Blue Birthday

Hello friends!  Today at Can You Handle The Pressure,
the challenge that is all about using your embossing folders
has a new OPTIONAL theme and it is BLUE ON BLUE,
meaning we want to see ALL blue cards or you can create
our anything goes theme as long as an embossing folder has been used.

I started out thinking I was going to make a baby card
and had an idea all set for it, but somehow this card came about instead.
I am in the process of trying to use up my SU card stocks as I have had them
for quite sometime and the way I store them they are fading along the edges.
For this card I used Bordering blue and Not Quite Navy.
The stamp is an OLD Flourishes A Year In Flowers 1.  I have used all but
one of the flowers for this set now and it makes me happy!
The pansies were stamped in Dew Drop Teal Zeal ink as well as the
The Greetery birthday stamp.  The scalloped background is a Cottage Cutz die.
The embossing folder I used is a 3d Honey Bee Spring Medley folder.

We would love to see you at Can You Handle The Pressure challenge blog!

Designer Paper Cards

 I have so many beautiful designer papers that I spent an
afternoon making a few cards with some fun papers.
I had the idea to use up every piece as much as I could
so I didn't have any more scraps to add to my scrap bags,
I did pretty well with that and have a few tiny pieces left of each.

First card uses a gorgeous paper from Paper Rose 
Bees & Butterflies Basics.  I layered a few cardstocks under
the pretty paper, added a The Greetery sentiment and a few half pearls.

The second card uses the rest of the same paper with a yellow piece
from my scrap bag and a edge die cut from my 'parts' bag
which is a Cheery Lynn Designs.  The sentiment is from a bag
of Katy Sue Designs sentiments.

The next set uses papers from Mintay Elodie and because the paper is so
pastel it was hard to get a great picture of it.
I also layered this card with card stocks, add a sentiment from
My favorite Things and a few enamel dots.

The second card from this set also uses the same DS paper,
along with a scrap from the scrap bags, another
Katy Sue Designs sentiments and a die cut from my spare parts
box, and it is also a Cheery Lynn Designs.

The third set of cards uses a paper I have had for quite some time
and using for the first time Dovecraft 'Bohemian',   it has a metallic shine,
once again layered with card stock and  a My Favorite Things sentiment,
enamel dots were also added.

The second card from the set uses a scrap paper, a die cut from my
spare parts box which is a Cheery Lynn Designs  and once again a
Katy Sue Designs sentiment.

These were fun and a great way to showcase some

pretty papers.

Entering the following challenges:
Craft Rocket #135 .... Layers

Age Is Just A Number

The Sisterhood of Crafters has a new challenge starting today 
for the month of April with a theme of 
'Make Someone Smile".
There is a silly inspiration board that is sure to make YOU smile!!

For my card I pulled out some VERY old products to make my 'smile' card.
First is a Stampin Up stamp Itty Bitty Backgrounds, though I haven't used it

in quite some time, it is one of those stamps that is very useful when needed.
I stamped it in Hero Arts Caramel ink.

The next thing I used I haven't ever used before and it's about time since I have
had it for 20 years is a Funky Chicken die from QuicKutz (2005).
I die cut it three times (plus) from white card then colored in with Copics.
The sentiment is the 'smiley' part of my card, from Woodware 'I Meant To" stamp set.
The QuicKutz is my first ever die cut 'machine' and luckily they 
have come a long way since!!

I hope my silly card with the funky chickens  made you smile today.

We would love to have you join us at The Sisterhood!

Entering the following challenges:
Critter Crazy #109 ..... Animals

 

Ends of The Rainbow

 We have a new OPTIONAL theme for our
monthly challenge at Stencil Fun and it is
RAINBOW COLORS.
I used a Lawn Fawn rainbow stencil I purchased during one of Simons 
99cent sales, I purchased well over 20 different  stencils
during their sales, same with the Simon
End of The rainbow stamp set I used.

Anything Goes Card:

 I have used once again the beautiful
Waffle Flower Butterfly Blossom Texture Plate and stencils to
make my 'partner in crime and great friends' birthday card
which was July 15th 2025.  I think it is more then safe to post it now LOL!

