Purple Butterflies

Good morning! Today I have another of my design team cards for you.

Supplies:

Stamps: Beautiful Butterflies

Ink: Fresh Freesia, Gorgeous Grape
Paper: Highland Heather, Gorgeous Grape, Basic White & Fresh Freesia card stocks
Accessories: Gorgeous Grape sheer ribbon, Wink of Stella, Perennial Postage Dies, big shot, Dimensionals

The Wink of Stella is a fun touch, just tricky to photograph. 

Three-fer bouquet!

Happy Monday to you! We had a long weekend for a state holiday so we had some bonus family time, and project time. I even got to stamp! 

I needed a specific card and I was thinking about this stamp set for it, so I went looking for some color challenges that ended up working so nicely! 

First I played with the color challenge at Hand Stamped Sentiments. I liked the Golden Glow for the bouquet and the Lost Lagoon for the recipient. And I made the same card twice, just switched the flower and bow colors. That Powder Pink ink pad could stand some more ink but I didn't do that on Saturday. Note to self....! 

You can barely see the pink flowers here, but I promise they're in there.

Supplies:

Stamps: Wishing You Well, Canvas

Ink: Golden Glow, Powder Pink, Lost Lagoon

Paper: Basic White card stocks

Accessories: Brass Butterflies

Then I made the same thing with a different color challenge, This time from CAS Colours & Sketches. I think it's CAS enough! 

Supplies:

Stamps: Wishing You Well, Canvas

Ink: Petal Pink, Calypso Coral, Lost Lagoon

Paper: Basic Beige card stock

Accessories: Earth Tones Shimmer Gems 

And one of these went out in the mail today! Hooray for happy mail! 

Orange Butterflies

Last fall I was invited to be part of a design team, and now I can finally start sharing the projects that I created with that group!
Here is my first - a summery butterfly card! 

Supplies:

Stamps: Simply Said, God's Beauty

Ink: Timid Tiger
Paper: Very Vanilla, Timid Tiger, Pebbled Path card stocks
Accessories: Brass Butterflies, Dimensionals 

All the happiness...

Happy Monday to you! Just gonna hop right in today. 

Today's card combines the latest Freshly Made Sketch with the beautiful colors from Inspired By... I was going to color in the flower, but I really liked it as it is, so that's how I left it! 

Supplies:

Stamps: Amazing You, Happiness Abounds

Ink: Pear Pizazz

Paper: Soft Seafoam, Pear Pizazz, Basic White card stocks

Accessories: Seaside Spray Metallic Ribbon, old Paper Pumpkin pearls

Pink & Yellow

Hello again! I hope your weekend is off to a great start! 

Today's card takes the inspiration very literally. I used the latest SUO Challenge to CASE the designer. Check! I didn't use the same shades, but I did use the same colors for everything. I used a different, but similar flower image. It's also a thank you card, like the one in the picture, haha! I didn't use any DP, but I did stamp a very subtle background onto the pink to make it not quite so flat. And the strip of green I found was interesting, leftover from cutting a die some other day, and I thought it added a bit of fun.

Supplies:
Stamps: Spotlight on Nature, Elements of Text

Ink: Memento Black, Melon Mambo
Stampin' Blends: Light & Dark Melon Mambo, Dark Daffodil Delight, Dark & Light Granny Apple Green

Paper: Basic White, Melon Mambo, Granny Apple Green & Daffodil Delight card stocks

Accessories: Regal Foiled Dots, Dimensionals

I don't know why I torture myself fussy cutting this flower out, but maaan I do...! And it's pretty that way! 

Make A Wish!

I got some stampy time! Hooray!! And it looks like they're all "due" at the same time, so I'll just blog them in the order I made them, ha. 

First up, a blend of old, very old, and 2026, ha. 

For this one, I used the inspiration board at Hand Stamped Sentiments and used the die cut part of Just Add Ink! It might not look exactly like the inspiration board, but the top center has a very similar background as my swirly DP, and then the palm trees in the sunset at the bottom, plus some black and white polka dots! It counts in my book! 

