CAS Christmas July 2026 - Snowman

Hello friends.  Playing along with the gals over at CAS Christmas so I can keep up with my Christmas cards!  This month they are looking for a SNOWMAN.  Easy peasy as I do happen to have a few...hundred! Haha!!

I pulled out a little TH set called CHILLY & FREEZY and came up with this CAS card...

I started by using SB's Hemstitch Rectangle Dies to make a border frame around my snowman and also cut another plain rectangle from the center and ink blended a little bit of purple in the bottom right corner before embossing the rectangle with SSS's Snowflake Visions ef.  I sprayed it quite liberally with Sheer Shimmer Spritz Sparkle before inlaying it back into the center of my card front.

Next I die cut my snowman from white cs and only colored his eyes, the charcoal buttons, his nose & twig arms with my Copics. I thought about coloring his hat and scarf, but decided to keep him (or is it a her??) really clean looking.  I used foam tape on the back of him (or her) for some dimension.  I may have to play more than once this month as I really do have an abundance of snowmen stamps and dies...hope you don't mind?!  And these snowmen should help cool us down with this hot, HOT Summer we're having!! Ha!!

This challenge is open till the end of the month and if you need some more inspiration to play along, you can check out all the wonderful snowmen Linda and the rest of the DT have made right HERE.   

Thanks for stopping by today ... I love it when you do!

Color Hues Challenge #136 - CREAM & GOLD

Hello friends.  July 1st already and time for a new challenge here at Color Hues.  Our hostess for the next 2 weeks is Julie and she has chosen CREAM & GOLD for us to work with.

A while back I had purchased Hero Arts Decorative Flora Letterpress + Foil Plate and then it sat there because I didn't know what to do with it!  Luckily inspiration hit when this color challenge hit and I came up with this...

I used cream cs (Gina K) and my SB's Letterpress system with the plate and Delicata Golden Glitz ink and then fussy cut around the image.  Next I used another piece of cream cs and SB's Molded Frame embossing folder and glued the fussy cut piece into the center of the embossed frame.  I attached both to a cream colored card base.

 I added a couple butterflies using SSS's Whirl Butterflies dies and cream and gold cs and a gold foiled sentiment from SB's Everyday Sentiments II set.  I finished with a few clear gems with gold dust from PFS.

Make sure you check out all the beautiful inspiration we have for you using this color combination and then play along with us...we'd love to see YOU in the gallery!!  This challenge is open till Tuesday, July 14th @ 9:00AM.

Thanks for stopping by today ... I love it when you do!

Just Us Girls Challenge #829 - STENCIL WEEK

Hello friends.  Playing along with the gals over at JUGS where the sweet hostess Lisa is bringing us STENCIL WEEK.

I'm still hooked on The Greetery's Pretty Picado stencils and embossing folder, and although I never really send out 4th of July cards, I really wanted to try the Pretty Picado stencils in red, white & blue.  I think they turned out pretty cool, so let's take a look...

 Here's the red version.   I used 2 shades of red and 2 shades of blue (SU! inks) to stencil with the 4 stencils and then used the embossing folder to add dimension.  Much more noticeable in real life!!

I used the Capsule Basics dies and embossing folder for the red card base, and the "happy" is from the Opposites Attract stamp and die set (all from The Greetery).  The #4 is from the Delightful Digits dies, also from The Greetery. I finished with a bit of WOS on the #4 and a few red gems from PFS.

  Here's the blue version with the colors just switched around.

Done almost exactly the same as the red version except that I used more of the Capsule Basic dies to add a bit more dimension to this one.

And here they both are together.  Do you have a favorite?  I like them both equally and am happy with the way they turned out!!

Lots of BEAUTIFUL stenciled cards from the JUGS DT that you can find right HERE and then play along.  This challenge is open till Wednesday, July 1st @ 6:00PM.

Thanks for stopping by today ... I love it when you do!

Freshly Made Sketches #742

Hello friends.  Playing along with the gals over at the Freshly Made Sketches challenge where DT member Amy has a sweet and easy sketch for us to follow...

And here's what I came up with...

This card features the stamp and die set from SU! called Spotlight on Nature that I've had for a couple years and never used.  Why??  I honestly don't know.  But I did have fun playing with it and am really happy with how this CAS card turned out.  I started by putting the main flower image in my MISTI and then stamped onto a top folding card base. Next I placed the die cut circle (part of the set) and sentiment strip over top of the stamped image, and then restamped. I hadn't moved the stamp in my MISTI from the 1st stamping, so it stamped right over in the same place and just added the image to the circle and part of the sentiment strip.

