Grateful for Spring

And my final Sale-A-Bration project before Sale-A-Bration comes to a close is this happy card. Honestly, I like Granny Apple Green a lot, but I struggle to use it. I bought it as soon as it came out and I don't know that I've ever used it in a class. This paper made the card come together so easily! This paper is one of those Sale-A-Bration exclusive items, so you really don't want to miss out! 

I used the sketch from The Paper Players, and it fits the theme for both Global Design Project and Inspire.Create.Challenge so that's fun. Even if we woke up to another two inches of snow... haha!

Supplies:
Stamps: Scenic Garden (Sale-A-Bration), Lovely You

Ink: Memento Black, Melon Mambo

Paper: Basic White, Dandy Designs DP (Sale-A-Bration)
Stampin' Blends: Dark & Light Flirty Flamingo, Light Old Olive

Accessories: Brass Butterflies

I hope you can snag the items you want for FREE! See them all right HERE! 

Birthday Owl Again!

Tuesday, Feb 28 is the LAST DAY of Sale-A-Bration 2023! I don't want you to miss out on these fun freebies so I managed to make a couple last minute cards using the exclusive products! You can view the whole FREE selection right HERE. 

First up, this cute little owl again, and the very fun DP! This card uses the latest sketch from CAS Colours & Sketches. 

Supplies:
Stamps: Adorable Owls (Sale-A-Bration) 
Ink: Memento Black, Poppy Parade, Poppy Parade marker
Stampin' Blends: Dark Basic Black, Dark Smoky Slate, Dark Balmy Blue, Dark Pumpkin Pie
Paper: Basic White, Basic Black, Dandy Designs (Sale-A-Bration)
Accessories: Dimensionals

I even know exactly who this is going to! Love that! 

December 2023 Calendar Pages

Almost done with the calendar pages this year! Today, even tho spring is now coming, we're going to check out December's pages, haha! And these are extra special, haha, because they always feature the previous December. So you're looking at 2021 there. .

Have a happy Saturday! 

Meet Raya!

Back with some more of Disneyland! Or, technically, California Adventure in this case... 

The newest character to meet while we were there was Raya. This was not a huge movie in our corner of the world (our house...) but we did watch it a few times when it came out. And once again, my mom bought this stamp set a long time ago and it was a perfect match for waiting in line to meet Raya. The colorful photos are paper lanterns. So I used the stamps of lanterns I think are Japanese! I found a font that worked to my kids and I for Raya and there's the page!  

Stamps: Kimono Kids
Ink: Memento Black, Fresh Freesia marker, Bermuda Bay marker, Magenta Madness marker, Bumblebee marker, Cucumber Crush marker
Paper: Bermuda Bay, Magenta Madness, Whisper White
Journaling Font: Artistamp Medium

The girl they cast didn't look anything like Raya actually. But she sounded exactly like the character, so it worked for me! She was sweet and it was nice that she just took a moment to talk to my kiddo. It was perfect "Disney magic" to me.

It's a Small World!

I know a lot of people have intensely strong opinions on this ride, haha... But we were trying to 100% the park and hit everything we could. And this is the kids' first trip so it has to be ridden! haha!

If you look at the very first photo, you can see the sun is still UP. My husband was handed the timer lanyard and told to give it to the person at the entrance. At that time, it was supposed to be a 35 minute wait. It was over an hour, thanks. And dark when we finally got on the ride. And, if you're curious, they didn't update the time, they left it at 35 minutes. We were tired, lol, and did a lot to deal with the long wait. And maybe some of us were rethinking the decision to wait for a ride with a hotly divisive reputation, haha! 

The ride itself, for four of us, haha, was fun. I rode this 22 years before, so for me, I was surprised to see they had added little dolls of the movie characters. I had no idea! And that's what a lot of these photos are of- is the movie characters like Cinderella, Ariel, Mowgli... And then my husband ended up with a good headache after listening to the song thru the ride! 

But to scrap THIS many photos and capture this iconic ride is actually a bit tricky. There's 28 pictures on this layout. I asked my kids what colors come to mind, and what about it. So of course the music, and then we all kind of thought light colors... maybe the pink is the lighting? maybe the blue is the water since it's a boat ride? So I "stamped" the music in yellow on to pink "paper" and then I scribbled the blue randomly over it and this is what I got. It kind of adds to the chaos, and also works really well to me, hahaha! 

