The Bluebird of Happiness

Mornin' y'all!  Hope your Monday is off to a good start.  It's a gorgeous day out side so as soon as I finish this blog post, I'll be taking Miss Daphne for her daily walk.  It's lovely to be out in the sunshine for 30 minutes every day.

But let's start with a card, shall we?  Once again I have pulled a couple of stamp sets out of retirement, here's my creation for today:

I could not resist making a card with Bird's Eye View after seeing this Inspired By... Challenge:

I did use Pumpkin Pie for my bluebird's belly, but I used the lighter Blend so it's not reading as orange as the inspo pic.  Still I think you can tell where I started.  Next up is last week's Freshly Made Sketch:

And I will admit, you kinda have to squint your eyes and tilt your head to one side to see the sketch, but it IS where I started.  The bluebird is the circle element and the tree branch is the long strip, which would have been closer to the sketch if I hadn't stamped the leaves on the branch but I just had to.  I added some clear gems for the foliage behind the circle element and added my greeting underneath.  So it's not as strict of a sketch interpretation as I usually do, but I promise that's where it started and I do really love how this simple little card turned out.  I loved playing with Bird's Eye View again.  I need to remember to ink up my Azure Afternoon ink pad though.

The great outdoors is calling, so Daph and I must go.  Cheers!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Bird's Eye View, Perennial Postage
Ink:  Early Espresso, Azure Afternoon, Stampin' Blends in Lemon Lime Twist, Crumb Cake, Azure Afternoon, Pumpkin Pie
Paper:  Azure Afternoon, Basic White
Accessories:  Textured Notes dies, Clear Sparkle Gems

Lavender in a Flash

Mornin' y'all!  I am happy to report that the three human members of the family are all feeling better; Daphne was an excellent napping buddy for anyone who needed it over the weekend in her capacity as dogtor and I'm pretty sure that's what did the trick for us.  So now it's back to our regularly scheduled programming this week.

Let's start off the week in purple!

I made this card in a flash for the As You See It speed stamping challenge:

And here's my time:

I was at eight minutes and something so I decided I had enough time to put some Wink of Stella on my stamped lavender.  I started with the two scrap pieces of DSP, they were already that size, so I just set out my Highland Heather and Whisper White cardstock, got my chosen stamps on the blocks, and started the timer.  My sentiment ended up just a teensy bit crooked when I die cut it but that's part of the homemade charm.

Well, that's it for me today, peeps.  I'm off to see the vampires...have to have blood drawn for my annual thyroid check.  Fun times.  Then I get to come home and eat a very late breakfast before I take Daph-Daph out for a walk.  Cheers!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Painted Lavender, Perennial Postage
Ink:  Highland Heather, Shaded Spruce, Gorgeous Grape
Paper:  Highland Heather, Thick Basic White, Perennial Lavender DSP
Accessories:  Painted Lavender dies, Nested Essentials dies, Mini Dimensionals, Purple Fine Shimmer Gems, Wink of Stella

Lavender Love & Wishes

Mornin' y'all!  I tried to get to bed earlier last night, I really did, but...BOOKS.  Again.  Well, I only stayed up til 10:30 instead of 11 last night, so that's an improvement, right?  One of these days I'll get smart, but I'm not going to hold my breath.  In the meantime I'm having a cuppa tea in my new favorite mug, which has Disney's Robin Hood on it : )

Anyway, I have a card to share:

It's been super overcast here lately (and is currently snowing) so the lighting isn't great on this picture but I did what I could.  I used two stamp sets currently on the Last Chance list and one that retired a while back.  Check out this week's Freshly Made Sketch:

And the Color Throwdown:

I used Highland Heather, Soft Sea Foam, and Lemon Lolly for the colors.  And this also fits with the tic-tac-toe challenge from the Paper Players:

This time it's down the left, flowers - die cut - lavender, and across the bottom, lavender - glitter - sentiment.  There's glitter in the purple shimmer gems and I also painted Wink of Stella on the lavender, though of course it doesn't show up in the picture because it never does.

