Pastel Shells

Mornin' y'all!  Happy Monday, hope you had a good weekend.  Since yesterday was Mother's Day, the hubs and the kid made me breakfast while I sat in the living room and was hugely entertained listening to them.  I pretty much live-tweeted the whole thing to my pal Krissy so she could be entertained too (and she was).  I ended up choosing a lemon coffee cake recipe and it tastes pretty good but doesn't look like much; the crumb topping kinda sank into everything else but the top was sorta chewy?  Anyway, I like the idea of a lemon coffee cake but I think the recipe could be better, no shade to my beginner bakers for how it turned out.  I just finished a piece for breakfast today and I think it benefits from being chilled.

Anyway, I do have a card to share today:

We're going retro today for the Retro Rubber Challenge.  So, By the Seashore is around 14 years old, Nature's Prints (the greeting) is 4 years old, and Netting (the background) is at least 13 years old.  And I paired all that retro-ness with some new things, like Barely Blush and Hydrangea Hue inks and I made a mask from the die out of the Rolling Waves bundle which I finally got last week (you will be seeing more of that tomorrow).

Here's the Retro Rubber color challenge:

I used Hydrangea Hue for the blue/purple tone, then Barely Blush, Pink Pirouette, and Crisp Cantaloupe for three pale pinkish shades.  That was about as close as I could get to the palette.  I paired that with the theme challenge from As You See It:

And I slightly modified the TGIF Challenges sketch:

I was hunting all over for a greeting to go on the little panel in the bottom left, but I ended up liking the hello from Nature's Prints so I subbed in a circle and then turned the other pink panel on the sketch into three In Color Dots.

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  By the Seashore, Nature's Prints, Netting
Ink:  Barely Blush, Pink Pirouette, Crisp Cantaloupe, Hydrangea Hue, Versamark
Paper:  Barely Blush, Crisp Cantaloupe, Basic White
Accessories:  Rectangles Stitched dies, Stitched Shapes dies, white EP, Dimensionals, In Color Dots

And now for some Daphne pictures because who doesn't love puppy pictures on a Monday morning:

I signed her up for Bark Box last week and her first one was delivered last night (in a bag, so is it a Bark Bag?).  I just opened it up this morning and she got three toys and a couple of types of treats.  I think she's excited about it.

She was running back and forth across the living room with her new toys and clearly she's loving this so I'm glad I signed her up.  I signed her up for the super chewers level so we'll see how well those toys stand up to Destructo-Dog Daphne here.

I am out of tea so I think I'll take Daph out for her daily perambulation and then go switch out laundry.  Very exciting plans for this morning, ha!  Cheers, y'all!

T-Rexcellent Colors for The Paper Players

Good morning, stampy friends!  Sunday means a new challenge from The Paper Players!  I hope y'all enjoyed Jaydee's feminine card challenge last week; today, Claire has a great color palette for us!

I had a bit of a think about these colors and then I decided that the obvious choice was a dinosaur.  A T. Rex to be specific:

I haven't made a dino card for my dino-loving pal Krissy in a while, so this was a great time to make one!  I stamped the T. Rex from Whimsy Stamps and colored him in with Stampin' Blends; I still have the 3-pack of Coastal Cabana Blendabilities from way back and WHEN is SU! going to make Blends in Gorgeous Grape and Coastal Cabana?!  Anyway, I wanted Rexy here to look like he was peeking out of a window, and my old reliable Rectangles Stitched dies made that easy.  Those enamel dots are some of the first embellishments in that style that SU! ever produced and I bought like five packs so I still have a bunch.  They have all three of the challenge colors!

I actually stamped and colored two Rexies because I wasn't sure I liked the eyes on the first one, but I decided he needed his own card anyway, so here he is:

I didn't have enough of that Gorgeous Grape polka dot pattern to exactly remake the first card, so I just played around with some DSP scraps for a different layout.

