Friday Flashback: Tea Party

Happy Friday!  Once again I've waited until late in the day to work on my card, but I got there in the end.  Today's Friday Flashback stamp set is Tea Party, and you know how I love my tea!  If you're here just to see today's new card, scroll to the bottom; otherwise, let's take a trip down Memory Lane :)

Also features Artistic Etchings, Curly Cute

The scallopy border stamp on this card is from Tea Party.

Also features Petite Petals

And I bet you can figure out from the picture which stamp on this card is from today's set :)

Also features Fabulous Phrases

A fabulous teapot planter colored with markers for a nice effect...

Put a couple of these together very quickly for my cohosts when I did a Mad Tea Party a few years ago.

Also features Swallowtail

The thank you tag is also from today's set, and of course you recognize Swallowtail.  Who doesn't love that one!

So here is today's brand new creation:

I just loved the sketch from Fab Friday today so I had to use it:

And I'm also entering this over at Retro Rubber:

I have approximately 7 gabillion brads in different colors, and given that I jabbed myself under the fingernail with one while working on my card I remember why I was so happy to switch to Candy Dots.  But perhaps I should do this challenge lots more times to whittle down my brad stash a bit?  Anyway, in the spirit of retro-ness, Tea Party came out in 2013 and I had to have it immediately so it's 3 years old.  The brads are older than that :)

Well, the hubs is here and wants to go out to dinner, so who can say no to that.  Cheers, peeps!

Supplies, last card only:
Stamps:  Tea Party
Ink:  Always Artichoke
Paper:  So Saffron, Thick Whisper White, Tea & Crumpets DSP
Accessories:  Ovals & Labels Collection Framelits, Rich Regals Brads, Dimensionals

Spring Swallowtail

Mornin', y'all!  How's it going?  I was up wayyyy too late last night because just as I was going to bed I remembered that the Stampin' Up! retirement list would be posted, as well as the sneak peek at the new catalog just for us demonstrator types.  So yeah, it was midnight when I finally crawled into bed :)  I haven't even really taken a good look at the retirement list yet, just scanned it, but there is a certain butterfly that is retiring...

It just so happens that I had made this Swallowtail card before I saw the retirement list.  The sentiment stamps are from All About Everything, which was a special gift to Paper Pumpkin subscribers this month and it is ridiculously cute.

Today's colors are courtesy of Cupcake Inspirations:

I used Pear Pizzazz, Blushing Bride, and Rose Red for my SU! color version.

Next up is the Fab Friday sketch challenge:

And the CASE the Designer challenge from Global Design Project:

I thought the doily on the Fab Friday sketch went well with the inspiration card from GDP.  I also used the same stripey paper on my card.

Last but not least is the theme challenge from the Paper Players:

Sadly I missed the part where it said "CAS" on the challenge--I think my card qualifies as clean lines, but not really CAS.  But it was the Paper Players' fault that I broke out the butterfly so I'm putting it here anyway.

Well, I'd better get ready to go...have to take my car for an oil change today.  Cheers, y'all!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Swallowtail, All About Everything
Ink:  Blushing Bride, Pear Pizzazz, Rose Red
Paper:  Blushing Bride, Pear Pizzazz, Rose Red, Thick Whisper White, Birthday Bouquet DSP
Accessories:  Gold doily, Dimensionals, Hexagon punch, Rhinestones

2015 Showcase, Part 1

Since it's the last week of December (already!), it's time for the 2015 showcase here at Snapdragon Stamps.  So I went back through my blog posts for this year and picked out one card and one scrapbook layout for each month (okay, sometimes there were ties) just to share my favorites one more time.  So let's start off with Part 1 of the card showcase.

January's pick:  I love this happy card.  That "oh, happy day" stamp just makes me smile.

February's pick has Valentine-y colors and some pretty lotus blossoms.  I like how it turned out to do the first layer of the flower stamping with white ink.

