Gomez & Morticia for The Paper Players

Happy Sunday, y'all!  Thanks to everyone who played along with my bear challenge for The Paper Players last week, I loved seeing all the bear cards!  I said something about Fat Bear Week to Ryan and he didn't believe me that that's a real thing (the nerve!) so I showed him a video introducing some of this year's fat bear contenders and now he believes me.  Anyway, it's time for a new Paper Players challenge and this time the wonderful Jaydee has a great sketch for us:

I had an idea in my head for what I wanted to do, but then I was looking through my Halloween paper stash and I got distracted (typical) and this is where I ended up:

The Monster Bash DSP is some of my very favorite Halloween paper, I got a second pack on a Facebook BST group this year so I can hoard that and have all the funs with my first pack.  There's a whole page of spooky character portraits so I chose this Gomez and Morticia couple for my card--I wish the coordinating stamp set had more of the characters!  It only has a vampire and a mummy, there's a whole bunch of different characters on the DSP which is why I tend to fussy cut them instead of stamping, though I do use the great greetings in this stamp set on the regular, and the greeting is the only stamping done on this card.  Anyway, I had to highlight a really fun pattern for the large panel on the sketch, and finished off with a few black rhinestones.

Check out the other design team creations on the Paper Players blog, and you can hop through their individual blogs to leave some comments too:

The Paper Players Design Team

Jaydee

LeAnne Pugliese

Claire Broadwater

Joanne James

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:  Spooktacular Bash
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black
Paper:  Pumpkin Pie, Basic Black, Basic White, Monster Bash DSP
Accessories:  Ornate Frames dies, Dimensionals, black rhinestones

The Sinister Omen

Happy Saturday, y'all, and welcome to the Nancy Drew Challenge!  Today's book is #67, The Sinister Omen:

We have three wildly different covers this time.  I don't particularly care for the arch cover on the left, I just think it's boring; the middle cover is bonkers with Nancy's artistically ripped jumpsuit and the downed plane; and the one on the right wins the prize for the silliest Nancy Drew cover in the history of Nancy Drew books.  Okay the middle one is silly too but in a fun way, not in a roll-my-eyes way.  The middle one is definitely my favorite.

Case file:  Nancy is back in Florida and things always seem extra bonkers when she's in Florida.  Nancy flies Bess and George down to Fort Lauderdale in a seaplane (because of course she does), where they're supposed to meet up with the road trippin' boy half of the Drew Crew and help Carson with a case involving...a cartel of bad guys who steal valuable stamps.  Postage stamps, not my paper crafting stamps.  I bet you wouldn't have guessed that from looking at *any* of the book covers.

So here's my card for the first cover:

When the girls arrive in Fort Lauderdale, they find out that Carson has been kidnapped, but with Nancy on the case he doesn't stay that way for long.  She finds a clue and stupidly goes by herself to an abandoned hotel and has a run-in with a colony of rats before she rescues Carson single-handedly (because of course she does).

Yikes, the colors look off in this picture, the card is a better match to the book cover IRL I promise.  Happily for me, I have a suitably creepy-looking rat in my Halloween stamp stash.  Side note:  how many buildings in Fort Lauderdale have basements?  Because that seemed extremely unbelievable to me.  Anyway, I used Gray Granite, Boho Blue, and Secret Sea for my card colors.  I decided to forego the red on the book cover or else my card would have resembled a crime scene.

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Piece of Poison, Spooktacular Bash, Ghoulish Grunge
Ink:  Gray Granite, Boho Blue, Secret Sea, Versamark
Paper:  Gray Granite, Boho Blue, Secret Sea
Accessories:  Everyday Arches dies, Smoky Slate embossing powder, Neutrals Candy Dots, Dimensionals

On to the middle cover:

So the bad guys call their little club the Brotherhood of the Vulture (bunch of drama kings), but the only vulture stamp I have is in Animal Alphabet and just didn't work for what I wanted.  And actually this is my second hack at a card for this book cover, the first one was awful so I decided to go with a raven for a different avian harbinger and ended up with a sorta-Halloween looking card that I like.

