Be Happy

 It's a new challenge theme at The Sisterhood of Crafters
and chosen by our 'sistah' Debbie.

She has chosen the theme of HAPPY, use the word happy
somewhere o your project!

I stamped and colored this Penny Black Be Happy image long ago
and now have put it to good use.  This is such a cute stamp set
with four other images and 3 more sentiments
that I can't wait to ink up and use!

The paper is Echo Park Spring Fling, the frame, scalloped circle underneath
and the layered flower are all from my stash.
I have clear bags of 'rejected' pieces all sorted by color, making it easy
to grab what I want to use if needed!

Take a peek at The Sisterhood and see all the  'HAPPY'
and fun creations by my 'sistahs' at The Sisterhood!
Join in with us and BE Happy too!!

Little Gift Bags

 Doing a quick challenge today at 
Crafting Happiness 
I went with the not a card option which is anything goes.
I created these small gift bags that would hold a piece of jewelry or tiny gift
using the Spellbinders gift bag die and Spellbinders Bold Blooms dies

I had a lot of fun with these but used lots of my Bold Blooms flowers
so will be making more of those I'm sure!!
I did have a hard time getting the score lines to show when cutting,
tried many different shims and it was still hard to get a good score,
if anybody has this die and has any good tips I sure would appreciate it!

Fluttering Leaves

Hello friends, it's once again time for a new challenge at 
Can You Handle The Pressure
where embossing folders are the star of the show and MUST be used!

We also have an optional theme and this time it is LEAVES!

The embossing folder I used is a Darice Fall Leaf Background. 
I embossed it on a piece of older designer paper then lightly sanded it
to show off the embossing a little more.
I didn't do much then that other then add my twine and a sentiment
as I didn't want to cover up what few leaves it did have.

Make sure to pop on over to Can You Handle The Pressure
to see what beautiful creations the design teams have made,
you surely won't be disappointed!! 

Hello

 I needed a little 'umph' to get my mojo going and
decided the best way was to find a challenge to motivate me!

I saw the challenge at Tic Tac Toe
and thought it was just what I was looking for!

I went with the top row straight across
Stencil~Jewel Colors~Flowers
Jewels come in ALL colors so I thought these flowers would work.
ALL the products I used on my card today have never been used before,
geez what was I waiting for??

My stenciled background is The Greetery Square Dance Stencil.
The flowers were created using Concord & 9th Picked Posies dies.
You've heard me rave about the Spellbinders Bold Bloom dies,
well, I saw these dies at about the same time so added them to my collection,
but I didn't stop there I also bought a set of Pretty Pink Posh Spring Foliage dies,
What's nice about these is they can all work alone or together.
I spent an entire summer evening making dozens of flowers from the 3 sets!
The HELLO is from Pink Fresh Studio Simply Sentiments Hello.

Here is a look of some of the flowers using these three die sets:

Concord & 9th Picked Posies

Pretty Pink Posh Spring Foliage

Spellbinders Bold Blooms

If you like making pretty flowers and easy ones, these are the dies for you.

I am no way compensated for featuring these dies, I just love enough to show them!

Also entering the following challenges:

Creative Knockouts ... Use two or more of what's listed (flowers~die cuts)
Ellibelle's Crafty Wednesday .... ATG (m)

Rainy Days With Elmo

 Time for a new challenge theme at
Double D Challenges and it is

Things that FALL

I used the bottom right corner and went with an out of the ordinary image
that I printed and cut from my Cricut.  I printed and cut this image many
years ago for a grandchild then never used it, but thought it along with the raindrop
paper worked well together, and it was about time I put it to good use!

Besides, whos doesn't love Elmo?

The paper is once again from 

a fun pad I have in my stash 'LDRS' You Are My Sunshine,

I loved that the colors went well with my Elmo!
Stickles were also added for a bit of 'bling'!

Make sure to visit Double D and see all the fun takes on the mood board/challenge
from the design teams, they always do such an amazing job!