Desert Fun

Happy Monday to you! I got a card made that I can share with you! This one uses a brand new bundle that actually my mom purchased. 

The layout for today's card comes from the latest SUO Challenge, which comes from the Sale-A-Bration brochure. I CASED the layout from the card that says "it looks like spring" but I changed the bundle, the colors, and I made my stripes wonky and stacked. 

And! I stuck it right in the mail for someone who I think will really love it.
ETA: Yep. I made it, took a picture, stuck it in the mail....! Guess which step I forgot? That's right boys and girls- the card arrived completely blank. Wow. That's a new one for me.....

Supplies:

Stamps: Desert Details

Ink: Calypso Coral, Pale Papaya, Gray Granite, Soft Succulent

Paper: Pale Papaya, Soft Succulent, Gray Granite & Basic White card stocks

Accessories: Desert Detail dies, Gold Faceted sequins, Dimensionals

I used the colors from the coordinating DP pack, even tho I didn't use any of the paper this time. It is gorgeous tho, so I will.... and I might buy more!! Seriously, click HERE to see it all! (you can order it there too.
And if you buy this bundle before Feb 28, or the whole suite, you can choose a FREE Sale-A-Bration item too! 

November 2023 Calendar Pages

Happy Saturday to you! 
The November page for my in-laws mostly features the birthday party for my father in law. When you get to be his age, every year is a big celebration, and this year was a good one. 

And the page for my parents spams the entire year actually, with some from the previous Thanksgiving and then just whatever! 

What are you making this weekend? 

Mickey & Minnie!

I'm not making much this week, but I am mailing a lot off...

So today I have another Disneyland trip layout for you.
This page is totally full of retired product, even the colors of marker I used to color in "Mickey" and "Minnie", haha! But this is another time I can't get over how amazingly the products in my stash work with what we saw in the parks! This is how Mickey and Minnie look in California Adventure, and this was such a fun moment! 

Supplies:
Ink: Regal Rose & Baroque Burgundy markers (for the names Mickey and Minnie)
Paper: Whisper White, Soft Suede, Berry Bliss DP
Accessories: Soft Suede polka dot ribbon, True Gentlemen Buttons, Glue dots
Journaling Font: Minnie, Mickey

I hope you get to make fun things this week! 

October 2023 Calendar Pages!

Hello again! Today I have the October calendar pages and that means all types of Halloween festivities! Simple, fun, done! 

Paper Pumpkin Birthdays!

I still need a few birthday cards real soon so yesterday I pulled out an old Paper Pumpkin kit (June 2017 as a matter of fact) and put together five of these. And sent one off in the middle of making them! 

I did use one of the cards in August of 2019, so this kit made 6 notecards. 
This kit also had little gift sacks that look like watermelons. I think my daughter used one to give a gift to a friend. Maybe I'll use them, or maybe I'll take them apart and use them as DP at some point.... but in the meantime, there's a few more birthday cards for my stash! 

What are you making this weekend? 

A Carousel

Today I have another Disneyland layout for you. This week marks a year since our trip and I really am not done scrapping it.....! But I have been working on it again this week, so that's a plus.

With this page, I remembered an old 6x6 pack of carousel themed DP I owned, and sure enough- it was a great match! That's all it is- some DP and photos! And I think it's a pretty page just like that!

Carousel:
Paper: Pool Party, Cupcakes & Carousels DP
Journaling Font: Chalk-hand-lettering

Bookmarks!

At church this year, I teach the children who are reaching the age when they can choose to be baptized. My teaching partner and I were trying to think of a simple gift we could give to recognize them, but not be a huge commitment through the year. And then I saw this new stamp set that I think is gorgeous, and it was a perfect match! 
About 17 years ago I bought a pack of bookmarks that Stampin' Up! carried at the time. I have been packing them around all this time and I knew that would make a perfect gift....but now they are lost somewhere in my craft room... So I ended up having to make my own, lol. It worked out tho, and here are the first round I have made. 

Supplies:
Stamps: Rejoice In Him
Ink: Memento Black

Paper: Basic White, Soft Seafoam, Petal Pink, Balmy Blue, So Saffron
Accessories: 1/8" hand punch
1. Stampin' Blends: Dark Petal Pink, Bronze; Seaside ribbon original, White Grosgrain ribbon

2. Stampin' Blends: Light Petal Pink; Sweet Sorbet Accessories Twine, White Grosgrain ribbon, Copper cord

3. Stampin' Blends: Light & Dark Balmy Blue, Ivory; 1/8 Silver ribbon, White Grosgrain ribbon 

4. Stampin' Blends: Ivory, Light Daffodil Delight, Light Smoky Slate; 1/8 Daffodil Delight ribbon, White Grosgrain, Crushed Curry twine

To do a decorative top, I used one of the scalloped Circle Dies, but only ran it thru the machine half way. Don't go too far- I had to cut another one after the first try. 

