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Happy Haunting

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This card is a CASE of one Tina Smith created using the Halloween City Holiday Decorations. I loved her card, and knew I was sure I could find some dies to re-create the mirror and frame. Tina used the Spellbinders Color Block Accent Rectangles Dies. I have the Color Block Arched Dies which worked perfectly for a shaped card.

The background was created with a lime green cardstock that was heavily ink blended with Concord & 9th’s Artichoke ink as well as some Distress Black Soot ink. After ink blending, Tina crumbled her cardstock and then flattened it out. I love the look, but my mirror covers most of the shabby look. 

Silver Mirror cardstock was used for the center of the mirror, and the purple frame was also ink blended with Black Soot. All the rest of the elements came from the Halloween City dies. One tip I got from Tina’s video was to used black dimensional dots which takes care of the eyes as well as the dimension. The spider webs were also attached with black dimensional dots and deep purple jewels from Pinkfresh Studio were added to the centers of the webs. 

Silver Mirror cardstock was used for the center of the mirror and the purple frame was also ink blended with Black Soot. All the rest of the elements came from the Halloween City dies. One tip I got from Tina’s video was to used black dimensional dots which takes care of the eyes as well as the dimension. The spider webs were also attached with black dimensional dots and deep purple jewels from Pinkfresh Studio were added to the centers of the webs. 

I’ve missed some Halloween challenges, but I’ll send this off to Addicted to Stamps and More: Any Occasion.

Traditional Christmas Card

This is my second post of the day which is unusual. My Woodblock Wednesday post is here. I’m also up on the Memory Box blog with another Christmas card. Red, green, and poinsettias definitely qualify as traditional. The card design is a CASE of one I saw on Pinterest some time ago.

All the details for the card are on the Memory Box Blog.

I used the Fresh Poinsettia Bundle, the Joyful Christmas 6X6 paper pad, and one of the larger gold foiled Black Tabs for this card.

I’m sending this off to a brand new challenge: AAA Christmas Card Challenge. Their first challenge is (appropriately) Traditional Christmas!

Woodblock Wednesday-October 2026

It’s the last Wednesday in October, so it’s Woodblock Wednesday. I missed last month so I wanted to be sure to play along. Halloween seems like a good bet, but I have all my Halloween cards made. As I was looking through my woodblock stamps I came upon several “block” design stamps made by Stamp It! I immediately had an idea for this one of three horizontal blocks dated 2000.

The pencil and the sentiment both have a whimsical design, and I thought they were probably by the same company. But not: the pencil is from Judith and the thank you is from Embossing Arts 1989. After stamping the design, I colored the pencils with Copic markers. I die cut the stamped panel with the smaller die from Gina K Designs Master Layout #1 and then a black panel with the larger die which creates a very narrow border. They were added to a bright yellow card base. 

Thanks as always to Amy for this monthly inspiration to get out my old woodblock stamps. 

I’m sending this off to the Neglected Stuff Challenge. It’s been so long I don’t remember ever using the “block” design stamp, and it’s been a few years for the other two stamps.

Autumn Birthday Card

There hasn’t been a single Shortbread Shape embossing folder from The Greetery that I haven’t loved. Shortbread Shapes: Autumn was perfect for making this fall birthday card. I die cut a Kraft cardstock panel with the Shortbread Shapes Rectangle Die and embossed it with the embossing folder. Then I die cut two more panels with Cocoa Bean cardstock and created a shaped card base by scoring one panel about 14” from the top and gluing them together. The Kraft panel was glued to the front.

The Shortbread Shapes Rectangle was die cut with Cocoa Bean cardstock, and I gold embossed the sentiment from The Greetery’s Simple Everyday Mini Sentiments at the bottom of the label. The Bigger Autumn Botanical: Pumpkin 2 was die cut with Bristol paper and ink blended. I layered the pumpkin on the label, and added the label to the card front with dimensional tape.

I have another card planned with this embossing folder for my sister-in-law so you’ll see it again soon. I’m sending this over to the AAA Colorful Challenge: Autumn Hues and to Darnell’s NBUS. 

