Maine: Cape Elizabeth

Scrappy Monday, y'all.  I am honing in on the last few layouts for my Maine album (which isn't an album yet, I haven't assembled it yet) so here we go!

Who knew I'd be needing that lobster stamp from By the Tide : )  We visited the lighthouse here and then went to a nearby park and got lunch from a food truck.  Most of the adults got lobster rolls (hence the lobster on my page), but I don't like seafood so I had a grilled cheese sandwich.  Not even joking, that was the tastiest grilled cheese I've ever had!  Ryan only ate like two bites of his so I snarfed his down too : )

Today's color palette:  Wild Wasabi, Garden Green, Really Rust, Sahara Sand, Early Espresso, and white.  I really miss Wild Wasabi, I used it a lot for scrapbook pages.  It's a great grass color.

That's it for me today, peeps.  Cheers!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Make a Difference, By the Tide
Ink:  Wild Wasabi, Really Rust, Sahara Sand, Early Espresso
Paper:  Wild Wasabi, Garden Green, Sahara Sand, Thick Basic White, Fall Flowers DSP
Accessories:  None

On Fridays We Do CAS

Hey y'all, how's your Friday going?  We got back just a bit ago from picking up my car at the dealership because it had some work done, and other than that I have had a very scrappy day.  Got one layout totally done and another that just lacks the journaling.  And I made a quick card for today.

I was thinking a bit about the very first card I ever posted on this blog while I made this one, but for today's card I used the double challenge from CAS Colours & Sketches:

It's a bit of a liberal take on the sketch since I plopped my shell right in the middle of the text, but I did *start* with the sketch in mind.  And now I have a nice anytime card to send out whenever I need one.  Most of the time I send out 3 to 5 cards per week, so I'm sure this will go out sometime soon.

After I posted my Paper Players card this week with the fantastic Enjoy the Journey DSP, Stampin' Up! announced that that paper is now an option for a Sale-a-Bration freebie.  So guess who just got several more packs to hoard *makes happy dragon noises*  And I used some of the paper on one of the scrapbook layouts today.  Hooray!

Have a great Friday, peeps.

Supplies, all SU! (many retired)
Stamps:  By the Tide
Ink:  Rose Red, Pretty in Pink, Barely Banana
Paper:  Thick Very Vanilla
Accessories:  Dimensionals, Wink of Stella

2016 Showcase, Part 1

Mornin', y'all.  I have entered the phase of pregnancy when I'm tired all the time but CANNOT SLEEP more than 3 hours a night.  I swear this kid kicked me around 4:30 this morning so hard that I heard a noise when he did it.  Not even exaggerating.

Happily for me, it's time to do the annual look back at favorite projects from the year.  Most challenges are on hiatus until January and I haven't spent much time in my craft room so this is a great time to not worry about making something new :)  So today let's take a look back at cards from January through April.

This card was for my SIL's baby shower in January; my niece's nursery is decorated with ladybugs but I did this card with the colors we used for her Cinderella baby shower.

I loved this card from February, I don't use big bold sentiments like that too terribly often and this one just speaks to me.

For March, this punch art bear wins the prize for my favorite card of the month.  I actually just sent this one to my friend Missy a few weeks ago, how I managed to hold onto it for 9 months before I mailed it to her I really don't know!

And last up for today is this card from April, which was inspired by the color palette of a bathroom in Disneyland.  Inspiration is everywhere!

I'm off to the gym.  Hubs and I made sticky toffee pudding on Monday night and I feel like I need to live at the gym for a week to offset that.  Cheers, y'all!

Bye-Bye By the Tide & A Dozen Thoughts

Mornin' y'all!  How's your day going?  I've only got a little bit of time before I have to get ready to go to my kickboxing class.  Hubs likes to pretend that he's nervous that I go to kickboxing classes.  And then I laugh at him which is what he was trying to get me to do anyway.

So...how about a card!

This card was a bit of a bugger to make.  I started out with the colorwash background--I scribbled on my largest acrylic block with a Mossy Meadow marker and spritzed it with water, then stamped it on Shimmery White cardstock.  Well, I spritzed too much, it was practically a puddle so I ran it upstairs (trying not to drip green water on the carpet) and sprinkled some salt on it.  Parts of it turned kinda brown but it was neat-looking so I abandoned my first plan for this card (flowers) and decided to use By the Tide since it's retiring.  So then I stamped my main image panel and after the background was dry, I brushed off the salt and went to stamp the coral...and I stamped it in the WRONG COLOR.  I know, I know, it's my card, no one says what color it has to be, but I'd already done the shell and I wanted ORANGE coral, not PINK.  So I had to toss that one and make another one, and this time I just didn't want to run up the stairs again to get the salt because I didn't bring it down with me the first time.  But in the end I got this card made.

