January 2025 Woodblock Wednesday

Hello friends, it's time for Amy to have her
Woodblock Wednesday challenge and I am hoping to join in all year long! 

I was the lucky and I mean lucky winner back in November and received an
fabulous amount of woodblock stamps for my prize, I am ever so thankful for the fun that was.
I had wanted to send a nice thank you for my gift but the hubby grabbed up and burned the
mailer before I got a chance to save her return address.  So, thank YOU so much Amy, it was an awesome prize!

Speaking of the prize, my two stamps I am using today are part of that prize.

An adorably CUTE Penny Black 1999 stamp and the fun 1993 Country Folk Products
cloud stamp. the sentiment is a Pink Fresh Studio .

You should get out your woodblock stamps and head over to Amy's
and join in, see ya there I hope!

Entering these fun challenges too:
Little Red Wagon .... A is for ATG
Simon Says Wednesday .... ATG
I Spy With My Little Eye .... Something With Feathers or Fur
A Place To Start ... ATG or Add A Balloon
Penny Black Saturday Challenge ....ATG or Something New (this stamp is old but new to me)

Let It Snow

 Hello friends as we are nearing the end of January (YAH) we have a 
new OPTIONAL theme of SNOW at our fun challenge at 
Can You Handle The Pressure
where we challenge you to get those poor neglected embossing
folders out and put them to good use!  Wet embossing is permitted too
but you MUST use an embossing folder on your project!

For my card I pulled out a very OLD embossing folder from Darice.
It's so old that the plastic is turning yellow from age!
I had several of these die cut panels left over from an order I
did of Christmas cards a couple years back so decided to emboss one of those.
After embossing with the snowflake folder I placed it on a layer
of red card stock  and a die cut Cheapo Dies (remember those?) snowflake in the center
with a The Ton Easy Expressions Holiday sentiment,
for a bit of bling I added
a few crystal clear sequins.

Come on over to Can You Handle The Pressure
and see all the fun creations from the design teams,
join in with us too!

Entering the following challenges:
Make My Monday .... Snowflakes

Peace On Earth

BRRR, it's January and we are in full swing with our year round
Christmas challenge at Peace On Earth  and we have a
snowy white and silver mood board for inspiration but 
you can create anything as long as it is Christmas themed!

I let that pretty silver and snowy white inspire me by using a TH Alterations
Snowfall Embossing folder which has always been a favorite of mine.

I found some pretty silver metallic card stock in my supplies and die cut a
pine bough with an Impression Obsession die and a pretty 'bauble' with
a Memory Box Luca Ornament die (2013), 12 years old and 
this is the first time I have used it...sad, isn't it!!

Get ahead with your 2025 Christmas cards and
come on over to Peace On Earth
and have some fun with us,
once we get closer to the end of the year you will be glad you did!

Also wanted to add that as crazy as Dar and I are we
have a new challenge starting on February 3rd and the 
first Monday of every month after. It is called
The Neglected Stuff, just follow the link and read all about it!!

Two Old Bats January 2025 Reminder

Hello friends, we are halfway through the month at
Two Old Bats
which means you still have a couple of weeks to play along with us.
Below is our inspiration board for January but you can create 
anything as long as it is Halloween!  

Like I mentioned in my TOB post a few weeks ago
last fall I had purchased a lot of new Halloween supplies
and this image on my card front is one of several from papers from
Carta Bella's 12x12 journal paper sheets.
Isn't he fun and all I had to do was just mat him onto my black card base!
You will see me using lots of these for my reminder cards this year,
I like the easiness of using these for a quick card!

Hope to see you over at Two Old Bats!!

Also wanted to add that as crazy as Dar and I are we
have a new challenge starting on February 3rd and the 
first Monday of every month after. It is called
The Neglected Stuff, just follow the link and read all about it!!

