You Always Know

We are into our second challenge already this month at
Double D  with a theme of Signs Of Love
and a mood board for inspiration! 

Card #1

I had to really give some thought of what I wanted to do for this theme
and ended up one night 'cruising' on Pinterest for ideas and came across
a cute card with tiny envelopes and that triggered my mind to an OLD

QuicKutz tiny envelope die I had.  It die cuts the little envelope and the
tiny heart to seal it.  I added another 'oldie', a sentiment from
See-D's Card Wishes stamp set.  I also added a few tiny glitter hearts randomly.

Card #2 

After creating the card above I came across this stamp set 
given to me by a friend that I thought was even more perfect.

It is a company I have never heard of Storage Units Ink & More.
Have you ever heard of them?  It must be really really old as
there is no name nor even a UPC on the package, maybe it was 
a free one with a magazine or something?

Anyhow it's very cute for our theme so I went with it!
Colored with Copics and Olos and I had a few
kraft hearts on my desk from another project

so I added those too, the sentiment is part of the

stamp set mentioned above.

We would love to see YOU over at our
Double D challenge.

Boo To You

We are back today with a reminder post about our year round
Halloween challenge at
Two Old Bats!
We do have an inspiration board fitting for both Halloween and
February  but you can create any Halloween project of your choice!

Last year I purchased this Super fun paper from Whimsy Stamps
called Halloween Inks.  It is full of fabulous inky and colorful

Halloween papers and I couldn't wait to use it.

It is 6x6 but I cut it down to a 5 1/2 x 5 1/2" size to fit on a purchased

square card base.  I used a Spellbinders sentiment rub-on and if
you look closely you can see some added glittered hearts.

We would love to see your spooky creations over at

Two Old Bats!!

It's Your Day

It's time for our challenge at Beautiful Blossoms and we
have a gorgeous bouquet for inspiration.
Doesn't it make you long for Spring?
I know it certainly does me!! 

For my card I used a never been used before stamp and die set I bought a few years
ago from Sunny Studio's Spring Bouquet.  It's a layered stamp for
three different Spring flowers, easy peasy.  The flower pot is 
The Greetery Pretty Pot die. it's hard to tell but the pot has a bit of detail

on it.  The sentiment is a Spellbinders Betterpress.
The ink I used is all Altenew.  The under die is from Cottage Cutz
and I had used some 'powders' spattered on it.

So, get out your pretty blooms and come and join us at Beautiful Blossoms!

Merry Christmas

 It's once again time for a new challenge at
Peace On Earth
and we have a fun mood board for inspiration
but you can create anything Christmas themed!

I knew as soon as I saw the mood board that I wanted to use a Katy Sue 3D

ornament shaped image I had put together, after all it features Rudolph

so how I resist??   The background paper is from Simple Stories Make It Merry.

I added some 'dazzles' around the edge of the red card stock for some

shimmery sparkle.  The sentiment is from The Ton.

Come on over to our year round challenge at Peace On Earth,
we would love to have you!

It's Your Day

We have a new challenge starting today at
Can You Handle The Pressure
the challenge that is all about embossing folders.
I love all the new embossing folders that are now available
including all the 3D that really stand out,
I have to admit I  have quite a nice collection of them myself.

The OPTIONAL theme is Die Cuts.
An easy theme for me as I have several EB folders that came with
a die along with the folder to die cut a portion of the folder to use
any way you want.  Simon Says Stamps has many of these to
choose from and so do I...using the Terrace Floral embossing folder
and die, after embossing the panel twice I used the matching die
to die cut the center floral and leaf, colored in with ink left on my
brushes.  I added a few Sue Wilson mini butterflies and a
Spellbinders Betterpress sentiment..

This is a GREAT challenge to make you use your own
embossing folders so come and join us!