Because her favorite color is purple I made the flowers in purple colors
and because I love the combo of purple and yellows together
I opted to make the butterflies in yellows.

The inks are all Altenew and the colors used are
Soft Lilac~Lavender Fields~Deep Iris~Midnight Violet~Lemon Ice~
Mango Smoothie and Sweet Leaf.  The sentiment is a Betterpress.

I have to say this is one of the most easy die/stencil 
combos to use and makes a gorgeous card!

We would love to have you join us at Stencil Fun!

Scruffy Puppy

 Our The Neglected Stuff challenge is all about using all
those craft supplies you bought but for some reason or another
you have just never gotten around to using them maybe for months or even years
or maybe it's something you have used but not for a very very long time.

I purchased this Unity Pissy Puppy  stamp back in 2024 and have been
meaning to use him for quite sometime and now IS the time.
The background paper is one that I had pulled and had in a basket to use
so haven't a clue of whose it is, but another one I have had forever.
The square double stitched die cut is also a first time use from Cottage Cutz.

It feels so GOOD to use my The Neglected Stuff
and I am sure if you join us you will feel the same way!!

Entering the follow9ing challenges:
Crafty Animals #104 .... Animals
Critter Crazy #109 .... Must have a critter
Pearly Sparkles #118 .... Something Old (Designer Paper) Something New (Stamp set)

Cross Stitched Eggs

 Happy Easter!!
Today I decided to add another card since my first post is
Christmas themed for our challenge at Peace On earth.
After all it is Easter, plus the fact I still have lots of new Easter
that I haven't even been able to use yet.

As soon as I saw these cross stitched egg shapes I really debated
about ordering them, but the more I looked at them the more
I decided they had to come and live with me!

I saw the sample made and decided to use bright card stock scraps,
die cut some Easter eggs then use white embossing powder with
the stamps.  But without thinking I die cute WHITE eggs, well
that certainly wasn't going to work with white EB powder.
I die cut 4 colorful bright eggs then embossed what I thought was
a white EB powder but it turned out to be a 'sparkle' powder,
so I once again cut 4 more eggs and this time grabbed the
correct powder, geesh!!

I opted to make a 6x6 square card to fit all the eggs on plus I
have 2 packs of 6x6 card blanks and envelopes I am trying to use up.
The sentiment is part of the stamp set, the little bows are from
a Christmas tag die set I have.  One of the samples had little white pompoms
on the bunnies for tails but the ones I had were too big and it was such a
cute idea too, maybe next time!!

Supplies used:

Whimsy Cross Stitch Spring stamps
Echo Park Spring Fling Paper
Spellbinders Nesting Eggs
SNS white EB Powder

Have a great Easter!!

Merry Christmas

Here we are in April and it's the start of our first challenge
this month for Peace On Earth.
For inspiration we have a fun mood board but
you can create anything Christmas themed. 

I let the upper right photo inspire me to create my deer

from Memory Box Woodland Deer and stole (borrowed) the scarf from
Poppystamps Woodland Fawn.  The background paper is from another

freebie from scrapbookdotcom Simple Stories Simple Vintage Christmas Lodge.

The sentiment is Hero Arts Christmas Messages, the die cut the deer is on is a 

Spellbinders Essential Arches.  Stickles Crystal was applied to the antlers
and the snowbank.

Come on over and have some Christmas fun with us at
Peace On Earth!

Easter Daffodils

 With Easter here tomorrow I had created these daffodil cards
this past winter and decided they need to get posted in time for Easter.

I used a Katy Sue Designs 3D card set.  I am not going to say these
are a fast way to create cards as they are a bit time consuming,
something I did watching TV in the cold winter evenings.

These two cards are alike just using different color card bases.

Card #1

Card #2

Hard to tell, but these cards have layers and layers on them,
for instance the bible is three layers as is the candle and flowers.

Have a happy Easter!!

Entering the following challenges:

Fab N Funky .... Spring
Cardz 4 Galz .... Spring Flowers
Allsorts .... It's Springtime or ATG

Happy Birthday & More

At Love Those Pretty Papers our challenge is all about getting out
those pretty papers you have either hoarded or neglected and
show them off in our challenge.

We are an ANYTHING GOES challenge with an OPTIONAL twist
of SPRING FLOWERS.

I was always one when using my pretty papers to pretty much just 'slapping' 
it on the front of my A2 card so this challenge has been good for me to
rethink of how I use my papers.  Pinterest has been a big help in that too
which is where I saw the designs for my two cards.

For my card using the 'twist' I used an old SU embossing folder  and beautiful paper
from Little Birdie Artsy Blooms.  This 6x6 pad is full of 12 beautiful
designs in floral prints.  I also added a few of my handmade flowers,
mostly Spellbinders Bold Blooms.  The pretty little doily is
from Cottage Cutz, the sentiment is Stampendous Hugs Sentiments.

My anything goes card uses a Honey Bee Spring Melody EB folder.

The paper is Craft Consortium Bluebells and Buttercups.

The butterfly is Cheapo Dies and the sentiment is

Spellbinders Garden Favorites.

I sometimes wonder if I will ever use up my pretty papers,
and that being said before writing this up (in 2025)
 I just ordered four new Brutus Monroe 6x6 pads,
five 12x12 single sheets and a pack of card stock.  

I just can't resist pretty papers.

We hope you will join us at Love Those Pretty Papers!!

Entering the following challenges:

Crafty Calendar .... Dies/Punches
Crafty Catz #710 .... ATG
Craft Rocket #135 .... Layer It Up
Just Us Girls #817 .... Die Week Spring/Easter

Happy For You

Hello friends, our CAS challenge at Simply Clean & Simple
has a new OPTIONAL theme this month and it is
BASKETS, but you can create anything as long as you keep it CAS!!

I have had this cute little stamp set from 
Your Next Stamp Spring Kitty and this is the first it's seen ink!

I stamped it on a Cottage Cutz scalloped circle then colored it in
with Copics.  A strip of an embossed panel from a SU folder was
added along with a The Ton Easy Expressions sentiment 

Come on over to Simply Clean & Simple and
have some 'simple' fun with us!!

Entering the following challenges:

Crafty Catz .... ATG

Special Day

Hello friends, at Triple B we have a pretty and inspiring mood board
for our challenge which is all about Butterflies, Birds and/or Blooms.
You can use one, two, or all three in any color as our board is
for inspiration only. 

Since yellow IS my favorite color I let those gorgeous yellow roses inspire me
and used a layering Hero Arts Peony Bunch stencil for my card.  I planted a yellow
Peony two years ago and last year was the first time I had yellow peonies, so gorgeous!

I used mostly Altenew and one Dew Drop ink for my card.  I am on the lookout for about
four yellow inks from light to dark, any recommendations are welcome.
The sentiment is a Stampendous, a few PFS half gold pearls were added.

We would love to have you join us with your butterflies, blooms, or birds at Triple B!!

Entering the following challenges:

Krafty Chicks ....Birthday
Alphabet Challenge .... 'Y' Is For Yellow Flowers

 

Rainy Halloween

It's a rainy day at our Two Old Bats Halloween challenge
and we have the mood board to prove it, BUT, it is
for inspiration only and you can create anything with the Halloween theme. 

I did let the rain inspire me with a rainy day Halloween card using
my Sizzix Rain Clouds embossing folder to start.  My skeleton is from a free die 

I received from scrapbookdotcom with an order.
He is holding an umbrella from a die cut by Cottage Cutz Stitched 
Suns, Clouds, and Umbrella.  Funny thing about this die is that non

of my die cut pieces have stitches on them as stated or shown on their site,
I am 'stitch less' lol!  Anyhow I die cut it from a scrap that was just sitting here and

it happened to have a skull on it, so perfect.  The pumpkin is a

Cheery Lynn Designs die.

Come on over to join in with us at 
Two Old Bats!

Entering the following challengs:

C.R.A.F.T. .... Weather/Seasons/Anything Goes

Thanks

 A new challenge starts today at our Word Power blog,
the challenge that is all about your sentiment taking center stage,
no little sentiments here!

If you visit or follow my blog often, by now you have probably
figured out I am a buy what is on sale crafter, I just can't resist the sales.
My Spellbinders 3D THANKS embossing folder is one of my sale
items.  Sometimes during their warehouse sales the folders are $1, $2, $3
and at that price I just can't resist, I mean who could right?
I ran the folder thru my Switch a couple of times on a Core'dinations 
whitewash paper and sanded to the color underneath.
I love how it makes the sentiment stand out.  I then added a few small
Katy Sue 3D flowers I had put together,  finishing it off perfectly.

So, get out those BIG words/sentiments and come join in our fun!!

Entering the following fun challenges:
Pearly Sparkles .... Something Old (cord-inations Paper)
Something New (Spellbinders Thanks & KS Flowers)

Birthday Fun

 At Colorful Options Challenge we are all about SPRING and the pretty
colors of YELLOW!  Not a fan of yellow, then you can always do
rainbow colors!  We have a pretty mood board for inspiration!

I was inspired by the pretty yellow tulips, one of my favorite Spring flowers.
I used a Spellbinders Wonderful Tulips Layered Stencil with Altenew inks
Buttercream, Warm Sunshine, Snapdragon, Firefly, Grass Field, and Shadow Creek
along with a Dew Drop Dandelion.  The sentiment is a Stampendous.

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

Entering the following challenges:
Word Art Wednesday .... ATG
Simon Says Wednesday .... Happy Birthday
Color My Heart Color Dare .... Other color is GREEN

Forever Grateful

 We are well into SPRING at The Four Seasons
and have a pretty Spring mood board for inspiration to prove it!
We want to see all your pretty SPRING cards this month!

I used some pretty Spring papers from Paper Rose to start my card
along with a SU edgelits die .  The circle die is Folk Edge Circle from
Pink Fresh Studio.  The crocus stamp is an oldie Flourishes 
A Year In Flowers and the sentiment is a Betterpress.

I don't know about you, but I LOVE Spring so if you do too
then come on over to The Four Seasons and join us!

Entering the following fun challenges:
Fab N Funky .... Easter/Spring

Laughter The Best Medicine

Today at Double D we have a new challenge theme and it is a funny one,
HUMOR!!
We want you to make us laugh and have a silly mood board for inspiration!

I used a stamp set I have seen around various challenges but I have never
used before.  It's a stamp from Paper Rose Laughing Animals.  It was colored with 
various Copics and Altenew alcohol markers.  A few gold half pearls were added. 

Come and have some laughs with us at Double D!!

 

Happy Happy Day

 I'm on a roll as I was able to have fun creating a second card for
another challenge.  As soon as I saw the Alphabet challenge had
X for X-ray, meaning black and white my first thought was my
12x12 Ziploc bag of black scraps using a die my friend gave me
when she ordered 2 by mistake from Kokorosa Custom cutting dies, (thanks Suzi)!

I tried ordering from them myself once but my virus protection
will not let me go to their site saying it is a scam site, which it is NOT!
I would love to order more of these types of dies.

Anyhow, I die cut the base frame from both black and white card stock and
in the end settled on the white frame, mounting it on a black card base.
This was a super easy card to make.  The sentiment is a leftover from
Katy Sue Designs, I have a bag of them.

I'll be back tomorrow, with the start of my DT cards for the month

Also entering these fun challenges:
Snippets Playground #529 ....Snippets

Butterfly Birthday

 I am pretty excited about this card, not only that it turned out
so pretty, but the fact that I just received this stencil/die set over the weekend
and put it to use right away, a rarity for me!

It is a new 3D embossing folder and stencil from the new just released collection
In My Heart  from Simon Says Stamp.  This is the Butterfly Escapade, it also 
comes with a die which I didn't use this time as I didn't want to cover any
of the pretty embossed pieces up anymore then I did with the sentiment.
The folder/stencil set is out of stock but you can buy each set separately so far.

The inks I used are all Altenew Rubellite~Hydrangea~Shadow Creek and
Grass Field.  The sentiment stamp and die is Hero Arts Ribbon Messages.

I am really wanting to create a few more in some pretty Spring colors.

I am not affiliated in any way with Simon Stamps
but they are having a sale until 4/5 on all Simon
embossing folders, 25% off with code 5WAYS
of course (just my luck), I purchased mine just days
before the sale, you might want to take a peek!!

I created this card for the Just Us Girls challenge which is STENCILS
which I can totally thank for the challenge as it inspired me to use
my new stencil right away!  I am just getting this card
in under the wire

Thanks for stopping by!!

Also entering these fun challenges:

Addicted To Stamps & More .... Any Occasion
Simon Says Monday .... Emboss It 

Happy Birthday To Ewe

 A new challenge starts today at Can You Handle The Pressure
with an OPTIONAL theme of KIDS Cards!
However, you can create anything as long as an embossing folder has been used,
that is a MUST!!

I had created another card but the more I thought about it the less
I was thrilled with it so I made this fun kids lamb card.
I've seen a few different designs of these around blogland
using various products and decided to create my own.
I have to mention my little 'ewe' is a bit cross eyed,
just the way the two black spots in his eyes 'rest',
but it gives her , her own personality.

Products used were:
Spellbinders Classic Scalloped Circle (largest & smallest)
SU Punches for ears, face and legs
Cuttlebug Swiss Dots embossing folder
A few die cut flowers
and a scrap of designer paper.

The ewe was created to open, so it is adhered to a card panel
as shown below.

We hope you will come and have some embossing fun with us at
Can You Handle The Pressure!!

Entering the following challenge:
Simon Says Wednesday .... ATG

March 2026 Woodblock Wednesday

 It's the last Wednesday of the month and that means it's time for
Amy's Woodblock Wednesday challenge, the challenge where
your woodblock stamps are required!

For my woodblock I got out an old House Mouse stamp 2005
Sleeping Under Flowers 02.

It's quite a large stamp so it made a large card.
The sentiment is Stampin' Up 1992 stamped on a punched circle. 
I have several of these SU

wood block single stamps I purchased at a garage sale years ago

so have no idea of what set they originally belonged to.

I die cut my image after I had colored it with Copics with a newly

purchased nesting die from Memory Box Notched Eyelet Frames.
Such a pretty nesting set that I know I will get lots of use out of!
I added  a few tiny shamrocks from my 'spare parts' box and
believe they are Impression Obsession dies, cute aren't they?

I am sure Amy would love to see YOU over at her Woodblock Wednesday challenge!!

Coffee and Friends

 We are into our third challenge at Pick 3, the challenge
where you pick three of the elements below to create your card!

I chose Text~Wings~Die Cuts for my three.

Supplies Used:
Sizzix Tim Holtz Cafe Colorize 
Memory Box Meadow Bird Branch (2015)
Tutti Designs Dotted Square
Flourishes Coffee With Friends Stamp set
Simon Dark Chocolate Card Stock

Come and join us at the new Pick 3 challenge!

Memory Box March Challenge

Since I have today FREE, I decided to do the fun March challenge at
Memory Box !
The theme is BIRTHDAY, easy peasy!

I recently purchased some new MB dies that I love,
so doing this challenge is a pleasure!
The dies used are Garden Pail Bouquet and
Notched Eyelet Frames.  I die cut all the flower, leaves
and stems from scraps of white cardstock then 
colored each piece in with various copics for the leaves
and ink left in my brushes for the flowers.
The Eyelet frame was cut from a Mintay paper and
the pail from a Tonic Silver Mirror paper.

The colors in real life are much more vibrant, I took multiple photos
but this is the best I could get, must be all the snow we were getting the
day I created this!

Also entering the following challenges:

Simon Monday Challenge .... Beautiful Blooms
Addicted To Stamps & More #513 ..... Birthdays
AAA Birthday  #83 .... Use Die Cuts

Happy Easter

 Double D is feeling like Easter these next two weeks and that is our theme
EASTER!

We have an inspiration board that will hopefully inspire you to play along!

I had these Katy Sue 3D cards just waiting to be featured and what better time then

now for our Easter challenge.  They were just slightly changed a bit by adding

different background papers.

Card #1:

A closer look at the 3D:

Card #2 (and my favorite)

And a closer look at the 3D:

Won't you come and have some EASTER fun with us at Double D??

Entering these fun challenges:
All About Papercrafts .... Seasons (Spring)