Wintry Tree

Mornin' y'all!  How's your New Year's Eve starting?  I was once again super lazy and didn't get out of bed until late (which was lovely), and I am currently sitting here with my morning cuppa.  Looks like a nice, sunny day today, and substantially warmer than usual (in the 50s), so Daphne and I will go out to enjoy it here in a little bit.

But first, I have the last of the cards I made for the hubs to take in to work.

I'll be honest, I wasn't super thrilled with how this card turned out and I would have remade it if I hadn't been in a time crunch and the hubs' coworkers don't know anything about card design anyway so it was good enough for the job.  I am planning to get in my craft room this afternoon to have some fun on the last day of the year.  Side note, how is it the last day of the year when I only just got accustomed to writing 2025?

That's it for...this year I suppose, peeps.  Cheers!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Above It All
Ink:  Pool Party, Garden Green
Paper:  Pool Party, Garden Green, Thick Basic White, Snowy Scenes DSP
Accessories:  Snowy Scenes dies, Dimensionals

Multiple Deliveries

Mornin' y'all!  I have been very lazy this morning, it's great : )  But now I'm up and I have my morning cuppa and some oatmeal, and after breakfast we're putting up the Christmas decorations.  We got Ryan's room put back together late yesterday afternoon and he's quite happy with his new yellow abode.

So!  I was working on a card for a Paper Players sketch a while back and I ended up with some cut-up parts and pieces that weren't exactly what I wanted for that specific card, but I used them to make two other cards and that's what I'm sharing today.

I love this bear and his mouse friend, they're both cutouts in the North Pole Delivery DSP as well as the candy cane postage stamp.

And here's another doggo card, similar to the one I ended up with for the sketch but a bit different dimensions on the background panels.

That's it for now, peeps.  I'm going to enjoy my morning cuppa and then get the tree down so I can be lazy for the rest of the day : )  Cheers!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Jolly Delivery
Ink:  Garden Green
Paper:  Petal Pink, Poppy Parade, Thick Basic White, North Pole Delivery Specialty DSP
Accessories:  Textured Notes dies, Dimensionals, Dear Dots

A Parade of Paper Players Christmas Cards

Mornin' y'all!  Anyone know what day it is?  ; )  The hubs and I spent the entire weekend painting Ryan's room and bathroom.  Ryan's room is yellow with a darker yellow accent wall, and now that both the yellows are up the hubs has conceded that the darker yellow doesn't look bad.  The bathroom is the same lighter yellow color from Ryan's room but I think because of the lack of windows it looks MUCH more intense in the area where the sinks are.  Doesn't seem nearly as intense in the area with the toilet and tub, but there is a window in there.  I think I would prefer it to be a softer yellow, but at the same time I don't want to repaint in there because I'm sore from doing all the painting already!  Now all that's left is repainting the main living room area (I feel really bad about that, it's a huge area) and the master suite (also a huge area).  I am winning the war against greige!

Anyway, I have not spent any time in my craft room in the past few days, but I did get a little collection of ridiculously amazing Christmas cards from the Paper Players and today is the day to share them!

This one is from Claire and I don't think those jams and slippers could be any cuter.  And being a part of the Paper Players is perilous for my finances because I currently have a bunch of Spellbinders dies on my wishlist and let's not mention the package that is already on its way to me : ) and it's because of the amazing cards I see Claire and Jaydee make with dies!

This amazing shaker card is from Stef and it is so cool!  The shaker elements include little Christmas trees and snowflakes and they're just perfect with everything else on this card.  I've never made a shaker card before because I'm chicken (I only make fancy fold cards under duress, and no one has ever strong-armed me into making a shaker card before either) but there's no way I could top this one.

This beauty is from Ann, and I wish you could reach through the screen and touch it because the floral and greenery elements are felted.  I keep petting this card : )

This merry masterpiece is from Jaydee and these little creatures are so adorable and beautifully colored.  I'm so glad that my photo shows the amazing snowflake background too, it shows up better in the pic than it does where I'm looking at the card on the desk next to me!  Also I'm loving the current trend of pink for Christmas.