Entering the following challenges:
Simon Says Monday Challenge ....Sparkle and Shine

Embossed Butterflies

Hello All, today I am honored to be guest designing at 
Try It On Tuesday and the theme is Emboss It
either wet or dry.
Of course you can see I went with the dry embossing using a NEW to me
embossing folder from Simon Says (Graceful Butterflies)
after seeing it on a Jennifer McQuire video!

I loved it so much I just 'had' to buy it!
The folder itself is butterflies, then it comes with a die to cut
them out, ingenious I think!

I used various inks  from the Simon Says Pawsitively inks ( grapefruit and sweets)
 to add color on a piece of colored card stock!
For a bit of a more 'bang' I added gems from Pink Fresh studio!!

Why not take a minute and pop on over to 
Try It On Tuesday and see all the pretty designs from the team!!
Thank you so much to Jo and the team for your Hospitality!!

Entering the following challenges:

Double Trouble ....Punch or Die Cut
Word Art Wednesday .... ATG

Doggie Christmas

I know it's only September but the months are dwindling down
and it will be Christmas before you know it, 
so don't get caught in all the hubbub with your cards still not done!
Join us at our fun year round Peace On Earth Christmas challenge
and be ahead of the game!

We have a fun mood board for inspiration but you can create
anything you like as long as it is Christmas themed!!

I right away knew what I wanted to use for this challenge.
I had a NBUS stamp set from Lost Coast Designs (2013)
'Santa Paws' that reminded me so much of the top right picture
that it finally got to come out of hiding and see some ink!!
I colored the image with Copics!

The plaid paper is from an old Authentique paper pad (2014) 'Believe',

I thought the plaid worked perfectly with the pup!
The sentiment is part of the stamp set!

If you want to see some gorgeous 'makes' and lovely inspiration
then head on over to the Peace On Earth challenge blog
and why not join in with us too!!!

Entering the following challenges:
We Love Stamping .... ATG (stamping)
Color Crazy Challenge .... ATG (coloring)
Winter Wonderland .... Christmas Animals
Aud Sentiments .... Christmas + Sentiment

Sketch Time

I did a challenge today just for fun,
kind of nice to do something besides DT work.
I saw this sketch challenge at 
CAS Colours & Sketches 
and decided to take a day off and have some fun with it!

I used a Tim Holtz mini Roses stencil and a flower made from
Spellbinders Bold Blooms.  The Sentiment is from Altenew
sentiment strips 2, die cut with Honey Bee sentiment banners.
I think it turned out kind of pretty!

Speaking of stenciling, did you know we have  NEW Stencil challenge
starting on Oct 4th?  I like the challenges Dar and I have put together

as we are always on top of things with our posts, winners posts!

Make sure to go Stencil Fun and check it out!

Also entering the following challenges:
Creations In Pink .... Mostly Pink
Happy Little Stampers .... Stencils
Simon Says Monday .... Die Cuts (my bold blooms)
Word Art Wednesday .... ATG

Soak Up The Sun

 Hello there, it's a new challenge theme at 
The Sisterhood of Crafters
and Annie is our hostess and she has chosen the theme of
Sun~Sea~Sand~Beach (anything to do with summer)

Our summer season is about over here in Michigan and we
are on our way to fall
but it was still fun to put together that one last summer
card for the year!!

I used a couple of new and never before used things on my card. 
a stamp from Deep Red  'Beach Basket' and a new stencil
Wavy Stripes from ink N' Splatter for my background.
The palm tree is from Frantic Stamper.
It comes with extra fronds and coconuts which I think are to go
below the tree but I added them to the top for a more 3D look!
The sentiment is from My Favorite Things.

You need to pop in over at The Sisterhood and see
what my 'sistah's' have created and join in with us too,
after all it might be your summer season too and if not,
well, be like me and get that last summer card in!!

