Tiger Stripes

Mornin' y'all!  How's your Sunday going?  I have a fun card to share today:

I got Along These Lines a while back and this is the first time I've used it.  I had a dear friend who loved tigers so I tend to buy stamps (and cross stitch patterns) with tigers in memory of her.  I used this week's Freshly Made Sketch:

And the Color Throwdown:

I went with Crumb Cake, Magenta Madness, and Pumpkin Pie for the colors, with a healthy shot of Basic Black to ground the bright shades.  I wasn't too sure about combining these two challenges this time but I am loving that tiger.

Anyway, I need to go scramble some eggs.  Cheers!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Along These Lines, Terrific Toadstools
Ink:  Versamark, Magenta Madness
Paper:  Basic Black, Pumpkin Pie, Magenta Madness, Crumb Cake DSP
Accessories:  Stitched Shapes dies, black EP, white EP, Dimensionals, Black Rhinestones

The Sign of the Twisted Candles

Happy Saturday and welcome to a new Nancy Drew Challenge!  Today I'm featuring one of my childhood favorites, number 9, The Sign of the Twisted Candles.

There's the OT version on the left and the RT version on the right, and for once the revised version has a brighter cover than the OT.  I've always loved that cover with the huge candle.

Case file:  Nancy, Bess, and George visit a roadside inn and meet the 100-year-old owner Asa Sidney, who turns out to be related to Bess and George and whose extended family is involved in a family feud.  When Asa dies shortly thereafter, right after Mr. Drew helped him make a new will, Nancy has to figure out why he left the bulk of his fortune to an orphan waitress at the inn and help the feuding family make nice, while also proving that the orphan's foster parents had been stealing from Asa for years.

Here's my card for the OT version:

You may think that this should have been the card for the RT version since it has Asa in all his bearded glory on the cover, but it's in the OT version that Nancy muses how Asa looks like a wizard so I couldn't resist this.  Plus the Magical & Mystical stamp set has a candle image and I had to use that!

I kept to the green colors featured on Nancy's outfit and DANG she looks super thin on this cover.  And also very '40s with that hair and eyebrow going on.

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Magical & Mystical
Ink:  Garden Green, Night of Navy
Paper:  Garden Green, Lemon Lime Twist, Artistry Blooms DSP, Stargazing DSP
Accessories:  Textured Notes dies, 1" and 1 1/8" circle punches, Dimensionals, Clear Gems

Now let's take a look at the RT version:

Once again the plots for the two versions are very similar, though there are a few humorous episodes in the first version that sadly were cut from the second version, like when Nancy has a farcical conversation with two men about the proper feminine form of chauffeur.  Anyway, I always loved this book because Nancy spends time hunting over the inn for secret compartments marked with the sign of the twisted candles.

So here's my card for The Sign of the Twisted Candles:

I knew I wanted to do a birthday card since the book starts off with Asa's 100th birthday, but it actually took me two tries to come up with a card I liked.  I had to use lots of green to echo the cover of the book, which is one of my favorites!  I also had to use some Mango Melody DSP to echo Nancy's hair.

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Piece of Cake
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Stampin' Blends in Mango Melody, Lemon Lolly, Shaded Spruce, Granny Apple Green
Paper:  Granny Apple Green, Thick Basic White, Celebrate Everything DSP, Regency Park DSP Stack
Accessories:  Stitched So Sweetly dies, Dimensionals, Glitter Dots

If you feel inspired to make a Nancy Drew card, please leave me a comment as I'd be super tickled to see what you make.  Next up is Password to Larkspur Lane!

Leftovers

Mornin' y'all and happy 4th of July!  Stay safe out there.

I have a couple of cards to share today that use leftovers from other projects.

The lemon paper was die cut for this card, where I used the blue and white side and the negative die shape, but the die cut lemons on this side were perfect for the Inspire. Create. challenge:

I decided on a thank you card because a.) I haven't made very many of those lately and b.) that's the Addicted to CAS challenge:

Then I just played with the lemon die cut and my die cut sentiment until I found something I liked.  I even added some clear gems for a very subtle embellishment.

And here's my second leftovers card:

I was working on another card and ended up with that floral scrap (again, on the other card I used the opposite side of the paper) and I just really liked how it happened to be framed on the two flowers.  Once more I die cut a simple thanks sentiment and this time I added a larger piece of patterned paper because it felt right.  A few Strawberry Slush gems and now I have another thank you card for my stash.

Daphne says it's time for her daily walk and I can't say no to that adorable face.  Might make some blueberry pie bars later today if I decide to go to the store...I thought I had everything to make them but I'm out of Greek yogurt.  We're going to grill burgers for dinner : )  Have a good holiday, y'all!  (Or, y'know, a good Friday if it's not a holiday for you.)  Cheers!

Supplies, lemon card:
Stamps:  Spotlight on Nature
Ink:  Garden Green
Paper:  Garden Green, Lemon Lolly, Mediterranean Blooms DSP
Accessories:  Thoughtful Expressions dies, Stylish Shapes dies, Dimensionals, clear gems

Supplies, floral card:
Stamps:  Spotlight on Nature
Ink:  Strawberry Slush
Paper:  Thick Basic White, Garden Green, Florals in Bloom DSP
Accessories:  Perennial Postage dies, Strawberry Slush gems, Dimensionals

Summer Toadstools

Mornin' y'all!  I'm up early today, I woke up at 5:00 and decided I wasn't getting back to sleep so here I am.  And I'm pleased to report that after a slow start in my craft room yesterday afternoon, I finally got in the groove and made a couple of things I like.  So here's my card for today:

The colors may be a little off in the photo, but I took the pic early this morning before the sun was up.  I went with the As You See It colors:

I will admit that when I see a color challenge like this that is perfect for a floral card, my contrary little brain wants to do anything BUT flowers.  After some thought, I landed on Terrific Toadstools...it's been a little bit since I used it so that was fun.  I modified this week's CASE-ing Tuesday Sketch:

I have all the same layers, but in different proportions than on the original sketch, and I had to move up the sentiment panel a bit so my toadstool would have room to grow.

