Skip to content

Color Hues #116

  • by

Julie has chosen Blue and Red for our next Color Hues Challenge.

Ch #116-Blue and Red.001

Almost immediately I knew I wanted to use Spellbinders Nordic Ornaments which I purchased over a year ago. I used only the outer die of one of the ornaments last year, but wanted to show their full potential this year. The first ornament is my favorite.

CH116Red

After choosing the hues of blue, I die cut the ornament three times, and inlaid the darker blue and red. I also added some gold pearls as an embellishment. I embossed a panel with Penny Black's Linked embossing folder, and then decided to cut an oval from it. That diminished the embossing somewhat but I decided it was actually good that it was a bit more subtle. 

CH116RedClose

I added the embossed panel to the card base with dimensional tape and the ornament as well. The sentiment is one of my favorites from the Memory Box Black Tab series.

CH116Blue

Here you can see the full effect of the beautiful Penny Black embossing folder. This ornament was created with the same process. The sentiment is also from a larger set of Black Tab sentiments in the shape of a banner. 

CH116BlueClose

You'll find a lot of inspiration for Blue and Red, using lots of different themes, at the Color Hues blog. The Design Team and our Guest Designer, Leslie, have outdone themselves once again. 

Elevated Rainbows

  • by

There always seems to be one (or two) products that "speak to me" in every Pinkfresh release. There were several during the last release, but I managed to control any impulse I had. I'm not always so restrained, and the Elevated Rainbow dies and stencil are one example. When I purchase I try to find products that will work for a variety of occasions, people, and/or genders. These fit the bill, depending on the colors you choose. This time I chose more feminine colors, and one just went off to a friend who recently had a knee replacement.

Elevated Rainbow1

The sentiment from Waffle Flower's Hey, There was foiled in gold and die cut with the coordinating die. 

ElevatedRainbow1Close

I sprayed the stencil with some clear shimmer spray before adding a few Pinkfresh Iridescent Dew Drops.

The next card is for the birthday card stash. I used a few more colors on this one, and it's my favorite. 

ElevatedRainbow2

This sentiment, also foiled in gold, is from Spellbinder's You Are Everything.

ElevatedRainbow2Close

This is off to Seize the Birthday Challenge: No Flowers, Darnell's NBUS (the debut of Elevated Rainbows), and Darnell's I.D.E.A.S. for Week 2 Dies. 

08-14-NoFlowersNBUSI.D.E.A.S.


 

Bright and Happy Zinnia

  • by

I'm a huge fan of zinnias. We started some from seed this year, and they are finally beginning to bloom. This bright and happy yellow zinnia is a bit bigger than mine right now, and is appropriately titled Big Blooms: Zinnia (Papertrey Ink). A friend gave me the bloom and when I saw the current Just Us Girls Challenge: Die Cut Florals, I knew it was time to get it on a card.

Zinnia

I started by die cutting the background with Papertrey Ink's Border Bling: Tin Stitched. It was also a perfect time to use Papertrey Ink's Alluring Brackets, another product finally out of the NBUS box. 

ZinniaClose

The leaves were die cut and embossed with Concord & 9th's Paper Posies and the sentiment is from Memory Box. 

This is also the week for Dies with Darnell's I.D.E.A.S.

JUGS 787  I.D.E.A.S.

 

Christmas Wreaths

  • by

My IG friend, Greta, is serving as the Elf at the Christmas Kickstart Challenge. I haven't had much time to create this week with a household of company, but I pulled out two very neglected Christmas stamp sets, and managed to get two cards done for the "Let's Wreath It Up" challenge. Since these are two neglected stamp sets, I'm sending them off to The Neglected Stuff Challenge.

The first card uses the Avery Elle Winter Wreath set. I've used the sentiments from this set on occasion, but I can't remember the last time I used the wreath.

GreenWreath

After stamping it in green, I added some marker and colored pencil to the base of the leaves for a bit of contrast. Rather than stamp the berries, I used some AMuse red pearls. I'm beginning to run out of these. They've long been a favorite. Last time I looked AMuse was taking the summer off, but these red pearls were still available. 

