Summer Fun

 Hello friends, our new OPTIONAL theme at
Can You Handle The Pressure is  SUMMER FUN!
We are an anything goes challenge with an optional theme
but using an embossing folder is a MUST!

What's more fun in the summer then swimming, living in the
'great lakes' state there is a lot of that going on,
though you  won't see an octopus swimming by,
let alone one with flowers on it's head!

But a swimming octopus it is, it just wants to say HI!
I used a favorite Catherine Pooler Ocean Chums stamp and die set
which includes the sentiment, all colored with Copics,
the sentiment stamped with Pink Fresh Studios Mimosa ink.
The embossing folder is one I purchased last year 
Echo Parks Ride The Waves.

There is plenty more of 'Summer Fun' to be seen over at
Can You Handle The Pressure!

Entering the following challenges:

Cut It Up .... Add A Sentiment
Colorful Options .... National Hawaii Day

You're A Gem

 It's time for a new challenge at Word Power
where your sentiments/words take center stage.
We are an anything goes challenge but just make sure
your words are the focus.

I am still trying to dwindle down my 6x6 pads of paper pads that have
just  2 or 3 papers left in each and that is where this paper is from.
It's My Mind's Eye On Trend.
The embossing folder is Lifetime Crafts Woven.
The sentiment is one I received free with a scrapbook dot com order
and is a  Spellbinders die.

Thanks for visiting, you're a gem!!

Bee Happy

Hello friends as we enter the last month of 'real' summer at Double D we are  back
with another new summery theme and it is :

 Bee Happy (use bees and/or the word HAPPY)

We have a fun 'Bee Happy' inspiration mood board for you!

My problem with this theme is I had so many dies and/or stamps I could use
that is was mind boggling to decide what to use.

I finally settled on this cute die set from Cottage Cutz Stitched Honey Bees.
I die cut everything in  a white card scrap and then colored in with my Olos and
Copics.  The sentiment is from the Doodlebug Bee Happy stamp set.
The paper is Echo Park Bee Happy, I certainly have gotten a lot of mileage 
out of that paper.

Come on over to Double D and 'Bee Happy' with us!

Entering the following fun challenges:

Elliebelle's Garden Party .... Something From A Garden

Festive Friday .... Black~Yellow~Die Cuts~Bees~Hive~Bee Sentiment

Just Saying Hello

Hello friends, it's the first Tuesday of the month which brings us to our
Stencil Fun challenge for August.
Our OPTIONAL theme is Trees and/or leaves.
You MUST use a stencil to enter this challenge!

I created a somewhat simple masculine card using a few dies and stencil.
The stencil is Brutus Monroe that I picked up during one of
Simon Says 99cents sale.  I used Altenew Shadow Creek ink.
I die cut a Tutti Designs slimline from a scrap piece of paper and
added IO deer and a funky tree die cut from Sizzix Merry Moose.
I'll probably add a sentiment later.

For my anything goes card I used The Ton Wildflower stencil
and Altenew inks Pinkalicious, Razzleberry, Grass Field and TH Distress
squeezed Lemonade.  The sentiment also The Ton Easy Expressions.

If you like stenciling then come and join us at Stencil Fun!

A Big Thank You

 It's time for our The Neglected Stuff Challenge
the challenge where we are all about using those things in your stash
that have been there 6 months or longer.

I have  some VERY neglected stuff on my card, paper from
my 12 x 12 stash that I hardly ever use anymore along with a
Sizzix Bigz die Dragonfly which has never been used.
I have a huge amount of these dies and if I knew what to do with
them I probably would get rid about 99% of them!
I die cut the dragonfly from The Rabbit Hole Designs Getting Inky
paper and then again in vellum to top the wings.  A few large gems
were added (also extremely old) to the body and a 
Pink Fresh Studio sentiment.  The card is a large
5 1/2 x 5 1/2 to accommodate the large dragonfly.

Side view:

Have lots of 'neglected stuff'?  Then come and join us
we would love to see it!!

Birthday Wishes

Hello friends, I am back with a card for our Triple B challenge
where we are all about blooms, butterflies and birds!
As always we have a mood board for inspiration but you can use any color
as long as you have one, two, or all three of the TB's! 

I have one of my Katy Sue 3D cards (lots of layers).  I wish you could see these in person
as they are layer after layer with slim pop ups and so relaxing to make,
I usually do them as I am watching a TV program.
I mounted the design on a Sizzix card base (with matching envelope)
I purchased during one of their warehouse sales.  

