SUO Challenges: Variations on a Theme by Tammy

Mornin' y'all!  I am writing this blog post on the hubs' PC laptop, and given that I've been pretty much exclusively a Mac user for over 10 years, I am practically PC illiterate now.  So it's slower and more difficult to do things but I couldn't NOT post today, because it's SUO Challenges day!  Check out the new challenge:

Every once in a while, I come across a sketch or a theme and I make a card and then my brain fizzes and I make another card and then another one and guess what happened with this challenge.  Here's what I made:

I had individual pictures taken of each of these cards and of course those are all saved on the Mac that is currently dead but we're hoping can be resuscitated, so all I have is this one.  I didn't take new pictures of the cards because I have no idea how to do photo editing on the laptop...I have to email photos to myself on my phone and then access my email on the laptop to even get pictures to show up here, because I can't figure out how to upload blog pictures on my phone either.  #TechTroglodyte

Anyway, I started out with the card on the top left using the Hobby Haven DSP and cutouts, and I used pink but not the same shade that Tammy did.  Next I thought I'd do a love card, but not specifically Valentine's Day since that's past now, so I broke out the Made with Love DSP and the Valentine Kisses stamp set--and I even challenged myself to use a different bear instead of the kissy bear with the wings : )

For my third card, I got out some scraps of the Perennial Lavender DSP which I think is in the annual catalog so you can still buy it if you haven't already.  The die cuts are from an old Paper Pumpkin kit that coordinated with that whole lavender suite.  And finally is probably my favorite, you know I love the Nature Walk DSP and Nature's Symphony bundle.

So there you have my variations on a theme by Tammy.  I was actually going to make a fifth card this weekend but then I got that cold from the hubs and I spent almost all weekend laying around sniffling.  Anyway, I hope that you'll have even half as much fun as I did with this challenge, and upload your creations at the SUO Challenges blog.  Don't forget to use only Stampin' Up! products!

If it's stopped raining (yeah, it's raining for the first time in forever!), I'm going to take Daphne for a walk.  Cheers!

Supplies, Hobby Haven card:
Stamps:  On Display
Ink:  Coastal Cabana
Paper:  Coastal Cabana, Petal Pink, Thick Basic White, Hobby Haven DSP
Accessories:  Dear Dots, Mini Dimensionals

Supplies, bear card:
Stamps:  Valentine Kisses
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Real Red, Stampin' Blends in Smoky Slate, Crumb Cake, Flirty Flamingo
Paper:  Real Red, Basic White, Made with Love DSP
Accessories:  Valentine Kisses dies, Dimensionals, Rainbow Dots

Supplies, lavender card:
Stamps:  My Paper Pumpkin
Ink:  Gorgeous Grape
Paper:  Highland Heather, Pretty Peacock
Accessories:  bits from a past Paper Pumpkin kit, Mini Dimensionals, Fine Purple Shimmer Gems

Supplies, masculine card:
Stamps:  Nature's Symphony
Ink:  Old Olive, Secret Sea
Paper:  Blueberry Bushel, Crumb Cake, Thick Basic White, Nature Walk DSP
Accessories:  Nature's Symphony dies, Stylish Shapes dies, Dimensionals, Ombre Matte Decorative Dots

Guest Designer: AAA Cards Challenge

Mornin', y'all!  Today I am a guest designer for AAA Cards Challenge!  Check out this awesome sketch:

I had to ponder for a while, but then luckily I got some things from Spellbinders that turned out to be perfect for this sketch so here's what I came up with:

As y'all know, I also do cross stitch as a hobby so I had to get the dies and stencils to make skeins of floss!  I used the stencils for my two skeins of embroidery floss.  And I got the dies for the stitcher's toolkit, including those stork scissors (and I think I have a real pair of scissors that looks like that).  I found the perfect coordinating sentiment in an old SU! set called Handmade for You, and there it is.

Hope you'll join in the fun at AAA Cards Challenge!