That's it for now, it's time for me to start my workout.  Cheers!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Terrific Toadstools
Ink:  Versamark, Melon Mambo, Peach Pie, Garden Green
Paper:  Peach Pie, Melon Mambo, Garden Green, Thick Basic White, Peach Pie DSP, Toadstool Gardens DSP Stack
Accessories:  Textured Notes dies, white EP, Dimensionals, Glossy Dots

Red, White, & Birthday

From my blog post title, you can tell I am Team Oxford Comma ; )  I thought I wasn't going to have a card to share today--I started something yesterday and it ended up in the bin and then I was so busy this morning while Ryan was at farm camp that I didn't even get into my craft room at all until after lunchtime so here we are at 3:30 in the afternoon and I just finally made something and here it is:

I had to add the gold embellishments because I dropped a stamp on the card front as I was cleaning it and it made a little mark on the top of the card.  The recipient will never know that, but now you do!

Today is my mom's birthday so happy birthday, Ma!  My sister's birthday is a few days from now and my dad's birthday (and his twin's, obviously) are later this month, so a Fourth of July themed birthday card is always a good idea in my family.  Which works out nicely for the current Retro Rubber Challenge:

July Fourth is the stamp set with the fireworks and stars, and it is now 15 years old; the birthday greeting is the single stamp Birthday Wish which is at least 10 years old, so all my stamps today are very retro.  I used the sketch from Atlantic Hearts:

And the red, white, and blue color challenge from Shopping Our Stash.  I already sent out birthday cards to my mom and Adrienne (trying so hard to get them out on time, something new and different for me), so this will either go to my dad this year (though I already had a different card picked out) or else it will go in my birthday card file for next year.

So now let's hope I have worked through my creative block and that I can go make something else while Ryan is playing with his friends.  I hate it when I don't have much time to craft and then when I do finally get in my craft room that I just can't get anything done that I like, does that ever happen to any of you?  I've been having a block for a while now where it just feels like a lot more work than usual to come up with something that I like, not sure what the deal is.  But anyway, that's it for me today.  I'm going to go back up to my craft room while I can : )  Cheers!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  July Fourth, Birthday Wish
Ink:  Blueberry Bushel, Real Red
Paper:  Thick Basic White, Blueberry Bushel, Real Red DSP scraps
Accessories:  Layering Circles dies, Dimensionals, Gold Starbursts

Hang In There, Rusty

Mornin' y'all.  Moving slow this morning since Ryan was up in the middle of the night for a while but as soon as I get this post written, I'm going to do my workout and get the day started.  Ryan really enjoyed his first day of farm camp, which involved meeting lots of animals, picking up duck eggs (he loves ducks, so he was super excited about that but a little sad that they wouldn't give him an egg to take home), cleaning poop out of the birds' enclosure (doesn't sound like fun to me but whatever), and starting to prepare orange marmalade (hopefully they washed their hands after the poop thing).

So, I actually have two cards to share this morning.

I was working on them both at the same time the other night and Resourceful Rusty is on the Last Chance List (or at least, he was the last time I looked), so go snatch him up now.

I need some "hang in there" cards and I found the perfect greeting in Inspiration Squad.  I used the Hand-Stamped Sentiments color challenge for both cards:

Plus a bit of Pecan Pie and Ivory for Rusty himself.  Next up is the Paper Players challenge:

I went diagonal, CAS - die cut - masculine, and down the right side, square card - embossing - masculine.  You might not be able to tell, but the appley background is stamped with Versamark and clear embossed.

One good Rusty card deserves another so here's the other one:

I actually started this one first for last week's CASE-ing Tuesday Sketch:

I missed a couple of weeks playing along with them and I really enjoy it, so even if this card is a bit late (their new challenge just dropped) I'm glad I made it anyway.

Alright, time for me to get my workout on so I'll have time to get cleaned up before taking Ryan to day 2 of farm camp.  Cheers!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Resourceful Rusty, Inspiration Squad
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Versamark, Strawberry Slush, Stampin' Blends in Pecan Pie, Ivory, Granny Apple Green, Strawberry Slush
Paper:  Coastal Cabana, Strawberry Slush, Granny Apple Green, Thick Basic White
Accessories:  Stylish Shapes dies, clear EP, Dimensionals

Swiss Capade 2

Scrappy Monday, y'all!  Daphne woke me up in the middle of the night making weird noises so I can already feel that today is going to be one of those days when I'm tired but wired.  But let's make the best of it and get started with some scrapbook pages:

Here's the first of the waterfalls we visited in Switzerland : )  I think this one is the best known in that particular valley, and you just walk through a tunnel and then up a trail to the top of the waterfall.  Gorgeous!

Today's nature-inspired color palette is Seaside Spray (waterfall spray), Misty Moonlight, Certainly Celery, Garden Green, and white. 

I haven't worked on scrapbook pages in a while since I've been obsessed with the Nancy Drew stuff, and it's a little harder to get crafty time with Ryan home for summer.  Most of his camps are only three to four hours a day but I do what I can.  Time to get him out the door for farm camp!

Cheeeeeeeeeers!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Thoughtful Expressions
Ink:  Misty Moonlight, Certainly Celery
Paper:  Seaside Spray, Misty Moonlight, Certainly Celery, Garden Green, Basic White, Certainly Celery & Garden Green DSP
Accessories:  Thoughtful Expressions dies, Stylish Shapes dies