A Sweet Sketch from The Paper Players

Mornin' y'all!  I am still trying to post from the hubs' laptop but hopefully we'll get a new Mac soon. (Our old one is apparently going to stay dead.)  Anyway, it's Sunday and that means it's time for a new Paper Players challenge!  This week the fabulous Jan has an equally fabulous sketch for us:

So many awesome creative possibilities with this one!  I just had to bust out the new Homemade Sweetness DSP and here's what I made:

Lots and lots of layers on this one!  The only stamping on this is the greeting (a partial stamp from Bee My Valentine, I masked off the first couple of words so it would fit on my card better), and everything else is fun patterns from Homemade Sweetness, to include the strawberry preserves and honey.  I love that spoon pattern, it's so fun.  I'm sure this is a sketch I could use over and over!

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:  Bee My Valentine
Ink:  Misty Moonlight
Paper:  Crushed Curry, Misty Moonlight, Thick Basic White, Homemade Sweetness DSP
Accessories:  Dimensionals, Dots for Days

The Mystery of the Fire Dragon

Happy Saturday and welcome to a new Nancy Drew Challenge!  Today we are investigating The Mystery of the Fire Dragon, Nancy's 38th adventure and one I remember from childhood.  Take a look:

We have another gorgeous Rudy Nappi cover and I do love Nancy in a yellow dress.  I think this is a favorite cover for a lot of Nancy Drew fans and it is pretty fantastic, I love the composition with the rounded doorway and Nancy looking at the party happening on the other side.  Five stars just for the cover.  Yes I have two copies of this book, I've had the flashlight edition (glossy cover) on the right for years and I just got the matte cover on the left last year.  A previous owner left a coded message in the book and apparently she thinks Greg is cute.

Case file:  Nancy's aunt Eloise invites the girls to New York to investigate the suspected kidnapping of her next door neighbor, Chi Che Soong, who bears a strong resemblance to George despite being Chinese when George is...not.  Nancy has George dress up as Chi Che in an attempt to get clues to the kidnappers; George is almost kidnapped, Bess really IS kidnapped, and once they get Bess back, Nancy moves the investigation to Hong Kong where Ned is conveniently doing a class.  Then Nancy also gets kidnapped not once, but TWICE, and eventually rescues herself and Chi Che and we get to learn about dragons, fireworks, and mah jongg along the way, not to mention international politics and smuggling.  It's an adventure.  With lots of kidnapping.

Here's my card:

That dragon stamp is one of the very first stamps I ever bought way (waaayyyy) back in high school and I couldn't wait to get it out for this book challenge.  And how perfect is it that I have firework patterned paper?  Love it.  I embossed both the dragon and the greeting with black embossing powder so they're shiny.

Supplies:
Stamps:  Artistically Asian, dragon from Rubber Stampede
Ink:  Versamark
Paper:  Crushed Curry, Poppy Parade, Pacific Point, Celebrate Everything DSP
Accessories:  Spotlight on Nature & Textured Notes dies, black EP, Starburst Sequins

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

I've had that junk mail stamp for probably over 15 years (I have another one that says fan mail) and this is the first time I've used it, I couldn't resist since Nancy and Chi Che are both held prisoner on a junk in the book's climax.  I used a lot of the same supplies as on the first card and hey, I even have Crushed Curry embossing powder.

This time I used one of the Everyday Arches dies to sort of mimic the arch on the cover, though it doesn't match exactly but it was the feeling I was going for.  I used Crushed Curry as my main color for both cards due to Nancy's dress, which is pretty fantastic.  I would totally wear it if I needed to dress up for something.  And naturally she has the matching handbag.

Supplies:
Stamps:  Junk Mail from A Stamp in the Hand
Ink:  Versamark
Paper:  Crushed Curry, Basic Black, Celebrate Everything DSP, Poppy Parade DSP
Accessories:  All That & Everyday Arches dies, Azure Afternoon sheer ribbon, Crushed Curry EP, Dimensionals

I really like The Mystery of the Fire Dragon and I think in general it handles Chinese culture better than The Clue of the Leaning Chimney, though having George dress up as Chi Che is problematic at best.  Overall I give it four and a half stars, I remembered several scenes from this despite not having read it in many years, and it was very interesting to read now as they went into detail about the political situation in Hong Kong, which was a British territory when this was written.  Anyway, if you are feeling inspired, I hope you'll leave me a comment with a link to what you make!  And join me next week when we tackle The Clue of the Dancing Puppet.

