Friday, July 31, 2020

AYSI231 Christmas Wishes Sketch

Happy Friday, peeps!  Gosh, it's hard to believe that is the last day of JULY!  Time for a new As You See It challenge...it was fun to see what everyone created with the Speed Challenge last week!  Today we have a sketch for you....my favorite!  Here we go:

Image may contain: text that says '07.31.20 20 07 xxxxxxxxx A You See CHALLENGE #231'

I have so many new goodies to play with, it was hard to come up with what I wanted to play with...in the end, I used some old and new things!  Here it is:


My DSPs are from the Flowers for All Seasons pack, a pretty wintry pattern of Misty Moonlight and Seaside Spray, and a polka dotted pattern.  I stamped a sentiment from Toile Christmas and diecut it with the matching die to pop up on the polka dot layer:


I diecut some white pine cones from the retired Pretty Pines dies, and I had another scrap of Misty Moonlight DSP laying on my desk, so I diecut some pine branches to put behind them.  I added a wee bit of ribbon and some faceted gems as well:


Another diecut sentiment for the inside, and my card was finished!  Easy peasy, and another Christmas card for my stash!


I am sure you can come up with something creative using our sketch this week!  Be sure to share it on the AYSI blog...can't wait to see it! 

Cassidy got her red belt earlier in the week and also broke a board with her foot...quite impressive!  No one will be messing with her!


And here are a few more birthday cards that I received:

From Bonnie:


From Karen:


From Kathy:


From Denise:


And from Peggy:




Thanks, ladies!  How nice to get these in the mail!  Thanks for popping in today--enjoy your day and be blessed!


Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps Toile Christmas
Card stock & Papers     Misty Moonlight, Seaside Spray, Whisper White, Flowers for All Seasons DSP, In Color DSP
 Ink Misty Moonlight
Accessories Misty Moonlight Ribbon, Dimensionals, In Color Faceted Gems (ret)
Tools     Big Shot, Christmas Cardinal Dies, Pretty Pines Dies (ret)

Thursday, July 30, 2020

IB135 Lemony Best Friend

Happy Thursday, peeps!  We have a fresh, fun challenge for you today at Inspired By!  Check this out:


I am embarrassed to admit that I have NO citrusy stamps in my plethora of sets!  There is a really cute set in the current catalog, and I may have to break down and order it next month!  So I had to do some creative thinking to come up with my "lemon"....here we go:

The last time I had a fruity dilemma, I went to the retired Country Road set where there is a wagon wheel that, with a little imagination and some embossing and coloring, can look amazingly like a slice of lemon!  I had a wee bit of Pineapple Punch cardstock left, so I embossed my image in white and added a little shading toward the center with some So Saffron ink, and I think it looks pretty close:


I added some crimped Granny Apple Green leaves, a sentiment from Badges and Banners, and mounted it on a pretty piece of floral DSP from Honey Bee:


The black plaid background is actually washi tape, given to me for my birthday by my friend Martha!  I also added some ribbon and sequins to amp up the citrus colors.  I used another piece of Pineapple Punch as a mat.  I didn't use the optional sketch this week, instead, my sketch comes from Sunday Stamps:


And just to give you a wee bit of a chuckle, here is my card again; I took this picture while it was still on my stamp desk:


BECAUSE THIS IS HOW I ASSEMBLED IT THE FIRST TIME:


Yep!  Upside down!  A whack with the cutter, another card base and it was good to go....a bit top-heavy, but at least it was salvageable!  Thanks for popping in today!  I hope this fresh inspiration photo gives you some incentive to make a card to share with us at Inspired By this week! Can't wait to see it!

Here are a few cards that I received for my birthday!

From Joan:


From Doris:


From Sally:


From Linda:


Enjoy your day and be blessed!


Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps Badges and Banners, Country Road (both ret)
Card stock & Papers     Whisper White, Basic Black, Granny Apple Green, Pineapple Punch (ret), Brights DSP, The Bee's Knees DSP (Honey Bee)
 Ink Memento Black, White Craft, So Saffron
Accessories Sequins (Sylvia's Etsy Shop), Tuxedo Washi Tape (Altenew), Grosgrain Ribbon (ret), White Embossing Powder, Dimensionals
Tools     Heat Tool, Crimper (ret)

Wednesday, July 29, 2020

FMS446 You Old Goat

Happy Wednesday!  Thank you to everyone who wished me a happy birthday yesterday, and to all who sent me cards!  I'll be sharing them throughout the week!  My niece also has a special birthday coming up, and she and her hubby just bought a couple of goats to add to their little farmette!  Can you guess what set I used to make her card?


