Guest Designer: AAA Cards Challenge

Mornin', y'all!  Today I am a guest designer for AAA Cards Challenge!  Check out this awesome sketch:

I had to ponder for a while, but then luckily I got some things from Spellbinders that turned out to be perfect for this sketch so here's what I came up with:

As y'all know, I also do cross stitch as a hobby so I had to get the dies and stencils to make skeins of floss!  I used the stencils for my two skeins of embroidery floss.  And I got the dies for the stitcher's toolkit, including those stork scissors (and I think I have a real pair of scissors that looks like that).  I found the perfect coordinating sentiment in an old SU! set called Handmade for You, and there it is.

Hope you'll join in the fun at AAA Cards Challenge!

Unfortunately our Mac unexpectedly died yesterday morning so I might not be able to post very much for a bit...I'm writing this on the hubs' laptop but it was a painful experience getting the pictures on here.  So...I'll see you when I can?

Supplies:
Stamps:  Handmade for You
Ink:  Azure Afternoon, Blueberry Bushel, Crushed Curry, Memento Tuxedo Black
Paper:  Thick Basic White, Gold & Silver foil, Blueberry Bushel
Accessories:  Stitched Nested Labels dies, Spellbinders Needleworker Tool Kit dies, Rainbow Floss Background stencil, Dimensionals

Puppy Love

Mornin' y'all!  Ryan has an early release day (WHY?) so I need to get moving if I want to get some things done before I go pick him up in about three hours.  I already dropped off a package at UPS and picked up a few things at the store, and as soon as I finish my tea I'll be taking Daphne out for our walk.

Speaking of puppers, I have a paper puppy today!

One of my (ahem, several) Spellbinders purchases recently included this super adorable doggo and I can't wait to send this card to my puppy-loving pal Krissy.  I would NOT want to mass-produce this, it took quite a while to die cut all the different pieces and assemble them, but I do love how he turned out.  I adapted this week's Freshly Made Sketch for an A2 card:

I wanted to do a heart behind the pupper, but I didn't have a die cut that was big enough to be obviously a heart but small enough to fit on an A2 card, so I went with the circle.

I thought of the old Candy Lane DSP as soon as I saw this color palette from Sunday Stamps:

The paper has Riding Hood Red, Pink Pirouette, Close to Cocoa, and Very Vanilla in it, but the stripey pattern I used behind the doggo seems to have a shade between the red and pink that I thought worked very nicely for this color challenge.

Okay, my real-life doggo is demanding attention with her rubber duck toy that makes this funny wheezy sound, so I'm going to play with her and then take her for a walk.  Cheers!

Supplies:
Stamps:  I {Love} Love (unmounted wheel)
Ink:  Pink Pirouette, Close to Cocoa, Riding Hood Red
Paper:  Pink Pirouette, Close to Cocoa, Very Vanilla, Riding Hood Red, Basic White, Basic Black, Pink Pirouette DSP, Candy Lane DSP
Accessories:  Darling Dog dies from Spellbinders, Circles Collection Framelits, Dimensionals

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

A Rockin' Color Challenge from The Paper Players

Happy Sunday and welcome to the first Paper Players challenge of the new year!  The lovely LeAnne is starting us off with some fun colors:

Now, these would be perfect for a fun wintry card, but of course I had to go in a different direction.  Here's what I made:

Try as I might, I could not get a true-to-life photo of this card, but I promise that the card base and DSP are Misty Moonlight, the ribbon and greeting are Night of Navy, and the disco balls and stars are silver.  I blame Jaydee for this, she's always making cards with wonderful dies and it's 100% her fault that I ended up buying a bunch of Spellbinders dies during their year-end sale.  Why did I want disco ball dies?  Not a clue, but as soon as I saw them I *needed* them, ha!  So I had to break them out for this challenge.

Don't forget to check out what the other Paper Players made with this fun combo:

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!

I might be quiet for a few days; yesterday when I took my girl Daphne out for a walk, we were almost back home when I hit a patch of ice and fell down.  I hit my right hand pretty hard, which is unfortunate because I'm right-handed, so I'm not sure if I'll be able to do much with that hand for a few days.  I can move everything so I'm pretty sure at least that I didn't break anything, it's just swollen and bruised, and my right arm and shoulder are sore today.  So I'll be relaxing with a cuppa tea and a movie if you need me.  Cheers!

Supplies:
Stamps:  Starstruck from Verve Stamps
Ink:  Night of Navy
Paper:  Misty Moonlight, Silver Foil, Silver Glimmer, Misty Moonlight DSP
Accessories:  Disco Ball dies from Spellbinders, bordered Night of Navy ribbon