Happy Birthday Balloon

 At Can You Handle The Pressure our OPTIONAL theme is
BALLOONS
but we are an anything goes challenge but using an embossing folder is a MUST!!

My embossing folder is one I've had around for awhile.
It is a Design Objectives (never heard of that) Confetti folder.
It's hard to tell but I embossed it on a Doodlebug loves notes
paper with a cloud design on it.  I stamped a Sunny Studio
Birthday Mouse and colored in with Copic and Olo markers.
I then die cut it with a scrapbookdotcom Stitched nested balloon die,
there are 6 sizes of balloon dies in this set.  I inked a bit
around the edges then stamped a Hero Arts birthday greeting.
I added twine for the balloon string and a few glitter hearts to
hold it in place.

We would love to have you come and join our fun
challenge at Can You Handle The Pressure!

Butterflies

Hello friends, a new challenge starts today at Double D and the theme is
BUTTERFLIES.

We have a 'fluttery' colorful mood board for Inspiration. 

I created several of these Spellbinders (die) butterfly cards quite some time ago
and this is one of them.  I used them for graduation cards for a few special
young ladies. Everything you see is part of the die set.
I love how big they are and make quite a statement.
I also added some gems for a bit of sparkle.

I also was in need of a sympathy card so made a second card using a stencil
and a  Cheapos butterfly die.  I think the sentiment is from SU.

So there ya have it, make sure to visit Double D and see all the
beautiful butterfly cards by the DT, those girls are amazing!!

Entering the following challenges:

The Flower Challenge .... Add Embellishments 

Deck The Halls

Hello friends, it's once again time for our challenge at Peace On Earth .
We have an inspiration board but you can create anything Christmas!

Last year during one of the fantastic 99cent sale Simon Says had I was able to grab
this cute Hero Arts Christmas Carolers stamp set.  they are singing Deck The Halls
as the sentiment states lol!  I added a few Spellbinders music notes, I have a smaller die for those
but for the life of me I couldn't locate it, I wish now I hadn't added them, but too late!!
In my paper stash I found a Christmas musical paper for the background.

Come on over to Peace On Earth and get an early start on your holiday cards!!

Two Old Bats August 2025 Reminder

Hello friends, we have a couple of weeks left for our Halloween year
round challenge at Two Old Bats this month and hope you can
join in with us.  We have an optional spooky fun mood board for inspiration!

 

Such a fun spooky inspiring mood board that had me getting out one of my
newly purchased last year Halloween Cottage glossy card fronts from
Picket Fence,  These make the most  perfect and easy Halloween cards
to remind you of our fun challenge.  I just trimmed it down to an A2
card front size and decided it was done!!

Come on over to Two Old Bats and have some spooky August Halloween fun with us!

Beautiful Blossoms August 2025

Hello friends, it is once again time for our monthly challenge at
Beautiful Blossoms where blooms should be the focus of
your card.  As always we have a beautiful inspiration  board
but you can create anything floral.

I had to let the vase inspire me as who can resist a beautiful vase of pretty sunflowers?

I purchased this stamp set way back in February when it was first released from

Paper Rose (Sketchy Handpicked Bouquet) knowing exactly where I wanted to use it!
I stamped it on a cream color card stock with  Cloud 9 solid back ink, it has become my favorite
new black ink. I used my Olo alcohol markers to color.  The sentiment is from the same stamp set mentioned above and inked in Dew Drop Rich Cocoa.  The bit of designer paper peeking out
is a very old somewhat textured Stampin Up paper.  This was a rather large stamp so I had
to break down and make an A6 card, not my usual A2.

We would love to see YOUR florals at
Beautiful Blossoms!!

Entering the following fun challenges:

NBUS ....Never Before Used Schtuff
2 Sisters On The Blog .... Flowers In A Vase
We Love Stamping .... Flowers

Fly

 Hello friends, A new challenge with a new theme is starting today at
The Sisterhood of Crafters and the theme is
Cards of Encouragement.

I bought these 'Flight of Fancy' Graphic 45 rub-ons back in January
and they were sitting on my work desk and seemed to be the perfect
choice for the challenge.  It was quite a big set of butterflies so I ended up
having to apply it to a 6x6 card.
I thought the words were very fitting for encouragement
'Spread Your Wings & Fly'.

Thanks for stopping by....happy creating.

Summer Fun

 Hello friends, our new OPTIONAL theme at
Can You Handle The Pressure is  SUMMER FUN!
We are an anything goes challenge with an optional theme
but using an embossing folder is a MUST!

What's more fun in the summer then swimming, living in the
'great lakes' state there is a lot of that going on,
though you  won't see an octopus swimming by,
let alone one with flowers on it's head!

But a swimming octopus it is, it just wants to say HI!
I used a favorite Catherine Pooler Ocean Chums stamp and die set
which includes the sentiment, all colored with Copics,
the sentiment stamped with Pink Fresh Studios Mimosa ink.
The embossing folder is one I purchased last year 
Echo Parks Ride The Waves.