I only bought this book last year and I paid probably too much money to import it from Canada but I was just so excited to add this cover to my collection even though Nancy does not crash the plane.  I used Peach Parfait, Kiwi Kiss, and Basic Beige for my colors and for once the greenish cast to Basic Beige ink worked in my favor.

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  The Raven
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Basic Beige, Peach Parfait
Paper:  Peach Parfait, Kiwi Kiss, Basic Beige, Well Suited DSP
Accessories:  Deckled Circles dies, Dimensionals, Clear Epoxy Shapes

And now for the third one:

The B mystery in this book involves a very old lady who was a friend of Carson's grandparents I think, but sadly my stamp collection is lacking in old lady stamps so I decided to go with the spring break angle instead.  The Drew Crew does manage to fit in trips to the beach and taking out a yacht or two in between solving the mysteries, and this was a good excuse to use the water mask I bought at the end of summer.  Hopefully I won't forget that I have it next summer.

Nancy has a nightmare at the beginning of the book that involves a vulture, and that's even before the Brotherhood of the Vulture even gets involved, which is where this silly cover originates but I still think it's stupid.  None of the SU! blues is a really accurate match for this cover, but in the end I went with Pacific Point, Summer Splash, Poppy Parade, Flirty Flamingo, and Basic Gray/Smoky Slate for my colors.  And I finally used the camera stamp in Summer Happiness along with my favorite sunglasses and some teeny flip-flops.  Is it weird that I wish the images in this stamp set were drawn on the same scale?  Otherwise the sunglasses and flip-flops must be made for a Funko Pop.

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Summer Happiness
Ink:  Pacific Point, Basic Gray, Stampin' Blends in Poppy Parade, Smoky Slate, Flirty Flamingo
Paper:  Pacific Point, Basic White, Summer Splash DSP
Accessories:  Summer Happiness dies, Textured Notes dies, Water Decorative Mask, Mini Dimensionals, Wonderful Gems

Mostly what I remember from reading this book as a kiddo is the old lady, who is quite acerbic but gives Bess a well-deserved confidence boost so I like her.  The postage stamp angle of the story reminds me of the movie Charade, one of my favorites, which stars Audrey Hepburn and Cary Grant and I shouldn't have to put a spoiler alert on a movie that's about 60 years old and if you haven't seen it, do yourself a favor and check it out.  Anyway, Nancy's Florida adventures always seem to have an extra bit of crazy and this one continues that trend.  The Drew Crew is rubbing elbows with the uber-rich and apparently stealing collectible stamps is super lucrative based on how much stuff the bad guys have.  There are some really bananas aspects to this book (a retired stunt man, a sinkhole, a suspicious butler and more) and you know I love me some bananas plot shenanigans so I'm giving this one four stars.  If you're inspired to make a card based on this book, leave me a comment!  I will be especially impressed if you choose that stupidly silly third cover with the vulture.  I'll see you next week when Nancy tracks down The Elusive Heiress.

Spooky Couple

Midnight greetings, spooky friends!  And today is a special day as the hubs and I are celebrating our twenty-second wedding anniversary, so I had to choose this card to share today:

I love love love the Monster Bash DSP, especially for the page of different spooky characters; the coordinating Spooktacular Bash only has Dracula and a mummy that go with this paper and I would have taken a stamp set with ALLLLL the characters on the DSP.  Also, side note, Gomez and Morticia Addams are relationship GOALS.  I bought the original Addams Family TV show on digital a while back and I need to watch it.  I need to watch the movies too, I am so far behind in watching spooky movies this month (stupid appendix has me sleeping through far too much of spooky season).

Anyway, this card ended up being a modified version of a past Just Add Ink sketch:

I had to move the spooky couple so that it allowed more of the haunted houses on the background paper to show up.  The only stamping is the "spooky" greeting and the Wild Wheat In Color Dots ended up being a pretty good match for the Summer Starfruit DSP.

Stay spooky, friends!  How many times did I use the word "spooky" in this blog post?  Well, it's warranted ; )  Cheers!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Spooktacular Bash
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black
Paper:  Terracotta Tile, Monster Bash DSP, Summer Starfruit DSP
Accessories:  Dimensionals, In Color Dots

Spooktacular Monster Bash

It's the witching hour, y'all!  Last year I lamented how I didn't get to share nearly enough Halloween cards, and I love Halloween cards so I had to think of a way to fix that : )  The answer:  a month-long Hex-Travaganza of Halloween goodness!  Every night at midnight for the month of October, I will be sharing a Halloween card with lots of stamp sets and Halloween papers from years past.

