IB96 Pretty Jars

Happy Thursday, peeps....Happy Halloween, happy last day of October, happy whatever!  It's weirdly warm and rainy today but tomorrow....it's gonna feel a wee bit cooler, looking forward to it!  Today is another Inspired By challenge day, and when I saw Laurel's inspiration photo, my heart swooned!  In fact, I went out and bought supplies to make some of my very own, I was so inspired.  Haven't made them yet, but I have everything I need when I do, LOL!  So anyway, here we go:

And here is her prompt!  Aren't they pretty?

I changed banks recently and I wanted to write a little thank you note to the gals who helped me set everything up....they were sweet and charming and personable!!  And I thought this would be a fun seasonal card for them.  It uses (again) the Reverse Confetti Cotton and Thistles set, which I just used a few days ago, but this time I left off the puff paint!  I stamped everything in Crumb Cake and Soft Sky, and used Blends to color in my images:

The leaf and pumpkin are from an older Paper Pumpkin set; the images are just the perfect size for small thing like this!  I added a burlap ribbon and another little cotton boll at the bottom, and mounted it on a piece of Soft Sky and French Flea Market DSP from Julie Nutting.  The thick white card base took the Pine Planks embossing folder so well, too!  It really stands up to the "pressure"!  I followed the sketch from Try Stamping on Tuesday:

And for my sentiment, I used a diecut from Well Written, cut from Early Espresso cardstock!

I wanted to share some of the pretty cards I got recently:

From my sweet friend and teamie Michele:

Love this little cat from Martha:

A cute Halloween confection from Robyn:

A fun spooky card from Wendy:

And a lovely seasonal selection from Joan:

I have really enjoyed these!  Thanks for popping in today; enjoy your day and be blessed!

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Cotton and Thistle (Reverse Confetti), Paper Pumpkin (ret)
Card stock & Papers	Thick White, Early Espresso, Soft Sky (ret), French Flea Market (PhotoPlay)
Ink	Crumb Cake, Soft Sky (ret)
Accessories	Linen Thread, Dimensionals
Tools	Big Shot, Well Written Dies, Pinewood Planks EF, Soft Sky Marker (ret), Blends

Happy Vintage Halloween

Happy Halloween!  I just love this funny vintage Halloween postcard!!!  I have lots of lots of digital images like this, and even some real postcards!  And below is a poem by James Whitcomb Riley about a wee orphaned servant girl who liked to scare the children with her cautionary tale---it has some wise words in it!  Riley wrote in the vernacular, so sometimes it's hard to figure out what he's saying, but I still love reading this one---my dad and grandmother used to say the last lines to scare us kids too!  (And apparently this poem was the inspiration for the Little Orphan Annie character we all know!!)

Little Orphant Annie                   1885             James Whitcomb Riley

Little Orphant Annie's come to our house to stay,
    An' wash the cups an' saucers up, an' brush the crumbs away,
    An' shoo the chickens off the porch, an' dust the hearth, an' sweep,
    An' make the fire, an' bake the bread, an' earn her board-an'-keep;
    An' all us other childern, when the supper-things is done,
    We set around the kitchen fire an' has the mostest fun
    A-list'nin' to the witch-tales 'at Annie tells about,
    An' the Gobble-uns 'at gits you
      Ef you
        Don't
          Watch
            Out!

    Wunst they wuz a little boy wouldn't say his prayers, —
    An' when he went to bed at night, away up-stairs,
    His Mammy heerd him holler, an' his Daddy heerd him bawl,
    An' when they turn't the kivvers down, he wuzn't there at all!
    An' they seeked him in the rafter-room, an' cubby-hole, an' press,
    An' seeked him up the chimbly-flue, an' ever'-wheres, I guess;
    But all they ever found wuz thist his pants an' roundabout: —
    An' the Gobble-uns 'll git you
      Ef you
        Don't
          Watch
            Out!

    An' one time a little girl 'ud allus laugh an' grin,
    An' make fun of ever' one, an' all her blood-an'-kin;
    An' wunst, when they was "company," an' ole folks wuz there,
    She mocked 'em an' shocked 'em, an' said she didn't care!
    An' thist as she kicked her heels, an' turn't to run an' hide,
    They wuz two great big Black Things a-standin' by her side,
    An' they snatched her through the ceilin' 'fore she knowed what she's about!
    An' the Gobble-uns 'll git you
      Ef you
        Don't
          Watch
            Out!

