February 2021

Mornin' y'all!  I did not spend any time in my craft room yesterday, I was just feeling drained and so I took a two-hour nap.  Sometimes you just gotta nap.  I did work on my current stitching project in the evening though, which is a duckling for Ryan.  Not sure it will get done in time for his birthday which is in less than two weeks, but I'm going to try.

Anyway, how about a scrapbook layout from 2021?

Turns out that Summer Splash is a very good match for that set of bear jammies that Ryan had!  Love it.  If they'd had those jams in adult sizes, I would have bought me some.  I do love a good set of jams.

Today's color palette:  Summer Splash, Close to Cocoa, Blueberry Bushel, Lemon Lime Twist, Shaded Spruce, and white, which was taken directly from Ryan's jams and the little blue table we used to have for him.  We actually donated it when we got to Colorado and mostly he eats at the island now because he likes the tall stools.

Gotta get a move on, Daph says it's time to take her for a walk.  Cheers!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  My Paper Pumpkin, Scentsational Season
Ink:  Lemon Lime Twist, Blueberry Bushel
Paper:  Summer Splash, Shaded Spruce, Blueberry Bushel, Thick Basic White, Frosty Day DSP, Lemon Lime Twist DSP
Accessories:  none

Jolly Christmas 2018

Scrappy Monday on a Tuesday!  Man, yesterday was a busy day.  I woke up before 5 a.m., worked out, did a French lesson, wrapped presents, went to the post office and grocery store, then went to work for a few hours, then came home and wrapped more presents, got Ryan off the bus and we made two batches of cookies together, wrapped more presents, and started getting packages ready to mail.  I was wiped out by 7 p.m. last night.  Got another busy day ahead I'm sure, so let's get to this week's scrapbook pages!

This was Ryan's second Christmas, and of course we took *lots* of pictures of him.

Growing up, my family always opened presents after dinner on Christmas Eve, so we did that with Ryan.  However, his grandparents were visiting, so he got SO many presents that he couldn't open them all before bedtime, so these are the Christmas Eve pics.

Color palette:  Baked Brown Sugar, Real Red, Garden Green, Soft Sky, Whisper White, and a bit of Basic Black.

Now for some Christmas Day pics!

I kept the same color for the page base, but changed up the supporting colors a bit to match Ryan's jammies.

Second color palette:  Baked Brown Sugar, Real Red, Calypso Coral, Taken with Teal, Whisper White, and Basic Black.  Rather proud of how many pictures I managed to incorporate on three layouts!

Okay, I'm off to the post office and work.  Good luck with your holiday to-do lists, too!

Supplies, layouts 1 &2:
Stamps:  No Peeking
Ink:  Garden Green, Baked Brown Sugar, Real Red, Memento Tuxedo Black, Basic Black marker
Paper:  Baked Brown Sugar, Garden Green, Real Red, Thick Whisper White, Nordic Noel DSP
Accessories:  Stitched Shapes dies

Supplies, layout 3:
Stamps:  No Peeking, Scentsational Season
Ink;  Calypso Coral, Real Red, Basic Black marker
Paper:  Baked Brown Sugar, Taken with Teal, Calypso Coral, Thick Whisper White, Nordic Noel DSP
Accessories:  Stitched Shapes dies

And So It Begins

I've done a couple of wintry cards so far this year, but I pretty much flatly refuse to make anything Christmasy at least until Halloween is past.  So today I have the first Christmas-related card of the year.

And it's more seasonal than pure Christmas anyway : )  I got out the long, long, long-retired Scentsational Season for this one.  SU! sold scented embossing powder the year they had this stamp set and it was early days for their dies, too, but I didn't get the EP because that just seemed a bit weird to me.  Anywha, I made this for the current Festive Friday challenge:

I used hot chocolate, cookies (well, one gingerbread cookie anyway), and circles.  I have to say this inspo list led me down several rabbit holes before I finally settled on what to do.  It wasn't until I remembered that Scentsational Season had both the gingerbread and the cocoa mug stamps that I finally committed any ink to paper.  The sentiment is a sticker that was in the Gingerbread & Peppermint Memories & More card stack from just one year ago, and the patterned paper is also from the Gingerbread & Peppermint stack.  It's fun to mix different "eras" of SU! stuff I think.  Also I've had red rhinestones in my embellishments box for *ages* but this is the first time I've used any on a card.  And actually I've made a couple of other cards since using them this week.

