Saturday Selections

Hi everyone!  A lazy Saturday here in PA...more rain and clouds!  Hopefully I'll be able to get into my stamp room a bit today!  Meanwhile, I wanted to share just a couple of cards I made recently using some new as well as older products!  My first one uses Jar of Flowers, stamped in Stazon ink and watercolored:

After watercoloring the image, I fussy-cut it and layered it on a Bird Ballad panel that had an opening cut with the Nested Labels die.  I put some Soft Seafoam DSP under it and added a little scalloped trim as well as a bow made from the new Flowers for Every Season Combo Pack:

The sentiment, stamped in Poppy Parade, is from Celebrate Sunflowers, and I stamped and colored another tulip from the bouquet to accent it:

My next card uses the Sunflower dies and Buffalo Check background stamp to create a whimsical sunflower:

I diecut the top layer with Crumb Cake cardstock, then stamped a piece of Mango Melody with the Buffalo Check stamp in Pumpkin Pie, then diecut it with the bottom layer.  Crushed Curry created the center, and I layered it on a panel of Whisper White, embossed with the Subtle EF, and another layer of Crumb Cake.  I layered it on a card base of Mango Melody embossed with the Tin Tile EF:

A wee bit of Terracotta Tile ribbon and a sentiment from Free as a Bird finished it off!  Thanks for popping in today!  Be sure to come back tomorrow for a new Paper Players challenge too!

We lost another tree yesterday...technically, it's on my SIL's property, right at the edge of ours.  The tree top broke and split the small tree right down the middle:

It straddled the stream but didn't really damage anything!  Now John will have another project!

And while I had the camera out in the rain, I snapped a few of my Japanese iris:

Enjoy your day and be blessed!

First Card Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Jar of Flowers, Celebrate Sunflowers
Card stock & Papers	Whisper White, Bird Ballad DSP, Soft Seafoam DSP
Ink	Stazon, Blushing Bride, Highland Heather, Poppy Parade, Soft Seafoam, Crushed Curry, Balmy Blue
Accessories	Flowers for Every Season Ribbon, Dimensionals
Tools	Big Shot, Stitched Be Mine Dies, Stitched Nested Labels Dies, Stitched Rectangle Dies, Jar Punch, Aquapainter

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Celebrate Sunflowers, Free as a Bird, Buffalo Check
Card stock & Papers	Whisper White, Crumb Cake, Mango Melody, Crushed Curry, Old Olive
Ink	Pumpkin Pie, Terracotta Tile
Accessories	Terracotta Tile Ribbon, Dimensionals.
Tools	Big Shot, Sunflower Dies, Stitched So Sweetly Dies, Subtle EF, Tin Tile EF

AYSI226 A Sunflower Hello

Hi stampers!  It's Friday, and it's time for a new As You See It challenge!  Joanne chose these colors for us this week:

And I must admit, as yummy as that lemon meringue tart looks, these colors were definitely a challenge for me!  I decided to use my new Celebrate Sunflowers set, using the smaller sunflower to create a square card:

My layout comes from the sketch at The Spot this week:

My 4 1/4" square card was embossed with Pinewood Planks and I used Soft Suede DSP to create the horizontal and vertical layers.  To add some interest, I added a diecut from Nature's Thoughts in Lovely Lipstick on each one.  After stamping the sunflower in Soft Suede ink, I used Daffodil Delight Blends to color it in, and Call Me Clover ink and a Blender Pen for the leaves, then diecut it with the Sunflowers dies.  I stamped it again on a piece of Soft Suede and used the circular die to cut it out, giving the center some height as I popped it up on dimensionals.  I added a couple of stitched circles and a sentiment from Itty Bitty Greetings, backed by a Lovely Lipstick mat. 

This was my first time playing with this set, and I can't wait to play with it some more!  I hope you'll find some inspiration from our challenge photo and play along with us this week too!  See you at As You See It!

Dana sent me a screen shot that Cassidy took with Wayne's phone....while Dana was at work, Cassidy made her own lunch:

I can't wait for her to come make me some eggs---someday!  Enjoy your day and be blessed!

