Moonlit Nature Walk

Mornin' y'all!  I'm here with my cuppa tea and Daphne is (for now) ensconced in her chair and keeping an eye on the yard behind us to make sure we're safe from possible invasion.  Actually I need to start the kettle for cup #2.

I had some fun in my craft room yesterday and the day before, I am working ahead on some cards for design teams and the Nancy Drew Challenge (which is tomorrow, and it's a good one this week!).  So here's my card today:

On Monday, I used the Moonlit Flora DSP but not the stamps in that suite; today I'm using the Fern & Flora stamps but pairing them with the Nature Walk DSP.  Nature Walk has all the colors from this Color Dare Challenge:

I read it as Cloud Cover, Night of Navy, Old Olive, and Pretty Peacock, which are all in the DSP though I think that background layer is actually a Secret Sea pattern.  Well, that's still a neutral color anyway.  As I was making this card, I really wondered about having Cloud Cover and Pretty Peacock on there as I generally don't think those two go together, but I think I like it?  I'm having the same issue with my current stitching project, the fabric is orange and I think I like it with the design stitched on it but I'm not 100% sure.  That project is about three quarters done though, and I could always make it again on a different fabric if I want to, but I have a new project tentatively chosen to start next.

I used this week's Atlantic Hearts sketch:

I do like a good triptych moment and I actually *do* have Night of Navy ribbon to use for this sketch.  I hardly ever buy ribbon any more, just occasionally if it's on the clearance rack, because I don't use a whole lot of it.  Just recently I finished off a roll of white taffeta and I think it was over 10 years old!  If SU! had kept the 3/8" taffeta and just done it in different colors I probably would have kept on buying it, I have a photo box full of just the taffeta in my crafty hutch.

Anyway, I've now got my second cuppa so I'm going to enjoy that before I take Daphne out for our daily neighborhood promenade.  Have a great Friday, peeps!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Fern & Flora
Ink:  Night of Navy, Old Olive Blend
Paper:  Cloud Cover, Nature Walk DSP
Accessories:  Fern & Flora dies, Dimensionals, Night of Navy bordered ribbon, Muted Palette Glossy Dots

The Fabulous Ms. Fox

Mornin' y'all!  I just put the kettle on for my second cuppa, I am drinking as much tea as possible while it's still cool in the mornings because once summer arrives I don't like to drink hot things as much.  Gotta enjoy that tea while I can!

So it feels like we have had weeks and weeks of unrelentingly sunny weather, but at least it's a rainy day in my craft room.

It doesn't show up in the picture (it usually doesn't), but I did Wink of Stella on Ms. Fox's umbrella so that it matches the glitter dots and makes a visual triangle of Melon Mambo.  Design science, visual triangles help your eye move around the card (or scrapbook page).

I have three challenges today, starting with Freshly Made Sketches:

Next up is Retro Rubber:

I knew this would be the perfect excuse to use one of the cute images in Playing in the Rain, since I only used a greeting from that stamp set when we had the spring showers challenge at The Paper Players.  So, Playing in the Rain is now 3 years old (for some reason I thought it was more like 4 or 5?), so it's now retro in stamp years.  I used Rain or Shine for the greeting, and it's now 13 years old.

Last up is the Color Dare Challenge:

I used Highland Heather, Melon Mambo, Bermuda Bay, and Soft Sea Foam.  I was going to do Pretty Peacock, but then I found the Sunshine & Rainbows DSP Stack and subbed in Bermuda Bay for that.  There are lots of rainy patterns in that stack but the two in the challenge colors aren't really themed, I kinda wish I had added a circle behind the fox and stamped some rain clouds but by the time I thought of that I was out of time to work on this card so it's staying how it is.

