Peace On Earth Christmas Challenge #116

Hello friends.  Playing along with the Peace On Earth Christmas Challenge to keep up with my stash, and I had the perfect stamp to use with the mood board...

The mittens totally caught my eye and I had to dig out an older (red rubber) Serendipity Mittens stamp to play along.  I also have been wanting to try this technique I've seen from Leslie (and others) using vellum with 2 sided sticky paper, cs, and embossing folders. It works beautifully and really makes your embossed vellum stand out and with the added bonus of NO cracking and NO glue or adhesive showing through!  Take a look...

I stamped and heat embossed with clear my mitten image and colored it with my B91, B93, & B95 Copic markers and then cut the image out using PFS Scalloped Circle Dies (the smallest of the 3 in the set). Next I made my background with a sheet of heavy vellum, a piece of white cs and a piece of 2 sided sticky paper (Sizzix) put together and then run through my die cutting machine with SSS's Icy Snowflakes ef.

I stacked 3 of the scalloped circle die cuts to frame my mittens, and then added a silver snowflake (WF's Small Snowflake Die) and a sentiment strip from SSS.

When I went hunting for my mitten stamp, I found another snowman stamp and couldn't resist making another card with the vellum technique.

I know I've already played twice with Loll's CAS Christmas Challenge, but hopefully she won't mind one more from me, so this one's going to her challenge!  My image is from IO (Alesa Baker Designs - E8311) and was once again stamped and clear embossed, and then colored with my Copics.  My background was done with the same vellum technique and SSS's Snowflake Visions ef.  My sentiment is from SB's Make it Merry Sentiments and although it's hard to see in the photo, the top black layer has the words Make It Merry very thinly die cut into it, and then there's a piece of gold mirror cs behind the black layer that shows through.  

If you've never tried the vellum and embossing folder technique, you really need to...the way the embossed design stands out is just incredible!  I still want to try it using colored cs too, as that also turns out beautifully from what I've seen others do!

There's still one more day to play along with the Peace on Earth Christmas Challenge and 2 more days to play along with the CAS Christmas Challenge. 

     

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

Freshly Made Sketches #746

Hello friends.  I'm playing along with Freshly Made Sketches where Jen M. has a wonderful sketch for us to follow.

I was so inspired by Michele's Christmas card (HERE) with her beautiful colors, that I CASE'd her a bit.  Here's what I came up with using an older stamp set from The Greetery called Floral Arches...

 ***I thought I was being so clever using one of my Christmas Willow Tree angels for my photo, but after looking at it now...the size proportion of the angel to the card is waaaaaay off!  Oh well, it is what it is!

I stamped and stenciled the floral arch and then die cut it out before attaching it to my smaller card base. (I did remember to measure how far to extend my die cut piece so it would still fit in an A2 size envelope.) I used SU!'s Soft Succulent cs for the card base and a strip of Evening Evergreen that I embossed with Altenew's Organic Linen ef to follow Jen's sketch.  Next I stamped and die cut the center arch from The Greetery's Arched Holiday Set, and then embossed in gold and die cut the coordinating JOY sentiment.

   A few gold pearls (PFS) and this fun fold card was finished and I have one more completed Christmas card for the stash. YAY!!

There is so much BEAUTIFUL inspiration from the DT that you can find right HERE, so check it out and play along if you have time!

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

CAS Christmas July 2026 - SNOWMAN #2

Hello friends.  Playing along (AGAIN!) with Loll and friends over at the CAS Christmas Challenge,
because the challenge is featuring SNOWMEN and I just happen to have more than one snowman stamp!  In transparency, I have many, many, MANY snowmen stamps, so I hauled out another favorite and am playing again!!

I love Anita Jeram images (Colorado Craft Co.) and couldn't resist when this snow dude came out.  Take a look at this dapper dude...

I just love his hat and that goofy expression...he's loveable and I just want to hug him!  I colored him with Copics and paper pieced his scarf and the trim around his hat with PTI's Pure Poppy polka dotted dsp.  I added him to an embossed panel (Darice - Snowflakes) and framed him using PB's Classy Frames.

I added a pre-printed sentiment strip from SSS and used WOS on all the snowflakes, and then finished with a mat layer of black and a white card base.  CAS and enough to melt your heart (IMHO!)!

And because I was on a snowman kick, I pulled out my very first snowman stamp from 1999 (on a wooden block) and made a few very simple tags to put away for Christmas.

Isn't he a cutie too?!  Stamped in black and simple coloring with my Copics and a Gelly Roll Clear Star pen on the little stars (shows up much better IRL!).  The sentiment is from SSS and finished with a piece of gold and white bakers twine.  So easy to do these in assembly line fashion and just perfect for the grands who probably won't even notice them, but I will!

Lots of CUTE inspiration from Loll and the DT, so check it all out HERE and then play along to get a head start on those Christmas cards.  We may be sweltering in the heat right now, but Christmas and SNOW will be here before we know it!  This challenge is open till Friday, July 31st.

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

What's Your Favorite Fruit??

Hello friends.  Playing along with a couple challenges today...Freshly Made Sketches and the Double D.  Jen T at Freshly Made Sketches has a wonderful square card layout for us to follow and the Double D wants to know what our favorite fruit is.  

