Birthday Cards

 Hello friends, today I have a couple cards I created for the fun challenge at
Just Us Girls where it is STENCIL week!

Awhile back I purchased Pink Fresh Studio's Inky Floral Background stencil,
not once but twice, yep that is correct I accidently bought the stencil twice
where I really needed to purchase the  stamp and stencil.  The stamp has all the
stamped foliage on it so it is a must have!

For my first card I stenciled mainly in various pink, corals with a goldy/yellow
thrown in.  The base stamp was stamped with a green ink.

For my second card I stamped the foliage in black then colored a few
leaves in with olo markers, the stenciling was done with

shades of lilac, corals and yellows.  The sentiment is 
a Spellbinders Betterpress'

I also decided to enter these cards into the monthly challenge at

Pink Fresh Studio inspired by not only some of the colors 
but the florals as well!!

Have a great and creative weekend!!

Also entering the following challenges:
Simon says Wednesday Challenge .... ATG
Inkspirational Challenge .... Use Stencils

Shimmer and Shine

Hello Friends, I have a second card today I created for the Poppystamps
challenge for June that will be ending soon!
When I saw the theme I pulled out my
Poppystamps Stitched Cupcakes  (can you believe this is the first time I have used them)
die and immediately thought of
a shimmer and shine look (fun but a bear to photograph)!!
I have a bag of nothing but metallic and glitter paper pieces
that I save every little bit as it comes n so handy for those little

small pieces you want to add to your cards!
I used a purple metallic for the cupcake liners
and a pink glitter paper for the frosting!
The stitched squares I placed them on are from Memory Box.
A sentiment and a few gems were added for even more sparkle!

That's it for me today, I am headed outside to work in the
'garden of weeden'!!

Thank You Very Much

 

Hello Friends, Amy Tsuruta has her Woodblock Wednesday
challenge up and running and I try to join in every month
as it gives you the opportunity to pull out those much neglected
woodblock stamps.  I know a lot of you have gotten rid of yours but
I keep everything LOL!!  I went to a garage sale a couple week ago that
had 'stamps' in their ad and this sunflower is one I picked up for a
mere 50 cents!  It looks as though it had never been inked and does
have the manufactures name on it but it is so light and blurry I can't read it.
As  many woodblock stamps I have I certainly didn't need to buy anymore
but who could resist the price!!
It was stamped then colored with Olo markers
and die cut out with a Cottage Cutz eyelet oval stitched die.
I have a pile of scrap papers sitting in a basket on my desk I am
trying to use up so that is where the background came from.
The sentiment is from The Ton Easy Expressions.

If you have some fun woodblock stamps you should head on over and join in the 
woodblock fun with us!! 

In The Garden Challenge

Hello Friends, today starts a new challenge theme at
The Sisterhood of Crafters and it is
In The Garden.

So many things to choose from with this theme but I remembered I had
 a never been used before die from Cottage Cutz Puppy In Garden Cart
and decided to let him make his debut for this challenge.
Cottage Cutz dies or The Scrapping Cottage as the website calls it
periodically has some great percentage off sales so I wait and buy
all my dies from them during those sales.

I might have/did say some bad words in the making of this card 
as there are no instructions to put these together and it is all by looking at the
photo included and you just have to make sure you do things in
somewhat of an order.  I did make a few mistakes but now know for the
next time I create the garden cart and puppy.  And why is it when you die cut
all your pieces and are ready to use them, some have totally disappeared?
All my pieces were die cut from white card stock scraps and then colored in
with Copics and Olo markers.
The sky was stenciled with Lawn Fawn clouds and I die cut a stitched edge grass,
the Stampendous sentiment is stamped with Dew Drop Teal Zeal ink.

Come and have some 'In The Garden Fun with the 'sistahs' at
The Sisterhood of Crafters!!

Entering the following challenges:
Simon Says Wednesday .... Anything Goes
Snippets Playground .... Snippets
Never Before Used Schtuff #63 .... NBUS

Sending Best Wishes

 Hello friends,  it is a raging storm outside
(rain, thunder, lightening, hail and a whole lot of wind)
so I thought I would sit calmly in my craft room
and ignore it!

