Spring Birds

A new challenge is up and running at
Can You handle The Pressure
and the 'OPTIONAL' theme is BIRDS/BIRDHOUSES
and using an embossing folder of course but you can create
anything and don't have to follow the optional theme! 
Wet embossing is permitted but you MUST use an embossing folder
after all, that is what we are all about.

For my card I was lucky enough to find this amazing
embossing folder at Simon Says back in February when they
had a 50% off sale.  It comes with the bird dies too,
so you can die cut them, place the in the embossing folder
and add them to the embossed background OR use them separate
on another card!
I colored the folder and birds in with alcohol markers.

There are some pretty Spring birds over at
Can You Handle The Pressure
as the teams always seem to use the optional themes
showing you plenty of inspiration!!  You might want to head on over
and take a peek, join in with us too, we would love to have you and
there is always an embossing folder prize up for grabs!

Be Your Own Kind Of Beautiful

 Time for a new challenge at 

The Sisterhood of Crafters and the theme is BIRDS!
A pretty easy theme as there are all kinds of birds, big and small!

One road over from us a lady raises peacocks.
We can hear them screech every now and then and they are LOUD!
We have driven by her farm 100's of times but I have yet to
see one there, but she has a huge barn and I think that
is where she keeps them.  I heard she has lots and lots of them,
hoping someday we can spot them.

I had a die I have never used I decided to use from Papertrey Ink
from their Feathered Friends line.
all the die cuts I used other then the peacock
were from my already die cut stash including the
embossed side piece.  The Sentiment is from a SNS set 'Birds'
which I thought worked perfectly with the peacock.

Make sure to visit The Sisterhood to see all

the pretty birds my 'sistahs' have for inspiration.

Peace On Earth Challenge #40

It's that time again for a new challenge at Peace On Earth
and we are always an 'Anything Goes' theme as long as it is
Christmas themed but do offer mood boards for inspiration!  

I let the bottom left corner with the packages inspire me, but good grief was
that metallic paper I used hard to photograph, this is one of those cards
which looks MUCH better IRL!

I used a never been used before Impression Obsession die for the packages
and a Creative Expressions die for the deer.
The background paper is from Pink Paislee 2013 Snow Village
 (are they still in business anymore?)

The sentiment is from SU Cross Stitched Christmas.

Hope to see YOU over at Peace On Earth!!

Sketch 726

It's that time again for a new sketch at
Sketch Saturday!
The twist you can use or not and this time it is SPONGING! 

I chose not to use the twist this time around, kind of rare for me
but I kept it more clean and simple.
I had a die from Gemini that was perfect to cut out my shapes
but have to say I broke my Spellbinders little Prizm while doing it, ugh!
Not sure why as it was going along fine and about 3 cuts from being finished it broke!
I did add a sentiment to the front of my card, after all it is 'OUR' take on the sketch, right?
Don't look too close s I made a few errors on this one, didn't help when I had the dog nudging my arm 24/7 to get me to pet him!!

I hope you will join us in our Sketch Saturday challenge,
doesn't it remind you of honeycombs?  That would be a good starting point I think,
hope to see you there!!

Flowers

Spring has sprung a few weeks ago and if like me you are thinking about flowers
and gardening, though here in Michigan I have to be careful as we still could 
have a late freeze, so I normally don't plant anything until after Mother's Day or
even Memorial Day!  Last year we had a cold and late Spring which seemed to shorten
our Spring and Summer days!
Anyhow we have Spring themed challenge at
Double D
and the theme is Flowers. 
As always we have a fun mood board for inspiration but you
can create anything as long as you stay with our flower theme!

Flowers 

I let the floral theme inspire me this time by using a new to me

Daisy EB folder by Crafter's companion Delightful Daisies
coloring in the centers with copics and adding a sentiment
stamped and die cut from Pink Fresh Studios.

To see more floral beauty visit the
Double D challenge blog and 

feast your eyes on the DT creations!