We would love to see you at our Triple B challenge!!

Entering the following challenges:
Dragonfly Dreams .... Lots of Layers
Ellibelle's Garden Party #5 ... Anything garden
Simon Says Wednesday .... ATG

Merry Christmas

 Hello friends, we are going strong at Peace On Earth with our
year long Christmas challenge and have a fun mood board
for inspiration, look at all those fun things you 'could' choose to pick from
but we are an anything goes Christmas challenge!

So many cute things it was hard to choose, but I went with the bottom
left corner knowing I had a die that would be a perfect time to use it.
Poppystamps Boddington Cabin was used for my cute scene, die cut from kraft card stock
then die cut just the house in red and paper pieced it back in.  
I used a Tim Holtz Snowy EB folder on my Tutti Designs die cut circle,
Carta Bella Farmhouse Christmas paper for the background and a The Ton Holiday sentiment.

We are waiting for 'you' over at Peace On Earth!

Two Old Bats August Challenge

Hello friends, the months seem to be speeding by and before you know it
it will be Halloween again! 
If you have been playing along with us at
Two Old Bats, then you should be getting a nice supply of
Halloween cards done!  If not, then what are you waiting for?
We have a fun mood board for inspiration only, lots of fun
inspiring ideas on it if you need it!

I let the haunted house inspire me as I had purchased some
Brutus Monroe Vintage Frights Halloween paper and this paper
doesn't need much more then itself to turn it into a card front!
I added a glittered 'creepy' sentiment from my stash 
and called it done, this paper makes the perfect card!

So come on over to Two Old Bats,
get those Halloween supplies out and have some
spooky fun with us!

Love Those Pretty Papers August Challenge

 Hello friends, sad to say but our summer is winding down
but not at Love Those Pretty Papers as our OPTIONAL theme is
SUMMERTIME!

Our challenge is always an Anything Goes challenge with the option to
use our theme, but it is required that you showcase those pretty papers!

Following the theme I used some of my favorite designer papers from
Mintay's Berrylicious 6x6 paper pad., isn't that the sweetest paper?  
I saw this design on Pinterest last year
and made a card for our Word Power challenge HERE.
I liked the design so much I chose to do it again and it's a fabulous
way to use and showcase your beautiful papers
(easy to mail too).
I'm not sure of whose the sentiment is as it was given to me by a friend
that gave up card making but thought it fit my little scene perfectly,
but I sure wish I had moved it a bit down before I stamped it!

For my anything goes card I used a pretty paper from
Doodlebug Love Notes, a pad that is almost gone and I am
trying to use up.  I die cut the paper with a Waffle Flower lacy
die, then  used a Lisa Horton Roses embossing folder that I cut
apart to make three different cards, will post the others at a later date.
I  added a The Ton Easy Expressions sentiment.

Come and join us, we would love to see YOUR
pretty papers at our challenge!!

Thank You

 Hello friends at Colorful Options this month our colors are a mix
of monochromatic browns.
You are however always welcome to use rainbow colors
if this color mix isn't for you.

While looking on Pinterest one day I saw a beautiful big butterfly card similar to this

one I have created for today.  It was from 2015 and her last blog post was 2022, sometimes
(always) I wonder what happened to make card makers stop blogging, always hoping

that everything is just fine in their lives, do you wonder about that too when you come
across a blog that just stopped with no explanation?

I had great ideas for this butterfly card and wanted to use 'Stampendous Frantage'
do you remember that stuff?  I spent well over an hour trying to find mine and did

find some but in Halloween colors not the browns I was looking for and I know I have it.
Last summer we put all new floors in my craft room and the entire room was emptied out
and since moving it all back in I am having a hard time finding things, like my

sanding blocks, that is another whole story!!

Anyhow, I used for the first time a Stampendous PenPattern Butterflies stamp set.
There are 3 different butterflies in this set and I used the largest.
I stamped her in Versamark then embossed with Wendi Vechi Potting Soil
embossing powder.  I stamped SU Itty Bitty Backgrounds also with Versamark
and embossed with Sparkle N Sprinkles Timber embossing powder, it has
little flecks of glitter in it.
The sentiment is Stampendous True Friends stamped in Altenew Expresso ink.  A few half pearls were added.
This isn't exactly how I had planned it as I really wanted that Frantage but in the end

it is what I came up with!

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

Entering these fun challenges:
Word Art Wednesday .... ATG

Cute Happy Birthday

 Hello friends, it's once again time for a new challenge at our
Simply Clean & Simple challenge with our OPTIONAL theme of Cute Animals.