I am joining in with the monthly Memory Box challenge
where the theme is Plenty of PLAID and use at least one MB product!

I pulled out a mini P13 plaid paper pad and used a Memory Box
Stitched Lattice Background die (2015) to cut my plaid paper from.
I added a die cut circle topped with the cutest Memory Box
Little Hibiscus Blossom (2019) inked with Altenew Coral Bliss and
Pink Pearl inks.  A The Ton sentiment and a few gems were added
to complete!

That's it for me today, have a good one!!

Also wanted to mention that there will be a NEW
challenge starting in July and will be the first Monday in
the month each and every month and nope, it's not one of Dar's and my challenges but being hosted and run by a very dear friend

Vicki.

This challenge will be all about die cutting.
here is the link to check it out and the first challenge starts
July 1st!!  Make sure read and follow all the rules
and have FUN!!

Sports Challenge

Hello friends, it is once again time for a new challenge at
Can You Handle The Pressure
where embossing folders are a must for this challenge.
You can add wet embossing too but an embossing folder MUST be used!

I pulled out an old, and I mean OLD embossing folder that I have
never used before with a bowling pin and ball.
Can you believe I have NEVER bowled in my life, nope just not my thing I guess!
I did work at a bowling alley years ago as a bartender if that makes
a difference LOL!
I added a few stitched strips across the top and a sentiment
that I thought worked well with the folder.
That's it, easy peasy!!

Come on over to Can You Handle The Pressure and have some embossing fun with us!

Entering the following challenges:

Never Before Used Schtuff (NBUS)

Reach For The Stars

Hello Friends, we have a new challenge theme starting
today at Double D and it is Reach For The Stars! 
As always we have an inspirational mood board
but you can create anything as long as it has stars!

I struggled a little bit with an idea for my card but then
let Pinterest help me along.  I came across a design used by a DT
member at My Favorite Things back in 2015
so used that to inspire me
plus the bottom right colorful stars from our mood board.
Using my rarely used Tutti Designs nesting star dies
and a few bright scraps of paper I came up with this card.
The sentiment is from Lawn fawn.
I still thought it needed 'something' so I splattered it with
gold metallic paint.

Come on over to Double D and see all the creativeness the
design teams have to inspire you, 
play along with us too as there is always a fun prize
for a lucky random winner, but you have to play to win!!

Something Blooming Lovely

Hello friends, today I am guest designing at 
I Spy With My Little Eye
and we are joining in with the Double Trouble Challenge
until June 30th, so if you are in for a fun challenge
please read all the details below:

The challenge theme at I Spy is 'Something Blooming Lovely'
and LONG and Skinny at Double Trouble.

I created a slimline card full of blooms from my already stash of
premade flowers I created last summer using scraps of paper and dies from

Spellbinders Bold Blooms, Pretty Pink Post Spring Foliage and
Concord & 9th Picked Posies with a few Sue Wilson butterflies.

The black outer dies are Hello Bluebird.
The sentiment is a Spellbinders Betterpress
Always and Forever plate.

Thanks you to Ellie at I Spy With My Little Eye
for having me guest design and I hope to see YOU
at both challenges, come on over and have some fun with us!

Entering the following challenges:

Craft Rocket .... No Design Paper

Simon Says Wednesday .... Bright and Cheerful
Double Trouble .... Long and Skinny

Inspiration Station .... Inspired by the colors

Peace On Earth Challenge #66

 The year is half over can you believe it?
It brings us to a new challenge at Peace On Earth
and if you have been playing along with us each month
your Christmas card stash should be growing!!

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

I normally always let the board inspire me and I loved 
those fun trees on the bottom left.
The die cut trees are from a Sizzix/Hero Arts set I have never used,
which I decorated with some gingham ribbon and a few
gems.  The designer paper is the back of a beautiful Mintay paper
I hated covering up, but it worked too well for my card not to.
I used a The Greetery Wood Slices (part of) for my trees to rest on.
The sentiment is from Hero Arts.