Entering the following challenges:
Ally's Angels .... ATG
bastel-traum challenge blog #124 .... Plants/Flowers

Crafty Gals Corner .... Flowers For Mom (my Mom was my BEST friend)
Elliebelle's Crafty Wednesday .... ATG
Word Art Wednesday .... ATG

TOB May Mid Month Reminder

 We are half way threw our challenge at 
Two Old Bats
and would love to have you join us.
Here is the mood board for inspiration for this month.

 Inspiration Board

I created a simple card this time using s die cut Tutti Designs pumpkin
that already was cut and in my stash!
I also added a silhouette witch that was a bunch I had purchased years ago on
Ebay.  The background paper is from a pad I have been trying to use up.

Make sure to visit at Two Old Bats and see all
the fun inspiration from the team!

Entering the following challenges:
Halloween Crafts All Year Round .... ATG Halloween

Cozy Coupe

 We are halfway into May already which i shard to believe how time seems
to fly, and that brings us to another FUN challenge at
A Barrel of Monkeys.
The theme this time is Cozy Coupe.
I have to admit my poor kids were neglected as they never had
one of these fun little 'coupes' but I think they survived lol!

For all the details of the challenge please click on the link given above!

A long while back, I was lucky enough to win a fabulous
gift of things from Pink & Main
and it included this cute stamp set 'Spring Train'
which just so happened to include this cute bunny
driving nothing other then one of these coupes.
This is the first time I have inked up this set
and have to admit it is pretty darn cute!

We hope to see YOU at A Barrel of Monkeys!!

May Floral Challenge

A new floral challenge starts today at
Beautiful Blossoms 
and we have this colorful mood board for inspiration!

Though the mood board is showing a lot of a hot/bright pink color
I went with the mix of colors I saw in the upper left and upper center
picture as well as the second on the right photo.

I once again pulled out a wood block stamp given to me
by my friend when she downsized her stash.
It is an OLD PSX 1999 stamp but still beautiful to me.
I colored it in with Copics and die cut it on a Cottage Cuts
eyelet rectangle die.  The sentiment is Stampendous and I even
pulled out a couple SU circle punches!

We would love to see your pretty florals at
Beautiful Blossoms
and pop on over to see floral beauty from the design team,
lots of inspiration there!

Pretty Floral

 It's a new challenge time at
Can You Handle The Pressure
and our 'OPTIONAL' theme is FLORAL!
It's only optional and you can created anything you want
but you MUST use an embossing folder!

I have become quite obsessed with 3D embossing folders
and there are some great companies coming out
with them and Simon Says being one!
I used a Simon Says Floral Centerpiece folder.
It is a larger folder measuring approximately 4 1/2 x 6 1/2.
I colored it in with Pebbles Cream Chalks
and was presently surprised they were just as 'creamy'
as the day I bought them being 13 years old, yep, they are from 2010!

The colors are actually a bit softer then shown, my photo editing skills
aren't always the best!!

We would love to have YOU join us at 
Can You Handle The Pressure!!

Entering the following fun challenges:
Word Art Wednesday .... ATG
The Flower Challenge .... Pretty Pastels

Hello Sunshine

The Sisterhood of Crafters challenge is all about FLOWERS
this time around, a challenge I think will be enjoyed by all!

I used an Altenew  Exotic Tulips layered stamp set
using just one tulip keeping it pretty CAS.  The sentiment is
part of the stamp set and I am happy to say I HAVE used this set before!!  I added a few gems here and there!
Tulips are one of my favorite Spring flowers next to Daffodils!

Don't you just love flower challenges?  I know I do,
so if you do too then head on over to The Sisterhood
and have some fun entering our challenge!!

Entering the following challenges:
The Flower Challenge .... Pretty Pastels

Little Red Wagon .... Spring Flowers

Peace On Earth Challenge #39

Happy May!!

Time for a new challenge at Peace On Earth!
We have a pretty mood board for May inspiration
but you can create anything you want as long as it is
CHRISTMAS themed!