And one more holiday card that's not from the Paper Players, it's from my friend Lynn, as a thank you for making Thanksgiving dinner in an unfamiliar kitchen : )  Such a pretty embossed background and perfectly placed rhinestone elements to accent the greeting.

I have all of these cards displayed on our china hutch in the dining room along with all the other Christmas cards we've received.  I have the ingredients for my annual Christmas card color block scrapbook pages, but I'll wait a few more weeks because sometimes we get cards on into January.  Actually I never put together last year's pages so maybe I'll do them both at once.

That's it for me today, peeps.  I have a dog to walk and groceries to buy.  And a child who has been wearing the same set of jammies for days now because his room has been unusable while we paint in there.  As soon as we can access his dresser, I'm going to make him give me those jams so I can wash them...maybe multiple times!  Cheers, y'all!

Rudy

Mornin' y'all.  How are you enjoying this weird limbo time between Christmas and New Year?  The hubs and I spent ALL DAY yesterday painting in Ryan's room...got the ceiling and the closet done and then we painted the accent wall BRIGHT YELLOW (hubs has commented on how bright it is at least 20 times and I have reminded him as many times that it's not his room and this is what Ryan chose) but for some reason the yellow paint isn't covering the ugly greige.  We did three coats and maybe we weren't waiting long enough in between?  But we can still see the greige coming through.  The rest of the room and Ryan's bathroom are all supposed to be a paler yellow so we may have to do primer before we paint those.  'Cause I don't want to do four coats on that much wall space.

Anyway, a while back I cut out two reindeer for a card and I ended up using just one, and while I was making cards for the hubs to take to work I figured I might as well use the second reindeer.  So here's my new reindeer card:

The only stamping is the greeting.  I was keeping it simple since I had to make a bunch of different cards but I'm not sure how much I like this one.  Oh well, done now and like I always say, not every card can be your favorite.

Okay, I'm off to either take Daphne out for a walk or attack the walls in Ryan's room again, that's a tough choice.  It's in the 30s and super windy outside and Daph just got herself all comfy in her chair so...maybe it's painting for a bit.  Cheers!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Snowflake Sentiments
Ink:  Real Red
Paper:  Garden Green, Real Red, Thick Basic White, Reindeer Fun DSP
Accessories:  Dimensionals

The Clue of the Velvet Mask

Happy Saturday and Nancy Drew Challenge day!  Today we are investigating the Clue of the Velvet Mask, Nancy's 30th adventure.

So we have Nancy in fancy dress on the left (OT version), watching a nefarious man in a cape scale a trellis and it's fun.  Lots of color, a nice scene that happens at the beginning of the book, the title and author are nice and big so you know what you're reading, very nice cover by Rudy Nappi.

On the right (RT version), we have Nancy carrying a fancy dress/shawl/thing and looking apprehensive while a masked someone stares at her, and this masked figure is simultaneously silly and also creepy.  It's the eyes.  This cover is also by Rudy Nappi, but I gotta give it to the OT cover this time because the eyeballs on the RT cover are too creep-silly.

Let's take a look at the case.

Case file:  Nancy investigates a series of brazen robberies at every rich people party in River Heights over the course of several weeks, attending masquerades and academic lectures and wedding receptions, oh my.  While helping Nancy on the case, George gets kidnapped and drugged and ends up with PTSD so she becomes more fearful than Bess for most of the book, until Nancy and Bess are captured and George steps up to help save them.  Also Ned helps out with this case mostly by being a brawler.  Being friends with Nancy is dangerous.

Here's my card:

George was abducted off a train while pretending to be Nancy, and as I don't have any stamps that go with the Spanish lady fancy dress that Nancy is wearing on the front cover, I decided to go with the train for this one.  I paired it with the Attic Boutique DSP for some nice vintage imagery because it seemed to fit with the train image and the pattern is Poppy Parade to match Nancy's costume.

I gently added a bit of yellow and green around the train to echo the colors around the party scene on the cover, and also to make that panel less stark white on my card.

