Array of Sympathy Cards

 Now that all my design team cards are done for the year
it had freed me up to try and use up some 'spare' parts
that have been just waiting to be made into cards.

I had purchased a 12x12  Ella & Viv page of sympathy stickers
and used all the larger ones leaving the smaller ones
to be put to use.  Using papers, die cuts, embossing folders that were
rejects from previous makes I came up with all these cards
and maybe just a few new things were used as well.

Card #1

Whoops, looks like I put the wrong watermark on this card!

Card #2

Card #3

Card #4

Card #5

Card #6

Card #7

That's it for now with sympathy cards and it gives me a nice little collection

in my card box...thanks for stopping by!

Little Red Wagon has a challenge with a theme of

'So Sorry' which includes 'sympathy' cards, so I 

will be entering one of the cards there.

On Tuesday of this week we had some 'weather' here in
Southwest lower Michigan and to have worse today (Wednesday)

as I am typing this up.
Here are a few pictures of the storm.  I happened to be
at our local 'in the country' Indian casino picking up

supper when my phone alert went off and the casino

lights started flickering and warning of a tornado warning
and my sister texting me it was headed my way.

Needless to say after the hail storm quit I high-tailed it home,
the pavement was covered in green leaves from all the wind!

These pictures other then the hail in the second picture
are NOT mine, I took them off our weather page.

The first picture was 8 miles west of me, headed our way.

Hail Storm at the casino and what did we all do,

go outside and watch it like idiots!!

That's Midwestern's for you!!

Sky after the storm, same area as the first picture,
there again not my picture.  I was too pinned in at the casino

to get any pictures myself.

Todays (Wednesday) storm set-up!

Stay safe everyone in your 'neck of the woods'!!

Tropical Challenge at Double D

Hey all, it's time for a new challenge theme at Double D and it is
TROPICAL! 

We have a pretty tropical mood board to inspire you,
but you can create anything as long as it is TROPICAL!!

So this year you will probably see a lot of different types of cards
then I normally make, in that I am really really trying to use up some things
this year.  One of the things sitting in my to 'use' basket were these 
The Paper Studio stickers I bought from Hobbylobby back in 2018.
Hah, can you believe they have been in that basket for EIGHT years!

Egads,  about time I did something with them.

I let not only the colors but the upper right photo inspire me

and guess what?  I used up every single one of those stickers and ended up with FOUR cards!

Yes, I am an over achiever' LOL!!  But, it felt GOOD to use them all!

First card and card for the challenge I used the Waffle Flower postage die that I laid
a Waffle Flower block stencil over and an Ink N Splatter Wavy Stripes stencil over that

and inked with Altenew Winter Lake on a My Colors Blue Mist card stock.

In fact, all the card fronts were created with the same Blue Mist.  The wavy stencil

reminded me of water.  Waffle Flower postage dies were also used.

For my second and third cards I used The Ton postage die, cut it apart and added an
appropriate size sticker to each.  I also used some never before used embossing folders, (or used only once),

Echo Park Ride The Wave and Cuttlebug Give A Hoot (that one reminded me of waves).

#3

For the fourth card I once again used pieces cut from The Ton Postage die
to fit my whales, a Spellbinders Betterpress sentiment and a SU Decor Dots

embossing folder that looked like bubbles in the sea (imagination here)!
A few glitter  hearts were added and I am putting this in my anniversary stock pile!

Thank you if you stuck with me thru all my babble
and be sure to join us for our fun challenge at

Double D!

Skeleton Fright

Happy June, it's time for our year round challenge at
Two Old Bats
and we have  a fun mood board for inspiration
that seems to be fitting for the month of June.  

While I had popped into Michael's last October I noticed that all their
Recollections Halloween was 50% off, so how could I resist and this

Halloween stamp/die set jumped into my cart with a few others.
I used some very old Websters Once Upon A Halloween
for my background and the trim is another oldie by
My Mind's Eye 'Wicked' chipboard.
The sentiment is Skeleton Stickles by Scrapbook Customs.
A few PFS silver half pearls were added.