Supplies:

Stamps: Perfect Pennants

Ink: Memento Black

Paper: Basic Black card stock, True Love DP, Full of Life DP

Accessories: Neutrals Candy Dots (the last black!), Boardwalk Fun Dies, Dimensionals

The palm trees are a perfect example of why Stampin' Up! sold black dimensionals, at least a few years ago. I didn't get them, but my mom did. Smart. Very smart. ha. 

Tulip Birthday!

Hello again! A morning post this time, just like 97% of my posts, ha. 

Today I have a fun floral card for you. This one uses the sketch from Just Add Ink and the color challenge from Inspire.Create.Challenges.

And it uses a pack of DP I have never opened. I didn't know I could even say that!! It's not even new- I bought it when it came out a few years ago. 2022? It's about time I use some of it! 

Supplies:
Stamps: Gorgeous Posies

Ink: Melon Mambo

Paper: Daffodil Delight card stock, Flowering Fields DP

Accessories: Peach Parfait Stitched Poly Ribbon, Dimensionals

I cut the section of tulips that fit the color challenge.....
I'll just show you. ha.
Sorry about the glare. 
anyway, I cut off the bottom strip of purple tulips, but don't worry, I know a lot of people who's favorite color is purple. That will be put to use. Then I cut the first bit of the pink-orange-yellow section into strips, and then a few more strips from the next section, ha. I stacked them, but put the pink in the center, and voila! A card! 

Pretty sure I know who is getting this one too. Yeay for sending love! 

Beautiful Shells

Another very late post, maybe this is a thing... 

Tonight's card uses the Inspired By... challenge with cookies, colors and even a sketch. I didn't follow it, but I was *inspired by the sketch. I did a kind of blocking with the stamps. And I used their colors, and a beach theme. 

Supplies:

Stamps: Beautiful Beach (2006!)
Ink: Versamark, Island Indigo

Paper: Crumb Cake, Lost Lagoon card stocks 

Accessories: Regals Candy Dots, Iridescent Ice embossing powder, Heat Tool

I used a really old technique of stamping  inking up the image first in Versamark, then in the color you want, then stamping it on the paper. Then you use the fancy, long-retired Iridescent Ice embossing powder to make it SPARKLE. Before you heat it, it looks like this: 

and afterwards, it's super sparkly and also a trick to photograph, ha.

But all the shells look like that bottom clam shell IRL, on a certain angle, ha. 

I also almost used up this pack of Candy Dots. I just have four left! Just a little bummed that they didn't line up super well.... It's FINE. The recipient won't mind too much, ha. 

Traveling Birthday!

Did you have a happy 4th of July weekend? Ours was busy, happy and good. And hot... 

Today I have a late post, and a happy card!

I almost never use four stamp sets on one project, but here we are! I needed Neuschwanstein Castle (been there!) and the Arc de Triomphe, and thought this Eiffel Tower looked like a good enough match in style (not really, but it's close enough). Then the images fit perfectly for this color blocked look using the latest from TGIF Challenges! 

Supplies:

Stamps: Chase Your Dreams, Artistic Etchings, Lets Get Away, Special Moments (all long retired!)

Ink: Memento Black

Paper: Basic White, Basic Black, Coastal Cabana, Lemon Lime Twist

Accessories: Classic Matte Dots  

And it's going out in the mail in the morning! 

Purple Flowers

Happy July! 
I don't know about your neck of the woods but around here it's been a little bleak.
We have a lot of terrible wild fires surrounding our area and we've had days of raining ash and days of yellow skies and it is definitely taking a toll, physically and mentally. It is too hot and blah to be outside enjoying summer, soo we kind of haven't. (altho we did have two really nice weather days this past weekend, which was a huge blessing!)
I don't know anything about soccer (seriously, I watched my middle kiddo play for six years and barely caught on her last season!) but I have enjoyed the fun social media posts about the World Cup. Other than that, not loving social media. Wow, people are grumpy. 
And SO. I have delivered cookies and mailed cards out to people I've noticed could use a bit of brightening to their day. 
Which means I needed to make some. ha. 

