Rainy Day Fox

Alas, it is not a rainy day where I am, it is bright and sunny and the light reflecting off a bright white house outside my window is not helping my headache.  Ugh.  I had a busy morning and the hubs was using the computer before I left the house and since he doesn't feel good I didn't want to arm wrestle him for it, so here we are with an afternoon post.  And a cuppa tea, because I can.

So here's today's card:

The latest Freshly Made Sketch:

The Color Throwdown:

I used Poppy Parade, Daffodil Delight, Blueberry Bushel, and some Pecan Pie for a quick brown fox today.  I was going to go for fall leaves on a blue background and then I couldn't resist the fox strolling with her umbrella instead.  Also I really want to do like eleventy-billion Halloween cards but couldn't figure out how to make this color combination into Halloween.  I was looking through some non-SU! stamps yesterday and I have An Idea, not specifically Halloween but for a movie that I like to watch around Halloween, so I may have another go at this : )

I'm also entering over at Critter Crazy Challenges because I love making critter cards and buying critter stamps.

Anyway, I've got less than two hours before it's time to pick up Ryan from school and then he's off tomorrow and for the next TWO WEEKS so who knows how much stamping time I'll get.  Hoping my headache goes away quickly so I can work in my craft room for a bit as I didn't get to yesterday...I listed some things for sale online and I was kept hoppin' with that for hours.  But now I can treat myself to...something...haven't decided what yet : )  Have a good day, y'all, hopefully headache-free!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Playing in the Rain, Charming Duck Pond
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Versamark, Stampin' Blends in Poppy Parade, Pecan Pie, Daffodil Delight
Paper:  Blueberry Bushel, Thick Basic White, Winter Meadow DSP, Bright & Beautiful DSP Stack
Accessories:  Playing in the Rain dies, Stitched So Sweetly dies, Dimensionals, white EP, Noble Peacock Rhinestones

Puddle Bunny

Mornin' y'all!  Okay, this morning didn't go how I thought it would...I had planned to go do a yoga class at the Y after I dropped Ryan off at school, but I ended up conking out for two hours instead.  Not sure why I was so tired but apparently I needed more sleep!  We've got a busy afternoon ahead with Ryan participating in the black belt test for his teacher, so probably a good thing I got a bit more sleep this morning.

Anyway, here's my card today:

The colors are a bit muted in the picture, probably because we were absolutely socked in with clouds and rain all day yesterday.  For a while, it was getting darker instead of lighter as the sun came up!  That might have influenced my choice of stamp set for today's card.  Anyway, I like the Just Add Ink sketch:

And I had to have another go at the Color Throwdown:

This time, I used Pumpkin Pie, Petunia Pop, and Pretty Peacock, so today's card is brought to you by the letter P.  And now I'm wishing I had gotten all the new In Color Blends because I don't have Petunia Pop yet; I had actually stamped and cut out the fox first but decided to switch it out for the bunny because I wanted the fox to have a purple jacket.

Anyway, my goal for today is to go work on some scrapbook pages.  I have one layout in progress and four (five?) other ones that only lack journaling to be finished.  Gotta use my time wisely since Ryan's last day of school is coming up and it's harder for me to get craft time when he's out of school.  Cheers, y'all!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Playing in the Rain, Saying Hey
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Pretty Peacock, Stampin' Blends in Gray Granite, Pretty in Pink, Pretty Peacock, Pumpkin Pie
Paper:  Petunia Pop, Thick Basic White, Petunia Pop DSP, Bright & Beautiful DSP Stack
Accessories:  Playing in the Rain dies, Stylish Shapes dies, Mini Dimensionals, Wink of Stella

Timid Timmy Turtle

Mornin' y'all!  How's your day going?  I think I have finally figured out a way to get my kid to brush his teeth without us getting into a fight about it every morning and evening--I told him if I had to tell him to do it more than 3 times, he loses his iPad for 24 hours.  And he did it no problem this morning, woo!  This has been a twice-daily battle for a long time so I'm happy about that.

Anyway, I do have a card to share today.

I had just completed yesterday's rainy day fox card when I saw the colors at CAS Colours & Sketches:

And they made me think of Timmy the Turtle, who doesn't get inked up as much as the bunny and the fox in the Playing in the Rain stamp set, so here he is today!  The bunny looks so happy to be playing in a puddle, the fox looks perfectly self-possessed with her raincoat and umbrella, and Timmy just looks...anxious.  Right?  Maybe he's nervous about being perched on that tree stump.  Anyway, I kept today's card CAS with just a masked deckled circle shape behind Timmy to give him a spotlight.  I used a light Crumb Cake blend for the bottom of his shell, and just layered different intensities of the Old Olive blends for the rest of him.