And then to top them off, I just used an assortment of retired ribbons, two or three each. I have a lot... 

Then I wrote a little note on the back and that was that! 

A little sunshine!

Happy Monday to you! 

Last Sunday morning (Jan 29), around 1045 it started snowing, and the snow fell for at least 30 hours. My family shoveled three different times, even tho there wasn't a ton of accumulation. Spots varied from 5-10 inches, in my own yard. But we had snow on the ground before it started, so its hard to say just how much we got. And then when the storm stopped, the temperatures tanked. Tuesday morning it was -4* on the drive to school. Everyone was posting on social media just how cold it was at their house, and it was crazy. Yes, it gets that cold here and sometimes we've had a week stretch of extremely cold temps, but this was the most significant drop we've had this winter, and the first it's gone below 0* this winter for sure. 

So when I was thinking of a friend who needed a birthday card, I figured it was a great day to break out Waves of Inspiration and go warm! I haven't used this bundle as much as I thought I would, and this is the first time I used both wave dies on one card, and I gotta say, I love it!
The sunshine mask/stencil came from a Paper Pumpkin kit I think last March? I also used a Blending Brush to pull Daffodil Delight across the whole sky, and Tahitian Tide into all of the water. 

Supplies:
Stamps: Waves of Inspiration
Ink: Daffodil Delight, Crushed Curry, Tahitian Tide, Starry Sky
Paper: Daffodil Delight, Basic White, Starry Sky card stocks, Gold & Rose Gold Metallic paper
Accessories: 2022-24 In Color Decorative Dots, Waves dies, Blending Brushes, Glue Dots, PP Kit stencil, big shot

And, the birthday girl loved it, which is of course the most important part! 
And if you wondered, it started snowing yesterday (Sunday) around noon and hasn't stopped again, haha.... Still wintertime here! 

September 2023 Calendar Pages

Back again with a couple more calendar pages for your Saturday! I usually love the September pages because I do a little back to school sprinkled in. This time I used some fun pics from a photo session I did to get my kids' portraits for the year. 

And for my parents, I just do one pic of each grandkid, in birth order, which is fun. Lots of back to school, but of course not everyone goes to school yet, haha...

I hope you get to make something this weekend! 

Owls again!

Happy Friday! Today I've got a couple more almost-matching birthday cards for my stash. This time I used the sketch from The Paper Players and kept them simple one layer cards.
I didn't realize til I linked it just now, that I swapped the position of the owls.... but it does work better with their line of sight, so it's probably fine.... 

(Winter afternoon sunlight is tricky to photograph with... my phone kept casting a shadow, and the snow drifts did too... hence the super funky angles in these shots. I promise the cards are the usual rectangle...!)

First up, this happy yellow owl, and these were colored with Stampin' Blends.

Supplies:

Stamps: Adorable Owls

Ink: Memento Black, Balmy Blue

Blends: Light Daffodil Delight (body), Light Pumpkin Pie (beak/talons), Light Balmy Blue (eyes), Light Old Olive & Light CHerry Cobbler (hat) Light Pumpkin Pie (body), Dark Daffodil Delight (beak/talons), Dark Balmy Blue (eyes) 
Paper: Daffodil Delight & Basic White card stocks

Accessories: Red & Green Pearls

And then this bolder, blue card, I colored the owls with the Watercolor Pencils and Blender Pens. Both ways look good to me! 

Supplies: 

Stamps: Adorable Owls

Ink: Stazon Black, Pacific Point

Watercolor Pencils: Cajun Craze (body), Granny Apple Green (eyes), Crushed Curry (beak/talon), Coastal Cabana, Night of Navy (hat), Pumpkin Pie (body), Daffodil Delight (beak/talon), Old Olive (eyes)
Paper: Pacific Point & Basic White card stocks

Accessories: Classic Matte Dots 

Two more cards to mail out soon! Yeay! What are you making? 