Come join us at Two Old Bats.

Happy Birthday Rose

It's time for a new challenge at Beautiful Blossoms and we have a
beautiful mood board for inspiration!
You can however, create anything as long as blooms are 
your focal point!

 A long while back I saw a beautiful Rose stencil from
Simon Says Stamp and it just had to become part of my

stencil collection!  I chose to go with the more peachy/coral colors
of the mood board and used Altenew inks

Pink Pearl~Coral Bliss~Heart Beat~Hunter Green.

This was such an easy stencil, quick, but looks amazing.

I can't wait to make more in different colors!

Come and join us at Beautiful Blossoms with YOUR blooms!

Entering the following challenges:
Fab N' Funky .... Summer Flowers
Allsorts #851 .... Anything Goes From The Garden

Save Water

Our new OPTIONAL Twist/theme at
Can You Handle The Pressure
the challenge that requires you to use an embossing folder is
 Boys To Men meaning you can create any kind of masculine card
for the younger or the adult males in your life.

Long ago I saw this stamp set on another blog and had to hunt it down
to purchase it as I knew it would be a fun hit for anyone
receiving a card with these crazy characters on it.
The stamp set is Funky Fossil Chatty Bar.
It has five fun images and five fun sentiments on it.
I have stamped this one before and used it again as it
seemed to make the perfect masculine card for an adult.
The embossing folder is Spellbinders Plaid Company.
You can't tell in the photo but I used a Nuvo shimmer pen 
on the ice cubes and his teeth.

Get out your embossing folders and come on over to
Can You Handle The Pressure!

Swimming By

 Today at The Sisterhood of Crafters our challenge theme is
FISH/SEA CREATURES.

I have a favorite 'sea creature' stamp and die set I have used
several times and was happy to be able to pull it out again.
It is Catherine Pooler's Ocean Chums stamp set with five different
sea creatures to choose from and I chose this fun Stingray.
I used a Ink N' Splatter Wavy Stripes stencil for the background
stenciled with Altenew Artic and Caribbean Sky inks.
The fish I stamped are part of the stamp set as is the sentiment.

Thanks for stopping by and hope to see YOU over at
The Sisterhood!

Entering the following challenges:
Alphabet Challenge .... 'D' is for Double
2 of the same things (2 schools of fish)
Cardz For Galz #278 .... Seaside/Coast
Just Us Girls .... Summer

Time Out .... Pick Two (Summer~Water)

Neutral Christmas

Hello Peace On Earth fans, we have a new challenge starting today
and as always a fun mood board for inspiration but you can create any Christmas
themed project!

I let lots inspire me on this board, the colors, the Santa, the bits of nautical,
I had fun with it! All pieces including the design paper were cut from scraps

of papers.  My Santa is a die from scrapbookdotcom that I received FREE with 
an order, he is a picky little guy to work with and he is to have 'bushy' eyebrows too

but I didn't allow enough face space to use them, poor Santa!
The small sailboat I popped up, both it and the
Starfish are dies from Impression Obsession.
I love how this guy turned out. 

Get ahead of the 'game' and come and join in some Christmas fun with us at

Peace On Earth!!

Entering the following challenges:

Christmas Crafts All Year Round .....K & L (Kris Kringle)

Welcome Little One

 A new month, a new challenge at
Love Those Pretty Papers
the challenge that is all about using those pretty papers
we all seem to have and hoard!

We are an anything goes challenge using your papers with
an always OPTIONAL theme and this month it is
PASTELS.

I used the cutest paper from Craft Consortium Little Ones.
Each and every sheet is as cute as the one before and there are
40 sheets in all!  All you see on my card is from
this paper pad other then the sentiment
and that is a Spellbinders Betterpress.

For my anything goes card I used a gorgeous
Brutus Monroe Secret Garden paper.
Each of these papers, both front and back will make a card
on their own without needing much more,
they are so beautiful!!  All I had to do was add my
Pink Fresh Studios sentiment.