Come visit us at Peace On Earth and join in with us too!!

Two Old Bats Reminder June 2024

We are halfway through our challenge at Two Old Bats
and have a fun inspiration board for you! 

There was plenty of inspiration in this June mood board
and I let the skeleton and skull cake inspire me,
kind of creepy isn't it?
For my background paper I used Brutus Monroe Spooktacular Fun
and a Deep Red Calavera Mariachi band stamp, aren't they fun??
The sentiment I already had stamped from Prickley Pear.

Frightful & Delightful over at Two Old Bats,
hope to see you there!!

Beautiful Blossoms June Challenge

Hello friends, it's time for a new challenge at
Beautiful Blossoms and we have the pretty mood board for inspiration,
but it can be anything, any color as long as you focus is on floral! 

For my card I used a stencil~die~stamp combination from
LDRS Creative Joyful Blooms from right here in Michigan!
My background paper is a VERY old piece from SU but I thought it
represented the mood board pretty well.  My florals were stenciled
with Altenew inks.  The sentiment is part of the set mentioned above.

I added a few 'candi's for a bit of decoration (I know they add to the postage
but I had them and I like how they look!

Come on over to Beautiful Blossoms and have some floral fun with us!!

Northern Lights

 This year in Michigan we were lucky enough to see the
Northern Lights so when I saw a challenge at
My Time To Craft Christmas #88
and the theme was Northern Lights
I had to join in as in past months I had purchased a set 
of Brutus Monroe Northern Lights card panels
I thought it was the perfect challenge to pull them out for.
You get 8 different panels in each package but mine had 16
in it, so I have LOTS of panels to use up!
My penguin is an X-cut die that I cut him in black and white and
adhered one on the other, the fish, iceberg and seagull are also part of the die cut. 
The sentiment is from The Ton Easy Expressions Christmas.

What a clever and unique theme this is,
I am sure they would love it if YOU came over and joined in too!!

Also entering the following challenges:

Simon Says Wednesday .... Bright and Cheerful

Wedding Challenge

It's wedding time at The Sisterhood of Crafters
and we would love to have you come and celebrate weddings with us!

I have a ton of wedding dies but decided to come up with something
different and pulled an already embossed panel from my
scrap bins.  It was a piece that was leftover from another embossed
card and placing it on the beautiful paper from
Dress My Craft Hydrangea Lawns seemed a perfect match.
The sentiment is an 'oldie' from Heartfelt Creations stamped
on a Spellbinders die cut, with a floral branch added to it!

Pretty simple card really, but I do like the simplicity of it.
The bottom of the card shows the true embossing IRL,
I always have trouble capturing that on the bottom of my cards
for some reason!
Join us at The Sisterhood for some fun wedding celebrations!!

Beach Challenge

Hello friends, our optional theme today at
Can You Handle The Pressure challenge is BEACH!

Like I mentioned, it is OPTIONAL and you can create anything as long
as an embossing folder has been used, that is a MUST!

I used an older Darice folder and used ink that was left
in some of my brushes to ink up the embossing, I might of gotten a bit
carried away, but hey, it's a good way to clean your brushes LOL!!
My jelly fish is the first time it has seen ink from the set of
Catherine Pooler's Ocean Chums stamp and die set.
This is the cutest set with several fun ocean critters to choose from!
I used a few Olo markers to color her in.  Sentiment is from the same set!

Come and have some 'beachy' fun with us at
Can You Handle The Pressure!!

Entering the following challenges:
Make My Monday .... 'B' is for BEACH
Try It On Tuesday .... Emboss It
Unicorn #99 .... Embossing
Alphabet Challenge .... E is for embossing

Tropical

Hello friends and Happy June!!
We have a new monthly challenge starting today at
Simply Clean & Simple
with an OPTIONAL theme of TROPICAL!
We are an anything goes challenge and our theme is always optional
but you must keep it clean and simple!

CAS usually means a lot of WHITE space but in my case it happens to be BLACK space!

I stamped my images and sentiment on a die cut Waffle Flower postage die
then cut them apart, keeping it 'simple'!

