Something Strange in Your Neighborhood

Goooooood mornin' y'all and happy Friday!  The weather is finally starting to cool down just the tiniest bit (I wore a sweatshirt outside last night and it was great) and I've started watching the spooky sweet movies.  Already watched both Hocus Pocus movies and I watched the first half of Casper last night; tonight I need to watch Practical Magic because I'm going to see the sequel tomorrow.

And there's one more movie (well, series) that I am happy to watch at any time of year but it's especially good during spooky season...

OF COURSE I have Ghostbusters stamps!  (But they're retired, so you can't get them, sorry.)  Shopping Our Stash wants to see people, so I chose the Ghostbusters in all their ghostbusting gear.  And I had to try out the sketch from Retro Rubber:

I made my first Ghostbusters card two years ago, I'm pretty sure I'd had the stamps for a while before that but in any case they count as retro.  I really ought to make cards just as soon as I get a new stamp set so I know how long I've had it but let's not talk about the brand new stamps I bought last month that I haven't used yet and nobody tell my hubs, kay?  Kay.  Definitely don't mention the ones that I got in the mail on Wednesday or the ones I ordered on Thursday.

Anywha, I also have a Ghostbusters cross stitch that I did several years ago but I haven't ever done the words I wanted to add on it and I should get on that.  I'm working on the Sanderson Sisters right now, Winifred and Sarah are done and I'm stitching Mary, then I need to do "It's just a bunch of Hocus Pocus!" underneath them and then the real trick is actually getting it framed.  I have an entire stack of stitches that I've done and not gotten framed yet, including at least two very large full-coverage pieces.  Maybe I should make that a goal for next year, get at least one piece framed every year.

Anyway, that's it for now.  I will be making cookies for most of the day because the hubs asked me to make "some cookies" for the Cub Scouts event this weekend and of course I heard "We need thousands of cookies" so I made a double batch of chocolate chunk cookies and a batch of oatmeal white chocolate cranberry cookies yesterday; today it's double chocolate crinkles and lemon crinkles and then I need to deep-clean my kitchen this weekend.  Cheers!

Supplies:
Stamps:  Slime by The Ink Road, Ghoulish Grunge, Itty Bitty Backgrounds
Ink:  Versamark, River Rock
Paper:  Basic Black, River Rock, Basic Beige
Accessories:  Black EP, White EP, Dimensionals

Pumpkin Blues

Mornin' y'all!  I was having a bit of trouble in my craft room yesterday, I had several sketch and color challenges and I was trying to figure out how to combine any of them.  I had made a choice and then the stamp set that I wanted to use would NOT cling to the blocks so I had to put some Aleene's Tack It Over & Over on it and of course that won't be ready to use until probably this afternoon (gotta make sure it's really dry).  Then I was about to put up a few stamp sets and I saw the Painted Pumpkins bundle and aha!  Finally an idea came to me.

I did say I was going to do these pumpkins in all kinds of colors, so how about blues?  I used the latest color challenge from Color Dare:

I chose Lost Lagoon, Pool Party, and Soft Sea Foam for my colors and managed to stick to just those and white for everything.  Next up is this week's Atlantic Hearts sketch:

I did make my card in slightly different proportions than the sketch, but I still think I followed it reasonably closely.  At first I was going to do the Pool Party plaid for the circle element but then I saw the pumpkin vine stencil and went for that instead, and added the plaid to the background layer.  Wonder what colors these pumpkins will be next?

Aright, got to get Ryan ready for school and then I'm off to an appointment.  Cheers, y'all!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Painted Pumpkins
Ink:  Pool Party, Lost Lagoon, Soft Sea Foam, VersaMark
Paper:  Pool Party, Lost Lagoon, Soft Sea Foam, Basic White, Painted Patch DSP
Accessories:  Painted Pumpkins dies, Circles Collection Framelits, white EP, Dimensionals, Painted Patch Dots

Purple Octopus

Mornin' y'all, how's your Wednesday going?  I had a Very Productive Day yesterday and I'm hoping to have another one today, I have two more batches of cookie dough to make up today and then I'll be baking cookies tomorrow and Friday.