That's it for me today!  On Friday we're picking up the hubs at the airport and starting the drive to Colorado to look at houses...and last night I had a dream that the hubs got here and I wasn't even packed and he was grumpy because I wasn't ready and it for reals stressed me out a bit even when I woke up.  Bet my facial expression looked a bit like Timmy's here.  I am definitely packing up everything I can tomorrow afternoon so we're ready to rock on Friday morning.  Ha!

Cheers, y'all!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Playing in the Rain
Ink:  Night of Navy, Azure Afternoon, Stampin' Blends in Crumb Cake & Old Olive, Crushed Curry marker (for the flower center)
Paper:  Balmy Blue, Crumb Cake, Thick Basic White
Accessories:  Playing in the Rain dies

Rainy Day Blues

Mornin' y'all!  I had a good time in my craft room yesterday and made THREE cards that I'm quite pleased with, but the other two will make their appearances later as they're for design team work.  It has been bright and sunny here lately, but it's raining on my card today, take a look:

I do love these bold colors together!  Check out the Paper Players challenge:

Joanne used the cute bunny from Playing in the Rain, so I wanted to use something different.  I was going to go rooting through my retired stamps until I saw the color challenge from Cupcake Inspirations:

And then I had to use the fox stamp : )  I used Pumpkin Pie and both Blueberry Bushel and Azure Afternoon for my colors, and for once the Wink of Stella on the fox's umbrella actually shows up.  I thought it would be cute to put my greeting on a die-cut cloud, and that little "hello" from Submarine Life worked perfectly.  And even though it looks more like fluffy snow than rain, I couldn't resist using Drizzling Droplets for my background.  Guess where that strip of Pumpkin Pie DSP came from?  It's in the Stargazing pack and I thought just a little strip of it was just the thing to ground my fox on the rainy background.

That's it for me today.  I've got some more projects to tackle : ) Whether it's rainy or sunny where you are, have a great day, y'all!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Playing in the Rain, Drizzling Droplets, Submarine Life
Ink:  Night of Navy, Blueberry Bushel, Azure Afternoon, Stampin' Blends in Pumpkin Pie, Ivory, Blueberry Bushel
Paper:  Blueberry Bushel, Thick Basic White, Stargazing DSP, Bright & Beautiful DSP Stack
Accessories:  Playing in the Rain dies, Wink of Stella, Dimensionals

Rainy Day Rabbit

Mornin' y'all!  I got up early this morning and did my workout and got in the shower and everything before it was even time to get Ryan up for school.  I was feeling pretty proud of getting up and getting to it so early and then...Ryan threw up.  So he's staying home from school today and there went all my plans to be productive.  Ah well, we can catch up on couch time and watching Lilo & Stitch.

So we've had a couple of rainy days this week and that definitely influenced my stamp choice for today's card:

In fact, as I was driving Ryan to and from taekwondo class yesterday, we hit a few extra-large puddles in the car and Ryan positively screeched with delight when the water splashed up.  So this card is for him!  The rainy day sentiment from Playing in the Rain wouldn't quite fit in my card design, but I found this itty-bitty sentiment that seemed just right in the Hello Ladybug set.  It's a good day!

Check out the Paper Players sketch:

And I paired that with the Global Design Project colors:

I added a bit of Crumb Cake to color in the bunny's fur, but other than that I stuck strictly to the challenge colors.  And I finally used the umbrella stamp for the background layer : )

Well, I've got a kiddo to cuddle.  Cheers, y'all!  And stay healthy.

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Playing in the Rain, Hello Ladybug
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Pretty Peacock, Stampin' Blends in Crumb Cake, Petal Pink, Lost Lagoon, Pretty Peacock
Paper:  Petal Pink, Pretty Peacock, Thick Basic White, Inked Botanicals DSP Stack
Accessories:  Nested Essentials dies, Stylish Shapes dies, Dimensionals, Tinsel Gems 3-Pack

Silver Fox

Mornin' y'all!  I'm missing last week's rainy days, we're back up in the 90s this week and I'm just ready for fall to get here already.  But I can have a rainy day in my craft room anytime, and that's what I did yesterday.