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Celebrate Sunflowers, Itty Bitty Greetings
Card stock & Papers	Whisper White, Daffodil Delight, Lovely Lipstick, Soft Suede DSP, 2018-2019 In Color DSP (ret)
Ink	Soft Suede, Call Me Clover, Lovely Lipstick
Accessories	Dimensionals
Tools	Big Shot, Blender Pen, Blends, Sunflower Dies, Stitched Shapes Dies, Stitched So Sweetly Dies, Bitty Banner Dies (ret), Nature's Thoughts Dies

IB125 Sitting Pretty

Hi stampers!  It's Thursday, and time for a new Inspired By challenge!  Check out this fun photo and optional sketch:

Aren't those chairs cute, hanging on the wall with their little vignettes of plants and books?!  Well, cute as they are, I have nothing chair-related in my vast stamping stash, so I opted for colors!  So here we go:

My first step was to diecut a piece of white cardstock with CTMH's Multi Circle Windows die; the die actually cuts twelve circles, so I turned the panel sideways and trimmed off a row on each side.  I used the bird die from Well Written and diecut it in several colors to match the challenge photo, but they looked a little blah, so to amp up the color, I stamped each one with a gingham stamp from Papertrey, then popped them up in the circles:

To mimic the greenery, I diecut a few sprigs of Garden Green with the Nature's Thoughts dies and sponged them with some white ink to soften them a bit, then created a thick diecut "friend" from the same Well Written die:

It all went on a panel of gray weatherboard DSP from Honeybee's The Bees Knees 6x6 pad.  All these colors just make me smile!!  I hope you'll find some inspiration to play along with us too!  Share your creation at Inspired By with us this week!

We have had this little doe, and sometimes a couple of her friends, come out into the field just beyond our yard several times over the last week; she doesn't seem to be afraid of being out in the open!  Or maybe she's checking out John's newly-planted garden?!  Hmmm....better keep an eye on her!

Thanks for stopping in today!  Enjoy your day and be blessed!

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Background Basics:  Gingham (Papertrey Inc)
Card stock & Papers	Smoky Slate, Whisper White, Balmy Blue, So Saffron, Flirty Flaminto, Mint Macaron, Coastal Cabana, Highland Heather, Garden Green, The Bees Knees (Honeybee)
Ink	Whisper White, Balmy Blue, So Saffron, Flirty Flaminto, Mint Macaron, Coastal Cabana, Highland Heather
Accessories	Enamel Dot
Tools	Big Shot, Well Written Dies, Nature's Thoughts Dies, Multi Circle Windows Die (Close to My Heart)

CAS Thinking of You

Happy Wednesday, peeps!  I have a couple of CAS cards for you today; I finally got my SU order, so I hope to play with those goodies today!  Meanwhile, the Color Dare 394 wants Monochromatic Greens:

and I needed to amp up my birthday card stash, so I pulled out the soon-to-retire Time for Tags and some shades of green:

I stamped the tag in Call Me Clover and used Blends and a Blender Pen and ink to color it in, then embellished it with a little green glimmer paper star:

I punched it out with the matching tag punch, then used some Call Me Clover DSP and the Nested Label die for my layers.  I adhered them to some Granny Apple Green layers to add another green!  On the inside, I stamped images from Bonanza Buddies, as well as a couple more glimmer stars:

My second card is for Just Add Ink's Thinking of You challenge, Perfectly CAS's Animal challenge, and CAS On Sunday's Use a Die challenge:

My Community Bible Study stopped face-to-face meeting, obviously, but we were continuing via Zoom, and my leader shared some really cute paper plates she had gotten earlier in the year for our last meeting, which is always a lovely brunch with beautifully decorated tables and a sharing time.  The plates had a big giraffe on them, very cute, and I thought I would use the one giraffe stamp I had to make her a thank you card:

I stamped my giraffe from 100 Proof Press in Cajun Craze and fussy-cut him out, then layered him on another Nested Label diecut panel.  I stamped an image from Gallery Grunge in Terracotta Tile, and added a sentiment from Daily Bread Design's Mini Tag Sentiments.

My top Very Vanilla layer is also diecut with MFT's Wonky Stitched Rectangle die for some additional interest!  Now, to get this out in the mail!  

I haven't had any Cassidy pictures lately, but I thought I would share this photo of my minister's kids; they built a "teepee" in their backyard:

Between that and the treehouse that John built for them, they'll be set for all their outdoor summer activities!  Thanks for popping in today--enjoy your day and be blessed!

RRCB135 Tic Tac Toe

Happy Tuesday, everyone!  It's time for a new Retro Rubber challenge, where we challenge you to use your older stamps (at least one year old)! This week we have a fun tic-tac-toe grid:

I chose the bottom row across: flowers, patterned paper and bright colors, and instead of making a card, I chose to make a little gift bag using a retired Mini Treat Bag die and some polka-dotted Brights DSP:

I cut my bag from some Coastal Cabana retired papers, and selected three more colors, Melon Mambo, Daffodil Delight and Old Olive, and diecut them using a Stitched Rectangle die, layering them to make a panel for my Swirly Bird flower. It was stamped in Daffodil Delight and Melon Mambo as well (2016):

I used some Ornate Garden ribbon for the stem, and stamped some Old Olive leaves, as well as some random flowers.  The "for you" is in the same die set, and I added some enamel embellishments for the centers of the flowers. 