March's pick:  By the Seashore has long been a fave stamp set, and I just love that patterned paper from last year's Sale-a-Bration.

April's pick is this giant Swallowtail paired with some stamps from Tea Party.  I love the watercolor background for the butterfly and those are my colors.  Spoiler alert:  new tea-related goodness is coming up in the Occasions Mini next week!

May's pick is this coral rose card.  It's an advertisement for why I don't get rid of my retired stamp sets:  I love that rose and the sentiments.  Plus, if I sold off all my retired stuff, how would I do Friday Flashbacks?

And for the last one of the day, June's pick is this bouquet card I CASEd from the catalog.

Tea, Thanks

Happy hump day, peeps.  Hope you're having a good week.  If not, maybe a butterfly tea party will cheer you up?

So the Stampin' Up! retirement list dropped yesterday, and while Swallowtail is safe for another year, Tea Party is going bubye, so I thought I'd use it on a card today (the tag and the swag at the bottom are both from Tea Party).  This year I have 24 stamp sets that are on the retiring list, and I'm sad about a few of them (By the Seashore!  Stippled Blossoms!  Four You!) but mostly I'm a little scared they're retiring all my favorite Framelits.  So I hope they've got some good shapes up their sleeves for the new catalog!

Anyway, back to today's card.  I used the color combination from Cupcake Inspirations:

I don't think I edited the color on my photo quite right, my card looks better IRL because the Pistachio Pudding card base doesn't look quite so washed out.  I think you get the idea, though.  I also used the sketch from Fab Friday:

Obviously I changed the shapes on a few of the elements, but I think it's still pretty clear that I followed the sketch.  I even used a button and twine :)  The button is an older retired style, but hey, half this card is going to be retired as of June 2.

And finally, I'm going to enter this in the current challenge at The Paper Players:

To make my background for the butterfly, I heavily spritzed some watercolor paper with water, then dropped ink refills on it and swirled it around...I found out the hard way you have to swirl the ink immediately, because if you don't it settles into the paper a bit and it looks like the watercolor paper has some weird multicolored measles or something.  Not the look I was going for.  So after the second try (got it right that time), I set it aside to dry while I worked on a scrapbook layout, and then stamped the butterfly and put the card together a little bit later.

That's it for me today, peeps.  Hope you have a great day!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Swallowtail, Tea Party
Ink:  Wisteria Wonder, Elegant Eggplant, Wisteria Wonder & Pistachio Pudding ink refills
Paper:  Pistachio Pudding, Whisper White, watercolor paper
Accessories:  Retired tag punch, retired button, white baker's twine

Friday Flashback: Lots of Thoughts

Happy Friday, peeps, and welcome to the Friday Flashback.  Today's Flashback set was a Sale-a-Bration set from 2008, and it's called Lots of Thoughts.  Buncha little sentiment stamps, but not a set I've used much.

Also features Fabulous Flowers and Paisley

I have lots of thoughts on this card, and they all start with "Ew" and go downhill from there.  This is The Ugly Card.  Mostly I don't like Bravo Burgundy too much, and that corset lacing thing is just...no, and even Fabulous Flowers looks less than fabulous here.  The whole card is a world of no.  So sometimes sketch and color challenges will lead you astray!  I had to redeem myself today.

Ok, this might not be my favoritest card in the universe, but it's loads better than The Ugly Card, right?  I mean, it's hard to go wrong with Swallowtail.  And we're continuing yesterday's pinkalicious theme with this color combination from Create with Connie and Mary, who did not steer me wrong today:

And the sketch (turned on its side) is from Freshly Made Sketches:

So yep, I finally made something with Lots of Thoughts that is at the very least presentable.  My work here is done for this week ;)  Cheers, peeps!