I just gave Daphne a new rope toy so maybe she won't insist that I take her out for a walk in the snow : )  She's having a good old time chomping on the toy so maybe.  Cheers, y'all!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Painted Lavender, Perennial Postage, Sketched Plaid
Ink:  Lemon Lolly, Highland Heather, Soft Sea Foam
Paper:  Lemon Lolly, Highland Heather, Basic White
Accessories:  Painted Lavender dies, Purple Shimmer Gems, Lemon Lolly twine, Dimensionals

SUO Challenges: MAAAMAAAAAAAAA!!!

 Happy Tuesday, y'all, and it's a fun Tuesday because it's time for a new challenge at SUO Challenges!

And here is our theme:

In case you forgot, Mother's Day is coming up and MAN I cannot type today, I'm glad you can't see all the typos that have gone into this blog post today.  Anyway, my mom loves hummingbirds because they remind her of her grandmother, so I made this for her:

I made this weeks ago, and I admit that when I made it, I wasn't tracking that the Occasions catalog would be gonzo when this blog post went live, so that Poetic Expressions and Forever Love DSP are both retired now.  I bet the Wildly Flowering DSP in the new catalog would be a great option for current stuff though, it has several pretty Moody Mauve patterns.  Anyway, I went with a fancy gold and Pretty Peacock background and then a Moody Mauve and Bubble Bath smaller pattern for the smaller panel, then colored my hummingbird and flowers to match.  A few Pretty Peacock Foiled Gems (still available!) for accents and there's my card.

We hope that you'll join us for this challenge and upload a mom-tastic card at the SUO Challenges blog.  As always, have fun!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Thoughtful Expressions, Perennial Postage
Ink:  Moody Mauve, Memento Tuxedo Black, Stampin' Blends in Bubble Bath, Moody Mauve, Pretty Peacock
Paper:  Moody Mauve, Bubble Bath, Thick Basic White, Forever Love DSP, Poetic Expressions DSP
Accessories:  Thoughtful Expressions dies, Pretty Peacock Foiled Gems, Dimensionals

Bear

That's it, just bear.  Bear is today's card. 

Bear.

This is the one that I was going to post on Wednesday and then cute cows happened : )  Anyway, I started with the CAS Colours & Sketches sketch:

And I paired that with the Card Concept inspiration:

I really did try to keep it CAS for the CC&S challenge but I'm not sure I managed it, this looks more like either the clean & layered or clean & graphic style.  I would have gone for a moose like the inspiration pic, but my moose punch isn't working quite right and I forgot to have the hubs take a look at it when he was here for Christmas.  So I went with a bear, and also this is the quilt on my bed right now:

I got it on Amazon, I do love it.  It's a lighter weight than the comforter we have, and I tend to get hot at night so I've been using this.

Anyway, we're preparing to move again this summer so I've spent the past few days looking at pictures of dozens of houses and I think my eyeballs are about to cross.  I've come up with a motley list of things I like, things I don't like, and one thing I saw that felt like an assault to my eyeballs and I wish to press charges against two different houses:  CARPET IN THE BATHROOM.  Like, whyyyyyyy.  Ew.

Anyway, that's it for me today.  It's March 1, so kiddo and I will be going on our ice cream date after school today--we have officially made it through 8 months of this year-long deployment!  So that definitely warrants ice cream.  Cheers, y'all!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Wildlife Wonder, Perennial Postage
Ink:  Pecan Pie, Memento Tuxedo Black
Paper:  Thick Basic Vanilla, Shaded Spruce DSP
Accessories:  blending brush

Finding Inspiration with SUO Challenges

Good morning stampy friends!  Are you ready for a new challenge from SUO Challenges?  Because it's that time again :)

Here's the challenge:

And if you want a closeup of the inspiration pic:

Fun, right?  Now, you don't *have* to us the Perennial Lavender suite for your card...but I did.  Here's what I made:

I CASEd the layout of this card from Mary Fish (see her card here) but while she went for a bold, graphic style, I decided to do ink blending and glimmer paper.  I blended Orchid Oasis and Fresh Freesia ink on my background panel, then flicked a bit of water on it and if I had been looking at the inspo pic when I stuck things down, I would have rotated the panel so the Orchid Oasis was on top like the colors of the drink in the photo.  The glimmer paper I used was from last year's catalog and it's ombre, so I cut out several lavender sprigs and made sure I got a variety of shades on there.  I chose this fun Lemon Lolly stripey paper for my background as a nod to the lemon in the inspo pic, plus it's just such a cheery backdrop for all the purples.  Not gonna lie, this is one of my favorite cards ever!

