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Fish Friends

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The current Just Us Girls Challenge looking for stencils was perfect timing. I finally had time to make a card just for fun! During a recent Concord & 9th sale, I picked up the Fish Friends bundle. I don’t have anything like it, and I love the whimsical look of the fish. It also has a wonderful layered die set which I hope to get to soon.


I stenciled the fish with three Concord & 9th inks: Watermelon, Creamsicle and Harbor. When using the Watermelon ink I varied the pressure to add some darker areas to the fish bodies. It’s a 6X6 stencil, so I cut it down with Gina K’s Master Layout #1 dies, and layered it on a Stamp Market Sea Glass A2 card base. Interestingly, the C&9th Harbor cardstock wasn’t as good a match as the more aqua Sea Glass. 


The sentiment is from My Favorite Things, Bitty Birthday Wishes. I added quite a few clear drops by Pinkfresh Studio thinking they looked a bit like water bubbles. 

In addition to Just Us Girls, I’m sending this off to the Stencil Fun Challenge, a last entry to June’s NBUS and an entry to Darnell’s I.D.E.A.S. This is a fifth week so the S stands for Stencils.

Happy Anniversary

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When @thegreetery introduced the Pretty Picado suite of products, Betsy made a beautiful wedding card with white and cream. I used the same colors for an anniversary card for my niece and her husband. The main panel is backed with gold metallic cardstock, and the beautiful dies from Pretty Picado and the Capsule Basics suite do all the rest of the work!


This is going to be a “go to” for anniversary cards for awhile. I’ll need to make a list of who I send them to so they don’t get the same card two years in a row!

I’m sending this off To Addicted to Stamps and More: Diecuts or Stencils.

Abstract Mountain

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Father’s Day was Sunday. My cards were done on time, but this is the first time I’ve had time to edit photos and get a blog post written. Some unexpected commitments have kept me busy in the craft room, but it will be awhile before I can share them.

In addition to the Father’s Day cards, I needed a masculine birthday card. I thought the Ellen Hutson Abstract Mountain die would be great for both. I tried a new technique which didn’t work all that well, so went back to ink blending and using cardstock to piece together the scenes. It makes sense to make multiples with this die since you have make die cuts of six different colors of cardstock. I ended up with four inkblended skies that I liked so had two Father’s Day cards (one for Matt and one for Tracy) and two birthday cards. My son-in-law in Wisconsin got a gift certificate with the Father’s Day message.


While I was looking for something else, I came upon this Reverse Confetti Stitched Window Cover Panel. It works really well with the Abstract Mountain die, but only three of the mountains show. All the rest of the cards were die cut with an Ellen Hutson Essential Arches die and in the end I prefer them. (All four of the photos were taken at the same time, in the same place. Why this one has a blue cast to it is anyone’s guess. I thought I’d be able to color correct it, but neither my phone’ editing progam or Photoshop Elements wanted to cooperate tonight.)

The sentiments for both of these cards are from Pink & Main’s Special Day stamp set.


The birthday sentiments are from Memory Box, Black Gold Foiled Happy Birthday Tabs.

The AAA Birthday Challenge: For the Boys is still open so I’ll send a second entry off to them. This is a very old die set so I’m sending one off to The Neglected Stuff Challenge as well.

Color Hues 135

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Carol has chosen the new colors for the 135th Color Hues.Challenge:

I purchased the Spellbinders Sunflower Serenade last summer but have never used it. I wanted a Clean and Simple card and it was just perfect. I die cut it from yellow cardstock and added some ink blending to the middle of the flower before adding the centers in two shades of brown (one of our acceptable neutrals.) 


Two squares were cut with Ellen Hutson’s Essential Squares. A slightly smaller one from My Favorite Things Black and White Basics paper pack and one size larger from black cardstock. I miss MFT; their patterned paper packs are one of my favorites. After layering those onto a white card base, I added the sunflower with a square of dimensional tape. 


The sentiment is one of Memory Boxes Gold Foiled Greeting Tabs. After adding the greeting, I wanted some gold with the sunflower. I tried a couple gold leaves, but they were too much, so I went with my favorite Pinkfresh Studio gold pearls.


Thanks for stopping by. I appreciate your visit and your comments as well! I hope you’ll hop over to the Color Hues Challenge blog to check out the fabulous designs created by our team and our Guest Designers, Barbara Campbell and Diana K. We would love to see you add a card to our gallery. It’s open until 9:00 am on June 29th.  