Unfortunately our Mac unexpectedly died yesterday morning so I might not be able to post very much for a bit...I'm writing this on the hubs' laptop but it was a painful experience getting the pictures on here.  So...I'll see you when I can?

Supplies:
Stamps:  Handmade for You
Ink:  Azure Afternoon, Blueberry Bushel, Crushed Curry, Memento Tuxedo Black
Paper:  Thick Basic White, Gold & Silver foil, Blueberry Bushel
Accessories:  Stitched Nested Labels dies, Spellbinders Needleworker Tool Kit dies, Rainbow Floss Background stencil, Dimensionals

Let's Party with the Paper Players!

Mornin' y'all!  It's Sunday and time for a new challenge from The Paper Players!  This week the super Stef has a fabulous theme challenge for us:

And this is super timely too, as both the hubs and our kiddo have birthdays this weekend!  Yes, Ryan's birthday is the day after his dad's.  Anyway, this challenge graphic reminded me of the Birthday Bouquet DSP that was released quite a few years ago, so I dug it out and made this:

I keep a sheet protector with each set of DSP that holds all my DSP scraps for that pack, and when I pulled out the Birthday Bouquet scraps I had over a dozen pennants that I had cut when I did a baby shower for my SIL.  (Um, niece turns TEN in April!)  So I picked a pennant with balloons on it, added a simple stamped greeting and a few Candy Dots, and bam!  Card sorted.  Even with hemming and hawing a bit over colors I still had this done in about ten minutes.  The card base is Pool Party, the greeting is Mint Macaron, and my supporting color is Blushing Bride, all colors from the DSP pack (though the balloon pattern doesn't have any Blushing Bride in it).  I should send this to my niece when the time comes!

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!

And don't forget to keep it CAS this week!  Lots of white space, limited layers and embellishments.

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Bonanza Buddies
Ink:  Mint Macaron
Paper:  Pool Party, Blushing Bride, Basic White, Birthday Bouquet DSP
Accessories:  Pennants Bigz die, circle punch, Layering Circles Framelits, Dimensionals, Candy Dots

And if you're interested, you can see the baby shower invitation here, and the card I made to go with my baby shower gift here.  Apparently I didn't share pictures of the decorations on my blog, but I made a bunch of mice treat boxes as party favors.  So there's my walk down Memory Lane!

The Clue in the Old Stagecoach

Happy Valentine's Day and welcome to the Nancy Drew Challenge!  Our book isn't Valentine themed but that's okay; today we're investigating #37, The Clue in the Old Stagecoach.

For the third book cover in a row, we have Nancy and her chums looking with great concern at something happening in the distance.  I wonder why Rudy Nappi put Nancy and Bess in the same color on this cover and I have to say I like George's hair better on the cover for The Haunted Showboat; on this one she looks like Danny Zuko from the movie Grease.  Regardless, let's talk about the mystery!

Case file:  While on vacation at a summer camp near the town of Francisville, Nancy is contacted by elderly widow Mrs. Strook, who says that her great uncle Abner was a stagecoach driver in the 1800s and wrote a letter saying that he had hidden something that would be of great value to the town.  Francisville has recently grown quite quickly and they desperately need a new school for all the kiddos, so Nancy agrees to investigate, while contending with two extremely nosy people staying at the camp and a local resident who wants everyone else in town to GIT OUT.  I won't tell you what the treasure is, but Nancy and her chums are named honorary citizens of Francisville.

Here's my card:

I have several stamp sets featuring horses, but the closest I could come to a stagecoach is this wagon wheel from Country Road, which was something of an impulse buy a few months ago and now it's come in handy.  I kept this card very simple and used my ink pads and blending brushes to color in my main panel.

I have Balmy Blue for Nancy and Bess's clothes, Shaded Spruce for the woods, and Crushed Curry for Bess's hair because I just couldn't convince myself to stamp that grain stalk in green.

