lovely colors!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Stippled Blossoms, Teeny Tiny Wishes
Ink:  Blushing Bride, Cherry Cobbler, Crumb Cake, Chocolate Chip
Paper:  Cherry Cobbler, Blushing Bride, Crumb Cake Chocolate Chip, Very Vanilla
Accessories:  Fancy Fan EF, Ovals Framelits, Dimensionals

Soft Wisteria Rose

Salutations and greetings!  I have been a busy little bee and having a wonderful time in my craft room lately.  In one day, I created a scrapbook layout, did the journaling on three others, and made two cards.  Pretty dang productive, says I!  And here is one of those cards.

I used a recent sketch from Splitcoast...I won't lie, I thought it was too complicated to start with (believe it or not, I left out a layer) but I do like how this turned out.  I think I might be addicted to Banner Greetings lately too, but hey, we *know* that one's going to retire so I might as well use it now, right?  I also used this week's colors from Dynamic Duos:

They'd be good Easter colors too, but at this point I couldn't mail out Easter cards and have them arrive on time, so I went with this.  I'm thinking it might be a Mother's Day card, that "Thankful for you" sentiment works for Mother's Day, right?  The only problem is my mom reads this blog, so maybe I'll have to make another Mother's Day card and keep it secret.  Or maybe she'll forget this one by the time she gets it in the mail...

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Stippled Blossoms, Banner Greetings, En Francais
Ink:  Wisteria Wonder, So Saffron
Paper:  Wisteria Wonder, So Saffron, Smoky Slate, Whisper White, Watercolor Wonder DSP
Accessories:  Circles Framelits, Wisteria Wonder baker's twine (that color is retired, but you could use plain white), Dimensionals

Live Happy with the Nachos

Happy Tuesday!  Are you ready for another spec-fabulous Nacho Average Color Challenge?  Here it is!

And here's what I made:

I figured it's been too long since my last Stippled Blossoms creation.  I added a Candy Dot on the corner (Rose Red, not Primrose Petals, but close enough to work I think) because the card just seemed to need a little something more.  The only thing that took a bit of time was cutting out the flower and the leaves.  Other than that, easy peasy!

Check out what the other Nachos have made, and then show us your own Smoky Primrose Pizzazz!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Stippled Blossoms, You're Lovely
Ink:  Primrose Petals, Pear Pizzazz, Smoky Slate
Paper:  Pear Pizzazz, Whisper White, Watercolor Wonder DSP
Accessories:  Regals Candy Dots, Windows Collection Framelits