 I actually had some bottle brush tree stamps I had planned on using
but that cute little mouse just 'spoke' to me
and I knew I had a Spellbinders die set that would be perfect
for this challenge.  When Spellbinders have their warehouse sales I  
always find some really good buys there and this little Jolly Mitten Mouse
was one of them.  wouldn't he a be cute card for a new baby that was born in December?
I created him totally out of scraps including the embossed oval he is adhered to. 
The background paper is Bo Bunny Candy Cane Collection.

For even more inspiration pop on over to the
Peace On Earth challenge blog and see all the 'pretties'
from the design teams!

Entering the following challenges:
Christmas Bingo Challenges ....Using B Dots~Green~Free

Merry Little Christmas Challenge .... ATG
The Holly and Ivy Christmas Challenge....ATG
Snippets Playground .... Snippets (sorry forgot  a pic of my snippets)

Sketch 725

 Hello there, time for a new sketch challenge at 
Sketch Saturday.
The twist is to use a floral image, your choice to use it
or not, I chose not to use the twist this time.

For my card I used a paper with butterflies from a P13 pad
along with a few 'tags' I purchased also from P13.
If you are not familiar with P13, the paper is from Poland
and just as beautiful as the Mintay papers.  I think I have almost every pad they have come out with!
The gingham papers came from my scrap bag of gingham pieces!
I pretty much followed the sketch changing it a bit
with instead of using the three dots you see on the left, I used  a ribbon tied on my tag!  The sketches are to be followed but always
in the eye of the beholder of how YOU interpret them!

Lots of fun inspiration at Sketch Saturday, come and join us!

Fresh Picked

Hello friends, we have a fun new challenge theme to start the month out at
Double D and it is
Fresh Picked (anything you can pick fresh)
we also have a fun mood board for inspiration!

You can create anything as long as it can be 'fresh picked'!
I had this Hero Arts strawberry layering stamp that
worked perfect for our theme, in fact such a perfect stamp set
that I also purchased a second one for our prize at Double D!
I kept my card pretty simple and must say it was an easy layering stamp  to use.

We would LOVE to see you at Double D and take a peek over
there to see all the yummy creations by the design team!

Entering the following challenges:
Simon Says Wednesday .... No Patterned Paper
The Crafty Addicts #1 .... ATG
Word Art Wednesday .... ATG
Little Red Wagon .... CAS

May 2023 Triple B Challenge

Our new challenge is up and running strong.
We have beautiful inspiration boards but you can create 
anything you want as long as you use a Butterfly~floral~ or bird
at Triple B! 

I had stenciled a card to use but once done decided it didn't look complete
without the additional stamp to use with it which I didn't have,
so instead of waiting for that to arrive I went ahead and made another
card using The Greetery's Crocus die
which I've had about a year or more and never used!
The background paper is from a beautiful Mintay pack 'Lavender Fields',
what a gorgeous pack of paper it is and you should see the backside of 
this piece, it is stunning!  I placed my crocus on a Cottage Cutz eyelet oval and added a fun little sentiment.

Take a visit at Triple B as we have more inspiration and a
fabulous guest designer, join in with us too!

Entering the following challenges:
Addicted To Stamps and More .... Die Cuts and/or Stencils (Die Cuts)

Colorful Options Blue Color Challenge

 Hello my friends it is that time again for a new color
challenge at Colorful Options and this time it it
BLUE!
Don't like blue then use a rainbow color combo!
There is a blue inspiration board with all kinds of pretty
blues to combine and/or choose from!

 A new inspiration board was added after I had my card created, so feel free to use
either one if you would like, mine works with the first board mostly!

I created a floral blue card using many of my
handmade flowers from my flower stash!
I also used a bit of designer paper from
Dress My Crafts Hydrangea Lawns, this is the
prettiest paper pack ever!  I gave the link in case
you want to check it out.  I also used for the first time

a Poppystamps Stitched Heart Curve die along with a 
Memory Box Grosgrain ribbon die.
The sentiment is stamped and die cut from
Pink Fresh Studios.

Make sure to take a peek at the Colorful Options challenge
and see all the pretty designs from the design team!