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Country Road
Ink:  Crushed Curry, Bashful Blue, Pecan Pie, Early Espresso
Paper:  Bashful Blue, Thick Basic White, Meandering Meadows DSP Stack
Accessories:  Deckled Rectangles DSP, Dimensionals

And I have one more card:

At the end of the book, when all the baddies are in custody, a police officer tells one of the baddies that another one had fooled him, and the man says "I'll say he did, the skunk!" which just made me laugh so hard and I had to make a skunk card.  I will say after I finished this one that I wish I had made the dark green panel (same as on the first card) smaller so more of the cloudy pattern would show, but it is what it is and I can't unstick it.

I think I'm going to start saying "The skunk!" when someone does something I don't like : )

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Wildlife, Rough Edges Alphabet
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Shaded Spruce
Paper:  Shaded Spruce, Basic Black, Thick Basic White, Meandering Meadows DSP Stack
Accessories:  Dimensionals, Matte Black Dots

I think The Clue in the Old Stagecoach is fine, but not one of the more memorable mysteries in the series, so I give it three stars.  If this book inspires you too, I would be delighted to see what you make, just leave a comment on this post.  And come back next Saturday when Nancy encounters The Mystery of the Fire Dragon!

Florals in Green

Mornin' y'all!  Since the hubs has been sick, I've spent the past couple of nights in the guest room in an attempt to not acquire what he's got (though I'm not sure it's working).  Daphne joined me in there last night and I woke up in the middle of the night with her head rammed into my spine--she and Ryan both like to sleep perpendicularly on the bed.  Just don't tell the hubs she was on the bed with me : )  Usually I agree with him about no doggos on the furniture (other than Daph's chair), but I wanted puppy snuggles.  They're medicinal.

Anyway, here's my card today and we're going all in on my favorite color, green!

As soon as I saw this week's Freshly Made Sketch, I knew I was going to use that Nested Essentials shape for the oval in the sketch:

That's the first one I could think of that was wide but short.  I made this card before I saw this Easter card by my Paper Players teammie LeAnne but apparently we were both riding the same brain wave.

Aww man, I just picked up my tea mug and found it unexpectedly empty.  Time to brew another cuppa!  Anyway, my next challenge is The Card Concept:

My colors don't exactly match their palette, but that inspo pic immediately made me think of the Garden Lane DSP (though I couldn't remember the name so I had to do some hunting for it).  I read their colors as Granny Apple Green, Shy Shamrock, and Always Artichoke, while my card is Pear Pizzazz, Garden Green, and possibly a bit of Mossy Meadow.  Still very green.  I have a mix of still current (Pretty Florals), recently retired (Year of Flowers), and long retired (Garden Lane DSP and Pear Pizzazz as a color) on my clean and layered card.  This is the year of the retired supplies I think, I'm just using whatever I feel like for challenges and who cares if it's retired or not.  (Though I did just get a little bitty order from SU! yesterday evening that I haven't opened yet!)

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Pretty Florals, Year of Flowers
Ink:  Pear Pizzazz, Garden Green, VersaMark
Paper:  Pear Pizzazz, Garden Green, Basic White, Garden Lane DSP
Accessories:  Pretty Florals dies, Nested Essentials dies, white EP, Pearls of Beauty, Dimensionals

I came down with a low-grade fever yesterday afternoon and just felt really tired, so I didn't get in my craft room at all but I DID watch a show and finish my latest cross stitch piece:

More green!  I bought this Art Deco Tiger pattern from Etsy and it was a delight to stitch.  For once I'm not sure what I'm going to make next; I have several patterns that I could do but I haven't picked yet.

Okay I feel like I've talked a lot today, so I'm going to take my fresh cuppa and go look at other blogs for a bit, then take Daphne for a walk, then start working on a birthday cake for the hubs.  I'm planning to make a homemade strawberry cake for him, and as much as I cook and bake I hardly ever make cakes so this will be interesting.  Cheers!

Pumpkin Patch

Mornin' y'all!  It's been busy already...hubs is home sick today with a very bad cold, but I got the kiddo off to school and then went to the store so I could buy potatoes (and somehow a bunch of other things) and then I put a roast (with the potatoes) into the crock pot for dinner.  And did the dishes.  Oh, I need to switch out my laundry.  Lots to do today.

