Going in Circles

Mornin' y'all.  Urgh, I haven't been sleeping too well the past couple of nights but I am going to do my best NOT to take a nap today because then maybe I'll actually sleep tonight.  I have some projects I really want to work on today, including the new cross stitch project I started last night.

But for right now, I continue my quest to make the Painted Pumpkins stamps/stencils/dies in every color of the rainbow:

At this point I think Painted Pumpkins is my go-to stamp set for when I'm not sure what to do with a color challenge.  Check out this pretty spring palette from CAS Colours & Sketches:

I just didn't want to do a springy card, so pinky purple pumpkins it is!  Next up is the Addicted to CAS challenge, which was a good excuse to use my Spotlight on Nature dies:

I layered on a retired Stitched Shapes die because the circles in Stylish Shapes weren't the right size to nest in the Spotlight on Nature circle and even if the die is retired that doesn't mean I can't use it.

And since I was doing two CAS challenges anyway, that makes it real easy to enter at Inspire. Create. this round too:

I've been making my pumpkins in so many nonstandard pumpkin colors that I haven't used the coordinating DSP much, so I thought I might as well make a DSP-centric pumpkin card while I was at it yesterday:

Oh look, more circles!  I do need to play with that DSP some more, there are some very pretty patterns in it.  Apparently my keyboard didn't get enough sleep last night either; it keeps lagging behind what I'm typing and trying to add all kinds of weird accent marks or skipping letters entirely.  Weird.

Supplies, first card:
Stamps:  Painted Pumpkins
Ink:  Bubble Bath, Highland Heather, Peaceful Pine
Paper:  Bubble Bath, Highland Heather, Basic White
Accessories:  Painted Pumpkins dies & stencils, Spotlight on Nature dies, Stitched Shapes dies, Dimensionals

Supplies, second card:
Stamps:  Painted Pumpkins
Ink:  Secret Sea
Paper:  Petal Pink, Cajun Craze, Pool Party, Painted Patch DSP
Accessories:  Spotlight on Nature dies, Stitched Shapes dies, Stylish Shapes dies, Dimensionals, Painted Patch Dots

Yesterday I really really really wanted to start a new cross stitch project since I finished the Hocus Pocus one (I didn't really like how it turned out though).  I had picked out my next two projects, a pretty fall leaf pattern and a big Christmas pattern, but had to order some variegated thread for the leaf pattern and it wasn't due to get here until Friday (I just got a notification 10 minutes ago that it will be delivered today, but that's beside the point).  And I just couldn't make myself start a Christmas pattern on the first official day of fall, so I did the only logical thing...

I started a big Halloween pattern instead : )  This one has twelve different Halloween candy buckets and I started with the pumpkin on the top row.  So glad I did the eyeball on the first day so this design can stare at me the whole time I'm working on it : p  The fabric is a warm gray called Wolfsbane from Mystic Fabrics, I picked a medium gray so the white will pop on the fabric, especially when I get to the ghost bucket.  I hadn't been planning to make this pattern right now but I was so happy when I started it, so I think I'm going to work on this through October, start the leaf pattern in November, then start the Christmas pattern in December and then I can alternate projects if I feel like it.

Okay, I've got to walk Daphne and go do the grocery shopping so I can get to my fun projects.  Cheers!

In the Soup

HAPPY FALL, Y'ALL!  I mean, in my heart and home, fall started on September first, but now the equinox agrees with me.  The hubs and I had the following conversation last night:

Me:  You wanna put up the Halloween inflatable decorations this weekend?
Hubs:  It's September.
Me:  Yeah, and I decorated inside the house a month ago.  You're late.

Anyway, I have been a naughty girl of late and I have bought quite a slew of Halloween-related stamps and I inked up one of my new stamp sets yesterday!

This grumpy kitty made me laugh so hard, I broke a land speed record buying this stamp set.  It's from The Ink Road, but the owner currently works only by special drops so you have to be on the mailing list to know when things are coming.  I might have* bought four more Halloween sets in a big drop that hit on Sunday evening.

