New Colors! Squeeee!

So I finally got my new catty preorder yesterday!  But Mr. Brown delivers late in this area, so I got it around 4:30 (which is actually early for UPS at this house) and then I was working on two different scrapbook layouts and I had book club last night and basically I didn't get to play with any of the new colors until this morning.  So feast your eyes!

The two new colors here are Cucumber Crush and Watermelon Wonder, and that patterned paper is from the new Cherry on Top 6x6 paper stack.  LOVE IT.  I'm mixing the incoming colors with some outgoing stamps, both Mixed Bunch and Four You are retiring.

My quick and easy card is thanks to this wonderful Freshly Made Sketch:

And of course the blossom punch that coordinated with my flower stamp.  Easy peasy lemon squeezy!

I'm off for a Skype date with Missy and then more quality time with these new In Colors.  Cheers, peeps!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Mixed Bunch, Four You
Ink:  Watermelon Wonder, Bermuda Bay, Cucumber Crush
Paper:  Cucumber Crush, Whisper White, Cherry On Top DSP Stack
Accessories:  blossom punch, 1" circle punch, Dimensionals, rhinestone

Nachos: Tangerine Hello

Happy Nacho day, peeps!  Yep, it's time once again for a Nacho Average Sketch Challenge:

Fun, right?  I think so.  And here's what I made:

I went pretty literal this time and even used the exact same flower shape from the sketch :)  I started with a piece of patterned paper that I really liked and let it dictate the colors:  the flower is Tangerine Tango, the card base is Night of Navy, and the sentiment is Lost Lagoon.  But I thought maybe I needed more Lost Lagoon, so I made this version:

Now it doesn't look so white-on-white, though maybe I could have used some white EP on this one ;)

So which one do you like better?  The white or Lagoon?

Go check out the Nacho blog for more pretties, and then make one of your own and post it over there so we can see it.  Have fun, peeps!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Mixed Bunch, Four You
Ink:  Tangerine Tango, Lost Lagoon, Whisper White
Paper:  Night of Navy, Lost Lagoon, Whisper White, Flower Pot DSP
Accessories:  Oval Framelits, Blossom punch, hexagon punch, Dimensionals

Nachos: Sunshine & Butterflies

Hellooooo Nacho fans!  Are ya ready for a brand-new Nacho Average Color Challenge?  Because here it is!

Three Regals colors, love it!  Have I ever mentioned how happy I am that Crushed Curry came back to the regular SU! color lineup?  Mah favorite yaller ever.  (You're supposed to read that with a fake cowboy accent.)

Anywha!  Here's my creation:

I used my paper piercing tool and a couple of piercing templates to do the butterfly toots.  I mean, why do we always draw flight paths behind butterflies and airplanes?  For the airplanes, it's exhaust or condensation, right?  So this must be butterfly toots.

I think I've already spent too much time thinking about this.

Go see what the other Nachos have made and then give it a whirl yourself!  Link up on the Nacho Average Challenges blog so we can ooh and ahh over your creation :)

Cheers, peeps!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Feel Goods, Mixed Bunch, Papillon Potpourri
Ink:  Island Indigo, Perfect Plum, Crushed Curry
Paper:  Island Indigo, Perfect Plum, Whisper White
Accessories:  Essentials & Occasions Paper Piercing Packs, Scallop Edge, Blossom & Elegant Butterfly punches, Dimensionals, Rhinestones

Friday Flashback: Vintage Verses

Howdy folks and welcome to this week's Friday Flashback!  I'm a little late getting my post done today, but I've been distracted...I got my preorder goodies in the mail today and I just *had* to have a sit-down with the new catty before I could do anything else.  But I'm ready to go now and this week's randomly chosen retired stamp set is Vintage Verses from last year's Sale-a-Bration!  What's with all the former SAB sets lately?  I don't know, they were all chosen from the proverbial hat.

Also features Mixed Bunch

Here's a very bold bright card to start us off.

Also features Lovely Leaves and Weathered

Something a bit more manly...

Also features Swallowtail

Ok, I admit, this is one of my favorite cards ever.  Gotta love the giant butterfly.

Also features Nature's Pace

And this one...is not my favorite.  Well, they can't *all* be winners.  So that's it for the Flashback, here's today's new card:

You can see I kinda love that little "Just because" stamp :)  And I had to give the World Treasures peacock a little more love since he's on his way to blissful retirement in Jamaica.  That peacock panel was a pain though; I had three different tries at polished stone and one try at doing something on watercolor paper before this one kind of worked.  The Old Olive ink refill muddied the Bermuda Bay too much when I tried to use them together for polished stone, Bermuda Bay was too dark by itself, but Bermuda Bay plus Coastal Cabana seemed to work okay.

I used almost the right colors for this week's Color Throwdown:

I accidentally used Old Olive instead of Lucky Limeade; this is what happens when I try to do color challenges from memory.  I think the Old Olive is close enough for me to be safe from the Challenge Police though.  I also used this week's Retro Sketch:

That one I stuck pretty close to, except all my card elements are bigger than they are on the sketch.

