Enemy Match

Happy Saturday and welcome to another Nancy Drew Challenge!  Today's book is #73, Enemy Match:

The cover on the left is weird...why is there a river of lava?!  I like the creepy feel to it though, with that floating face behind Nancy and the Addams Family-style mansion/castle/place.  As for the two checkerboard covers, you can tell that Nancy is going to get into yet another boating accident.  I've had the middle one for years and bought the other two in the last year or so.  I think I like the middle one the best, I like the brighter colors and it's a very energetic composition.  The third one is high energy too, I do like the colors, just not as much as the second one.  I'm glad they didn't continue the river of lava on the later covers, that was such a weird artistic choice.

Case file:  Nancy is contacted by her old friend, tennis ace Nina Ford, who asks her for help in finding her father who was convicted of fraud but disappeared on his way to prison.  She's also receiving threats related to her tennis matches.  George is off visiting grandparents in California and Bess pops in and out of this one, so Nancy's sidekick is 14-year-old Midge Watson who attaches herself to Nancy like a limpet and insists that she's the Watson to Nancy's Holmes.  I actually kinda like her, she's spunky.

Here's my first card:

I scoured my whole stamp collection and came up with exactly ONE tennis-related image, the tennis ball from Pets & More, which I had to fish out of my To Sell? boxes.  And since I don't do sportsball, I had to ask the Google what phrases are associated with tennis, and then I used my alphabet stamps to make my greeting.  That lattice die is brand new and it reminded me of a tennis racquet so that's a good enough excuse for me to use it.

I used Sweet Sugarplum, Lemon Lime Twist, and Old Olive for my colors; Mossy Meadow was a better match for the border color on the cover but I thought that would have looked weird with tennis balls.  And I just realized that I did NOT use the Everyday Arches dies for this one!  Oops.  I've done the arch dies for every other arch cover.  Oh well.

Supplies:
Stamps:  Pets & More, All-Around Alphabet Upper & Lower
Ink:  Sweet Sugarplum, Old Olive
Paper:  Sweet Sugarplum, Lemon Lime Twist, Basic White
Accessories:  1/2" circle punch, Stitched Shapes dies, Woven Lattice Texture die from Spellbinders, Dimensionals

On to my next card:

Nancy and Midge get followed by a green Chevy several times in the book (that's the first time I've noticed that they use an actual car brand in the Drew mysteries), but my card features Nancy's blue sports car.  Midge is also a bit of a mechanic and stops one of the bad guys from tampering with Nancy's car, so the Geared Up Garage bundle seemed like a natural choice for this book.

My colors are Azure Afternoon, Calypso Coral, and Crisp Cantaloupe, which turned out to be a fun combination to play with.

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Geared Up Garage
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Calypso Coral, Stampin' Blends in Azure Afternoon, Smoky Slate, Calypso Coral, Crisp Cantaloupe
Paper:  Azure Afternoon, Calypso Coral, Crisp Cantaloupe, Calypso Coral DSP
Accessories:  Garage Gears dies, Layering Circles dies, Dimensionals, Glossy Garden Dots

And for my final card:

Midge is Most Insistent about being Nancy's assistant detective so I thought this "What would Nancy Drew do?" card would be perfect for her.  Yes, I have Nancy Drew stamps, but I have no idea who manufactured them as there was no company name on the package when I bought them probably more than 15 years ago.  I found some watery DSP in the perfect colors to coordinate with this book cover.

I used Merry Merlot, Tranquil Tide, and Mint Macaron for my colors, with some Cherry Cobbler since we never got Merry Merlot Stampin' Blends.

Supplies:
Stamps:  Nancy Drew stamps, unknown manufacturer
Ink:  Merry Merlot, Tranquil Tide, Stampin' Blends in Cherry Cobbler & Pool Party
Paper:  Merry Merlot, Basic White, Tranquil Textures DSP
Accessories:  Stylish Shapes dies, Mini Dimensionals, Matte Decorative Dots

This book isn't one of my very favorites, but I do quite like the character of Midge and there are some very fun elements, so I give it four stars.  I had a good time reading this one, and it's fun to see Nancy be a mentor to a very precocious sidekick.  It's a solid entry in the Drewniverse.  If you're inspired to make a card, please leave me a comment--I'd love to see!  I'll see you next week when Nancy investigates The Mysterious Image.

