On the Diagonal

Mornin' y'all!  We had some exciting news yesterday at Ryan's taekwondo studio...the guy who runs the place will be doing his 7th degree black belt test soon, and a big part of the test is how he teaches students.  So he is asking students at each learning level to be a part of his test, and Ryan is one of just two kids in his class to be asked to participate!  Honestly I think I might be more excited about it than Ryan is.  We were already planning to go watch just because we wanted to see what was involved at a belt test at that level.  So in a couple of weeks, Ryan will get to help with it!

Anyway, I spent some quality time in the craft room yesterday, finished three scrapbook layouts, and made this card:

Here's the color challenge from Color Throwdown:

I used Smoky Slate, Berry Burst, and Lost Lagoon for my colors (plus a tiny bit of Bubble Bath for the smaller flowers).  I had to ponder for a bit to choose a stamp set to go with them, but in the end I went with a vase like in the inspo pic.  Here's this week's Freshly Made Sketch:

I must admit, I did NOT like this sketch at first glance.  I think I even made a face.  I had no idea what to do with it...so imagine my surprise when I ended up with a card that I like!  That's what makes it a challenge, I suppose!  I added one more challenge too, courtesy of Just Add Ink:

Sparkly things are notoriously hard to photograph, but I have Wink of Stella on the larger flowers, then Tinsel Gems in their centers, and if that's not enough, I added some Shiny Sequins on the diagonal.  Also I think that greeting stamp from Latte Love is my favorite stamp in the whole set : )  I need to get some cards out in the mail today.

Gotta go get the kiddo off to school.  And then I'm hoping my SU! order shows up early rather than later this afternoon.  Cheers, y'all!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Everyday Details, Latte Love
Ink:  Basic Gray, Smoky Slate, Stampin' Blends in Smoky Slate, Berry Burst, Lost Lagoon, and Bubble Bath
Paper:  Lost Lagoon, Berry Burst, Thick Basic White, A Little Latte DSP
Accessories:  Dimensionals, Tinsel Gems, Wink of Stella, Shiny Sequins

Radiant Zinnias

Mornin' y'all!  I had a busy day yesterday but I started it off with some retail therapy :D  I placed a big fat new catty order with SU! and for the first time EVER I sprang for the 2-day shipping so my new goodies get here tomorrow.  Woooooo!  Yeah, I've been a demonstrator for 19 years I think and this is the first time I've done speedy shipping.  I realized this morning that I neglected to put the very colorful Full of Life DSP on my order, so perhaps I will go back and pick up one or two other things in a week or two.

In the meantime, I'm still playing with some relatively new goodies!

Now THAT'S a bright and cheery card, am I right?  I used the fun sketch from Sunday Stamps:

And the hot color combo from Cupcake Inspirations:

I used Flirty Flamingo, Pumpkin Pie, and Poppy Parade, and I hope they won't mind I also used Parakeet Party for the stems and leaves.  The Radiating Stitches dies added some fun detail, too, and I finished off with a few sequins.

Alright y'all, I got a good night's sleep last night (finally!) so I am ready to tackle some fun projects today.  Cheers, y'all!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Simply Zinnia, Blueberry Bunches
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Poppy Parade, Stampin' Blends in Flirty Flamingo, Pumpkin Pie, Poppy Parade, Parakeet Party
Paper:  Poppy Parade, Thick Basic White, Most Adored DSP, Pumpkin Pie DSP
Accessories:  Simply Zinnia dies, Radiating Stitches dies, Shiny Sequins, Dimensionals

Mountain Adventure

Mornin' y'all!  And happy new catalog day!  I need to fine-tune my order today...I didn't preorder anything, I've been waiting for today, so that will definitely be happening once I get Ryan off to school.  In the meantime, for today's card I finally busted open The Best Destination kit that I bought quite some time ago ; )

The mountain scene is cut from one of the triple-panel cards in the kit; I stamped a greeting from the kit's stamp set (which was the whole reason I bought the kit, I liked the stamps) on a label die cut from the kit.  Then I added a piece of Enjoy the Journey DSP for the background panel, which also has mountains on it.  Check out the sketch from Hand-Stamped Sentiments:

And the fun new challenge from Festive Friday:

I used pink, metallic elements, and mountains for my card.  It was the "mountains" part that led me first to the Enjoy the Journey DSP, and then I remembered that kit that was languishing on my stamp shelves and then the card came together pretty quickly.  The tag from the kit has a gold border, so I added a few more gold accents to match it.

Okay, time for me to take the kiddo to school and then I can work on that big fat SU! order.  Just don't tell my hubs on me ; )  Cheers!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  The Best Destination kit
Ink:  Starry Sky
Paper:  Flirty Flamingo, gold foil, Enjoy the Journey DSP, elements from The Best Destination kit
Accessories:  gold baker's twine, gold metallic dot, Dimensionals

Kiwi Berry Greeting

Howdy, y'all!  I didn't get to do anything in my craft room yesterday with Ryan being out of school (he will be fine and he's not contagious, so he's back at school today sporting approximately 3,497 Band-Aids where he itches) so I just made this card a few minutes ago.  Take a look:

Last day to order Hello Kiwi if you haven't already!  I think it's so fun and I wish I had played with it more since I bought it, but that's usually how it goes.  Maybe I get too many different stamp sets?  NAAHHHH that's not it.

