Friday Flashback: Mosaic Madness

Happy Friday, y'all.  And guess what...my due date is TOMORROW.  Which is frightening.  I know that the vast majority of babies are not born ON their due dates, but I'm still kinda hoping.  So I'm getting a pedicure today, and hopefully going out for one last date night with the hubs tonight.  And wondering if I should do crock pot chicken taco soup for dinner tomorrow...I mean, what if I DO go into labor?!

Anyway.  I don't feel like doing a whole lot now because it's like I'm the human embodiment of the quote "That's no moon...it's a space station!" but I have been doing some stamping and scrapping (because it involves sitting but still being productive).  So for today's Friday Flashback, let's check out the archives for Mosaic Madness!

Also features Empire Alphabet, Magical & Mystical

First up is this layout from Greece!  Actually I did two, and used Mosaic Madness on both, but this post is already going to be pretty long.  I do love this layout.

Also features Curly Cute

Here is a tribute to the Stamp-a-Ma-Jig.  That multicolored panel?  All hand-stamped.  Yes, it took forever, but I really liked how it turned out.

Also features Teeny Tiny Wishes

Something quick for Father's Day, though I think the circle element needed a mat too.

Here's another scrapbook layout, this time from Hearst Castle in California.  Know what I just realized?  I got that picture in the top left enlarged to 5x7, but somehow the photo I had in my archives is with the 4x6 placeholder.  Oops.  So in the real finished layout, that's a 5x7 photo and doesn't have a big distracting white border!  : D

Also features Happy Day

And another Stamp-a-Ma-Jiggy card.  I love stamp sets that have matching punches.

Also features Perfect Peacock, Too Kind

Okay, this one is a little different:  the Mosaic Madness stamp I used on this one is the border underneath the sentiment, instead of one of the mosaic shapes.

Also features Simply Sketched

*suddenly noticing how often I use yellows with this stamp set*

Also features My Paper Pumpkin stamps

Oh hey look, not yellow.

Same sentiment as the card above :)

But there it is again.

Also features Best of Greetings

So there's the Flashback part, which wasn't everything I've got in my archives but I don't want to bore anyone.  Ready for the new project?  Spoiler alert:  I love these scrapbook pages.

I mentioned earlier this week that I had done the rest of my Spain layouts, so here's the first one!  (And this is why I redid the Shenanigans layout in a different color combination.)

I think I need to refresh the ink in my Midnight Muse ink pad, it's not *quite* dark enough on the patterned paper here.  Anyway, I love stamps like Mosaic Madness for our travel layouts; sometimes you just need a little accent stamp that isn't really themed, so I like these that can be any color and go along with everything.

Segovia layout #2, and on this one I used different mosaic stamps for the accents but they still coordinate with the first layout.  And I just love how the Coastal Cabana looks with the pictures.  I used the Best Year Ever DSP on all the Spain layouts, it's one of my very favorite DSP packs.

There's a closeup of some of the mosaic elements from this layout.  Super quick and simple to do, and they look good too :)

So here's my Spain palette again:  Coastal Cabana, Calypso Coral, Crushed Curry, Midnight Muse, Soft Suede, Sahara Sand, and Whisper White.  Dog hair not included.

I'm going to go get cleaned up and ready to go for my pedicure.  Cheers, y'all!

Supplies, last two layouts only:
Stamps:  Mosaic Madness, Morning Post Alphabet
Ink:  Midnight Muse, Calypso Coral, Crushed Curry
Paper:  Coastal Cabana, Calypso Coral, Midnight Muse, Whisper White, Best Year Ever DSP
Accessories:  Mosaic Punch

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

Be-You-Tiful

Howdy, peeps.  Once again I didn't get my card done the day before posting...but hey, maybe I'll do tomorrow's card this afternoon.  Anyway, I kinda think the wait was worth it for this one, take a looksie:

Ooh, ahh.  I inked up the peacock with Versamark, then Night of Navy (without stamping or cleaning in between) and stamped it on the cardstock, then embossed with clear EP so the ink wouldn't run when I watercolored it.  Worked a treat; I've seen the technique used by other stampers but this is the first time I've done it myself.  My only issue was I stamped the peacock a little too high; this was supposed to be an almost single-layer card.  But I like how it turned out with the mats anyway, so I'll call that a win.

I used the colors from this week's Color Throwdown:

I used Pumpkin Pie, Soft Sky, Night of Navy, and Crumb Cake.  Pumpkin Pie is a more vibrant orange than the one shown in the palette, so I only used it to watercolor the flowers and I kept the ink fairly light so it would look like the color swatch shown.  I don't know if you can tell, but I also used Soft Sky ink on the peacock's body and parts of the feathers to give it a little more depth (you can scroll back up, I'll wait).  And the little flowers are watercolored with Whisper White ink.

Anyway, I also used this week's Freshly Made Sketch:

My peacock takes the place of the star element on the sketch, of course.  And as I said above I ended up adding a few matted layers, but I think my card is still has clean lines even if it isn't quite CAS.

Well, maybe I should go do tomorrow's card right now before I get busy with something else...cheers, peeps!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Perfect Peacock, Flower Patch
Ink:  Versamark, Night of Navy, Soft Sky, Crumb Cake, Whisper White, Mossy Meadow, Pumpkin Pie
Paper:  Crumb Cake, Night of Navy, Soft Sky, Whisper White
Accessories:  Clear EP, Dimensionals

Kind Peacock

Salutations and greetings, friends!  How's your day going so far?  It's a lovely day where I am and I've finished my run for today so it can only get better from here ;)  I don't think running will ever be fun.

