My Favorite Thing About Winter...

Hey y'all, how's your day going?  We did indeed eat lots of pizza and cake (and also pie) for my birthday last night : )  And instead of playing with my new stamp sets today I've got a couple of cards with retired stamps.  Because that's how my stamping muse works sometimes, she's ornery.

So what's my favorite thing about winter?

Drinking tea.  Like, for reals, I usually drink multiple cups of tea every day when it's cold outside and I think it's time to brew another cuppa right now.  The drinks on this card could be coffee or hot chocolate but for me personally it would 100% be tea.  I have a bad habit of buying too much tea so this winter I've been trying to be virtuous and drink my stash.  Anyway, I'm hoping that warm beverages count as winter fun, because that's the theme for two challenges.  First up is Retro Rubber:

Hug in a Mug is 6 1/2 years old so plenty retro for this challenge.  And I did put snowflakes in the background, so that makes it count as winter-related, right?

The Paper Players has the same theme this week:

And since the Paper Players specifically wants CAS cards, I used the sketch from CAS Colours & Sketches:

And my colors are inspired by Helen Read at All Things Stampy, she makes such beautiful things:

Though I didn't really use Crumb Cake, I shaded the whipped cream and marshmallows with the Ivory Stampin' Blends marker.

My Hug in a Mug card is actually the second one I made, here's the first one:

I wasn't sure if this counted as winter fun or not but I do still love these guys from the Penguin Playmates DSP from a couple of years ago.  It was a Sale-a-Bration item and I got LOTS of packs of it : )  For both cards, I used a piece of scratch paper to mask the diagonal, then used blending brushes to add color on one side of the diagonal.  A few stamped snowflakes and there I have the background of the sketch.  And this card is totally flat too, so easy to mail.

That's it for me today.  We'll see if I can bust out a new stamp set for tomorrow or not ; )  Cheers, y'all!

Supplies, first card:
Stamps:  Hug in a Mug
Ink:  Boho Blue, Pecan Pie, Stampin' Blends in Boho Blue, Pecan Pie, Ivory
Paper:  Boho Blue, Thick Very Vanilla
Accessories:  Dimensionals, In Color Dots

Supplies, second card:
Stamps:  Penguin Place
Ink:  Soft Sea Foam, Just Jade
Paper:  Soft Sea Foam, Penguin Playmates DSP
Accessories:  None

Season's Greetings 2021

Scrappy Monday, y'all!  Ryan was at his grandparents' house for the weekend, so I went to a craft fair on Saturday morning at my high school alma mater with my mom, SIL, niblings, and my friend Missy.  Then I spent some time in my craft room with my BRAND NEW Occasions catalog preorder :) and spent several hours on Saturday evening addressing my Christmas cards.  Those are going out today!

Since we moved last summer, I kind of expect not to get as many cards this year, but one of my favorite things to do every year is to gather up the photo cards I get (plus an extra one of ours) and make collage layouts.  Like these ones from 2021:

First I put the cards down where I want them, and if the card has something on the back I use those photo corners so that I can take the card out later if I want to.  Then I choose a DSP pack from that year and fill in the spaces around the photo cards.  This time around, I used the Penguin Playmates DSP, which is one of my all-time favorites and I got a LOT of it during Sale-a-Bration that year.  I love the adorable little animals on some of the patterns, so I went to town fussy cutting the characters and adding them to my color block pieces.

Really I might have gone a little overboard but they're just so cute!  I even used some of the polar bears that was going off the edge of a page, look at the one in the center of my left page here and on the far right.  I haven't decided what paper I might use for this year's color block, I have both of the bear-centric packs plus Merry Bold & Bright, which sold out a while back.  I haven't done the 2022 color block yet so maybe in January after Ryan starts the new semester at school, I'll do this year and last year's color blocks.  This is also a really fun thing to do with the 6x6 DSP stacks, which a lot of times I *don't* use on my scrapbook pages because I like to do long strips that span the 12-inch page.  But with this idea, I just need little pieces.

Today's color palette comes straight from the DSP:  Just Jade, Soft Sea Foam, Fresh Freesia, and Misty Moonlight.  Just Jade is now retired, but Fresh Freesia and Misty Moonlight are now on the regular color lineup.

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Penguin Place, Back to Basics Alphabet
Ink:  Just Jade, Fresh Freesia, Basic Gray marker
Paper:  Just Jade, Thick Basic White, Penguin Playmates DSP
Accessories:  Tasteful Labels dies

Just Wanted to Say...

Mornin' folks!  Ryan is feeling better today, but since it's less than 24 hours since his fever broke we kept him home again today.  He's going through a lot of Kleenex but otherwise seems to be bouncing back just fine.  However, since he's home, it took me longer than I expected to make a card for today; in the end I made a deal with him that I could finish my card and then he and I would make one together.  So here's mine:

The inside says "I love you".  This is a variation on the first two cards I made for yesterday's post that didn't seem CAS enough for one of the challenges.  So here is this week's Freshly Made Sketch:

And the Color Throwdown:

I used Sweet Sorbet and Petal Pink, and even though it doesn't look like it in the picture of my card, I promise the sequins are gold.  It was a challenge to take pictures of cards today.

As soon as I finished that one, Ryan pounced and said we had to make a card for his dad whose birthday is coming up next week (and Ryan's is the day after).  So here's what we made:

He did most of the stamping (I just did the beaks on both birds and the foot on the Fresh Freesia penguin on the left) and chose all the colors, I helped him use the penguin punch and the heart punch, and he stuck everything down himself.

Working hard on his creation.