Merry and Bright

I was on the Memory Box blog this week with a CAS Christmas card featuring the very cut Wyatt Bird from the recent Holiday Harmony release.

I created a frame for Watt using the Round Eyelet Frame and one of the Circle Basic dies. I doubled it for a little dimension. Wyatt was die cut from Bristol cardstock and ink blended. I also did a bit of ink blending to the inside circle.

I hand cut a snow bank and added some glitter for a little sparkle so Wyatt had a place to settle. Wyatt was added with some thin dimensional tape to the framed circle. I trimmed down an A2 panel and silver embossed the sentiment from the Christmas Wonder stamp set. I added that to a turquoise card base and then add the main image.

I’m sending this off to the Addicted to Stamps and More Challenge: Christmas, Inkspirational: CAS and NBUS since this is Wyatt’s debut.

Celebrate!!!

I must admit I’m pretty addicted to The Greetery’s product suites that revolve around their Capsule Basic products. I love the Party Scene dies and the Capsule Star Studded Borders that were released in May, and I think they are a great for any kind of celebration. I made this card awhile ago, but waited to post it until my friend received it.

The balloon and star panel were die cut from white cardstock and colored with finger daubers. I added a pinked frame die cut with silver matte cardstock and attached them to a pale blue panel with dimensional tape. That was added to a yellow card base. The sentiment was stamped and die cut with the Laid Back Basics Sentiments, also by The Greetery. Lastly, I added a few Iridescent Dew Drops by Pinkfresh Studio for a little sparkle.

This is off to A Cut Above (another challenge I often forget to link to considering how many of my cards rely on dies), Seize the Birthday (Anything Goes), and NBUS.

Happy Halloween

I have a good start on the five Halloween cards for my grandchildren. Usually I make duplicate for all the girls, but this time everyone will get a different design. Just Us Girls is looking for Halloween dies, and this card has quite a few.

I started with Gina K Designs Master Layout 5 which die cuts the window. All the rest of the dies are from The Greetery’s Market Place Eerie Avenue designed to enhance their Market Place houses (which I don’t own.) I knew they’d work on their own, and I’m happy with this rendition.

With the exception of the moon and the pumpkins, these dies didn’t need any ink blending, so the card came together pretty quickly. The sentiment was white embossed with one of the sentiments from The Greetery’s new Simple Autumn Sentiments. I did put teeny, tiny pieces of black dimensional tape behind two of the bats and a piece of dimensional tape behind one of the ghosts.

This is off to Just Us Girls, NBUS (this is the first outing for the Halloween dies), and Shopping Our Stash where the challenge is Black Cats, but any black Halloween die or stamp will do. The Gina K die has been in my stash for years.

Color Hues #142

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Stef had given us a color combination perfect for fall–and as you’ll see on the Color Hues Blog–any number of other ocassions.

This card is definitely not the card I intended to make. I knew I wanted to use the Magnolia Wreath from The Greetery, but the intent was to make a CAS card. This is not CAS! I also wanted to use one or more of the new Greetery products laying on my desk. That didn’t happen either, but it morphed into getting the Capsule Basics out and this where it ended up.

Most of my cards are A2 or square so a %X& shaped card is unusual for me. The first wreath was die cut using a piece of watercolor paper that was laying on my desk. I colored the leaves with Fossilized Amber and Lumberjack Red Distress Oxide Inks (which looks quite a bit brighter in the photograph than it does in person) and went back with a tiny brush to color the stems with Gathered Twigs. Using the Capsule Basics Large Borders I created the border with woodgrain paper and the Pretty Picado embossing folder.I chose Dark Chocolate cardstock for the center panel. When I laid the wreath on I realized I needed a second wreath as well as a Capsule Basics Filagree Border. I cut both from Kraft cardstock, and used some Gathered Twigs ink at the bottom of the leaves. 

I arranged the wreaths and then spent more than a little time trying to decide on a sentiment. I tried a variety of banners, but ended up adding a small sentiment on a circle die cut that nestled in among the leaves. Both the amber and red wreath and the sentiment were added with dimensional adhesive dots. I could have stopped there, but ended up using the largest of the Capsule Basic dies to create the card base.

