Bunny Wishes

Hey y'all.  I did not get much sleep last night--I was up too late reading a book (which happens frequently, let's be honest) despite knowing that the hubs was going to get up in the wee smalls and that would wake me up and I have a hard time getting back to sleep, and I also know that when I don't get much sleep I am much more prone to headaches which is exactly what happened so that's how my day is starting.  But I finished my book last night and it was really good and also I'm pretty sure I have bought over fifty books on my Kindle this month.  I need to clone myself so I can read more and do all the other things I want to do too.  Also, speaking of clones, Ryan and I have watched all of the Star Wars prequel trilogy and we are now watching the Clone Wars cartoon series.  Love it.

Anyway, for the second day in a row, I have inked up a brand new stamp set.  Take a look:

Mixing old and new here; the bunny is from the March product of the month stamp set Notes of Spring, and the patterned paper is February's product of the month, the Painted Illusions DSP, while the Easter greeting is from 2011's Something to Celebrate.  I am entering this at CAS on Friday's challenge to make a spring card, and I had to have a go at the Festive Friday challenge:

I have pastel colors, two punches, a rabbit, and an Easter greeting.  I also used the latest sketch from CAS Colours & Sketches:

I cut a strip of Soft Sea Foam cardstock to go across the patterned paper as in the sketch, and I colored it with the light Blend marker to differentiate it a bit from the card base instead of using another pattern there since this is meant to be CAS.  The bunny was quick to snip out and happily the large oval punch was a good size for the bunny to fit into.

This is the second card I made for these two challenges; I won't show you the first one because I absolutely despise it because every once in a while, things just don't work out the way you want them to and a card has to go in the bin.  I've decided that for the first time in my 20+ years of crafting with SU! products, I am going to take an entire pack of DSP and chuck it.  I got the Easter Joy specialty paper and it's got this coating on it that makes the colors dull and smells weird and just feels ick in my hands.  I tried to use it and the longer I looked at it the more I hated it.  I have also discovered that I don't much like creating with the mix & match ephemera packs either, but at least now I know not to buy those in the future.

Anyway, I'm almost done with my morning cuppa and perhaps a walk in the sunshine with Daphne will make my head feel better.  Have a good one, peeps.

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Notes of Spring, Something to Celebrate 2011
Ink:  Crumb Cake, Soft Sea Foam, Stampin' Blends in Crumb Cake, Flirty Flamingo, Soft Sea Foam
Paper:  Soft Sea Foam, Thick Basic White, Painted Illusions DSP
Accessories:  large oval punch, modern label? punch, Dimensionals

Best Day = Dogs

Mornin' y'all!  My car is still in the shop so I still have to walk or ride bikes to take Ryan to his film camp this week, and today Ryan wanted to ride bikes *and* bring Daphne with us which is a level of chaos I will not attempt again.  I mean, we all survived, but it's hard for me to keep track of Ryan and Daphne and ride a bike at the same time.

Anyway, I have exciting news:  I FINALLY inked up one of the new stamp sets I've had hanging around since...January?  Maybe February?  A while, anyway.  Here's my card:

The Cutest Crew bundle has puppers, kitties, and birbs and this doggo card will be going to my dog-loving pal Krissy.  I got my bright color combo from Creative Colour Challenges:

Since I colored all the doggos in with various shades of brown and ivory, I could go really wild with the other colors.  I did use Parakeet Party bakers twine and the faceted gems are supposedly Night of Navy, but I thought that the embellishments matched the challenge colors closely enough to work.

I also used this week's Atlantic Hearts sketch:

I do still have several brand new uninked stamp sets though...we'll see how long it takes to get around to those ; )  Have a great day, peeps!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Cutest Crew
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Stampin' Blends in Timid Tiger, Lemon Lime Twist, Blueberry Bushel, Ivory, Pecan Pie, neutrals
Paper:  Lemon Lime Twist, Timid Tiger, Thick Basic White, Blueberry Bushel & Timid Tiger DSP
Accessories:  Cutest Crew dies, Parakeet Party bakers twine, Solid Faceted Gems, Dimensionals

Tiger Thoughts

Mornin' y'all!  I did my first workout in about six weeks this morning and I bet I'll be feeling it tomorrow.  I usually play workout videos on the Mac and work out in the living room, so when the old Mac went kaput so did my workout routine.  But now I'm back in it AND Daphne and I walked Ryan to school this morning.  He's still on spring break this week, but he's doing a film camp thing where they're making a movie based on Peter Pan, which means Daphne and I still get our girl time in the mornings.

Anyway, we were in Telluride for most of last week so yesterday was my first time back in my craft room and I made this:

I hadn't used Along These Lines in a while and every single time I've ever used it, it's been this tiger stamp but that's okay because the tiger is precisely why I bought the stamp set.  I'm entering this at Color Hues:

I used Blackberry Bliss and Peach Pie for the colors.  Next up is the AAA Cards Challenge:

I think my card still counts as CAS, there's a limited amount of patterned paper and lots of white space.  Next up is the Addicted to CAS challenge:

It was this challenge combined with the colors that made me think of the tiger stamp, and just in case the tiger wasn't stripey enough on his own I added a little bit of purple stripey paper for him to recline on in all his regal glory.  I added a bit of color with watercolor pencils and a blender pen.