We're kicking off the Hex-Travaganza with a monster bash!

Our friendly spooks here are all cut out of the Spooktacular Bash DSP so the only stamping is the greeting on the headstone-shaped die.  I started making cards for this last December (which is good because it means that last week's drama queen appendix won't affect the Hex-Travaganza) and I frequently start with the CASE-ing Tuesday Sketches as a jumping off point.  Here's the sketch I used for this card:

And the card in the annual catalog that the sketch is based on:

I am looking forward to sharing lots more Halloween goodness this month, this might just be my favorite type of card to make!

Keep it spooky, y'all!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Spooktacular Bash
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black
Paper:  Basic Black, Crushed Curry, Terracotta Tile, Basic Beige, Monster Bash DSP
Accessories:  Textured Notes dies, Ornate Frames dies, Matte Black Dots, Dimensionals

Spooktacular Pumpkins

Hey y'all, happy Sunday.  Per Ryan's request (it was his turn to pick), I made orange scones for breakfast this morning.  : )  I think next weekend it's time for a pumpkin coffee cake.

And today it's time for a pumpkin card!

We're kickin' it old skool today to go with the Retro Rubber Challenge:

I used Elegant Eggplant, Highland Heather, Crushed Curry, Peach Parfait (I think?  We've had three colors with peach in the name and I get them mixed up, I just know it wasn't Peach Pie I used this time), and Tangerine Tango.  Carved & Candlelit was one of the first few Stampin' Up! stamp sets I ever bought and it's been in my collection for 18 years!  Spooktacular Bash (which I used for the greeting) is less retro at only five years old.  Even my embellishments are retro on this card.

I also used the sketch from As You See It:

And I'm quite chuffed to share that my Perfectly Preserved card was the winner of their last challenge : )  See, it's FUN to play with older stamps!  Thanks to the AYSI team for choosing my card, I enjoy playing along with the challenges.

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Carved & Candlelit, Spooktacular Bash
Ink:  Tangerine Tango, Peach Parfait, Highland Heather, Elegant Eggplant
Paper:  Crushed Curry, Elegant Eggplant, Thick Basic White, Elegant Eggplant & Highland Heather DSP
Accessories:  1 1/2" and 1 3/4" circle punches, Candy Dots, Sycamore Street ribbon, Dimensionals

When I'm not stamping or scrapping...or reading...my other other hobby is cross stitching, and last week I finished up two projects:

These are patterns by Satsuma Street in the Pretty Little Cities line.  The designer hasn't released any new Pretty Little Cities in a few years though, so I think I'll have to design my own for Texas and Colorado.  They're *called* Pretty Little Cities but sometimes it's not a city, it's a state or a country--I've also made Pretty Little Hawaii and Pretty Little Italy.  Plus more than a dozen other ones.  I've already started a new project that's making my little autumn-loving heart happy, it's a quilt-inspired design in some fabulous fall colors.  The hubs wonders how I can be at the house all day without going stir crazy but I am very, very good at entertaining myself--I always have multiple projects going, either paper or stitching.  I never get bored!

Spooky Season Starts Now!

It is September first and as far as I'm concerned, that means that spooky season starts NOW!  I am manifesting fall with my fall fox shirt and I've got a Halloween-inspired card today!

I love Halloween stuff (the fun stuff, nothing scary), so last year I decided that this fall season I want to use all my Halloween stamp sets at least once, even the ones that have been retired for ages.  So we're kicking off this year's with Spooktacular Bash and the awesome Monster Mash DSP.  Really, if they'd made three more stamp sets with the characters from this paper, I would have bought them all : )  I used three patterns from the DSP, and the only stamping is the sentiment, which I heat embossed with Shimmer Black embossing powder.

Take a look at the Retro Rubber sketch:

Spooktacular Bash, the DSP, and the embossing powder all debuted in 2019, so they're four years old.  I also used two items from the Just Add Ink challenge:

I tore the Basic Black strip behind the spooky lady, and added some Crushed Curry baker's twine around the card front.  A few black rhinestones and I have my first Halloween card of the year!