Anyway, the title of this post did not deceive you, I have a pumpkin card to share today:

And I made this for the Retro Rubber Challenge:

I did both diagonals and the bottom row, I have purple - your choice (paisley) - squares - gems/pearls - die cut - pumpkin.  Pick of the Patch (greeting) is about two and a half years old, and I think I got Paisley Prints that year I was in Texas with Ryan so it should be about the same age.  We've moved around so much for the past 22 years that I will associate a lot of crafty supplies with where we lived when I bought them, so those are both Texas sets.  Anyway, I've never used Paisley Prints before and it's SO CUTE so I'm glad I had this excuse to ink it up.

It was the squares option on this tic-tac-toe (I just tried to call it a tic-taco, ha) that made me decide to tackle this week's Atlantic Hearts sketch:

Not gonna lie, I was all set to skip it but I really liked what Tracy did with the sketch so I decided to be brave and give it a shot.  And then it ended up being not too bad thanks to my square dies, *and* I used up some leetle scraps of Soft Sky DSP.  Also I really liked the combination of Concord Crush and Peach Pie from this card, so I went with those and swapped the Basic Beige for Soft Sky.  Who cares if February isn't pumpkin season?  Ryan's birthday is on Sunday and he's already requested I make an extra large pumpkin coffee cake for breakfast that day.

Aww, I'm out of tea.  Guess I'd better go take Daphne for a walk and then work on more laundry.  Cheers!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Paisley Prints, Pick of the Patch
Ink:  Peach Pie, Soft Sky, Concord Crush
Paper:  Peach Pie, Concord Crush, Basic White, Soft Sky DSP
Accessories:  Squares Collection Framelits, Dimensionals, Delightful Decorative Dots

Hugh Manatee

Hello again, y'all, and welcome to my second card of the day!  Here it is:

Of *course* this manatee's name is Hugh : )  I wish the colors on this photographed a bit better, but my phone seems to have beef with Cloud Cover and always makes it look weird.  And the bit under the manatee's tail is Secret Sea, not black.  Those three little scraps of DSP are what started this card, I had them left over from a design team card you'll see soon and they were all one inch tall so I decided I could use them for this card.  Proof that you can use even tiny pieces of DSP to make a card!

I'm entering this at CAS on Friday where they want anything that's CAS.  Last time I looked, this stamp set was on the Last Chance List so go grab it if you haven't yet.  I haven't even gotten to use the panda or the elephant yet.

Okay, I'm off to make some more schtuff.  Cheers!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Big Little Things
Ink:  Cloud Cover, Secret Sea
Paper:  Cloud Cover, Basic Beige, Thick Basic White, Nature Walk DSP
Accessories:  Dimensionals, Faux Glass Dots

And I have a third card today, I made over this morning's card in The Man Rainbow for the hubs' birthday on Saturday, check it out:

I like to jokingly refer to The Man Rainbow which encompasses about 95% of the hubs' wardrobe:  white, black, gray, navy blue, and khaki.  Every once in a great while he'll mix it up with a dark red or forest green and I'm like whoa now, let's not get too crazy here.  Ha!  Meanwhile I'm over here with my fluorescent pink winter jacket.

Okay, that's it for today (really).  I'm going back upstairs to work some more until it's time to pick up Ryan.  Cheers!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Valentine Kisses
Ink:  Boho Blue
Paper:  Boho Blue, Whisper White, Take to the Sky DSP, Silver Glimmer Paper
Accessories:  Hearts Collection Framelits, Stylish Shapes dies, Dimensionals, Opal Rounds

Sending Love

Mornin' y'all!  I tell you what, I have been ON FI-YURRRR in my craft room lately!  Which is great, since for the past couple of weeks it has felt like a bit of a struggle to get things done but right now I have almost a dozen cards sitting on my computer desk that I made over the past couple of days.  So let's get to one of those!