Regal Pumpkins

Mornin' y'all!  Ryan is off school today (why?  They rarely seem to go five days in a single week, what is up with that) and supposedly he's cleaning his room, which is desperately needed so I hope that's actually what he's doing.  I got my workout done this morning, cleaned the powder room, put up my laundry, started washing a load of towels, and once I finish this post I will be taking Daphne out for her morning perambulation.  Then I have to finish my cards for tomorrow's Nancy Drew post, but first I have a card for today:

Of course I'm back with more pumpkins and I had to have a second go at the Four Seasons Challenge:

This time I had to play with the colors in the bottom left, so I chose Cajun Craze, Pretty Peacock, Crumb Cake, and Very Vanilla, with a bit of gold thrown in there.  I don't know that I've ever put Pretty Peacock and Cajun Craze together but I am loving that combination.  Ooh, I bet I could add in Lost Lagoon too, a thought for another day.  I chose a greeting from Elegant leaves so I could enter at the SOS Challenge to have a grateful/Thanksgiving card.  And I'm tackling the Atlantic Hearts sketch as well:

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Painted Pumpkins, Elegant Leaves
Ink:  Cajun Craze, Crumb Cake, Pretty Peacock, VersaMark
Paper:  Cajun Craze, Very Vanilla, Regal Winter DSP, Autumn Woodland Glimmer Paper
Accessories:  Painted Pumpkins dies & masks, Dimensionals, Pretty Peacock Foiled Gems, Pretty Peacock Metallic Ribbon

We had a glorious clear fall day yesterday so while I was out with Daphne, I took a couple of pictures.

A lot of the leaves have fallen, but there are a few trees still hanging on to them and the colors are still gorgeous.

I took this picture looking up at a branch over my head and the only editing I did was shrinking it down a bit for the blog, the leaves really are that vibrant and so was the sky yesterday!  Isn't that amazing?  Have a lovely day, y'all!

Joyful Bear

Mornin' y'all.  I could have had this post up like an hour ago but Ryan threw off my morning routine and I'm a little grumpy about it.  I'm on my second cuppa tea though, so I'm sure that will help, and right after I finish this I will take Daphne for a walk which will definitely help.  And also I might have been browsing fall cross stitch patterns (as if I need more) and that's always fun.

Know what else is fun?  New paper crafting goodies to play with : )

Peep that gorgeous paper that I finally added to my collection!  It is really doing the heavy lifting here, the bear and trees are part of another pattern in the pack and I'm in love with those watercolor stripes.  And I got some new oval dies from Spellbinders, I've been wanting some flat-sided ovals and these went on sale so of course I bought them (I'm a sucker for a good sale).  I combined both of those new things with an older retired stamp set and snowflake dies, and this week's Freshly Made Sketch:

I added a greeting on the inside of the card, too, but didn't take a picture of it.  I do like how this turned out, it was lots of fun to cut into this DSP and I think I need a second pack of it for hoarding purposes.

Almost done with my tea and Daphne is more than ready for her tour of the neighborhood.  Cheers!

Supplies:
Stamps:  Snow is Glistening
Ink:  Shaded Spruce
Paper:  Shaded Spruce, Pretty Peacock, Whispering Woods DSP, silver glimmer paper
Accessories:  Snowfall dies, Scallop and Stitched Edge Ovals dies (Spellbinders), Tinsel Gems

More Pie!

Mornin' y'all!  Ryan had his orthodontist appointment yesterday and now has an expander installed to make his mouth bigger...I thought it was big enough based on how he talks nonstop, but apparently his teeth said they need more room.  It's definitely going to be a learning process with the bands, he was not a happy kiddo yesterday afternoon and I think we've told him a hundred times already that it's just going to take time to get used to.  Braces will go in in January.

