Wilkommen in Deutschland

Scrappy Monday, y'all!  Hope you have a good day off for Labor Day.  Today's scrapbook layout is from our arrival in Germany at the end of August 2020:

This is a mishmash of pictures from the first couple of weeks that we were in Germany, when we were staying in a hotel suite and looking for a house.  Also we were locked in there for two weeks because of all the Covid restrictions, people from the hubs' work had to buy groceries for us and bring them to us, it was a crazy time.  So all those pics are in the hotel room.

Today's color palette:  Crushed Curry, Tangelo Twist, Azure Afternoon, Pecan Pie, and white.  I really liked Tangelo Twist as an orange and I think I'm almost out of cardstock in that color, at least in the 12x12.  Not sure how much 8.5x11 I might have.  Azure Afternoon and Pecan Pie ended up being great matches for Ryan's bear jammies!

That's it for me today, peeps.  I'm going to do my workout and then most likely do dishes because that never stops.  Cheers!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Taffy Alphabet, Calendar Alphabet & Numbers, Sweets & Treats, All Boxed Up, bear from Whipper Snapper
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Tangelo Twist, Azure Afternoon, Pecan Pie, Stampin' Blends in Pecan Pie, Ivory, Smoky Slate, Mossy Meadow, Pool Party, Pumpkin Pie
Paper:  Crushed Curry, Azure Afternoon, Pecan Pie, Thick Basic White, Tangelo Twist DSP
Accessories:  None

Sweet Sadie Fox

Mornin', y'all!  I had an appointment yesterday morning, so I didn't have as time as I might have liked to work in my craft room, but I am inching closer to having three more scrapbook layouts done and I made a card for today : )

Something like two years ago, maybe more--I just remember I was in Germany--I ordered a few stamps from Whipper Snapper Designs, including this adorable fox, and this is the first time I've inked her up!  This is also my first try at using the brand-new Basic Beige paper, and I discovered that the Ivory Stampin' Blend is pretty much exactly the same color, as in it ends up just barely showing up on the cardstock.  I ended up using some of the natural tones blends for the lighter parts of her fur, and then added highlights with a chalk marker (retired).

I told you I wanted to play along again with the Paper Players challenge:

I could make a card every day for a month and never use the same animal stamps twice, and still have more left over.  I love animal stamps!  I'm glad this challenge finally prompted me to ink up this sweet fox.

Check out this week's Freshly Made Sketch:

And the Color Throwdown:

I used Boho Blue, Pecan Pie, and Basic Beige for my colors, with a bit of white and Night of Navy thrown in.  If you want to get super picky, I added a bit of pink to Sadie's ears, and used Mossy Meadow for the grass and leaves.  This is a fun color combination, I like the inspiration pic and now I'm getting hungry.  Is that some kind of apple tart?  Coincidentally, Ryan and I have been playing the game Outfoxed this week, where one of sixteen fox characters steals a pie and the players work together uncovering clues and suspects to deduce who stole the pie.  But sweet Sadie here isn't a thief, right?

That's it for me today and I think I'll go looking through my animal stamps for more fun.  Cheers!

Supplies:
Stamps:  Sadie from Whipper Snapper, Country Bouquet
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, VersaMark, Stampin' Blends in Pecan Pie, Ivory, natural tones, Pretty in Pink, Mossy Meadow, Boho Blue
Paper:  Boho Blue, Basic Beige, Night of Navy, Countryside Inn DSP
Accessories:  White EP, white sequins

The Paper Players Go Red, White, & Blue

Hey stampy friends!  Are you ready for a new Paper Players challenge?  I hope so because here it is!

When I saw these colors, the first place my brain went was patriotic and for once I went with my first impulse.  Here's what I made:

Whipper Snapper's Liberty Eagle is a fairly new acquisition in my craft room.  In addition to the challenge colors, I added Cinnamon Cider (neutrals are okay), lots of silver sparkle, and just a bit of Mango Melody for his beak.  I think this card will have to go in a package or be hand delivered though; both the Pacific Point starry circle and Sam (of course his name is Sam) are up on Dimensionals.  And it doesn't show up in the picture, but I put a bit of Wink of Stella on all the stars on the main image.  Just because I could.

