Vintage Traveler

Mornin' y'all!  Daphne is currently gamboling about the living room and playing with a toy and being totally adorable.  I went to the store this morning and got her and extendable leash, so we'll see how she does with that in about a half hour when we do our daily neighborhood tour.

Anyway, I've got something a bit different to share today:

Y'all know me and how much I love color--in general, I only make all-neutral cards under duress, but it seemed like the thing to do for this particular card.

Let's talk challenges, shall we?  Starting with Festive Friday:

I've got sepia colors (now you know why I made my card all neutrals), twine, distressing techniques if you count sponging and paper tearing, postmarks, and a thinking of you sentiment, not too shabby.  This list seemed to dovetail nicely with the Cupcake Inspirations Challenge:

I was actually looking for a plane image for this card, but I think the old-fashioned valise works.  Next up is the Atlantic Hearts sketch:

I used a square punch to keep all the background pieces exactly the same size, and once again my flabbers are gasted that I don't have a 1 1/8" square punch.  The heck?  I have 1", 1 1/4", and 1 3/8" but no 1 1/8".  Annoying.  And also why my scale is a bit off from the original sketch.  Also, I used the twine in place of the foliage on the sketch, and I tried to put some embellishments on there but decided my card looked better without.

I just realized this also works for the Retro Rubber Challenge:

This time I have the diagonal with tag - your choice (vintage) - die cut and everything on this card is vintage, including the cardstock, inks, punch, and die I used.  For the stamps, Traveler is the least vintage and has been in my collection for about a year, Post Script is 9 years old, and Teeny Tiny Wishes is at least 14 years old.  I hang onto my stamps, because obviously I need them for challenges.

That's it for now, peeps.  Next time I will post a colorful card as an antidote to all this brown : )  Cheers!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Traveler, Teeny Tiny Wishes, Post Script
Ink:  Close to Cocoa, Chocolate Chip, Creamy Caramel
Paper:  Close to Cocoa, Chocolate Chip, Creamy Caramel, Very Vanilla
Accessories:  Lots of Labels Framelits, Early Espresso bakers twine, Dimensionals

Spring Inspo for SUO Challenges

Mornin' y'all!  Are you ready for a new challenge from SUO Challenges?  Because we have some excellent spring inspiration heading your way!  Check it out:

I was drawn to the butterflies and the rainbow of pastel colors, and here's what I made:

I remembered that little butterfly stamp in Cutest Crew and here I am making another hello card like I talked about yesterday.  I raided my paper scraps and cut five scraps into 1" wide, 3 3/4" tall strips for my rainbow background.  All of the patterned papers are retired but that's okay for SUO Challenges, and this was a good way for me to use up some long, skinny scraps.  And in an unusual move for me, I did not use a single die to make this card!

We hope you'll be inspired too and share your card creation (or scrapbook page or other paper craft project) at the SUO Challenges blog.  And just like it says on the tin, this is a Stampin' Up! only challenge.  Have fun!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Cutest Crew
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Stampin' Blends in Pretty in Pink, Peach Pie, Lemon Lolly, Highland Heather
Paper:  Balmy Blue, Basic White, Refreshed Beauty DSP, Pretty in Pink DSP, Lemon Lolly DSP, Highland Heather DSP
Accessories:  White bakers twine, Neutral Matte Dots, Dimensionals

Mosaic Hello

Mornin' y'all!  Daphne is already pestering me to go for a walk but I'm going to type this up first.  I got in my craft room for just a minute yesterday and made this:

We've got a few challenges today, so let's go in alphabetical order.  Here's the As You See It Challenge:

For me it's definitely hello cards or similar.  I just counted seven hello cards posted last week alone : )  I send out at least 4-6 cards per week so this is definitely what I do the most!

Next up is Inspired By...:

I love those colors together!  I used Summer Splash, Pretty in Pink/Strawberry Slush, and Basic Black and I want to come back to this color combination again.

Next up is Retro Rubber:

This time I made SURE my stamps are older than a year (I made a card for this last week only to discover my stamp set will have its first birthday next month); Mosaic Madness is 13 years old and Happy Day is 12 years old, so they're definitely retro.  I went down the left side with sequins, ribbon, and die cuts.

And finally I have the TGIF Challenges sketch:

This sketch made me think of Mosaic Madness immediately so that's what I did.

Okay, time to make my girl happy and go for a walk in the beautiful weather.  Cheers!

