Always Love You

 

I'm starting to get that "summer is almost over it's mid-August and I have to go back to work" feeling. ARGH!!

Summers are so important to teachers. We need that time to recharge our batteries after giving 200% of ourselves during the year. This coming year is nothing but uncertainty and looks like it's going to be one heck of a roller coaster ride...

I'm trying to put off those thoughts. All of them. Darn it all! I don't "return" until the 25th, so I still have time! Forget about that deep cleaning that still needs to happen! There's always time for that! :oP Let me get in the offudio and create!

Liss and I have a new Saturday and Sunday morning routine. Saturday we check to see The Paper Players' design team picks for the week and then Sunday we check out the newest challenge. 

I know I said earlier I usually have an easy time with colors. Well, this time, I struggled a bit. Then I looked at my desk and saw a brand new stamp set staring at me, and I knew. :o) 

This is proving to be a versatile and lovely little set and I'm off to play some more. :o) 

As for work...well...it can wait. ;o)

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Stamp Sets: Branch Out (butterflies--oh how I love those little butterflies!), Field of flowers

Paper: Whisper White (heavy and regular), Night of Navy

Ink: Night of Navy, Melon Mambo, Mango Melody, Pool Party

Miscellaneous: brayer

How to:

I used the brayer to lightly put in the Pool Party for the background. Because I didn't want it super dark, I rolled it off on a scrap piece of paper and then rolled it on my paper. 

Playing with Challenging Sketches

As I mentioned in my last post, I made five cards on Wednesday. I'm not sharing two of them--they're SO bad!!--but I'll share these two. 

I was playing along with The Paper Players sketch for challenge number 501 and really struggled with it. The diagonal element in particular stymied me quite a bit. 

I finally settled on the card above, but it still felt a little too busy to my CAS loving heart. 

So, I made card number four:

Same stamps, same sentiment, but with fewer layers. I think the card above this is lovely, no question, and I really do like the combination of Granny Apple Green with Gorgeous Grape (which is such a rich color). My life is so cluttered and busy lately, this simpler card appeals more. :shrug:

Here's to less time on screens, less time scrolling, and more time being creative. It feeds my soul in a way electronics just don't. 

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Stamp Sets: Sweet Essentials, Summer Silhouettes, Branch Out (butterflies)

Paper: Heavy Whisper White, Gorgeous Grape

Ink: Granny Apple Green, Gorgeous Grape, Pool Party

Branching Out My Creative Muscles (see what I did there??)

I've not been as good about crafting as I had hoped to be, getting distracted by my tiny handheld computer screen (I'm looking at you, iPhone old friend). After a quick day trip to the mountains failed to remove the weight of anxiety and bluh I was feeling, I put my phone down.

Not completely. It's a bad habit, you see. I pick it up when I need a quick distraction (because IG is just so darn FUN!) and then get sucked in. This week, when I find myself starting to scroll, I've been doing something crafty instead.

I've done a lot of coloring (SU! Blends are so delightful to color with!), and today (after Lissie once again poked and prodded ;oP) I decided to see what I could do with this week's challenge over at The Paper Players.

When I used to play along, I found color and theme challenges fairly easy to do while sketches often stymied me.

This week was this sketch:

*GULP*

A sketch.

Of course it would be a sketch. 

:insert laughing face here:

I made five cards. Three of them were okay and two were awful. 

But, wait, I made FIVE cards! When was the last time I sat down and did that?!? And, you know what? Even with the two horrible duds, I had FUN!! :oD When was the last time I said I really had fun scrolling on IG? 

So, once again, thank you, Paper Players, for inspiring me to stretch my creative muscles and have fun getting inky and messy. :o)  

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Stamp Sets: Branch Out, Sweet Essentials

Paper: Heavy Whisper White

Ink: Coastal Cabana, Granny Apple Green, Lemon Lime Twist, Poppy Parade, Mango Melody, Early Espresso, Crumb Cake, Memento Tuxedo Black

Miscellaneous: dimensionals

How To:

*I inked up my D block with Coastal Cabana, stamped off twice and then used it to create the background

*The sentiment is a mashup of two in the Sweet Essentials set. I covered the words I didn't want to stamp with washi tape, inked the word I wanted, and then peeled the tape off. I had to use the Stamp-A-Majig because there was NO WAY I was positioning those words where I wanted them otherwise!

Fall, Oh Fall, Where Art Thou?

I'm sorry I took a much longer break than anticipated. Miss Ellie received her four month shots Tuesday and she was a wreck that day and the next. As such, I was unable to get in the studio. :o( I'm pleased to say Ellie is doing better, and I had some play time last night. :o)

As the temperatures here continue to hover in the upper-80's to 90's, I'm insanely jealous of those with more seasonal temps. The kiddies are back in school, that means the days should be cooler with a crispness that I'm just not getting here. Williamsburg is a lovely lovely place to live, there are so many activities and so much history, but it lacks a proper autumn. As that is my favorite season, it makes it tough this time of year. Now Blacksburg has an autumn to be envious of. :sigh:

All this to say, I was trying to decide what I wanted to make to submit to the Paper Players Challenge this week (Clean and Simple--my style to a "T"), felt my longing for fall, and picked up "Branch Out". It all came together from there.

Since maples are my favorite tree (only because I don't live out west with the gorgeous, majestic aspen), and I LOVE their vibrant fall foliage, I decided that was what I was going to create. :o)

And, of course, I can't leave out the inside. :o)

This card uses:
Stamp Sets: "Branch Out", "Hope Happens"
Inks: Pumpkin Pie, Tangerine Tango, Cherry Cobbler, Real Read, Early Espresso, Garden Green
Paper: Whisper White, Cherry Cobbler, Tangerine Tango

We have highs projected to be lower-80's and upper 70's for this weekend. Maybe fall is on its way?

--Rach

Happiness Happens

Ah, yet more "Cottage Wall" DSP. It just makes me happy. I know this is a simple layout, but I LOVED the image and the sentiment. I had a tire swing when I was little, and oh how I loved to climb on and go for a ride. Such a happy memory called for a happy sentiment. Anne Frank certainly captured that. :o)

This card uses:
Paper: Whisper White, Old Olive, Rich Razzleberry, Orchid Opulence, Cottage Wall DSP
Ink: Old Olive, Chocolate Chip, Rich Razzleberry, Orchid Opulence
Stamp Sets: "Branch Out", "Hope Happens"
Accessories: 5/8" Old Olive grosgrain ribbon

I challenge you to go forth and pass the happiness on. It's contagious. :o)

--Rach