Supplies, last card only:
Stamps:  Lots of Thoughts, Swallowtail
Ink:  Versamark, Blushing Bride, Rose Red, Blackberry Bliss
Paper:  Blushing Bride, Rose Red, Whisper White
Accessories:  Gold EP, baker's twine from an old Paper Pumpkin kit, corner rounder punch, Dimensionals

Sunshine Butterfly

Well, apparently I'm in the mood for sunshine this week.

I didn't think about it until I was almost done making this card, but I just did a sunshine birthday card yesterday.  Oh well, who wouldn't want to get one of these in the mail?

Actually I need this to go off in the mail today anyway :)  I used the bold, bright, and beautiful color combination from Create with Connie and Mary:

I can't help it, I'm a sucker for Bermuda Bay and Crushed Curry.  Add in another bright color and I'm all over it.  I also kinda-sorta used the sketch from Retro Sketches:

My intention had been to use the sketch but adapt it to a landscape card instead of portrait, but I kinda moved around the elements so I'm not 100% it counts as using the sketch now.  I do have all the same elements on my card though.

Anyway, we've got book club at my casa tonight, so I need to get started with cleaning up a few things (read:  make it not smell like this house is overrun by dogs, even though it is) and make a coffee cake.  Cheers, peeps!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Swallowtail, Feel Goods, Bring on the Cake
Ink:  Whisper White, Bermuda Bay, Calypso Coral, Crushed Curry
Paper:  Whisper White, Bermuda Bay, Calypso Coral, Best Year Ever DSP (Sale-a-Bration exclusive)
Accessories:  Banners Framelits

2014 Showcase, Part 1

Howdy, stampers!  As 2014 winds to a close, I thought I'd take a look back at all the stuff I've posted here for the past year and pick a favorite project for each month.  So instead of a Friday Flashback this week, here's the 2014 Showcase, Part 1!  And lemme just pat myself on the back here, haha.

Features Snow Swirled

For January, I chose this snowy layout.  I love the bright blue with the three pastel colors, and I love those photos from our house in England.  And I miss snow.  I think I've worn a jacket like, maybe three times since we moved to Alabama.  Okay, maybe four.

Perfectly Penned, Starburst Sayings, Nacho card!

February's pick is this bright and fun birthday card (even though there's a dog hair stuck in the middle of it in the photo).  Plus this blog post was one of the funniest ever I think; this is what happens when I blog late at night.

Best of Butterflies, Happy Day, Nacho card!

My March pick is all about the butterflies.  It's hard for me to do CAS cards, but this one just worked for me.  And who wouldn't want to get a butterfly smile in the mail?

Swallowtail, Yippee-Skippee!, Nacho card!

My April card is also butterfly-riffic, this time giant size.  I love bright fun happy colors and that Nacho color challenge delivered bright, fun, and happy in spades!  And you know what?  Three out of four projects I picked for this post were Nacho cards!  Love the Nacho challenges.

Showcase Parts 2 and 3 coming up soon.  Cheers, peeps!

Nachos: Moonlight Swallowtail

Mornin', stamping fans!  The Nachos have a wonderful sketch for you today, take a peek:

So many possibilities!  But I got a brain wave this week and made this immediately:

SHINY!  I stamped the Swallowtail butterfly in Versamark on my Hello Honey card base, then embossed it with Iridescent Ice for a tone-on-tone but glittery look.  I'm kind of in love with it.  And there are my two favorite new In Colors, Lost Lagoon and Blackberry Bliss.  Maybe sometime I'll get tired of that color combination, but it probably won't be soon.

Go check out the Nacho Average Challenges blog for more stampy goodness and then go create something pretty!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Swallowtail, Chalk Talk
Ink:  Versamark, Blackberry Bliss, Lost Lagoon
Paper:  Hello Honey, Blackberry Bliss, Moonlight DSP Stack
Accessories:  Iridescent Ice EP, Chalk Talk Framelits, Circle punches, Dimensionals

Friday Flashback: Vintage Verses

Howdy folks and welcome to this week's Friday Flashback!  I'm a little late getting my post done today, but I've been distracted...I got my preorder goodies in the mail today and I just *had* to have a sit-down with the new catty before I could do anything else.  But I'm ready to go now and this week's randomly chosen retired stamp set is Vintage Verses from last year's Sale-a-Bration!  What's with all the former SAB sets lately?  I don't know, they were all chosen from the proverbial hat.