I used a few different stamp sets for the images,
one being SU Bird Banter,
Sizzix Flamingle, and WF postage stamps.

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

Word Power #6

 Hello my friends, today is  the first day of our monthly challenge at
Word Power
where your sentiment should be the focal point of your card!

I created a light and dreamy wedding card just perfect
for our June challenge.
The base of my card is a beautiful paper from
Dress My Craft Hydrangea Lawns.
The LOVE die cut is one I received as a free gift
when ordering from scrapbookdotcom and also cut from
the same paper as mentioned above.  
I added a couple of Impression Obsession doves
that complete my card, of course I had to add a tiny heart
for one dove to carry, it is a wedding card after all!

Won't YOU join us over at Word Power?
We would love to have you!!

Entering the following challenges:
Word Art Wednesday .... ATG
Cut It Up ..... ATG with a die

Pick Three

Hello friends, at Double D we have a fun challenge theme for you
that is perfect for the month of June.
It is: 
PICK THREE
meaning that you pick three or more of
what is offered below...easy peasy!!

Something OLD, Something NEW Something BORROWED and/or Something BLUE
Example:  can be an old stamp, die, paper etc, or new of the same, or something borrowed from another crafter
and/or something blue, just have fun with it!

Here is our mood board for inspiration:

I found this to be an easy challenge theme and could of gone
so many different directions with this, but in the end chose
something NEW, something BLUE, and a whole lot of OLD!

My New is a Simon die I had just received the day before I started my card.
Blue and Old are all the same:
Blue and Old paper from Stampin Up
Blue and Old bird from my scrap die cuts and 
Blue and Old Hello also from my Scrap die cuts

Can't wait to see YOUR creation at Double D
and while there check out all the pretty inspiration from our design teams!!

Stencil Fun June 2024

Hello friends, time for our new monthly challenge at
Stencil Fun and our OPTIONAL theme is BIRTHDAYS! 
We are always an anything goes challenge as long as
a stencil has been used.

When The Ton came out with their own version of the postage die
and layered sunflower stencil I just HAD to have it,
 I have had lots of fun stenciling it in different colors
including these pink sunflowers.  You can actually buy pink sunflower seeds on Amazon!

I stenciled my sunflowers in various pink inks from Altenew.
I have had these ink cubes for many years and they are still as wet
as the day I purchased them and perfect for the layering of stamps and stencils!
I 'messed' up one of my bees so that is where the silver half pearls came in
which doesn't quite cover it, it happens!

Next is my anything goes sample card also using a new stencil I purchased
in March from Concord & 9th.  There is a sentiment stamp set to go
with that fits in-between the stencils, very creative!
I once again used my Atenew inks for all my stenciling,
did I mention I LOVE those inks?

Come on over to Stencil Fun and have some stenciling fun with us, there is a
fun prize up for grabs to one lucky random winner!

Entering the following challenges:
 [PIN]spirational .... Flowers

Triple B June 2024

 Hello friends, it's Triple B time again this month and we have a pretty
mood board for inspiration.  You can create any color though as long as you
have used birds~blooms~butterflies, one, two or all three!

For my design team card I used a never been used before
The Greetery Forget-Me-Not die set I have had in my stash for
well over a year, not only had it that long but it's sitting on my desk
for that long already cut out, what is wrong with me??

I love forget me nots and grow them in my gardens as well.  This year
they bloomed in February, about 3 months too early for my neck of the woods in
Michigan!  I love the early signs of Spring but my flowers~bushes are 
budding out and blooming way too early the last few years!

Anyhow, I had them all die cut so all I had to do was ink them up.
I used Dew Drop Danube Blue ink for the flowers Cottage Ivy for the greens.
The basket is from Cheery Lynn Designs and the sentiment is Pink Fresh Studio
Perfect Sentiments stamps and dies.  The die cut underneath was from my 'white'
stash of already die cuts waiting to be used. 
Because of the large die cut I used I made a 6 x 6 base card.

Here is a photo of  Forget-Me-Nots for you viewing pleasure!
Aren't they just gorgeous?

Come on over to Triple B and have some fun with us!