This card is off to Darnell’s NBUS and to the A Cut Above Challenge—Anything Goes with a die cut.

Balloons for the Boys

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We have two grand-nephews (both named Finn) whose birthdays come close together. A friend loaned me The Stamp Market Birthday Essentials, Birthday Balloon Greetings, and the accompanying dies. I die cut a huge pile of balloons in different colors and after making these two cards, tucked the rest away for future cards. Once I saw the Birthday Balloon Greetings and dies, I ordered a set of my own. I know I’ll use them on the balloons I tucked away, but I’m quite sure they’ll be pulled out for other birthday cards.

Both cards use the same layout, and the same background (a tiny starts embossing folder by Lifestyle Crafts which has been In my collection for years!) I chose different colors and different sentiments, adding some gold stars to the second card.


I’m sending the second card off to AAA Birthday Challenge: For the Boys.


Thanks for stopping by. I’m enjoying the sunshine and warm weather we’ve been having, but splitting my time between the yard and the craft room. The open window here is blowing in a wonderful warm breeze.


Just a Note

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I’m on the Memory Box blog today with a sentiment-focused notecard using flowers from the Arched Flower Basket, the Woven Flower Basket and the Flower Basket Bouquet dies. I used the largest of the Cinched Frame dies to create a shaped card. The front panel was cut from a pretty teal paper from the Lagoon Paper Pack. I die cut a second frame from white cardstock (so it’s easy to write a note!). I scored about 3/8” down from the top of the white panel to create a hinge and glued the two pieces together.



The next step was to cut a third Cinched Frame in white for the focal panel. I chose a teal cardstock just a shade darker from the Lagoon pack for the sentiment, die cut and stacked three of the Just a Note dies before adding them to the center of the front panel.



Then I just needed to arrange my flowers which were die cut from various papers in the Lagoon, Sunrise, Blush, and Greenery paper pads. I’m sending this off to the Word Power Challenge (focal point is the sentiment) and A Cut Above Challenge—die cuts!

Clean and Simple Birthday Cards

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I pulled out a Penny Black stamp that I have never used to make a birthday card for a friend. The stamp set, Charisma, had four floral images in vases, and I ended up making a set of four cards. It’s always good to have some CAS birthday cards on hand. 



The card design is from Jill Foster, the card designer behind Penny Black. Her introductory videos are fabulous, and one series showcased a variety of designs.



I stamped all four images and colored them with Copic markers and then die cut them with the accompanying dies. I embossed a sheet of cardstock with the Penny Black Textured embossing folder, and then cut four strips with my paper cutter. I adhered them to the bottom of each card and added a narrow strip of white paper above them. 



The sentiment from Penny Black’s Delightful Day was stamped in black.



One of these is off to NBUS, one to Seize the Birthday: Anything Goes, one to Penny Black Saturday Challenge: Anything Goes, and one to Addicted to Stamps and More: Birthdays.

Sending Sunshine

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It’s been awhile since I’ve enrolled in one of the Online Card Classes, but when the latest class was announced I signed right up. It was called Brighter Days and the kit which I ordered from Concord and 9th includes stamps, dies, and stencils designed to create encouragement cards. After Christmas and birthday cards, I send more thinking of you cards than any other category and far more than I would like to send! It’s probably a function of my age that so many people I know are in need of encouragement.

The class ran last week. I watched all the videos but never got time to create any of the cards. Yesterday I sat down with the class supplies to create a card for a good friend who definitely needs a bit of sunshine. This is a combination of ideas from the class but not one that was presented by the instructors.


The first step was to decide what size card I wanted. I ended up with 5″ square card and cut a panel 4 1/4″ square for the stenciling. Kristina Werner designed all the products for this class and her expertise shows in the design of the Rainbow Rays Stencil which puts a white space between each of the rainbow colors. The three stencils separate the colors as you ink so the next stencil always covers the one you just inked. It means a lot less masking!


The clouds and sun were die cut from white paper, and I ink blended the sun. They are from the Weather Together Dies. All three clouds were attached with dimensional tape. There is a rectangular die for the sentiment included in the kit, but it was a bit bigger than I needed, so I turned to Ellen Hutson’s Essential Rectangles. I love the fonts of these sentiments. I used another of the stamp sets, Easier and Brighter, to create the inside sentiment.


