Cosmos Border Cards

Hello friends.  Sorry that other than my Color Hues DT posts, I've been a bit MIA.  My 94-year-old mom had a bad fall about a month ago and has gone from the hospital to rehab and then to assisted living where she had been in independent living.  Needless to say, my days have been full between sitting with her and taking her to different appointments. She still has a ways to go with healing and I'm not sure if she'll ever get back to independent living, but that's the goal.  We'll see...  Anyway, not much stamping or card making going on here...just trying to keep up with commenting! And on top of all that, blogger has not been playing nice with my blog and is no longer updating the blogs I follow...grrrrrrr!

When I posted my card for the current Color Hues Challenge, I received so many wonderful comments about it using a stencil from The Ton called Cosmos Border Stencil, and I remembered when I first got the stencil a few months ago, I made several cards with it using different color combos. Thought you might like to see the other 3 cards I made with the stencils, just in case you were on the fence about whether you NEEDED this stencil set or not!  Take a look...

   I used Gina K's light, medium & dark Orchid inks to stencil these Cosmos, and then added the SB's Hemstitch Die for a border  just like I did in the card for Color Hues.  My sentiment is from sweet Michele and I believe it is a SB's press plate die. A few clear gems (PFS) finished this one off.

For this one I decided to use a rainbow of colors (all Gina K inks) and really liked how bright and cheerful it turned out!  The die cut and stamped sentiment is also Gina K's Birthday Sparkle. I added a few Cream Puff sequins from SSS to finish this one off.

This one was done with Lilac and Carnation inks (Gina K) and I was trying to do an eclipse card with it, but there was too much white in the center, so not much of the hello (also Gina K) was hidden like when you're die cutting from more of a all over print.  Oh well, it still turned out pretty and someone will enjoy receiving it!

Usually I try to make at least 2 cards when I get a new stamp or die set so that I can say I got my money's worth...since I made 4 cards already with this set of stencils and want to try making some Christmas cards with it, I think I definitely have gotten my money's worth from it!  

I wish I could say I'll be back to regular posting, but at this point I'm just taking it day by day. My mom definitely needs me right now and that has to be my priority.  I know many of you have been in my shoes caring for an elderly parent and will totally understand where I am coming from, so don't give up on me...I'll post when I can.  Hugs. :0)   

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

Color Hues #139 - YELLOW & ORANGE

Hello friends.  Time for a new challenge here at Color Hues, and as the hostess I chose the color pairing of  YELLOW & ORANGE.  I love Sunflowers and thought this would be a great color pairing for them, but there is so much else you can do with these two colors...any florals, Fall leaves, Halloween, etc.!

I did make a Sunflower card, but while I was waiting for an order to come in with a die I wanted to use for the sentiment, I started another card using a stencil from The Ton (Cosmos Border Stencils) that I've been having a lot of fun with lately.  Take a look...

Aren't the soft and darker yellows and oranges so pretty?!  I used a light kraft for the leaves and just love the way it turned out!

 I used SB's Hemstitch die for a border and placed a piece of matte gold cs behind so the border would really show up.  I used the same matte gold cs for my die cut sentiment from Kristina Werner and finished with a few sparkling gold gems from PFS.

And here's my Sunflower that I started first.  I used SU!'s Sunflower 3D embossing folder and the blackout technique where I inked up the debossed side of folder with Mango Melody (SU!) ink for my yellow and then after running it through my die cutting machine, I rubbed my Pumpkin Pie (SU!) ink pad over the raised background.  I absolutely LOVE the way this turned out...so much depth and dimension!!

I didn't want to take away from the print, so I finished the card simply by adding it to a white card base and adding my hello sentiment from Kristina Werner's Framed Script Hello Dies that I die cut once from the matte gold cs and twice from plain white so I could layer it enough to stand out.  I did add a few Sparkling Champagne Pearls from PFS to finish it off.

So there's my two ideas for the yellow and orange color pairing, and our talented DT and Special GD Priscilla have lots more ideas to inspire you with these two colors.  I hope you'll have as much fun as I did with these colors and can't wait to see what YOU come up with!  This challenge is open till Saturday, August 29th @ 9:00AM.

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

Color Hues #138 - NAVY & TEAL

Hello friends.  Another month has sped by and here we are in August already!  Karen is our hostess for the next two weeks here at Color Hues and she has chosen an awesome color pairing that I think is perfect for Summer!

I have a really, really simple card for you today that totally fit a stamp set that I've had for a year or two and never used. (Yes, I'm real good at collecting stamping supplies but not always so great at using them in a timely manner!  Oh well, better late than never!!)  Take a look...

 The stamp set is SU!'s Sunrise Sailing and I used Night of Navy and Bermuda Bay inks to create this calm and peaceful scene.  

If I hadn't adhered a layer of Night of Navy cs behind my stamped panel this would have been a single layer card, but the added layer does add a bit of framing to the simple card.  I have a couple of Summer birthdays for the guys in my family, so this will work out great for one of them.  In fact, I may even make a couple more and just change up the colors...super simple and easy!!

The DT and our Special GD Rachel Ball all have some awesome cards to inspire you to play along, and you can check it all out right HERE.  We can't wait to see what YOU come up with using these 2 colors!

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

 

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!

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!