Glitter Dragonfly

Mornin' y'all!  Hope your day is going well.  I am hoping to get some Serious Card Making done today because tomorrow is Ryan's last day of school so I won't have as much uninterrupted kid-free time after that and I will be doing my taxi service for a good part of the summer.  So I gotta craft now, right?

Okay, here's my card for today:

This week I have been having trouble connecting to challenges and actually sitting down to make things, it happens sometimes.  So I was looking through my stamp shelves yesterday and I was thinking about a couple of themes from different challenges and nothing was clicking and then I saw Dragonfly Dreams and it works for *two* challenges, neither of them the themes I was looking for to start with, but the idea for this card popped in my head fast so I'll take it.  DONE.  I had a hard time photographing this card though, the first picture showed the Highland Heather glimmer paper on the dragonfly better but made the Lemon Lime Twist card base look radioactive, so I used this photo.  Imagine the dragonfly is more purple, but hey, you can see the sparkle this time!

First up is the Retro Rubber sketch challenge:

I had no idea in mind for this sketch when I was looking through my stamp sets, but that dotty fill-in stamp in Dragonfly Dreams ended up working nicely.  I just checked through my older posts and I got Dragonfly Dreams about a month before Ryan was born, so it is also nine years old, which is retro in stamp years but not kid years.

Next up is the Color Hues Challenge:

I used Lemon Lime Twist and Granny Apple Green for two hues of lime green, and Highland Heather and Gorgeous Grape for two hues of violet.  I wanted to do something not-floral with these colors and had kinda been thinking about going for a Halloween card (it's never too early for Halloween at my house), but I do like the dragonfly with these colors.  Ooh, I have Granny Apple Green glimmer paper, I could make this card again in reverse!  I might just do that.

Daphne says it's a nice day out and she wants to go for a walk.  We've gotten some rain this week, which is great, but it's been so cool out it feels more like March than May.  So I'll take some nice sunny weather before I go up to the craft room, which is my reward for doing four loads of laundry yesterday.  Cheers!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Dragonfly Dreams
Ink:  Granny Apple Green, Gorgeous Grape
Paper:  Lemon Lime Twist, Basic White, Highland Heather glimmer paper
Accessories:  Detailed Dragonfly dies, Dimensionals, Tinsel Gems

Midnight Moths

Mornin' y'all!  Yesterday turned out to be a bit on the crazy side and it's looking like today is shaping up to be more of the same.  Daphne is on a bland chicken and rice diet while we try to figure out why she doesn't want to eat her normal food (and knowing her, she's probably just holding out for treats and there's nothing wrong) but she's acting like she feels perfectly fine.  Anyway, I do have errands to run and laundry to switch out and other things to do, so let's get to it.

Here's my card for today:

I just had to break into more of my Midnight Flora DSP and I definitely need another pack of this just to hoard it, and possibly a third pack because I am a paper dragon.  I let the paper do the work for the Sunday Stamps sketch:

The only stamping is the greeting block and the moth I colored with Golden Glow Blends and then went over with the Golden Glow glitter brush.  I got that color and the Hydrangea Hue one, they're basically Wink of Stella but colored.  I like it.  I had stamped the poppy bouquet to put on the card somewhere but I ended up wanting more of the patterned paper to show, so those poppies will have to wait for another card.  Oh, I almost forgot, I put the two patterned paper panels on Peaceful Pine mats, but I wanted the green to be a bit darker to match the front pattern more, so I simply colored the edges of the cardstock with my dark Peaceful Pine Blend.  Et voilà, a darker shade of Peaceful Pine.  Simples.

Okay, looks like it's drying up a bit so maybe if I take Daph out now we won't get rained on too much.  Cheers!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Fern & Flora
Ink:  Secret Sea, Golden Glow, Stampin' Blends in Golden Glow & Peaceful Pine
Paper:  Secret Sea, Peaceful Pine, Thick Basic White, Midnight Flora DSP
Accessories:  Fern & Flora dies, Dimensionals, Golden Glow glitter brush, In Color Flat Pearls

Snail Mail

Mornin' y'all!  And a busy one at that.  Ryan had me drive him to school today (can't blame him, it's chilly and misty out) and then I had to drop off a package and grab a few things at the grocery store; my hair dryer gave out after many many years of faithful service and now I have just a few minutes to type this up before I take Daphne to the vet.  As if to prove that she's Just Fine Thankyouverymuch, she ate her breakfast and is now playing vigorously with her toys behind me.