I took four pictures of this card in various lighting situations, and this was the best I could get.  I was intrigued by the mood board challenge at Inkspirational:

So. Cool.  I decided to pull the colors and went with Pool Party, Berry Burst, Smoky Slate, and Pumpkin Pie.  I was going to color the fox in with Pumpkin Pie and then decided to make him gray instead, I like it.  And then I needed more Pumpkin Pie accents, so I used my dark Blend to color in some clear rhinestones to use on my card.

I also had to play along with the Cupcake Inspirations challenge:

I always love me a good plaid, and this was just the excuse I needed to use my new Sketched Plaid background stamp.  Actually it took me like five tries to get a look I liked; I tried it in Pool Party ink, and then Smoky Slate ink, then I settled on white but it still took me two tries to get the raindrops to look right.  I added some Wink of Stella to Mr. Fox's umbrella but it doesn't show in any of the pictures so you'll just have to take my word for it.

I think today I might have to do some scrapping...though I'm not sure if I'm brave enough to start my big project.  The hubs and I have our twentieth wedding anniversary coming up next month, and guess who has NOT made a scrapbook from our wedding?  I thought that would be a great surprise for when my hubs can rejoin us (he's deployed) but I definitely have pre-project paralysis happening.  Wish me luck.

Cheers!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Playing in the Rain, Sketched Plaid
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Whisper White, Pool Party, Stampin' Blends in Smoky Slate, Berry Burst, Pumpkin Pie
Paper:  Pool Party, Berry Burst, Smoky Slate, Thick Basic White
Accessories:  Playing in the Rain dies, Deckled Rectangles dies, Dimensionals, Wink of Stella, Basic Rhinestones

SUO Challenges: Gettin' Fancy

Happy August, y'all!  Not gonna lie, I'm looking forward to school starting so Ryan is occupied for a while each day and I'll have some time to stamp.  I have a big project in mind that I'm itching to get started on.  But for right this minute, we have a new challenge at SUO Challenges!

This time it's all about fancy folds.  Umm, I'm pretty much allergic to making 3D items and nonstandard folds, so this is definitely a challenge for me!  After looking through alllllll the tutorials on Splitcoast, I finally decided that the Twist Gate Fold might be doable, and here's what I made:

Thanks to Dawn's awesome tutorial, I was able to put this card together with no trouble at all!  So here's what it looks like unfolded:

Cute, right?  And if you angle it right, it should still fit in a standard envelope.  And once again I used the Bright & Beautiful DSP stack...hey, I was making a whole bunch of design team cards back in April, trying to make them with all current products, and Bright & Beautiful is what I had at the time for DSP.  (And Countryside Inn, but I think Bright & Beautiful is a bit more flexible.)

Hope you'll give the fancy fold of your choice a try and post your creation on the SUO Challenges blog.  Hey, if I can do it, you definitely can do it!  If you're like me and not real comfortable with fancy folds, I'd recommend taking a look at the tutorials on Splitcoast for a starting point.  Or ask my old pal Google for ideas.  Have fun!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Playing in the Rain
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Berry Burst, Stampin' Blends in Gray Granite & Bubble Bath
Paper:  Berry Burst, Thick Basic White, Bright & Beautiful DSP Stack
Accessories:  Playing in the Rain dies, Stylish Shapes dies, Dimensionals

Festive Owl

Another quick card to share today, because I'm still having fun playing with a few of the new colors, and a retired Sale-a-Bration set just because these owls really ARE adorable, check it out:

I started off with the latest challenge from Festive Friday:

From the list, I used yellow, black (the owl is stamped in Memento Tuxedo Black), happy sentiment, and enamel dots.  The dots are Bumblebee but seemed to coordinate okay with the Lemon Lolly elements on my card.  I paired that with this sketch from Try Stampin' on Tuesday:

For the background layers, I went really simple and just tore the edges on a scrap of DSP, then layered it on a cardstock mat.

That's it for me today, cheers!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Adorable Owls, Playing in the Rain
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Azure Afternoon, Stampin' Blends in Pecan Pie, Lemon Lolly, Azure Afternoon, Ivory
Paper:  Lemon Lolly, Azure Afternoon, Thick Basic White, Bright & Beautiful DSP Stack
Accessories:  Stylish Shapes dies, Matte Dots, Mini Dimensionals

Timmy the Timid Turtle

Okay so this week is just not going to spec so far...I got Ryan off to school yesterday and then got a call at nine o'clock to come and get him because he wasn't feeling well.  Thankfully he seems like he's doing better today and was happy to get on the bus this morning, so fingers crossed that I can get some things done today!