We're going CAS today and I have several challenges, starting with Time Out Challenges:

I have sparkle, red, heart, and pink, which is not too shabby for a CAS card.  Next up is the Color Hues Challenge:

I used Real Red and Flirty Flamingo for my hues and the only other color is white.  Next up is Cupcake Inspirations:

And Inspire. Create. is also feeling the love:

I think I'll make this card again with a different color for the card base and give it to the hubs for his birthday, which is on Valentine's Day.  I'll so something that's a little less pink for him : )

Most likely I will be posting another card this afternoon because like I said, I have quite a pile going and I don't want to miss challenge deadlines.  In the meantime, I'm going to take my girl Daphne out for a walk.  Cheers!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Valentine Kisses
Ink:  Flirty Flamingo
Paper:  Flirty Flamingo, Basic White, Made with Love DSP, Real Red Glimmer Paper
Accessories:  Hearts Collection Framelits, Stylish Shapes dies, Dimensionals

Year of the Horse

Mornin' y'all!  I feel like I actually got enough sleep last night and that hardly every happens so today is the day I'm going to take over the world.  Ha!  Or I will at least have dominion over my craft room and the laundry.

Here's my card for today:

This is for the As You See It recipe challenge.  Joanne said when she made her card that she had wanted to do a Chinese New Year but didn't have anything that would work for the year of the horse, and I immediately thought of this horse image in Ancient Asia.  Here's the challenge:

The only part of this recipe that gave me trouble was the vellum; I was looking to see if I had any gold vellum (nope) when I found that scrap of die-cut glimmer paper.  It's the center of the wreath I made for this card in 2023 and I thought it kinda looked like a sunburst which maybe doesn't make sense for a lunar new year card but that's what my brain told me to do.  I added gold embossing powder and some gold glitter dots to really up the bling factor here.

I'm going to finish my tea and then take Daphne for a walk, and then I have lots of things to do in my craft room (in between loads of laundry, of course).  Cheers!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Ancient Asia, Feeling Sentimental
Ink:  Versamark, Merry Merlot
Paper:  Riding Hood Red, Merry Merlot, Ginger Blossom DSP, vellum
Accessories:  Wishes All Around dies, gold EP, Gold Glitter Dots, Dimensionals

Gus Says Hello

Mornin' y'all.  We're supposed to leave in less than ten minutes to take Ryan to school and he's upstairs just...yelling.  Making noise.  Wish me luck getting him out the door on time.

In the meantime, let's revisit yesterday's Paper Players color challenge from Ann:

I pulled out a couple of undersea stamp sets before I decided to go with Sea Turtle for yesterday's card, and while I had Sea of Textures out I had to make another card:

It's been a while since Gus last got out to play, so here he is.  Gus is a chameleon octopus, he can be any color(s) he wants to, and today he chose Calypso Coral and Petal Pink.  The Lost Lagoon DSP was the scrap I had left over from yesterday's sea turtle card.  I liked the balance of the colors on yesterday's card better and that's why I chose it for the Paper Players challenge.

Okay, Ryan's got five minutes and the noise seems to have died down somewhat...oh no wait, I typed too soon.  Hopefully he's getting ready to go whilst making so much noise.  Cheers!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Sea of Textures, Four You
Ink:  Calypso Coral, Lost Lagoon
Paper:  Lost Lagoon, Mossy Meadow, Petal Pink, Thoughtful Journey DSP Stack
Accessories:  Under the Sea dies, Dimensionals, Pearls of Beauty

Turtle-y Cool Colors for The Paper Players

Mornin' y'all!  It's Sunday and that means it's time for a new challenge from The Paper Players!  This week the amazing Ann has a beautiful color palette for us to play with:

As soon as I saw the colors, I thought they would be perfect for something floral, but I like to be quite contrary in the style of Mary Mary, so I had to do something different.  Here's what I came up with, nary a flower in sight:

I was actually having a hard time coming up with an idea for this card until I made my Shello card earlier this week for a different challenge, and I realized these colors are perfect for an under the sea card too.  I pulled out my Sea Turtle stamp set and kept the same "hello" I used on the Shello card because it was already out and I'm lazy ; )  The Sea Turtle stamp set is reversible, so to start with I used the "shadow" side of the stamp and used sponges to apply both Mossy Meadow and Lost Lagoon ink, stamped it, and then turned the stamp over and stamped the turtle in full-strength Mossy Meadow ink on top.  I used both Petal Pink and Calypso Coral on my paper strip behind the turtle and I think my Calypso Coral ink pad needs re-inking, but I like the weathered look to the starfish for this card.  Some watery Lost Lagoon DSP from the Thoughtful Journey stack and a couple of retired Tinsel Gems finished off the card.  And I had so much fun making this card that I made another one with these colors, which you'll see very soon.

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:  Sea Turtle, Four You
Ink:  Mossy Meadow, Lost Lagoon, Petal Pink, Calypso Coral
Paper:  Mossy Meadow, Petal Pink, Thick Basic White, Thoughtful Journey DSP Stack
Accessories:  Dimensionals, Lost Lagoon Tinsel Gems

The Secret of the Golden Pavilion

Happy Saturday and welcome to a new Nancy Drew Challenge!  Today we are on #36, The Secret of the Golden Pavilion:

Another wonderful cover by Rudy Nappi, and like last week's we have Nancy and two chums (I think Ned and Bess) looking away from us towards mysterious happenings involving a ghostly hula dancer in the titular pavilion.  Fun fact:  this story is set in Hawaii to commemorate its induction into the US, so we get a lot of description of the islands, culture, and food.

Case file:  A client of Carson Drew's offers Nancy, Bess, George, AND Hannah (finally Hannah gets to go on an adventure too) an all expenses paid trip to Hawaii to investigate a mystery on his estate:  Mr. Sakamaki's grandfather hid something on the estate, and Mr. Sakamaki has to find it before he can deed the estate to the government of Hawaii.  Meanwhile Carson has to prove that two rival claimants to the estate are fakes.  Ned, Burt, and Dave are also in Hawaii at the same time for something related to their schooling at Emerson College which conveniently requires no time or schoolwork because they're helping Detective Drew and having a luau.

Here's my card:

I think this book is less about the mystery and more about the setting, which is okay every once in a while.  When I first read this as a child, I had never been to Hawaii so reading about the islands was fun.  Now I can say I *have* been to Hawaii : )  I went with the Tropical Oasis DSP for this card, which has a kind of '50s retro Hawaii vibe that's a perfect match for the book.

Nancy and her chums spend a lot of time in the garden on the Sakamaki estate where the pavilion is, so I chose a lovely hibiscus and plumeria floral pattern and stamped some palm trees, but still kept the moody blue background from the cover.

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Timeless Tropical
Ink:  Early Espresso, Grapefruit Grove, Stampin' Blends in Soft Suede & Old Olive
Paper:  Midnight Muse, Thick Basic White, Tropical Oasis DSP, Midnight Muse DSP
Accessories:  In the Tropics dies, Potted Succulents dies, Dimensionals, Share What You Love Artisan Pearls

Once again, I couldn't stop at one card, so here's my second one:

The hula dancer on the cover is pretending to be a ghost dancer to scare Mr. Sakamaki's caretakers because that works on Scooby-Doo and wouldn't you know, my stamp collection includes a hula dancer.  I've had this set for many years now and every once in a while it's fun to play with.  I really should do another card with the surfboard and Hawaiian shirt images in this set.

I went with lighter colors on this card, but kept the pink of Nancy's shirt and the yellow of the pavilion's roof.  Funny story:  when I was in middle school, we did a group trip to Six Flags (an amusement park in Texas) and we were supposed to meet up with whatever group at a certain pavilion.  My friend Eve liked to call it a pavvy-lion (first half rhymes with savvy, second half pronounced like the big cat) and it bugged my little brother SO BAD so of course she said it as often as possible because middle school.  And that's what I think of every time I read the word pavilion, it will always be a pavvy-lion to me.

