Spring Irises

Mornin' y'all!  Quick post today as I have to get Ryan ready to go on his zoo field trip which means sunscreen before he leaves for school.  Here's my card today:

A friend recently posted on Facebook that there were irises coming up all around his neighborhood and that they make him think of his grandmother, so when I saw the Paper Players challenge this week, I had to grab Inspiring Iris.  Here's the challenge graphic:

I had stamped a sentiment as well, but despite moving all the elements around for several minutes, I couldn't find an arrangement with the sentiment that I liked for the card front so I adhered it to the inside instead.  Side note:  my iPhone is named Iris, not necessarily for the flower (though I like them) but because Iris the rainbow goddess is a messenger for the Greek gods and maybe I was rereading Percy Jackson when I got my first iPhone ; )

Have a great day, y'all!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Inspiring Iris
Ink:  Orchid Oasis, Soft Sea Foam, Starry Sky
Paper:  Lemon Lolly, Thick Basic White, Tea Boutique DSP Stack
Accessories:  Stitched So Sweetly dies, In Color Matte Dots, Dimensionals

SUO Challenges Gets Sketchy

 Mornin' y'all!  I have a bunch of things to do today, from the not-fun but necessary (paperwork, cleaning house) to the fun (finishing up the scrapbook pages I started yesterday) but first we have a new challenge from SUO Challenges!

Yep, it's a sketch, check it out:

I had to ponder this one for a while and isn't there a national flag that looks like that?  That's what it kept making me think of but then I got my brain working in a different direction and here's what I made:

I finally broke into the Nature's Sweetness DSP (I actually made this card before the one I posted on Sunday as I try to work ahead for design team commitments) and paired it with Notes of Nature, which is retiring.  Lovely & Sweet is the other bundle in this mega suite and it's not retiring, but I am more drawn to this one.  The DSP is all neutrals with Pebbled Path and gold, but I wanted to pull in a color so I went with Shaded Spruce, probably because I had used it on a couple of cards about a week ago and it was on my mind.  I ended up with a nice little card that isn't overly feminine.

Anyway, I hope you'll give this sketch a shot and post your card over on the SUO Challenges blog.  As always, have fun!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Notes of Nature
Ink:  Pebbled Path, VersaMark
Paper:  Shaded Spruce, Thick Basic White, Nature's Sweetness DSP
Accessories:  Notes of Nature dies, Stylish Shapes dies, Gold EP, In Color Dots, Dimensionals

Fort Worth Zoo

Scrappy Monday, y'all!  I've got a couple of things to do today...my brother is coming over to take a look at my car.  Remember I said it had rained cats and dogs all day on Saturday and I was out in it?  Well, I got in my car yesterday to pick up Ryan and the splash guard thingy on the bottom of my car (that thing that covers the underside of the car to protect it from rocks and stuff) was hanging down.  So I met my neighbors for the first time, they were standing out in front of their house and they very kindly took the splash guard off for me and recommended I get it replaced soon.  So now Adam is going to come take a look at it since I know nothing about fixing cars.

Anyway, this week Ryan has a field trip to the Dallas Zoo so I thought I would share a layout from when we went to the Fort Worth Zoo in 2020, just before we left for Germany.

And do I have the PERFECT alphabet for the title or what!  Click the pic to embiggen, the letters are all animals!  It's the aptly named Animal Alphabet, and if you can't tell, the letters are a fox, weasel, zebra, and owl.  I chose a couple of patterns from the Animal Expedition DSP and I wish I had gotten more than one pack of that, I love it.  And I am impressed with myself, I managed to fit in eleven pictures, two patterned papers, a fun title, and two zebra accents!

My color palette today:  Crumb Cake, Call Me Clover, Calypso Coral, and Pool Party.  I can't wait to see the new beige color in person (and prepare to giggle, when I was a kid I thought that word was pronounced beej!).  I'm holding off on ordering anything until the full catalog goes live on May 1 because I want the duck suite.  And I may only get to do one order before we move again, we'll see.  So I've started my list, and I'll definitely pick up all the new colors, the airplane suite, Ryan's ducks, and that one stamp set that says HEY in big letters because it reminds me of Into the Spider-Verse, and Ryan likes to do the hand on the shoulder bit from that movie and if you've seen it you know what I'm talking about.  Anyway, I won't get the new stuff until after May 1 so I'm trying to be patient.

