CAS Christmas & CAS Mix Up - October 2026

Hello friends.  Sharing a Christmas card today for both the CAS Christmas Challenge and the CAS Mix Up Challenge. 

I used an older Tim Holtz Poinsettia ef and used the blackout technique to combine the two challenges and came up with this...

I love this technique because you don't have to be too careful with your inking of the main image and it still comes out looking great!  After embossing the image on a piece of white cs, I flipped it over (using the de-bossed side) and added color using my mini brushes to the Poinsettia flowers and leaves with Gina K inks.  It looked like a hot mess at this point!  Then the magic happens when you run your black ink pad over the panel and it only inks up the flat surfaces.

 I cut my image down to leave a lot of white space, and then added a thin matte gold frame from Kristina Werner (A2 Thin Frame Dies) and embossed my sentiment strip on black with gold embossing powder, using Gina K's All At Once Christmas Greetings.  So simple and I love the way it turned out!  And one more for the Christmas stash too...YAY!!

Both of these challenges are open till Saturday, October 31st. 

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

Two Old Bats #2 - VINNY

Hello friends.  Finished my last Halloween card and this one is for my youngest grandson Isaiah whose dog's name is Vinny.  Vinny is a bulldog, and although many of that breed are feared and labeled dangerous, Isaiah's Vinny is nothing more than an overweight marshmallow who would just as soon eat or sleep or lick you rather than be a wild thing! When Spellbinder's first came out with their Woof-or-Treat dies, I had to have them for Isaiah's first Halloween. When Isaiah was 2, the Pupkin dies came out, and this year it was the Buzzy Pup-Bee dies, all featuring a bulldog that looks just like Vinny!  I decided to use all 3 of the pups for this year's card for Isaiah...

   The pup in the center is the newest die and he's on a wobbler and totally looks like he's buzzing around when you tap on him!  The dogs were all cut from kraft cs and then their outfits were all cut from scraps.

The pups were all placed on a background that I embossed with an older SU! spider web folder and black cs and then ran a white pigment ink pad lightly over the raised parts of the web so they'd stand out a bit more. The sentiment is from The Greetery and I finished the card with black enamel dots for the pups eyes and one on sentiment banner, and also some WOS on the skull and pumpkin treat containers.  LOVE the way this card turned out!!

I will be adding this card to the Two Old Bats Halloween Challenge (my 2nd entry) and also to Darnell's NBUS Challenge as the Buzzy Pup-Bee has never been used.

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

Color Hues #143 - ORANGE & BLACK

Hello friends.  It's the middle of October and that means it's time for a new challenge here at Color Hues.  Our hostess for this round is the sweet Tracey and she would like to see ORANGE & BLACK on our cards.  Sounds like Halloween to me and that's the direction I went!!

While Halloween is the way I went, you can go any direction you want with this color pairing...as long as you remember to stick with these two colors (neutrals are acceptable).  Here's what I came up with...

I started by blending my background with DOX inks...Dried Marigold, Spiced Marmalade & Carved Pumpkin.  I did add a small die cut circle with temporary adhesive on the back to my panel before I started ink blending to look like the full moon was out.  Next, I stamped in black using two Lavinia sets called Small Trees & Forest Scene on the left and right sides and then stamped the trick or treaters from SU!'s Scary Cute also in black to create my silhouetted scene.

 To finish I added my sentiment (also from SU!'s Scary Cute set) and a few flying bats and then sprayed the whole panel with Sheer Shimmer Sparkle Spray before adding it to a white card base.   

The DT and our Special GD Annette have all outdone themselves with cards to inspire you to play along and you can check it all out right HERE. This challenge is open till Thursday, Oct. 29th @ 9:00AM. Join in the FUN...we can't wait to see what YOU create using these two colors!! 

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

Mice & Cozy #2

Hello friends.  I've been hooked on the ADORABLE mice from Unity's Mice & Cozy stamp set and have a couple more cards to share with you!

