Just Us Girls #805 - Word Week

Elizabeth is our host again for Word Week at Just Us Girls and this is what she chose:

I saw Jennifer McGuire use a cute set from Pinkfresh Studio and had to add it to my stash, partly for the sentiments that include dies.

It's called Get Well Soon and the bundle includes the stamp, die, and stencil.  You can't tell but I used Lisa Horton's gold for the handles, spout and stripes on the saucer.  The background was partially embossed with Tasteful Textiles from SU and colored with Kitsch Flamingo, leaving the bottom smooth for a Hickory Smoke 'table'.

Laurel and the Design Team have some wonderful words of encouragement for you to see.  We hope to inspire you to make a card for the challenge.  

If you would like to subscribe by email,

please fill out the subscription form in the upper right sidebar.

It is also important to add  Bobby.bitsandpieces at gmail dot com to your contact list 

so Google recognizes the address and delivers the updates.

You may also unsubscribe using the same form. 

Just Us Girls #526 - Word Week

It's Word Week at Just Us Girls and the word is 

Sue chose this and we all can't wait to see what you do with it.  

Here's my card.

The first thing I thought of was my band aids from MFT.  I cut three of them, added the center squares and some little pink hearts that are all part of the set.  My NBUS HoneyBee deckle dies cut both sides of a panel so the edge runs down the middle and is taped together with the band aids. ;)  The sentiment is also from MFT stamped in Memento Rich Cocoa.

Now it's your turn.  For inspiration please check out the Design Team and our guest designer Vicky Hayes.  If you enter a card in our challenge you may be our Chic of the Week.

Twofer Challenge #20

The Twofer Challenge has a fun one this month.  

I mean who doesn't love critters.

In fact it took me a while to decide which critters to use.  You have to do two different designs for two different occasions and that's where I had trouble.  Finally an idea came to me

.Using Gerda Steiner turtles I made a get well and birthday card.

The images were colored with PolyChromos pencils and the backgrounds were made with Distress Ink.  The get well sentiment was computer generated to fit below the MFT dome die cut.

I also computer generated this sentiment although there is one similar in the stamp set.  The background was watercolored with masks for the clouds from SSS.

And there you have it, two cards for two occasions using the medium size turtle with friends.

Thanks for dropping by.  Have a turtley awesome day!

Less Is More #396

Less is More is hosting a CAS embossing challenge which is right up my alley.  If you dry emboss you can only use 1/3 of the card.  Check.

I have these thin embossing folders that I haven't use in years - if at all. I took the zig-zag one and embossed it three time near the bottom of my card, fitting the PTI sentiment between two of them. I white heat embossed the flowers from CF (the sponsor of this challenge), colored them with DI and added Nuvo drops to the centers.  I went searching for leaves that were the right size and line style and found these in the Altenew Smile More set.

It's been busy around here and will get busier but I have to make time for my card making.  It centers me and makes everything else less of a chore.  I hope you make time for yourself too.

Time Out #136

It's time for the 'Home Sweet Home' photo challenge at Time Out.

I zeroed in on that pretty vase in the back and this is what transpired.

I white heat embossed the background stamp from CF and watercolored it with Distress Inks.  The frame is from Altenew and I glued together the outer portion and colored it with the same blue as the flowers.  A sentiment from PTI gold embossed on vellum  was added to the corner.

We spent the morning looking at carpeting and flooring and someone is coming this afternoon to take measurements. I dread having to move everything but it's given me reason to do some uncluttering.  I just donated 60 quilt magazines to the library (I still have some left).  I have a box of my beloved owls ready to donate and other things hopefully going on consignment.  I already cleaned out my 12 x 12 paper and gave it to my daughter who is a middle school art teacher.  Who knows what will be next.

Thanks for dropping by.

Just Us Girls #489 - Photo Week

It's photo week at Just Us Girls and Vicki has this photo for us.

I used a stamp set I have had for a long time and never used.  I got it because it was one of those sets from Hero Arts where 25% of the profits went to "Operation Write Home" and I thought it was a worthy cause.  I also thought I'd use the stamp set.  Now I have. 😁

The rainbow and sentiment were heat embossed in silver and then colored with Zigs.  After masking it, I colored the 'sky' with Distress Ink.

The Design Team and our guest Eva have cards based on the photo on the blog.  We hope they inspire you to make a card.  You could be our Chic of the Week and have a chance at a guest designer spot.

CAS(E) This Sketch #321

I love playing along with CAS(E) This Sketch and this week's sketch is a rather easy one but I got busy and frustrated and the card I ended up with is meh but it will definitely come in handy for someone on my prayer list.