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Greatest Adventure
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Daffodil Delight, Pear Pizzazz
Paper:  Pear Pizzazz, Basic Black, Thick Basic White, Attic Boutique DSP
Accessories:  Dimensionals, Black Rhinestones

Now on to the RT and Mr. Creepy Eyes:

No significant changes to the story, and we're approaching the end of the revised texts; after #34, we only have one version of each story.  Anyway, here's my card:

The gang of thieves is using a dilapidated place called the Blue Iris Inn to stash their loot, and since Nancy is wearing her signature blue on this cover, I decided that my card should also feature blue irises.

Mr. Creepy has green eyes, and I needed a green for the iris stems so that's why I have a lot of green on my card (plus green is my favorite color); even though I didn't use any reddish colors, I found some old Wild Wasabi DSP in a pattern that is kinda reminiscent of the lace thingy that Nancy is holding.  And I found a painted-style pattern for the background that's a pretty good match for the background on the book cover, even though I ended up covering most of it with the other card elements.

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Inspiring Iris
Ink:  Pebbled Path, Balmy Blue, Wild Wasabi
Paper:  Balmy Blue, Thick Basic White, Fresh as a Daisy DSP, Wild Wasabi DSP
Accessories:  Stitched So Sweetly dies, Dimensionals, In Color Opaque Sparkle Dots

I give this one three and a half stars, it's fine but not one of my favorites.  I will say that I vividly remember George being incapacitated and saying the bad guys' threats were burned into her brain--I remember the wording of that from when I read this one as a kid so at least that part stuck with me for years.  I am now thirty books in (well, sixty really since they all have original and revised versions to this point), and I am still having lots of fun with this series : )  If you would like to play along, it's as easy as leaving a comment here with a link to where I can see what you make and I hope you have fun too.  Stay tuned next time when we uncover The Ringmaster's Secret.

Son of a Nutcracker!

You know what, we did not watch Elf this year, or any of the Santa Clause movies.  The only Christmas movie we did watch was the old animated How the Grinch Stole Christmas...and I watched quite a bit of Lord of the Rings:  The Fellowship of the Ring yesterday.  Don't tell me that's not a Christmas movie, it's got elves and snow and gift-giving and a man with a long white beard.  I also finished reading the book on Christmas Eve; I've been a little fixated on Middle Earth of late, which is weird because I first read the books about 15 years ago and then immediately sold them because I thought they were a slog.  I enjoyed Fellowship more this time around.

Anyway, on to the nutcracker!

I made the Santa card for the hubs to take into work so I couldn't leave out the stache-tastic nutcracker to go with him.  I chose a piece of Festival of Prints DSP and then colored the nutcracker to match and fussy cut him, so this is the card that took the longest out of all the ones I made.  I think he's pretty handsome though.

Okay, we're going to do Boxing Day celebrations with Bennet and Missy so I need to go make another apple pie and some other stuff.  The hubs is clearing out Ryan's room so we can paint in there this weekend.  Cheers!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Santa Stache
Ink:  Early Espresso, Stampin' Blends in Cherry Cobbler, Pecan Pie, Daffodil Delight, Old Olive, Neutrals
Paper:  Cherry Cobbler, Crushed Curry, Thick Basic Vanilla, Festival of Prints DSP
Accessories:  Dimensionals

Christmas Lights

Mornin' y'all and Merry Christmas!  Ryan was Most Insistent that we all had to get up and go downstairs together to see what Santa brought us.  The hubs and I got chocolate oranges, Daphne got a toy, and Ryan got a bunch of things.  What was he most excited about?  DUCK UNDERWEAR.  My duck-obsessed child can now be fully outfitted in duck items:  duck socks and underwear, duck jammies, a duck hat.  And he can wrap himself up in multiple duck blankets to snuggle with his duck stuffies.  Ducks everywhere.

We opened Christmas presents last night and I got literary tea (can't wait to check that out!) and a book called To Die For:  A Cookbook of Gravestone Recipes which the hubs thinks is terribly weird (it was from my mom) but for reals I am looking forward to reading it.  Ryan got lots of duck things and lots of STEM/building-related things; the hubs got stuff for his RC plane and a new backpack to wear while skiing.  Best of all, none of us got eaten by the Yule Cat because we all got clothes.