Entering the following challenges:

Halloween and Other Occasions .... Halloween 

Beautiful Blossoms January 2025

 Hello friends, today is the start of a new challenge at
Beautiful Blossoms where your focus should always be floral!
We have a pretty floral photo for inspiration 
but you can create anything as long as  your blossoms are the focal!

I tried to stay within the colors of the inspiration  photo by starting with a

black card base to build on.  I then went to my container of already made
flowers from Spellbinders Be Bold Blooms, Pretty Pink Posh Spring Blooms
and Concord & 9th Picked Posies dies trying to pick the colors that
resembled the photo.  I die cut a Cheery Lynn vase from a shiny black piece of
packaging to hopefully let it stand out from the black card stock.
Then, all my flowers were arranged in the vase.  I love having these flowers on
hand for projects like these but I think it is time I made some more.
All these flowers were made from paper scraps and some were inked for a bit of contrast!

It's wintery and it's cold here in my part of Michigan
so if you are also in a wintery area then head to your craft room
and have some floral fun with us at Beautiful Blossoms,
it you are in a nice summery place then come and join us too
with your pretty summery blooms!

Entering the following challenges:
2 Sisters On The Blog .... ATG
Crafts Galore Encore .... ATG
Daisy Chain .... NO Design Paper
Elliebelle's Crafty Wednesday .... ATG
Fab N Funky .... All Things Bright and Beautiful

White On White Card

 Hello friends, it is snowy and white in my neck of the woods as
I write up this post and darn right COLD too!
We have a snowy white mood board for you at
Double D challenges this time and we want to see ALL white
on your projects.  I think an all white card is so elegant and classy!

Once I saw this mood board I right away had this card in mind using my new
(to me) and never been used before Concord & 9th Primrose Garden dies.
This die had lots and lots of layers and was much easier then I thought,
maybe because I die cut it in all white scraps.  I can't wait to make it in colors!
The sentiment (Primrose Garden stamp) and banner are all part of the collection.
I have had this die for quite some time and not sure why I waited so long to use it.
I also purchased the Festive Blooms set they came out with for the holidays and am sure will be using that one soon too!

We hope to see you at Double D but be sure to stop by and see all
the amazing creations by the design teams!!

Also wanted to add that as crazy as Dar and I are we
have a new challenge starting on February 3rd and the 
first Monday of every month after. It is called
The Neglected Stuff, just follow the link and read all about it!!

Entering the following challenges:
Daisy Chain .... No Design Paper
Unicorn Challenge .... Birthday
Aud Sentiments .... Mostly White & Sentiment
The Crafter's Cafe .... Twist:  Birthday
Seize The Birthday .... Use Something New ( Concord & 9th dies)

Sending A Happy Hello

 Hello friends, today I have a card I put together quite some time ago
with some fun dies I purchased eons ago.

The dies I used for this card are Altenew's Dog Rose Panel A & B
and Spellbinder's  Little Hello Sentiments.  I love the SB die as the Hello
has 3 layers you cut really making it stand out along with the dies and stamps
for the sentiment. The Dog Rose has the two panels, one that lays over the top

of the other, this can be made into so many different colors!

I made several of these in different color combinations
and think this is the last one to be 'debuted'.

I am entering the following challenges:
A Cut Above ....ATG

Can You Handle The Pressure Floral 3D

 Hello friends, today at Can You Handle The Pressure
our challenge blog that is all about using embossing folders we have
an OPTIONAL theme of using a 3D embossing folder!

Not only did I use a 3D folder but also a fun technique I saw on Youtube!
The folder I used is a Simon Says Floral Clusters Out of This World.

The technique I used is to emboss on a black card stock
then use a white ink pad to lightly tap over the image, 
I have a few different white ink pads but found that
Memories Unicorn white seemed to work the best for me.
I used my heat gun to dry the ink before the next step.
Then using various TH OXIDE inks I used a brush to color in
the image.  The video I watched stated that the oxides worked the best.
I wish I had the video link, but I had it on my dashboard and overnight
Microsoft did an update and I lost it but there are several other videos
on youtube if you want to try this technique.
My card isn't perfect as I was a little heavy handed with the white ink
so I stress to tap it on lightly!