Don't forget to head over to the SUO Challenges blog to see what the rest of the design team did with this inspiration pic, and then we want to see what you make of it.  Have fun!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Perennial Lavender, Softly Sophisticated
Ink:  Orchid Oasis, Fresh Freesia
Paper:  Orchid Oasis, Thick Basic White, Glimmer Paper, Lighter than Air DSP Stack
Accessories:  Perennial Lavender dies, Stylish Shapes dies, Dimensionals, In Color Pearls, In Color baker's twine

Smiling Crocodile

Hey y'all, I'm still hanging in here with this cold that just won't leave.  I'm lots better than I was over the weekend, but still definitely not operating at full capacity.

Anyway, I did make a couple of cards yesterday and for this one I busted out a Sale-a-Bration stamp set:

He's kinda cute, right?  I kept it nice and CAS for the Paper Players challenge:

And I also used the inspo list from Festive Friday:

I chose blue, pink, and embossing from the list.  My greeting ended up a bit crooked but I'm going to blame that one the DayQuil.  Just a quick, cute little card for today.

Okay, I think I might need some couch time before I go upstairs to work in my craft room today.  Cheers, y'all!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Jungle Pals, Perennial Postage
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Versamark, Stampin' Blends in Lemon Lime Twist & Granny Apple Green
Paper:  Azure Afternoon, Flirty Flamingo, Thick Basic White, Bold & Beautiful DSP
Accessories:  Jungle Pals dies, Deckled Rectangles dies, white EP, Dimensionals, Rainbow Dots

Cozy Quilt Trio

Okay what day is it today???  I finally feel like I'm emerging from the cold-induced zombie stupor and I got Ryan off to school today and now I need to deal with the tornado situation he perpetrated in the living room while I wasn't feeling well over the long weekend.  It's pretty bad in there.

But first, I have a set of cards to share!

After seeing the latest Inspired By... challenge, I had to try out the other die in the Patchwork Pieces set.

I see some Calypso Coral in that inspo pic, and that led me to pick the Sale-a-Bration DSP Softly Stippled.  This particular die has 12 openings, so you could have a nicely symmetrical design with 2, 3, 4, or 6 different colors/patterns.  I decided to go with three patterns and then chose sentiments from three different new stamp sets just for funsies.  A few Opaque Faceted Gems and I have three more cards in my stash!

Okay, I'm off to go do...something...productive.  I'm glad that I'm feeling better than I was for the last couple of days, and Ryan was pretty good about letting me rest when I needed to.  So now I need to start tackling the things that fell by the wayside for the last several days.  Cheers, y'all, and stay healthy!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Thoughtful Expressions, Lovely & Sweet, Perennial Postage
Ink:  Pool Party, Calypso Coral, Wild Wheat
Paper:  Pool Party, Calypso Coral, Wild Wheat, Thick Basic White, Softly Stippled DSP
Accessories:  Thoughtful Expressions dies, Dimensionals, Opaque Faceted Gems

Lavender Bouquet

Happy Friday, y'all, hope your week has gone well and you're looking forward to a good weekend.  I should finish up my current stitching project today so I'm excited about that, and yesterday I had a good session in my craft room and made this:

As soon as I finished this, my first thought was that I should send it to my friend Beth, but her memorial service is tomorrow.  I sent her a card every week for the last couple of years, so it's going to be a long time before I don't think of her first when I make something especially girly.  So our friend suggested that I send it to Beth's mom instead, and even got me her address, so I'm going to do that instead.

Let's take a look at some challenges, shall we?  Starting with a fun challenge from Just Add Ink:

And the Inspire. Create. challenge:

Flowers plus the spring/summer catty definitely equals the Perennial Lavender suite for me.  I added in the Global Design Project challenge too:

I kept the same basic layout, adding some stamped flowers and switching out the DSP and greenery dies.  I think I'll have to get an extra pack of that Perennial Lavender DSP, it's so pretty.