Anywhaaa, now that it's November, you probably know what is occupying my attention...PIE.  Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday and I always try to bake as many pies as I can possibly manage, and other than maybe making one for Christmas this is the only time of year that I make pies.  I have not yet finalized my lineup for this year, but one of the pies that is *always* on the list is...

Pumpkin pie!  The hubs' favorite is apple pie, and the only type of pie that Ryan eats is creamy lemon (weirdo...I mean, that's a great pie, but I love lots of other pies too), but my favorite Thanksgiving pie is pumpkin.  I use a praline pumpkin pie recipe from a cookbook we got for our wedding over 20 years ago, I love it.  The If You Give a Crafter a Cookie challenge was the perfect excuse to use my pumpkin pie stamps:

I like a lot more whipped cream on my pies though ; )  And I used the new sketch from Sunday Stamps:

In an ironic twist, given the greeting stamp I used, I decided that using Pumpkin Pie DSP for the three banner strips would have been too much pumpkin, so I did those with Cherry Cobbler DSP scraps and added some fun ribbon across the top.  I will be trying out a recipe for cranberry-cherry cobbler this year, which is pie adjacent so I count it for my Thanksgiving desserts.

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  More Than Autumn, My Paper Pumpkin
Ink:  Early Espresso, Stampin' Blends in Pumpkin Pie, Ivory, neutrals
Paper:  Pumpkin Pie, Very Vanilla, Cherry Cobbler DSP
Accessories:  More Than Autumn dies, Cherry Cobbler Quilted Satin Ribbon, Matte Decorative Dots, Mini Dimensionals

It's Wednesday, so time for a WIP Wednesday update and why did it take me three tries to type Wednesday correctly?  I just started a new pattern called Flaming October from Chouette des Forets on Etsy:

And here is what I have so far:

Okay, so I'm not digging it so far but I Have A Plan.  The model was stitched with some hand-dyed silks, which I don't have, so I am substituting some variegated DMC floss--there are only four colors on the pattern, but you get a lot of color variations with this type of floss, and this will be my first pattern to really focus on it.  Should be fun if I can get the colors right.  I loooooooooove that dark red on the bottom left of what I have here (sorry the lighting is terrible on the picture), but I think the yellow is too bright to go with it--needs to be more mustard and less lemon.  So I am going to order some more variegated thread and confer and converse with my mama when she gets here for Thanksgiving.  I may pick out the yellow I've done so far and keep going on this fabric, or I might switch depending on what else I get to go with the red.  In the meantime, I think I'll go ahead and start the Christmas pattern I had planned to start in December; I have the floss and the fabric all picked out and I am confident in my fabric choice for that, so I know that will be fun for me to start while I wait to get the other floss.

Here's my stitching helper:

Maybe her nose got cold?  I don't see how that's comfortable but she was sawing logs, so it must work for her.  Loves my Daphne girl.  Cheers!

Moonlight & Cloud

Mornin' y'all.  November has arrived and it is being *extra* November-y, we had rainy weather most of the day yesterday and it was super windy all night.  My card today is pretty much a paper representation of the weather:

I was inspired to make a blue-gray leaf card by the Four Seasons Challenge:

Specifically the bottom right pane, though I would love to go back and make cards for the other three parts of this too, they're all fantastic inspiration pieces.

I think this also works for the Time Out Challenges theme:

I send out general hello/friendship cards by far the most often, but I think this will go to a cousin who is undergoing cancer treatments and had to have surgery last week.

Anyway, I need to get Ryan out the door for an orthodontics appointment; wish him luck as he's getting some hardware today.  Maybe I should make another one of these for him.  Cheers!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Elegant Leaves
Ink:  Cloud Cover, Misty Moonlight
Paper:  Cloud Cover, Basic White
Accessories:  Elegant Leaves dies, Dimensionals, In Color Flat Pearls, Wink of Stella

Pumpkin Wreath

Mornin' y'all!  Hope you had a good weekend and a good Halloween if you celebrate.  Ryan had an inflatable Godzilla costume, so for a while he stood very still at the top of the driveway and when kids walked past him to get to where I was with the candy, he'd suddenly move and scare the kids.  He didn't scare the little ones but I told him teenagers were fair game, and he got quite a few of them to holler even if they KNEW he was in the costume, it was hilarious.  Then he went off trick-or-treating with his dad and I handed out candy, it was a fun time.