Valentine For The Hubby

 Today I had the fun of creating a special Valentine for the hubby.
Lately I have been really enjoying the creative stamps by
Unity and this so happens to be one of them
'Slightly Wry'.
I turned it into a Valentine as it resembles our dog Mackinaw (Mack)
almost perfectly.  I think he will get a kick out of it,
(the hubs, not the dog lol).
The background paper is also Unity's Sweet On You 6x6 paper.
The sentiment is Honey Bee Hello Sweetheart stamped with Hero Hues
Cherry ink.  I added a few stick on hearts and a die cut cloud from my
spare parts bag.

I have the entire Unity February release bundle of stamps
arriving tomorrow, I can't wait!

Mack the goldendoodle:

I will be entering my card into these challenges:
Cardz For Gals #269 .... Hearts and Kisses
Little Red Wagon #845 ... Red
Creative Knockouts #564 .... Love~Valentines~Anniversary
Just Us Girls  #810 .... Word Week Valentine

Time Out #306 ....Red~Sparkle~Pink~Heart~Aperture~Twine
Pick 2

Happy Birthday Stitching

 This month at The Sisterhood of Crafters our theme is
STITCHING.

I guess I took it literally as I did some REAL stitching using a
Spellbinders Stitched Medallion die.  I have a small collection of
these dies and find it relaxing to work on them while watching TV,
I can rarely just sit and watch a program, I have to have my hands busy too!
So, I have a few already stitched pieces just waiting to be made into a card!
The sentiment is a Betterpress die also from Spellbinders
and the background is The Greetery Aida Cloth Texture plate.

Come on over to The Sisterhood and see all the 
inspiration from our design team and join in with us.

Picked Posies

 At Love Those Pretty Papers challenge we give you an
excellent opportunity to use your pretty papers.

We are an 'anything goes' challenge with an OPTIONAL
monthly theme and this month it is POLKA DOTS.
Who doesn't LOVE polka dots??

Because I have so many scrap pieces of designer papers
and also because this is 'my' year I am trying to use some of my
things up, both my cards were made with scrap pieces of designer papers.

The first card I created using the polka dot theme and adding
Concord & 9th already created Picked Posies.
I have several of these in various colors already made and it's time
I started using them up.  The polka dot butterflies had taken 'flight'
on my desk so they landed on this card as well!
The sentiment is a Spellbinders Betterpress.

For my second 'anything goes' card, I had fished this piece of embossed
hearts vellum out long ago to use and had a slightly smaller then A2
card base to use so it worked perfectly for that.  The heart balloons
and love sentiment are from a 2024 Recollections stickers pack.
The oval they are resting on is from my 'pinks' spare parts container
as is the tiny red butterfly.
That vellum was little bit difficult to photograph.

So, get out those pretty papers and come and join us at
Love Those Pretty Papers!!

Entering the following challenges:
Die Cut Diva's .... Red and/or Pink

Let's Celebrate

Today at Simply Clean & Simple our OPTIONAL theme is 
GREENERY 
but you can create anything as long as it is CAS.

Card #1

I find CAS cards quite fun, a nice break from all the
other types of cards I do.  For this challenge I used and older Poppystamps die (2016) Sylvan Sprig (berries included).  When I add the dates
of the dies/stamps I am always amazed that I have had them for
so long as it seems like yesterday that I just bought them,
where does the time go??  The sentiment is Altenew
Sentiments Strips 2 stamped with Dew Drop Nautical Blue ink.
Very simple, very CAS, but I like it!

Card #2

I made a very quick and easy card also using some 'greenery'.
I had this small square and the greenery wreath (Cottage Cutz)
already die cut and in my 'green' box of spare parts so decided to
make it easy on myself and use what I already had cut.
The sentiment is another left over from my 3D Katy Sue cards.

We would love to have you join our challenge at
Simply Clean & Simple.

You Are Loved

 It's the start of a new monthly challenge today at 
Word Power
the challenge where your BIG sentiments take stage,
no itty bitty little sentiments for us!