I used the Try Stampin' on Tuesday sketch:

It's a good one!  Hope you'll give these colors a whirl (stars and stripes not required, but they are fun) and post your creation over at the Paper Players blog!

Supplies:
Stamps:  Liberty Eagle by Whipper Snapper Designs
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Versamark, Stampin' Blends in Real Red, Balmy Blue, Cinnamon Cider, Mango Melody
Paper:  Real Red, Pacific Point, Thick Basic White, Real Red DSP, Silver Glimmer Paper
Accessories:  Layering Circles dies, white EP, Dimensionals, watercolor pencils

The Paper Players Design Team

Jaydee

LeAnne Pugliese

Claire Broadwater

Joanne James

Laurie Schmidt

Anne Marie Hile

Ann Schach

Cindy Beach

Christy Stanford <-- You are here : )

Jennie Maier

Baby Luke: July

Happy Saturday, y'all!  Once again the hubs was nice enough to let me sleep in this morning :) Hope we have a nice relaxing weekend.

Ready for another baby book layout?  It's a classic.

For reals, I've used that Whipper Snapper bear on more than a couple baby book layouts.  He's just perfect for 4th of July and who doesn't like a teddy bear?

Today's color palette is red, white, and blue with a little spin:  Real Red, Pacific Point photo mats, Bermuda Bay DSP, and Daffodil Delight accents.

Cheers, y'all!

Supplies:
Stamps:  July Fourth, Patriotic Bear from Whipper Snapper
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Bermuda Bay, Stampin' Blends in Crumb Cake, Smoky Slate, Real Red, Daffodil Delight, Night of Navy, Pool Party
Paper:  Real Red, Pacific Point, Daffodil Delight, Thick Whisper White, Bubbles & Fizz DSP
Accessories:  Sizzix letters, star punches

Baby Luke: February

Hey y'all, happy Saturday!  Ready for another baby book layout?

I think that teeny heart pattern might be my all-time favorite Valentine DSP from Stampin' Up!  It's always a fun challenge to do a Valentine layout for a baby boy that isn't really super girly.  Yes I have the heart paper, and several shades of pink and red, but then there's the cute doggo and accessories to make it more boyish.  Looking at this now I kinda wish I'd done a slightly bigger circle for the dog stamp to give him a bit more room to "breathe".

'Nother rainy day here, how's your weekend going?  Cheers, y'all!

Supplies:
Stamps:  Happy Tails, And Everything Nice, Bow Wow, dog from Whipper Snapper
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Crumb Cake, Stampin' Blends in Smoky Slate, Crumb Cake, Soft Suede, Balmy Blue
Paper:  Flirty Flamingo, Lovely Lipstick, Balmy Blue, Crumb Cake, Thick Whisper White, All My Love DSP
Accessories:  Sizzix letters, Layering Circles dies, circle punches

Polar Plunge

I've got lots of friends and family in Texas so I've been seeing a lot of chatter on Facebook about the recent snowstorm and issues with power outages and pipes bursting.  So if you're dealing with any of that, I hope you're staying warm and safe and that things get better soon.  As it turns out, I have a polar card to share today.

My friend Sarah is obsessed with polar bears so as soon as I saw the Festive Friday challenge for International Polar Bear Day, I knew I had to make a card for her.  This is my first try at using the blending brushes and, um...I need to practice.  Anyway, Polar Bear Day challenge!!

I use Stampin' Up! stuff only 99.999% of the time but they have a serious dearth of polar bear stamps--and bear stamps in general if you want my opinion.  If they came out with a punny bear stamp set along the lines of Way to Goat or Zany Zebras, I would buy the heck out of that.  Anyway, back to the challenge, I dug up a Whipper Snapper stamp for my polar bear, I used a lot of blue, there's some silver, and I added some bitty snowflake embellishments around the sentiment, so I managed to use half of the inspo list.