Supplies:
Stamps:  Roarsome Rex from Whimsy Stamps
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Coastal Cabana, Stampin' Blends in Granny Apple Green
Paper:  Granny Apple Green, Coastal Cabana, Thick Basic White, Gorgeous Grape & Coastal Cabana DSP
Accessories:  Roarsome Rex dies from Whimsy Stamps, Stylish Shapes dies, Rectangles Stitched dies, Dimensionals, Glitter Enamel Dots

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!

Here's Daphne trying to "help"...or she wants to chew up my craft supplies, one or the other.  Naughty girl!

The Secret of Mirror Bay

Happy Saturday and welcome to the Nancy Drew Challenge!  This week, Nancy and her chums are off to rural New York State to investigate The Secret of Mirror Bay:

Okay, I think this cover is unique in Nancy Drew covers with the way Nancy is presented.  I can't think of a similar composition with Nancy's face so large (though partially covered).  We have totally embraced red hair (for now, anyway) and I do have to say this cover is eye-catching.

Case file:  Aunt Eloise (I love when she turns up) invites Nancy, Bess, and George to vacation with her at a cabin on Otsego Lake, where there's a woman who apparently walks on water and a mysterious green sorcerer trying to scare people out of the woods.  Eventually Ned, Burt, and Dave show up with an uncle who turns into a little romantic interest for Aunt Eloise, we learn a lot about fireflies, and they all go to the Baseball Hall of Fame though it has nothing to do with the mystery.  And as you can tell from the cover, Nancy unearths a treasure from the lake.  Wait, if it's in the water, does that count as unearthing it?  Okay, she recovers a treasure from the lake, how's that.

Here's my card:

I really wanted a leafy background for my card to match the leafy background on the book cover, and happily my new favorite Moonlit Flora DSP had exactly what I was looking for.  Since a lot of this mystery is about fireflies and trying to replicate their light effects, I had to go with Lighting the Way for my stamp and die set, and I looked up pictures of fireflies which are indeed brown and deep orange, though maybe not exactly as I have it on my card.

I'm always surprised when Basic Beige works well for something.  I like the idea of a pale neutral, but this one usually breaks into an unappealing green (especially if watercoloring).  This time it matches the cover of the book really well.

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Lighting the Way
Ink:  Peaceful Pine
Paper:  Basic Beige, Evening Evergreen, Golden Glow, Early Espresso, Cajun Craze, Moonlit Flora DSP
Accessories:  Lighting the Way dies, Stitched So Sweetly dies, Dimensionals, Faux Glass Dots

And I have one more card:

The Drew Crew meet a girl working as a camp counselor nearby who is a college student studying bioluminescent fungi, so I had to make a mushroom card.  I used colored pencils for the image stamped in Early Espresso on Basic Beige cardstock.

Once again, I just love that Moonlit Flora DSP and I think this matches the mood of the book pretty well.

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Inspirational Sketches, Fancy Flexible Phrases
Ink:  Early Espresso
Paper:  Cajun Craze, Basic Beige, Whisper White, Moonlit Flora DSP
Accessories:  Lots of Labels dies, Crayola colored pencils, Mini Dimensionals, Faux Glass Dots

This mystery is okay, but not one of my favorites--not terrible, but not super memorable for me either.  I give it three stars.  If you're inspired to make a card, please leave me a comment below!  And we'll see you next Saturday when Nancy takes on The Double Jinx Mystery.  Cheers!

BOOP.

Mornin' y'all!  I feel like I'm trying to do too many things at once this morning, I've got a couple of packages that I need to mail off and I've got that all over the computer desk, I'm editing photos of cards, and I'm trying to choose what to make for breakfast on Sunday (or, if I get lucky, what the hubs is going to make for breakfast on Sunday, ha!).  Right now I'm stuck between a lemon coffee cake or a French toast casserole.  Both of the recipes I'm looking at have cream cheese so Ryan will be unhappy regardless.  Weirdo who doesn't like cream cheese, though that does mean more cheesecake for me.