But for now, a card:

CAS on Friday wants to see sea-related cards, and I paired that up with the TGIF Challenges color palette:

I will say it's a lot of layers for a CAS card, but I kept a lot of white space around my main focal point so I think it still counts.  I did stop myself from adding any embellishments other than some Wink of Stella on the octopus though.  Do octopi come in purple?  In my craft room they do, I don't know about in the ocean.

That's it for now, peeps.  Have a great day!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Message in a Bottle, Itty Bitty Backgrounds
Ink:  Lost Lagoon, Fresh Freesia
Paper:  Lost Lagoon, Fresh Freesia, Very Vanilla
Accessories:  Layering Circles dies, Mini Dimensionals, Wink of Stella

Witchy Wisdom

Mornin' y'all!  We spent the weekend in Estes Park and today I've got to get Ryan back on his regular school schedule, but he's resisting.  He was up plenty early but he's not ready to behave yet, which is fun.

Anyway, we got back yesterday before noon, which means I had time to make a card after I went to the grocery store and I was thinking about this card all weekend.  Take a look:

It's Sally Owens from Practical Magic!  I seriously love that movie (I've read the book too, but this is one of those rare occasions that I like the movie better) and I got myself a ticket to go see the sequel this weekend while my dudes are out camping with the Cub Scouts.  Anyway, the advice on the three circles is all quotes from the movie.  I didn't look up Sally's wardrobe but matched it to the colors in the latest Inspired By... Challenge:

If I could live in one house from any movie, it would be the Owens house from Practical Magic hands down.  Have you SEEN the kitchen?!  I know the entire house was a set built for the movie but I wants it!  Anyway, the botanicals on the rolling pin made me think of the ones in this stamp set and what put these together for me is the Time Out Challenge:

I have LOTS of stamp sets for different movies (including several for Hocus Pocus that I'm sure you'll be seeing this spooky season) but I had never inked up any of the Owens Sisters stamps from Sweet November after I bought the set last year, and with the sequel coming out this weekend I just had to do a Practical Magic card.  I hope the second movie is good!

Supplies:
Stamps:  Sweet November Gals The Owens Sisters
Ink:  Early Espresso, Soft Succulent, Stampin' Blends in Petal Pink, Ivory, Bronze, Soft Succulent, Soft Sea Foam, Crumb Cake, neutrals
Paper:  Soft Succulent, Basic Beige, Very Vanilla, Soft Sea Foam DSP
Accessories:  Layering Circles dies

I have a couple of pics from Estes Park to share if you're interested:

We went horseback riding in the mountains on Saturday, it was fabulous!  Ryan's horse was named Fritz, mine was a grumpy guy named Tuxedo, and the hubs rode Ace.  I was in the middle, and Tuxedo kept crowding up to Fritz who threatened to kick him, and then every time we stopped Tux would give Ace a dirty look for being too close.  Ha!

There was an arts & crafts fair going on in the main square, so we walked through that and then got ice cream to cool off.

We drove into the national park and saw one solitary elk making a wallow for himself in the mud.

When we got to the visitor center on top of the mountain, it started pouring down rain, but once the rain cleared off we were treated to a giant rainbow.  And bright sun again which is why I couldn't keep my eyes open for the picture.

Hope you had a good weekend too and now it's time for me to hustle Ryan along to get ready for school.  Cheers!

Pumpkins Aglow

Mornin' y'all!  If you're in the States, I hope you are enjoying a holiday today and get to do something fun.  I got to do something fun--playing with the new Painted Pumpkins bundle!

I still can't resist that gourd-geous greeting : )  And I couldn't resist this month's Colorful Options challenge!