My polar pals fit in with the theme challenge at Global Design Project:
 

And I was tickled to use the sketch from Fab Friday:

I needed a sketch that had a large space for my image, so this fit the bill perfectly.

Okay, sounds like Ryan just upended the bucket of 1500+ Legos that his grandparents sent for his birthday (not sure what we did to make them angry but Legos all over the house is definitely revenge for something) so I'd better go put some shoes on and supervise the mess making.  Cheers!

Supplies:
Stamps:  Peaceful Moments, main image from Whipper Snapper
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Balmy Blue,  Stampin' Blends in Balmy Blue, Smoky Slate, Mango Melody
Paper:  Balmy Blue, Thick Whisper White, silver foil
Accessories:  Hippo & Friends dies, Rectangles Stitched dies, snowflake embellishments, Dimensionals

Ryan: March

Oooops I just realized I forgot to publish this blog post this morning!  Okay, we're doing it now.  I had a bunch of pictures from March so I did two layouts...hey, it's my baby's baby book, I can do what I want.

I did Garden Green for the page bases because March = St. Patrick's Day and also green is my favorite color.  And then it turned into yet another green-and-gold color scheme, with bears.  There's Ryan's first meetings with his Nana and Papa and his Aunt Jill, plus his first snow (he was unimpressed by it all).

Ryan spiked a high fever when he was 3 weeks old and ended up admitted to the hospital for a few days, that's the pictures on the left.  All the ones on the right were just too cute and/or funny to be left out of his baby book.

Today's Bayloriffic color combo is Garden Green, Daffodil Delight, Basic Black, Smoky Slate, and Whisper White.

Hope you're having a good weekend!

Supplies:
Stamps:  Letters for You, bears from Whipper Snapper
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Basic Black marker
Paper:  Garden Green, Smoky Slate, Basic Black, Thick Whisper White, Sunshine & Sprinkles DSP, Urban Oasis DSP
Accessories:  Large Letters Framelits, Labels Framelits, Watercolor Wonder Crayons

Ryan Luke

Happy Saturday!  I'm so excited to finally be sharing Ryan's baby book on here :). Since he's going to be our only kid, I pulled out all the stops and really worked to make this book special.  And I've finally gotten to the first layout after he was born!

Hard to remember that he was ever that small.  Now he's 3 years old, over 3 feet tall, 34 pounds, and constant noise and motion.  Anyway, you'll see that I continue to use the Letters for You alphabet on his entire book; his is the only baby book I've used it for (most of the time I do die cut letters, which are faster).

Today's color palette:  Hello Honey, Calypso Coral, Handsome Hunter (how's that for a blast from the past!), Night of Navy, and Whisper White.  Got my green and gold in there since Ryan came home from the hospital in a Baylor outfit :)

Cheers, y'all!

Supplies:
Stamps:  Letters for You, bear by Whipper Snapper
Ink:  Night of Navy, Handsome Hunter, Hello Honey, Soft Suede, Versamark
Paper:  Hello Honey, Night of Navy, Handsome Hunter, Thick Whisper White, Best Year Ever DSP
Accessories:  Large Letters Framelits, Circles Framelits, scalloped circles from Nestabilities

Bear Book: Happy Birthday!

Okay, I haven't been paying much attention to that whole April the giraffe thing and wondering when she was going to have the dang baby already, but this morning it was all over my Facebook feed that she wasn't faking the pregnancy after all, haha!  And it feels appropriate to share the Happy Birthday layout today from the bear book.

I love these super-bright colors.  The Tangelo Twist might seem overpowering, but when the pictures are in the layout you'll only see a border of the bright orange.

I was not sad to have an excuse to buy this panda birthday stamp, either!  I need to remember this stamp when it's time to make a card for my brother's next birthday (he used to collect panda stuff when he was younger).

And who doesn't love a cupcake.

Today's color palette was inspired by the Birthday Bash Designer Series Paper pack:  Bermuda Bay, Tangelo Twist, Crushed Curry, Cucumber Crush, and Whisper White.  The DSP has Mossy Meadow in it, which is a lot darker and more subdued a green than Cucumber Crush, which is why I switched that one out.