I used this week's Freshly Made Sketch:

And this week's Color Throwdown:

Now you see why I had to have orange on there :p  I used Tangerine Tango, Melon Mambo, and Mossy Meadow for my colors.

Okay kids, it's off to kickboxing I go.  Cheers!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  By the Tide, A Dozen Thoughts, Timeless Textures
Ink:  Melon Mambo, Mossy Meadow, Tangerine Tango
Paper:  Melon Mambo, Shimmery White, Mossy Meadow DSP
Accessories:  Dimensionals

Bathroom Inspiration

How's it going this afternoon?  I couldn't get my act together this morning and get down to the ol' craft cave, but I finally got something made to share today.  Before we get to that, though, let's talk about how inspiration can strike at the weirdest times.  So hubs and I were at Disneyland last week with friends, and on the last day I had to go to the bathroom (the one closest to the Haunted Mansion, they're all done in different colors and styles).  So I'm in there paying my water bill when I look at the floor tiles and think HEY, that's a fun color combination!  It was Lost Lagoon, Perfect Plum, So Saffron, and Very Vanilla (I did not take a picture while I was in there because that would have been weird).  And today I made a card with those colors, except I used Shimmery White instead of vanilla.

The whole background panel and the main image panel are Shimmery White, which sorta shows up on the top of the card.  I used this week's Global Design Project theme challenge:

And since I was gone last week and missed out on doing the sketch, I used that too:

I was also thinking of this week's Retro Rubber Challenge:

I'm not 100% sure my card qualifies though because two of the stamp sets I used I've had for under a year (All Boxed Up and Timeless Textures).  I've had Gorgeous Grunge for two or three years I think, and By the Tide since it debuted in 2013, so 3 years there.  Does that average out to a year for all four stamp sets?  Anyway, since shells originate in the ocean I thought that fit the water theme.  AND, to make the background, I scribbled on my biggest acrylic block with markers, spritzed it real good with water, and then stamped the color smoosh on my paper.  So that part was watery too.

Anyway, maybe I'll continue working downstairs and actually have tomorrow's card done on time...cheers, y'all!  And don't forget to look at the bathroom tiles next time you're in there.

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  By the Tide, Gorgeous Grunge, Timeless Textures, All Boxed Up
Ink:  Lost Lagoon, Perfect Plum, Sahara Sand
Paper:  Lost Lagoon, Perfect Plum, Shimmery White
Accessories:  Regals Candy Dots

Long Time...

Y'all know I love me a good pun, right?  Well, I had a sketch and a color combination in mind and then I saw the sea turtle stamp and I couldn't help it, I laughed out loud and made this.

OH THE PUNNINESS.  I inked up the sea turtle with Versamark before I did the Soft Suede, and then heat embossed with clear EP so the colors wouldn't run when I watercolored.  Only took a minute but he looks pretty good.  I'm squeaking in just under the wire for the Just Add Ink inspiration challenge:

Pink and green is always a winner in my book, and I had lots of different thoughts go through my brain before the sea turtle won.  I also used the new Pocket Sketch Challenge:

For my card, I moved the ribbon element up to the top strip because there just wasn't room for it the way I stamped the main image.  But this card is flat and easy to mail, so now I just need to decide who to send it to!  Who would enjoy a good maritime pun?

Thanks for checking in today, y'all.  Cheers!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  From Land to Sea, Alphabet Rotary, By the Tide, Gorgeous Grunge
Ink:  Soft Suede, Wild Wasabi, Blushing Bride, Watermelon Wonder, Versamark
Paper:  Wild Wasabi, Blushing Bride, Watermelon Wonder, Thick Whisper White
Accessories:  Clear EP, linen thread

Undersea Double Feature

Howdy, peeps!  Today is Thursday, a.k.a. the day before Friday, and that's why we like it.  And this week we like it so much that I made two cards :D

I was inspired to bust out By the Tide for the first time in a while because of this ridiculously cute set of cupcakes featured on Cupcake Inspirations:

I mean for reals, have you ever seen crabs so cute?  I used Crumb Cake, Calypso Coral, and Island Indigo for the colors, and I also used the newest Freshly Made Sketch:

*cue cheesy TV announcer voice* But wait, there's more!  I couldn't resist the color combination at The Color Throwdown:

So pretty, am I right?  And I had to dig up my much-loved starfish stamp from By the Seashore to make this:

It's totally a starfish conga line.  I used Tempting Turquoise, Pacific Point, and Tip Top Taupe as my colors and of course the same sketch as the first card.  And both of these cards are flat, which means they're easy to mail.  Which I should do.  Who doesn't like getting pretty mail?

Ok, that's it for me today.  I've got to go dream up what to do for tomorrow's Friday Flashback and maybe even work on baby books.  Cheers, peeps!