I hope you give this technique a try and we would LOVE to see your
results over at Can You Handle The Pressure but remember this
challenge is always an anything goes challenge as long as an embossing folder has been used!

Mitten Snowflake Gift Card Holder

It's winter time at The Sisterhood of Crafters and our
challenge theme is SNOWFLAKES! 

I made this pretty mitten gift card/money holder.
A few years ago I made about 25 of these for the        
five adult kids we have and all the grands plus some!
Last fall I created about a dozen more for a craft show
that I signed up for but never got to attend due to an
illness and this is one of the mittens I created for that!
I used a Sunny Studios Woolen Mitten die and a pretty
paper from my stash!  I've made several different
gift card/money holders but have to say this was
one of the easiest!!  I die cut a snowflake then
painted on some Tombow glue and
coated it with a snowy glitter!

Come on over and have some WINTERY fun with us at
The Sisterhood of Crafters!

Entering the following challenges:

Simon Says Wednesday .... Get In Shape
A Cut Above .... ATG

Hello New Year

 Hello friends, our OPTIONAL theme at
Stencil Fun is Hello New Year
meaning to use the word HELLO and/or use something NEW,
but we are an anything goes challenge as long as you have
used a stencil.

For the optional theme I used a The Greetery
Sketched Wildflower Bouquet Garden stamp and stencil set
and all Altenew inks for my stencil colors.

For my anything goes card I used a fun layering stencil
from Taylored Expressions.  These stencils are unique and
rather clever as you end up with 3 different stenciled
card fronts when done, saving lots of time.
You will be seeing these stencils
'down the road' on some of the upcoming
The Hello came out of my already box of black die cuts
that is stacked 3 times.

Get out those stencils and come and have some
'stenciling' fun with us!
Stencil Fun Challenges.

Also wanted to add that as crazy as Dar and I are we
have a new challenge starting on February 3rd and the 
first Monday of every month after. It is called
The Neglected Stuff, just follow the link and read all about it!!

Snowman and Friends

Hello friends, it's January and here in my neck of the woods it
is pretty cold out.  It is also time for a new challenge at
Peace on Earth
where we celebrate Christmas all year long by creating
Christmas cards 12 months of the year.
We have a fun mood board for inspiration only,
you can choose to let it inspire you or make any Christmas
themed card of your choice.
By joining us twice a month your Christmas card stash will quickly 
build for Christmas 2025!

I totally did let the mood board inspire me and used a
newly purchased Waffle Flower Snowman & Friends die.
He was really easy to put together and you can position his
hat in several different ways, it also comes with a 3rd bird
I didn't use as well as a scarf die for the birdies!
The gingham is all scraps, I have a Ziploc sandwich bag with 
nothing but little pieces of gingham scraps that come in handy 
for something like this! All the other pieces are die cut
from scraps as well, including his body.
The background paper is Recollections Northern Lights
that I picked up a few years ago at Michael's.
I left a sentiment off as this card could then also be used
for a winter greetings card or a winter birthday!

Come on over to Peace On Earth and have some
Christmas Wintery FUN with us!

Entering the following fun challenges:

Snippets Playground #497 .... Use Your Snippets

Simon Says Wednesday .... Something New
Dragonfly Dreams .... Use Pinks & Purples
Crafty Calendar .... Add A Die Cut
Cut It Up .... Use a Die Cut ATG

Just Us Girls .... Die Week

 

Fun Fold at Love Those Pretty Papers

Hello friends, at Love Those Pretty Papers this January we have an
OPTIONAL theme of a Fun/Fancy Fold card!