I'm going to finish my cuppa tea while I look at some card blogs and then I'll probably try to work on something in my craft room until it's time to pick Ryan up.  Cheers, y'all!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Along These Lines, Branching Out
Ink:  Peach Pie, Blackberry Bliss
Paper:  Peach Pie, Basic White, Blackberry Bliss DSP
Accessories:  Textured Notes dies, watercolor pencils

Desert Sunshine for a Paper Players Sketch

Mornin' y'all!  It is time once again for a new Paper Players challenge, and this week the lovely and talented Claire has a sketch for us:

One of the stamp sets that I got out for last week's CAS floral challenge was Desert Details, and since I didn't use it for that challenge I just had to use it for this sketch.  Here's what I made:

I used both the Delicate Desert DSP and the Dry Brushed Metallic specialty paper for this, I think it's the first time I cut into the specialty paper.  I added some brushed metallic dots to bring the gold over and draw the eye toward the greeting on my desert landscape backdrop.  For the "anything goes" strip, I combined one of the stamps that's a long, thin pattern and a die on a scrap of the same paper I used for the background (it's a bit I cut off the top that's just a little bit Soft Succulent colored).  And just because I like sparkle, I added Wink of Stella to the largest flower.

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:  Desert Details
Ink:  Cajun Craze, Soft Succulent, Pale Papaya
Paper:  Soft Succulent, Thick Basic White, Delicate Desert DSP, Dry Brushed Metallic Specialty Paper
Accessories:  Desert Details dies, Dimensionals, Brushed Metallic Dots

The Phantom of Pine Hill

Gooood mornin y'all and welcome to our forty-second Nancy Drew Challenge!  Today we are on the trail of The Phantom of Pine Hill:

This is not one of Rudy Nappi's better covers in my opinion, but maybe I'm just biased by the cultural appropriation happening here (more on that in a minute).  We had such a vivid sky on Moonstone Castle so it seems extra weird to just have white on this cover.  Nancy is once again in her signature color of pale blue.

Casel file:  Nancy, Bess, and George are at Emerson College for June Week festivities and thanks to a clerical error end up staying with "Uncle John" Rorick near the school, who has a phantom problem.  Despite the fanciest locks money can buy, someone keeps sneaking into Uncle John's library and stealing money he keeps in between the pages of the books and then breaking into his safe.  While looking for the phantom, Nancy also tracks down a family heirloom that went down in a shipwreck, digs up a First Nations grave (really), and is pretend kidnapped by Ned who was apparently cosplaying the Chief in Disney's Peter Pan, down to the offensive speech patterns.  I don't think it was meant to be disrespectful, but it absolutely is by today's standards.  Not my favorite book.

Here's my card:

Obviously I decided not to touch the cultural appropriation and I stuck with pine trees and a hill.  And I gave my card a colorful sky, incorporating the color of Nancy's dress and hair.

How is this the first time that I've ever used the In the Pines bundle?  I must have gotten it right when it retired.  Have to say I like my card better than I liked the book.

We do have a secret passage and one of the boys gets stuck in a chimney a la Santa Claus, so there are some fun things about this book, so I give it two stars.  Still better than the hot mess that is Ivory Charm, which might just be the lowest point out of the entire series but we'll find out.  It's still the low point as of #42.  Anyway, if you're inspired to create a Nancy Drew card, leave me a comment so I can oooh and ahhh over it!  And stay tuned for next week, when we investigate The Mystery of the 99 Steps.

Array of Happiness

Mornin' y'all, and happy Friday!  I was cruising through my stamp collection earlier this week while I was working on a card, and a stamp set caught my eye so I had to make a card with it to share today.

Those fun flowers are from Array of Sunshine, a lovely image-only set of bold flowers, and the greeting is from Rainbow of Happiness.  I just had to have another go at the As You See It sketch:

But I didn't stick quite as closely to the sketch this time as I did with the Wonderful Wings quartet, I was just having some fun with it.  And finally I managed to use the correct colors for the Cupcake Inspirations color challenge:

Well, kinda close anyway.  I used Magenta Madness because I love it, Granny Apple Green because I thought it looked good with Magenta Madness, and Pecan Pie because I wasn't thinking quite as dark a brown as in the picture and I should have gone with Chocolate Chip or Early Espresso but this was the challenge I was thinking of when I chose my colors.

That's it for me today, peeps.  Have a great Friday!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Array of Sunshine, Rainbow of Happiness
Ink:  Magenta Madness, Granny Apple Green, Pecan Pie
Paper:  Magenta Madness, Pecan Pie, Basic White, Floral Delight DSP
Accessories:  Dimensionals, Charming Faceted Dots

I Like Zinnias

Mornin' y'all!  I keep telling myself that one of these days I will finally ink up a couple of new (and at the moment, still current) stamp sets, but...today is not that day.  Ha!

Simply Zinnia is another floral set that I thought about using for the Paper Players challenge, so it came to mind immediately when I saw the TGIF Challenges sketch:

Which I paired with the Retro Rubber color challenge:

Simply Zinnia is two years old, so not as retro as I usually go but it still counts.  I used Bubble Bath, Mossy Meadow, Berry Burst, and Granny Apple Green, though the Berry Burst is photographing a bit darker than it looks in person.  I don't use Berry Burst very often so I really wanted to give it a shot and it seemed to be the best darker pink to go with Bubble Bath.  I chose the sentiment purely because it was the first one I came across that fit in the die cut I wanted to use...it's not retro, but everything else is!

That's it for me today, peeps.  Cheers!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Simply Zinnia, Nature's Symphony
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Mossy Meadow, Bubble Bath, Stampin' Blends in Bubble Bath, Berry Burst, Mossy Meadow, Granny Apple Green
Paper:  Berry Burst, Bubble Bath, Thick Basic White, Flowering Zinnias DSP
Accessories:  Simply Zinnia dies, Textured Notes dies, Dimensionals, Tinsel Gems, Wink of Stella