Entering the following challenges:
Never Before Used Schtuff

September Halloween Challenge Mid Month Reminder

 We are half way thru our Two Old Bats Halloween challenge
and would love to have YOU join us!  We changed our prize winner 
to only 25 or more players and we will give away a randomly drawn prize!

Here is our fun inspiration board but you can create anything as long
as it is Halloween themed!

Inspiration Board

For my reminder card I went with the other half of the booville paper that
I used last month, you can see it HERE.
Though from the same 6x6 sheet it is a totally different scene,
just look at that little witch hanging her 'sheets',
too cute!!
All I had to do was add twine, a sentiment and the strip you see at the 

bottom which is on the inside of the card, being this mini slmline
card was a miss-cut so that is how I took care of it and added

some doodles along the edges!

Make sure to take a peek at the Two Old Bats Halloween challenge blog
there are some very clever spooky designs there!!

Season of Fall

It's a new 'optional' challenge theme at
Can You Handle The Pressure and it is
FALL !!
You can make anything you want as long as it has been created
with an embossing folder, that's the only real requirement!

I used an old Cuttlebug pumpkin folder,
one that probably just about everyone has!
I embossed on a metallic paper then added my sentiment
leaves and stitched pumpkin, all from my scrap bins!

Make sure to visit Can You Handle The Pressure and see all the pretty designs 
from the teams, it is always fun to see all the embossing folders being used
and there is always one up for grabs to a random winner if you join in!!

Best Friends

Do you remember the book Charlotte's Web?
If you had children you probably know about it.
Released October 15th 1952, was a best seller, cute book about
the friendship between a spider and a pig,
it's also a little sad.

Well, I came across a new to me challenge where the themes are based on books,
children's books, how fun is that?
This is their 2nd challenge, geez how did I miss the first one!! 

Once Upson A Time

I based my card of the friendship of the spider (Charlotte) and the pig (Wilbur).
Using a Tutti Designs spider web corner, a Cheapo dies pig and a 
Cherry Lynn Designs spider I built my card.  The background was created by using
The Greetery Shiplap Builder die.

If you haven't seen this challenge, go and check it out,
it's nice to see a fun new challenge with so many of the
challenge blogs closing.

Speaking of NEW challenges my crazy friend (Dar) and I have a new challenge
debuting October 4th and it's all about stencils,
make sure to check it out!

Stencil Fun

Moo~Quack~Oink

Time for another new challenge theme  at Double D and it is
Baa-Cluck-Moo-Neigh-Oink-Quack
We want to see any or all and have this fun mood board
to inspire you!!

I purchased a stamp I was going to use just for this challenge
but while looking thru my dies I spotted this farm animal one

and just had to use it!!  It was cut 3 times, one from a craft foam,

one from green and one from white card stock.
I layered the green on the foam, then colored each animal,
snipped them off and paper pieced on!

I used Lawn Fawn stencils for the sky and grass
with some Distress inks, added a sun and a few gems!

The sentiment is from Pink Fresh Studio Simply Sentiments.
I now have a moo~quack~baa~cluck~oink~ and neigh!!

Make sure to check out the Double D challenge blog for more 
fun inspirations, the DT has once again outdone themselves!!

Every Snowflake

Peace on Earth has a new challenge starting today as as always it's
an Anything Goes as long as it's Christmas themed.
We have a fun mood board for inspiration! 

My first thought was to let the holly inspire me as I have a big

card size holly die that I haven't ever used,
then while going for the die in my Christmas die book I spotted two
never been used before mice dies, and then this large snowflake die
which won out in the end as I was on a time crunch since we would be leaving again
for two weeks and I needed to get my design team all done for the month!

The red pillow spoke to me with the white snowflakes,
so much so that I did two cards but one in reverse colors!
The sentiment is from Sparkle N Sprinkle Crystal Snowflake set.

I turned the panel the opposite way for the second card
and added the sentiment to the other side.! 

I hope you will join us at Peace On Earth for our challenge
after all Christmas isn't that far off!

Make sure to visit our sister challenges as well:

Two Old Bats Year Round Halloween Challenge
Four Seasons Challenge 
Double D Challenge
Can You Handle The Pressure Challenge

Entering the Following Challenges:
Little Red Wagon .... Hot Colors

Brown Color Challenge

Time for a new monthly color challenge at Colorful Options and
this month's color is BEAUTIFUL BROWN!

I let Pinterest inspire my design for my brown card as I saw a lovely card HERE
and used that for my brown card, this gal has a lovely style, you should check it out!

My card was created with a Life Style Woven embossing folder for 
the background, Tutti Designs Nesting Dotted squares for my 'snippets'
of papers and a Poppystamps Garden Bouquet die, and it's the first time I have used it.
I added some half pearls to the flower centers!

Make sure to visit the Colorful Options challenge blog,
lots of fun inspiration and if you don't like our brown theme
there is always a choice to use rainbow colors, plus a fun prize to be had!!

Two Old Bats September Halloween Challenge

Happy Llama-ween!! 
It's already that time again for our new monthly ~year round~ challenge at
TWO OLD BATS!!
We have this fun inspiration board for you
but you can created anything as long as it is HALLOWEEN themed!!

I normally try to go with something off the mood board
as they are so fun (plus I made the boards lol)!!

I think without me even telling you it is obvious what I let inspire me!
I bought this cute Darcie stamp set last year maybe and have never used it
until today!!  There is another super cute image with the set which will appear
on a later TOB challenge. The set is Llama Halloween.

The background paper is from a very OLD BasicGrey 2009 paper pad called eerie,

the sliver of striped paper is from my Halloween scrap paper bag!
I heat embossed the sentiment, which is part of
the stamp set, but it has been so long since I embossed
with embossing powder I forgot to use my 
embossing buddy, but luckily not too much powder
didn't stick too bad where it doesn't belong,
guess I had better emboss more!!

If you want to see some really fun and spook-tacular Halloween creations
then head on over to our Two Old Bats Halloween challenge.

Entering the Following challenges:
Simon Says Wednesday Challenge .... ATG

Pumpkin Patch

 Today is a rather sad day for the Dies R Us team
as this will be our last card for the DRU challenge
as it is being closed permanently and I have been
part of it for a long long time as well as on 
the DRU  Inspiration team.

For my last card I used a favorite die/stencil from PoppyStamps that
I have used before but thought it was time to bring it out again
'Autumn Leaves Sidekick Frame and Stencil'.

After die cutting, I placed the stencil over the top and used all
Tim Holtz Distress inks for my leaves
spiced marmalade, fired brick, mustard seed and peeled paint.
I adhered the finished piece to a piece of paper from Echo Park
and used another print piece from the same pad for within my frame.

 I hope to see you at the Dies R Us challenge blog and
join in for our very last challenge...thanks for visiting!!

Entering the following challenges:

PoppyStamps .... ATG

Fall Is In The Air

We have entered into the FALL SEASON at our Four Seasons challenge
and have this pretty mood board for inspiration
but it can be anything as long as it's fallish!!

I normally really try to use something off the board but this time I went 
with all the pretty colors of the board which really speaks FALL to me!

I had an image already colored that has just been waiting to make it's debut
and today is the day!
I can't tell you who the image is by as I haven't a clue where I put it!
The sentiment is from Sparkle N Sprinkle Autumn Girlfriends
and the papers are from P13 Hello Autumn.
The die cut is from a friend that gave me all her stuff when she 
got out of paper crafting!
I also added some gold metallic half pearls from PinkFresh Studios.

Make sure to pop on over to the Four Seasons challenge blog
and see all the pretty fall creations from my teamies!!

One last thing before you go is there is a NEW challenge
starting on October 4th and it is all about STENCILS!!
You Can read all about it HERE so be sure to mark
your calendar to join in all the fun!!

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