Pumpkin Patch

Mornin' y'all!  It's been busy already...hubs is home sick today with a very bad cold, but I got the kiddo off to school and then went to the store so I could buy potatoes (and somehow a bunch of other things) and then I put a roast (with the potatoes) into the crock pot for dinner.  And did the dishes.  Oh, I need to switch out my laundry.  Lots to do today.

Anyway, the title of this post did not deceive you, I have a pumpkin card to share today:

And I made this for the Retro Rubber Challenge:

I did both diagonals and the bottom row, I have purple - your choice (paisley) - squares - gems/pearls - die cut - pumpkin.  Pick of the Patch (greeting) is about two and a half years old, and I think I got Paisley Prints that year I was in Texas with Ryan so it should be about the same age.  We've moved around so much for the past 22 years that I will associate a lot of crafty supplies with where we lived when I bought them, so those are both Texas sets.  Anyway, I've never used Paisley Prints before and it's SO CUTE so I'm glad I had this excuse to ink it up.

It was the squares option on this tic-tac-toe (I just tried to call it a tic-taco, ha) that made me decide to tackle this week's Atlantic Hearts sketch:

Not gonna lie, I was all set to skip it but I really liked what Tracy did with the sketch so I decided to be brave and give it a shot.  And then it ended up being not too bad thanks to my square dies, *and* I used up some leetle scraps of Soft Sky DSP.  Also I really liked the combination of Concord Crush and Peach Pie from this card, so I went with those and swapped the Basic Beige for Soft Sky.  Who cares if February isn't pumpkin season?  Ryan's birthday is on Sunday and he's already requested I make an extra large pumpkin coffee cake for breakfast that day.

Aww, I'm out of tea.  Guess I'd better go take Daphne for a walk and then work on more laundry.  Cheers!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Paisley Prints, Pick of the Patch
Ink:  Peach Pie, Soft Sky, Concord Crush
Paper:  Peach Pie, Concord Crush, Basic White, Soft Sky DSP
Accessories:  Squares Collection Framelits, Dimensionals, Delightful Decorative Dots

Hugh Manatee

Hello again, y'all, and welcome to my second card of the day!  Here it is:

Of *course* this manatee's name is Hugh : )  I wish the colors on this photographed a bit better, but my phone seems to have beef with Cloud Cover and always makes it look weird.  And the bit under the manatee's tail is Secret Sea, not black.  Those three little scraps of DSP are what started this card, I had them left over from a design team card you'll see soon and they were all one inch tall so I decided I could use them for this card.  Proof that you can use even tiny pieces of DSP to make a card!

I'm entering this at CAS on Friday where they want anything that's CAS.  Last time I looked, this stamp set was on the Last Chance List so go grab it if you haven't yet.  I haven't even gotten to use the panda or the elephant yet.

Okay, I'm off to make some more schtuff.  Cheers!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Big Little Things
Ink:  Cloud Cover, Secret Sea
Paper:  Cloud Cover, Basic Beige, Thick Basic White, Nature Walk DSP
Accessories:  Dimensionals, Faux Glass Dots

And I have a third card today, I made over this morning's card in The Man Rainbow for the hubs' birthday on Saturday, check it out:

I like to jokingly refer to The Man Rainbow which encompasses about 95% of the hubs' wardrobe:  white, black, gray, navy blue, and khaki.  Every once in a great while he'll mix it up with a dark red or forest green and I'm like whoa now, let's not get too crazy here.  Ha!  Meanwhile I'm over here with my fluorescent pink winter jacket.

Okay, that's it for today (really).  I'm going back upstairs to work some more until it's time to pick up Ryan.  Cheers!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Valentine Kisses
Ink:  Boho Blue
Paper:  Boho Blue, Whisper White, Take to the Sky DSP, Silver Glimmer Paper
Accessories:  Hearts Collection Framelits, Stylish Shapes dies, Dimensionals, Opal Rounds

Sending Love

Mornin' y'all!  I tell you what, I have been ON FI-YURRRR in my craft room lately!  Which is great, since for the past couple of weeks it has felt like a bit of a struggle to get things done but right now I have almost a dozen cards sitting on my computer desk that I made over the past couple of days.  So let's get to one of those!