So get out YOUR pretty papers,
we would LOVE to see them at our
Love Those Pretty Papers challenge!

Entering the following challenges:
Just Add Ink ....Patterned Paper~Animals

Masculine Happy Birthday

At Simply Clean & Simple challenges our OPTIONAL theme is
NAUTICAL. 

I never seem to have very many masculine cards so I decided to
create one today using a couple never been used before products.

The cute little die cut water/waves is Poppystamps
Whittle Wave Background (2020).  Isn't it cute?
Will be perfect for their whittle fish too.
The boat is Cottage Cutz Sailboat purchased during one of
their fabulous sales they offer a few times a year.
The sentiment is Hero Arts.

That's it, just a simple, masculine CAS card.

Entering the following challenges:
Simon Says Wednesday Challenge .... Masculine
The Male Room .... Outdoors

A Little Hello

 A new challenge is starting today at WORD POWER,
the challenge where your BIG sentiments take center stage,
the kind of sentiment that catches your eye before anything else.

I used an A2 die that I received free from scrapbookdotcom
when I paced an order with them, die cut from a navy blue card stock.
The background paper is from a basket of 6x6 paper pads and
single sheets that I have on my desk to try and use up,
there must be well over 200 sheets in that basket!
The small sentiment is a Spellbinders Betterpress that I thought
worked well with the large die cut.  The butterfly came out of my
'spare parts' bin (I think it is a Sue Wilson die).

We would love to have you join us at our Word Power challenge!!

Entering the following challenges"
Just Us Girls ..... Die Week with a Butterfly

You're The Best

A new month means a new challenge inspiration board at
TRIPLE B, the challenge that is all about
Birds~Blooms~Butterflies
you can use one, two, or all three and have the option to use the colors
of our mood board below, but any color is fine as long as you
have used one of the three B's!

Last year I purchased a 'slew' of rub on's, they certainly have

changed for the better over the years.
This set is Dress My Craft Peacocks Motif .  I adhered it to a The Greetery 
Sweetest Frames die and stamp.  The card base is from Sizzix, with a 

matching envelope.  The sentiment is a Spellbinders Betterpress.

Come and have some fun with us at Triple B!

Big Beautiful Bow

We have a fun new challenge starting today at Double D and it is
BOWS
and as always we have a fun mood board for you for inspiration,
plenty of beautiful inspiration on our blog too!

I had plenty to choose from for this challenge but went with
The Greetery's Big Beautiful Bow die, it has always been a favorite of mine
and makes for a pretty card.  Because when cutting two different colors you

end up with two bows, so I created a second card.
I die cut all the pieces from scraps of papers.  the background paper is
Paper Rose Violet Dreams, a pack of paper with gorgeous violet prints.
I added a few die cut and finished Spellbinders flowers from my stash
trying to use them up, but of course once they are gone I will just make more!!
The colors are MORE lavender then shown, it's a hard color to photograph the
true colors it seems.

Card #1

Card #2

Come on over and visit our Double D challenge and plenty of

beautiful inspiration from the design teams!

Entering the following challenges:

Unicorn Challenge .... Flowers
Die Cut Diva's  .... ATG

Vitamin Sea

 A new month, a new challenge at Stencil Fun
with an OPTIONAL theme of BUTTERFLIES.

I used for the first time a Brutus Monroe butterfly stencil
stenciled with Altenew inks  Warm Sunshine, Pinkalicious,
and Hydrangea.  The sentiment is from The Greetery.

For my Anything Goes card I used a stencil that I have
used once before, time to bring it out again!!  It is Picket Fence
Current of Fish, stenciled with Distress Spiced Marmalade.
The sentiment is The Project Bin Summer Fun.

Come over to Stencil Fun and join in with us!

Entering the following challenges:

Alphabet Challenge .... C is For Circles
Try It On Tuesday .... Going Round In Circles
Hand Stamped Sentiments ... Inspiration Photo

Hauntingly Good Time

Hello Halloween fans, it's time for our monthly Halloween challenge at
Two Old Bats where we celebrate Halloween year round! 
We have a mood board for inspiration  but you can create
anything Halloween themed!