Anyway, I've got a busy day ahead so I'd better get out the door and to the grocery store.  Cheers, y'all!  And congrats to the giraffe for finally having the baby.

Supplies:
Stamps:  Beary Special Birthday from Whipper Snapper, Party Wishes
Ink:  Basic Black, Tangelo Twist, Cucumber Crush, Bermuda Bay
Paper:  Bermuda Bay, Tangelo Twist, Crushed Curry, Cucumber Crush, Thick Whisper White, Birthday Bash DSP
Accessories:  Sizzix alphabet, star punches, Prismacolor Pencils

Bear Book: February

Okay, now that Sodapop is six weeks old we're kind of settling into a bit of a routine.  Sort of.  At least, for the last several days, he's taken a pretty long nap in the afternoons, so I've actually made some new scrapbook pages!  But today is Saturday and I still have a few layouts from the bear book to share, so here's one of those.

Usually I use a pink for the February layout in a baby book, but I found that patterned paper that just seemed like the right one for Missy so I went with the retired Riding Hood Red instead.

And isn't this little bear Cupid the cutest?  The dark color is Early Espresso, not black, in case you wondered.

And there's the embellishment on the journaling block, an arrow to go with my Cupid bear.

Today's color palette is Riding Hood Red, Early Espresso, Pool Party, a smidgen of Pretty in Pink, and Whisper White. I thought they made for a nice little boy Valentine layout, what do you think?

Cheers, y'all!

Supplies:
Stamps:  Cupid Bear from Whipper Snapper, Filled with Love, Love you More
Ink:  Basic Black, Early Espresso, Riding Hood Red
Paper:  Riding Hood Red, Early Espresso, Pool Party, Pretty in Pink, Thick Whisper White, Love Letter DSP
Accessories:  Circle Framelits, circle & scalloped circle punches, Sizzix Alphabet, Prismacolor Pencils

Bear Book: January

Well, today is my official due date, but Baby Sodapop is showing no signs of being unhappy where he is.  So maybe the midwife is right, and I'll have to be induced.  All we can do is wait and see...

In the meantime, let's check out another layout from the bear book!  I like this one.

That snowflake paper is one of my favorites, not least because it's Baja Breeze.

And isn't that little bear ADORABLE.  I'd had him for a while and this was his first outing.

Snowflake and mittens just in case you missed the part where this is a wintry layout.

And here's the color combination:  Island Indigo (somehow I only have textured 12x12 cardstock in this color?), of course Baja Breeze, Real Red, Smoky Slate, and Whisper White.  I don't think I'd ever used this color combination before but I quite like it.

Since we're in a holding pattern waiting for Sodapop's arrival, my plan for today involves working in my craft room some more.  I finished three scrapbook layouts last week and I've got a new set of pictures waiting to go on my table--so at least my wait time is being spent productively!  Cheers, y'all!

Supplies:
Stamps:  Bear & Snowman from Whipper Snapper, Make a Mitten, Festive Flurry, Perfect Pairings, Scentsational Season
Ink:  Basic Black, Island Indigo, Real Red, Whisper White
Paper:  Island Indigo, Smoky Slate, Real Red, Thick Whisper White, Ski Slope DSP
Accessories:  Holiday Collection Framelits, Mitten punch, Sizzix Alphabet, Prismacolor Pencils

Bear Book: September

Happy Saturday, y'all!  Ready for another bear book layout?  This one is one of my favorites!!

I tend to do apples for September baby book layouts because...back to school, even though babies don't go to school, it's still a thing in my brain.  So apples, along with this cutie:

This is Cadbury, I love him :)

And some wee baby apples for the journaling block...

And bigger apples on both the patterned paper and stamped accents.  It's kind of funny how many apple stamps I have, really.

Today's colors:  Early Espresso, Real Red, Old Olive, So Saffron, and Whisper White.  Yup, one of my favorite layouts from this book.