Anyway, today's quick & cute card:

CAS on Friday wants to see envelopes, and Joanne had used this cute snail for a card recently so I had to get him out myself.  I was really intrigued by this week's Creative Colour Challenge:

I don't think I would have put those together on my own but I do really like the combination and I thought it worked great for the snail.  I went back and forth about whether or not to color in his eyes and I think maybe I should have left them uncolored, but too late now.

Okay, off to take Miss Girl to the vet.  Cheers!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Snailed It
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Bubble Bath, Stampin' Blends in Bubble Bath, Crumb Cake, Shaded Spruce
Paper:  Bubble Bath, Thick Basic White
Accessories:  Snail dies, Dimensionals

Buzzy Bee

Mornin' y'all!  A bit late with the blog post this morning, I drove Ryan to school and then I went to Target to get a shoe rack for the hubs and a gift card for Ryan's teacher since this is the last week of school.  Then I made an appointment for Daphne at the vet tomorrow...she's been acting a bit weird and not wanting to eat her food, which is definitely abby normal for her, so we're getting her checked out.  But for now, I managed to squeak in enough craft room time yesterday to make a card:

I had thought I would just miss out on the bee-tastic Festive Friday Challenge because I thought it ended last week, but I'm in luck, it's still on:

I have yellow, black, hexagons, bees, and flowers, so half the list.  I paired that with the Freshly Made Sketch from last week:

I used hexagons instead of circles and plopped my extra-large bee on top of the three hexagons, but I think you can see I started from the sketch.

That's it for now, peeps.  We did get our closet painted on Saturday, which took forever because I do the edge work and there's a lot of shelves in there, but it's done and looks so much brighter than before, I love it.  But now I need to get the rest of my stuff in there, I did the hangy-up stuff and some plastic drawers yesterday but I haven't refilled the shelves yet.  Fun times, I tell ya.  Cheers!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Bee My Valentine
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Pool Party, Petunia Pop
Paper:  Daffodil Delight, Basic Black, Basic White, Cute as Can Bee DSP
Accessories:  Hexagon punch, Beautiful Shapes dies, Bee Builder Punch, Dimensionals, Hearts & Flowers embellishments

Snack Time with The Paper Players

Gooooood morning stampy friends!  Thanks to everyone who played along with Claire's fun color challenge last week, our gallery was small but mighty!  Today, the Paper Players are back with a great new challenge from the artistic Ann!

This was another time when I have SO MANY stamp sets I could use that it might have given me decision paralysis and then I ended up with two cards.  Last Friday was National Chocolate Chip Day (who knew that was a thing, but I approve), so I made a batch of chocolate chip cookies and then I discovered later on Friday afternoon that National Chocolate Chip COOKIE Day is actually August 4, but I figured chocolate chip cookies count for National Chocolate Chip Day as well.  And Ryan got to gloat because he was right that Friday was National Chocolate Chip Day and not National Chocolate Chip Cookie Day, so I'm glad to see they're teaching him the really important stuff at school.  Anyway, here's my card:

I bought the stamp set Roadies 19 from The Ink Road *just* for that greeting because my brother and I grew up eating raw cookie dough, which I realize may be a divisive subject but I thought this stamp was just hilarious.  I stamped the cookies from Nothing's Better Than and then put together a very simple CAS layout on a Pool Party card base, which I chose honestly because I was wearing a Pool Party-ish colored shirt when I made the card, and Pool Party looked good with Baked Brown Sugar and Early Espresso.

