Sweet Sadie Fox

Mornin', y'all!  I had an appointment yesterday morning, so I didn't have as time as I might have liked to work in my craft room, but I am inching closer to having three more scrapbook layouts done and I made a card for today : )

Something like two years ago, maybe more--I just remember I was in Germany--I ordered a few stamps from Whipper Snapper Designs, including this adorable fox, and this is the first time I've inked her up!  This is also my first try at using the brand-new Basic Beige paper, and I discovered that the Ivory Stampin' Blend is pretty much exactly the same color, as in it ends up just barely showing up on the cardstock.  I ended up using some of the natural tones blends for the lighter parts of her fur, and then added highlights with a chalk marker (retired).

I told you I wanted to play along again with the Paper Players challenge:

I could make a card every day for a month and never use the same animal stamps twice, and still have more left over.  I love animal stamps!  I'm glad this challenge finally prompted me to ink up this sweet fox.

Check out this week's Freshly Made Sketch:

And the Color Throwdown:

I used Boho Blue, Pecan Pie, and Basic Beige for my colors, with a bit of white and Night of Navy thrown in.  If you want to get super picky, I added a bit of pink to Sadie's ears, and used Mossy Meadow for the grass and leaves.  This is a fun color combination, I like the inspiration pic and now I'm getting hungry.  Is that some kind of apple tart?  Coincidentally, Ryan and I have been playing the game Outfoxed this week, where one of sixteen fox characters steals a pie and the players work together uncovering clues and suspects to deduce who stole the pie.  But sweet Sadie here isn't a thief, right?

That's it for me today and I think I'll go looking through my animal stamps for more fun.  Cheers!

Supplies:
Stamps:  Sadie from Whipper Snapper, Country Bouquet
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, VersaMark, Stampin' Blends in Pecan Pie, Ivory, natural tones, Pretty in Pink, Mossy Meadow, Boho Blue
Paper:  Boho Blue, Basic Beige, Night of Navy, Countryside Inn DSP
Accessories:  White EP, white sequins

Reaching Out

Mornin' y'all!  Hope your week is going well.  I'm glad that Ryan is back to watching Miraculous (Ladybug and Cat Noir)...I enjoy that show a lot more than some other ones he watches.  I like to watch this one with him : )

Today's card has nothing to do with ladybugs or cats, though...

I was inspired to dust off this octopus from Sea of Textures thanks to a combination of challenges, starting with Retro Rubber:

Sea of Textures is six years old, so nice and retro for this challenge.  I had this challenge in the back of my mind when I saw the CAS Colours & Sketches color palette:

I stamped the octopus in Lost Lagoon on Pool Party cardstock with some Wink of Stella for sparkle, the sentiment is in Pebbled Path, and the card front is stamped with Pool Party ink on the same color of cardstock.  I thought those colors went well with the Retro nautical theme.

I'm also entering this at the Paper Players challenge:

I'm hoping to play along with this challenge at least once or twice more though, I love animal stamps!  And the pictures on the challenge graphic are so dang cute.

Just a few more minutes and I have to get Ryan ready to go to school.  Cheers, y'all!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Sea of Textures
Ink:  Pool Party, Lost Lagoon, Pebbled Path
Paper:  Pool Party, Thick Basic White
Accessories:  Under the Sea dies, Dimensionals, Wink of Stella, Tinsel Gems

SUO Challenges: MAAAMAAAAAAAAA!!!

 Happy Tuesday, y'all, and it's a fun Tuesday because it's time for a new challenge at SUO Challenges!

And here is our theme:

In case you forgot, Mother's Day is coming up and MAN I cannot type today, I'm glad you can't see all the typos that have gone into this blog post today.  Anyway, my mom loves hummingbirds because they remind her of her grandmother, so I made this for her:

I made this weeks ago, and I admit that when I made it, I wasn't tracking that the Occasions catalog would be gonzo when this blog post went live, so that Poetic Expressions and Forever Love DSP are both retired now.  I bet the Wildly Flowering DSP in the new catalog would be a great option for current stuff though, it has several pretty Moody Mauve patterns.  Anyway, I went with a fancy gold and Pretty Peacock background and then a Moody Mauve and Bubble Bath smaller pattern for the smaller panel, then colored my hummingbird and flowers to match.  A few Pretty Peacock Foiled Gems (still available!) for accents and there's my card.