Almost time to get Ryan to school, and then I'm going to work on that stitching project for a bit this morning.  I've had project fatigue with it so I am excited to just get it done...and then immediately start another project : )  And then some stamping this afternoon.  Also I have a large stack of scrapbook layouts that I need to take pictures of.  Suffice to say I will not be bored today!  Cheers, y'all.

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Painted Lavender, Perennial Postage
Ink:  Pretty Peacock, Highland Heather, Gorgeous Grape
Paper:  Pretty Peacock, Lost Lagoon, Thick Very Vanilla, Perennial Lavender DSP
Accessories:  Painted Lavender dies, Stylish Shapes dies, Purple Fine Shimmer Gems, Dimensionals, Wink of Stella

Spring Duo

Hey y'all, happy Friday.  I just could NOT focus yesterday after I made the sea turtle card.  I started working on a card for today but I just couldn't seem to get it together, so I had to come back to it this morning.  And then I ended up with two cards.

I used the Global Design Project sketch:

Yesterday, I managed to get as far as choosing the Flight & Airy SAB papers--the two patterns are on a single sheet and I couldn't decide between them, so I chose both ;) Then I cut the card bases and just got stuck mentally, so I wandered off to do something else and got back to this earlier this morning.  I added a larger bird that I fussy cut from another piece of Flight & Airy to the left card, and chose one of the paper butterflies in the Perennial Lavender suite for the right card.  I painted the butterfly with Wink of Stella but I have come to the conclusion that I need a new one as it barely shows up at all.  I do use it a lot, so no surprise there.

Anyway, I think I might have better luck with focusing today, so I'm going to head back up there after I finish my lunch.  Cheers, y'all!

Supplies, left card:
Stamps:  Stamped with Love
Ink:  Boho Blue
Paper:  Fresh Freesia, Bubble Bath, Flight & Airy DSP
Accessories:  Perennial Postage dies, navy baker's twine, Dimensionals, Fresh Freesia Tinsel Gems

Supplies, right card:
Stamps:  Perennial Postage
Ink:  Boho Blue
Paper:  Boho Blue, Petal Pink, Flight & Airy DSP
Accessories:  Perennial Postage dies, white baker's twine, Rhinestone Waves Basic Jewels, Dimensionals, Wink of Stella

SUO Challenges: Sparkling New Year

Happy New Year, y'all, and let's start off with a new challenge from SUO Challenges!

And here it is....

We're starting the new year off sparkly, so anything that glitters--rhinestones, glimmer paper, Wink of Stella, anything along those lines.  I had to try out some new stuff, so here's what I made:

I used products from the new Perennial Lavender suite, which is my favorite out of the soon-to-arrive Occasions catty.  The glimmer paper is in the Online Exclusives in the SU! store, and I have Tinsel Gems in Pretty Peacock and Purple Fine Shimmer Gems in Highland Heather, plus I coated the stamped lavender with several layers of Wink of Stella for extra sparkle.

Make your own sparkly card and share it on the SUO Challenges blog.  Have fun!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Painted Lavender, Perennial Postage
Ink:  Highland Heather, Shaded Spruce, Pretty Peacock
Paper:  Gorgeous Grape, Shaded Spruce, Thick Basic White, Perennial Lavender DSP, Three Color Glimmer Paper
Accessories:  Painted Lavender dies, Stylish Shapes dies, Dimensionals, Tinsel Gems, Purple Fine Shimmer Gems, Wink of Stella






Just in case anyone is reading down this far, I do have some sad news to share.  I made this card several weeks ago and sent it to my friend Beth, who has been waging war on stage 4 metastatic breast cancer for the last four years.  I don't know if she's even seen it, as I think by the time it arrived at her house, she had already left for the hospital in Houston, and she will not be going home from there.  I'm typing this post on December 30 and scheduling it for January 2; today we're dropping my hubs off at the airport, Ryan is going to his grandparents, and I am driving down to Houston again to be with Beth and her family.  She asked me to come and sit with her, so I am going.  I have mailed at least one card a week to Beth ever since I found out about her diagnosis, and this is the last one.