Supplies:
Stamps:  Nothing's Better Than, Roadies 19 from The Ink Road
Ink:  Baked Brown Sugar, Early Espresso
Paper:  Pool Party, Thick Basic White
Accessories:  Love You More Than dies, Stylish Shapes dies, Dimensionals

However, I had already made a different card for this challenge and I think it still deserves to be shared here, so take a look at a bonus card:

My dad and I like to share really silly puns ("dad jokes") with each other, and I will be mailing this card to him.  There was a Paper Pumpkin kit a while back that was based entirely on food puns, and I restarted my Paper Pumpkin subscription specifically to get that kit (and let's not talk about the 3-foot tall stack of other Paper Pumpkin kits that have not been opened, I conquered my FOMO and stopped my subscription again so at least that stack isn't getting any taller).  There's a little stamped image of an egg but I thought I could make a CAS fried egg out of cardstock, so that's what I did.  I die cut a circle for the yolk and then free-hand cut an amorphous shape for the egg white, sponged the edges of both pieces, and added a very simple greeting popped up on Dimensionals.  I chose a Basic Gray card base to look like a frying pan.

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  My Paper Pumpkin
Ink:  Basic Gray, Crumb Cake, Pumpkin Pie
Paper:  Basic Gray, Basic White, Mango Melody
Accessories:  Dimensionals

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!

The Double Jinx Mystery

Mornin' y'all and welcome to the FIFTIETH Nancy Drew Challenge!  I am still just having the best time entertaining myself over here, both reading the books and making cards for them, and I hope you're enjoying the journey with me.  So today, Nancy takes on The Double Jinx Mystery.

Once again we have a mostly brown cover (see also 99 Steps and Crossword Cipher), but this time Nancy is wearing a pretty cool 70s orange collared shirt with a fun pattern (this book was first published in 1973, still some years before I was even born).  Not sure why Nancy looks extra worried on this one, but hey, we get another Ned cover!  I had some fun using this cover for inspiration, as you'll see in a minute.

Case file:  Carson asks Nancy to help investigate a case where a town is considering tearing down a family-owned zoo and aviary to make way for a high-rise apartment complex.  Someone is trying to convince the owners of the zoo/aviary that they're being jinxed, so there's quite a lot about superstitions and it's very clear that Harriet Stratemeyer Adams gives superstitious people short shrift.  Nancy and Ned both contract ornithosis (different from bird flu according to Google, but it sounds similar) while investigating and Nancy gets kidnapped by one of the most bizarre villains ever, a mentally unbalanced male ballet dancer.  A bonkers ballerino, if you will.

Here's my card:

A lot of this book has to do with birds, and one of the characters is a foreign exchange student from an unnamed Eurasian country who brings along her pet wryneck woodpecker while studying in the States, like you do.  I don't have any wryneck stamps, but I figured a feather would do, and I had a good (and messy) time making the background with watercolor paper, ink refills, and salt.  I dripped the ink on wet watercolor paper, then spritzed more water to get the colors to run, and when you sprinkle salt on and let it dry, it kinda gives you freckles, which I liked.

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Fine Feathers, Sincere Salutations
Ink:  Peach Pie, Pecan Pie, Early Espresso
Paper:  Early Espresso, Basic Beige, watercolor paper, Autumn Toile DSP
Accessories:  Lots of Labels dies, In Color Dots, Dimensionals

I was having SUCH a good time with my background that I ended up with several more pieces, and I thought I could make a better card than the first one, so here is attempt #2:

I do like this one better with the fussy-cut feathers, and I feel like it lets more of the fun background show.  I chose the good luck greeting for both of these cards since so much of the book has to deal with people thinking they're jinxed or getting bad luck from all kinds of things, which reminded me of the peacock-induced bad luck from The Hidden Window Mystery.

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Fine Feathers, Sincere Salutations
Ink:  Peach Pie, Pecan Pie, Early Espresso
Paper:  Early Espresso, Basic Beige, Very Vanilla, watercolor paper, Autumn Toile DSP
Accessories:  Rectangles Stitched dies, Pecan Pie Ribboned Dots, Dimensionals

And then I liked the second card so much that I just had to keep going and make a third:

I had to do a get well card since Nancy and Ned both come down with ornithosis in this book, it just made me giggle.  And this time I found a piece of DSP with a great circle pattern that matches Nancy's shirt!

As soon as I found that pattern in the Gathering Together Specialty DSP I knew I would use it.  The watercolor bit is a leftover piece from my first watercolor background so I kind of had to build the rest of the card around it.