That's it for me today, y'all.  Wish we'd get some rain here, we've had fire hazard advisories on my weather app every day for quite a while.  Once I finish my tea, Daphne and I will get out there in the sunshine.  Cheers!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Playing in the Rain, Rain or Shine
Ink:  Night of Navy, Stampin' Blends in Smoky Slate, Melon Mambo, Highland Heather
Paper:  Highland Heather, Thick Basic White, Sunshine & Rainbows DSP Stack
Accessories:  Playing in the Rain dies, Textured Notes dies, Dimensionals, Glitter Gems, Wink of Stella

To a Tea

Mornin' y'all!  I've got my first cuppa steeping right now and of course I'm making tea to go with my tea card today : )

I love the pink and teal color combination from last week's Inspired By... challenge so I had to give it another go even if the challenge is closed:

I ended up using Summer Splash with mostly Pink Pirouette and just a little Pretty in Pink, doing a Pretty in Pink card base was just too much pink for me.  Next up is the CAS Colours & Sketches sketch:

I happened to see the teacup trio stamp in Tea Shoppe and thought it would be great for the circles on the sketch.  I added the Pretty in Pink strip to ground the teacups so they wouldn't be free floating in space, I just felt like they needed that grounding.

That's it for now, peeps.  I'm going to enjoy the rest of my cuppa while I check out some blogs, and then I fully intend to make another cup : )  My blood type is tea positive.  Cheers!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Tea Shoppe
Ink:  Summer Splash, Memento Tuxedo Black
Paper:  Pink Pirouette, Pretty in Pink, Basic White
Accessories:  Dimensionals

Postage Love

Mornin' y'all!  Moving slow today because I woke up with a headache, that's always fun, but it's gonna get better from here.  I am manifesting positive things for today.

What with being a chauffeur extraordinaire most of the day yesterday, I didn't get into my craft room until the early evening but I did make a card to share today:

I have two challenges today, starting with the Creative Colour Challenge:

And what gave me a vector on this card is the Addicted to CAS challenge:

I combined the pretty Posted for You Love stamp with Post Script, which might be my favorite background stamp ever.  At first I wanted to use ribbon on my card, but it turns out I have zero ribbon in any of the challenge colors, so instead I put a thin strip of Melon Mambo behind my postage stamp image and I think it works.

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

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Posted for You, Post Script
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Gray Granite, Stampin' Blends in Petal Pink, Melon Mambo, Gray Granite
Paper:  Petal Pink, Gray Granite, Melon Mambo, Thick Basic White
Accessories:  Rectangular Postage Stamp punch, Dimensionals

Mosaic Luna Moth

Mornin' y'all!  Hope your week is off to a good start.  I will be playing chauffeur (chauffeuse?) for the hubs today for his post-op eye appointment so let's hope that goes well.

Last week I got some new goodies and I am IN LOVE with the new Moonlit Flora DSP.  I mean, how could I not be?!  Just look at it:

The background is one of the beautiful patterns and the moth is on another piece of the DSP, which I cut it into squares for the Inkspirational sketch:

I did stretch the sketch into a regular A2 card instead of a square because I wanted to fit in the Words of Beauty dies that Joanne made me buy ; )  And oh yes, I am ALSO in love with our new green, Peaceful Pine!  I used it for the card base and the "because", which is matted on Soft Sea Foam.  A few Golden Glow flat pearls finish it off.  I think I will need at least one more pack of this DSP...

Have a great day, y'all!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Words of Beauty
Ink:  Peaceful Pine
Paper:  Peaceful Pine, Golden Glow, Soft Sea Foam, Thick Basic White, Midnight Flora DSP
Accessories:  Words of Beauty dies, Dimensionals, In Color Flat Pearls

The Paper Players: Baby Animals

Happy Sunday, y'all!  It's my turn to host the challenge at The Paper Players and I hope you enjoy this week's theme:

Lots of animals are born at this time of year, so I thought it was seasonally appropriate and also might be fun for everyone.  One of the great things about the Internet and social media is that places like zoos can share their baby animals in videos and pictures and people everywhere can see just how cute baby leopards are.  I went a bit more domestic animal with my card, and here it is:

I was totally horse crazy as a child, and since I only very rarely got to actually interact with horses in person despite growing up in Texas, I read everything I could get my hands on--I still have my childhood copies of several Marguerite Henry books (Misty of Chincoteague) and the entire run of Walter Farley's The Black Stallion series.  One of my favorite things to do on Facebook is watch videos by Katie Van Slyke, who raises quarter horses and also breeds miniature horses, goats, donkeys, and cows--I didn't even know prior to following her that donkeys and cows came in miniature versions!  And also, baby mini cows are possibly the cutest thing ever, unless it's baby miniature horses. So adorable.