In the meantime, I've got to get Ryan out the door for school.  Cheers, y'all!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Animal Alphabet, Zany Zebras
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Stampin' Blends in Calypso Coral, Pool Party, Crumb Cake, Neutrals; Basic Black marker
Paper:  Crumb Cake, Calypso Coral, Pool Party, Call Me Clover, Thick Basic White, Animal Expedition DSP
Accessories:  Stylish Shapes dies

Friendly Flower Greeting

Mornin' y'all!  I had intended to post this card yesterday, but I was out all day and it just didn't happen.  I dropped Ryan off yesterday morning with his grandparents, and then I met up with two friends from middle and high school--we've been friends for over THIRTY YEARS!  Crazy.  Anyway, we hadn't seen each other in person in a very long time, so we ended up sitting in a restaurant talking about this, that, and everything else for nearly six hours while we watched the pouring rain outside.  Then I ran a couple of errands and didn't get back to my house until dinnertime.

Anyway, here is the card I had intended to share yesterday:

I bought the Radiating Stitches dies a while back and this is the first time I've used them, they're fun!  It gives a fun pattern on the edges without leaving itty bitty bits of cardstock on my Big Shot plates (looking at you, Everyday Details dies...tiny little circles everywhere!).  Here is the most recent Freshly Made Sketch:

And of course the Color Throwdown:

I used Real Red, Night of Navy, and a gold pattern from the Nature's Sweetness DSP.  I added a bit more gold with the embossed greeting and a few Festive Pearls.  The Night of Navy looks almost black in the photo but I promise it's blue--we had gray skies this week and a full day of rain yesterday so I couldn't get a better picture of the card.

Anyway, I think I might have enough time to make a card this morning before I pick up my spawn.  I always try to do as much crafting as I can when Ryan is otherwise occupied.  Cheers, y'all!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Inked & Tiled
Ink:  Real Red, Night of Navy, VersaMark
Paper:  Real Red, Night of Navy, Thick Basic White, Nature's Sweetness DSP
Accessories:  Radiating Stitches dies, Gold EP, Festive Pearls, Dimensionals

Treasure Ship

I'm back with another sea-themed card today...

This was the first card I came up with for the CAS Colours & Sketches sketch:

But I worried that the sketch wasn't obvious on my card.  I was thinking the waves are the bottom square, the ship is the center, and the clouds are the top shape.  But since I was hesitant about how well this one fit the sketch, I made the sea turtle card I shared yesterday.

I just looked back at my previous cards with this stamp set and both of those also have an Azure Afternoon card base and a Pecan Pie ship...guess that's just where my brain goes with this stamp set : )  And it's retiring, so you'd better snag it now if you've been on the fence.

Time to go to yoga at the Y.  Cheers!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  On the Ocean
Ink:  Azure Afternoon, Pecan Pie, Night of Navy, Basic White
Paper:  Azure Afternoon, Thick Basic White
Accessories:  On the Ocean dies, Dimensionals, enamel dots

Sea Turtle Salutations in Stereo

Today I have a pair of cards to share : )  Here they are:

I was intrigued by this week's color challenge from Hand Stamped Sentiments:

First I made a CAS card:

I used the sketch from CAS Colours & Sketches:

I made another card with this sketch but I'll have to share that later.  It was fun to use the "shadow" stamps in the Sea Turtle stamp set for both of these cards since I hadn't done that before.

After the CAS card, I wanted to give the colors another go with something different, so I made this one:

That's the same stripey paper I used on yesterday's submarine card.  I just looked through past blog posts and I've made another card combining the Sea Turtle stamp set with that fun hello stamp from Filled with Happiness so apparently my brain just likes that combination.

That's it for me today.  Got another busy day ahead...cheers!

Supplies, all SU!, CAS card:
Stamps:  Sea Turtle, Filled with Happiness
Ink:  Pretty Peacock, Petal Pink, Garden Green
Paper:  Thick Basic White
Accessories:  None

Supplies, all SU!, second card:
Stamps:  Sea Turtle, Filled with Happiness
Ink:  Garden Green, Pretty Peacock, Petal Pink
Paper:  Petal Pink, Thick Basic White, Bright & Beautiful Stack
Accessories:  Deckled Rectangles dies, Dimensionals, Adhesive-Backed Sequins

Sorbet Submarine

Mornin' y'all, I have a busy day ahead so I'm glad I spent a good chunk of time in my craft room yesterday.  I made several cards and it just so happens that they're all aquatic, starting with a super-cute submarine:

I thought the colors from Sunday Stamps were perfect for an undersea adventure:

I read the palette as Pretty Peacock, Lost Lagoon, Pool Party, Petal Pink, and Sweet Sorbet.

I paired that with the new sketch from Try a Sketch on Tuesday:

I missed the deadline on the last sketch but at least I know this challenge doesn't expire for a bit : )

That's it for now, kids.  Check you later, Imma go float around in a sweet submarine for a while.

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Submarine Life
Ink:  Sweet Sorbet, Lost Lagoon, Petal Pink, Pretty Peacock, Pool Party
Paper:  Pool Party, Thick Basic White, Bright & Beautiful DSP Stack
Accessories:  Deckled Circles dies, Submarine punch, Dimensionals