GreenWreathClose

The sentiment from the same set was embossed in gold. I rounded the corners of the stamped panel with a corner rounder punch, and did the same for the read layer before adding it to the green card base.

A year or so ago, I used the Santa image from Papertrey Ink's Santa's Sleigh, but I don't think I've ever inked up the reindeer wreath image. It's so small and detailed, I stamped it on a piece of drawing paper from Art Pop. The paper has a bit of "tooth" to make it easier to used colored pencils.

ReindeerWreath

After coloring the image with Polychromos pencils I die cut it with Pinkfresh Studio's Braided Circles. Then I cut both a red and a gold circle as framing with Ellen Hutson's Essential Circle dies. 

ReindeerWreathClose

After adding it to a square card base (Concord & 9th's Clover) I added a Memory Box Black Tab sentiment.

#101.   NeglectedStuff

 

Freshly Made Sketches

  • by

This will be a quick one because the Freshly Made Sketches Challenge ends in just about an hour. If you read my previous blog post, you know I have a house full of family, some with Covid. Everyone is feeling better (but not necessarily well) today so I managed to get into my craft room for an hour or so.

FMS Final 697-001

I knew from the first time I saw the sketch that I wanted to play along because I knew I had a NBUS die set in my box that would be perfect for it–Pinkfresh Studio's Fancy Edgers. I had a choice of six edgers but chose the fancy florals to go with the die cut flowers I found in an envelope just waiting for a chance to used. 

FMSTag

I have a zipper envelope with flower dies and, luckily, some premade florals and ink blended leaves or this card would never have come together so quickly. A set of tags was also in the envelope which made the card design even easier. The florals came from a Spellbinder's set Be Bold Blooms. I'm not 100% sure where the leaves came from. I first created the panel for the tag, incorporating the top and bottom of the sketch design. Then I added the florals to the tag using a combination of glue and dimensional tape. I added a bow with black cord to the tag and mounted it on the panel with dimensional tape. 

FMSTagClose

 One of the Memory Box Black Tab birthday greetings came to the rescue for the sentiment. 

This is off to Freshly Made Sketches, Darnell's NBUS Challenge, and another entry to Seize the Birthday: Anything Goes. 

 

Happy Birthday, Sarah!

  • by

Today is my daughter's birthday, and the good news is she's here to celebrate. The bad news is two days before she came, she contracted Covid from her husband (now recovered), and our granddaughter, Hannah, also has it. They're wearing masks inside, and we did the best we could to celebrate. Overall, it's been a bit of a downer since today was supposed to be spent with their cousins, aunt, and uncle at the pool with pizza and cake afterwards. We had hamburgers and hot dogs on the patio with cake afterwards. It's been a quiet day with long naps when needed.

Here's the card I made for her. Hannah made a card this morning, but I forgot to take a photos of it for this post. I tried to resist purchasing the quilt related products from Waffle Flower but in the end, I caved when I realized I had plenty of recipients who would relate to "quilted" cards. Sarah is a quilt maker, and I knew she'd enjoy it. The background of this card is a CASE of one on the Waffle Flower site. I loved the bright colors.

SarahBD

After die cutting the Quilted Squares Texture plate, I used the coordinating stencils to color it. I love the way the colors blend together. They I cut and assembled many items from the Notions Die so I'd have plenty of things to play around with. I die cut an oval from The Greetery's Hoopla Ovals Insert Die as a resting place for the spools of thread and the pin cushion, adding some ink blending to them for a sense of dimension. I love the scissors die cut from both matte silver and gold metallic papers.

SarahBDClose

I chose a round sentiment from the Postage Collage Sew Fun Stamp Set for the sentiment and die cut it with the Postage Collage Circle die. 

I loved the tape measure from the Notions Die, but couldn't find a place for it on the card front, so I added it to the inside with another Postage Collage die-cut sentiment added to a Stitched Circle die by Simon Says.