And so, today I have the colors from CAS Colours & Sketches, and I think it's CAS enough... tho I did sneak in a few flower centers of Crumb Cake...
Just some happy flowers to hopefully cheer up a friend of mine.

Supplies:

Stamps: Cheerful Daisies

Ink: Gorgeous Grape, Blackberry Bliss, Garden Green, Crumb Cake

Paper: Basic White card stock

Accessories: Dimensionals 

anyway. You should send out cards too. Share some love and not all the grumpiness and negativity. It's a good mid-year goal, haha. 

Bright Floral Birthday

Hello again! Today I have a happy card, even if it turned out differently than I meant it to... I used the colors from As You See It and clearly was inspired by the photo too. I'm also going to put this with the TGIF Challenges because the card front, and the greeting are popped up! 

I love this long-retired flower set. It always makes happy cards! I even know exactly who this is going to in a few weeks! 

The only thing that didn't go quite as planned was using the Blending Brush to add in a bit of Coastal Cabana "around" the flowers, but the brush spread around some of the Melon Mambo too...which is interesting because I was thinking it needed re-inked... ha! Oh well. I still like it. 

Supplies:
Stamps: Gorgeous Posies

Ink: Melon Mambo, Berry Burst, Lemon Lime Twist, Coastal Cabana

Paper: Basic White card stock

Accessories: Dimensionals, Blending Brush

Sunset birthday!

Sometimes you gotta take the inspiration photo literally, and this was one of those times!
Today's card is entirely based on the inspo photo from TGIF Challenges.
And some other day, I have got to use the other images in this fun bundle, ha! 

Supplies:

Stamps: Sunny Sentiments

Ink: Versamark
Paper: Full of Life DP, Pumpkin Pie & Basic Black card stocks

Accessories: Iridescent Pearls, Boardwalk Fun Dies, Black Embossing Powder, Dimensionals, Glue Dots, Heat Tool

I wanted to heat emboss the greeting so it would be a darker black than just ink. I haven't embossed in ages. I had to look hard for my heat tool AND the powder! Sheesh! Use your stuff! 

Back with Sympathy

I have a friend who's lost another dear family member, and I thought this color combination from Just Add Ink was soft and peaceful and would work well for a card for her. 

The specific shades I chose were Basic Black, Basic Gray, Smoky Slate, Balmy Blue & Boho Blue, and I used them all. I added a smidge of "gray" pearls, ahem. 

Supplies:
Stamps: Ranunculus Romance, In the Moment

Ink: Boho Blue, Balmy Blue, Smoky Slate, Basic Gray

Paper: Balmy Blue, Basic Gray, Basic White card stocks

Accessories: Black Vintage Crochet Trim, Metallic Pearls, Dimensionals, Blending Brushes

Winnie The Pooh!

And finally, we did get to meet and hug Winnie the Pooh!! Can you think of a better hug? haha! 

Last time we went, he was the first character we saw, but we couldn't hug any characters on that trip because of the plague. In fact, the week after we got home, they finally ended the mask requirement, which was totally lame because you could be crammed shoulder-to-shoulder in outdoor lines with no mask, but the second you went inside, ten feet away from the other "car", that mask had to be on correctly. things I do not miss.....

Supplies:

Stamps: Crayon Fun Alpha Lower, Sweet Old Friends, Sweet Words & Labels

Ink: Golden Glow, Memento Black
Paper: Basic Vanilla, Golden Glow card stocks, Silly Old Bear DP

This page shows another new In Color, Golden Glow. It is the shade of Pooh Bear in the new DP, because obviously it was meant for him! 

Once again, I added typed journaling afterwards. This time Pooh is laughing because my son went for a handshake instead of a hug, haha. Silly boys. 

I am looking forward to playing with these products more, that's for sure!! 

Seeing Eeyore

Continuing a little Disneyland, with the new Winnie the Pooh suite...
 
