Church of the Spilled Blood

Scrappy Monday, folks!  And since it's Memorial Day, I thought I'd share a scrapbook layout about a different kind of memorial.

This was one of the churches we visited in St. Petersburg during our 2014 Baltic cruise; after Tsar Alexander II was assassinated in 1881, the Romanov family had the church built on the site of the assassination.  The interior is covered with amazing and beautiful mosaics.

Today's color palette:  Crushed Curry, Cherry Cobbler, Tranquil Tide, Midnight Muse, and Whisper White.  This is when I discovered that all my Midnight Muse markers are dried out.  I haven't invested in the new SU! markers yet, but that is in the plans.

Have a great day, folks.

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Letterpress Alphabet, Rough Edges Alphabet, Positive Thoughts
Ink:  Tranquil Tide, Midnight Muse, Cherry Cobbler, Night of Navy marker
Paper:  Crushed Curry textured, Tranquil Tide, Thick Basic White, Dashing Along DSP
Accessories:  None

Hopeful Feathers

I'm squeaking in with one more quick card post this weekend, take a look:

I don't always get to play along with the Inspired By and Inspired By Nature challenges, but I do try.  Here's the latest Nature challenge:

And the sketch:

I used both for my card.  The inspo photo had me thinking of the Emily Dickinson quote that begins "Hope is the thing with feathers", so that's where my mind was when I made my card.  Stampin' Up! actually had that quote in a stamp set years ago, but I didn't buy it and I can't remember offhand what the name was, it was the quote that stuck in my head.  Anyway, I found a nice feather stamp and an accompanying hope sentiment in Positive Thoughts that's been retired for a little while now but my stamp library is vast ; )  The colors are a bit dull in my picture because it's been quite cloudy this afternoon; I used the retired Seaside Spray and Misty Moonlight for blues, with a panel of Smoky Slate.

Anyway, I think I'll mosey on into the living room and work on some stitching for a bit.  I'm not scheduled to work at all this week, so I have a goal in mind for scrapbook pages; I completed two layouts this weekend and I'm hoping to substantially add to that total by Friday afternoon.  But for now I need to work on catching up on my stitching temperature tracker.  Cheers!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Positive Thoughts
Ink:  Misty Moonlight
Paper:  Seaside Spray, Misty Moonlight, Smoky Slate
Accessories:  None

Autumn Hugs

Hey y'all!  We just got back home last night after spending a long weekend in Berlin.  It was a good trip; I got to see the super-famous bust of Nefertiti at the Neues Museum and all of us highly enjoyed the zoo.  But it's good to be home too because I managed to snatch a few minutes today to make a very quick card.

The colors are changing here and I LOVE IT.  Fall is definitely my favorite season!  Couldn't pass up the Paper Players color challenge:

I added Crumb Cake for the fourth color (I figure white doesn't count).  The leaf is inked up with Pale Papaya and then I sponged on some Pumpkin Pie ink before stamping.  The card still seemed too plain, so I added a bit of sponging to the white layer for a bit of added interest.  I'm really itching to play a lot more with fall and Halloween stamps but I have Ryan with me for the rest of the week, which makes it challenging.

Oh well, at least I snuck in a teeny bit of stamping.  Now I just need to convince the child that we have GOT to go grocery shopping or we won't have anything for dinner tonight.  Cheers!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Gorgeous Leaves, Positive Thoughts
Ink:  Pale Papaya, Pumpkin Pie, Early Espresso, Crumb Cake
Paper:  Pale Papaya, Thick Basic White
Accessories:  Intricate Leaves dies, Dimensionals, Wink of Stella

Disney Cruise: Butterfly Garden (Key West)

Scrappy Monday, y'all!  My birthday was yesterday and we celebrated starting with waffles for breakfast (with strawberries and lots of whipped cream, of course) and then had pizza, cake and ice cream for dinner. I love me some carbs but I'm kinda looking forward to getting back to healthier eating now ;)

So!  I have another Disney cruise layout to share today, and it's bright and fun and I love it.

I chose Tangelo Twist for my page base color because of Ryan's super bright orange shirt, and the purples for the patterned paper and photo mats because of the flowers.  I love purple but for some reason I don't seem to use it a lot on scrapbook pages, so I'm always happy when I do manage to sneak some in there.  I love going to places like this butterfly garden--so easy to get some really eye-catching pictures!  They also had a pair of very noisy flamingos living there but I liked all my butterfly pictures better than the flamingo ones, so there ya go.

Today's color palette:  Tangelo Twist, Highland Heather, Gorgeous Grape, Lucky Limeade, and Whisper White.  I don't know that I would have put these colors together on a card or anything like that, but I do love how they work together on this layout!