Gotta get the kiddo ready for school and I work today.  Cheers!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Scentsational Season
Ink:  Cinnamon Cider, Real Red
Paper:  Real Red, Thick Basic White, Gingerbread & Peppermint DSP Stack
Accessories:  Holiday Collection dies, Stylish Shapes dies, Dimensionals, red rhinestones

CAS Christmas, Part 2

Hey y'all!  I had intended to write this post in the morning before I went to work, but I ran out of time :) I'm back with the other three card designs I made for my husband's work.

I got Lots of Cheer right before it retired and then didn't have a chance to ink it up, so I'm glad this cute boxy snowman finally gets his chance to appear!  The outside sentiment is from First Frost, and inside says Happy Holidays from Warmest Regards.

Kinda wish I'd done the mittens in blue and the sentiment in green, but I didn't have that thought until I'd already made most of the cards so oh well.  The mittens are from Merry (long, long retired!) and the sentiment is from Warmth & Wonder.  You may notice that all of the sentiments on the card fronts have something to do with warmth, guess that's my theme this year!

Last up is a cup of cocoa from Scentsational Season.  And that's all my cards!  I think making 65 cards in a single day is a personal best for me ;)  I was very productive at work for the past few days too, and I'd like to relax tomorrow for my day off but nope, looks like I'll be making desserts for a potluck thing in the afternoon.  I do like to bake though...

Cheers, y'all!  Stay toasty.

Supplies, snowman card:
Stamps:  Lots of Cheer, First Frost, Warmest Regards
Ink:  Balmy Blue, Blueberry Bushel
Paper:  Balmy Blue
Accessories:  None

Supplies, mittens card:
Stamps:  Merry, Warmth & Wonder, Warmest Regards
Ink:  Garden Green, Pacific Point
Paper:  Pear Pizzazz
Accessories:  None

Supplies, cocoa card:
Stamps:  Scentsational Season, Warmth & Wonder, Warmest Regards
Ink:  Real Red, Soft Suede
Paper:  Blushing Bride
Accessories:  None

Bear Book: January

Well, today is my official due date, but Baby Sodapop is showing no signs of being unhappy where he is.  So maybe the midwife is right, and I'll have to be induced.  All we can do is wait and see...

In the meantime, let's check out another layout from the bear book!  I like this one.

That snowflake paper is one of my favorites, not least because it's Baja Breeze.

And isn't that little bear ADORABLE.  I'd had him for a while and this was his first outing.

Snowflake and mittens just in case you missed the part where this is a wintry layout.

And here's the color combination:  Island Indigo (somehow I only have textured 12x12 cardstock in this color?), of course Baja Breeze, Real Red, Smoky Slate, and Whisper White.  I don't think I'd ever used this color combination before but I quite like it.

Since we're in a holding pattern waiting for Sodapop's arrival, my plan for today involves working in my craft room some more.  I finished three scrapbook layouts last week and I've got a new set of pictures waiting to go on my table--so at least my wait time is being spent productively!  Cheers, y'all!

Supplies:
Stamps:  Bear & Snowman from Whipper Snapper, Make a Mitten, Festive Flurry, Perfect Pairings, Scentsational Season
Ink:  Basic Black, Island Indigo, Real Red, Whisper White
Paper:  Island Indigo, Smoky Slate, Real Red, Thick Whisper White, Ski Slope DSP
Accessories:  Holiday Collection Framelits, Mitten punch, Sizzix Alphabet, Prismacolor Pencils

Friday Flashback: Scentsational Season

It's time for another festive Friday Flashback and today's stamp set is Scentsational Season.  I loved this stamp set and I was a little sad that it didn't carry over for another year, but on the other hand, that doesn't mean I can't continue to make cute cards with it!  So let's flash back to 2012.