SUO Challenges: Variations on a Theme by Tammy

Mornin' y'all!  I am writing this blog post on the hubs' PC laptop, and given that I've been pretty much exclusively a Mac user for over 10 years, I am practically PC illiterate now.  So it's slower and more difficult to do things but I couldn't NOT post today, because it's SUO Challenges day!  Check out the new challenge:

Every once in a while, I come across a sketch or a theme and I make a card and then my brain fizzes and I make another card and then another one and guess what happened with this challenge.  Here's what I made:

I had individual pictures taken of each of these cards and of course those are all saved on the Mac that is currently dead but we're hoping can be resuscitated, so all I have is this one.  I didn't take new pictures of the cards because I have no idea how to do photo editing on the laptop...I have to email photos to myself on my phone and then access my email on the laptop to even get pictures to show up here, because I can't figure out how to upload blog pictures on my phone either.  #TechTroglodyte

Anyway, I started out with the card on the top left using the Hobby Haven DSP and cutouts, and I used pink but not the same shade that Tammy did.  Next I thought I'd do a love card, but not specifically Valentine's Day since that's past now, so I broke out the Made with Love DSP and the Valentine Kisses stamp set--and I even challenged myself to use a different bear instead of the kissy bear with the wings : )

For my third card, I got out some scraps of the Perennial Lavender DSP which I think is in the annual catalog so you can still buy it if you haven't already.  The die cuts are from an old Paper Pumpkin kit that coordinated with that whole lavender suite.  And finally is probably my favorite, you know I love the Nature Walk DSP and Nature's Symphony bundle.

So there you have my variations on a theme by Tammy.  I was actually going to make a fifth card this weekend but then I got that cold from the hubs and I spent almost all weekend laying around sniffling.  Anyway, I hope that you'll have even half as much fun as I did with this challenge, and upload your creations at the SUO Challenges blog.  Don't forget to use only Stampin' Up! products!

If it's stopped raining (yeah, it's raining for the first time in forever!), I'm going to take Daphne for a walk.  Cheers!

Supplies, Hobby Haven card:
Stamps:  On Display
Ink:  Coastal Cabana
Paper:  Coastal Cabana, Petal Pink, Thick Basic White, Hobby Haven DSP
Accessories:  Dear Dots, Mini Dimensionals

Supplies, bear card:
Stamps:  Valentine Kisses
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Real Red, Stampin' Blends in Smoky Slate, Crumb Cake, Flirty Flamingo
Paper:  Real Red, Basic White, Made with Love DSP
Accessories:  Valentine Kisses dies, Dimensionals, Rainbow Dots

Supplies, lavender card:
Stamps:  My Paper Pumpkin
Ink:  Gorgeous Grape
Paper:  Highland Heather, Pretty Peacock
Accessories:  bits from a past Paper Pumpkin kit, Mini Dimensionals, Fine Purple Shimmer Gems

Supplies, masculine card:
Stamps:  Nature's Symphony
Ink:  Old Olive, Secret Sea
Paper:  Blueberry Bushel, Crumb Cake, Thick Basic White, Nature Walk DSP
Accessories:  Nature's Symphony dies, Stylish Shapes dies, Dimensionals, Ombre Matte Decorative Dots

Guest Designer: AAA Cards Challenge

Mornin', y'all!  Today I am a guest designer for AAA Cards Challenge!  Check out this awesome sketch:

I had to ponder for a while, but then luckily I got some things from Spellbinders that turned out to be perfect for this sketch so here's what I came up with:

As y'all know, I also do cross stitch as a hobby so I had to get the dies and stencils to make skeins of floss!  I used the stencils for my two skeins of embroidery floss.  And I got the dies for the stitcher's toolkit, including those stork scissors (and I think I have a real pair of scissors that looks like that).  I found the perfect coordinating sentiment in an old SU! set called Handmade for You, and there it is.