Anyway, on to today's card:

I love the lights in the Merry & Bright bundle but I am hoarding the coordinating paper for scrapbook pages (...if I ever get back to making scrapbook pages, I made fewer than 50 this year and usually I'm well over 100), so I paired my lights with some fun stripes from the Snowy Scenes DSP.  This is another card the hubs took into work.

Well, I told the hubs I wanted to relax today, but...I still need to do the dishes.  Maybe sneak another Christmas cookie while I'm at it.  Cheers!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Merry & Bright
Ink:  Garden Green, Real Red, Pool Party, Blueberry Bushel, Pretty in Pink
Paper:  Garden Green, Pool Party, Thick Basic White, Snowy Scenes DSP
Accessories:  Merry & Bright dies

Santa!!! I Know Him!

Merry Christmas, y'all!  I made about eleventy billion cookies yesterday, then reorganized the guest room closet (since we had everything out of it to paint in there over the weekend), then ran a bunch of errands, then came home, made tacos for dinner, and made another cookie dough and a batch of pie crust.  I have an apple pie in the oven for the hubs right now : )  I'll be making that last batch of cookies today too, gotta be ready for our visitor tonight.

It's Santa!  Hope we still have cookies by bedtime tonight, we've all been grabbing them whenever we go in the kitchen : )  And that's why I made so many!  Plus we're going to share with friends on Boxing Day.  Anyway, this Santa card is one of the ones I made for the hubs to give out to his coworkers.  This stamp set is quite old (I think we lived in England when it was released, and that was over 10 years ago!) and I wish it had dies for everything, not just the mustache shape.  Remember when mustaches were ridiculously and inexplicably popular and people would have mustaches tattooed on the side of their fingers?!  What a weird time.

Anyway, I'm going to go check on my pie and take an inventory to make sure I get everything I need at the store.  I know I need butter and vanilla...

Cheers, y'all!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Santa Stache
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Stampin' Blends in Poppy Parade, Petal Pink, Pretty in Pink, Smoky Slate
Paper:  Poppy Parade, Garden Green, Thick Basic White, Snowy Scenes DSP
Accessories:  Dimensionals

More Gingerbread

Mornin' y'all!  My guys got up super early this morning to go on a day trip skiing, so me and Daph are going to bake cookies all day.  I made three cookie doughs yesterday and let them chill overnight, so now it's time to start baking...right after I finish this blog post : )

These are two of the cards I made for the hubs to take to coworkers last week.  I pulled out a whole bunch of Christmas stamp sets and DSPs, and I discovered that I had already die cut a bunch of the gingerbread elements from the Gingerbread & Peppermint DSP, so these two cards came together pretty quickly.  I started with the card on the right and I had Dimensionals on the back of the round ornament when I discovered that it wouldn't fit where I wanted it on that card, so I used the bell and made the green card to use the round ornament.

That's it for now, peeps.  It's still dark outside but I'm going to fire up the oven and get started on double chocolate crinkle cookies.  Cheers!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Frosted Gingerbread
Ink:  Old Olive, Real Red
Paper:  Old Olive, Real Red, Whisper White, Gingerbread & Peppermint DSP Stack
Accessories:  Gingerbread dies, Dimensionals

December 2020

Scrappy Monday, y'all!  We finished painting the guest room yesterday so now we have to get the furniture back in place and put everything back in the closet...and next weekend we're planning to tackle Ryan's room.  Wish us luck.  Today I need to go to the store to get ingredients for ALL THE COOKIES and maybe some food with actual nutritional content, we'll see about that part.

But for right now, I have a December layout from five years ago.  The HECK, how can it be five years ago already?!

That is Ryan with chocolate all over his face on the right page, and I can assure you that five years later he *still* gets chocolate all over his face.  And pretty much everything else he eats.  Not sure when he'll grow out of that, if ever.

Today's Christmas color palette:  Pear Pizzazz, Real Red, Mossy Meadow, Pebbled Path, and Whisper White.  A quick and simple layout other than coloring in the animal images.