I used a cute little $1 tiger stamp I have had forever it seems
and inked up for the first time with Wendy Vechi Potting Soil ink.
I popped up some heart balloons to his tail that I bought during
Valentines back in February.  The sentiment is stamped in Dew Drop
Love Letter ink and is from My Favorite Things Sweet 16 stamps.

That's it for my CAS card...
thanks for stopping by and happy crafting!!

Entering the following challenges:
CAS On Friday .... Animals

Happy Birthday

 Hello All, we are into our last SUMMER season at our
Four Seasons challenge and I am not happy about it at all
as summer seems to fly by and I am just not ready for it to leave!!

We have a pretty and colorful mood board for inspiration but
you can create any summertime thing you want.

I let the upper left pitcher of drinks inspire me, nothing like a cold pitcher of
an icy fruit drink on a hot summer day.  I had this adorable Penny Black Homemade
stamp set that I brought out for the first time.  It has several adorably cute images on it
but I chose this fun straw drinking mice one to use.  I stamped it on a Cottage Cutz Eyelet
scalloped oval die.  The sentiment and die are Lawn Fawn.  Background paper is
Prima .  A few PFS gems were added for a bit of sparkle.

I just love these cute little mousers!!  Come on over to 
The Four Seasons and have some  last summertime fun with us
this month.

Entering these fun challenges:
Simon Says Wednesday .... ATG
Word Art Wednesday .... ATG

Have A Super Day

 It's the last Wednesday of the month and that means it's Amy's
Woodblock Wednesday challenge which gives you the
opportunity to have some fun with your woodblock stamps!

Being July I wanted to use a summery stamp and pulled about 5 or 6 to choose

from and ended up going with this small PSX 1999 stamp.  It's an oldie for sure!  I can always use one of the others for August, right?

Supplies used besides the stamp are:
LDRS You are My Sunshine designer paper

Tutti Designs Cross Stitch Circles

Banner (not sure)
Altenew Sentiments Strips II
Dew Drop ink Love Letters

Colored in with various Copics.

Get out your woodblocks, if you still have any, and come and have some

fun at Amy's Woodblock Wednesday!

Also entering these fun challenges:

Simon Says Wednesday Challenge .... ATG

Summer Birthday Card

 In my 'spare' time I decided to join in with the Memory Box July challenge
which is SUMMER VIBES.

I created a very CAS card using a Memory Box
die Wonderful Whale (2013)
that I am embarrassed to say I have never used before.
I have new MB dies but this little guy just seemed perfect for the theme.

I used a wavy water print scrap paper and a sun from my spare parts box.
The whale was also from a scrap of paper and cut twice so he would be
a bit sturdier since I wanted to 'pop' him up!

Well we are headed out to watch the 350 plus motorcycles that are
doing the Burn Run, where all the money goes to send children that
have been burnt to camp.  My oldest son rides in it every year so we
always go to send him off!

Red~White & Bloom Challenge

 I had some fun today joining the challenge at Poppystamps
which is Red~White & Bloom!

I had a never been used before die Field Flower Frame (2022).
It is so pretty I want to use it again and again!

After die cutting it I sponged on Dew Drop Love Letter and Danube Blue inks,
and finished with a stamped sentiment in the center.

I was going to add a bit of bling to the flowers centers but decided
on this card 'less is more' plus it makes it an easy mailer!

I am also entering this in these following challenges"

NBUS #76 .... Never Before Used Schtuff

Happy Anniversary

 Hello friends, today at Can You Handle The Pressure
where we are all about using your embossing folders
our OPTIONAL theme is Birthdays or Anniversary.

At the beginning of the year I hit a fabulous Lisa Horton sale where all her 
folders, stencils and inks were 80% off.  Unfortunately for me, but good for 
my bank account I didn't know about it until most was sold out,
but I was able to get a few things and this Background of Roses EB folder
and stencil was one of them!.
I used all Altenew inks and stenciled first then carefully 'tried to line it up
in the folder to emboss.  This is a big folder and I fully intended to cut it
in half when finished and make two cards, but
it was so pretty as one I hated to cut it, so now I have one BIG card
but will be perfect for an anniversary!  The sentiment was created with a 
Spellbinders BetterPress plate.

I'm sure YOU have some embossing folders that are feeling neglected
so get them out and come and join us at Can You Handle The Pressure! 

