Happy Anniversary and Thankful

Very grateful it's feeling like Fall now.  We even had a few rainy days, which we really needed.  Still lots of dangerous weather in many places.  I hope things are OK where you are.

I like masking a frame, which I haven't done for quite awhile.  That's how my card for Color Hues Dusty Blue and Brown began.  

I only found 2 dusty blue inks in my huge stash of ink pads and one of them was SSS Hybrid Steel Blue.  Not every ink lets the details show with more solid stamps like SSS Anna's Flowers, but this one stamped perfectly.  It's a richer color than shows in the photo and I need to remember to use it.  The little branches from an old Gina K set were stamped in Altenew Rocky Shore--a lovely shade of brown.  I splattered both inks before adding the Winnie and Walter sentiment.  If you look closely, you can see 2 tiny white hearts above the h.  They're Gina K embellishments which I covered with shimmer.  Glad to have this card ready for my sister's anniversary next month.  I entered WAW via IG.

I'm truly thankful for my sweet cardmaking friends around the world.  One of them gave me CN9 Autumn Splendor stamp set and dies.  JUGS Die Week: Thanks gave me the motivation to use these products for the first time.  

I pulled out a variety of cardstock colors.  Decided to use a different green for each type of leaf and 2 shades of rose for the flowers.  The berries were die cut from a soft gold glitter cardstock and I added gold splatters.  You can see the shimmer and shine in my IG post.  Pearls were my favorite embellishment years ago and I was happy I still had some of the Latte ones to use for the flower centers.  It was a lot of diecutting, but so fun to see the card come to life.  Of course the look can be totally different by changing up the colors.  You can also use the images without the background piece, so I may try that next.  I'm also entering WAW.

Thanks so much for taking time to stop by.  If your blog address is in your profile or comment, I will visit you.

Thank You and Christmas

Couldn't get my first idea to work for Color Hues: Yellow and Orange.  The gallery is about to close and I finally did get a card made. 

SSS Beautiful Buttercup dies were cut from cardstock I colored with Lindy's Flat Fabio sprays Pineapple Paradise and Mango Mania.  I added matching Stickles to the top edges.  I had CN9 Stitched Vines Card Front die on my wishlist a long time and finally got it.  Think it makes a great background for my bouquet.  The cute little bow is IO and the sentiment is PFS.  This card goes in the mail Monday.  I'm also entering SSS Wednesday and WAW.

I generally use a full panel of dry embossing, but decided to try just a wide strip for this card.  

Altenew's Perfect Poinsettias folder is beautiful with so much interest for a mostly white card.  BPD Handwritten Merry Christmas and Outline was die cut from MB red glitter cardstock with double stacked white cardstock for the words.  I'm entering DCD, SSS Wednesday and WAW.

Thanks so much for taking time to stop by.  If your blog address is in your profile or comment, I will visit you.

Friendship, Birthday and Christmas

We've been fortunate not to have any wildfires close to us.  So heartbreaking to see the destruction.  The smoke did finally make our air unhealthy the last few days and it's been too hot for me.  Fritz doesn't understand why I won't let him lay on the deck like usual.  I also had a sick day and haven't been motivated to blog.  But today I feel better, so here are a couple cards on my way to catching up.

First is the card I sent to Julia for the CCC July exchange.  I used the beautiful color combo of kraft, pink and gold.

SSS Leaf Tumble embossing folder was used with gold metallic cardstock.  It really gives a beautiful result and I've never had issues with cracking.  The flowers are a set from Pigment Craft Co that I've hardly used.  I stamped in Brilliance Pearlescent Brown and added gold Stickles to the centers.  You can see the beautiful sparkle in my IG post.  The sentiment is from Alex Syberia and I can't remember which branches I used.  The tiny pink butterfly is Poppystamps.

Next is a winter birthday card using 2 Waffle Flower dies for the first time:  Frosty Texture and Small Snowflake.  

I inked the snowflake with Altenew Volcano Lake which is a close match to the beautiful teal glitter tape I've had for years.  I attached the tape to cardstock and then die cut the dots and Altenew Essential Sentiment Strip Happy Birthday.  I usually think of navy blue for snowflakes, but really like the soft, pretty look of the teal.  These products will be great for Christmas cards, but I enjoyed making a birthday card first.  I'm entering SSS Monday via IG, SSS Wednesday, NBUS and DCD.