My BIG sentiment today is from Sizzix You Are Loved stamp set.
I added a few chain links of silver Dazzles
and a cute stamp from Penny Black Loads of Love
and a few pink glitter hearts from my stash.
My cute image was colored with a mix of
 Copic's and Olo alcohol markers
That's it, easy peasy!

So, get your big sentiments out and come and join us at
our Word Power challenge.
(Every time I start a sentence with SO, I think of
how my English teacher would react LOL)!!

Entering the following challenges:
We Love Stamping .... Hearts or ATG
I 💗Pro Markers #600 .... Love and Romance
Little Red Wagon ....Love
Simon Says Wednesday .... Add A Heart
Passion For Markers ....Add Some Red

Vintage Happy Birthday

At Double D our new theme for the next couple weeks is
Shabby Chic/Vintage!  We have a pretty mood board representing just that,
you can create either vintage OR shabby chic.

I have to say I  did not at all do what I had intended to do for this challenge
but went a whole different direction.
Several years ago I had a love for all the dress form stamps and ended up
collecting quite a few of them but of course never inked them up too much.
I pulled all of them out and decided on this one as it had a nice vintage 'flare' to it.
Prima (2012) and there is no name on the set but has 5 fun rubber stamps in all.
I just lightly colored it in places and layered it with some Tutti Designs
scalloped rectangles.  The sentiment is one left over from my Katy Sue 3D cards.

We would love to have your shabby chic/vintage creations over at
Double D!!

Peaceful Dove

 February brings us a new challenge at
Triple B and we have a fun mood board for inspiration.
However, you can create anything as long as it has
BIRDS~BLOOMS~BUTTERFLIES
You can use one, two or ALL three!!

For my card I started with a textured card stock in red and embossed with an
embossing folder I purchased at Spellbinders from their
Fun Stampers Journey collection.  I also used
My Favorite Things Peaceful Dove but this time instead
of carrying a sprig, he is carrying a heart, after all
February is the month of 'love'!!

We hope you will join us with one of your
Triple B's!!

Entering the following challenges:
Pearly Sparkles Challenge #116 ....  Hearts

Thanks A Million

We are back this month with another Stencil Fun challenge
with an OPTIONAL theme of
CREATE A BACKGROUND

For my Create A Background I have another card using my new stencil
Woven Ribbons by Altenew.
This time I used their chart that comes with the stencil for the colors
using Altenew inks
Pink Diamond~Pinkalicious~Soft Lilac~Firefly~Mango Smoothie~Polar Bear.
I love how pretty these pastel colors are together.

I wanted the pretty colors to show through so I die cut Joy Bille's Circle
then added some of my flowers I already had made, some are 
Spellbinders Bold Blooms and the sentiment is Betterpress Always & Forever (I would of preferred a birthday sentiment but I didn't have one left, so I just 'pressed' 3 more sets and if that wasn't enough I ordered another Betterpress set that is mostly birthday, that ought to do me...HAH!).  I also used a Spellbinders A2Curved Matting Basics A
to die cut out the finished stencil with.

For my ANYTHING GOES card I stenciled an
Altenew layered Dahlia (no longer available)
using all red inks.  Funny thing is the colors all came out
more of a coral color then reds.  I created one a long while back
using all coral colors and it reminds me of that one,
I suppose if I put them side by side I might see a difference
but it sure looks more coral then reds to me.
The inks I used were Gina K Cherry Red, Red Hot
and Lisa Horton's Cloud 9 Red Grapefruit and Strawberry Sundae.
The sentiment is a Spellbinders Betterpress.

Come on over to Stencil Fun and put your stencils to use!

Entering the following challenges:
Moving Along With The Times .... Floral

Creepy Fun

 Here we are again in the middle of winter in Michigan
and we are having some year round fun with Halloween
while the snow is blowing and the wind is howling.
What better time to sit in my craft room all cozy and warm
and work on some Halloween cards for our challenge at
Two Old Bats!