We hope that you'll join us for this challenge and upload a mom-tastic card at the SUO Challenges blog.  As always, have fun!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Thoughtful Expressions, Perennial Postage
Ink:  Moody Mauve, Memento Tuxedo Black, Stampin' Blends in Bubble Bath, Moody Mauve, Pretty Peacock
Paper:  Moody Mauve, Bubble Bath, Thick Basic White, Forever Love DSP, Poetic Expressions DSP
Accessories:  Thoughtful Expressions dies, Pretty Peacock Foiled Gems, Dimensionals

May 2020

Scrappy Monday, y'all.  Ryan and I had a fairly low-key weekend but we did go to the movies--twice! We saw Star Wars:  The Phantom Menace on Saturday and then took my mom with us to go see The Mummy yesterday.  Both movies first came out 25 years ago (um, how) so they've been re-released in theaters.  Ryan has been highly resistant to anything Star Wars because he knows I love it, but he did say that he liked the movie, especially where Anakin destroyed the command ship on the big battle at the end.  (I prefer the lightsaber fights.)  I did wonder if he would be scared by The Mummy, but he was totally fine and now wants to roar at me the way the mummy does in the movie so I have that going for me.  He did ask me to tell him when scary parts were coming up but he said he didn't get scared at all.  Kid is way more fearless than I was at his age, I can tell you.

Anyway, here's my layout for today:

This is from May of 2020, when we lost our Sadie girl, so she is the focal point photo on this layout.  All the other pictures are Ryan goofing around one way or another.

Today's color palette is brought to you by the recently retired In Colors:  Tahitian Tide, Parakeet Party, Starry Sky, Sweet Sorbet, and white.  The only missing In Color is Orchid Oasis.  I've said it before and I'll say it again, that was my favorite ever batch of In Colors!  I do have the beginnings of a new layout on my desk using one of the brand new In Colors though, turns out that Summer Splash is a great match for some jammies that Ryan used to wear.  So I'll start getting to know the new colors too.

Time to get Ryan ready for school.  Only three more weeks and he's done for the year, whaaaat!  Cheers, y'all.

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Full Calendar
Ink:  Versamark, Blueberry Bushel marker
Paper:  Tahitian Tide, Parakeet Party, Blueberry Bushel, Sweet Sorbet, Thick Basic White, Flowers & More DSP, Floral Lane DSP
Accessories:  White EP, Hearts Collection Framelits

Rooster Reveille

HAPPY STAR WARS DAY, friends!  Star Wars is my first fandom, I have a picture somewhere of 5-year-old me dressed up as Princess Leia and my little brother as Luke Skywalker.  Ryan and I are going to see The Phantom Menace in theaters this afternoon (how is that movie 25 years old?) and I'm wearing a Star Wars shirt and socks.  And I may have just bought some more Star Wars artwork...and more shirts ; )

Speaking of retail therapy, I was stalking my own front porch all day yesterday waiting for my SU! order to arrive...and it finally showed up during the 25 minutes I was gone to pick Ryan up from school.  So all I got to do so far was bust everything out and take a look at my new goodies.  While I was waiting yesterday morning, I made this card:

Hey Chuck just retired but those chickens will live forever in my stampy hoard.  I had to give two challenges another shot, starting with Cupcake Inspirations:

Once again, I used Flirty Flamingo, Pumpkin Pie, and Poppy Parade, and this time I didn't add any other colors except a bit of Pecan Pie for the skateboarding rooster.  And once again I paired the colors with the Sunday Stamps sketch:

I almost forgot the little flags on the sides, I had a strip all cut out and everything but I glued my watercolor layer down and couldn't get it up to add the strips, so I cut little bits off the ends and managed to squeeze them under the watercolor layer so I followed the sketch.