Here's the last card I made for Christmas in July.  Didn't get nearly enough done, so I'm also planning to do Christmas in August.😀 Actually, I usually make Christmas cards every month, as they're my favorites. 

This one uses the wonderful CN9 Boughs and Holly stencil pack.  The inks are Altenew Firefly, Grass Field, Cherry Sweet and Coral Red.  I inked the branches from a CN9 die set to match and added red and green splatters.  Waffle Flower Cardinal Duo diecut was colored using the matching stencil with Altenew Rhodolite, Cherry Sweet, Coral Red, black and PTI Honey Nut and Weathervane.  I used a glue pen to add touches of fine glitter to the bird, berries and branches.  You can see the sparkle in my IG post.  Birch Press Vintage Sentiment letters were stacked 2 high and inked with Cherry Sweet before being glued in place on the vellum shadow.

Thanks so much for taking time to stop by.  If your blog address is in your profile or comment, I will visit you.

April CCC

It's reveal day for April CCC.  I'd been wanting to use my CN9 Turnabout stamps, so pulled out the one called Botanical.  I often use only the friendship option, but this time the color combo was right up my alley with Peony/White/Leaf.  For the pink I used Altenew Blush and for the green I used their Seashore set of 4 cubes.  

I have the dies that go with this Turnabout, but not sure I had ever used them.  The triangle cuts the thin frame as well as the center.  I used vellum and matte gold cardstock.  I stamped and die cut 2 flowers and brushed them with Rouge, darker on the tips.  I wasn't happy with the white lines and edges, so I added a light brushing of the diecuts with ink left in the brush--much better.  The sentiment was made with an Alex Syberia die.  I had penpals when I was a kid and CCC makes me think of that.  I'm one of the old timers and am very grateful to Gail and Jo for keeping CCC going.  Check it out if you'd like to make and receive a card each month.  There's no commitment--just sign up any month you want to participate.  I'm entering SSS Wednesday and WAW.

Thanks so much for taking time to stop by.  If your blog address is in your profile or comment, I will visit you.

Casing Donna

I love getting ideas from other cardmakers.  This card by Donna Mikassa caught my eye to use for one more entry into Case me a Christmas Card 2025.

I liked the shaped card, dry embossed background, focal point and small sentiment.  Here's my version using an old Spellbinders die set, PTI Vintage Cream cardstock, CN9 poinsettia, SSS embossing folder and Birch Press sentiment.  

I used Barn Door Distress Spritz on some red cardstock I wasn't fond of.  It made for a beautifully shimmery poinsettia!  The pine boughs were cut from a panel I made quite awhile ago.  Whatever I started with wasn't shimmery enough, so I brushed over it with Altenew metallic light green watercolor.  The gold branches from a TH wreath die set, flower center and  sentiment shadow were cut from SSS Matte Gold cardstock.  All the shimmer and shine can be seen in my IG post video.

Thanks so much for taking time to stop by.  If your blog address is in your profile or comment, I will visit you.

On Elf Duty!

Yep--I'm so happy to be Jo's Guest Elf for Christmas Kickstart: Wreath it Up!  If you know me, you know I LOVE wreaths.  I honestly can't even count how many wreath stamps, dies and stencils I have!  And I just got another one! 😄  Plus, I love to use small stamps or individual diecuts to make wreaths.  For today's card, I used one of my newer products: CN9 Boughs & Holly Stencil Pack.

The inks I used are CN9 Evergreen, Clover, Cranberry and PTI Cocoa Bean.  It's a fun stencil to use.  You ink it once and then turn it 180 degrees and ink again.  The bow is from Pinkfresh Artistic Bows which I got for $3 from a crafter's destash sale.  The bow was brushed with a shimmer pen and the berries were covered in Christmas Red Stickles.  I tried several sentiments and decided on this one from PTI Joyful Florals.  I hope you'll check out Jo's card with a darling unexpected image and join the challenge.  I'm entering SSS Wednesday.

Thanks so much for taking time to stop by.  If your blog address is in your profile or comment, I will visit you.

