Countryside Bluebonnets

Mornin' y'all!  I managed to get a bit more sleep last night so I am hoping to get some things done today in my craft room.  I actually have two scrapbook layouts that I'm working on...I was doing the wedding album earlier this year but decided to take a break from that.

Anyway, I have a card to share with the epitome of Texas wildflowers, here it is:

I had to dust off Wisteria Wishes, which retired last year.  I'm entering this at Retro Rubber:

I did the top row, with die cuts (Countryside Corners, new), gems (Foiled Gems, not new), and spring (bluebonnets).  I've had Wisteria Wishes for about a year and a half and I wish I had played with it more when it was current.  Doesn't stop me from breaking it out for challenges now ;) but it is SUCH a neat bundle.

I'm also entering this at the Paper Players:

Bluebonnets are THE spring flower in Texas and I tried to keep it CAS, though the main image panel is pretty large.  So maybe it's CAS-plus?

This card will be going to my husband's grandmother along with a picture of Ryan:

They're all fancy with school pictures here, I could choose from like 8 different backgrounds, but I had to do the bluebonnets since this is his only school year in Texas.

That's it for me today, time for me to get Ryan off to school and then I have a yoga class at the Y.  Cheers!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Wisteria Wishes
Ink:  Tahitian Tide, Parakeet Party, Starry Sky
Paper:  Starry Sky, Thick Basic White
Accessories:  Countryside Corners dies, hole punch, Foil Gems, In Color baker's twine, Mini Dimensionals

Subliminal Message

Mornin' y'all!  For the third night in a row, I did not get enough sleep last night.  Ryan got an owie right before bedtime last night and conned me into letting him stay in my room for the night...yeah I woke up in the middle of the night with his head pressing into my spine, and then in the wee morning hours he totally FELL OUT OF BED, then got back on it with his feet on the pillow and totally ignored me asking if he was okay.  He went right back to sleep, if he even woke up at all : p  Lucky him.  So today I may have to take a nap, or else just mainline caffeine like it's my job.

Anyway, I do have a card to share today, take a looksie:

How could you NOT smile at that little submarine?  This week, I rotated the Freshly Made Sketch 90 degrees to accommodate my sea scene:

And used the Color Throwdown palette:

I chose Lemon Lolly, Garden Green, and Coastal Cabana for my colors, with a bit of Smoky Slate, Crumb Cake, and Night of Navy for neutrals.  Most of the Color Throwdown design team went with flowers, which is a natural choice with these colors, but I wanted to be different and now that I have Submarine Life any color challenge with yellow makes me think of one of the world's two most famous subs.  (I think Red October would be the other most famous sub, go hunt for it.)

Last night, Ryan and I went out to dinner with my friend Missy, her mom, her son, and my mom, which was fun because we're all big fans of Texas Roadhouse ; )  Ryan ate three and a half rolls, plus nearly all of his dinner, which surprised me.  Anyway, on the way back to our house, this happened:

My mom made me a Maleficent shirt because she is the best Disney villain (Maleficent is the best Disney villain, not my mom, just to be clear), and Ryan had to try it on first.  (He has his favorite duck stuffie stuffed in the front of the shirt, he doesn't have a giant belly from eating all of those rolls at dinner which is unfair.)  Ryan definitely looks like he's plotting something nefarious.  I took this picture while we were waiting at a red light.

That's it for me today, I need to head up to my craft room and make a Maleficent-y thank you card.  Cheers!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Submarine Life
Ink;  Lemon Lolly, Coastal Cabana, Garden Green, Smoky Slate, Crumb Cake, Night of Navy
Paper:  Lemon Lolly, Thick Basic White, Garden Green DSP, Bright & Beautiful DSP Stack
Accessories:  Submarine punch, Deckled Rectangles dies, Blue Adhesive Gems, Dimensionals

Spring Irises

Mornin' y'all!  Quick post today as I have to get Ryan ready to go on his zoo field trip which means sunscreen before he leaves for school.  Here's my card today:

A friend recently posted on Facebook that there were irises coming up all around his neighborhood and that they make him think of his grandmother, so when I saw the Paper Players challenge this week, I had to grab Inspiring Iris.  Here's the challenge graphic:

I had stamped a sentiment as well, but despite moving all the elements around for several minutes, I couldn't find an arrangement with the sentiment that I liked for the card front so I adhered it to the inside instead.  Side note:  my iPhone is named Iris, not necessarily for the flower (though I like them) but because Iris the rainbow goddess is a messenger for the Greek gods and maybe I was rereading Percy Jackson when I got my first iPhone ; )

Have a great day, y'all!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Inspiring Iris
Ink:  Orchid Oasis, Soft Sea Foam, Starry Sky
Paper:  Lemon Lolly, Thick Basic White, Tea Boutique DSP Stack
Accessories:  Stitched So Sweetly dies, In Color Matte Dots, Dimensionals

SUO Challenges Gets Sketchy

 Mornin' y'all!  I have a bunch of things to do today, from the not-fun but necessary (paperwork, cleaning house) to the fun (finishing up the scrapbook pages I started yesterday) but first we have a new challenge from SUO Challenges!