This 1st card was colored with my Copics and then cut with The Greetery's Crimped Circle Dies.  Next I worked on my background using Taylored Expressions Fall Foliage stamp and stencil set and then die cut it using The Greetery's Crimped Rectangle Dies so it would match with the circle die cut.

 

Doesn't he just melt your heart hanging by the branch and surrounded by leaves?!  I matted my stenciled background with a piece of black and then mounted to a white card base. I finished with a little embossed strip sentiment (from the Mice & Cozy set) and a few Sparkling Champagne Pearls (PFS).

I hadn't made a book binding fold card in awhile, and this last image seemed to fit it really well!  I colored the image with my Copics again and then used PFS's Rounded & Braided Rectangle Dies (Didn't use the braided dies...just the plain one as I like the simple rounded corners.) My card base is kraft and I embossed another kraft panel with FSJ Fall Foliage ef and then ran a kraft ink pad over the raised areas. I trimmed the panel down a bit to fit the book binding section and the main section of the card before adding the stamped image with foam tape.

I tied twine around the book binding portion of the card and thought about adding a few gems, but decided on just a real light touch of glitter on the pinecone.  This card's more muted than the first card, but it totally makes me think warm and cozy.

I'll be adding both these cards to the Four Seasons Challenge where anything Fall related goes.  This challenge is open till Sunday, Oct. 25th to play along. Happy Fall y'all!!

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

Freshly Made Sketches #757

Hello friends.  I've been having fun with a new set of mice stamps (Unity's Mice & Cozy) and even made a card for the current Freshly Made Sketches challenge that Jen M. is hosting.

I did change up my rectangle for an arch on the sketch, but otherwise I stayed pretty true to what Jen was looking for.  Here's my take...

Don't ya just love paper mice?!!  This little guy just melts my heart...I "almost" want to pick him up and hug him, but I'm sure the tail would creep me out in the end!  But anyway, I Copic colored him and then die cut him with my set of arch dies and then stamped the sentiment (from the set) in the upper half.

My background was embossed with an older FSJ (Fun Stampers Journey) embossing folder which I thought was appropriate with the Fall feeling of the card. I added my stamped arch with foam tape for a bit of dimension and then finished with a few silver pearls (PFS). CAS and so fun to make.

There's lots of awesome cards from the talented DT to inspire you to play along, and you can check it all out right HERE.  This challenge is open till Monday, Oct. 12th @ 3:00PM.

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

Cosmos Border Frame - Christmas Version

Hello friends.  I've had a couple posts (HERE and HERE) where I used the Cosmos Border Frame stencils from The Ton, and had mentioned I still wanted to use these stencils with a Christmas version, so I made 2 cards to share with you today.  Here's the 1st one...

I started using residual color from my red ink blending brush on stencil #1 and it left more of a pink than red hue, but once I added the rest of the stencils with Cherry Cobbler and Merry Merlot inks (SU!), the 1st layer didn't look as pink to me.  

  I used darker green inks for the foliage and then finished simply with a matte gold die cut sentiment (Special Merry Christmas) from Memory Box, and a few gold pearls from PFS. I also used a gold pen to fill in the flower centers and then sprayed the whole card front with Gold Sheer Shimmer Mist for an all over sparkle.

My 2nd card was ink blended with a bit heavier hand with the same red inks and then turquoise inks (Gina K) for the foliage.

My sentiment is a favorite of mine from PB's yuletide wishes stamp set, and then I embossed the whole panel using SU!'s Subtle embossing folder.  I trimmed my panel down just a bit to add a Cherry Cobbler border/card base.  This one is definitely my favorite of the two, but I really do like both of them and think the stencils made lovely Christmas cards! I think I can safely say I've gotten my money's worth from this set of stencils!

I'm sharing these cards with the Peace On Earth Christmas Challenge where it's an anything goes as long as it's Christmas, and I think both my cards qualify!  Lots of BEAUTIFUL cards from the DT to inspire you on getting those Christmas cards done...time is definitely running out!!

