Hello

 Time for a new challenge at
Can You Handle The Pressure and our 'optional' theme is
Greenery/Vines
but it's just that OPTIONAL,
all you need to do is use an embossing folder in your design!

I embossed with a very old Cuttlebug embossing folder 'Give A Hoot'.
Years back Cricut used to put together mystery boxes and one time it
was an entire box of embossing folders, that is where this one came from.

I added some of my handmade Spellbinders Be Bold Blooms
and a Pink Fresh Hello die cut sentiment!
My green is really more of an olive green IRL
but the flower colors are pretty much spot on!

Make sure to visit Can You Handle The Pressure, the one and only place
where embossing folders are the center of attention!!

Entering the following challenges:

Simon Says Wednesday .... ATG
Allsorts #752.... Embossing 

Mackinac Bridge

We are getting 'inky' at The Sisterhood of Crafters
at least that is what our theme is, Getting Inky'! 
I created this inky stamped panel long ago and decided to put it to use!
After all my inking I used several different stamps to make my water scene.
One is supposedly the Mackinac Bridge but I think I have seen it other places
called a different name, depends where you live and what bridge you have I guess!
The other stamps are all Stampscapes.

I hope you will jump in our inky challenge with us 
and visit at The Sisterhood to see all the 'inky' fun from my sistahs!

Christmas Postage Collage

A fun challenge going on at

Build Your Stash Holiday Cardmakers.

I just had to join in the fun since I was working with my new
Waffle Flower Postage Collage Christmas Stencil.
You also need the die and the Postage Collage stamp set
to make it complete.  The die can be used for so many other

cards too, just by stamping or die cutting small images to fill the
blanks, I had so much FUN with this set and they
also have others to add to it as well.
I did make a 'booboo' on my first stenciled one though,
I stenciled the what was suppose to be the cheeks on the
reindeer black, whoops, hence the card that I created
with all the images cut apart, in the end I did stencil just a reindeer.

My first card, all the samples I saw they added a sentiment

but on these two cards I decided to leave it off, for now at least!

My second card, the one I cut apart.  I added a bit of twine to
this one and used kraft paper for my base.

These were a lot of fun to create and I have 7 more
panels cut to use, but tomorrow I have arriving the new

Wall Flower Fall postage stencil arriving so

will be saving some of those panels for that.

Entering the following challenges:

NBUS .... Never before been used Schtuff

Sketch 737

A new sketch is starting today at Sketch Saturday and it is an easy one! 

I once again got into my papers I had pulled from my bags of scraps to try and use up!

I also used a laser die cut from Hot Off The Press that I have had forever and
trying to use up, I now have seven images left to use out of the 12 in the book, getting there!
The sentiment is Easy Expressions from The Ton.

Fun things about sketches is you can make them your own as I did by adding the sentiment,

as long as you can see the sketch in there somewhere you are good!
Won't 'you' join us at Sketch Saturday?

Pumpkins Challenge At Double D

It is getting closer to Halloween and for the next couple of
weeks we are all about PUMPKINS at Double D!
We have a fun mood board for inspiration
and would love to see your take on our PUMPKINS challenge!

I let the left bottom photo inspire me with all the creepy, crawly spiders.  I had the Pink Fresh Studios blanket stitch frame
sitting around as well as the delicate big Prima leaf and somehow
thought they would work well together.
The paper behind the frame is from Carta Bella Hello Autumn
6x6 paper pad.  I used a never been used before pumpkin stamp
from Prickly Pear, the set has 6 fun different scenic pumpkins 
on it, why haven't I used it before?  Once the pumpkin was stamped
he was colored in with Copics and the spiders were 'hit' with a
Stardust pen giving them a bit of shimmer.
The sentiment is my all time new favorite stamps from The Ton
Easy Expressions Stamps and Dies.

So why don't you pull out those pumpkin stamps and dies
and join us at Double D for some fun and while there
check out all the creative and fun inspiration from the teams!!

TOB October Mid Month Reminder

We are half way thru our Halloween challenge at
Two Old Bats
and the design team has plenty of fun inspiration for you.
We also have an inspiration board to get you inspired to join us!

Inspiration Board

I let those cute little trick or treaters inspire me in the bottom left corner.
I have had these cute trick or treater dies from Impression Obsession and
have never used them, so it was time to bring them out!
I used a fun starry night background paper, a punched moon
with  Tonic die cut bat, a Cheery Lynn Design spooky fence and
a few Sue Wilson pumpkins to finish it off!

So, what are you waiting for?  Join in with the spooky fun with us at 
Two Old Bats!!

