Polynesian Cultural Center

Mornin', y'all.  I'm a little grumpy today because little dog woke me up at 1:30, and then little baby woke me up at 3:30 and didn't want to go back to sleep EVER.  Yeah, that was fun.

So anyway, let's take a look at another scrapbook layout today, shall we?

These pics are from the Polynesian Cultural Center in Hawaii; see them (and more) here.  Somehow I managed to whittle down the pictures A LOT to only have one layout instead of, like, three.  I try to limit stuff to one layout because I still have zillions of pictures left to scrap, but sometimes things do get multiple pages.  But anyway, I was rather pleased with this one, click on it to see it bigger.

Today's color palette is straight from the Botanical Gardens DSP:  Old Olive, Mossy Meadow (retired), Cajun Craze, Hello Honey (retired), and Whisper White.  Normally I wouldn't have paired Old Olive and Mossy Meadow so I was surprised how much I liked them together.  It took me forever to get to this color combination...I'm wearing a red shirt in the photos, but most of the flowers are more magenta, and red + magenta is clashy so I was kinda stuck for a bit.  Then I decided to ignore the red and magenta altogether and use deep dark orange Cajun Craze just as an accent color, with the greens as the main colors and voila!  It worked.

I'm off to eat breakfast and feed Ryan too.  He's a lot cuter at 8:30 when he wants to talk to me than at 3:30 when we should all be sleeping.  I'mma teach this kid somehow...sleep is GOOD.  Cheers!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Summer Silhouettes, Rose Wonder
Ink:  Cajun Craze, Hello Honey, Mossy Meadow marker
Paper:  Old Olive textured, Mossy Meadow, Thick Whisper White, Botanical Gardens DSP
Accessories:  Rose Garden Thinlits

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

Autumn Silhouettes

Howdy, peeps, how's it going this rainy Wednesday morning?  I need to go make myself a cuppa tea so I can wake up a bit more.  But anyway, you're here to see a pretty card, am I right?

I made this one for this week's Global Design Project challenge:

I used the same colors (Cherry Cobbler, Tip Top Taupe, Very Vanilla, and a little bit of Crushed Curry) and I kept the large circle element as well as the Cherry Cobbler banner, though I used the sketch from Mojo Monday instead:

And even though it's Tall & Skinny week at Mojo Monday, I did a regular A2 card because that's what size envelopes I have.  I was going to make my card a thank you card as in the GDP inspiration, but I need a couple more birthday cards in the next week or so, and thus my birthday card came to be.  And even though the main image is stamped with a set called Summer Silhouettes, I think I made it look nice and autumnal ;)

Ok peeps, I'm off to make some tea so I can then conquer the world.  Or at least get my list of things to do started.  Cheers!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Summer Silhouettes, Petite Pairs
Ink:  Tip Top Taupe, Cherry Cobbler, Crushed Curry
Paper:  Very Vanilla, Tip Top Taupe, Cherry Cobbler
Accessories:  Circles Framelits, Woodgrain Embossing Folder, Dimensionals, Hexagon punch

Nachos: Summer Hello

Hey hey hey Nacho fans!  Are you ready for another Nacho Average Color Challenge?  Because it has arrived!

I had to put on my thinking cap for this one, because although Blushing Bride and Mint Macaron are natural together, I never ever ever in a zillion years would have put Melon Mambo with either of those colors.  Which is why it's fun to try challenges that other people come up with, and I was okay with what I made in the end.

Whenever a new catalog comes out, it's easy to forget about my older stamps so I thought I'd dust off Summer Silhouettes for today.  Also, I usually don't pair my Nacho cards with other challenges, but I just had to play along with this week's CAS(E) This Sketch:

So now it's your turn!  Give the Nacho color combo a try and link it up on the Nacho blog.  Cheers, peeps!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Summer Silhouettes, A Dozen Thoughts
Ink:  Blushing Bride, Mint Macaron, Melon Mambo
Paper:  Blushing Bride, Whisper White
Accessories:  Circles Framelits

Nachos: Sympathy Birds

Sooooo I meant to write up this post last night but I started editing the hubs' latest paper for class and the Nacho post didn't get done.  Oops.  So here I am now with this week's Nacho Average Color Challenge:

My first thought was to use By the Seashore and/or By the Tide but then I decided to go with something different.

I don't *need* a sympathy card right now (thank goodness), but it's good to have a few in the stash just in case.  It's hard to tell in the photo, but I sponged on Pool Party ink to make it look like a sky on the panel with the birds.  I must say, I love the font on the sentiments that come with Bloom With Hope :)

Your turn now!  Check out the Nacho blog for more eye candy and then show us what you can make with Baked Brown Sugar, Pool Party, and Very Vanilla.  Have a lovely Tuesday!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Summer Silhouettes, Bloom with Hope
Ink:  Pool Party, Baked Brown Sugar, Early Espresso
Paper:  Pool Party, Baked Brown Sugar, Early Espresso, Very Vanilla
Accessories:  Fancy Fan EF, Neutrals Candy Dots, Dimensionals

Nachos: Hello Sunshine

Happy Tuesday, Nacho fans!  This week Nacho Average Challenges brings you a lovely sketch:

I love sketches like this because there are so MANY possibilities!  So here's what I came up with:

I accidentally smudged the green lattice I stamped on the patterned paper, but I'm going to pretend I did it on purpose.  It's a little hard to see in the photo, but there are rhinestones in each of the flower centers.