Snowmen Gift Card Holders

Hello friends, it's once again time for another challenge at
our year long challenge at Peace On Earth where we are all about
Christmas!
We have a fun 'cool' mood board to cool you on these
hot July days, but you can create anything as long as it is Christmas themed!!

 

Last fall I made about 12 or so of these cute die cut Art Impression snowman
gift card holders for a craft show I had planned on doing but 'lucky' me
as just before the show I came down with shingles, the most painful thing ever!
Anyhow, I made all these from various scraps of my leftover Christmas
papers.  The hats fold over as shown and the pompom on the hat folds down into
a slit at the back to close.  I made a bunch of these a few years back for my grandkids to put money in for Christmas!  They were a lot of fun to make!  I have shown the gift card holders before
but these are an entirely NEW batch!!

Here is a sample from a previous post showing how each hat looks
before being folded over into the slot!

Come and join our fun at Peace On Earth and you will be that far ahead
for your Christmas cards for 2025!!

Entering the following challenges:

Cut It Up .... Christmas In July
Craft Rocket .... Christmas In July

Squishy Bear Hugs

 Hello friends, at Double D we have a theme geared just towards the kiddos,
it is KIDS CARDS.
I think we all can use a nice handy supply of kids cards, I know I can
and we have a cute kids mood board for inspiration!

I have always been a fan of Winnie The Pooh, in fact my first born son's
room was all done in Pooh when Sears & Roebuck used to carry all the pooh 'stuff'!

For my background I used a wide Altenew washi tape thinking all those
primary colors reminded me of kids!
The pooh is a color page I saved from the internet off Pinterest and sized it
for the front of my card and colored it in with Copics..
I actually saved a dozen different Pooh images for later use,
the sentiment is Waffle Flower Inside Sentiment Hugs.
The scalloped oval is Tutti Designs.  I also used glitter pens on the flower centers and the butterfly edge.

Come and have some 'kiddie' fun with us at Double D!

Scare On

Hello friends, we are halfway through our month at
Two Old Bats
and wanted to remind you to join in our year round
Halloween challenge.
We always have a fun mood board for inspiration. 

For my reminder card I first used an old design paper with the music
on it 'witches dance' as it seemed to me my pumpkin headed
skeleton was doing a bit of a dance. 
He is from the 12x12 Carta Bella journal cards paper I purchased last year!
Those papers have come in real handy this year for fun
and easy Halloween cards!

Why not come on over to Two Old Bats and have a bit of

year round Halloween fun with us??

Beautiful Blossoms July 2025

Hello friends, it is once again time for a new challenge at 
Beautiful Blossoms where we are all about flowers! We have a basket full of blooms for
inspiration but you can create any floral you want.

It's July and it is lily blooming time at my house so I went with a bright
orange lily using an old Flourishes Siberian Iris stamp set
(obviously I never get rid of anything lol).

Iris are one of my favorite flowers in my garden so it was no hardship to

stamp this image and color it up.  I stamped with Cloud 9 ink
then colored mostly with Copics.  The sentiment is from Spellbinders Garden Favorites

stamp set as it was sitting on my desk from another project.  The gingham paper is

Honey Bee Gingham Galore Fall (it works well for summer too)!!
I used a round corner punch on all the corners.

Hope to see YOU at our pretty Beautiful Blossoms challenge!

Star Gazing

 This week at Can You Handle The Pressure our OPTIONAL
challenge theme is IN THE SKY meaning anything you can find in the sky,
Pretty easy peasy don't you think?
However, we are an anything goes challenge so our theme is optional as mentioned.
But you MUST use an embossing folder to enter!

As you have probably read a zillion times on my blog I like to
hit the warehouse sales at Spellbinders and that is where my
embossing folder I used is from and it is Stargazer.
I embossed it on a piece Core'dinations Core Color from the Hocus Pocus pad
then sanded it down letting the blue show through.

The stamp is a Penny Black Star Gazing Friends.
The sentiment is an old 2002 SU single  stamp that either I picked up at a garage sale
or was given to me, it's been so long I've forgotten, but I liked how all of
the products worked together.

It's time to get those poor neglected embossing folders out
and come and join us at our challenge, we would love to have you!!

Entering the following challenges:
Penny Black Saturday challenge .... ATG

Have A Wonderful Day

 At The Sisterhood of Crafters our July monthly theme is
Stripes and/or Dots.

I went strictly with dots using a dotted paper from
My Favorite Things Poppin' Polka Dots.
I die cut with a Spellbinders Floral Oval.
The flowers are Waffle Flower  'Flower Focal' die that I purchased
back in February .  I die cut  them from a white card scrap and then inked
with Altenew inks.  The sentiment is The Ton Easy Expressions.