That's it for today, peeps, I'm off to walk Daphne and then go to the store.  Cheers!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Full Calendar, Yuletide Pasture
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Mossy Meadow, Stampin' Blends in Old Olive, Mossy Meadow, Real Red, Pecan Pie, Smoky Slate, Petal Pink, Pebbled Path, Ivory, So Saffron
Paper:  Pear Pizzazz, Real Red, Mossy Meadow, Thick Basic White, Heartfelt Hugs DSP
Accessories:  None

Gingerbread Wishes

Mornin' y'all!  Actually it's pretty close to afternoon and yet I am still waiting on the last couple of gingerbread waffles to cook so I can shut off the waffle maker and go upstairs to help paint the guest room.  This is the first time we've tried gingerbread waffles, but I am thinking about making gingerbread muffins for breakfast on Christmas morning.  And since I still have cream cheese in my fridge, I'm thinking about making gingerbread bars sometime this week too.  I have gingerbread on the brain.

But you know what I don't think I've ever actually made?  Gingerbread cookies.  What?

I have, however, made numerous paper versions.  I made this for last week's Freshly Made Sketch:

I was quite pleased with myself for thinking of the baking sheet die cut for the blue panel on the sketch.  I chose a gingham pattern for the background because it made me think of a tablecloth (though picnics usually have red gingham, we're going with green), baked up a few paper gingerbread men and sprinkled with some peppermint accents.

And I'm just in time to play with the latest Inspired By... challenge:

Thanks for a great excuse to make some paper gingerbread men : )  

The timer went off for the last waffle, so now I have to go help paint.  (That waffle recipe makes a pretty large batch, FYI).  We did the closet and ceiling in the guest room yesterday as well as the ceiling in Ryan's bathroom, and today we're painting the guest room walls.  Current plan is to do Ryan's bedroom next weekend.  Wish us luck!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Homemade Treats, Jolly Delivery
Ink:  Real Red, Pecan Pie
Paper:  Real Red, Garden Green, Thick Basic White, Christmas Tags & More DSP Stack
Accessories:  Homemade Treats dies, Textured Notes dies, Dimensionals, Peppermint accents

Mystery at the Ski Jump

Welcome to a new Nancy Drew Challenge and today we're investigating The Mystery at the Ski Jump, Nancy's 29th adventure.  I didn't finish these cards until yesterday evening, usually I have them done way ahead of time but this week went a little off the rails.  Anyway, let's take a look!

Both of these covers feature menacing men.  Nancy looks quite alarmed in the original text cover by Bill Gillies on the left and we have a really bright poppy red top on her.  Is that a jacket?  Because my jackets are all much less form-fitting but Nancy probably has designer ski clothes.  I think the yellow mittens look a little goofy though.

On the right is the Rudy Nappi cover for the revised text and we have a menacing man's hand, but Nancy looks determined to stop the crooks rather than concerned for her own safety.  I like this cover better, maybe because teal and lime is my color vibe, but I also like the composition of the ski jump in the background better because it has more detail than the Gillies cover.

Let's take a look inside.

Case file:  When Hannah Gruen buys stock in a fur company that operates in an unconventional fashion, selling furs at a discount price door to door, Nancy investigates and discovers that the company is fake and the fur stole Hannah bought is stolen (yes, it's a stolen stole).  The bad girl steals Nancy's identity but she keeps investigating through several towns near River Heights, to New York and a visit with Aunt Eloise, and then to Aunt Eloise's cabin in the Adirondacks where Nancy's foes attempt to put her on ice.  Very exciting and a rare winter outing in the original mystery stories.

Here's my card:

I was going to do something with a lot more Poppy Parade and Daffodil Delight to go with Nancy's outfit, but I found this blue pine tree pattern in the Beauty of the Earth DSP and this ended up being a very blue card instead.  I used the skates from Sophisticated Sled because the bad girl, Mitzi Channing, is a semiprofessional ice skater--Nancy discovers her name when she sees her perform in an old movie.  Also I remembered that name from reading this as a kid because I had never heard the name Mitzi before and thought it was strange.

I did add the cardinal so we get a tiny pop of Poppy Parade for Nancy.  Also, the skates could belong to her as she performs a doubles routine in a big skating competition in Canada with no practice beforehand beyond dancing a single waltz with her partner.  Because Nancy of course is a professional ice skater.  I forgot to mention that she and Carson also go to Canada, there is a lot of traveling in this one.