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Do the Hula
Ink:  Night of Navy, Polished Pink, Crushed Curry, Stampin' Blends in neutrals, Shaded Spruce, Polished Pink
Paper:  Tempting Turquoise, Thick Basic White, Island Oasis DSP
Accessories:  Layering Ovals Framelits, Regal Foiled Dots

The Secret of the Golden Pavilion is a fun installment, a bit light on the mystery but I think it makes up for it with the setting, so I'm giving it four stars.  If you're inspired to make a card based on this book, leave me a comment so I can see : )  Stay tuned next week when we search for The Clue in the Old Stagecoach.  Cheers!

Sea Foam Monstera

Mornin' y'all, how's your Friday?  Ryan is off school today (WHY) and I didn't sleep well last night...only about 30 minutes after I fell asleep, I woke up screaming from a nightmare which never happens.  I can't remember exactly what it was about but it was something scary next to my bed and as I was waking up my mind told me the scary monster next to the bed was...Captain Hook.  The animated one from Disney's Peter Pan.  But scary enough to make me wake up screaming?  Weird.

Anyway, I have a card to share today and guess what?  I used a new stamp set.  And guess what else?  They've already put it on the last chance list.  The heck, SU.  Things are current for a hot minute nowadays if you ask me, which is another reason to play with all my retired stuff so often.  Anyway, here it be:

The colors didn't photograph well but it's what I've got.  I used the colors from the CAS Colours & Sketches challenge:

Soft Sea Foam is not my favorite green, but I do like these colors together.  Also we don't have houseplants in our house, except for one miniature orchid which I think has finally given up the ghost--we bought it as a distressed plant and the hubs has been trying to rehabilitate it, but I think it was too far gone.  It's much kinder to plants if the only ones I have are made out of paper.

Anyway, I am on my second cuppa this morning and I'm about to go chivvy Ryan into doing his homework.  If I don't go nap with Daphne first, she looks adorable.  Cheers!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  On Display
Ink:  Soft Sea Foam, Pool Party, Pretty Peacock
Paper:  Soft Sea Foam, Pretty Peacock, Thick Basic White, Pool Party DSP
Accessories:  On Display dies, Stylish Shapes dies, Mini Dimensionals

Kiwi Valentine

Mornin' y'all!  Posting a bit late today as I had to go to the store this morning...I do NOT have the ingredients for chicken taco soup memorized (whereas I think I could make the beef taco soup in my sleep!), so I had to get a few things for that and the hubs has challenged me to make from-scratch cinnamon rolls for Sunday breakfast this weekend.  This will definitely be a challenge for me but I have the ingredients now, so that's the first step.

Speaking of food, that's what's on my card today.

I knew I wanted to use the kiwi stamps for my card, so I came up with a color combination that I thought would be nice:  Pretty in Pink, Close to Cocoa, Lemon Lime Twist, and black.  Dunno why, but the combination appealed to me.  I used this week's Freshly Made Sketch:

And I've had the Addicted to CAS challenge in the back of my mind ever since it was posted, so I'm glad I finally got a card made for it:

I had pulled out the retired Hello Kiwi stamp set I think at least twice over the past week or so before I finally got my card made for today.  I think 2026 is going to be the year of the retired stamp sets...and why not?  They still work perfectly well and I might as well use them, right?  Doesn't really matter if I'm using current stamps or not since no one I send cards to would know the difference or care about it, so I'm just going to use what makes me happy.

Daphne is looking quite eager to take her daily perambulation, so I'm going to go grab her leash and make her a happy pupper.  Cheers!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Hello Kiwi
Ink:  Lemon Lime Twist, Memento Tuxedo Black
Paper:  Pretty in Pink, Thick Basic White, Close to Cocoa DSP
Accessories:  Mini Dimensionals

Shello

Mornin' y'all!  We got some snow last night, about an inch or two, and Ryan was disappointed that he didn't get at least a two-hour delay today : )  But he's safely at school and he has STEM club today so extra crafty time for me!