We didn't actually *meet Eeyore, but we saw him walk past a couple times! In the middle picture, he's waving to my bouncing youngest child, haha! 
I seriously love the DP in this suite. I MIGHT cave and get a second pack... 

Supplies:
Stamps: Crayon Fun Alpha Lower, Sweet Words & Labels

Ink: Memento Black, Hydrangea Hue
Paper: Basic Vanilla, Hydrangea Hue card stocks, Silly Old Bear DP

This page also shows off one of the new In Colors, Hydrangea Hue. It's a perfect blue. Gonna need to stock up on that too..... oy. 

Meet Rabbit

Happy Monday! Time just keeps on marching on and I still think it's February. It's fiiiine.

In March, we went on a trip to southern California- and I will start with {baby steps of} scrapping Disneyland! I have so. many. things. to scrapbook...! 
I started seeing sneak peeks of the Winnie the Pooh suite from Stampin' Up! and knew I needed it. The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh is definitely one of my top comfort movies. I got a stuffed Pooh and Tigger for my first Easter. My oldest has a stuffed Pooh and Tigger and my youngest has a stuffed Pooh and Piglet.
I was a little ...annoyed is probably too strong a word...? that it was a whole product suite, ha, because then I *needed more than just a stamp set, haha!
But then, along with a trip to Disney- yep, this suite is a NEED! And I didn't even get it all! 

So the first thing I scrapped for this trip was two of my kiddos meeting Rabbit! I made this layout using a cute bit of the DP and the stamp set. 

Supplies:

Stamps: Crayon Fun Alpha Lower, Sweet Words & Labels
Ink: Daffodil Delight, Crushed Curry

Paper: Basic Vanilla, Daffodil Delight card stocks, Silly Old Bear DP

Accessories: Blending Brush, really old washi tape

I did type up some journaling and stuck it in the open space. One thing was that Rabbit is reacting to my son's shirt which is the "The poison. The poison for Kuzco, the poison chosen especially to kill Kuzco, Kuzco's poison. That poison?" from a huge family favorite movie around here - Emperor's New Groove, which was the theme of t-shirts we got this year, hahaha!  

Birthday Scrapping

I have done something to my foot. Or ankle... Really, its the space below the ankle bone. I don't know what- but I'm pretty clumsy, so really, anything is possible. Also I'm over 40 so maybe I just slept wrong. Anyway, it makes it difficult to stand for a long time, which is how I craft, lol. So there's not a lot of new stuff.... 

But I did recently get some scrapping done for my youngest, so I can share that!

This one is quite simple, but I stamped strawberries on the pink card stock, because her pink shirt has dark pink strawberries. And the greeting isn't something I would usually think goes on a page, but in this case, it totally works. 

Supplies:

Stamps: Sweet Strawberry

Ink: Magenta Madness, Memento Black

Paper: Magenta Madness & Basic White card stock
Accessories: Iridescent Pearls, Oval Punch
Journaling Font: justbeautifulsimplicity

A different kind of calendar - the end!

Welp! My girl is off to Mexico City, starting quite an adventure! She has contacted us briefly a couple of times so we know she's alive and well! Tomorrow we should have a chance for a real conversation, but in the meantime, here's the end of her calendar pages. I counted the first post wrong, so it's less pages this time, ha. 

September:

October:

November:

Hopefully she's got this hanging in her new space, and hopefully it's cheerful and not adding to the homesickness... 

Cookies for the Teacher

Happy Monday to you! I hope you had a good weekend. We had a lot of family time, which was good and very needed. 

Today I have a card that I made simply because I didn't want to get my card stash box out one. more. time! It's currently in an awkward spot because the craft room is a wreck, and it was just too much for me to do again, lol, so I just made one! Plus I got to play with SUO Challenges for the sketch. And actually, I think the card turned out better for the recipient than any I had on hand, so it's fiiine. 

Again with the retired stash, ha. Also fine. 