Using the quilt from WPlus9 and a sentiment from PTI, I stamped them in Twilight from CP.  The centers of the design are colored with PolyChromos. 

Thanks for dropping by.

Inspired By #61 and Inkspirational #181

You know if it's a quilt challenge I'm going to be doing it and that's the photo at Inspired By this week.  The only thing I have more of than quilting cotton is patterned paper or at least it's a close race and the paper takes up less room.

I used a die from Gina Marie gifted to me by my friend Michele. I pulled the paper from a variety of packs and since I used Altenew Spicy Yogurt as the sashing, I decided to carry through with the rustic look by putting my quilt on Desert Storm.  I also 'quilted' my block with an embossing folder. Unfortunately my photo editing blanked it out a little.  I think quilts offer a warm, homey feel and picked my sentiment from PTI accordingly.

Since I dipped into my stash of patterned paper I'm going to send this card to Inkspirational - Use Your Stash.

Thanks for dropping by.

Color Throwdown #528

I went back and forth about what I would do for this week's challenge at Color Throwdown.

Because I love owls I really wanted to do a card featuring one but I couldn't decide on a layout.  I ended up going an entirely different way using something else that's dear to my heart. Quilts.

I spent a little time finding papers that included the challenge colors and with the yellow sashing I think I did it.   Quilts give me a warm feeling so I went with this sentiment from PTI.

When you use a die like this you have lots of leftover pieces so I made another card with them.

I'm so glad you dropped by.  Have a great weekend!

CASology #327

It's a sunny albeit cold day here but it's cloudy at CASology.  That's their cue word for this week.

A few stenciled  raindrops are falling from the cloud made with an edge die cut.  The sentiment for this get well card is from MFT.

Thanks for dropping by.  Enjoy your day!

CAS(E) This Sketch #291

I have a card for CAS(E) This Sketch for you today.

The images are from MFT colored with PolyChromos pencils.  The heat embossed sentiment is from PB. 

Thanks for dropping by.  Have a great week!

Addicted to Stamps and More #312

It's time for the Make Your Mark challenge at Addicted to Stamps and More.  This is where you use pencils, Zigs, brushes, chalk, anything that makes a mark on your card.  I used Zigs on mine.

I love this little turtle from Gerda Steiner (well I love the little snail too) and thought he'd make a great get well card.  There's a little irony in the sentiment but inside it says "If you want to get well fast you have to take it slow." 

The design team is waiting for you to take a look at their cards and be inspired to make one for our gallery. 

CAS(E) This Sketch #279 and AAA Cards #118

While thinking of a way to make a card for AAA Cards using a frame, inspiration struck on how I could also include the sketch from CAS(E) This Sketch.

It's not an easy one and I looked back to see that I didn't do it when it was sketch #166.  165 and 167 were there so I must have been stumped.  Turning the sketch 90 degrees to the left was what it took to make my design come to life.

Definitely CAS and almost one layer, the images are from PTI's Garden Gate. 

I'm home after a fun week at the lake, including a family/extended family 4th of July parade.  Mother Nature added fireworks of her own as lightening flashed high above while we watched fireworks going off around the lake.  What a spectacle!

Thanks for dropping by.  Have a wonderful weekend and keep cool if you're in one of the many areas suffering from extremely high temperatures.

The Flower Challenge #21

This month The Flower Challenge is asking you to use a previous challenge to make your card.  You can find a list of these under a tab at the top of the blog.  Please be sure to tell us which challenge you chose.

I went through the list and decided to use the 'focus on background stamping' challenge #11 from last August.

I don't know what I was thinking when I stamped these Altenew flowers on my white PTI cardstock.  I planned on stamping them on Bristol so I could color them with Zigs.  Instead I used Distress Inks and very little water.  For the sentiment I used my NBUS hugs from HoneyBee stamps, cutting the outline from vellum and the inside from black.

This will be interesting since Design Team members will be choosing different challenges for their cards, including our Guest Designer Stef Perry. There will be lots of inspiration for you.   Remember - this is a flower challenge.  You must have a flower as the focal point of your card.  If you are unsure about the rules, please check them out under the 'rules' tab.

We hope to see you in the gallery.

The Flower Challenge #20 Reminder

It's the middle of the month already and time for some inspiration from the Design Team at The Flower Challenge.

You must use either acetate or vellum on your card with the focus on flowers.  Here's what I did.

I heat embossed on linen vellum the floral background from CASual Fridays.  The flowers from CF were also heat embossed in white and colored with Distress Inks.  I usually place my flowers in a corner for some reason but decided to break out of that rut and I'm glad I did. 

Thanks for dropping by.  Please be sure to check out the wonderful cards using acetate or vellum that the Design Team have made.  You still have time to enter your own creation in the gallery.