Krafty Chicks #830

I'm always in need of masculine cards so took the opportunity to make one for the challenge at Krafty Chicks. 

Back in May I made a masculine card using an older die from PTI that you can see here.  I liked it so well I decided to do another one, this time with PTI's Modern Cross Quilt from 2014.  I fell in love with Altenew's Coastal Mist inks, bought them recently and thought they'd be perfect to use.  I cut the die,  set up a template to stamp the crosses and inlaid them.  The sentiment is from Spellbinders.

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Freshly Made Sketches #746 and NBUS #88

Jen M had a different kind of sketch for us at Freshly Made Sketches and one I was eager to try, especially since I had what I thought was the perfect NBUS to use.

This die is called Confetti Pop and is from Spellbinders Just Add Cake Kit.  The card base was cut to 4.25 by 3.5 which gave the champagne plenty of room to spray, It was covered with a panel embossed with Altenew's Dotty Circles.  The sentiment is from the same card kit. 

My card is also off to Darnell's NBUS where she's hosting a Mutual Appreciation Month with prizes to be had for those who share their cards.  Maybe I should send this card to her for all the time she spends encouraging us to use our NBUS and comment on others who do the same. 

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Just Us GIrls #833 - Stencil Week

Sue is the host for Stencil Week at Just Us Girls. 

I was just playing around with a new set from Pinkfresh Studio and ended up making two cards.

I wanted to try stenciling on colored cardstock so I started easy by using Alabaster from SB, stamping the Blooming Peony in black, and coloring with Buttercream, Rose Quartz, Pinkalicious, Citrus Burst, Frayed Leaf and Forest Glade.  The sentiment is from their Cozy Blooms set.

For the second card, I white heat embossed on SB Windy cardstock and used Wisteria, Hydrangea, Icy Water, Frayed Leaf and Forest Glade inks.  The sentiment from SSS's Just Add Cake is white heat embossed on Windy.

I want to say a special Thank You to Bonnie Klass for being our wonderful guest this month. 

The Design Team and our guest Bonnie have wonderful cards to inspire your stenciling.  We hope to see your card in our gallery.

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Time Out #318 - Inspired By

It's Time for another Time Out Inspired Challenge.

This should be an interesting gallery because there is so much that Mother Nature inspires.

I'm partial to birds but wanted to make a scene so I used this Take Wing set from Penny Black.  It was stamped on watercolor paper and colored with Distress Inks.  The panel was trimmed and added to dark brown cardstock.  The sentiment is a BetterPress.  

This challenge is sponsored by Lawn Fawn who will award our winner a $25 store credit.  They will also be asked to be a guest designer.

Any ideas yet?  We'd love to see you enter a card in the challenge.

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Color Hues #137

Like a few other crafters, the first thing I thought of when I saw the colors at Color Hues was poppies. 

These BAF Poppies are from Altenew, stamped with their Heartbeat and Vineyard Berry inks .  The leaves don't have a fill-in stamp so they're left in black and white.  For the background, I cut PFS Petal Grid and backed it with black.  A sentiment will wait for a later time. 

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The Paper Players #795

I was crazy not to bring summer stamps and dies with me to the lake when that's what a lot of the challenges will be.  I did bring Spellbinders Oh Buoy! so I used that for my card for The Paper Players CAS challenge - Going to the Beach. 

The background is from a Lawn Fawn pack I got to make baby cards but this sheet looked like a foggy sunrise at the beach to me, especially when I added the seagull and sand.  All die cuts are from scraps.  No sentiment at the moment until I know who it's going to and why.

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Krafty Chicks #829

I mentioned in my last post about loving the birds from Unity Stamps and thought this one would be good for the CAS challenge at Krafty Chicks.

The image from Flock Talk was stamped in Memento Toffee Crunch one day when I was playing with my new Ohuhu markers and having trouble with black ink.  It worked great with this cute and funky bird, that was then placed behind a panel cut with MFT's Peek-a-boo die.  The sentiment comes from the set.

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Freshly Made Sketches #745

I've always loved those birds from Unity that I see people use on cards so when they had a sale I couldn't resist.  I also couldn't resist the faces of the Windowsill Woodlands.  I thought one would make a great card for Jen T's Freshly Made Sketches.

I mean look at that face.  Adorable.  And the sentiment goes right along with it.  The raccoon was stamped on Bristol and colored with Zigs, what little coloring was needed, along with the background.  Some wood patterned paper that I have been  hoarding seemed to fit.  

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Just Us Girls #832 - Mood Board Week

I'm your host for Mood Board Week at Just Us Girls and found this fun summertime one that has lots of images to inspire your card. 

Here's a closeup.

I often wonder what comes first.  The mood board or a stamp/die set that inspired the choice.  In this case the die set came first.  See that Ferris Wheel on the left?  That's what I put on my card. 