Rosey Birthdays

Most of the time when I pull things out to make cards, I check a number of blogs and websites looking for a new sketch or other challenge to play with. I have found this helps me make a card I'm happy with. I need a ton of birthday cards right now (at least 12 for February - and this is the short month!) so of course I was going to use other people's ideas as a jumping off point. Earlier this week, I saw the latest CAS Colours & Sketches challenge and I really love the sketch idea. I actually own all of the suggested ink colors, but for a long while, all of my retired product moved to my mom's craft room, two hours away, and those are still there. So first I just used the sketch and made this fun card.

Supplies:

Stamps: Happiness Abounds

Ink: Memento Black, Tahitian Tide
Blends: Dark & Light Flirty Flamingo, Dark & Light Old Olive

Paper: Basic White & Flirty Flamingo card stocks

Accessories: Blossoming Happiness Dies, Dimensionals, big shot

Then I decided I really did like it so much that I made a version with similar shades to the color part of the challenge. 

Supplies:

Stamps: Happiness Abounds

Ink: Memento Black, Flirty Flamingo, So Saffron
Blends: Dark & Light Melon Mambo, Dark & Light Old Olive

Paper: Basic White & Flirty Flamingo card stocks

Accessories: Blending Brush, Blossoming Happiness Dies, Dimensionals, big shot

And that gets me two cards closer to my goal! 

And! if you like this... this stamp and die bundle, and a pack of Dimensionals would earn you a Sale-A-Bration freebie! 

We Create Blog Hop: Sale-a-Bration Sweetness

Happy February to you! Every month we hold a fun little blog hop to help inspire your creativity! 

This month we're focusing on Sale-A-Bration! If you don't know, this is Stampin' Up!'s biggest promotion! For every $50 (US) you spend, before tax and shipping, you can choose an item for FREE. Many are exclusive, but today, Stampin' Up! announced additional freebies you can choose from! You can view the entire selection by clicking HERE. And it's only available until products sell out, or until February 28! 

For my projects today, I used the new sketch from Freshly Made Sketches, and some fun, exclusive Sale-A-Bration products that arrived yesterday! This new stamp set, Scenic Garden, is free to those who host a workshop that reaches $300 (that's 6 people placing a Sale-A-Bration order!) or if you place an order over $300, you'll get it too! The DP strip on my cards is also an exclusive Sale-A-Bration item you can choose with an order of $100 or more. The prints are happy and fun and I'm excited to play with it more! I only featured one sheet of DP today- but you can see both sides! And here's what I made!  

This one is super simple and almost entirely monochromatic. It might be just a bit too plain, but that's okay. The greeting came from Ranunculus Romance and I felt like it was a good match. 

Supplies:

Stamps: Scenic Garden (Sale-A-Bration only), Ranunculus Romance 

Ink: Petal Pink, Smoky Slate

Paper: Petal Pink card stock, Dandy Designs DP (Sale-A-Bration only)

Accessories: Crinkled Seam Binding Ribbon

Supplies:

Stamps: Scenic Garden (Sale-A-Bration only), Ranunculus Romance 

Ink: Memento Black, Smoky Slate, Fresh Freesia marker 

Stampin' Blends: Light Smoky Slate, Dark Petal Pink, Dark & Light Old Olive, Ivory 

Paper: Petal Pink & Basic White card stock, Dandy Designs DP (Sale-A-Bration only)

Accessories: Classic Matte Dots, Lovely Labels Pick A Punch, Dimensionals

Supplies:

Stamps: Scenic Garden (Sale-A-Bration only), Ranunculus Romance 

Ink: Memento Black, Smoky Slate, Fresh Freesia marker 

Stampin' Blends: Light Smoky Slate, Dark Petal Pink, Dark & Light Old Olive, Light Daffodil Delight

Paper: Petal Pink & Basic White card stock, Dandy Designs DP (Sale-A-Bration only)

Accessories: Crinkled Seam Binding Ribbon, Lovely Labels Pick A Punch, Dimensionals

And here they are all together! 

Now, hop along over to Tricia's blog using the button below, and see what she's made for you. 

Then continue on and see what everyone has made to inspire you today! Let us know what you think of our work. And then I hope you get to make something pretty today too! 

We Create Blog Hop February 2023 Blog Roll
Kimberley Morris
Tanya Harvey
Tricia Butts
Cheryl Curtis
Libby Fens

But don't forget- if you love any of the Sale-A-Bration items, you'll want to place your order soon so you don't miss out!