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Sophisticated Sled
Ink:  Night of Navy, Stampin' Blends in Pecan Pie, Smoky Slate, Poppy Parade, Mango Melody
Paper:  Night of Navy, Thick Basic White, Beauty of the Earth DSP
Accessories:  Sophisticated Sled dies, Ornate Frames dies, Charming Shimmer Faceted Dots, Mini Dimensionals

Let's check out the revised text:

Once again, there are no major changes to the story in the revised text, just condensing it to 20 chapters.  We still get all the same traveling and Aunt Eloise has a larger role in this one than she usually does.  Also Nancy calls her Aunt Lou, which I don't recall seeing in any of Aunt Eloise's other appearances.

Here's my card:

I wanted to incorporate the fun colors on this cover, so I chose Summer Splash, Lemon Lime Twist, and Timid Tiger.  I had a plan to use the Freezin' Fun bundle because I thought there was a fox in it, but upon closer inspection I found it was a sledding raccoon and not a skiing fox (there's a part in the book where the villains refer to Nancy and Carson as foxes).  Still, I like my happy snowman and it amuses me that I found Let It Snow sentiments for both cards.

I stamped some snowflakes on the Summer Splash DSP I used for the background and I like how that looks.  I was making this card up as I went along and trying to make it quickly last night while Ryan was getting ready for bed, pretty happy with where I ended up despite the time crunch.

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Snowman Season
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Summer Splash, Stampin' Blends in Summer Splash, Lemon Lime Twist, Timid Tiger, Smoky Slate
Paper:  Lemon Lime Twist, Summer Splash, Thick Basic White, Summer Splash DSP, Celebratory Sips DSP
Accessories:  Stitched Shapes dies, Dimensionals, Shiny Sequins

I didn't particularly like the aspects of this mystery that deal with the fur trade, but I did enjoy all the travel to different places and Nancy outwitting the dastardly Mitzi, so I give it four stars.  If you're inspired by these books, please leave me a comment so I can see what you make!  And come back next week for the final Nancy Drew Challenge of the year, where we will uncover The Clue of the Velvet Mask.

Naughty!

Mornin' y'all!  Ryan has early release from school today and then he'll be off for the next two weeks, so I'd better wrap up a couple of presents this morning while he is safely elsewhere.  And I think we're going to paint the guest room this weekend so I cleared out the closet of all the stuff (because we are de-greige-ifying the closets too!).  I also admitted to the hubs that I don't like the light blue that we did in the living room, entryway, up through the upstairs hall...which is the largest area in the house...sorry, honey.  It looked fine in small swatches, but it just is TOO MUCH when it's all done.  It needs to be a slightly blueish gray, not baby blue.  He gave me side-eye but said we'll repaint it.  I do feel guilty though.

And also a bit naughty.  As soon as I saw Jaydee's card for a recent Paper Players challenge, I knew I had to get those dies!  I got not just the Grinch hand, but a word die as well:

I still had the Reindeer Fun DSP sitting out from making cards for the hubs, so that's where I got the lights in the background.  The snowy backdrop for the Grinch and his purloined ornament are from the Nests of Winter DSP.  I used this week's Atlantic Hearts sketch:

And I can enter this at Just Add Ink too:

I have stripes (on the ornament), snow (behind the Grinch's arm), and shimmer (red glimmer naughty!).  I had fun making this and I'm sure that I will be using these dies more in the future : )  We need to hurry up and watch some Christmas movies this year.

Daphne is chastising someone outside (how DARE anyone use the green space behind our house without her express written permission, which is hard to get since she's illiterate) but I'm going to take her for a quick walk and then get to wrapping some presents.  Cheers!

Supplies:
Stamps:  None
Ink:  None
Paper:  Real Red, Garden Green, Granny Apple Green, Whisper White, Basic Black, Reindeer Fun DSP, Nests of Winter DSP, Silver Foil, Real Red Glimmer Paper
Accessories:  Grinch Hand & Naughty Word Die from Kat Scrappiness

Snowflake Wishes

Mornin' y'all, how's it going?  I am just sitting down to my morning cuppa, which is especially nice today because the temperature dropped 20 degrees between yesterday and today and it's extra windy to boot.  However, from the weather forecast it looks like the only snowflakes we'll be seeing for the foreseeable future are the paper kind.