Have a great weekend, peeps.  Check you later!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Spooktacular Bash
Ink:  Versamark
Paper:  Terracotta Tile, Crushed Curry, Monster Bash DSP
Accessories:  Ornate Frames dies, Dimensionals, Crushed Curry baker's twine, black rhinestones

Stamping with Ryan

Mornin' y'all!  I've got a little bit of time before I'm due to leave for work today, so I thought I'd share a couple of cards that Ryan (4 years old) made for his cousins around the beginning of November.  Here are his creations:

Even though it was after Halloween, he insisted on using the ghost and Halloween greeting for the first card.  Ryan did all the stamping and die cutting, though I helped line up the dies before he cranked 'em through the Big Shot.  He chose the DSP scraps and I adhered them on the card fronts, and then he stuck on the other pieces (I just made sure they didn't overlap the card edges so we could still get them in envelopes when he finished).  Ryan also colored the dog in and somehow ended up with Camouflage Canine, haha!  I think he asked me to color in the dog's collar but he did all the rest.  Once he finished making the cards, he dictated messages for me to write to his cousins.

Ryan does like doing arts & crafts stuff; we have a tub of construction paper, pompoms, markers, and glitter glue that we play with, and if he sees me go in my craft room he always wants to "help".  Right now I have to supervise pretty closely (um, he put a 6-inch scratch on our dining room table with a pair of scissors when I went to the bathroom once) but it's still fun to see how his brain works when he creates things.

Have a great day, peeps!

They're Altogether Ooky

Mornin' y'all!  At least it's still morning here.  I tried to sneak up to my craft room while Ryan was playing video games, but he followed me and insisted on "helping", so I let him do the adhesive on my card.

These fun characters are from the Monster Bash DSP from a few years ago and I *wish* we had stamps of them all.  The coordinating Spooktacular Bash stamps (where the "spooky" is from) has a vampire and a mummy, but the DSP had a whole host of fun spooky characters.  I thought of them when I saw this week's Freshly Made Sketch:

Ryan helped choose which of the various witches, mummies, skeletons, and dragons to use on my card, but he was disappointed I decided against the mummy so we made a second card:

He's pretty cute too.  After I cut the mummy out I remembered I have a whole stack of these spiderweb doily things so I thought it would be an appropriately creepy backdrop for the mummy.  I used other sentiment stamps from Spooktacular Bash on the insides of the cards but I didn't take a picture so you'll have to take my word for that.  I'll need to get Halloween cards sent off really soon!

I think Ryan and I are going to draw some more monsters and other Halloween spooks to decorate the house.  Boo to you!

Supplies, first card:
Stamps:  Spooktacular Bash
Ink:  Terracotta Tile
Paper:  Pumpkin Pie, Thick Basic White, Monster Bash DSP
Accessories:  Black Rhinestones

Supplies, second card:
Stamps:  Spooktacular Bash
Ink:  Pumpkin Pie
Paper:  Crushed Curry, Very Vanilla, Monster Bash DSP, Spooky Night DSP
Accessories:  Spiderweb doily

SUO Challenges: Tuesday Twosome

Mornin' stampy friends!  It is time once again for a new challenge at SUO Challenges!

This time around, we're asking you to use your favorite holiday catalog product(s) or bundle.  Well, there's a lot of things I love in the holiday catalog, but as I am still resisting the urge to make anything Christmas or winter related, that narrowed down my choices a bit, and finally I decided my favorite product in the fall/Halloween/Thanksgiving part of the catalog is...the Ornate Frames Dies.

They're designed to go with the Spooktacular Bash stamp set, but that doesn't mean they aren't great for all kinds of other things.  Still, for my first card, I did use Spooktacular Bash and the super-fun Monster Bash DSP:

And I somehow resisted the urge to add a bunch of Granny Apple Green to a Monster Bash card ;) I can't help it, I love that bright green with the more muted tones in this DSP.  Anyway, my lil vampire there hadn't been inked up yet so this was a good chance to do that as well.