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Wildlife Wonder, Teeny Tiny Wishes
Ink:  Peach Pie, Pecan Pie, Early Espresso
Paper:  Pecan Pie, Early Espresso, Very Vanilla, watercolor paper, Gathering Together Specialty DSP
Accessories:  Layering Circles dies, Circles Collection Framelits, Dimensionals, Earthy Matte Dots

This book and its focus on superstitions and bad luck is just a little weird to me, and that's even before we get to the bonkers ballerino, so I'm giving it two and a half stars.  I think several books in the 50s go a bit off the track but sometimes the really bananas ones are the most fun (the high-water mark for bananas shenanigans is still a tie between Brass-Bound Trunk and Moss-Covered Mansion, and I really love those), but this one just feels weird without the extra fun.  Anyway, I hope it inspires you to make something and if so, leave me a comment!  And make sure to tune in next Saturday when things get *really* weird (again!) for Mystery of the Glowing Eye.

Sketchy Pair

Mornin' y'all!  Happy Friday.  I have some work ahead of me today; I need to clear everything out of our closet because we're painting the master closet and all the ceilings in the master suite this weekend.  Hope it won't take too long before we paint the walls, too--I'm ready to have all that greige gone!  Well, after we paint the master suite, we'll still have greige in some of the smaller closets, but I'll let that slide because they don't bother me as much.

Anyway, I sat down yesterday to make a card based on a sketch, and since I let the patterned paper pretty much do all the work, I ended up with two cards:

And here's the sketch from Hand-Stamped Sentiments:

For the card on the left, I snipped the flowers out of some Lovely Blossoms DSP and that panel was not quite as wide as on the original sketch, but I think you can tell that's where I started.  And then I just had to make a second card with the Midnight Flora DSP too because I hadn't played with it for a little bit.

Time for me to get Ryan ready for school and then I'm going to start pulling everything out of the closet.  And then later today I've gotta make cookies because it's National Chocolate Chip Cookie Day, which is definitely an important holiday.  Cheers, y'all!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Words of Beauty
Ink:  Secret Sea
Paper:  Barely Blush, Cloud Cover, Peaceful Pine, Secret Sea, Thick Basic White, Lovely Blossoms DSP, Midnight Flora DSP
Accessories:  Words of Beauty dies, Mini Dimensionals, Natural Matte Dots, linen thread, Night of Navy bakers twine

California Poppies

Mornin' y'all.  I've been feeling a bit under the weather since yesterday, not sure why, but I plan to take it easy today and get some rest to see if that helps.  Not that I'm usually all that wild and crazy, but ya know.  So far the craziest thing I've done is buy fourteen books : )  No wait, it was fifteen.  I found a couple of lots of Hardy Boys books on eBay for cheaps and I got a couple new Kindle books as well.  Yay new books!  And Ryan has soccer practice tonight, which means a guaranteed hour of reading time for me.

Anyway, I did get a card made to share today, having some fun exploring different color combinations with Fern & Flora, and I thought I'd try one of the smaller floral stamps for today:

I used this week's Creative Colour Challenge:

And now I think the flowers look like California poppies, which is fun.  I added just a teensy tiny bit of Smoky Slate shading on my image, but I ended up with a Smoky Slate card base just to make sure that color registers on my card.  I did a mirror image of the CAS Colours & Sketches sketch:

I almost always do my diagonals going upwards because it feels happier to me, is that weird?  If I use patterned paper with a diagonal on a scrapbook page, it's going up towards the right with very few exceptions.  Just how my brain works, I guess.  Anyway, I debated what to use for that diagonal on the sketch, and decided to just die cut a couple of ferns.

That's it for me today, peeps.  Daphne is already asking to go for a walk and then maybe I'll convince her to sit with me on the couch and watch The Mandalorian.  Or take a nap.  Cheers!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Fern & Flora
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Stampin' Blends in Pumpkin Pie, Lost Lagoon, Smoky Slate
Paper:  Smoky Slate, Lost Lagoon, Thick Basic White
Accessories:  Fern & Flora dies, Nested Essentials dies, Dimensionals

Pink Peony

Mornin' y'all!  It's really nice outside so I opened the back door for Daphne, and she's been doing speed racer laps from the backyard into the house and back out again.  She looks like a happy doggo.