Anyway, I looked through all my horse stamps and just had to use this mama and baby pair from the very old stamp set called Bareback.  I kinda watercolored the horses to match a real-life mama and baby (Annie and Gunner, he's like 10 days old now) and kept the background very soft and dreamy, with a wide border of white space around it and a simple torn edge because this is a CAS challenge.

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:  Bareback, Notes of Nature
Ink:  Versamark, Early Espresso, Copper Clay, Soft Succulent, Boho Blue
Paper:  Copper Clay, Very Vanilla
Accessories:  Clear EP

The Invisible Intruder

Happy Saturday, y'all, and welcome to the 46th Nancy Drew Challenge!  Today Nancy is squaring off with The Invisible Intruder.

This cover reminds me of 99 Steps and Crossword Cipher in that it's largely brown/neutral tones, and once again Nancy is in her signature color of pale blue.  This time we get Ned on the cover, which rarely happens, and we have a creepy backdrop of a stingray and some skulls.  I like it.  This is my childhood copy, I have my name written not once but twice inside the front cover.

Case file:  Nancy's friend Helen (who last appeared in #20, The Clue in the Jewel Box, and I think this might be her final appearance) organizes a ghost-hunting road trip to investigate odd happenings at five different locations, including a phantom canoe, a medium, and a ghost horse, so this is basically five Scooby-Doo episodes in one volume.  The book ends up at the home of an eccentric old man who collects rare shells and also human skulls, which is not my design aesthetic but rock on as long as the skulls and shells are ethically sourced, and Nancy captures the gang behind all of the haunts.

Here's my card:

We get some lectures on different kinds of shells over the course of the book, so I decided to pull out Stippled Shells for my first card.  I chose River Rock, Pebbled Path, and Basic Beige for neutral colors and put it all on a Balmy Blue card base for Nancy's dress.

I had done a mosaic card with Stippled Shells a long time ago so I kind of started with that as a jumping off point for this card.  Also, I made this one before the vintage traveler card I posted on Wednesday.

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Stippled Shells, Weathered, Stepping Stones
Ink:  River Rock, Pebbled Path
Paper:  Balmy Blue, River Rock, Pebbled Path, Thick Very Vanilla
Accessories:  Layering Ovals Framelits, Dimensionals

And I have one more card:

The first location they road trip to has a self-propelling canoe, and while investigating it Nancy and Ned encounter a mechanical octopus which drags Ned away and that is straight out of a Scooby-Doo episode and it makes me laugh.  So I had to make an octopus card, using Nancy's hair and dress for my colors since the rest of the cover is pretty blah.

I did keep Gray Granite as my main color here, which matches the stingray pretty well.  I found my blue and gray patterns in the Otterly Adorable DSP, and I matted the Gray Granite pattern on some Gray Granite cardstock on which I colored the edges with a Blend marker to make it stand out against the Gray Granite card base, which is an easy way to get multiple values of a single color.  You know what, I miss Mango Melody.  It's a fun orange.

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Message in a Bottle
Ink:  Gray Granite, Mango Melody, Gray Granite Stampin' Blend
Paper:  Gray Granite, Thick Basic White, Otterly Adorable DSP
Accessories:  Dimensionals, Sparkly Gems

Like The Scarlet Slipper Mystery, I think this one has too many characters as we have the regular Drew Crew (Nancy, Bess, George, Ned, Burt, and Dave), Helen and her husband, and three other couples whose names I could never remember and they're apparently only around so everyone can rag on the one married woman who believes in ESP and ghosts, which is unfortunate.  We have some goofy Scooby-Doo inspired moments, not up to the utterly bananas hijinks of Brass-Bound Trunk or Moss-Covered Mansion, but the five mini mysteries and road trip setup are fun, so I give this one three and a half stars.  If you're inspired to create a card based on this mystery, please leave me a comment below!  And I'll see you next time when Nancy investigates The Mysterious Mannequin.  Cheers!