This card is going to the Colorful Options Challenge which somehow I never seem to get to. Rainbow is always an option there. And it’s off to NBUS for all the new products used and works with Darnell’s I.D.E.A.S. Week 1: Inking.

Clean & Simple Birthday

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I have a card for two challenges today–Just Us Girls: Stencil Week and Seize the Birthday: Anything Goes. This card is for my niece, and I am really pleased with its simplicity.


The Folk Garden florals by Pinkfresh Studio have always been a favorite of mine. The stamp contains multiple florals but the die cuts them out separately. I don’t think I’ve ever used just two of them, but I’m pretty sure I’ll do it again. I chose the two florals and then die cut the square panel with Simon Says Stitched Squares.


All the florals were stenciled with the accompanying stencil before die cutting. I chose one of the Memory Box White Gold Foiled Greeting Tabs for the sentiment and then added the two florals with dimensional tape. The stitched square was added to the square cardbase with a panel of dimensional adhesive.

Two for Color Hues #134

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Bonnie has chose Pink and Turquoise for this first of June Color Hues Challenge:

Although I had a few Ideas for this color combo, after I made my first card with The Greetery’s new Pretty Picado suite, I realized it was perfect for a two color challenge. And, due to a slight error in embossing one of the panels, I ended up with two cards! One is a traditional A2 card, and the other is a shaped card. I chose a darker hue of turquoise than in the challenge image above.


I used the Pretty Picado die and Capsule Basics on both cards. On the A2 card I stamped and die cut the greeting with the Pretty Picado stamp and die.


The white die cut fits over a turquoise panel that was run through the Pretty Picado Embossing Folder.


That’s where the second card got its start–I didn’t line the die cut panel up exactly with the embossed panel so had to redo it. There was nothing inherently wrong, however, with the first die cut panel. The Pretty Picado Cutaway die cuts a gorgeous sentiment that perfectly fits in the white oval. It was layered on an oval of turquoise paper.


I used one of the dies from Capsule Basics to create a scalloped oval card base, and added the white panel on the front. Finally, I die cut a pink border with the Capsule Basic Small Fixed Border and die cut the pretty open pattern from the Pretty Picado die. I added a few pink pearls from Memory Box that have been in my stash for years.


Thanks to a generous gift for Mother’s Day I was able to purchase quite a few of the products from The Greetery’s Fête and Fiesta release that just happened to land on my birthday! I’m already having a lot of fun with them–and have so many more cards I want to create.

Be sure to stop by the Color Hues Challenge to check out all the fabulous designs created by the Design Team and our Guest Designer, Kim Miller.

I’m posting one of these on the new Paper Players TicTacToe Challenge, using the diagonal from lower left to upper right: happy sentiment, free, die cut.

For the Guys

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I never seem to have a masculine birthday card when I need one. The Inkspirational Challenge: Cards for Guys came at just the right time because I needed one for a good friend whose birthday is this week. I pulled out two old favorites which I think go together perfectly: Pinkfresh Studio’s Gatsby Die Set and The Greetery’s Everyday Labels for the sentiment.


It’s a quick card to put together. Photographing it was a bigger hassel since Gold Mirror cardstock because of the gold mirror cardstock. I chose a lovely textured cardstock for the card base.


You can see it a little better here.

This is off to Inkspirational and Seize the Birthday: Anything Goes.

Woodblock Wednesday

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No, it is not Wednesday, so this is a day late, but still in time to post on Amy’s blog.

Somehow I’ve never gotten back on track since we’ve returned from our trip. The days fly by, and most of the creating I’ve done has been for my Design Team commitments. There have been frequent, and fun, social engagements, time to watch grandchildren compete in a field hockey tournament, and more than the usual reading required for the three book groups I participate in. Much to my dismay, one of the groups changed the book for the May read from one I had already read to one that had 480 pages! It was The Searcher by Tana French, and I have to admit it was a good read. Nonetheless, yesterday I discovered that I had missed Woodblock Wednesday, so the first project today was to catch up with that.


The two stamps by Annette Watkins were right on top of the drawer I looked in, and I didn’t hesitate to pull them out knowing they’d make an easy CAS card. They’ve long been favorites of mine. I colored the flowers and foliage with Copic markers.