So there you have it, a much more layered and detailed card that I usually create, but I’m quite happy with it. Be sure to visit the Color Hues Blog to see where our Guest Designer, Crystal, and the Design Team have created. And then, please join us in the gallery! 

This is off to two challenges: Seize the Birthday: Use Fall Colors and the TicTacToe Challenge: down the middle: Die Cuts, Free, Embossing.

Happy Birthday!

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Today is my oldest granddaughter’s fifteenth birthday. We celebrated last night because tonight she had horseback riding lessons. On Tuesday and Wednesday nights, she’ll play in varsity field hockey games. She’s busy, happy, and doing well in school. Here she is with her youngest sister this summer when they both were playing in regional field hockey tournaments.

I purchased the dies for her card because the black hair of the Super Woman reminded me of her beautiful long, black hair. And because, of course, I do think she’s super!

The You Are Super die is from Spellbinders. The background is the Reverse Confetti, Stitched Rays which has long been a favorite of mine. It was die cut with some white shimmer cardstock from Papertrey Ink. The starts and sentiment are also part of the You Are Super dies.

I added some dots of glitter with a Gelly Roll glitter pen. The panel was added to a sheet of black glitter paper from Pinkfresh Studio.

This is off to Seize the Birthday: Add a sentiment strip, A Cut Above: Anything Goes, and the September NBUS gallery.

Color Hues #140

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Nancy is our hostess for the September 1st Color Hues Challenge. When I saw her color combo, Dusty Blue and Brown, I immediately thought of The Greetery’s 3D embossing folders that I’d seen embossed with brown woodgrain cardstock, so that’s where I started.

I’d like to say it came together quickly, but I started with one embossing folder, played around with some options, and then started over with the Pretty Picado suite of products. This is the first time I’ve used the Pretty Picado Stencils, and I also pulled out the Capsule Star Studded Borders for the first time. 

Once the border was embossed I swiped a bit of white ink over it to soften the color and enhance the beautiful embossed pattern.  I used a couple of different blue inks for the stenciling. For the star border, which I love and think I will use a lot, I chose Matte Silver cardstock. The silver embossed sentiment is from the Pretty Picado Stamp set and I added some tiny silver pearls for a bit of shine on the stenciled panel. This shaped card is bigger than an A2 card, but fits nicely in an A7 envelope.

Check out the Color Hues Blog for more inspiration my wonderful Design Team and our talented Guest Designer, Michele, and join us in the gallery. 

I’ll be away when this post goes live, but will send this off to the September NBUS Blog when I get a chance. It’s always good to use a couple more new products!

A Clean & Simple Anniversary Card

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A quick post for a CAS anniversary card for the Addicted To CAS Challenge.  I’ve had Papertrey Ink’s Grand Ampersand die for years, and I don’t think I’ve ever used it. I have used some of the accompanying stamps. I came upon it recently, and knew it would make a striking anniversary card. Dressed up a little more, it would be a great wedding card, too. 

I stared with a squared 5X5 inch card base and then cut the black, red, and main panel with my paper cutter. The ampersand was die cut in gold and layered on two more die cuts for some dimension. After placing the card in my MISTI I laid the ampersand in the middle and determined where to stamp the two-part sentiment. Once the ampersand was adhered with glue, I added three gold pearls. 

Hope your week is off to a good start!

Another Punny Fish

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Earlier I made a card using Concord & 9ths Fish Friends stencils. There are also dies that will cut out the stenciled fish as well as dies that work on their own. This is a CASE of one of the cards on Concord & 9ths blog made by Carissa Wiley. 

I found a great piece of patterned paper to work as the water. It was a single sheet separated long ago from its paper pad so I have no idea where it came from. I added some ink blending to the bottom of the paper to darken the water. I trimmed the panel down just a bit so I had a narrow frame of the dark teal cardstock. I used scraps of C&9th cardstock to cut out the underwater plants and the fish, adding ink blending to all of them.

Once I had the placement figured out, I went to work on the sentiment. The one in the circle is from The Greetery’s Hey, Honeycomb Summer Sentiments and the sub sentiment is from the Something Fishy Sentiments, also by The Greetery. Finally I added quite a few Iridescent Dew Drops from Pinkfresh Studio for water bubbles.