Yep, it's a sketch, check it out:

I had to ponder this one for a while and isn't there a national flag that looks like that?  That's what it kept making me think of but then I got my brain working in a different direction and here's what I made:

I finally broke into the Nature's Sweetness DSP (I actually made this card before the one I posted on Sunday as I try to work ahead for design team commitments) and paired it with Notes of Nature, which is retiring.  Lovely & Sweet is the other bundle in this mega suite and it's not retiring, but I am more drawn to this one.  The DSP is all neutrals with Pebbled Path and gold, but I wanted to pull in a color so I went with Shaded Spruce, probably because I had used it on a couple of cards about a week ago and it was on my mind.  I ended up with a nice little card that isn't overly feminine.

Anyway, I hope you'll give this sketch a shot and post your card over on the SUO Challenges blog.  As always, have fun!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Notes of Nature
Ink:  Pebbled Path, VersaMark
Paper:  Shaded Spruce, Thick Basic White, Nature's Sweetness DSP
Accessories:  Notes of Nature dies, Stylish Shapes dies, Gold EP, In Color Dots, Dimensionals

Fort Worth Zoo

Scrappy Monday, y'all!  I've got a couple of things to do today...my brother is coming over to take a look at my car.  Remember I said it had rained cats and dogs all day on Saturday and I was out in it?  Well, I got in my car yesterday to pick up Ryan and the splash guard thingy on the bottom of my car (that thing that covers the underside of the car to protect it from rocks and stuff) was hanging down.  So I met my neighbors for the first time, they were standing out in front of their house and they very kindly took the splash guard off for me and recommended I get it replaced soon.  So now Adam is going to come take a look at it since I know nothing about fixing cars.

Anyway, this week Ryan has a field trip to the Dallas Zoo so I thought I would share a layout from when we went to the Fort Worth Zoo in 2020, just before we left for Germany.

And do I have the PERFECT alphabet for the title or what!  Click the pic to embiggen, the letters are all animals!  It's the aptly named Animal Alphabet, and if you can't tell, the letters are a fox, weasel, zebra, and owl.  I chose a couple of patterns from the Animal Expedition DSP and I wish I had gotten more than one pack of that, I love it.  And I am impressed with myself, I managed to fit in eleven pictures, two patterned papers, a fun title, and two zebra accents!

My color palette today:  Crumb Cake, Call Me Clover, Calypso Coral, and Pool Party.  I can't wait to see the new beige color in person (and prepare to giggle, when I was a kid I thought that word was pronounced beej!).  I'm holding off on ordering anything until the full catalog goes live on May 1 because I want the duck suite.  And I may only get to do one order before we move again, we'll see.  So I've started my list, and I'll definitely pick up all the new colors, the airplane suite, Ryan's ducks, and that one stamp set that says HEY in big letters because it reminds me of Into the Spider-Verse, and Ryan likes to do the hand on the shoulder bit from that movie and if you've seen it you know what I'm talking about.  Anyway, I won't get the new stuff until after May 1 so I'm trying to be patient.

In the meantime, I've got to get Ryan out the door for school.  Cheers, y'all!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Animal Alphabet, Zany Zebras
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Stampin' Blends in Calypso Coral, Pool Party, Crumb Cake, Neutrals; Basic Black marker
Paper:  Crumb Cake, Calypso Coral, Pool Party, Call Me Clover, Thick Basic White, Animal Expedition DSP
Accessories:  Stylish Shapes dies

Friendly Flower Greeting

Mornin' y'all!  I had intended to post this card yesterday, but I was out all day and it just didn't happen.  I dropped Ryan off yesterday morning with his grandparents, and then I met up with two friends from middle and high school--we've been friends for over THIRTY YEARS!  Crazy.  Anyway, we hadn't seen each other in person in a very long time, so we ended up sitting in a restaurant talking about this, that, and everything else for nearly six hours while we watched the pouring rain outside.  Then I ran a couple of errands and didn't get back to my house until dinnertime.