I totally let the colors and the grave stones inspire me this time
from the lower left photo,  though I certainly had plenty
of 'skeletons' I could of used.

My card is created with the use of a Spellbinders rub on.  These were/are
some of the best rub ons!  I added a scrap of Brutus Monroe paper and a few

die cut Simon Says Stamp bats.  The sentiment was a rub on as well!

Come on over and have some 'spooky' fun with us at Two Old Bats!

Hello My Dear Friend

 Happy first day of June my friends!
Today brings us to our monthly challenge at The Four Seasons
where our SEASON  is SUMMER.
We have a SUMMERY mood board for inspiration but you
can create anything as long as it is SUMMER!

Being part of the DT we always try to use the mood board for OUR inspiration,

but I have to admit this one thru me a bit.  It shouldn't have as I do have

umbrella and beach chair dies as well as a 

Cricut with 1000's of images to choose from, in fact there were over 8,000
images of just watermelons lol!  And see the water in the backgrounds of two
of those pictures?  Well, I have the most perfect 6x6x paper pad of all water,

but no, I had to make this as difficult for myself as I could!

Finally I had a lightbulb moment and came up with an idea to create my own

slices of watermelon by die cutting a circle and cutting it into fourths
and inking it to look like  watermelon slices.  The watermelon seeds were made
using raindrop dies from a Cottage Cutz die, they worked perfectly.

The sentiment is one I purchased from a Spellbinders warehouse sale

(how I love those sales) Little Hello Sentiments.  The die cut underneath was 

a free one I received with a Scrapbookdotcom order Nested Stitched Tickets.

Needless to say , this is NOT a seedless watermelon LOL!!

Come on over to The Four Seasons for some SUMMER fun with us!

Rosy Congratulations

 It's Colorful Options time once again and we have a pretty
inspiration board or you have the option to use Rainbow colors.

First I have to say my Rose is a much more Tiffany color then the photo shows,

I just wasn't able to get the true color on camera, but when holding my card up to
the inspiration board it is a true match.

I used the beautiful Simon Says Stamp Elegant Rose stencil with 
Altenew inks Dew Drop~Aqualicious~and Teal Cave.
The sentiment is a hot foil one sent to me by a friend.

Come and join us with our pretty summer Colorful Options inspiration board!

Entering the following challenges:

Simon Says Wednesday .... Simon Products
Fab N Funky .... Stencils

Have A Special Day

 Our The Neglected Stuff challenge starts today,
the challenge where we ask you to get out your old
neglected stuff, you know those things you had to have
but have yet to use or only used maybe once eons ago!!

I liked the design of this card so much that I did last month for another DT
and decided to make more for this challenge.

Card #1 contains a very old Stampin' Up background paper,
older Tutti Designs Stitched Banner dies and some fun Ephemera I
purchased in 2025 Craft Consortium's Amongst The Hedgerow.
The banner papers are a scrap of green and Echo Park's Bee Happy .
The sentiment is from Katy Sue designs.

Card #2 is basically all the same with the exception of the
background paper is Graphic 45.

I'm sure you have some old neglected stuff
and we would love to see it at our challenge!!

A Sketch Card

Another free day with no DT cards allowing me to have more fun
with a few challenges .  My challenge today is
Atlantic Hearts Sketch #683

I found this challenge to be a very pretty sketch and a bit more
'fussy' then most sketches and I liked that! I pretty much

let the sketch inspire me to stick with it  without changing a thing..
For the most part I used scraps of paper from my 'yellow' paper

scrap bag and an older scalloped punch from SU.

The flowers and leaves were already created from Spellbinders Bold Blooms.
as is the sentiment, a Betterpress.

I'll be back tomorrow and the next couple of days too

with some more fun challenge cards, hopefully as we all

know how life can change our plans!!