    An' little Orphant Annie says, when the blaze is blue,
    An' the lamp-wick sputters, an' the wind goes woo-oo!
    An' you hear the crickets quit, an' the moon is gray,
    An' the lightnin'-bugs in dew is all squenched away, —
    You better mind yer parunts, an' yer teachurs fond an' dear,
    An' churish them 'at loves you, an' dry the orphant's tear,
    An' he'p the pore an' needy ones 'at clusters all about,
    Er the Gobble-uns 'll git you
      Ef you
        Don't
          Watch
            Out!

Happy Halloween!

Sympathy in Purple

Happy Tuesday, peeps!  No challenges today, just cleaning up some scraps on my desk to make them into finished projects!! I know you don't have any of those little bits and pieces hanging around, do you?  LOL!  This little cotton boll and thistle image from Reverse Confetti had been stamped and colored, but after seeing someone using the SU's Snowfall Accents Puff Paint on the Country Home image, I thought it would be fun to add it to this image as well!  So here we go: 

The puffy paint certainly makes the cotton bolls look real! I love this effect!

To complement the purple in the thistles, I added some Gorgeous Grape DSP and a couple of Crumb Cake accent pieces.

My second card was for my pastor and his family, since October is Pastor Appreciation month.  I recently got this stamp set from the Stamp Market, and when I saw this card from Silke, I knew I had to recreate it! 

I also got my color inspiration from the cover of the seasonal Close to My Heart catalog, LOL! 

I stamped another leaf and added this sentiment on the inside!

Thanks for popping in today--enjoy your day and be blessed!

First Card Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Flourishing Phrases, Cotton and Thistle (Reverse Confetti)
Card stock & Papers	Thick White, Whisper White, Crumb Cake, Gorgeous Grape DSP
Ink	Memento Black
Accessories	Dimensionals
Tools	Big Shot, Stitched Rectangle Dies, Snowfall Accents Puff Paint, Heat Tool, SU Blends

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Lots of Leaves (Stamp Market), God is Good (Close to My Heart), Grateful Heart (Right at Home)
Card stock & Papers	Very Vanilla, Night of Navy
Ink	Gray Granite, Cajun Craze, More Mustard (ret),
Accessories
Tools	Big Shot, Wonky Stitched Dies (My Favorite Things)

Jingle All the Way

Happy Monday, peeps!  Wow, the last week in October...this month flew by!  I have a fun little Christmas card for you today, it uses the CAS(E) This Sketch sketch by Brian King, and the Christmas Kickstart theme of "Jingle Bells":

One of my favorite Christmas dies are the bells from Lil'Inkers!!  I paired the medium one, diecut in Red Glimmer paper, with a sentiment from a set SU had a couple of years ago, Jingle All the Way:

My stamparatus made it a snap to stamp this image in Real Red ink perfectly-spaced down the right side of my card!  After adding the bell (and sprinkling the leftover star diecuts around my card), I diecut a Call Me Clover bow from the Cup of Cheer Dies and added it to the top:

I added a simple sentiment on the inside, and I have another Christmas card for my stash!  Thanks for popping in today!

The kids went to the Sea Witch festival in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware over the weekend; Cassidy went as an Incredible:

And here is the Sea Witch pirate ship:

And the witch herself:

I read online that they anticipated 180,000 people to attend!  It looks like fun, but I am glad I stayed home, LOL!  Enjoy your day and be blessed!

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Jingle All the Way (ret)
Card stock & Papers	Whisper White, Red Glimmer
Ink	Real Red
Accessories	Dimensionals
Tools	Big Shot, Bells Dies (Lil'Inkers), Cup of Cheer Dies

PP465 A Sketch from Ann

Hi everyone!  Sunday means another Paper Players challenge, with Ann as our hostess!  She has given us a fabulous sketch...I just love this one!

I haven't played with Painted Harvest for a while, and I thought it would be pretty in Terracotta Tile, which is a great fall color!  I paired it with some gingham and Come to Gather DSPs:

I diecut the woodgrain paper with a Stitched Shape square die, then stamped the flower in Terracotta Tile and Crumb Cake, then fussy-cut it out:

 

I stamped a few leaves in Soft Suede and placed them under the flower as well as under my sentiment.  The card base was embossed with the Tufted EF, and I also added some Linen Braid trim!

Finally, on the inside, I stamped another sentiment and the smaller flower, stamped off on a scrap first to give it a lighter effect:

I hope you'll play along with our awesome sketch---there are so many possibilities with it!  Share yours at the Paper Players blog, and while you're there, check out what the other design team member made as well!  Thanks for popping in today!