But, to show you that the Ornate Frames aren't just for vampires, here's a card featuring more awesome fall products:

I love the nontraditional colors in the Come to Gather DSP, and I used the coordinating Gather Together stamp set and Gathered Leaves dies.  Love the texture on those leaves!  And this time the ornate frame goes around the sentiment.  My dad will be having some surgery in the next couple of months, so I think this will be a thinking of you/get well card for him.

So there's my two cards for this challenge!  I have some other Christmas favorites too but none of them have gotten inked up yet ;) Plus I have a box due to arrive later today with more Christmas stuff, so I imagine it will start creeping into my stamping after November gets here.  So it's your turn!  Make a card with your favorite product from the holiday catalog, and I'll ooh and ahh over it even if I'm not ready to start making Christmas stuff myself ;)

Cheers!

Supplies for the first card, all SU!

Stamps:  Spooktacular Bash, Little Twinkle
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Terracotta Tile, Crushed Curry, Soft Sued
Paper:  Terracotta Tile, Basic Black, Thick Very Vanilla, Monster Bash DSP
Accessories:  Ornate Frames Dies, Dimensionals

Supplies for the second card, all SU!
Stamps:  Gather Together
Ink:  Early Espresso
Paper:  Mint Macaron, Pretty Peacock, Early Espresso, Thick Whisper White
Accessories:  Ornate Frames Dies, Gathered Leaves Dies, Mini Dimensionals

SUO Challenges: Autumn

Good morning y'all and welcome to OCTOBER!  I love October, and I just know the weather is actually going to cool down.  Any day now.  Really.

It's time for a new challenge at SUO Challenges!  This time we're making fall and autumn cards.

 Since it is the first of October, I couldn't resist making a Halloween card.

This came together super fast but I just really wanted to showcase that fabulous DSP!  It's hard to tell from the photo, but the greeting is embossed with the black shimmer EP so it's sparkly.  Granny Apple Green isn't featured in the patterned paper, but I do like that pop of green with all the oranges and yellows.

Your turn!  Make a card that's fall themed--and of course Halloween counts!  So does Thanksgiving, fall leaves, pumpkins, you name it.  Anyway, link it up at SUO Challenges so we can see!  Cheers!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Spooktacular Bash
Ink:  Versamark
Paper:  Terracotta Tile, Crushed Curry, Granny Apple Green, Basic Black, Monster Bash DSP
Accessories:  Ornate Frames dies, Dimensionals

Three Ghoul Friends

I'm aliiiiiive!  I was busy doing something on Tuesday afternoon and didn't get a card made for Wednesday, and then on Wednesday I was not feeling well at all so no card for Thursday.  Yesterday I actually spent all of naptime cleaning up the house because we have people coming in today, but I did have this one card I made and hadn't shared yet so here it is:

I started this when I was spitballing ideas for Leora's birthday party invitations.  Then we went with the other design so I ripped off the "you're invited" and put on a sentiment from Spooktacular Bash instead.

Anyone have any great ideas for Halloween costumes for me, the hubby, and our 2.5-year-old son?  I got NOTHIN' for ideas this year!

Cheers, y'all!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Wonderfully Wicked, Spooktacular Bash, Background Basics
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Gorgeous Grape
Paper:  Pumpkin Pie, Gorgeous Grape, Basic Black, Granny Apple Green
Accessories:  Ornate Frames dies

Hey, Ghoul Friend

I love Halloween.  I have lots of Halloween stamp sets (and paper), and yet somehow I still manage to buy more every year.  This year I got two Halloween stamp sets (Wickedly Wonderful and Spooktacular Bash) and the Halloween DSP and I plan to have lots of fun with them for the next couple of months :)

Spooktacular Bash is a really cute stamp set, but I wish it had more of the characters featured in the Monster Bash DSP.  Aren't these ladies fabulous?  I trimmed them out of a sheet of DSP.  The only stamping on here is the greeting, and the one on the inside that says "Glad we're such ghoul friends!"

And here's this week's Freshly Made Sketch that inspired my card:

Now I just need to come up with a brilliant idea for Halloween costumes this year...

Cheers, y'all!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Spooktacular Bash
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black
Paper:  Granny Apple Green, Terracotta Tile, Thick Whisper White, Monster Bash DSP
Accessories:  Ornate Frames dies, Dimensionals, Monster Bash Enamel Shapes