I love the inspiration pics on the challenge graphic and the flowers in the center bottom really caught my eye.  I thought about using Radiant Sunflowers again but I just couldn't resist making some glowing pumpkins!   The base layer of the pumpkins is Golden Glow (really loving that color), and then I added Copper Clay on top and used it for the main color on my card...I had never cut into that Tartan Foil Specialty DSP so it was past time to do that!  I added some copper embossing for the greeting and some brushed copper dots too.  I am sure I will be turning these fun pumpkins all sorts of colors this fall.

That's it for now, y'all.  Have a great day!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Painted Pumpkins
Ink:  Golden Glow, Copper Clay, Pecan Pie, Versamark
Paper:  Copper Clay, Early Espresso, Very Vanilla, Tartan Foil Specialty DSP
Accessories:  Painted Pumpkins stencils & dies, Dimensionals, Copper EP, Brushed Metallic Dots

Spooky Candelabrum for The Paper Players

Goooooood mornin' y'all!  I hope you enjoyed Jaydee's tic-tac-toe board last week and are ready for a new Paper Players challenge coming at you right now courtesy of the joyful Joanne, who will be celebrating a birthday this week!  Take a look:

So maybe the obvious choice was a birthday cake with candles, but you probably know by now that my brain is wired differently especially since we are *finally* in the -BER months and I've been listening to my spooky sweet playlist of movie scores from movies like Hocus Pocus and Casper and okay you read the title to this blog post so you know I made a Halloween card!  Also those ghost candles on the challenge graphic are ridiculously cute.  Here's my card:

I saw "candles" and immediately remembered this spooky candelabrum from the Dark & Dreary stamp set, which I paired with the Magic In This Night DSP that's kinda fancy while still being spooky.  I decided to work my card around the scraps I had from this paper instead of cutting into a new sheet so that drove the design.  This fancy spooky (or is it spooky fancy?) card makes me think of the Haunted Mansion at Disneyland and I love that (and I also have that movie score in my spooky playlist, of course).  I meant to sponge some black ink around the candelabrum but I forgot until after I'd already stuck it down so this is how it is.  I used black embossing powder for shine and some black rhinestones to finish it off.  I have been promising more Halloween cards so you shouldn't be surprised ; )  And also I had already made a birthday card for Joanne!

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:  Dark & Dreary, The Raven
Ink:  Versamark
Paper:  Pretty Peacock, Rich Razzleberry, Basic Black, Magic In This Night DSP
Accessories:  Lots of Labels dies, Ornate Frames dies, black EP, Dimenisonals, Black Rhinestones

Captive Witness

Happy Saturday, y'all, and welcome back to the Nancy Drew Challenge!  Today's book is #64, Captive Witness:

Once again we have FOUR different covers and what a contrast between the first two and the last two!  Nancy's outfit changes in this book include a big fancy historical ballgown and a wetsuit so you know this book is going to be bonkers, I can hardly contain my glee.  I think I might like the second cover best for the dress, but I have a soft spot for the last two because I think my library had both of those when I was a kid.  Let's get to the bonkers part!

Case file:  Nancy Drew...secret agent?  While on a school trip to Germany and Austria with an Emerson College group ("She doesn't even go here!"), Nancy discovers that the professor in charge has a clandestine mission to smuggle ten children out of Hungary into Austria and on to Britain and America because Communism.  Not making this up.  Nancy's other mission is to find a stolen documentary film called Captive Witness about the horrors of Communism.  You know I love me some bananas shenanigans!

Here's my first card:

Naturally it is Nancy who comes up with the plan to get the children to safety, and it involves George masquerading as Nancy while wearing a big straw hat so here's George.

I will say that the cover colors did make me really have to think on more than one of these cards!  I went with Pebbled Path, Golden Glow, Real Red, and Cloud Cover for this one.