SarahBDInside

I'm sending this off to Seize the Birthday: Anything Goes as well as to Darnell's August NBUS. 

STB-AnythingGoes  NBUS

 

 

Color Hues #115

  • by

Carol has chose one of my favorite color combinations for the new Color Hues Challenge:

CH #115 Pink and Grey.001

I knew almost immediately what I wanted to use for this card–Concord & 9th's Triangle Background die. I die cut the background in white, and the triangles five times in Fresh Pink by The Stamp Market, Lovely Lady by Papertrey Ink, Fog and Slate by Simon Says, and Weathervane by Papertrey Ink. Lining them up on the background was easy once I decided on a pattern. Once they were all adhered, I die cut the panel with Gina K's Master Layout #1 die which gave me a narrow border on the card base.

Ch115

I added silver pearls to the intersections of the triangle for some added dimension and interest, and silver embossed the sentiment from Spellbinder's Typewriter Adventure Sentiments.

CH115Close

This card is off to a friend for her birthday. She's partial to graphic designs. In different colors, it would make a great masculine card as well.

I hope you'll check out all the inspiration on the Color Hues blog by our talented Design Team and Guest Designer, Arlene, and join in the fun by creating a card for the challenge.

Woodblock Wednesday: July 2025 Edition

  • by

Today's card was designed with three challenges in mind: the monthly Woodblock Wednesday, and Inkspirational's Birthday Challenge which closes on August 1st, and Seize the Birthday: Anything Goes.

Featured-woodblock-Wednesday-graphic-copy-1#346  STB-AnythingGoes

From the very first trip I made to a stamp store, I've loved Annette Watkin's designs. One of these stamps is labeled 1992, and the other 1993. That's just about the time I made my first trip to a stamp store! I see they are now referenced on Etsy as "vintage stamps." I still love these, and they make a great CAS card.

WWJuly

After coloring the flowers with Copic markers, I die cut the frame with Simon Says Stitched Squares. I added it to a square card base with dimensional tape. Easy peasy, and I hope I remember this design next spring/summer when I'm looking for some easy birthday cards to make. 

WWJulyClose

Thanks, always, to Amy for hosting Woodblock Wednesday. I love looking through the woodblock stamps I saved, and often wish I'd saved a few more!

 

 

Season’s Greetings

  • by

I was totally inspired by Greta's Pinkfresh Studio's Folk Snowflake and when I saw the 52 Christmas Throwdown Challenge calling for Foiling or Heat Embossing I knew it was time for me to CASE Greta's card. The card also works for the Pinkfresh Studio July Challenge: Anything Goes which I'm always happy to enter. 

PFSSnowflake

I embossed the snowflake in silver and used three Pinkfresh Studio Inks, Slumber, Blue Jay, and Sapphire to color it. Next, I cut one of Pinkfresh's Nested Blanket Stitched Hexagons from silver shimmer cardstock. Before adding the snowflake, I die cut a snowflake from a foam sheet for dimension. I forget about using foam, but it worked well here. I tried the panel on a variety of card bases, but liked light blue best. I silver embossed a greeting on the bottom from Reverse Confetti's Christmas Card Greetings. I gave thought to using a slightly larger sentiment on top of the snowflake, but I couldn't bring myself to cover up any of it.

PFSSnowflakeClose

Before adding the snowflake to the card, I die cut another snowflake from a sheet of white foam. I don't know why I forget about this. It's so much easier (and sturdier) than applying a lot of dimensional tape. The final touch was adding a bit more sparkle with a few of Pinkfresh Studio's Jewels in a beautiful blue. 

July tech 52.   MonthlyChallenge-BlogTop-July2025_f736f66a-cb21-491b-811c-087bb0cb3186_1100x copy

Happy Anniversary to Us!

