Valentinosaurus

Hey y'all, welcome to Wednesday.  I like Wednesdays because Ryan has a STEM club thing after school so I get an extra hour kid-free : )  His birthday is in 10 days so I am still stitching feverishly on the duckling, we'll see if I get it done in time.

In the meantime, I have an adorable dinosaur Valentine to share!

Did I already have multiple dinosaur stamp sets before I bought this one?  Yep.  Was it on the tops of my wish list when I saw the spring mini catalog?  Also yep.  When it comes to stamps, I will pretty much always buy dinosaurs, patriotic stuff, anything oriental-inspired, and tea.  Probably some other stuff too.  And this is why my craft collection is so large and in charge. #CraftyDragon

Anyway, this card will, of course, go to my dino-loving pal Krissy, but first we have some challenges!  Let's start with the Sunday Stamps sketch:

The scalloped edges on the sketch reminded me immediately of the Stitched So Sweetly dies, which I love, so I started with that and build my card from there.  I knew I was doing the "I love you" sentiment for the Paper Players challenge:

And then we have two color challenges that are combining forces, Inkspirational:

And Color Hues:

And then happily for me, all of those challenges dovetail nicely with the Festive Friday inspo list:

Pink, red, glimmer paper, hearts, love sentiment, and a cute animal (dinosaurs are animals, right?).  I debated between doing sequins or the glimmer paper hearts for accents but I decided to err on the side of glitter.

Okay, as soon as I finish my tea (Ceylon orange pekoe today, one of my favorites), it's time to walk Daphne and then work on that stitching project.  Then spend some time in my craft room, because I left a card half-done yesterday.  Cheers!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Darling Dinos
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Real Red, Smoky Slate, Stampin' Blends in Pretty in Pink & Real Red
Paper:  Real Red, Thick Basic White, Pretty in Pink & Real Red DSP
Accessories:  Stitched So Sweetly dies, Darling Dinos dies, In Color Glimmer Paper, Dimensionals

All the Reds & Pinks for SUO Challenges

Mornin' y'all!  I'm a bit tardy this morning as I got totally distracted with the updated clearance rack and some online exclusive preorders on the Stampin' Up! website.  Don't tell the hubs that I ordered a few things when I haven't used all the things from the last time I ordered : )  There's one bundle that I'm excited about because I think I can use it in my wedding album and get that thing DONE!

Anyway, it's time for a new challenge at SUO Challenges!

This time it's a color challenge...allllll the pinks and reds!

Okay, you don't *have* to use all seven colors on your card or other paper craft creation, but you know I'm an overachiever and so I did.  Here's what I came up with:

I had gotten out the Perennial Postage dies for a project last week and then I didn't use them, so here they are now!  Some of the patterned paper that I used is retired, but I was looking through scraps and you could easily use all current papers.  I picked my background paper first (Pretty in Pink!) and then chose six scraps that I thought would work well together.  I stamped the solid heart from Bee My Valentine in five colors, my greeting on a sixth heart, and the I played around with where to place the different colored hearts vs. the patterns until I liked the arrangement.  I added some little accents to the top middle and the lower left heart and voilà!  I will admit that it took a while to stamp, punch, die cut, and adhere all the layers but I like it.

We hope you'll join us and upload your own creation at the SUO Challenges blog.  Have fun!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Bee My Valentine
Ink:  Pretty in Pink, Petal Pink, Cherry Cobbler, Flirty Flamingo, Melon Mambo, Poppy Parade (I think?)
Paper:  Real Red, Thick Basic White, DSP in Pretty in Pink, Poppy Parade, Melon Mambo, Cherry Cobbler, Flirty Flamingo, Petal Pink, Real Red (I think?)
Accessories:  Bee builder punch, Perennial Postage dies, square punch, white sequin, Mini Dimensionals

February 2021

Mornin' y'all!  I did not spend any time in my craft room yesterday, I was just feeling drained and so I took a two-hour nap.  Sometimes you just gotta nap.  I did work on my current stitching project in the evening though, which is a duckling for Ryan.  Not sure it will get done in time for his birthday which is in less than two weeks, but I'm going to try.

