Lovely Words

Hey kids, happy Tuesday.  Hope you enjoyed your long weekend.  Only half of ours was rainy, so that's progress, right?  I got to spend a bit of time in my craft room yesterday and I made this pretty quick little card:

Once again I used the new stamp set Love & Affection, which will be available for everyone starting tomorrow, woohoo!  It's photopolymer, so I was able to put the bitty flower in the center of the larger ones without a Stamp-a-Ma-Jig, plus I wasn't too fussed about making everything perfect.  I love the font on the sentiments that come with this stamp set.

I used the Fab Friday color challenge:

I always hate to say goodbye to colors when they retire, even if we get new favorites to offset the sting a little bit.  So long, Hello Honey and Blackberry Bliss!  They'll continue to pop up on my scrapbook pages and such, I'm sure.

I also used this week's Global Design Project sketch:

I kept my card very clean and followed the sketch pretty much exactly :D

That's it for me today, y'all.  Have a good 'un.

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Love & Affection
Ink:  Bermuda Bay, Blackberry Bliss, Hello Honey
Paper:  Bermuda Bay, Thick Whisper White, Hello Honey DSP
Accessories:  Lots of Labels Framelits, Dimensionals

Normandy

Today is Memorial Day, a day not for barbecues but to remember those men and women who died in the service of their country.  And today's scrapbook layout is particularly appropriate today.

While on a trip to France in 2013, we took a train from Paris out to Normandy and did a tour where we visited the D-Day beaches, a few towns and battlefields, and the American cemetery (see my original blog post about it here).  We happened to do the tour on July 4th, and when we arrived at the cemetery a small group of people was handing out roses and the names of soldiers.  All of the soldiers to whom we paid our respects don't have graves though; they're all known casualties of the D-Day invasions but their remains have never been recovered, so we left the roses at the wall inscribed with their names.  Even today, scientists are using DNA to identify remains, so there are some brass rosettes on the wall that indicate that that particular soldier has been found.

I kept the layout very simple but I just had to use this eagle stamp from The Free & the Brave.  I have a Post-It Note mask of the eagle's head, so I used it to watercolor around with Smoky Slate ink on a scrap of paper:

Then after it dried, I used the Stamp-a-Ma-Jig to stamp the eagle on top of it with Dapper Denim ink so the eagle is white but the background is gray, but after I stamped it the Smoky Slate looked so pale you can't really tell the difference anyway :p  I used just a teeny bit of So Saffron ink for the eagle's eye and beak.

It was just my great good fortune that my title fit *exactly* on the journaling panel.

Today's color palette is Dapper Denim, Smoky Slate, and Whisper White, with a smidgen on So Saffron and Basic Gray ink for the journaling.  I thought about adding some red, but I figured there was enough red in the photos, and otherwise I liked the blue/gray combination.  And I like that the Perfectly Artistic DSP kind of mimics the pattern you'd see on marble.

Have a good day, folks.

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  The Free & the Brave, Spencerian Alphabet (retired)
Ink:  Dapper Denim, Smoky Slate, So Saffron, Basic Gray
Paper:  Dapper Denim, Smoky Slate, Thick Whisper White, Perfectly Artistic DSP
Accessories:  Stamp-a-Ma-Jig

A-Team Baby Book: August

ETA:  Well dangit, I meant to schedule this for tomorrow morning and accidentally published it this afternoon, so bonus Friday post and pretend you saw it on Saturday.  :D

Happy Saturday and hooray for a long weekend!  Today's baby book pages are certainly summery.

So my brother attended Oklahoma State University, whose mascot is Pistol Pete (a cowboy) and whose colors are orange and black, and now you know why I incorporated orange and a cowboy on this layout.  Plus my niece was born in Texas and nothin' says Texas like cowboys (and cowgirls!).

I'm still angry at myself that somehow I NEVER got ink refills for the In Colors the year that Poppy Parade, Peach Parfait, and Concord Crush retired.  I forget the other two colors from that year but maybe they came back?  Anyway, my Poppy Parade ink pad is a little dry so the cowboy isn't as saturated as he could be.

I used the medallion from Wanted as an accent next to the month.

And some wee little horses for the journaling block!  They're actually part of a line of five, I just masked off the other two for this.

Today's super hot color palette:  Peach Parfait, Poppy Parade, Daffodil Delight, Pear Pizzazz, and Whisper White.  Have a great weekend, y'all!