* I totally did.  Zero regrets.

Anyway, I had to try out the sketch from Hand Stamped Sentiments:

And I decided that Maleficent's red lip yesterday would disqualify her for the Color Hues Challenge, so I didn't enter her but I think Miss Kitty counts.  Here's the challenge in case you forgot:

Maybe I should have used Highland Heather instead of Orchid Oasis, but Miss Kitty told me she wanted her outfit to be Orchid Oasis and I never argue with a grumpy cat stirring a cauldron.

Anyway, that's it for now.  I'm going to finish my cuppa and the last pumpkin cream cheese muffin, and then take Daphne out for a walk and hope we don't get rained on.  It can rain all it wants when we get back.  Cheers!

Supplies:
Stamps:  Roadies 71 by The Ink Road
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Stampin' Blends in Orchid Oasis, Smoky Slate, Basic Black, Soft Succulent
Paper:  Orchid Oasis, Basic White, Soft Succulent DSP, Cutest Halloween DSP Stack
Accessories:  Layering Circles dies, Shimmering Stars Foam Stickers, Dimensionals

Mistress of All Evil

Mornin' y'all!  I have several things on my to-do list today so I am on my second cuppa and ready to get going on this blog post to start off with.  I made today's cards last week and I'm pretty pleased with it : )

It's Maleficent!  She is my favorite Disney villain because she can turn herself into a DRAGON and it doesn't get any more awesome than that!  And also she's not afraid to call people fools when that's what they are.  (My second favorite villain is Yzma, and third is Ursula.  My mom's favorite is Cruella but I can't get past the dog fur coat thing.)  Anyway, I made this for the Color Hues Challenge:

And I will be ticketed by the Challenge Police because Maleficent had to have a red lip (she insisted) and her staff's topper had to be a poisonous chartreuse.  Sorry, I just had to.  I broke out the PrismaColor colored pencils because there wasn't a grayish green that worked for Maleficent's skin tone in my Crayolas, it's been a long time since I got the Prismas out so that was fun.  And thanks to Stef whose Halloween kitty card convinced me that I should do something not floral with these colors, I had so much fun inking up Maleficent for the first time (and I've had that stamp set for at least a year, probably several!).

Anyway, I was going to go with a Halloween card like Stef, but then I saw this challenge from AAA Cards Challenge:

And my brain yelled MALEFICENT so that's how my card was made.  My brain yells at me.  Anyway, I'm glad that I finally inked up these stamps, I know I got the greeting stamp last year when I was shopping for Halloween goodies and like I said I don't know if the villains stamps are a year old or even older.  Kindred Stamps are not really my artwork style, but they do have stamps in several subjects that no one else seems to so I have several of their sets (most of which have not seen ink yet, but someday...).

Anyway, I need to finish my tea and take the Daphinator for her walk and then get to work on the rest of my to-do list.  I have to make some phone calls today, ugh.  But on the plus side, I should be getting some new Halloween stamps in the mail today, so that will be fun.  Cheers, y'all!

Supplies:
Stamps:  Villains by Kindred Stamps, Desdemona by Sweet November
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Soft Succulent
Paper:  Lavender Lace, Soft Succulent, Basic White
Accessories:  Dimensionals, Wink of Stella on her staff

Fat Bear Week with The Paper Players

Gooooood mornin' y'all and happy Sunday, which means it's time for a new Paper Players challenge to drop!  We had a fun and fabulous color challenge from LeAnne last week, and now it's time for a CAS challenge from yours truly!  Check out our theme:

I'd be willing to bed that everyone has at least one or two bears in their crafting stash and I want to see them!  Your bear could be teddy, gummy, grizzly, polar, koala (technically not a bear, but is bear-shaped), panda, Silly Old, or Care, and that's just what I thought of off the top of my head.  I graduated from Baylor University (sic 'em!) so naturally I gravitate towards bear things and I have quite a few bears to choose from in my paper crafting hoard.  And as an added bonus, there's this:

Fat Bear Week starts on September 22, where we can all cheer on our favorite chonkers as they prepare for a long winter's nap, which is what social media is supposed to be for in my opinion.  I recommend a quick Google search if you're not familiar : )  I could not have timed this challenge if I tried but I love that it worked out this way.  Also, I recommend following the National Park Service on Facebook, their team deserves all the cookies for their fantastic posts.  Anyway, in honor of Fat Bear Week, I decided to use a grizzly bear for my card:

This bear is from a long-retired set called Yukon, which features some lovely art of various animals including Mr. Chonk here.  I stamped him in Early Espresso + Versamark, finished with clear embossing powder, and then watercolored.  I chose Peaceful Pine as my card base because it's such a lovely green and I feel like I haven't used it enough.

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:  Yukon, Elegant Leaves
Ink:  Versamark, Peaceful Pine, Elegant Espresso, Pecan Pie, Wild Wasabi, Crumb Cake, Balmy Blue
Paper:  Peaceful Pine, Crumb Cake, Very Vanilla
Accessories:  Everyday Arches dies, Stylish Shapes dies, clear EP, Dimensional

Race Against Time

Good mornin' y'all and welcome to the Nancy Drew Challenge!  Today's book is one of my favorites, #66, Race Against Time:

I think it's obvious which cover is my favorite if you've been around here for a bit : )  Okay we have some action scenes on the first and third one between the fire and the horse behaving badly, but that middle cover!  It's like a movie poster and I love it.

Case file:  This time Nancy is back on her home turf in River Heights, investigating the theft of a racehorse named Shooting Star from his home on Rainbow Ranch while also starring in Ned's film club movie despite the fact that a.) she doesn't go to the school the film club belongs to and b.) she's not part of the film club itself, she's just smooching the director (but only on the cheek because this is a kids' book).  The film club is shooting a vampire comedy at a rundown mansion in the area, but strange things keep happening there.  Nancy also finds time to befriend a small child, film several TV commercials, and deal with a jealous girl who wants her role in Ned's vampire movie.

Here's my first card:

Since the stolen racehorse is named Shooting Star, I had to break out some star stamps.  I did think about doing a rainbow for Rainbow Ranch, but I stuck to the cover colors and just did Marina Mist, Pumpkin Pie, and Lemon Lolly.

There's a small subplot with an opal that also belongs to the ranch owner, so I had to make sure to get some gems on my star card.

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Everyday Arches, Be the Star
Ink:  Early Espresso, Pumpkin Pie, Lemon Lolly
Paper:  Marina Mist, Pumpkin Pie, Lemon Lolly, Basic White, Marina Mist DSP
Accessories:  Everyday Arches dies, Textured Notes dies, Stars Collection Framelits, Dimensionals, Rhinestones

On to card #2:

You know I'm always super chuffed to use Vlad (or his pals Agnes and Frankie) from my very favorite Halloween stamp set ever, Best Fiends!  I had so much fun with this one : )

I used Brocade Blue, Fresh Freesia, Basic Black, Basic Beige, and just a bit of Golden Glow for my colors.  I stamped and embossed the bats on the black layer, that's the shiny bits behind Vlad and the sentiment.

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Best Fiends, Just Between Fiends
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Versamark, Stampin' Blends in Fresh Freesia, Golden Glow, Ivory, Basic Black, Smoky Slate
Paper:  Brocade Blue, Basic Black, Basic Beige, Toadstool Garden DSP Stack
Accessories:  Black EP, Nested Essentials dies, Black Rhinestones

I actually have two copies with this cover:

The one on the right is in better condition, but a previous owner of the one on the left (which I've had since at least high school, if not longer) drew vampire bite marks on Nancy's throat and that just makes me laugh so I can't get rid of it.  Also, Ned's vampire movie is a comedy, and this book was released in 1982 while Leslie Nielsen's movie Dracula:  Dead and Loving it was released in 1995 so I think they stole the movie idea from this book.

Anyway, on to card #3:

In this book, Nancy's horse Black Prince is mentioned and I think this is the only time that it's said that she owns her own horse.  She also rides several other horses over the course of the book.