Anyway, how about a scrapbook layout from 2021?

Turns out that Summer Splash is a very good match for that set of bear jammies that Ryan had!  Love it.  If they'd had those jams in adult sizes, I would have bought me some.  I do love a good set of jams.

Today's color palette:  Summer Splash, Close to Cocoa, Blueberry Bushel, Lemon Lime Twist, Shaded Spruce, and white, which was taken directly from Ryan's jams and the little blue table we used to have for him.  We actually donated it when we got to Colorado and mostly he eats at the island now because he likes the tall stools.

Gotta get a move on, Daph says it's time to take her for a walk.  Cheers!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  My Paper Pumpkin, Scentsational Season
Ink:  Lemon Lime Twist, Blueberry Bushel
Paper:  Summer Splash, Shaded Spruce, Blueberry Bushel, Thick Basic White, Frosty Day DSP, Lemon Lime Twist DSP
Accessories:  none

A Pair of Vixens

Mornin' y'all!  I just finished putting all the things back in our china hutch and I even got out all my kokeshi dolls and put them out too.  They haven't been on display for the past couple of houses so it was fun to look at them all again : )  I might spread them out around the house but for now they're all in and on the china hutch.

I have two foxy cards to share today and actually they both went out in the mail yesterday.

I chose the sentiment from Nuts About Squirrels because a.) foxes have bushy tails too and b.) the crud is going around so this sentiment is seasonally appropriate.  I love this week's Inspired By... challenge:

I love that hot chocolate set, it's darling.  I did a reverse image search on Google but I can't find anywhere that it's for sale, sadly.  Not that I need, it but it sure is cute!  I couldn't decide which of my fox images I wanted to use for my card today, so I made two because why not.

I seem to have this week's Freshly Made Sketch on the brain:

And even with the sketch sitting right in front of me on my phone screen, I still can't help playing around with the proportions of the three background strips.

It's time to take Daphne for her daily walk and then I'm sure there's something else I need to be doing around the house.  I already did the dishes though so maybe I'll be able to get some crafty time this afternoon.  Cheers, y'all!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Fox & Friends, Foxy Friends, Nuts About Squirrels
Ink:  Poppy Parade, Basic Gray, Memento Tuxedo Black
Paper:  Gray Granite, Basic Gray, Thick Basic White, Lily Pond Lane DSP Stack
Accessories:  Circle & scalloped circle punches, Poppy Parade baker's twine, Dimensionals

Lavender Fields Forever

Hey y'all!  I'm off to a lazy start this morning but as soon as I finish this blog post, I'll be taking Daphne out for a walk and then doing grocery shopping.  So let's get to it!

I made this card for the Retro Rubber Challenge:

I just missed the cutoff for the last challenge so I got my card done early this time!  Painted Lavender just turned a year old so just barely retro, and Winterly Tree Tops isn't retro yet, so the really retro part of this card is the DSP!  That's Enchanté, which is many moons old because it features Pale Plum and Perfect Plum.  I went with the first three colors in the palette, which I translated to Pale Plum, Perfect Plum, and Elegant Eggplant, and the last one, Very Vanilla.

I used this week's CASE-ing Tuesday Sketch:

I really have been having a fabulous time doing those challenges since the beginning of the new year.  One more challenge for good luck, check out Just Add Ink:

I used glittery gems, brass butterflies, and Wink of Stella on the stamped flowers.

Time to take my sweet girl out for a walk in the snow.  Cheers, y'all!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Painted Lavender, Winterly Tree Tops
Ink:  Pale Plum, Perfect Plum, Elegant Eggplant
Paper:  Pale Plum, Perfect Plum, Very Vanilla, Enchanté DSP
Accessories:  Painted Lavender dies, I forget which glitter gems, brass butterflies, Wink of Stella, Dimensionals