  • by

Today is our 52nd anniversary–pretty hard to believe. We've already been for a nine mile bike ride along the canal, and got home before the serious heat arrived. The rest of the day is pretty relaxed, but we're going to dinner at a new-to-us restaurant for dinner. A little fancier environment that our usual–although I've come to the conclusion that it's perfectly acceptable to wear jeans almost anywhere these days. My parents would be appalled. When I was growing up I had "church clothes" and "theater clothes." I was forty before I was comfortable wearing pants to church! I'll be wearing a dress tonight. 🙂

Tracy's card this year is very CAS, but I hope he likes it as much as I do.

TOWAnniv

I started with Art Pop Watercolor paper which I love for the texture. It also has a slight creamy color as well. I played around with several designs, but finally settle on this: I die cut a panel with Gina K's Master Layout 1 and then die cut a scalloped heart from The Greetery's Nordic Hearts in the center of it. I backed the opening with gold textured paper from Michael's and then added the heart.

TOWAnnivClose

The sentiment is from Papertrey Ink's Larger Than Life: Love, sentiments, embossed in gold and die cut with My Favorite Things "Itty Bitty Strips." I've owned the sentiment stamp for so long it was in with the sentiments instead of the NBUS box, but it clearly had never been used. I forgot to take a photos of the inside which reads "And laughter, and Happily Ever After." Just perfect. 

NBUS

Iconic Christmas

  • by

As soon as I saw the Just Us Girls Moodboard for inspiration this week, I knew exactly what I wanted to use.

JUGS 784

I bought Iconic Christmas from My Favorite Things four years ago when it was released. I thought it was just charming, but could never face the prospect of stamping and die cutting all the small images. This NBUS item was in the Christmas bin labeled: Use it or Purge It! I'm so glad I found the inspiration to put it to use. It is, indeed, charming. The process of stamping and die cutting was a bit easier after watching a video by Yana Smakula. You can see right away that what inspired me was the scattered pattern of tiny images. Mine are more clustered than scattered, but I think you'll see the inspiration.

IconicChristmas

I die cut many more images so I'd have choices about how to group them together. After arranging them, I glued some of them to the card panel, and added dimensional tape to others. The little stars were stamped and gold embossed. To add some more fun to the card, I scattered some Pinkfresh Studio Clear Gems with Gold Dust. The sentiment is from Reverse Confetti's Christmas Card Greetings. Sadly, neither MFT nor Reverse Confetti are still in business.

IconicChristmasClose

The cream cardstock panel as well as the gold metallic "frame" were die cut with Gina K's Masterlayout #1. They were then added to a Pure Poppy card base. I'm happy to have another Christmas card in the stash, and I do believe I'll come back to this set again. This is off again to Darnell's NBUS collection. 

NBUS

Christmas in the Round

  • by

To my surprise, one of the dies I discovered in the NBUS box was a small floral from Waffle Flower, Folk Art Floral. I don't remember purchasing it, but it made the perfect flower for a Christmas card in the round. The Christmas Kickstart Challenge is Merry Go Round. After die cutting a few of the florals I made three Christmas cards. Two are this design:

ChristmasCircle2

After die cutting and assembling the floral, I die cut the largest of The Greetery's Nordic Circles. The sentiment is embossed in gold from Penny Black's Happy & Bright.

ChristmasCircle2Close

I added a gold pearl to the center of the floral, and three more below as an embellishment. It's still a very CAS design.

For the second card, I layered the florals to create a more dimensional flower. The rest of the design remained the same.

ChristmasCircle1_

In addition to The Christmas Kickstart Challenge, I'm adding this to Addicted to Stamps and More: Christmas.

KickstartAddicted

 

 

 

Cupcakes

  • by

Unlike the last post where I used recently purchased products, the Waffle Flower Postage Collage Cupcake stencil and Hey, Cupcake stamp set have sat in the NBUS box for several months. When I set the goal of using 31 unused products in 31 days, I knew this was one I really wanted to put to use. Like the Grand Finale set from the last post, this set will see a lot of use. It's good for kids, teens, and adults, and there are so many colors that can be used with it. 