Supplies, By the Tide card:
Stamps:  By the Tide, Gorgeous Grunge, A Dozen Thoughts
Ink:  Versamark, Chocolate Chip, Crumb Cake, Blushing Bride
Paper:  Island Indigo, Crumb Cake, Whisper White
Accessories:  Calypso Coral EP (seriously, why did they discontinue all the fun colored embossing powder?!)

Supplies, starfish conga line card:
Stamps:  By the Seashore, Gorgeous Grunge, A Dozen Thoughts
Ink:  Tempting Turquoise, Pacific Point, Tip Top Taupe, Whisper White
Paper:  Whisper White, Pacific Point, Tempting Turquoise DSP
Accessories:  None, believe it or not

It's a Wonderful Life

With a title like that, you'd think that I'd be posting a Christmas card today, wouldn't you?  Nope.  Like Mary Mary, I like to be quite contrary, and today's card features one of those cockleshells Mary had in her garden.

But no silver bells.  When I was little, I don't know why, but I thought "cockleshells" was a bad word.  Anyway, I love that sentiment stamp from Perfect Pennants and I'm so glad I got Gorgeous Grunge, even if I waited about a year after everyone else bought it before I jumped on the stamp wagon.  I also love me some purple, so I was happy to see the palette provided by Colour Me...!

Not just one, but TWO purples, and Coastal Cabana to boot.  Be still my heart ;)  My coral stamp is inked in Perfect Plum and rock 'n' rolled in Elegant Eggplant, and I used Candy Dots in both colors too.  Because I love Candy Dots.  Man, this card is just full of things I love.

Speaking of that, here's one of my favorite sketch challenges, Freshly Made:

I think the thing that took the longest in making this card was fussy cutting the seashell.  Other than that, easy peasy!

Well, I've got a laundry list of things to do today so I'd better get with it.  Cheers, peeps!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  By the Tide, Gorgeous Grunge, Perfect Pennants
Ink:  Coastal Cabana, Perfect Plum, Elegant Eggplant, Rose Red
Paper:  Coastal Cabana, Perfect Plum, Whisper White
Accessories:  Regals Candy Dots, white baker's twine, Dimensionals

Nachos: The Best Starfish

Hey Nacho fans!  Are you ready for another great color combo?  If you want something different than your typical fall palette, we've got something great for you:

Though I suppose you *could* use these colors to make a fall card!  I went a different direction:

I tend to use all dark colors as neutrals, so today Night of Navy counts as a neutral.  If you want to see more pretty cards with this color combination, check out the Nacho Average Challenges blog, and then let's see what you've got!

Cheers, peeps!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  By the Seashore, By the Tide, Feel Goods, Gorgeous Grunge
Ink:  Pistachio Pudding, Crisp Cantaloupe, Calypso Coral, Night of Navy
Paper:  Pistachio Pudding, Night of Navy, Very Vanilla
Accessories:  Top Note die, pearls, Dimensionals

Tidal Collage: I'm a Guest Designer!

So a couple of weeks ago, I entered a card in a color challenge at The Color Throwdown and I was chosen as that week's Featured Stamper :)  Lovely surprise, that!  So today I get to be a guest designer for this week's new challenge, and I think maybe they picked these colors just for me 'cause I love them!  Take a look:

Gorgeous, am I right?  I love them all.  Maybe it's weird to love Sahara Sand, but it's like a perfect light-colored neutral, and Strawberry Slush and Coastal Cabana are just awesome so ya know I think this one's a winner.  Actually, I even made two cards with these colors, but here's the one I'm sharing today:

It took me a while to settle on using By the Tide, but I like how this turned out.  Once again Gorgeous Grunge sneaks back onto my stamping table!  I like that spatter stamp for a nice sandy background, perfect for a beachy card.  And here it is cold and rainy outside where I am and it's almost June :p

Check out the Color Throwdown blog for more beautiful creations.  So glad I was asked to be a guest designer!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  By the Tide, Gorgeous Grunge, Four You
Ink:  Sahara Sand, Coastal Cabana, Strawberry Slush, Early Espresso
Paper:  Sahara Sand, Whisper White
Accessories:  Hexagon punch (for the end of my banner, honestly I rarely use it for hexagons), Dimensionals

Friday Flashback: A Word for You

Hello and welcome to today's very late Friday Flashback!  It was a crazy day today, we're trying to get our dogs' travel arrangements worked out since we're moving from England back to the States in a few months.  It's a mess.  But anyway, I have a long flashback today featuring the sentiment stamp set A Word for You.  So let's get started!

Here's a fun, bright anniversary card...

One for baby boy...

...and one for baby girl....

And another boy.  Of all the pregnant or recently pregnant ladies I know, and that's a LOT, there's only one girl in the bunch!  What's up with that?

Some nice fall leaves...

...and another anniversary, this time at the Eiffel Tower.