Supplies:

Stamps: Nothing's Better Than

Ink: Cinnamon Cider, Memento Black, Coastal Cabana

Paper: Coastal Cabana, Basic White card stocks

Accessories: Iridescent Striped Trim, Opal Rounds, Perennial Postage Dies, Blending Brushes, Dimensionals, big shot 

This one is actually going to my daughter's school teacher. (the inside says "you make everything better") My kiddo has had a rough time at school the last few years, but at least this year she had a good teacher. She will tell you that, too. I don't know her teacher super well, but on her faculty page it says her favorite color is turquoise and that she likes cookies. I can do that. I was also drawn to this ribbon and realized the dots are a perfect match, and I think it's because she's one of those people who just exudes light. Bless her. Seriously. She is exactly the kind of person who should teach elementary age children.

Most years I have given my children's teachers a small thank you, and usually it's a short stack of cards for them to use and some kind of treat. We have a lot of cookie places around here, so we got this teacher a gift card for one of them. She also got five cards to use, this card from me, and a picture my daughter drew for her. 

Also, funny secret, the little gift sack comes from the eye doctor. I like that it says Thank You right on it, and for a long time I didn't even know where we got them in the gift wrap stash, haha... But it's a perfect fit, so I'm gonna use it! 

A different kind of calendar - part 4

Finally Friday! And Friday night at that! I'm showered and ready for bed even tho no one else in my house is, ha. Some people are still at work! 

School is nearly out, and there's just a few more days before my girl flies away- literally! We have to have her at the airport about 630am that day. blah. So here's the next few pages from her calendar! 

May:

June: 

July: 

And August!

Mother's Day!

I really did need crafty time, and I got to make this yesterday too. Hooray! haha. 

This card uses three challenges- the CASE from SUO Challenges, the feminine theme from The Paper Players and I used two dies for Just Add Ink's die's challenge! And loads of old stash! Hooray for that! 

Supplies: (all retired!)
Stamps: Well Said

Ink: Fresh Fig

Paper: Sahara Sand, Pink Pirouette, Parisian Summer DP

Accessories: Very Vanilla Scalloped Lace Trim, Linen Thread, Antique Pearls (actually not retired), Well Written Framelit Dies, Swirly Scribbles Dies (the flowers), Dimensionals (not retired), Glue Dots (not retired), Big Shot

Rainy Days

I really needed some crafty time and I need a card to mail out, so that is what I did today! So there! haha!  

We had a crazy bad heat wave for weeks and then it got nice and rainy for a little while. The heat is coming back hard, which is totally rude, but I can still make it rain the craft room!
And so, today's card combines the Inkspirational prompt of rain with the colors from TGIF Challenges.

And a lot of retired products! 

Supplies:
Stamps: Million Dollar Moments

Ink: Crumb Cake, Coastal Cabana, Melon Mambo

Paper: Basic White, Crumb Cake card stocks, Dandy Designs DP
Accessories: Dimensionals 

A different kind of calendar - part 3.

Hello again! This is getting very real! My daughter started online training for her mission this week, everything is purchased, we have flight information, just waiting for time to pass! That should mean I get a little more time for new paper crafting soon, too...!
Not at all surprisingly, she loves the calendar. She did forget I was doing this and she was so excited looking thru it. 

Here are the next four calendar pages she's taking with her!
December 

The background here is a photo. We have a little pond nearby and they put lit trees on rafts out over it and it looks amazing at night. And just a few other December things... 

January

February: 

March: 

April:

A different kind of calendar - part 2.

Good evening!
Today I have the second section of this calendar for you. Yes- the whole blog looks like her right this second, don't worry, my youngest has said the same thing. But when you leave home for the first time, you need a lot of stuff. And a lot of people come to wish you the best. Hooray for good friends and loving family! 
And this silly older daughter of mine actually asked if I would do a scrapbook of her mission. I'm sorry, have we not met?? 

But in the meantime, here are four more calendar pages she will take with her. 

August: 

September: 

October: 

November: 

It's still a surprise btw. I took a flash drive over to our local printer to get it put together...! waiting excitedly!!