Okay, while Ryan is watching Ladybug and Cat Noir, I'm going to sneak upstairs and see if I can play with some new schtuff, or work on the scrapbook pages I started yesterday.  Cheers!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Hey Chuck
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Flirty Flamingo, Pumpkin Pie, Poppy Parade, Stampin' Blends in Flirty Flamingo, Pumpkin Pie, Poppy Parade, Pecan Pie
Paper:  Poppy Parade, Thick Basic White, watercolor paper, Poppy Parade & Pumpkin Pie DSP
Accessories:  Hey Chuck dies, Deckled Rectangles dies, mini Dimensionals, white sequins

On the Diagonal

Mornin' y'all!  We had some exciting news yesterday at Ryan's taekwondo studio...the guy who runs the place will be doing his 7th degree black belt test soon, and a big part of the test is how he teaches students.  So he is asking students at each learning level to be a part of his test, and Ryan is one of just two kids in his class to be asked to participate!  Honestly I think I might be more excited about it than Ryan is.  We were already planning to go watch just because we wanted to see what was involved at a belt test at that level.  So in a couple of weeks, Ryan will get to help with it!

Anyway, I spent some quality time in the craft room yesterday, finished three scrapbook layouts, and made this card:

Here's the color challenge from Color Throwdown:

I used Smoky Slate, Berry Burst, and Lost Lagoon for my colors (plus a tiny bit of Bubble Bath for the smaller flowers).  I had to ponder for a bit to choose a stamp set to go with them, but in the end I went with a vase like in the inspo pic.  Here's this week's Freshly Made Sketch:

I must admit, I did NOT like this sketch at first glance.  I think I even made a face.  I had no idea what to do with it...so imagine my surprise when I ended up with a card that I like!  That's what makes it a challenge, I suppose!  I added one more challenge too, courtesy of Just Add Ink:

Sparkly things are notoriously hard to photograph, but I have Wink of Stella on the larger flowers, then Tinsel Gems in their centers, and if that's not enough, I added some Shiny Sequins on the diagonal.  Also I think that greeting stamp from Latte Love is my favorite stamp in the whole set : )  I need to get some cards out in the mail today.

Gotta go get the kiddo off to school.  And then I'm hoping my SU! order shows up early rather than later this afternoon.  Cheers, y'all!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Everyday Details, Latte Love
Ink:  Basic Gray, Smoky Slate, Stampin' Blends in Smoky Slate, Berry Burst, Lost Lagoon, and Bubble Bath
Paper:  Lost Lagoon, Berry Burst, Thick Basic White, A Little Latte DSP
Accessories:  Dimensionals, Tinsel Gems, Wink of Stella, Shiny Sequins

Radiant Zinnias

Mornin' y'all!  I had a busy day yesterday but I started it off with some retail therapy :D  I placed a big fat new catty order with SU! and for the first time EVER I sprang for the 2-day shipping so my new goodies get here tomorrow.  Woooooo!  Yeah, I've been a demonstrator for 19 years I think and this is the first time I've done speedy shipping.  I realized this morning that I neglected to put the very colorful Full of Life DSP on my order, so perhaps I will go back and pick up one or two other things in a week or two.

In the meantime, I'm still playing with some relatively new goodies!

Now THAT'S a bright and cheery card, am I right?  I used the fun sketch from Sunday Stamps:

And the hot color combo from Cupcake Inspirations:

I used Flirty Flamingo, Pumpkin Pie, and Poppy Parade, and I hope they won't mind I also used Parakeet Party for the stems and leaves.  The Radiating Stitches dies added some fun detail, too, and I finished off with a few sequins.

Alright y'all, I got a good night's sleep last night (finally!) so I am ready to tackle some fun projects today.  Cheers, y'all!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Simply Zinnia, Blueberry Bunches
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Poppy Parade, Stampin' Blends in Flirty Flamingo, Pumpkin Pie, Poppy Parade, Parakeet Party
Paper:  Poppy Parade, Thick Basic White, Most Adored DSP, Pumpkin Pie DSP
Accessories:  Simply Zinnia dies, Radiating Stitches dies, Shiny Sequins, Dimensionals