Yet Another Christmas Card

Happy Tuesday, peeps!  I am still making Christmas cards!  This one is for the staff at my bank; they are amazing!  Another friend gave me a slew of stamp sets, since she is moving and downsizing, and I came across this pretty image from a set called Beautiful Season; I stamped it in Stazon ink and watercolored it, then added some Christmas papers and a pretty fussy-cut sentiment:

This little guy looks so festive perched among the holly and berries:

I added a little rhinestone to the "joy" for a wee bit of sparkle!

And since the Christmas Kickstart and Always Fun Challenges both are asking for Christmas cards, I am linking them up there!

And I promised some more cookie pictures from Cassidy:

I am impressed at how well she's doing with that cookie scoop!  More on the finished product soon!  Enjoy your day and be blessed!

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Beautiful Season (ret), Joyful Noel (Concord & 9th)
Card stock & Papers	Whisper White, Classic Christmas DSP, Tis the Season DSP
Ink	Stazon, Real Red, Soft Suede, Smoky Slate, Shaded Spruce, Garden Green
Accessories	Red Rhinestone
Tools	Big Shot, Stitched Rectangle Dies, Finishing Touches Dies (ret), Aquapainter, Wink of Stella

AFC#186 Halloween Bingo

 Happy Tuesday, peeps!  I have a real quick card I actually made last week and is in the mail, but I never shared it!  The Always Fun Challenge this week is Halloween Fun, so here we go:

This card was so fun to make....it uses the retired Spooky Bingo Bits, which has lots of cute Halloween images!  I stamped them all in various colors, punched them out with a 1" punch, then placed them inside this cool stitched Multi Circle Window die from CTMH. 

I added some sequins from my stash and mounted it all on a Granny Apple Green card base; here's the inside, with a sentiment from A Wish for Everything:

Thanks for popping in today!  Enjoy your day and be blessed!

"The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous run to it and are safe."  Proverbs 18:10

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	A Wish for Everything, Spooky Bingo Bits (ret)
Card stock & Papers	Whisper White, Granny Apple Green, Basic Black,
Ink	Memento Black, Pumpkin Pie, Highland Heather, Crushed Curry, Soft Suede, Smoky Slate, Granny Apple Green
Accessories	Misc Sequins
Tools	Big Shot, 1" Circle Punch, Multi Circle Window Die (Close to My Heart)

IB145 Pumpkin Spice

Hello stampers!  Thursday brings us around to a new Inspired By challenge!  Here's our new photo inspiration and optional sketch:

I was inspired by the colors, the woodgrain, the jar and the little pumpkins to create my almost-no-stamping card today:

All my pumpkins were die cut with the retired Patterned Pumpkins die using Whisper White, Soft Suede, Bumblebee and Smoky Slate gingham papers;  I adhered the outline diecut to a piece of scrap paper and then filled it in with the inside pieces and trimmed it to the shape of the pumpkin.  My jar from Jar of Flowers was stamped on an Acetate sheet and hand-cut because it was too thick for the matching punch!!  I added some leaves, tendrils and foliage, and put it all on a soft gray woodgrain background:

The sentiment from Beautiful Day is stamped in Smoky Slate directly on to the DSP:

And since the Always Fun Challenge is about pumpkins this week, I am entering there too!  

I have to admit that the DT knocked this one out of the park...be sure to hop on over to the IB blog to see what they created...then share yours with us too!  Can't wait to see what you create!  Thanks for popping by today!

I try to send Cassidy some word puzzles or some activity in a card occasionally, as she loves to get mail!  She was excited to do a Halloween crossword!

Enjoy your day and be blessed!