CupcakePostal

The stencils are very easy to use and line up nicely. I decided on pinks and teals and had a lot of fun playing with this set. I added some details to the candles with a white gel pen, and some Rock Candy Glitter for a sugary topping on the cupcakes.

CupcakeClose

I sent an earlier card to Seize the Birthday Anything Goes. This one's for the current theme: Food or Drink. And it's another for NBUS. I hope to fill up the gallery by the end of the month.

07-10-FoodDrink.   NBUS

 

Grand Finale

  • by

Not all the products in my NBUS box have been there for months. Some are more recent and the Grand Finale die and stencil set by The Greetery are a more recent purchase. When I look at purchasing new products I want to be sure I can use them for a variety of occasions and groups of people. These, like the Yay! product suite also by The Greetery will work for birthdays, all kinds of celebrations, and a wide age-range of recipients. I used the Yay! for two graduations this spring and summer, and expect to use Grand Finale multiple times as well. This card (the second one I created) went to a stamping buddy of mine who celebrated her birthday recently. 

GrandFinale2

The die etches a wonderful design on the card as well as openings on each of the fireworks. I backed the panel with silver holographic paper and then stenciled the pink and orange bursts. 

GrandFinale2Close

You can get a sense of the sparkle from the holographic paper in this photo. I also used it to die cut the sentiment from Papertrey Ink's Bold Borders: Wave. I stacked three white die cuts of the sentiment under the holographic paper for some dimension. I added Pinkfresh Studio's Clear Iridescent Drops for some added sparkle. 

The die set also includes some small pinwheels which you'll see in the next card. Here I added one on the inside. It also uses some of the holographic paper.

GrandFinaleIN2

The inside sentiment is from an old set from Papertrey Ink. Several years ago, I decided to remove the stamps from the CD cases that Papertrey Ink used for their stamps. I put them on acetate and was sometimes able to peel off the label to add to the cardstock I backed them with. If not, I wrote the name of the set on the paper. Somehow neither of those happened so I have no idea what set this is from. I still have one box of Papertrey Ink stamps that remain in their CD cases. I lost all interest in repackaging the rest of them. 

Here's the first card I made. It uses all the same products, but I added some pinwheels to the front. I thought it was too busy, but ultimately my husband and I decided it was OK. Nonetheless, I much prefer the second, cleaner-looking card. 

GrandFinale1

I'm sending the first card to Seize the Birthday (anything goes) and to Darnell's NBUS.

STB-AnythingGoesNBUS

 

 

Color Hues #114

  • by

Bonnie has chose a very versatile color combination for the mid-July Color Hues Challenge: 

CH #114-Yellow and Green.001

I decided to try a new-to-me technique I saw on Tina Smith's blog called "die cut dipping." You smoosh some ink from an ink pad onto a glass mat or similar surface, spritz it with water and dip your die cut into the ink. Tina started with colored cardstock, but because I had previously die cut multiple images of the flowers, leaves, and pot from Altenew's Houseplants dies, I needed to use a clean waterbrush to smooth out and add ink to missing spots on the die cut. Even as I was going through the process, I wasn't sure if it was going to work, but I'm quite happy with the results.

CH114

I also added some interest to the leaves with a finger dauber and a bit of darker ink. The background for the hanging basket is Subway Tiles by Taylored Expressions. The leaves cover most of the pot, but it was one of my favorites from using this technique. There are four piece to that die cut and it looked so realistic. 

CH114Close_2

Once again The Greetery came to the rescue with the perfect sentiment. I used another of those sentiments on an earlier Color Hues card, but this time I added the flourish and die cut it with the die from Garden Gateway die which I have never used before. (Sadly, the Garden Gateway remains in the NBUS box.)

I hope you'll jump over to the Color Hues blog to see what wonderful designs our Guest Designer, Von Marie, and our Design Team have created. And, of course, we'd love to see you in the gallery!

This is definitely off to Darnell's NBUS link since Houseplants have been in that too-full Need to Use box for far too long. It's also off to the TicTacToe Challenge. I used the left-hand side of the grid going down: foliage, layers, flowers. 

NBUS