We have a rather spooky mood board for inspiration
but you can create anything for Halloween.

Gives you the opportunity to pull out those Halloween
things you have stashed for a year and put them to use!!

I was inspired by those fun spooky pumpkins in the upper
left photo and of course the hearts.
I used a newly purchased paper from last year 

Halloween Inks by Whimsy Stamps.
I added a few 'hidden' tiny glitter hearts spread here and there

and a Spellbinders rub-on sentiment.

I'll be back in a couple weeks with a TOB reminder,

once again using one of these papers, make sure to

stop back and take a peek at it!

Come on over to Two Old Bats and have some spooky
fun with us, we would love to have you!!

Hearts Galore

 A new month, a new challenge at The Neglected Stuff
the challenge that is all about using our old and
much neglected stuff!

I am using an older paper that I purchased back in June 2024,
yep, I would say it is pretty neglected.

I created six cards out of this 12x12 sheet of Reminisce
Hashtag Graffitiheart double Sided paper.
I liked it as it had a sort of masculine feel to it with the kraft
colored background and a few black hearts, not too feminine for the guys!

All the cards were made with bits and pieces from my spare parts bins,
some die cuts, some stickers and so on.

Card #1:

Card #2:

These cards are not my 'usual' type of card I would make

but they were easy and it allowed me to use things that were already 

die cut, not sure of all of the companies but some are 
Tutti Designs, Impression Obsession and more.
These cards allowed me to use up some of my many

neglected already  cut die cuts which is a good thing!!
All the cards look way better IRL!!

Card #3

Card #4

Card #5

Card #6

Get out YOUR Neglected Stuff and come on over and join us!

Peace & Love

 Hello Peace On Earth fans, it's once again a new month
and that means a new challenge at
Peace On Earth!
We have a fun mood board for Inspiration but you can
create anything Christmas themed.

Our design team always tries to use the board for inspiration if possible
and I hit the nail on the head this time with my cute heart balloon snowman
die cut with a Cottage Cutz Woodland Snow Lady which sadly to say
is no longer available for purchase.  She actually comes with a birdhouse
but to fit my theme I added a Poppystamps heart balloon.
The papers are Doodlebug Milk and Cookies (2017) and the

sentiment is Hero Arts Christmas Messages which I thought
was perfect for my card!  She is even holding a bell, adding more
from the mood board!

Come and join us at Peace On Earth and get an early 'jump' on your 2026

Christmas cards, we would LOVE to have you!

Entering the following challenges:

Simon Says Monday Challenge .... Have  Heart
Cut It Up #338 .... My Heart
Festive Friday #202 .... Die Cuts~Heart~Pink~Love Sentiment

Simon Says Wednesday Challenge ....ATG

Winter Wishes

 We are into our last winter season until the end of the year at
The Four Seasons (next one is in December)
and have a mood board for inspiration.

I let all those red berries inspire me by using a VERY old stamp
set from Heartfelt Creations  Holly Berry Filler that I stamped on
a die cut Tutti Designs Scalloped Square and colored in with Copics.
I smeared one berry so I ended up adding a few red sequins here and there
and to cover up my 'oopsie'!  For the background I embossed a snowy
panel using TH Snowfall EB folder.  

Come join in our Winter Fun at The Four Seasons!!

Happy Birthday

At Colorful Options we are all about
PINK & PURPLE
and have a pretty mood board for inspiration to prove it!!
You also can create in a rainbow color if you prefer!

My New Years Resolution is to use things up I already have,

hence where this card idea came from.  I had several of

Concord & 9th's Picked Posie flower dies already created
that just happened to be in the pink & purple colors.  The background
card stock is from Hero Arts and I added a few Pink Fresh Studio gems.
The sentiment is Spellbinders Betterpress.

Hoping you will join in our 'colorful' fun at
Colorful Options!!