I filled it with some shreddie and it's ready to go for a little gift for a special someone!

Please play along with our Tic-Tac-Toe challenge and share your creations with us at the Retro Rubber Challenge!  Can't wait to see them!  Just make sure you tell us the approximate age of the stamps that you're using!  Enjoy your day and be blessed!

Wish Upon a Starfish

Hello peeps, and happy Monday!  It's Mulch Monday here at the Pugliese residence, so I am sure my muscles will be aching tomorrow!  Anyway, I did get in a little stamping over the weekend; my CAS card fulfills three challenges:  TGIF264 wants watercoloring; Festive Friday is celebrating World Reef Awareness, and CAS(E) This Sketch has a fun sketch:

So here we go:

This is a really CAS card!  My main panel is Shimmery White, and the stamp set is a really old one from Lizzie Anne called Shore Thoughts.  I stamped the starfish in Weathered Wood Distress ink, then watercolored it in and added some So Saffron at the center.  The "ocean" is just some Balmy Blue ink and water, and I stamped the waves on top in Balmy Blue as well.  The sentiment is stamped in Pretty Peacock and I mounted everything on a So Saffron base.  My inspo list includes water, starfish, pun sentiment and aqua!

I'll add a birthday sentiment on the inside!!  Thanks for popping in today!  

Dana and I both did some flower planting this weekend!

Dana plants lots of pots and puts them in her flowerbed and on shepherd's hooks....easier to plant and water that way!

Well, I guess I do too!

Enjoy your day and be blessed!

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Shore Thoughts (Lizzie Anne), Itty Bitty Backgrounds (ret)
Card stock & Papers	So Saffron, Shimmery White
Ink	So Saffron, Balmy Blue, Pretty Peacock, Weathered Wood (Tim Holtz)
Accessories
Tools	Aquapainter

PP491 CAS Masculine Cards

Happy Sunday, everyone! Hope your weekend is going well!  Ann is our Paper Players hostess and it's Clean and Simple week!  Be sure to stop by the Paper Players blog for a refresher of the definition of clean and simple!

I always like to use Nature's Beauty for masculine cards; the animals are perfect images for guys!  I saw this card yesterday and I liked how Lisa created a frame around the edge of her card, although mine doesn't look quite as good as hers, LOL!  I used the tree image from the same set to frame my little fox:

I stamped the trees on a piece of Crumb Cake cardstock with Crumb Cake ink, then inked up my fox in Memento Black and colored him with watercolor pencils, first with Pumpkin Pie, then Real Red, and then Early Espresso, to get the rusty color I was looking for.  I blended the colors together with a Blender Pen, then added some White and stamped a sentiment in Cajun Craze.  It looked a little blah, so I diecut it with the Stitched Rectangle die and did some sponging, and that helped give it a little definition.

It went on a Crumb Cake card base and I stamped a simple birthday sentiment on the inside, along with some more trees:

I had a few scraps sitting on my desk; this embossed Merry Merlot panel as well as a diecut Gold Foil panel, so I put them together, stamped the deer image from the same set, colored her with some Blends and added a get-well sentiment:

It felt good to get them off my desk!  I hope you'll find some inspiration from our challenge this week; to me, masculine cards are always a challenge, but if you make them clean and simple, they needn't be!  Please share yours with us at the Paper Players blog and while you're there, check out what the design team created as well!  Thanks for popping in!

Using the little fox on my card reminded me of my grandfather; he passed away before I was born, my dad was in college when he died.  But he was an avid fox hunter and often went hunting with his beagles.  (Before anyone gets upset, fox hunters don't kill the fox...they just enjoy riding their horses and testing the mettle of the dogs!) There are still fox hunts around, but with the developments and building boom, it is more challenging to find places to hunt.  Anyway, all that to say that this is the only photo I have of my grandfather; he is sitting on his horse and I think maybe he was ready for the hunt?  Not sure, but in my imagination that's what he is doing!  My dad was born in 1929, so I am guessing it was in the 30s, but again, I am not sure.  He certainly is handsome and I can see where my dad got his looks, LOL!

 Thanks for indulging me!  Enjoy your day and be blessed!

First Card Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Nature's Beauty, Itty Bitty Greetings
Card stock & Papers	Crumb Cake
Ink	Crumb Cake, Memento Black, Cajun Craze
Accessories
Tools	Big Shot, Stitched Rectangle Dies, Sponge, Watercolor Pencils, Blender Pen

Second Card Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Nature's Beauty, Itty Bitty Greetings
Card stock & Papers	Very Vanilla, Merry Merlot, Gold Foil
Ink	Memento Black, Merry Merlot, Early Espresso
Accessories	Dimensionals
Tools	Big Shot, Pinewood Planks EF, Sponge, Stitched Rectangle Dies