Anyway, y'all know I have bought some stuff from Unity Stamps in the not-so-distant past (um, I may have put in another order yesterday but that's a secret don't tell anyone), but how can I resist when they're THIS CUTE:

This stamp set is called Boop the Snoot and I love it.  I put some Wink of Stella on her nosey so it looks wet : )  I used the Hand-Stamped Sentiments color challenge:

I used Pecan Pie Stampin' Blends on the pupper, with ivory for the chest marking because my darling Daphne has a white chest marking (and the cutest white toesies) so I gave this pupper one too.  CAS on Friday wants to see animal cards (say no more), so I kept this design CAS for that challenge.  Shopping Our Stash wants cards with man's best friend but let's be honest, doggos are MY best friend.  If I happen to meet someone and their dog for the first time, there is a 100% chance I will remember the doggo's name and not the human's.  Priorities.  I will be sending this to my pal Krissy who loves dogs at least as much as I do and that's saying something.

Aright, kids, it's time for me to wrap this up and get back to getting packages ready to mail, walking the Daphinator, and choosing what to have for Sunday breakfast.  But first, Imma finish my cuppa tea.  Cheers!

Supplies:
Stamps:  Boop the Snoot from Unity Stamps
Ink:  Early Espresso, Misty Moonlight, Stampin' Blends in Pecan Pie & Ivory
Paper:  Old Olive, Misty Moonlight, Very Vanilla
Accessories:  Hearts Collection Framelits, Dimensionals, Wink of Stella

Ocean Mosaic

Mornin' y'all!  We survived our random snow day yesterday and there's just a few tiny patches of it left in our backyard right now.  And I managed to make a card to share today!

I used this week's Freshly Made Sketch:

I'll be honest, I did NOT like this sketch when I first saw it and I thought no way I could do anything with it.  Then I was looking through some other challenges and my brain joined the chat (hello brain, always nice to have you here) and ideas started percolating and I came up with a card that I think I like.  And that's why I do challenges, they help push my creativity.

Anyway, here's one of the challenges that helped with that, courtesy of Festive Friday:

I have blue (Coastal Cabana), brown (Crumb Cake), pearls, a fish, one shell, and some seaweed so I think I did pretty well with this list.  What crystallized my card idea was the TGIF color challenge:

I thought they went perfectly with the ocean theme of the Festive Friday challenge.  I punched out a bunch of squares of Coastal Cabana cardstock to start with, stamped my seaweed on them, and then sponged some ink around the edges of the squares before I adhered them to the Crumb Cake card base.  I did start out with a seahorse for the main image (I love the seahorse from Ocean Commotion), but he looks to the left and with where the greeting was supposed to go, I needed a sea creature facing to the right.  So fish it is!  He looks kinda red in the picture, but I assure you he's Melon Mambo.

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Ocean Commotion, All-Year Cheer I
Ink:  Crumb Cake, Coastal Cabana, Melon Mambo
Paper:  Crumb Cake, Melon Mambo, Basic White
Accessories:  1 1/4" square punch, Dimensionals, pearls

And here's what our backyard looked like as of six o'clock last night, almost all the snow gone.  It'll be in the 60s today so that was just a weird "And another thing!" left over from winter, all the weirder because we got so little snow over the actual winter this year.  Time to get Ryan off to school...cheers, y'all!

Peacock Layers

Send chocolate, y'all.  It is (checks calendar to make sure) MAY and Ryan has a snow day from school.  He's being an absolute pill this morning too.

Anyway, I have a card to share today with a stamp set I got probably at least a month ago and this is the first time I've inked it up, have a looksie:

All my stamps today are from Natural Artistry, which is a new Online Exclusive I think.  I can't keep track of what is released where any more than I can keep track of what's retired and what's still current.  I used this week's Creative Colour Challenge:

I like to combine challenges, but I couldn't get this one to mesh with the sketch this time so I chucked the sketch and just did the colors.  Sometimes that has to happen or it just doesn't work.