Yep, Way to Goat!  This is a slimline card, inspired by the Freshly Made Sketches challenge this week by Linda:

Linda's sample says 3 1/2" x 8 1/2" will fit into a business-sized envelope, but I made mine 3 x 7 1/2", as my goats seemed to fit on it better!  I have to give a shout out to my friend Karen, as she very kindly stamped, scanned and cut all these little guys for me since I don't own this set!  I colored them a wee bit with a Smoky Slate Blend, then added a few party hats from Bonanza Buddies, and mounted them on some Birthday Bonanza DSP:




I added some more DSP on the inside and a few more diecut sentiments:


Hopefully, at 30 years old, she'll know I am just kidding when I called her an "old goat"!!!  And funny story....we have a diary from my grandmother, I think the date is 1911, and she mentioned in one entry that "the old goat" was coming to visit....we're not sure, but we think it might have been our grandfather, her future husband!  So I guess old goats just run in the family!  Thanks for popping in today!

A little artwork for my birthday!





She even autographed it for me, LOL!  Enjoy your day and be blessed!


Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps Way To Goat
Card stock & Papers     Whisper White, Bonanza Buddies DSP (ret)
 Ink Memento Black
Accessories Pompoms (ret), Dimensionals
Tools     Big Shot, Tasteful Labels Dies, Smoky Slate and Pink Pirouette Blends, Color Lifter Blend

Tuesday, July 28, 2020

RR140 Tic Tac Toe

Happy Tuesday, peeps!  It's time for a new Retro Rubber challenge, where we use stamps that are least a year old!  We all have them, right?!  This two-week challenge features a fun tic-tac-toe board, and I chose the top row across of diecut, blue and washi tape!

Image may contain: text that says 'Retro Rubber Challenge #140 die cut or punch punch blue blue washi tape tape twine rectangles embossing easel card pattern paper sympathy tic tac toe! (choose at least 3 elements across, down or diagonally) July 28, 2020 August 7, 2020, theme challenge #rrcb140'

So here we go:


I know this is a bit more of a pale teal than a true blue, but it's such a pretty shade, I just had to go with it!  My sentiments are from a Papertrey set called Holiday Wishes.  I purchased it used, and I found a post on Splitcoaststampers from 2009, so I know it's at least that old!  It was stamped in Lost Lagoon on a Very Vanilla card base.   I added a diecut (Swirly Snowflakes) from a piece of CTMH glimmer paper; to make it easier to adhere to my card, I peeled off the back layer of the glimmer paper and added an adhesive sheet to it; it was a bit tricky to get all those little pieces poked out, but it made it much easier to adhere!  The washi tape is from Simple Stories; after adhering my snowflakes, I just added a strip above them:


The sentiment on the inside is from the same set; I used my stamparatus to make sure I got good coverage!:


So, will you share your retro-stamp creation with us this week?  The grid provides lots of inspiration for you!  Can't wait to see what you create---just make sure you use stamps that are least a year old, and be sure to tell us the age (as closely as you can) in your post!  Meanwhile, check out what the DT created while you're there!  Thanks for popping in today!  Enjoy your day and be blessed!


Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps Holiday Wishes (Papertrey 2009)
Card stock & Papers     Very Vanilla, Glimmer (Close to My Heart), Adhesive Sheets
 Ink Lost Lagoon (ret)
Accessories Washi Tape (Simple Stories)
Tools     Big Shot, Swirly Snowflake Die (ret), Stamparatus

Monday, July 27, 2020

All Things Fabulous for Summer

Hello, peeps, and happy Monday!  I am getting a laaaate start today, but it is Monday, after all!  I have a birthday card I made for a special friend who loves the ocean!  It uses the sketch from Fusion Card Challenge and the theme from Global Design Project:


So here we go:


So, this whole card was a bit of an experiment!  I recently got SU's stencils, and I wanted to play with them, so I stencilled the leafy pattern in Pool Party on some Whisper White cardstock, and added some of the "leaves" (that look like bubbles to me) from the new Life is Beautiful set.  They are stamped very lightly, but maybe you can see them here:


I added some Soft Seafoam seaweed using a die from Smooth Sailing and three little sand dollars from Seaside Notions:


They were stamped in Sahara Sand on white cardstock, and to give them a wee bit of color, I also brayered them to color them, then added a little darker color with an aquapainter.  My sentiment is from All Things Fabulous, stamped in Pool Party and I used the Banners Pick a Punch to notch the edges:


The last thing was to add a couple of sequins, and mount it on a Pool Party base.  And since my base is a non-neutral, I am squeaking this in at the last minute for the Seize the Birthday challenge, as well as the Always Fun Challenge of stencils!:


Thanks so much for popping in today!!  Enjoy your day and be blessed!


Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps Seaside Notions, All Things Fabulous, Life is Beautiful (avail. August 4), Comfort and Hope (small bubbles)
Card stock & Papers     Pool Party, Soft Seafoam, Whisper White
 Ink Pool Party, Soft Seafoam, Sahara Sand
Accessories Sequins, Dimensionals
Tools     Big Shot, Smooth Sailing Dies, Banners Pick a Punch, Sponge Roller, Basic Pattern Decorative Masks, Aquapainter

Sunday, July 26, 2020

PP501 Sketch by Anne Marie

Hey there, stamping friends!  Another week has passed and it's time for another Paper Players challenge--on to the next 500, right?!  Anne Marie is our hostess this week and she's got a great sketch for us:


I had just received the set Ridiculously Awesome, which has some great bold sentiments, and thought I would use it with some new In Colors, Bumblebee and Cinnamon Cider, along with the Flowers for All Seasons DSP:


I tend to gravitate to smaller floral prints and this is one I love!  I stamped directly onto the DSP with Cinnamon Cider ink, using my Stamparatus to make sure I got good coverage.  I created a large Cinnamon Cider mat by diecutting two scalloped rectangles with the next-to-largest die from the Stitched So Sweetly set, then adhered them together to fit my DSP.  For fun, I ran it through the Ornate Floral embossing folder!  I added a diagonal panel of DSP from the same series. 

I also added some Cinnamon Cider ribbon and a couple of florals from the All Things Fabulous bundle, and the sentiment is from Comfort and Hope.  


And since the Inspire.Create challenge this week is to use the new In Colors, I am entering it there...even though I only used two new colors, hopefully that's okay!


I hope you'll be inspired by Anne Marie's sketch, and share your creation with us at the Players!!  Be sure to check out what the design team created as well...they always have such creative ideas!  Thanks for popping in today!

And speaking of yellow flowers.....these are sunflowers that seeded themselves from my bird feeders, with the help of my birds and a certain raccoon!




And I just managed to capture this shot of a goldfinch on my patio door screen...the sunflowers are just a hop, skip and a jump away, and I know they can't wait for those seeds!!!


Enjoy your day and be blessed!


Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps Ridiculously Awesome, Comfort and Hope, All Things Fabulous
Card stock & Papers     Very Vanilla, Cinnamon Cider, Flowers for All Seasons
 Ink So Saffron, Bumblebee, Cinnamon Cider
Accessories Cinnamon Cider Ribbon, Dimensionals
Tools     Big Shot, Ornate Florals EF, Stitched So Sweetly Dies, Fabulous Florals Dies

Saturday, July 25, 2020

Chipmunk Thanks

Happy Saturday, stampers!  I have a quick masculine card for you today! My birthday is coming up and my sweet step-father-in-law is always very generous, so I wanted to send him a special thank you card.  He's a no-frills kinda guy, so it's a no-frills kinda card, but I did manage to incorporate three challenges!  But first, my card:


TGIF Challenges wants us to use our paper scraps; Color Dare is featuring shades of brown; and Daring Cardmakers, a new one to me, wants us to use three of something!


You know how you always have those little strips of leftover DSP when you cut a mat for the front of a standard-sized card?  I took some of those woodgrained-pattern strips from the Neutrals 6x6 pad in Early Espresso, Crumb Cake, and Cajun Craze (that's my "three") and cut them with a cool little die from Ornate Layers....it's 4" x 7/8" and has stitching all around.  I placed them on an angle on my Very Vanilla card, butting the edges together, to create a little patchwork panel:


For my focal panel, I stamped the chipmunk in Early Espresso on a scrap of Very Vanilla, then used a square Stitched Shape die to cut it out. I took a B acrylic block, stuck it on a Crumb Cake ink pad, then "stamped" once on scrap paper and again directly on top of my critter.  The sentiment was stamped in Cajun Craze:


That's a fun way to add color and texture in a snap!  Now to get this out in the mail!

We do have a chipmunk that scoots around our patio and under our porch, but he is way too shy and quick for me to get a photo of him.  Last Sunday morning, however, we did "capture" this little guy:


He (or she!) has been a naughty little character, stealing whole blocks of suet from my feeders, and climbing up to the top of the seed feeders, helping himself to anything available!  This day, he helped himself to an apple inside of John's Have-a-Heart trap, and he was not a happy camper.  HOWEVER..... a few minutes after we discovered him, when John came to take him to the wooded area down the road and release him, he had ESCAPED!  Apparently the door to the trap has a tiny bit of play in it and he managed to squeeze himself under it!  SO....no more bird seed or suet until John fixes the trap!  You can't fool with Mother Nature....or brother raccoon!

Enjoy your day and be blessed!

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps Field Journal
Card stock & Papers     Very Vanilla, Neutrals DSP
 Ink Crumb Cake, Cajun Craze, Early Espresso
Accessories Dimensionals
Tools     Big Shot, Ornate Layers Dies, Stitched Shapes Dies, Acrylic Block B