Supplies:
Stamps:  Mosaic Madness, Happy Day
Ink:  Summer Splash, Strawberry Slush
Paper:  Summer Splash, Basic Black, Thick Basic White, Floral Impressions DSP
Accessories:  Textured Notes dies, Mosaic punch, black ribbon (not SU, I think), black sequins, Dimensionals

Pengwengs for The Paper Players

Happy Sunday, y'all, and it's time for a new Paper Players challenge!  This time the lovely Jan has a color combination for us:

I thought about this one for a while and then I had a brainwave and I made this:

Pengwengs!  We shall never forget the time that Benedict Cumberbatch narrated an entire documentary about flightless birds and discovered he can't say the word "penguin" properly, haha!  My bird-obsessed kiddo went through a phase where he watched Happy Feet over and over so I knew these colors would be perfect for this penguin pair, from the long-retired stamp set Cold-Weather Friends.  I embossed the image with black ink + Versamark + clear EP and then watercolored with Daffodil Delight and Smoky Slate ink, then added a bit of Wink of Stella to the ground so it would look a little glittery like real snow.

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:  Cold-Weather Friends, A Dozen Thoughts
Ink:  Versamark, Memento Tuxedo Black, Daffodil Delight, Smoky Slate
Paper:  Daffodil Delight, Thick Basic White, Merry Little Christmas DSP, Marblelous DSP Stack
Accessories:  Tasteful Labels dies, clear EP, Mini Dimensionals, Candy Dots

The Spider Sapphire Mystery

Mornin' y'all and welcome to this week's Nancy Drew Challenge!  We are on #45, The Spider Sapphire Mystery:

I think all my covers are by Rudy Nappi from here until we hit paperbacks.  I like Nancy's signature flippy 'do and her top here, quite a lovely color with her hair color, and despite having "spider" in the name of the book and large and in charge in the cover art, this one is much less spider-tastic than The Secret in the Old Attic.  Anyway, this is my childhood copy and I don't think it's supposed to have that splotch below Nancy's eye, I used to read a lot in the bathtub as a kid and I think some of my books show evidence of that.

Case file:  Nancy and the Drew Crew are planning to go on safari to Africa, and at the same time, she's helping her father with a case where a maker of synthetic gems is accused of stealing a natural sapphire with a spider trapped in it (I know spiders could be trapped in amber, but can sapphires work that way?).  Nancy has to locate a kidnapped Ned before they can go on safari, and in Africa she's tasked with tracking down a man who may or may not have been eaten by lions, she's very busy.  Of course the kidnappers are also behind the gem theft and Nancy catches them like Pokémon (I am guessing here, I've never played Pokémon) and reunites the safari missing man with his sister after she cures his amnesia.

Here's my card:

I thought I'd go for a pretty literal interpretation of the cover art here and I was quite chuffed to find that pattern in the Perennial Essence DSP that incorporates the colors of the book cover.  I made my own spider sapphire by stamping the spider on Azure Afternoon cardstock and then covering the whole piece with clear embossing powder.

I couldn't figure out what greeting would go well on this card so I elected to leave it as is.

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  From the Crypt
Ink:  Versamark, Memento Tuxedo Black
Paper:  Old Olive, Mossy Meadow, So Saffron, Azure Afternoon, Perennial Essence DSP
Accessories:  Clear EP, Ornate Frames dies, Moody Palette Glossy Dots, Dimensionals

But wait, there's more!  I made a second card:

There are some pretty goofy parts in this book, like the man who has lion-induced amnesia, when George gets snatched by a man wearing a baboon costume, and a real baboon steals the wig off a snobbish girl on safari with the Drew Crew but Bess gives her a makeover and magically makes over the snob's personality too (which I believe because Bess is magic and I would want to be friends with her).  Anyway, I thought I'd play with the more whimsical parts of this book and got out this smug lion from Inspiration Squad.

Still kept to the colors on the book cover, this time with more yellow.  That lion just looks so satisfied with himself, doesn't he?

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Inspiration Squad
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Stampin' Blends in Daffodil Delight, Peach Pie, Pecan Pie
Paper:  Azure Afternoon, Daffodil Delight, Thick Basic White, Cute As Can Bee DSP, Bee Mine DSP
Accessories:  Everyday Details dies, Layering Circles dies, Nested Essentials dies, Fine Sparkle Gems, Dimensionals

I tend to like the travelogue-style Drews and this one has some fun silly bits, but it does also have some portrayals of people of African and Indian descent that are negative or just disrespectful by today's standards, as Averie said in her True Drew podcast that I listened to earlier this week.  I'm going to give it three stars just because I do like the super silly bits.  If you're inspired to make a card, please leave me a comment, and we'll see you back here next week when Nancy searches for The Invisible Intruder.