Also features Mixed Bunch

Here's a very bold bright card to start us off.

Also features Lovely Leaves and Weathered

Something a bit more manly...

Also features Swallowtail

Ok, I admit, this is one of my favorite cards ever.  Gotta love the giant butterfly.

Also features Nature's Pace

And this one...is not my favorite.  Well, they can't *all* be winners.  So that's it for the Flashback, here's today's new card:

You can see I kinda love that little "Just because" stamp :)  And I had to give the World Treasures peacock a little more love since he's on his way to blissful retirement in Jamaica.  That peacock panel was a pain though; I had three different tries at polished stone and one try at doing something on watercolor paper before this one kind of worked.  The Old Olive ink refill muddied the Bermuda Bay too much when I tried to use them together for polished stone, Bermuda Bay was too dark by itself, but Bermuda Bay plus Coastal Cabana seemed to work okay.

I used almost the right colors for this week's Color Throwdown:

I accidentally used Old Olive instead of Lucky Limeade; this is what happens when I try to do color challenges from memory.  I think the Old Olive is close enough for me to be safe from the Challenge Police though.  I also used this week's Retro Sketch:

That one I stuck pretty close to, except all my card elements are bigger than they are on the sketch.

And now it's time for me to dive in with the new In Colors and have some fun.  My fingers are already stained blue and green, so I'm a happy stamper!

Cheers, peeps!

Supplies, last card only, all SU!
Stamps:  Vintage Verses, World Treasures
Ink:  Bermuda Bay, Coastal Cabana, Night of Navy
Paper:  Old Olive, Bermuda Bay, Night of Navy, Glossy White, Season of Style DSP scrap
Accessories:  Deco Label, Petite Petals, and Boho Blossoms punches, rhinestone, Dimensionals

Nachos: Giant Happy Butterfly

Happy Tuesday!  Ready for a brand new color challenge from Nacho Average Challenges?  Here it is!

I love these colors together.  So fun and summery!  So here's my card:

I think I have butterflies on the brain.  And I think it IS possible for embossing powder to expire; my white EP is kinda chunky and doesn't seem to work quite right.  But I like how this turned out anyway.

Go check out the other Nacho cards and then hit up your stampin' space to try out the challenge colors.  Cheers, peeps!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Swallowtail, Yippee-Skippee!
Ink:  Versamark, Bermuda Bay, Strawberry Slush
Paper:  Whisper White, Bermuda Bay, Strawberry Slush, Eastern Elegance DSP
Accessories:  White EP, Decorative Label punch, Petite Petals punch, Brights Candy Dot

Favorites Showcase 2013, Part 1

Last year around this time, I noticed lots of stampy bloggers doing a retrospective of their favorite projects of the year, so I thought instead of doing a regular Friday Flashback on the last Friday of the year that I would post the first half of the 2013 retrospective.  So it's kind of a different type of flashback :)  So let's take a look at January through June!

This lovely peacock was my pick for January--I love that bold stamp and the blue/orange high-energy color combo, not to mention the fun layout.

February's pick is this seashell card.  I think Perfect Plum is underused, and of course I love everything with Baja Breeze.

How could I not pick this larger-than-life butterfly for March?  And I'm noticing a trend when it comes to sentiment stamps...

I love the color combo on my pick for April--Marina Mist, Wisteria Wonder and Wild Wasabi.

And here's a sunny happy card for May, I love that Daffodil Delight print on the sundress.

And we'll wrap it up for today with some June roses.  I've linked up all the original blog posts if you want to see more about a specific card.  I'll be back on Monday with the second half of the 2013 retrospective, so until then, have a great weekend!