Sorry this first pic isn't great; this card was not pinkish in real life but this was the only pic of it that I took.  I got this stamp set not long after I started this blog last year, so you may have seen these before if you've been a frequent visitor : )  I also liked to use Scentsational Season with More Merry Messages, as you'll see.

I love the sketch on this one.

Ya know what, a nice hot cuppa tea sounds pretty good right now!  "Smile" sentiment from Fabulous Phrases.

Umm, I think I was in love with the Happy Christmas stamp last year.

And I still kinda miss Curly Cute.  So that's the Flashback, here's today's new card:

I used an SCS sketch from a while back and I *meant* to do a color challenge too, but I ended up using similar-but-not-the-same colors instead.  Oh well, Real Red looks good with Baked Brown Sugar and Wild Wasabi, and that gingerbread man was not nearly so cute stamped in Crumb Cake.  I think Baked Brown Sugar is a much better color on him : )

Thanks for joining me for today's Friday Flashback, have a great weekend!

Supplies, last card only:
Stamps:  Scentsational Season, More Merry Messages
Ink:  Real Red, Baked Brown Sugar, Wild Wasabi
Paper:  Real Red, Very Vanilla, Holly Berry Bouquet DSP
Accessories:  Holiday Collection & Circles Framelits, 2 1/2" circle punch, Soft Suede taffeta, Dimensionals

Scentsational Cocoa

Alas, today is the last day for the holiday catalog and thus we must bid adieu to Scentsational Season.  So I had to get one last card in with it :)

For this one, I went to a brand spankin' new challenge blog, Still Addinktive.  Love these colors together!  I need more purple in my life.

As you can see, I rotated the sketch 90 degrees.  I wondered if I'd be able to find a sentiment to fit in between the cocoa mugs but then I ran across that Smile sentiment from Fabulous Phrases and thought hey, that'll work!

Thanks for stopping by, have a wonderful day!

Supplies (all SU!):
Stamps:  Scentsational Season, Fabulous Phrases
Ink:  Perfect Plum, Wild Wasabi, Baja Breeze, Chocolate Chip, Crumb Cake
Paper:  Baja Breeze, Whisper White
Accessories:  Holiday Collection Framelits, Square Lattice EF

Favorites Showcase 2012, Part 2

2013 may have started already, but I've still got to do the last 6 months of the 2012 retrospective.  So let's go!

I live in England and I have grown really fond of tea this last year.  I made this birthday card for a friend because we sent him a whole lotta tea for his birthday!  I used Morning Cup, the Take a Sip wheel (I cut it up into individual stamps), and Curly Cute.

I think By the Seashore and Perfectly Penned are two of my favorite stamp sets, and I really like the look of the shells thumped with markers.

I couldn't pick just one card for August, so here's an Artistic Etchings/Pursuit of Happiness card.  Generally I hate those "color" challenges that involve only neutrals and no colors, but I really liked how this card turned out.  (And I'm proud of myself for using Artistic Etchings but *not* the Eiffel Tower!)

This French Foliage card was for a September combo color/sketch challenge at SCS and I lurve those fall colors!  Had some good times with my leafy stamps this year...and we had a gorgeous autumn in this part of England, too.

Here's a pink birthday card for October using Papillon Potpourri, Perfectly Penned, and Elements of Style.  Sometimes it's fun to stamp on patterned paper.

More fall colors for November; this was a Friday Flashback card for Lovely Leaves.  Still really like that layout sketch too, I should re-use that soon!

I had a LOT of Christmas cards to choose from for December, but I thought I'd go with this sweet Scentsational Seasons gingerbread man instead of our personal tea-riffic Christmas cards.  Sentiment is of course from More Merry Messages, which got quite a workout this year!

I'll be back tomorrow with something all-new.  Hope your 2013 is off to a great start!