Supplies:
Stamps:  Wanted, Bronc Buster, Weathered, small horses by Deadbeat Designs
Ink:  Peach Parfait, Poppy Parade, Daffodil Delight
Paper:  Peach Parfait, Poppy Parade, Daffodil Delight, Pear Pizzazz, PTI White, Sunny Garden DSP
Accessories:  Sizzix alphabet, circle & scalloped circle punches

Friday Flashback: Linen

Happy Friday, y'all!  Today's Friday Flashback stamp set is Linen--yep, we're shining the light on a background stamp today.  Let's check it out!

Also features Baby Talk, Petite Patterns

One thing I noticed going through my archives is that I've used Linen quite a few times, but it's hard to see in the pictures because the texture is so fine on the stamp.  So click on the photos to enlarge, and check out the card base on this one.

Also features Heartfelt Thanks, Warm Words, French Script

Or the Almost Amethyst layer on this one.

Also features Fall Whimsy, Print Pattern, AYC3

Pumpkin Pie layer on this one...

Also features Touch of Nature, Print Pattern, Weathered, AYC3

The card base on this one...

Also features Steppin' Style, Print Pattern

And finally, the blue layer on this one.  Uh, Linen is a hard stamp to photograph I guess?  Well, here's my new card:

I think you can see it a little better here; I stamped Linen with Dapper Denim ink on Dapper Denim cardstock and IRL it looks like blue jeans which makes me happy.  I'm entering this at Just Add Ink, where the challenge is to just add "B"--I made a birthday card with a blue jeans background, using the color Blushing Bride and the stamp set Bodacious Bouquet for my blooms, to which I added a bit of bling in the form of rhinestones, and I used my Big Shot to cut out the Lots of Labels die for my sentiment.  How's that for Bs?

This also counts for Retro Rubber's challenge to use flowers:

I've had Linen for 10 years (!!!), Bodacious Bouquet for 9, and Perfectly Penned for 5, so they're all nice and retro for that challenge.

I also incorporated the colors from The Color Throwdown:

I used Dapper Denim, Blushing Bride, and Watermelon Wonder for my colors, and I think they'll forgive me for adding a smidge of Pear Pizzazz because I just needed some leaves for my flowers.

This afternoon, hubs and I are going to see the new X-Men movie (hubs is off work today!) and then we're going out to dinner.  Maybe I can talk him into going to Chuy's for some Mexican food...adios for now!

Supplies, last card only:
Stamps:  Linen, Bodacious Bouquet, Perfectly Penned
Ink:  Dapper Denim, Blushing Bride, Watermelon Wonder
Paper:  Dapper Denim, Blushing Bride, thick Whisper White
Accessories:  Lots of Labels Framelits, rhinestones

Flowers for Grandma

The rain has finally stopped for a couple of days (woohoo!  Though now that I've said that it will probably start raining again any minute now) and I'm still playing around with the new In Colors and getting a feel for some new color combinations.

My husband's grandmother's birthday is next week, so I asked him what her favorite colors are and he doesn't know.  Neither do his parents, so hubs said to use purple and green (which are my favorite colors).  I added a bit of yellow because I thought it worked.  So for this card I used Sweet Sugarplum, Pear Pizzazz, So Saffron, and the sentiment is Blackberry Bliss because it's like a much darker version of Sweet Sugarplum.

I used this week's Freshly Made Sketch:

I actually did put my sentiment on a banner, but both it and the card front are Thick Whisper White so it's hard to tell in the photo above.  I really should work on getting better photos of my cards.

Anyway, I'm also entering this over at Retro Rubber:

I got Summer Silhouettes in 2012, so it's four years old and it's retiring.  The birthday sentiment is from Rose Wonder so that's not retro at all ;)

Well kids, I've got errands to run, so that's it for me today.  See you tomorrow for the Friday Flashback!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Summer Silhouettes, Rose Wonder
Ink:  Sweet Sugarplum, Pear Pizzazz, So Saffron, Blackberry Bliss
Paper:  Sweet Sugarplum, Thick Whisper White
Accessories:  hexagon punch, Dimensionals, pearls

Green Tea

Hello again, everyone!  How's your week going?  We are once again up to our eyeballs in rain.  I'm heartily tired of it.

Yesterday I shared a card using a soon-to-retire stamp set, and today I'm doing the same.  Please join me in wishing A Nice Cuppa and Summer Silhouettes a fond farewell.

I was going for green tea leaves kinda on the left panel; I think they turned out just a little too subtle but if I hadn't stamped off then it would have been way too harsh for what I wanted.  No good answer there so I'm just moving forward.  My color combo is unintentionally close to yesterday's too, except for adding Flirty Flamingo instead of Tip Top Taupe.  Honestly I wanted to do Mint Macaron and Flirty Flamingo together, so I looked for a third color that would compliment them and decided on Dapper Denim, only realizing when I was finished that yesterday's card and today's look kinda similar.  Oh well.