And now it's time for me to dive in with the new In Colors and have some fun.  My fingers are already stained blue and green, so I'm a happy stamper!

Cheers, peeps!

Supplies, last card only, all SU!
Stamps:  Vintage Verses, World Treasures
Ink:  Bermuda Bay, Coastal Cabana, Night of Navy
Paper:  Old Olive, Bermuda Bay, Night of Navy, Glossy White, Season of Style DSP scrap
Accessories:  Deco Label, Petite Petals, and Boho Blossoms punches, rhinestone, Dimensionals

Nachos: Happy Bouquet

It's Nacho day!  This week's Nacho Average Challenge is a sketch:

And here is my slightly liberal interpretation of the sketch, rotated 90 degrees to the left:

This all started because I had that "You make me happy" banner already stamped and cut out because it was supposed to go on another project and just didn't work, so then I thought heyyyy I can use it on this sketch!  So then I broke out three different flower stamp sets and coordinating punches and went to town.  And dude, Hardwood is making me love background stamps again.  I think I need to convert my backgrounds to unmounted--the retired background stamps are the only ones in my collection that are still wood-mounted.  Anyway.

Head on over to the Nacho blog to see what the rest of the design team has in store for you and then get yo stamp on!  Cheers, peeps!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Hardwood, Perfect Pennants, Petite Petals, Flower Shop, Mixed Bunch
Ink:  Sahara Sand, Rich Razzleberry, Strawberry Slush, Coastal Cabana
Paper:  Rich Razzleberry, Whisper White
Accessories:  Banner Framelits; Blossom, Pansy, & Petite Petals punches, Dimensionals, Rhinestones

Punchtastic

Have you ever seen a color challenge online and just thought oh my word, those colors do NOT belong together?  Well, I have.  I've said this before, there are certain pairs I don't like--Baja Breeze and Bashful Blue or Marina Mist; Basic Black and Night of Navy (blame my mom for that one); Elegant Eggplant and Concord Crush, Calypso Coral and any of the real pinky-red shades.

So then this Splitcoast color challenge comes along to use Calypso Coral, Primrose Petals, and Whisper White.  And even though I shudder at the thought of Calypso Coral with Primrose Petals, I gave it a shot.

But I didn't stick the butterfly down too firmly because YIKES.  Instead, I did this:

OH MY GOODNESS THAT'S SO MUCH BETTER.  The butterfly pops out so much better against all the coral and hey, Bermuda Bay lookes *awesome* with Calypso Coral.  I thought about adding a sentiment, but the butterfly is on Dimensionals and this time I *did* stick it down good, so I'll just wait till I want to use this card and then put a sentiment on the inside.

Color crisis averted.  I saved the Primrose Petals butterfly and stuck it on my ink pad caddy.

Thanks for stopping by today!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Mixed Bunch, Best of Butterflies (is that butterfly not totally gorgeous?!)
Ink:  Calypso Coral, Primrose Petals, Bermuda Bay
Paper:  Whisper White, Calypso Coral, In Color DSP Stack
Accessories:  Decorative Label, Blossom, and Elegant Butterfly punches, Dimensionals

Hello, Baby

Another week almost done!  Here's my card for today.

To be honest, this is not my favorite card ever, but I think it's because I dislike Blushing Bride.  That and I think this card looked better in my head than it does on paper?  The layout is this week's Splitcoast sketch and the colors are from Dynamic Duos:

So I should get points for attempting a card with a color I don't like.  I figured this would be an okay card for a baby shower, or failing that, next time my hubs is gone for a bit I can send this to him because that thought kinda made me giggle.  I'm not the only one who calls her husband "baby", am I?  Is that weird?

Who am I kidding, I don't care if it's weird.

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Mixed Bunch, Sweet Essentials
Ink:  Calypso Coral
Paper:  Blushing Bride, Calypso Coral, Whisper White, Everyday Enchantment DSP (retired, but I have GOT to use up some of my stash!)
Accessories: mini silver brad

Bold & Bright

Got your sunglasses handy?  'Cause I used not one, not two, but THREE bold and bright colors on today's card :)

Normally I might associate this color combo with Halloween, but it looks totally different and non-Halloweenie here.  When I saw the most recent sketch at Sketch Frenzy Friday, I really wanted to use that fun Rich Razzleberry print from the Sycamore Street DSP, and thus this card was born.  Here's the sketch:

I didn't make my flower touch the edge of the Daffodil Delight cardstock, but other than that I followed the sketch pretty exactly.

Thanks for stopping by today, go forth and stamp happy!

