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

A Pair of Wings

Mornin' y'all!  I have a super quick pair of cards to share today and I love how they turned out.

Wonderful Wings is one of those stamp sets that has been in my collection for many years and I just hadn't done anything with it recently, but the Just Add Ink challenge was the perfect excuse to change that:

And I was thinking about this challenge when I saw the As You See It sketch:

I chose some simple ombre paper from Shades & Hues DSP stack, stamped my wingy-dingies and the greeting in the coordinating ink color, and tore the bottom edge on the ombre just for a little extra interest.  These two came together so quickly that I kinda want to go back and do the other two wingy-dingies in the Wonderful Wings stamp set.

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

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Wonderful Wings, Art Gallery
Ink:  Fresh Freesia, Pool Party
Paper:  Fresh Freesia, Pool Party, Basic White, Shades & Hues DSP Stack
Accessories:  Stylish Shapes dies, Mini Dimensionals, Tinsel Gems

ETA:  I did it.  I made two more cards : )

There's Petal Pink on the left, and Misty Moonlight on the right.

And the full set of four.  And really, all four cards together probably took less than twenty minutes start to finish.  Cheers!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Wonderful Wings, Art Gallery
Ink:  Petal Pink, Misty Moonlight
Paper:  Petal Pink, Misty Moonlight, Basic White, Shades & Hues DSP Stack
Accessories:  Stylish Shapes dies, Mini Dimensionals, Tinsel Gems, Round Faceted Gems

SUO Challenges: CASE the Catty for Spring

Mornin' y'all!  It's time for a new challenge from SUO Challenges, and it's time to CASE the catty:

I chose the card on the top left and I thought I'd do something for Easter, so here's what I made:

I got the Easter Time Mix & Match Ephemera, thinking it would probably coordinate with the Easter-themed DSP but NOPE, which is annoying.  The colors do coordinate with some of the colors in the Love Notes DSP Stack, so that's what I used for the purple polka dot DSP.  the only stamping is the greeting from the retired Easter Friends stamp set because I didn't buy any Easter stamps this year, and I used a retired die for the cutout shape behind the egg and wreath too.  So yeah, retired SU! stuff is still good for SUO Challenges :)

Your turn now!  Pick a card from the catalog picture to CASE, and upload your creation to the SUO Challenges blog.  And most important, have fun!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Easter Friends
Ink:  Highland Heather
Paper:  Flirty Flamingo, Basic White, Love Notes DSP Stack
Accessories:  Easter Time Mix & Match Ephemera, Labels Collection Framelits, Stylish Shapes dies, Dimensionals, Rainbow Dots

Rain Boots

Mornin' y'all! Guess what....THE MAC IS BACK, JACK!  The hubs managed to set it up just like our last Mac, though there are some differences--mostly I haven't been able to get AirDrop to work right, I need to ask him about that.  But I'm glad to be off the laptop and back on the Mac!

And I have a cheerful rainy day card to share today.

Personally, I love rainy days, especially when I don't have to go anywhere.  I started with the new challenge from The Card Concept:

I didn't match the colors exactly, but that was dictated by the Pleased as Punch DSP and I figured that it fit the theme so well that I could get a pass for using Balmy Blue as opposed to the more turquoise Coastal Cabana.  I think I got the other three colors though, Daffodil Delight, Pumpkin Pie, and Polished Pink which I miss a lot.  I also used last week's Freshly Made Sketch:

Have to say this one was a bit of a head-scratcher for me and I'm not 100% sure about what I ended up with, but I gave it a shot.  I think I just don't like the placement of the umbrella, but I can't unstick it now.

Anyway, Ryan is on spring break for the next two weeks and why didn't I ever get two weeks for spring break when I was in school???  Lucky duck.  Anyway, have a great day, y'all!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Under My Umbrella
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Stampin' Blends in Daffodil Delight, Polished Pink, Pumpkin Pie, Granny Apple Green
Paper:  Daffodil Delight, Polished Pink, Thick Basic White, Pleased as Punch DSP
Accessories:  Stitched Rectangles dies, Everyday Arches dies, Stylish Shapes dies, umbrella punch, Dimensionals, Shiny Sequins

Spring Flowers for The Paper Players

Mornin' y'all!  And happy Sunday, which means it's time for a new challenge from The Paper Players!  This week the lovely Jaydee has a lovely CAS challenge for us:

So my "problem" with this challenge is that I have SO MANY FLOWERS from which to choose!  I think I pulled like a dozen stamp sets and I had lots of different ideas for what to make.  What won out is a very old stamp set...