O Christmas Tree

I feel like I've been going at warp 9 all day, wrapping presents, getting packages ready to mail, updating my address book...which seriously, I don't think I'd done that since I got married 9 years ago, so it was way past due.  I have to get back in my stamp room tomorrow to make some new cards for the Friday Flashback, but today's is another one I made a little while back.

I think I'm addicted to that little Happy Christmas stamp.  And possibly all of Scentsational Season.  Hey, at least I'm using all these stamps I keep spending all my money on, right?

Thanks for stopping by today and have a great evening!

Supplies (all SU!):
Stamps:  Scentsational Season, More Merry Messages
Ink:  More Mustard, Gumball Green, Cherry Cobbler
Paper:  More Mustard, Gumball Green, Cherry Cobbler, Very Vanilla, Be of Good Cheer DSP
Accessories:  Dimensionals

The Happy Gingerbread Man

I meant to get this posted earlier today, but my friend Liz came over and we worked on Christmas cards.  I've made some good progress on those!  Over the weekend I made a set of these gingerbread men cards for my SU customers, and they've even gone out in the mail already, yay me.

I totally swiped the layout from Julie Davison's blog, this post featuring Papillon Potpourri in particular.  I just love the layout : )  My proportions are a bit different though, I was going off of a quick sketch I did in a notebook when I made these, but I still think they came out alright.  I love that fun snowflake paper, a lot of times I like the more free-flowing patterns like that one.  But I also love me some stripes and plaids : )  Since I have a TON of Christmas paper, I limited myself to just ONE pack this year and I'm doing my best to use up as much of it as I can.  Doing pretty well on that goal so far, hehe!

Hope you're having a wonderful week, thanks for stopping by!

Supplies (all SU):
Stamps:  Scentsational Season, More Merry Messages
Ink:  Chocolate Chip
Paper:  Gumball Green, Very Vanilla, Be of Good Cheer DSP
Accessories:  Apothecary Accents & Holiday Collection Framelits, Cherry Cobbler Dazzling Details, Dimensionals

Candy Cane Christmas

Hey look, two Scentsational Seasons cards in a row :)  This is for today's color challenge on Splitcoast, which is to use Real Red, Gumball Green, and Basic Gray.

The only gray is the sentiment; the DSP actually has Cherry Cobbler in it but I thought I could get away with it since there's lighter and darker reds on it.  I could NOT get a decent picture of this card though, it's been rainy and dreary all day--in other words, England!  We do have lots of very pretty days, but today was not one of them.  ETA:  ok, I put in a slightly better picture...at first I thought maybe the brand-new lightbulb was infringing upon my card-picture-taking ability, and then I realized Lee had changed the settings on the camera when we were in Salzburg.  Not sure I've got it back exactly where I want it, but it's closer!

Apparently I didn't veg out enough yesterday since I've had a headache most of the day, so I'm off to veg some more.  I have lots of things that I want and/or need to do, but they'll still be there tomorrow.  Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies (all SU):
Stamps:  Scentsational Season, More Merry Messages
Ink:  Real Red, Basic Gray
Paper:  Real Red, Gumball Green, Very Vanilla, Be of Good Cheer & Neutrals Stack DSPs
Accessories:  Brights brads, Holiday Collection Framelits

Cocoa & Gingerbread

Howdy, folks!  How's your Monday going?  I'm starting to think I might be coming down with the virus that Lee's had for the last week and a half...so no stamping for me today : (  Maybe I'll feel better tomorrow after vegging out on the couch tonight (a friend just lent me four movies, so I won't be bored!).  But I still have a card to share.

I made this one a while back for SCS color and sketch challenges, though looking at it again it feels a little bit plain.  Hmm.  I need to play with that stamp set some more so maybe later this week I'll make something else.  After all, there's several other stamps in this set : )

Thanks for stopping by today!

Supplies (all SU):
Stamps:  Scentsational Season, Curly Cute
Ink:  Soft Suede, Real Red, Always Artichoke
Paper:  Real Red, Always Artichoke, Very Vanilla, Neutrals DSP Stack
Accessories:  Mellow Moss taffeta (retired, but the closest thing I had to Always Artichoke ribbon, and I had to have *something* on there!)