Hope your week is off to a good start.  Tomorrow is Ryan's first day at daycare, he'll be doing a good chunk of time every Tuesday and Thursday until whenever I can start my job, and then he'll be full time.  I'm hoping to get some good stamping/scrapping done this week!  Cheers, y'all!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Taffy Alphabet, Calendar Alphabet & Numbers, Positive Thoughts
Ink:  Gorgeous Grape, Lucky Limeade, Basic Gray marker
Paper:  Tangelo Twist, Gorgeous Grape, Highland Heather, Lucky Limeade, Whisper White, Botanical Butterfly DSP
Accessories:  None

Verona

Scrappy Monday!  Once again, I'm sharing pages from our European travels because I'm crossing my fingers that we'll get to travel again once this pandemic thing gets under control.

See these pics (and more) here and here.  I kept this layout very simple, but since I usually don't crop my pictures very much and I like to cram in as many as I can get on a single layout, I kinda have to keep things simple :)

Today's color palette:  Mint Macaron, Dusty Durango (this layout started a Dusty Durango spree, I used it on three or four layouts in a row but since I skip around when I scrap, they won't be next to each other in my albums), Midnight Muse, Tangerine Tango, and Very Vanilla.  I think I use Whisper White for 85% of my scrapbook pages, but around the time I went on a Dusty Durango spree I also started using a lot of Very Vanilla.  When I'm really in a scrapping groove and making lots of pages, I pretty frequently gravitate towards a color and use it several times on different layouts.  It's fun to think up different ways to use a specific color.

Cheers, y'all!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Morning Post Alphabet, Positive Thoughts
Ink:  Dusty Durango, Midnight Muse
Paper:  Mint Macaron, Dusty Durango, Thick Very Vanilla, Paisley Petals DSP
Accessories:  None

Butterfly Fusion

Mornin'!  We are on Day #3 of nonstop clouds and intermittent rain, which is making it difficult for me to get decent pictures of my cards, even with an Ott Lite.  Oh well, here is today's offering:

I've got a stack of new stamp sets to play with, and what do I do?  I pick the teeny "hello" from Blossoms in Bloom and that's the only new item I used on this card.  Ha!  The patterned paper just retired, as did Blueberry Bushel, but I thought they were necessary for the Fusion challenge:

I used Blueberry Bushel and Balmy Blue; I'd love a gorgeous electric blue ink color like on the inspiration pic.  I did jazz up the butterfly with some Wink of Stella because apparently that's my thing lately.  I paired the butterfly with the sketch from CAS(E) This Sketch:

That fancy die cut strip from the Nature's Thoughts dies sure has come in handy.

That's it for me today, kids.  Wonder if Ryan will let me take a nap this morning...he's been waking up in the middle of the night a lot lately and it's wearing me out :p  Cheers, y'all!

Stamps:  Positive Thoughts, Blossoms in Bloom
Ink:  Blueberry Bushel, Memento Tuxedo Black
Paper:  Thick Whisper White, Blueberry Bushel, Balmy Blue DSP
Accessories:  Stitched Shapes dies, Nature's Thoughts dies, Dimensionals, Wink of Stella

Hello Sunshine

Wait, what?  I'm posting on a Sunday?  Yep!  I almost always play along with Freshly Made Sketches and I couldn't let last week's sketch get away from me, so I made a quick card!

Before I get to the sketch, here's the Inkspirational inspirational photo I used:

Fun, right?  And here's the Freshly Made Sketch challenge:

My interpretation of the sketch was a bit looser this time around, but I'm pretty pleased with how my card turned out.  And of course you can't tell from the photo, but I put Wink of Stella on the stamped part of the flower, which gives it a nice sparkle IRL.

Cheers, y'all!  See you back here tomorrow for Scrappy Monday.

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Positive Thoughts, Under My Umbrella
Ink:  Crushed Curry, Memento Tuxedo Black
Paper:  Smoky Slate, Thick Whisper White, Basic Black DSP (retired)
Accessories:  Nature's Thoughts dies, Stitched Shapes dies, Metallic Sequins (retired), Rhinestones, Dimensionals, Wink of Stella

Autumnal Friend

Mornin' y'all!  I just finished my morning workout and I'm enjoying a small break before I get Ryan up this morning.  And I have a card to share that just feels like fall to me.

You probably can't tell from the picture, but I painted the butterfly with Wink of Stella for some shine, and the card base is sponged with Sahara Sand ink to give a little bit different shade than the interior panel.  And I know you can't see it but I stamped the butterfly along the Blackberry Bliss mat, which gives it a nice subtle texture in person.

I got my inspiration from the Just Add Ink challenge:

When I realized this challenge was closing today, I had to make a card for it because that picture is just so beautiful.  I used the colors Blackberry Bliss, Crushed Curry, Pretty Peacock, and Sahara Sand for my palette.  Totally fall colors, right?

I paired that with the Paper Players sketch challenge:

I've done similar sketches in the past week or two, it's just a classic and I have to play along with every variation on this theme ;)

Two minutes left until I release the Kraken.  Have a great day, y'all!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Positive Thoughts
Ink:  Sahara Sand, Blackberry Bliss, Crushed Curry, Pretty Peacock
Paper:  Sahara Sand, Blackberry Bliss, Thick Whisper White
Accessories:  Nature's Thoughts dies, Dimensionals, Wink of Stella

What Can I Say?