Botanical Bounty, Part 4

Hey hey, y'all, I am continuing my creative streak with a few more floral cards, since I still had stamp sets out for that CAS on Friday botanical challenge.  So here's what I've got:

Ooooh some old sets here, Petal Prints and Elegant Cheer and me just playing around with some color combinations for the Sunday Stamps sketch challenge:

Well, it started with the sketch but I added some layers and they morphed a bit.  I was just having some fun with those pressed flower stamps, ya know?

I also had More Petal Prints out so I made one more:

And actually I think this is the first time I've used More Petal Prints, though I've had it for years, but at least I used all three stamps in the set for today's card.  Thought I'd give the SUO Challenges colors another go, and let's just say this is not my favorite color combination ever.  I thought I'd go really old skool on this one and just do stamps, ink, and paper, no dies or anything else (except Dimensionals).

Anyway, not much time before I go grab the kiddo from school.  I'm hoping to take him out for dinner early so maybe we can watch the livestream of the Artemis splash down tonight.  And it's about time that we named a mission to the moon after a goddess actually *associated* with the moon.  Apollo is such an attention hog.

*runs before Apollo can shoot me with arrows*

Cheers!

Supplies, first card, all SU!
Stamps:  Petal Prints, Elegant Cheer
Ink:  Pink Pirouette, Melon Mambo, Lost Lagoon
Paper:  Lost Lagoon, Melon Mambo, Pink Pirouette
Accessories:  Textured Notes dies, Stylish Shapes dies, Strawberry Slush gems (they were close enough), Wink of Stella

Supplies, second card, all SU!
Stamps:  Petal Prints, Elegant Cheer
Ink:  Old Olive, So Saffron, Delightful Dijon
Paper:  Old Olive, So Saffron, Delightful Dijon
Accessories:  Textured Notes dies, Stylish Shapes dies, Noble Peacock rhinestones

Supplies, third card, all SU!
Stamps:  More Petal Prints, Gifts of Spring
Ink:  Lemon Lolly, Peach Pie, Pretty in Pink, Crumb Cake
Paper:  Lemon Lolly, Peach Pie, Whisper White, Pretty in Pink DSP
Accessories:  Dimensionals

Paper Flower Power

Happy Friday, y'all!  Bit of a gloomy day here but I would be happy to get some rain, it's been terribly dry this year and I know it's going to be a bad summer for fires.  And I don't have to go anywhere else until it's time to pick up Ryan (other than taking Daph for a walk) so as far as I'm concerned it can pour down rain from now until midafternoon.  Whaddya say, Zeus?

Anyway!  Apparently this is my week to be an overachieving stamper because I have three cards to share this morning.  Let's start with these two:

I thought this week's Freshly Made Sketch was a good chance to showcase some DSP but then I couldn't pick just one.  Here's the sketch:

And I couldn't leave out one more gorgeous floral paper:

I actually made this one first and couldn't resist making the other two.

Supplies, first card:
Stamps:  Sweet Blooms
Ink:  Pretty Peacock
Paper:  Mossy Meadow, Basic Beige, Floral Charm DSP
Accessories:  Perennial Postage dies, Low Profile Sparkle Dots, Pretty Peacock Metallic Ribbon, Dimensionals

Supplies, second card:
Stamps:  Sweet Blooms
Ink:  Secret Sea
Paper:  Secret Sea, Basic White, Lovely Blossoms DSP
Accessories:  Perennial Postage dies, Natural Matte Dots, Old Olive Polytwill Metallic Ribbon, Dimensionals

Supplies, third card:
Stamps:  Sweet Blooms
Ink:  Garden Green
Paper:  Garden Green, Secret Sea, Petunia Pop, Florals in Bloom DSP
Accessories:  Sweet Blooms dies, Sparkle Dot Essentials

And here's a picture of Daphne from yesterday just because she's cute, she was sitting there with her toy in her mouth and just STARING at me until I tried to get her picture and then she dropped the toy.  And you can see the carcass of another toy off to the right, she yanked all the stuffing out pretty much as soon as she got it.  Destructo-Dog!