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

Peek-A-Boo

Hello friends.  Sharing a cute (NOT spooky!!) Halloween card for my youngest granddaughter Bella who will be 2 in December and playing along with the Two Old Bats Halloween Challenge.

Here's what I came up with...

Isn't that just the cutest image?! It's from an old wood block/red rubber stamp from Whipper Snapper Designs called Peek-A-Boo Ghost.  I colored the image with my Copics and then stamped and die cut the posted from PB. The image fit so perfectly in the postage frame opening...gotta love it!!  I used an older SU! embossing folder for the spider web and Certainly Celery cs for my background, and then lightly ran a white pigment ink pad over the webbing to make it stand out a bit more.  I also sprayed the background with some Sheer Shimmer Spritz Spray for some sparkle...you can see it a bit better in my close-up...

I finished with an orange polka dot bow that I'm sure Bella will pull off first thing, but I love how it gave a bright POP of color to the card!  That's 4 Halloween cards done and one more to go for my youngest grandson, so stay tuned!!

LOTS of fun Halloween cards from the DT that you can find right HERE for inspiration and the challenge is open till the end of the month. 

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

Freshly Made Sketches #756

Hello friends.  A sweet friend made some absolutely adorable cards last week using mice images and I told myself I didn't NEED them (but did I order them?? You bet I did...I admit I'm weak!!) and that I had several mouse images in my stamp collection I could use.  I pulled out an oldie but goody from MFT and came up with a card to play along with Freshly Made Sketches.

Using Kim's sketch, I came up with this...

This little pumpkin toting mouse is from MFT's Harvest Mouse and I colored him with my Copics and then fussy cut him out. (I do have the dies but didn't want the white border around him!)  I used a SSS Fall Foliage ef for my kraft background and also on a piece of Elegant Eggplant cs (SU!) that fit my PFS Dotted Postage Square Die.

Per Kim's sketch, I used a scrap I found in my Taylored Expressions Fall Foliage Background stamp & stencil set package that matched perfectly with my mouse and the embossed eggplant piece. Don't ya love it when you save a leftover scrap and actually end up using it?! It's at least a year old and maybe even 2 years ago. I used foam tape behind my sweet mouse and also on my strip sentiment that I embossed in white on kraft using Gina K's All At Once Greetings. Pretty CAS (for me) and I really like the way it turned out!!

As usual I'm getting in at the tail end of this challenge, but you can find all kinds of beautiful cards from the DT and those already in the gallery right HERE.  

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

Color Hues #142 - AMBER & BURNT RED

Hello friends.  Happy October!!  We have a fun color pairing for you here at the Color Hues Challenge with Stef as our hostess...

Don't these colors make you think Autumn?!  That's where my mind went and this is what I came up with...

I started by ink blending a background with DOX inks in Fossilized Amber, Wild Honey, & Fired Brick. When it was dry I added a piece of 2 sided sticky sheet over one side of a piece of heavy vellum and the other side to the ink blended background. Next I ran it through my SSS Falling Leaves ef. I loved how the piece of vellum looked but you couldn't really see the ink blended colors!  Maybe if I had used thinner light weight vellum it would have shown through better...next time!  I ink blended another piece of cs and then foiled it with SB's Autumn Leaf Border and gold foil...I think it turned out beautiful!!

 I added a Crushed Curry (SU!) card base to the vellum layer and then added the ink blended and foiled strip across the vellum layer.  I added 2 tiny strips of black cs to the edges of the foiled strip and then finished with a die cut sentiment from MB (Just A Note).  Even though my background didn't turn out the way I pictured it in my head, I still love the way this card turned out!

Make sure you check out all the beautiful cards from the DT and our Special GD Crystal Minkler for inspiration and then play along with us!  We'd love to see YOU in the gallery!  This challenge is open till Wednesday, Oct. 14th @ 9:00AM. 
 

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