SPDMIX12 Vintage Friends

Happy Thursday, peeps!  This will be short and sweet...busy day, busy week, not much time to stamp!  School starts August 29....if I can just hold on until then, I should have a wee bit more free time, LOL!  I loved the vintage photo in the Sugar Pea Designs challenge as well as the sketch, so I actually did two cards!  I'll share just one today!

So here we go:

I have a PLETHORA of vintage images...stickers, digitals, image sheets, you name it.  Hoarding them all.  So I broke down and used a little journal note from Crafty Secrets' Childhood pad....my high school class is planning our 45th reunion next year, and although we didn't look quite like this when I was in school, I thought the vintage charm was a good match for the challenge photo!  I did use the sketch, but turned it on its side.  This is note card size; the side panels of the Very Vanilla card were embossed with a small polka dot EF from Cuttlebug; the tag is an old Provocraft die (I am diggin' into the archives of my stash here!); the stitched circle is from Lil'Inker; the DSP is from Graphic 45; crochet trim and linen thread are from SU; and the "twine" at the top is actually embroidery floss!  Sentiment is from Our Daily Bread Designs' Mini Tag Sentiments.   I am thinking this photo is probably from the 1920s or 30s.  Aren't these some sweet faces?

And speaking of sweet faces, here is a relatively calm one from the birthday celebration yesterday..I had to snap this photo because her shirt matched her card so well!

Now, THIS face....that's another story!  This card is from my friend Debbie, who remembered that Cassidy loves ladybugs....isn't that a cute card?!  The lady bug is made from a heart!  And on the inside was a gift card for a local ice cream shop!  Can you tell she was excited?  She is hamming it up a bit, but she can't wait to redeem that card!

She did get some other cute cards; I'll share them as well over the next few days!  Enjoy your day!

RS227 Foxy Kitty

Hi peeps!  A fun, whimsical card today using the sketch from RetroSketches:

My sweet friend Sandy gave me a package of papers which included ribbon, DSP and brads!  I just had to use some of them to make a thank you card for her!  Sandy, this card is on its way!

I am not sure if she likes cats or not, but the sweet smile on this kitty would make anyone love her!  I stamped the images from Foxy Friends in Crumb Cake and Chocolate Chip inks, then punched them out and assembled them on a scalloped circle.  I added some sequins to the card after I stamped the sentiment (A Dozen Thoughts, ret SU) and gave her a sweet little sequin and pearl necklace!

I wish you could see this paper IRL...there are gold lines in the plaid paper, and some of the flowers are FLOCKED!  SO retro and cool!  Thanks for poppin' in today!

Today is Cassidy's 6th birthday, and she has been stalking the mail lady each day this week for a card (or better yet, a package!).  So far, she's received three cards and I tried to make her wait to open them on her actual birthday, but she wasn't haven't any of it!  Here she is waiting to open the first one (it was from my dad!):

Poor thing...she's also on meds for an ear infection...not a fun thing during your birthday week, but we are pretty sure she's on the mend!

Have a blessed day!

RetroRubber 45 Bee Better Soon

Hi peeps!  A second post for today!  I was honored to be asked by the sweet, talented ladies at RetroRubber to be their guest designer this week!  Here's the awesome sketch they have for us:

So here we go:

I used two Darcie's Heart & Home stamp sets, Bee-utiful and Day is Sweet, circa 2012!  I stamped the beehive on some yellow DSP in Crumb Cake ink and shaded it with a blender pen and some Hello Honey ink.  (The other papers were all scraps from my stash....some MME and I think a scrap of Basic Grey for the horizontal piece as well as the bottom piece.....sorry I can't be of much help there!).  I stamped another bee and the sentiment in Early Espresso, and the random bees in Lost Lagoon.

There is a pretty lace image in one of the sets, and I stamped it along the horizontal piece, then added a Hello Honey scallop underneat and a few gold-colored sequins, although they are a bit difficult to see, but they add a little shine!  I have a friend from church who just had knee surgery, so this will be going out to her!

I hope you'll play along with this challenge and give some of your "retro" stamps a chance to shine!

Here's another little nature shot; this Great Blue heron was lurking beneath a pine tree on the edge of our yard one afternoon:

He's a bit less sinister-looking once he extends his neck!  I saw him three times that day...once by my mailbox, here under the tree, and the last time, he was being chased by my nephew's dog!!! Apparently the dog saw him in the creek behind our house and thought he would be an easy catch.  It was quite a sight to see a dog chasing a GBH in flight!  I wish I had had my camera!  Needless to say, the bird won that race!