We're going CAS today and I have several challenges, starting with Time Out Challenges:

I have sparkle, red, heart, and pink, which is not too shabby for a CAS card.  Next up is the Color Hues Challenge:

I used Real Red and Flirty Flamingo for my hues and the only other color is white.  Next up is Cupcake Inspirations:

And Inspire. Create. is also feeling the love:

I think I'll make this card again with a different color for the card base and give it to the hubs for his birthday, which is on Valentine's Day.  I'll so something that's a little less pink for him : )

Most likely I will be posting another card this afternoon because like I said, I have quite a pile going and I don't want to miss challenge deadlines.  In the meantime, I'm going to take my girl Daphne out for a walk.  Cheers!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Valentine Kisses
Ink:  Flirty Flamingo
Paper:  Flirty Flamingo, Basic White, Made with Love DSP, Real Red Glimmer Paper
Accessories:  Hearts Collection Framelits, Stylish Shapes dies, Dimensionals

Year of the Horse

Mornin' y'all!  I feel like I actually got enough sleep last night and that hardly every happens so today is the day I'm going to take over the world.  Ha!  Or I will at least have dominion over my craft room and the laundry.

Here's my card for today:

This is for the As You See It recipe challenge.  Joanne said when she made her card that she had wanted to do a Chinese New Year but didn't have anything that would work for the year of the horse, and I immediately thought of this horse image in Ancient Asia.  Here's the challenge:

The only part of this recipe that gave me trouble was the vellum; I was looking to see if I had any gold vellum (nope) when I found that scrap of die-cut glimmer paper.  It's the center of the wreath I made for this card in 2023 and I thought it kinda looked like a sunburst which maybe doesn't make sense for a lunar new year card but that's what my brain told me to do.  I added gold embossing powder and some gold glitter dots to really up the bling factor here.

I'm going to finish my tea and then take Daphne for a walk, and then I have lots of things to do in my craft room (in between loads of laundry, of course).  Cheers!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Ancient Asia, Feeling Sentimental
Ink:  Versamark, Merry Merlot
Paper:  Riding Hood Red, Merry Merlot, Ginger Blossom DSP, vellum
Accessories:  Wishes All Around dies, gold EP, Gold Glitter Dots, Dimensionals

Gus Says Hello

Mornin' y'all.  We're supposed to leave in less than ten minutes to take Ryan to school and he's upstairs just...yelling.  Making noise.  Wish me luck getting him out the door on time.

In the meantime, let's revisit yesterday's Paper Players color challenge from Ann:

I pulled out a couple of undersea stamp sets before I decided to go with Sea Turtle for yesterday's card, and while I had Sea of Textures out I had to make another card:

It's been a while since Gus last got out to play, so here he is.  Gus is a chameleon octopus, he can be any color(s) he wants to, and today he chose Calypso Coral and Petal Pink.  The Lost Lagoon DSP was the scrap I had left over from yesterday's sea turtle card.  I liked the balance of the colors on yesterday's card better and that's why I chose it for the Paper Players challenge.

Okay, Ryan's got five minutes and the noise seems to have died down somewhat...oh no wait, I typed too soon.  Hopefully he's getting ready to go whilst making so much noise.  Cheers!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Sea of Textures, Four You
Ink:  Calypso Coral, Lost Lagoon
Paper:  Lost Lagoon, Mossy Meadow, Petal Pink, Thoughtful Journey DSP Stack
Accessories:  Under the Sea dies, Dimensionals, Pearls of Beauty

Turtle-y Cool Colors for The Paper Players

Mornin' y'all!  It's Sunday and that means it's time for a new challenge from The Paper Players!  This week the amazing Ann has a beautiful color palette for us to play with:

As soon as I saw the colors, I thought they would be perfect for something floral, but I like to be quite contrary in the style of Mary Mary, so I had to do something different.  Here's what I came up with, nary a flower in sight:

I was actually having a hard time coming up with an idea for this card until I made my Shello card earlier this week for a different challenge, and I realized these colors are perfect for an under the sea card too.  I pulled out my Sea Turtle stamp set and kept the same "hello" I used on the Shello card because it was already out and I'm lazy ; )  The Sea Turtle stamp set is reversible, so to start with I used the "shadow" side of the stamp and used sponges to apply both Mossy Meadow and Lost Lagoon ink, stamped it, and then turned the stamp over and stamped the turtle in full-strength Mossy Meadow ink on top.  I used both Petal Pink and Calypso Coral on my paper strip behind the turtle and I think my Calypso Coral ink pad needs re-inking, but I like the weathered look to the starfish for this card.  Some watery Lost Lagoon DSP from the Thoughtful Journey stack and a couple of retired Tinsel Gems finished off the card.  And I had so much fun making this card that I made another one with these colors, which you'll see very soon.

