Friday, May 15, 2026

New Home

Hi everyone.  My son's friends are moving into their first place.  It's an exciting time. :)  He asked me to make a custom card.

I started with a fun die I bought quite a while ago (Rickety House - Memory Box).  I bought because I saw these wonderful cards made by my friend Leslie.  Linking shows that I saw Leslie's cards in Oct. 2022!  Yikes ...I didn't realize I had been sitting on this die for so long. 

Anyways, it was released as a Halloween die, but it made an adorable house (customized in the new owner's colours) for a "Congratulations on your new home" card.  I add sponging on all die pieces, and also the background.  And I stamped with some leafy branches behind the house.  It's all contained behind a sweet rectangle die-cut aperture with double stitched borders.  The sentiment is from an very old stamp set (A Little Sentimental - Clearly Besotted - retired). 

Close-up ...
Sending this card to the following challenges:
Darnell's IDEAS Calendar - Week 2 - Dies - I used die-cuts for the house and the frame.
NBUS Challenge #86 - First time using this die. :)

* * * * *
Excited to announce the re-start of the CAS Christmas Challenge!!
First challenge starts on June 1st.  Hope you'll join us!


Thanks for stopping by!

Stamps:  A Little Sentimental (Clearly Besotted); leaf stamp (Kittie Kits - Master #1)
Paper:   White card stock (Neenah 110 lb.); Mixed Media (Strathmore 140 lb.); Night of Navy, Sahara Sand (both SU!)
Ink:   Distress Inks:  Chipped Sapphire, Pumice Stone, Squeezed Lemonade, Mowed Lawn, Mustard Seed, Peacock Feathers (Tim Holtz)
Accessories:   Rectangle Stitched small frame (AliExpress); Rickety House die (Memory Box), sponges

Challenges:

Monday, May 11, 2026

Pink Peonies

Hi everyone.  I love peonies ... and I love pink. :)

I am entering a couple of challenges at Splitcoast which inspired me to make this card.  One is asking for my favourite flower.  Well, that is lilies, but I just posted a lily card a few days ago.  So I gave it some thought, and honestly, I couldn't choose my "second" favourite.  I LOVE all flowers!  When I saw the peonies in the inspiration photo challenge, I was hooked. :)

This is an older stamp (Blooming Bunch - Studio Katia) that I've had for a long time.  I really shows all the wonderful layers that peonies have.  I stamped in black, heat embossed in clear, and then watercoloured with distress inks.  I die-cut the image and then split it into two pieces to make two CAS cards. :)  To finish the cards, I die-cut the center,leaving a thin white frame.  Popped image up against the edge of the frame and then popped up the card front with foam to add a little extra dimension.  I was happy with how it turned out, so I finished the second card the same way. :)

Second card using the other half of the image ...
Sending card to the following challenges:
Darnell's IDEAS Calendar - Week 2 - Dies - used a die for image and a die for sentiment

Thanks for stopping by!

Stamps:  Blooming Bunch (Studio Katia)
Paper:   White card stock (Neenah 110 lb.); Mixed Media (Strathmore 140 lb.)
Ink:   Black Pigment (Obsidian - Altenew); Distress Inks:  Kitsch Flamingo, Picked Raspberry, Mowed Lawn) Tim Holtz)
Accessories:   Clear embossing powder (Ranger), watercolour paint brushes, matching die for image (Studio Katia),Thin Rectangle Frames dies (Simon Says Stamp)

Challenges:
Darnell's IDEAS Calendar - Week 2 - Dies - used a die for image and a die for sentiment

Thursday, May 07, 2026

Graceful Lily

Hi everyone.  I'm on a roll. :)  Having fun in my studio making lots of cards lately.  Hopefully this means my mojo is back in full swing and I'm hoping it stays for a long time. :)

This card is inspired by Splitcoast Stamper's "Inspiration Challenge - IC1064" and "CAS Challenge - CAS895".  The Inspiration challenge is to be inspired by one of Scully & Scully's products (see lily pillow below).  The CAS challenge is to CASE Yourself.  I changed the colour of the lilies, shape of the focal panel, and the background stencil.  The rest is the basically the same, CASEing this card from five years ago.
                                                                                                                       2021
 
The image (Graceful Lily - Penny Black)was stamped in black, clear heat embossed, and then watercoloured with distress inks.  I masked the image and sponged over a stencil for the background.  The panel was die-cut with Whirl Frames (Penny Black) and the inside piece gave me the reverse scallop edging.  The panel was popped up over the card base.  A simple sentiment (Super Day) was stamped in more black ink.

Close-up ...
Sending this card to the following challenges:
Darnell's IDEAS Calendar - Week 1- Inks - I used inks to stencil the background and watercolour the lilies - 2nd entry 

Thanks for stopping by!

Stamps:  Graceful Lily (Penny Black); Super Day (Penny Black)
Paper:   White card stock (Neenah 110 lb.); Mixed Media (Strathmore 140 lb.)
Ink:  Obsidian Black (Altenew); Distress Inks:  Saltwater Taffy, Abandoned Coral, Mowed Lawn, Rustic Wilderness, Shabby Shutters; Ground Espresso Distress Marker (Tim Holtz)
Accessories:   Clear embossing powder (Ranger), heat tool, watercolour brushes, Wander & Find stencil (Carta Bella), sponge

Challenges:

Monday, May 04, 2026

Evergreen Christmas

Hi everyone.  I was hoping to have this card done before the end of April, but life got in the way.  I'm playing along with SCS April Christmas Challenge - E is for Evergreen.  Thankfully there is no time limit on SCS challenges. :)

I'm hoping that the "Evergreen" element doesn't actually have to be green. :)  I created a mixed media background with watercoloured tissue paper, sponged colour, dry embossing, and brayering.  I love this combination that I used on a card last year.  I made good use of my time by creating three similar card fronts.  I split two of the card fronts to make four equal panels, and used the third card front to create strips for the inside of my cards. :)  

For the four focal panels, I added mostly the same elements ... evergreen dies cut from matte gold foil card stock and gold embossed white sentiment strips.  These all tie in with the gold metallic paint I brayered to highlight the dry embossed design (Pepperberry Embossing Folder - Simon Says Stamp), overtop of a watercoloured tissue paper mounted background.

Sending this card to the following challenges:
Darnell's IDEAS Calendar - Week 1 - Inks - I used inks to W/C tissue paper, and sponge over top

* * * * *
The other three cards ...

Thanks for stopping by!

Stamps:  Snowglobe Sayings (MFT - closed)
Paper:   White card stock (Neenah 110 lb.); Matte Gold cardstock (SU!)
Ink:   Distress Inks:  Candied Apple, Lumberjack Plaid, Mowed Lawn (Tim Holtz); Versamark
Accessories:   Tissue paper, water mister, Pepperberry Embossing Folder (Simon Says Stamp), Brayer,
Gold Metallic Paint (Lumiere), Holly Branches dies (Penny Black), Inspired die (Reindeer) - Penny Black,  Holly & Berries die (Birch Press Designs); Mistletoe die (unknown)

Challenges: