Sending Birthday Wishes

 Time for a new challenge theme at
The Sisterhood of Crafters and is hosted by our 'sistah' Darlene.
She has chosen the theme of
'April Showers Bring May Flowers'.

This card was created by once again using one of my
stenciled panels I did last summer, feels good to make them into a card!

The stencil is a Tim Holtz Floral Layering stencil
using Altenew inks!
I didn't want to cover up the pretty flowers
so I used a Pretty Pink Posh Stitched Strip to stamp the sentiment on
which is from The Greetery Sentiment Suite Birthday.

Make sure to visit The Sisterhood to see all the beautiful
floral cards from my 'Sistah's!!

Entering the following challenges:
Word Art Wednesday .... ATG

Crafty Gals Corner .... Spring/Easter
The Paper Shelter .... Birthday
Simon Says Wednesday Challenge .... ATG
Make My Monday .... Happy Birthday
Use Your Stuff .... Spring/Easter
All Sorts .... Something that begins with a B (Blossoms)

Hold More Promise

A new embossing challenge starts today at 
Can You Handle The Pressure and the 'optional' twist is PASTELS! 

I used an emboss and cut folder from Spellbinders Rose Flourish.
I chose pale pink and a mint green for my Pastels.
The embossed Roses were colored in with a dauber and  Pan Pastels
The sentiment was stamped with Altnew Firefly ink.

Another one that was hard to photograph and I tried my best to get rid of
the shadow my camera insisted on picking up, but to no avail!

I would love to have you join us for our latest challenge at
Can You Handle The Pressure
and be sure to see all the beautiful inspiration from the teams!

Double D Challenge Building Theme

 Time for a new challenge theme at Double D and it is 
BUILDINGS!
As always we have a mood board totally for inspiration only
you can have any kind of building you want!

Though I have several dies/tamps to choose from, I went a whole
different route!
One of my plans this years was to use what I have so I did just that
and used some fun Spring stickers I had picked up from Hobbylobby.
I love the bright and cheerful houses, tree, and the little clouds.
I embossed a blue cloud strip to place my stickers on and used a
paper from Doodlebug Designs Bunnyville paper pack,
and I only have a few sheets left in this pack, also another plan this year,
to use up some of these pads!!

The sentiment is from Creative Expressions Wordies sentiment sets!

Pop on over to the Double D Challenge blog to see lots more
of fabulous inspiration and join in with us too!

Peace On Earth Anything Christmas

 A new challenge starts today at 
PEACE ON EARTH 
and as usual it is an ANYTHING GOES as long as it is Christmas themed!

There is always an inspirational mood board,
just for that... INSPIRATION!

 Anything Christmas 

I totally let the mood board inspire me with the bottom right photo
with the perfect Creative Expressions Holiday Wreath stamp set.
I used Nuvo gold and silver glitter pens to color in the baubles.
A  bow was die cut from Tutti Designs Fancy Bows set in a silver metallic paper.
It is way more sparkly in real life, just hard to capture in a photo!

Head on over to Peace On Earth to see all the pretty creations
from our fabulous design team, we would love to have you join in with us!

Hello

We are partnering with the Double Trouble Challenge Blog again this year and having a joint challenge collaboration.  It's fun and easy and you have a chance to win prizes both here on the DRU Challenge as well as the Double Trouble Challenge #108! The Double Trouble Challenge runs from April 18 - May 1 and their theme is "Frame It" - use a basic metal die in your project.

Here are the options to include if you want to join the Double Trouble challenge. You can enter the Double Trouble "Frame It" challenge #108 here.

Thing 1:  Trouble Maker (Double Trouble Challenge)

says, "How many of us have a Cricut or similar machine that sits idle?  Since the world of metal dies has emerged how often do you pull out your Cricut to cut a basic shape?  It seems most of us have accumulated some dies and now use a die cutter (Cuttlebug, Big Shot, Gemini).  I'm challenging you to select a basic-shaped metal die from your stash and use it on your project, e.g. frame, square, rectangle, triangle for your image and/or sentiment...  you get the idea.  

You can stop here... 

OR  

play along with Twisted Sister's optional twist below to earn another chance in the Double Trouble random draw.  

Thing 3:  Twisted Sister  (Double Trouble Challenge)

says, "It isn't difficult for me to pick out a shaped metal die for a frame and/or sentiment but I have accumulated so many other pretty metal dies.  

"Mother's Day is around the corner... this is a good time to honor your Mom or someone special who has had an impact on your life.  My optional twist is to include flower(s) and/or butterfly(s) on your project. I'm going to use some of my pretty dies, however, if you don't have floral or butterfly dies, just use patterned paper, stenciling, or embossing.   

Optional Twist:  If you have included flowers and/or butterflies on your project you will earn another chance in the Double Trouble Random Draw. 

Thing 2: Double Dare (DRU Challenge)

says, "If you have included at least one metal die on your project you are eligible to enter at Dies R Us #191 HERE. There is a limit of three entries and make sure you post your entry on or before April 28th and you will be eligible for an extra Double Trouble random draw chance. The theme is Flowers/Spring.

      
AND... 

If you have used any brand of dies that Dies R Us sells in their store, you will be eligible for an extra Double Trouble random draw chance as well as a chance to win the DRU $10 gift code prize.  Your die may already qualify. Click HERE to view the dies on their left-hand sidebar. Be sure to mention in your post if you used a die that is sold at DRU's store for a chance the DRU random draw. 

SO basically the options for winning prizes are: 

  Thing 1: Use a basic shaped metal frame die to enter the Double Trouble challenge. 

  Thing 2: Use a metal die that DRU sells and include the theme Spring/Flowers to enter the DRU challenge and the random draw from Double Trouble. 

  Thing 3: Use a metal frame die and add a flower or butterfly to project for another entry to the Double Trouble challenge.

 A new challenge at Dies R Us and our theme is 
Flowers/Spring! 

I don't know about you  but I am certainly ready to see Spring AND flowers!
It's been a long hard bitter cold winter here in Michigan so I went with a happy yellow card
 with some pretty daisies from Cheapo dies.

I first die cut from a green card stock then again in white and paper pieced
the flowers on,  I used the Tutti Designs Dotted Ovals for my
pretty daisies to frame them with!

The sentiment is a Tutti Designs Hello word set which seems to be
discontinued but I have provided a link below for ALL the Hello dies
carried in the store!

Tutti Designs Nesting Dotted Ovals

Cheapo Dies Daisies

Tutti Designs  Hello Word Set

Hello (all)

We would love to have you join us at the Dies R Us challenge!!
Take a peek at all the inspiration from the Design Team while there!

For your convenience, all the important Dies R Us links are provided below. 

click below for:

STORE 
 CHALLENGE BLOG
  FACEBOOK
  FRIENDS OF DIES R US PINTEREST PAGE

Dies R Us now has a sister store with warehouses in the USA and Canada called Didi Crafts.  

It will ship to both the US and Canada.  Didi Crafts will carry some of the same products as DRU, but most will be different.  Now our Canadian friends don't have to worry about huge taxes or shipping fees. How great is that!?!

Entering the following challenges:

Mod Squad .... Anything Goes
Double Trouble Challenge .... Frame It
++++++++

Two Old Bats April Halloween Challenge Reminder

We are half way thru our month long challenge at 
Two Old Bats and would LOVE to have you join us! 

Below is the inspiration board for April!

 Inspiration Board

I decided to just go with a spooky scene for my challenge reminder card!

I used some papers and bits and pieces I had in my stash, put it all together
and came up with this card!

I hope you will join us with YOUR Halloween project at

Two Old Bats!
this gives you all year to build up your Halloween stash,
we all know how those holidays just seen to roll on by as quickly as they come!

Sending Hugs

 It's a new challenge theme at The Sisterhood of Crafters
and it is 'SLIMLINE' chosen by our 'sistah' Lia.

As I have mentioned many times before while I spent last summer
at our beach house I took my book of stencils with me
and spent many an evening stenciling away for when I returned home.
This is one of those stencils.
It is quite large, why they can't make them more 'card size' is
a mystery to me.
The stencil is from Picket Fence Studios Reversed Leaf and
a whopping 4 x 10 in size

Big though it is, I still love the look of it.
I stenciled with several color inks. 

The sentiment is from Pink Fresh Studios Perfect Sentiments.
I LOVE this set as all the stamps are on one stamp,
you simply stamp them all at once then use the matching die to cut
them out and viola, you have a nice group of sentiments to use.
I stamped  mine in many different colors for later use.
A saw on facebook where someone was going to cut theirs apart,
oh my goodness NO, this is such a time saver to stamp them
and cut them all at once!

If you want to see some awesome slimline inspiration then head on over
to The Sisterhood and see all the beautiful creations from my 'sistahs'!!

Happy Easter

Time for a new challenge at
Can You Handle The Pressure.
This is an embossing challenge that your embossing folder
ust be your focal point, but you are welcome to add heat
embossing as well!

We also have a 'twist' which is EASTER but optional! 

I used an embossing folder I have had for quite some time,
a Darice Easter folder.
I embossed on a piece of Mintay Basic Book 1 Backgrounds-white!
I love that this paper had a bit of of pattern and color that helps to show off
the embossed image better.

I added a bit of color to the ears and cheek of the bunny, a few 
Pink Fresh Ballet Slipper Jewels for color and a Hampton Art sentiment
stamped in Altenew Cotton Candy ink!

This definitely shows more detail IRL!
I encourage you to 'hop' on over to the 
Can You Handle The Pressure challenge blogs and see
all the pretty inspiration from the Design team and to join in with us too! 

Stitched Flowers

 Today I decided to enter a couple of challenges
with my new Stitched Flower dies from Spellbinders.
I have been seeing these new stitch dies all over the net
and though beautiful didn't think it was something I
would do, boy was I wrong!
I purchased this die set purposely to stitch in the car
while we make our 5 1/2 hour trip to the lake house
but had to try them out to see if I even liked them.
Well, I have to say I liked them so much I have since bought 
a second set of stitching dies!

I used background paper from P13, one of my favorite companies next to
Mintay, both from Poland!
The layered background die is Pink Fresh Studio Blanket Stitched Oval,
I also added a layer of hearts since I saw The Flower Challenge theme
was to add hearts, they are Impression Obsession.
The sentiment is The Greetery Sentiment Suite Birthday.
The stitching on the dies was done with a variegated floss.

The challenges I created this card for are:
Simon Wednesday Challenge .... Happy Birthday

The Flower Challenge .... Add a Heart 

Die Cut Diva's .... Tic Tac Toe...Layers~Yellow~Flowers

 

Double D Challenge Easter Theme

We have a new theme for our challenge at
Double D
and it is EASTER!

I have created a fun Spring/Easter mood board below 
and hopefully it will give you lots of inspiration!

I purchased several of these Art Impression Stamp/Die Twister sets
a year ago or so when they had a special on them
and this is the first time I have used the Easter Twist set.
The bunny is two sided and he will twist to the inside.
There is Twist Frame die sold separately that you have to have
to cut the window out with but once you have that die
it will work with all the twister sets!

I told myself that this year I was going to try and use up some older
6x6 paper pads, the Jelly Bean paper is from one of those said pads
Doodlebug Bunnyville 2016, yep six years old!
I paper pieced the bunny egg with scraps from my scrap bag!

This is the backside of the bunny, but the front of the bunny
will 'twist' to the inside.
These are pretty easy to do and fun too!

I hope to see you at Double D for our Easter challenge
and check out all the beautiful creations from our fabulous
design team too!

Entering the following challenges:
Simon Says Stamp Monday .... Easter/Spring
Inspiration Station .... Rabbit Food

Cupcake Inspirations .... Bunnies

Peace On Earth Anything Christmas

Our year round Christmas challenge is going strong at
Peace On Earth
and we have a new
challenge starting today and as always it's  anything goes 
as long as it is Christmas themed!

I created this fun mood board for a bit of inspiration
but we want to see any Christmas you have created! 

Anything Christmas

For my card, I used a never before been used
Cottage Cutz Poinsettia Lantern die.
I die cut it three times, in red, green and black
then snipped off what I needed of each color and paper pieced it
I also paper pieced yellow vellum in for the light.

We hope to see you over at Peace on Earth
and the design team has some fabulous inspiration there too...go check it out!

Yellow Challenge

 This month at Colorful Options our color is YELLOW
but did you  know You can have a choice of our monthly color OR
you can choose a rainbow color?  Options, right?

For this month I did stay within the color choice
and went with the pretty yellow, which happens to be my favorite color!

As we do each month we have a pretty colorful mood board to inspire!

I knew when I saw it I wanted to make a card with yellow tulips.
I used a stamp set from Sparkle N Sprinkle Tulips.
You probably can't tell but the designer paper background is
little chick heads, from a doodlebug paper pad "bunnyville'.
The image was stamped on white opaque card stock then die cut
with a Tutti Designs cross stitched postage die.
A small die cut butterfly was added as well as a few flower sequins,
The sentiment is part of the stamp set.

We would love to have you join in our challenge at
Colorful Options and see all the beautiful creations form the design team!

Halloween In April Two Old Bats Challenge

Our year round Halloween challenge is here again for April  at
Two Old Bats
and we have a super fun 'April' Halloween mood board
just to give you some inspiration!

 Inspiration Board

I took the inspiration board to heart you might say
and made a fun April Halloween card!

The spider web umbrella was created using a Spellbinders die,
the spider is an old SU stamp from 2003.
The sentiment is from a bag of my Halloween ephemera 
and the raining spiders background paper is from
Basic Grey Eeerie paper pad (2003)
I finished off with a few rain drops from The Robins Nest!

We would LOVE to have you join our Halloween challenge,
with 50 or more players we always have a fab prize up for grabs,
help us spread the word by telling your friends to join in too at

Two Old Bats!!!

Entering the following challenges:

Shopping Our Stash .... Under The Weather

Birds and Origami Dragonfly Challenge

 

Today a new challenge starts at Paper Dragonfly Creative Challenges and we have used a 
sponsored image from Ike's Art.
I chose Finch On Pine and colored in with Copics.  We have a lot of finches here
and I enjoy feeding and watching their antics!

We were also required to create an origami dragonfly!
I have to admit it was a struggle for me as being old and having
arthritic fingers didn't help, plus my left hand/arm nerves were operated on
several years ago and I was left with 1/4 of my hand being numb 24/7,
so he isn't the most perfect dragonfly, I used the instructions found HERE in the video. 
I felt lucky though that I had a nice thin origami paper
to create him with.  I added some gems for his eyes and to the card.
My next challenge was figuring out to add him to my card.
I had a precut pine greenery so placed that under the dragonfly!

Pop on over to Paper Dragonfly Creative Challenges and see all the rest
of the images and dragonflies created by the team!!
The challenge theme is BIRDS, you don't have to do an origami dragonfly, just have FUN!!

Four Seasons April~Anything Goes Spring

 We ae still in the SPRING mode at Four Seasons
and want to see anything springtime!

We have a mood board to give you inspiration
full of springtime goodness! 

I let the bottom left corner inspire me for my card
but have to admit I had something totally different in mind but while 
looking through my stamps I can across this very neglected 
All Night Media stamp and thought it was just about time I used it!

I chose some lavender and yellow colors of Copics, a few dies form 
Tutti Designs and some old designer paper to create my card!
The sentiment is from The Greetery's Sentiment Suite Birthday set.

We would love to see your Spring creations at Four Seasons!

Entering the following challenges:

Word Art Wednesday .... ATG

Shopping Our Stash .... Under The Weather

Thinking Of You

  

Time for a new challenge theme at Dies R Us and this month it is all
about FLOWERS!
Kind of a nice change to see some Spring like things don't you think?

I used a die I have had for awhile and this is the first time I used it.
Geez, what was I waiting for it's so pretty and it is Bouquet from Impression Obsession!

The oval frame  underneath was created by using two of the
Tutti Designs Nesting Stitched Oval dies. actually a leftover piece from my DRU
card I did on the first of the month!

The sentiment is Lawn Fawn Wavy Sayings that I stamped on,
though it does have a matching die.

ALL links are given below!

\The flowers were all die cut in white then colored with

Copics and each one glued on to their respective places!

Tutti Designs Nesting Stitched Ovals
Impression Obsession Bouquet

Lawn Fawn Wavy Sayings

We would love to have you join us at the Dies R Us challenge!!

You just need to use a die company that Dies R Us carries!
Take a peek at all the inspiration from the Design Team while there!

For your convenience, all the important Dies R Us links are provided below. 

click below for:

STORE 
 CHALLENGE BLOG
  FACEBOOK
  FRIENDS OF DIES R US PINTEREST PAGE

Dies R Us now has a sister store with warehouses in the USA and Canada called Didi Crafts.  

It will ship to both the US and Canada.  Didi Crafts will carry some of the same products as DRU, but most will be different.  Now our Canadian friends don't have to worry about huge taxes or shipping fees. How great is that!?!