So here's my card for today:

Lots of layers today!  I was inspired to go beachy by the Just Add Ink challenge:

I read the colors as Cajun Craze, Crushed Curry (I think it's closer to Darling Duckling or the retired So Saffron, but the patterned paper I wanted to use has Crushed Curry so that's what I went with), Crumb Cake, Pool Party, and Lost Lagoon.  And I got all my layers from the Atlantic Hearts sketch:

I have TEN layers on my card since each panel has a mat around it.  I'll have to weigh it before I mail it out to make sure it doesn't require extra postage.

Daphne is napping adorably in her chair instead of poking me with her nose, so I think I'm going to make a second cuppa tea for myself before I take her for a walk in the snow.  She'll be excited about that, our little Colorado doggo loves playing in the snow.  Cheers!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  By the Tide, Four You
Ink:  Cajun Craze, Lost Lagoon
Paper:  Pool Party, Lost Lagoon, Thick Basic White, Inked Botanicals DSP Stack, Crumb Cake DSP
Accessories:  Dimensionals, Faux Glass Dots

Floral Inspiration for SUO Challenges

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

And today we have a very pretty inspo pic for you:

So here's what I made:

I especially liked the pretty pink flowers on the right side of the inspiration pic, so that's my jumping off point.  I combined a die cut flower from Pretty Florals with die cut leaves from Nature's Symphony, it's one big leafy die but I cut it apart to make the leaves go where I wanted them to for my Artistic Vision (hee).  I used a blending brush to apply Mossy Meadow ink because I didn't want the leaves to be so dark that they overwhelmed the delicate pink flower.  The brick wall embossing folder would have been perfect for a background here but I don't have it, so I used a texture stamp from Nature's Symphony in Smoky Slate ink on my card base.  I chose a Valentine greeting from Bee My Valentine (I think that's still current?  I can't keep track anymore) and done!

Check out the SUO Challenges blog to see more inspiration from the design team, and then upload your own card there.  Don't forget to keep it to only Stampin' Up! products, but retired products are totally allowed.  Have fun!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Nature's Symphony, Bee My Valentine
Ink:  Pretty in Pink, Mossy Meadow, Smoky Slate
Paper:  Thick Basic White
Accessories:  Pretty Florals dies, Nature's Symphony dies, Dimensionals, In Color Flat Pearls

Just a Rose

Mornin' y'all!  I started out strong this morning with a workout and running errands, and now it's 10:30 in the morning and I'm running out of steam.  And apparently poor Daphne has an upset tummy, but maybe a walk will make both of us feel better.

Anyway, once again I have chosen some long-retired stamps to play with instead of breaking in the new ones, but here we go:

We're feeling pink today because of the Inspired By... Challenge:

I looked through my entire stamp collection--twice--and just couldn't settle on anything related to hot chocolate or ice cream to go with this inspo pic, and then I settled on the giant rose from Fifth Avenue Floral because the petals remind me of the swirls in the whipped cream in the picture.

And since I'm using retro stamps, I'm entering this at Retro Rubber:

From some Google snooping, I think both the stamp sets I used today date back to 2013, so they're quite retro at 13 years old now.  I saw other Google hits dating to 2016, so they're *at least* ten years old.  Anyway, for the main flower image, I stamped it in Versamark + Early Espresso, heat embossed with clear powder, and then added some shading with Pretty in Pink (because the Pink Pirouette ink didn't show up enough on the Pink Pirouette cardstock).  A quick snippy-snip and a layer of old DSP, and here's a pretty pink rose card to send out to a friend.

Time for me to take Daphne out for her walk, she's a little extra stir-crazy because we didn't go yesterday so she deserves to go today.  Cheers!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Fifth Avenue Floral, A Dozen Thoughts
Ink:  Versamark, Early Espresso, Pretty in Pink
Paper:  Basic Beige, Early Espresso, Pink Pirouette, Whisper White, Pink Pirouette DSP
Accessories:  Clear EP, Dimensionals, In Color Flat Pearls