Anyway, here is the card I had intended to share yesterday:

I bought the Radiating Stitches dies a while back and this is the first time I've used them, they're fun!  It gives a fun pattern on the edges without leaving itty bitty bits of cardstock on my Big Shot plates (looking at you, Everyday Details dies...tiny little circles everywhere!).  Here is the most recent Freshly Made Sketch:

And of course the Color Throwdown:

I used Real Red, Night of Navy, and a gold pattern from the Nature's Sweetness DSP.  I added a bit more gold with the embossed greeting and a few Festive Pearls.  The Night of Navy looks almost black in the photo but I promise it's blue--we had gray skies this week and a full day of rain yesterday so I couldn't get a better picture of the card.

Anyway, I think I might have enough time to make a card this morning before I pick up my spawn.  I always try to do as much crafting as I can when Ryan is otherwise occupied.  Cheers, y'all!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Inked & Tiled
Ink:  Real Red, Night of Navy, VersaMark
Paper:  Real Red, Night of Navy, Thick Basic White, Nature's Sweetness DSP
Accessories:  Radiating Stitches dies, Gold EP, Festive Pearls, Dimensionals

Treasure Ship

I'm back with another sea-themed card today...

This was the first card I came up with for the CAS Colours & Sketches sketch:

But I worried that the sketch wasn't obvious on my card.  I was thinking the waves are the bottom square, the ship is the center, and the clouds are the top shape.  But since I was hesitant about how well this one fit the sketch, I made the sea turtle card I shared yesterday.

I just looked back at my previous cards with this stamp set and both of those also have an Azure Afternoon card base and a Pecan Pie ship...guess that's just where my brain goes with this stamp set : )  And it's retiring, so you'd better snag it now if you've been on the fence.

Time to go to yoga at the Y.  Cheers!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  On the Ocean
Ink:  Azure Afternoon, Pecan Pie, Night of Navy, Basic White
Paper:  Azure Afternoon, Thick Basic White
Accessories:  On the Ocean dies, Dimensionals, enamel dots

Sea Turtle Salutations in Stereo

Today I have a pair of cards to share : )  Here they are:

I was intrigued by this week's color challenge from Hand Stamped Sentiments:

First I made a CAS card:

I used the sketch from CAS Colours & Sketches:

I made another card with this sketch but I'll have to share that later.  It was fun to use the "shadow" stamps in the Sea Turtle stamp set for both of these cards since I hadn't done that before.

After the CAS card, I wanted to give the colors another go with something different, so I made this one:

That's the same stripey paper I used on yesterday's submarine card.  I just looked through past blog posts and I've made another card combining the Sea Turtle stamp set with that fun hello stamp from Filled with Happiness so apparently my brain just likes that combination.

That's it for me today.  Got another busy day ahead...cheers!

Supplies, all SU!, CAS card:
Stamps:  Sea Turtle, Filled with Happiness
Ink:  Pretty Peacock, Petal Pink, Garden Green
Paper:  Thick Basic White
Accessories:  None

Supplies, all SU!, second card:
Stamps:  Sea Turtle, Filled with Happiness
Ink:  Garden Green, Pretty Peacock, Petal Pink
Paper:  Petal Pink, Thick Basic White, Bright & Beautiful Stack
Accessories:  Deckled Rectangles dies, Dimensionals, Adhesive-Backed Sequins

Sorbet Submarine

Mornin' y'all, I have a busy day ahead so I'm glad I spent a good chunk of time in my craft room yesterday.  I made several cards and it just so happens that they're all aquatic, starting with a super-cute submarine:

I thought the colors from Sunday Stamps were perfect for an undersea adventure:

I read the palette as Pretty Peacock, Lost Lagoon, Pool Party, Petal Pink, and Sweet Sorbet.

I paired that with the new sketch from Try a Sketch on Tuesday:

I missed the deadline on the last sketch but at least I know this challenge doesn't expire for a bit : )

That's it for now, kids.  Check you later, Imma go float around in a sweet submarine for a while.

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Submarine Life
Ink:  Sweet Sorbet, Lost Lagoon, Petal Pink, Pretty Peacock, Pool Party
Paper:  Pool Party, Thick Basic White, Bright & Beautiful DSP Stack
Accessories:  Deckled Circles dies, Submarine punch, Dimensionals

Missing You Zinnia

Hey y'all, we are once again in the throes of preparing to move and it is stressing me out.  Ugh.  After I write this post I'm going to go sit down with my cuppa and watch the 1,000th episode of NCIS and try not to think about moving for a while.