 I colored only the smallest bloom and leaves with my Copics and left the other two blooms and leaves black & white.  The sentiment is also from the stamp set and I love that font...so pretty!!  Next I stamped the butterfly from the set on vellum and fussy cut it out and then colored on the back of the vellum with my R83 Copic.  To finish I added a twine bow and a couple PFS pink gems.

Amy and the rest of the DT have some beautiful cards to share using the sketch and you can find them all right HERE.  This challenge is open till Monday, June 29th @ 3:00PM. 

Thanks for stopping by today ... I love it when you do!

Freshly Made Sketches #741

Hello friends.  After seeing a couple cards by friends using SB's Sunflower Serenade, it gave me the inspiration to pull mine out and have a play.  Narelle over at Freshly Made Sketches had a perfect sketch to use the sunflower dies with, and here's what I came up with...

I used Magenta Madness (SU!), Orange Zest & Summer Sunrise (both PTI) cardstocks to cut out my sunflowers and placed them on small rectangles that I ink blended on using the matching inks.

My background looked too plain, so I added a panel that I embossed with Altenew's Organic Linen ef and a better press sentiment from SB's A Little Message Sentiments.  A little WOS was added to the flower centers to finish off the card.  

 Lots of wonderful inspiration from Narelle and the talented DT, and you can check it all out right HERE.  This challenge is open till Monday, June 22nd @ 3:00PM.

Also adding my card to the Just Us Girls Challenge where they have a beautiful and colorful mood board full of blooms...loved it!!

The JUGS challenge is open till Wednesday, June 24th @ 6:00PM.

Thanks for stopping by today ... I love it when you do!

Double D Challenge - TROPICAL

Hello friends.  I had just made a trio of birthday cards for 3 of the 5 grands who have Summer birthdays with new products from The Greetery that will fit the new challenge at the Double D Tropical Challenge...

I used the Hey Honeycomb Fish and Hey Honeycomb Crab dies and the Making Waves embossing folder and coordinating stencils to make these 3 cards.  A bit picture heavy for this post, so sit back and be transported to the beach...

 I started this one by masking off 3/4" on all 4 sides of my panel before I started stenciling the waves in pink & orange. Removed the masking and then embossed with the coordinating folder.

Next I die cut the fish and fins in pinks and oranges and then assembled the honeycomb with the extra pieces that I had embossed with the sentiments and instructions and ended up with this...

I added WOS to the fins and then trimmed the embossed panel down a bit and added a layer of pink before adhering to a white card base.  Don't those honeycomb balls take the card to the next level?!  

This cards background was done with blues and turquoise inks and left the background whole.  The actual ef is large enough to fit a 5 x 7 card, so even this one is cut down a bit.

This background was also sprayed with Sheer Shimmer Mist, so it really sparkles IRL!  I die cut the fish and fins from blues, turquoise & green and added her towards the bottom so you could see more of the big waves.

And here she is in all her puffed out honeycomb glory!  I did add a few clear gems (PFS) to look like water bubbles.

And last but not least...Mr. Crab!  I did this background all in shades of blue as I knew it would work well with the red.

In this photo you can see that I did a bit of ink blending on Mr. Crab and then also did a bit of splattering with white acrylic paint.  I love those eyes and think my 3 year old grandson will love him!!  (Can also see him ripping off the honeycomb ball, but we'll see...maybe he'll be a grownup 3 by the time his August birthday rolls around. Hahaha!!)

And last photo (I promise!!) with Mr. Crab ...a handsome dude if I do say so myself!  These were so much fun to make and I definitely think they hit the TROPICAL theme!

The DT has some awesome cards to inspire you to play along and you can find them all right HERE.  This challenge is open till Sunday, June 28th @ 8:00PM. 

Thanks for stopping by today ... I love it when you do!

Color Hues Challenge #135

Hello friends.  Time for another Color Hues Challenge and our wonderful hostess Carol would like to see us use the color pairing of YELLOW & BLACK. 

And here's what I came up with...

I know, I know...I used more gray than black, but I just really love the way this one turned out, and gray is a hue of black, so I'm calling it good!  I used SSS's Elegant Rose stencil with PFS's shades of yellow ink and gray for the leaves.  I cut off the bottom 3rd of the panel with The Greetery's Snowhill Dies and then attached with foam to a background that I stamped with SSS's Nature in Bloom background stamp.

I finished with a strip sentiment (white embossed on black) from Gina K's All At Once Greetings and a few clear gems from PFS.  

The DT and our Special GD's Barbara & Diana all have wonderful inspiration for you that you can find right HERE, so check it all out and then play along with us...we'd love to see YOU in our gallery!!  This challenge is open till Monday, June 29th @ 9:00AM.

 

Thanks for stopping by today ... I love it when you do!