I used this week's Mojo Monday sketch:

And that is all she wrote today.  Cheers, y'all!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  A Nice Cuppa, Summer Silhouettes
Ink:  Dapper Denim, Mint Macaron
Paper:  Thick Whisper White, Dapper Denim, Mint Macaron, Flirty Flamingo
Accessories:  Cups & Kettle Framelits, I forget what the white stripey ribbon is called, organza?, Dimensionals

The Best Things

Hey, kids!  How's it going?  We've got the hubs' parents here this week but I did manage to sneak down to my craft room yesterday and make a quick card or two.

Feel Goods is on the retiring list, and I do love the sentiments in that set although now that I see it in this picture it looks like maybe my sentiment tilts ever so slightly up to the right?  Oh well.  I look at the world in a slightly askew fashion anyway.

I got the colors from this week's Global Design Project challenge:

My first instinct was to go with something marine, like By the Tide, but in the end I decided that Feel Goods needed some inky love before it retires on June 1.

I also used the latest Fab Friday sketch:

Fun times.  I'd better get off the computer and attend to my hostess duties...cheers, y'all!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Feel Goods, Papillon Potpourri
Ink:  Mint Macaron, Island Indigo
Paper:  Mint Macaron, Thick Whisper White, Island Indigo & Tip Top Taupe DSP
Accessories:  Deco Labels Framelits, Bitty Butterfly Punch, Hexagon Punch, Regals Candy Dot, Dimensionals

So Many Stairs

Scrappy Monday, y'all!  And today I bring you the last of the Great Wall layouts.

We walked about 4 kilometers on the wall, up and down literally hundreds of stairs, and at about the halfway point I told Missy I wasn't going to speak to her again forever (or for a week, one of the two) because the whole Great Wall marathon was her idea (we did the 5K, and we WALKED).  But I still talk to her anyway.  And these pictures are funny.

Very last layout for the Great Wall, at least until I do the marathon pages.  I love that picture in the upper left corner where the wall goes diagonal from lower right to upper left.

Have a great week, peeps!

Supplies:
Stamps:  Rough Type, Gorgeous Grunge
Ink:  Handsome Hunter, Crumb Cake
Paper:  Chocolate Chip, Crumb Cake, Handsome Hunter, Summer Sun, Very Vanilla
Accessories:  Lettering template

A-Team Baby Book: July

Yet another rainy Saturday morning, y'all!  So I've got some sunny baby book pages for you.

My mom, dad, *and* SIL all have birthdays in July, two of them very close to the 4th so of course I buy all the Independence Day stamps that SU! makes.

Yay fireworks!

And also stars!

Today's super-bright color palette is Real Red, Crushed Curry, Tempting Turquoise, Pacific Point, and Whisper White, but this was actually my second attempt.  Here's the first one:

Soft Sky, you disappoint me.  I wish I hadn't glued everything down before I decided I didn't like the color combination--it seemed too dark for a baby book, and that Soft Sky is like the slightly blue version of dirty dishwater.  Urgh.  Hence the re-do.

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

Supplies:
Stamps:  July Fourth, Red White & Blue, Be the Star
Ink:  Real Red, Pacific Point, Crushed Curry, Tempting Turquoise
Paper:  Real Red, Pacific Point, Crushed Curry, Tempting Turquoise, Whisper White, Tempting Turquoise DSP
Accessories:  Chalk Talk Framelits, circle & scalloped circle punches, Sizzix alphabet

Friday Flashback: Fintastic

Happy Friday, everyone!  Today's Friday Flashback is for the cute little set Fintastic.

Aaaand there you go, that's all of the Flashback.  I got this set after it retired and was happy to use it on my friend Sarah's baby book for her daughter, but that's the only time I've used it.  Until now!

I resisted the urge to color her in like Ariel :)  Side note:  have you ever noticed that Ariel is the only one of Triton's daughters whose shell bra doesn't match the color of her tail?  True story.

I thought this week's colors from ColourQ would be perfect for an underwater scene:

I did think about using the Tangerine Tango for her hair (like Ariel), but then I decided to make my mermaid a brunette.  I stamped the image with Versamark and Midnight Muse, then embossed with clear EP so that I could watercolor without the ink smudging.

I also used this week's Mojo Monday sketch:

I like sketches with tilty layers.  Maybe because I always seem to take pictures crooked :)

Cheers, y'all!