Hope you'll join in the fun at AAA Cards Challenge!

Unfortunately our Mac unexpectedly died yesterday morning so I might not be able to post very much for a bit...I'm writing this on the hubs' laptop but it was a painful experience getting the pictures on here.  So...I'll see you when I can?

Supplies:
Stamps:  Handmade for You
Ink:  Azure Afternoon, Blueberry Bushel, Crushed Curry, Memento Tuxedo Black
Paper:  Thick Basic White, Gold & Silver foil, Blueberry Bushel
Accessories:  Stitched Nested Labels dies, Spellbinders Needleworker Tool Kit dies, Rainbow Floss Background stencil, Dimensionals

Let's Party with the Paper Players!

Mornin' y'all!  It's Sunday and time for a new challenge from The Paper Players!  This week the super Stef has a fabulous theme challenge for us:

And this is super timely too, as both the hubs and our kiddo have birthdays this weekend!  Yes, Ryan's birthday is the day after his dad's.  Anyway, this challenge graphic reminded me of the Birthday Bouquet DSP that was released quite a few years ago, so I dug it out and made this:

I keep a sheet protector with each set of DSP that holds all my DSP scraps for that pack, and when I pulled out the Birthday Bouquet scraps I had over a dozen pennants that I had cut when I did a baby shower for my SIL.  (Um, niece turns TEN in April!)  So I picked a pennant with balloons on it, added a simple stamped greeting and a few Candy Dots, and bam!  Card sorted.  Even with hemming and hawing a bit over colors I still had this done in about ten minutes.  The card base is Pool Party, the greeting is Mint Macaron, and my supporting color is Blushing Bride, all colors from the DSP pack (though the balloon pattern doesn't have any Blushing Bride in it).  I should send this to my niece when the time comes!

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!

And don't forget to keep it CAS this week!  Lots of white space, limited layers and embellishments.

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Bonanza Buddies
Ink:  Mint Macaron
Paper:  Pool Party, Blushing Bride, Basic White, Birthday Bouquet DSP
Accessories:  Pennants Bigz die, circle punch, Layering Circles Framelits, Dimensionals, Candy Dots

And if you're interested, you can see the baby shower invitation here, and the card I made to go with my baby shower gift here.  Apparently I didn't share pictures of the decorations on my blog, but I made a bunch of mice treat boxes as party favors.  So there's my walk down Memory Lane!

The Clue in the Old Stagecoach

Happy Valentine's Day and welcome to the Nancy Drew Challenge!  Our book isn't Valentine themed but that's okay; today we're investigating #37, The Clue in the Old Stagecoach.

For the third book cover in a row, we have Nancy and her chums looking with great concern at something happening in the distance.  I wonder why Rudy Nappi put Nancy and Bess in the same color on this cover and I have to say I like George's hair better on the cover for The Haunted Showboat; on this one she looks like Danny Zuko from the movie Grease.  Regardless, let's talk about the mystery!

Case file:  While on vacation at a summer camp near the town of Francisville, Nancy is contacted by elderly widow Mrs. Strook, who says that her great uncle Abner was a stagecoach driver in the 1800s and wrote a letter saying that he had hidden something that would be of great value to the town.  Francisville has recently grown quite quickly and they desperately need a new school for all the kiddos, so Nancy agrees to investigate, while contending with two extremely nosy people staying at the camp and a local resident who wants everyone else in town to GIT OUT.  I won't tell you what the treasure is, but Nancy and her chums are named honorary citizens of Francisville.

Here's my card:

I have several stamp sets featuring horses, but the closest I could come to a stagecoach is this wagon wheel from Country Road, which was something of an impulse buy a few months ago and now it's come in handy.  I kept this card very simple and used my ink pads and blending brushes to color in my main panel.