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Natural Artistry
Ink:  Pretty Peacock, Early Espresso, Real Red
Paper:  Pretty Peacock, Early Espresso, Real Red, Basic Beige, Pretty Peacock DSP
Accessories:  Rectangles Stitched dies, Stitched Shapes dies, Stitched So Sweetly dies, Dimensionals, sequins, Wink of Stella

Ryan decided he wanted to cook the taco meat for Taco Tuesday, which rarely happens:

He then informed me that he's a better cook than I am, though he did concede that I might be a slightly better baker.  Ever so slightly.  As my friend John-Paul pointed out, that's a good way to get stuck with cooking every night.

And here's what our backyard looked like around eight o'clock this morning.  It's brighter outside right now but still snowing heavily.  Ryan is currently working on earning back his electronics time so maybe if he does that he'll be a little easier to deal with.  In the meantime, I may go eat more chocolate.  Cheers!

Eiffel Tower Encore

Mornin' y'all!  I did not let Ryan ride his bike or rollerblades to school this morning as it's supposed to be rainy and SNOWY this afternoon.  Like my dad says, does Colorado know it's May?  Ryan only has two more weeks of school after this one and we have snow in the forecast.  Wild.

Anyway, I have another Eiffel Tower card to share today:

Do I have at least four SU! stamp sets featuring the Eiffel Tower?  Yes.  Did I buy this Eiffel Grunge stamp set from Unity last week anyway?  Also yes.  Do I have impulse control issues?  Probably.  But come on, that's a cool Eiffel Tower!  I stamped it in my newly inked up Basic Gray ink pad, die cut it, and added some color to the flowers with a blender pen as well as Wink of Stella on the tower, which doesn't show up in the picture because it's shy like that.

I've hit all the ingredients for the As You See It recipe challenge:

One word sentiment:  Bonjour!  Die cut:  four dies from three different sets.  Flowers:  on the stamped image and the patterned paper.  Frame:  patterned paper around the main image panel.  Shades of pink:  Pink Pirouette (I love this pink, I have been playing with it again recently) and Pretty in Pink.  I tried a Regal Rose card base but I didn't like it, so I stuck with two shades of pink.

For the filigree pattern behind the tower image, I tried stamping it with Pink Pirouette ink but it came out blotchy, so I flipped the cardstock over and stamped it in VersaMark and embossed with clear powder.  That means my card counts for the Inspire. Create. Challenge:

You can't tell from the picture, but the filigree looks shiny if you look at it from an angle, the tower is subtly sparkly, and I added Pretty in Pink sparkle gems.  So yeah, this card also fits in perfectly with this week's Paper Players challenge:

And to go along with my Eiffel Tower cards of late, I recently started reading a book about an early medieval French and English queen.  I listened to several episodes of You're Dead to Me over the weekend, which is a history podcast produced by the BBC and it's really entertaining and informative, and one of the episodes was about Eleanor of Aquitaine.  Listening to that reminded me that I was pretty sure I'd bought a book about her at some point, and as I had just finished a book, I did a search on my Kindle.  I was wrong, I have SIX books about Eleanor of Aquitaine.  Ha!  Okay, one is about her daughters, but still.  I picked one of the biographies and got started on Sunday night, it's really interesting.  Eleanor is the only woman to have been queen of both France and England, she went on crusade with her first husband, she's the mother of Richard the Lion-Heart and the dastardly Prince John of Robin Hood fame, and her second husband locked her up for over a decade because she wouldn't do what she was told.  She still outlived him I think.  Fascinating lady.

I've just finished my tea so I should take Daphne for a misty and cold walk around the neighborhood; the rain and snow is supposed to start after noon so this is the time to go.  Cheers...or should I say, ciao!

Supplies:
Stamps:  Eiffel Grunge by Unity Stamps, Filigree, Carte Postale
Ink:  Basic Gray, Pink Pirouette, Soft Sea Foam, VersaMark
Paper:  Pink Pirouette, Basic Gray, Thick Basic White, Pretty in Pink DSP
Accessories:  Eiffel Grunge die by Unity Stamps, Rectangles Stitched dies, Stitched So Sweetly dies, clear EP, Dimensionals, Pretty in Pink Gems