Ta-daaahh!  After I took this picture, he dictated the message for the inside and we both signed it.  And then he drew some fireworks on the front, too.  Now he's eating lunch and watching a cartoon so maybe I can run upstairs and make a card for next week's SUO Challenges...

Cheers!

Supplies, all SU! (first card)
Stamps:  Country Bouquet
Ink:  Sweet Sorbet, Petal Pink
Paper:  Thick Basic White, Country Floral Lane DSP, Country Gingham DSP Stack
Accessories:  Stylish Shapes dies, Basic Borders dies, Country Bouquet punch, Dimensionals, gold sequins

Supplies, all SU! (penguin card)
Stamps:  Penguin Place
Ink:  Pacific Point, Fresh Freesia, Sweet Sorbet, Mango Melody
Paper:  Pacific Point, Thick Basic White, Country Gingham DSP
Accessories:  Penguin punch, Sweetheart punch, Dimensionals

Fairy Princess Halloween

Mornin' y'all!  Got a bit of time on Sunday to play  in my craft room and I had to ink up a new Halloween set, Scary Cute.  So here's my card for today:

Thought I'd go non-traditional for Halloween with a pink-and-purple fairy princess card.  With a bit of imagination, I made this work for the Festive Friday challenge:

I used stars, sparkle, and tried my hand at ink blending with the blending brushes.  My fairy princess is fussy cut, popped up on Dimensionals, and covered with Wink of Stella for sparkle that of course doesn't show up in the photo.  I also used this awesome sketch from Try Stampin' on Tuesday:

This is a sketch that you could use to make a really fast card by using some pretty patterned paper, or take your time and stamp something lovely in that giant open space.  Fun!

Hope you have a great week, peeps.

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Scary Cute, Penguin Place
Ink:  Flirty Flamingo, Highland Heather, Gorgeous Grape
Paper:  Flirty Flamingo, Gorgeous Grape, Thick Basic White
Accessories:  Stitched Rectangles dies, Stylish Shapes dies, Wink of Stella, retired Glimmer Dots, Dimensionals

Ladybug Me Anytime

Morning peeps!  It's been a busy week at work but my schedule allows me to come home for about an hour before I have to go pick Ryan up, so I've been trying to use that time to stamp a quick card.  And I got to play with some new stamps!

I knew I'd have to get the Hello Ladybug bundle as soon as I saw it :)  It didn't photograph well, but I unearthed my very old collection of Stickles and put silver glitter on the ladybug's spots.  I paired my sparkly ladybug with the Simply Marbleous DSP from the SAB brochure; I got the idea from the Sunday Stamps color challenge:

I used Real Red and then Smoky Slate and Basic Gray for my gray shades.  That Simply Marbleous paper reminds me of the old, old patterned paper I used to buy when I very first started scrapbooking over 25 years ago, especially the satin sides.  I probably won't use the satin sides much :p but I'm okay with the marbley patterns.  Anywha, this card came together super fast thanks to the CAS Colours & Sketches sketch:

I thought I needed a squee bit more red so I added three red hearts from Penguin Place to the bottom corner.

Hope you're having a good week!

Supplies, almost all SU!
Stamps:  Hello Ladybug, Penguin Place
Ink:  Basic Gray, Real Red
Paper:  Thick Basic White, Simply Marbleous DSP Stack
Accessories:  Ladybug Builder Punch, Dimensionals, silver Stickles

Paper Players: Winter Animals

 Happy Sunday, stampy friends, and get ready for a new challenge from the Paper Players!

Not gonna lie, I was really tempted to fussy cut some animals from the Penguin Playmates DSP (one of my all-time favorite DSP packs!) but instead I decided to go with the Penguin Place stamp set.

I even busted out the penguin punch too!  For the background, I stamped the curvy line on a Post-It Note, cut along it, and used it as a mask while adding ink with a blending brush.  Simple and effective!  Originally that was supposed to be directly on the card base, but somehow I got a big ol' splotch of ink on the top of the card, so I had to trim it down a bit and add an extra layer here.  It's still CAS though.

Hope you enjoy this challenge even half as much as I did!  Don't forget to add your card to the Paper Players blog.  Cheers!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Penguin Place
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Polished Pink, Mango Melody, Balmy Blue
Paper:  Thick Basic White
Accessories:  Penguin Builder Punch, Dimensionals

The Paper Players Design Team

Jaydee

LeAnne Pugliese

Claire Broadwater

Joanne James

Laurie Schmidt

Anne Marie Hile

Ann Schach

Cindy Beach

Christy Stanford

Jennie Maier

Polar Party Part 2

Mornin' y'all!  I saw the newest Freshly Made Sketch yesterday and it's #500 so I had to play along!  I just managed to make a card while Ryan was in the tub last night.  And since the Penguin Playmates DSP was already out from making yesterday's card...

I have three packs of this paper, and I rarely use up all of even a single pack so I have given myself permission to cut up one pack just as much as my little crafty heart desires and then I still have two packs to hoard if my little dragon heart desires.  I wasn't sure if I liked the polar bear by himself or if he needed friends though...

What do you think?  I think this might be the must adorable DSP that Stampin' Up! has ever produced ;)  Here's the Freshly Made Sketch:

Congratulations to the FMS team for an entire DECADE of challenges!  What a milestone.

Aaack, I've got to do my workout and get ready for work.  Cheers, peeps!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Penguin Place
Ink:  Just Jade
Paper:  Fresh Freesia, Just Jade, Penguin Playmates DSP
Accessories:  Stitched Nested Labels dies

ETA:  I got a better pic of the card, had to share it too :)