Cassidy with her "First Visit to Disney" sticker!  Enjoy your day and be blessed!

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	A Big Thank You, Painted Harvest
Card stock & Papers	Whisper White, Terracotta Gingham DSP, Come to Harvest DSP
Ink	Terracotta Tile, Crumb Cake, Soft Suede
Accessories	Linen Braid, Dimensionals
Tools	Big Shot, Tufted Embossing Folder, Stitched Shapes Dies, Stitched Rectangle Dies

CTD566 Prim Pumpkins

Happy Saturday, peeps!  I have a friend who likes primitive decor, so when I saw the challenge at Color Throwdown this week, I knew I not only had to play with the colors, but those sweet little pumpkins as well:

So, I went pretty literal, with four different grays, Very Vanilla and Grapefruit Grove:

Look at those dour little faces, LOL!  I diecut my pumpkins from Grapefruit Grove, Very Vanilla and Grey Granite with an Impression Obsession die set, then sponged Smoky Slate on the edges and gave each one a little "stitched" nose.  I drew the eyes on with a Basic Black marker and used the CTMH Stitched Border Essentials to stitch their mouths with Smoky Slate ink:

The card base of Sahara Sand was stamped with a starry border stamp (MFT Primitive Pumpkins), and the sentiment is from the same set, stamped in Basic Gray:

I added a stitched Frame of Smoky Slate, backed it with an embossed panel of Basic Gray and adhered it all together!  The inside features a few more sentiments and stars from the same set, as well as some more stitching!  It's in the mail ready to go!

Thanks for popping in today!  Be sure to come back tomorrow for a new Paper Players challenge too!

So here are some photos of the bamboo displays from inside the Conservatory at Longwood....very interesting and impressive!  The pictures really don't do them justice...they are looped and braided and very, very big!

Here's an archway that people can walk under:

And interspersed throughout the grounds are arrangements using bamboo:

Very eclectic!  Enjoy your day and be blessed!

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Primitive Pumpkin (My Favorite Things), Stitched Border Essentials (Close to My Heart)
Card stock & Papers	Sahara Sand, Basic Gray, Smoky Slate, Grey Granite, Grapefruit Grove, Very Vanilla
Ink	Smoky Slate, Basic Gray, Grapefruit Grove
Accessories	Dimensionals
Tools	Big Shot, Stitched Rectangle Dies, Woodgrain EF (ret), Basic Black Marker, Soft Suede Marker, Grey Granite Marker, Sponge Daubers, umpkin Dies (Impression Obsession)

AYSI212 Shades of Blue

Hi peeps!  Happy Friday!  It's time for a 10-minute "Speed Stamping" challenge at As You See It!!  Those are always fun!  This week, it's Shades of Blue:

As much as I love blue, you would think this would have been a really easy challenge for me....well, I made FOUR cards before I was happy with the final choice!  Most of my blues are less vibrant than the challenge photo, so I just embraced a few of them from my Authentique's Alpine collection:

I also used the FMS sketch:

I layered some of the lighter papers on a Very Vanilla cardbase, and trimmed off the little tab at the top of the paper where it meets the spine of the tablet, and used that for my sentiment, stamped in Pretty Peacock ink.  As an afterthought (which is what upped my time to 8 minutes and 14 seconds), I decided to diecut a snowflake in glimmer paper and back it with another piece of blue:

Can you speed stamp something in less than 10 minutes, in shades of blue?  If you can, share it with us at As You See It, and be sure to tell us your time!!  Can't wait to see what you create!   And just for fun, this was the original one I was going to post, but decided it wasn't quite "blue" enough...still pretty, but more teal than blue, using the same sketch:

 Thanks for stopping in today!

Cassidy got her brown belt this week!  (Sorry the photos aren't so good!)

We enjoyed watching it except for the sparring....I just hate seeing little kids "fight" with each other, LOL!  Enjoy your day and be blessed!

First Card Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Love With All The Trimmings (Close to My Heart)
Card stock & Papers	Very Vanilla, Sparkle Glimmer,  Alpine DSP (Authentique)
Ink	Pretty Peacock
Accessories
Tools	Big Shot, Layering Circle Dies, Snowflake Dies (Verve)

Second Card Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Warmth and Wonder (ret)
Card stock & Papers	Crumb Cake, Wonderland DSP (Kaisercraft)
Ink	Early Espresso
Accessories
Tools	Big Shot, Banner Dies (Nestabilities)