The die set is from SSS on a card with a computer generated sentiment.  I added a spinner and that makes it even more fun.  I did a video but couldn't get Blogger to add it here.  

I originally made one in primary colors for my great grandson for his 7th birthday in January.  I did get a little smirk from him when he read the punny sentiment.  

Where will your card making take you?  The Design Team and our guest Bonnie have a wonderful variety of cards that may give you ideas.  We'd love to see you in the gallery.

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Altenew Inspiration Challenge - July 2026

It's been a while since I've entered the Altenew Inspiration Challenge but this month my Time Out Challenge teammate Ishani is the host and I wanted to support her.  She has a lovely photo and colors to base a card on.

I used the Majestic Roses stencil in the Cherry Blossom set of inks, with the sages for the leaves.  I recently got some of Altenew's cardstock and pulled out a piece of Rubelite for the border.  The sentiment is from Build-A-Garden Japanese Anemone.  

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CAS Christmas - July 2026

The second challenge for CAS Christmas is live and the theme is 

I brought my Tim Holtz Snowmen with me and used two on my card.

Their scarves and hats are navy blue and dark green with white although they both look black in the photo.  The banner they are holding is from Simon Hurley's Mantle Decorations, a left over from a previous play time.  This looks a little too clean and simple to me but that's the challenge and I'm sticking to it.  

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Just Us Girls #831 - Word Week

It's play time at Just Us Girls.  That's because "Play" is the word our host Vicki chose for the week.

The first thing I thought of was my Sunny Studio Team Player set.

The balls and bat were stamped and colored with Altenew Artist Markers.  I thought the Chain Link embossing folder from Lifestyle Crafts was appropriate for the background.  The sentiment is a mix of SSS (birthday) and one from the set. 

Our guest designer Bonnie and the rest of the Design Team have their idea what "Play" is and you'll find their cards on the blog to inspire you. 

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Time Out #317 - Theme Challenge

Time Out has a theme challenge this fortnight and this is it.

The prize for this challenge is a stamp, stencil and die bundle from Pinkfresh Studio called Berries and Blossoms, donated by team member Jaydee. 

We welcome Kathy Asper of My Asperations as our guest designer. 

What's water without something swimming around in it?  Here we have a duck from Gerda Steiner along with some fish, cat tails and a little dragonfly to finish out the scene, all colored with Altenew Artist Markers.  The background was made with an MFT cloud stencil and Salty Ocean Distress Ink that was spritzed with water.  The sentiment is from Altenew. 

We'd love to see your water themed cards in our gallery.

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CAS Mix-Up July 2026 - Eclipse

Last month you saw the resurrection of the CAS Christmas challenge and today is the restart of the CAS Mix-Up challenge and I'm honored to be on the Design Team.  This month's challenge is

There are a number of videos listed on the blog if you want a refresh on what an eclipse card is.  You can also get inspiration from the Design Team cards.  And remember this is a clean and simple challenge.

An image from Penny Black's Garden Trio was stamped in the corner of Bristol cardstock and colored with Zigs.  The medium Frame It die, also from Penny Black, was cut from the middle and layered 5 times with the image as the top layer.  I didn't know where to add a sentiment without ruining the design so I left it off.

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Just Us Girls #830 - Die Week

Ina is the host for Die Week at Just Us Girls and she has a specific die she wants you to use - one of those long forgotten ones. 

I know we all have favorite dies that we haven't used in a while but when I was looking for something I forgot it was die week and made the card below.  It does use dies and since I'm not in my studio there is no way I can make a different card so I'm going with the flow.  

These Crazy Birds are from Tim Holtz, colored with Zigs, die cut and Glossy Accents added to their eyes.  For the background I cut a panel with The Greetery's Crimped Frames and smooshed it with Mowed Lawn and Faded Jeans Distress Ink.  The sentiment is from MFT.  Now you can see why I wanted to use this forgotten stamp set. Aren't they fun?!

Now for technically correct cards using a forgotten die, please check out what the Design Team has done. We welcome Bonnie Klass from Stamping with Klass as our guest for the month of July so be sure to stop by, say hi and marvel over her wonderful card creations. 

 

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Freshly Made Sketches #742 and NBUS #87

Amy's sketch at Freshly Made Sketches gave me the chance to get out my Spellbinders Just Add Cake birthday kit using Light The Candles.

Everything was cut with scraps.  I used Ohuhu markers to color behind the frosting die to make multi-colored sprinkles.  The sentiment is from the kit and the background is SB Starshine.  I had so much fun decorating that I made a second card.

This one has blueberries with blueberry sprinkles and two candles.  The sentiment is from the kit and the background is Hero Arts Confetti Circles. 

This is my first time making these cupcakes and using Confetti Circles so off they go to Darnell's NBUS challenge.

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