I wish I could find a copy of this cover that doesn't have marks on it like this one, but the only one I've been able to find in the last year is a part of a lot of five books that are listed for almost $80 on eBay and that is just a bonkers price so no thank you.  Anyway, for this card I knew I wanted to use Pretty Peacock and Old Olive, and the new Mosaic Garden DSP has those colors as well as Crisp Cantaloupe which was a good match for Nancy's shirt.  I always love the horsey mysteries so this was fun to make.

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Bareback, Friendly Words
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Versamark, Old Olive, Hydrangea Hue
Paper:  Pretty Peacock, Basic White, Mosaic Garden DSP
Accessories:  Perennial Postage dies, Moody Palette Glossy Dots, Dimensionals

This book is one of my favorites because I always love the horsey books AND this one has the vampire film going for it, it's just an absolute romp and so much fun.  Five stars just for the plot of Ned's vampire movie, it sounds hilarious.  If you're inspired to make a card based on the book or any of the covers I've shared here, drop me a comment so I can see!  And I'll see you next week when Nancy takes on The Sinister Omen.

Dropping In

Evening, y'all!  Surprise post because I just HAD to squeeze in a quick card this afternoon before Ryan's football practice and I couldn't wait anymore to share it so here it is:

I do love Merry Merlot and I'm still sad that it's a retired color, but I still have a fair bit in my stash.  I had to use it when I saw the new Inspired By... Challenge:

And CAS on Friday wants fall cards, and those two challenges are a great excuse to get out a couple of old favorite stamp sets for tonight's card.  I used Merry Merlot, Golden Glow (still loving that color), Pecan Pie, and Early Espresso with Very Vanilla for my colors.

We've got a thunderstorm rolling through and I think I'm going to curl up with Daphne and read a book while I listen to the rain.  Have a good evening, y'all!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Wonderfall, Acorny Thank You
Ink:  Golden Glow, Pecan Pie, Early Espresso, Merry Merlot
Paper:  Merry Merlot, Very Vanilla
Accessories:  Acorn punch, Stylish Shapes dies, Dimensionals

Happy Fall-Ways

Mornin' y'all and happy Friday!  I am so very happy that this week it's (finally) starting to actually FEEL like fall, at least in the mornings.  The leaves are juuuuust starting to turn here and I plan to enjoy the heck out of this fall.  My appendix can't ruin it for me this year : p  If you don't remember, my appendix went nuclear at the end of September last year and I mostly slept through October while I recovered from surgery, I was very sad to miss my favorite season.

Anywhooodle, how about a happy fall card?

YESSSS I finally got to play with Elegant Leaves!  Actually I have made another card with this bundle, but it's for a future design team card so you won't see that one for a bit.  I chose the Autumn Opulence DSP and this week's Atlantic Hearts sketch for my card:

I had actually pulled a floral stamp set to use with this sketch and planned to use the Color Hues pair of purple and artichoke, but then I saw Stef's card for that color challenge and decided that she is 100% correct, we can do something more interesting than florals with those colors.  So you'll see my purple and artichoke creation on Monday (I'm quite pleased with it), and today I went with fall leaves in Golden Glow (loving this yellow), stamped-off Cajun Craze, Pecan Pie, and some accents in Blackberry Bliss.  I need to play with the Elegant Leaves bundle some more, it's got two-step stamping and fun dies to go with it.

Once again I have an appointment this morning and then some errands to run, but one of those is buying floss for my next stitching project so at least that's fun.  I was watching Scooby-Doo last night while I stitched and every time they said "Daphne" on the show, I said it to Daphne our doggo and finally she gave me this look that said "You've made your point and it's not funny anymore, Mahm."  I love my sassy pupper.

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Elegant Leaves
Ink:  Golden Glow, Cajun Craze, Pecan Pie, Blackberry Bliss
Paper:  Golden Glow, Pecan Pie, Blackberry Bliss, Very Vanilla, Autumn Opulence DSP
Accessories:  Elegant Leaves dies, Nested Essentials dies, Dimensionals, Painted Patch Dots