I have Balmy Blue for Nancy and Bess's clothes, Shaded Spruce for the woods, and Crushed Curry for Bess's hair because I just couldn't convince myself to stamp that grain stalk in green.

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Country Road
Ink:  Crushed Curry, Bashful Blue, Pecan Pie, Early Espresso
Paper:  Bashful Blue, Thick Basic White, Meandering Meadows DSP Stack
Accessories:  Deckled Rectangles DSP, Dimensionals

And I have one more card:

At the end of the book, when all the baddies are in custody, a police officer tells one of the baddies that another one had fooled him, and the man says "I'll say he did, the skunk!" which just made me laugh so hard and I had to make a skunk card.  I will say after I finished this one that I wish I had made the dark green panel (same as on the first card) smaller so more of the cloudy pattern would show, but it is what it is and I can't unstick it.

I think I'm going to start saying "The skunk!" when someone does something I don't like : )

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Wildlife, Rough Edges Alphabet
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Shaded Spruce
Paper:  Shaded Spruce, Basic Black, Thick Basic White, Meandering Meadows DSP Stack
Accessories:  Dimensionals, Matte Black Dots

I think The Clue in the Old Stagecoach is fine, but not one of the more memorable mysteries in the series, so I give it three stars.  If this book inspires you too, I would be delighted to see what you make, just leave a comment on this post.  And come back next Saturday when Nancy encounters The Mystery of the Fire Dragon!

Florals in Green

Mornin' y'all!  Since the hubs has been sick, I've spent the past couple of nights in the guest room in an attempt to not acquire what he's got (though I'm not sure it's working).  Daphne joined me in there last night and I woke up in the middle of the night with her head rammed into my spine--she and Ryan both like to sleep perpendicularly on the bed.  Just don't tell the hubs she was on the bed with me : )  Usually I agree with him about no doggos on the furniture (other than Daph's chair), but I wanted puppy snuggles.  They're medicinal.

Anyway, here's my card today and we're going all in on my favorite color, green!

As soon as I saw this week's Freshly Made Sketch, I knew I was going to use that Nested Essentials shape for the oval in the sketch:

That's the first one I could think of that was wide but short.  I made this card before I saw this Easter card by my Paper Players teammie LeAnne but apparently we were both riding the same brain wave.

Aww man, I just picked up my tea mug and found it unexpectedly empty.  Time to brew another cuppa!  Anyway, my next challenge is The Card Concept:

My colors don't exactly match their palette, but that inspo pic immediately made me think of the Garden Lane DSP (though I couldn't remember the name so I had to do some hunting for it).  I read their colors as Granny Apple Green, Shy Shamrock, and Always Artichoke, while my card is Pear Pizzazz, Garden Green, and possibly a bit of Mossy Meadow.  Still very green.  I have a mix of still current (Pretty Florals), recently retired (Year of Flowers), and long retired (Garden Lane DSP and Pear Pizzazz as a color) on my clean and layered card.  This is the year of the retired supplies I think, I'm just using whatever I feel like for challenges and who cares if it's retired or not.  (Though I did just get a little bitty order from SU! yesterday evening that I haven't opened yet!)

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Pretty Florals, Year of Flowers
Ink:  Pear Pizzazz, Garden Green, VersaMark
Paper:  Pear Pizzazz, Garden Green, Basic White, Garden Lane DSP
Accessories:  Pretty Florals dies, Nested Essentials dies, white EP, Pearls of Beauty, Dimensionals

I came down with a low-grade fever yesterday afternoon and just felt really tired, so I didn't get in my craft room at all but I DID watch a show and finish my latest cross stitch piece:

More green!  I bought this Art Deco Tiger pattern from Etsy and it was a delight to stitch.  For once I'm not sure what I'm going to make next; I have several patterns that I could do but I haven't picked yet.

Okay I feel like I've talked a lot today, so I'm going to take my fresh cuppa and go look at other blogs for a bit, then take Daphne for a walk, then start working on a birthday cake for the hubs.  I'm planning to make a homemade strawberry cake for him, and as much as I cook and bake I hardly ever make cakes so this will be interesting.  Cheers!