Thanks for stopping by...happy creating!!

Entering the following challenges:
Try It On Tuesday .... Summer Blooms
Let's Create & Craft #221.... Use a Punch or Die

Butterfly Blossom

Hello friends,  in trying to get my 'newly' purchased basket whittled down
I pulled out a stencil/die combo from Waffle Flower Butterfly Blossom
that I had since they released it over four months ago. 
It is a gorgeous die and stencil that can be created
in many colors.  I went with this color combo so I could enter 
The Flower Challenge

The inks used were Altenew Orange Sorbert~Rouge~Blush~Sand Dunes~
Peach Perfect~Buttercream~Dew Drops and Aqualicious.
The pinkish looking flowers are really more of a peachy orange color, it was very hard to capture the true colors

and it so much prettier IRL!
The sentiment is a Betterpress and I thought it would make a pretty anniversary card!

This is a great die and stencil that is easy to use and line up
using my 'sticky' mat.  I don't know why I waited so long

 to use it as now I want to make a few more color combos!

Thanks for dropping by!!

Also entering the following challenges:

Simon Says Wednesday .... Sending Flowers

Embroidered Card

 Hello friends, here we are mid year already and it's the
day of our challenge for the month at 
The Neglected Stuff
where you are to use that poor stuff that just sits in your stash
and has been neglected for six months or longer!

When we were traveling back and forth to our lake house 2 years ago
(we sold the lake house so no more stitching while traveling)
I took several of the Spellbinders Stitched die cut panels with me to
stitch in the car, after all it was a five and a half hour road trip so over the 
years I was able to get LOTS of stitching done but have
just let the poor things sit and not used.
This challenge pushes me to get my neglected 'stuff' out and use it!
I left a sentiment off as I didn't want to cover up any of the stitching.
This die is Stitched Petal Frame but no longer available.

We can't wait to see YOUR Neglected Stuff at our challenge!!

Season's Greetings

Hello friends, we are into another month at Peace On Earth and have a
fun mood board for July.  It's for inspiration only as you can create anything Christmas,
but by all means, let it inspire you!. 

I have lots of beautiful Poinsettia dies and stamps
and this one is always a favorite of mine, I have used it before
but never in blue, those blue Poinsettias inspired me.
The die is another one I picked up at the Sizzix warehouse sale several
years ago.  I got a little creative with this by first die cutting then taking the
die cut and snipped off all the veins and outlines in the leaves and petal.
Then I taped that down on a card base and stenciled my colors in using
that die cut as a stencil.  Once done I adhered a double sided adhesive to
a card front and die cut, pulled off the adhesive backing and stuck it down over
the stenciled front.  It worked out pretty good.  I saved the inky stencil for another time.
The sentiment is Hero Arts.

Come and see some pretty creations from the design team.

Entering the following challenges:
Craft Rocket .... Christmas In July
Unicorn Challenge .... Christmas In July
Christmas Crafts All Year Round .... Blue Christmas (the color blue)
Daisy Chain .... Christmas In July

Happy Birthday and More

 Can you believe we are into July already?  The months surely seem
to fly by and it will be winter before we know it, but luckily we still
are having summer and our Love Those Pretty Papers challenge
where our OPTIONAL theme is Happy Birthday, an easy theme
as I think birthday cards are the most needed!

For the theme of Birthdays I used a beautiful paper pad from
Paper Rose 'Wild Poppies'.  This pad is full of gorgeous poppy designed paper
plus many more.  I die cut a Tutti Designs postage die and stamped my
Sparkle N Sprinkle Poppies on it then colored in with Copics.
I had the little strip I used for my sentiment in my 'spare parts' bin
and stamped my sentiment with a Pretty Pink Post Simple Sentiments stamp.

For my 'Anything Goes' card I once again used beautiful paper from
Paper Rose, it is Bluebird Song, a pad full of the most beautiful bluebird sheets!
The frame is a Sizzix Bigz die 'Decor Frames'.  within the frame is a small
postage die that I perched my new Memory Box Bird Blossom on,
though the head piece is to be glued on the 'back' of the bird not the front as I have, 
whoops, I wondered why that piece covered up his eye, but mistake or not
I still think it's the cutest little birdie!
The sentiment is The Ton Easy Expressions.

Have lots of pretty papers?  Then come and join us at our
Love Those Pretty Papers challenge!