10th Grade

So, this past Sunday, when we had a house jam-packed full of family and friends to support my daughter leaving for a church mission, this was taking up space in the entry, ha.

That's her 14 scrapbooks out for anyone to peruse. It was funny to me how many of her friends hoped to find themselves in there. Considering I just shared 5th grade on Tuesday, her books are very hit and miss, as to what is inside, haha, but some of those friends were definitely included.

Anyway! Still no crafty time at my house right now, hahaha, but here's another scrapbook page I did for this daughter, specifically for the project above. Fast, but done. 

This was her first day back to school after the world shut down. We were fortunate that school started "normally" the next fall (August... that's sort of thinking about fall...) but I did have my mom make an arsenal of face masks for her, in colors she liked. blah. I do not miss those days, but it's good to scrap it.

Supplies: 

Paper: Basic White, Blushing Bride card stock, Just Add Cake DP 
Accessories: Baja Breeze Double Stitched Grosgrain Ribbon, Shades of Green Hexagons
Journaling Font: Cambria

5th Grade

One of the things I did to prep for this past weekend was to put my daughter's life worth of scrapbooks in order. I had to go back to when she was three, removing all the pages from her books, ha. Then I sort everything by year and when I get to that year, I sort it all in order by month, and put it all back in the books, 99% in order.. Make sense? It's a lot of work, ha, so I only do it every few years. Then as I continue to scrap, I just add it to the back til I want to re-sort! 

This was one of the new pages that had to be put in it's correct spot! Some maybe all of these supplies are older than these photos, haha. Yeay stash! 

Supplies: 
Paper: Basic White card stock
Accessories: Island Blossoms Simply Scrappin kit, Fairy Tale Ribbon Originals

Stamps: Alphabet Attitude Lower, Alphabet Attitude Numbers

Ink: Tahitian Tide 

Journaling Font: School Teacher

A different kind of calendar - part 1.

Happy Friday to you! Another late post... I hope this isn't becoming a thing! 
I hope you're looking forward to the weekend, mine will be PACKED.

My family and I are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. You may know our church as LDS or Mormons. My older daughter has chosen to serve a mission for our church, and you may have seen our missionaries, wearing black name tags in your town. Missionaries choose to leave home and college and regular life, to serve, and are assigned to serve in a specific location. My daughter will be going to the Lubbock Texas mission, which includes about half of New Mexico as well as western Texas. She will do her training in Mexico City and she'll be primarily working with people who speak Spanish. She is SO excited. It will be a lot of work for her, for the next nineteen months, and it has been some work preparing as well. But this will be a wonderful adventure and we are all very happy for her. 

She speaks in church this Sunday, as is traditional before a missionary leaves. That means we're expecting around 75 people (there were 62 people in my house plus the five of us!) to come to our house afterwards, which is fun, but a lot, haha. And that means we've been spending this entire week prepping.

I saw an idea to make a photo calendar for your missionary so they have photos of home hanging in their room. And also it's a bit of a photo album they can show their companions (something like a roommate). Well...I can make a photo calendar! (I used to do these as Christmas gifts for both my husband's and my parents.) I decided to go with 12x12 size for my daughter, so it's not a great photo album for taking around, ha, but it will be nice wall decor that will also be fun for her. 

It's sort of a surprise for her, but she still contributed. For example, she selected a huge album of photos she thought she might want to take, which I selected from, haha... And I asked for some of her favorite scripture verses and some of her favorite worship songs and hymns. Also, I *told her I would make her a calendar, rather than print 90+ photos. So it's a surprise she knows about? haha.... yes. 

And so! I will split up the 20 "pages" into a few separate posts, so as to not bore you to death, ha. The photos span the last three or so years, mostly of her with different family and friends. She chose the sillier ones- photos I would not have included, but clearly, she wanted reminders of the fun times too. And the nature pictures are, I think, entirely her own photography, which is fun.

So here is her cover page: 

She starts in May, so here is her May page:

June: 

and for today, July:

Anyway, I'm having fun with this. Honestly, I'm almost done with the project, but nobody else knows that, haha....