In the meantime, here's the card I made yesterday:

I'm really enjoying the Flowering Zinnias DSP, and this time I used the Simply Zinnia dies to make my flower.  I used the Try A Sketch on Tuesday sketch:

I just realized that challenge is closed now but oh well!  It's odd how the various challenges cycle, sometimes it seems like there's a plethora of sketches but right now it's all about the color challenges.  Speaking of which, I used this week's Paper Players palette:

I wanted a bit of color variation on my cardstock flower and leaves, so I used the coordinating Stampin' Blends to get darker values; it's easiest to see on the leaves, but one of the Melon Mambo die cuts is darker and the little ring on the center of the flower is also a bit darker (and a touch sparkly with Wink of Stella).  I like the bright, summery palette.

I'm also entering this at Cupcake Inspirations for their latest challenge:

Like I said, I'm having fun with the Flowering Zinnias paper and playing with the coordinating stamp set and dies.  When I was a kid, we had a neighbor who grew zinnias in their front yard and I remember her telling me how she harvested seeds from them at the end of the season.  I can't remember the lady's name as she moved out after only a year or two of us being neighbors, but I always think of her when I see zinnias.

That's it for me today, y'all.  Time for me to watch NCIS :)  Cheers.

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Vertical Blooms
Ink:  Crushed Curry, Stampin' Blends in Granny Apple Green, Melon Mambo, Daffodil Delight
Paper:  Crushed Curry, Granny Apple Green, Melon Mambo, Thick Basic White, Flowering Zinnias DSP
Accessories:  Simply Zinnia dies, Stitched So Sweetly dies (retired), Opaque Faceted Gems, Dimensionals, Wink of Stella

Metro & Miscellany / Neva River Cruise

Scrappy Monday, y'all.  It is super overcast here in Texas today and the clouds look pretty much the same as in these pictures from St. Petersburg in 2014.

We did a Baltic Sea cruise a couple of months before we moved from the UK back to the States, and we had two days in St. Petersburg.  We joined a tour group to try to see as much as possible since I imagine this is the only time we'll ever visit anywhere in Russia...part of the tour included riding on the St. Petersburg metro system and taking a cruise on the Neva River.  The metro stations are really fancy (check out the mosaic in the top photo on the left page), and we had very quick stops at a few places, so this page is just an amalgam of those stops.  All the pics on the right are from the river cruise, which was very cold and windy--it was drizzling the whole time we were on the boat.

My moody, rainy color palette today:  Pretty Peacock, Mint Macaron, Lost Lagoon, and Whisper White.

That's it for me today, y'all.  Cheers!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Letterpress Alphabet, Rough Edges Alphabet
Ink:  Pretty Peacock, Lost Lagoon, Night of Navy marker
Paper:  Pretty Peacock, Lost Lagoon, Night of Navy, Thick Basic White, Perfectly Artistic DSP
Accessories:  None

Manana, Llama

I'm back with the other card I made yesterday...

I actually made this one before yesterday's guacamole card, and it is also inspired by the Festive Friday challenge:

For this card, I used orange, green, enamel dots (I think those count as enamel dots?), and llama.  Llamas always make me think of Birthday Fiesta and this fun llama stamp, who I named Lloyd the Llama.  Because I could.

My card is a sorta loose interpretation of the Just Add Ink sketch:

I'm counting Lloyd as one of the larger hexagons, and the flower (fussy cut from the Flowering Zinnias DSP) as the smaller one, and I have an actual hexagon on the left for the second large hexagon in the sketch.  I liked the bright colors of the Flowering Zinnias DSP on the Shaded Spruce card base, even though Shaded Spruce isn't a color featured in the DSP.  And of course I did the same thing again on the guacamole card.

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

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Birthday Fiesta
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Pumpkin Pie, Melon Mambo, Stampin' Blends in Ivory & Lemon Lolly
Paper:  Shaded Spruce, Lemon Lolly, Thick Basic White, Flowering Zinnias DSP
Accessories:  Fiesta Time dies, Beautiful Shapes dies, Timeless Labels dies, faceted gems, Dimensionals

Holy Guacamole!

Hey y'all, happy Friday.  I had some fun in my craft room today : )

I couldn't resist making a Taco Fiesta card after seeing the new Festive Friday challenge:

I used orange, green, avocado, and mustache from the list.  Taco Fiesta is such a fun set, grab it now since it's on the retiring list!

This is actually the second card I made today, but I'll share the other one another time.  In the meantime I kinda wanna go get some tacos.  Cheers!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Taco Fiesta
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Poppy Parade, Granny Apple Green
Paper:  Shaded Spruce, Poppy Parade, Lemon Lolly, Thick Basic White, Flowering Zinnias DSP
Accessories:  Stylish Shapes dies, Tutti Frutti sequins (I think?), Mini Dimensionals

Pink Zinnia

Hey, look at me back with another card already.  Had to dust off my craft table.