While Ryan was couch-bound yesterday and watching cartoons, I finished up a quick card to share today.  Here's Timmy the Timid Turtle.

He just looks like he's a bit worried about something, don't you think?  I used the Paper Players color challenge for this week:

I used Bubble Bath for my pink (though admittedly it kinda rides the line between pink and purple), Soft Sea Foam, Smoky Slate, and just a bit of black for the turtle.  Oh, for the spots on Timmy's shell, I colored them in with the light Old Olive Blend, then went over it with a Soft Sea Foam Blend, which gave me an interesting color I think.  Just experimenting.

I like the sketch from Just Add Ink this week too:

My sentiment strip doesn't go across the card as far as on the sketch, but I think I kept to the spirit of the thing anyway.  Sending Smiles is my go-to for sentiments that fit a long thin spot on a sketch.

Okay, I'm off to be productive.  I've got a bunch of things to box up to mail today and my SU! order somehow miraculously made it here early : ) So I get to pick that up when the post office opens.  But I only get to play with the new stuff if I can get some other things done first.  Cheers!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Playing in the Rain, Sending Smiles
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Bubble Bath, Soft Sea Foam, Smoky Slate, Stampin' Blends in Bubble Bath, Soft Sea Foam, Old Olive, Smoky Slate
Paper:  Soft Sea Foam, Thick Basic White, Bold & Beautiful DSP Stack
Accessories:  Playing in the Rain dies, Sending dies, Stylish Shapes dies, Mini Dimensionals, Milky Dots

Dancing in the Rain

Happy Friday, y'all!  And my last day working at Arts & Crafts, too.  And then next week it's all about prepping for the packers to come on the 22d.  Going to be busy, busy, busy for the rest of the month!

Which is exactly why I am squeezing out every possible minute in my craft room before all my stuff gets packed up.  So here's my card for today:

So I started with this week's Color Throwdown:

File this under "colors I would never put together in a million years".  Actually the only one that had me flummoxed was the lilac shade, I like orange and aqua together just fine, but that lilac shade definitely threw me for a loop.  In the end, I went with Pumpkin Pie, Azure Afternoon, Wisteria Wonder (retired), and Memento Tuxedo Black for stamping the bunny.  I paired that with this week's Freshly Made Sketch:

So I was pondering what on earth to do with those colors and this sketch and I was in the shower yesterday morning (because naturally most good ideas occur while in the shower) and I remembered this week's Paper Players theme challenge:

And that made me think of the bunny dancing in the rain and suddenly I figured out how to make the colors work together.  I managed to make this entire card in the space of about 20 minutes before work yesterday.  So thank you to the Paper Players for pulling together those other two challenges and making my brain work : )

I'm off to work for the last time (at this job, anyway).  Have a great day, peeps!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Playing in the Rain, Rhino Ready
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Wisteria Wonder, Azure Afternoon, Stampin' Blends in Smoky Slate, Pumpkin Pie, Flirty Flamingo, Azure Afternoon
Paper:  Wisteria Wonder, Thick Basic White, Bright & Beautiful DSP Stack
Accessories:  Stylish Shapes dies, Dimensionals, Blue Rhinestone Gems

Fashion-Forward Fox

Mornin' y'all!  My day got off to a ridiculously early start...my alarm is set to go off at 5:15 (I like to do my workout before we get Ryan up at 6) but lately I've been waking up between 4:00 and 4:30, and can't get back to sleep before the alarm.  Arrrrgh!  So of course in the evenings I want to go to bed at like 8:00, if not earlier.  And if my blog posts seem a bit incoherent, now you know why.

Anyway.  The Paper Players have a very timely challenge this week, it's been wet and rainy for the past few days (I just got my car all clean, that's why it's raining so much).  So let's celebrate some rainy days.

As always, some fun inspiration pics on the challenge graphic!  So here's what I made:

Two of the ladies on the design team used this same fox but I couldn't resist her, I love her.  Once again I busted out my favorite Bright & Beautiful DSP Stack and pulled colors from that.  I've got quite a stack of scraps from that paper already, and I ended up finding three that were just the right widths for a triptych layout.  After I colored in Ms. Vixen's hat and rain coat, it occurred to me that the combination of Bubble Bath and Fresh Freesia is what Maid Marian wears in Disney's Robin Hood (one of my favorites!).  And her umbrella is the color of Robin Hood's outfit, too.  I think I need to rewatch that movie now.