The row of flower vases is from Simply Sweet, which dates back to 2003 for a release date, and the greeting is from the welcome kit that Paper Pumpkin used to do when you first subscribed, I love the mixed fonts on this greeting and have used it a number of times.  I simply stamped the image and the greeting in Memento Tuxedo Black ink, colored the flowers and vases with watercolor pencils, and added the ribbon across the front.  I did use an AquaPainter to smooth out the blue in the vases, but the areas on the flowers are so small to color that I didn't bother to paint over the watercolor pencil.  I wanted a softer look than markers, what do you think?

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:  Simply Sweet, My Paper Pumpkin
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black
Paper:  Thick Basic White
Accessories:  Daffodil Delight 3/8" taffeta, watercolor pencils

The Clue of the Whistling Bagpipes

Happy Saturday and welcome once again to The Nancy Drew Challenge!  Today we are heading for bonny Scotland to investigate The Clue of the Whistling Bagpipes:

Oh yeah, you can tell we're traveling from the cover with Nancy wearing traditional Scottish dress.  While I have some Scottish heritage if you go back far enough in my family tree, I don't know enough to speak on the accuracy of Nancy's outfit but it sure is a fun cover with Ben Nevis in the background.

Case file:  Nancy, Bess, and George are off to Scotland with Carson to meet Nancy's maternal great-grandmother, Lady Douglas, and search for a lost family heirloom.  Before she leaves River Heights, Ned challenges Nancy to unravel the mystery of disappearing sheeps (yes I said sheeps because I like to say sheeps, I could go full Nac Mac Feegle and call them ships) while she's in Scotland.  Like Fire Dragon, Golden Pavilion, and the Haunted Showboat, the mystery in this one kind of takes a back seat to the setting, so we get to learn about Scotland as Nancy and her friends do all the touristy things and you know what?  It's fun.  (Mostly.)

So here's my card:

Of course I had to do sheeps and plaid for this!  I pulled Counting Sheep out of my to sell? boxes and used all three sheeps because I couldn't choose between them.  I went through all the patterns in Wrapped in Plaid and chose the one that was closest to Nancy's outfit on the cover.

The family heirloom that Nancy is looking for is a topaz and diamond brooch, so I added some gold Low Profile Dots for that (and also the plaid has gold in it).  I chose a Baja Breeze card base to go with the beautiful mountain scene behind Nancy.

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Counting Sheep
Ink:  Basic Gray, Stampin' Blends in Pebbled Path & Ivory
Paper:  Baja Breeze, Thick Basic White, Wrapped in Plaid DSP Stack
Accessories:  Stylish Shapes dies, Stitched Shapes dies, Dimensionals, Low Profile Dots

I will warn you if you want to read this book that the sheep thieves are not kind to the sheeps they're stealing, and they're also responsible for the death of Lady Douglas' dog before Nancy gets involved.  I mean, people attempt to murder Nancy on the regular and that's fine, but usually we don't have this level of animal cruelty.  Anyway, I think all the information about Scotland is very fun (and I've been there!  Several times even, kid Christy would never have guessed I would get to go to Scotland) even if the mystery is secondary to the setting, so I give it four stars.  Leave me a comment below if you'd like to play along, I would be delighted!  And come back next Saturday when Nancy searches for The Phantom of Pine Hill.

Big Bold Birthday Rose

Mornin' y'all!  Bit late with posting but it's been a busy morning of running errands.  Daphne was just shoving my elbow with her nose, she knows it's past her normal walk time, but I had things I needed to do first and that includes writing this blog post.  So here's my card for today:

I was inspired by the current challenge at Time Out Challenges:

The first big, bold flower in my stamp collection that came to mind after seeing this challenge was the one from Rose Wonder, so I went with that.  There are two very similar color challenges out there right now featuring pinks and greens but I think I managed to choose colors for my rose that don't exactly fit either of those challenges, dangit!  Ah well, I think this card will go to my sister this summer, it just looks like an Adrienne card.  I embossed the image with gold EP and then colored with Blends, two shades of pink and two shades of green.  This is what the back of the paper looked like when I was done:

I just thought it was interesting.

Okay, I'd better go take the Daphinator for her walk so I can come back and whip up some cookie dough.  Cheers!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Rose Wonder, Nature's Symphony
Ink:  Versamark, Berry Burst, Crumb Cake, Stampin' Blends in Granny Apple Green, Mossy Meadow, Polished Pink, Berry Burst
Paper:  Polished Pink, Basic White
Accessories:  Gold EP, Gold baker's twine, Dimensionals, Brushed Metallic Dots