Colorful Options June 2024

 Hello friends, it's once again a new month and that means a new
color board at Colorful Options Challenge!

We are also joining forces with Double Trouble for
the first two weeks of our challenge.
You can read all about it in the graphic below OR
go to Double Trouble for all the details.

Being June, we have a calming and pretty aqua blues inspiration board
or if you prefer you can always use rainbow colors!

I pulled out a very favorite die and stencil from The Ton
and had fun creating my card in these colors!  The die is the 
Postage Party die and the stencil is Sunflowers Layering Stencils
and so very easy to use.  You will see this set appear over and over
on my blog throughout the year as this has been so fun to work with,
my hope is that they come out with lots more stencils to coordinate with this die!
All inks used were Altenew, I purchase their ink cubes that come in a pack of four with light to dark colors
making them the perfect choice for the layered stencils and stamps!

Hope to see YOU this month over at Colorful Options
and at Double Trouble!!

Entering the following challenges:
Crafty Catz #673... ATG or Use a Stencil
Simon Says Wednesday .... ATG

Peace On Earth Challenge #65

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas in June at our
Peace On Earth challenge!
Nothing wrong with that as it sure helps when Christmas
DOES roll around and you are that many cards ahead!

We have an OPTIONAL mood board for inspiration
but you can create anything as long as it is Christmas themed!

I almost always let myself be inspired by the mood boards,
I find it fun and a bit challenging to do so.
However, THIS mood board had so many options for me to go with
it was mind boggling LOL!
But, in the back of my mind I remembered (not sure how) that I had an
old Inka-Dinka-Do stamp set with a deer image very much like
the one on the mood board, so how could I resist?? 

I didn't have any navy blue card stock like I wanted so this was as close
to it I could get, I mixed a bit of white paint and water then
spattered it on my card stock, first masking off where the deer was to go.
The image was stamped in Versamark then embossed with
SNS Silver fine detail EB powder.
The sentiment is one of The Ton's Holiday Easy Expressions
and if you follow my blog then you will know how much I love these!

A few half silver pearls were added and the entire panel was mounted on
Tonic Pearlescent pearl White card stock!!

I hope YOU are inspired by our mood board like I was and join us at
Peace on Earth, too!!

Two Old Bats June 2024

Time for the Two Old Bats Halloween challenge and we have  'June'
mood board for inspiration but you can create anything as long 
as it is Halloween themed! 

I used a Woodware Skull & Roses stamp, stamped in Versamark
then embossed with gold embossing powder, somehow I thought
those teeth needed to be gold LOL.  After coloring in with my over zealous and
very wet and runny orange Copic, I added a few black bats and sequins.
I also heat embossing the sentiment which is part of the stamp set!

Hope to see you join in with us over at Two Old Bats!!

Four Seasons June Summer 2024

It is SUMMER at Four Seasons and we can't wait to see your
SUMMER fun creations!! 

We have a fun and colorful mood board for inspiration
but you can create anything summer themed!!

I totally let the mood board inspire ME with the upper left
corner with the fun and silly jungle animals!
We have a local/close by zoo here and I try and make it there every summer
and really enjoy seeing all the exotic animals, we can even feed the giraffes!!

So, my card was a jungle card using a Cottage Cutz Safari Adventure Gang die.
I die cut all in white card stock scrap then colored each piece with my Olo markers.
The sentiment is from Elizabeth Craft designs and the paper is Echo Park
Jungle Safari.  The clouds from Memory Box were added to cover up a
'booboo' at the top.  When I cut the paper I forgot about the little cut out
circle the paper pad has at the top and darn if it didn't show up!!
I thought I would just cut a new piece only to discover THIS was the last one
of this design in the pad, so that is where the clouds came in!

Come on over to Four Seasons and join us for some summertime FUN!!

Entering the following challenges:
Snippets Playground .... Snippets (Paper Scraps)
Cut It Up #305 .... ATG with die cuts
I Love ProMarkers .... Tropical Vibes
Simon Says Wednesday .... ATG
Critter Crazy ... ATG With A Critter featured