Y'ALL.  I just dropped Ryan off at a babysitter's house and I am KID-FREE until 3 this afternoon! I'm supposed to be sorting through our stuff to get ready for the upcoming move to Germany (still don't know exactly when that's going to happen), but first I'm going to have a nice cuppa tea and enjoy the quiet for a few minutes :D

There are a couple of challenges I wanted to participate in this week, so I made a card yesterday!

So I put this card together and then spent more time searching through my sentiments trying to figure out what to put on there than it took me to make the card and in the end I left it blank.  I think it needs something in the upper left corner to balance out the flower, but I couldn't decide on a sentiment, so I'll just leave it blank until I'm ready to send it out I guess.

Here's the latest from CAS(E) This Sketch:

And I love the colors from Global Design Project:

I am generally not a fan of Blushing Bride, but I do like it with these other two colors.  I don't know if any of the other pinks would bridge the super pale Soft Sea Foam and the super rich Pretty Peacock as well.

That's it for me today, kids.  I'm giving myself 10 minutes to enjoy my tea, then I'm getting to work.  Have a good Friday!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Positive Thoughts
Ink:  Soft Sea Foam, Blushing Bride
Paper:  Pretty Peacock, Soft Sea Foam, Shimmery White
Accessories:  Nature's Thoughts dies, Dimensionals, Noble Peacock Rhinestones

Friends Like You

Happy Friday, y'all!  Ryan woke up late yesterday morning so I grabbed a few minutes in my craft room and made a quick card.  It actually took me three tries to get it how I wanted it, but I like what I ended up with:

I busted Timeless Textures out of retirement for the background on this Freshly Made Sketch:

My elements are larger than what's on the sketch, so I had to scooch the sentiment down to the bottom.  I paired that with the color challenge from Inspire. Create.:

I used Terracotta Tile as my third color, though it was hard to narrow down my choices.  My first thought was to use the fern stamp from Positive Thoughts with Mint Macaron ink, but it's even bigger than the flower so I stuck with the smaller image.  You can't tell from the photo but I painted the flower with Wink of Stella for a bit of sparkle.

Hope y'all have a great Friday!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Positive Thoughts, Timeless Textures
Ink:  Night of Navy, Crumb Cake, Terracotta Tile
Paper:  Thick Whisper White
Accessories:  Nature's Thoughts dies, Happiness Blooms Enamel Dots, Wink of Stella, Dimensionals

CAS Cherry Blossoms

Howdy, folks!  Happy Friday.  How has your week been?  It was rainy all day yesterday, rained a lot last night, and now, although it's not raining, it's very very windy--we've had some power flickers due to the wind!  But at least the sun's out...a little bit.

So!  I still had Positive Thoughts out on my stamping table yesterday and I thought I'd use a sentiment from it for today's card, along with some flowers from Butterfly Wishes which I haven't used often enough.  I love the font in Positive Thoughts!  Here's my CAS card for today:

I was just feelin' the super simple vibe thanks to the sketch from CAS(E) This Sketch:

I combined that with the colors from Color Throwdown:

Isn't that a pretty inspiration photo?  I didn't stray too far from it with my floral card ;)  I used Night of Navy, Seaside Spray, and Rococo Rose for my colors, nice to play with the In Colors.  I added a couple of gold glitter enamel dots to the flower centers and called it done.

Oooh, the hubs just called--he's on his way to work and the wind knocked a sign into his truck.  Wonder how bad the damage is?  Hope your Friday is off to a less exciting start!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Butterfly Wishes, Positive Thoughts
Ink:  Rococo Rose, Seaside Spray, Night of Navy
Paper:  Seaside Spray, Thick Whisper White, Rococo Rose DSP
Accessories:  Gold Glitter Enamel Dots, Rectangle Stitched Dies, Dimensionals

Angel Feathers

Hey y'all!  How's your week going?  I've got two scrapbook layouts sitting on my table right now and all they lack to be finished is journaling.  I've been having fun working on scrapbook pages lately :) but I still made time yesterday to make a quick card.

I liked the stamp set Positive Thoughts in the Occasions Catalog, but I was resisting the urge to buy it UNTIL they came out with the matching dies and then yep, had to get it.  I needed some kind of encouragement/thinking of you card, and the sentiments in this set were just perfect so here's my first card with the stamp set.

I used the Cupcake Inspiration challenge for my colors:

Busted out some of that awesome Garden Lane DSP and used Garden Green and both Soft Suede and Early Espresso for the colors (one of the feathers is stamped off Early Espresso, everything else is Soft Suede).  I paired that with the sketch from Freshly Made Sketches:

A quick card, but I think it turned out very nicely.  Now I just need to actually send it off--I have several cards that need to go in the mail.  Just gotta do it!

Hope you have a great day today.  It's a stitching at the Y morning for me, love it!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Positive Thoughts
Ink:  Garden Green, Soft Suede, Early Espresso
Paper:  Garden Green, Soft Suede, Thick Whisper White, Garden Lane DSP
Accessories:  Nature's Thoughts Dies, corner rounder punch, Dimensionals