Anyway. I have been a naughty little shopper of late and I got a new-to-me stamp set last week that I bought on Ebay, and I had to ink it up for today's card:

The stamp set is a retired SU! set called Full of Blessings and I have zero memory of this from whenever it might have been released, but then again I've been stamping for over 20 years now so I suppose I can't remember *alllll* of the stamp sets.  Anyway, I thought it would work for last week's Freshly Made Sketch:

I wanted to keep all the colors soft, so I heat embossed the images with Versamark + Soft Suede + clear embossing powder, and then lightly watercolored the images.  The wreath was die cut, very simple, and I fussy cut the longer image to go behind it.

That's it for now, Daphne just woke up from a nap and she wants to go for a walk...plot twist, it looks like it's raining, so we might have to go later.  I swan it wasn't raining five minutes ago.  Cheers, y'all!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Full of Blessings
Ink:  Versamark, Soft Suede, Mellow Moss, Crushed Curry, Peach Parfait, Poppy Parade
Paper:  Soft Sky, Very Vanilla, Soft Sky DSP
Accessories:  Stitched Shapes dies, clear EP, Dimensionals, Clear Epoxy Shapes

Oh wait, how about a couple Halloween pictures?

Daphne and I were Maleficent twinsies!  The hubs says this is why dogs bite people; I say Daphne can wear a costume for under 10 minutes one day a year.

There's my Godzilla.  Oddly cropped because I didn't want to show other people's faces without permission.  A lot of costumes I didn't recognize because I have the olds, but I did see a pint-sized Michael Jackson in Thriller costume and a teenage Princess Buttercup who was quite pleased when I greeted her by name.  And there were two tiny kiddos dressed as Elsa and Olaf and they were walking around with an actual PONY wearing reindeer antlers.  First time I've ever seen a pony trick-or-treating!

The Paper Players are Mad for Plaid

Mornin' y'all and happy Sunday, which means it's time for a new Paper Players challenge!  Thanks to everyone who played along with my sketch last week, and now it's time for the fabulous Claire to choose our theme:

Now, I loooove me a good plaid and I have three different packs of plaid-specific 6x6 DSP that I can think of off the top of my head, and I had even pulled one out probably two weeks ago thinking I would use it for this challenge, buuuuuut......I got a new box of goodies last Wednesday and one of the DSPs has a fun plaid in it.  So here's my card with all-new plaid and and all-new stamp set and some all-new dies, too!  

Of course I bought this bundle, he's got a COOKIE!  I have, at various points in my hubs' career, been rather famous amongst his coworkers for my cookie baking, so this particular image had to be the first one I used from this stamp set.  I started out with kind of a variation on last week's sketch, to let me really have a lot of the plaid showing on my card front, and I just couldn't make the greeting work on the front so it's stamped on the inside ("May your Christmas be as sweet as a warm cookie").  Now that Halloween is over (sniffle), I thought I'd start making a few Christmas cards.  Of course I will still be making fall cards too, Thanksgiving is actually my favorite holiday : )

Check out the other design team creations on the Paper Players blog, and you can hop through their individual blogs to leave some comments too:

The Paper Players Design Team

Jaydee

LeAnne Pugliese

Claire Broadwater

Joanne James

Ann Schach

Jan Clothier

Stef Perry

you are here --> Christy Stanford

And then upload your card at the Paper Players blog!  Keep in mind a few simple rules:
1.  Create a new paper project
2.  Upload your creation to your blog with a link back to us and provide a direct link to the post featuring your challenge submission
3.  Please link your card to no more than four challenges, TOTAL
4.  Have fun!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Merry Mischief
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Stampin' Blends in Cinnamon Cider, neutrals, Petal Pink, Hydrangea Hue, Calypso Coral, Real Red,  Basic Black
Paper:  Real Red, Basic White, Creative Celebrations DSP Stack
Accessories:  Merry Mischief dies, Party Pennants dies, Dimensionals, Hydrangea Hue ribbon, Glossy Garden Dots