A fun sketch and yummy looking fruit...a perfect match, right?!  Personally, I love all fruits, but have to admit that STRAWBERRIES are probably my all time favorite!  So of course I have a strawberry card to share...

Yummmmmmm!  I love eating them plain, in shortcake, in pies, and especially in Michele's dessert she makes! (Maybe if you ask real nice, she might print the recipe sometime.)  I started with a 4 1/4" x 4 1/4" white card base and then added the largest die from PFS's Dotted Postage Square also in white cs. Next came a layer of PTI's Pure Poppy plaid dsp, and then another postage square so I had a place to add my bunch of strawberries (The Greetery - BotaniCuts Strawberries). 

My die cut strawberries and leaves were die cut and then ink blended using DOX inks.  I finished with a embossed strip sentiment from Gina K's All At Once Greetings and a few Ruby Red Gems from PFS.

You can find lots of wonderful inspiration from both Design Teams...check HERE for the Double D challenge and HERE for the Freshly Made Sketches challenge. 

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

Color Hues #137 - Black & Red

Hello friends.  Time for another challenge here at Color Hues and for the next 2 weeks our hostess Nancy (filling in for Jules who is still in the process of unpacking at her new place) would like us to use BLACK & RED.

Easy peasy, right??  I don't know why, but I struggled with this one!  I persevered though and came up with this...

I used a new to me die set from SB's called Lock & Key Mailbox and black and gray cardstocks and of course red!  I cut the mailbox from black, so it would show up against my embossed background in Smokey Slate cs and SU!'s Timeworn Type...figured it went well with the old fashioned mailbox.  

 After die cutting all the pieces, I used my blending brush and black ink on the medium gray pieces and also used a bit of matte silver cs (Gina K) for the key, lock and HELLO sentiment.  I love the little wax seal on the letter with the heart in the center...makes me smile!  I added some WOS to the roses to make them stand out and then finished with a few lady bugs (WF) for a bit of whimsy!

 Here's a bit of a side view so you can see the dimension of the flap where you drop your mail into.  For not knowing what I was going to do with these colors in the beginning, I thought this card came out pretty cute and I'm sure it will bring a smile to someone's face!

My talented teammates and our Special GD's Julia & Joanne all came up with awesome ideas for using these two colors, so check it out HERE if you need inspiration!  This challenge is open till Wednesday, July 29th @ 9:00AM.

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

CAS Mix Up July 2026 - ECLIPSE

Hello friends.  Playing along with the CAS Mix Up Challenge today where we are being asked to make a card using the ECLIPSE technique! 

Love this technique but haven't used it in quite awhile, so it was FUN to do!  Although I have to admit it wasn't fun in the beginning!  In fact my panel ended up in the trash until I dug it out the next day and decided maybe it wasn't so bad after all!  Haha!!  Take a look at how it ended up...

I started with TCW's Mini Joyful Sunflower stencil and inked it up, spritzed with water and then flipped it over and onto my card panel.  I pressed it with a paper towel and then lifted it off...it was a hot mess and didn't even look like a sunflower!  It was basically just an outline and a messy outline at that!  So I carefully replaced the stencil and ink blended in the openings of the stencil...apparently I didn't line it up close enough so it was off. Grrrrrr!!  Into the trash it went.

I pulled it out of the trash the next morning and thought maybe it wasn't so bad...just a little artsy.  I trimmed it down (started with a 6x6 panel and cut it to a 5 1/4 x 4) and then used an older Catherine Pooler Hello die down toward the bottom.  I die cut the hello 2 more times from white cardstock and then proceeded to fill it all in.  I backed the panel with a piece of PTI's Summer Sunrise cs and then added both to a white card base.  Considering the way this card started out, I'm really kinda pleased with the outcome! 

** Just realized I didn't include any stamping...oops!  Oh well, should have remembered that from before...will try harder next time to not forget!  Sorry!!

Loll and the DT have some FABULOUS inspiration for you using the Eclipse technique, and you can find it all right HERE.  This challenge is open till Friday, July 31st.

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

Freshly Made Sketches #744

Hello friends.  Been on kind of a Christmas (in July) kick lately and when I saw Donna's "Polaroid" sketch over at Freshly Made Sketches, I knew exactly what I wanted to do!

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

Doesn't she just make you want to smile?!!  I fell in love with this PB set (sing joy) a couple years ago and it has definitely become a staple in my go to Christmas stash!  There are 3 separate images in the set and believe it or not, this is the first time I've used this image!  (The other two images have seen ink many, many times!!)  I colored her up with my Copics and gave her a bit of a vintage look with the colors and the ink blending around the edges.  I used a polaroid frame die (MFT) to frame her out and stamped my sentiment in the lower portion of the frame (sentiment from the sing joy stamp set).

I added foam tape to the back of the frame before insetting my image and added to an embossed panel using SU!'s Subtle ef and a strip of PTI's Ocean Tides polka dotted dsp.  I added a little twine bow to the strip and called it good.

Lots of wonderful inspiration from Donna and the DT for this sketch that you can find right HERE. This challenge is open till Monday, July 13th @ 3:00PM.

I will also be adding this card to Darnell's NBUS Challenge as I've never used this 3rd image before and she definitely deserves a little bit of recognition!!

 

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