I made this card yesterday and then worried this morning that I hadn't gotten a picture of it before the hubs took it in to work, but happily I did take a pic yesterday.  The CAS on Fridays Challenge wants to see snowflakes, which works out nicely with the AAA Colourful challenge:

I used Pool Party, Lost Lagoon (stamped off once), Just Jade, and Garden Green stamped twice for the sentiment.  Next up is the TGIF Challenges sketch:

Obviously that sketch demands a flurry of flakes, so I pulled out Snowflake Wishes which is at least a couple of years old but still just gorgeous and has some nice greetings in it too, not to mention the dies which I didn't use today.  Since one of the challenges is CAS, I decided to just do some pierced accents in the corners to keep it more CAS.  Took me a while to figure out where I had put the piercing template and mat, though the piercing tool lives near my Big Shot to help poke out fiddly bits when I die cut.

That's it for now, peeps.  I'm going to enjoy my cuppa, take Daphne out for what promises to be a very chilly walk, and then most likely I'll make myself more tea afterwards : )  Sounds like a good plan to me.  Cheers!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Snowflake Wishes
Ink:  Pool Party, Lost Lagoon, Just Jade, Garden Green
Paper:  Pool Party, Just Jade, Basic White
Accessories:  Piercing tool & template

Candy Canes

Mornin' y'all...I started today off with a bang when I whacked my head on my dresser.  It can only get better from here, right?  I was picking up some socks off the floor when it happened and next time I'll just leave the socks on the floor, thankyouverymuch.

Anyway, I spent quite a chunk of time yesterday making Christmas cards for the hubs to take to work and I got eight done out of ten, so not bad at all.  I plan to finish up the last two today after I wrap some presents.  Here's the first card I made yesterday:

Hubs said do different designs and be creative, but I kept the designs pretty simple.  I pulled out a bunch of Christmas stamp sets and fanned them out on the floor on one side of my crafting table, then pulled out a bunch of patterned paper and fanned them out on the floor on the other side of my crafting table, then Daphne galloped in and I had to move the papers to safety.  Currently the guilty doggo is staring at me and trying to puppy dog eyes me into going for a walk before I finish this blog post, but she will have to be patient a little bit longer.  I was lazy and just picked the Christmas DSP that I had closest to hand, so like six packs of 6x6 or 4x6 papers and then a few 12x12s that I could grab without searching through my giant stack o' papers.

Anyway, then I just started mixing and matching stamp sets and papers and the candy cane card is the first one I came up with.  I used the current CASE-ing Tuesday Sketch to get started:

I ended up leaving off the banner part of the sketch since I did two large candy canes.

That's it for now, peeps.  Seems like most challenges are going on a hiatus for the holidays, so I think next week I'll just be sharing the other cards I made for the hubs and otherwise just spend time with the fam since both my guys will be off of work and school next week.  Cheers!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Sweet Candy Canes
Ink:  Real Red, Pool Party, Lemon Lime Twist, Garden Green
Paper:  Lemon Lime Twist, Thick Basic White, Quilted Christmas DSP Stack
Accessories:  Candy Cane dies, Dimensionals

Piney Christmas

Mornin' y'all!  Someone explain to me how I could go to the store yesterday *with a list* and still have to go back today and spend another $100 on groceries.  Hopefully I won't have to go back until, like, Friday or Saturday this time.

Anyway, what with one thing and another I got one lonesome little card made yesterday, and here it is.

I started with the As You See It color challenge:

That immediately brought to mind the pineflakes in the Delicate Pines bundle, and I even stamped and die cut one before I decided that today's card needed the pine sprigs and a couple of pine cones.  I chose a Christmas greeting from Jolly Delivery so I can enter this at Addicted to CAS:

I thought about adding some kind of embellishments to my card, but decided that I like it how it is so it's staying more CAS.  I did add some Wink of Stella to the pine cones like they were a bit frosty, but it's very subtle.  Hey y'all, is pinecones one word or two?  Because Blogger thinks it's two and I keep trying to type it as one word.