Supplies (all SU!):
Stamps:  Mixed Bunch, Vintage Verses (SAB, better get it now if you want it!)
Ink:  Pumpkin Pie
Paper:  Pumpkin Pie, Daffodil Delight, Whisper White, Sycamore Street DSP (SAB, better get it now if you want it!)
Accessories:  blossom, 1" circle, & 1 1/4" scallop circle punches, white taffeta, Brights glimmer brads

Olivia's Baby Book

Not too long after I started stamping, I got the idea to make baby books for a couple of friends of mine for their baby showers.  Since then, I've done ten, and I've got one more that's 80% finished (I just need to find out if the baby's a boy or a girl).  I do one layout for each month of the year, plus layouts for the baby's birth and first birthday.  Add in the first and last pages, and each book is 30 pages.  They take me at least a couple of months to do, so I don't do them for very many people.  And I won't sell them either, because honestly, no one would pay what I would want to charge for them given how much time they take, never mind the cost of supplies.

So here's the one I just finished up for my SIL and her new daughter, Olivia.  If you want a complete supply list, check out my SCS gallery here.  Jill is doing the nursery in what my mom calls Strawberry Shortcake colors--pink, hot pink, and lime green, so that's what I started with.  The die cut alphabet I used is by Sizzix and I've had it since I graduated from college and it's long retired :)  Click on any of the pictures to see it bigger.

 Stamps:  Mixed Bunch, Papillon Potpourri

Stamps:  Baby Prints

Stamps:  Make a Mitten (retired), Snow Swirled

Stamps:  Artistic Etchings, Carte Postale (retired), En Francais

Stamps:  Celtic Knots (retired), Tag Time (retired)

Stamps:  Announcements (retired)...I did this one several months ago, had I known Rain or Shine was coming out I woulda waited so I could have used that!

Stamps:  Tea Shoppe...I thought a mother-daughter tea party theme would be cute?

Stamps:  By the Seashore

Stamps:  Land That I Love (retired)

 Stamps:  Bronc Buster (retired), Wanted (retired)...Olivia was born in Texas, she needed a cowgirl layout :)

Stamps:  Fruit & Flowers, One Smart Cookie

Stamps:  Googly Ghouls (retired)

Stamps:  Wonderfall, Falling Leaves (retired)

Stamps:  Reindeer Print

Stamps:  Crazy for Cupcakes (retired), coordinating cupcake wheel (retired)

So excited this one is done!  I've even made a card to go with it, so now I just need to get it in the mail.  Thanks for stopping by!

Mambo Number 5

Ever since I got my spring catty preorder, I've been going through Melon Mambo cardstock like it's going out of style.  I'm totally in love with that Sunshine & Sprinkles DSP, though I didn't use any of that on the card I'm sharing today.

The inspiration for this one came from a couple of challenges; first off, one from Freshly Made Sketches: 

And second, a color combo courtesy of Pals Paper Arts:

Well, I like the colors and the sketch, but this isn't my favorite card ever.  I did use a new toy though--I just got that Argyle EF, always fun to play with new toys :)

Thanks for stopping by today!

Supplies (all SU!):
Stamps:  Mixed Bunch, Teeny Tiny Wishes
Ink:  Melon Mambo, Basic Gray
Paper:  Melon Mambo, Basic Black, Whisper White, Neutrals DSP Stack
Accessories:  Argyle EF plus lots o' punches--Blossom, 3/4" circle, Word Window, Scallop Trim Border

Favorites Showcase 2012, Part 1

My humble little stamping blog here is less than a year old so I didn't realize the year-end favorites showcase was a thing until I saw everyone else was doing it and so I'm hopping on the bandwagon slightly late because I wanna go to the party too.  I'm a teensy bit hampered by the fact that it looks like I was a bit sporadic in uploading to my SCS gallery this year, but I've got a few fun cards from the first 6 months of 2012.  (Detailed supplies lists for all my cards are included in my gallery.)

This one uses Curly Cute and Mixed Bunch and I think that might be this year's SAB paper?  Hope I have a hoard of that somewhere ;)

Here's a Valentine card with nary a heart to be seen, but the Eiffel Tower is romantic, right?  This one uses Artistic Etchings, Grateful Greetings (retired), and En Francais.

I didn't have a whole lot in the gallery for around March, but I thought this kid birthday card was tolerably cute.  I like how the background came out--it's just scribbling on the acrylic block with markers, spritzing with water, and smooshing it around on the paper.  This one uses Dinoroar and I forget the alphabet.

So this uses the retired sets Bronc Buster, Wanted (which now live in the same stamp case because I almost always use them together) and Cute & Curly.  I needed an encouragement card for my dad who is a die-hard Oklahoma State Cowboy.

Here's something more CAS-y, again with Mixed Bunch and Curly Cute.  (I kind of love both those sets.)

I couldn't pick just one for June so I've got one manly card and one girly card.  Love this one with French Foliage and one of the retired All-Year Cheer stamp sets; I think I need to use this layout more often 'cause I love it.

One more CAS creation with Kindness Matters and the (sadly retired) Thank You Kindly.  That Beau Chateau DSP is now on the clearance rack...and I am resisting buying any more retired DSP because I think I've hit critical mass when it comes to patterned paper o.O

Stay tuned for the second half tomorrow and Happy New Year!