Winter Gnome

Mornin' y'all!  Who else had winter weather over the weekend?  Actually it wasn't too bad here, just very cold; we got some snow and ice (enough to give Ryan a two-hour delay starting school) and I'll have to watch for slick spots when I go out today.  The winter weather didn't stop me seeing both The Two Towers and The Return of the King in theaters over my birfday weekend though : ) My ticket for Return of the King was in the very front row so I was basically IN the movie.

Anyway, I have about ten minutes before it's time to get Ryan dressed and out the door for school so I should get on with the card for today:

I actually stamped this winter gnome image when I was kicking around ideas for the recent Signs of Winter challenge at The Paper Players, before I made my winter reading card.   This gnome is also all about winter reading with a nice cuppa, and I thought he would work wonderfully with this Color Dare Challenge: 

I used Pretty Peacock (it's Island Indigo in the DSP, but I think it's close enough to work here), Gorgeous Grape, and Coastal Cabana.  We still don't have Gorgeous Grape Blends (WHY, SU?!) so I had to use Highland Heather, but I used Gorgeous Grape for the card base.  I do love a good purple so that was fun.  I also had to bust out my long-retired Coastal Cabana Blendabilities because we don't have Blends in that color either (WHY, SU?!).  I added a bit of Smoky Slate for the gnome's beard and some ground for him to stand on, and a bit of Petal Pink for his skin, but otherwise only the colors listed.  And I used up some smaller scraps of that pretty DSP!

Okay, that's it for now, peeps.  I've got to get Ryan moving so I can take him to school.  Cheers!

Supplies:
Stamps:  Storytime Gnomes from Spellbinders, Delicate Pines (greeting)
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Stampin' Blends in Highland Heather, Pretty Peacock, Coastal Cabana, Smoky Slate, Petal Pink
Paper:  Gorgeous Grape, Pretty Peacock, Thick Basic White, Winter Frost Specialty DSP
Accessories:  Stitched Nested Labels dies, Dimensionals, Purple Fine Shimmer Gems

Signs of Winter with the Paper Players

Good morning stampy friends!  And it IS a good morning, because it's time for a new challenge from The Paper Players!  Check out the theme this week courtesy of the lovely Joanne:

So when you hear the word winter, what do you think of?  Evergreen trees?  Skiing?  Snowflakes or snowmen?  All valid answers and all on the challenge graphic, but you know what I think winter is for?  Tea and books!  And a snuggley blanket!

Yep, while the hubs and the kiddo were out skiing last weekend, I was snug in our house with a cuppa tea and a good book (and also icing my hand after I fell down, I can't imagine how I would injure myself if I tried skiing).  For my card, I combined a teacup image from the long-retired Take a Sip (a wheel that I unmounted and turned into stamps, it lives in the stamp case with the coordinating Morning Cup stamp set) and a stack of books from last year's For the Books.  I found my winter greeting in Delicate Pines, and I took my colors mostly from the Penguin Playmates DSP, though the pattern I used is monochromatic Fresh Freesia--I chose the snowflake pattern to support the winter theme of my card.  I had fun coloring in my stack of books, added a few Two-Toned Sparkle Gems even though this is a CAS design, and done.  The color on the sparkle gems doesn't show up too well in my picture but it does coordinate well with my card IRL.

Do you like to read?  My kiddo does not, which I find inconceivable.  Last week I was reading The Lord of the Rings:  The Return of the King, and now I am reading the third book in the Anne of Green Gables series.  I read every single day and can't imagine going any length of time without reading something.  I've been a bit fixated on Middle Earth of late, which is funny because the first time I read the books I thought they were an absolute slog, but I enjoyed them much more this time around.  Next Saturday the hubs and I are going to see the extended edition of The Two Towers on the big screen for my birthday.  I have the movies in our library, but there's no telling how long it would take me to get through an almost 4-hour movie when I'm getting interrupted by Ryan or Daphne or bedtime or laundry or what have you, so I will enjoy going to see it all in one go in theaters.  Going to the movies is also a fun winter activity : )

I digress.  I hope you'll check out the Paper Players blog to see what my teamies think of when winter is upon us, and upload your own creation there.  You can also hop through all the blogs:

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:  Take a Sip, For the Books, Delicate Pines
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Stampin' Blends in Balmy Blue, Fresh Freesia, Just Jade, Pretty in Pink, Soft Sea Foam, Ivory, Bronze
Paper:  Balmy Blue, Thick Basic White, Penguin Playmates DSP
Accessories:  Nested Essentials dies, Dimensionals, Two-Toned Sparkle Gems

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

Pineflake

Mornin' y'all!  Ryan is at school for some kind of elementary assessment thing (he says they have to do reading on a computer) and I have to pick him up in a half hour, which is happily enough time for me to enjoy my morning cuppa : ) and share a card.

I finally made a pineflake!  I bought Delicate Pines months ago and before now I'd only used one of the greeting stamps, so it was fun to make a pineflake for today.  Love this different take on snowflakes.

I took the Atlantic Hearts sketch and turned it on its side:

My sentiment doesn't show up as well as I might like, but I had already stuck down the DSP when I stamped it so that's how it is.  The pineflake was sinking into the background a little too much, so I added a second pineflake stamped in Shaded Spruce on Old Olive cardstock, glued them together and popped it up on Dimensionals, which I think solved the problem.  I added a mini pineflake in Cherry Cobbler and a few Gold Textured Dots to finish it off.

I made another card with this sketch before this one and I'll share it this afternoon if I can.  After I pick Ryan up, we've got to walk Daphne (of course) and then there's a potluck thing at the hubs' work (this time I got all three planned desserts made ahead of time), and after that I'm going to take Ryan to do some Christmas shopping.  So that's the plan for today.  Cheers, y'all!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Delicate Pines
Ink:  Shaded Spruce, Old Olive, Cherry Cobbler
Paper:  Shaded Spruce, Old Olive, Cherry Cobbler, Thick Basic White, Elegant Pine DSP
Accessories:  Delicate Pines dies, Gold Textured Dots, Dimensionals

Winter Bear

Hey y'all, happy Thanksgiving!  We are spending our Thanksgiving once again with Bennet and Missy and their family, so it's a bunch of Baylor bears.  So I have a bear card to share today!

I am a massive sucker for any stamps featuring bears : )  I love Woodland Scenery (which is where the bear and the trees came from) and somehow this is the first time I've used it despite owning it since like September.  Oh yeah, appendix : p  This is also the first time I've inked up any of the stamps in Delicate Pines, I haven't even made a single pine-flake yet!  I did, at least, cut into the Elegant Pine Snowflakes DSP for this card.

So, this started out with a CASE-ing Tuesday Sketch:

But somewhere along the way, I took a bit of a left turn and my card doesn't really reflect the sketch.  I still like it though and I want to cut into more of those gorgeous papers!

Okay, I'm off to feast like a beast for the rest of the day.  Hope you have a great celebration if you're doing Thanksgiving, otherwise I wish you a great Thursday.  Cheers!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Woodland Scenery, Delicate Pines
Ink:  Crumb Cake, Secret Sea
Paper:  Old Olive, Crumb Cake, Elegant Pine Snowflakes DSP, Festive Glimmer Paper
Accessories:  Stylish Shapes dies, Textured Notes dies, Speckled Dots