Cheers, y'all!

Supplies:
Stamps:  Cadbury from Whipper Snapper, Tart & Tangy, One Smart Cookie
Ink:  Basic Black, Real Red, Early Espresso, Old Olive
Paper:  Early Espresso, Real Red, So Saffron, Thick Whisper White, Summer Picnic DSP
Accessories:  Sizzix alphabet, circle & scalloped circle punches, Prismacolor Pencils

Bear Book: August

Happy Saturday, y'all!  It's snowing outside where I am right now.  Not a whole lot, but enough that there's some white on the roofs and grass.

So for something completely different, I'm sharing a very warm and sunny August layout for the bear book I made last year.

Okay, I looooooooooooooooooove that patterned paper on the bottom of this layout, so I let it dictate the colors I used for everything else.

And how cute is this bear?  I got that triple corner punch that SU! had last year and, um, this is the only time it's ever been used.  Oops.

I thought the hot air balloons would be a good accent for this layout....I've got the hot air balloon stamp set and Framelits from the Occasions Catalog on my wish list right now too.

Journaling block :)

Today's sunny summer layout colors are Tangelo Twist, Crushed Curry, Bermuda Bay, a wee bit of Mossy Meadow, and Whisper White.

Cheers, y'all!  I'm gonna go make me a second cuppa tea.

Supplies:
Stamps:  Balloon Bear from Whipper Snapper, Up Up & Away
Ink:  Basic Black, Mossy Meadow, Tangelo Twist
Paper:  Tangelo Twist, Crushed Curry, Bermuda Bay, Thick Whisper White, Birthday Bash DSP
Accessories:  triple corner punch, Sizzix alphabet, Prismacolor Pencils

Bear Book: December

Happy Friday, y'all!  Since Christmas Eve and Christmas Day are this weekend, I thought I'd just share the December bear book layout today and not worry about doing a Friday Flashback or posting again until Monday.  I wanna spend the weekend with my hubs :)

So here's the bear book layout:

The colors were taken from last year's Season of Cheer DSP, which I did really love (even though it includes Soft Sky which we know should be traded back out for Baja Breeze which is the awesomest color ever).

I've had this little guy for a while and isn't he adorable?  Glad I got a reason to use him on a project.

And I think the wee bear in the stocking is just as cute too.

I needed something to go in the dead space between pictures, and since the Soft Sky page base is so light I just stamped and colored directly on it.

And there's the palette:  Soft Sky, Cherry Cobbler, Mossy Meadow (I really miss this color) and Whisper White.

Merry Christmas, y'all!

Supplies:
Stamps:  Bear stamps from Whipper Snapper, Something to Celebrate
Ink:  Basic Black
Paper:  Soft Sky, Cherry Cobbler, Mossy Meadow, Thick Whisper White, Season of Cheer DSP
Accessories:  Window Frames Framelits, Sizzix Alphabet, Prismacolor Pencils

Bear Book: July

I was so busy going to see Rogue One twice in two days that I forgot to get this post up yesterday!  :) So Baby Book Saturday is Baby Book Sunday this week.  And while we've been having wintry weather lately, today's layout is all about summer:

Okay so it's a lot of blues but it's for the 4th of July.

I've had this patriotic bear stamp for years and I still love him, he's adorable.  And I discovered that the way the star is designed on the retired large star punch is a little different than the star Framelits, but I liked the effect.

And there's a decoration for the journaling block.  I think I shoulda done the firecracker in red instead.

Today's color palette:  Pacific Point, Tempting Turquoise, Real Red, Summer Sun, and Whisper White.  I'm off to my craft room to go work on some projects, so cheers y'all!

Supplies:
Stamps:  Patriotic Bear from Whipper Snapper, Simply Stars, July Fourth
Ink:  Basic Black, Daffodil Delight, Tempting Turquoise
Paper:  Pacific Point, Tempting Turquoise, Summer Sun, Thick Whisper White, Real Red DSP
Accessories:  Sizzix alphabet, large star punch, Stars Framelits, Prismacolor Pencils