Bonzaiiiii!

Mornin', y'all!  How ya doing?  Ryan took a nice long nap yesterday so I got a card made to share today!

Rooted in Nature is one of the stamp sets I got for my first big catalog order in July and I'm looking forward to playing with it lots more.  I love the coordinating Nature's Poem DSP; I took my color combo directly from the paper pack (Cajun Craze, Tranquil Tide, and Mint Macaron).

Today's sketch is courtesy of Global Design Project:

I did fewer layers on the sentiment strip, but otherwise kept pretty close to the sketch.  Loving these colors together, I'm glad that Mint Macaron is back in the full-time SU! color lineup now.  I'll miss Tranquil Tide when it retires next summer so I'd better stock up on cardstock before then.

That's it for me today.  Cheers y'all!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Rooted in Nature
Ink:  Tranquil Tide, Soft Suede, Whisper White
Paper:  Mint Macaron, Tranquil Tide, Thick Whisper White, Nature's Poem DSP
Accessories:  Nature's Roots Framelits, mini Dimensionals, white EP

Chris & Jennifer's Wedding

Mornin' y'all!  Today I'm reaching way, way back in the scrappy archives to bring you a wedding layout.

This is what my scrapbook pages used to look like before I started stamping:  lots of patterned paper (which I still use a lot, just not as much per layout) and stickers for accents.  We're kicking it old skool today.  I stopped scrapping for a couple of years when I started making cards, and when I got back into it I had several sets of pictures already paired up with patterned paper and whatnot for when I made the layouts.  So I just added the Pink Pirouette page base and found some wedding-appropriate rose stickers.

Yep, like that.  It felt kinda weird to be going back to an earlier style of scrapping, what do you think?

I've got to get the kid ready to go to the gym.  Cheers,  y'all!

Supplies:
Stamps:  None
Ink:  None
Paper:  Pink Pirouette, Regal Rose, green pattern from K & Company, floral pattern from MM By Design
Accessories:  Sweetheart punch, stickers from Mrs. Grossman's

China: Li River Cruise, Part 2

Hey hey hey, it's China Sunday!  And today I have the other two layouts from the Li River cruise.

We took hundreds of photos during the cruise, and I liked a LOT of them, soooo yep three layouts, all with lots of pictures.

Aren't those hills funny? They got their shape due to erosion; I've never seen hills shaped like that anywhere else.

Color palette is the same as last week:  Crumb Cake, Crushed Curry, Island Indigo, Garden Green, Basic Black, and Whisper White.  Well, the photos have a lot of green anyway.

Breakfast is about to come out of the oven so cheers, y'all!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Best of Shelli
Ink:  Garden Green, Crushed Curry, Basic Black marker
Paper:  Crumb Cake, Island Indigo, Crushed Curry, Thick Whisper White, Perfectly Artistic DSP
Accessories:  Circle punches

She Sells Copper Shells

Happy Saturday y'all!  Usually I don't post on Saturdays buuuuuut I had a few challenges I couldn't let pass me by so here's a card.

I used some long-retired stamps on this one, which I'll get to in a minute.  First challenge is this week's Freshly Made Sketch:

And next up I *finally* got a beachy card done for the Retro Rubber Challenge:

Stippled Shells is a very, very retro stamp set--I've had it since at least 2006.  Maybe even earlier, but I started my Splitcoast gallery in 2006.  The sentiment is from It's Your Birthday, which is almost as old since I've had it since 2007.  Touches of Texture is the newbie here at just two years old.

Finally, here's the Color Throwdown:

I must confess I swapped out the white for Very Vanilla on my card, and I added Sahara Sand to the palette.  I beg the forgiveness of the challenge gods :)

Also, I first put the card together without the thin black mat on the vanilla layer, and it just didn't look quite finished to me so I peeled it apart to add the black.  But here's the before version:

Yep, better with the mat.  And also my copper embossing powder is so old it's from the FIRST time SU! had copper EP :D  So even my embossing powder is retro!

Have a great weekend, peeps!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Stippled Shells, It's Your Birthday, Touches of Texture
Ink:  Versamark, Sahara Sand, Basic Black
Paper:  Sahara Sand, Very Vanilla, Basic Black
Accessories:  Copper EP

Bold Butterfly Splat

Happy Friday, y'all!  I'm looking forward to the weekend.  How 'bout you?  And to start things off right, how 'bout a big bold bright butterfly?