Call me crazy, but I almost like the inside of the card even better than the front of it:

I don't know, it makes me happy :)  I used a marker to ink up just the word "sunshine" on a stamp from Feel Goods, and then added the little "hello" from A Dozen Thoughts.  And I like the little flower and how the center of the flower lines up just right with the swirl on the end of "sunshine" :)

So now it's your turn!  Check out the Nacho Average Challenges blog to see the beautiful creations from the rest of the design team, and then post us a link to your own card so we can ooh and ahh over it :)

Peace out!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Petite Petals, Summer Silhouettes, Feel Goods, A Dozen Thoughts
Ink:  Strawberry Slush, Garden Green, Daffodil Delight
Paper:  Garden Green, Pink Pirouette, Whisper White, All Abloom DSP Stack
Accessories:  Petite Petals punch, rhinestones, Dimensionals

Nago Cherry Blossom Festival

Hello again!  I'm back with yet another scrapbook layout that makes me happy.

The page base is the long-retired (sniff!) Almost Amethyst, and I built my own cherry blossoms using the recently-retired Floral Fusion Sizzlit.

I never used the Spencerian Alphabet stamps until after they retired, but I've had fun with it on scrapbook layouts this year.

There's a closeup of my flowers; the Sizzlit cuts three sizes at once so I decided to just vary how I layered the three shades of pink to make all the flowers look a little different.  You can see the original pictures here.

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Spencerian Alphabet, Summer Silhouettes
Ink:  Not Quite Navy, Regal Rose, Smoky Slate
Paper:  Almost Amethyst, Pink Pirouette, Pretty in Pink, Regal Rose, Greenhouse Gala DSP
Accessories:  Floral Fusion Sizzlit

Watercolor Friend

Monday morning again already!  Well, let's try to start this week off on a good note.

I was searching through my scraps when I came across that lovely watercolor flower pattern and I thought bingo!  I can use that for the Freshly Made Sketches challenge.  I think this card looked a little better in my head than it does on paper though, I can't quite figure out what needs tweaking on it.  Here's the sketch:

Maybe I needed some other teeny accent like where the button is on the sketch.  Oh well!  I do like the colors though :)

Thanks for stopping by today!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Six-Sided Sampler, Summer Silhouettes
Ink:  Basic Black, Calypso Coral
Paper:  Gumball Green, Calypso Coral, Basic Black, Whisper White, Watercolor Wonder DSP
Accessories:  Hexagon punch, Dimensionals

Blushing Friend

I keep saying I don't much care for Blushing Bride, but then I see color challenges that make it look pretty good and that makes me just a little bit grumpy 'cause I don't really want to like Blushing Bride but on today's card I do:

I had no real intention of doing this week's Dynamic Duos challenge but then I saw the challenge on Still Addinktive to use Summer Silhouettes and I still hadn't done a card for the Freshly Made Sketches challenge and then this card kinda just happened.  What's really surprising (besides the Blushing Bride thing) is that this card capped off a pretty long stamping session as I worked on baby books, and usually after a couple hours I'm feeling kind of drained creatively speaking, so yay me.  (And also, I'm really close to finishing up those baby books and the shower isn't for another 12 days, so double yay me!)

Here's the Dynamic Duos graphic:

And the sketch too:

Ok seriously, when I sat down I had all the best intentions of actually doing the little flaggy bits on the bottom of the main image but then I remembered I had that Finishing Touches Edgelit and it just kinda happened.  And also I have no baker's twine that matches the challenge colors so I went with some classy Very Vanilla taffeta instead (and seriously, taffeta is my favorite ribbon...they should make it in every color ever invented, I'm just sayin').

Thanks for stopping by today and have a stellar week!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Blessings from Heaven, Summer Silhouettes
Ink:  Blushing Bride, Soft Suede, Early Espresso
Paper:  Blushing Bride, Early Espresso, Very Vanilla
Accessories:  Finishing Touches Edgelits, Very Vanilla taffeta, pearl, Dimensional

Make a Wish

I'm late posting today but my hubs just got back yesterday after two months in the States, so I think I can be forgiven since I still DO have a new card :)

The layout is this week's SCS sketch challenge; I didn't think I'd like it much at first but I'm okay with what I ended up making.  For some reason the flowers kinda made me think of dandelions so that's why I went with the "make a wish" sentiment.  The pretty springy colors are courtesy of Nacho Average Challenges:

I started out with a Pretty in Pink card base but it was TOO pink, so I used white instead and then sponged on a bit of Pretty in Pink.

Thanks for stopping by today and have a wonderful evening!  I'm going to spend it with my husband :D

Supplies (all SU!):
Stamps:  Summer Silhouettes, Papillon Potpourri, Sweet Essentials
Ink:  Summer Starfruit, Pretty in Pink, Primrose Petals
Paper:  Whisper White, Primrose Petals, Patio Party DSP, In Color & Subtles DSP Stacks
Accessories:  Labels Collection Framelits, Bitty Butterfly Punch