For today's card, I brought out another older stamp set and had some fun with masking and blending brushes, take a look:

HOLY COW I hadn't used Beautiful Day for SIX YEARS!!!  Well, I'm glad I brought it out of retirement for today's card.  It doesn't show much in the picture but I painted the navy lines on the flower with Wink of Stella for a bit of sparkle.  I wanted a big, bold flower for the Inspired By... Challenge:

Isn't that a lovely inspo pic?  I always love the combination of pink and navy, and those vases are gorgeous.  I paired that with this week's Atlantic Hearts sketch:

I didn't put my dotty embellishments in the same place as on the sketch but hopefully the Challenge Police will let it slide this time.  I had a good time yesterday putting this card together, it was so fun to bust out that stamp set again.

Time to finish my tea and then take Miss Daphne for a walk, if she has enough energy after her zoomies this morning.  Oh who am I kidding, Daph always has energy for a walk.  Cheers!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Beautiful Day
Ink:  Night of Navy, Pretty in Pink, Mossy Meadow
Paper:  Pretty in Pink, Thick Basic White, Floral Boutique DSP, Mossy Meadow DSP
Accessories:  Stitched So Sweetly dies, Dimensionals, In Color Flat Pearls, Wink of Stella

A Beachy Sketch for SUO Challenges

Goooood morning stampy friends!  Are you ready for a new challenge from SUO Challenges?  Because we have one heading your way, and it's a fun sketch:

I mentioned yesterday that I finally got the Rolling Waves bundle in my hot little hands, and I couldn't resist using it for this sketch, so here's my card:

I had a good time layering the dies and the stamped detail for the waves, with the white foam standing in for the green strip on the sketch.  I combined two sets of circle dies for the sentiment and the only thing I wish I could change is where I put the seashell, it should be up closer to the sentiment but I'd already glued it down so there it stays.  A few In Color Dots and done!

I do have to say, though, that somehow I managed to order TWO of this bundle, I guess I was just so excited when it finally was back in stock?  That's the first time that's happened in over twenty years of being a demo for SU!, and in fact I had no idea that SU! doesn't do returns, only exchanges.  So I sent back the extra bundle for a very boring exchange of cardstock and some stamp cases.  That'll teach me to look more carefully before I submit an order!

Anyway, I hope you'll enjoy this sketch as much as I did, and upload your card to the SUO Challenges blog.  Don't forget that this is a Stampin' Up! Only challenge, like it says on the tin : ) Have fun!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Rolling Waves
Ink:  Blueberry Bushel, Coastal Cabana, Crumb Cake
Paper:  Blueberry Bushel, Coastal Cabana, Crumb Cake, Basic White
Accessories:  Rolling Waves dies, Spotlight on Nature dies, Stylish Shapes dies, Dimensionals, In Color Dots

Pastel Shells

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

Anyway, I do have a card to share today:

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

Here's the Retro Rubber color challenge:

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

And I slightly modified the TGIF Challenges sketch:

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

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

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

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

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

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

T-Rexcellent Colors for The Paper Players

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

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

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

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

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

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

Check out the other design team creations on the Paper Players blog, and you can hop through their individual blogs to leave some comments too:

The Paper Players Design Team

Jaydee

LeAnne Pugliese

Claire Broadwater

Joanne James

Anne Marie Hile

Ann Schach

Jan Clothier

Stef Perry

you are here --> Christy Stanford

And then upload your card at the Paper Players blog!  Keep in mind a few simple rules:
1.  Create a new paper project
2.  Upload your creation to your blog with a link back to us and provide a direct link to the post featuring your challenge submission
3.  Please link your card to no more than four challenges, TOTAL
4.  Have fun!

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

The Secret of Mirror Bay

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

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

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

Here's my card:

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

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

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

And I have one more card:

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

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

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

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

BOOP.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Ocean Mosaic

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

I used this week's Freshly Made Sketch:

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

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

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

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

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

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