Another Quilt for Valentine's Day

After making my red and kraft quilt card, I saw Inkspirational Challenge #332, Pretty Quilt.  I couldn't add my card without exceeding the allowed challenges for SSS Flickr.  Just as well, since it "made" me use my CN9 Poinsettia Quilt Top die for another card!😊 

This time I used pink and aqua Heidi Swapp glitter tape and Bazzill Diamond shimmer cardstock.  The little heart is AJVD and the sentiment is SSS Simple Valentine's Day.  Instead of using the backing die, I fussy cut my quilt and glued it to a white card.  There's a video showing the sparkle and shimmer on my IG post.  

Thanks so much for taking time to stop by.  If your blog address is in your profile or comment, I will visit you.

Red and Kraft

Happy 2025!  I don't play in many color challenges, as having to use 4 or more specified colors usually baffles me.  Luckily, Color Hues is a 2 color challenge and that I can do.  For challenge #101, Sheri chose Red and Kraft, thinking of Valentines.  It just so happens, I'm hoping to mail more Valentines than usual this year.  Really had fun using CN9 Poinsettia Quilt Top die that I bought after seeing my friend, Betty, use it for birthday cards. 

PTI Classic Kraft is my favorite kraft cardstock.  I used a new sheet for the card base, but used snippets for everything else.  The beautiful foiled printed paper is from an American Crafts pad my friend, Cat, gave me long ago.  The red glitter sections were cut from Heidi Swapp glitter tape I've had for years.  I have several rolls of different colors which I attach to lightweight cardstock scraps for easy diecutting.

The sentiment is made with SSS Simple Valentine's Day.  Couldn't bear to cover up more of the quilt, so I didn't use the shadow.  The kraft corner pieces were covered with shimmer and the sentiment with glaze.  You can see the sparkle and shine in my IG post video.  I tied on kraft twine before attaching my quilt diecut.  I'm also entering JUGs and Snippets Playground.

Thanks so much for taking time to stop by.  If your blog address is in your profile or comment, I will visit you.

Christmas Cards

I always love making Christmas cards and that goes for this year, too.  Here are some of my latest cards.

I used my BD discount in February to get Starry Arches from Simply Graphic.  Cecile Ribon always inspires me and I had seen a few cards she made with it.  The first card I made used the negative die cut along with the little birds from Poppystamps Nordic Majestic Bloom.    

I covered the wings with shimmer and used a fine line gray pen for the eyes.  A couple little branches also die cut from white scraps were placed under the birds.  Starry Arches was die cut from the inside of a Mama Elephant frame diecut.  The panel is backed with silver metallic cardstock and the Winnie and Walter sentiment is stamped in Versafine Clair Morning Mist. 

Finished off with white crochet thread tied across the card top, inspired by my friend, Stella.  I'm entering AAA Cards and SSS Wednesday.

Here's the card I made with the positive Starry Arches diecut which I glued to a small red panel.  The trees from CN9 and SSS were die cut from Memory Box green glitter cardstock.  

The sentiment from The Greetery's Peaceful Olive hadn't been used until now, as I got it after last year's cards were done.  The red ink is PTI's Pure Poppy and the green is Versafine Clair Green Oasis.  

I used scraps, except for the card base, so I'm entering The Snippets Playground.  

Apparently, I'm on a red, green and white kick!  Here's my card for Woodblock Wednesday using Penny Black's 2013 Christmas Reds & Greens and an old Impression Obsession sentiment.

I stamped in Versafine Clair Green Oasis and then went over the berries with a red pen followed by Christmas Red Stickles.  The little bow is from an old Pretty Pink Posh die set and the dotted rectangle is from AJVD.  

I love the fresh, classic look and didn't even add splatters this time!  I'm also entering PBSC.

One more card using the same color scheme.  This one is for Stay Crafty with a Blog Named Hero.  The challenge theme is to make a card to send to a family member.  My card is for my late cousin's wife. 

She likes traditional holiday colors and has several Christmas trees in her house.  I die cut the tree from an older Hero Arts card kit, colored the star with a gold shimmery gel pen and covered the embossed dots with Christmas Red Stickles.  I stacked the tree 3 high and glued it to the SSS Frames diecut.  I cut it from red and from white so I could have a thin white frame around the red. 

Luckily, I had enough of the green cardstock scrap I used for the tree to cut a small rectangle.  The sentiment from an old HA set called Christmas Messages was stamped in PTI Pure Poppy.  I photographed this card on a plate we received years ago filled with homemade Christmas cookies made by my cousin's wife.  

Thanks so much for taking time to stop by.  If your blog address is in your profile or comment, I will visit you.