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

Anne Marie Hile

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:  Sea Turtle, Four You
Ink:  Mossy Meadow, Lost Lagoon, Petal Pink, Calypso Coral
Paper:  Mossy Meadow, Petal Pink, Thick Basic White, Thoughtful Journey DSP Stack
Accessories:  Dimensionals, Lost Lagoon Tinsel Gems

The Secret of the Golden Pavilion

Happy Saturday and welcome to a new Nancy Drew Challenge!  Today we are on #36, The Secret of the Golden Pavilion:

Another wonderful cover by Rudy Nappi, and like last week's we have Nancy and two chums (I think Ned and Bess) looking away from us towards mysterious happenings involving a ghostly hula dancer in the titular pavilion.  Fun fact:  this story is set in Hawaii to commemorate its induction into the US, so we get a lot of description of the islands, culture, and food.

Case file:  A client of Carson Drew's offers Nancy, Bess, George, AND Hannah (finally Hannah gets to go on an adventure too) an all expenses paid trip to Hawaii to investigate a mystery on his estate:  Mr. Sakamaki's grandfather hid something on the estate, and Mr. Sakamaki has to find it before he can deed the estate to the government of Hawaii.  Meanwhile Carson has to prove that two rival claimants to the estate are fakes.  Ned, Burt, and Dave are also in Hawaii at the same time for something related to their schooling at Emerson College which conveniently requires no time or schoolwork because they're helping Detective Drew and having a luau.

Here's my card:

I think this book is less about the mystery and more about the setting, which is okay every once in a while.  When I first read this as a child, I had never been to Hawaii so reading about the islands was fun.  Now I can say I *have* been to Hawaii : )  I went with the Tropical Oasis DSP for this card, which has a kind of '50s retro Hawaii vibe that's a perfect match for the book.

Nancy and her chums spend a lot of time in the garden on the Sakamaki estate where the pavilion is, so I chose a lovely hibiscus and plumeria floral pattern and stamped some palm trees, but still kept the moody blue background from the cover.

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Timeless Tropical
Ink:  Early Espresso, Grapefruit Grove, Stampin' Blends in Soft Suede & Old Olive
Paper:  Midnight Muse, Thick Basic White, Tropical Oasis DSP, Midnight Muse DSP
Accessories:  In the Tropics dies, Potted Succulents dies, Dimensionals, Share What You Love Artisan Pearls

Once again, I couldn't stop at one card, so here's my second one:

The hula dancer on the cover is pretending to be a ghost dancer to scare Mr. Sakamaki's caretakers because that works on Scooby-Doo and wouldn't you know, my stamp collection includes a hula dancer.  I've had this set for many years now and every once in a while it's fun to play with.  I really should do another card with the surfboard and Hawaiian shirt images in this set.

I went with lighter colors on this card, but kept the pink of Nancy's shirt and the yellow of the pavilion's roof.  Funny story:  when I was in middle school, we did a group trip to Six Flags (an amusement park in Texas) and we were supposed to meet up with whatever group at a certain pavilion.  My friend Eve liked to call it a pavvy-lion (first half rhymes with savvy, second half pronounced like the big cat) and it bugged my little brother SO BAD so of course she said it as often as possible because middle school.  And that's what I think of every time I read the word pavilion, it will always be a pavvy-lion to me.

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Do the Hula
Ink:  Night of Navy, Polished Pink, Crushed Curry, Stampin' Blends in neutrals, Shaded Spruce, Polished Pink
Paper:  Tempting Turquoise, Thick Basic White, Island Oasis DSP
Accessories:  Layering Ovals Framelits, Regal Foiled Dots

The Secret of the Golden Pavilion is a fun installment, a bit light on the mystery but I think it makes up for it with the setting, so I'm giving it four stars.  If you're inspired to make a card based on this book, leave me a comment so I can see : )  Stay tuned next week when we search for The Clue in the Old Stagecoach.  Cheers!