This card makes sense if you're a big Friends fan and know about Phoebe and the lobster theory.

And we'll finish up the flashback with yet another anniversary card, this one for the perfect pear.

So here's today's new card:

Ok, I cheated since I just used this punch art cupcake on Wednesday, but it was perfect with this sentiment stamp too!  I also used a very old Splitcoast color challenge on this (I have less than a dozen to do before I'm caught up!) and this week's Retro Sketch:

It's been a long day involving six hours in the car for a round trip to Heathrow Airport, so that's all she wrote today.  Have a good weekend, peeps!

Supplies, last card only:
Stamps:  A Word for You
Ink:  Chocolate Chip, Mellow Moss, Melon Mambo
Paper:  So Saffron, Mellow Moss, Chocolate Chip, Whisper White, retired DSP in So Saffron, Melon Mambo, and Chocolate Chip
Accessories:  Cupcake builder punch, hexagon punch (to do the flagged ends on the sentiment), Dimensionals

Okinawa Highlights

I spent a good chunk of the day yesterday working on tea party decorations with my two cohosts, I think this tea party is going to be really awesome :)  Fear not, I shall be posting our decorations on here in due course, but that's for later.

My friend (and tea party cohost) Jen asked to see some of my Okinawa scrapbooks yesterday, so with that on my mind I thought I'd share an Okinawa layout I did a while back.

The photos are from when hubs' parents visited us, so we did all the usual tourist stuff--Churaumi Aquarium, Peace Prayer Park, pedicures at Cocok's with the Silent K (just me and hubs' mom, not the boys, they went golfing), Cape Zampa lighthouse and Shuri Castle.  I have (or will have) separate layouts for all those locations elsewhere in our scrapbooks so I kept this one just a highlight reel.

Since I pretty much took Monday and Tuesday off from studying, I'd better get with it today.  Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies:
Stamps:  By the Tide
Ink:  Always Artichoke, Basic Black marker
Paper:  Marina Mist, Always Artichoke, Primrose Petals, Very Vanilla, Haiku DSP
Accessories:  Modern Label punch, old Sizzix alphabet

Nachos: Good Thoughts

Good morning, Nacho fans!  I forgot to write this post and schedule it before I went to bed last night so I'm a teensy bit tardy getting this online, but this week the Nachos have a great color challenge for ya!

Love those colors.  They're kinda summery, don't you think?  Here's what I did with them:

It's really simple, but I kinda like it.  I thought the Woodgrain EF made a good sorta wavy background to go with my seashells.  I love Perfect Pennants and the matching Framelits...and now that my giant comprehensive exam is over and done with, I can play with all my stampy goodies guilt-free 'cause I don't have to study anymore.  Wheeeee!

Ok, so now it's your turn!  Head on over to the Nacho Average Challenges blog to see what my fellow Nachos cooked up, and then go make something pretty!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  By the Tide, Perfect Pennants
Ink:  Bermuda Bay, Chocolate Chip
Paper:  Bermuda Bay, Chocolate Chip, Very Vanilla, Watercolor Wonder DSP
Accessories:  Pennants Collection Framelits, Woodgrain EF, Dimensionals

Favorites Showcase 2013, Part 1

Last year around this time, I noticed lots of stampy bloggers doing a retrospective of their favorite projects of the year, so I thought instead of doing a regular Friday Flashback on the last Friday of the year that I would post the first half of the 2013 retrospective.  So it's kind of a different type of flashback :)  So let's take a look at January through June!

This lovely peacock was my pick for January--I love that bold stamp and the blue/orange high-energy color combo, not to mention the fun layout.

February's pick is this seashell card.  I think Perfect Plum is underused, and of course I love everything with Baja Breeze.

How could I not pick this larger-than-life butterfly for March?  And I'm noticing a trend when it comes to sentiment stamps...

I love the color combo on my pick for April--Marina Mist, Wisteria Wonder and Wild Wasabi.

And here's a sunny happy card for May, I love that Daffodil Delight print on the sundress.

And we'll wrap it up for today with some June roses.  I've linked up all the original blog posts if you want to see more about a specific card.  I'll be back on Monday with the second half of the 2013 retrospective, so until then, have a great weekend!

Gone Fishin'

Happy Tuesday!  I've got another combination SCS sketch/color challenge card today:

I'd already stamped the main image and was looking for a sentiment to go on this card when I came across the "Happy Retirement" stamp in Teeny Tiny Wishes, and I figured that was perfect for someone who's gone fishin'!  The fish himself is cut out and popped up.  This card came together pretty quick, love it when that happens!

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  By the Tide, Teeny Tiny Wishes
Ink:  River Rock, Baja Breeze, Not Quite Navy
Paper:  River Rock, Not Quite Navy, Very Vanilla, Floral District DSP
Accessories:  NQN brads (retired), Dimensionals