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

Yeti In My Spaghetti

Hello All, it's time again for a new challenge theme at a
Barrel of Monkey's.
Not familiar with this challenge?  Well, let me tell you it's pretty darn
easy and fun too.  Each month Deanne gives you a Childs game OR toy
to create your challenge with.  You can use the words, the colors or
anything that catches your eye  on the item.
For instance, look at our new theme game below.
I see greens, reds, checks, gingham, a yeti, an oval, a fork,
a red bowl and yep, even spaghetti, so many options.

What caught my eye were the colors and the name of the game,
I could of used a yeti but I knew I had this fun kitty in a ladle of spaghetti

from Viva Las Vegas stamps and though I have used him before it was high time
he reappeared again!!  Isn't he fun??

A long while back I had pulled out a bunch of scrap papers to try and use up
and this dotted paper was one of them, the image was stamped on a Tutti Dotted
Stitched circle, a few colorful gems were added and of course my favorite
sentiment stamps and die from The Ton's Easy Expressions,
I thought this one was perfect for the image!!

I hope you will give the Barrel of Monkey's challenge a try
as it is a challenge that gets your brain in action
and we all need that, right??

Beautiful Blossoms October Challenge

You can tell by our fun 'mood board' below that it is 
Autumn time at Beautiful Blossoms and we want to see
all your pretty fall blooms!

You can choose to let the board inspire you or not
but you much feature blossoms as your focal point on your project!!

For my card I used for the first time a stamp and die from
Pink Fresh Studio 'Just A Little Lovely' and I think it is a great
name for it as it is lovely!
This was stamped on water color paper then I used a combination of
Zigs and Tombow markers to achieve my colors.
The background was embossed with Spellbinders Flower Frenzy on
Lawn Fawn Sunflower card stock.

Won't you join us at Beautiful Blossoms and while there take a peek
at all the pretty designs from the design team!

Entering the Following challenges:
The Flower Challenge .... ATG (7th Birthday)
Stamping Sensations .... Autumn Colors and/or ATG
All Sorts ,,,, Add some Texture

Peace On Earth Challenge #50

 Hello from Peace On Earth!
Time for a new challenge and we have a truck load of inspiration for you below!!

The mood board is just that, inspiration!
You can create anything CHRISTMAS inspired you want!

I, of course went with the inspiration photo and being the 'over achiever' I am (LOL)
made not one but two cards!

For my first card I used mainly dies from Impression Obsession
that I have had for quite sometime and decided it was time to pull them out again!
Check out what is riding in the back of the truck!
When the hubs and I were still in the market for a 'real' tree we always
took our dog Nellie with us to choose a tree, so being a good memory of her
I had to add a pup to my card, plus there is one in the inspiration photo!
Those days of a real tree are long gone since we have 'ahem' aged quite a bit
but I can still have the pleasure of having a 'real' tree (or three) on my card!
I used a TH snowy EB folder and paper from Recollections.

For my second card I made it easy peasy using some of my pretty Mintay holiday papers
'Merry Little Christmas', this pad is full of yummy paper designs!!
All I added was a sentiment and a few 'ballerina'  gems from Pink Fresh studios.

Won't you join us at Peace On Earth?
Come on, we know you WANT to!!
I think we need 'peace on earth' now more then ever, just 'sayin'!!

Simon Says Wednesday .... Christmas
Jingle Bells .... Pink Christmas 

Spooky at Can You Handle The Pressure

 We are scaring up some 'spookiness' at
Can You Handle The Pressure
with our 'optional' 'spooky' theme!
You just need to use an embossing folder to enter the challenge.

I used an OLD and never been used before skull and bones embossing folder,
a scrap piece, a frame from my stash, some PoppyStamp 
Whittle Ghosts and a wordie sentiment strip!

For some spookiness fun (or not) take a peek over at
Can You Handle The Pressure.

Pumpkins Challenge

 We have a new challenge starting at
The Sisterhood of Crafters
and our theme is PUMPKINS!

I had a few 4x5 1/4 panels all cut so grabbed one of those
and used Distress Wild Honey to ink up some rolling hills  fields
I had cut with a paper template I made.
Then I inked the sky with Distress Stormy Sky.
I pulled out the cutest stamp set I have had for a few years
and used it for the first time to create my fun pumpkin scene.
It is from Sunny Studio Harvest Mice.  I actually stamped
4 entire sets as I didn't know how many mice or pumpkins I would
use on this card, let's just say I have LOTS left over for another time.

Each set was stamped on white card stock then colored in with
Copics.  I also had the matching die making it real easy to die cut
each little piece, the sentiment is part of the set.