Entering the following challenges
Crafting Happiness .... Flowers

Cupcake Inspiration  .... Mothers Day/Someone Special Feminine

Make My Monday .... Flowers
Cut It Up .... What's In Your Garden
If You Gave A Crafter A Cookie .... May-Blue

 

TOB May Challenge

New month, means a new challenge at
Two Old Bats! 
If you have been joining our challenge each month you
should have a nice little stash of Halloween cards already.
If not, what are you waiting for?
I love that I can use my Halloween stamps/dies and 'stuff'
all year long and not have to be in a rush when October rolls around!

We have a fun mood board just fitting for the month of May,
lots of pretty florals that scream HALLOWEEN!

But, the mood board is only for inspiration,
you can create anything you want as long as it is Halloween.

 Inspiration Board

I let the fun witches' hat on the bottom left inspire me
using a never been used before Hampton Art stamp set.
I colored her in with Copics and added a few purple sequins for shimmer.

For MORE fun inspiration head on over to the
Two Old Bats challenge blog!!

PS:  Did you know there is another Halloween challenge
you can enter too?
It's Halloween Crafts All Year Round!

Entering the following challenges:
Halloween Crafts All Year Round .... ATG Halloween

Pretty Cosmos

 The OPTIONAL  theme at our Stencil Fun challenge is
FLOWERS!
Of course it is always anything goes as long as you a stencil!

Like I have mentioned many a time, my passion has been using 
layered stencils and when I saw the stencils from The Ton
I couldn't help but order one.
This one is Cosmos, and oh so many more I want but they are pricey
things that's for sure (didn't stop me though lol) and I gave you
the link so you can check them out yourself!
This is a four layer stencil so I was able to get all those awesome colors.
I made an A6 (not my usual A2) card since the stencil took up plenty
of room on my card base and I didn't want to 'slice' any of the beauty off!!

For MY anything goes card I used a Martha Stewart
butterfly stencil and inked in some pretty spring colors.

Head on over to out Stencil Fun challenge for even more inspiration
and have some stencil fun of your own by joining in with us!!!

Entering the following challenges:
Try It On Tuesday .... Use A Stencil

Happy Spring

Hello All, I have the honor of  guest designing today at 
Aud Sentiments Challenge
and their theme is Watercolor/Spring and of course to use a sentiment.

I stamped my image with Versamark and embossed
with Sparkle N Sprinkle white embossing powder.

I like to emboss the image as it helps the watercolor 
from bleeding out, especially if you get too carried away
with the color and wetness of your brush like I seem to do!!

For my watercolor I used my never been used before Zigs
that I have had a few years and just now pulled them out for the first time.
After watercoloring my image on cold press paper, which by the way is
Waffle Flower Crocus, I used the matching die to cut it out.

I stamped my sentiment directly on the flower pot,
then added a few Pink Fresh Studio Lavender gems.
The embossed background piece is one that came as a
card cover one of my friends sent to protect the front of the card,
a clever idea and so useful to the recipient!

I want to thank Aud Sentiments for having me
guest design for them, so make sure to head on over,
leave some love and join in the fun challenge too!!

Entering the following challenges:
NBUS .... Never Before Used Schtuff (Zigs)

Four Seasons May Spring

We are on our last Spring Season at Four Seasons
and have a beautiful mood board for inspiration that represents
not only Spring but Mother's Day and May Day as well!
You can create anything as long as it is SPRING!! 

 Spring Season May 2023

 I have had this layered stamp set for a very long time
and used it for the first time for this card.
The stamp is from Just Rite and dated 2015, about time it saw ink
don't you think?

The card base is actually purple not black as it looks and the greens in the
photo are a more light spring green, just all in the photo editing which wasn't easy
with this one!  I added a The Greetery sentiment and a few jewels from
Pink Fresh Studio.  The trims at the top, the black little hearts one is
Cherry Lynn Designs and the other one is Gemini Blossoming Borders.

Won't you join us at Four Seasons and help celebrate SPRING with us?

Entering the following challenges:
Stamping Sensations .... ATG or CAS Option