Anyway, check out Joanne's fun sketch for the Paper Players this week and my goodness I cannot type today, you're lucky you can't see all my typos.

I really like the mood board at Inkspirational, too:

The two pictures of rainbow-colored macarons had me thinking of food (for reals, I pulled out four stamp sets when I was deciding which one to use for the challenges and all four were food-related) and I loved all the colors together.  I knew from the jump that I wanted to use the pattern with the big dots for my background and built the card from there.

Okay, I'm going to run back upstairs and work on some more stuff because I know I will be busy most of the day tomorrow while Ryan is at school so I won't have a chance to craft.  Well really part of the day I will be crafting, I'm going to my mom's house and she's going to teach me how she finishes cross stitch pieces into Christmas ornaments.  But I won't be in my craft room.  And I have THREE scrapbook layouts on the floor in there just waiting for titles and journaling, so I wanna get that done.

Cheers, y'all!  For some reason I'm hungry now too...

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Hello Kiwi
Ink:  Lemon Lime Twist, Berry Burst, Memento Tuxedo Black
Paper:  Lemon Lime Twist, Thick Basic White, Bright & Beautiful DSP Stack
Accessories:  Stylish Shapes dies, Shiny Sequins, Dimensionals

Blowing Rock

Scrappy Monday, y'all.  I've got Ryan home from school today because he developed some type of rash on his arms and legs--he's all over bumps.  So I'll be calling the doctor's office as soon as they open to get him an appointment.  In the meantime, I still got up fairly early and did a workout, then bought some new dishes because Fiestaware came out with a new color and y'all know how I feel about having ALL THE COLORS, ha.

And speaking of colors, my favorite ever set of In Colors will officially retire at the end of the day tomorrow, so I picked today's scrapbook layouts because they showcase Orchid Oasis and Starry Sky, both of which I love, with a healthy dash of Polished Pink because I would swap Melon Mambo for Polished Pink in a heartbeat.  Take a look:

These pics are from 2020, not too long before we moved from NC to Germany.  We had driven out to Tennessee to meet up with the hubs' sister and her family in the Smoky Mountains, and on the way back to our house, we stopped in the Blowing Rock area for a couple of days.  I took Ryan's pic next to that sign in the shop for the eponymous Blowing Rock attraction and let it be my page title because I'm smart like that.  And check out all those hydrangeas in the photo on the top right!  That led to me picking Hydrangea Haven for accent images, and drove my color choices too.  I'm real pleased with the color combo on this.  Good thing I built up a stash of the retiring In Colors.

Bonus layout today : ) We had too many good pictures from this stop on our trip to only do one layout.  We visited Blowing Rock in the morning and then went out to Grandfather Mountain in the afternoon.  Saw some great views over the mountains, it was gorgeous.

Today's color palette:  Orchid Oasis (page base), Mango Melody (DSP), Polished Pink (DSP, accents), Starry Sky (photo mats), Garden Green (in the photos and for stamped leaves), and white.  That Enjoy the Journey DSP came up on the clearance rack last week, and if I hadn't already hoarded like five packs of it, I would have been all over getting more of it.  It's one of the standout paper packs from the last few years in my opinion.

Anyway, I feel like I've chattered a lot here.  Time to call the doc for Ryan and we'll see what the rest of the day holds.  Cheers, peeps!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Hydrangea Haven, Country Bouquet
Ink:  Orchid Oasis, Garden Green, Starry Sky, Polished Pink
Paper:  Orchid Oasis, Starry Sky, Polished Pink, Thick Basic White, Enjoy the Journey DSP
Accessories:  Hydrangea dies, Country Bouquet punch

Stellar Astronaut

Mornin' y'all!  Ryan let me spend time in my craft room yesterday ; ) so in addition to working on some scrapbook pages, I busted out a new-to-me stamp set for its maiden voyage:

Reach for the Stars caught my eye as soon as the catalog debuted last year, but I didn't buy it until it went on the retirement list.  I was intrigued by the color palette from Just Add Ink:

It seemed like a good match for this stamp set.  The Coastal Cabana doesn't show up too well in the photo, but I used it to add some shading detail on the astronaut.  I did Wink of Stella on the helmet and for once the sparkle is kinda showing up!

This outgoing set of In Colors has been my very favorite, hands down, and I've bought several packs of Starry Sky cardstock and ink refills in particular.  It's so great when you want something not quite as dark as Night of Navy.  I'm looking forward to seeing the incoming batch of In Colors; I haven't done an order yet as I was waiting for May 1.

Ryan also wanted to get in on the craft room action:

He wanted a 3D rocket, and we went around a bit about how to make it as tall as he wanted.  In the end, I cut a strip of cardstock into 1" sections, scored at 1/4" and 3/4" inch and folded them into a U-shape.  Then I glued them in between two stamped rockets, which Ryan stamped, die cut, and then watercolored.

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

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Reach for the Stars
Ink:  Starry Sky, Coastal Cabana
Paper:  Berry Burst, Thick Basic White, Stargazing DSP
Accessories:  Reach for the Stars dies, In Color Pearls, Dimensionals

Countryside Bluebonnets

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

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

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

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

I'm also entering this at the Paper Players:

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

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

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

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

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