I saw a video for this card (Fun Fold Corner Tuck)
but changed it to make it an A2 card.
I make a lot of 'top' open cards and that is what I did with this one
forgetting it was to be a 'side' open...whoops...I blame it on my
shingles pain while I was creating it as that pain is enough to make
you forget your name!  My second mistake was not jotting down the
measurements as I was making it into an A2 card!
All the papers used for this card are from Echo Park's 
Be Happy 6x6 paper pad.

Here is the link for the 'real' measurements if you want to try one yourself:

Fun Fold Corner Tuck you can find the video HERE

The front of the card that 'folds open' also tucks down into the corner
to keep it closed!  I decorated my card front with a few of my pre-made 
blooms from Spellbinders.  The sentiment is Stampendus!

I left the inside panel blank to write your own message, as you can see
this card has LOTS of layers

Here it is with the top flap opened up.

Because we are an anything goes challenge using your designer paper

we also create an 'Anything Goes' card for inspiration.

This is a card I created for a grandson's 21st birthday.
He got a big kick out of it and was showing everybody LOL!

I had seen this stamp set funky fossil 'Chatty Bar' on someone else's
blog and knew it would make some crazy fun 'adult' cards!
There are five fun images and 5 fun sentiments in the set.
I had to have this fun new set and hunted it down!
The background paper is Pink & Main It's A Party set.

So, let loose with some of those pretty papers and come on over to
Love Those Pretty Papers and have some fun with us!

Entering the following fun challenges:
Allsorts #814 .... ATG or Matching Pairs
Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers .... NBUS
NBUS .... Never Before Used Schtuff
Creative Creases .... Fun Fold

 

Thinking Of You

Hello friends and welcome to a new year of challenges at
Triple B where we are all about
BIRDS~BUTTERFLIES~Blooms
you can use one, two or all three!

We always have a pretty and fun mood board for inspiration!!

For my design team card I focused on the pretty white butterfly!

I used two Tuttie Designs circle dies, one inside the other to cut a frame.
A Memory Box Dreamy Butterfly was also cut from all white
and placed within the circle frame.
The sentiment is one I received in a pack from a  friend and is a
TPC Studio stamp.  I think it really has a pretty font!

Come on over to Triple B and show us YOUR
Butterflies~Birds and/or Blooms!

Entering the following challenges:
Just Us Girls #756 .... Die week ATG

Cut It Up #320 .... ATG

Happy Thoughts

 Hello Friends, today is a new challenge at
Simply Clean & Simple
where we are all about CAS cards!

Our OPTIONAL theme is Something New!
Well, I certainly have PLENTY of new to choose from
since I can't seem to resist buying what I love!

For my NEW I have this adorably cute cute little stencil and die
I received FREE from Waffle flower with an order.
It's just the cutest thing ever!
It is a Poinsettia stencil but I was hoping it would resemble
another flower this time of year if I stenciled it in blue.

It's so tiny, isn't it cute??

I also used an older Cuttlebug EB folder along the edge and a sentiment
from TPC Studios.

Come and have some CAS fun with us at SCAS!!

Entering the following challenges:
Craft Rocket  #121 .... Something New

Word Power January 2025

Hello Friends, to start off the New Year we have our challenge at
Word Power
that is all about having your WORDS take center stage 
on your card, allowing you to use those BIG sentiments we all have!

I started with a paper from an old (2013) Martha Stewart paper pack
I am trying to use up and die cut it with a Tutti Designs Stitched Postage die.

My Dotted Circle is also a Tutti Designs and the bird and branches are
from Memory Box (I think)!

I misplaced the name of the sentiment but I believe it is
a Tonic die.

We would love to have you join us at Word Power with your
BIG sentiments!!

Be My Boo

 Hello friends, at Two Old Bats it is year round Halloween fun
and we have a fun inspiration board for you,
though you can create anything HALLOWEEN!