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Beautiful Day, Jar of Flowers
Card stock & Papers	Whisper White, Smoky Slate, Bumblebee, Soft Suede, Gingham (ret), Gingham Farm (My Mind's Eye), Acetate Sheet
Ink	Smoky Slate, Stazon Black
Accessories	Dimensionals
Tools	Big Shot, Patterned Pumpkins Dies (ret)

All Things Fabulous for Summer

Hello, peeps, and happy Monday!  I am getting a laaaate start today, but it is Monday, after all!  I have a birthday card I made for a special friend who loves the ocean!  It uses the sketch from Fusion Card Challenge and the theme from Global Design Project:

So here we go:

So, this whole card was a bit of an experiment!  I recently got SU's stencils, and I wanted to play with them, so I stencilled the leafy pattern in Pool Party on some Whisper White cardstock, and added some of the "leaves" (that look like bubbles to me) from the new Life is Beautiful set.  They are stamped very lightly, but maybe you can see them here:

I added some Soft Seafoam seaweed using a die from Smooth Sailing and three little sand dollars from Seaside Notions:

They were stamped in Sahara Sand on white cardstock, and to give them a wee bit of color, I also brayered them to color them, then added a little darker color with an aquapainter.  My sentiment is from All Things Fabulous, stamped in Pool Party and I used the Banners Pick a Punch to notch the edges:

The last thing was to add a couple of sequins, and mount it on a Pool Party base.  And since my base is a non-neutral, I am squeaking this in at the last minute for the Seize the Birthday challenge, as well as the Always Fun Challenge of stencils!:

Thanks so much for popping in today!!  Enjoy your day and be blessed!

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Seaside Notions, All Things Fabulous, Life is Beautiful (avail. August 4), Comfort and Hope (small bubbles)
Card stock & Papers	Pool Party, Soft Seafoam, Whisper White
Ink	Pool Party, Soft Seafoam, Sahara Sand
Accessories	Sequins, Dimensionals
Tools	Big Shot, Smooth Sailing Dies, Banners Pick a Punch, Sponge Roller, Basic Pattern Decorative Masks, Aquapainter

Fall Little Treat Box

Are you still sweltering, everyone?  Well, except for my friends down under, LOL!  I finally had a chance to play with some goodies that will be coming out in the new Holiday mini on August 4.  OH BOY, there are some fun things in there to play with!  I am IN LOVE with the Little Treat Box die.  This die creates a sweet little box with NO GLUING!  And there are lots of other dies with the set, and of course, since it's a bundle, there is an adorable stamp set to match.  But let me quit yakking...here you go:

I did use several new products for my little box, and I used the Facebook Colour Inkspiration #81  as my color palette: 

I started by diecutting the box from Cinnamon Cider cardstock and assembling it. Here's what it looks like when you fold it and insert the tabs...NO GLUING required!

Then I set about doing my embellishments!  I added some 'Tis the Season DSP on the front, stamped leaves from Beautiful Autumn on Crumb Cake cardstock, using Crumb Cake and Real Red inks, then punched them out with the punches from the Autumn Punch Pack.  I stamped the circular element (Wrapped in Christmas) in Cinnamon Cider and Real Red and cut out the "love" to adhere over top:

On the back, I added another sentiment, this time from Banner Year, and used some circular dies to cut it out.  I tied it all together with some ribbons from Playful Pets and Metallic Ribbon combo packs:

I can't wait to play with this little box some more...there are so many cute stamps and dies in the bundle, the possibilities are endless!  And since this is NOT a card, I am entering it into the Always Fun Challenge for this week, which is Anything But A Card!  Thanks for popping in today---enjoy your day and be blessed!

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Banner Year, Beautiful Autumn, Wrapped in Christmas (all coming out August 4)
Card stock & Papers	Cinnamon Cider, Whisper White, Crumb Cake, Tis the Season DSP (coming out August 4)
Ink	Real Red, Crumb Cake, Cinnamon Cider
Accessories	Playful Pets Ribbon, Basketweave & Metallic Ribbon (coming out August 4), Mini Dimensionals
Tools	Big Shot, Little Treat Box Die, Tasteful Labels Die, Layering Circles Die, Autumn Punch Pack (coming out August 4)

CAS Father's Day

Happy Tuesday, peeps!  I have a really quick card I created late last night....not my most stellar effort, but guys are not up for lots of layers and frills, so it's all good!  It fulfills a couple of challenges:  TGIF wants the color palette of Bumblebee, Crumb Cake and Night of Navy; Always Fun Challenges want to honor dads; and Less is More wants to see borders:

I don't have my Bumblebee ink pad yet, so I resorted to using some of the papers from Flowers for Every season, Night of Navy ink and cardstock, and a Crumb Cake base:

I stamped a sentiment from A Wish for Everything on a Crumb Cake card base, then ran it through the Pinewood Planks EF.  I diecut two borders from Night of Navy cardstock, using a die from Nature's Thoughts, and also cutting two feathers from Nature's Thoughts in Bumblebee DSP:

I wanted the feathers to go in different directions, so one is embossed and one is debossed, because I cut it from the opposite side of the DSP, then turned it over.  I gave both of them some sponging for definition and added some retired Baker's Twine to "tie" them together.  On the inside, I stamped the remainder of the sentiment (crooked of course) and a feather from Positive Thoughts:

Of course, both our dads are gone, but maybe I'll send this to Wayne....he is a hero in my book!  

Cassidy likes to pick asparagus from my tiny little patch....she's been doing this since she was little....too bad she doesn't like to eat it! 

Enjoy your day and be blessed! 

TCC134 Beautiful Day

Hey peeps, it's Wednesday, and that means another gorgeous Card Concept challenge!  Julie floors me with the beautiful photo inspirations she comes up with!  This one is good for Mother's Day, or for any special occasion, really:

My mom is gone, so I thought I would use the challenge to make a thank you card, which I always need for my customers, and I thought it would be nice to use some soon-to-be-retiring products for my card today:

My "Classy and Elegant" card features the big floral from Beautiful Day, and I heat embossed it in Copper Embossing Powder, then lightly watercolored it with some Blushing Bride and Soft Seafoam  inks.  I also used the Bouquet Bunch dies to add some accent pieces.  I tucked some Rose Metallic thread behind it as well:

I tried to create a pretty watercolor background with some So Saffron and Petal Pink inks, but it didn't work quite the way I had planned, so I tucked it into my Tin Tile embossing folder at an angle, to give it a little more interest!  I also heat embossed a sentiment from Ornate Thanks on some Petal Pink cardstock diecut with the Stitched Rectangle dies:

and added a couple of sentiments on the inside as well, stamped in Copper (ret) and Petal Pink inks:

My inspiration came from the flowers as well as the copper picture frame and cups....what inspires you?  I hope you'll share your pretty creation at The Card Concept this week as well!  And I am going to enter this at the Always Fun Challenge this week as well, as they are looking for embossing folders!  Thanks for popping in today! 

You know you're tired when you fall asleep with your glasses on!  And check out that blanket!

Enjoy your day and be blessed!

Hello from the Funny Farm

Happy Saturday, peeps!  Hope you're hanging in there with your quarantining/social distancing!  I am praying the end is in sight!  My card today is for a couple of challenges; Always Fun Challenges wants to see farm animals, and Just Add Ink has a sketch:

With four children on a dairy farm, I am sure my mother and father thought our household was definitely a funny farm at times, and when I saw this Unity stamp, I knew I had to have it!  

My original choice of patterned paper was blue, hence the blue cow, sheep and rooster.  I didn't like how it looked, so I opted for another pattern and I like this one much better!  I isolated some of the images, cutting them out partially, then slipping a Stitched Shape square die behind it and cut it out, matting it with a Night of Navy Layering Squares scallop:

I added a couple country-style banners under the image, then stamped the sentiment below:

I haven't quite decided to whom to send this card, but I am sure in light of what's going on in the world now, it will be understood and appreciated!  Thanks for popping in today--be sure to come back tomorrow for a new Paper Players challenge!

Wayne's work, Four Seasons Produce, purchased 2200 boxes of food to donate....it kind of made me tear up to see all these cars waiting for food.  Praying, praying, praying.  "Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them.  Are you not much more valuable than they?  Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?"  Matthew 6:26-27.  Lord, let us pray that you will feed and take care of these needy ones! And help us not to worry!!  Thanks for popping in today---be blessed!

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Funny Farm (Unity Stamps)
Card stock & Papers	Night of Navy, Naturals White (ret), Very Vanilla, Frontier DSP(Authentique)
Ink	Memento Black, Night of Navy
Accessories	Dimensionals
Tools	Big Shot, Stitched Shapes Dies, Layering Squares Dies