Supplies, last card only:
Stamps:  Fintastic, Stippled Shells
Ink:  Versamark, Midnight Muse, Tangerine Tango, Melon Mambo, Coastal Cabana, Early Espresso, Sahara Sand, Soft Suede, Skintone Blendabilities
Paper:  Coastal Cabana, Midnight Muse, Tangerine Tango, Thick Whisper White, Tangerine Tango DSP
Accessories:  Circle punches, Dimensionals, Clear EP

Pink Perfect Peacock

Hey, y'all!  How's it going today?  My computer has been on the fritz this morning...I couldn't get it to open photos and it was just acting weird so I had to restart it.  Fingers crossed that that fixed it.  Side note:  when I was a kid, I always thought "on the fritz" was a really funny phrase because my middle school principal's name was Mrs. Fritz.

Anyway, card!

Perfect Peacock is retiring, so I thought I'd dust it off for today's card.  The sentiment is from a Paper Pumpkin kit from a few months ago, the fancier script font seemed to pair well with the peacock.  You can't tell from this picture, but I embossed the peacock with Iridescent Ice EP and it's on Shimmery White cardstock, so this card is really sparkly in real life.  Sparkle is notoriously difficult to photograph.

I used the new Freshly Made Sketch:

And the colors from The Color Throwdown:

Broni described the first color as "blush", so I used Blushing Bride, Rose Red, Basic Gray (and Smoky Slate) and of course Shimmery White for my card.  I thought a pink peacock was an interesting switch on the normal blue/green.

Well, it's almost time for me to go to the gym for kickboxing, and my legs are already sore from yesterday's class and approximately five billion squats.  Wish me luck!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Perfect Peacock, My Paper Pumpkin
Ink:  Versamark, Rose Red, Blushing Bride, Basic Gray, Smoky Slate
Paper:  Rose Red, Blushing Bride, Shimmery White
Accessories:  Iridescent Ice EP

World's Fastest Dino Card

Mornin' kids!  How are you this fine Wednesday?  Sadie says she wants to go for a walk and I think I'll have to take her since it's not raining today--it rained all day yesterday.  Again.  SO tired of the rain.

Anyway, today I have the world's fastest dinosaur card for you!  But just because I put it together in five minutes doesn't mean it's not cute.

I'm still having fun coming up with color combinations featuring Emerald Envy; today I paired it with Tempting Turquoise and Pumpkin Pie.  At first I wanted to tear the bottom edge rather than the top, but I'd stamped the stegosaurus and sentiment a little too far down for that to work right so I did the top instead.  I actually like it that way, it's a little more unexpected.  Thought about adding some Candy Dots or something, but then I decided it's better CAS.

I'm entering this over at the Paper Players:

Dinosaurs were wild animals, right?  ; )

Okay, as soon as I finish breakfast I'm off to take my little doggos for a walk.  Cheers, y'all!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  No Bones About It
Ink:  Tempting Turquoise, Emerald Envy, Pumpkin Pie
Paper:  Tempting Turquoise, Thick Whisper White
Accessories:  None

Rose Sympathy

So we had brilliant sunshine all day yesterday, and to make up for it today it's going to rain All. Day. Long.  Yay.  I want to move to Arizona.  At least the sun shines there.

Anyway, I have two cards for you today.

Thought I'd try some kind of free-form watercolor today.  I was inspired by this week's Global Design Project CASE the Designer challenge:

I don't have the stamps that Paula used, so I picked a different floral stamp and kept the color combo and simple layout.  And I picked Rose Wonder because of this week's What Will You Stamp? challenge:

I thought the sentiment I chose would work well for a sympathy card, and it's always good to have a couple of those on hand so I made another one.

This time I used the color challenge from Cupcake Inspirations:

I used Blushing Bride and Cherry Cobbler, and the rose is embossed in gold.  Then I added Tip Top Taupe for the leaves, but since I watercolored both of these at the same time there's a wee bit of cross-contamination--look closely and you'll see a smidge of blue on the pink card and vice versa.

I got the watercolor paper a little too wet on the pink card and the ink overflowed especially around the leaves, but the way that it did it with the pink and brown together I thought was kind of cool so I just went with it.  And now I have two sympathy cards for my stash, which I hope I won't need anytime soon.

That's it for me today, kids.  Cheers!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Rose Wonder
Ink:  Versamark, Pool Party, Tip Top Taupe, Blushing Bride, Cherry Cobbler
Paper:  Pool Party, Tip Top Taupe, Blushing Bride, Cherry Cobbler, Watercolor paper
Accessories:  Gold EP