The sentiment stamp is perfect for a Thinking of You card which I need way more frequently than I wish. Luckily, since I was in a hurry, both stamps stamped perfectly the first time.


Hop over to Amy’s blog to see a selection of fun cards created with wooden stamps!

Flower-Filled Watering Can

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It’s my day on the Memory Box blog. I love the Rustic Watering Can die. It’s the perfect size to hold a flower arrangement.


I die cut and assembled a LOT of flowers and foliage from the Arched Flower Basker recently, and chose primarily yellow and orange ones for this bouquet. The watering can was die cut from gray cardstock. I added a little darker ink blending to add some interest and dimension. After creating a card base from white woodgrain cardstock, I die cut a slightly smaller panel with the Heritage Rectangle Frame die and layered it on the card base. Once the watering can was added to the panel, I spent some time arranging the foliage and flowers in the can, tucking some behind others and some peeking out from the top of the watering can.


I chose one of the White Gold Foiled Greeting Tags for the sentiment, adding two tiny flowers as embellishment.

I’m sending this off to AAA Birthday Challenge where they’re celebrating their 6th birthday with an Anything Goes Challenge and to Darnell’s NBUS. The watering can is making its debut.

Color Hues #133

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Tracey is our hostess for the mid-May Color Hues Challenge, and she chose a color combo just perfect for my new Spellbinder’s pansy dies.


Spellbinder’s Pansy Seed Co. was April’s Small Die of the Month selection. I’m not a long-term member of the Spellbinder Clubs, but occasionally I join in order to get a die I want. That was true in March (that die is being saved for a granddaughter’s birthday in the fall,) so I was already a member and loved the pansies.

Spellbinder’s Pansy Seed Co. was April’s Small Die of the Month selection. I’m not a long-term member of the Spellbinder Clubs, but occasionally I join in order to get a die I want. That was true in March (that die is being saved for a granddaughter’s birthday in the fall) so I was already a member and loved the pansies.


I die cut all the pieces for the pansies and leaves from Bristol cardstock and ink blended them with finger daubers. Once they were assembled, I went looking for a container and came upon The Greetery’s Seagrass Basket. It was die cut from Papertrey Ink’s Weathervane and Dark Chocolate cardstocks. I added tiny little metal brads to attach the handle after weaving the pieces of the basket together. 


Altenew’s Organic Linen 3-D Embossing Folder was lying on my table. It, too, is a new product and hadn’t even been put away, so I ran a piece of Simon Says Slate cardstock through it and attached it to a card base of the same color. After adding the basket to the card front, I arranged the pansies and leaves. The sentiment, from Pinkfresh Studio’s Beyond Happy, is gold embossed to pick up on the gold paper I used for the center of the pansies. I die cut two extras and layered them to give the sentiment a bit of dimension.

This is such a fun color combo, I hope you’ll join us in the gallery. It’s open until May 29th at 9:00 am so you have lots of time! If you’re looking for inspiration, check out the wonderful cards by the Design Team,

I’m sending this one to three challenges: The Four Seasons Challenge: Spring–pansies are one flower that can withstand our fluctuating temperatures, A Cut Above (Anything Goes for die cuts) and NBUS since the Pansy Seed Co. is new to me.

Just a Note

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I’m up on the Memory Box blog today with a card featuring three of the new products from the Sunkissed Summer release. It has been awhile since I did any watercoloring so I pulled out my Kuretake Gansai Tambi watercolors to create this card.


I die cut the Wild Leaves and one of the Brilliant Butterflies from watercolor paper as well as a background panel. I used three different greens, mixing some together to watercolor the leaves, letting them dry between applications of the watercolor. For the background panel, I used a large brush to watercolor the whole piece in blue. Once it dried I die cut it with new Cinched Frames. The butterfly was last. I used some of the same blue as the background and added a violet to the edges of its wings.


This is off to the Double D Challenge where they want watercolor, and to Darnell’s NBUS–all these products have just been released.


It’s lovely to have some new products to work with, but the name of the release, Sunkissed Summer, is certainly a misnomer here. We’re definitely not close to summertime weather yet. The temps go up and down, but generally is just cool and, too frequently, wet and chilly. It looks like it will improve early next week. The test will be if it can maintain the warm temperatures! We’re off to buy some flowers at our favorite Amish nursery on Friday. I want to be able to put them outside without any fear of frost.