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Going Out In Style, Favorite Thoughts
Ink:  Pebbled Path, Golden Glow, Stampin' Blends in Pebbled Path, Golden Glow, Real Red, Cloud Cover, Petal Pink, Pecan Pie
Paper:  Pebbled Path, Golden Glow, Basic White, Cloud Cover DSP
Accessories:  Everyday Arches dies, Dimensionals, Delightful Decorative Dots

On to the second card:

Ned and Nancy split from the tour group to go to Vienna to investigate the missing film, and Nancy lectures Ned about how coffee was introduced to Austria by the invading Ottoman Empire.  And there's a scene where it's early morning and Nancy is bright-eyed and bushy-tailed and Ned wonders how she does it, so I think she's mainlining coffee like Lorelai Gilmore.

For this one, I used Primrose Petals, Midnight Muse, and Very Vanilla, with a smidge of Raspberry Ripple and Summer Starfruit in the DSP.  Nancy's wearing a brown wig with her fancy dress and also performs an operetta in public which was somehow necessary to her master plan.  I almost did another music card since we have the operetta and also there's a tour bus driver who is hilariously obsessed with Mozart, but I thought the coffee idea was fun too so that's what I went with.  And like the Scholastic cover for last week's book, they added "Mystery" to the title.  Odd.

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Like It A Latte, Morning Cup
Ink:  Midnight Muse, Primrose Petals, Pecan Pie
Paper:  Primrose Petals, Very Vanilla, Print Poetry DSP Stack
Accessories:  Everyday Arches dies, Textured Notes dies, Dimensionals, Wink of Stella

Okay, card #3:

Ned and Nancy unintentionally get a tour of the Austrian Alps when she accepts a ride to Vienna from the bad guy (bad choice, Nancy--she even knows he's the bad guy and still does it).  The bad guy has this car that must have been an early electric car because it runs super quiet and also it's related to Chitty Chitty Bang Bang because it can float too.  (Chitty Chitty does float on the water like a pontoon boat, right?  I know it flies...)  Anyway, here's my card ode to the Austrian Alps.

Colors are Baked Brown Sugar, Orchid Oasis, Basic Black, and some touches of Starry Sky and Wild Wheat.  I really need to ink up my Starry Sky ink pad.  There are a LOT of layers of cardstock on this one to make the mountain scene.

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Scenic Adventure
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Starry Sky, Baked Brown Sugar, Wild Wheat, Orchid Oasis
Paper:  Baked Brown Sugar, Orchid Oasis, Basic Black, Basic White
Accessories:  Scenic Adventure dies, Layering Circles dies, Circles Collection Framelits, In Color Dots

And for the final card:

The professor who is supposedly in charge of smuggling the kids out from behind the Iron Curtain is repeatedly described as having an owlish expression, so here's my card for Professor Bagley.  I had picked out a different owl stamp but then I saw a card by Amanda Mertz with the Adorable Owls stamp set and I had to use it instead.

For this one, my colors are Starry Sky, Orchid Oasis, Calypso Coral, and Golden Glow, with some Pecan Pie for the owl.  I had fun with this one, that owl is so cute, and I always love using Starry Sky and Orchid Oasis.  Those were some of my all-time favorite In Colors.

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Adorable Owls
Ink:  Early Espresso, Stampin' Blends in Pecan Pie, Golden Glow, Calypso Coral, Orchid Oasis
Paper:  Starry Sky, Calypso Coral, Basic White, Orchid Oasis & Calypso Coral DSP
Accessories:  Stylish Shapes dies, Matte Ombre Decorative Dots, Dimensionals

Y'all know I love the truly bananas books and this one delivers bushels and bushels of bananas, between the whole spy story, the Mozart-obsessed bus driver (it's really hilarious), the wannabe Bond villain with the magic car, and Nancy's over-the-top rescue plan at the end.  Five stars, no notes.  Obviously this book is a product of its time with all the references to Communism and requires a lot of suspension of disbelief, but it's a romp.  So much better than last week's failed fashion experiment.  If you're inspired to make a card based on the story or any of the book covers, please leave me a comment!  And I'll see you next week when Nancy investigates The Mystery of the Winged Lion.