Greek Flower

Howdy, folks!  On Monday, hubs and I returned home from a 12-day Mediterranean cruise :)  So for the past two weeks, all my blog posts were pre-scheduled.  Today I finally got back in the craft room to make something new!

Just something uncomplicated to get back in the groove.  I used this sketch from Sketch Frenzy Friday:

Though I did the rounded corner and brad instead of baker's twine like in the sketch.  The colors are courtesy of Dynamic Duos:

They remind me of some of the Greek islands we visited; lots of crisp white buildings with blue domes, and of course lush green vegetation.

Well, if I don't leave the house in the next two minutes I'll be late meeting up with my sweet hubs for an appointment.  Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Blooming with Kindness
Ink:  Pacific Point, Old Olive, StazOn Black (though it looks kinda washed out to me)
Paper:  Old Olive, Basic Black, Whisper White, retired Pacific Point DSP
Accessories:  Corner rounder punch, gold brad, Dimensionals

Nachos: Fall Leaves

It's time for another challenge from Nacho Average Challenges!  This time it's a beautiful color combo:

Isn't that awesome?  I thought they'd make for a good masculine card, so this will probably go to my brother for his birthday:

I think it's still masculine even with the Glimmer Paper on there.  Perhaps fall leaves aren't the obvious choice for this color combination, but I liked it and I was inspired by a card by Mary Brown, so there you have it.  I kept my layout very simple to let the colors shine.

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Gently Falling, Banner Greetings
Ink:  Pear Pizzazz, Island Indigo, Soft Suede
Paper:  Pear Pizzazz, Island Indigo, Very Vanilla, Champagne Glimmer paper
Accessories:  Autumn Accents Bigz die, Dimensionals

Kyoto's Buddhist Temples

For today's post we are once again working through Japan scrapbook pages.  I just ordered about 1,700 pictures from Winkflash too...I will never be bored when it comes to scrappin'!

These pictures are from the trip hubs and I took to Kyoto in 2009; you can see my original blog posts about these pictures here and here.  The pics are from two different sites in Kyoto, so I made the pages different colors but used the same DSP on them both to make them still coordinate, though I'm not sure how successful that idea was.  Well, not every page can be your favorite, right?

Have a scrappy day!

Supplies:
Stamps:  Four Frames
Ink:  Basic Gray marker, Garden Green
Paper:  Tempting Turquoise, Real Red, Wild Wasabi, Whisper White, Urban Garden DSP (retired)
Accessories:  Decorative Label & oval punches

Friday Flashback: Falling Leaves

Happy Friday, ready to Flashback?  This week's stamp set is Falling Leaves, which I love :)  So let's get to it!

You'll see that I love to line up the leaves in this stamp set.  This was for my brother's birthday a few years ago (he was born in November).  I also used French Filigree and the sentiment is from All Holidays.

Here's a card that matches one of the kokeshi dolls in my collection :)  Sentiment is from the eponymous Grateful Greetings.

Here's a baby book layout which also features Wonderfall.

And another baby book layout.  I do believe that Autumn Traditions DSP is the *only* DSP that Stampin' Up! has ever had with Elegant Eggplant in it (aside from the monochromatic stuff that comes in every color).  It's a shame too because I love Elegant Eggplant.  I think I (and lots of other people too probably) would use it more often if it was in more DSP.

Here's a little CAS card; sentiment is from the Bright Blessings wheel that I cut up into a bunch of little stamps.

So that's it for the past projects, here's the new card:

Yep, I lined up those leaves again!  Though this time I think they're a little crooked, I was kinda in a hurry.  This is based on some old SCS sketch and color challenges; the sketch turned out much better than I thought it would (though it's still a bit overcomplicated for my taste) and I love the colors together.  Again, I used the Autumn Traditions DSP though even in that there's not a print that features Elegant Eggplant as the dominant color.  That Riding Hood Red print and the acorn print are two sides of a single sheet of paper.

That's it for today, hope you enjoyed this Friday Flashback!

Supplies, last card only:
Stamps:  Falling Leaves, Express Yourself
Ink:  Riding Hood Red, Elegant Eggplant, Soft Suede
Paper:  Soft Suede, Elegant Eggplant, Very Vanilla, Autumn Traditions DSP (retired)
Accessories:  Corner rounder punch, Elegant Eggplant brad (I'm using up some old brads instead of using the new Candy Dots)
Stamps:  Falling Leaves

Baby Makes Three

Howdy, peeps!  I've got a cute little baby card to share today.

This has already been sent off in the mail to our friends who are expecting their first little one.  I really intended for this card to be much more gender-neutral but somehow it ended up being very BOY...but it seems like most everyone I know is having boys right now so maybe I'm psychic?

Have a great day!!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Baby Tees, Cuddles & Kisses
Ink:  Early Espresso, Marina Mist, Bashful Blue, Calypso Coral, Soft Suede
Paper:  Bashful Blue, Marina Mist, Whisper White, Sweet Shoppe Specialty DSP (retired)
Accessories:  Marina Mist buttons (old style, retired), linen thread, Marina Mist ribbon from the Occasions catalog (retired)

Have Fun Storming the Castle!

I have F.I.N.A.L.L.Y. finished the scrapbook album from my parents' trip to Okinawa in 2008.  Yay!!  Here's the last page:

So, when hubs and I first moved to Japan, we were getting on the plane to leave Texas and the last thing my dad said to us was "Have fun storming the castle!" which is like, one of a zillion awesome quotable lines from The Princess Bride (I'm sure I don't have to tell you that, right?) and has since become our traditional parting line.  So it seemed natural to use that for the last page of the album, plus I had that picture of the awesome shisa at the Ryukyu glass factory that just didn't fit in with any of the other pages and I think it's perfect here.  So this page makes me happy.

Here's the first page:

The album itself is the DCWV Far East one and Mom got me the matching paper pad, so I used it for the first page with some Midnight Muse letters.  I wanted to really highlight Okinawa, so that's why it's in all caps and its own box.

And then here's the first two-page layout in the book:

The letter on the left was one my mom sent out to a bunch of her friends as they were preparing to go on the trip; my parents lived in Okinawa in the '70s and are still friends with several families they met there.  The right-hand page is a brief summary of what we did each day during their visit; I was 3/4 done with it and had things stuck down when I realized somehow I'd missed a day and I had to redo that whole last column.  But I got it done.  And now the entire album is finished, so again, YAY!

I won't bother with doing full recipes for the pages here, no stamps or anything, but if you really wanna know you can check out my Splitcoast gallery for all the deets.  Thanks for stopping by today!

Hey Nachos!!

Guess what?  Today is my first official post as part of the Nacho Average Challenges design team!  WOOHOO!!  After a little summer hiatus, the Nachos are back with an awesome new sketch:

I stuck pretty close to the sketch to make my card:

It took me three tries to get the sentiment stamped straight, even with the SAMJ!  But I got there eventually.  I really like this sketch, I may have to try it out again but maybe do something not quite so literal with it :D

Come play along with the Nachos!  Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies, all SU!

Stamps:  Field Flowers, Sweet Essentials

Ink:  Strawberry Slush, Garden Green, Rich Razzleberry

Paper:  Strawberry Slush, Rich Razzleberry, Whisper White, Venetian Romance DSP

Accessories:  Dimensionals