Okay, I kinda love how the butterfly turned out--I stamped a splotch from Touches of Texture several times on a piece of white cardstock, then stamped the butterfly outline in black over it, and then cut it out.  I could wish that I'd gotten the colors to overlap a bit more, but I still like the effect.  What do you think?

Let's start off with this week's CAS(E) This Sketch:

I liked how Jen Mitchell on their design team used a script stamp for one of the layers, so that's why I wanted to use a background stamp on mine.  I chose Sheet Music just because I liked it :) I inked it up with a sponge to make it a bit softer than if I inked it with the ink pad normal-normal.

Next up is the inspiration photo at Just Add Ink:

I took my colors straight from the photo:  Flirty Flamingo, Pineapple Punch, Call Me Clover, and Lovely Lipstick, plus some Basic Black to ground all those bright colors a bit.  And this image is what inspired me to do the stamped splotch coloring technique.  I could have used the flower from Beautiful Day, but I just used it earlier this week so I went with the butterfly instead.

That's it for me today, peeps.  Ryan and I will be heading to the gym so he can play in the nursery while I run two miles and do yoga.  I think we both win with that plan.  Cheers!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Beautiful Day, Touches of Texture, Sheet Music
Ink:  Flirty Flamingo, Pineapple Punch, Call Me Clover, Lovely Lipstick, Basic Black
Paper:  Thick Whisper White, Call Me Clover
Accessories:  Dimensionals, Metallic Sequins

Foxy Hello

Hey, kids.  Man, this week has been tough!  The hubs' work schedule has been kinda all over the place so I've been pretty much single parenting the kidbot.  I think most of the time I'm ready for bedtime a lot earlier than the kiddo is!

But enough about that, how about a card:

I chose Foxy Friends because I was thinking of entering this over at Retro Rubber, but I'm not sure this fits the theme exactly.  I think of animals being out and about in the summertime, and they did say a summer theme card, but they also have a lot of beachy stuff on there and I don't think foxes are beach babes.  They're more forest-y.  But anyway, I can enter this in the Paper Players sketch challenge!

I kind of made up my color combination on the spot.  I started with the Cajun Craze fox, and I wanted to use Call Me Clover, so I looked on the Stampin' Up! color combos list and Crushed Curry was in a combo with Call Me Clover so I thought hey, that works.  And a healthy dose of Crumb Cake.  We're all about the C's with this color combination.  Except for the black and white anyway.

That's it for me today, y'all.  Have a great Thursday!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Foxy Friends, Tree Rings, A Little Wild
Ink:  Crumb Cake, Crushed Curry, Cajun Craze, Memento Tuxedo Black, Basic Black marker
Paper:  Call Me Clover, Crumb Cake, Crushed Curry, Cajun Craze, Thick Whisper White
Accessories:  Everyday Label punch, Dimensionals

Mermaid Experiment

Hey y'all!  As fate would have it, I have another watercolor card today, but this time I thought I'd try an experiment.

I stamped the mermaid with Versamark and heat set with clear embossing powder, then watercolored her.  I had to do some "sea" around her or else you wouldn't be able to see the outline.  I dunno, I think it's kind of a cool effect.  Wish I'd had a bit more time to fine-tune the watercoloring, but the kiddo woke up and INSISTED that he needed out of his crib RIGHT NOW so I was working as fast as I could.  That's also why the photo angle is a bit wonky--it was late afternoon and I was trying to get a halfway decent photo of a card that refuses to lie flat.

So, two challenges for today.  First off is the alternate version of the Fall-To Layout:

And second is the color challenge from Global Design Project:

I added some Blushing Bride for the mermaid's skin, and just a smidgen of Lemon Lime Twist for the seaweed in her hair.  The Lovely Lipstick hair reminds me of Ariel in The Little Mermaid.

That's it for me today, peeps.  And how is it August already?  But you know what that means...as soon as September 1 arrives, I will make ALL THE PUMPKIN THINGS.  Oh yeah, I can't wait to make some iced pumpkin coffee cake!  Highly recommend that recipe.  It might be my very favorite pumpkin recipe, and I loves me some pumpkin.  But for now, it's still hot, humid, and swampy.  C'mon FALL!

Cheers!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Magical Mermaid
Ink:  Versamark, Night of Navy, Bermuda Bay, Lovely Lipstick, Blushing Bride, Lemon Lime Twist
Paper:  Thick Whisper White, Night of Navy
Accessories:  Clear EP