There is plenty more of 'Summer Fun' to be seen over at
Can You Handle The Pressure!

Entering the following challenges:

Cut It Up .... Add A Sentiment
Colorful Options .... National Hawaii Day

You're A Gem

 It's time for a new challenge at Word Power
where your sentiments/words take center stage.
We are an anything goes challenge but just make sure
your words are the focus.

I am still trying to dwindle down my 6x6 pads of paper pads that have
just  2 or 3 papers left in each and that is where this paper is from.
It's My Mind's Eye On Trend.
The embossing folder is Lifetime Crafts Woven.
The sentiment is one I received free with a scrapbook dot com order
and is a  Spellbinders die.

Thanks for visiting, you're a gem!!

Bee Happy

Hello friends as we enter the last month of 'real' summer at Double D we are  back
with another new summery theme and it is :

 Bee Happy (use bees and/or the word HAPPY)

We have a fun 'Bee Happy' inspiration mood board for you!

My problem with this theme is I had so many dies and/or stamps I could use
that is was mind boggling to decide what to use.

I finally settled on this cute die set from Cottage Cutz Stitched Honey Bees.
I die cut everything in  a white card scrap and then colored in with my Olos and
Copics.  The sentiment is from the Doodlebug Bee Happy stamp set.
The paper is Echo Park Bee Happy, I certainly have gotten a lot of mileage 
out of that paper.

Come on over to Double D and 'Bee Happy' with us!

Entering the following fun challenges:

Elliebelle's Garden Party .... Something From A Garden

Festive Friday .... Black~Yellow~Die Cuts~Bees~Hive~Bee Sentiment

Just Saying Hello

Hello friends, it's the first Tuesday of the month which brings us to our
Stencil Fun challenge for August.
Our OPTIONAL theme is Trees and/or leaves.
You MUST use a stencil to enter this challenge!

I created a somewhat simple masculine card using a few dies and stencil.
The stencil is Brutus Monroe that I picked up during one of
Simon Says 99cents sale.  I used Altenew Shadow Creek ink.
I die cut a Tutti Designs slimline from a scrap piece of paper and
added IO deer and a funky tree die cut from Sizzix Merry Moose.
I'll probably add a sentiment later.

For my anything goes card I used The Ton Wildflower stencil
and Altenew inks Pinkalicious, Razzleberry, Grass Field and TH Distress
squeezed Lemonade.  The sentiment also The Ton Easy Expressions.

If you like stenciling then come and join us at Stencil Fun!

A Big Thank You

 It's time for our The Neglected Stuff Challenge
the challenge where we are all about using those things in your stash
that have been there 6 months or longer.

I have  some VERY neglected stuff on my card, paper from
my 12 x 12 stash that I hardly ever use anymore along with a
Sizzix Bigz die Dragonfly which has never been used.
I have a huge amount of these dies and if I knew what to do with
them I probably would get rid about 99% of them!
I die cut the dragonfly from The Rabbit Hole Designs Getting Inky
paper and then again in vellum to top the wings.  A few large gems
were added (also extremely old) to the body and a 
Pink Fresh Studio sentiment.  The card is a large
5 1/2 x 5 1/2 to accommodate the large dragonfly.

Side view:

Have lots of 'neglected stuff'?  Then come and join us
we would love to see it!!

Birthday Wishes

Hello friends, I am back with a card for our Triple B challenge
where we are all about blooms, butterflies and birds!
As always we have a mood board for inspiration but you can use any color
as long as you have one, two, or all three of the TB's! 

I have one of my Katy Sue 3D cards (lots of layers).  I wish you could see these in person
as they are layer after layer with slim pop ups and so relaxing to make,
I usually do them as I am watching a TV program.
I mounted the design on a Sizzix card base (with matching envelope)
I purchased during one of their warehouse sales.  

We would love to see you at our Triple B challenge!!

Entering the following challenges:
Dragonfly Dreams .... Lots of Layers
Ellibelle's Garden Party #5 ... Anything garden
Simon Says Wednesday .... ATG

Merry Christmas

 Hello friends, we are going strong at Peace On Earth with our
year long Christmas challenge and have a fun mood board
for inspiration, look at all those fun things you 'could' choose to pick from
but we are an anything goes Christmas challenge!

So many cute things it was hard to choose, but I went with the bottom
left corner knowing I had a die that would be a perfect time to use it.
Poppystamps Boddington Cabin was used for my cute scene, die cut from kraft card stock
then die cut just the house in red and paper pieced it back in.  
I used a Tim Holtz Snowy EB folder on my Tutti Designs die cut circle,
Carta Bella Farmhouse Christmas paper for the background and a The Ton Holiday sentiment.

We are waiting for 'you' over at Peace On Earth!