I hope you will join myself and my 'sistahs' at 
The Sisterhood for our fun challenge and be inspired by all
the fun 'pumpkin' creativeness!!

Entering the following fun challenges:
Ellibelle's Crafty Wednesday .... ATG
I Love ProMarkers .... ATG
I Spy With My Little Eye .... Something From a Farm
Word Art Wednesday .... ATG
Try It On Tuesday .... Autumn

Sketch 736

Hello friends, time for a new sketch at Sketch Saturday.
You can follow as is or rotate as I did.   don't as me me why
but I prefer up and down cards, silly I know!!

I started with a Sizzix Mistletoe card base then added papers from
One Canoe Two (2017) die cut with a banner die from Cheery Lynn Designs.
The leaves are Impression Obsession placed on a Sizzix layered Label die.
The sentiment is of course my favorite The Ton Easy Expressions!

I invite you to join in with our fun sketch this week at
 Sketch Saturday!!

Entering the Following challenges:
Craft Rocket .... Autumn and/or Halloween
Alphabet Challenge .... 'N' Is For Nature
Crafty Catz .... ATG Optional Twist 'Colors of Autumn'
Crafty Gals Corner .... Signs of Fall

Every Leaf Is A Flower

Time for a new monthly challenge today at
Simply Clean & Simple 
with the OPTIONAL theme of AUTUMN.
It's always anything goes as long as it is CAS!!

I created a very simple card by using a maple leaf die
to cut a 'negative' from my card front then placing a 
gingham scrap behind.  The actual die cut I set aside
for a later use.
A fun Autumn sentiment was stamped using
Memento Potters Clay ink.
That's it, easy peasy!

Take a visit to Simply Clean & Simple and see all the fun and beautiful
inspiration from the team, join in with us too!!

Pink October

We are already into to OCTOBER at Double D, can you believe it?
For our October theme I choose PINK October as our theme as it has a very special
place in my heart being Breast Cancer Awareness month!
I lost my Mom October 5th 2018 to breast cancer, such a cruel disease for
any loved one to have to go through!!

We have a fun PINK mood board for inspiration!!

  PINK OCTOBER

For my Design team card I created these fun and crazy pumpkins using dies from
Brutus Monroe Pumpkin Pals layered on a Tutti Designs Stitched Banner die embossed with a spider web embossing folder, paper from Prima Thirty-One collection, 

a Tonic BOO die also layered on the embossed banner.

Make sure to visit Double D and see all the fun PINK October
designs from the DT, they are exceptionally awesome as usual!!

Entering the following challenges:
Die Cut Diva's .... One die layered on another
Ellibelle's Crafty Wednesday .... ATG (m)
Unicorn Challenge .... Autumn or Halloween
Creations In Pink .... ATG PINK
Colorful Options .... Neon

October Triple B Challenge

Hello Friends, we are making our way into October with our challenge at
Triple B
where we are all about blooms~butterflies~birds!

You can use one, two or all three if you want and we have a fun
inspiration board featuring all three
but you can create anything, as long as it features at least ONE
of the three!! 

October  Inspiration Board

 

I focused on the tiger lilies as I knew I had at least 2 lily stamp sets and a couple
lily die sets one of which is a new one I purchased this Spring from Cottage Cutz.
It is their Spring Lilies Die set which I turned into Tiger Lilies for Fall.
My lilies were die cut from scraps of white card stock (I have a monster big bag of it)
then inked with a mini brush and Simon Says Pawsitively Grapefruit Ink,
Memento Black ink
for the stamens and Memento Bamboo Leaves for the greens.  I pulled a scrap of orange
gingham from my gingham scrap bag and used that underneath. 

The sentiment is from The Ton, one of my favorite die cut and stamp sentiment sets

We would love to have you join us at Triple B an as always
look forwards to seeing your BLOOMS~BIRDSs~BUTTTERFLIES.

Entering the following challenges:
A Place To Start .... ATG
Ally's Angels .... ATG
Inspiration Station .... inspired by the colors black and orange

Orange Color Challenge

Stencil Fun has a new challenge starting today
with an 'OPTIONAL' theme of ORANGE.

I used a new to me and  a never been used stencil I
had from Photo Play's 3 piece Candy Corn Stencil
along with A candy corn EB folder from Cuttlebug
and whittle ghosts from Poppystamps.

Anything goes

For my anything goes card I stenciled a beautiful
Altenew Sweet Spring stencil and die cut with a
Gemini Blossoming Border die.
I added a few Pink Fresh Studio gems and a 
sentiment from Altenew.
This is one of my favorite stencils and it's very
easy to layer.