I used this week's Freshly Made Sketch:

And the Color Throwdown:

I used Melon Mambo, Granny Apple Green, and Daffodil Delight for my colors, which seemed perfect to ink up my brand-new Simply Zinnia stamp set.  I used a sentiment from Latte Love just because I didn't need a thank you card at the moment and I like that greeting.  The Bee Mine DSP from the Occasions catalog made a nice background for my bright flower, and I accented with a few Melon Mambo sequins.

Have a great day y'all.

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Simply Zinnia, Latte Love
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Granny Apple Green, Stampin' Blends in Melon Mambo, Daffodil Delight, Granny Apple Green
Paper:  Granny Apple Green, Thick Basic White, Bee Mine DSP
Accessories:  Simply Zinnia dies, Stylish Shapes dies, adhesive sequins, Dimensionals, Wink of Stella

Chasing Rainbows

Mornin' y'all, how are you doing?  I got in my craft room yesterday for the first time in weeks and made this:

I used the sketch from Retro Rubber:

The only stamping on my card is the greeting; otherwise the retro DSP does all the work.  The stamp set Rain or Shine is 11 years old, so quite retro ; ) and the Sunshine & Sprinkles DSP is an old favorite.

I took my theme from the Paper Players challenge:

I hunted up the Sunshine & Sprinkles DSP specifically for the rainbow stripes, and I had a scrap of the umbrella print that I couldn't resist using for the center shape on the sketch.  Then I had to add a die-cut sun from the soon-to-retire Hey Chuck dies, so I hit both sunshine and rainbows on my card.  I kept it pretty simple since I hadn't been in my craft room for so long.  I did sneak in the new-to-me Countryside Corners dies too.

Have a great day, peeps.  Cheers!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Rain or Shine
Ink:  Pacific Point
Paper:  Daffodil Delight, Thick Basic White, Sunshine & Sprinkles DSP
Accessories:  Countryside Corners dies, Hey Chuck dies, Fine Sparkle Gems, Dimensionals

SUO Challenges: Birthday Bash

Mornin' y'all, it's time for a new challenge from SUO Challenges!

And here's our theme this time around...

It's always a good idea to have some extra birthday cards in your stash, am I right?  So here's what I made:

I actually made this weeks ago before the retirement lists came out, and Filled with Happiness is on the list.  It's a fun stamp set with some great sentiments and a couple of fun images that coordinate with the Modern Oval Punch.  I really wanted to use the oranges image for my card, but the stamp with the happy birthday sentiment has birds--so I just cropped the oranges out of a piece of scrap paper and plonked it on top of the birds : )  I used some fun, bright patterns from the Stargazing paper and a couple of adhesive sequins from the online offerings.  I think this card would be great for a guy or a girl, what do you think?

It's your turn!  Don't forget to upload your birthday card creation at the SUO Challenges blog.  Have fun!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Filled with Happiness
Ink:  Night of Navy, Stampin' Blends in Pumpkin Pie, Lemon Lime Twist, Balmy Blue
Paper:  Night of Navy, Granny Apple Green, Thick Basic White, Stargazing DSP
Accessories:  Modern Oval Punch, Dimensionals, adhesive sequins

A CASE of Blueberries for SUO Challenges

Mornin' y'all and guess what?  It's time for a new challenge at SUO Challenges!

And this time, we're on the case...CASEing the catalog, that is!

We're CASEing page 29 out of the Occasions catalog, here's a closer look:

I liked that there are three levels of craftiness on display as well as the variety of coloring methods.  You don't have to use Blueberry Bunches for your card, but I have it so I wanted to : )  Here's what I did:

I used the card on the bottom left as the jumping-off point, and instead of coloring the blueberries, I embossed them on Blueberry Bushel cardstock with white EP for a different look.  I mixed patterns from the Bright & Beautiful DSP Stack and the Stargazing DSP...have you seen the retiring lists?  The cool astronaut stamp set is on the retiring list and I've been eyeing it all year so I think I may have to get it.  Blueberry Bunches will be moving over to the online exclusives, and the Tinsel Gems are carrying over which is great because I love them.  I think the Bright & Beautiful DSP is carrying over too and I already have an extra pack of that because it's been a favorite this year.

Anyway, it's your turn to make your CASE.  Don't forget to share at the SUO Challenges blog and have fun!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Blueberry Bunches
Ink:  Versamark, Blueberry Bushel
Paper:  Thick Basic White, Blueberry Bushel, Lemon Lime Twist, Bright & Beautiful DSP Stack, Stargazing DSP
Accessories:  Everyday Details dies, White EP, Tinsel Gems, Dimensionals