When I was a kid, we'd visit my great-grandmother and she'd take us out to a park and my brother and I would chase peacocks, that was fun :)  Perfect Peacock is not retiring, but Too Kind (sentiment) and Mosaic Madness (the design across the bottom) both are.

I made my avian creation with some help from Colour Me...!

I added just a smidgen of Mossy Meadow for the leaves, but other than that I stuck with the challenge colors.  I also used the sketch from Freshly Made Sketches:

Slightly modified to make the two strips on the sketch stamped elements instead.  And that is all for me today, have a wonderful Thursday :)  Cheers!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Perfect Peacock, Too Kind, Mosaic Madness
Ink:  Night of Navy, Lost Lagoon, Melon Mambo, Crushed Curry, Mossy Meadow
Paper:  Crushed Curry, Night of Navy, Whisper White
Accessories:  None

2014 Showcase, Part 3

It's the final part of the 2014 Showcase :)  Let's take a look.

Fall Fest, Four You

For September, I love this pumpkin birthday card that I sent to a good friend of mine.  Plus the color combo of orange, green, and purple is just fantastic.

Perfect Peacock, Work of Art

October's pick is this golden peacock because I love the colors and all the gold.  And also peacocks make me think of my mom, who has quite a bit of peacock stuff in her house.

Bright & Beautiful, Gorgeous Grunge, A Dozen Thoughts

For November, I had another tie and this Northern Lights card was one of them.  I thought that my background wasn't going to work at all right up until I actually finished it, and then I loved it!

Fall Fest, Perfectly Preserved, My Paper Pumpkin

And the other November fave is this pie-riffic Thanksgiving card.  That sentiment stamp is just SO me.  And I do love both apple pie and pumpkin pie.

Santa Stache, Nacho card!

Last but not least, I couldn't resist this Santa and his oversized mustache.  This card just makes me smile :)  Not a bad way to end the year.

So starting tomorrow is a whole new stampy adventure!  Happy New Year, friends!

The Golden Peacock

Sounds like a pub name, dunnit.

I was thinking about what to make for my card today while I was running this morning (beats thinking about running) and this was the idea I had fixed in my noggin by the time I got home.  What do you think?  I stuck the piece of white cardstock to the card base with repositionable adhesive and stamped the entire image at once; there's a bit that doesn't get stamped right between the white and the cardstock, so the brushed gold mat covers that up.  The image is embossed with gold EP and then I colored the top part with about a gajillion colors of ink.  I really like how the flowers turned out--I watercolored them with Strawberry Slush and then went over it with Blackberry Bliss, so the color is kind of in between those two berries.  It might be kinda hard to tell in the photo, but I also embossed the sentiment with gold EP.

The layout is courtesy of Freshly Made Sketches:

And I definitely used gold, so it counts for the Paper Players challenge too:

I think my card is clean, though I'm not 100% sure it could be called simple.  Anyway, sadly I am a bit too late to enter this in the Just Add Ink challenge, though I did use it as an inspiration:

Isn't that just a ridiculously gorgeous challenge graphic.  Anyway, I already know who's going to get this card and it will be going out in the mail for her birthday tomorrow.  And now I'm off to bake another batch of cookies.  Cheers, peeps!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Perfect Peacock, Work of Art
Ink:  Versamark, Night of Navy, Bermuda Bay, Pacific Point, Gumball Green, Soft Suede, Strawberry Slush, Blackberry Bliss, Garden Green, Tangelo Twist
Paper:  Night of Navy, Brushed Gold, Whisper White
Accessories:  Gold EP, Bracket Tag punch, Dimensionals

Flights of Fancy

It took me another hour after dinner last night to finish sorting my stamps and getting them alphabetized.  The only ones not done are my retired background stamps; for some reason I didn't unmount them when I did every other stamp in my collection so I still need cling foam to do about 16 more background stamps.  Plus cases.

But my crafting space is much more organized than it was this time yesterday, so I thought I'd make a card for the Inkspirational challenge.

Hmm, now if only I had a beautiful new bird stamp that I could use for this challenge...oh hey wait, I found one!  (Because my stamps are all nice and organized now.  I can FIND things.)

Maiden flight for the Perfect Peacock here!  He's not the only thing that was flying today though--I was trying to open up my Island Indigo ink pad and the top flew off it three feet across the room and landed on my plastic drawers right next to the wall.  Then it took me several minutes to get the stupid thing reconnected to the ink pad and now I have indigo fingers on both hands.

My silverware pattern is called Flight, but I don't have any silverware stamps.  Somehow I've never had the need for silverware stamps before, so I went with the peacock instead.

Looks like I'm going on a road trip this weekend to finally pick up our second car!  The hubs isn't crazy about me driving 10+ hours by myself, but I'll be fine.  Just need to make some more cards today so I can still post for the next couple days :)

Cheers, peeps!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Perfect Peacock (it's a wood-mount stamp, but I put it on cling foam), Petite Pairs
Ink:  Versamark, Island Indigo, Bermuda Bay, Crushed Curry, Strawberry Slush, Blush Blossom, Mossy Meadow, Soft Suede
Paper:  Island Indigo, Watercolor paper, All Abloom DSP stack, Very Vanilla (lining the inside)
Accessories:  Early Espresso EP