The hubs told me last night that he needs ten Christmas cards and this morning he needs a sympathy card, so I have my work cut out for me this afternoon.  But first, I'm sure Daphne has figured out that I just finished my tea and she is side-eyeing me to take her out for a walk.  As always : )  Love my pupster.  Cheers!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Delicate Pines, Jolly Delivery
Ink:  Mossy Meadow, Pecan Pie, Night of Navy
Paper:  Night of Navy, Thick Basic White, Floral Charm DSP
Accessories:  Delicate Pines dies, Textured Notes dies, Mini Dimensionals, Wink of Stella

Christmas Card Color Block 2017

Mornin' y'all!  How was your weekend?  I spent a good chunk of yesterday listing things on eBay, mostly duplicate Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys books from my collection.  I've been meaning to do that for weeks, so it's nice to finally have it done.  

I dropped Ryan off at school today, did the grocery shopping, and checked the mail on my way back to the house.  I hadn't checked it since last Thursday or Friday and we got three more Christmas cards over the weekend, so I thought today would be a good day to share again how I like to preserve photos and photo cards we get during the holiday season.

Today's layouts are from 2017, Ryan's first Christmas when he was 10 months old.  Look how ADORABLE he is in the top left corner!  I might be biased but it's also just facts, my kid is very cute.

I love having these layouts...there's my dear friend Beth in the middle, with the headset on.  She's been gone nearly two years now and her husband doesn't do Christmas cards or photos, so I cherish the ones I have.  And it's fun to see how my friends' kiddos grow and change every year.  The fam in the upper left corner now has two more members.  Maybe three?

Today's color palette is straight from the Quilted Christmas DSP Stack:  Blushing Bride, Real Red, Garden Green, Lemon Lime Twist, Pool Party, and Whisper White.  Quilt patterns are perfect with my patchwork layouts, am I right?

The Daphinator is Staring Me Down saying it's time I take her for a walk, so I'd better hurry up and finish my cuppa.  Have a great day, peeps.

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Christmas Quilt, Alphaheart Numbers
Ink:  Real Red, Garden Green
Paper:  Blushing Bride, Lemon Lime Twist, Thick Whisper White, Quilted Christmas DSP Stack
Accessories:  Stitched Nested Labels Dies, Quilt Dies

Christmas Whimsy

Mornin' y'all!  I made pumpkin pancakes for breakfast this morning and Ryan agreed that they could join the Sunday breakfast rotation...he's chosen pumpkin cake every time for his turn for like the last six months.  Now don't get me wrong, I love pumpkin coffee cake, but even I was getting a little tired of it!  The pancakes were good but I burned my hand while I was making them (we have a little pancake cooker thing that's kinda like a waffle maker so they cook on both sides at once, but the sides of that thing get VERY hot as I unintentionally discovered this morning).  This is why I don't do dangerous things, I am dangerous enough (to myself, mostly) without taking unnecessary risks.

Anyway, I have a quick card to share today.

The Inspired By... challenge reminded me of the Whimsy & Wonder Specialty DSP that came out a few years ago, I think I bought it when it went on the clearance rack and this is the first time I've cut into it.

And I used the latest Freshly Made Sketch:

The DSP is doing all the work on my card, and the two patterns I used are both sides of a single sheet of paper.  I layered the Misty Moonlight pattern with the circle cutout on top of the other pattern, but I suppose I *could* have just cut out the circle and flipped it over and it would have been an inset instead of another layer.  Didn't think of it at the time but it's not like I don't have a zillion sheets of paper in my hoard.

Daphne tells me that she wants to go for a walk this morning and I need to work off some pancakes, so we're going to go enjoy an unusually warm and sunny December day before I tackle Ryan's laundry.  Cheers!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Greatest Part of Christmas
Ink:  Misty Moonlight
Paper:  Mint Macaron, Blushing Bride, Whimsy & Wonder Specialty DSP
Accessories:  Circles Collection Framelits, Solid Faceted Gems