Have a great day, peeps!  If my day goes like yesterday, I will have ample opportunity to listen to the rain come down : )  Which is great, as long as I don't have to be out in it.

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Playing in the Rain, Rhino Ready
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Versamark, Stampin' Blends in Pumpkin Pie, Lemon Lime Twist, Fresh Freesia
Paper:  Azure Afternoon, Lemon Lime Twist, Night of Navy, Fresh Freesia, Thick Basic White, Bright & Beautiful DSP
Accessories:  Playing in the Rain dies, Stylish Shapes dies, white EP, mini Dimensionals

SUO Challenges: CASE Files

Second post of the day and get ready for a new challenge from SUO Challenges, 'cause it's coming at you now!

This time we're doing a CASE the Catty challenge, so check out page 22 of the Occasions Catalog:

There's five different projects to inspire you!  Fun, right?  I went with the card on the far right, and here's what I made:

I did a similar layout, though I moved my circles downward because it made more sense to have clouds in the sky above the fox : )  And she's a quick brown fox in her smart pink rain gear and cheery yellow umbrella.  I've been working on my shading with Blends.  Like the original card, I used two different patterns for the circle elements and then stamped the background of the card.

Now it's your turn!  Open your own CASE file (what, I think I'm funny) and share your creation at the SUO Challenges blog.  Have fun!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Playing in the Rain
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Balmy Blue, Whisper White
Paper:  Balmy Blue, Thick Basic White, Rain or Shine DSP
Accessories:  Playing in the Rain dies, Stylish Shapes dies, Dimensionals

Rainy Day Double Feature

Hey y'all, hope your day is going well.  I thought I was starting to get better yesterday afternoon, but man, last night was tough!  I did start taking some medication prescribed to me yesterday, which is finally ameliorating the symptoms somewhat, but I am moving like a sloth on the movie Zootopia.

I have animals for today's cards, too.  Yep, two.  Here's the first one:

Playing in the Rain is another bundle I recently got, and I enjoyed playing with it so much this morning that I made two cards.  For this one I didn't use the coordinating dies though, because it cuts the bunny out but not the puddle and I wanted the puddle.  So I snipped him out with scissors.

This card is for the Freshly Made Sketch this week:

The diagonal stripes immediately made me think of the Dandy Designs DSP, and happily for me Balmy Blue is one of the colors in the color challenge from Cupcake Inspirations:

I used Real Red, Flirty Flamingo, and Balmy Blue for my colors.  Red is my son Ryan's favorite color, and he has at least two red jackets as well as multiple fleeces, so I think I'll hold onto this card for him.

And here's my second card for the day:

Is it just me, or does that turtle look just slightly anxious?  I managed to get several shades out of just two Stampin' Blends markers; I used the dark Old Olive for his shell, and the lighter one for everything else.  The spots on his shell are just the lighter color; his head, arms, and legs are two layers of the lighter color, and for the bottom part of his shell (belly) I used the color lifter to get a lighter shade.

I used the CAS Colours & Sketches challenge:

And the Hand-Stamped Sentiments color challenge:

Just a coincidence that it shares two colors with the Cupcake Inspirations challenge, but it's what made me want to make two cards.  I mean come on, of course the turtle has to be Old Olive!  I used the same patterned paper on both cards too, the stripes are on one side and the dots are on the other side.

That's it for me today, I only have an hour before I go to pick Ryan up.  Cheers!

Supplies, all SU!, rabbit card:
Stamps:  Playing in the Rain
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Balmy Blue, Stampin' Blends in Smoky Slate, Flirty Flamingo, Real Red, Balmy Blue
Paper:  Balmy Blue, Thick Basic White, Dandy Designs DSP
Accessories:  Wink of Stella, Dimensionals, Seasonal Sequins

Supplies, all SU!, turtle card:
Stamps:  Playing in the Rain
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Flirty Flamingo, Stampin' Blends in Old Olive, Flirty Flamingo, Balmy Blue
Paper:  Thick Basic White, Dandy Designs DSP
Accessories:  Playing in the Rain dies, white baker's twine, Dimensionals