Two Old Bats August Challenge

Hello friends, the months seem to be speeding by and before you know it
it will be Halloween again! 
If you have been playing along with us at
Two Old Bats, then you should be getting a nice supply of
Halloween cards done!  If not, then what are you waiting for?
We have a fun mood board for inspiration only, lots of fun
inspiring ideas on it if you need it!

I let the haunted house inspire me as I had purchased some
Brutus Monroe Vintage Frights Halloween paper and this paper
doesn't need much more then itself to turn it into a card front!
I added a glittered 'creepy' sentiment from my stash 
and called it done, this paper makes the perfect card!

So come on over to Two Old Bats,
get those Halloween supplies out and have some
spooky fun with us!

Love Those Pretty Papers August Challenge

 Hello friends, sad to say but our summer is winding down
but not at Love Those Pretty Papers as our OPTIONAL theme is
SUMMERTIME!

Our challenge is always an Anything Goes challenge with the option to
use our theme, but it is required that you showcase those pretty papers!

Following the theme I used some of my favorite designer papers from
Mintay's Berrylicious 6x6 paper pad., isn't that the sweetest paper?  
I saw this design on Pinterest last year
and made a card for our Word Power challenge HERE.
I liked the design so much I chose to do it again and it's a fabulous
way to use and showcase your beautiful papers
(easy to mail too).
I'm not sure of whose the sentiment is as it was given to me by a friend
that gave up card making but thought it fit my little scene perfectly,
but I sure wish I had moved it a bit down before I stamped it!

For my anything goes card I used a pretty paper from
Doodlebug Love Notes, a pad that is almost gone and I am
trying to use up.  I die cut the paper with a Waffle Flower lacy
die, then  used a Lisa Horton Roses embossing folder that I cut
apart to make three different cards, will post the others at a later date.
I  added a The Ton Easy Expressions sentiment.

Come and join us, we would love to see YOUR
pretty papers at our challenge!!

Thank You

 Hello friends at Colorful Options this month our colors are a mix
of monochromatic browns.
You are however always welcome to use rainbow colors
if this color mix isn't for you.

While looking on Pinterest one day I saw a beautiful big butterfly card similar to this

one I have created for today.  It was from 2015 and her last blog post was 2022, sometimes
(always) I wonder what happened to make card makers stop blogging, always hoping

that everything is just fine in their lives, do you wonder about that too when you come
across a blog that just stopped with no explanation?

I had great ideas for this butterfly card and wanted to use 'Stampendous Frantage'
do you remember that stuff?  I spent well over an hour trying to find mine and did

find some but in Halloween colors not the browns I was looking for and I know I have it.
Last summer we put all new floors in my craft room and the entire room was emptied out
and since moving it all back in I am having a hard time finding things, like my

sanding blocks, that is another whole story!!

Anyhow, I used for the first time a Stampendous PenPattern Butterflies stamp set.
There are 3 different butterflies in this set and I used the largest.
I stamped her in Versamark then embossed with Wendi Vechi Potting Soil
embossing powder.  I stamped SU Itty Bitty Backgrounds also with Versamark
and embossed with Sparkle N Sprinkles Timber embossing powder, it has
little flecks of glitter in it.
The sentiment is Stampendous True Friends stamped in Altenew Expresso ink.  A few half pearls were added.
This isn't exactly how I had planned it as I really wanted that Frantage but in the end

it is what I came up with!

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

Entering these fun challenges:
Word Art Wednesday .... ATG

Cute Happy Birthday

 Hello friends, it's once again time for a new challenge at our
Simply Clean & Simple challenge with our OPTIONAL theme of Cute Animals.

I used a cute little $1 tiger stamp I have had forever it seems
and inked up for the first time with Wendy Vechi Potting Soil ink.
I popped up some heart balloons to his tail that I bought during
Valentines back in February.  The sentiment is stamped in Dew Drop
Love Letter ink and is from My Favorite Things Sweet 16 stamps.

That's it for my CAS card...
thanks for stopping by and happy crafting!!

Entering the following challenges:
CAS On Friday .... Animals

Happy Birthday

 Hello All, we are into our last SUMMER season at our
Four Seasons challenge and I am not happy about it at all
as summer seems to fly by and I am just not ready for it to leave!!

We have a pretty and colorful mood board for inspiration but
you can create any summertime thing you want.

I let the upper left pitcher of drinks inspire me, nothing like a cold pitcher of
an icy fruit drink on a hot summer day.  I had this adorable Penny Black Homemade
stamp set that I brought out for the first time.  It has several adorably cute images on it
but I chose this fun straw drinking mice one to use.  I stamped it on a Cottage Cutz Eyelet
scalloped oval die.  The sentiment and die are Lawn Fawn.  Background paper is
Prima .  A few PFS gems were added for a bit of sparkle.

I just love these cute little mousers!!  Come on over to 
The Four Seasons and have some  last summertime fun with us
this month.

Entering these fun challenges:
Simon Says Wednesday .... ATG
Word Art Wednesday .... ATG