TSOT284

Happy Tuesday, peeps!  Time for another Try Stampin on Tuesday sketch...here's an interesting one:

I have to admit that it did challenge me, but I persevered!  My friend Debbie just became a grandmother again, this time to twin girls!  I can't wait to see them!  So I made this for her, using a retired set called Every Little Bit for the three top images, and a sentiment from Darcie's called Bee-utiful:

Each image was stamped in Stazon and watercolored, then mounted on a Layering Squares mat:

And since there was more than one "ba-bee", I added a little "S" from Labeler Alphabet as well as some little stars from the same set!

Hearts from the Work of Art set and a sentiment from Watercolor Wishes finished the inside!

I hope you will come play along with us!  You can find the sketch on our blog, or check out our Facebook page as well!

John picked the first cantaloupe of the season...it measured 27" around!  Looks more like a pumpkin!

And of course, Cassidy had to use the first slice as a prop:

She does keep us laughing!

PPA313 and MTS137 Thank You

Hi peeps!  I am squeaking in this card using the Pals Paper Arts colors and Match the Sketch sketch just under the wire!

I pulled out Swirly Bird and created some of my own DSP using the challenge colors.  I heat-embossed a large and small flower in white on Flirty Flamingo and Peekaboo Peach cardstock, then diecut some leaves and the border with some Flourish dies:

Since I had my white craft ink and embossing powder out, I went ahead and embossed the sentiment (Flourishing Phrases) as well!  The final touch was horizontal piece embossed with the Decorative Dots embossing folder!

 Cassidy is back home from vacation and back to her creative self!  This time she drew a picture for her aunt (instead of eating her dinner in the background!):

It's a drawing of our sweet old kitty, Pumpkin....and Cassidy is petting her!  She hasn't quite grasped "proportion" yet....Pumpkin sort of looks like she might be a tiger, LOL!

Thanks for checking us out today!

Paper Players 308 Back to School Color Challenge

Hi all!  It's Sunday, and that means it's Paper Players time!  Claire is our hostess and she is channeling all those years of being a teacher with these fun "back to school" colors:

I knew exactly what I was going to use when I saw the colors!  I had been given these cool diecut borders from my sweet friend Linda years ago, and they have been shuffled around in my craft room ever since.....you can see how "vintage" they look; a bit tattered and wrinkled (just like me!):

But I used them anyway, pairing them with some DSP that was also gifted to me by my friend Martha! Perfect for the challenge!  For my focal point, I created a little slate with some retired SU chalkboard paper, stamping a Papertrey sentiment in white ink, letting it dry thoroughly, then adding the apple image from the same set (Fruit Fusion: Apple Mini).  I created the frame with some Crumb Cake cardstock and the Hardwood background stamp:

I smudged just a wee little bit of white ink around the edges to make it look chalky!  A couple of candy dots finished it off!

I hope you'll play with us this week...not all the designers chose the back-to-school theme for their colors...you must see them, they're amazing:

• Claire
• Jaydee
• Joanne
• Laurie
• Nance - off this week!
• Sandy
• Linda
• Hannelie
• Colleen

The garden is keeping us busy; Cassidy was helping me snap beans after our afternoon swim..."snip snip SNAP"...and she found one that looked like a bird:

and she said this one was the curl "in the middle of her forehead" just like the little girl who was horrid!

 

Enjoy your day---stay cool!

No Peeking!

 

Happy Saturday, peeps!  I feel like I am melting here in SE PA....so I thought I would make a Christmas card for the Jingle Belles challenge of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (red and a reindeer), as well as the challenging sketch from CAS(E) this Sketch:

I dusted off my SU Labels thinlits and some retired Christmas DSP to create the side panel, and added a wee little strip of red glimmer paper.  This cute little set from Clearly Besotted (In Print) was perfect for my reindeer; they were stamped in Crumb Cake, Early Espresso and have a red glimmer nose that's popped up!

The sentiment is from Amy R Stamps (Handy Christmas Greetings).  And just to show you that I thought I was such a smarty-pants, and I didn't need to use my Misti on the inside....my third little reindeer's antlers are rudely poking into my sentiment (sigh).  Well, whoever receives this card will just have to cut him a little slack, LOL!

Cassidy will be home soon, so you won't have to look at my butterfly pictures too much longer!  Here's a beautiful Monarch:

and this Swallowtail was fluttering so quickly, I couldn't get a still shot, but I loved how this looked anyway:

Thanks for popping in today and have a blessed day!