Come and have some fun with Dar and I at
Stencil Fun.
There is always a fun stencil prize up for grabs to
one lucky random drawn winner and it could be YOU!!

Entering the followings challenges:
PoppyStamps .... Get Your Boo On

Make My Monday ....  Make your own background (stenciled acorns)

Neon Color Challenge

Welcome All!!
Its time for a new color challenge at Colorful Options and it is
NEON!
Look at the bright, you might need your sunglasses inspiration board below.
Don't 'fancy' neon? 
Then you can use rainbow colors!!

I actually had a bit of NEON supplies in my stash!
To start I stenciled a Carta Bella Spinning Web stencil with 
Hero Arts Neon Pink ink on a piece of white card stock to create my background.
While in Michaels a few weeks ago I noticed a pad of
6x6 BRIGHTS paper and snatched it up, knowing it would come in handy
at some point in my crafty days!!  I used it to die cut my fun spider (cheery lynn)
and my various pumpkins (cheery lynn Fall Pumpkins & Memory Box Stitched pumpkins).
I couldn't help but add google eyes to my spider!

Join us at Colorful Options, we would love to see your take on the
challenge and always a fabulous prize up for grabs to one lucky random winner!!

Entering the following challenges:
Halloween Crafts All Year Round .... ATG Halloween
Double Trouble  .... Create Your Own Background and add a Halloween image (Thing 1 and Thing 3)
Make My Monday .... Create Your Own Background 

TOB October Challenge

 We are into October already at
Two Old Bats
and if you have been joining in our
fun challenges all year then you should be pretty well set off
for your Halloween cards to mail,
if not there is always this month to join in.

We have a fun inspiration board to get those Halloween ideas going
but you can create anything Halloween themed!

Inspiration Board

Obviously I let the top left corner be  my inspiration.
I used a spider web embossing folder and a BIG
black spider that is actually a cling for your windows
which I have never used and felt he was a good fit for my web.
I added google-y eyes and a sentiment from Art Impressions!

So, head on over to Two Old Bats and join in with us,
jot down in your notes that we ae a YEAR ROUND challenge blog
giving you an opportunity to use those fun Halloween supplies all year!!

Entering the following challenges:
Tic Tac Toe .... Free~Orange~Embossing (diagonal)

Halloween Crafts All Year Round .... ATG Halloween

Peace On Earth Challenge #49

Today is a new challenge at Peace on Earth
and we have a fun mood board for inspiration!
You can create anything you want as long as it is Christmas themed!  

As always, I went with the inspiration board using the top left image.

I had a Cottage Cutz die that was just perfect for my card.
Santa's Best Friends.
Not much to tell as you can see I die cut it from black card stock
then adhered it to a polka dot paper with a circle of glitter paper

for the moon and that panel was adhered to a snowy background paper.

We would love to see YOU at Peace On Earth,
lots of pretty inspiration there, take a peek!

Entering the following challenges:

Critter Crazy .... ATG with a critter
Crafty Animals .... ATG with an animal
Dream Valley .... Occasions other then birthday
Christmas With The Cuties .... Something Shiny (my glittery moon)

Four Seasons October Fall

 It's still the FALL season at The Four Seasons
and we have a fun mood board for inspiration!
You can create anything as long as it is FALL themed!

Anything Fall

For my DT card I let the scary skull and pumpkin inspire me.
Of course I had a new Betterpress die just waiting for it's turn to be
used, so that might of (actually a lot) have influenced me!!
I purchased the Spellbinders Betterpress in July and created THIS card in August,
my first time using the Betterpress!  It was so fun to do and I am sure you will be seeing more 
of my Betterpress creations soon!
After getting my image I die cut him out with Cottage Cutz Wacky Stitched Rectangle.
I used TomBow markers to color in just the pumpkin.
A while back Sizzix had a big sale and they had odd color blank envelope
and card sets for $1.50 for a package of ten, so I tried them and have to say the card base
is very nice and sturdy, I was well pleased with them and it's what I used for this card!

I have to say I am impressed (pun intended) with this Betterpress system and am
happy with my purchase.  I hesitated about buying  a Halloween one knowing it
would only be used one month a year, but who could resist that fun skeleton, right?

Join us at The Four Seasons for some FALL fun of your own!! 

Entering the Following challenges:
Simon Says Wednesday .... ATG
Halloween Crafts All Year Round ...ATG Halloween
Inspiration Station .... Inspired by the skeleton and the pumpkin!