This is my second card for the Seize the Birthday: Punny Sentiments Challenge. It’s off to NBUS as well. The is the debut of the Fish Friends dies and the Hey, Honeycomb . . . Sentiments. The Card Concept is hosting a dual challenge: Summer By The Sea and Christmas in July. I’ve entered twice with Christmas cards, but now I have Clean and Layered card for the summer challenge.

Birthday Fishes

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Two of my favorite challenges have coordinated challenges. At Just Us Girls it’s Water, and at Seize the Birthday the challenge is Punny Sentiments. Now they aren’t necessarily coordinated but I have the new Greetery Something Fishy Sentiments so I knew I could put the two together.

Initially, I had another card in mind, and if I have time, I’ll be back with another Punny Fish card. On Monday, however, I got together with two friends, and one of them let me die cut a few of the Something Fishy dies from The Greetery. I die cut them with white cardstock, and then colored them with a combination of ink blending and Copic markers. I love that the fish come with party hats included. I added some glitter to the pom-poms with a Gelly Roll Clear Star pen.

The background was stenciled with a variety of blue/aqua inks and the Simon Says Waves stencil on a panel of Concord & 9th’s Powder cardstock. Once that was done, I’ll out my Sheer Shimmer Sparkle spray and lightly sprayed the background. I like the sublte shimmer and the “water” spots. Tiny black pearls from Amuse were perfect for the fishes’ eyes. The fish were added to the card with thin dimensional tape

The sentiment was stamped with aqua ink on a piece of Powder cardstock and stacked with two additional sentiment dies. Finally the panel was added to a white card base. In addition to JUGS and Seize the Birthday, this is another card for the August NBUS gallery.

Warm Wishes

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Yesterday I was on the Memory Box blog with one of my favorite images from the Christmas Charm release, the Heirloom Candle Holder. I knew right away, it would make an elegant Christmas card. 

All the pieces were die cut from Bristol cardstock and ink blended before assembling. I used some metallic gold watercolor to splatter a piece of cream cord stock. While that dried I cut one of the Nested Globes from an A2 panel of black paper to create a frame for the candle.

Before adding the candle to the card, I die cut a piece of holly from the Evergreen Holly Bundle and some berries from the Pine and Berries Sprigs to tuck behind the candle. The Warm Wishes Gold Foil Greeting Tab finished the card. 

Another card for the Christmas stash which is not growing as fast as it should be! And another card for NBUS–a first for the Heritage Candle, but surely not the last.

Color Hues #139

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Marcia is the mid-month hostess for the new Color Hues Challenge. She picked a fabulous summer combination for us.

My first impulse was to find a Pinkfresh Studio floral to play with, but when I went looking I discovered the Citrus Twist stamp, stencil, and die that was part of the Create and Connect event in February 2024. It was one of the projects I never got to, and it’s just perfect for a Yellow and Orange challenge.

I gold embossed the stamp and die cut it before stenciling which worked out great. I used just two ink colors but added a darker center for the oranges with a new 1/4” blending brush from Pinkfresh. I won a gift card awhile ago, and just recently put in an order. They have redesigned the smaller brushes with the same kind of bristles the 1” brushes have. Those large brushes are my very favorite ones, and I used them for the overall stenciling. The smaller one work wonderfully, too.

The background cover plate is the Scalloped Grid by Pinkfresh. I used dimensional tape to add it to the card base after seeing thatbdone during the August Greetery release. I love how it looks. After adding the main image to the background, I die cut a few tiny flowers from Spellbinder’s Lemon Zest die set in yellow and orange. I added the centers with a Black Glaze Pen. 

The sentiment is just perfect for a summery card, and can be used for several occasions. It was hot foiled with the Spellbinders Curved Everyday Sentiments and die cut with the accompanying dies. This card makes me happy!

Please check out the Color Hues Blog for lots of inspiration from the Design Team and our Guest Designer, Priscilla.

This is off to two challenges: The Neglected Stuff Challenge, monthly Pinkfresh Studio Challenge and since this die set is both neglected and it’s being used for the first time, it’s off to NBUS as well.