Some Halloweens we have had snow here in Michigan and
other times it is like a nice summer day!
I let those fun spooky ghosts inspire me plus the fact that last year
I went a little overboard purchasing some new Halloween goodies
but there were so many new CUTE things, how could I resist??
These fun little ghosts along with the sentiment are from my newly
purchased stash from Picket Fence 'Be My Boo' stamps.
There are eight of these little ghosts and I stamped them all
then cut with my SNC.  I punched 3 circles going down the side from
Brutus Monroe Spooktacular fun paper pad.  It's hard to tell but each 
little ghost is popped up slightly

Come on over to Two Old Bats and have some 'off season'
Halloween fun with us!

January 2025 Colorful Options

It's time for a new challenge at Colorful Options 
and we have a pretty mood board !

This mood board reminded me so much of Mardi Gras colors!

I used a technique I saw on Youtube that you use a 3D
embossing folder, emboss then use a white ink going
across the raised image.  The ink I used was Memories (superior)
Unicorn white.  then you use TH Oxide inks to 'color' the image.
Tip:  Make sure your white ink is dry before you do this, I used my heat gun to dry mine. 
The 3D embossing folder is Simon Says Peony (newly purchased). 
The sentiment is a SpellbindersBetterpress (also new). 
I used a gold foil card stock on the base!

Come on over to Colorful Options and have some colorful fun with

 us!

Entering the following fun challenges:
Simon Says Wednesday .... Something New
Word Art Wednesday .... ATG
Little Red Wagon .... New Beginnings

Four Seasons Winter 2025

We are still into the WINTER season at
The Four Seasons
and have this fun wintery mood board for inspiration!

I was totally inspired by the pretty husky dog and the snowflakes!
My brother had a husky named Tonya and I remember him bringing it to my 
mom's house for a visit.  Well, she just happened to be eating a piece of pumpkin pie
with whipped cream sitting in her easy chair. 
The dog charged in the room, jumped in her
lap, ate the pie, then licked across my Mom's lips, all in in a nano-second!
Was the funniest thing ever!!

Anyhow, I used a PoppyStamps Evangeline Floating Square die (2017)
and a Cottage Cutz Dakota die for the pup, no longer available.
The card base is actually a smoky deep gray, not the navy blue it looks.
My little Dakota was die cut from scraps then colored in with my Olo's.

Come on over and have some winter fun with us at The Four Seasons
and check out all the creativeness from the design team!!

Entering the following challenges:

Conjuer of Dreams .... ATG/Winter Window
Halloween & Other Occasions .... Winter Fun

Ninth Year Birthday/Anniversary

Hello Friends!
Double D is celebrating it's 9th year of challenges.
Make sure to visit the challenge blog to read all abut it!

For our theme, being we are celebrating our HUGE success
it is either birthday or anniversary and we have a pretty mood board
below for inspiration!

I was inspired by those pretty colors in the balloons and also the pretty cake.
I knew I had the perfect set to use and pulled out a never been used before
The Greetery Takes The Cake die, stamp, stencil set (new to me).    The stamps and stencil come as a set
and there are 7 layers of stencils for the cake and stand.  You can also purchase a couple
different die sets to go along with it, there is even a smaller cake stamp version as well.
I am NOT affiliated with The Greetery at all, I just love all their beautiful releases!
This is my first attempt with this set and there is certainly room for improvement so I 

will definitely being bringing this to life again.

I used lots and I mean lots of different inks for this card,
Altenew colors grass field, shadow creek for the greenery,

silver lake, gray denim, cloudy night for the cake stand,
Pink Pearl, Coral bliss, Heart Beat, Ruby Red and Warm Sunshine for the flowers
along with Pink Fresh Sunkissed and Fruit Punch also for the flowers.
There are so many different options to make your cake and I can't wait to create more!

Please come and join us for our celebration at Double D,
we have honors and also a few fun prizes to a random winner!!

Entering the following fun challenges:

Simon Says Wednesday  .... Something NEW (new to me and never been used)
Ellibelle's Crafty Wednesday .... ATG
Word Art Wednesday .... ATG
Little Red Wagon .... New Beginnings
NBUS .... Never Before Used Schtuff